More From Prague

A continuation of a story from last week...

Okay, so quickly the tire story.  But anyway, we weren't going to change them due to the clothing situation, but as we walked away, I felt like we should. So, I convinced my comp that we should go back and do it, even though it had started to rain a little. The next day, Saturday, the same missionaries were back again for the baptism. Thus, they had somewhat of a long drive there, and...it was all in the snow. Early early Saturday morning it started snowing, and snowed all day until 10 or so at night. So, I don't know if their winter tires helped them at all, but I have been really working on trying to recognize the prompthings of the Spirit. I decided that it takes practice. Sometimes, we aren't sure if something is from the Spirit or not, but as long as it is a good thing, I believe that at the very least we will grow from the experience, even if we don't directly see the evidence of our action. I was blessed enough in this situation to see that I had been led to change those tires that afternoon. I'm not saying that they would have wrecked or something if I had ignored that prompting, but I did get to feel the peace that comes from following the Spirit.

As I've contemplated the difficulty of this mission, this past week in particular, I was thinking about a talk I heard from Elder Holland. He said we should never, ever expect life to be easy, because it was never, ever easy for Him. I watched it in the MTC, and it has stuck with me since then. And of course, it's absolutely true. If we want to be true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, we must be willing to suffer all things for Him. If we are not willing to endure all the trials of this world, why should we expect or deserve to enjoy all the glory of the world to come?

Starsi Knapp and Starsi DeAngelis have TWO baptisms scheduled this week!! Kamila and Jitka are both scheduled. According to Taylor, they are "golden" and "solid". He and Elder DeAngelis had decided maybe they should put off the baptism because there were quite a few lessons they hadn't taught Kamila, but then when they met with her she was so excited to be getting baptized on Nov. 10 because that is her birthday! She said, "Nov. 10 is my physical birthday and now it will be my spiritual birthday!" So...Taylor and his companion decided they couldn't put it off. Instead they are having daily telephone teachings with Kamila, as well as meeting with her when she can. 

Taylor's district also does "singing displays". Some missionaries sing while others contact and teach and it seems to be quite effective. He is busy helping the missionaries with visas, supplies, changing tires, etc. but he and Elder DeAngelis have lots of time for teaching still. He loves Prague. I will attempt to put some pictures on the blog!

Taylor is happy--that is evident. When a person lives the gospel and serves, how can he help but be happy? 

The picture of me gesturing at the ground with the sweet statue in the back is me standing on the...Prime Meridian. Yep. I could cut the world in half.

(He didn't say what the statue in picture #1 is all about...)

Update!

Well, what a week. We had some good times, and some frustrating ones. All will be included. First and foremost, congratulations to the marathoners! Wow, what a task. I think I would have died at the first aid station. You should know, you are my desktop background. 

Okey-doke, the week. Monday wasn't a super exciting day, did a lot of office work to get ready for conference, and also had to go with Elder De Angelis to get visa renewals for a missionary, so we did a lot of that kind of stuff. Between that and having to change some more tires, and office meeting, we didn't really do anything that day. We did have an investigator, a young kid named Michal, at Family Home Evening, so that was cool. He's a good kid, just doesn't make much time for us. But anyway. That was really Monday. Whoo.

Tuesday was another frustrating day, but also great. After we did a bunch of work in the office, we had three lessons in a row on plan. The first one was with the flakiest flake of an investigator I've ever met, another guy named Michal. Sidenote, he has the biggest mustache this side of Moscow. Outrageous. So no, he didn't show up. Then, we had one with Victor, the one who loves Bill Gates. He has never missed a lesson before. Until Tuesday. He just didn't show up. We're afraid we're losing him. We have such good ideas with him, we just need to get him to meet! But, all that is fine, because right after that, we had a lesson with Kamila. SHe is the most golden of all golden investigators, bar none. WE finished teaching the plan of salvation, and it was great. She just understand, loves, and wants to live everything. It's great! We come into a lesson with her, and we just leave smiling. Unbelievable.

Sunday night, Jitka called us to tell us that her mother passed away. She was very sad of course, but she still was willing to meet with us on Wednesday. We decided to just review the most important parts of the Plan of Salvation, and read some scriptures about the Atonement and so forth. It was a really good meeting. Her and the the member we taught with, Zoltan, did go on for a little while about ghosts, but we quickly got it back to where it needed to be. The most interesting part of Wednesday was the small finding exchange we had in the middle of the day. With the SISTERS. Apparently, the district leader has to go on a finding exchange with the sisters once a transfer. As his companion, I obviously have to participate as well. I'll admit, and I hope this doesn't offend any former or possible future sister missionaries, that I was not looking forward to this in the least. It turned out okay though. We had a fun time, found some good potentials, learned some things. I don't know if I could handle any more than once a transfer though. Tuesday night we contacted for about 20 minutes while waiting for Kamila, and we found this suuuuper cool guy named Ondra and set up an appointment with him Wednesday at 8. And he didn't show. He didn't have a working phone, so we couldn't confirm, so he is lost. When he didn't show, we went straight back to the park where we found him and looked for him, but he wasn't there.

Thursday we had district finding, and it was great. We found a bunch of cool people, set up a few appointments and so forth. It is one of my favorite events of the week. Right after that we headed to teach an awesome referral we received, a lady named Jana, at her work. She sounds so interested, wants to meet, sounds just great. When we got there, the lady at the front said we couldn't go in because she didn't have us scheduled. We asked her to call Jana, and she did, then said she spoke with Jana's receptionist who also didn't have us scheduled, so she didn't let us go up. We don't have Jana's number, so we have to wait until she responds back to our email so we can set up again. Satan is a tricky guy. That night we had another good lesson with Jitka and Zoltan. We're secretly hoping they get married. We talked about prophets and the 10 commandments, and prophets is one of my favorite things to talk about. It was good.

Friday was a great day. We had a conference, which is always good, and this one was one of the best ever. President's training, and really the APs too, was just great. I have many notes which I must incorporate into my life and work. As I read today from my Gen conference notes, to know is one thing, to do is another, and to become is something else altogether. That's the trick. Learning, than acting on it, then doing so consistently so as to make it truly a part of you. Right after that, we were going to change the last set of tires we needed to. When we realized all of our scrubby clothes were in the van. Which Elder Bohne was currently using to take a missionary, Elder Greener actually, to the doctor. So we didn't really know what to do. We decided to do it today, Saturday, because those elders would be back in Prague for a baptism, and we could get our clothes back. Right after we decided that, I felt that maybe we should do it now. I wasn't sure if it was the Spirit or not, but I decided if it was, I better act on it. If it wasn't, well, it wouldn't hurt to do it anyway. WE did so, even though we weren't really dressed for it at all. More on that later. Then we had to hurry and do some work in the office so we could get it ready for Elder Richards of the Seventy, and of our Area Presidency, to come see President. I never met him, I was in the bathroom when he and President came in, so I missed him. I did meet his wife though. Then we hurried to correlation, then went to wait for Michal. He of the absurdly hairy upper lip. He actually confirmed this lesson, then didn't show up again! For like the twelfth time. That is not an exaggeration. But, all is well, because we had another lesson with Kamila. Gosh dang, she is so great. I honestly can't remember the details of that lesson, but it was amazing.

Today we had a baptism of someone Elder Clyde taught in a city called Jicin. It had to be there because the pool they rented in Jicin broke a few weeks ago, and still isn't fixed. It was a very good baptismal service. I've heard quite a bit about her from Elder Clyde, and she is a fantastic person, very prepared. The Relief Society President from Jicin talked a lot about how it isn't going to be a lot different now that she's baptized because she's been an active member of the branch for weeks already. Her name is Julia, and she truly is a great person. Also, Kamila was there, but I'll talk more about that in the recording. Then, because it was snowing like crazy here today, we went around Old Prague and took some sweet pictures. You may observe them attached. 

That's about all there is folks. It was a great week. The Lord finds those people who are prepared for us. We just have to be willing to be where He has placed them. This is the Lord's work. To quote President Kimball, "Do it."

Love you all,

Starsi Knapp 

Last week in Prague...

MOnday was a bit of a tough day. I did get a haircut for lunch, which was nice and necessary, and now I look better. Elder De Angelis, my companion who is from ITALY, was at the foreign police for a few hours doing visa work for a couple missionaries. . While he was there I taught a couple of way cool kids, Beniamin and his brother Ludek, with one of the APs, Elder Mullen. His companion was getting his visa renewed, so we were on a little exchange. They are way cool, and way interested. The day was a little tough because all three of our lessons fell through. We rescheduled, but it was a bit of a bummer. The worst thing about today was receiving the news that Elder McClellan is indeed going home. He told us he would be back by Christmas, and we all hope it's so. He is a way cool kid. he needs more treatment than is available here, so he is back in America to get everything taken care of.

Tuesday we had office meeting, and afterwards said goodbye to Elder McClellan. Sad. We also had district meeting, which was good. We always practice teaching as a part of it with the senior missionaries, and it is crazy. They are so funny. We were with Sis Bohne, and it was nutso. She's hilarious. We had a lesson set up with a cool kid we met from Georgia, the country, but he was a no-show. We didn't have his number so we couldn't confirm or anything. but we did teach a reeeally good lesson with a girl named Monika with Daniel Askari. We've taught her before, but his lesson she just seemed different, more open, it was better. Then we taught Verka again, and she's doing well. 

Wednesday I went on my second exchange of the week, first full one, while Elder De Angelis was at a new district leader conference in Brno. I was with an Elder Neumann. he's a bunch of fun. We had a really good time. We contacted for a few hours, got a couple numbers, one from a suuper cool 16 yr old kid named Vasek. We are definitely going to meet with him. He only studies in Prague, and is only here monday through wednesday, so we have to work around that, but no worries. WE also talked to a lot of really crazy people. Which is also fun. After the exchange we taught Verka and Jitka, one right after the other, and it went really well. Jitka's baptism is in just a few weeks!

Thursday was district finding, one of my favorite activities. Except today's was really hard. As a companionship we had a goal of three appts and numbers, or A#'s. We got one number. in two hours of work. Rough. One missionary, Elder Rhees, contacted the entire time and got nothing. It was a tough day for us, but overall we did well as a district. We taught Verka again, the Word of Wisdom and it went really well. She only has a smoking problem, and she promised to stop. After that we started the craziest exchange of my mission. Right now there is a threesome due to Elder McClellan's absence, and I exchanged into it. It was nuts

Friday, we taught a really smart, cool young guy named Martin, incredibly intelligent. It was a good lesson. We talked about hte restoration and the other two missionaries, Elder Tenney and Rhees, said there was a huge difference in his attitude from the first lesson to the second. Then, we went back home so they could weekly plan. It was awful. There is no such thing as focus when there are three missionaries, technically from three different areas, Vysehrad, Andel, and the office, trying ot weekly plan for two areas that are going ot be all shook up with 24 hours. It was wild. After all that, we taught a lady named Jana who is really nice and has an insane three yr old daughter. We recruited one of the ysa here to babysit, and she did so well thta when the lesson was over  the little girl absolutely freaked because she didn't wan't to go. In front of about 30 ysa from all over the mission. There is a huge activity here this weekend, and it is killing our member lessons. All of our best teachers are ysa, except for a few, who all decided to go on vacation this week. So yeah, numbers are down a little.

All in all, a good week. Some crazy things, some great lessons, good news and bad. Oh! Some good I forgot ot mention, Elder clyde is coming back to Prague! He is coming here and Elder Egger, and Austrian, is taking his place in Jicin. Elder Egger is a Czech missionary, but he was in a threesome of zone leaders in Slovakia this transfer. They're bringing him back here to be in Jicin. It'll be good to have Elder Clyde back. I'm happy about it.

I love you all, keep up the work. Get excited for general conference, and don't tell me too many details. I get it a week later, so don't tell me everything in your next emails. I think that is my favorite time of the year. Living prophets are one of the greatest testaments of this work.

Finally! An Update!

Time flies by and then one day I realize I have not updated this blog for many weeks! Taylor is still happy and doing well. Here is the last part of his email from Sept. 10:

 

Saturday, not much. Another lesson with Lenka, it went well again. She didn't have a lot of time, so Elder Prymak gave a quick spiritual thought, then I talked a little more about it (agency by the way), and that was it. But it was really good, and she  was really impressed by it. After that, we went contacting for a bit because Veronika is sick and couldn't meet like we normally do, then sports day. Let's just make it known taht I am on a six game win streak in soccer, spanning three weeks worth of games. Also, it's interesting, as I go through a week where I see almost nothing from contacting, I still think to myself, but this is the week! We're going to find them this week. Why do I feel so optimistic? Don't know. but it's the Lord's work, and he's over it.

Sunday was awesome! Sister Krizova, the one with the ancient dog, came to church for the first time in way over a year! She was so happy and all the branch members were allstars in greeting her, making her feel welcome and so forth. And she absolutely loves the Mills. No wonder, they're fantastic. President came by taht afternoon on his way back from a place called Zilina in Slovakia, so the four of us who hadn't been interviewed were. I love President.

The letter should be on it's way soon! I'm sorry, letters take a long time. Also, yes, transfers are next week, so no email until Wednesday. 

I love you all, the Gospel is true. I agree with Savannah one hundred percent, why doesn't everyone get it? It's so clear, so simple.

Go Cougs!

 

After the Sept. 10 email we didn't hear from Taylor until Sept. 22. He was transferred from Ostrava to Prague to serve in the mission office. Here is how he felt initially about the change:

Draha rodino,

First off, yes. I am in the office. I can't say I was super excited about it, I dreaded coming here. I had totally convinced myself I wasn't going to be here, but here I am. I was bummed, and maybe I haven't gotten rid of that completely yet, but I understand. It means a lot more than computer work. President was quick to tell me that he only calls certain missionaries here. Not because we're better or worse, but because they have things they need to do in the future. I've also heard from other elders here in the office, me my comp and the APs btw, that when a missionary enters the field, President creates a two year plan for them. He sees where he wants them to go by the end, then already assigns them companions, positions, and areas to get them there. So, unless President changes his ways, which would be nice, I already know what I'm going to be doing for the next six months. And yes, I know I need a haircut. I'm getting one soon.

 

We did get a picture and that's how we knew he was in need of a haircut! His email was suuuppeerrrrr long, which was wonderful, but I won't try to fit it all here. He enjoyed his last days in Ostrava, went to a castle, found a great lady to teach, taught Veronika, the girl he baptized, one last time, and met with his other investigator, Lenka. He packed up and moved to Prague and got some whirlwind training and began his new assignment. The following excerpts are from his latest email:

His duties:

 

My duties include everything not encompassed in visa work and most computer things. I am the office manager. it's only me and my companion here, along with the APs. I order and distribute supplies, buy and sell cars, maintain them, and negotiate with people. It's interesting. I do have alittle time for proselyting, depending on the day. I love Milka. P-Day was pretty regular. We are going to check some stuff out today though. I'll take some pictures!

  

FYI:  AP's refer to two missionaries who are Assistants to the President--they work closely with the mission president. "Milka" is a type of European chocolate that Taylor loves and told us about. A friend of ours just returned from Germany and brought us Milka chocolate and yes, it is delicious!

 

Despite all of the office duties Taylor is doing, he will still be able to get out and teach every day. Here is his experience from last Monday:

 

So, Monday. Monday was a really good day. The best part about it was that we set up and had a lesson with the lady I found last week during district finding. Her name is Verka, she's probably late 40;s early fifties, actually I have no idea how old she is, and she is very accepting. She has really no religious background, so we have to teach extremely simply and go over things a couple times now and then, but she loves it. She especially likes hearing about Christ. We talked a lot about Him during the first lesson because her knowledge of Him was pretty nonexistent, and you could just see the Spirit touching her heart. She still doesn't understand everything, and things are very new to her, but she knows this is important and she knows it's what God wants for her. And she is on baptismal date. Other than that, I just got a ton of work done for conference and stuff, and some other office issues  They had to do with negotiating with a representative from an office supplies company we order from often. It involves finances, and I'm not budging! I'm not supposed to, I have very strict instructions. We are getting everything worked out though, and it's good.

And a couple more days....

 

Wednesday was training day. I always love trainings. Today's was really good. There are, as far as I have decided,  two kinds of trainings, and each training fits into one of the two categories for different missionaries. There are the feel good trainings, and the slap in the face ones. Feel good trainings are those when you go, take lots of great notes, and the Spirit is there, and you just feel like you can go out and do whatever. Slap in the face ones are the ones where President Irwin stands up and delivers a training that pinpoints the aspect(s) of missionary work that you as an individual need the most work on. The whole time, the Spirit is also there, but this time He says to you, "Are you listening? Do you realize that these are the things you aren't doing as well as you should be? Are you paying attention? What are you going to do better?" In case you haven't gathered, it was a slap in the face training. Way good, just what I needed. It's always good to go and get a little perspective, which is, thankfully what I was given. We also taught Jitka a lesson, the first part of the Plan of Salvation. Her and Verka are really the same person, just two bodies. Their situations are almost identical, the way they understand things, the things they struggle with, all exactly the same. It's crazy.

Thursday I took care of some more things in the office, namely ordering materials for our inventory from Church Distribution, and getting a bunch of office supplies as well. Well, I ordered them, but we don't have them yet. Then, we actually got to go contacting! We talked foreverrr with this girl, way cool, not interested. She had weird ideas about how there is no such thing as good or bad people because we shouldn't judge. Okaaay...whatever. Then we had a lesson with Verka, the one where we watched the Finding Faith video. It was great. After the film, we talked about prayer and it's role in accessing the blessings of the Atonement.

 

 

 

The Latest from Ostrava

 

A good week this week, no new investigators which is a real problem, but we had some really good lessons. Veronika is amazing. Just amazing. Miriam, her young friend who has a baptismal date, left her Book of Mormon at her Grandma's house, so she couldn't read. So Veronika read out loud to her. Incredible. She is an example, Dad, of someone who has had the Gospel sink into her heart and she is on fire to share it. It's awesome. Which reminds me by the way Mom, I don't get it either. Why doesn't everyone get it? Every doctrine of Christ's gospel gives hope. Every single one makes life better, easier to bear. There is no alternative that man can concoct that could provide more joy, or at least the potential for more, than the perfect plan of the Father. It is unfathomable to me.

 

Michal and Helena come to church almost every week. If they're in town and healthy, they come. I don't know if they have been at a baptism ever, they were both in a city called Liberec on the day of Veronika's. We watched the Restoration film with them, and it was great. It really happened you know. Joseph saw what he said he saw.

 

Lenka is in a rough position. School started today, and her son Tomas probably went without supplies. She doesn't have money to buy them, and his dad hasn't yet either, even though he promised he would. We taught her about hope, and it was great. She wants it, we're just working on helping her get it.

 

We had some really good lessons with Miriam, on frustrating, one where she refused to pray, but she prayed very willingly the lesson after that. We may end up moving her date, but it's far in the future, so we aren't worrying about it right now. We jsut want to make sure she wants to get baptized for the right reasons.

 

 

Wahoo!

Here are some excerpts from Taylor's wonderful email which we received this morning:


So. The big question. Was Veronika baptized? Well. YESSSSSSS! It was great. She is great. She's so solid. Elder Mills, the male portion of the senior couple here thinks she is the greatest person he's ever met. he seriously can't even talk about her without getting emotional. He is also one  of my favorite people ever. This week has been absolutely incredible, one of the best yet

  I love the living prophets so much. They are one of the biggetst testimonies to me of the truthfulness of the work. I recently started a very in depth study of every Conference issue I have. It will take awhile, but it's awesome.

Yesterday I was just thinking about how I don't ever want to come back. If you want, you can come see me in a year a nd a half or so. It's just too good. The thought of having to come back makes me scared. Because here, we are somewhat in the world, but we truly are on a completely different plane. I don't want to have to come back. Sorry.

Alright! This week was spectacular. May have mentioned that. It was spent planning the baptism, and fighting all the problems that came up, namely because of the branch presidency. It was a great service though. The water was freeezing, but the Spirit wasn't. One thing that I'm proud to report is that my spiritual sensitivity has increased. It's a great feeling. I've had what some may call a charmed life, and as a result I've nver really been pushed. It takes a lot of practice learning to rely on, listen to, and follow the Spirit. I've got such a long way to go. Thomas S. Monson is my role model in this. I don't know if I know anything as sure as I know that he is called, by God Himself, as a prophet to lead and guide us today. If you don't think people are prepared from their youth to serve, you study that man's life. Anyways, Veronika. She's awesome. I don't really know what else to say about her, but it was a pleasure and an honor to serve, teach, and baptize her.

The other major highlight of this week was the progression training, also known as greenie conference. Thursday we were in Brno for it, and it was the best conference I've ever attended as a missionary. So really ever. The best part was when the trainers all went into a separate room and talked with Elder Durrant, one of the Aps. We just talked about the importance of missions, our expectations for ours, and kind of a little testimony meeting. Let's just say it was powerful. One of my problems is more things run through my mind than I can say, so I really had to slow down, and let the Spirit guide my words. It was very powerful. pthe whole thing. I'm going to tell you though. This trainer thing is the hardest thing I've ever done. 

Sunday, yestereday, we also had some cool experiences. I gave three blessing in Czech. Before yesterday, I had given none. So it was somthing new. And great. Very simple blessings, of course, but I felt the Spirit with me still. Well, except for one. I'm worried about that. Veronika has a friend, who wanted a blessing for her youngest daughter. Which is great, except...she thinks her daughter has a devil. Because she SLEEPWALKS. So I didnt' have a lot of faith giving that blessing because I couldn't help but think it was a tad unnecessary. If sleep walking means you have a devil, Tanner...

Well, folks, thank you so much for everything, the emails, the package on its way, the ballot app inside, and especially your love and support and prayers. Love you all. Just remember this, you will never see the young man you put on a plane seven months ago again. He's slowly disappearing. If I don't come back completely changed, it wasn't enough. One of the trainers siad that one of the greatest things that made him want to go on his mission was the difference he saw in his older brother. It completely changed him, from a good kid to a powerful servant of the Lord. So, Tanner and Hunter, judge me when I get back. And here's how to prepare: Read every day, start now making your prayers more sincere and really find that relationship with you Father in Heaven. Do everything Mom and Dad say. They are wise. DO EVERYTHING. they have a reason for it all. Promise. The Church is true. 100 percent.

  This is the greatest experience ever. I know you've heard that from others, but it is so true. It is a refiner's fire, there's no point in sugar coating. But the spiritual blessings are worth it all. This is the work of the Lord, which He has given to us to do it. Let us all press on and do it.

Love,

Starsi Knapp

Catching Up with Taylor

 Here are a few paragraphs from the emails Taylor has sent in the past two weeks.

Okay, so the week in review. First of all, I am eternally sick of the train ride to Prague. It's no fun. Especially the fact that I've made it twice in the past two weeks, and it costs a load of cash. Not a fan of that. But, it's all okay because I am the proud companion of a greenie. He'll get his first taste of real Czech teaching tomorrow. It's gonna be great. He's Elder Prymak, from Woodbridge, VA. You may have gotten our picture. He's a pretty fun kid, and it's an exciting prospect. He speaks really good for someone fresh from the MTC, and he's going to be great. This is really one of those defining times in a mission, and if it applies to the mission, it applies to life. therefore, this is a defining time in both of our lives. Whew. I'm excited, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. Just because I'm so young and it's a first time thing. Prayer is what we do. I'm not too worried, because I know where this call comes from.

Alright! It's been a good week. Slightly frustrating in that a few of our lessons fell through, but it was a good week overall. Veronika is doing great, she's totally going to make her baptismal date on Saturday. She's doing excellent. It really is a privilege to teach her. She bore her testimony in church yesterday, and it was awesome. Also really cool, we were at her house, teaching, and she had a girl there, 11 or 12, who has sat in on a few lessons before. Before we started actually teaching, she asked if she could come to church on Sunday. Ummm...yeah. You can. She said that she's seen a big change in Veronika since we started meeting with her, and she wants to try it for herself. Great! Then veronika said that Jana, the girl, was nervous about death because she doesn't know what happens after death. Well, conveniently we had a Plan of Salvation pamphlet in my backpack. Way cool. We'll meet her again on Wdnesday. 

Something real quick from a story President Irwin shared. Just because we have difficulties doesn't mean we're doing something wrong. Just because the path we have placed ourselves on has obstacles doesn't mean it's the wrong path. There was a man who felt that because medical school was so hard, God didn't want him to be a doctor. He found the story of Nephi and the brass plates and changed his mind. Life is meant to try us so that we can become better, even perfect. the only reason to actually change a path is if it is not inline with God's will, and will not lead us to His kingdom. Let us go forth in so great a cause.

 

s laskou,

 

Starsi Knapp