Hello everyone!

This week we focused on strengthening our relationships with the members so that we can get them more involved with our investigators. On Monday we visited the Dostalovi family and had family home evening with them. It was way fun to share a lesson and play games with them. Another family we met with was the Adamčikovi, the mom has been teaching our investigators with us a lot lately but her son has been struggling with the church lately and doesn't really like the missionaries but we went there for dinner and had a fun lesson with them and after talking with him he was willing to come to sports night and teach lessons with us. It is super hard for young members here because people start drinking and smoking at the age of 14 or sometimes younger.
We have had a lot of lessons with our investigators and things are going great! One of our investigators Zdeněk had an interview with a member in the presidency because he wanted to ask the second councelor to give him the gift of the Holy Ghost when he gets baptized. He is super excited to get baptized!
I had to go to Prague on Friday to get my visa work done. I got to see everyone from my MTC group so it was way fun. Then we went to lunch with Elder Hudson and Elder Beazer.
Saturday the Czech Republic had a country wide service to clean up trash so we joined and helped clean up Plzen! We cleaned up so much crap and probably destroyed a few hobos "homes" in the park but it looks way better. Anyways it's going good! I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Paxton

Plzen

We had a pretty successful week here in Plzen.
On Monday we went bowling with a less active and some other missionaries in our district. Then on Tuesday President McConkie came to our district meeting and to do some interviews. He gave me a whole new out look on recognizing the spirit. One thing we do as humans is second guess all of our thoughts, but with deciding if something is the Holy Ghost or just a thought that we have is simple. Just as scriptures and many prophets have told us, anything good is from God. As I have stopped second guessing the impressions I receive we have had a lot of success. The other day we decided to contact on a bus, I contacted this girl and taught her the restoration. She wouldn't set up with me so I figured I would never see here again. But a couple days later she called and said I heard your message on the bus and I want to learn more, when can we meet? So we met with her and on Sunday she came to General Conference. We don't know why we chose to get on that specific bus but because we followed the small prompting we found someone that was in need of our message.
This weekend we had the opportunity to watch General Conference. We were able to get five of our investigators to come and watch. It was amazing how their talks were exactly what our investigators needed to hear but at the same time it was exactly what I needed to hear. I know that God speaks through His prophets and He speaks to each one of us individually. The words they spoke are just proof that God is loving and that we have true prophets in our day. I hope you all felt Gods love as you watched conference, even though almost all of you watched it last week. Have a great week.

Elder Paxton

Plzen

Hello! Another great week here in Plzen! <\br> This week we officially got an inactive member named Stano active again. My last companion and I contacted him a couple months ago and after a few times of not showing up we finally met with him. He had a problem with smoking so we helped him quit but then he lost his house. We gave him a blessing and after a couple months he doesn't smoke anymore, he found a place to live and received a calling in the young mens presidency. It was amazing to hear his testimony and how grateful he was that we helped him get back into the church. Also another investigator that we have has been coming to church every week and this week one of the old grandmas in the branch thought he was already a member because he talks to everyone and fits right in but when she asked him he said no but I am getting baptized on April 30th. So he is really excited about it and the members here already love him. Last Monday was pretty sad we saw a man on a motorcycle get hit by a drunk driver and died right outside of a Catholic Kostel. Drinking is such a big problem here, it is sad to see how many people suffer from it. On Tuesday we decided to do a chalk display and draw the plan of salvation. We started drawing and it was looking pretty good when all of the sudden this drunk man walks up, grabs our chalk and starts drawing right in the middle of the plan of salvation. He drew this huge cracked hear with and arrow through it and blood coming out, then started yelling "this is me, this is my exwife. She broke my hear." Then started swearing a lot. So we had to leave our half drawn display and find somewhere else to do it. But eventually it turned out alright and we taught a lot of people. This Sunday we didn't get to watch conference because we have to wait for it to get translated and so we will watch is next Sunday. But I am excited! I know that there is opposition in all things but no matter how difficult or challenging our life circumstance, God intends for us to act rather than be acted upon. 2 Nephi 2:14. I hope you all have a great week! Elder Paxton

Plzen

I had another great week here in Plzen. It has been getting a little bit warmer so more people are out in the parks as families! The parks here are amazing. They are huge and full of trees and lakes!

This week we have had a lot of people get super mad at us for contacting on trams and buses and that's when it is the hardest to keep going but everytime we got yelled at and just kept talking to people we found someone that is super nice and wants to meet with us. One guy we found is Lukas, he speaks really good English so he asked if we could teach him in English so he can keep practicing but when we met with him he was amazed with our message and with us as missionaries and how much we give up to be here. Then we met two girls from Russia at different times and both of them said that they have been looking for a church to go to here in the Czech Republic and when we contacted them they were so happy and so glad they met us. But before each of these people we found, we got yelled at by super mean people but we just kept going and ended up finding people that really needed us. You have to go through trials before you receive the blessings. We also got a black investigator from Africa so that is pretty cool cause there are basically no black people here in Plzen.

On Saturday we had our culture night for this transfer and we got to go to the Blik Blik Light Festival. It was so cool, it starts in one park and you walk through town from park to park and they have different light events in each park. It was way fun, we got to go with some members and investigators which made it even better.

Also since it is almost Easter they set up the markets on the town square and have petting zoos and everything! So it's been a great week! President McConkie shared a talk with us from Elder Wirthlin about the Resurrection and I just want to share a part of it with everyone because it's almost Easter!

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin.
I think of how dark that Friday was when Christ was lifted up on the cross.
On that terrible Friday the earth shook and grew dark. Frightful storms lashed at the earth.
Those evil men who sought His life rejoiced. Now that Jesus was no more, surely those who followed Him would disperse. On that day they stood triumphant.
On that day the veil of the temple was rent in twain.
Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were both overcome with grief and despair. The superb man they had loved and honored hung lifeless upon the cross. On that Friday the Apostles were devastated. Jesus, their Savior—the man who had walked on water and raised the dead—was Himself at the mercy of wicked men. They watched helplessly as He was overcome by His enemies. On that Friday the Savior of mankind was humiliated and bruised, abused and reviled. It was a Friday filled with devastating, consuming sorrow that gnawed at the souls of those who loved and honored the Son of God.I think that of all the days since the beginning of this world’s history, that Friday was the darkest. But the doom of that day did not endure.
The despair did not linger because on Sunday, the resurrected Lord burst the bonds of death. He ascended from the grave and appeared gloriously triumphant as the Savior of all mankind. And in an instant the eyes that had been filled with ever-flowing tears dried. The lips that had whispered prayers of distress and grief now filled the air with wondrous praise, for Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God, stood before them as the firstfruits of the Resurrection, the proof that death is merely the beginning of a new and wondrous existence. Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays. But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.

My Comp and I. We found and American candy store so we got some candy. The Czech Republic finally got hymn books. And it was pouring rain one day.

Plzen

Another great week in Plzen! Elder Carlson and I have been working way hard and finding a ton of people to teach! It's crazy though cause he is only one transfer ahead of me so we are both super new and he is also the district leader so we have to figure all of that stuff out as well cause the last district leader was in a different area so we don't have any of the things we need so it's been interesting! We are having so much fun though!

Right now we have a couple really solid investigators on date and they are progressing a lot! One crazy thing that happened was that we have these two investigators Micheal and Morgan and they both have a baptismal date and we have been teaching them for about two weeks and we had a lesson yesterday with them and we are teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and about half way through the lesson when we were talking about their baptismal date Micheal says well you guys never asked me this question and it's pretty late now but I am acutally already a member of your church! I was baptized in Russia when I was about 8. We were like what the heck!? Then he goes on to tell us that he has the priesthood and baptized 3 people when he was 19 but then they moved and he became in-active and hasn't really been able to find the church neer him until here in Plzen. So we have been thinking he was an investigator this whole time and turns out he is really a member. But Morgan is still an investigator and working towards baptism so it's good because he is getting that extra support from Micheal as a member when the missionaries aren't around.

Other than that we have just been teaching and finding and it's been a ton of fun! Plzen is great and the branch here is amazing! Sorry it is short I gotta go!! Have a great week!!

Elder Paxton

Transfers!

This week went great! Last Sunday I gave another talk in church and it went really well but let me tell ya talks back home were a lot easier than here! On Monday we went to Prague and it was a lot of fun! We had some pretty interesting people come up to us. One guy was from Florida but lives in Prague now and he was crazy. He kept telling my companion "I don't even know you but I like you, you've got a nice smile." But then he looked at me and said yours is a little goofy! haha Then he just chewed us out for a while and he just kept saying "Jesus says love everyone, I love ya, I don't think very highly of you but I love ya!" It was so weird. Then we ran into some other elders and sisters that were in Prague for visa work so we went to dinner with them.
On Tuesday we had a lesson with Morgan and Michal, Morgan is on date and speaks English but we were on splits so I was teaching them with a member that kind of speaks English but about half way through they started asking probably the hardest questions a missionary could be asked! And I didn't even have a companion to help me out! It was terrible! But I answered the best I could and he is still working towards baptism.
Wednesday we went to Prague again for training and they announced our new mission president, President Jan Pohořelicky!! He is a Czech so I am super excited to have someone born here be our next president!
On Thursday I had an exchange with Elder Hymus and that night we had our "Culture Night" so we went to an opera in a really old but super nice theater! They are really in to plays/ operas/ ballet here so it was cool to experience that! We also went to the tallest cathedral/kostel and it was way cool but there were so many stairs!!! haha
Saturday we got a call from President McConkie, I get to stay here in Plzen and my new companion is Elder Carlson. He is only one transfer ahead of me but he is follow up training me and will also be the district leader! My old companion Elder Needham is now the AP!
So today Elder Carlson showed up and we are already working hard! I am super excited for this transfer! It is going to be interesting!
This week I challenge everyone to read Luke 10, The Good Samaritan and remember to always be willing to help and when you receive help always pay it forward! We get to do a lot of service here and it is amazing to see how much it helps the people and how happy they are when we finish! I hope you all have a great week!
Elder Paxton

Well things are finally starting to go better for us! We got two people on date for baptism, one is Nikolaj the guy from Ukraine. He has such a crazy story I might have already talked about it but I'll tell it again! He used to be a dang good sniper for Ukraine but finished his service and went back with his family but then the government kidnapped him and his brother and forced them to go to war again. While in war they were disarming some sort of bomb but it blew up and he watched his brother get blown to pieces and all of his friends die. He got sent to a hospital to have surgery but they screwed up so he is slowly losing all feeling in his leg. He escaped the hospital and came to the Czech Republic. But because he is illegal they force him to work 13 hours a day or else he gets sent back to Ukraine where they will find him and put him on the front line in war. So it really sucks but he has been doing a lot better since he's been meeting with us and wants to be baptized really bad! His date is next week because he has already been taught everything but we still don't know if he will make it or not because he has a hard time coming to church because of work. The other guy showed up to sports night on Saturday and we started talking to him and his friend. Morgan is the one that committed to baptism and he is from France, Michel is his friend from Greece but he didn't commit to baptism. So we finally hit standards and that is the first time in a long time Plzen has hit standards, and the first time it has been a greeny and a trainer!
This week I also had another exchange with Elder Beazer and for the first time we had nothing go wrong!! We even got two new investigators! So we celebrated by getting some pizza at our regular pizza place where the same waitress always serves us and thinks we are stupid because we don't speak very good so she will always ask if we want an English menu but we know how to read the normal one. And then we were on a small exchange on Saturday for a few hours and nothing went wrong on that one either! We have really improved!!
Other than that not much happened. Today we are going to Prague so I am excited to see some old castles! And this Saturday we find out what is happening for transfers and then Monday everyone goes to their new area! So we will see where I'm off to next or if I will stay!
I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Paxton