ř

that's a letter that most people have never seen before, and it's one that i never really had to pronounce very much until now. the "hooked" r is one of the many nuances of the czech language that makes crossing the border fairly difficult. to pronounce it you need to mix two different bucchal sounds. first you take a rolled r. then, you add the sound made by the s in the word "pleasure." now say those two sounds simultaneously and you will get a hooked r. the declinations here are also a little bit different, so that's been the main thing i've been battling so far. there are so many times when we'll be teaching somebody and i'll want to say something, but then i have to double take because although i know the word in slovak i'm not even sure if the word exists in czech. i have to so that i'm doing pretty well, but there was one day in the week when i just really kept stumbling over my czech words. it went on like that for a few hours until we ran into a few people on the square. we started talking to them. one of the men asked "ako sa vam paci tu v jihlave?" (how do you like it in jihlava). i did a big double take becuase that is most definitely not a czech phrase. i paused for a moment and then asked "are you a slovak?" the man and his friend replied that yes, they were both slovak. one from spisska nova ves and the other from nitra. it was like running into one of your friends or relatives who you had been away from for a long time by chance on the street. i immediately jumped into slovak mode. i'm really enjoying myself in jihlava so far, but not going to lie running into a pair of slovaks was pretty great.

 

ahoj'te

sam

Czech yourself before you wreck yourself

that's right. the cat is out of the bag and the meredith is out of the banska bystrica--actually he is out of the entire slovakia. this last week was a crazy week. president irwin always tells me how much fun he has doing the transfers, but man he isn't kidding. elder macneish and i got blinded out of banska bystrica to be replaced by (wait for it)....SISTERS! the first set of sisters ever in banska and the first sisters in slovakia in like 10 years! insane! that's almost as insane as my assignment. i am proud to say that i am the fist slovak missionary to serve in lovely jihlava--a small city literally right in the middle of slovakia. i've been assigned to be the district leader here. our district includes my companion and i (elder simcock from manchester, england), the pages (the senior couple in jihlava), and the missionaries in nearby trebic. this district is comprised of two of the smallest cities in the mission. i'm so honored that president has allowed my to ascend to such a presigious rank. i mean, district leader in jihlava is just one of the positions that all ambitious people have aspired to throughout the ages, like being governor of north dakota, or captain of the caltech basketball team, or starting pitcher for the kansas city royals (they're still a really cruddy small-market franchise, right?). anyway, all jokes aside, i'm really excited for this transfer. this will be a wonderful learning opportunity. i pray that i will be able to represent the Lord, my family, and all other slovak missionaries well. it's going to be a challenge to do a lot of things like being a district leader (i haven't done that since the mtc) and learning czech (never done that ever), but i know that there are great things in store for this city, and i'm so excited to find out what they are.

 

na shledanou!

sam

Macneish & Meredith: Soul Hunters

i think that will be the name of the motion picture that will someday be made about this transfer (i'll tell you why near the end of this email). i guess i typed something wrong in my email last week because this week is actually the last week of the transfer. so, i'm still here in banska presiding over church, assigning talks and doing all of that fun stuff. we will get our transfer fax this coming monday and then the transfer will take place on wednesday. everybody is placing their bets and it's looking like i'm going to be saying dovidenia to slovensko and getting a nice "vitej" from the czech republic. we will see. regardless of where i go, it has been such a pleasure to serve in this city, in this district and in this zone, especially this transfer. missionary work in slovakia right now is better than it ever has been. EVER. like in the entire history of missionary work in slovakia. the zone leaders have been sending us texts every week telling us how we've been breaking old records and setting new ones every week. certainly numbers aren't everything, but it is quite the accomplishment. the mission office gathers statistics at the end of each week and the end of each transfer and compares the statistics between zones. this transfer it's going to be zona slovensko by a long shot. i think slovakia has finished first probably only one other time in the whole history of the mission. it has been so wonderful to work here with all of these wonderful members and missionaries. i will certainly miss it when i go. it has been really difficult at times here in banska, but it's all been worth it--particularly for kristina who is still doing wonderful after her baptism. we taught her this week about member-missionary work. at the beginning of the lesson we just asked her "why do you think we are here as missionaries?" she replied with the most gang-busters explanation of missionary work ever. she said "lovite dusicky" (you're hunting souls). yes we are kristina, yes we are--and what a wonderful calling it is.

 

ahoj'te

sam

The week that was

preparing people for baptism can be stressful, but in the end it is so totally worth it. kristina, the most amazing investigator i have ever had, was baptized this week. it was a wonderful service. we had the baptism in a hotel pool here in banska. i had the honor of performing the baptism. kristina had a smile on her face throughout the entire baptismal service. it was an amazing experience. i'm so glad that elder macneish and i have been able to help kristina. i have waited so long for something like this, but it was definitely worth the wait. ever since i came to banska bystrica i have just wanted to give the branch something to be excited about--something to cheer them up and make them a little more enthusiastic. i knew that baptizing a very prepared individual would probably suffice. all we needed was a miracle--you know--that's all. kristina was that miracle. yesterday we had fast and testimony meeting. elder macneish comfirmed kristina and then the time came for testimonies. my eyes began to fill with tears as i saw kristina get up and approach the pulpit. the water works started coming in full measure as she said how thankful she is that she met the missionaries, and that she is happier and closer to God than she has ever been. i don't know if i've ever felt so happy in my life. and just knowing how happy i feel after having seen kristina get baptized i can only imagine how Heavenly Father must feel. i'm so glad taht i've been able to work in this wonderful city with these wonderful people. the transfer comes in about 2 weeks. it's going to be really hard to get on the train and leave.

 

ahoj'te

sam

deti

kids. not something i have a lot of experience with. i suppose that's what happens when you are the youngest in the family. oddly enough, though, serving in banska bystrica has even given me a little bit of experience entertaining the little ones. i've mentioned several times the church service that we hold every sunday morning for people living near the city of zvolen. well, a lot of the people that go to this church service have kids, and somebody needs to keep them occupied while their parents are attending sunday school. so, the four of us take turns every week taking the kids into the back of the 1-room school building where we hold church and teaching them primary. it's been pretty fun. here are some of the highlights of primary in budca so far:

 

"if you could have anything in the world what would you kids have?...yes, kristian..."

"a sword!"

"right on! good answer! what about you, zdenka?"

"my family."

"...also really good, but swords are cool too, kristian, don't worry."

 

 

"so, children, why do we need faith in Christ?"

"so we don't swear!"

"so we don't smoke!"

"so we don't drink alcohol!"

"so we don't drink green tea!"

"or black tea!"

 

so as you can see, working to teach the primary has been quite the pleasure. we even had a baptism into the primary in zvolen this week. little kristian still doesn't have his sword, but he does have the gift of the Holy Ghost now.

 

maj'te sa!

sam

I'm too young for this

a mission is a funny thing. sometimes when i have a quiet moment i like to think of all the different ins and outs of missionary service--all of the important things that are entrusted to us. being a missionary is a lot of responsibility, and yet that responsibility is placed upon the backs of young men and women who aren't even old enough to have attained a bachelor's degree. i know that it says in the doctrine and covenants that the Lord calls upon the "weak" things of the world to thrash the nations, but still when i think of the level of my maturity when i started my mission the word "weak" would have been the word used to describe me if somebody wanted to make the understatement of the 21st century. as missionaries we are very young, inexperienced, and immature, and yet we are out here bringing the gospel to the whole world. it's pretty amazing when you really think about it. i have served around incredible people on my mission and yet all of them are only in their twenties. to me it is just big proof that when we are dedicated to the gospel and we exercise faith in the Lord he can help us be a part of marvelous works and wonders. sometimes when i think about how harsh the difficulties can be and how enormous the obstacels are i'm prompted to stop for a moment, take a break from the thoughts have been constantly coming at me over the last eight months as i've tried to run a branch of the church, and say: "i'm too young for this." it's a good thing i've got access to heavenly help along the way, because i'd be absolutely clueless otherwise.

s laskou

sam

hudba

that is the slovak word for music. my mission so far has given me a lot of wonderful opportunities to share and develop my musical talents. i really think the Lord has blessed me for my missionary service in the form of helping me develop my musical talents further. i think i'm probably a better singer than i was when i left even though i don't sing nearly as much as i did when i was living in logan. i've also become a much better piano player (i have had to play the piano at sacrament meeting A LOT), and by virtue of serving with elder  macneish for two transfers, i have even learned how to play a good amount of chords on the guitar. it's wonderful. there has been, however, one downfall to serving in banska. we have a really small district of only four people and i'm the person who has always had to run sacrament meeting. so, i haven't had nearly as many musical numbers in sacrament meeting here as i have in my other areas. i always thought that the missionaries should all do a quartet in sacrament meeting, but we have never really had a district of four  strong singers--never, that is, until now. elder tenney has quite a nice voice, so yesterday i had my first sacrament meeting musical number in quite a while. the four of us sang "o Boze my ti dakujeme" (we thank thee, o God, for a prophet). it went really well, and everyone really enjoyed it. the rest of sacrament meeting was great too, in both banska and zvolen. sunday, once again proved to be the best day of the week.

 

maj'te sa!

sam

Svadba

i don't have much time to make a journal entry today (to make a long story short i really dislike computers sometimes) so, i'll just share a quick experience that elder macneish and i had this last weekend. we were out contacting on the square when we saw a great crowd of people coming out of the catholic chapel. there are weddings there fairly commonly on saturdays, so i've seen a lot of wedding processions on my mission so far, but this one was my favorite. the slovak tradition is that you get married in the church and then you walk (with all your guests behind you) into the town hall where everybody celebrates as you sign the marriage contracts. this procession to the town hall, however, was led by a slovak folk string quartet all dressed in slovak garb with tradtional slovak dancers parading around them to boot. it's a shame i didn't have my camera because it was quite the sight. this country has so many beautiful traditions. it's a pleasure to be able to serve these people.

 

ahoj'te

sam

Usvit

hello from bratislava!
i randomly had to come here today to renew my visa which expires soon, so elder macneish and i are taking care of our normal p day activities here before we catch the train back to banska this afternoon. we had another wonderful week this week. we were able to attend a wonderful specialized training in zilina. after our training i was able to have an interview with president irwin, something which has become one of my favorite things in the entire world. we had a good chat. the first thing he asked me was: "how long have you been in banska bystrica?" looking at the date written in my planner i realized that it has been over seven months since i hopped on the train with elder bacon and rode into banska. both president irwin and i were surprised that it had been so long. as the conversation went on president went on to tell me that it would be a good idea to get everything in order (plans, paperwork, etc.) because fairly soon somebody else may have to blind into my position here in banska. i certainly won't tell you about everything that happened in our interview, but i wanted to tell you all of that so that you can know where my mind has been ever since then: i actually have to leave banska bystrica. i knew that it was going to happen someday, but now things have all of a sudden become much more real. i have loved serving in this city so much. i don't think i have ever learned more in a period of 7 months. banska bystrica (and in particular the banska and zvolen units) own a huge chunk of my heart, and i want nothing more than to give them the best that i have. i have tried to do just that over the last months, and know my time is running low. my time in banska is coming to a twilight (usvit), and i want to leave it all on the floor as we say in basketball. i am pleased with my service so far but just as in music in missionary work i sure do love a good finale. tak do toho!

maj'te sa
sam

Majstrovsto Sveta

we had an interesting cultural experience this week here in slovakia. over the past few weeks the hockey world championship has been going on in finland and sweden. i don't think i remember anybody in america ever saying anything about the yearly hockey world championships in america when i was living there, but in slovakia it's the talk of the town. the second anybody mentions anything about hockey (especially international hockey) everybody in slovakia drops everything to sit down and watch. elder macneish and i went outside after making some calls in the church building on saturday night to see an absolutely empty town square. as we walked a little further we discovered that everybody was in the bars and restaurants on the side of the square with their eyes glued to the television as they watched their team play against the czech republic. we heard loud screams, cheers, and fireworks late into the night as all of slovakia celebrated their victory over their biggest rival. unfortunately slovakia lost in the gold medal game to russia, but it was still cool to see slovakia make at least a little bit of a fuss. i'm fully aware of the fact that in the end athletic victories mean pretty much nothing, but even still being successful in something as meaningless as ice hockey is extremely good for this country that, in all honesty, struggles in the area of self respect sometimes. after years of playing pawn to germans, hungarians, czechs, russians, and others slovaks feel sometimes that they are forgotten--they they are just a worthless strip of countryside for the rest of europe to dump their litter on as they make their journey from prague to budapest. every now and then, however, something happens that proves otherwise. so, i'm glad that slovakia could have success in the world championships, but moreso i'm glad that i can be a missionary for this wonderful church--that i can be a minister of this wonderful gospel that teaches these people that they are valuable and they are precious--even people who have a divine and royal origin as children of our Heavenly Father. this message is just what this country needs. it is the only thing that will help these people realize who they really are, and it is the only thing that will help these people fulfill their exceedingly great potential. i'm so honored that i can be one of the people who can help bring them the good news.

 

slovensko do toho!

sam

Meredith & Macneish part deux: it's only the beginning

if i had to make a movie about this upcoming transfer, that would be the title of it. i found out this week that not only will i be staying in banska bystrica for another transfer, but that i will also be staying with my good buddy elder macneish. i'm so excited. things have been so great here recently, and i think this last week was one of the happiest of my mission. i have mentioned a lot that we have been working on establishing a branch in nearby zvolen for some investigators who were unable to attend church in banska. well, this week we saw some of the first fruits of those labors. two of the investigators down there this weekend were baptized, becoming the first people to join the church in the newly established zvolen area. these people live in a small village outside of zvolen, so we had the baptism in the nearby forest. we gathered at a campsight near a small creek that gathers into a small watershed. we gathered campfire style in a circle and had the baptismal service. we had great talks and a musical number by me (i put the church building's keyboard on battery power). after that we performed the ordinances. one of the investigators had requested that i baptize her, so i conducted the service in my whites. i was so honored to be able to do that. you can only have one first baptism in a new city, and the Lord was willing to let me perform that ordinance. another baptism, performed by elder romero, followed mine. after the baptisms, one of the investigators expressed that she had never felt so good as she did just after her baptism. i don't know if i've had a happier day in my life. the entire day i had a grin on my face that stretched from one ear to the other (as witnessed by the photos, which--due to technical difficulties--will come in my email next week). all in all, just an absolutely glorious week. i don't know what the waters of Mormon looked like, but for the rest of my life i will look upon the waters of Budca with feelings that are similar to those held by those book of mormon converts with regards to the place where they entered into a covenant with the Lord. we have seen the Lord's hand so much recently. He blessed us so abundantly this week, and yet: it's only the beginning.

 

s laskou

sam

kniha mormonova

the book of mormon. what a wonderful missionary tool. i was really proud of the way that elder macneish and i used the book of mormon this week in our work. it is such an important book for every person on the planet, and it has been so cool this week to see some of our investigators realize that. we had one meeting with an investigator who has trouble accepting anything but the bible as scripture. we explained to him that God reveals the doctrines of His gospel through prophets, and that the book of mormon is proof that God still calls prophets today. we had another meeting where we saw how the book of mormon has power to answer the questions of the soul. we had an investigator who had a lot of questions regarding our purpose in life, and why God allows us to have trials and difficulties. after reading a few chapters in alma before our meeting, her questions were answer. she said that: "these chaters completely sat on my situation" (that's a completely literal translation, mind you). elder macneish and i have been reading the book of mormon in czech together recently for our language study together, and it's been really great. it truly is the word of God, and i'm so lucky that i can talk to people about it every day.

 

s laskou

sam

Kontrola

this week i had an interesting opportunity. this week at church we had a visit from both the district relief society president, and a member of the district council (the equivalent of the high council in an area where a stake doesn't exist). i don't know why but i was so nervous. the whole week i was worried that there was something that i had neglected, some little minute detail that was barely noticeable, but still against church policy. i felt much like i did shortly before scholarship auditions at utah state. fortunately the reaction i received from the visiting authorities was similar to the reaction of the judges at the auditions at USU: pretty darn good. they had a lot of nice things to say about how the building looked, how the sacrament meeting was conducted and about how the members carry themselves when they are at church. that was a big relief to hear. i wish i could take credit for all of the praise, but in all honesty most of it has to go to these great members here in banska. they are all such a great example to me and i have been so blessed to be able to serve them over the last 6 months. it's sad to think that my time in banska bystrica could be winding down (i probably have one more transfer after this one); it's going to be really hard to leave when that time comes.

 

ahoj'te

sam

Genralna Konferencia

originally i thought that we would watch conference in this branch this next weekend. i figured that it would be a good idea to let as many people as possible come and avoid the possibility of low attendance because of the easter holiday. due to a few previously unseen road blocks, however, we had to change our plan a little bit, so we watched the first half of conference on sunday and we will watch the second half this saturday. i'm glad we ended up watching it this week. i really enjoyed a lot of the talks. every time when conference comes around i am just marveled at how inspired all of these people are. sometimes when i'm watching some of these talks it seems as though the speaker wrote that talk with me specifically in mind. i really enjoyed president uchtdorf's talk. i also really enjoyed the talk that elder baxter of the seventy gave. i also really enjoyed elder oaks' talk abot sacrifice. sacrifice is something that i have learned a lot about on my mission. it truly is an eternal law--a law that we all must apply. we must all sacrifice something of lower quality (that something can even be something good) for something of deeper importance. we must sacrifice our time in order to have successful family relationships, and to go to church to renew our covenants every week. we must sacrifice our money so that we can declare ourselves as full tithe payers and help the Lord build His kingdom further. whatever the case, whenever we sacrifice righteously in order to keep a commandment, Heavenly Father blesses us. it is all a key part of our common goal to follow our Savior--the man who became the greatest sacrifice the world will ever know--the man whose sacrifice we commemorate with this weekends celebration. i pray that i will be willing and able to sacrifice enough, and consecrate myself approriately so that i can be worthy of His blessing as i try to bless these people.

Church

it's the most amazing thing. i think one of the biggest and most important things that i am going to take away from my service as a missionary is a greater appreciation for the sabbath day (and a greater feeling of guilt and shame for days of old when i had to be dragged kicking and screaming just to get me to go to sacrament meeting). how wonderful an opportunity it is to e able to take one day every week to concentrate on spiritual things and worship the Lord with other people who have the same beliefs and values that you do. i have been so blessed over the last five months to be the priesthood holder in this city who presides over that process. we had a great fast and testimony meeting this week. the branches out here may be small, but the testimonies here are as powerful as anywhere else. after that we quickly hopped in the car and drove down to zvolen. some of the investigators that the zone leaders have down in zvolen needed help getting to church, so elder romero and i drove out to the village where they live, sprinted to flag down the bus and got him to hold on for a few seconds while the investigators were getting out the door. it wasn't easy, but we got everyone to church, and we had a wonderful sacrament meeting in zvolen as well. what an opportunity it is to be the person that brings the church to these people for the first time. what a blessing it is to be able to give these people their first experiences with the sacrament. being a missionary in slovakia brings so many blessings and miracles every day. as we were walking through the town after church we were all musing about the day when there will be stakes here-- when all of these people will get up in fast and testimony meeting and talk about how many miracles the Lord has worked since those days when the missionaries traveled into a far-away village and ran down the bus just so they could help people come to church. to make a long story short i love my mission!

 

s laskou

sam

 

ps- score two "steve meredith" points for using the phrase: "to make a long story short."

President Irwin

i've mentioned in these emails before some of the fringe benefits to serving a mission. the main blessings that come from serving the Lord full time are familiar to all of us. there is, however, a myriad of blessings that come from serving a mission that one doesn't actually think about until one actually goes out and serves a mission. one of those great blessings is the relationships that you develop with the people that you work around--especially with other missionaries. the people who i have met on my mission are people who i consider to be some of my best and closest friends in the world. i have absolutely loved all of the companions i have had so far and all of the other missionaries that i have worked around. i have also been very pleased to develop a good relationship with my mission president president irwin and his wife. they are just the nicest people in the world. everytime you have an interview with president irwin you just walk away feeling like a million bucks. i had that opportunity this week when he came to banska bystrica to district meeting. it was great being able to talk with him and ask him questions and get his advice. he has truly been called by God, and i'm so thankful that i've been able to serve under his leadership. it would definitely be worth it to take a trip to england to visit him sometime in the future.

 

s laskou

sam

zvolenksy zaciatok

we're a part of history. after weeks of preparation we had the first ever sacrament meeting of the church in the city of zvolen. it was great. we found a place where we can rent out a room with chairs in it by the hour, so we are going to rent it out every week until we find something permanent. it definitely wasn't the same as the sacrament meeting that you'd find in sandy or anything like that (there weren't very many of us and we sang all of the hymns a capella), but the spirit was there and we had a great meeting. i gave a talk on the sacrament and by my own standards i think i did a good job--probably one of the best talks i've ever had. it was so great to greet the investigators after the meeting. they looked so happy. for the first time in their lives yesterday they attended a sacrament meeting. the Lord's church has finally come to them, and they will soon be able to enjoy all the blessings that come from membership in this church. i'm so thankful that the Lord saw me as worthy to participate in the establishment of His kingdom in this part of the world. there is nothing that i could be doing right now in my life that would be more meaningful than what i am doing now. i'm in the right place.

 

maj'te sa!

sam

Zvolen

it's a city just about a thirthy minute drive south of banska. a few of the members in the banska branch live down there and we have investigators down there too, so the missionaries in banska spend a decent amount of time down there. very soon, however, we will be spending even more time down there. it's been so hard keeping this in for the last few weeks, but now that i have approval from president we can tell everyone that.....(drumroll) we are starting a new branch in zvolen! yay! ok so here's the low down: there are a lot of investigators in the zvolen area who would be baptized, but just don't have the money to attend church in banska bystrica, so the zone leaders will be moving down to zvolen over the next little while. elder smith and i will still live in banska (in what used to be the zone leaders' place--it's a lot nicer so i'm pretty excited about that), but the presiding priesthood holder in this new unit of saints will be yours truly. we will have a full 3 hour block here in banska, but then after that in the afternoon we will also be holding a weekly sacrament meeting in zvolen for these investigators. since all of the people that will be participating in the sacrament meeting aren't members (yet) the band of people in zvolen will be not a ward, not a branch, not a unit, but a group. meaning that it will be "The Zvolen group of the Banska Bystrica unit of the Zilina branch of the Brno district of the Czech/Slovak mission." i'm going to have a hard time fitting all of that on the program. that thing has more layers than an expensive wedding cake. but all jokes aside, we are really excited. things are really looking good and so we really look forward to seeing the miracles that are going to be coming out of central slovakia for the next little while.

 

ahoj'te

sam

Blow, blow, thou wint'ry wind

the title of this blog is fittingly "if you think logan is cold...welcome to slovakia." those inspired words uttered by kinsey after the opening of my mission call came out in full force this week. we have been experiencing recently what they call here the "siberian frost." it's a weather pattern that occurs about once every forty years and brings a nice wave of freezing air over from russia. now, i want to be clear here--this next part is not a complaint, it is merely a statement of fact. anyway, story time...they had a conference for all of the leadership in the mission in brno this week (district leaders, zone leaders, etc.). since my leadership responsibilities technically aren't responsibilities as far as the mission is concerned, i wasn't invited. so, we worked out a little exchange that put me working in zilina this last friday. my one-day companion and i didn't have much on the plan, so for most of the day we were outside on the square contacting most of the day. it was freezing cold. it wouldn't have been that bad had there not been such a bitter wind the entire day. after a few hours i had the pain in my head that comes to every person who comsumes a "slurpee" too quickly, and yet i hadn't eaten a thing (again--this is a statement of fact, not a complaint). so, i did my best to just think of it as a big adventure; and what an adventure it was. the week, however, wasn't a completely a siberian wasteland. for example, elder smith and i have a new baptismal date. so, although i'm not too excited about winter, there is always something that a missionary in the czech/slovak mission has to be excited about.

 

maj'te sa

sam

The Causse cause

we had a great conference this week in brno. elder causse of the
seventy came to speak to us and he had very nice things to say about
our mission. among other things he said that we have the most obedient
and the happiest mission in europe--so how about them apples? in all
seriousness, though it was a great conference. i sand the song "where
love is" from the primary songbook and i think it went pretty well. we
also got to hear a lot of great messages from president and sister
irwin and from elder causse himself. he encouraged us to increase our
faith, because it is after faith that we see miracles. he told us that
we need to have a vision that we need to picture the future of the
church in this country--stakes, temples, etc. there was a very tender
moment for all the slovak missionaries after that. elder causse took
out his ipad and called up elder nichol so that he could show him the
picture displayed on his ipad. he asked elder nichol to describe the
picture. elder nichol began to describe the slovak branch that has now
been established in sheffield in england. the first slovak man in
england was found a year ago, and yet they already have 70 members and
average of 80 people attending church every week and 30 baptismal
dates; every one of them a slovak. Heavenly Father loves all of his
children, and he certainly hasn't forgotten about those from Slovakia.
we will find them, we will teach, them we will baptize them, and the
church will grow. all it takes is just a little faith

ahoj'te
sam

Ocova

it's a little tiny town about an hour outside of banska bystrica. just a teeny village with a store, a city hall, and about 10 houses around it. every time i'm there i feel like i'm going to see a seven-year-old boy walk out in front of me with a shotgun and tell me about how his farther has instructed him to shoot anyone who is from the bank, or about how he has just recently "knicked" the census man. anyway, one of the members in the branch here lives in this little town, so we go out there to help her on her little farm sometimes over the weekends. it's pretty fun work sometimes. i don't know what it is about manual labor, but there is just a pretty good feeling of satisfaction that comes from doing it. this week we took the hatchet and chopped up a bunch of firewood. elder smith and i had quite a bit of fun doing that. even though i got a pretty rough pain in my knuckles that was reminiscent of the pain i got after a long session of batting practice in my baseball playing days, it was still (for whatever reason) quite a bit of fun. so, if anyone needs some firewood chopped, elder smith and i would be more than happy to oblige.

 

maj'te sa

sam

French Toast

there are many blessings that come from serving a mission. obviously there is a myriad of spiritual blessings that come from serving the Lord full time, but there are also quite a few temporal blessings that come from serving a mission. these are just practical little things that make the chances of you being a loser when you get home much smaller. one of these practical little skills is the ability to cook. i could cook pretty well before my mission (who could forget all of my complicated culinary creations such as cereal, toast, and sandwiches?), but thanks to the last year or so, i know my way around the kitchen much better. i'm no wolfgang puck or anything, that's for sure, but i can do a few good things here and there. serving with elder smith has been really fun because a few times a week we have just been experimenting with something that we have never tried cooking before. my favorite experiment this week had to be french toast. we were both so excited. i hadn't had french toast since...well...the previous life that happened before my mission. we even made our own maple syrup. that topped off with the skippy peanut butter that dad sent me for christmas made the whole ensemble just great. speaking of french stuff, i have to mention this week that elder gerald causse of the seventy is coming to do a mission tour at the beginning of the month. i called president irwin to ask him a question the other day, and when he picked up the phone he just said "elder meredith, i'm glad you called me. i want you to sing!" half-jokingly i replied by saying "right now?" "no," he replied, "but when elder causse comes. you can sing whatever you want, just make sure it's something good." so, i'm singing for the conference, which brings me back to our conversation about food. at the beginning of my mission i was confused about what i should cook for myself while i'm here, so i asked elder williams (who is well known for his cooking skills) what i should cook. he gave me some interesting advice. he said: "think of something you want to eat, and then make it." when i first heard that i thought it was the lamest advice ever, but now, 8 months later, i realize that it was actually very wise. so wise, in fact, that i think i will apply the same principle when i sing at our upcoming zone conference--i'm going to think of something i want to sing and then sing it.

 

maj'te sa!

sam

Charakter

no, i didn't spell that word wrong. that is just the slovak spelling for the work for "character" and character is one of the big advantages of serving in a small city. although it is flattering that some of you think i'm serving in a big glamorous city like prague (i'm actually not serving in prague for those of you who are still fooled by the address that constantly abides on my webpage and my sacrament meeting program), really these smaller cities like banska bystrica have something that bigger cities just don't have and that's characters. when you live in a small city of less than 100,000 people and you are constantly walking on the main square every single day, you are bound to run into the "regulars." in my 4 months in zilina i racked up quite a few friends by contacting on the main square, and so far banska has been the same way. for example we have one character here who everybody calls "elvis." he's this guy with long black hair and a high, whiny voice who just talks to everyone on the square. he was being his normal self today when we were out on the square. he came up to elder smith and i and offered to sell us a picture of himself. we turned it down because the banksa east apartment is already the proud owner of one for some odd reason. i guess he has had some good business in the past. i guess anything is more successful than his other current business venture--trying to sell elder nichol his watch...for a million dollars. i guess it can't hurt to try. anyway, that's just a taste of the interesting people here in banska bystrica. in the end i think that is what determines the value of a city is the caliber of the people. yes, prague is a much more beautiful city than banska, and zilina, and bratislava, and probably any other town i will serve in. prague has nice parks, museums, cathedrals and historical sites, but there is one thing they don't have...and that's elvis.

 

ahoj'te

sam

A salute to slanina

we had another transfer this week. i have a new companion now, but i think i should take a moment out of this journal entry to talk about my old companion elder bacon. what a guy. although, i'm so excited for this next transfer, i was pretty sad to see him go. serving with him was just so much fun! allow me to explain. elder bacon is just this cutest little thing to ever come out of provo, utah. he's a little more quiet, and is just the most polite human being you have ever met. this works against him sometimes in the mission field, however, because it makes him an easy target for pranks from his companion. like the time when elder nichol and i were on an exchange together and we found elder bacon and elder taylor and ambushed them with snowballs, that was fun. my favorite, though, has to be when i used the light switch (which is outside of the bathroom) to turn the lights off on elder bacon while he was showering. it was so hard to contain my laughter as i heard "o, no...the power is out" coming from the bathroom. i ran to turn off the lights in the rest of the apartment. when elder bacon got out of the shower, he opened the door, turned on the light, and realized that it was all a big prank. i just smiled and asked him in slovak how his shower was. when most people would have given me a good punch in the stomach, elder bacon just smiled and laughed. he was such a good sport. i had all of these ideas for pranks i was gonig to play on him this transfer, but o well. i'm still in banska, so that's fun. i'm serving with elder smith, who i served around in blava. he's great so i'm really excited about that. we also have a new zone leader whose name you will recognize. he's a missionary that's one transfer older than me, and his name is elder durrant. with elder nichol still in the picture, we truly have the district of dreams in the city of dreams.

 

ahoj'te

sam

The new year

my celebration of the new year this time was different than it has ever been before. it consisted of being home at 6pm on the 31st, cooking some halusky for dinner with elder bacon, watching missionary training dvds, and preparing my lesson for priesthood the next day. that's not to say, however, that there weren't a few exciting things here and there. we were able to have lunch at a members house on the 31st. it was there that i ate rabbit for the first time. every missionary has to have some sort of interesting food experience so i was excited to have that one (rabbit tastes pretty darn good just fyi). after that, while we were home, i got to witness a slovak-style celebration of the new year. elder bacon and i watched as a bunch of teenagers lit of fireworks on the lawn out in front of our building. all of the fireworks were stuff that would get you the death penalty if you were in the state of arizona or utah. with that on my mind i slowly became just a little bit jealous. the one time i'm in a place that allows the purchase of bottle rockets i'm living under a system of rules that strictly forbids even thinking about buying them. o well--i guess i could always just move to wyoming...ok maybe dangerous fireworks aren't THAT great. anyway, i'm excited to start up a brand new year. i feel like i made some good progress in 2011 and i'm so excited to see what i and my fellow elders can achieve in 2012. prajem vsetkym stastny novy rok!

 

s laskou

sam