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!

Who We Really Are

For those of you who have been watching the news and may have wondered....

Some Mormon women dance...










Some Mormon women write scary stories...














Some Mormon women have lots of money and really great hair...











I know hundreds of Mormon women.
They do all kinds of different things and live all different kinds of lives.

This woman served as a leader in the Mormon church. She recently spoke to teenage girls worldwide.
She encouraged them to stand up to peer pressure, strengthen their families and serve others. (Click here for more.)










None of the Mormon women I know look like this...











None of them are marrying off their teenage daughters and -- none of them really want to share their husband with anyone.
Furthermore...
Some Mormon guys can throw a ball...










Some Mormon guys yell at the ball...














Some Mormon guys make scary movies...













Some Mormon guys have a lot of money and really great hair...













I know hundreds of Mormon guys. They do all kinds of different things and live all kinds of different lives.
This is one of the leaders of the Mormon church. Last Sunday he spoke about honoring women, especially mothers,
and gave advice to husbands and children about how to treat the women in their lives. (For the whole story, click here.)










None of the Mormon men I know look like this...












The Mormon men I know are honest and hard-working. They don't cheat, smoke, drink or gamble.
And TRUST ME....the last thing any of them want is another wife.

The Book of Mormon--My Favorite Book

I don't know how many times I've read it; but I read it every day. And when I get to the last page, as I did today, I start reading it over again from the beginning. The Book of Mormon is my favorite book in the world. It has every element of literature that makes a book worth reading: drama, heroes, villains, sweet love stories ("to me he doth not stink"); but the most compelling reason why I read the Book of Mormon is because it testifies of Jesus Christ and His mission. On nearly every page, there is a testimony from an ancient prophet of Jesus Christ. The culmination of all these testimonies comes in 3 Nephi, when Jesus Christ appears to the inhabitants of the new world. I love this book!

Over the years I have come to know and love the ancient prophets from the Book of Mormon. I marveled at Abinadi's strength of courage when he testified before King Noah; and I cried when he was burned at the stake. I cheer when Captain Moroni comes on the scene and saves his cities from utter destruction with the help from his chief captains Lehi and Teancum. I love Alma's and Amulek's missionary companionship and all they go through together. And I always shudder with claustrophobic horror as Jared and his brother get into those barges that are "tight like a dish". I don't think I would've had that much faith!

Living in the Czech Republic has given me a new appreciation for the Book of Mormon. During the years of communism, when all religious materials were outlawed, the members of the church published their copies of the Book of Mormon, bound in red leather. The letters K.M. were stamped on the front. The government officials thought the little red books were the writings of Karl Marx; but in fact, the letters K.M. stood for Kniha Mormonova--Czech for "Book of Mormon".

How grateful I am for this precious book. Every page is filled with light and truth. For anyone seeking truth, they have no further to go than to open the first page and join Nephi as he tutors us in the ways of Christ.