The Handshake

This is Elder Whiting and Elder Young greeting each other at zone conference. They do this every time they see each other. It's especially fun to see Sister Parry's reaction in the background. Enjoy!

Mission Song

Our mission is fortunate to have some very talented musicians. When Elder Tanner arrived last year, we knew it was time to create a mission song. He and I sat down at the piano and pounded out a few notes. Then we got a notebook and wrote the lyrics. Elder Tanner then input our notes (mostly his) and lyrics (mostly mine) in a computer program. The result is a stirring rendition of this song at every zone conference. Every time I hear it, I think of us at the piano debating over past martyrs and whether it should be near and far, or far and near. (He won. He said most of us come from far, then near. I couldn't argue with that logic.) Thank you , Elder Tanner. You have left an indelible impression on the Czech Prague Mission for many years to come!

Scenes From česky Krumlov

We had a branch conference in Ceske Budejovice last weekend. We had never been there in the winter, so here are a few pictures from that trip. This is Steven is standing on the frozen Vltava river in Cesky Krumlov. He was feeling quite confident until he heard some ice cracking.



This is a broader view of the Vltava river in Cesky Krumlov, taken from the castle. That's the ice Steven was standing on.

This was taken through an opening on the castle walkway.

The facades of the buildings are all hand painted. What appears to be brick or stone, or even statue, is really just paint with shading to make it look three dimensional.

Castle clock tower

Julee will fondly remember this street as the one that had the trdlenik shop.

It was a perfectly beautiful winter's day in Cesky Krumlov.

Our Grandchildren at Busch Gardens, Tampa Florida

This is just too cute not to share. Zoie (almost 4) and Tobin (1 1/2) have annual passes to Busch Gardens. This is a shot of them with Santa--their best friend this time of year. We're hoping they can bring their parents to Prague next year for our last Christmas here. I'm sure they would be good little missionaries.

A Trip to the Slovacek Homeland

Over the Christmas holidays, we took Heidi and Steven to the places where the Slováčeks lived. Vsetín, Czech Republic, was the birthplace of Tomaš Slováček (President Slovacek's great grandfather).




Jablůnka--which means "little apple"-- is a small village just a few kilometers from Vsetín. This is where Anna Tatalak (President's Slovacek's great grandmother) and J.R. Slováček (President Slovacek's grandfather) were born. It's a pretty little place where there are many apple orchards (surprise, surprise). It's quite a bit smaller than Vsetín, but both towns are agricultural in nature. We love the countryside with its small streams and tiny farm houses.

After visiting the homeland, we decided to travel into Slovakia and show Heidi and Steven the Oravsky castle. These are a few pictures of what we saw. By the way, it was a very cold trip, but we enjoyed seeing the sights in snow.






We had a great time, but it felt good to get back to Prague and get ready for the new year. We had a great 2008; but we are determined to make 2009 even better!

Prague--Home Sweet Home!

BRRRR

Slovak Missionaries

It was just a couple of years ago the land of Slovakia was dedicated for the preaching of the gospel by President Uchtdorf. Here we are with the missionaries serving in Slovakia, at Trenčin, where the land was dedicated. Not far from us is the Trenčin castle. It makes me smile when I see this picture. We love these missionaries so much. I'm sure they often feel isolated from the rest of the mission because they only serve with each other, and not with the Czech elders; yet they are so dedicated and hard working. They truly are a band of brothers. We're grateful Elder and Sister Burns are in Košice to watch over them when we are not there.