July 30, 2012:
The gospel outlines what we need to be truly happy
Dobry Den!
I hope this finds you well. This week was so great. We are teaching really great people. And Heavenly Father totally blesses this work! That I know. This week we got to know our investigator better. He is a man with a good heart, but also happens to be really smart, so he wants to be right about everything, and it sort of blocks his spiritual feeling sensor in his heart. But he is special, and he is reading the Book of Mormon, although he doesn't believe that it's from God. He and his 14-year-old daughter read the Book of Mormon together and then discuss it. They remind me a lot of how Daddy and Yak and I read intellectual stuff and then debate about it. And it's fun when appropriate, but [in order to find out if the Book of Mormon is from God you have to sincerely ponder and pray about it]. We keep asking him to pray about it, and he hasn't yet, but they both came to Church :). His daughter is just the cutest thing and has such a good heart. At our lesson this week she said, "In other churches where I just had to repeat prayers, I left not really feeling spiritually uplifted. But here, I feel really close to God, and I leave feeling better." And that is beautiful that they feel like that even though our Church turnout is so low. I feel like they will make it though, as long as they keep reading the Book of Mormon, and as they keep commitments. The gospel answers all of our [important] questions.
Sister Pysnakova and I are just trying to figure out HOW we can teach the gospel in a way that he will just ache to apply it, because it's so beautiful. So that's the challenge. At Church on Sunday I sat by [our investigators], and after Sacrament [Meeting] I asked [our investigator] if he'd talked to his wife about the Book of Mormon. He said that his wife had died two years prior from cancer. I saw [this make him and his daughter sad]. I bore witness that she lives, that her spirit is still there, and that someday they'll be together again. [Our investigator] said, "I hope that is true, and I hold onto that faith, because eternal life without her would be something I would never want." I laid out the Plan of Salvation onto the floor, and I taught the Plan of Salvation and asked a member to come over and bear witness. Sister Pysnakova came over after that and bore testimony to [our investigator] about how she knows that there is life after death. While we were in the same Ward [in Utah] freshman year, her sister passed away due to a ski accident. She was only 15. That solidified Sister Pysnakova's testimony of the Plan of Salvation, and while [our other investigator] played the electric keyboard we have, I watched Sister Pysnakova bear testimony to [our investigator] about that. It's amazing, that the hardest things we go through can and will become our strengths if we turn to Christ. I invited them to Church next week again, and [the daughter] was so excited and told another member who was there that she'll be back next week! And she even hugged her. The Church is so great :).
We are also working with [another] man. We taught [him] TWICE this week, AND he came to Church. He is also reading the Book of Mormon really well but doesn’t believe that it's from God. He says that it's the Old Testament God, but that Christ showed us who God really is. We told him that when he gets to 3rd Nephi he'll really like it. He said he was excited. [This investigator] has a really good heart though, and we are making progress together. He is so good, and he was so happy at Church. The [best thing] is to get people to come to Church and feel the Spirit, and then to help them receive a testimony of the Book of Mormon. That's how the foundation is laid. Pray for these people, they are so wonderful. I love them all.
Also this week we did some service at this falconer place. We were walking home one night when I saw a man on the street holding a falcon. What the. So we [talked to] him (reminded me of how Yak would walk around the neighborhood with Matilda [= the red chicken] on her arm, and people would ask her what kind of falcon we had. Hahahahaha, so funny :)). Anyway, so I started talking to him about his birds and the gospel, and he invited us to come see his other birds, so I was of course really excited. It was just in his backyard, so we went in, and he had ravens and hawks and owls and little baby falcons. Haha, oh I was dying. So then I said at the end of that, "Thanks for showing us what you love, we are here talking about something we love, can we return when it's light (it was almost 9 pm) and talk to you about our message, and you can show us your birds when the sun is shining?” He was totally down, so we went over the next day. He showed us his birds, and I even got to hold his massive owl. It was HUGE. And her name is Vilma. And I have a picture, but the computers are slow in this photo place we are in (the library "is on vacation" for three weeks... sigh), and then we taught him a lesson of the Restoration [of the Gospel]. He's not really that interested, but I asked if there is anything we could do for him, and he said that his fellow falconers are trying to move all of their birds into another place this week, and they need help. So we put our jeans on the next day and went to work. We cleared out some jungle in the mountains and got to know his friends. They are cute and nice. Not really interested, but this week we are starting Sports Day, so maybe they'll come to that. Service is really fun, and I think it's so fun to just talk to everyone. You meet so many interesting people and get to do so many interesting things. At home I might have just said to myself, “Cool bird.” But here I asked him about it, and because of that I got to see really cool birds up close, hold an owl, and dig out a jungle for someone. Really fun stuff. It's worth it to talk to our brothers and sisters. Which reminds me of another story.
One night we had just gotten back from Zvolen, the Elders' area, and were sitting on the bus stop bench when this really drunk man came and sat right next to us. We were doing nightly planning, because we were getting home late, so we weren't out talking to people. He somehow knew where we lived, which was creepy, and we didn’t like that he kept touching us, but I felt like he was my brother, and so I started asking him about his family, about his religious background, just anything really. We got onto the same bus, and he sat at the back and started talking to people. I looked out the window and started thinking about how interesting it is that we all have the same time. We all are born clean, and what we decide to do with our lives really does affect where we end up here. I was thinking about how much Heavenly Father loved that man, and about how sad He must be that he's made his life unmanageable. I thought about how we never know who we were best friends with in the Premortal Existence and about how I just ache for these souls who have done things that have clogged/fogged their perception of what is important. I guess I went really quiet, because Sister Pysnakova asked me what I was thinking about. I simply replied that I was thinking about how he is our brother. And she was surprised and thanked me for that reminder. I asked her what we could do for him, and we decided to invite him to Church. So I took a contact card, walked to the back of the bus and said, "Sir, this is where we meet for Church every Sunday. We'd love to have you there." and then got off. Everyone was watching, but I knew I'd done the right thing. He didn't come, but maybe that picture of Jesus will touch something deep inside. Because I'm sure he doesn't feel good about himself right now. Actually, I know he doesn’t. Wickedness never was happiness. I have seen that many a time here. I am grateful for the chance we have to change ourselves, to improve, and to grow. I love that the gospel outlines what we need to be truly happy.
There are only 2 computers in this store, and I have been on one for the last 50 minutes, while Sister Pysnakova has written letters, because a man was on Facebook. He had been on Facebook for the last 3 hours, because we tried to come earlier. I am so grateful that my mission has taken me away from all of that, given me understanding of how I can really accomplish SO much every single day, and that I am here long enough that hopefully it will be a habit to keep working hard. I love it. I love not wasting a minute or even a second.
This morning while we were companion studying, I looked up and saw a huge spider catch a fly, and start spinning it really fast and then suck its insides up. Aaaahaaaaa, Sister P was dying of being grossed out. We definitely have some more cleaning to do. All of the suitcases aren’t even unpacked yet. Hahahaha, oh gosh. Oh, other funny story.
Because the computer is so slow that I can’t upload pictures, so I have more time:
This week we tried to buy a "junior pass" which gives us like 50 percent off of train tickets. You have to buy it, but it pays itself back pretty quick. Anyway, we all have little passport photos we carry around for random passes we need to buy, so we thought we were fine. I guess here the size for such things is smaller, so they told us our photos were too big. But we had to have the pass by the next morning at 7 am when we'd all be on the train getting our tickets checked. Anyway, so we asked where we could get photos, and they said, “At the mall in the ‘automatic booth’.” I was like, "A photo booth?" Aaahaha, so off we went. Because like we have any idea of where anything is, and we were running out of time. So we get there, and the photo booth costs FOUR euros. Give me a break! So I said, "We are asking someone where the nearest photo place is." And so I flag this security guard down and try to explain my situation. Then I see a badge on his chest with his face on it, and I point and say, "Like that! I need a photo like that!" and he tells us to go to the photo booth. I told him it was expensive, and he says, “Well, the place I got mine was five euros.” So fine, so we go to the photo booth. But then because we both are out of money, since Slovak missionaries get more than Czech ones, because euros cost so much more than crowns, and we travel more than in the Czech Republic, we ran out of money. We didn’t have the Slovak amount yet. But we will this week when we get this month's amount. Anyway, so we're standing there literally counting pennies, and Sister Pysnakova is looking for stuff on the bottom of her backpack, and we come out five cents short. So I say, “This is ridiculous” (keep in mind we are laughing so hard this whole time). And so I tell her that I'm going to make my passport pictures work, and so I start walking to find the security guard. She follows thinking that I want to give him a contact card. So I catch him and ask him if I can look at his badge for a second. He looks confused but happy, and so I hold my photo up to his chest and start talking to Sister Pysnakova about how if I trim my photo it'll be fine, just pretty much only have my face on the photo. Hahah, so we thank him and go, but then Sister Pysnakova says that we should get the photos in case my plan doesn’t work. So we get money from her ten euros she had as a bill and then go, both of us into the photo booth. AAAHAHA, and the lens is at the height of my chest, right, so we have to lean forward and down while trying to get our faces little for this photo. And we decided to each get two tries to save us money and not have to go twice. It's a euro a photo. So the machine starts counting... 5,4,3,2,1, FLASH, 5,4,3,2,1, FLASH, and then I try to move out of the way quickly while Sister Pysnakova leans down, and the whole photo booth starts shaking, and it goes 3,2,1, FLASH, and anyway, it was hilarious, and the pictures were way too big for the passes, so we ended up just cutting our last ones smaller, and so our junior passes pretty much only have our face, forehead to chin, cheek to cheek, on them. Oh my gosh, it is hilarious. Sister Pysnakova said that we have so many adventures here. And it's true, but every situation can be fun if you laugh. That's my motto. And boy, does it make life so funny. I love you all.
Gotta run.
Sestra Izatt
The gospel outlines what we need to be truly happy
Dobry Den!
I hope this finds you well. This week was so great. We are teaching really great people. And Heavenly Father totally blesses this work! That I know. This week we got to know our investigator better. He is a man with a good heart, but also happens to be really smart, so he wants to be right about everything, and it sort of blocks his spiritual feeling sensor in his heart. But he is special, and he is reading the Book of Mormon, although he doesn't believe that it's from God. He and his 14-year-old daughter read the Book of Mormon together and then discuss it. They remind me a lot of how Daddy and Yak and I read intellectual stuff and then debate about it. And it's fun when appropriate, but [in order to find out if the Book of Mormon is from God you have to sincerely ponder and pray about it]. We keep asking him to pray about it, and he hasn't yet, but they both came to Church :). His daughter is just the cutest thing and has such a good heart. At our lesson this week she said, "In other churches where I just had to repeat prayers, I left not really feeling spiritually uplifted. But here, I feel really close to God, and I leave feeling better." And that is beautiful that they feel like that even though our Church turnout is so low. I feel like they will make it though, as long as they keep reading the Book of Mormon, and as they keep commitments. The gospel answers all of our [important] questions.
Sister Pysnakova and I are just trying to figure out HOW we can teach the gospel in a way that he will just ache to apply it, because it's so beautiful. So that's the challenge. At Church on Sunday I sat by [our investigators], and after Sacrament [Meeting] I asked [our investigator] if he'd talked to his wife about the Book of Mormon. He said that his wife had died two years prior from cancer. I saw [this make him and his daughter sad]. I bore witness that she lives, that her spirit is still there, and that someday they'll be together again. [Our investigator] said, "I hope that is true, and I hold onto that faith, because eternal life without her would be something I would never want." I laid out the Plan of Salvation onto the floor, and I taught the Plan of Salvation and asked a member to come over and bear witness. Sister Pysnakova came over after that and bore testimony to [our investigator] about how she knows that there is life after death. While we were in the same Ward [in Utah] freshman year, her sister passed away due to a ski accident. She was only 15. That solidified Sister Pysnakova's testimony of the Plan of Salvation, and while [our other investigator] played the electric keyboard we have, I watched Sister Pysnakova bear testimony to [our investigator] about that. It's amazing, that the hardest things we go through can and will become our strengths if we turn to Christ. I invited them to Church next week again, and [the daughter] was so excited and told another member who was there that she'll be back next week! And she even hugged her. The Church is so great :).
We are also working with [another] man. We taught [him] TWICE this week, AND he came to Church. He is also reading the Book of Mormon really well but doesn’t believe that it's from God. He says that it's the Old Testament God, but that Christ showed us who God really is. We told him that when he gets to 3rd Nephi he'll really like it. He said he was excited. [This investigator] has a really good heart though, and we are making progress together. He is so good, and he was so happy at Church. The [best thing] is to get people to come to Church and feel the Spirit, and then to help them receive a testimony of the Book of Mormon. That's how the foundation is laid. Pray for these people, they are so wonderful. I love them all.
Also this week we did some service at this falconer place. We were walking home one night when I saw a man on the street holding a falcon. What the. So we [talked to] him (reminded me of how Yak would walk around the neighborhood with Matilda [= the red chicken] on her arm, and people would ask her what kind of falcon we had. Hahahahaha, so funny :)). Anyway, so I started talking to him about his birds and the gospel, and he invited us to come see his other birds, so I was of course really excited. It was just in his backyard, so we went in, and he had ravens and hawks and owls and little baby falcons. Haha, oh I was dying. So then I said at the end of that, "Thanks for showing us what you love, we are here talking about something we love, can we return when it's light (it was almost 9 pm) and talk to you about our message, and you can show us your birds when the sun is shining?” He was totally down, so we went over the next day. He showed us his birds, and I even got to hold his massive owl. It was HUGE. And her name is Vilma. And I have a picture, but the computers are slow in this photo place we are in (the library "is on vacation" for three weeks... sigh), and then we taught him a lesson of the Restoration [of the Gospel]. He's not really that interested, but I asked if there is anything we could do for him, and he said that his fellow falconers are trying to move all of their birds into another place this week, and they need help. So we put our jeans on the next day and went to work. We cleared out some jungle in the mountains and got to know his friends. They are cute and nice. Not really interested, but this week we are starting Sports Day, so maybe they'll come to that. Service is really fun, and I think it's so fun to just talk to everyone. You meet so many interesting people and get to do so many interesting things. At home I might have just said to myself, “Cool bird.” But here I asked him about it, and because of that I got to see really cool birds up close, hold an owl, and dig out a jungle for someone. Really fun stuff. It's worth it to talk to our brothers and sisters. Which reminds me of another story.
One night we had just gotten back from Zvolen, the Elders' area, and were sitting on the bus stop bench when this really drunk man came and sat right next to us. We were doing nightly planning, because we were getting home late, so we weren't out talking to people. He somehow knew where we lived, which was creepy, and we didn’t like that he kept touching us, but I felt like he was my brother, and so I started asking him about his family, about his religious background, just anything really. We got onto the same bus, and he sat at the back and started talking to people. I looked out the window and started thinking about how interesting it is that we all have the same time. We all are born clean, and what we decide to do with our lives really does affect where we end up here. I was thinking about how much Heavenly Father loved that man, and about how sad He must be that he's made his life unmanageable. I thought about how we never know who we were best friends with in the Premortal Existence and about how I just ache for these souls who have done things that have clogged/fogged their perception of what is important. I guess I went really quiet, because Sister Pysnakova asked me what I was thinking about. I simply replied that I was thinking about how he is our brother. And she was surprised and thanked me for that reminder. I asked her what we could do for him, and we decided to invite him to Church. So I took a contact card, walked to the back of the bus and said, "Sir, this is where we meet for Church every Sunday. We'd love to have you there." and then got off. Everyone was watching, but I knew I'd done the right thing. He didn't come, but maybe that picture of Jesus will touch something deep inside. Because I'm sure he doesn't feel good about himself right now. Actually, I know he doesn’t. Wickedness never was happiness. I have seen that many a time here. I am grateful for the chance we have to change ourselves, to improve, and to grow. I love that the gospel outlines what we need to be truly happy.
There are only 2 computers in this store, and I have been on one for the last 50 minutes, while Sister Pysnakova has written letters, because a man was on Facebook. He had been on Facebook for the last 3 hours, because we tried to come earlier. I am so grateful that my mission has taken me away from all of that, given me understanding of how I can really accomplish SO much every single day, and that I am here long enough that hopefully it will be a habit to keep working hard. I love it. I love not wasting a minute or even a second.
This morning while we were companion studying, I looked up and saw a huge spider catch a fly, and start spinning it really fast and then suck its insides up. Aaaahaaaaa, Sister P was dying of being grossed out. We definitely have some more cleaning to do. All of the suitcases aren’t even unpacked yet. Hahahaha, oh gosh. Oh, other funny story.
Because the computer is so slow that I can’t upload pictures, so I have more time:
This week we tried to buy a "junior pass" which gives us like 50 percent off of train tickets. You have to buy it, but it pays itself back pretty quick. Anyway, we all have little passport photos we carry around for random passes we need to buy, so we thought we were fine. I guess here the size for such things is smaller, so they told us our photos were too big. But we had to have the pass by the next morning at 7 am when we'd all be on the train getting our tickets checked. Anyway, so we asked where we could get photos, and they said, “At the mall in the ‘automatic booth’.” I was like, "A photo booth?" Aaahaha, so off we went. Because like we have any idea of where anything is, and we were running out of time. So we get there, and the photo booth costs FOUR euros. Give me a break! So I said, "We are asking someone where the nearest photo place is." And so I flag this security guard down and try to explain my situation. Then I see a badge on his chest with his face on it, and I point and say, "Like that! I need a photo like that!" and he tells us to go to the photo booth. I told him it was expensive, and he says, “Well, the place I got mine was five euros.” So fine, so we go to the photo booth. But then because we both are out of money, since Slovak missionaries get more than Czech ones, because euros cost so much more than crowns, and we travel more than in the Czech Republic, we ran out of money. We didn’t have the Slovak amount yet. But we will this week when we get this month's amount. Anyway, so we're standing there literally counting pennies, and Sister Pysnakova is looking for stuff on the bottom of her backpack, and we come out five cents short. So I say, “This is ridiculous” (keep in mind we are laughing so hard this whole time). And so I tell her that I'm going to make my passport pictures work, and so I start walking to find the security guard. She follows thinking that I want to give him a contact card. So I catch him and ask him if I can look at his badge for a second. He looks confused but happy, and so I hold my photo up to his chest and start talking to Sister Pysnakova about how if I trim my photo it'll be fine, just pretty much only have my face on the photo. Hahah, so we thank him and go, but then Sister Pysnakova says that we should get the photos in case my plan doesn’t work. So we get money from her ten euros she had as a bill and then go, both of us into the photo booth. AAAHAHA, and the lens is at the height of my chest, right, so we have to lean forward and down while trying to get our faces little for this photo. And we decided to each get two tries to save us money and not have to go twice. It's a euro a photo. So the machine starts counting... 5,4,3,2,1, FLASH, 5,4,3,2,1, FLASH, and then I try to move out of the way quickly while Sister Pysnakova leans down, and the whole photo booth starts shaking, and it goes 3,2,1, FLASH, and anyway, it was hilarious, and the pictures were way too big for the passes, so we ended up just cutting our last ones smaller, and so our junior passes pretty much only have our face, forehead to chin, cheek to cheek, on them. Oh my gosh, it is hilarious. Sister Pysnakova said that we have so many adventures here. And it's true, but every situation can be fun if you laugh. That's my motto. And boy, does it make life so funny. I love you all.
Gotta run.
Sestra Izatt