Inspirational Words

I read these inspirational words from President Hinckley this morning:

"We know not all that lies ahead of us. We live in a world of uncertainty. For some, there will be great accomplishment. For others, disappointment. For some, much of rejoicing and gladness, good health, and gracious living. For others, perhaps sickness and a measure of sorrow. We do not know.

Like the Polar Star in the heavens, regardless of what the future holds, there stands the Redeemer of the world, the Son of God, certain and sure as the anchor of our immortal lives. He is the rock of our salvation, our strength, our comfort,the very focus of our faith. In sunshine and in shadow we look to Him, and He is there to assure and smile upon us.

There is none to equal Him. There never has been. There never will. Thanks be to God for the gift of His Beloved Son, who gave His life that we might live and who is the chief, immovable cornerstone of our faith and His Church--The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints."

Marc and Julee Come to Visit

The Bernhiselovi came to visit for a few days. We took them to Cesky Krumlov and Ceska Budejovice for the weekend. The bear lives in the moat of the castle we visited. He's very cute.
Marc, Julee, and President Slovacek on their way to church.
Marc and Julee at Hluboka.
The afternoon they arrived, I took them on a walking tour of Prague. Here they are in Wenceslas Square, with the National Museum in the background. It was a beautiful day. I think they brought the Florida sunshine with them.
Marv, Julee, and I at Hluboka castle.
After church in Ceske Budejovice, our missionaries made a traditional dinner for us at their apartment. Elders Winder, Erickson, Smith, and Murray were excellent hosts, as they served homemade halusky and ovoce knedliky. Truly outstanding! I particularly loved Elder Erickson's Y apron, but the Bernhisels were partial to Elder Smith's Ute jacket. Go Cougars!
Another beautiful day in Cesky Krumlov.


It was sad to see them go, but we have work to do, and Marc has mountains to climb. Julee has stairs to master at the Y. We will meet again in Florida in a couple of years.

Random Pictures of Our Mission

Matthew and I are in Kosice, Slovakia, in front of the singing fountain.

President Slovacek is standing in what is left of Spissky Hrad. Construction of the castle began in the early 12th century, but the original structure collapsed, having been built
on a geological fault. The present castle was built in the first half of the 13th century, as a defense against Tatar incursions from the east. The Romanesque palace was completed in 1249. Following severe damage from the armies of Matthias Cak in the early 14th century, it was rebuilt in the Gothic style. Additions were made in the 15th century and served as a garrison until 1780 when it was abandoned after a disastrous fire. The Spis castle is the largest in central Europe. It covers over 10 acres.

In May, we sent home 13 wonderful missionaries. We miss them. But they were replaced by
13 excited new missionaries. We love their enthusiasm and spirit!



We were out walking one evening, and the storm clouds started to gather as we came upon Charles bridge. I took a picture before it started to rain.



This is a random thing, but the Young Women from my ward back home will know the M&M guy stands for "Slam Dunk Missionary Moments". We've instituted it in our zone conferences, as well. The missionaries get to share their happy experiences (Sharing Time), and get a handful of M&Ms. By the way, many thanks to those of you who send us M&Ms!! Our missionaries LOVE them!

Baptism in Trencin, Slovakia

While on our usual round of zone conferences, Elder Van de Graaf baptized a semi-professional soccer player named Roman in a river that runs below the Trencin castle. It was a picture perfect day in Trencin. They say the water was a little chilly, but there was a warm spirit in that grove of trees, as a few of the elders in Slovakia sang a hymn before the baptism.







You can see the Trencin castle on the hill in the background. Roman's baptism was one of my most memorable experiences on my mission so far.

Memorial Day and Learning the Ropes

Today was Memorial Day, so Elder and Sister Alsop decided to host a good old American barbecue for the Prague district missionaries. For many of them, it was P-day, so they came in their casual clothes and had a good time. Elder Trost is in the apron flipping hot dogs, while Elders Nowland and Johnson are excited to receive the award for the Most Extreme Contacting. (They won a pair of flip-flops--nice!) Ed Barner came and was the hit of the barbecue because he brought A&W Rootbeer--impossible to find in the Czech Republic.
































The Brno District Young Women had a conference at a ropes course in Zlin. I was invited to come along. It was an honor for me to be with them, but I had to wonder if I was invited for comic relief. We practiced walking on the ropes a few feet above the ground before we ventured up high into the sky. The lone silhouette against the cloud in the sky is me. A few minutes later I fall from the rope, but my tethering person catches me, so I wasn't hurt. It was a GREAT DAY!
























The Brno Young Women leaders are a fun-loving bunch! And the girls love them, too.
Sister Hansen and I practice walking the ropes in the forest before we hit the big time. This was hard work!

More Pictures from Zone Conference

Hradec Kralove Zone








Slovakia Zone

The Busy Month of May!

We held 5 zone conferences in 5 days, working our way from Slovakia, back to Prague. In this post I could only get three zone pictures in. I'll post pictures from the Slovak zone and Hradec Kralove zone in the next post. We were pleased to find all the missionaries happy and well.
Olomouc Zone: Notice Matthew Slovacek, the missionary--front row, third from left. He was called and set apart to serve for 6 weeks, as we needed a missionary in Ostrava to fill out a companionship. He's having a great time on his second mission.










Brno Zone










Prague Zone










When we got to Brno, we found all the hotels to be sold out due to trade fairs in town. We finally found the last room in the city in this little boutique hotel. It's very quaint and beautiful, but it had no elevator, and we stayed in the attic room--up 5 flights of very steep stairs. Now we know why it was the last room in the city.












Slovakia is a land of castles. On our way home from zone conference, we came across Oravska castle; so we stopped to explore. It was built in the 1400's.






















This little church is in the quiet town of Cecmany, Slovakia. The whole town has been preserved, and functions just as it did 200 years ago.










A ceremony commemorating the dedication of Slovakia was held in this grove outside of Trencin. As the President Uchtdorf's prayer was read in Slovak, Marv and I followed along in English. It was a picture perfect day!