[Dear family and friends, we were excited to get a letter from Joseph today via e-mail - and one from Joseph via snail mail! I will share the e-mail note below along with highlights from his other letter (which is dated). I hope everyone has a glorious and wonderful 4th weekend. Enjoy these freedoms which are so important! Julie is in Wisconsin with the younger boys and her sister Anne; I am home with Weston who is finishing his Eagle project this weekend!! Take care! Joseph's editor - BWS]
Hello,
I am having my preparation day on Saturday today, because we will be having our Zone Conference again on Monday (which is our normal preparation day).
President Irwin is now our mission president here. We are all very excited for our first Zone Conference with him and the chance to hear him speak to all of us. It should be really good. I briefly met him yesterday when I went with Elder Peterson to his leadership training. I liked him a lot and am looking forward to meeting with him next Monday.
Not a whole lot has changed since last Monday. Třebíč is still beautiful and I still like it here. Yesterday, I was able to go to Brno for Elder Peterson´s leadership training and went out contacting on the main naměstí [street?] there. It was great to explore yet another city and see a little more of the Czech Republic.
Today, Elder Peterson and I went to a wedding. Our branch mission leader married a member who lives (well lived) in a neighboring city called Jihlava. Jiří is super cool and we were glad to see him so happy (he served a mission here about three years ago, and he is a huge help to us current missionaries). It was interesting to see the wedding, especially since it was in Czech, but we could tell it was very special to the people there and that they were very excited. Plus, I think that was the first wedding I have been to in many years. It was a fun experience.
I still want to see those pictures and also, since I may be able to check my e-mail on Monday for a few minutes, I will still be able to receive e-mails. So go ahead and write me if you still need to. Hopefully I will be able to read it.
That is all for now.
Love,
Joseph
I am having my preparation day on Saturday today, because we will be having our Zone Conference again on Monday (which is our normal preparation day).
President Irwin is now our mission president here. We are all very excited for our first Zone Conference with him and the chance to hear him speak to all of us. It should be really good. I briefly met him yesterday when I went with Elder Peterson to his leadership training. I liked him a lot and am looking forward to meeting with him next Monday.
Not a whole lot has changed since last Monday. Třebíč is still beautiful and I still like it here. Yesterday, I was able to go to Brno for Elder Peterson´s leadership training and went out contacting on the main naměstí [street?] there. It was great to explore yet another city and see a little more of the Czech Republic.
Today, Elder Peterson and I went to a wedding. Our branch mission leader married a member who lives (well lived) in a neighboring city called Jihlava. Jiří is super cool and we were glad to see him so happy (he served a mission here about three years ago, and he is a huge help to us current missionaries). It was interesting to see the wedding, especially since it was in Czech, but we could tell it was very special to the people there and that they were very excited. Plus, I think that was the first wedding I have been to in many years. It was a fun experience.
I still want to see those pictures and also, since I may be able to check my e-mail on Monday for a few minutes, I will still be able to receive e-mails. So go ahead and write me if you still need to. Hopefully I will be able to read it.
That is all for now.
Love,
Joseph
[Here are some excerpts from the letter we received today:]
From May 31:
I am doing quite well today. We went to Karlstejn today. It was very exciting. The castle was closed, because the castles in the Check Republic are closed on Mondays. This makes it interesting for missionaries since our preparation days are also on Mondays. But we make do and still are able to enjoy this beautiful country (there are many more cool things here than castles).
After we went to the castle, we went up to find the monument I talked about in my e-mail. The land was first dedicated for missionary work in (I think) 1929 and this monument commemorates it. It is a stone stand that has a place to mount a plaque that is removable. It is removable so that nobody steals it. Instead, we store it in the mission home and when people go out to Karlstejn, they take it with them so that people can see it and take pictures.
June 7:
Last Saturday we had a baptism. Two men from Nigeria were baptized along with a Czech man. Val and Kenneth are both super great and I believe are both studying and working on their PhD's here in Prague. Patrick, the Czech man, is also amazing. he was found last transfer and has made a lot of changes in his life because he realizes that the Book of Mormon is true. His favorite song is "This is the Christ" and we sang it at his baptism. However, we did not tell him we were going to and when we sang it, he cried almost the entire time. Now, I should say, he does not look like the crying type. Imagine Van Diesel, except harder/tougher looking. But the Spirit has really touched his life and he is a truly amazing man. He has such a powerful testimony and he is an amazing new member.
One thing that has changed recently is my extra contacts. Every time I go somewhere on a tram or metro, I try to talk to the person next to me. It has really been helping my Czech and it also helps me share the gospel a little better.
One last thing before I end, and it is funny. This morning at about 3 AM, my companion woke up to use the bathroom. I also woke up and thinking it was time to get up, I knelt down, said my prayers and then when I got up, I saw that I had about 3 hours left to sleep. I then spent the next few hours feeling badly, because I kept waking up feeling like we had slept in.
June 7: It sounds like everyone is having a rather fun time in spite of school ending. Do not worry, it will come back.
I love being outside over here. The days have been nice and the parks are just beautiful.
My companion is a great missionary. [This was the prior companion before Joseph was transferred.] Elder Roubicek is from Fresno, CA but his grandparents were members here in the Czech Republic. Some people here in Prague still remember them and have shared pictures with him. He is a fun companion and was heavily involved with plays before his mission.
It has been great serving here in Prague. We also have the Zone leaders, the Assistants, the office elders, a set of sisters and two Senior couples (the Fosters and the Andersons). [The Andersons are friends with my sister Susan and her family - from Rexburg, ID.] Plus, all of the materials I need (i.e. Russian/Vietnamese/etc . . .) are right here at the church building. It has been a blast serving here and I am excited to continue serving my mission in the Czech Republic.
[Everyone, have a great 4th of July!!]
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