The Latest News from Prague

Draha rodino,

It's been a good week, but we'll get to that in a bit. How many losses does the basketball team have, is that the first? I hate dirty play. I hate it! I can't even begin to describe how much it bothers me. It's just low. But, I'm a missionary. There is no such thing as cheap shots in missionary work. It's not a competition, so there can't be. Hunter, BYU is still the best. They'll be okay, it's early in the year. Who did they play last week, did they win, or was that the Wisconsin game?

Sunday was good, we had a few at church, and went and taught an investigator and her friend, and did some study and planning. We then had our normal Sunday night schedule, meeting with President and calls with the zone leaders.

Monday we taught one of the new folks we found from the concert, a young Russian kid named Artur. He's a really good guy. We also taught a new guy that Elder Sewell had found the week before at a singing display. he's a really nice guy, but I think he thought it was supposed to be an English lesson, not a Gospel discussion. He was a bit surprised I think. We also taught Ary afterwards, about the Priesthood. We need to explain a bit more. he doesn't want to get it yet. I think it's just because of a little bit of misunderstanding, so we'll do what we can to clear it up. We also had a lesson after FHE with a young guy we started teaching a couple weeks ago. It was not fantastic. He is a very firm atheist, and very critical and derisive about religion. I was not enjoying myself. I have some fire, and sometimes I struggle with maintain a friendly attitude and telling someone that they're being ridiculous. I usually do well, I just stay quiet rather than trust myself to speak. I can only remember a few times when I have spoken my mind in these type of situations. Don't judge me.

Tuesday was good. We had a couple lessons we didn't expect, and one was with Maxim, the kid from Kazakhstan, and it was awesome. It had been awhile since we'd seen him, but he called and said he had time to meet, so we did. It was great. We talked about his impending baptism, which is planned for next weekend, and whether or not he can make it. At first, he said he wanted more time, so we talked it out. We told him that we felt he was ready, the decision was now his. We asked him if he believes the Book of Mormon is true, if Joseph was a prophet, and if this is the one true Church of Christ. He answered in the affirmative to each question. We just told him, Maxim, that's all you need! His greatest desire is to be an instrument in the hands of God, and he agreed with me when I suggested that the best place to do that was in God's church. It was just a good lesson, and he could still make it. He's going to tell us his decision tomorrow at church. Pray for him. We also met with Drahomir, a less active guy, and a new girl, Ellianora. She's Italian.

Wednesday we visited one of our investigators at the Filipino embassy where she works with Sister Munro which was nice. It was good for her I think. We visited Drahomir again, and then he took us to an Indian all you can eat buffet. ITwas actually really good. We did some planning for our training on Thursday, then went and taught a kid I found at a singing display lasts week. He's a cool young Slovak kid named Simon. He's way interested in the Book of Mormon, so I have high hopes for him. WE had a lesson again with Ary, and it was good. We talked more about the Priesthood, and he's closer to getting it. It was a turning point when Elder Sewell informed him that he received the Priesthood when he was 12. Ary started to think, and decided he could probably get the priesthood at 22 if we could get it at 12. We taught Artur again, and had a really good lesson on the Restoration with him, and he really grasped it well. That night we headed to Brno to sleep over before the training early in the morning.

Thursday's training was one of the best I've been to. We just demonstrated how to teach a 10 minute Christmas lesson so as to stay busy the week of Christmas. The work usually takes a dive around this time of year, and we are working with President frantically to avoid such a dip. But President's training was great, all about the greatness of the work and especially in the Czech Republic. Then, and this was not fun but very inspiring, we had departing testimonies. Such missionaries included in the group going home in a couple weeks as Elder Clyde, Elder De Angelis, and Elder Sewell. Between those three, I have over a year's worth of companions. It was not nice to see them all stand up and share their last testimony. I love those guys. We then drove back and taught Simon again, then Maxim! We taught the Sabbath Day and the Law of Chastity. It was great. He is so close! He has no problems with any of the commandments, stopped drinking coffee and smoking a couple weeks ago, and just needs to be baptized! he's a great kid.

Friday we taught a few lessons, a good one with Pet'a, and also Ary. He was going to teach with us, but the investigator didn't come, so we taught him about hte temple. He really enjoyed it. We also had a meeting with a member who taught us some Czech, practiced a musical number, and had lunch. Now, we don't always have lunch, but the scarcity of the event is not what warranted it's inclusion in the email. I, Elder Howell, and Elder King (the office elders), all have birthdays within a week of each other, 20th, 22nd, and 26th respectively. Elder Sewell set up a reservation through Isabel at the restaurant where she works for lunch for us, Pres and Sis McConkie, the Munros, and the Mendenhalls. Where does she work? Dad, do you know what a Brazilian steakhouse is? Yeah. It was amazing. Basically all my culinary dreams come true. they had a great salad bar and so many different kinds of meat that I probably couldn't name them all. Okay I probably could, I remember this kind of thing pretty well. Elder Sewell and I had been eating special things to prepare ourselves for it. It paid off. I ate quite a bit, and could have continued but we ran out of time. It was a good experience.

Today we're not doing anything to exciting, just some business-type stuff for Elder Sewell. Love you all!

Starsi Knapp

Draha rodino,

IT's been a good week. We've had some ups and downs, as life tends to have, but everything's been great. I did indeed receive my birthday package! I was pleasantly surprised. Thanks so much for that!

Monday! Sorry I have no news about Sunday, I have anew planner and I don't remember anything except that Ary got the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was great. He's the best. He told us a few days later that it was the highlight of his week. He's great. But anyway, Monday. We did a singing display in the morning again, it went really well, then we had the normal office stuff. That evening we taught Phuc, I still need to get a picture of him, and then Ary.

Tuesday after a good district meeting we met with a kid we started teaching last week, Radovan, and it went really well. He's a great kid, we're really excited for him. He's very open and willing to do things, and he's progressing as a result. That's what reading and praying does for you. He also promised to come to church tomorrow, so we're pumped for that. We had a good lesson with a lady named Ivana, she just doesn't get it! She thinks all paths are good, and we are going back to God whether we want to or deserve it or not. She also has a lot of other really weird beliefs. I don't think email can accurately portray them. But we had a recently returned missionary teaching with us, and she's awesome. It was a good lesson, we taught well, she just still wasn't quite there. Perseverance. 

Wednesday was a good day, we met a new kid named Ondrej, he's a funny kid. We had a good lesson, he's not 100% committed, so we don't know exactly when we're going to meet him again, but we will soon. We had a great lesson with Isabel about the plan of salvation. Her grandmother recently died, and she was a bit down about that, and we had a good chat, and she felt a lot better after. We had an interesting lesson with Martin Koca. His words, in English, "I want to disengage from all Church activities." We were like "...Martin. You do nothing. You are totally disengaged." We did have a really good lesson with Viktor, and also earlier with a less active, Drahomir. I don't know if I told you his story from last week. We had a lesson with him, and later in the day he sent us a text thanking us for the lesson and talking about how he heard some things that really influenced him to start making changes and being better. Since then we have seen a total change in him. It's awesome. We had a great lesson with him again, and he's doing so well. 

Thursday we did the final singing display before the concert, yikes! and then taught. We found some way cool people at the display though. We have a great week set up for next week. We then taught a great lesson with Mirek and Lukas, who really are doing well. We have woven our way into the message, and they are really enjoying it. They accepted a Book of Mormon on thursday, and I really think they'll read. We visited the Pavlicovi, and had a good lesson there. The older daughter was actually really involved, and it was good. We had another really good lesson with Phuc, and then a decent one with a less active Russian kid who we're trying to get to go on a mission.

Friday. Concert day. We were all pretty nervous. But before the concert we had a great lesson with Pet'a, and Elder Sewell and a member taught a good one with Radovan. I was not present because I was recruited to go and pick up some new cars for the mission. Elder Sewell can't drive, so we went on splits and I picked up one of the cars. It was kind of fun to drive a brand new car straight of the lot. The lesson with Pet'a was sooo good! She's a great girl, and she just needs a spiritual experience to motivate her to baptism. We've been wondering how to bring up baptism with her, and it has been a focus of my prayers lately, and she totally brought it up herself and we had a great discussion. we're all set to talk about it next meeting. She is possibly the smartest person I've ever met, and it's going ot be great once she's baptized. So, the concert. We had a pretty good turnout. Actually, it was great. We had over 100 people show up, and all the missionaries got some people from it. I was really pleased with how it went. I've had very little solo experience, so I was way nervous for my piece. But, it went really well, honest. I sang O Divine Redeemer, and one of the sisters in my district accompanied me. I'm relieved it's over though. We were all way pumped up about it, President especially. he had a violin piece he played, and duet with one of the senior missionaries, she on the piano he on the violin, and after it he came into the hall where we were all waiting and totally chest-bumped Elder Sewell.

And today, we're going to that little village that Hitler blew up, and we're going to check out the grounds and see the monument. It should be good. Love you all tons, I'm excited to hear from you next week!

Elder Knapp

And a few more pictures...

Viktor's Baptism

With the McConkie boys

With  member from Prague before he heads to the MTC in Provo on his way to a mission in South Africa

Surprise visit from a former Czech/Slovak missionary--Elder Tenney

With Isabel, Ary, and friends

Ary's Baptism

Best Email Ever!

Draha rodino,

Sunday was of course great. We had a good church, with a short lesson beforehand, and then at 5 we had the baptism! Pictures included. Right after he came out of the water he yelled, "That was awesome!" Not the most reverent reaction, but it was just a pure expression of joy from a pure man. After it, Isabel and Cristina had a bunch of Angolan food prepared. Ahhhh. So so so good. It was amazing. Then we had callins and that was the day.

Monday we had something a little unusual. We did a singing display in the morning. Like I mentioned in my last email, we have a concert coming up next Friday, and we are doing more singing than usual in order to advertise for it. We also met Ary, first time as a baptized man. WE go to the FHE every week, and the senior couple here, the Mendenhalls - who incidentally remind me a lot of Grandma and Grandpa Gage - cook amazing food. IT is so delicious. After the dinner we had a lesson with Maxim. He's doing well, needs to quit smoking, but he's doing well. We're meeting with him tonight.

Tuesday we met with Marek. Now, Marek is someone who cannot be fully described in an email. He is legendary. He's been known for years. A few weeks ago he showed up to the building, has been to churhc four weeks in a row, and asked us to teach him so he can get baptized. He is Czech, but he speaks the fastest English I've ever heard. We also met with katka, someone who has been taught for over a year. WE also had Mission Leadership Council in the morning. It was good. We have a good leader group. I love spending time with the other missionaries. 

Wednesday we visited with Phuc, the vietnamese kid. He's great. I love him to death. We also had a nice chat with President about he mission and how things are going. I've decided that Mission presidents have the hardest job. Bless him. We also had a good chat with Veronika, the one I baptized who now lives in England. We then visited a lady from the Philippines and Martin Koca.

Thursday we met with a less active in the morning, had a really good meeting with him. Later in the day he texted us and said that it was just what he needed to hear, and that he was ready to start making some changes in his life. It was great. We also met with a really cool new kid, Radovan, that we met last week. We had a really good lesson with Mirek and Lukas, then with patrik who we haven't seen forever, but it was great. He leaves for Afghanistan next week for 14 days, then goes to mali straight after. We visited a family we teach that night as well, and only the dad was home which was good. We had some good one on one, or really one on two time with him and taught him the Restoration.

Friday was a bunch of fun, we did another singing display, and we handed out over 800 fliers in an hour and a half. IT was incredible. We also sang on the metro, which was actually surprisingly scary, but we did it and we're glad to say that we did. It was a good experience. We had a group singing on the metro and then we had the rest handing out fliers as fast as they could. We also taught Isabel in the morning and Ary, pet'a and Otakar later. It went well. We went and played games with Ary after his lesson. It was a bunch of fun. Every Friday we get together with the YSA, missionaries, and investigators and we play ping pong, foosball, card games, air hockey, that kind of thing.

Today was a fun pday. We got a call from Sis McConkie Friday night asking if we would be able to spend some time this morning doing basketball drills with Wilson who is in the process of trying out for the team. only 10 from about 40 make it, and he really wants to. It was a blast. We were with him and also his brother Hyrum, and at the end President showed up and we five had a quick pick up game. It was good. and my team won. Do you remember a few months ago when I mentioned how we had watched a documentary about the assassination of Hitler's right hand man? We visited the site today where it happened, well actually where the aftermath happened. It was really neat. It's an old church, and you can still see the bullet holes and the places where the Nazis shot trying to get to those involved in the assassination. They've built a monument there honoring those who died. It was sad, but inspiring at the same time.

Well family, time is officially up. i love you all so much, and I can't wait to hear from you next week.

Starsi Knapp

The week in Prague

 Draha Radino!

Sunday we had good church, and then we taught a family from India. So cool. They are a referral from a member that used to live here, and they are great. It's a young couple with a two year old daughter. We are way excited for them. We had good calls wit hthe zone leader as well. The mission is doing well.

Monday we had a good day. We taught Viktor, and then after his lesson we taught Michal with Viktor, first time ever for Viktor. He did such a good job, perfect. There has been discussion of him replacing the current branch mission leader. He would be soo great. We also taught Ary later in the evening, fasting, and it was great. He agreed to fast with us this weekend and pay offerings after baptism and everything.

Tuesday we had district meeting and planned the concert that we are putting on in a couple weeks. It should be good. I was pretty skeptical because it's been on plan for a long time and rescheduled many times because no one has acted on it. But, we got down to business and planned it. I'm performing a number, I'll tell what it is after the concert, if it goes well. That night we taught a couple less-actives, a lady and her Guatemalan husband, and Ary. We also taught Martin Koca, and it was rough. He talked to some Buddhist guy, and took some big steps backward as far as his progress goes to baptism. He has lost all concept of truth and who God is. WE had a surprise today. We walked into the building to teach someone, and Elder Tenney was there! He's living in Ukraine teaching English right now, and he is on a trip around Europe with a stop in Prague. It was good to see him.

Wednesday we wnet to Brno for a conference. It was good. I love the missionaries in our mission. We trained on reading and prayer, and we got to stay for the whole conference this time. It was good to see the other missionaries train, especially the zone leaders. Presidnet McConkie has them in two different cities so as to spread out the missionary goodness. One is going home in a month and the other is a new zone leader, so it was good to see them working together. They're great. We drove to Brno with Sis McConkie, and it was pretty fun. She is very talkative, and kept us entertained thoughout the drive. She is good at facilitating conversation. We came back and taught Martin Koca again this evening. We just went through every book of scripture and taught the nature of God. He took it ok. You can't contend with the scriptures, they have a special authority.

Thursday we taught Ary and Viktor, and Ary had his baptismal interview. Passed! He's great. President McConkie loves him, and is really excited for his future. We are too. We then went to a singing display and had great success. I had the idea, that we could set goals a little differently for finding. instead of setting a number goal, we set a type of person goal, and then do all we can to find that person. We decided we needed to look for a husband for some of the YSA girls here, and we focused our finding on young cool guys. We found four. It was neat. The Lord is good. We also taught a new young guy named Jan today. He's not a believer at all, but he's willing ot learn. we taught Mirek and Lukas again, and it was so good! we reviewed the Plan of Salvation with them, and it really went well. Lukas agreed to pray for the first time in his life! He did a great job. HE has made such great progress. We went with Presidnet to Jicin that night to have a meeting with the District Presidency. We're finally going to have a district high council! President is pretty excited about it.

Friday we taught a young guy named Marek who has been around forever about baptism. It was good. He has more energy than anyone else I have ever met. But he's a supergenius, and a really nice guy. We also taught a young mother named Jana, and she accepted a baptismal date! The 21 of December. After them we taught Isabel about eternal marriage, and then taught Cristina with her. They are so hilarious. Cristina also accepted a baptismal date for the 21! She's going to make it too. She's great. WE watched the Joseph Smith video with her, and she loved it. AFter lunch we taught Pet'a, the girl from Slovakia, and it went well, then we went looking for some less actives with President McConkie. No one was home, but we found a cool guy on the way. He's recently married, and cool.

today we are going to teach a few folks, practice for our concert, and play soccer! Love you all, the Gospel is true!

Starsi Knapp