Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Czech Christmas Bread Making
All missionaries plus other members met at the bishops house for the annual bread making.
We then deliver these to less actives, investigators, etc. A memorable day.
Christmas Time
It finally snowed this week! That was very nice! We finally will have a white Christmas, even though today it is starting to melt and get warm. I took a picture, so it counts :) Mirek is doing well, and we focused on finding more joy from reading along with teaching about the plan of salvation. We met with several other people this week, but many of them will not be able to meet again until the beginning of the New Year. This week I spent some time with the Holts helping with some translation as part of their humanitarian responsibilities. It was such a great experience, and brought the spirit of Christmas right into the work that we are doing. We visited a deaf school after the church had funded them for a couple of new facilities. As a way of thanks, all of the kids that were 3 to 5 years old put on a presentation for us of the three little pigs with a Christmas twist at the end where Jezisek (the Czech equivalent of Santa Claus) leaves gifts for the little piggies in the brick house. It was a good week, and as part of the time with the Holts we were able to visit some less actives. One of which, came to church WITH his friend! That was a huge blessing! We are hoping they will actively come to church now even though they leave pretty far outside the city.
My scripture this week comes from Matt 2:
7. Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
11 ¶And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
There is much that we can learn from the wise men especially of their diligence in seeking the Savior even during their long journey to find him. The Wise Men, like many of us, are seeking the Savior and bringing our gifts and talents with us, and I can promise that we can find him if we continue diligently and hearken to the signs that are presented to us along the way, much like the star guided these wise men.
Have a MERRY Christmas!
Elder Belshe
My scripture this week comes from Matt 2:
7. Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
11 ¶And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
There is much that we can learn from the wise men especially of their diligence in seeking the Savior even during their long journey to find him. The Wise Men, like many of us, are seeking the Savior and bringing our gifts and talents with us, and I can promise that we can find him if we continue diligently and hearken to the signs that are presented to us along the way, much like the star guided these wise men.
Have a MERRY Christmas!
Elder Belshe
Friday, December 16, 2016
Transformation of Mission Culture
You are probably wondering why I am emailing on Tuesday, one of the elders in the District, had some kidney stones and is trying to pass them, and he starting to feel some serious pain while we were on a vylet (trip) during the open part of the day yesterday. So we accompanied him to the hospital and helped him out there. A place a little far away from Hradec Kralove. He is doing ok, and should pass them soon. The poor guy.
It’s been an awesome week! We had 3 investigators at church this week which was a huge step for our investigators right now. Mirek is working well towards baptism, and should hit his goal coming up in the New Year, and Pavel also has started changing his heart and is really looking like his baptism goal in the new year will also be reachable.
We also had the first ever Member Missionary Conference of the Czech Republic Stake this week. That was a great event! It was a great blessing for us missionaries to be a part of it! It focused solely on how we as missionaries can teach members and practice with them on how to be member missionaries in order to help us in bringing others to Christ. It is such a perfect time for our mission right now to go through this transformation because of the trust they have in us being able to see others come to church, and obedient missionaries that are striving their hardest. Our goal in the next year is to truly focus on member work rather than solely tracting and contacting on the streets which has been really the only source of baptisms for our very young mission :) Our goal is to inspire all the active members to bring one of their friends to the waters to baptism next year.
Not a lot of time today but I would like to share one scripture:
7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo,the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
11 ¶And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
Our goal must always be to wise seekers of Christ! If we, like the wise men of old, seek diligently and give of ourselves through our service and acts we can come to rejoice in the Saviors light and love! Keep serving and #lighttheworld.
Love you all!
Elder Belshe
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Land of Believers
So, the Czech Republic it is split into three regions. The one that I have spent my entire mission in is Bohemia, on the west side of the country, the other side of the country is Moravia. Bohemia is a land full of "atheists" about 85% (which no Czech truly is in my opinion :)) whereas Moravia is a land of more believers, it is probably more like 50\50. We had our last Exchange and visit to a district meeting in Ostrava. (Where pres. Uchdorf was born) The travel there is very long and takes about 3 hours, but the Exchange was great and we were able to give some good advice for the Ostrava district which is doing really well right now! Giving an example for the zone :) However, Ostrava is technically on the Moravia side of the country, closer to the Slovak Republic, and it was the first time ever that I have done missionary work in Moravia. Fun stuff! And also interesting the differences in the contacting that we had on the streets!
Other than that there is not much news to share, things in our area are finally starting to build even though towards the end of the week they started to slow down again. We have a great guy named Mirek who is looking to be baptized at the beginning of the new year, but really struggles to understand spiritual things so things have moved a little bit slower with him. But I love him, he is funny and a great guy! :) Also we are teaching a student at the university named Nikil who is also really awesome and has a lot of faith, but cannot meet with us until later in the month.
The Christmas challenge has been great! People have been positively responding to the call to do service which is why Christmas is always the best missionary time of the year! :)
Here is a scripture that I found this week:
1 When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.
2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them.
6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Let us not forget the wonderful blessings the Lord has given unto us! In this Christmas season I hope we can rejoice from the message of hope that Christ brings into our lives when we seek and knock! Have a great week!
Elder Belshe
Saturday, December 3, 2016
Light the World
If you have not heard, the
church has come out with an initiative for Christmas demonstrating how we can
bring the Light of Christ into someone's life in 25 ways for 25 days! I am way
excited! It is going to be a blast!
However, this week we had
a lot going on. Tuesday, we spent the day traveling and did a Hradec Kralove
Zone tour basically where we went to 3 of the districts, participated in their
district meeting, and trained them on how to give baptismal invitations. It was
really fun, and we got to spend an hour and contact with them afterwards on the
street! Many of the things we are doing are looking forward to our big MLC and
mission conference that is happening at the end of the year in preparation for
the new year.
After the last district
meeting in Jicin, I came back with Elder Hudsons (one of my former district
members in Prague when he was a greenie) and a greenie named Elder Mueller.
Awesome kid, hard work ethic, and absolutely no fear of Czech, which is awesome
to see! It was a fun exchange, and a good experience for both of us! Thursday
was Thanksgiving and preparation for zone interviews in Hradec Kralove which
was great! Shout out to Elder Holt! He prepared an amazing meal for us and we
loved it! Then we started wrapping some copies of the Book of Mormon for a
finding activity.
The new Light the World initiative
starts this week, and the video came out on the 25th of November, the same day
that we had everyone in Hradec Kralove for interviews. So we came up with the
idea that we should show the video on the main namesti with a Christmas tree,
and hand out Christmas gifts (copies of the Book of Mormon) to individuals and
explain to them what it was! We did something similar in Plzen a little while
ago where all of us were in Prague and we set up a living room by a main metro
station, but this one was definitely my favorite :) It was very successful! We
found several new investigators and gave away about 70 copies of the Book of
Mormon on the street, after explaining what it was to them. One woman we met on
the street had just heard her husband was in the hospital and did not know if
he would make it or not. After explaining the Plan of Salvation and the power
of the Book of Mormon, she started crying and she said she always wanted to
believe something was there...I love Czechs! :) It was a great week! Check out
the Light the World Initiative (you can find it on Google) and participate
during the 25 days! Sorry, short on time, scripture next week! Have a great week!
Hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving!
Starší Belshe
Pardubice Tour
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| Old Chicago Restaurant |
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| Elder Belshe and Elder Mueller |
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| Book of Mormon Gifts |
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| Christmas Tree Contacting |
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Thanksgiving Day Pictures
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| Thanksgiving Day Feast with Elder Holt |
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| Throwing Rocks into Poland |
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| Service Project |
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Giving Thanks
We have a lot to be grateful for this week wherever we are, but for us in Hradec Kralove it was a really good week! :) We have a couple of progressing investigators, not a lot being found right now, but we are working on some goals as a companionship to increase our opportunities to find individuals. The Lakatošoví, the family that we found, is doing well. They have begun reading and praying even though they were not able to make it to church. During church, a man named Martin gave his farewell talk for his mission, the 2nd elder from the Hradec Kralove branch to leave in the last few months. He gave an incredible talk about the power of the Book of Mormon unto conversion, but the poor kid….towards the end of his talk, we have no idea why, he fainted! I was translating for the senior couple, and noticed that he started turning white and then all of a sudden he passed out right on the stand! Thankfully, the Bishop was there to stop his fall, but after that he jumped right back up pretending nothing had happened trying to finish with his testimony and then he fainted again! Definitely a sacrament meeting nobody will forget. He is completely fine now, and ready to enter the MTC in Manchester England this week.
I cannot believe it is Thanksgiving! We will have our official p-day on Thursday, today we are just emailing. There is a senior couple in this area called the Holts. They will be preparing the meal for us which is really nice of them.
Elder Sabin of the Seventy came and visited our mission for a zone conference as well as a mission leadership conference! He gave some very amazing talks about faith and our potential as children of God. It really pumped up the mission, and we have been seeing a new fire in the mission in this new transfer. Hopefully, in these next few weeks, and it will grow with visits to district meetings and exchanges that we will be conducting this week. It will be another crazy, busy week :)
Here’s my scripture about Thanksgiving, it is short and sweet! :)
1 Thessalonians 3:9.
For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God.
We have so much to be grateful for in our lives, for our very being and especially for our joy! Joy comes through God, and is a gift for those that show gratitude for all we have been given. Have a great week!
Elder Belshe
(Here are pictures from this cool cathedral that we visited as part of a service project.)
I cannot believe it is Thanksgiving! We will have our official p-day on Thursday, today we are just emailing. There is a senior couple in this area called the Holts. They will be preparing the meal for us which is really nice of them.
Elder Sabin of the Seventy came and visited our mission for a zone conference as well as a mission leadership conference! He gave some very amazing talks about faith and our potential as children of God. It really pumped up the mission, and we have been seeing a new fire in the mission in this new transfer. Hopefully, in these next few weeks, and it will grow with visits to district meetings and exchanges that we will be conducting this week. It will be another crazy, busy week :)
Here’s my scripture about Thanksgiving, it is short and sweet! :)
1 Thessalonians 3:9.
For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God.
We have so much to be grateful for in our lives, for our very being and especially for our joy! Joy comes through God, and is a gift for those that show gratitude for all we have been given. Have a great week!
Elder Belshe
(Here are pictures from this cool cathedral that we visited as part of a service project.)
Friday, November 18, 2016
Hradec Kralove Zone
So, a little information about the zone: Our zone covers the cities of Jicin, Liberec, Hradec Kralove, and Ostrava. It is a pretty big zone compared to the Prague Zone in comparison to land size and also number of districts. All of our district leaders are awesome. I am excited for an awesome transfer with them.
President has asked that each of the zone leaders visit and critique each of the district meetings included with all of our exchanges during the transfer…and it has to be done in the next 2 weeks! ...so basically the entire transfer will be madness but amazing because it will prepare us for a goal of 100 baptisms mission wide next year. A little more than double of what we have had this year.
Our area is doing well, not a lot to say right at this moment other than the fact that we had this awesome guy named Mirek come church this week! We are excited to see his progression. He has a baptism date scheduled for the middle of December.
Lots of great finding experiences this week already. One of them was while contacting right before dinner. It was just icy cold and nobody on the streets. It always in the last moment, right when you want to quit, and if you don’t, then the Lord can bless you! Because of it, we found a family with 6 kids that we get to meet with the end of this week. That was the cool story of the week!
Lots of trainings, exchanges, and MLC this week with Elder Saban of the Seventy who is here on mission tour. I will have lots to talk about next week!
As a mission this transfer we are studying about repentance and the atonement, so my scripture for this week is DC 58:42-43.
42 Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.
43 By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them.
I am so grateful for the knowledge of true repentance and how it brings the cleansing feeling of the atonement in our lives. What a great blessing the Lord has given us to know that our sins have been forgiven us if we but turn to him with full hearts truly changing our thought of even the perspective of sin, to good acts of faith.
Have a great week!
Elder Belshe
President has asked that each of the zone leaders visit and critique each of the district meetings included with all of our exchanges during the transfer…and it has to be done in the next 2 weeks! ...so basically the entire transfer will be madness but amazing because it will prepare us for a goal of 100 baptisms mission wide next year. A little more than double of what we have had this year.
Our area is doing well, not a lot to say right at this moment other than the fact that we had this awesome guy named Mirek come church this week! We are excited to see his progression. He has a baptism date scheduled for the middle of December.
Lots of great finding experiences this week already. One of them was while contacting right before dinner. It was just icy cold and nobody on the streets. It always in the last moment, right when you want to quit, and if you don’t, then the Lord can bless you! Because of it, we found a family with 6 kids that we get to meet with the end of this week. That was the cool story of the week!
Lots of trainings, exchanges, and MLC this week with Elder Saban of the Seventy who is here on mission tour. I will have lots to talk about next week!
As a mission this transfer we are studying about repentance and the atonement, so my scripture for this week is DC 58:42-43.
42 Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.
43 By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them.
I am so grateful for the knowledge of true repentance and how it brings the cleansing feeling of the atonement in our lives. What a great blessing the Lord has given us to know that our sins have been forgiven us if we but turn to him with full hearts truly changing our thought of even the perspective of sin, to good acts of faith.
Have a great week!
Elder Belshe
Monday, November 7, 2016
Out of the Prague Zone
So, for the first time in my mission I am leaving the Prague Zone! I’m going about an hour away to Hradec Kralove which is in the Hradec Kralove Zone where I will serve as zone leader with Elder Oviatt. He is a super awesome Canadian, no unfortunately does not have an accent :).
Hradec Kralove is a richer city, one of the richest in the Czech Republic, and is home for many students studying in the medicine branch of Charles University. I just arrived today, but it is a beautiful area, and I am very excited for the things we have coming up ahead of us!
This last week we had some meetings with our investigators including running into Olga, one of our investigators, on the street. She is doing really well and at the last minute could not make it to the conference in Prague unfortunately. We also met with Jules. Both of which are doing well and are reading and praying and should be on date and coming to church in the coming weeks!
I don’t know much about my new area here in Hradec, but I have heard the ward is very self-sufficient and doing really well after the creation of the first stake.
The best part of the week was being able to have Stake Conference in Prague with members from all around the country coming to be a part of it! The theme was receiving promised blessings, and it was an amazing conference! Many of the stake leaders from several organizations came and spoke including the stake leaders of the primary, sunday school, and young men’s organizations. Some of the most joyous parts of missions are seeing the progression of those you were able to witness come unto Christ through baptism, continue to progress in the gospel. It was such a great blessing to see Amanda at conference who has been doing well in Prague after I had the privilege to baptize her almost 8 months ago. Also, have heard that Olda is doing well in Brno, and has a serious girlfriend who is a returned missionary, and David in Plzen just received a calling as a teacher for gospel principles. It is great to be a missionary!
In our mission, we are studying the doctrine of Christ together as a mission to strengthen our understanding of teaching these core principles and to continue in our mission theme of “finding always, teaching repentance, and baptize converts”. Elder Oviatt and I are excited for MLC this upcoming week to welcome the arrival of a general authority for our zone conferences, and promote this theme throughout the rest of the zone.
My scripture this week is my favorite, the one that I have on my mission plaque: Isaiah 53 3-5.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 ¶Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
I love this scripture because it emphasizes the truth of the intense suffering that the Savior did for us in Gethsemane, and allows for us to heal our pains, overcome our sins, and remove our scars. I know that he did, and it is available for all those who show faith in him.
Have a great week! :)
Elder Belshe
Hradec Kralove is a richer city, one of the richest in the Czech Republic, and is home for many students studying in the medicine branch of Charles University. I just arrived today, but it is a beautiful area, and I am very excited for the things we have coming up ahead of us!
This last week we had some meetings with our investigators including running into Olga, one of our investigators, on the street. She is doing really well and at the last minute could not make it to the conference in Prague unfortunately. We also met with Jules. Both of which are doing well and are reading and praying and should be on date and coming to church in the coming weeks!
I don’t know much about my new area here in Hradec, but I have heard the ward is very self-sufficient and doing really well after the creation of the first stake.
The best part of the week was being able to have Stake Conference in Prague with members from all around the country coming to be a part of it! The theme was receiving promised blessings, and it was an amazing conference! Many of the stake leaders from several organizations came and spoke including the stake leaders of the primary, sunday school, and young men’s organizations. Some of the most joyous parts of missions are seeing the progression of those you were able to witness come unto Christ through baptism, continue to progress in the gospel. It was such a great blessing to see Amanda at conference who has been doing well in Prague after I had the privilege to baptize her almost 8 months ago. Also, have heard that Olda is doing well in Brno, and has a serious girlfriend who is a returned missionary, and David in Plzen just received a calling as a teacher for gospel principles. It is great to be a missionary!
In our mission, we are studying the doctrine of Christ together as a mission to strengthen our understanding of teaching these core principles and to continue in our mission theme of “finding always, teaching repentance, and baptize converts”. Elder Oviatt and I are excited for MLC this upcoming week to welcome the arrival of a general authority for our zone conferences, and promote this theme throughout the rest of the zone.
My scripture this week is my favorite, the one that I have on my mission plaque: Isaiah 53 3-5.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 ¶Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
I love this scripture because it emphasizes the truth of the intense suffering that the Savior did for us in Gethsemane, and allows for us to heal our pains, overcome our sins, and remove our scars. I know that he did, and it is available for all those who show faith in him.
Have a great week! :)
Elder Belshe
Sunday, November 6, 2016
Training Week
This week was pretty slow, a slow week which we haven’t had in a long time. Our investigators could not meet with us this week, but after communicating over the phone with Jules he said he would come to church next week. Praying that he will make it! Olga is doing great and reading and praying, but has not been able to meet with us yet either. But, we had an awesome training in Prague this week on Tuesday where we talked a lot of promising specific blessings to each commitment we give. We also talked about striving to focus on creating a foundation of testimony building abilities through prayer, scripture study, and church before quickly committing them to a baptism date to help them truly repent before they are baptized. Luckily, zone leaders do not have to participate in giving trainings when it is combined zone conference so we got to focus, observe, and learn. I am grateful for that training, and the hope we are having of receiving more long lasting converts.
Other than that, this week was a lot of contacting on the street and not too much success in finding unfortunately. Hoping for a quick turnaround this week as we pound to the finish in the last week of the transfer.
My scripture for this week is Moroni 7:33.
33 And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.
When we have faith in Christ we have the power to produce miracles! I love that idea that miracles through faith can overcome any obstacles or opposition, and faith is a concept of continual action and improvement. Have a great week! Remember to have faith!
Starsi Belshe
This is a picture of me with half of the Duchkovi family, the other half did not want to be in the picture. These others are of the super awesome city of Marianske Lazne that we visited! Sorry, I just realized that I am not in any of these pictures....I will do better next time :)
Other than that, this week was a lot of contacting on the street and not too much success in finding unfortunately. Hoping for a quick turnaround this week as we pound to the finish in the last week of the transfer.
My scripture for this week is Moroni 7:33.
33 And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.
When we have faith in Christ we have the power to produce miracles! I love that idea that miracles through faith can overcome any obstacles or opposition, and faith is a concept of continual action and improvement. Have a great week! Remember to have faith!
Starsi Belshe
This is a picture of me with half of the Duchkovi family, the other half did not want to be in the picture. These others are of the super awesome city of Marianske Lazne that we visited! Sorry, I just realized that I am not in any of these pictures....I will do better next time :)
Friday, October 28, 2016
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Birthday Wishes Come True
Thanks everyone for all the birthday wishes this week, it is much appreciated! :)
This week was awesome with the work that has been happening in the zone! Things have been booming lately, and we are very proud zone leaders :) The only baptism we have had up to this point was David’s about a month and a half ago, but this week the first family baptism in the mission since the end of last year happened in Prague!! They are such a cool family, and fun fact, a referral from the same man that referred Zdenek Samec to me while I was in Cbud that later got baptized. His name is Jara Vojta, a stud, and the true example of member missionary work! Love that guy! :)
Then we have 2 other baptisms coming up this next week. One in Cbud with a great priesthood holder and another in Prague from the assistants! Then, during the week we had our interviews with President and during that time we went contacting. We wanted to be creative, so after brainstorming with the assistants, we decided to carry a couch a kilometer, (a little less than a mile) down the street from the church building and two other chairs with a table that had pamphlets and play music. Our goal was to find 15 new investigators in one day! Not an easy task. So yes, many people stopped and stared, especially the police, when we carried a couch all the way out to a metro stop a set up a fake living room. The goal was to begin a conversation and guide people to come and sit with you on the couch and have a lesson. As we rotated and contacted in this area that afternoon we saw miracles and between the 9 companionships in our zone, we hit exactly 15 new investigators at the end of the day!!!! :) It was definitely a miraculous day and a huge faith builder for our zone!
I also had an exchange with our awesome district leader Elder Chadwick, he knows how to work out in the morning, he runs fast….I don’t..:). But here is my traditional exchange selfie together!
My quote for the week comes from general conference:
"Believe not only in Him, but Believe Him!"
Sorry, my notes are very short and to the point and maybe not exactly correct, but from this quote, we can learn a lot. Sometimes we believe in the atonement of Jesus Christ and the power it has unto salvation, but think that it works for everyone but us. When we truly believe and apply it in our own lives, joy can truly come into our own lives. We just have to really trust it enough to try! Have a great week!
Elder Belshe
This week was awesome with the work that has been happening in the zone! Things have been booming lately, and we are very proud zone leaders :) The only baptism we have had up to this point was David’s about a month and a half ago, but this week the first family baptism in the mission since the end of last year happened in Prague!! They are such a cool family, and fun fact, a referral from the same man that referred Zdenek Samec to me while I was in Cbud that later got baptized. His name is Jara Vojta, a stud, and the true example of member missionary work! Love that guy! :)
Then we have 2 other baptisms coming up this next week. One in Cbud with a great priesthood holder and another in Prague from the assistants! Then, during the week we had our interviews with President and during that time we went contacting. We wanted to be creative, so after brainstorming with the assistants, we decided to carry a couch a kilometer, (a little less than a mile) down the street from the church building and two other chairs with a table that had pamphlets and play music. Our goal was to find 15 new investigators in one day! Not an easy task. So yes, many people stopped and stared, especially the police, when we carried a couch all the way out to a metro stop a set up a fake living room. The goal was to begin a conversation and guide people to come and sit with you on the couch and have a lesson. As we rotated and contacted in this area that afternoon we saw miracles and between the 9 companionships in our zone, we hit exactly 15 new investigators at the end of the day!!!! :) It was definitely a miraculous day and a huge faith builder for our zone!
I also had an exchange with our awesome district leader Elder Chadwick, he knows how to work out in the morning, he runs fast….I don’t..:). But here is my traditional exchange selfie together!
My quote for the week comes from general conference:
"Believe not only in Him, but Believe Him!"
Sorry, my notes are very short and to the point and maybe not exactly correct, but from this quote, we can learn a lot. Sometimes we believe in the atonement of Jesus Christ and the power it has unto salvation, but think that it works for everyone but us. When we truly believe and apply it in our own lives, joy can truly come into our own lives. We just have to really trust it enough to try! Have a great week!
Elder Belshe
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Building Wards and Branches
When President McConkie left for home at the end of his mission, he shared a thought about Jesus Christ which is called a Jesus Thought. Yes I know, very original, but in this thought he shared the story of two men that were disappointed due to the loss of the Savior and are visited, unbeknowest to them, by the Savior himself. In this story the Savior spends time with these men, ask them questions to determine their needs, and expounds the scriptures to explain that he, the Savior, had truly been resurrected. Just as they recognize him as the Savior, he vanishes. That story stuck with me from the time I was in Prague until my time here in Plzen. By following the outline of the Savior with many less active families and individuals, we have seen the success that has come from helping them back to reactivity and help them begin on their path to spiritual self-sufficiency. Just like the Savior has done, our work as missionaries is much of bringing them to light, giving them all the tools that they need to sustain it and then leaving and praying for the best. As we have followed the pattern the Savior has set, we have been truly blessed.
This week we saw the reactivation of part of the Duchkovi family, Radka and the twin daughters, who have started attended church regularly and received a call to be a teacher in the Primary. It has been amazing to see the transformation of the ward as they see old friends come back due to the rich blessings of Heavenly Father.
We also have had a couple of (finally) progressing investigators Miki and Jules. I am excited for the progress that they are making even though they could not make it to church. We also found a couple of other investigators that we hope will be coming to lessons soon. Other than that, not a lot is going on, we are having interviews with President Pohorelicky this week which I am really excited for. It is always great to have one on one time with President Pohorelicky. He is such a great man, and a great example of a husband.
That is probably all the updates I have for this week! By the way, conference (if you didn’t hear in my last letter) was awesome, so watch it, preferably all of it!
Have a great week! :)
S Laskou,¨
Starší Belshe
This week we saw the reactivation of part of the Duchkovi family, Radka and the twin daughters, who have started attended church regularly and received a call to be a teacher in the Primary. It has been amazing to see the transformation of the ward as they see old friends come back due to the rich blessings of Heavenly Father.
We also have had a couple of (finally) progressing investigators Miki and Jules. I am excited for the progress that they are making even though they could not make it to church. We also found a couple of other investigators that we hope will be coming to lessons soon. Other than that, not a lot is going on, we are having interviews with President Pohorelicky this week which I am really excited for. It is always great to have one on one time with President Pohorelicky. He is such a great man, and a great example of a husband.
That is probably all the updates I have for this week! By the way, conference (if you didn’t hear in my last letter) was awesome, so watch it, preferably all of it!
Have a great week! :)
S Laskou,¨
Starší Belshe
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Ahoj Vsichni! (Hello Everyone!)
CONFERENCE WAS AWESOME!! If you haven't watched all of the sessions, watch them! :) It is true that each conference is more and more powerful each time. We had a great turnout from all of the recent converts, and reactivated members that we have been working with including David, Martin Sestak, Sestra Duchkova, Standa, and Honza Grega. Unfortunately, no investigators, but we are working diligently on improving that in our area. We found two new awesome people that have some great potential to progress in the gospel. One, named Jules, is a ballet dancer from England, and is in like every play know to man. He is super awesome and really hilarious. Then we have another named Miki, who is a Dad with two kids; both of which I already love so much. We are hoping for some progression from them in the coming week.
Our mission has been focusing on teaching repentance, and baptizing converts, so we have been learning to teach simply and not rush through to baptism. Our zone has been doing really well, and have a few solid people that are very close to baptism. President Pohorelicky and Sestra Pohorelicka are teaching us and its awesome because they themselves were converts to the gospel coming from Atheism. We have been learning a lot! But I think that is about it for this week...:)
Here is one of my favorite quotes given in conference by Elder Hales in the Saturday Morning Session: It is very simple "Love more, and suffer less!" When we forget ourselves in service to God through love for his children, we are find ourselves and are happier no matter the circumstance that we are in! Have an awesome week! Love you all! Remember to lift where you stand! :)
Starší Belshe
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