We Need to Come to Know Our Savior

The Brno district at the famous Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul in Brno

Pictures from the Brno ossuary - all of the wall are made of human bones and skulls!

Elder Shirley's Halloween costume

At the ward Halloween party

The Brno missionaries eating out

From what I've been able to figure out, Limona Dovy Joe (translates to "Lemonade Joe") is a 1964 Czechoslovak musical comedy film that is a parody of the American Western. Apparently, the film enjoys a near-iconic status in the Czech Republic

Haha! Missionaries don't get to watch movies like this while serving.

November 14, 2016

Hello!

This week for us was probably one of the most successful on my mission. We have a lot of people that we are teaching and working with right now. A little different than what I am used too, but I am definitely happy for the blessings we are getting right now. This week we will be in Prague and in Bratislava so we will see how things turn out this week. 

The biggest thing that happened this last week was on Thursday. All the missionaries gathered in Brno to have interviews with the mission president. There were about 18 of us here and since only 1 goes at a time, we all went and did finding together. We went to the busiest spot in town with about 14 of us at a time and we sang on the street. Half sang and the other half contacted people. Because interviews last a while, we were out doing that for a few hours. We also ate lunch as a zone. It was really fun and I enjoy working with all of the missionaries together. I think sometimes, it is hard to feel that we are connected to something bigger and better than just our work in our city, but we got to see and feel how strong the missionary work here is in our zone when we all come together. And a big “thanks” to all the missionaries for coming to our city and helping us here. 

Being a zone Leader is great! We are in contact a lot more with President and with the APs. We call all of our areas in our zone every week and have to check on their work and get information about people they teach. We go on exchanges with District Leaders and with new missionaries. At some point, we will also lead a training session when all the missionaries get together. We also go to mission leadership councils (MLCs) and talk about how we can be more successful in our mission. Oh, and President wants us to visit all the districts this transfer and go to their district meetings. So we will be traveling quite a bit in the near future. Definitely a little more planning, but still mostly just the same missionary work.

Our area right now is doing really well! We have 2 people on baptismal date and they are looking good. We found a few new people this week as well. Elder Carlson is an awesome missionary. He just gets out and works hard. He talks to everyone all the time and is a good example for me. 

Recently, I have taken quite a bit of interest in the life of Jesus Christ. It is amazing to me how many opinions people have of Him in the world. So I think it is our job to come to know our Savior for who He really is. Like Elder Bednar has said, "We can come to know the Father by coming to know His Son, Jesus Christ." I know that as we study Jesus Christ and as we read of Him, we can come to know Him for who He is and what He did. We can know that He really did live and perform miracles. And as we come to know Him, our relationship to God, our Heavenly Father, is strengthened. Jesus Christ is the foundation of this church and leads it through His living prophet. 

I can't wait to talk to you at Christmas either, even though it is still a little more than a month out haha! I'm sure we can get something arranged to make it work! Congrats to Dan and Abrea in basketball! I hope to hear good things about both of their seasons. Every time I see pictures, I can't believe how much they have both changed. It'll be weird to see them again!

I'm not surprised to hear about the election. We have literally been hearing about the election for months. Literally everyone, once they find out we are from America, asks us what we think about the elections. I am honestly pretty glad to be a missionary and to not have seen all of the election process. All I know about the elections is that everyone, at least as far as the Czech Republic goes, thinks both candidates are bad haha. I am just pretty glad that the elections are over already and people can calm down a little. 

We did get snow one day this week. It has been sooo cold!

Thanks for the packages! I'll be in Bratislava tomorrow for training and then in Prague on Thursday for MLC (mission leadership council), so I'll probably be getting them soon! 

Have a great week everyone!

-Elder Shirley

Below are some beautiful pictures Elder Shirley has taken from around Brno recently: