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