Week 1 in the Field - "Czech Republic is Awesome"

Well, I have arrived and it's absolutely incredible here! Very beautiful and such an amazing place! So, to begin in the airport in Chicago on our way over to London I met a man named Mohammed and after talking to him found out that he is going to his father's funeral, so we were able to teach him about the Plan of Salvation (me and elder dean who was in my MTC group) and give him a Book of Mormon. He is a Muslim, but was very interested in our message. He lives in Pakistan, but currently we dont have missionaries serving in that area, so since he is interested in the discussions he will have them over skype which will be really interesting. I gave the referall to President McConkey, and I am hoping that after giving him a Book of Mormon it will go well and that he will be able to progress. Really exciting stuff! :) 

 

Also, when we finally arrived in Prague (I slept great on the plane by the way which I think is a miracle) we went on a Prague Walk and saw the clocktower in the middle of the city by the large cathederal (I have pictures :)) and also went up a hill and had an overlook of the city! In which President gave us an overview of the history of the mission which began in 1920 stopped when WWII began and then in 1991 was reopened to missionaries. Then we stayed the night in a very "missionary" like hotel...not sure how else to describe it. The next day we had an interview with the president where I shared my testimony in Czech, and prayed in Czech as well he described the area and gave us a vision of our branch and what it needed.

Now, I am serving in česke Budějovice which is the smallest, most struggling branch in the Czech Republic at this point. It is beautiful, and I have pictures from the top of a tower overlooking right in the namesti (center) of the city! Currently, I am serving with Elder Needham, grew up in Logan and he is a cross country, so natually, we go running A LOT every morning we run probably two miles and he eats SUPER healthy, so of course, I follow suit. I am pretty sure my body is really confused at this point what in the heck is going on..but slowly but surely I am adjusting and he is very patient with me which is nice. Other than that we get along really well, and everything is great! He likes the Piano Guys, is from a family of 9, and is also the Branch 1st counselor, along with the district president. The branch has about 100 members on record with 15 that come activiely. The work is centered around finding, lots of it. We currently have one progressing investigator and have 5 other investigators. We teach about 6 inactivies and are working with 2 to get the Priesthood. One is really really really close, but is having a hard time giving up smoking, Bratr Rybak, and the other is 18 and is name is Vasyl and the Sisters in our district our teaching him. Our vision is to get a YSA age man that could take Elder Needham's place in the presidency and also find a family that we can build the branch around. It's just us two and two sisters that serve in the area.

Some things that are different, no air condition or waterfountains, but the windows have this cool way of opening that is so much easier than in America, haha pretty funny but I love it! It's also surprises people when you say hello, culturally, normally only greet when they know each other from before. So naturally they are a little apprehensive to missionaires which is really funny when you are trying to speak them about Christ, something most have never heard of before. My language has grown a lot just in a few days because my trainer is forcing me to speak and do contacts on my own which is really hard because I still cant understand. But in just a week I have been able to get my ideas across for the most part.

The food is amazing! We tried Halušky which is kind of a type of homemade mac and cheese but better and I am making it when I come home then we had svečkova which I have a picture of, culture thing it is really rude to leave any sauce on part so that's why they give you bread on the side, which wasnt a problem for me because I inhaled since it was so amazing.

Arichtecture is simatueonsly modern and old and a little bit third world at the same time. The pictures will show better than I can explain it! There is quite a bit of graffiti everywhere in the Czech Republic that's pretty common. We also have the nicest apartments in the mission, so it's only downhill from here haha but it's really nice also I have pictures (ill try to send them all but I cant promise too much)

Meeting the mission president was great, he has a great personality he is very spiritual and likes the concept of work till you drop. He sets a very strict schedule which keeps us busy and we are able to accomplish all we need to in a country that is just barely being introduced to the gospel. Thanks for all the emails and support! :) Scipture of the week is Ether 8:26 which unofortunately I cant quote because I forgot my english scriptures..but the message is Satan cannot have ahold of our hearts when we are continually doing good, so my challenge is to continue to do the small everyday things of prayer, scirpture study, and being with family that can protect you from the influence of Satan! It's truly the only way we can overcome him!

Elder Belshe