Plzen

Another great week gone by! We had a rough week as far as meeting with investigators because every time we set up they would cancel 20 minutes before. Also on Tuesday I was on an exchange with Elder Beazer again and we had apartment checks but we had about 5 minutes before the senior couple was going to get there so we decided to go contact outside our building until they got there but as soon as we walked out of our apartment we realized we left the keys inside and with our building you also have to have a key to get out so we were locked out of our apartment but locked in the building and the senior couple showed up but we couldn't let them in so we had to sit there and wait for Elder Needham to bring us the spare key. But we passed so that was good! On Wednesday we went over to Sister Komoncova's house for lunch and she is the best! She is the nicest old grandma and she loves the missionaries! Then on Thursday we had service at a less active members house and it was the grosses thing I have ever experienced in my life! We washed her dishes and every single dish was covered in black mold, and the worst part was she still ate off of them with the mold! Also her entire floor is covered in a mixture of her dogs hair and her hair so when I tried to vacuum it got clogged and over heated so I had to reach my hand in there and pull out clumps of hair and I filled a whole groceries bag with vacuumed up hair! Then on Saturday we had sports night which is always fun and we had some new people show up but on the way there Elder Needham lost his wallet and we didn't notice until after sports night so we never did end up finding it. Sunday we had branch conference so President McConkie and his family were there and we had a ton of people there. We had so many that we had to put up chairs in the back rooms for people to sit! It was awesome! Then we were suppose to meet this lady outside of her Kostel, Catholic Church, but she wasn't there so we went inside to see if she was there, she wasn't but it was a pretty sweet building. It is super big and old but you could just feel that it wasn't even close to the true church! But today was by far the best day, this morning we got Nikolej on date for baptism on March 5th and he is really solid. Then we took a tour of the Pilsner Urquell beer factory. It was probably one of the coolest things I have seen here! But with being here and seeing so many drunk people and how beer has messed up their lives it just goes to show how important it is to take care of your body. Like in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 we know that our body is a gift from God and when we respect our bodies we show our love for him! And I know he blesses us when we take care of our bodies. I hope you all have a great week!

Stašï Paxton

Week 6 in Plzen

This was definitely the craziest week of my mission!
One really cool thing that happened was on Tuesday we were teaching our English class and at the end we showed the Thanks to Him video and gave our testimonies on that, the spirit was so strong so we asked if we had any volunteers to say the closing prayer. This old man named Vratislav, that has been coming to our class ever since before I got here but hasn't shown any interest in the gospel, volunteered and said the closing prayer! It was a really cool experience to see how our testimonies can really help people to feel the spirit and sometimes it takes longer for others to recognize it but Vratislav finally recognized the spirit and we are hoping to meet with him again tomorrow!
Then where it got really crazy, My companion had MLC in Prague so Elder Beazer and I were together again for the day. We had on plan to go to Koloman's house, he is a less active member, because he needed a blessing. Right before my companion leaves he says "Don't miss the train cause the next one doesn't come for another hour." We were like don't worry we won't miss it!! But we missed it! So we call Koloman because he was supposed to be waiting at the train station for us to get there and we tell him we missed the train. Luckily he said he would wait for us to get on the next one. So finally we get on the train and when we get off the train we look around and there is literally nothing around us and Koloman isn't there. We were like crap we got off one stop too early so we start sprinting on the train tracks to get to the next stop and after a long time of running we get this call from Koloman asking where we were cause he didn't see us get off the train. We told him we were sprinting and we should be there soon but he was like No please get off the tracks and go back to the train station. But we couldn't really understand him because neither of us speak good Czech so we thought he was going to meet us back at the last train station so we start sprinting back so that we will be there when he gets there. We finally make it back to the train station but he wasn't there. Then we get a call from the branch president telling us that we need to wait for the next train and go back to Plzen. So we were like crap Elder Needham is going to kill us because first off he told us not to miss the train but now we aren't even going to give Koloman his blessing! So we are just sitting at the train station freezing because we just ran forever in our big coats so we got super sweaty and then it started snowing so we were freezing and super disappointed! Plus we had another lesson planned with Daša but there was no way would were gonna make it back in time! But we texted Koloman and said so we aren't coming to meet you anymore? And he text us back but we couldn't understand it but all of the sudden the train pulls up and there is Koloman! He said he would come back with us to Plzen and we could just give him the blessing at the church! So we taught a dang good lesson then gave him a blessing!! And luckily Daša said she could move the lesson back an hour so we made it to that on time!
So then I thought dang this day couldn't get any crazier but I was wrong. After our lesson with Daša I had to go with Elder Hymas, also new, back to Slovany to meet up with my companion. We got on a bus but after a while we were like dang this has been a really long bus ride and nothing looks familiar, are we going the right way? But we just figured oh it will look familiar once we get to the right stop. Then all of the sudden I look out the window and see Globus, this building that is super far away from our city and I only see it when we go and do service for this member that lives far away and we usually have to take a car to get out there cause only a few buses go out there like 2 times a day! So we hopped off the bus and went searching for a way back home! Finally we found another bus and made it home!
Then the next day we ran into Nikolaj, one of our investigators that we haven't been able to get in contact with because he doesn't have a working phone anymore. So we talked with him and found out that he was going to the hospital because he doesn't have feeling in his leg anymore because when he was in the war a grenade blew up next to him so they took him to a hospital but they messed up so now he just slowly keeps losing feeling in his leg. So the next day we went to the hospital to find him but we never could find him cause their hospitals here are crazy. People are just walking around with all this bloody bandages and open wounds and the doctors start bringing out this guy on a table that is almost dying and they act like it is no big deal! They have no privacy what so ever in their hospitals and just bring injured people that they picked up off the street right through the visiting area. It was pretty crazy!
And tonight Elder Beazer and I will be on exchanges again so hopefully we won't get lost anywhere this time! But it has been a great week! I hope you are all doing well!

Starší Paxton Elder Beazer and I on the train tracks

Half way through my first transfer!

It's crazy how time goes by! In my mission we have 9 week transfers so I just barely hit the half way mark. But I love it here! The city is awesome and the people are great!!
This week we had zone training and since my companion is a zone leader he had to meet up with the other zone leader to plan for that so for about three days I was with Elder Beazer again! He is great, this is his second transfer so we are both super new but we have gone on a bunch of exchanges together and it is crazy trying to teach lessons together but somehow it turns out great! At training Elder Beazer and I practiced teaching the mission presidents wife and she said we worked really well together especially since we weren't even companions! The training was really good and our mission is doing really well! On the way home we got on a train that is suppose to be super fast and really nice but it broke down after one stop and they threw all of the passengers on a tiny, crappy, super slow train! It took us double the time to get home and we were stuck standing in the area by the bathrooms! It was so hot and such a long ride! haha but it was a pretty fun experience!
Our district did service for Vladimir again and this time is was some pretty hard work! We moved a whole bunch of old furniture and equipment out his factory and into a different building but we had to lift it up some sketchy wooden stairs that are super steep! It was way fun though because he is trying to restore a castle he owns so we get to work with him on that and see all of these super antique things! I love it!
My companion and I had a pretty good week, we got 3 new investigators and they are all really cool! Two of them we contacted at separate times and they both sent us a text that said they couldn't stop thinking about our message and wanted to learn more so we taught them and they seem really interested in getting baptized! I really hope things work out because they would be really good branch builders and help us get a stake in the Czech Republic. We are getting super close to that!
Also our branch just bought the upstairs to the building of our church and we got to see it the other day and they are going to expand the chapel downstairs because we are getting pretty big! Our branch is doing really good!
Not much else has happened but it has been a super fun week!
One scripture that has really helped me this week is Moroni 7:33. About how if we have faith in Jesus Christ we will have power. I know this is true because I have seen it here, people don't have faith and they have a really hard life but as soon as they build that faith in Christ their lives improve dramatically!
I love you all and hope you have a great week!!

Starší Paxton

This week has been pretty great!! We have had a lot of work to do which is great! Last Sunday we went to the mental hospital again but this time we missed the first train so we had to wait until later and by the time we got there it was pretty late and super dark so it was even worse than usually! But luckily the member we meet with there got out on Thursday so we don't have to go back there anymore!! One thing that kinda sucked this week was both of our investigators on date for baptism dropped us but one of them didn't speak Czech or English so we could barely speak with him anyways and we only met with him once. But the other one was doing really well but while I was on an exchange in Prague my companion and another elder taught him but he tried to show them a picture of his girlfriend in a bikini so they looked away and he thought they looked away because she was ugly so he said he never wants to meet with us again. Which sucks but it was kind of funny! Hopefully we can work things out with him!
But on a good note two times this week we got a text message that both said basically the same thing, "hey I met you guys on a tram the other day and I can't stop thinking about what you said when can we meet and talk more." So we are meeting with them this week and will hopefully get them on date for baptism!!
On Thursday we did service for a man named Vladimir, he is super rich and owns this old factory thing but during communism they took it over and trashed it basically so he asked if we would come help him clean it out so we did. We basically just grabbed everything and threw it out of this window on the top floor into a huge dumpster outside. It was pretty fun and the building was super cool! He also let us take whatever we wanted and so I took a super old Škoda bus steering wheel to hang up in my room! haha And this week we get to help him again but we get to go to a small castle to help him move crappy furniture out of it! Then I went on an exchange with the district leader Elder Bourn, it was super fun. We visited a couple of less active members and helped them with a few things. It really helped me to learn how important it is to meet with the less active members as well as new investigators because they are just as important and we need to build friendships with them also.
A few other things that weren't so great was that our church building got broke into and they destroyed a few of the doors but all they took was a small tv that wasn't very good anyways so we were lucky because we also had a big flat screen in there but I don't think they could carry it a lone so they left it. Also our heater/water heater went out so we have been pretty cold in our apartment and our showers are freezing!! But at least we get ready really fast cause we don't want to freeze in the shower so we only take like 2 minutes each! haha
On Sunday we had a really cool experience, this couple showed up to church that I had talked to at the beginning of this week and I gave them a Book of Mormon but I didn't think they would call us or come to church because when I contacted them I tried to explain the Book of Mormon but it didn't go very good because my Czech is not great so I ended up just giving them the book and my card and thought that I would never see them again but turns out they came to church and said they would come again next week! So that goes to show that the language really doesn't matter as long as you teach with the spirit! Another investigator we have, Tereza, also came to church and after she asked if she could follow us around while we were contacting and take pictures of us for a project she was working on so we said why not! haha It was really weird having someone follow us around with a camera and when we would stop and talk to people they kept asking us why there was a girl taking pictures of us! haha Also on Sunday night we were counting up all of our numbers for the week and the only thing we were short on to meet the standards of excellence was investigators on baptismal date because we had 2 drop us and our companionship goal was to at least get the standards of excellence this week so we skipped dinner and got on the tram and went up to every single person we saw and said "Hey I'm a missionary, I prepare people for baptism, want to get baptized?" We asked so many people but we didn't have any luck. Although we did get a few new investigators from it and it was pretty fun so it wasn't all bad!
I've had a some really good learning experiences and have had a lot of blessings! It's crazy that we had two people text us saying that they couldn't stop thinking about our message because that usually never happens, in this mission at least! It just goes to show that if you are willing to work and give it your all the Lord will answer your prayers!
I love you all and hope you have a great week!!

Staršï Paxton

Had an awesome week! We started out by going to Sister Komancova's for the Trdelnik challenge!
Trdelniks are a dessert here that are basically just sugar with some dumpling and fruit! But before we get to start with the Trdelnik challenge she makes us eat a huge bowl of soup and she won't bring out the Trdelniks until all of the soup is done. So we eat the soup and are already so full but then we start to eat the Trdelniks, she will give us each three at a time and just keep giving us three more and three more! The first three are amazing but once I got to nine I started to feel super sick but she just kept making more and more and you have to eat them! Luckily she didn't make as many this time as she did last time so I only ate 13 but last transfer an elder ate 27!! You basically feel super sick for two days but it is worth it!!
Then I went to Prague for an exchange with the AP. It was great! The second I got off the bus we contacted every single person we saw, and there are a ton of people in Prague. I still had my luggage and everything but we just kept contacting until we finally made it to the apartment and dropped off my stuff then went back to contacting! It was the craziest two days of my mission! We would literally run from lesson to lesson and never stop contacting people! By the end of the exchange I was exhausted but I learned so much from the AP's! The President told me I was doing a great job and the AP's told me I had so much confidence and no fear!! So that was great! They also challenged me to try something on my train ride back to Plzen, it's called train tracted. Basically you just go from room to room opening the door and asking who wants to be taught! You just have to be careful not to get kicked off because then you have no way to get back to your city and me and the elder I was with didn't have a phone! But we just waited for the ticket worker to walk past us and we would go the opposite way. It was pretty fun!
As far as investigators go, I met a guy named Nikulaj from Ukraine. He was put in the war but got blown up then escaped the hospital and came here illegally but he can't go back or they will put him in the war again. Also our investigator Gabriel brought his friend with him to a lesson and I asked him to get baptized and he said he would but the only problem is he doesn't speak Czech or English! haha so we have had a hard time teaching him, basically Gabriel translates for us but he doesn't speak good English either so its rough! We'll see how it goes!
Sorry I don't have any time left so I will tell more about it next week! Love you all!

Week 2 in Plzen

This week was great! The members are awesome and love to spend time with the missionaries so we get to do activities with them every once in a while which is so fun! I met a member named Gabi, she is the girl that I skyped in the MTC, it's crazy that I got put in the same city that she lives in. It was awesome that I got to meet her in person, she is crazy though! One time we were having a lesson with two investigators at the church building and she just walked in and started teaching with us, which is good though cause it is good to have members at lessons, anyways she keeps going way off topic talking about movies from America and all this stuff and then about half way through the lesson she pulls out an orange and started eating it and passing some out to our investigators! haha She's pretty funny!
On Tuesdays we get to teach English classes for an hour to anyone that wants to learn, so for like one hour out of the whole week I actually understand what people are saying! It's great! haha And one of my favorite investigators is from Romania so he kind of speaks English but no Czech so we teach him in English and he has been progressing really well except this last week he said he has to move because of work and he was telling us about how he works for the mob and I am pretty sure it is some kind of chop shop from how he described it so I am a little worried about him right now. But he is still meeting with us so hopefully we can figure things out! We have a lot of other investigators that are doing really well also, one guys name is Yun, he is from North Korea and he only got out of the country because his dad works for their government so he is going to school here but while he was here he realized that Korea is messed up and everything they taught him was wrong so he said here in Czech but because he never returned they killed his whole family so he is all alone. It is super sad but he is doing really well and he wants to get baptized!
So we have split zone leaders in my zone and because my companion is the zone leader he has to go on exchanges with the other zone leader a lot so me and Elder Beazer go on exchanges everytime the zone leaders go on exchanges and he has only been here for one transfer. So we are both really new and neither of us know the language very well and we were with each for two days! It was so fun though!
I also went to Prague to stay at the AP's apartment for the night then travel to Brno for training and as I was leaving the AP's said that they wanted to go on exchanges with me so I get to go to Prague again and go on exchanges with the AP's! It should be way fun!
Yesterday I gave my first talk in church. It went really well and I think everyone understood me for the most part so that was good! Then we went to a mental hospital to give the sacrament to a member there for depression but there are all of these crazy people that come up to me and ask me for stuff but I don't understand them. And we teach this one guy named Pavel that is there because he killed a guy but says he didn't so after 17 years in prison they put him there, he is not progressing very well. It's a super creepy place, I don't like it there... But it is great here and the language is coming a long alright! I love all of the people though and the members help with the language a lot!
One thing I have learned is that we definitely need to focus on the small blessings that God gives us each day, the more you focus on what good things have happened the happier your life is and the more you recognize God in your life. So this week look for those small blessing God gives us each day and remember to be grateful!
I hope you all have a great week!

Starší Paxton

This is when it first snowed and the view from our apartment.

1st week in the Czech Republic

​Hey everyone!! So I have had a crazy week! I was in the MTC for Christmas and it was great, we had a devotional and David A. Bednar came with his family! He passed out like 150 cell phones to text him a question we had and then he did a Q&A thing. I got to sit on the second row right behing his family and it was so cool being that close him! It was really cool to hear his answers and his testimony! Then that night David Archuleta performed for us! That was so much fun!
On Monday we flew to the Prague which took forever and we lost a whole day because of the time difference! But I just slept on all the flights so I didn't care! haha When we finally got to Prague we met the President and his family and they took us on a tour of Prague. It was amazing to see such an old city with huge castles and amazing buildings! It is so beautiful here!! The next day I met my trainer Elder Needham and went the the city I am serving in, Plzen! It is a really cool city, the girl that I skyped in the MTC lives here but she didn't make it to church so I haven't met her in person yet. Also they have the best Hockey team and Soccer team in the Czech Republic which is awesome!
On New Years Eve the Czech Republic goes crazy!!! There were fireworks everywhere and we had an awesome view from our apartment so we got to stay up and watch those. It sounded like a war zone throughout the whole day and night! But it was kind of scary because the last three or so days there will be explosions everywhere because people will just make huge home made firecrackers and stuff and throw them wherever they want so we have been walking sometimes and things will blow up next to us! haha But I think that is pretty much over with now!
We have had some good lessons that I try to participate in but I don't understand anything they are saying so usually I just throw in a few words here and there and hope they understand! My very first night in Prague we went contacting on the tram and they first guy I went to told me my Czech sucked and asked if I would speak in English to him, that has actually happened a few times. haha and on my first train ride some old man got really mad at us and starting speaking really fast and saying a lot of bad things, my companion understood him but I didn't understand him so it didn't really bother me. We also have an investigator at a mental hospital but they don't allow us to come in so we had to teach out in the snow. His name is Pavel and apparently he killed someone but he says he didn't. He was in jail for like 17 years and is now in the mental hospital. It was really weird there but whatever! Most of our day is spent contacting outside or on the tram, it is freezing!!! But I am getting use to it. A lot of people here will stop and talk with us but they usually don't want to meet with us again which sucks but we actually have a lot of investigators and people on schedule for baptism so that is great!!
On Friday I met the branch members and went on a hike with them, Plzen has some beautiful parks and lakes so it was cool to see that and meet all the members! We also got to play soccer with members and investigators on Saturday which was way fun and a couple of teenagers asked if they could play so after we talked to them about the gospel for a while!
So it's been good here, cold but good! And the Lord has helped me out a lot! It's crazy to see a place that doesn't have any faith or religion. Everyone is so sad and always drunk. I just want to say how lucky I am to have the gospel in my life to bring me joy and lets me know what my purpose is! And because of Jesus Christ and his Atonement we can be happy and live with our families forever! I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Starší Paxton