June 27 2016

The McConkies go home tomorrow, June 28th, and I can barely believe it. President McConkie has been my Mission President for the first half of my mission, and I know that it is hard for him and his family to go home. They truly love it here among the Czechs. The Pohořilicskys will be taking over the mission on the 29th, and It's going to be the start of an amazing year of Miracles and growth as we embrace a new mission President. I remember when I first met Jan Pohořilicsky, and his wife. It was when I was serving in Jihlava, and Jan was the Branch Mission Leader in Třebič at the time. I had heard such amazing things about their family from the Elders serving in Třebič at the time, and we even went bowling with them about 1 week before finding out that they are to be the next Mission Presidents. We all had one last chance to email President McConkie today, he'll be able to read these last emails, and then that will be it, He'll lose his ability to communicate with us. He has invited us all to stay in Contact with him and his family after our missions and they have asked us to limit contact with them while still in the mission, because they want to ensure that the transition with a new mission president will go smoothly. We, the missionaries, need to be 100 percent loyal to President Pohořilicsky, and I feel like that will not be a problem. On Wednesday, we'll all be going to Prague to have our "Meet the President meeting" where we will all have a small training, and we will all be interviewed by President Pohořilicsky. I've already decided that I'm going to make it clear to him that I support him in this time of transition for them, and that I will be 100 percent loyal to them, and that they can call on me for anything. I love this mission, and I am so blessed to know that at the end of my mission, I will have two mission Presidents that I can say that I know, and will have as friends for the rest of my life. .............................................. Now I'm going to talk about the family that we've been teaching. They have their baptismal date on the 2nd of July, and they are progressing wonderfully. We just read in DnC 135 verses 1 - 3 with them the other night, and as m read verse 3, he began to get emotional. They have come so far in just 6 weeks, and they are already facing opposition from close friends etc... They came to church yesterday, and I conducted. I also spoke in church yesterday, and during Priesthood Quorum, we talked about the Word of Wisdom. Then, after church, M and E had their interviews with our wonderful Branch President, President J A. They are doing very well, your prayers are working, thank you and keep praying. We plan to tell them tonight just how many people are praying for their success, and we hope that will give them some strength as well. That's all for this week, I love you all, and keep studying the Gospel, it truly is the best! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jesus Thought: In Mark Chapter 9, Jesus gets back from off the mount of Transfiguration, and he meets a man who comes to him and basically says, "I need help, my son, he is sick, and he is always in danger because of it. I have dealt with this for a long time, please help." and then in one of the verses, the father says, "help us." Then Jesus turns to him and says, "if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." and the father quickly replies, "Lord I believe," and then IMEDIATELY the scripture says, the father then adds this phrase, "help thou mine unbelief." Sometimes we all are trying to excersise faith in some aspect of the Gospel. whether that's trust, hope, patience, love, charity, diligence... it can be whatever... and there are those times when we just WANT to believe, soooo bad! we WANT to qualify for the blessing, and we cry out, "Lord I believe!!! I want to believe sooo bad, Please help me believe!!!" And then what does Christ do? Guess you'd better go read and find out for yourselves.

June 20 2016

Quite simply, the Baptism didn't happen this last weekend. But it is going to be okay. Our investigators have been doing such an incredible job keeping the Commandments and keeping commitments, and reading, praying, and gaining a testimony of the Restored Gospel. Their Baptism needed to be Delayed , but this is okay. We asked them to pray for a new day, and they picked the weekend of Transfers. Thier new baptismal Date is the 2nd of July. Transfers are on the 3rd, so this will be interesting. They are absolutely incredible people. E is the mother, and M is the Father. We went and visited some locations in the River next to a member's house here in České Budějovice. A C (literally one of the Lord's Noble and Great ones) came with us. Let me just tell you a little about A and M . A and M are members, they have been members for about 12 years. They have 3 amazing children, J (girl) is 20, Š(boy) is 16, and T(boy) is 8. A was baptized when he visited Utah 12 years ago, and while he was there he met the missionaries. He was baptized like 2 weeks after meeting the missionaries, and was baptized in the old Tabernacle. He soon moved back to the Czech Republic. His wife, M, is also a Convert, and she was the first Sister Missionary ever to serve in the Czech Republic, and she is Czech. They are the strongest members in the world. They stay here in CBud, because the branch here is soooo weak, missionaries litterally run this branch, and the C stay here because they know that they are desperately needed to maintain this branch. A has served as the District President of Bohemia. for those of you who don't know what that means, he was the President of the Chruch for 1 half of the czech republic. Now that we have a stake, he no longer has that Calling, and will likely take up some important calling here in Cbud. There are some other things I could say about them but they are quite personal so I don't type them here. It is enough to say that they are litterally some of the most important people in the church is the latter days, no doubt in my mind. So all good news. We went and visited those Possible Baptism locations with A and M and E, and we chose a spot. This is going to be really cool! I'll let you know more next week what is on plan. Love you all, and I pray for you! Read the scriptures every day, and Remember to do Family Prayer! True to the Faith says that we should do Family Prayer every MORNING as well as every night. Try it! Elder Connor Dean

June 13 2016

This week has been amazing, we've seen some incredible things, and our Investigators, the H are progressing so well! They just had their Baptismal Interviews last Thurdsay, and they have been doing great! The only concern is that they didn't come to church This last Sunday, because M (the father) had a fever and was "nemocný". They have already come twice, and they have had two reasonable excuses for the two times they have not come, so it's hard to tell what direction to take. We've pretty much decided that we're going to talk to them about the Importance of church, and how Church is a place for us to come, BECAUSE we are sick (spiritually), and that if we ever feel like we're just "too tired" or "we just don't feel like going" that is from satan. We're going to help them to see the blessings of Coming to church, and we believe this will just be good for them. My companion and I were talking the other day about lessons, and I was just feeling like some things needed to be talked about between the two of us, and so I asked Elder Marcucci if we could have a Comp Inventory, and so we had one. I just felt like I wanted to talk about some things that were on my mind, and after I stopped talking, Elder Marcucci shared some things that were on his mind and after it all, we both just felt significantly better about missionary work, and communication, and about our ability to work together as a companionship. It was awesome. This area is doing better now than it was last transfer, and we'll be seeing the H get baptized this Saturday, we're working with the C (the other incredible Member Family in this Branch) to decided the location of the Baptism. We've already decided it's going to be in the river here in České Budějovice. Tomorrow we're going to go look at it, and we'll see what happens. Yesterday, M and E both saw, and tried on their baptismal clothes for the first time. We brought the clothes over to their house, and handed their clothes to them and then after changing, they came out wearing them, and they both looked amazing! I am so happy for them, and I cannot believe just how powerful the Gospel it, that it can completely change people in 5 weeks! Never ceases to amaze me. Elder Marcucci and I had a wonderful time in Ostrava over the weekend, Elder Marcucci baptized P , and Elder Bourn baptized A, her son. We were able to go to Ostrava because P was one of Elder Marcucci's investigators while he was serving there, and she didn't get baptized while he was there, and so they asked if he could come to their city for a day and baptize her. It was awesome, but we still had to get permission from President McConkie. I was chosen to stand as a witness at the Baptism, and that was an incredible honor for me. I realized just how Incredible the B(p family) are, they will no doubt be one of the strongest families in the Ostrava Ward. (It's incredible to say that word now, ward.). Thanks for all the prayers and everything that you do at home. These people are prepared to recieve the restored gospel, and they are already converted to it. I remember just last week, we were teaching a lesson to the H (our investigators who will be baptized on Saturday), and E's father came to visit. So they reluctantly let him inside, and he stormed in, and sat down, started smoking, and then he began telling us, "you have your church, I have my church, and my Daughter has her church, you can't do anything about that, I will not listen to you! Nobody has ever seen God Anyway, so..." and then E cut off her dad by saying, "No, Joseph Smith has seen God!" Elder Marcucci and I just looked at each other with our Jaws dropped. thinking - "did she really just say that?" there we were, sitting there, watching our Investigators Testify to their angry Father that the Prophet Joseph Smith saw God, and that it was true, and that they believed it. It nearly Brought tears to my eyes that they had such strong faith, faith that even if God did not ever reveal himself to them, they would believe... Absolutely incredible Family. and they were found only 5 weeks ago. Your prayers for M and E are being answered, and they are doing great. It is absolutely incredible to me that they are progressing as fast as they are. If this Gospel WASN'T true, Elder Marcucci and I would have messed this up a long time ago. THINK ABOUT IT THOUGH... we're litterally going into people's homes and saying this... "Hello, we are God's servants sent to deliver to you a message that God exists. You can believe this if you will try it. God has asked that you live according to his standards for you own happiness. We, total strangers, ask you to completely change you life. we, total strangers, ask you to start praying, stop drinking coffee, alchohol, stop using Tabacco, and pay the church money. also, Observe the law of chastity. and these people are actually doing that! If the Gospel wasn't true, this would not work. I know that the Gospel it true. In the first half of my mission, I had the fear that I would never be able to help anybody come to the Covenant of Baptism. one year gone... and now, Michal has asked me to baptize him on Saturday. Sincerely, Elder Dean

June 6 2016

A few days ago, Elder Marcucci and I were walking to the Grocery Store (Billa) next to our appartment for Lunch, and I was on the phone with a member. While I was on the Phone, Elder Marcucci stopped, and began talking to a woman who was looking for something on the ground. I decided that the best thing to do would be to focus on the phone call and help this member to solve a problem, and then I would see what Elder Marcucci and this woman were looking for. After about 30 seconds, I ended the phone call, and looked up and asked, "Co hledate?" (What are you looking for?) - me "Ona ztratila jeji prstinek." (She lost her ring) -Elder Marcucci So then I walked over, looked at the ground for a second, and then a thought came to me. "Elder, this is a really good opportunity to teach a principle." - me Then Elder Marcucci smiled and then we walked over to the woman who was still looking for the ring, and I said to her, "Znate kdo jsme?" (do you know who we are?) -me "Neznam." she said, "Jsme Misionaří, z Cirkve Ježíše Krista Svatych Poslednich Dnů, a my vime jak mužeme najit vaši prstinek." (We're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and we know how we can find your ring.) -me we then explained that we, the three of us, can pray, and that God would help us find her ring. She thought that we were crazy, and told us that it was stupid, and then she walked a few feet away and started her search again. Then Elder Marcucci says, "That's okay, but the two of us, we're going to pray, and then we'll find your ring." So then I said I quick prayer, with both of us standing there just feet from her, out loud, just enough so that she could hear, and then Elder Marcucci walked over into the street, and we looked for about 15 seconds... Then I look over at Elder Marcucci as he leans down, and he glances over at me with this huge smile as he picks up this tiny ring from off the road. We met up, and then we both walked over to the woman without saying a word, and then when we got to her, elder Marcucci hands her the ring and says, "Našli jsme to" (we found it) -Marcucci She was really suprized, and as we handed her the ring I explained, "so what did we learn today??? . . . . Prayer works!" -me She mumbled a few unaudible words and then thanked us and walked away. Still not interested to learn about the Gospel, but still a fun story, she's obviously being prepared. Afterwards, Elder Marcucci and I came together and offered a prayer of thanks to our Heavenly Father for Blessing us and this Woman because of our Faith in Him. Love you all, Elder Dean.

May 30 2016

I love my mission, and I have had the best first year, it will be an awesome 2nd no doubt, many hard things to come, but also many blessings that I will not have even considered. I look back now on where my mission started, and who I was, and I see where the Lord has placed me, and I am completely blown away. I have learned to Love CBud, and it hurts when I realize that I may not have much more time here. I have learned so much, and I know that I'll continue to learn more during the 2nd year of my mission. What a Wonderful time to be a Czech/Slovak Missionary! I'm looking forward to our Interview this week, it will be our last interviews with President McConie before he leaves for good. , Elder Marcucci and I are both excited. This area is doing well, the missionaries here in CBud are getting along well and a lot of work is being done. We just went to Hluboka with YSA V, and we're beginning to see strength come back into this Branch. We've seen pictures at member's homes of the CBud branch like 15 years ago, and the sad thing is, it actually looks a little weaker now. We've been puting a HUGE effort on reactivating and supporting the Branch, and as a result, Member Present lessons have gone up, RCLA's have gone up, Refferals have gone up, and Street Contacting has gone dramatically down... litterally we only street contacted for 1 hour last week. Elder Marcucci and I have both officially decided that we're going to change this mission... So many elders and sisters think that Missionary work here in Europe needs to be like 80percent Street Contacting, and 10percent Members and 10Percent RCLA's, but President, We are litterally not Street Contacting at all... We only Contact on our way over to other appointments, and the results are absolutely astonishing. It has Taken about 1.5 Transfers to get CBud to this point, but now, Our Branch is healthier, we are closer with the Members, and our Investigators are getting closer with the members, and our Members are more willing to trust us with their Refferals, and the list just goes on and on! My mindset has changed from, "in this mission, we find through our own efforts, and then do Member work on the side." to, "in this mission, we Strengthen the Branch through AML's, RCLA's, and we find through Refferals and other means associated with strengthening the Branch." This is truly a breakthrough I think, because it's the stereotypical idea that we only do this kind of stuff in the United States missions, but it's working here in CBUD, and we have achieved Standards now 2 weeks in a row, both us and the sisters, and it makes so much sense to do missionary work this way, and Elder Marcucci and I are both on board with this way of missionary work now, and it's going to mean some incredible things for the rest of my mission and I hope that it can change and improve the expectations for new missionaries about How we do missionary work here in the Czech Republic. Love you, Talk to you on Monday, sorry for no pictures this week, but I will get them next week. Love you all!. sincerely, Starší Dean