Missionary Work ( Week 30 in Prague, Week 90 in Czech )

Hello Everyone!
It seems like during the holiday season there are many excuses for having "special edition" versions of things, like letters. I don't think I'll be doing another "special edition" letter today, but I would like to talk about missionary work.
This week we had transfers and we brought in three great, fresh missionaries: Two going to Slovakia, one going to the Czech Republic (He's actually from Germany!) These elders are so incredibly excited to start finding and teaching and laboring as missionaries, and one can't help but feel excited with them. They are starting on such a wonderful adventure. My whole mission is like a great gift: so many amazing things have been learned, experienced, and I'm so happy to be here. I've recently been considering the importance of missionary work and how it is we can fulfill this sacred calling best. I realized that the best way to do missionary work is to simply teach everyone. That is basically the call: To preach the gospel to everyone, and to provide the ordinances to those who choose to follow and keep His commandments. D&C 80:3 nails it right on the head:
Wherefore, go ye and preach my gospel, whether to the north or to the south, to the east or to the west, it mattereth not, for ye cannot go amiss.
It happens a lot that we start looking for "the one", that we start trying to sift through a lot of noise to find that one prepared person. I can say that I've seen that on my mission when it was applicable, when the Lord did lead us to "the one", that person that was going to need to gospel the most. But I can also say that those times when I was led to "the one" was when I was trying to talk to "the everyone". I remember my second transfer when we found Daniel in Ostrava. He was baptized a month after we found him and was really prepared. He was "the one". That day, however, was spent with us running around the city trying to talk to as many people as possible. The circumstances were that we were trying to contact more people than the sister missionaries in the city that day, and in our frenzy of finding we stumbled across a man sitting on a bench texting on his phone. When we showed him the book of mormon and the picture of Christ among the Nephites, he said "I've seen that before." He was thirsty to learn and find out much more, and was baptized. I suppose the point of this thought today is that if you want to succeed as a missionary, preach the gospel. It doesn't matter where, or to whom: Just preach it to everyone that will listen. In doing so and in being obedient, you are successful.

In other news, I've started officially as the financial and executive secretary this week. The Andersons are supervising me now, making sure that I'm doing everything the right way. It's fun, it's interesting, it's different, but it's not missionary work. I'm happy to do it and I'm glad that I still get to work and teach when I get the chance, and it's comforting to know that the Lord worked everything out the way he did for a reason. It's not just by chance that I entered the MTC 8 months after I put my papers in. It was a long wait, but He knows what is right.

Love you all,
Elder Brent Anderson