"Good morning Olomouc, it's 6:30 in the morning! Looking like an absolutely fantastic day today, like it always is here in Moravia! Weather forecast..." *WHACK!*
Elder Anderson smacked the phone and switched off the alarm, a recording of himself giving the same weather and traffic report as usual. He and his companion, Elder McGowan, enjoyed listening to it each morning for a few seconds before getting to work. It was a Monday, and Elder Anderson was looking ahead to a few relaxing preparation day activities. But, first things first. He grabbed his attentive-prayer alarm and got on his knees. Only two snooze buttons this time! He was pretty proud of himself and went to go make some pancakes and apple topping in the kitchen. A shower, a shopping trip, and a clean up in the bathroom/kitchen area (so much cleaning, in fact, that it somehow took the skin off his knuckles without him realizing it), and the two Elders were out the door for a day on the town. Little did they realize that their cell phone had been left in the bathroom. Normally Mondays were cellularly quiet, but this Monday was going to be a little different.
They headed into town and first went emailing. Elder Anderson was in the habit now of printing most of his emails since it cost 1 crown per page, and when he tweaked the printer settings just a bit he could run off everything for about 5 crowns total. They updated their spreadsheets, wrote to President Slováček, and told their families of the marvelous things they'd been seeing in Olomouc. Shortly thereafter Elder McGowan started getting antsy to go buy an Olomouc soccer team jersey. They were on sale from last season, and he really loves his jerseys, so the two started trekking across town to find the stadium and the fan shop, which they did. It was small, but very modern, and they both were interested in a few odds and ends. "I'm usually not this 'trunky' in buying stuff or in taking pictures. What's different about today?" thought Elder Anderson to himself quietly (It turns out, he usually thinks quietly, unless he's confused or thinking really hard, and then a slow grinding and squeaking noise is heard from somewhere behind his eardrums). Even so, he brushed the quiet thought aside and left the fan shop with a Czech national scarf in his backpack. He was very pleased with it, since it wasn't associated with anyone in particular, so it was wearable at any Czech sporting event or gathering without adaptation.
The elders had it on their plans to go to the building and write some letters. So, they trekked back across the city to the square and into the building. By this time it was about 3:30, and the elders got to work on writing letters, journal entries, and resting up for another week of miracle making. Soon after the other two elders joined them along with a friend/investigator who stopped by to chat.
Elder Anderson was working in the branch office on the home teaching plans and some welfare projects when he heard a funny ringtone in the other room. "That's funny, I think that the other elder's phone is going off, and that ringtone is the one they use for president!" It wasn't quite as cool as the ringtone on his own phone for president or the assistants, but it was nonetheless a ringtone that gets you wondering, "why is the office calling us today?"
Elder Anderson quietly lolled in his chair and he listened to the conversation through the thin office wall. "Hello president! Yeah, we're having a pretty good day...yeah, we've been with Elders Anderson and McGowan all day...uh huh, yeah we haven't heard anything....yep, he should be getting baptized pretty soon, we're really excited...."
Elder Anderson couldn't keep his curiosity down, so he curtailed his lolling activities and walked into the chapel to listen.
"...we're confident he'll be ready for his baptism by then....uh huh....yeah, he just walked in, do you want to talk to him? Yep, here he is!"
Now, Elder McGowan had been laughing the whole time from his chair in the corner. He knew what this call would be about, and Elder Anderson was still in absolute denial. He grabbed the phone and got to work.
"Good afternoon president, how are you doing?"
"Why, I'm doing really well, Elder. I've been trying to call you all day, did something happen to the phone?"
"Oh no, did something happen to the phone?" thought Elder Anderson to himself, this time not so quietly.
"Well, I'm not sure, however I think it was left in the bathroom when we were cleaning..." (Oh, of all the days to leave the phone at home...)
"Ahh, I see. It's kind of hard to reach you that way, you know. How are things in Olomouc?" (Things are going well...? What is this call about?
"Well, Pavel is still going strong, Sister Bundilová prayed for the first time in church yesterday, and PJ says he wants to be a missionary, so I'd say they're going really well."
"Wow, that's marvelous elder! You've been doing some great work out there in Olomouc, but I'd like to talk with you about a bit of a change we're making. We've thought about it, and I'd like to call you to be one of my assistants out here in Prague. An opening has come up due to some missionaries leaving for school early, and so you'll be getting up to speed and indoctrinated now instead of in two weeks over transfers. Are you up to it?"
Elder Anderson started laughing at himself. Elder McGowan had recently been teasing him a lot about going to the office, even during contacts. Elder Anderson appreciated it just fine, and he thought it was funny and, to some extent, even a compliment. Even still, whenever anyone mentioned him going to the office, he'd slap his companion's hand, just to avoid discussion on the topic.
But two weeks before transfers? That was ridiculous to consider! Such a thought had never crossed his mind once! Not to mention packing, saying goodbye, arranging for a threesome in Olomouc, trains, a new learning curve, a soon to be mission president swap, visas, paperwork, legal forms, foreign police, insurance....
"Yeah, that sounds great president! When do we start?"
"You'd need to pack your bags and get here as soon as possible. I'm looking forward to working with you, and we'll be seeing you soon. Bye!" *click*
Elder Anderson started laughing hysterically. It figures that he went souvenir shopping and took several pictures that day, the day of all days to be leaving. They stuck to their schedule as usual that night, but Elder Anderson started texting and calling people as soon as he could to make arrangements to say goodbye or to at least inform them that he was leaving. Then, it was back home, bags packed, and alarm set for 4 AM to grab the bullet train to Prague. On the train (which, sadly, wasn't a bullet train - the guy in front of him kifed the last reservation, so the trip was a little longer than 200 km/h) he read scriptures and thought about all the good that had been done in Olomouc so far. He had been greatly blessed by the Lord and was grateful for all the things he'd seen, between ups and downs, blessings and lack of faith, however the prevailing force of faith was easily seen in Olomouc thanks to the members, those preparing for baptism, and the Lord.
Tuesday at 8:50 AM the train pulled in to Praha Hlavní Nádraži and he was met by Elder Hatch and Elder Doxey. They left for the mission home, arrived in a few minutes, and got to work on training Elder Anderson in all the secrets of office missionary work. Papers to sign, forms to fill out, and policies to establish. They started working on the new transfer assignments, started teaching and finding new investigators immediately, and they even found time to get a transportation pass and then wake up early to go see the sunrise over Charles' Bridge on the Vltava on Saturday morning.
All in all, while a surprising change, Elder Anderson was happy with it. There were many opportunities as well as challenges that were now open to him, and to make things even better, he was grateful for the opportunity to become a more effective leader and to see a slightly bigger perspective on how to be a successful missionary. It does go without saying that working in the office would be a foreign experience for him as a missionary, since his normal proselyting or ministering time was reduced and his administering time (doing not-so-missionary-but-still-really-necessary stuff) was way high. All in all, however, he and his member friends from Prague were very stoked about the change.
A few details/housekeeping items that occurred to Elder Anderson while emailing:
1- P-Day is now on Saturday for me, I don't check email any other day of the week
2- My new address is the mission home. If things have been sent to Olomouc, I'll get it soon enough, but the mission home address in Prague is my personal address now.
3- I live in the most beautiful city on earth, and when we went up to the rooftop view yesterday it was stunning to see medieval bridges, cathedrals, castles, buildings, and right up on the hill Prague Castle fully lit up.
4- My exercise and diet are a lot different now, since I get to walk a lot more than I did in Olomouc (go figure) but we don't get to cook quite as much. Hopefully we'll compromise somehow and I'll see about making some fresh stuff like I used to. Then again, there is a mini-mart right next door with real fresh food and not stuff we have to carefully preserve in a tiny fridge. Fresh green bananas here I come!
Love you all, happy to be here, and I look forward to hearing from you for the next chapter of the Adventures of Elder Anderson in Prague!
Elder Brent Anderson
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