Week 8 - Bratislava, Slovakia CHRISTMAS!

Well it has been quite the week!  Like i said last week we were in Kosice and we made it to Siba and found Hanis's. There was some snow and we walked through the cemetery and saw lots of familiar names! We then spent an hour with Andrea a Martin Hanis. IT was pretty cool! Tuesday we were in Kosice on an exchange for the morning. I was with Elder Arens who had been in the MTC with me, had to go home for a little bit and just got back a few months ago! That Was pretty cool! We had a good exchange and got to help one lady in her yard. That afternoon we set out to Brno (a six hour car ride). On the way i had a call in MLC. We got some more things figured out and we had a good night. Wednesday we had our Christmas training. In the morning we all went to the town square and sang a few songs. There were about 40 missionaries and we got some good crowds! 

Training was great! we, the sister training leaders, the other zone leaders, and the assistants and president all gave a training. IT was more of a spiritual thought though. IT was a really great meeting. My companion and i talked about Jesus Christ and his titles. WE talked about him being foreordained to what he would do. And we related that to us as missionaries being foreordained and we will accomplish that which has been promised. We just have to hold on! It was a fun day. 

Thursday, a lot of missionaries had stayed in Bratislava so we did a big service project cleaning up a park and had our Christmas concert. Someone we are kind of teaching came and sang. He and his wife are opera singers. I may have missed a little ;) Finally came Christmas eve which is the big day here but starts the three day Holiday. Our guidelines on the 24 were that we could visit people until about 2 in the afternoon but on the 24,25 and 26 no tracting or things like that. We had some great visits and brought banana bread with us. At 2 we made lunch for a member and went over and spent about two hours with him because he was alone and then we went to another members after that and had a classic Slovak Christmas without carp. It was a great day! ON Sunday we had an hour church, visited a less active and skyped! Yesterday everything was still closed so we did some service and a member invited us over for lunch and we had a lesson with the girl from Thailand. She came and said so I've been thinking about the purpose of life. What do you think? It was a great lesson!

This week is also full of some traveling and new things. We are excited to see how it goes. I love you all and wish you a happy new year.

S Laskou,

Starsi Hanis

Week 7 - Bratislava, Slovakia

Well there are always a few surprises in the week. This week was no different! I'll begin by saying that we are emailing from Kosice and I will come back to that! As I said last week we got new beds and shelves and got that all finished. Wednesday we had a good English class and we had mutual after decorating sugar cookies. We started an exchange after and I was with Elder Whitney. They are the other elders here in Bratislava. We had a good exchange, a lot of contacting but found some really cool people and then that night we started an exchange with Missionaries from Nitra. This time i was with Elder Dixon. We had a good night and in the morning we had to leave our apartment because the day before I got a call from my companion that plumbers and our landlord had been at our apartment and starting Friday morning we weren't going to be able to be there. So Friday morning we packed up all of the things we will need until Wednesday and we had a good exchange. We drew the hashtag for the Christmas video again all around the city and then had a good night. we taught the Book of Mormon class that night about 3 Nephi 1 and the Saviors birth. We stayed the night with the other elders.

Saturday was a great day. We studied a little and headed to the building for a lesson and we were ahead of schedule so we got off the tram early and started talking to people on the way. Then we got behind schedule and were hurrying when we saw a Dad with three young sons. We stopped him and talked to him about Christmas  and about family prayer. He said thanks and when we asked if we could come over and share a message he said yes! Fast forward to Sunday he returned our call and said we could come at 1. They actually live about 200 meters from the building. They let us come in and they sat there three kids down, they fed us and we met his wife and we taught them the restoration. So Cool! it was a miracle. It works to talk to every father with a kid! Sometimes it just takes a year! It was awesome!

Saturday we finished planning for our week and had game night and then Sunday we had church. It was the primary program with the missionaries singing all the songs ;) And then we went to that family and then to a family in the branch for lunch which was so great! They played lots of Christmas music! And then we set out on the road for a big week! When we found out we couldn't be in our apartment we had to change some plans around. We had planned for the elders form Kosice to come to bratislva before training to have an exchange but we called president and decided to come to kosice Sunday, spend the night and have pday here so we can go to Siba! Were gonna go visit where our ancestors came from! I am way excited!

Tomorrow we will be here until about 2 and we will drive all the way to Brno and be there Wednesday, we will come home and have two days until the Christmas day here and it will be a weird couple of days! We are excited for Christmas! Lots of things happening! We can Light the world. I know that Christ is the light and we can follow his example. Merry Christmas!

Love Elder Hanis

Week 6 - Bratislava, Slovakia

Well this has definitely been one of the more interesting weeks of my mission! But it has been good! Last Monday we had a lesson with a girl from Thailand. We had an interesting lesson and we had been talking about the book of Mormon because we had found one in Thai and then we had the prompting to ask if she knew who Jesus Christ was. She opened up so much because she actually didn't know! So we got to teach all about him and we read Mosiah 3, She was really touched and even tried to give us hugs after.. Awkward handshakes..

This week has been Christmas early apparently for me. Three different times people on the street gave me something to eat. Once was on a tram and i introduced my self to this couple and the girl turns around and gives me a candy, then on Wednesday a guy we taught on the street after giving him the book of Mormon turns and gives me a bag of dried apples, and then yesterday we were talking to a father on a tram and at the end he gave us two Mandarinky. Those are the little oranges but i cant remember what the exact word is in English.

Tuesday and Wednesday i was on exchanges with Elder McClain. WE had a good exchange and talked to some great people. One guy we started talking to and he interrupted us and asked if we knew some random person and we didn't and then he said "Do you know an Elder Patrik Kearon?" He had been at a church sponsored thing the week before and we had been really impressed with him! So cool! Wednesday night we had been invited by an English student to come and see her daughters Christmas concert. They are from Vietnam and it is an all English school. It felt like America. IT was really strange. We got there and couldn't find him so our plan was to find them after.. But then in the concert we never saw his daughter. Turns out she was sick. Oops! On Thursday we had a meeting with a guy from California, He speaks Slovak because his dad is from here and he is here visit family. At the end of our meeting he said yeah i almost moved to Hungary but i didn't. I asked why and he says well i played water polo. I had a full ride scholarship to UC Irvine and an offer to play in Hungary! He was so cool! 

Thursday night we headed back to Brno. We spent the night there because Friday we had MLC in the middle of nowhere in the Czech republic. It was at a hotel that a member from Prague owns. We stayed the night there. We had a long day. From 10 until 8 we sat and discussed things such as training, Watched practices that we had filmed, practiced things, discussed standards and a whole lot of things. At 8 we had a fireside with a member of the stake presidency, the high councilor who owns that place and the ward mission leaders. At 9;30 we played soccer with them for thirty minutes and headed to bed. IN the morning we got up and played floorball with them all and president. And then we had a training about member missionary work. It was really good, They had three tips to help. One is to make religious words part of you daily vocabulary, The second was when someone asks us if we went to church to say yes its awesome, why do you ask? And the third was when we feel like someone could use the gospel to say Hey i would like to ask you something just promise however you answer won't change our relationship. And then to talk about god and the happiness we had. We learned a lot and hope we can help more members invite friends so we do less street contacting and more teaching! It was quite the couple of days. We had a nice Sunday and taught Sunday school for people to prepare for patriarchal blessings and we taught young mens again. IN the afternoon, we started talking to a guy and got on a bus with him, Got off at a random stop and then walked one way and felt we should turn around and started talking to a younger guy who was searching for truth. We gave him a book of Mormon and a great discussion. It has been a full week! Lots of things happening. I hope you all are ready for Christmas.

Vesele Vanoce

S LAskou

Starsi Hanis

Week 5 - Bratislava, Slovakia

Another week here in Bratislava! It was an interesting one. Last Monday we had a meeting with a guy and a recent convert. It was a pretty awesome lesson. The recent convert laid down some great expectations about meeting and coming to church. It was a good start to the week! Tuesday we had a whole day of just contacting! IT had been a long time since that has happened! But it was great! On our way to get something from the building there was a guy standing outside smoking. We started talking to him and he said he had seen our building. We told him we would love to show him inside. He just happened to have 30 minutes before a job interview across the street. We gave him a building tour and taught the restoration and gave him a book of Mormon. Unfortunately he does not live anywhere close but if he gets the job he'll be back! That night we got on a tram and there was a group of people that started talking to us and all at once there were about 15 people just talking and we were in the middle of it! That never happens! No one is every talking on a tram! At least until we start talking to them. Pretty cool! 

On Wednesday we were on exchanges. I was with a new missionary elder Vasic and we had a good day. As a district we took an hour and wrote the hashtag for Christmas all over the city a few hundred times which was fun! We met a funny guy who said he didn't believe in god but he believed in being good and in the ten commandments. Then we told him how we love the ten commandment because the first one is to believe in God! It was pretty funny! We had English and then a lady we met and set up with on Monday came and brought two friends to our lesson! It was a fun lesson! One just converted to Catholicism, one was agnostic, and the other was a strong catholic. We taught the restoration, gave them Books of Mormon and had a great discussion. Then right at the end the strong catholic asked about mother Mary. We explained that we don't worship her, or pray to her, but we know she is great and did a lot for us. then this lady said "but she's holy." we explained again even blunter and she said "but shes holy like she is holy" This went on for a while until the agnostic tried to explain it "Well they do respect her, They just focus on Jesus Christ because of what he did and because of the commandments that they follow" and she again repeated but shes holy. It was pretty funny! We are excited to meet with them again! We got home that night and i felt a little funny. At 2 in the morning was pretty sick and was up most of the night. IT was not to great. I was destroyed Thursday and Friday and Saturday.  We got back to work had a planning session and breakfast for the young men and young woman. Sunday we had a great fast Sunday and Sunday night we went caroling! We wrapped Books of Mormon and gave them to people as presents and had a fun day! It has been an interesting week! Hope things find you well! Love ya!

Week 4 - Bratislava, Slovakia

Well it has been a great thanksgiving week here! We have had a lot of fun and it has been busy! Last Monday we just emailed and did our weekly shopping but we had the rest of pday on Thursday.  On Tuesday, we got up a little early and started our road trip. We visited three of our five districts. We started at 8 in the morning in Nitra. We had district meeting. Both of the companionships there had lost their phones, and were sick. It was an interesting meeting. We got to Find with them for a little bit and we found one girl who set up with them! After that we headed to Banska Bystrice! Had a good meeting there and headed after that to Trencin. It was a beautiful drive through the mountains. We brought the missionaries there home with us on an exchange. We got home about 8:45 at night. IT was a long day!

I was with Elder Redd on our exchange. We had a goal to get 15 people to smile at us at the beginning of our contact so we were even more smiley and friendly! It was pretty fun! Thursday was thanksgiving! We had a great day! We walked around the Christmas markets here and there are tons! Bratislava is a pretty big city! Then we went home and started cooking. We managed to make stuffing, green bean casserole, banana pie, key lime pie and a pumpkin pie! The sisters made the turkey and a peach pie. The other elders made mashed potatoes, funeral potatoes, sweet potatoes and about 100 rolls. There were a few other things and we ate great!! It was a fun meal! And we had a good time! 

Friday morning, thanksgiving was not sitting too well with me. We actually had to get up at 3:30 to go to the foreign police. And i was not feeling to well. I managed to not throw up and we made it to the place. We had to wait outside until 7. I slept on the grass. It was drizzly and cold. At 7 the sisters came. We had been waiting in line for them so we left and got home. I laid down on the floor in my big coat and a couple blankets and fell asleep and then we got up and studied and had a good day. We met some really interesting people, had a great first lesson and things went well! 

One funny story we met an older guy and his son in law. The old guy was really drunk! They thought i was from the Czech republic and we played along with them. They started telling my companion how hard the language is and then said to me but you understand being from the Czech republic. It was pretty funny! We had a fun game night. played a little more chess! Sunday we had a nice meal with a member family from Russia and some good visits! It has been a good week! Today we went to a tower on the hill and had lunch, we had some snow flurries and its cold! Hope things are well! Love you all!

Week 3 - Bratislava, Slovakia

Well from wednesday until now time has flown! After emailing last wednesday we got on the road to Prague. We left about 16 in the afternoon and I didn't get to the assistants place until 22.15. It was a long drive! We got up the next morning and ran up a mountain and then we had MLC with president Sabin. IT was a good meeting and focused on a couple things. The biggest i think was the role of the spirit in missionary work that we can use our gifts to allow people to feel the spirit. We need to become spiritual giants! Friday we were back and had a normal day. We did a little English contacting and stopped a young couple in English inviting them to English class. The girl turned to the boy in Slovak asked "Do you want to?" And he said "No they look like Jehovah witnesses" We shocked them as we jumped in in Slovak back. They were a little embarrassed but it was pretty funny! 

Saturday we went and tracted for service and we raked a LOT of leaves. Probably over 50 bags full. IT was a lot. That night we had game night and i was undefeated on the night in ping pong. Two right handed one left handed ;) And a game of chess. It has been a while. Sunday was a good day and we had a cool miracle. A woman came to church and sat by me. She said she had met missionaries a lot at the foreign police and she always said she would come to church so this week she did. She had a great time and is going to meet with us later this week! Pretty cool! Sunday night we met a couple people from the Jehovah witness church. we talked to them for a while and it was an interesting experience. But we made it! Today we actually didn't have pday. It will be on Thursday for thanksgiving but we had some good things today. Hope all is well! Love ya!

Week 2 - Bratislava, Slovakia

Well it has been a whirlwind of a week to say the least. New country, different money and a funny language. It has been great! It is pretty similar to the Czech republic. The languages are about the same. I speak Czech and they understand. They speak Slovak and i understand. In the Czech republic they all are atheists. Here they all believe. The church is much smaller here as well. We had two guys call us last Monday who wanted to meet! Pretty cool! They are both progressing now! One has already read to mosiah in the Book of Mormon. The other one wants to baptize all of Bratislava and wants our help! Pretty funny stuff! We woke up and were on the street just as the election was closing. Lets just say we heard about it!

We had our first couple snows this week! Stuck for a few hours and then warmed up! On Friday we had MLC over the phone to prepare for a mission tour this week! We met some really cool people but no one wanted to set up. Saturday night we had a fireside with the 6 missionaries here in Bratislava with president and his wife and Elder and sister Adler from Germany. WE had a great fireside and talked about conversion and Jesus Christ. Our testimony of Jesus Christ can push the holy ghost into peoples hearts. That is the power we have. Sunday those same four were at church and it was a great meeting and great to be there. That night president came over to see our apartment and had an interview with my companion. I had interview with His wife while we waited. The pohorelicti are amazing. I love them a lot! After that the assistants arrived as well as 4 other missionaries staying with us. Monday we had interviews for our zone here so they all came and we flooded Bratislava. We planned a group finding idea to give away book of Mormons for telephone numbers. Only if we would have an opportunity to talk again. We gave out about 100! It was a great day! In the afternoon we went to a different part and we built an 8 foot tall tower out of book of Mormons which drew a lot of attention! It was a long day and everyone stayed the night again because yesterday we had a mission tour with Elder Sabin. we had training all day! It was great! He knew the scriptures. Probably used more than 250 in the 6 hours. It was  a lot of information and it was good. He focused on the spirit and success that we will see it in the future. He said don't be afraid to go out on a limb. Maybe promising blessings or something of the sort because God will not let you fall.

 We also asked about happiness. It says in preach my gospel that more happiness than you have ever experienced awaits you as you serve. He said the happiness is just beginning and will come and and come and will come even more after your mission. I saw Elder Plewe for the first time in a year and a half! That was great! It was fun to be with a lot of missionaries from my MTC group. It was great to be around president. IT was interesting. WE translated the meeting. The first part into English and then we had to translate into Czech because there is a missionary in Slovakia from the Czech republic. IT was an exhausting couple of days. Today we have p-day and then in a few hours we are heading to Prague and we have MLC there tomorrow with Elder Sabin and then we will have a normal weekend. Next week we have to visit some district meetings and a lot more on plan! Things are going great here Love you all!