Pokračuji Dal!

December 12, 2011

Hey Again!

So we had quite a few lessons this week. It was a really good week! We were able to teach this one guy who is a father, and we're meeting with him again this week so we're really going to try to get his wife and son to come too! He was a really nice guy and we're really excited to be working with him!

We also met with another investigator who we hadn't been able to meet with in a while and he had a lot of questions about the Plan of Salvation, so we changed plans and taught that. It went pretty good. However he, and many other students in Brno, are going home this week for the holidays, so we won't see a few investigators until January again. That's alright though! They are still all doing great!

So, our Hungarian investigator. She is still awesome! That's really interesting mom that we have ancestors from there! Is that your grandma or dad's that is? Our investigator though is awesome and we had the best lesson ever with her. It was just super spiritual and really good. We taught the plan of salvation and it went really well. She is starting to recognize answers that the church is true. She also was able to come to church on Sunday! That was our first investigator at church this transfer! It was really cool.

Another really cool story. We found this one older lady on the street about 2 weeks ago and she said we could come and share our message in a week at her place. We went and she had people over so she said come next week. So this week we went over there and shared our message with her and her husband. At first, they were kind of telling us that we could share it really quick, but then we talked about the Book of Mormon. Her husband got really excited and took out his Czech and English Bible. He showed us this verse in John 21:25 that talks about the world not being able to contain all the writings of what Jesus Christ did. He then started searching the Book of Mormon. He was comparing the 3 Nephi chapters with the Bible. It was really cool. It's funny to see how these people, who didn't even think we spoke Czech at first, just completely changed and were very open to the message. They told us they'd love us to come back, just to wait until after Christmas. We will be there.

The missionaries are singing in the Christmas concert with the branch this Saturday so we're getting ready for that too. It's been a great week though and it's great to be a missionary. Love you all and hope you have a great week!

sLaskou

-Starsi Salas

Pripraveni Den

Dec 5, 2011

Hey everyone, it's Monday again!

It's been quite the week this week. First thing is that the Francis', the senior couple here in Brno, unfortunately have to leave back for America today. Elder Francis unfortunately has to go back for a surgery, but they are hopeful and will hopefully be able to return soon and finish the last 6 months of their mission. They are great though and really took care of us as missionaries.

We had quite a few lessons this week which was good. We're not on the streets so much now. When we were contacting though, Elder Odell and I have really improved our contacting, so we set up a ton of lessons for this week so we're really excited for that. While we were contacting, we contacted into a member family which was funny. They talked to us for a little bit then saw them again on Sunday. The mom in her testimony on Sunday mentioned us and how we contacted them when it was really cold outside. It was cool to see that people appreciate our work.

Elder Odell and I have this investigator from Hungary who is really cool though! She is studying here in Brno and we have been able to meet with her several times. She really understands the message we are teaching her and it is such a blessing to teach her. She read the first 12 chapters in the Book of Mormon, didn't understand them, and read them again! That was really cool to hear! It is even more of a blessing that she is so reliable, because she doesn't have a phone. She is way awesome though!

Another really cool story is we talked to this guy who grew up here, moved to Australia for a few years, and is back for Christmas for a month. He is taking care of his parents for this month and he will move back here in a year to take care of his parents for a longer period of time. He told us he doesn't have time to meet this month, but we talked for a bit and he was really interested. He told us he really respects us and the coolest thing was when we left, he told us, "the message got through". That was a really neat thing for me to hear. One day he will be lead to hear the message.

Other than that, just a normal week! Ha, there's no such thing as a normal week as a missionary. Love you all and hope all is going well with everything. Hope baby Desmond is doing well!

sLaskou

-Starsi Salas

Už tady jsou Vanoce?

November 28, 2011
Hey everyone!

So I heard the news and saw the pictures, Elise has her baby!!! Still haven't heard anything about his name yet but I'm sure I will soon enough. That's really exciting! He seems like a really cool little guy already!

So can anybody guess when the Christmas season starts in the Czech Republic? The day after Thanksgiving. It's really interesting, because they definitely don't celebrate Thanksgiving here. So on the main square though all the stands are open selling food and other Christmas items. It's really exciting! We have already eaten at several and they're all really good! It's so cool though, there are just so many Christmas things and it's nothing like I've ever experienced! It's exciting.

The missionary work has started slowing down a bit though and I keep hearing it only gets worse as Christmas (Christmases in Czech, yes it's plural) gets closer. People are just too busy with their family and other things to have time for missionaries I guess. We aren't letting that get us down though!

Last night we had a cool experience! We were talking with people on the streets around the main center when we saw some of the other missionaries. We snuck up behind them, then started talking to them for a minute seeing how the work was going for them. We were standing in a circle talking and then this guy just came and started standing in our circle. It was really weird and he didn't say anything for a minute. Then he just introduces himself. Elder Odell and I were surprised. It was this guy who is a former investigator and who we had talked to on the phone a few times, but had never been able to set up a time to meet with him. However, now that we finally met him face to face, he was willing to set up a time to meet and it was really cool! He is a really nice guy.

Cool story of today is that we were getting money from the ATM and this guy saw us and stopped. It was a guy we had talked to last week who said he was going to come to church, but didn't. We were able to talk to him again though and we set up a meeting this time (last time he didn't want to). So that was really cool that we met him there!

Not too much has happened since Thursday though. It has snowed twice, but it was nothing like real snow. Just enough to turn the grass white and then it was gone the next day. It snowed last night but it's already all gone today. Nothing like Utah. It is just as cold as Utah though I wish we had the snow to go with it! Today was really warm though and we even saw some blue in the sky.

So we're really looking forward to a great week though and to seeing some miracles again!

Hope everyone had a great week and hope baby Wallace does well!!!

sLaskou

-Starsi Salas

Jak se Daři

November 24, 2011

Hey Everyone!

So it's been quite the miracle week. Elder Odell and I have been working hard talking with everyone on the streets and we've seen some really cool things!

First story-

Elder Odell and I were contacting at this park around Spilberk Castle last week, and we didn't get any success there. It was starting to get dark so we were headed down the hill and we almost walked past this guy because we didn't notice him at first but Elder Odell stopped him. He has heard of us and our church before and was super excited to talk to us. He just kept talking about how cool it was that we were missionaries and how he wishes he could do something like that. He said he was really busy with work and school but would love to meet with us. So we called him this week and set up for last night. Came to the meeting, loved our church building, we taught by the spirit, and he accepted a baptismal date for January. Way awesome! He is just a really solid guy all around and is very prepared for the message! We feel so blessed to have met him.

Second story-

During companion study, Elder Odell and I were talking about in Preach My Gospel about how it says to look for ways to serve people in small ways. So this is the same day we met the last guy I talked about. So it was dark and we were contacting in this other park that has lights so it's good for night contacting. We saw this girl about 27 years old looking for something in the leaves in the grass. We asked her if we could help her with anything. She said she was looking for something and I didn't understand what it was so I told her I didn't understand some word. She was confused and asked where we were from. Told her we're from America. She speaks English. Said she never would have guessed we were foreigners. That was pretty cool. But then she said she was looking for her dog leash. We told her we could help but she didn't want to bother us. Talked a little more and it turns out her husband is from Costa Mesa, and is working there at the moment. She was way excited to hear I was from Orange County. So then we told her we really wanted to help her look. Found her dog leash, she was way excited. Told her about our English class and she came to that and we have a meeting set up with her next week! It's really crazy how a little bit of small service can really make a big difference. So that was a really cool experience as well.

So the main square here in Brno is all decorated for Christmas and it looks really awesome! They have a huge nativity here too. I'll get some pictures mom don't worry. Today we have p-day and Thanksgiving and we're getting together as missionaries and having a big lunch. We have a senior couple here in Brno so we're going over there to have turkey. We're really lucky here in Brno.

So it's been a great week and we're really looking forward to continuing to serve here in Brno! Good things are happening here!

-Starsi Salas

Brno!

November 14, 2011

So it's been a crazy week this week. Opening up an area is definitely not the easiest thing. It's been good though. Elder Odell and I have hit the pavement talking with people and we've already seen some cool things! We talked with a ton of people this week and have about 10 potential investigators! We have 3 lessons set up for Wednesday and we're really excited about that!

We met this one guy who seems super interested. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he committed to read and pray about it! It was really cool. From the moment we started talking to him he kept getting more and more excited. We'll try to meet with him this week again and see how that goes.

We have 11 missionaries here in Brno. 7 Elders (one is finishing his mission in the middle of the transfer), and 2 sisters and a senior couple. It is really cool to have so many missionaries here, and we see each other every so often on the streets.

On Sunday, we had district conference (Stake Conference) so we didn't get to see how many people are normally in the branch. Brno has the second biggest branch though I think (behind Prague) and it has a church building! It is big enough to be a ward, but there aren't enough wards for a stake, so it's still a branch. It's cool though, everyone seems really nice.

We had an opportunity to do service for an older lady in the branch painting a room in her house and it was really cool. We got to meet a few members that way.

Brno is a really cool city though. It is super beautiful and is just really awesome! Plus there aren't a lot of tourists like there are in Prague, so it's nicer to go around talking to people. Brno is just way cool though.

Elder Odell is great! He already knows Czech pretty well so there's not the problem of me talking too much. We understand about the same so that's good. He really likes things clean though, so he's always cleaning.

Funny story, we were telling this guy the first vision in Czech, and I forgot a word so then all of a sudden, Elder Odell continues on with it. Then he forgot the last part, so I finished it. It was pretty funny.

Well, I hope everyone has a great week, and I can't wait to hear from you all next week! Hope I have some good things to report! Love you all!

-Starsi Salas

Transfers!

November 9, 2011

Hey everyone!

So, the big news, transfers. So the first news, I left Hradec Kralove. It was sad, but that's alright. I'll be able to go back after my mission. Second news, I'm in Brno!!!! It's the seconds biggest city in the Czech Republic. It's in Moravia (East half of the Czech Republic). Only been here a few hours but it's such a beautiful city! It's such a great city for missionary work. I also here it's the best city to be in at Christmas time! (Here and Prague) Last big news, I'm blinding in an area and following up training, meaning, I'm opening an area that was temporarily closed, with a companion who has been in the country 2 months less than me. Probably the most nerve wracking experience of my life. Ha, it will work out just fine though. I'm with Elder Odell, who came into the MTC right after my group. He is from Georgia, and more recently Nevada. He is a good guy and speaks Czech just as well if not a better than me which is good. However, neither of us are amazing so we have a lot of learning to do these next 2 months. Things will be just fine though. It's really exciting to be here.

So, this last week in Hradec Kralove. It was a really good week. Our less active member came to church and bore his testimony. That was one of the coolest things ever. He thanked Elder Bracken and I for helping him return to church and build his testimony up again. He is a really cool guy and I'm glad I was able to help him.

Other events of the last week, basically no one was able to meet with us so Elder Bracken and I did a lot of contacting. A LOT, of contacting. One day we seriously did not talk to a single person for more than 30 seconds. It was a lot of fun though. We talked with probably 100 people that day. It was hard work, but it was fulfilling work. We were able to talk to this one guy though who just looked like he had had the worst day. We talked about prayer and finding joy in strengthening our relationship with our Heavenly Father. It seemed to help him out, but that was Monday so we haven't met with him again yet.

So the Halloween Party was really good though. There were 4 families that came in the branch so we had a lot of people! 3 of the families were really big families so there were a lot of kids. It was a lot of fun and they all seemed to enjoy it. It's interesting for them because they don't celebrate Halloween here. It was a good event though.

So, I hope everyone is doing well though, and I hope you all have a great week. There will probably be a lot more to report this next coming week though so it should be exciting! Now we just have to figure out how to get back to our apartment tonight.......

sLaskou
-Starsi Salas

Happy Halloween

October 31, 2011
Autumn in Hradec Kralove
Hey Everyone!
Been a really cool week this week! So it was a long and a hard week, but it was good as well. Elder Bracken and I had several days where we did nothing but contact people all day. Those were long days, but they weren't so bad. Just really tiring. We were not able to meet with our Croatian investigator, which was sad, but we are definitely going to try to this week! We were able to meet with the guy we contacted about prophets last week, and he is a really cool guy! He is having a really hard time right now, and we don't know if we'll be able to help him for some things, but we always pray for the best. We have this other long time investigator who just needs to get a job before he can be baptised, and he has 2 job interviews this week! We are so excited for this, because he is so ready to be baptised. He simply just needs a job so he can get a place to live and he will be ready. He has been waiting a while for this too, so we're extremely excited! Keep him in your prayers.

So we had 3 investigators at church this week, quite a feat at times. Sometimes it's frustrating when investigators can make it to every meeting throughout the week, but can't make it to church for some reason, but we had several this week so it was good.

Today, we've been getting ready for the Halloween party tomorrow for the branch. The 6 missionaries here are basically doing everything for the party, but the branch is paying for it, so its good. It's a lot of work, but it will be really cool. I'm super excited for it. We're going to show the branch a real American Halloween party. It's not a holiday normally celebrated in The Czech Republic, but I think it's becoming more popular here.

Anyways, the days are getting way shorter here, and especially since daylight savings time, it is dark at like 5 PM. Daylight savings was a very nice surprise this week though. Days are getting colder, even though today was pretty warm. Leaves are turning colors, it's really beautiful. It's a really cool time to be here. I'm really excited to be a missionary right now. Transfers are next Wednesday I'm pretty sure, so we'll see where I'm headed off to. Thanks for everything everyone.
Love you all lots. Have a great week!
sLaskou
-Starsi Salas

Byl Dobrý Tyden

Oct. 24, 2011
Hello,
It's been a great time this week! We were in Prague twice this week so that was cool. We had a zone conference and it was good, as always. We learned how to plan better for the day. Elder Bracken took this advice and planned out our days this week a lot more in depth. When we were contacting, we planned exactly what we wanted to contact about, and what exactly we wanted to see during every hour. For one hour, I had thought of the idea to contact about prophets during one hour. Kind of not the most popular thing to contact about, but we did it anyways. First guy we talk to about prophets, guess what interested him, prophets. Yeah, cool. We had a meeting with him the next day and he is basically one of those super prepared people. When Elder Bracken told him about the prophets council a few years ago to get out of debt, his only response was, I wish I knew about this a few years ago. He is in a pretty bad financial situation, but we have a meeting with him tomorrow and that should be good. He's a really great guy.

For our Croation investigator. We had a meeting with him, and he came to church yesterday. He is a really cool guy, the only problem is the language barrier. He doesn't speak the best English, and he doesn't know many Gospel words, but he is really excited about the Gospel. Apparently he was in the army in Croatia when he was first investigating the church, and for some reason couldn't join the church because of that, but it's good we are meeting with him now. Another investigator also came to church yesterday, so that was really cool.

Oh so cool news about missionaries, we now have DVD players! Thats right, DVD players, for our apartments. We use them to watch "The District" training videos of missionaries teaching people. It's really cool. We can only watch during companion study, lunch and dinner, but we watch it at least once a day. The District really helps to get me excited about missionary work.

Also really exciting, the Liahona/Ensign Book of Mormon edition came out! We got a lot to give to our investigators. I have only been able to read one article, but its really good. Read it everyone!

So we were in Prague again today so I could get my Visa renewed. After that, Elder Bracken and I took the long walk back to the train station (it's our P-Day). Prague is a really cool city. These 4 girls came up to us by Prague Castle and said thay were members from America, who were teaching English in Ukraine, and were on a week vacation in Prague. Kind of funny. You see members everywhere! Well, Hope everyone has a good week, and I miss you all lots. Keep praying for me please.
sLaskou
-Starsi Salas

čau čau

Oct 17, 2011
Well this was a cool week again. So we gave a baptisimal date this week to one of our investigators. We gave it for November 4, but we will probably move it back a few weeks. He was really excited and said he would be honored to be baptised. It was pretty cool. We taught him with this one member, and it was really good. The member being there really changed the tone of the lesson. Member lessons really do help out a lot. So, if the missionaries ever ask you to teach with them, do it! It's really cool.

This week, Elder Bracken went to the school of one of our investigators to speak English with her class and talk about our families. There were 4 students all about 30 years old. It was really cool to see that they were pretty interested in hearing about our families. I showed pictures of our family. They were pretty surprised we had so many people in our family. We were also able to tell them some of the things we believe. Some of them got our phone number after so we or the other elders may meet with them hopefully! That was a pretty cool experience though.

Really cool story of this week though! So, Elder Bracken and I were waiting on a lesson with an investigator at the library, and there was this guy getting something from the vending machines. He got whatever it was, then came and talked to us. He asked if we were from The Church of Jesus Christ, which we said we were and he said he "was with the church about a year ago". We took that to mean he was a less active member. He is from Croatia and has been in the Czech Republic for about 3 months. We gave him our number and got his and told him where the church building was. (He spoke English) So then on Sunday, he called us during the third hour of church. Apparently he didn't know exactly where the church building was, and had been looking for a bit before he called us. He was able to come to the last 45 minutes of church. He then talked with President Novotny (Branch President) after church and from him we learned that he was actually an investigator in Croatia. So we are really excited to meet with him this week. It really was a blessing we found him, or rather, that he found us. He's a really nice guy. Other than that, it's been a pretty good week.

I don't remember if I mentioned this, but one of our investigators is a professional hockey player. He was an investigator in this city about a year ago, and decided he was going to be baptised, but he is waiting until after he gets married. He moved to a different city, and moved back to Hradec only this month, so I just met him. He's a really nice guy. Well, everyone have a great week. Love you all!
s Laskou
-Starsi Salas

Rád od vás slyším

Hey everyone!
Oct 10, 2011
Hope it's been a great week for you all! It's been a good week here. This week our Branch had their open house.

We were there everyday to talk with people as they came. It was a really cool experience. There were several less active members who came for that which was really cool! There were several people who came everyday to check it out, but the most came on Tuesday, because that is the day of our English class. We gave those tours in English, and everyone seemed to like it. So it was a really good thing.

So general conference...First time I ever watched all 5 hours I think. At least in one weekend. It was a really cool experience to watch conference. It really makes a difference to watch conference with questions in mind. It also really makes a difference when you take notes on every single speaker. It really helps you to focus more, and you never know what a speaker is going to talk about, so any talk could be meant for you. So yes it was probably my best experience with conference ever. I have pages and pages of notes. I really like the talk by the one 70 who sounded like he was from New Zealand. He talked about using time wisely. I also liked President Monson's talks.

We didn't have too many meetings with people this week, but we had a really good one with one investigator. We will most likely be giving him a baptisimal date next meeting!

So this transfer is already halfway over though! Time really does go by so fast. Elder Bracken has gotten pretty much better, but he did have to get some medicine for his cough.

So every week we study one of the Christlike Attributes in Preach My Gospel to try to improve it in ourselves. This week we studied knowledge. Apparently when someone asked I think it was President Monson how he learned so much about the Gospel, he responded saying that he masters one subject, then moves on to the next. That really seemed to make sense to me.

Well, have a great week everyone. Thanks for all the prayers, they are appreciated. Love you all very much!
sLaskou
-Starší Salas

To dobrý tyden bylo!

Oct. 3, 2011
Hello again!
So this was quite an interesting week. So this week, Elder Bracken got pretty sick. He got sick on Tuesday. We had a lesson on Tuesday after District meeting, so Elder Bailey and I went to teach that one. Elder Bailey is a really good missionary and he really set this tone for the kind of missionary I want to become. He teaches really powerfully.

On Wednesday and Thursday we didn't do much because Elder Bracken slept all day. I got the opportunity to study a lot of Czech though.

On Thursday night, Elder Bailey somehow fell when he stood up because his legs had fallen asleep and he bruised both his feet somehow pretty badly, so Elder Bracken and I went to Pardubice so I could work with Elder Uremovich while the other 2 rested. Elder Uremovich is from Layton Utah, but his name is Croation.

On Saturday, there was a young adult event all day, so Elders Bracken and Bailey (still injured/slightly sick) and the Sisters went there with several of our investigators, while Elder Uremovich and I worked in Pardubice. We taught this woman, one of their investigators there. She lives in one of the most humble conditions that I have seen. Just this small house that doesn't have electricity. This lady is so very humble and ready for the gospel though. So I stayed the night in Pardubice because the others didn't get back until late. All of our investigators had really amazing experiences at the young adult event though.

So the cool experience I had this week. On Friday I was studying the scriptures and planning for lessons. I found Mosiah 2:22, 41 which I wanted to share with an investigator. A little later, I was thinking about this less active member we are working with. I had the thought that I should start sending him daily messages with scriptures for him to read. I decided that these verses would be great for him. I didn't think much about it, until he came to church on Sunday! After sacrament he came up to me and told me that on Saturday night, he was up debating on whether or not to come to church. He didn't really want to, then he remembered and read the verses I had sent him. He then decided to come! It was really cool to see that I was truly inspired to send him that message and to see what came from it.

We are having this branch open house this week starting tonight so I'm really excited to be a part of that. Oh, we will be watching conference this coming weekend so I'm excited for that. Things are going great here, so don't worry! Love you all!
-Starsi Salas

Co si myslíte o tom?

Sept. 26, 2011

Hey everyone!
So this week has been a good one. We had several cool things happen. We have still been meeting with our investigators who are doing well, and things are still moving slowly forward with them. We also got a new investigator who is really cool. He is about 55 or so and stopped Elder Uremovich and I when we were walking (we were on exchanges). He was just interested in talking with us, but when we told him we have another book that no other religion has, The Book of Mormon, he sort of got quiet and just started listening. Elder Bracken and I met with him a few days later and it went really well. He believed everything we said, but still thinks that it's not necessary to belong to any church, but we gave him a Book of Mormon and we will probably see him again this week. He was a really nice guy and I know we can help him progress, and overcome his doubts.

We had a District Conference in Prague this Sunday, which is basically just Stake Conference. It was really good and pretty interesting. There are people who live in Prague who only speak English so they had members doing translations for them. When President and Sister Irwin spoke, they had someone translate for them on the stand with them. It was really good.

We didn't have a whole lot more happen this week. We tried to find less active members to meet with, but we haven't been able to get in contact with any of them yet. We will though!

So I really hope everything is going well back home though. Mom, I got all the pictures, and it seems like all of your trips were fun this summer. Can't wait to be on one with you all too. As for now though, the Czech Republik will be fine for me. I'm learning more Czech all the time.

As for General Conference, I'm pretty sure the branches all watch it the week after in Czech, and the missionaries go to that with investigators, but we don't watch it in English until the week after that, I think. So it should be really good though, I'm really excited. Everyone, have a great week and I love you all!

-Starší Salas

WOW!

Sept. 12, 2011
Hey! So it was a great week, although we had a few rainy days. Things with Elder Bracken have been going well. He is really good at helping me with Czech.

Cool thing that happened this week, we gave a very serious baptismal date. It is for the end of October and he said he really wanted to be! He lives kind of far from Hradec Kralove so it will be hard to get him to church, and there may be some problems baptising him, but he is so excited, and the members are willing to help as well. It is really cool. He has such a great spirit.

We are really going to try working with a lot of less active members and will probably do that this week. A good thing with that, is that with every less active member, there is also a referral. So we will be working with them a lot.

Elder Bracken and I were contacting and we talked to this lady on a bench. We taught her about prayer and faith and she said she really was looking for answers in life so that was really cool. She said that she didn't feel it was an accident that we met. We will hopefully meet with her this week.

I feel like everyday, my desire to do missionary work has been growing so much and I really have been seeing an increase in my language and teaching skills. It is a really great thing to be a missionary and I feel blessed every day to be serving.

As for p-day, we went to the zoo. It was really cool! Our whole district went. I seriously didn't know tigers can get so big. It was a fun trip.
I love you all and pray for you often. You are all great!
sLaskou -Starsi Salas

Transfers!

Sept. 5, 2011

Ahoj!

So yes, there were transfers on Saturday. The news is........I'm staying in Hradec Kralove, with a new companion!!! Elder Bracken has been out about 14 months. He is awesome! He is really great and I know this will be a great transfer. I am really excited to be staying here too and I know we will see great things this transfer.

So this week with Elder Nielson though. It was a good week and I was sad to see him go. He was a great friend and companion. He went to serve in Prague.

Transfer day though...quite a story. So I went to Pardubice to stay with Elder Bailey for the night because both of our companions left Friday night. Saturday morning I was supposed to get on a train and Elder Bracken was supposed to get on it at the next stop. He didn't get on though so after several confused phone calls, I got a call from him from a pay phone. His train was apparently late, (he was coming from Trebic) and so he missed the connecting train. Short time later, we were happily in Hradec Kralove. Ha it was kinda scary for a minute, but turned out great.

So our branch is planning a 20 (I think) anniversary of when it first started. It is going to be quite a big event and the missionaries will be very involved. I think it will be a great event that will hopefully bring many to the Gospel.

At church this Sunday, there were people from Utah, from the Toronto Foundation. They are a group of people, some who served here 15-20 years ago. It was cool to see them and talk to them. They were really nice. Other than that, it was not the most eventful week. Good week still. Our district should be a good one this transfer! I am really looking forward to having some great successes! Love you all!!!
-Starsi Salas

P.S. We have a new mission address. The old one will still be good for about a month or 2 but you can start sending stuff to the new one immediately as well, which would probably be better.

Cirkev Jezise Krista Svatych Poslednych Dnu
Elder Cameron Salas
Badeniho 1
16000 Praha 6
Czech Republic

Average is the Enemy to Greatness!

Aug. 29, 2011

Hey everyone!

So actually transfers aren't until Saturday. It would normally be next Wednesday, but President Irwin has a meeting with Elder Bednar in Germany early next week and so the new missionaries are coming on Saturday from the MTC. I still have no idea where I will be but I'm really excited to find out! I really want to stay here in Hradec Kralove but I will be fine wherever I go.

So, this last week. We went to Prague on Tuesday and had a conference which was really good. We watched this Jeffrey R. Holland talk he gave at the MTC earlier this year. It was a really, really good talk. He talked about putting your all into the mission. It was one of the best talks I've ever heard. When everyone got on the metro to go to the train station, I could feel the spirit so strongly as we had about 12 missionaries there. It was so strong I'm sure everyone on the metro felt it too.

So that night, Elder Nielson taught this guy we found late last week and he was awesome! He was asking all the right questions that just showed us he was so prepared. It's a cool story how we met him. So we were going to a members house to meet them, and we were a little early so Elder Nielson suggested we ride a few more stops and contact our way back to the member's apartment. We rode it, got off and talked to this guy right next to the stop. He set up a meeting with us! It is cool to see that we really are led to prepared people and I'm excited to see what happens with him.

Another one of our Investigators has been ready to be baptised for about a year but has put it off because his mom doesn't want him to be. But this week he said he was going to confront her and tell her he is going to be baptised regardless of what she thinks. We still haven't heard back but we are meeting with him tomorrow or Wednesday to see what happened!

We also met this lady on a bench and started talking with her. She had talked to a missionary in the past but hadn't done anything about it. So we taught her the Restoration and set up a meeting with her. She then told us that she had been having a really bad morning and had even prayed to feel better. She said that after talking with us she felt a lot better. Good things really do happen!

We had companion exchanges this week so I was with Elder Park for a day. He is a really cool guy and taught me 2 very important things. First, when people we contact don't show interest, he doesn't give up. He does just like Elder Holland had told us in that talk and doesn't easily back down. As result, we got some people to actually listen to us more. It taught me to be more bold. Also, he told me that average is the enemy to greatness. We can't afford to just be average here. We need to be the best and to do our best, never to settle for less. It's what the Lord expects of us, and what we should expect of ourselves.

One of the sister's investigators is getting close to accepting a baptisimal date. He has been coming to church and just loves it. He is a really great guy.

Well, today we are just hanging out as a district because it is our last P-day, and Sister Bullington's mission ends on Saturday, so we're going to relax a bit. Hope everyone has a super great week and I miss you all.

-Starsi Salas

Mushrooms?

Aug. 22, 2011

Hey again family! It's been another great one. This week, Elder Nielson and I did a bit of travelling. We took a train out to Horice to see this guy. He had meet with missionaries before and loved them. He is physically handicapped and can't make it to church by himself, but we will see if we can work something out for him. He was a really cool guy and just loves the church.

On Sunday we also went out to this city Cerveny Kostela or something so we could bring the sacrament to this other lady who is in a wheelchair. She is such an amazing lady and really strives to do what she can. We also gave her a blessing which was a really good experience. On our way back, we stoped in Jaromer to visit a family in the branch. They have 3 daughters and we talked to them about family home evening because they were really interested in how we do it back home. I told about all the things we used to do! It was a really cool experience too.

We had a few days of no meetings though this week, so we did a lot of contacting. There were a few days which were really hot so it was not the most fun, but we did what we could. I still feel like I am happy though, so I know I must be doing something right.

Oh on Monday we had family home evening with a few older ward members, as well as some investigators. It was really cool and a lot of fun. We had dinner and a spiritual message. So not too much else happened from what I can remember, but it was definitely a good week. Hope everything is good back home!

We are about to go mushroom hunting with some of the youth in the branch. It is very popular here in the Czech Republic so it should be fun!

-Starsi Salas

Hey Everyone!

Aug. 15, 2011

So it's been another good one. Sounds like everyone is just doing great back home. Seems like its vacation time for everyone again. Hope you all have a great time!

So, this week. It has been a great one. Lets start with story time. So I contacted this lady on a bench who was smoking. She jumped and was really scared when I talked to her. She started saying stuff but all I could catch was špatný (means "bad"). Elder Nielson then talked to her for a minute and I heard him say we were missionaries and then she calmed down and said she wasn't interested and we left. I asked what happened. Apparently in the Czech Republic, if a doctor tells you to do something, you better do it because you can get in trouble with the police if you don't. So what she was saying was, "I'm smoking. It's bad." She was most likely told by her doctor not to smoke and she thought we were police getting her in trouble. So when I heard all this, I had a good laugh. It was pretty funny.

But on a different note, we had several good lessons this week. Elder Nielson and I had a really good lesson with a lady where we read the Jeffrey R. Holland talk where he talks about the Book of Mormon. It was a really good lesson and the spirit was very strong. She said she would really start reading in the Book of Mormon more and with more purpose.

Another really cool experience was when watched the Joseph Smith movie with the sisters and one of their investigators. We then talked with him about his progress after, and I think we really made some progress with him. It was a really good experience.

At sports night, we had a lot of people. I think we had like 8 people playing soccer besides the missionaries! It was really cool.

There is a university here in Hradec Kralove and a lot of people come from Europe and Africa to study medicine here. So the sisters brought these 3 guys from Africa who were really cool. The sisters are teaching one of them right now and he even came to church Sunday for all 3 hours! Elder Nielson and I also had 2 investigators at church for their first time, and they both stayed all 3 hours! It really makes a difference when they stay all 3 hours. So hopefully that will turn out well. We will be meeting with them again this week.

We teach this guy in a parking garage where he works. We are really trying to get him to pray and read the Book of Mormon sincerely. I was able to bear my testimony on prayer to him and I think it got through to him.

So I am still just trying to do my best though. I am still learning the language slowly, but surely. It is really a great experience to be out here though and I feel so blessed.

So for some questions I got this week.
The transfers are 9 weeks, not 6, I'm pretty sure because the MTC groups are there for 9 weeks and I'd be hard to be putting them with people mid-transfer. I like it though. 6 weeks seems way to short.

So the missionaries teach the second hour at church, Gospel Principles. I haven't taught and I don't know if I will this transfer, but I might. The third hour is by the Elder's quorum leaders. our Branch President is awesome. He is a really really nice guy who really cares for the members of the Branch.
Well, I hope again that everyone has a super week and I am excited to hear about trips!

-Starší Salas

Ahoj Rodino!

Aug. 8, 2011

How is everyone? I hope all is well back home. Things are really good here as always. It's good to hear from everyone again. So this last week has been a good one. So at church we only had 52 people this week, but we had some good investigators there. The Elders from Pardibice brought this lady and her husband and son. The husband isn't a member, and he had such a good experience at church. We feel like he didn't even realize how good it was going to be. So hopefully that continues to go well.

As for Elder Nielson and I, we didn't have quite as busy of a week this week, but it was still really good. We got one of our investigators to commit to pray, which is a small miracle because he has been extremely against prayer for a while now. So we will see how that went when we meet with him next. A few of our investigators have been really busy this week though so we will hopefully see them again this coming week.

This one lady we meet with is super impressed by the church's stance on families and has enjoyed Elder Nielson and I talking about our families to her. She teaches somewhere and even invited Elder Nielson and I to come teach her students about families one day! I don't know if we will because she would have to ask the headmaster but we'll see. It was just very surprising to hear.

While contacting this week, I have been trying to speak more to people and continue the contact as long as I can until Elder Nielson takes over. I have been getting a little better. Elder Nielson and I talked to this one guy at a park and he started talking to us about how meaningless the things of the world are and how important family and friends really are. It was like hearing in words for the first time, something I have been learning so much since leaving home for the mission. I really felt the power behind those words, even though it wasn't a man of our faith.

On Thursday, we went to Brno for a new missionary conference. Brno is a cool city and completely different than Prague. It is really awesome. There we learned how to be better missionaries and other stuff to help us out. It was fun. Plus I got to see everyone again. It is really strange how much you enjoy the presence of others when you have been away so long.

So, we got a less active member to come to church! It is a really cool story. So he had been saying for a while how he would come to church, but then wouldn't. So this week he didn't even say he would. He said maybe he would. So we called him Sunday morning and he said he couldn't make it. Then at about 9:25 am (church starts ar 9:30) he showed up! He said he was riding the bus to go see his friends, then when he got to the stop by the church, he just got off. It was really cool to see him there.

He is awesome!
Today, for P-day we went to the Adrspach Rocks, which was pretty cool. This family in our ward has a cottage pretty close to it so we went to look at these rocks with them. They were super awesome, and apparently they filmed some of The Chronicles of Narnia there so that was cool. We ate lunch at the members after then headed home. Missionary work is great!!! Love you all.

Miss you. Have a great week!
-Starsi Salas

Another great week in Hradec Kralove!

Aug. 1, 2011
Hey Everyone!
It's been another great week here in Hradec Kralove! Things are really going good here. So this week was really cool. We met this guy in the park on Tuesday and he was out of work. We asked him if he ever thought about praying to find work. He said he didn't feel like he could pray to find work and actually expect to find it. So we met with him the next day and taught him the Restoration. He just took it all in. When Elder Nielson called him on Friday again, he said he had found work! It was really loud on the other side of the phone and so he couldn't hear much. He had also told us earlier he didn't have a phone charger so his phone would die soon, so when we called Saturday morning his phone was off. We haven't talked to him since but we will try to call him again this week. Our investigator has really been doing awesome this week! He is really asking a lot of good questions now and really is striving to grow. He has been reading a lot more in the Book of Mormon too which is awesome! We are still trying to get his wife to meet with us too, and I feel confident she will eventually as she sees how important this is to her husband.

Another cool story, we met with this girl this week who is Czech, but has been teaching English in China for a while. She is back here in the Czech Republic for a month and will be back again in December. She is super awesome though and was super excited to start reading the Book of Mormon. She then came to Church Sunday for 2 hours which was awesome and participated a good amount in the second hour. It was awesome.

So Elder Bailey and I had exchanges with each other this week. He came to Hradec Kralove with me for a day. We went to teach this guy who works at a parking garage, and this hockey game had just ended right next to it. So this guy and his son were in the parking garage making a huge scene about how the parking garage didn't have a bathroom while we were trying to teach a lesson. He kept yelling for the police to come, so our friend called the police, and told us to come back the next night. It was really funny because this guy was just so upset that there wasn't a bathroom in the parking garage. When Elder Nielson and I went to teach him the next night he had a lot of questions about the Book of Mormon. We had given him one the week before and he had read through 1 Nefi 17. It was cool to see that. We will see how it goes this Friday though.

So coolest story of the week though. One investigator who has been having dificulty accepting our message came to all 3 hours of church this week. She normally only comes 1-2 hours. But after church, she called Elder Nielson to tell him that she really loves our church! She agreed with everything that was said this Sunday and especially the lesson Elder Nielson taught 3rd hour during the combined 5 Sunday meeting. She said that she really sees how our church leaders care a lot for the members especially because they don't get paid. She said she can see how at her old church they cared, but she could tell they also did it for the salary. It was really cool to see her progress to this though!

So it had been really couldy and rainy this last week though. It rained a lot Saturday so we had game night instead of sports night. Normally at sports night, we only have like 2-3 investigators or less active members. At game night we had one investigator and one less active member. We played Ubongo which was pretty fun.

So for some questions people asked:
At church this week, I'm not sure how many people were there, but it wasn't as much as last week. I think we had like 48 though. But yeah if they had enough members for long enough, they would build an actual ward building somewhere. We will get there eventually!

All the members go to the Germany temple. I haven't heard of anyone going to Ukraine, but I'm sure some have.

I still really like to make Haluški which is a Slovakian meal. It's super good. Elder Nielson and I do cook a lot though. I usually make the spaghetti. If anyone has recipies for stuff I could make, that would be most appreciated.

Yes it has been couldy and raining a lot.

Elder Nielson has been on his mission for a little more than a year, and in Hradec Kralove for his second transfer, so about 3 months.

We don't tract very often, because contacting is usually better. We do when it is raining though, and we don't have any lessons on plan.

We don't eat at members very often because they all live kinda far, so I haven't had too many Czech meals yet. Hopefully soon!

Czech's are mostly atheist, but there seems to be a lot of Catholics too. Elder Nielson said there are a lot in Hradec Kralove.

Ask we more if you want! Have a great week. Love you all!
-Starsi Salas

All is Well!

Hey Everyone!
How is it going back home? Hope all is well. Sounds like a good amount of the family had fun on the East Coast this last week. It was fun when we went there.

Well, the last week has been a very good one. We got a few new investigators and have met with them. Our other investigators are doing pretty well too. He is still progressing towards being baptised on August 12, so we're really working hard with him so he'll be ready. He is a great guy.

We also met with a less active member this week and are trying to get him to come back because he really wants to go to the temple and we really want to help him go. He also came to sports night Saturday which was cool! At sports night we played soccer again which was a lot of fun.

So mom was asking about food here in the Czech Republic. We have only eaten at a members house once, and they made the, I guess, traditional Czech food of potatoes and sauce stuff with meat. Ha super descriptive I know. The sauce the Horak's used when we went over there was like a dill sauce, which was really good. Elder Nielson and I make Haluški at our place pretty often though which is a Slovakian food which is really good too.

So church was really good again. The one thing I'm noticing about my Czech is that I can understand better now. I guess I am just getting more used to their accents. I can speak a little better, but It's coming along slowly. This week at church we had 61 people though, which we need to consistently have 60 for about 7 months, I think, to get a ward building! So we're on our way there, we just need to keep up the work. This coming week we are going to speak a lot more Czech to each other though so I'll hopefully learn a lot.

This week it was really cool and rained like 3 days which was nice, because apparently the summers are extremely hot and miserable. So I guess I just lucked out so far. The cool thing about it being so humid is that if you are in the sun and it is super hot, you just have to go into the shade and the temperature drops significantly.

One thing I did for the first time this week was trying to go tracting. You can't just walk into any panalock though, you have to have someone buzz you in. So we tried for a while but no one let us in. It was fun though!

Well, it's been a really good week and I am looking forward to next week and being able to have more success! Love and miss you all!
-Starsi Salas

TROSKY CASTLE

P-day at
Trosky Castle

Another Good Week!

Hey Family.

I hope all is well as always. So we had a cool week this week. We have p-day today because we had specialized training in Prague yesterday so it got pushed back a day. Good thing about that though, most of the castles are closed on Mondays, so today we got to go to Trosky Castle! It was super awesome and I loved it a lot. It took like 90 minutes to get there but it was so worth it. I got a picture of it I will try to send home.

So the week...Every Tuesday we have District Meeting and go out to lunch, so thats always fun. Both our investigators bailed on us on Tuesday so we did a good amount of contacting. It was good though. Wednesday we were in Prague to get registered with the foreign police. (Prague twice within 7 days!) So that took up a good amount of the day. After we got registered, we went with some of the Prague missionaries to do a street display. We sang and had people go talk to people as they walked by. It was really cool and such a great experience.

On Thursday, I learned a little about the difficulties of being a missionary. We had 2 lessons planned to teach investigators, and they both bailed on us. They were all former investigators, not ones we meet with regularly, so Elder Nielson said it wasn't super surprising. What that meant though...a whole day of contacting. It is hard to walk around all day talking to people, especially when you can't understand much. It was good work though.

On Friday, we taught Pavel and Marie. Marie is an older woman with arthritis and was at the hospital getting tests. So we visited her there. She is such a great woman! She speaks good English and lived in New York for about 7 years. She is just super smart and loves reading in the Book of Mormon. It was really cool to talk with her. I also showed her the picture book Holly made me and she really liked it.

Saturday we went to the Horak's house in our ward and did service. It was really good. We helped Brother Horak make a path and also dig a flower bed. Sister Horak made us lunch after and it was super good.

We taught Honza later that night, then went to sports night with him. We played some basketball and then some soccer and it was fun.

Sunday was really good. We went to church, and I understood some stuff that they said, but not too much. We had a district lunch at the Sisters apartment, with presidents permission of course then Elder Nielson and I went to plan.

We visited with Marie again and she should be out of the hospital by Tuesday so thats good.

Yesterday we were in Prague which was good. It is always cool to see people from my MTC group again because we don't get to very often. Today we went to Trosky Castle though which again, was super awesome. We went with our district and the Elders from Jicin. So I'm looking forward to another great week!

-Starsi Salas

Hradec Krávolé

Hey Family!

That's exciting to hear about Joey going to Italy! He will be great!

So It's been a great first week. Hradec Krávolé is awesome. The first thing I learned about it...a lot of people speak English pretty well. Most all the ward members do, so I'm actually not pushed as hard to speak Czech. Kinda sad because I really need to more. My Czech is getting a little better though, and not all our investigators speak English so thats good!

So about church on Sunday. It's in the little square malé naměstí as they call it in Hradec Krávolé. It's in a rented, I think, building above a bank. I don't know how many ward buildings there are in the Czech Republic. There is the one in Prague at the mission home, and probably one in Brno, but I'm not totally sure where else. Apparently we need 10 more people to regularly attend our branch for like 7 months, I think it is, in order to get a building. I don't think it becomes a ward yet, because I think you need a stake to have wards. We have like 40ish members I think, but I'm not a super good estimator of people. It was good though! So I was supposed to get up and introduce myself during sacrament, and my companion said he would tell me when. We weren't sitting by each other because we were sitting by our investigators, so yeah, confusion happened, and I got up at the wrong time. That's all right though! Ha it was funny. Everyone was super confused I'm sure as to why I got up right then and introduced myself but oh well.

So as for our investigators. We have a few right now. There is Pavel, who is awesome! He is like 35 or 40 years old. He speaks English pretty well and he just likes to speak English to us a lot so our lessons are mostly in English. We're still trying to get him to read the Book of Mormon every day, which is hard. He comes to church every week for sacrament which is really cool!
There is Petra, a 40ish year old woman who doesn't speak English so when we met with her I didn't really understand anything. She came to church Sunday though!
Then there is Honza. He has been meeting with missionaries for over a year and a half and believes everything, comes to church every week, but doesn't want his mom to get mad at him so he won't commit to a baptisimal date. He says he knows he will be baptised, but wants to wait for his mom to be ok with it, or to want to take the lessons herself. He speaks really good English.

Elder Nielson and I mostly go contacting at parks which are really cool. I love the parks here. So many people have dogs in the Czech Republic, and so they all walk them at the parks. The parks are super nice looking though, and are just amazing.

Since today was p-day, we took a train to this other city with the other Elders and the Sisters in our zone, as well as Brother Schultz, this older man in the ward. It was really cool and nice, and we walked through this old cemetery which was really cool looking. It was fun.

Oh, story about yesterday. So on weekends, Czech go to their cottages as they call them. They are like one room shacks, and there are a lot of them all together. So they go there on the weekends and garden all day. Just what they like to do I guess. So yesterday we went to the before mentioned Brother Schultz', and helped him garden for service. It was really fun. Elder Neilson and I went as well as the Sisters and one of their investigators. So it was good. Oh later that night we also had sports night with the sisters and Honza. We played soccer and this one Czech guy there played with us too. So thats pretty much the week! It was good. Talk to you all next week.
-Starší Salas

Dobry Den!

Elder Nielson and Elder Salas


Hey Family,
How is everyone? So I am here in the Czech Republic now! It's really awesome. So we flew a lot. I didn't really feel too great by the time we got to the London airport, and didn't sleep too much. We flew into Prague and met President Irwin and his wife and 4 of the A.P.'s. They were all really nice. We drove to the mission home in Prague, which is also the ward building. It was really cool to see the city driving. Immediately when we got there, 3 of the A.P.'s took us on the Prague walk. They said they had to keep us up until we went to sleep at night to help combat our jet lag. We went to Prague castle first which was really cool. Mom would love it a lot. Then we walked across the Charles Bridge which had a lot of statues which was awesome. After, we walked to this town square where we contacted people for about 20 minutes. Elder Jones and I talked to this guy from Sweden, I think he said, who spoke English. He wasn't interested but was really nice. Then we talked to this guy in Czech and he started talking a lot and we didn't understand. He just kept saying stuff, until we were rescued by Elder Tall. Then we went to this Czech restaurant and ate a lot of Czech food. I got this chicken stuff with potatoes. It was super good. We also got these dumpling things which were great as well. Then we headed back to the mission home on a subway.

Prague is definitely a city mom would love. It is a really cool city! I liked it. At the mission home, we grabbed some stuff we would need for the night, then we went to this hotel for the night. It wasn't like a normal hotel, it was more like a condo. The guy who owns it is really nice and knows the missionaries, but I don't think he is a member. We got to sleep a long time. I slept from like 8 at night to 7:30 the next morning. It still wasn't enough sleep though. Then we went back to the mission home where the President and his wife made us breakfast. It was pancakes and these chocolate Czech rolls. It was super good.

Then we got our Czech credit cards and got some other papers and then went downstairs to meet our trainers! A lot of missionaries got put into groups of 3 because some of the older missionaries were leaving midway through the transfer. My trainer is Elder Nielson from Springville Utah. He is super awesome! Our city is Hradec Kralove, about a 90 minute train ride East from Prague. We got to our apartment and I unpacked all my stuff. Transfer days are also P-days here because President Irwin said he wants us to get more settled in and to shop that day. Our normal P-day is Monday. So I unpacked and Elder Nielson and I went to go shopping. The normal store was closed because yesterday was a holiday, Jan Huss day, so we walked 20 minutes to the next grocery store to get food to last us until Monday. We brought it all back to our apartment and then planned our lesson for the night with Pavel. Pavel is a super nice guy with a wife and two kids I think and another on the way. He speaks really good English and likes to speak it with the missionaries but he can't say everything so its like a half English half Czech lesson. He was really nice to me and is just a great guy.

So after that we contacted more around this loop thing which was cool. Then we went back and Elder Nielson made us curry for dinner which was great. He had me try this Czech soda that taste like black licorice, not super great. Ha, but then we planned for the next day and got ready for bed. I slept pretty good last night. Today we get to email because yesterday on P-day all the email places were closed. We get an hour to email in the mission field. This morning I was still super tired, probably still from jet lag, but it will go away eventually. Today we have our zone meeting. Elder Nielson and I are also teaching Lukaš later today. It will be cool to see how the lesson goes.

Things are going really good though, it's a great place to be, and I will tell you more as more happens here!

MADE IT TO CZECH REPUBLIC!!!

Czech Prague Mission

5 July 2011

Brother and Sister Salas:

Elder Cameron Salas has arrived safely in Prague with a smile on his face! We are sending a picture of him and President and Sister Irwin. He will be taken on a tour near the Mission Home and then finally allowed to sleep. He shall be a sleepy Elder missionary! This will speedily allow him to acclimatize to our time zone.

Tomorrow Elder Salas shall meet his Trainer and begin loving the people of the Czech Republic. We are glad he is finally here. We shall take good care of him and the Lord will watch over and protect him.