[Dear family and friends, I hope this letter finds you safe, well and happy on this beautiful Labor Day, 2011. Our boys are starting school tomorrow -- for a new, exciting year! We were hoping that Weston would have received his mission call this last week. He did not -- so we're hoping for this week! We will let you know.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers on behalf of Joseph. Reply to this note and send a message - and I will forward it to Joseph!
Be safe! Joseph's editor - BWS]
Dear Loved People,
First of all I did get transferred and today is P-day [Preparation Day]. I am in Jihlava. It is in the same district as Třebíč and so I will be going back there a number of times this transfer. The two cities are in the same Kraj, which I think is the equivalent of the same "county", but I think the translation is "region". I already knew almost all the members in the area and I know the city, so the adjustment time has been very short. I am ready to work and to serve. Elder Weave is my companion and he has been out for six months in the country. The Pages are the Senior couple serving here; they are the Humanitarian Aid couple serving here. Then in Třebíč we have Elder Plaizier and Engstrom, who have each been out for four months. I will meet the two Elders in Třebíč tomorrow (I have met Elder Plaizer before, but I am looking forward to getting to know him better). This should be a good district.
My address is now:
Březinova 125
Jihlava 56801
Czech Republic
Keep sendïng any packages to the mission office in Prague. I sent the new address for that too. Enjoy. [I will include both addresses in the blog. ]
So, we are teaching no investigators here in Jihlava, so I have nothing to tell on that hand. This has been quite a shock going from the busiest time of my mission (maybe the same as Prague, I cannot remember), where it was hard to find more than an hour or two to find new people, to almost every day contacting. Already knowing the city has helped a bit, and I think the transition is already made. I just need to talk to everyone. It is so interesting how the best way to feel good about working hard is to work harder. It is so much easier to contact for several hours if you talk to everyone with whom you come in contact for the same time, while talking to most of the people. It is so interesting that working harder is actually easier and a lot more enjoyable.
I left ČBUD in good order. We had to drop a Catholic investigator, Tomáš, who is about eighteen. He has been meeting for a while but has decided he wants to remain in the Catholic church. We had a really good meeting with him my last day about the restoration and the Book of Mormon and the Spirit was very strong, but he said he may want to investigate again, just at this time he has so much going on and just wants to wait. I hope the missionaries look him up in the future. Brother Š is doing well. He still has terrible pneomonia, so we gave him a blessing last week. It means he cannot come to church and he still thinks it is too soon for baptism, but he is doing a lot of the little things (i.e., reading the scriptures, praying, etc.). I hope to hear good things from him.
Brother M (the investigator) is doing well. We changed his date because he will have to be in Prague for treatment that weekend, but he still wants to get baptized. He is a fairly intense man and he came into our meeting and said, "I have to tell you, the 17th will not work" . Thankfully he quickly explained why, and so we just moved the date. Brother M (the new member) is also doing great. He is blessing the sacrament and even teaching with us. He is a great new member.
We even found a cool new investigator last week named Sister D. She says she leans more to science , but she was interested in our message and very attentive. She says that she believe some things about God, but not others. When we first met her it was later at night and already a little dark, but still light enough to see. We asked her to read in the Book of Mormon though and it was too dark to see. However, I asked her if she knew what Boy Scouting was, and she looked at me and said "You are a scout?." I said yes and then pulled out the flashlight I carry around and said the we are always prepared. [The Scout Motto is "Be Prepared."] That is the second time in a year I have used it, but I think it is worth it. It was a little funny. Plus, she is prettier than the average girl, so the sisters were very surprised when they met her the next day. Apparently we do not teach as many women as the Elders do.
Also this past Saturday was the annual Walace Toronto foundation project in Jihlava. [This is a group of Americans who have ties to the Czech Republic and do service projects in the country.] Since transfers were early, I was able to come in the early morning and help out painting benches. I met some more members from around the country as well as the American members who are on the Board of Directors. It was a busy first day, but we managed to fill in some finding time.
Well, that is all for now. I love you and good luck with school and the whole bit. Keep me posted with the stuff going on out in Michigan.
It is raining right now, by the way.
Love,
Elder Schindler
No comments:
Post a Comment