Transfer 7:October 10,2016

This week has been super awesome. I'll just start out by saying that I think the Lord wants my companion and I to take a break from Missionary work because now we're both not feeling well and were told by President's wife to stay home and rest. Nothing that you need to be concerned about, simply a little nausea and some headaches. It's been going around the mission. Classic start of winter here the Czech Republic. Started wearing my coat again. It suddenly changed at the start of last week. Monday it was warm, Tuesday it was fine, and then BOOM, suddenly it was rainy and cold. It's stayed this way since then, and so we've been adjusting to the change. The leaves are starting to fall, don't ask me why they don't change color first. The laws of chemistry don't work in the Czech Republic I guess... the leaves are green and then ope-they're on the ground. The Members here have been feeling the surge of spiritual power since the formation of the Ward. Our new bishop is busy conducting interviews and organizing the Ward into a more unified unit now that we've, in a sense, absorbed Zlín Branch. We, the missionaries, are still working on uniting the two groups as well, Elder Merril, our District Leader, asked us the other day for the phone numbers of all the UH members, so we sent those to them. The Ward is preparing to have our Christmas Concert. We practice as a ward every Sunday after chruch. Sister K plays the piano every Sunday and her husband is suffering from back problems but continues to work harder than he should, and their sons are just so full of life. They're such a Mormon family, I'm not kidding, if they lived in Utah, nobody would think anything of it, they are just such a Mormon family they would fit right in. Sister K is directing the practice of the concert, which we'll be having here in UH. The songs that the ward has chosen to sing are awesome, along with some Czech Classics. Most of the songs we're going to be singing are in English. Lemme tell you, it's super funny to be talking to everyone in Czech, and then suddenly Everyone is singing in English. What adds more to this surprise is hearing them all speaking English with their Czech accents haha! After District Meeting this week, we walked out of the church building here in UH, and we didn't know what to do because the Zlín Elders had unexpectedly received a call to come to service in Zlín, so we had to cancel our finding time in UH. With the unexpected change of events, Elder Andersen and I were left with two hours of time that we were expected to fill somehow. When we walked out of the church building with everyone, I suddenly felt the phone vibrate in my pocket, I answered it, and said, "dobrý den, tady jsou misionaří z Církve Ježíše Krista Svátých Poslednich Dnů, mluvite s Starším Deanem" "Hello, here are the missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints, you're speaking with Elder Dean." I heard the man on the other line, (in czech of course) "Hey, this is Milan, can we meet today?" I scrambled through my brain to find the name "m" and then replied, "we have like... 6 people named M who we're teaching..." he replied, "M Z." M had met the missionaries several months ago, they had given him a book of Mormon but they lost contact with him once he got too caught up in work. We had previously tried to contact him but he was never available. Eventually we gave up trying to work with him because we believed her was not ready nor progressing. We set up with Milan for that day just 30 minutes later. At that meeting, he came, saw us, we greeted, and then when he sat down he pulled out his Book of Mormon, it looked used, and there were tuns of papers stuck in the pages. He looked up at us and said, "I read it, all of it." with further conversation we realized that M, despite what we may have been thinking, WAS progressing. the Lord had been working with him this entire time. He had finished the book of Mormon. What added more to our surprise was when he said, "I know that it's true." since this time, M has been progressing ridiculously quickly. He even came to EIGHT HOURS OF GENERAL CONFERENCE and he was able to spiritually retain most of it. when the spirit is with a person, they understand the Gospel. M is on date to be baptized in 2 weeks. Don't be suprised

if that changes to 3 or 4 weeks though. He's got some steps to take before he's ready. S Laskou, Starší Dean

Transfer 7: October 3, 2016

Elder Andersen and I have a Transfer Vision that is very inspired. When I got here in UH I felt like the Lord wanted me to learn some things, but also I felt like He wanted me to use what I had already learned to do everything that I could to help make this area stronger. If there is one thing that I have learned on my mission, it is that God's ways are ALWAYS higher than our ways. His thoughts are always higher than our thoughts. Elder Andersen and I created our Transfer Vision prayerfully and with the intent to do exactly what the Lord asks of us. I was suprised when Elder Andersen told me that he recieved inspiration that the Lord wants us to make a goal to baptize 5 people into this branch this transfer. But upon further prayer and pondering of my own, I came to agree that it would be possible. We created our plan, unaware of what was to come, but with simply a hope that the Lord would allow us to work together with Him in his glorious work. For us to do this we promised the Lord that we would be willing to do anything and everything to help him bring to pass his purposes. We promised to follow any and all spiritual promptings, and that means, also following those spiritual promptings to repent when nessesary, evenf for the smallest things. I'll write up our Transfer Vision below so that you can see what it is: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Uherské Hradiště Prepare to be a Ward. Work together with Branch. ---------------------------------------- -Start R.D.V again (family home evening) -Teach all members. -Teach with all members - All Home Teaching Assignments - Help Members Fulfill Their Missionary Responsibities. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Five People to Covenant of Baptism ----------------------------------------- - Have Three Major Branch Activities - Asking Members to spiritually find refferals - Vylets (fun trips) with memebers (to build trust and unity) - Work with Part-Member Familes - Effective Personal Finding: Using Scriptures. -------------------------------------------------------- Do Everything and Anything the Lord asks of us. See Everyone as God sees them, and work with them Exactly as He needs. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, I need to tell you about some things now. Do you see that goal we have up there? the one that says, "Prepare to be a ward"? Elder Andersen and I felt very strongly that we needed to do everything that we could to help this branch become a ward. We felt that we needed to work with the members as best we could and unite ourselves with the branch. We felt that the Lord was preparing something big for this branch, although we were not sure what it was. We told many of the members during visits that "something Big is coming, and it's going to be awesome." Well, last week on Tuesday, during District Meeting, Elder Merrill, our District Leader, delivered the news that would enlighten our minds and change our vision for the rest of this transfer. News that would influence not only the members in UH but also the members in Zlín. If you remember, when I first came into the mission, I was serving in Zlín. I have a very special place in my heart for the members there. I have always wanted to some day go back, and actually be able to understand those members who, at the time, were speaking a language that I couldn't even fathom. Now, one year and two months later, I am in Zlín's neighboring city UH. I felt soo grateful that Heavenly Father had in His plan for me to come serve back in this district, I would be able to on occasion see some of those Zlín members. The news that Elder Merrill delivered to us on Tuesday was this. "Don't tell anybody..." He told us, "...but on Sunday (yesterday) The Zlín Branch and the Uherské Hradiště Branch will come together to form a Ward." A Ward... I was speechless. I could not believe it. Zlín, my first city, one of the weakest branches numerically was the place where I had started my mission. I loved those guys. And now, here I was, the Lord having granted me the privdlege of seeing them become a Ward. Suddenly the clouds were lifted from my eyes and I could see why the Lord had placed me here in UH, and why He had prompted us to do such a Transfer Vision. I suddenly understood why we were seeing so much opposition, it was because the Adversary knew something that, at the time, we didn't. Long story short, The Zlín branch came down on Sunday to the UH Building. Elder Andersen and I came early to prepare the building, air it out and everything. We met with our Branch mission leader and discussed Gereral Conference for next weekend for the members in the building, and we picked up a new investigator and her son to come to church. We had planned it perfectly so that relief society president could be her friend while at church. It was only me and my companion that had any idea in our entire branch that THIS Sunday, we were going to become a Ward. The other members knew something was happening, but they had no idea what. They knew that the Branch President was coming, and they knew that the two branches were coming together for one weekend for a special conference, but other that that they had no idea. When the Stake President showed up, we started Sacrament meeting. President Pilka (stake pres) announced that he was coming to announce that after much prayer, and consideration, and pondering, the stake has decided to unite the UH branch and the Zlín Branch to become a Ward! President Pilka then asked, in czech of course, "all the members of the Uherské Hradiště Branch, and all members of the Zlín Branch, please stand." Everyone stood. I suddenly had a flash back to the day when the Stake was formed. As they were calling out where the wards would be formed, they asked the members of the particular branches to stand and then they were to sustain themselves to become a ward. I turned around, (I was seated on the front row) and saw as the two branches seated behind me, filling our small chappel even into the classroom at the back of the room, stood up together. I saw President Večeře, his wife, their now 12 yr old son, and 7yr old daughter, Brother Mikulenka, his daughter, Brother Janošek, His wife, their 12 yr old son, their daughter, her Husband Michal, and even old Rudolf there in the back stood up. I saw all of the members of the UH branch stand up, and in unison, as Latter Day Saints, the Zlín branch and the UH branch sustained themselves to become a ward. After everyone was seated, the spirit was palpable in the room. The Energy was so strong. President Pilka then turned to the men seated on the stand released first the Branch president of zlín, then his councelors, then he released the Branch president of UH, and his Councilors, and then he released a few other people holding varios positions in each branch. and then the first Bishop ever in Uherské Hradiště was announcced. Brother Dynka. I have to get off now, but I just want you all to understand a little bit about what this all means. WE HAVE A WARD AND A BISHOP, and this will change this area forever. have a good week, and remember that the Lord always has a bigger and better plan than you do. Just learn to trust Him. I'm still working on it, but He never fails to prove His point, that He knows me better than I know myself, and He knows how to be happy and be successful better than we do. That's a piece of my testimony. Love you all, S Láskou, Starší Dean