Feb. 27, 2017

The mission is honestly the most unexpectable experience ever... I wouldn't even be able to tell you why. You just get torn appart and build up, and then torn appart again, and then built up again several times a week, and in a myriad of differend ways. now... I realize that I may not be staying in Uherské Hradiště for much longer. I just was thinking about this yesterday and today. I found myself asking myself... "have I done everything that the Lord wanted me to do in this area?" I began thinking about the last six months... It blew my mind that in 2.5 weeks... it will have been six months since I left České Budějovice. I began to think about it. Then I remembered how I was prompted on the train coming over here six months ago, I was prompted by The Spirit to do everything that I possibly could to follow the will of the Lord, to serve others, and to make this area as strong as I possibly could. I remember how I felt when I first got here. I was pumped, I was so excited to get started, and We felt very inspired to work closely with the memebrs. I remember the first couple weeks were very difficult, I was very worried about the direction we were trying to take the missionary work in, and I was very uncertain about what the future held. As I remembered just how scared I was, just how many tears I shed for this area, I realized that It has all lead to this moment. Where I am sitting here, five months later, and seeing that the Ward we have is stronger than ever before. Well, first of all, it's a ward now, it was just a branch when I got here. The Members here are amazing, and we have since helped each of them in at least one way or another. I can tell a story about each of the members here, and I hope that I will be able to remember these people for the rest of my life. {Mom note: He mentions a bunch of members who are very dear to him, but I have opted out of sharing names} I'll explain some more familes here in my next email... but... "it sufficeth me to say that" I love these memebrs. I truly Love them so much. I find so much strength when I think of them, and their lives, and their children, and their friends, and their circumstances... I cannot even imagine what life would have been like during communism. To live in a time when you don't know who's on your side, who is your enemy, who is going to turn you in to the Government, who is truly interested in christ or not... Meeting in secret every week to worship, not knowing if you'll ever live to see the day when the Iron curtain of Communism would fall, and the Church would be able to function properly again. Knowing that you're living in the last days, and thinking to yourself, "We're in it for the long Haul, through hell on earth, to heaven above" these people are saints...! Talking about pioneers yesterday in Church, a member of the Stake High Council came and was talking about the story of John Rowe Moyle... As he stood up in sacrament meeting and started talking about John, I leaned over to brother Pálka who was sitting next to me and I told him, "That John Rowe Moyle guy is my great great great great grandfather." Brother Pálka looked at me with an impressed look on his face... nodding. That stake high counselor told John Moyle's story, about how he walked to the temple ever week on a wooden leg, and then he ended his talk. Bishop got up, and said, "now we'll hear from brother Pálka." Brother Pálká got up, walked passed me, stood up there at the pulpit and said, "Our Brother Dean informed me during Brother Řezak's talk that John Moyle is his great great great great grandfather..." The whole congregation of about 65 people just gasped, apparently this statement made the whole situation real for everyone. I love you all, I'll talk to you again next week. Take care! S Láskou, Starší Connor Dean