Faith and Prayer ( Week 21 in Prague, Week 81 in Czech )

Hello,

This last week has been great! It's been an interesting series of days composed of many meetings, Lilia zeroing in on her baptism, and we brought in 5 great new missionaries from all over the united states. We also had to part with three missionaries who were going home. This group represents the last group of czech missionaries to leave before next march. But, as I've been saying around here for a while, I'll be here forever. :) No going home for me.

We take the new missionaries out contacting as part of their first day in Prague, mostly to wear them out so much that they sleep all night long and get adjusted to the time difference quickly. We gave them the extended prague walk, about 10 KM of hiking from site to site, which covers the bulk of the really good things to see here. We naturally run into members on vacation a lot, which is fun. They saw Prague Castle, the Senate gardens, Charles bridge, the old town square and the clock tower, the monument to Prague Spring riots, the museum, and a modern art statue of Saint Wenceslas on a horse that's upside down. They were nervous the whole time since we take them out contacting at the end of the walk but right before dinner. "We can't do that! Talk to people? In czech! But half of us are going to slovakia!AHHH!"

This is where the most important thing I've learned on my mission came into play, and I'd like to share it with you.

When God gives us a commandment through scriptures, living prophets, or personal revelation, we might be scared a bit. That's normal. But, we get to make a choice: Are we going to believe and do, or will we doubt and not do. There is no "try" involved. You do it, or you don't do it in the end. When we choose to succeed, we confirm that faith with prayer to make it a reality. Then you go out and work to achieve it. It's very simple, but incredibly powerful. Every blessing that God wants to give us may be earned by following that pattern of being obedient to his commandments, having faith, praying, and working. You will succeed. The new missionaries didn't know this yet, but we promised them success, made assignments, and prayed. Then we scooted them off. Within 30 minutes, they'd picked up 3 phone numbers all by themselves. They were elated! How did the assistants know that it would work? Well, because the Lord blesses the obedient, the faithful, and those who go out and work.

I've got to go now, but Lilia will be baptized this time next week and I'll get you pictures of it soon.

Cheers,
Elder Brent Anderson

I think we'll start today out with a poem ( Week 20 in Prague, Week 80 in Czech )

"It's easy enough to be pleasant

when everything goes like a song

but the man who's worthwhile

is the man who can smile

when everything goes dead wrong."  Author Unkown

Just another old day in the Office

With Elders and sisters around

But something was up

When the strange man showed up

Who's stuff had been lost but not found

"Where are my things?" cried the stranger

"I left them here minutes ago?

And they're gone like a flash!

Who ran off with my stash?

I guess I'll go break a window."

The next monring they shaved and they showered

'Round the corner they turned, and a gleam:

Where 6 panes had been

Oh, to their chagrin

There were rocks and sharp shards to be seen.

"Go figure" they said to each other

"President's gone for all of this week."

So they called a glass shop

And they grabbed the floormop

And a broom to make it all neat.

Then that night there were two members baptized

A slovak and an Elderly man

Despite all their peers

And the usual fears

They both came up joyful with tears

The Missionaries still performed miracles,

And slovakia with new fire was in.

Although he shoots sharp

With a fiery dart,

The adversary still will not win.

So the moral of all is simple:

When you've got a tough day that goes long

Choose grin over grim

You're still sure to win

If you turn a dead wrong into song.

The true translation for "V praze je Blaze, ale draze"

In his earlier post, we attempted to translate the phrase "V praze je Blaze, ale draze". Unfortunately, we were woefully incorrect. Our translation attempt was influenced by the content of his letter. It made sense to us. :) The correct translation for this, as provided by Starsi Brent himself, is, "Life's a blast in Prague, but it's expensive." He was able to briefly answer our question regarding this. It is nice that he works in the Mission Office. He gets a bit more leeway regarding email. 

We hope everyone has a great week.

Brent's parents

V praze je Blaze, ale draze (Good things are happening in Prague) ( Week 19 in Prague, Week 79 in Czech )

(Dad's note. The translation above is roughly what the phrase means. I will be asking Brent about the phrase meaning this week.)

Hello all,

This week was great! We've finally been able to spend some considerable time teaching and working in our area despite conferences and other interruptions. Lilia is doing really well, I'll tell you her story and probably have to wrap up from there. I've got some more pictures to send out, btw. :)

On monday, we met with Lilia. She had something troubling her, and she described some of her life challenges that she's been facing at the moment. We had planned on teaching the plan of salvation. As she was describing the state of her life right now (chaos) I was thinking about ways we could help her. In my very practical way I was thinking of people or places or things or scriptures to help her with as band-aids of sorts. Elder Thompson, however, who is easily the more spiritual half of the companionship, sat for a minute and then proceeded to teach her in a very beautiful way about the law of the fast. He shared some scriptures, bore testimony, and committed her and us to fast for her that day. We had a dinner appointment that night, and then we started our fast. The next evening, we had planned to text her to see how she was doing. She was incredibly positive, and said she was going to fast a little longer.

Two days passed. We spent time in Brno and in other places working and delivering the last two conferences for the month, and then we came back. Thursday was full of miracles. We had lessons, we went all over prague, and wherever we went the Lord had prepared people that we needed to meet with. Members, investigators, and then suddenly, in a crowd of literally thousands of people in the subway, we see this signature purple coat and bright blond hair. "Lilia!" She didn't stop. Worried, we ran up to her, "Excuse me? Lilia?" Was she ignoring us?

I ran up in front of her, "Hi!" A huge smile burst on her face. "Hello!!! I'm so happy to see you!" We briefly talked, and she said that "Since I started fasting, a miracle has started in my life! I can't tell you about it right now, but things are getting better and better every day!"

She then told us she had been fasting since Monday, making hers a 4 day fast. We told her again she only needed to go for a day at a time, or 2 meals, but it wasn't until our meeting on Friday (day 5 of her fasting) that she understood that one day is enough. She had only planned a five day fast to begin with, but it was remarkable seeing her faith and willingness to keep the commandments. She committed to the word of wisdom, and it looks like we'll be having a white November baptism. Her member friend, Tana, loves teaching with us as well and has been enjoying the time spent at her lessons.

Being a missionary is great. It's the hardest thing I've ever done, it's the most draining and the most focus-consuming. It leaves me exhausted at the end of the day. But, it's a beautiful thing.

Hope your week is full of the spirit and that you enjoy the upcoming halloween holiday.

Love,

Elder Brent Anderson

New photo of Starší Anderson

We just received this photo of Brent, Elder Thomson his companion standing to his leftt, Elder Tomlinson standing to the right and Elder Lofgren. Brent and Elder Thomson went to high school together and are now Assistant's to the President. Elders' Tomlinson and Lofgren are office Elders.
Can you believe it? Brent will be home in March.

Have a great day!!

Brent's Dad

Země Česká, Domov Můj! (The Czech land, my home!) ( Week 18 in Prague, Week 78 in Czech )

Hey Everyone,

Sorry, no prose this week. We've had a fantastic time travelling between cities in the country and into slovakia. We were slated to travel all the way to kosice (About the end of the world and a days journey by train), but we decided to get back on Thursday night so we could get some work done in our area. Lilia, the lady we've been teaching and preparing for baptism, has been feeling the spirit a lot in our lessons and other meetings. She said during our meeting yesterday, "Wait, what's this feeling? I have goose bumps everywhere." I love it when that happens, it means we can explain the role of the Holy Ghost and from then on, she gets what it means when she feels that way. She's getting baptized in two weeks, right before a mission conference we've just announced. Elder Pearson of the Seventy is making a visit, just in time to see the blessings of the missionary lessons they've implemented to build missionary skills and faith. He's one of the main authors of the lessons, and he's a director of the missionary department, so it's going to be an excellent experience for everyone. I'm very excited to meet him. I remember president Irwin saying when we started in July that we would not be having as many conferences and meetings, but so far this transfer we've had one every week and spent 16 days so far in conferences, with another handful to go. But, I believe the Lord is leading us where we need to be right now.

Not really sure what to write anymore, really. I could write about my personal studies lately, how reading in the book of mormon is awesome. I'm trying to finish by the 18th of November so I can get it re-read a couple more times before next spring.

In working with Czechs for the last period of time, it's remarkable seeing how our personal attitudes and belief can make a positive impact in the lives of others. Just the other day, we were on the street contacting and talking about how important a good attitude is. I said to my companion at the time (We were on exchange in Brno) that our attitudes bleed over to others. "Here, watch this." And I put the biggest smile I could on. A few minutes later we had a return appointment and he wanted to bring his friends to learn about the book of mormon. Our attitudes strongly influence the behavior of others. Sometimes when we face hard times and difficult places in our relationships, we must remember what is important when we are teaching people and talking to them. When we make the move to be positive, happy, and loving, they will love us for it. Don't forget what John said about Christ's love:

"We love him because he loved us first."

(1 John 4:19)

So, choose to be loving. Choose to make the first move. If you do, you will be in good company.

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Brent Anderson

So much time and so little to do! Strike that, reverse it! So little time, so much to do! ( Week 17 in Prague, Week 77 in Czech )

Dear Family,

This week has been a whirlwind! We invited an investigator to baptism on Tuesday, a lady we found the first day of the transfer together when we were showing the new missionaries around prague to wear them out before bed. She's a hairdresser from russia who's lived here for some time, and she's enjoyed coming to church and activities. After watching the restoration film, she really enjoyed it and we told her about our next baptismal service this month. She asked, "What time?" and we were a little shocked at her willingness. To be on the safe side, we came around again and emphasized that this would be her  baptism, not someone elses. She agreed wholeheartedly! So refreshing to teach someone with such willingness. Armen is doing well, and we're just trying to figure out how to keep him spiritually fed while we're gone all of next week and part of the week after.

This transfer has flown by so far, but I'm grateful to be where I am. Contrary to popular belief, we do spend a significant amount of time working our own area and not just in the office. But, the office has seen a lot of changes since I first arrived, and it's clear the Lord gives us talents so we can use them.

Our conferences this week were with mission leadership (again), namely district leaders, trainers, and zone leaders. This transfer has been spent pouring a ton of time and energy into these missionaries, and it's remarkable seeing the progress we've made thanks to these efforts.

I hope you're all happy and healthy, doing well in school and finding time to enjoy life while we're in the thick of it. One of the immense blessings of missionary work is that you meet so many people, countless thousands upon thousands, and in seeing so many people I've grown to love the Gospel a lot because I can see what it means to have it and to not have it. It is so plain to me how living the gospel establishes solid, sound, and happy lives, and that when we are obedient the commandments and strive to magnify our purpose we become enriched and alive.

Enjoy this weekend's general conference, and I hope you find time to think of ways you can share the gospel that much more, even if it's just a bit.

Love,

Elder Anderson