Draha rodino,

It's been a nice week. We've been way busy as usual, but that's the way it's supposed to be. It's great that you received that Email. A group of us were eating at my favorite restaurant and two members from Utah saw us and took our picture! There is always a possibility of running into members of the church in Prague. it's happened to me on several occasions. I have no special requests, except for maybe emails from my sisters. They struck out this week.

Monday! Monday as usual was very busy. Came into the office early to prepare of the statistical reports. After office meeting we taught Viktor about missionary work. It went really well! He loves everything we teach and makes great progress. We also taught Veronika, and Ary later in the day. They were both really good lessons. Veronika to this point has kind of had the attitude of "there's no way I can believe, I'm too set in my ways" but she told us this past lesson that she really wants to understand our message. She's a great girl, and we're excited about her potential. Ary as always is doing great. We taught him the 10 commandments with a focus on the Sabbath Day. He's awesome. Whenever we teach a commandment and it is a little different than his current lifestyle, he just says, hmmm, than talks himself through it, and then says, "yeah, yeah I can do that, no problem." He is the greatest.

On Tuesday we also came in early because we had new district leader training. It went really well. Elder Sewell and I both did individual trainings; he on district meeting, I on exchanges. After we finished the training we had a meeting wth President and a lesson with Phuc, the Vietnamese member. 

Wednesday we had a district meeting, it went really well. Elder Howell is a good district leader, I really enjoy his district meetings. We taught Michal later, he's also doing really well. He's really excited for baptism. We had a nice call session, set up some meetings and did some work on a project about RCLAs for one of the District presidencies here, then taught the most frustrating lesson of all tiem. Do you remember that Ukrainian girl I told you about a couple weeks ago, the golden miracle turned sour? We had a lesson with her again, and she definitely read some anti stuff online and that's why she has lost interest, and she refused to tell us what she heard so that we could talk it out. She jsut told us, "I really like you, and how I feel when I'm here, but I will never join your church." We taught a solid solid Restoration lesson, asked her what it means if the Book of Mormon is true, and she said, "this church is the only true church." And then told us again that there is no point in meeting anymore. Ahhhh. Someday.

Thursday had a good singing display. We found some way cool folks, including a guy who is going to turn over to us the direction of his Bible study group once he leaves for England to work for a couple weeks. We also met a cool kid named Lukas later, he's a nonbeliever and a little wary of religion. we met with Otakar as well. It was okay, he's a great guy and is progressing well, he just has some strange ideas. But, he's coming along. we visited the pavlicovi afterwards, then came back and had a good lesson with Michal in the evening.

Friday we had weekly planning, and the annual pumpkin carving, as well as a few lessons. We taught a way cool Slovak girl with Sister Munro, Ary, and also another one of Isabel's friends! She's an amazing missionary. Ary taught wtih us, even though he's not a memmber yet. This girl, Cristina, doesn't speak much English or Czech, just Portuguese, so Ary translated for us. It was good though, she really wants to meet with us. Elder Osterloh, the AP before me, walked into the pumpkin carving part way through with his parents and brother! We knew he was coming to visit, but it was fun to see him. They'll be touring Prague a bit, then they'll come to church on sunday.

And today! Not much on plan today. We'll teach a few lessons, then play some soccer.

Love you all, you're the best.

Elder Knapp  

Draha rodino,

It's been a great week! We've had some great things happen. 

Monday was, of course, busy. Mondays are. We had a very full schedule in the afternoon. We taught Viktor, Veronika, Maxim, who is doing so great btw, and Cristina, Isabel's friends. We helped her move and then taught her. She's great! She really wanted to get a Book of Mormon, and when we gave it to her she was way excited. She is a sassy African, and hilarious. She also doesn't speak much English or Czech, which I think I mentioned. But it went well. Viktor got the Priesthood on Sunday which was great, and we talked a lot about he temple, because he's going in a couple weeks. He's the best.

Tuesday we didn't have District Meeting because we had a conference Thursday, so we went and sang instead. The only problem is the place we went was not great for a singing display. I accidentally contacted a guy who was...not in his right state of mind though he looked very normal, and we had a nice chat about knights templar and the like before I could terminate the contact. But we came back and taught Michal the Word of Wisdom! He knows it's all right, he does smoke a bit though. So, we stole his cigs, and cut them up in the dumpster. Okay, he gave them to us, but I always love doing that to people, just like when we took tea away from the Pavlicovi. We also had dinner at a member's house, prepared for our training.

Wednesday was totally full. We taught 8 lessons and got haircuts. We don't do haircuts on pday because most places are closed on Saturdays, so we can't. We went through a little bit of the "preparing to enter the holy temple" pamphlet with Viktor, he's excited. We had a good talk about families and gave him a proclamation, which he loved. We also met with Isabel, Otakar, had a great study of John 15 with Pet'a, taught Ary reading and prayer as commandments, and taught Martin Koca the Word of Wisdom. He is so funny. I hope you get to meet him someday. He is the most interesting character I've ever met. He's just lovable. Ary is doing so so well. His baptism is officially for Sunday the 3rd, at 5:00. pray for him!

Thursday we had training, and it went well, or at least the parts we were present for. We had to go pick up lunch so we missed a part. Actually a very long part. We ordered from this Chinese restaurant, and they don't really speak a language we know. So, when we went to pick it up, they had 2 boxes ready for us, not 55. So, we cleared up the confusion and waited for an hour and a half for our food. We had a good laugh. We then missed the end because we had some lessons. Otakar is doing really well. We talked about why we have commandments and the blessings associated with them. We also taught Ivana, we haven't met with her for a few weeks, and it was a bit of a tough one. She has very different views, one of which is that all paths are good. Still not sure how to get around that one. We visited afterwards a recent convert who is having some struggles right now, her Catholic friends are trying to pull her back, and then the Elder's quorum president and his wife. 

Friday was fun. We taught Cristina with Isabel, and we were dying laughing. They are so funny. It was good, but a little tough bcause of the language. We then went to lunch with a member and his girlfriend, the Vietnamese one. We should get the pictures back next week, so I can send them. We taught Ary tithing! The last hurdle. he's great. I love that guy so much. When we asked if he would begin to pay after baptism, he said," Hmm...two more weeks of being a freeloader." So funny.

Today we're going to a war memorial and it should be good. It's a beautiful day in Prague, and we're excited.

Love you!

Elder Knapp

A Happy Missionary

Draha rodino!

Wow. This week has been the greatest. So many good things

The week!!!

Sunday was good, we had a few at church, including Viktor and Ary, then right after sacrament meeting we left. We had a zone conference in Brno Sunday afternoon, and we had to leave as soon as we could to get there on time. So, after a good meeting we left Viktor and Ary in each others' care and we took the two oldest McConkie kids with us to Brno. It was a good conference, Elder Sewell and I actually didn't train this time, so we just got to listen and enjoy. Tonight while doing call ins, I added up how many lessons we had taught to this point in the transfer. Our goal is 200 in the transfer, and this is the last week. I'll tell you where we're at by the end of the email. 

Monday we had a good day. We taught a young Russian recent convert, and then she helped us teach Viktor. It was a good meeting, he's doing really well. We also had a way good lesson with Ary, he said at the end, "this baptism, I think I can do it, I think I can make it." Yeah he can! he told us about his Catholic baptism, how he was 5, and had no idea what was going on, and now he wants to be baptized because he chooses to be. We also had a good lesson with a guy named Michal, from Uzbekistan, and he's on date now for the 16th of November. I'll mention him more later.

Tuesday we taught Viktor again, the last big hurdle before baptism: tithing! We had President McConkie with us, and it went great! He accepted it no problem and he is excited to get baptized next week. Keep praying for him, he needs it still! We taught Vera via iPhone, and a couple others. We had one of the most frustrating lessons ever tonight. It was with this young guy Josef. He claims to be an honest seeker of truth, but you can tell by his questions that he's not. He claims we haven't answered any of his questions, and when we asked what questions we hadn't answered, he listed off a bunch of questions we had discussed at length. It's not that we haven't answered them, he just doesn't like our answers. But, we meet those type now and then. We can't just have Viktors and Arys! We had a singing display, found a couple of people, and had a cool phone call from Michal. He talked about how he had read the Book of Mormon and our website all night, and was stoked about what he had found. We met with him later in the day, and he talked about how everything he's been looking for is here, and it answers all his questions, and how true it all feels. So cool.

Wednesday we had some cool miracles, evidence that the Lord wants us to achieve our goal of 200 lessons. We taught both Viktor and Michal in the morning, had lunch with all the missionaries in Prague and the McConkies, and it was a really good time. We then went and met a former investigator, and really cool guy named Petr. he's Jehovah's witness, so it's going to be a battle with him, but he's a nice guy. We had another great lesson with Ary, at the end of which he of course prayed again. After his prayer, like every time, he was just excited. Smiling, happy, feeling the Spirit. He said, "It just gets better and better! I'm getting good at this." He is the greatest. We also had two lessons that we didin't really expect to get, one with a really cool kid from Kazakhstan that we met with last week, and a really good one with a long time investigator named Martin Koca. We also had a meeting with the branch president, President Pilka, about less actives and how we can better work together to brign some back. It was good, and his trust in us is growing, and we're starting to have a good relationship with him. 

Thursday we had training here in Prague, and it was good. The zone leaders did a good job. We had two lessons immediately afterwards, one with Veronika and one with Viktor. Both were really really good. It was Viktor's birthday, and we had a small celebration with him, and some of the other missionaries. He really appreciated it. He's 38. And he says hello haha. We talk about our families a lot, and he said today that I must have a great family. He's right. Right after his lesson we headed to a university to teach two new guys, Lukas and Mirek. They're way cool, and we had a good lesson with them. They are both not really believers much, but they have good questions, and they are willing to meet with us. 

Yesterday was way packed, we taught 8 lessons, which is a new high for me. We had such a cool miracle in the morning! we had a lesson set up with a Ukrainian lady, so we invited the same Russian RC, Sasha, to teach with us. The lady didn't show up, so we taught Sasha a quick lesson. We finished, and walked to the door with her, where a young college-age girl was waiting. We let her in, and started to talk to her, and she told us right away that she wasn't Czech. We heard her accent, and it turns out she is Russian! Her name is Maria, and she said that she has never been a believer, but that she has been thinking about God a lot lately, and that she felt it was time to start believing! We sat down with her and chatted a bit about our purpose and all, and she is soooo cool. We had to leave to go meet another investigator, but no worries, our Russian member took her on a tour of the building, and by the end they were just best friends, and now Maria is coming to church, and we're going to meet with her! WAs it a coincidence that we happened to be there with a Russian member just as a Russian girl walked up to the Restored Church of Jesus Christ? Not a chance. God is good. 

Today, as I've mentioned, we met with Viktor, he is so set for baptism next week. He wants to be baptized in a lake or a river, so we have to find a place for it, but other than that, he's good. Transfers end this weekend, so tonight, for the first time (and I'm so excited), I get to be part of calling all the missionaries to tell them where they're going!!! It's going to be such fun. Elder Sewell and I already know where everyone is going and all, but it's going to be great to get to be the one calling the other missionaries. Also, Elder Sewell and I are staying together! More than six months together total. Wow.

I love you all tons, can't wait to hear from you all again!

Elder Knapp