Hey everyone! It has really happened... I'm in Slovakia! Wow... did all of you know they speak different languages out here? I don't even know where to begin so I'm sorry if this sounds a little sporadic and, especially, if it is rushed (To everyone that reads this, never take time for granted).
So as you all know, I left the MTC at about 3:45 am last Monday morning. We took a bus over to the FrontRunner which took us all the way to downtown Salt Lake City. We (The 10 Czech/Slovak missionaries) then hopped on a shuttle towards the airport. I had such a big smile on my face during all of this. It was so nice to be out and doing something new. I loved talking with everybody as I went. It was wonderful to speak to people in English! While we were in the shuttle (Haha, I just realized how stupid I must've looked: 6:00 am, huge, dorky grin, and three very heavy bags anchoring me to the ground) I made most of my conversation with a man sitting down a few feet from me. I just got to know him and about where he was going, why he was here in Utah, what he does, and things like that. I really liked this guy! What was once a little small-talk erupted into a really interesting conversation. We were talking a lot about business and universities when he was the one who introduced religion. I asked him about his faith and he explained that he was a in-active member of a branch off of the Methodist church (I can't remember the name). He was a great guy-- I need to skip a lot of things now because I have twenty minutes to get only a portion of the crazy and amazing things that have happened this past week-- and within the first five minutes of me entering the Salt Lake City airport I had placed my first Book of Mormon. He accepted it and was actually really grateful for it. I definitely saw something in his eyes as we talked and when I gave him that copy. I'm so grateful for how much the Lord has blessed me.The interesting thing was how closely he watched me, both when we were and when we weren't talking. It's true that not only are we as missionaries being constantly watched but every Latter Day Saint is, as well. For those that read this that are members I urge you to constantly remember to be a good example and to hold onto your morals.
Later that day, I talked with a lot of wonderful and prepared people. I prayed for the Lord to send someone that needed to hear the message that I had to give... and he did. I gave out two copies of the Book of Mormon and two Mormon.org pass-along cards... and I loved every minute of it.
I am now a person who can say that he has seen the great city of Prague. It was beautiful! Shoot, I wish that I could tell all of you about it more but I just don't have enough time. I met my mission president, President McConkie, and he is so cool! After traveling an entire 24 hours we all got situated at the mission office, did a lot of stuff, and went off on the tour. Time for bullet points...
-Sadly, after the first photo I took on the tour, my camera battery died. The photo wasn't even of me! Just four gorgeous bridges over a river that I could have been standing in front of. Sorry mom!
-Ate dinner and desert in one of the restaurants: delicious!
-Tried to contact a lady on the metro but not only did she speak extremely fast... she also was speaking Czech. I said my piece and just tried to ignore that any of that had just happened.
-Met my companion, Starsi Clem. He is great! This will be his last transfer so I am definitely getting the best training I can with a missionary who has been here for almost two years.
-Starsi Garlick and I were assigned to the same area! Nitra! This is the oldest city in Slovakia but is also the newest area in the entire mission. My district is only 4 Elders. The church is very new here but we are progressing very quickly as well. It has been open for 6 months and the branch has a total of six members. The missionaries reactivated 5 and baptized 1. We also found another member in a small town outside of Nitra. He is Hungarian but speaks fairly strong Slovak. He ran across the border into Germany during communism to get baptized! We are meeting with him again next week to start reteaching him everything since he has been without the church for probably about 20 years.
-In just one week we got 7 new investigators and a lot of potential investigators as well. The Lord wants Nitra to grow.
I'm sorry this is short but I now have to go. I love all of you and look forward to writing to you again in a week!
Do videnia!
P.S. To Brat Zabriskie,
Why didn't you tell us that you and your companion recorded some songs here!? Everytime I hear, "Evenjelium," I have to hold back a giggle!
Why didn't you tell us that you and your companion recorded some songs here!? Everytime I hear, "Evenjelium," I have to hold back a giggle!
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