October 11th, 2010

No nazdar!

Waaah, I can't even believe that about the person getting baptised after watching conference! That's fantastic! We just watched conference this past weekend--we get it a week later here to allow it to be translated in to czech. But we still watched it in English. There was a man there from Russia I'd never seen before...he's not a member, but apparently he's known the missionaries since 1997 and has come to the past four general conferences. I blows my mind how someone can love conference enough to see it FOUR CONSECUTIVE TIMES (all four sessions!) and still not understand that they need this! THEY NEED THIS! ASDLFKJ!! I told him that we could change his religious status very easily, but he quickly changed the subject after that.
But conference was fantastic! I sat right next to Petr for both of the Sunday sessions...it changed how I took in every word of it. (That could be because I could smell him the entire time...which is normal. People here just don't shower much...or ever. I hope I never smelled like that!) I loved how much they talked about baptism! It was perfect for him because he is getting baptised THIS SATURDAY! I am always amazed at the way all my questions are answered through conference. Lately I've been struggling with consecrating everything to the work--even my thoughts. It's an interesting experience, having a companion who's about to leave and who's worrying about 'otherworldly' things. I have barely begun my mission, yet the mentality is somewhat contageous. Don't get me wrong, Sister Wheeler is not trunky in the slightest--she's still a hard worker and focused. But there are things she has to think about. And her presence sometimes gets me thinking about the end instead of the now. But conference did a lot to help me with that--talking about gratitude (gotta love President Monson!) and consecrating life. We joked and told Petr that it was as exciting as Christmas, so he told us that meant yesterday was Boxing Day. Ha. And HIS PARENTS ARE COMING TO HIS BAPTISM! BOTH OF THEM! WEEEEEE! AND HIS GRANDMA CAN'T COME BECAUSE SHE HAS CANCER BUT SHE'S GOING TO MAKE CAKES FOR IT! AHHH! Now we just need him to invite his friends. :) Thanks for the advice Ma, but changing friends here is not really much of a possibility... There are a handful of people who are members, but none of them are his age. And besides, it's not that they're bad people, they just don't understand religion really. What he needs to do is share the gospel with them so they can be happy the way he isssssssssssss. Which I think he will. Because he's a borec (stud).
Man, life is gooooooooooood.
Also: Elder Bailey and I met a man on the namesti a few days ago who's sanity was somewhat questionable. We told him about the Book of Mormon and about conference. But he came to three different sessions! Right before the first session, he told me that he was CRAZY about cigarettes...but after the last session he told us that he wanted to quit smoking. Cool! Way to go Elder Ballard!
Furthermore: A man who's getting baptised this Saturday (we're actually down to 2 people...funny how that works. But most of them are just postponed for the time being), when asked who he wanted to baptise him, requested ME! Hahahahahaha...this response was quickly followed by another lesson on authority.
And: last week I accidentally told someone that I was writing in my umbrella (destnik) instead of my journal (denik) and I also addressed a man as a woman. I love learning Czech!
Additionally: this week is supposed to be the COLDEST winter the CR's seen in A THOUSAND YEARS! AGAHS! We do have warm socks here. I will buy a warm coat soon. But hand/feet warmers would be awesome. Also, don't bother with the ring then--I can't abide silver jewelry.
I heard that David Archuleta's singing with Motab for Christmas. I know you're all over that already.
Family, I just love you so dang much! Danielle and Michelle, you can WRITE ME, if you want. No pressure. Corey/Chris, I'll write you soon!

Tak jo, tak cau.

LOVE YOU! Really, I feel your prayers. Keep up with the great missionary work!

Sestra Dean

[Blog Readers: to watch General Conference (October 2010), go to lds.org and follow the conference links.]