Feb 8 2016

This week has been a good one, we started out on Monday by going to a really old castle looking thing... and I got a ton of stuff on my camera, but unfortunately this week I left my camera backa at the apprtment. škoda, On Wednesday we had District Meeting in Třebič, a city not too far from Jihlava, and it is the other city included in my disctict. The sisters and Elder Oviatt and I traveled by train to Třebíč and as we were approaching the Church building's front door in Třebíč I recieved a call from the Třebíč Elders and they said, "where are you?" "we just got here" I told them. "no where are you? We're right here." they said. "We just walked in the door, we're here in the Building. You're at the wrong door." I said. Then Elder Stacy said, "No we're litterally just standing right here, in front of the Blue building on the Naměsti." And then I realized... "uh... how bout you talk to Elder Oviatt." and I handed the Phone to my companion (the district leader). what had happened was, while we were traveling to Třebíč, The Třebíč Elders had been traveling to Jihlava! so our trains had litterally just passed right next to each other going opposite directions, and we had both arrived at the other city's church building's front doors at the exact same time... Long story short, the Třebič Elders eventually came back to Třebíč and we had District meeting there. Later that same day (wednesday), we started our exchange, and Elder Carlson and I came back to Jihlava while Elder Oviatt and Elder Stacy stayed in Třebíč for the night. We had a good Exchange and we found a cool man named Prokob, he's about our age and he's interested in Learning more about the message of the Restoration. Unfortunately we have not been able to get into contact with him, and so we're still working on that. On Friday, we had a lesson early in the morning with a new investigator. His family let us into their home and gave us some Czech jelly-filled rolls and some fruit tea (at our request), and then our investigator's parents just would not shut up... litterally they grabbed an ensyclopedia and started telling us about mormons... and we just sat there and listen to them ramble on in czech while I was trying to talk to our Investigator about the Book of Mormon. It was so much talking that I began to think that they were deliberately not allowing us to talk and stopping us from sharing our message. I was getting frustrated and then we decided to leave... when we decided to leave, they expressed their thankfulness that we came over and asked if we could come again... to which we responded, "NO!" . . . . no just kidding of course we said we could... andthen they told us that their son could drive us home. Finally we were able to talk to him about our message in the quietness of a car on the road, and we were able to explain to him the importance of meeting and then we even mentioned coming to church, and he said, "sure I'll try to come". Little did we expect, when on Sunday morning we recieved a call from him, where he asked, "where can I find your building? I'm here and I'm looking for it, where is it?" I ran out of the Chapple right before the meeting was about to start and ran downstairs, and explained the location of our church building. He came around the corner and elder Oviatt and I told him that we were happy that he had decided to come and that we were about to start. He sat through the entire Sacrament meeting, and it just so happened to be a Fast and Testimony meeting that one of our Investigators decided to attend, and so he was able to hear many of the members bear their testimonies about how they know that the church is true. Truly a cool experience. we had somebody at church, and that is cool. Now we just need to continue to work with him and get him working towards baptism. Now I want to share my testimony with you about my mission. The members here are incredible. We sat down the other day and had a short Book of Mormon read with one of the senior members here in Jihlava, and when we concluded, he shared with us his testimony that trials are really just blessings in hiding. they truly are as well, because we have our trials so that we can know what it means to have joy. I was thinking about this long and hard over the week, and I realized something that I think is incredible. In This mission, we have the opportunity to experience rejection, trial, temptation, stubbornness, stiff necks, hard hearts, patience, brokenness, feeling alone, feeling weak, feeling unqualified, and feeling like it's not worth it at times... and I thought long and hard about what this wise member had said, about how trials are blessings in hiding... and I realized that thanks to this mission, I am closer to my Savior than I have ever been in my entire life. As His missionaries, we are able to understand, only in small part, the pains, the rejection, and the feelings that our Savior felt during His ministry. I sometimes ask myself, "why do we have to endure this?" and then I realize, that we are becoming something so much greater than we could ever have imagined. before my mission, I could care less if I was out serving the Lord and talking to people all day... but now, it is my no. 1 priority, to share the Gospel. How crazy is that... the Lord has taken me, and thus far has grown within me a desire to become more like him and to never want to stop feeling his spirit. and through my trials, I am able to find a fulness of joy, even unto the sheding of tears in the knowledge that I Know that my Redeemer lives, that though the world may be far from him, he is never far from us, and that though the mountains shall depart and the hills shall be removed, his kindness... His love, and his infinite and Eternal mercy shall not depart from me. nor shall it depart from those people here who he loves so much. they may not konw him, but he loves them. as his servants he only asks that we share that love with these beautiful people. Because He knows their struggles and their pains, and He wants them to know, that he is here, and he Lives, and his hand is stretched out still, even unto the sheding of his own tears... Our Savior lives. I love my mission, it is the hardest thing I have ever had to do but I love my trials, they have helped me to come so much closer to the Savior. I Love these people, because I love my God. I cannot believe just how patient He is with me. I am so blessed. This is my testimony, and I know that it is true, and I bear witness of the divinity of the Son of the Living God, and I know that He lives. And He is NOT still, but he is active in each and every one of our lives. we need only open our hearts to him. That is why mom, I have chosen the scripture 1 Nephi 2:16 as my scripture that I want you to give to Bishop. That is my testimony, in the Sacred name of Jesus Christ, the Great Phsycian, as the scriptures call him, Amen. Elder Dean