I Love This City!

Starsi Shirley with his companion Starsi Robinson on a P-day excursion to Cesky Krumlov

Sestra Chalupska, Sestra Heap and Starsi Robinson

New apartment in Ceske Budejovice, which Starsi Shirley calls "the nicest apartment in the mission"

Town square in Ceske Budejovice (or C-Bud as they apparently call it)

Ceske Budejovice

The next several pictures are of Cesky Krumlov - beautiful scenery!

Starsi Shirley in Cesky Krumlov

The new Ceske Budejovice district along with a departing missionary: Sestra Heap, Sestra Chalupska, Starsi Terry (who just completed his mission), Starsi Shirley, Starsi Robinson

March 20, 2017

Hi!

Mornings here in C-bud (that is the shortened name of this city that missionaries use) are a little different from what I’ve had previously. Our branch president likes going running with us missionaries in the mornings during the week. So we wake up a little earlier and run to his house and meet him there. We run a while with him and then run back across the city and home. I think I will be in the best running shape that I have been in after I leave this area. It's great though.

I do love this city. It is the prettiest I have served in and one of the prettiest in the country. We went to Cesky Krumlov today which is the most visited, other than Prague, destination in the Czech Republic. It is beautiful! I'll send you pictures.

The whole time I was in Brno, I was a district leader as well as a zone leader. I am now just a district leader. Only zone leaders in this mission have cars so I probably won't be driving again during my mission. My new comp is great. He actually reminds me a bit of how I was in my 2nd transfer.

As I mentioned last week, I was called by the mission President and asked if I would serve as 1st counselor here in this branch. The following night I was called by the stake president officially and was sustained at church on Sunday. I am really excited to work with the branch president here. I’m still not really sure what my calling entails, but I'm excited for it. My companion isn't 2nd counselor, we just don't have a 2^nd counselor in the branch. The branch here is small. The attendance this last Sunday was in the low 20s and that included 6 investigators and 6 missionaries. 

We have some great people that we are teaching though. One man that we are teaching has been through a lot in life and has run into problems with drugs in the past. His life was kind of broken but he has started turning it around. He is one of the most humble people that I have met. We are also teaching two grandkids of a member here. They are 11 and 12 years old and come to church. This is my first time teaching a part-member family on my mission and my first time teaching younger kids. It's a different experience but they are awesome as well. 

I got to share my testimony at church this last Sunday. I talked about Joseph Smith a little bit and testified of the truthfulness of the First Vision. I shared the verse John 8:32 which I really like. It says "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." I know that the gospel, or God's truth, is the thing that brings me and all other people the greatest happiness that this life has to offer. Truth is the path and it is a path of freedom. God has provided a way for us to access that truth once again through prophets and we are blessed to have that knowledge. Mosiah 2:41. 

A question we asked this week:

We received an email from the mission home this last week wanting information to purchase your plane ticket home! I guess they need it at least three months in advance, so they started early gathering everyone's information. Can you believe it?!!?!  One of the questions they asked us if we were planning on coming to get you or if you were flying home and to what airport. So, just to make 100% sure- you want to fly home and it would be to the Idaho Falls Airport? We are so good either way! 

Answer:

Plane ticket home huh? That's pretty crazy...I still have a little bit of time right? Yes, I plan to be flying home to the Idaho Falls airport. Kind of a side note....Elder Stacey, one of my good friends here in the mission, lives in Shelley so he will be flying home with me as well to that airport.

Love you all!

-Elder Shirley