"I'm freaking out and so pumped and everything. Craziness. I fly out in 49 hours. For the first time in my life I'm leaving America. Whew. I can't really belive this actually.
We've said goodbye to two of our three teachers so far.
It's weird. We've grown so close in the past two months, and now I
won't see them for a long time. Same with the other missionaries going
to Europe with us. We've done so much together and now we'll all
separate into our various missions across Eastern Europe.
I don't really have much more. This week has been different. I'm half
packed, it was a struggle without you Mom, and we had a thing called
in-field orientation yesterday. We basically just went over the
logistics of planning and contacting and meetings and stuff like that.
It was actually pretty cool."
Taylor flew away on Monday. He got to call us from the airport and talk with us for a little while. It was great to hear his voice. He was very excited! He spoke some Czech to us---he spoke pretty confidently with just a few pauses here and there. He traveled to London and then on to Prague with 7 other missionaries. He arrived Tuesday and we received an email from his mission president, Pres. Irwin, along with a picture of Taylor and the Irwin's. The Irwin's are from England. They preside over the Czech Republic and Slovakia and take care of all those missionaries!
We have welcomed your son, Starší Taylor
Sterling Knapp, to the Czech/Slovak Mission. We are so impressed with
your son and want to thank you for all that you have done in preparing
this wonderful young
man for his mission. Today we will do our best to keep Starší Knapp
awake until early this evening. Tomorrow after a good night's rest, he
will meet his new companion and travel to his first area.
We
have attached a photo of him with us, which was taken today just after
he arrived here in Prague. Starší Knapp will bless this mission
greatly with his enthusiasm and dedication. We love him and pledge our
best efforts in directing his service here.
Your son, Starší Knapp, has accepted a call that will change his life
and the lives of those with whom he is serving. These
first few months will be full of new and challenging experiences, and
your support in the form of encouraging and uplifting letters will help
him greatly.
Our greatest hope is that each missionary has a positive and growing
experience, which will help give him a foundation for
a lifetime of service to others. We appreciate the time you have spent
raising your son to be such a responsible young man. We thank you for
your willingness to share Starší Knapp with us.
Sincerely,
President and Sister Irwin
Sorry for the long blog, but....there's more! We got another email with a picture of Taylor and his first companion, Elder Uremovich. He looks like a good young man. And then...an email from Taylor! He told us that his flight was good but he didn't sleep much on the 9 hour flight to London. As soon as they got to Prague they met the Irwin's and some of the missionaries and they went on what they called "The Death March of Prague"--they went on a whirlwind tour of Prague. Then to dinner, then finally to bed. This morning they were told where their first assignment would be and they boarded the train with their new companions and headed out. Taylor is serving in a city near the Slovakian border. He is super excited. He says:
"Everyone who has served here loves it. It's supposedly some kind of
baptism by fire experience, because it's the city that apparently speaks
the fastest Czech. So it'll be rough, but I'll learn tons."
"It's amazing here. I don't know anything, but I know I'll learn. It feels
so strange not being able to communicate with people, even for simple
things. Oh wait, I have to tell you about what we've eaten so far. So
for our first meal, we had this stuff called svidčkova, which is just
beef in a vegetable sauce, tons and tons of it, and bread. It was sooo
good. For dessert we had this stuff called knedliki or something like
that, which is just a bread dumpling, stuffed with fruit and covered in
some kind of frosting. Also delicious. We ate at some little Czech
kitchen that was on the way from the end of the death march back to the
mission home. Tasty tasty tasty."
Well, he's happy and we're happy! What an adventure! We'll hear more from him on Monday.
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