Czech-ing out

Well Brandon has sent his last email. We are all excited to hear him report on his missionary experiences at his home ward Sacrament meeting Sunday December 10th, 2017 at 1:00 pm

Hradec Kralove

It's been another great week in good ol' HK. We were able to meet with the girl that has been struggling with drugs 2 times this week and we had some really spiritual lessons. It's so sad that she is only 18 years old and she has already gone through so many trials. She is now living with her uncle who is a member though so that is good and we have seen a huge change in her. We had a ward talent show which turned out really well and she was able to come to that and had a lot of fun. We also went to Prague for our training and it was a pretty powerful training so it was cool to be there. We wrote everything that we wanted to leave in the past on small pieces of paper and then threw them in the fire as a "burnt offering" since we are reading the Old Testament as a mission. It was nice cause I got to through the papers in the fire which kept me warm cause it was cold and raining and I didn't have a coat. After the training we drove the Elders from Liberec to HK so we could have an exchange with them. It was fun cause Elder Andrus was there and I trained him so it was good to see him again and I was with his greenie Elder Lund. We taught a couple of families while on the exchange so it was a good exchange. One thing that was pretty cool was that we were at the college dorms this week and we were there for and hour and a half but only knocked on 3 doors because the first guy let us in and we set up with him again then we taught the people at the next two doors. On Saturday we were out tracting and it was so dang cold. We were out there for 3 hours already with no success but then this guy finally comes out and we are having this really good discussion thinking that we will get invited back and all of the sudden the cops show up and start searching us for drugs and all of this stuff. They were like you aren't allowed to do this and I was like man I have been doing this for the last 2 years of my life if you want to call our lawyers then go ahead but here is a paper that says we can be here. So one cop goes back to the car and the other one is looking through our bags and Elder Collins is like well here we have the Book of Mormon it is another testament of Jesus Christ and the cops was like moving on what else is in there. haha in the end they left us alone and we kept tracting.
So yeah things are good! I hope ya'll have a great week!

“Faith always defeats fear.” —Henry B. Eyring

S laskou,
Starsi Paxton

Hradec Kralove

This week was so sick. Elder Collins and I drove to Trencin in Slovakia for a meeting with President and some of the other missionaries so that was a long drive but we stayed in this hotel place and got free breakfast so it was for sure worth it. That morning we went up to the castle in Trencin where President Uchtdorf dedicated the Slovak area for missionary work. It was so cool to feel how strong the spirit was there as we talked about how much the Slovaks went through to get the gospel there. We had a big group finding activity there where we got a big tent on the town square with a tv and heater then we gave out free fruit tea to everyone walking by so that they would come in and watch the video about Jesus. We also did some singing displays and other small activities. After 4 hours of contacting on the town square we found 24 new investigators for the missionaries in Trencin. Unfortunately we had to drive all the way back to HK late that night so we didn't get much sleep but ya know we're alright. Then we got a call from Olomouc and they are having some really big miracles there! This girl came up to them and said I have been looking for a place to be baptized, can you help me with that? haha pretty sick. Right now they are working with a lot of people to get baptized so I am excited because we want Olomouc to be the next ward here. We were tracting last night and it's basically winter now cause it gets way cold at nights. We were in this small village and after a few hours of tracting we found this mom, her son and the grandma that want us to come back on Thursday. There have been some good things going on here lately. Oh we also stopped at a graveyard on the way to Slovakia because it was the holiday where they put tons of candles on the graves so the whole place is lit.

Like Elder Neil L. Andersen said,
“We see God’s miracles in His wondrous work and in our own personal lives.”
Have a great week!

Sbohem,
Starsi Paxton

Hradec Kralove

Well this week has been an interesting one. Things are going great with Elder Collins, we are killin it here in HK! So this week we were contacting and this guy was like yeah I heard you teach English but I can't come on the days that you have it. So we said alright we will do a half hour of English and a half hour of the gospel. So a couple of days later we show up to the address and its like this big warehouse lookin thing, he comes out and was like whats up guys come on in. Turns out it is this huge 2 story garage where they fix only American cars so there are just tons of way nice sports cars, trucks and classic old cars there. We were like alright so how can we help with your English? But he says guys my English sucks and it doesn't really matter to me, I just have a bunch of questions about why you are here and what you believe. When I met you guys I felt like you had something I need. So we had a way sick lesson with him and he just kept saying that he felt like he needed to pay us back somehow so he was like if you ever need a car give me a call, my parents own a huge resort in the mountains so if you need a place to stay give me a call. Actually if you need anything, give me a call cause I know a lot of very well known people here so I can hook you up with anything you need. So yeah that was pretty sick and we are meeting with him again.
Then on Thursday we drove to Olomouc for exchanges and we did a big activity with the missionaries there where we made giant bubbles on the town square and talked to people about joy. We got a lot of families coming up and asking if their kids could try then we got to talk to the parents so it worked really well. I went tracting at the college dorms with Elder Zapalac and we decided that we would pray and ask which door we needed to knock then we would just walk up or down the stairs until we felt like there was a door we needed to knock. Then after every door we would pray and do it over again. We ended up only knocking 4 doors because everyone opened and we taught them.
Yesterday we drove to this city really far away to give a referral a Book of Mormon then on the way home we prayed to know which village we should stop in and tract. We stop in this really small village and start tracting 2 hours later nobody had let us in or even talked to us, one person threatened to call the cops and it was only 2 degrees Celsius with super strong wind and rain. So we are getting ready to drive home for dinner cause it was already past 8 but we saw a house with its lights on and we decided to knock one more door. They ended up letting us in and giving us fruit tea and food. It was a huge blessing from God and an answer to our prayers that the village we were in was the right village for us to tract.

Also on Saturday I hit my 2 year mark so I have officially been on my mission for over 2 years. I guess I'm just in over time now. lol Have a great week!

S laskou,
Starsi Paxton

Hradec Kralove

This week has been one of the most interesting weeks on my mission. So a member came to us and invited us to a hockey game with the young men and some non-members. I had an interview with Pres and asked him if we could go and he said yes so we went to a Czech hockey game. It was way sick, I mad it on the big screen so that makes it worth going. We were in the section where all of the die hard fans stand so they were all confused why two guys in white shirts and ties were there.
Then we had our training in Prague and it went really well. After our training President was like hey I need to talk so we go sit down and he was like "Elders you had an amazing training but..." At this point I was thinkin that I had said something apostate in my training and I just didn't realize it but he continues and says "I need you to share that with others so Elder Collins is going to be in HK with you, Elder Paxton and Elder Flindt will go to Brno." So we had an emergency transfer. We drove back to HK Elder Flindt packed then the next morning we drove all the way to Brno and back. I am pretty pumped to serve with Elder Collins again because we served together exactly one year ago and he is a bro so we get work done well together.
Saturday Elder Beazer came back to visit with his parents so we got to go to dinner with them. Its always good to see Elder Beazer. We also had sports night on Saturday and when we got there, one of our old investigators was there ready to play with us. We haven't heard from him in over 2 months but he came up and was like hey man I heard some stuff and I have a lot of questions now but I want to meet this week. So he definitely got some anti stuff but it was a huge blessing to see him again because we had some really spiritual lessons with I'm in the past. We also went tracting and it was getting pretty dang cold and pretty late but this guy comes out and says hey my son is a member in Jihlava, come in and get some tea. So that was a blessing as well. We have had a lot of good blessing so its cool to see how the Lord has been helping us in the work here.
Turn your soul toward the light. Begin your own wonderful journey home. As you do so, your life will be better, happier, and more purposeful.- Pres. Uchtdorf.

Mejte se moc hezky
Starsi Paxton

Hradec Kralove

Hello.
So this week was good because we visited this dad that has 2 kids and talked a lot about having a new start in life because of the gospel. We are also helping one of our investigators stop smoking and it has been cool seeing her life change a lot. We were out contacting the other day and I met this guy that was like "yeah I know somebody that went to your church for a little." I was like "really? Who?" and he said "Karel" Karel was our investigator that was supposed to get baptized last transfer, he came to church every week since the day we met him, stopped smoking and made a huge change in his life but the day of his interview, he didn't show up and we haven't heard from him since... So I ask the guy how he knows Karel and he was like "He is my roommate and I talked him out of joining your church because it sounds like a sect to me." So we finally found out what happened to Karel, we thought he died.

The other day we were out contacting and saw this guy sitting on a bench and we started talking to him about how we can be more grateful in our lives and how gratitude brings us joy. It was pretty cool cause he said he had been thinking about where he could go and talk to some people about faith. So we are going to visit him this week. Today we went on a bike ride in the forest and that was pretty fun. Some members let us use their bikes then cooked us lunch so it wasn't too bad at all.

I hope you all have a great week as well. Don't forget God loves you!

sbohem,
Starsi Paxton

Hradec Kralove

So we finally got to watch conference this week which was good. It's amazing how we can always hear what we need to at General Conference. This week we had an exchange in Prostejov so I was with another greenie. It was pretty good to be back in the Olomouc area and get to contact in Prostejov for the day. We found a really cool mom and taught her a lesson. Then we went to Olomouc for a district meeting there and we had a lesson with Sara so that was fun. We are trying to get her to go on splits with the sister missionaries in Olomouc but right now she's not so down for that yet but I'm sure she will some day.
Last week I was on an exchange with Elder Simms and I had him pray to know who we needed to look for that day and the first thing that came to his mind was a guy smoking. That day we set up with a guy smoking and yesterday Elder Flindt and I went and taught a lesson at his house. It was pretty cool to see how the Lord led us to those that needed to hear our message. We have also been teaching this Ukrainian family which has been a lot of fun but I think their little 5 year old daughter has fallen in love with me cause she keeps trying to hug me and sit on my lap when we go and teach them. ha
We went to my favorite antique store last week and bargained with the old man there, we are pretty good buddies now days cause we make a lot of deals together. This time his son showed up and was so brain dead from all of the alcohol he drinks. It was pretty sad to see how bad it has messed him up cause he could be really smart, he was speaking English and French but had no idea what was going on around him.

1 Kings 19:11-12
11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:
12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

in light of all the stuff that's going on in the world it just reminds us of what is important. There have been hurricanes in the south, earthquakes in Mexico, Fires in the northwest and just to make sure that we are really deaf to the warning signs,there was a huge shooting in Las Vegas. So thank goodness for that still small voice that we got to hear this past weekend in Conference. The Lord is always there for us, we just have to be ready to listen to the still small voice when there is so much noise going on around us. Have a good week!

Sbohem,
Starsi Paxton

Hradec Kralove

This week we had an exchange with the Elders in Jicin so I brought the greenie back to Hradec Kralove while Elder Flindt stayed in Jicin. It was pretty good, I had Elder Simms pray about who we should find and he said that the first thing that came to his mind was someone smoking. We were out contacting and found this dad that said he has a problem with smoking and said that we could come visit his family so that was pretty cool. We met with one of our investigators and turns out things aren't going so well, his brother got shot the other day and his work told him that they weren't gonna pay him his full payment. It's pretty sad cause we can't really do much to help him with that. It was good that we could meet though and help him feel better. We also stopped by the house that we tracted into last transfer and the mom was finally there again so we got to talk to her about the plan of salvation and we will go visit her again today. We have a lot going on today so I can't email too much. Here are some pics from last weeks conference/training. 

Starsi Paxton 

Hradec Kralove

Well it has been interesting serving with a companion that speaks Slovak but it has been a lot of fun. Way more people stop and listen because they are confused as to why we are both speaking different languages. We have been meeting with a lot of people and they are making really good progress. We met with a girl that has never done anything with faith and doesn't believe in God at all but we had a lesson on the nature of God, who He is and how He wants to be a part of our lives. She was crying and sent us a text saying how excited she is for our next meeting. She is the one that a member invited over to her house for FHE then invited us as well and now that same member invited his friend and her family to come to church. He is doin some good work here in HK. Elder Flindt and I went to a leadership training in Stamberk and stayed there over night with a few other missionaries, all of the Ward Mission Leaders, Ward missionaries and the Stake Presidency. President Pilka was there and gave a training on how to do missionary service as members then Brother Sedivy talked about an Inspiration Night that they have been doing in Prague and we actually had an Inspiration night in Stamberk while we were there so that was really cool to see how that works. Missionary work is changing a lot here in the Czech Republic which is really cool to see. This last transfer when we started reading 17 pages from the Book of Mormon every day we almost tripled our baptisms from the transfer before. One of the coolest things thought was to see a member named Zdenek Novotny. We baptized him in my second transfer so it has been over a year and a half but on the second day of the training he showed up and turns out he is now a ward missionary. I was so pumped to see him and see that he is strong in the church and helping others. On our way home it was pouring rain and we saw this guy on the side of the road fixing his car so we stopped to see if we could help. I don't know why because neither of us know how to fix a car. But he basically just wanted someone to talk to cause he had been there for 45 minutes and we were only the 2nd people to stop and the first person left as soon as he found out what was wrong. He was pretty pumped that 2 guys from America were helping him fix his car. haha So things are going well. If you have never read the book called The Power of An Everyday Missionary I would recommend it to you. It's pretty short but I have learned a lot about how we can bless others by just being who we are. Have a great week! Sbohem, Starsi Paxton Sorry I don't have my camera so I will have to send other pics next week.

Hradec Kralove

This week was good. Because it was Elder Beazers last week we got invited over to three different families houses for dinner so that was something new for us! We had so much going on because we had an activity at the church building where we showed the movie Joseph Smith Prophet of The Restoration every night for a week and we ended up getting about 30 people to it so it wasn't too bad. We also got to mushroom hunting with a family in the ward. Czechs are like way into hunting for mushrooms. It was pretty fun, we found a ton of mushrooms but the first two I picked up and took them to the members and asked if they were good and they were like no actually those are the two most poisonous, I probably wouldn't lick your fingers. ha After we picked them, they asked us to come back and eat them for lunch but we had apartment checks so we went to our apartment and with the senior couple were 2 Slovak Elders and Elder McCallister wanted to contact with us while his comp and the senior Elder went to check other apartments so he came with us but the other Elders were taking too long while checking other apartments so we brought him with us to our lunch. He was way pumped because in Slovakia they have even less member visits than we do. On Sunday President asked us to go to Liberec for two days this week to help out the area there so on Wednesday right after lunch with the members, we drove to Jaroměř to have a lesson then we went to Liberec and slept at the Elders apartment there and then just contacted all day there to find them some new investigators.

Elder Beazer and I got to go visit Kutna Hora which is a city that has a bunch of really cool Catholic churches. One of them is filled with human bones so that was interesting. We saw a really big miracle this week, last Sunday a members niece came to church with him and he gave her a Book of Mormon then we asked the member if we could have FHE at their house and he could invite her over so he did and when we showed up she told us that she had a really weird experience with the Book of Mormon. When she started reading she got really tired so she closed her eyes and started getting a burning feeling then she couldn't move or talk for a couple of minutes so she said she was scared to read anymore. We taught her about opposition and how Satan tries to stop us right before we are about to receive something great. We talked about Joseph Smiths experience when he saw God and Jesus Christ but right before that, Satan tried to stop him. The member was able to testify about how the Book of Mormon has blessed his life and helped in his family. It was interesting because Elder Beazer and I have actually been preparing for a lesson like that so we were completely prepared to help her find her answers. She came to church again and agree to meet with us regularly so we are pretty excited to see how the gospel with help her. We all have opposition in our lives but when we overcome these oppositions the reward is much greater than if we were to cave.

Like I said it was Elder Beazers last week so it was pretty sad seeing him go. I am still in HK but I am serving with a companion that was called to speak Slovak. His name is Elder Flindt. It will be interesting to have a companion that speaks a different language than me. I hope you all have a great week!

Sbohem, Starsi Paxton

Hradec Kralove

This week we got to visit this family that is half American which was fun because I finally got to speak to some natives in English which felt good. We also had an exchange and I was with a younger missionary. While we were contacting he started talking to this lady while I was talking to someone else and after he comes up to me and says "I think I just told that lady that my mom died of cancer" haha
We had a service project with the ward for a center that helps blind people. I was in charge of cleaning the windows and they looked way good when I was done with them.
We also visited another family last night which was way fun. We don't have a GPS though and they live pretty far away so we went early to make sure we could find it and then we were going to tract around their house but when we were driving past their house the daughter saw us and came running out and we had to tell her that we would be back in an hour. It was pretty awkward but it ended up being fun once we actually visited them.
Things are going pretty well here. Its Elder Beazers last week so that is pretty sad. Who knows what will happen with me next transfer.
Here is a really cool quote from Pres. Hinckley about the true love that God has for us.
You are in very deed a child of God. He is your Eternal Father.
He loves you.
You can go to Him in prayer.
He has invited you to do so.
What a wonderful thing this is.
He is the greatest of All.
He is the Creator and Governor of the universe.
And yet He will listen to your prayers.

Sbohem,
Starsi Paxton

Hradec Kralove

We had training this week and Elder Beazer and I had MLC the day before so we stayed in Prague for the night with Elder Chadwick and Elder Carlson. We had dinner with Sebastian at this way nice restaurant where they would bring out a new piece of pizza every couple of minutes and you could try it. That night it was pouring rain and we got back to the apartment of the Elders in Prague and when we walked in we noticed water dripping from the ceiling so we went upstairs and the floor was soaked! They left the ceiling windows open and it rained all day so we were got all the towels we could find (only one) and tried to clean it up before we went to bed. One thing that was pretty funny, Elder Beazer wanted to try a new way of contacting so we go up to this couple and he says "Today we are asking every Czech one question" The couple says "Good thing we are from Slovakia" then started laughing and walked away! haha I was laughing so hard but Elder Beazer just stood there way embarrassed. There was also a big festival on the square so they had a buch of markets which was fun. It was right outside our window so it was pretty loud all weekend.

Hradec Kralove

So this week was pretty sick. Last pday we went to Kuks on a trip with the district. We also went on a 3 day exchange with 2 young men from the ward and it was way fun. It helped so much with Czech. Also Elder Andrus came for an exchange and I was the one who trained him so it was good to see him again. We found a really cool girl while waiting for a lesson to show up and invited her to church so she came and stayed all three hours and loved it. The ward was pumped to see her at church. In the middle of church this week a bird flew into the chapel and started flying around the building. It flew into the back room and we hear it slam into the window twice so I decide to go get it out and I walk in the room and it is just laying on the floor and it looked dead. Elder Beazer was dying cause he thought it was way funny but I was like I gotta get this bird out of here before the little kids see it but when I opened the window it hopped up and flew out so I guess it wasn't dead. lol

Hradec Kralove

So this week was pretty packed. Turns out we have pday to day because our exchange with the young men got changed to the second half of the week so we will be with them starting Wednesday.
On Tuesday we went to Prague for training and our mission president gave a really good training on the Light of Christ. As a mission we are all reading 17 pages a day outside of personal study so every spare minute we have we are reading in the Book of Mormon. The stake president came to our training and promised us that as we build our spirituality people would start seeking us out instead of us having to try so hard to find them. The very next day we were reading in the Book of Mormon at 9 and we got a call from a less active that we have been trying to meet with ever since I have been in HK but she never would. She asked if we could meet and give her a blessing the next day. So we meet her at the library and she sits down and asked if we could give her a blessing right there. We were like there are a lot of people and its kinda loud do you want to go somewhere else so she takes us outside on the bench that is right next to a main road and a ton of people are walking next to us but we were like whatever she needs a blessing so we will give it to her. So we gave her a blessing on the side of the street and she said we could meet next week. haha
We also got to go to Olomouc again for an exchange. I was with a new Elder there and it was so much fun to be back in Olomouc. I ran into to former investigators that I taught when I was there and they still remembered me so it was pretty cool. Yesterday we were tracting and this guy comes out and says I am atheist I don't have interest but we talked to him for a while and we were just kinda joking around with him cause he was a bro dad then I was like well can we meet and share our message or what and he was like sure I have time on Thursday.
So it was a pretty good week. I hope things are going well for everyone back home.

Sbohem,
Starsi Paxton

Hradec Kralove

Good week. We went to Liberec to go to their district meeting and did a singing display after. It was pretty cool cause we found a lot of people for the Elders in Liberec. Our investigators have been making a lot of progress this week. One guy that we have been meeting with had a problem with smoking, he would smoke 10 cigarettes a day but we taught him the word of wisdom on Friday and he is already down to just 4 a day so things are going well for him. Sports day was really good this week because we invited this guy to play with us then when we had our spiritual thought at the end he started asking me all of the questions. Turns out he is a JW but doesn't really like the church here so we talked a lot about our church and what we believe. He is coming again next week and we will hopefully get him to come to church soon.
Oh we also had a pretty awkward experience this week cause we went back to the moms house that we tracted into this week and knocked the door but this lady came out and we were like hey we talked to a different lady from Ukraine here on Sunday and she told us to come back today. She was like nobody from Ukraine lives here. I thought she was lying so I was like come on we were here on Sunday and talked to her. But she still kept saying no and so finally we were like whatever and left. As soon as she went back inside I realized that we were at the wrong house. I felt so bad! The mom wasn't even home either so I guess we will try again.
We also got a less active to come to our game night and teach us a new song on the guitar. I didn't really get it though it was way too hard for me.
Anyways have a great week!

President Hinckley about missionary work in the last days said: ‘’Our hope concerning the future is big and our faith is strong. We know that we have barely touched the surface of what will come in the coming years, and what lies ahead of us. Our burden on the path ahead of us is big. But our opportunity is amazing. (Gordon B. Hinckley. “Look to the future” 1997)

S Bohem,
Starsi Paxton

Hradec Kralove

This week was pretty good. We went to Prague for a few meeting with Pres.
Our investigators are doing well and have been coming to church so that is good. We had a lesson with a girl from Brazil, she is the one that doesn't speak English very well and no Czech at all but she came back and said that she believes that the Book of Mormon is true but she doesn't want to skype with Elders in Brazil cause she says she understands us but we know she doesn't.
We also went to Jicin this weekend to give baptismal interviews to a family. It was really cool, the kids are so prepared. Pretty funny, on the way we stopped at KFC to get lunch and you would think that after being here for so long that I could order some food with no problem but I went through the drive thru and ordered 8 chicken strips and the lady said that will be 750kc. I was like no way she probably just said 175 and I misunderstood. So we go and I pay with card and she says wait in the parking lot and we will bring it out. So we are waiting a while and she finally comes out and hands Elder Beazer this giant bag. He is like wow this is really heavy what did you order? We look in and the receipt says 750kc and there are 8 twisters which are like chicken burritos. So we ate them all... haha so yeah things are going well here. Have a great week. God loves you.
God So Loves You, That He Gave His Only Begotten Son. See John 3:16

Elder Paxton

Hradec Kralove

Pretty random but the other day we were out contacting and this family stopped us and said, you guys are the JWs right? And we were like no we are the mormons. But he was just joking cause turns out he is a bishop from Texas and he was visiting his daughter here so they took us to get KFC. We also got invited over to a members house for dinner. That stuff doesn't usually happen here in the Czech Republic. We had a way good lesson with a family. About a month ago Elder Beazer and I were on an exchange and we tracted this guys house and he came out and said that he didn't have time because his dad died the day before. We testified about eternal families and he told us that we could come back after the funeral and everything so we finally went back and set up a time that we could teach him. We had a really good lesson with him about the plan of salvation and he is really prepared. He told us that he wants his kids to have hope in their lives so that they never have to feel the way he felt when his parents died. And of course his kids were running around the yard naked cause it wouldn't be a Czech family if that didn't happen. Turns out he was also a pro hockey player for the Czech Republic for 25 years so I talked with him about hockey for a while.
This week we also went to Olomouc to visit a district meeting there which was fun because we got to contact in Olomouc again! I miss that place so much. We also got to have lunch with Sara and it was good to see that she is teaching with the missionaries and helping a lot in the branch.
Elder Beazer and I were driving home from tracting the other day and we drove past a lake, we were both looking at the water thinking about how nice it would be to go to the lake when all of the sudden this girl moons us... lol that was pretty interesting. Oh and we met this girl that doesn't speak English very well but we sent her a text asking what time she could meet and she replied with the picture that I attached... lol she meant to say Ill warn you.
So as you can see things are going pretty well. I hope you all have a great week.


S Bohem,
Starsi Paxton