This week has been an absolute rollercoaster. Sunday shows up, and I knew something was up. Svetlana came in the door and said all in one breath, "Hello Elder Anderson, really happy to see you, but I wanted to tell you I can't get baptized." I was floored. I think in missionary work (Hopefully not in life at large) you learn to plan for the worst and hope for the best, like smiling and being genuinely happy all the time while a crane hoists 2 tons of bricks right above your head. If it drops and hits you, you're crushed for a minute, then you get up, dust yourself off, and smile wide again saying, "Well, let's do that again!" She's got some concerns from her parents side of things (even though she's almost 50), she's struggling to forgive herself in a few ways, and apparently there are some doctrines that don't sit well with her that she didn't bring up until the last minute. So, she's not getting baptized....yet! She won't drop everything that easily, especially when the Lord gave it to her so easily compared to some. Last week she had vacation and she had free days every day she needed them this last week for the baptism and all. She even had her interview done! Overall it was a shock, and I had to grab a few shoulders to cry on before we picked up the pieces and got back to work.
The new missionaries came in this week and they are sharp as tacks. Their czech is good, they work hard, but they're pretty nervous and anxious. I guess I was too. Amazing to see what progress the Lord makes with us over time. Then it was off to the Airport to drop Sister Reese off. Do you remember Sister Reese? She was the sister missionary in my group. Time flies, doesn't it? We also took President Irwin to the airport for a conference in Frankfurt and held down the fort. We even found and taught two new people, one of them is very animated when he speaks - "Dees ees my-ah BAAAYYYbbeeeee, David-a guiso!' He's very funny. Another is a russian lady trying to learn english. It's a very different week for sure, and next week will be worse/better. We're bringing together two conferences in september for the mission leadership: one in bratislava for one half and one in prague for the other. It's a four day event and so we've had to arrange travel, food, sleeping arrangements, and a program with President Irwin for the whole week. Next saturday I won't be emailing, so expect it some other time, but we'll be assisting the Toronto Foundation in Uherske Hradiste on three service projects. President basically is using us as counselors right now, so he's keeping us very close and we're doing a lot of work that I didn't expect coming into the office. Even still, we're keeping the missionary work first and enjoying the best work ever.
I've got a new companion. Elder Doxey is training out in Ostrava, and Elder Thompson came in (go figure, but he was just serving with Elder Nestman). Elder Thompson is from my graduating class, but from the polar opposite social group. He had a mohawk, rode a harley, skateboarded, and went to punk rock concerts (Czech out this video: http://mormon.org/me/1N0F-eng it's Elder Thompson but 30 years from now). He's wonderful! We've really hit it off so far, and we'll be able to get amazing things done together. He has a profoundly deep testimony an excellent attitude. Figures that there are three of us from AF '08 in the mission now, the third is Callin Osborn. We marched together in band and I've known him since 9th grade. I knew of Elder Thompson in high school (he was the kid with the flaming red mohawk) but never really got to know him at all. So, it's going to be a pretty exciting transfer.
In a couple of weeks, actually, we'll be having another zone conference (They've asked us to have one per quarter, but so far we've had one every month), this time because Elder Texiera is coming for a visit. That will be nerve wracking! He's asked to interview me and Elder Thompson in particular, and will be running his own program with his wife for the conferences. Yikes! I'll have to brush up on my interviewing skills from Sterling Scholar. :P
I'm sending pictures home now that I've got them on CD, so look forward to a few months worth of photos.
Love,
Elder Brent Anderson
PS - Random Czech fact of the day: There is a famous astronomical clock in the center of Prague that was constructed centuries ago under commission of the King. The clockmaker finished the work and, in answer to his fine craftsmanship, the King ordered that he be blinded so he couldn't make another clock. The clock stands to this day, still functions perfectly, and is one of a kind in the world.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Blurry Week ( Week 11 in Prague, Week 71 in Czech )
"Rock-a-my soul in the bosom of Abraham! Rock-a-my soul in the bosom of Abraham!" *WHACK*
The phone didn't clatter to the floor this morning, Elder Anderson knew better since Elder Doxey's phone had stopped working. The new alarm was in interest of keeping things interesting in the mornings, and he really appreciated Alex Boye's solo singing. Even still, the morning started out like many others had. There was baptism in the air in Prague, with two baptisms scheduled for Prague itself and several others scheduled around the country. That week had been full of applying changes made during zone conferences, starting to ramp up for the next week with transfers (already?) and departing missionaries (Like Sister Reese, which really weirded Elder Anderson out: had it seriously already been 18 months?)
The week had been hilited with an exchange in Prague, some really neat people that they'd found with that, and primarily with daily meetings with Svetlana the Slovak who was ready to transform her life and enter into a covenant with God. She had been blessed with a week long vacation this week, giving her plenty of time to read anything she could get her hands on, meet with the missionaries, and come to the baptismal service held on Saturday. The next week she started her 12 hour workday shifts again, but the Lord was watching out for her: She had days off on Sunday, the next Friday (For her baptism) and the following Sunday (Confirmation). Somehow, things were just right, and the Elders knew that the Lord needed her in His kingdom at that moment in time. So, it was all arranged.
As Elder Anderson exercised and got ready for the rest of the day, he thought about the blessings the Lord had provided them all throughout his mission, and he knew that there were many miracles yet to happen. He fastened his tie, and clipped his tag on. So much said with so few words on such an important little name tag. That week there had been many things made even more clear to him, things regarding unity, regarding the priesthood, his calling, the mission of the kingdom of God, the Desires the Lord has for us to become perfect, and so forth. While all of it worthy of note, he chose to avoid it in favor of experiences that were fresh from that day, for in the course of writing home that day, he had to take a pause to attend the baptismal service. Following the service, Svetlana met with President Pilka (the branch president) and was welcomed in her decision to join the Prague Branch and especially to be baptized. Then, the Elders left with the zone leaders on their way to go finding. Even though it was P-Day, they knew they had more important and enjoyable things to do, although secretly Elder Anderson was really looking forward to writing some letters home that day.
On the exchange, Elder Anderson and Elder Andersen (the zone leader from Texas) batted 1.00 in park contacting! They got off the subway and ran two blocks to the park they had chosen, laughing and telling each other how cool it was to be missionaries. They paused, and Elder Andersen shared thoughts from a recent personal study on how grateful he was to be a missionary. With the Spirit brightly burning within them, they prayed and asked the Lord to guide those who needed them most to them. They power walked into the park and the first man they saw, Lubos, was from Slovakia. They said they were there teaching people about Faith. Lubos replied, "I believe, but I cannot make up my mind with an important decision." They sat down and introduced the book of Mormon and taught him of the restoration. They prayed, and Lubos prayed a powerful prayer for the Lord to guide him. They walked another 30 meters to a man from Hamburg, Germany on vacation. After a brief conversation about faith, he referred his information (and Elder Anderson prayed that this man would meet up with a certain friend ;) of his in the Hamburg mission). Next stop was a man two benches down named Claudio. Originally from Italy (and with no lack of Italian flair and expression) he told the elders, "I am learning many things about the God right now, so tell me something about god." "Have you heard about the Book of Mormon?" "Why, no!" And so, they arranged to bring him one in Italian after teaching him about it and what it means, along with praying at the end. The whole time, Claudio's son David Jesua was babbling away, enjoying the conversation his dad was having with two of the Lord's servants.
Finally, the missionaries headed up the path to an older mustached Czech man basking in the sun with a book by George Orwell in his hands. He hailed them, "Hello, I know your friends from five years ago." The missionaries sat down and in a few minutes discovered that this man believed, but wasn't sure about life after this life. The Elders testified of eternal families, that there is more to life in the spirit world, and that our families can be together forever. They prayed with him, and he left looking forward to their next meeting.
The whole experience testified to Elder Anderson of an idea expressed by Nephi long ago:
Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.
Elder Anderson knew and was very grateful for the purpose of his mission in inviting others to come unto Christ, and knew that it was the big "Why" to why he had been sent to those people that day.
Love,
Elder Brent Anderson
PS - I hope you're all as excited for School to start as I am: Dorm tracting, meeting with students and young people, and lots of work to be done!
PPS - I've finally gotten my photos put together. I'm doing a print today, and I'll get then in the mail next week (I hope - transfers are next week, so it'll be pretty intense, but photos are coming. Document!)
The phone didn't clatter to the floor this morning, Elder Anderson knew better since Elder Doxey's phone had stopped working. The new alarm was in interest of keeping things interesting in the mornings, and he really appreciated Alex Boye's solo singing. Even still, the morning started out like many others had. There was baptism in the air in Prague, with two baptisms scheduled for Prague itself and several others scheduled around the country. That week had been full of applying changes made during zone conferences, starting to ramp up for the next week with transfers (already?) and departing missionaries (Like Sister Reese, which really weirded Elder Anderson out: had it seriously already been 18 months?)
The week had been hilited with an exchange in Prague, some really neat people that they'd found with that, and primarily with daily meetings with Svetlana the Slovak who was ready to transform her life and enter into a covenant with God. She had been blessed with a week long vacation this week, giving her plenty of time to read anything she could get her hands on, meet with the missionaries, and come to the baptismal service held on Saturday. The next week she started her 12 hour workday shifts again, but the Lord was watching out for her: She had days off on Sunday, the next Friday (For her baptism) and the following Sunday (Confirmation). Somehow, things were just right, and the Elders knew that the Lord needed her in His kingdom at that moment in time. So, it was all arranged.
As Elder Anderson exercised and got ready for the rest of the day, he thought about the blessings the Lord had provided them all throughout his mission, and he knew that there were many miracles yet to happen. He fastened his tie, and clipped his tag on. So much said with so few words on such an important little name tag. That week there had been many things made even more clear to him, things regarding unity, regarding the priesthood, his calling, the mission of the kingdom of God, the Desires the Lord has for us to become perfect, and so forth. While all of it worthy of note, he chose to avoid it in favor of experiences that were fresh from that day, for in the course of writing home that day, he had to take a pause to attend the baptismal service. Following the service, Svetlana met with President Pilka (the branch president) and was welcomed in her decision to join the Prague Branch and especially to be baptized. Then, the Elders left with the zone leaders on their way to go finding. Even though it was P-Day, they knew they had more important and enjoyable things to do, although secretly Elder Anderson was really looking forward to writing some letters home that day.
On the exchange, Elder Anderson and Elder Andersen (the zone leader from Texas) batted 1.00 in park contacting! They got off the subway and ran two blocks to the park they had chosen, laughing and telling each other how cool it was to be missionaries. They paused, and Elder Andersen shared thoughts from a recent personal study on how grateful he was to be a missionary. With the Spirit brightly burning within them, they prayed and asked the Lord to guide those who needed them most to them. They power walked into the park and the first man they saw, Lubos, was from Slovakia. They said they were there teaching people about Faith. Lubos replied, "I believe, but I cannot make up my mind with an important decision." They sat down and introduced the book of Mormon and taught him of the restoration. They prayed, and Lubos prayed a powerful prayer for the Lord to guide him. They walked another 30 meters to a man from Hamburg, Germany on vacation. After a brief conversation about faith, he referred his information (and Elder Anderson prayed that this man would meet up with a certain friend ;) of his in the Hamburg mission). Next stop was a man two benches down named Claudio. Originally from Italy (and with no lack of Italian flair and expression) he told the elders, "I am learning many things about the God right now, so tell me something about god." "Have you heard about the Book of Mormon?" "Why, no!" And so, they arranged to bring him one in Italian after teaching him about it and what it means, along with praying at the end. The whole time, Claudio's son David Jesua was babbling away, enjoying the conversation his dad was having with two of the Lord's servants.
Finally, the missionaries headed up the path to an older mustached Czech man basking in the sun with a book by George Orwell in his hands. He hailed them, "Hello, I know your friends from five years ago." The missionaries sat down and in a few minutes discovered that this man believed, but wasn't sure about life after this life. The Elders testified of eternal families, that there is more to life in the spirit world, and that our families can be together forever. They prayed with him, and he left looking forward to their next meeting.
The whole experience testified to Elder Anderson of an idea expressed by Nephi long ago:
Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.
Elder Anderson knew and was very grateful for the purpose of his mission in inviting others to come unto Christ, and knew that it was the big "Why" to why he had been sent to those people that day.
Love,
Elder Brent Anderson
PS - I hope you're all as excited for School to start as I am: Dorm tracting, meeting with students and young people, and lots of work to be done!
PPS - I've finally gotten my photos put together. I'm doing a print today, and I'll get then in the mail next week (I hope - transfers are next week, so it'll be pretty intense, but photos are coming. Document!)
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Crazy Week ( Week 10 in Prague, Week 70 in Czech )
Alright, this week was much better than last week. I've got a lesson in 20 minutes and I still haven't showered. But, I've got to tell you everything!
We had zone conferences this week. This means that we planned out a 7 hour conference and we got to deliver it three times to three groups of missionaries across the whole mission. These conferences focused on basic missionary skills and so consequently we had a lot of trainings that we were able to give ourselves. I was very excited about it, I love presentation environments like these to lead and direct and serve the missionaries more effectively. I taught about teaching good member lessons (catchphrase: Just like brushing your teeth, only teach member lessons with the investigators you want to keep!) and Elder Doxey and I jointly introduced a change to our schedule as a mission moving us from goals each transfer to goals each month for baptisms. We believe this will help the mission double baptisms and will change the way that we are able to focus as missionaries on the work.
We spent the mean time on the road to olomouc, ostrava, and Banska Bystrica for exchanges which were mildly successful. I was ecstatic to see the members in Ostrava again and I even had the opportunity to teach the english class there again. There weren't many people there, but I really love those who came a lot. It was so great seeing what had happened since this time last year when I was just leaving ostrava.
While in Banska Bystrica (slovakia) I had a singular experience I will never forget. We were both prompted to go to a park (I was with a slovakian zone leader) and we headed there to find the person who needed us. We found her on a bench. She didn't want to talk to us at first, but we gently and lovingly persisted, talking to her about what brought her happiness in life. She said that Love did, and we proceeded to introduce the Book of Mormon, particularly Moroni 7 to her. As she read, she started to tear up and it was very easy to feel the spirit strongly. We testified that through Jesus Christ we can find greater hope in our lives, and she began to cry even more, and began talking to us about some challenges she's had. She thought that she needed to suffer for it by herself, and was overwhelmed in tears when we testified by the Spirit that Christ had already done so, and she didn't need to suffer any more for it. It was easily one of the highlight experiences of my entire mission rolled into a 15 minute lesson on a bench. We left her on that bench poring through the book of mormon and looking forward to her next meeting with the missionaries.
Finally, reports came in this week of massive flooding in northern bohemia, so massive that the Czech Army got called in for cleanup. The missionary force in this part of the country swapped the shirts and ties for shovels and yellow "Mormonske Pomahajici Ruce" shirts and headed out to lend a hand. I was there all day with the missionaries and, without being too nasty, we cleaned up a yard buried in the muck that had settled in from a neighboring pasture. We probably had about a swimming pool worth of slushy, stinky muddy stuff that we shoveled out, and then we moved to another house to haul wood and materials from a basement out for further cleaning. It was a very eventful day. Now I'm emailing, I've got to go change, and we'll be teaching a lesson.
We'll be having a baptism in a few weeks too. Svetlana is sticking to her date, loves church, loves the Restored gospel, and loves the Savior very much. Every meeting she tells us that this is her last chance in life to really make things right and to get on the right path. And she's right!
Love you all, hope your week was fantastic, and I wish you all the best of luck as school starts up again in a few weeks.
Elder Brent Anderson
We had zone conferences this week. This means that we planned out a 7 hour conference and we got to deliver it three times to three groups of missionaries across the whole mission. These conferences focused on basic missionary skills and so consequently we had a lot of trainings that we were able to give ourselves. I was very excited about it, I love presentation environments like these to lead and direct and serve the missionaries more effectively. I taught about teaching good member lessons (catchphrase: Just like brushing your teeth, only teach member lessons with the investigators you want to keep!) and Elder Doxey and I jointly introduced a change to our schedule as a mission moving us from goals each transfer to goals each month for baptisms. We believe this will help the mission double baptisms and will change the way that we are able to focus as missionaries on the work.
We spent the mean time on the road to olomouc, ostrava, and Banska Bystrica for exchanges which were mildly successful. I was ecstatic to see the members in Ostrava again and I even had the opportunity to teach the english class there again. There weren't many people there, but I really love those who came a lot. It was so great seeing what had happened since this time last year when I was just leaving ostrava.
While in Banska Bystrica (slovakia) I had a singular experience I will never forget. We were both prompted to go to a park (I was with a slovakian zone leader) and we headed there to find the person who needed us. We found her on a bench. She didn't want to talk to us at first, but we gently and lovingly persisted, talking to her about what brought her happiness in life. She said that Love did, and we proceeded to introduce the Book of Mormon, particularly Moroni 7 to her. As she read, she started to tear up and it was very easy to feel the spirit strongly. We testified that through Jesus Christ we can find greater hope in our lives, and she began to cry even more, and began talking to us about some challenges she's had. She thought that she needed to suffer for it by herself, and was overwhelmed in tears when we testified by the Spirit that Christ had already done so, and she didn't need to suffer any more for it. It was easily one of the highlight experiences of my entire mission rolled into a 15 minute lesson on a bench. We left her on that bench poring through the book of mormon and looking forward to her next meeting with the missionaries.
Finally, reports came in this week of massive flooding in northern bohemia, so massive that the Czech Army got called in for cleanup. The missionary force in this part of the country swapped the shirts and ties for shovels and yellow "Mormonske Pomahajici Ruce" shirts and headed out to lend a hand. I was there all day with the missionaries and, without being too nasty, we cleaned up a yard buried in the muck that had settled in from a neighboring pasture. We probably had about a swimming pool worth of slushy, stinky muddy stuff that we shoveled out, and then we moved to another house to haul wood and materials from a basement out for further cleaning. It was a very eventful day. Now I'm emailing, I've got to go change, and we'll be teaching a lesson.
We'll be having a baptism in a few weeks too. Svetlana is sticking to her date, loves church, loves the Restored gospel, and loves the Savior very much. Every meeting she tells us that this is her last chance in life to really make things right and to get on the right path. And she's right!
Love you all, hope your week was fantastic, and I wish you all the best of luck as school starts up again in a few weeks.
Elder Brent Anderson
Saturday, August 7, 2010
At week's end ( Week 9 in Prague, Week 69 in Czech )
"Ye Elders of Israel, come join now with me and seek out the righteous where-ere they may be!" *WHACK*
The phone clattered to the floor. Elder Anderson thought for a moment that it probably isn't good to keep whacking and clattering his phone like that, but the thought pushed away as he realized there was a lot to get done that day. So, he got to work: first on his knees, and then in cleaning his apartment.
The week had been an interesting one. Elder Doxey's phone had failed completely and his address book was gone. Contact information on several key individuals had been lost, and the Elders had a lot to get done to bring things back up to speed. They'd had a wonderful conference on Friday with the zone leaders, and the missionaries had some wonderful lessons with Svetlana, who was definitely going to be baptized in a couple of weeks. She was very excited about the Gospel, was learning a lot, but you could see the changes that were happening in her life. Perhaps even she didn't see the difference, but the Elders did, and they were grateful for the influence of the Spirit working on her.
Contrary to rumor, the Elders didn't always have bright smiling weeks of pure sunshine, with miracles condensing in the dew each morning and people lining up outside the baptismal font. Indeed, the words of Elder Holland came to mind:
"Anyone who does any kind of missionary work will have occasion to ask, Why is this so hard? Why doesn’t it go better? Why can’t our success be more rapid? Why aren’t there more people joining the Church? It is the truth. We believe in angels. We trust in miracles. Why don’t people just flock to the font? Why isn’t the only risk in missionary work that of pneumonia from being soaking wet all day and all night in the baptismal font?
You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? " (Missionary work and the Atonement)
What the Elders do is true, and how they spent their week was good. The Lord, in His wisdom, had placed many prepared people on their path that week. But, missionary work is hard, and it is hard to roll the work forward time and again. However, our faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and in Him, our testimonies based on the guidance of God we experience in our lives, and our hope that things will work out all right lift us, take us forward, and help is to realize the miracles of the future.
Elder Anderson knew in his heart that things would be better, and that things were still not bad. But that feeling of satisfaction and happiness was not as omnipresent as it had been, and he missed it. He knew what he must do to make things right, and he resolved to keep things up, knowing that the next week would be better.
I love you all, hope your weeks have been good one's, and hope to hear from you all soon. :)
Elder Brent Anderson
The phone clattered to the floor. Elder Anderson thought for a moment that it probably isn't good to keep whacking and clattering his phone like that, but the thought pushed away as he realized there was a lot to get done that day. So, he got to work: first on his knees, and then in cleaning his apartment.
The week had been an interesting one. Elder Doxey's phone had failed completely and his address book was gone. Contact information on several key individuals had been lost, and the Elders had a lot to get done to bring things back up to speed. They'd had a wonderful conference on Friday with the zone leaders, and the missionaries had some wonderful lessons with Svetlana, who was definitely going to be baptized in a couple of weeks. She was very excited about the Gospel, was learning a lot, but you could see the changes that were happening in her life. Perhaps even she didn't see the difference, but the Elders did, and they were grateful for the influence of the Spirit working on her.
Contrary to rumor, the Elders didn't always have bright smiling weeks of pure sunshine, with miracles condensing in the dew each morning and people lining up outside the baptismal font. Indeed, the words of Elder Holland came to mind:
"Anyone who does any kind of missionary work will have occasion to ask, Why is this so hard? Why doesn’t it go better? Why can’t our success be more rapid? Why aren’t there more people joining the Church? It is the truth. We believe in angels. We trust in miracles. Why don’t people just flock to the font? Why isn’t the only risk in missionary work that of pneumonia from being soaking wet all day and all night in the baptismal font?
You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? " (Missionary work and the Atonement)
What the Elders do is true, and how they spent their week was good. The Lord, in His wisdom, had placed many prepared people on their path that week. But, missionary work is hard, and it is hard to roll the work forward time and again. However, our faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and in Him, our testimonies based on the guidance of God we experience in our lives, and our hope that things will work out all right lift us, take us forward, and help is to realize the miracles of the future.
Elder Anderson knew in his heart that things would be better, and that things were still not bad. But that feeling of satisfaction and happiness was not as omnipresent as it had been, and he missed it. He knew what he must do to make things right, and he resolved to keep things up, knowing that the next week would be better.
I love you all, hope your weeks have been good one's, and hope to hear from you all soon. :)
Elder Brent Anderson
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