Olomouc

So this week has been kinda slow. My companion got sick so our mission presidents wife made us stay locked up in our apartment for 2 days straight! It was soo boring. Then we finally got let out but by then we were both pretty sick but we didn't want to be inside anymore so we just kept working. We got a referral but he lived about 2 1/2 hours away so we decided to get the other elders in our district and go on a road trip to visit all of the less actives that live that far away and also give this guy a Book of Mormon. It was way fun! We drove all day and ended up in some crazy places! The GPS took us on this sketchy road and we ended up off roading on a really muddy road in our crappy little European car. Eventually we got to the referrals house at 8 at night and gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he would come to church this week. Sunday I gave a talk in church and it went really well except for the fact that I am still pretty sick so after church we decided to call our mission presidents wife and once again we are locked up in our apartment until we get better so that kind of sucks. Other than that not much happened. I hope you all have a great week!


Sbohem,
Elder Paxton

We also did a chalk display and that is me contacting so girl.

Olomouc

Yup another great week in Olomouc.
It's pretty freezing now a days but we are surviving. This week we got to watch conference finally and it was great! We got a few of our investigators to come and watch with us so we watched it in Czech with them. That was pretty fun but by the end my head was ready to exploid!
We also had our game night like usually and this week I was playing ping pong with this girl and in the middle of our conversation she just cuts me off and asks will you teach me to pray? So we taught her to pray and it was really cool. The members were there and she got to see how prayer really helps in each of our lives even though we all have different things going on.
We got to go to the Slezarovi for dinner this week and it was amazing to see how big the gospel is in there lives. Every question we would ask they would always bring it back to the gospel and relate it to their lives! Crazy! They are the best example for me! We also found a way sick guy this week. He has a giant lion tattoo on his neck and huge gauges, he set up a lesson with us this Tuesday so I am way pumped for that lesson!

My favorite quote was from Russell M. Nelson, he said “the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives, and everything to do with the focus of our lives”. We all have trials in our lives that we can't control but what we can control is the way we react to them. No matter what we are going through we can always find joy with faith in Jesus Christ.

sbohem,
Elder Paxton

Olomouc

Another great week here in Olomouc. Not too much happened but one night was pretty crazy (at least for the life of a missionary) I was on a split with a different missionary in my district and we went back to the building to switch back companions but we end up waiting there until 9 and they still aren't there so we call them a few times and they won't answer so we keep waiting all of the sudden its 9:30 and still nothing. We keep calling and they won't answer so we finally call the zone leaders to see what to do and they told us to just go to my apartment and we can switch back in the morning and they will find out where the other missionaries are. On our way home the AP's call because I was suppose to go on an exchange with them and they heard all this traffic and where like where the heck are you? So I told them what was going on so then they started freaking out cause it was 10 and we were still outside and didn't know where our companions were! Finally at 10:15 my the other missionaries show up and we switched back. They were stuck at a less actives house but nothing bad happened so that was good.
On Wednesday we met with these two girls that were self referrals and are both hard core Catholics but we had a really good lesson and they read past 1 Nefi 11 by the next day.
Sunday a member asked if we would give this lady a blessing and it was really cool. We walked in and I honestly thought she was dead, she wasn't moving or anything. We gave her a blessing and she opened her eyes. Then we sang to her and she got a huge smile on her face and started talking a little bit. We ended with a prayer and she just kept saying "Amen" with a big smile on her face. It was an awesome experience!
Also one of the new YSA's is from Slovakia so she has been teaching me a little Slovak. Pretty fun.
God loves you all. Jesus is our savior.
I hope you have a great week!

sbohem,
Elder Paxton

This girl left on her mission this week.

Olomouc

Pretty fun week here in Olomouc! We actually weren't even in our own area for half of it but we still rocked it this week! We had training in Brno on Thursday and then on Friday we went to Prague for my comps visa work. When we were trying to get a train to Prague the only two seats left were on a luxury train but we had to be there on time so we got on and it was the sickest train ride of my life! They gave us free food and all sorts of stuff. On the way back we weren't so lucky and got stuck on an old train that was too full so we had to stand the whole 3 hour ride.
After training on Thursday we went to visit this girls house that we got as a referral from missionaries in New York, it tooks us forever to get out to her tiny village but when we showed up the dad got super mad and kicked us off his property. We asked if we could at least give the Book of Mormon to here because we wrote our testimonies in it but that just made him even more angry. As we were walking down the street we saw them drive past us in there car so we decided to run all the way back and leave the Book of Mormon in the mail box. So we are praying that it will get to her.
We also had a lesson with this guy that looks like Jack Sparrow. The last time I met him he was wearing a kilt. He swore at me and then flashed me as he was flipping us of but this time he was actually really nice and read in the Book of Mormon with us. On Sunday one of the members here gave her departing testimony and we had a nice lunch party for her. She is leaving for the MTC this week.
Other than that it was a pretty normal week.

Faith-
Having faith in Jesus Christ means relying completely on Him, trusting in His infinite power, intelligence, and love. It includes believing His teachings. It means believing that even though we do not understand all things, He does. Because He has experienced all our pains, afflictions, and infirmities, He knows how to help us rise above our daily difficulties . He has “overcome the world” and prepared the way for us to receive eternal life. He is always ready to help us as we remember His plea: “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not”

S Bohem,
Elder Paxton

Olomouc

Another great week! My new comp, Elder Collins, and I are doing great. We have seen a lot of blessings just in our first two weeks so this transfer should be a really good one!
School has started here so about 22 thousand young students just moved here. It is crazy!
Our mission isn't really one to get referrals but this week we got 3 solid referrals so we were pretty pumped! I know it doesn't sound like a lot but for this mission that is a ton! I have probably only gotten 2 referrals my entire mission.
We went to a members house last night for dinner and the kids play the accordion so I got to try and it was pretty sick! They also didn't believe me that I could do a back flip so I did it even though I was still in my suit.
Sorry it's short I ran out of time but I hope you all have a great week! God is there and he loves you all!:)

Elder Paxton

Olomouc

This week my companion and I had some pretty sweet experiences. On Tuesday we were on our way to the building but we needed to take a tram so we were at the stop and our tram was 15 minutes late so we decided to take a different tram that would at least get us a little closer but right as the tram pulled up I felt like we needed to stay. So we did and this girl was standing by us so I started to talk to her and turns out she was waiting for the same tram that we originally wanted. We got on the tram with her and had a really good lesson about how God really does care about us and wants to help us through those hard times in life. Then she wanted to meet with us again so we have a meeting with her tomorrow. It was cool to see how the Spirit guided us to find this girl.

Wednesday a man came up to me and told me and tried to sell me drugs, he said the government made it illegal because they don't want us to be healthy, its all a conspiracy. I told him I didn't have money so he started pouring some into a bag and said I'll let you have half for free. You will see within two weeks the result. We didn't end up taking it though.

Thursday our land lady came and cleaned our apartment for us. Elder Collins had his clothes in the wash and when we got home they were all hung up and our bed sheets were changed! She is the best!

Yesterday a member came up to us and asked if we would go to the hospital with him to give his mom a blessing. We end up in this sketchy hospitals where everything was basically abandoned. My companion and I were so confused. We looked all over for his mom but never found her, all of the sudden the member walks into this hospital room so we follow and we see a guy laying on the bed with one leg missing! We had no idea what was going on and neither did the guy without a leg. Then the member said to the legless guy "I was there when this happened" The guy started crying and the member told him who we were and what we do here. We ended up giving him a blessing. Turns out he jumped in front of a train to kill himself but it didn't kill him and the member was working at the train station and saw the whole thing. It was insane that we went there looking for him mom and ended up finding this man.

This week we have seen how the Spirit is willing to guide those who will listen. I am grateful for the guidance from the Holy Ghost and I encourage all of you to look for those small promptings in your everyday lives. Have a great week!

Olomouc

So we had transfers today but turns out I am staying in Olomouc for at least one more transfer so I am pretty excited about that. My new comp is Elder Collins and he seems pretty cool! We are gonna have a great transfer!

This week we had training so we had to go to Bratislava in Slovakia and that was pretty fun. Elder Bowen (Senior missionary) drove us all there so we got to have a pretty sick road trip with Elder Bowen! He loved it!
This week a member from Prague was staying in Olomouc and didn't have much to do so he just contacted with us all day and it was way fun. Then the next day he went all the way to Brno and bought us peanut butter from Marks and Spencer! It was awesome! We had our culture night on Friday and we went to the circus. Not a ton of people were there so a couple of the members and missionaries got called up as volunteers! It was so funny!
Saturday we got our transfer calls and Elder Vickers and I had to wait all day! Finally at 8:30 we got a call and it was my trainer who is the AP now and he said because he is going home this week and it is his last calls he wanted mine to be very last. But I got it eventually so its alright.
Sunday we went to Brno to watch the rededication of the Freiburg Temple! It was so cool to be with the members and see how much they really appreciate the temple because they don't have one here in the Czech Republic so they have to go all they way to Germany if they even want to go.
I realized how blessed we are in the states to have so many temples around us. I am so grateful for that.
I hope you all have a great week and remember how blessed you are to have these gifts from God so close to you.