Arrival in Prague - First Area Ostrava - Month #3

We made it! 

I am serving in Ostrava which is about as far east and north as you can get. We are pretty close to Poland. 

My companion is Starší Prohaska and he is from Switzerland and he speaks really good English. There have been no missionaries in our apartment for two months so traveling to our area was about a three hour train ride from Prague with both of our bags. Sister Boza from Guatemala is also serving in a city about thirty minutes away so they traveled with us as well. There is one other set of elders here in Ostrava but they live across the city. Our apartment has two rooms, a kitchen, and a nice bathroom, but man was it dirty and covered in spiders  and cobwebs. We had no food or pillow and blankets either but it is all good now. My companion served here his first transfer and now he is in his second to last transfer. He knows the language really well and it is lots of fun. He wants to work hard and we really have. We have no teaching pool right now or any investigators but we are working on fixing that. We contact lots and are busy. We have almost no time for studies so far.

When we landed in Prague we met our mission president and barely fit into their van and two other cars with all 11 of us. Next transfer with 17 of us I don't know how they will do it. We had our Prague walk with President McConkie at first and he described the velvet revolution as we looked over Prague and then got to walk through the City with the AP's and have our first dinner in the country. It was so rich and full but was really good. We got to go to bed at about 8 our first night and then we got picked up at about 6:30 and had breakfast with President and his wife, filed our visa paperwork and then had a meeting, met our trainers and we were off. 

On the way to the train we were on an escalator and with two big bags one has to go in front and one behind. About halfway the one above me proceeded to fall back and hit me like dominoes. So i got to ride up laying down. Sister Boza and her trainer and my trainer had quite a good laugh. And it was a great story. When we arrived the first night it was about an hour by trams or buses across the city to our apartment and then we had sports night with some members of the branch and played squash and racquetball. We got to do some weekly shopping our first morning and my companion is diabetic. So we eat really well and he knows how to cook well so i am learning. 

We have done a singing display and chalk display with the six missionaries in our district to contact and every bus and train ride we are contacting. The language is hard. I have learned a lot of good phrases now but most people don't want anything to do with God. It is very hard to talk to people and the language is a barrier but it is fun to see the shock on their face when you say you've been here for a day or three or however many. It is exciting and i think i am getting better. It is a lot of Czech though but my companion really tries to help me understand when we are together but most of the time on trams or during displays we talk to different people at the same time. It is hard to be on my own in conversations but it is getting better.

On Saturday we traveled fora bout an hour to a members family and picked potatoes all morning. It was hard work but a good time and we are going back this Saturday to teach 5 members of their family. It is hard work and we do a lot of teaching on the street. It is getting better but still really hard. Tomorrow we have training in Brno with all of my MTC group and their companions which is about 2 and half hours away by train. We ride lots of buses and lots of trams. We occasionally have to run to get to them and I've done lots of running in the morning so far with my companion as we run to Tesco, the grocery store we have. It has been really hard but really good. 

Sunday was quite the adventure with almost 12 hours of Czech. There were about 20 people in the branch. I almost had to play the piano but finally one of the sister missionaries played so I just had to lead. 4 of the 6 new missionaries in our district was their first week in this area so we all bore testimonies. And then I may or may not have fallen asleep in each of the meetings after that. I am exhausted. But it is good. The days are long and most people don't want to talk to us but we keep trying looking for the elect that are ready for us. It always feels so good when people are interested in what we have to say. It is hard work. The language is difficult and I don't understand much but I can communicate and people can understand me. My companion and I continue to speak more and more Czech and it is good.

I hope all is well.

Love 

Elder Hanis

Week 8 -- Travel Plans and Last letter from the MTC

We are going to the Czech Republic!!!!

We felt like this day never would come but last Friday we got the plans for us.

We must be to the travel office at the MTC at 2:30 Monday morning. Our flight leaves at 6:55 AM to Chicago. We land at 11:12 and then leave at6:10 for London. We land in London at 8:05 AM and leave at 9:50 AM. WE land in Prague at 12:50 PM. All of our flights are on British airways IT will be a long day or two but we are ready to be there. I will be able to call home in the airport so if that track phone comes through I will call family. IF you could dear elder me your numbers today or tomorrow that would be good or i will just call dad and write them down. WE are very excited to leave. I don't know about calling from London because it might be super expensive but I guess we can see or you can tell me what you would suggest. 

We do you have start packing soon but I think if we start doing that time will go much slower. IT has been kind of a sad week in someways as we have done our last service day. We Had to say goodbye to our two sister teachers yesterday who have really helped us in so many ways and we really have loved. But we are excited to go! Yesterday as i got my food in the cafeteria i ran right into Elder Gallegos. That was pretty fun since he got here early I saw him then and got to talk a little bit. Hopefully i see him before sunday and can catch up a little more. Tomorrow we have infield orientation all day which is about a lot of the logistical things we will be dealing with in the field. Then its just saturday and sunday until we are gone. Sonny George got his visa and left this week too. Monday night i got to talk to him for a while which was really nice. Tomorrow is the last day dear elders get delivered for us and then saturdayregular mail comes but no dear elders. IT is crazy that we are winding up. I got Dad's package on wednesday with the pictures and snacks. That was a lot of fun and later today we are all probably going to bring our food together as we begin to clean up. I also got Shad's queso and the cinnamon rolls from dad. And carries package as well. It was a pretty great last week and Thanks for everyone for sending things. They are always fun. 

Sunday night the Nashville tribute band came to the MTC with guitars and drums and gave a concert. It was pretty different but really cool. All of them but one were returned missionaries and the other was a convert. There songs were all about the gospel and really really good. We sang sang two songs with them in the choir which was also really cool. It was a different night but a lot of fun. The movie that night was from Elder Bednar about recognizing the Holy Ghost. His main message was who cares if it is or isn't, quit worrying and go to work. Press forward and then when you look back you may be able to recognize it. He told a couple of really neat stories in his life. But the best quote he shared was how as a missionary President packer and his wife were in Germany. HE picked them up and took them to the train station to go to west Berlin and write before they got on the train he gave them 20 dollars. Later the train was stopped and searched and they wouldn't let President Packer's wife through. He put the 20 in her passport, the officer left and came back the money was gone but let her through. It wasn't until they got to west Berlin and talked to the stake president that he realized most people that happens to are taken to Prison. Later President Packer said "Its not a bribe, its called righteous exchange." WE all got a good laugh out of that. Tuesday Elder Echo Hawk of the 70 came. He was the secretary of Indian affairs in the cabinet before taking this church position and he had some cool stories. But i may have to confess to missing a little of his talk. IT was still really good.

I learned a couple of lessons about teaching this week. One was to listen. In PMG it says to not think about what you will say next as someone else is talking, or to think about similar experiences that might help. As we are teaching in Czech this is extremely hard not to do because we need all the time to figure out what we will say. However as i tried this and focused on listening the words came and we taught more effectively. Teaching in a threesome is very hard but it has gotten a little better. There are a lot of things that i have learned at the MTC but i know there's much more that awaits. I had my departure interview with a member of the branch presidency on Monday and he had lots of nice things to say. This week in class we talked a little about the vision in our mission and we will have a more detailed talk tomorrow. But we are about 2 or three Melchizedek priesthood holders away from a stake and there are people who could be advanced soon. The work is moving and we could have them advanced at this years fall district conference or at the spring one with a really good chance of having a stake formed at the same time. IT is very exciting. President Uctdorf is from the Czech Republic so we are hoping that when we organize a stake he will come. I am excited for the people and the culture. I love the language even though there is lots more to learn. We only have 4 more days in the United states for two years, but I am ready

Hope all is well,

Love, 

Elder Hanis

Week 7 - Nejkulikaťolinkatěší

My new favorite word this week! means to be the most round or the most marble like. It is quite the mouth full but the nice thing about Czech is that you can just sound it out and you can pronounce it. This has been a pretty good week but definitely different as I am in a trio companionship now. It has been a learning experience but it has been good. 

Sonny George came into the MTC last week because he didn't get his visa to Brazil so it was really fun to get to see him but he got it, so he leaves next week. I am excited for Josh to come and get to see him before I leave.

We only have a week left! It is crazy how slow and fast it has gone. We should get travel plans soon which is even more exciting. We will get to call home most likely at the airport so that will be fun. If there's anything i think of that i need this week--  I will probably have permission to write home during the week to tell you so be on the look out for that. It is an exciting time here and we are all getting anxious to leave. We had a better Skye visit yesterday which was a lot of fun and we have covered all the grammar principles in our book, not that we understand them yet. But we will have lots of practice this week and I am looking forward to it. 

We took our second Language assessment last night which went alright but never as good as we speak the rest of the day. We are trying to mentally prepare for the Czech Republic but we are just ready to be there. The packages and mail have been fun this week. The donuts and other box from shad have been fun but we are saving the bottle of martinellis for a special occasion. Not sure what that will be yet though. We are anxiously awaiting our travel plans. 

Other than that the week has been relatively the same. The gym has been closed so devotionals and gym have been a little different. The Nashville tribute band is coming to the MTC to perform and we are singing with them. It will be quite the adventure. But hopefully fun. IT is like christian rock which is way different than what has been at the MTC before. We had one of the same speakers this week again who talked about the importance of church attendance. it was a good meeting about rededicating our sabbath days.

On tuesday we had a member of the seventy who gave a great talk about consecrating our service. He talked about giving our heart, might, mind and strength to the Lord. He shared his experiences with calling stake presidents which was very cool to see how revelation came to him. He also talked about three principles of life that if we build on all aspects of our life will succeed. That is a foundation of Power, Love, and conviction. We are trying to apply that to our studies and it is a very cool principle. We were told we we're no longer allowed to get up early and do laundry so that is still ahead today along with writing some real letters and gym time. It is fun to hear from everyone especially with one more week of dear elders. Zach has requested a real letter for a future missionary so that will be coming too. The temple was very nice today and last week i did initiatory for Andreas Hanis, This week i did his endowment which was very cool. It was crazy to think that amber was right outside the MTC this week. We only go outside in the afternoon for gym usually so we were a few hours apart. But the bag from the BYU bookstore and  the shirt were lots of fun.

It sounds like the Beach house was lots of fun. I was pretty jealous but didn't actually think about it too much. I just miss the water most of all. New missionaries arriving is always a fun time of the week and we greet them just like we got greeted with lots of "Welcome to the MTC" It is funny to see them lost and trying to adjust. Time is starting to go slower and faster at the same time. One more PDay here and then we will be gone. Its the last week with mail coming every day so that will be fun . The picture book i am excited about. I will take some things to get dry cleaned today. As for topics to send just about feeling the spirit, teaching with it or anything like that. I hope all is well

for our favorite sister????

Our zone!

Week 6 - Go Get 'em

This week was a little bit longer this week and a little harder than most. It has had some real highlights as well. My companion went home this morning so the next few days will have some adjustments.

We had an apostle this week! Russel M. Nelson came to the devotional on tuesday and spoke. It was an amazing meeting that I'll write more about in a second. On sunday we also Had Sherri Dew come speak to us. Both talks we're excellent. I am now serving as the district leader for the rest of our stay in the MTC. Basically it means i have to go get the mail twice a day. I am always thankful for mail and dear elders because they show up daily. The donuts from shad we're loved by my district and our teachers. Carries packages are always fun as well. Pictures are still one of my favorite things. Other than looking at pictures there isn't much time to think about home. Have you checked my IB scores? You just need to email/call the school to get my information and then you should be able to check them. 

Also another black belt would be good. My belt should match my shoes and i only have black shoes. Right now i have a dockers belt. I will send a picture of the label. Have you gotten me a new credit card yet? Time is beginning to wind down. We will most likely get our travel plans next week and find out about our visa and what not. If anyone feels inclined to send snacks such as dried mangoes or anything else they are always welcome. The days are really blurring together but it has been fun. I really am starting to have a love for the language. Our teachers are excellent and my companion and i would speak Czech a lot throughout the day. Sometimes it is nice that no one else knows what we are saying. This can be kind of fun. WE had our first Skye visit yesterday which was pretty nuts. They have a room full of computers and everyone is talking at once. This is really hard to hear at times and so that was difficult but i could understand a lot. Hopefully next week goes better. I have memorized the first vision in Czech now but when i tried to do it in a lesson i get a little confused hopefully i get some more practice this week and i have started memorizing more scriptures again. I had the opportunity to give my first priesthood blessings this week. Tuesday night i gave one to my companion and then Wednesday night a sister in our district asked for a blessing. IT is cool to have the words come, as thoughts memories and others. I would sometimes know exactly what to say and others just begin and a word would just keep coming out. At one point i was prompted to bless her with the ministering of angels. I slightly ignored it because i thought it was just the natural man in me since i had been studying that earlier in the day. The thought came again and this time i proceeded to follow it and realized the reason i Had been studying that topic is so that it would come to my mind in this. Later talking with this sister she said she was amazed by the blessing because all she had told us was she wanted a blessing of peace and comfort, but that the blessing had touched on every one of her concerns.

The majority of our zone left monday and tuesday. WE have since gotten 13 more elders but it was sad to see a few of them go. Elder Brady going to Turkey was a great friend while being here.

I mentioned earlier about the firesides. Both were phenomenal. Sister Dew talked about if we need answers to engage in a spiritual wrestle like Enos and wrestle for those answers. If we need angels to minister we can ask, if we need to know what the spirit feels like we can ask him to teach us. We can ask all things in humility and faith.

Finally tuesday came with much anticipation with rumors of an apostle coming circulating the campus. Everyone in our district except for Elder Stacy and I went to sing in the choir. WE decided we would get the front row seats next to the door he walks in in hopes of shaking his hand. WE got in line about an hour early and ended up getting those seats. However there was a row of 4 adults right in front of us. With anticipation President Nelsen came in carrying a very unique and experienced spirit with him. He looked right at us and smiled as he came in. And the full impact of his 91 years was evident. This meeting was broadcast to all the MTC's in the world and was quite the production. They began with a video of learning in the MTC and it is still hard to believe that we are here. As he began to speak he taught with power and you could feel that he was being supported. He talked about the age change and how even the apostles weren't sure how it would all work but that they knew the lord would guide them. As we sang the opening song, called to serve, between verses under his breath you could see him mouth bum bada bum bum. It was pretty funny to see but also realize that we are just like him with a similar calling and same resources. At the conclusion of the meeting he came back down the stage and shook everyone of those four adults hands on the row in front of us... HE then looked right at us and said "Go Get Em" 

So we will and we prepare. I am sleeping better and better each night and am more an more tired. The language is fun and the gospel is great too. I have started writing topics on note cards and then putting scriptures associated with them on it. Maybe by the time i come back i will have recreated Dad's notes and quotes book. The work moves on. As always I love hearing from you. Dear elder works excellent especially with these last three weeks. Thank you for all you support

Love,

Elder Hanis

Week 5 - Singing in Czech

For the first time this week we got to sing called to serve in Czech. I have now found my new favorite song. It beat out a close second which was the day dawn is breaking in Czech. Each time we sing that we get faster each verse making quite the ordeal signing as fast as you can in Czech. The language is really fun at times and really hard at others. Our teacher told us that he has begun to speak at his regular speed with us and we can usually understand. WE are speaking a lot more Czech outside of class, and it is definitely helping.

Last week each of us began teaching another missionary as an investigator in a role play. We combined with the two Slovak missionaries as well. I ended up getting paired with Elder Bednar (he is related to THE elder Bednar) but he speaks Slovak. They are similar languages but it was really difficult. Sometimes we would ask one question and get the answer to another question all together. 

The grammar continues to get more difficult but the cases sometimes become easier. I have just about memorized the first vision, all of verse 16 and 17 in Joseph Smith history. It has been extremely difficult but it is coming along. We have lots of opportunities to study the book of Mormon as a class. One of the things our teacher talked about was Mosiah 24. The book of Mormon combats fear and doubt and the power of covenants is real. IT provides a way for us and God will be merciful because of our covenants. In my personal studies this week i stumbled on a scripture that really give a vision for who i want to be. 3Ne7:18 where lehi taught with such power they could not disbelieve his words. 

 

Pictures and letters are always lots of fun to receive. I got a package from Carrie this week with all the rules on when i can eat it. The skittles are for each time i memorize a vocabulary word which sometimes gets a little more difficult to keep track of. I aim for about 30 a day along with 2-4 phrases and a scripture. It keeps me busy. A few things, If you can find my small English hymn book in my scripture bag that might be nice to have. But if not its not a big deal. I am excited to get those pictures in the spiral things. I have tried to find the character of Christ video myself. But it was a MTC devotional and it seems that none of them are available to the public. IT is a really powerful message about turning outward. This week they had a new movie available. Another MTC devotional from President Holland. It was titled missions are forever. He taught with fire, something that was amazing to see. He had no script and really was preaching. It was quite the thing to listen too. "Don't miss any opportunity to be apostolic" was a quote from him. His last bit of advice in this movie was to go out and Astonish which is something that astonished all the missionaries in the room. You could really see his calling as a witness of Jesus Christ. We have yet to see an actual apostle but Rumor has it that come August they are off there break and we may get lucky. My companion got a hair cut last week and i will probably go next week. We are also planning on getting clothes dry cleaned soon as well.

This week there was a big focus on receiving revelation. It was cool to study it and begin to apply it. On sunday we had the same speaker that was here the first week. He was awesome again and had a very similar message. IT was cool to see how the spirit worked so that he changed it. Tuesday night was an emeritus Authority. 

If I've begun to miss somethings at home it may be harry potter because i made a few analogies throughout his talk to Harry potter including occlumency. I am Jealous that you have finished them again. Send some pictures in the email of the new house. I would like to see it coming along.

We didn't have to host new missionaries this week, but we had to do traffic instead. Not the most fun and i would rather have been in class but a nice break and probably our last time to have to do any of that. WE have played a lot of volleyball with our zone this week out on the sand. This morning we even went to the 6:40 gym time and had a two on two sand volleyball tournament. The majority of our zone leaves this weekend and it is crazy to see them go. We've made a lot of friendships but we are all going our own ways. We still have yet to find some of our life long friends. I had the opportunity to participate in a blessing this week which was the first time i have done that which was a great opportunity. I have begun to see the conversion process that people can go through. Overall it has been a very fast week. Tonight will be our last TRC before we start Skye visits next week. Hope all is well

Week 4 -- Still in the MTC

After walking out of the temple doors, Lavell Edwards Stadium is right down the hill.. It's a good things its not football season!

 We had the opportunity to go to the temple again today and ended up doing our laundry before so we got up about 5:50. It was nice to just have it done. Then after the temple we wrote lots of letters which is a good problem to have. I received quite a few this week! and they are definitely bright points in the day. I also got a package from Carrie with some sweets to keep us going, Sister mangum with some of my favorite cookies, as well as some sugar cookies from Jamie. Packages and Mail are super fun so thanks for writing.

The Czech translations seem pretty good now that i can actually read them but there's still quite a few words I don't know. My language study plan is to memorize 30 words a day, 4 phrases, and a scripture almost every day. Since i emailed last week I have since memorized 8 scriptures in Czech. But i started the first vision yesterday and that is a monster so i may slow down a little bit. I have memorized Alma 32:21, Moses 1:39, Amos 3:7, Alma 34:32, 2 Nephi 2:25, 3 Nephi 12:48, ether 12:27 and one more that i can't remember of the top of my head but I do know it in Czech. I am really starting to pick things up faster during study which is definitely the gift of tongues. The language continues to be difficult. The cases are a nightmare and super hard to apply but it is coming. One of our teachers is just fantastic in the language and really loves pronunciation. This week we took a language learning assessment just so we could see where we are and what to focus on. The scores are on a scale from 1-7 and i got a 3.25.

It sounds like our teachers were easier than others but it is still very good. We're not supposed to compare at all but the study has really helped. Tonight we have another TRC, teaching a member. Last week's was awesome. WE asked a ton of questions about their missions and how prayer was important to them and they were really good lessons so I'm excited for tonight again. Along with improving my language study we have really begun to SYL more (speak your language) it involved using what we know all the time and speaking with some English. IT really does help if we can all stay focused. The language is fun but its hard to believe we have been here for a month. Now there's no excuses for being new we just need to work hard. Last Saturday marked two years left in our missions! That was kinda cool not that we're counting down though. This week flew by again and there wasn't much new that happened.

We got to host new missionaries again. However we got new missionaries in our room. There are two of them serving in Los Angeles so they'll be gone soon but we had taken over an extra closet and had to move out. Service was great fun as usual, however no apostles this week. They were still good devotionals but I haven't sung in choir the last couple weeks. I would rather study and its nice to have some extra time. My companion and i usually get a long pretty well for the most part. I am really good friends with one of the other elders in our district Elder Stacy. Hes a wrestler and hes going to wrestle at the air force academy after this. We continue to play a lot of spike ball and our zone is probably the best at the MTC however too many people have been diving and breaking them so we can not longer play in the sand but sand volleyball is really fun as well.

The movie on Sunday we went to see was testaments but they lost the disk so instead we got to watch President MOnson's Biography which was amazing. Just his life story was incredible. Have Dan or Granger got their mission call yet? when does Josh get here? and Sonny? This week I've really tried to focus on being set apart from the world. That I am very much different than i was and i should be able to do much more than i used to. A comment was made by another elder in our zone this week that there is no reason we should be happy here. We study and work hard all day. we have no free time, we are away from all our friends and family and home, there is no reason to like it here. Yet we are happy and we enjoy that and it comes down to the work we are involved in and being set apart.


To some of your questions:
Study time is getting much easier to focus as long as i can stay awake but I've started getting up and walking around if i start falling asleep
The first few weeks i gained 5 or so pounds but lost a pound this week. Quite a few others have put on some weight.
 The pronunciation is similar in some letters but we have a lot of weird rules and a few letters that are way different a ch sounds more like a h out of your throat. All the r's are rolled unless they have an accent and it becomes more of r+z. That is by far the hardest letter. The tone is also difficult in some ways but we are figuring it out. I bought a children's book of Mormon in Czech this week and it is a lot of fun because we can understand a lot of it. In that language test i got a 4 in fluency and a 3 in the other categories which were pronunciation, grammar and something else.

 Our whole branch presidency is golfers so its fun to hear about it from you first so we have something to talk about.

My companion and i haven't had any callings yet but our president has hinted that the time is coming and not to worry. So now we are worried. In our zone, the Czechs, the polish elder and Slovak elder all got here the same day, the rest of our zone got here three weeks before us so they are all leaving in the next two weeks.

WE got ten new Bulgarian missionaries in our zone and then when they all leave were supposed to get about 30 more missionaries so we will see how we grow. All the elders leaving find out their travel plans today or tomorrow, so its getting real. WE are very good friends with them so it will be hard to see them go but it will all work out! I'm glad all your talks went well! as always i appreciate the updates and letters! I hope to hear from you all soon



 Love, Elder Hanis

Week 3 - Hosting

I hope the week for y'all has been good. This week really flew by. It is definitely not slowing down. The days really fly. Last p-day we had our first TRC and got to teach three returned missionaries just as members. It was a really fun experience and we get to do that tonight again so we are looking forward to that. The people in our zone continue to become really good chairs. In the hallway of our classrooms there is a bench with a sign above it that says "sisters bench, elders be gentlemen" right in front of the girls class room. This week in front of the boys bathroom a chair was placed there with a sign that read "Elder's chair, sisters be ladylike". Needless to say it didn't last too long but there is a chair there. 

On sunday, for the devotional we had the managing director of the MTC. He focused his remarks on the Book of Mormon stating that the three steps to conversion are prayer, Reading the book of Mormon and going to church. It was a very nice message about implementing the book of Mormon better. On sunday i got to meet with the branch president again. It was a nice visit and as we discussed how to best prepare for the field his only advice was that during personal study to focus on preach my gospel and the scriptures and become an expert in them. In his words he said "forget all the mission library stuff its not important" he went on to say to save those for the field. The days remain busy and long. The language is still very difficult. We have began to learn how to case things. I have memorized a big chart but the actual application is a little bit more difficult. We are becoming better at speaking. We are supposed to speak our language at all times which is a saying that has a few steps. I don't think we've been the most successful at it but we are starting to get better and it is definitely improving. Besides our missionary purpose i have also memorized my first scripture in Czech Alma 23:21. Another topic in one of our classes was receiving help. One of the teachers quoted a talk that said something along the lines of " If we need angels to minister to us, if we need a miracle, then call one down" The power held in that phrase has been something that has really stuck with me in my prayers the ministering of angels has sometimes become more evident. Another insightful talk that i read this week was Yet thou art there by Niel A Maxwell. I actually spend a surprising amount of time on the computer each day. WE have a computer lab right outside our classroom where we do language study with a software called TALL as well as a computer in our class that we can use doing personal study occasionally. We have begun teaching two of our teachers as investigators again. The lessons haven't always gone the greatest but sometimes it is because my companion and i don't always agree or have the same train of thought during the lesson. The things i Learned in Brother Morton's mission prep class are things that really have prepared me and given me a different understanding. How to suit that investigators better and not throw too much at them.That has been the most helpful thing to prepare for being here. On tuesday night we had another emeritus general authority Benjamin B Banks speak to us. He began with a few hilarious stories to catch our attention. As he served as a mission president in Scotland a missionary called him and said he needed to speak with him immediately about whether he was still worthy to serve as a missionary. They set up an appointment the next day and he worried all night over this elder. The next day the came in and their conversation went like this 

" President we were walking down the street this week and a groups of young women were having a pan bridle party"

"Whats that?"

"All the women surround you as you walk down the street banging pans and then asking for money and won't let you leave until you give them money"

"Well did you have any money to give?"

"I did and we gave them some"

"so then what happened"

"Well they don't let you leave until you kiss the bride to be?"

"You didn't?" Holding back laughter

"I did.  I'm so sorry, can i ever be forgiven?"

"go and sin no more"

 Needless to say he got our attention. HE also had some cool stories about working with Elder Scott. He was assigning missionaries and then all of a sudden Elder Scott made him go back four or five assignments. HE said something didn't feel right and changed the assignment for one of the missionaries.

Wednesday we got to host new missionaries as they arrived at the MTC, IT was sweltering heat and we we were supposed to be able to get a missionary through the entire process from car door to class in 10 minutes. It was more like 20 but it was a lot of fun to see what we looked like on our first day.

Today we got to go the temple for the first time which was very nice. They have 6 endowment rooms going and they can really move people through. IT was nice to finally get to go but it has definitely made p'day a lot busier. We play a game called spike ball during gym most days. WE take them up to the sand pits and dive all over the place. IT is a pretty fun game and we are getting pretty good at it.

Shad:

I was talking to a Portuguese speaking sister  and she was talking about her branch president here at the MTC. I inquired a little bit further and she said he was a mission president in your mission. IT turns out its president Jackson. Ill have to see if i see him at all.

In response to your questions:

WE have not seen any authorities from the quorum of the twelve but i am always hopeful. 

The other Czech missionaries are from: 2 from Utah, 3 from Idaho, 1 from Arizona and 1 from Colorado. The sisters: one is from Guatemala and the other England but she was at BYU.

I assume the Czech Translations would be very good. However dear elder puts a question mark in for any symbol or letter with an accent so the are very hard to understand since a larger portino is accents and what not. My vocabulary is getting better but it is extremely hard to learn because we are so busy but we pick up a lot in class and on the language learning software. I also have a little book that i can study out of along with phrases that i am trying to learn.

My basketball game is alright. some days better than others. but we haven't played to much recently because we have been playing a lot of spike ball and have the gym is closed to fix some things so it is a little more crowded. I bought some liquid bleach today but the sand really stains some things so i will have to figure out something. And even when i wash my gym shorts they still smell afterwards.I pretty much only wear my washable slacks unless its a suit day. But when they're washed they lose a little of the crease. Any suggestions? I enjoy the quote immensely and the jokes. They always bring a smile but most others here don't appreciate good humor.

As far a topic i had thought of one earlier but am a little forgetful now. Obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles. The power of the Book of Mormon as well as the calling of Joseph smith. In all things will Christ remember us. Or have miracles ceased? i would say unto you nay and the importance of faith. Have you watched character of Christ yet? That's something worth the wait.

hope all is well and i love to hear from you throughout the week

Love,

Starší Hanis