Monday, again... October 22, 2012

MONDAY MONDAY MONDAY!

Oh Boy they come quick!

Well this week we had a ton of fun and worked our tails off left and right! We had exchanges on Wednsday and I was in a different part of Ostrava with Elder Boysen, who is another Englishman, and is actually from the same stake as Elder Simcock. It was way fun to get to know him a little better and to contact people with him because he's actually a proper sized man, hes 6'7'', so it was pretty hilarious to see peoples reactions to us on the street. Anyways, we had some good fun with that, and when the exchange ended, Elder Hansen an i got back to doing what we do best, that being, tearing it up! So overall a pretty good week.

         So this week was cool because we learned alot about acting on impressions. President Monson said in conference afew weeks ago, "Never hesistate to act on a prompting" It was way cool to hear that, because the other day, it really hit me that being led by the spirit, or receiving inspiration, isnt necessarily one huge incident where an angel comes down and tells you everything you need to do for the rest of your life, but really, its acting ona the little promptings and feelings you get throughout the days, weeks, months, and years. I always find it interesting that we're told to "Pray ALWAYS, and not faint" and not, "well pray once and i'll tell you everything for every situation you'll ever need" because Heavenly Father knows better than anyone that life changes, and he likes it that way, and thats why he gives us the spirit, so that if we FOLLOW it, we can roll with the punches of life and actually enjoy it a little too. :)

So there's that,and it really does work, i have really seen over the last 7 months that when i act on the little stuff, i dont have to worry so much about the big stuff. Things just seem to work out. I think that having any sort of attribute, whether it be being courageous, faithful, hardworking, inspired, or WHATEVER, really comes down to making the decision every single day to do so. When life gets tough, smile and know that HEY! At least im not dead! And that makes me happy!

I love you all, youre in my prayers, be good, follow the spirit and choose to have yourselves well, every single day:)

Photos courtesy of Sestra Mills!

- Elder Chezik

Conference in the Czech Republic 10-15-12

 

OH BOY WHAT A WEEK!

So this week was great in the wonderful city of Ostrava! We watch conference here a week later so we just watched it yesterday, it was sooooo sweet! Elder Hollands talk was AWESOME! And mission age getting lowered?! WOOOOOOHOOOO! Get ready Union ward young men! Yeah buddy!
So yeah, we had alot of way cool stuff go on, but mostly just a ton of little miracles. One way cool thing about being a missionary isnt necessasarily seeing afew insane huge ridiculous miracles, alot of the time its getting to see little miracles and things you wouldnt normally take the time to see. For example, TIMING. Oh boy do i have a testimony of timing, Heavenly Father knows exactly where to be at literally the exact moment, and a matter of afew seconds over the course of a lifetime can determine someones destiny! So its way cool, when you get to see that when youre doing the right thing, using your time right, that everything seems to line up without problem, you make it just in time for your bus, or even, you MISS your bus, and meet someone awesome when youre walking because of it. Heavenly Father has timing down to a perfect system, and if we want to slow down and back up like president monson says, and look, we can see that thousands of tiny moments end up being a whole miracle. Its pretty cool. So time for missionaries is important, but for everyone else, its just as important, time isnt something you can save, it doesnt work like that, everybody has a certain amount of time, and we can only ever spend it, we have to spend it somehow, so why not GET SOMETHING for it? It wouldnt make any sense to go spend 10 thousand dollars on used diapers, would it? Then why would we spend ten thousand moments on doing nothing of value? Its really funny when we think of all the times we complain, even if only for 5 seconds, and add those al up to litteral hours, days or years of time we could spend in a better way, sleeping, reading, on vacation, or even spending that with the ones we love the most. Im not trying to get preachey or anything, but im just trying to say that this time is a time for us to prepare to meet god, it already has a purpose in how we spend it, but heavenly father lets us pick the way. So we need to take a step back, look, evaluate, and choose our next move, and i know that as we do that, we can see the miracles, we can make the good choices of how we use our time, and we can truly look back after, and be happy with the purchase we've made of how we\ve spent our time.
So be FRUGAL! USE IT WELL! I love you all and pray for all you

More Ostrava Miracles 10-1-12

 

TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII YO WHAT A WEEK IS OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSTRAVA!

So this week was pretty insane! We worked our TAILS off and saw some AMAZING miracles because of it! So I dont even know where to start, hmm how about last monday, oh yeah so we met this awesome kid from Belarus on last Sunday, and met with him again on Monday and Tuesday, and he's WAY awesome and way solid. After that we just happened to be contacting out on the Namesti and we saw this guy playing awesome accordion versions of john williams songs (raiders of the lost ark, star wars, the works!) and so of course, we had to talk to him, after we did, we found out he already knew a mormon "his name is mills" he said, Elder MIlls! As in the elder mills of elder and sister mills, our senior couple here in ostrava, who had contacted him the day before in the subway. Anyways, this man said he believed that God didnt love him, and the mills bore testimony that he DID love them, and gave them his card, and then we found him the next day. So he said "i think god is trying to tell me something." YEAH HE IS! So yeah, we agreed to meet with him at the mills the nex day, we had a nice lesson with him, gave him a polish book of mormon, and sent him home on back to warsaw (he was polish here on holiday). with a smile on his face and new hope in his heart.

We also met with that awesome lady from the tram again and shes amazing still, and still meeting with us. And on sunday, we started teaching these two WONDERFUL little boys who are the sons of one of our members, they are 8 and 11 and have ALOT of energy, but so do we so its great!

SO This week, we worked hard, asked for help, and got some MIRACLES. Thats they way the Lord works, its a mysterious way, but one of the coolest things ive ever seen. Im so glad i can be here and so grateful to be doing this every day, and i LOVE this work. Im soooo glad President Monson said, EVERY YOUNG MAN, and i listened. If you ever hesisitate to do what the prophet asks, smack yourself and remember how great a blessing it is to have a prophet, and follow what he says.

 

I love you all, keep yourselves well, may the lord bless you,
-Elder Chezik

Ostrava Miracles 9-24-12

 

OH WHAT A WEEK IN OOOOOSTRAVA!

So ostrava is pretty crazy, WAAAAY different than Liberec in almost everyway except for it still being in the Czech Republic, and its on the border, so it barely is haha
But anyways, its great here, no mom we dont have wards in t he mission yet because you dont get a ward until you have a stake, and we definantly dont have a stake yet, But we get about 80 to 100 people to church a week, it feels way awkward for me because im used to MUCH less now. But theres that, ostrava is way big and its strange how long it takes to get everywhere comparitively, but altogether wonderful. We have an amazing senior couple, The Mills, and theyre from North Logan Utah, but no, they dont know grandma, but yeah, the'yre awesome, they work SO HARD, its sweet! I've attached some pictures too.Everything is waaaay cheap in ostrava for some reason, and so ive been buying stuff ive been holding out for, like sweaters and ties and stuff, because they each cost like 2 bucks here. So yeah, this week has been way cool, and Elder Hansen and I have been seeing some sweet miracles. H'es from houston, buth has broken himself of his texas twang, but will still do it sometimes if I ask him to, and I'm getting pretty good at mine. All over we're just a couple of goofballs and we have a really good time.

So this week was all about hope!
In Preach My Gospel in the christlike atrributes section, under hope it says, "When you have hope you are able to work through trials and difficulties with the confidence and assurance that ALL THINGS will work together for your good." So, if you miss your train, if your tram is late, if theres construction in the city center so you have to walk, its okay! Because heavenly father is smart enough to figure it all out where and when you need to be. So that was pretty cool as a thought, but it really does work, and in action, it was A MIRACLE. So on monday, we called a former investigator and set up to meet, which was great, but there was construction so our bus didnt go so we had to call and cancel, so that was a bummer, BUT since Heavenly Father knows whats up, we figured itd all end up well. So we got on a tram with the mills, our awesome senior couple, and were on our way to the english class we teach, and i saw a lady in her mid 30s who i wanted to contact, but i had to call and cancel that lesson, so i did that instead, in english, because the guy is from new zealand or something. So anyways, after we get off the tram and go to english, and that SAME LADY who i wanted to contact comes in and sits down with the other students, So I thought, "Aha! thats why i wanted to contact you, youre and english student!" so throughout the lesson she was awesome and cracked jokes and laughed and spoke great english, and afterward i went up and talked to her, turns out it was her first ever time at english class, she said "im here because of YOUR english! I saw you on the tram, and i heard you speak english, and i had a thought that i should follow you, but then i thought ""no! thats weird"" and i didnt want to, but a voice from heaven told me that i needed to follow you, so i did, and you came here, and that is the BEST english lesson ive ever had! I feel SO GOOD and I am SO GLAD I listened to that voice from heaven!" So we are going to start teaching her this week. If we hadnt had to take that tram, and cancel that appointment we wouldnt have met her, and she wouldnt have found us. Oh by the way, she had been to english one time ten years ago in a different city and has been looking for missionaries in Ostrava ever since. So, all things working together for our good? I certainly think so, and i get to see it every single day, and i know its true. And i love it.

(on a train at 5am)

- Elder Chezik

Transfer Ostrava 9-17-12

Well so its transfer week, and USUALLY that would mean we wait till Wednesday to have pday, BUT for some fun and insane reason, transfers are today! And im in............................................................................................ Ostrava! One of the biggest cities in the czech republic, with 3 missionary companionships and a senior couple! Insane! Oh no big deal, this is just the city President Uctdorf was born in, Pretty sweet.

My new companion is Elder Hansen, he's from Texas, Houston, Texas. He's also one transfer ahead of me in the mission, and has served in Moravia his whole mission thus far, which is funny, because thats me with Bohemia. Anyways, he seems pretty great, although i have been with him for about an hour, and Ostrava is on the other side of the country, so i got to wake up at 5:30 this morning and got here on a train at 2. WOOOP!

 

goodbye to everyone in our branch yesterday, and theBayarovi too, and Oyunuyas parents too!

So my last week in Liberec was great, we had alot of success and did alot of good work, and i said also i had to pack SUPER FAST, because we packed our Sunday full of meetings so we wouldn't think about transfers so we had no time to pack, but we also went to this SWEET little village outside Liberec for an appt., and it is ALL preserved from communism and Hitler and stuff, so the kostel (catholic cathedral) is actually Bohemian style and they have sweet monuments to patron saints and stuff, so i got some pictures, and yeah, it was a pretty great week,

 

I dont know too much what to say this week, because it was just a blur, but it was great, and now im in ostrava, and im happy and tired. So i think that will conclude my weekly report, and I will talk to all you in about a week!

-much love, Elder Chezik

How You Doing Family and Friends? 9-10-12

 

JAK SE DAŘÍ RODINO A KAMARADI?! (Title is a rough translation)

Everything here is wooooooooooonderful as always, and of course a bunch of craziness has happened. So this next week is going to be the last week of the transfer, which means its possible i'll be leaving Liberec, and we had our last District meeting that was in Liberec the other day, so that was a little nostalgic. But all together, we're all really stoked to run to the finish of this transfer, the last week = crazy miracle week. Pretty Sweet. 

So yeah, we had exchanges this week, and Elder Burton (who serves in Jicin) and i were together in Liberec, hes a new missionary, this is his first transfer, so it was pretty fun to teach lessons and contact people together, it was like taking of the training wheels for me, and for him it was like getting a really sketchy pair of training wheels from california. So we had a bunch of fun with that, and had a HUGE amount of progress with one of our investigators who is ten years old, and hasnt been baptized yet, his name is Matous and he's really cool, but for some reason has fears of baptism, we love him alot, and have been trying really hard to work with him and for some reason it all just clicked on the exchange, and he committed to be baptized, (a little grudgingly, but hey, its progress) and we gave him a date yesterday and a SWEET baptismal calendar that we made him (it has legos, Harry Potter, and the battle of Hoth from Empire Strikes back on it, oh and the book of mormon too!) So that was way sweet for us and for him.

 

So yeah, umm, the branch is doing wonderfully, everyone is super happy and a ton of people have gotten more active, so we're counting our blessings with that. Also, we have been becoming better cooks, so that makes us alot happier too! Yesterday i made like PICTURE PERFECT pancakes from scratch, like out of an ihop add or something, pretty boss!

 

Also, i discovered that indian food is FANTASTIC, except for the fact that my butter chicken curry stained by teeth orange for the next 3 hours. (see attached picture of me in front of the town hall) so yeah!

Everythings great. im happy, havent bought very much of anything yet but, we'll see what the future holds!
-Elder Chezik

Ridiculousness

What a week!
And the ridiculousness does not cease to continue!

We have been working a ton and seeing alot of cool stuff going down, and looking forward to more. We are constantly all over the place and doing everything, and then BAM! Its pday and we§re sitting in the internet cafe just dazed that its monday again already. Hmm, so some cool things that happened this week, we FINALLY got a meeting in with a less active who we§ve been trying to for the entire transfer, we called him every single day straight for 22 days and visited his place like 5 times and finally got him, MUAHAHAHA! So thats pretty cool, we§re hoping to help him get back to full actvity, since the branch really needs some strong members. Tomorrow we have specialized training in Prague again, and we§ll have exchanges after that with the Zone Leaders, which should be pretty fun, because i LOVE Pardubice, which is their city. So yeah, hmmmmm I got a ton of mail on Monday last week while i was in Prague, so thank you everyone who wrote, and you'll get some mail back shortly. Oh, something funny that happened this week. So we were out with the Branch list trying to find where all the lessactive members live, because in europe it really is a search because they have like NO street organization, anyways, we were in Jablonec, which is a suburbs of Liberec, and we found the Apartment building where one of them lived, and there was a sign that had a cartoon of a missionary on it, he had a tag and everything and it said, "NO RELIGIOUS SALESPEOPLE!" A rough translation, but pretty dang funny nonetheless, which explained why everyone around the building looked at us really weird. So that was fun.

We have some awesome new potential investigators, who seem really cool, so we§re pretty stoked for this next week.

 Oh, an update on The Bayarovi, or the Bayara family, they are doing AMAZING, Oyuntuya is veeeeeeerrrrrry pregnant, but still very sweet and happy, Bayara is still funny as can be, and we had a ton of fun at sports night with him speaking english, because he wants to learn, suuper funny, although he§s a little crestfallen, because he really wanted a boy, and the new baby will be a girl.Also Nandka, their daughter, is still super hilarious and cute and loves "MIIIICKEY MOUSE!" Super funny, she runs around speaking rapid mongolian and has no idea we dont know what shes saying, or she just doesnt care, and shes everyones best friend within 2 minutes of meeting them, even with the language barrier. Awesome little family.
So all over im doing very well, elder spencer and i have alot of fun being goofy together, so hopefully, i can attach a video we made the other night when we had extra time after planning.  (Sorry kids, the video didn't come through).

Food in Liberec

What a week in the most wonderful place in the world!

So this week, as always has been crazy, always interesting though. We have been working our faces off out here, and the branch is doing really well. We are also having a ton of fun, along with all our work though, so don't think I have gone completely crazy. All over things are doing very well, and we're very happy, we worked alot to find some more people to teach this week, because our teaching pool is really small, so we're getting after that, and working alot with the branch, and seeing great stuff. We have a new small, young family we're teaching and they seem really promising, and we keep meeting alot of good people, so thats really cool. We always are everywhere in our area which is about a 3 hour car ride across and 2 hours up and down so thats cool. It would be great if we had a car but, we'll have one when we get a stake in the next few years.

Hmm, thats mostly whats going on as far as the work is concerned, in an unrelated note, we went out with the elders from Jicin on Tuesday for district lunch to this italian place in Liberec and just ordered a calzone, something small, you know? So we also got other sides and stuff with it and they brought it out and BAM! They bring out the world record holding calzone! The thing was like twice the size of my head! Elder Clyde and I were very suprised and a little frightened, (see attached pictures) so yeah, it was amazing, but even the four of us couldn't finish everything,

After that, the other night we had an investigator give us a ton of bluberries, and we had to figure out what to do with them, because they were wild and a little bitter, so we made pancakes and syrup with them, but they were SUPER juicy, so we ended up having PURPLE PANCAKES, pretty crazy, (also see attached pictures) so this was alot of an adventures in food week.

So theres that! Everyone be good, im seeing miracles, I just can't right all of them on here, have fun, be safe, talk to you next week!

-Elder Chezik

Challenge from the Czech Republic

What a week in the land of my forefathers!

We are doing very well this week, really focusing on trying to help out the branch here in Liberec as much as possible and trying to help our investigators to continue progressing. We had sweet specialized training in Prague on Thursday, and that was really great for us, always gets you stoked to do some more work! We have been all over the place, as always, but are really starting to see alot of great things happening, and from what the general authorities who have been here in the last few months have said, and from what we are all feeling, something BIG is coming. SUPER stoked for that.

An update on Oyuntuya and Bayara, or in Czech "Bayarovi" or the bayara family, they are doing fantastic! Coming to church and now Oyuntuya is our music coordinator, its pretty great! Also Oyuntuya is going to be having another baby girl in October, so Nanda will have a little sister! Pretty sweet to be able to still see them every week.

Anyways, all here is well.

So i have been thinking alot about the lack of member participation in missionary work comparitively at home, so if everyone could do me AND themselves AND the missionaries AND the Lord a favor, and heed the following advice, that would be fantastic. Give the missionaries one night a month to go teach with them. If every active member did that, they would have at least 250 people to teach with everymonth, which breaks down to about 60 a week, and about 8 a day. Even if only half of them did it thats 4 a day, every single day, which is INSANELY HIGH. The missionaries NEED members at their lessons. It says in Preach my gospel that that is the best way to get strong members, build the church, and see real growth. SO please give them one night a month. Its the least you can do, PLUS you will actually be fulfilling your baptismal covenant to assist in building the kingdom. So thats kindof important, right? Sorry for my nonmember friends reading this, that entire tangent will not make any sense to you, but it needed to be said.

I'm doing well overall. I ate McDonalds the other day for the first time in almost 5 months. It was glorious. See attached picture.

Also, Elder Spencer and I found a colony of the worlds smallest frogs while waiting for a bus from an appt. PRETTY COOL. Again, see attached picture.

Thats all I've got to say this week,

Much love, Na Shledanou!
-Elder Chezik

First Transfer - Still loving life in Liberec

SO THIS WEEK IS INSANE!
President Irwin is reeeealllly mixing things up. We now have sisters in Slovakia! For the first time! Theyre Sister Izatt, who was formerly in my district and is FANTASTIC and Sister Pysnakova, who I think Kimi knows, NUTS! Also, Zvolen, a city in Slovakia was just opened. CRAZY! So yeah, however, things on my side are pretty boring. Im still in Liberec, which dont get me wrong is fantastic, but its not opening slovakia or anything. But, since Sister Izatt left for Slovakia, and her companion Sister Dolinar left for Brno, that left us without any sisters in Jicin, so of course, Prezident sends elders there, one of whom is a new missionary, and he blinds his trainer into an area that was exclusively Sisters for the last7 transfers. NUTS.

However, the mission is extremely unified now, because everyone is going everywhere! Oh, also, I am being followup trained by Elder Spencer, who is from St George Utah and trained elder Eliason in Olomouc, and Elder Plaizier is now in Olomouc, follow-up training Elder Eliason. Crazy.

But yeah, this week has been crazy, our investigators are great, but I cant give too much detail on them, but we dont have any baptisms scheduled for a month and a bit. Our Branch is doing wonderfully, though they might go through withdrawls about losing Elder Plaizier, since he was here for 6 months! But yeah, we have about 25 people come each week, and we're trying to make it grow, but we know it will. I still haven't bought a guitar, though I really have been meaning to.

Eh, yeah. so we went over to the Brandovi familys house for dinner the other day, and played with their sons with dinosaurs, and took some pictures, And we met this awesome family from Germany who are in the church up there, it was great.

We didn't double our numbers, but we matched the best numbers ever put out in Liberec in most key indicators, pretty sweet. So basically, EVERYTHING has changed, but nothing has, thus is life. Elder Plaizier says thats eternal progression, I say that sounds like bad song from the 80s.

I love you all, keep writing, thank you again, Happy birthday Troy, I know it was Sunday, and your card is in the mail,

Much love from the other side of the world!
- Elder Chezik

9

Loving the crazy weather July 9, 2012

It is always funny to read your letters back and see how much things change from the time i write you, we definantly do not have a baptism this week? Im thinking you mightve been talking about Sister Volakova's, which was scheduled for next week,but we pushed till the 8th of August. So theres that. Haha

Anyways, Hows everybody doing?!
Life in Liberec is FANTASTIC as always, just killing it in the greatest work on earth. Pretty sweet! So it is RIDICULOUS how fast time goes. This week is the last week of the transfer, which means i have been out for 4 months! AHHHHHHH! Anyways, now that that mini heart attack is through,  things are great. This week we have a goal to Double every single highest number we have put out this transfer, which means its INSANELY intense. Also, it means we need to be SOOOOOOOOOO obedient to every single mission rule and standard if we want The Lord to hook us up with some help.
So yeah, Our investigators are doing well, as are our members, and we just reactivated a recent convert, and hes super cool! A little sketchy but SUPER cool!

We loooove it here except everyone complains about the weather, just because its a little crazy. We got temperatures of 35 C, which is like 97ish in the daytime, and then INSANE RIDICULOUSLY HUGE AMAZING thunderstorms at night, Pictures are attached from said storms, and the aftermath of complete and utter soakthrough of our clothes (in the attached picture you can tell because my ties is definantly supposed to be blue and white, and is Black and grey from being soaked.)  Also, i found out if you take pictures in a lightning storm, you will get really cool pictures because the camera freaks out, also, youre like 5 times as likely to get hit by lighting. Worth it.

Also, we made pacakes last night and i got bored of traditional mickey mouse pancakes and went for something more original. Thats right, Rooster shaped pancakes.

 

Oh, so it was the 4th of july this last week, my first one outside of the great USA, so we had to celebrate, we ate at the only American restaraunt in liberec and it was interesting to see their thoughts of our cuisine. I got a burger and fries, or, at least thats what i ordered, but i got a burger and potatoes sliced and grilled. (THEY WERE LIKE 9 INCHES LONG!) Pretty cool. Believe it or not, no one there spoke English. Weird. Also, Luckily i have EVERY SINGLE HYMN OR CHILDRENS SONG on that sd card mom sent me, with nothing but those on it. However, for once it was nice because The National Anthem was on it. So theres that.

Hmm, last week we went to one of the biggest attractions in liberec and took a picture by it. You will see it in the attached picture. P.S. if youre not lds and reading this, it will make NO sense to you why the picture is funny. 

 

Keep being good everyone, thank you for writing me, keep it up please.

All the love i have, and the blessing of a missionary in the best mission of the world be upon you,

Na Shledanou,
Štarší Robert Čížek

Blessings and Miracles

p.s. the picture where the are in a line is the progression back from Americanization!

NAAAAAAAAAZDAR FAMILY AND FRIENDS!

Just another WONDERFUL week in the biggest little country in the world!

So what happened this week? LOTS, but can I remember any of it? BARELY! But that's what happens when you have a 16 hour work day EVERY DAY. Luckily I have my journal. So we got two new investigators this week, super cool guys, ones 30 and the others like 40, the gospel will DEFINANTLY bless their lives.

I got my Czech Tags! Hooray! Note the attached picture, No, i do not have a hoarding problem.

Also, this week we met with Pani Volakova, this WONDERFUL older lady. Did I ever tell you all about her? (p.s. sometimes I feel like a narrarator at the beginning of a movie or something in these letters) So Elder Plaizier found Pani Volakova on a bus to Jicin on the way to district meeting a week before i came into Liberec. She talked with him and he gave her a passalong card and she asked if he had a pen so she could write down her address and number so we could come visit her. So yeah, that night, we got a call. IT WAS HER! She said, "hey, I stole your pen, I'M SO SORRY." he said, "It's okay you can keep it," she said, "No like I want to give it back to you, I feel really bad, it says on your card you have church tomorrow, can I come there?" so of course Elder Plaizier is like "HECK YES!" AND SHE CAME! And she's come since and we've been teaching her for about 7 weeks now, and she has a baptismal date. PRETTY COOL. Also, I accidentally agreed to baptize her in our 4th meeting, because I was kindof zoning out in the lesson, and she looked at me and asked me " you can baptise me, right?" I didn't understand, and when I don't understand i generally just say " 'no, 'no " which in Czech means yes, yes. So I accidentally agreed. We hoped she would forget, but we met with her on Saturday and she made it clear I would be baptizing her. But we know it's probably just because she feels like I won't let her drown because I'm the biggest. Haha
So yeah, theres THAT miracle!
We have lots.

FRIENDS OF MINE. EMAIL ME PLEASE. Thought I'd throw that one in there.

Hmmm, Oyuntuya just got a calling as Chorister for the branch and Bayara is now 1st counselour in the Elders Quorum presidency. Pretty awesome! Any questions from anyone? Glad to answer them.

Anyways, much love and I'll talk to you all later!
Elder Chezik

Father's Day

Nazdar!

Soooo this week has been very interesting, not too much happened on here, but I had about 5 people tell me how my mom was having a heart attack that she didn't write me last week and how sorry she was, SARCASM mother. I am very sarcastic.

AAAAnyways, missionary life is wonderful as always, this week is week 6, which in a normal mission would be the end of transfers, however, in the BEST mission in the world, we have 9 week transfers, so thats whats up.

 

Hmmmmm, what else, I got some pretty sweet landscape pictures because this week, like all weeks here, was absolutely flipping gorgeous. Also, we do ALOT of walking, so I have alot of picture opportunities.

Hmm, my czech is pretty good for how long I've been out, but blbost overall, I wish it was better. Everyone seems to be doing well I see, glad for that. So I might be buying a guitar. Mostly because they're super cheap here and also, we had a training about using your talents as finding ideas, and we live in a college city, so lots of progressive thinkers, so this week when we're contacting, we're gonna be sampling to see what the demand for guitar and piano lessons is. Elder Plaizier is an EXCELLENT pianist. So I might get a guitar. If so, please don't send me anything for Christmas or my birthday mom, shipping would be like 50 bucks, which is like a guitar price here, so I can just get myself something.

Hmmm, what else, thank you everyone who is emailing. Unfortunately, if you are emailing me and not family, I can't email you back but i can paperwrite you, and you can email me. So keep it up, and the letters on its way!

As for new things happening, there's not a ton. Our investigators are progressing well, though I'm not supposed to give too much detail on that.

Oh to answer your question about how people know us out here, at least in Liberec, not many people have even heard of us. Most people here are atheist and if they're not, 9 times out of ten they're non-practicing Catholic. We are one of the only Protestant churches here, and the ONLY one who has Christ's name in its, so usually we just sayy we're from the church of Jesus Christ and point to our tags. We get shot down alot, but generally we laugh it off because some people here are characters.

So everything is going well, I'm a missionary, just like I've always wanted, and I haven't got hit by a bus yet or found out I have a flesh eating bacteria or anything, so overall I'm doing wonderful.

-much love, Starší Čížek 

Mom's first fail... sigh

Doooooooooooobry Den!
Well, seeing as i have NO IDEA what is going on at home this week, because of the lack of letters received from mom and dad, i guess i shall talk about MY week.

Hmm, so on Tuesday I almost had to deck a drunk bum named Sergie, (the only reason I know his name is that he kept repeating "My name is Sergie" (in czech of course) So it started because he gave us each a bus ticket, so we said thank you, and introduced ourselves, and when he shook MY hand he didn't let go. He proceeded to profess his love for me to Elder Plaizier and pedestrian passers-by, after which he then started shouting to people that we were Jesus Christ, or something to that effect, and finished up by grabbing my arm with both hands as tight as he could. We were late for a dinner appt, so I told him we had to go and he said, "nooooooo don't leave me", so I shook him off and we began to walk away, he then chased us, and elder plaizier started to jog, so I followed. So that was Sergie.

Hmm, we had a sweeet training on Wednesday about how a mission is forever and watched a Jeffery R Holland talk. WHAT A SPEAKER. Also, did I mention that his son, Gordon B Hinckley's grandson, D todd Chrsitofferson's son, ALL served here? Oh and that President Uchtdorf was born in Ostrava and Elder Bednar's family is from Slovakia? So yeah, we're pretty well connected.(p.s. if you're my non-lds friends reading this, you  will have NO IDEA what that means, but its okay)

Hmmm, what else happened.........
We went to Prague, AGAIN. And we're going again next week, AGAIN. Its great but I loooove Liberec. I'll attach some pictures of Liberec.

Hmm, it would be FANATASTIC if I could get a ukelele chord chart PDF emailed to me, also a picture of a čížek. 

This week was good, but SO fast, on Wednsday I'll will have been in country for a month. WEIRD.
Hmm, I'll also attach a picture of Elder Plaizier, My wonderful, patient trainer who I'm sure I drive insane :)

Much Love!
-St Chezik

First Baptism! June 4, 2013

Dobrý den rodini!

Well, hmmm this week was, well....
AMAZING!

Oyuntuya was baptized, Nan'da (their daughter) was blessed, and i learned TONS!
So to start off, first things first. This week was crazy. We were ALL OVER the west of the country all week. I was in 4 cities this week, and Prague TWICE! District meeting in Jičín, specialized training in Prague and then Exchanges with the zone leaders in Paradubice! AND then Prague again for the baptism! Crazy bananas I tell you, crazy. AND we dont have a car, so we ride buses alot and the people here drive like they're flippin driving the Knight Bus in Harry Potter or something! But its exciting, what can I say. Speaking of Harry Potter, that lesson with Harry Potter Plan of Salvation, not so good, so no more H.P. :( but its okay! This week I have a toonnn of pictures to send, some are of the exchange with Elder Egger, (he's Austrian) some are of random nonsense, and some are of the BAPTISM!

Bytheway, I forgot my razor for the exchange and in the past 3 months have started to grow facial hair like a flippin Bulgarian! So, if it looks like I have a goatee, well, thats why. SO the exchange, was pretty cool because Elder Egger has a guitar so i got play again for a bit, (HOORAY) but also we were teaching a guy in our English class and we practiced asking people about where they're from and he told me our last name isn't Čežík its ČÍŽEK! Apparently, in the czech republic its suuuper duper common, its like the Mitchell of the Czech Republic. Also I found out that a čížek is a type of bird like a sparrow, and that theres a song about them, which of course I'm learning. Also I figured out how to decline our name into the different modes, OH I never explained that. So with Czech names, only the men keep the real last name, the women take the name and add ova, and for the family, you add ovi. BUT our name is special because it has a fleeing e so Mom's name would be Carolyn Čížková and ¨we are the Čížkovi. PRETTY COOL, RIGHT?? i THINK SO! So if somebody could google ČÍŽEK for me and send me a picture of one, that would be sweet.

Glad to hear everyone is doing well, and feel free to tell tom ill be happy to take that old jeep off his hands when i get home. haha This week should be good, we have more training in Prague on Wednesday, and that means I get to see all my mtc group again for the first time in 3 weeks! Exciting.

Well, thank you for writing me everyone, Be good, ill see you in about 22 months and a week, muahahaha,

Much Love, Starší Čížek

(ps the caption for the last picture is "P850X?!?!?!?!? THAT WILL GET YOU WAAAAY MORE PUMPED THAN P90X!")

May 26, 2012 Liberec, Czech Republic

What a week in the Czech Republic!
We are working our little fannies off out here! So we have one of the smallest branches in the country, (hence us being a two man city) anyways, we are one of the smallest, but not for long! So Oyuntuya is being baptized on Saturday, AND ELDER PLAIZIER BAPTIZING HER! Apparently, Bayara told us he was going to and then they thought about it, and they just knew that Elder Plaizier should do it. Pretty legit. He was suuuuper reluctant to accept though, because he is alot more humble than me, haha. Anyways, we see miracles every single day here. Its suuuuper weird to think that Matty and Amy are already married! Buuuut oh well. SO we have this investigator named Matouš, who is nine years old and refuses to get baptized and when we ask him why he just says, "just because". Hes kindof a stinker, BUT i finally got him with something! He has a very short attention span BUT i found out he loves Harry Potter. So guess who is teaching the Plan of Salvation with Harry Potter refrences throughout, THATS RIGHT, THIS ELDER. HA! I knew all of my random knowledge of Harry Potter facts would come in handy some day! Also, i got to look at the books in Czech, SUUUPER cool. Hmm what else, oh we are all over the place this week, going to prague TWICE for specialized training and the baptism and also going to Jičin for District meeting AND going on exchanges in Třebič, not that any of you know where ANY of that is, but suffice it to say, i am gonna be traveling ALOT and Liberec is in the very north of the country, next to Germany and Poland. SUPER cool. Im super stoked to stay here for a bit if Elder Plaizier leaves at transfers, which he PROBALY will seeing as hes in his 3rd transfer here, but he is also 2nd counselour in the branch so theres that. Also, apparently Prezident sometimes likes to mix it up and have missionaries followup train each other, so if that happened to me and Elder Plaizier left I would be the district leader out here, AHH! That would be sooooooo much work, I dont know how elder Plaizier does it. Anyways, i hope everyone is enjoying lide, THANK YOU for the emails, please keep them up.
Much love Dawgs,
-Starší Chezik

First P-Day in Czech Republic May 21, 2012

Send e-mails to robert.chezik@myldsmail.net - remember to include your home address so he can write back.

Hard copy letters can be sent to:

Církev Ježíše Krista Svatých Posledních Dnů

Elder Robert Chezik

Badeniho 1

160 00 Praha 6

Czech Republic

P-DAY WOOP!
So our pday here is monday whihch is super duper nice and i loooooove pdays here. I found out I can have musical instruments so im gonna go buy a ukelele today (guitars are too big and too distracting for me, i decided) MAN this city is legit! We are a prettz small operation, seeing as its just me and Elder Plaizier but we still do crazy work! We have a baptism on the 2nd, An awesome young lady named Oyuntuya. Guess what language shes speaks? WRONG! Mongolian. Her and her baby and her husband and his mom immigrated like 3 years ago. They are THE COOLEST FAMILY EVER, Bayara (her husband) has been in the church forever and so has his Mom, but Oyuntuya just started taking the lessons like 6 weeks ago. SUPER SOLID. We teach her over Skype with Bayaras brother (who until yesterday was a missionary in mongolia) Mongolian is crazy! It makes Czech sound SUPER easy, but its not haha. We have a bunch of other investigators too, but theyre the coolest haha.
Hmm what else, Oh yeah! How was the wedding?? I want details and pictures ya punks!

Dad, just like i told you before i left, we shower EVERY DAY. I could shower twice if i really wanted to. Also we have a washer in our apartment but no dryer :( Speaking of, i attached some pictures of our views from our apartment and also Halušky, a suuuuper awesome slovak dish. The food here is WONDERFUL, well mostly anyways, and the buildings are suuuper cool. I looooooove all the naměsti, (town squares), they have them ALL OVER here which is totally sweet. Ah man i love being a missionary!
TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO HAVE YET TO WRITE ME, I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND KICK YOU IN THE FOOT. EMAIL A BROTHA WOULD YOU?! plus, everyone should just email me because its like a BILLION times faster. That goes for family too, emailmeeeeeee1
Im doing suuuper well overall, happy as can be and stoked for more teaching. Learning a ton of czech, loving all of the members here (all 15 of them:)), and overall kicking feet and taking names. (p.s. saying kick in the foot is a sister bohne phrase, so we all say it.) I miss you all but DEFINANTLY dont want to see you for another 23 months, p.s. i come home on Vickis birthday 2014 hahaha, looks like we are gonna have 3 parties in 3 days!
Much love, Stay good, read the B.O.M. feed the missionaries, live well, enjoy every second! Youll never get it back!
Nashledanou,
Starší Čežík

P.s.s.s.s. I found a former investigator whos last name is Čížek, WHOA!

Arrived in Czech Republic May 16, 2012

 Ahoj Rodinu!

So i made it! Im here and safe and crazy thankful! Guess where im serving?! Thats Right, Liberec!! Whooop!
This place is SUPER CRAZY! Think of diagon alley but totally modernized stores and stuff there, we have a mcdonalds right across from our apartment. My new companion is Elder Plazier and he is super cool, well actually, i have no idea because I've only known he existed for like 4 hours now. Yesterday we were in Prague which was insane, WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE AND PICTURES DO NO JUSTICE TO THE BEAUTY OF PRAGUE! And Liberec too! (its pronounced LEE-BER-ETS) What a place! Our mission president is super nice, but we havent really had too much time to talk because theyre doing this new program where they throw you in the water and ask if you can swim after, pretty funny actually. So we meet up and do all our interviews and training in two weeks. I am SOOOOO happy to be here, its craziness, the weirdest thing is that EVERYONE speaks czech! I met our branch president, and Liberec i guess is a pretty small branch, so we have about 15 to 25 people there at a time. Send my mail to the prague address, and mom, please post that on FB for me? I dunno overall, im totaly psyched, i tried to attach some pictures, but i dunno if they got there, oh well if not haha
Overall everything is great. I get to teach and english class tomorrow, which should be interesting. SO stoked im doing great, i would love some mail, Czech food is amazing, people are nice, Place is INSANE. Love you all! Talk to you next week!

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Surprise (extra) Letter! May 12, 2012

MUAHaha!
Suprise attack letter! So today we're getting everything ready, and im all packed so they told me i cold email while im doing my laundry. So everything is going awesome all ready to go, apparently i get my passport back kmonday morning and im off from there! Yes i have a phone card and ill be calling, no i havent received any more than the one sd card you send in that encelope, and please dont send it here if you havent sent it already because i wont get it and they dont forward mail. Also, i did receive te package with the snacks and camera, THANK YOU. Amy, if im right youre going through today! Hooray! Dont trip, itll be awesome and really weird at the same time. Im super happy to be leaving the MTC and getting to work, we had a 12 hour long in-field orientation seminar yesterday which was SUPER boring because all they talked about the whole time was baptisms and that theyre how you can track your success as a missionary. Pretty funny because its completely wrong. And because we had D. Todd Christopherson come on tuesday and tell us the opposite of that. Baptisms mean nothing if they dont stick, and if youre focused on just getting them then youre missing the whole WHY of missionary work. Yes, ill probably have baptisms, but its the people that matter, thats the WHY. Anyways, that was a random tanget, yes ill be calling home on monday, yes probably to people who arent blood, well maybe, i havent really decided yet. Im hoping to serve in Ostrava or Česke Budjovice first but really i dont care too much because EVERY area in the mission is flipping amazing. We have an elder here from the czech republic named Elder Dítě (elder child), he came in the first day we did learning english to go to canada and we've gotten to know him pretty well, he's from Jihlava so it would be super sweet to serve there first and meet his mom. From now on everyone use my praha address please, ill get the mail at least once a month, sometimes twice so itll be cool, also anyone can email me and ill paper mail you back. All is well, i love my mission, cant wait to leave for it, talk to you in a bit,

Nebojte se O tom,

-Starší Čežík

May 7 Last week in MTC! (Week 8)

 Ahoj Rodiný a Kamaradý!

So this week has been pretty cool! mostly because it has gone by so fast! Yes we got our flight plans, and come to think of it, they said you'd be getting them in the mail too. We're leaving the 14th at 8 am for the airport, i assume my visa is in, because otherwise they wouldnt give me my travel plans. Im just super stoked to be able to listen to music again! I wont be able to call home for mothers day, but i do get to call the next day at slc AND chicago for as long as i want. (we have a two hour layover) also im aloowed to call as many people as i want, so youll all probably get your own call, well i actually dont know. eh, whatever. Alls well here, just getting ready to leave, getting everything all packed back up and junk, also, mom, about my vitamins, yes im going to bring them, but i cant leave them out here because elder neumann is in love with those vitamin c ones and will eat them like candy, which i wouldnt mind, except for that he ate 12 in one night and pooped 8 times the next day. (elder probst, his comp, respectfully asked me to hide them from then on). Hmm whats new? OH YEAH! Through much toil and work on my part i beleive i have located the exact small town we are from in the C.R.! Its called Řepeč and is in the southeast C.R. just north of Budweis a.k.a. ceske budjevoice. SO its only 45 miles away from one of our areas so its a huge possiblilty i might be able to visit! You can googleearth it, just type in repec and it should come up. Also, Im pretty sure that my 5th back great grampa's name was Matouš (czech version of matthew,theyre into biblical names) even though on family search it was mathias, because yeah, mathias isnt czech, but Matous is. Also, Dad, did you know that Grampa Romanius had a sister named Mary who only lived 3 days? Pretty crazy stuff. I got to go on family search last night to figure all of this out, and through my best guesswork, im 90% sure we're from Řepeč which would be pretty crazy because if so i could go see the house where Grampa Matous and John J (probably Jan J) lived, because czech never tear down buildngs, its considered wasteful, they just renovate them, so almost every house is at least 100 years old. PRETTY LEGIT. Also, i realize i havent given a huge update on how my czech is coming in awhile. Its Husty (thick, used like cool in the c.r.) Altogether im doing pretty well in it, although cases and mutations of cases make me want to kill someone. BUT I DIGRESS, yes mom, my clothes are fine, though they will be too small for me in about a month or two, but dont worry, Bratr Pearson has taught me some tricks on how to keep them working for me. Today was the last time we'll go to the temple for 23 months which is kinda lame, but oh well. Oh! Amy, have fun when you go through on saturday! Dont trip, the church is true, and youll get used to it haha. Its super weird to only have a week left, but thats SO AWESOME! muahahahaha! Bratr pearson told us to imagine that in a week we'll be sleeping in our apartment in the Czech republic after our first day. WOAH! Also, im gonna send home a TON of pictures from the first day because we'll be in prague all day for a city tour before we meet our trainers, weird stuff! Thank you for the new pictures, im patiently awaiting getting my sweet camera! Thank YOU!!!!! Im so stoked to get it! Anyways, all is well, i promise i wont die on the plane mom.
Love Starší Čežík

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April 30th. Week 7

Ahoj Kamrady A Rodinu!

What a week its been! We heard from our fifth apostle on tuesday, Russel M. Nelson, which was pretty darn cool! Also i have 2 weeks from today and ill be leaving this place! (Elder Gill always called it Spirit Prision lol) Tak yo, Its nice to hear from all of my friends. OH WAIT! I HAVENT HEARD FROM ANYOF YOU! SHAME! Familys doing good work though. Anywho, we're getting more and more anxious to leave as time goes on, especially when Bratr Pearson shows us pictures from home (C.R.), EVERY area there is amazing! They all have cathedrals and castles and crazy landscapes and views. Well, almost all, Zlin (said, ZLEEEEN) is just an industrial town where the only thing thats there is europe's largest shoe factory. And the only thing cool about that is that they have an elevator like outta mario where it rotates around an axis. But, i just wanna get on the dang plane! Thats not impatience bytheway, that is just being anxiously engaged in a good cause. Does somebody wanna send me one of the wedding ties? That way i cant get fresh photoshopped in with my actual pants that dont look like elephant skin anymore? Also, im wondering if you got my reese's box letter, in which i asked for all my ugly ties and some new ones. Also i asked if you could send me one of our super awesome old canon film cameras with all the attachments and film and stuff, that would be AWESOME!!!! Anywho, we cleaned our Residence today and i couldnt believe how much space i have in my bags, so ill probably just leave that black suitcase here. I would enjoy a reply tonight via Dearelder if thats not too much trouble. Katie, that flippin SUCKS about that slab of granite, but i know the Lord'll hook it up, you DO have a missionary out afterall, lol, but seriously, he'll make it all legit, dont trip. Matty and Amy it was nice to hear from you guys, stay good, hold out the last 18 days! Also, can somebody hook an Elder up with some pictures of the kids?!?! Like real ones? I cant print them off a comp here. That would be flippin sweet. Anyways, lots is going on, learning a TON of language but looking forward to learning a TON more when we actually get there. Spiritually doing AWESOME, its super cool here, so thatnk you for those of you who have sent me spiritual quotes and stuff, but i promise, im getting no shortage of that here. Overall things are going quite well, i only left MTC campus once this week, because Elder Simcock had physical therapy for his back, and i got to time him and call him a pansy if he wimped out on his excercises :) muahaha!
I appreciate the love and prayers and i assure you all that youre in mine, we pray ALOT here so i pretty much hit all the people i know with at least a prayer of two a day. (And people who WRITE ME get more)
Love the pictures of the Girls and Austin in the email, go ahead and post those videos, minus the one to the to-be bride and groom, and please send me that camera and ties,

THANK YOU MOMMA! thank you family, thank you friends, thank you ward members, thank you random web stalkers who read my blog for no apparent reason who i dont know, if any random webf stalkers are reading this, i encourage you to read this book, its called the Book of Mormon, you really should, its a great read. If youre interested go to Mormon.org and they should hook you up with a copy.
Nashledanou, Starší Čežík

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Week 6 at MTC - Fun Times

Ahoj rodinu!
Alls well here in the Mtc,3 weeks left! Elder Jones leaves tomorrow for Nagoya, kinda sucks because he's my only family here but oh well. Anyways, glad to hear from Mom and Dad and to see Abby so happy. Its pretty weird having been here for a month and a half already and now switching up our schedule is a pain in the butt! But oh well, the lord will provide. Lots of stuff has happened this week but at the same time very little, we got in a new district who's going to Roseville and Arcadia, but i dont know them as well because im not a ZL anymore. Also we're rapidly learning language as always, but we got told on friday that we need to work harder because when we get comfortable with the language we get lazy and therefore get worse at it, so theres that, CONSTANT VIGILENCE! Anyways, i MAY be able to get a Czech nametag, but i need to talk to President Irwin. Also, today has been pretty legit, we go to the temple at 7:00 am and our day starts super early now. Also i went and got my pants from my suit fixed so they dont look like they belong to gumby anymore. Its super cool because our tailor only charged me 50 cents. Cool, i know! Would someone please send me a package with some dang pictures of anyone in it? I dont have any of mom or tom or vicki and i only have one of Dad and Stephs kids. So that would be much appreciated. Also some hearty food would be good, like more jerky and stuff, but healthy stuff, they only sell junk food in the store and we eat dinner at 4:30 so as you can imagine, we get a LIIIIITLE hungry. Also, Did i tell you all i put on 10 pounds the first two weeks? Yeah! haha
But then i dropped 15 in the 3 after that and i havent weighed in since wednsday. Also i quit soda. Which sometimes SUCKS, but its okay because my double chin has miraculously vanished. Its pretty easy to gain or drop weight here, because they schedule your meal times, sometimes i feel very much like an animal on a farm where you just get herded from place to place. Food is kindof just a break from class, and its nowhere near as fulfilling as the scriptures and Czech. Im super happy im learning a REAL language, not something ridiculous like spanish, which could be a 3 week program really. (lol i just went on a bratr pearson mini-rant) But, its like someone said at a mission conference in the spring last year, "Spanish missionaries learn how to baptize, English missionaries learn the gospel, Czech missionaries walk with God." (Matty, dont worry about it, youre a czech missionary at heart) Anyways, what a crazy month and a half, if i havent written you back, which im pretty sure i've gotten everyone, then im sorry, send me another one and yell at me in it and ill hit you up. Also, i sometimes miss California but then i think of all of my family at home, and by home i mean THE homeland, (C.R.) and i just get super stoked. Also, You'll only get two more letters from me till im in country! wooooop!

In conclusion, remember. faith, hope, charity, and SEND ME SOME FOOD AND LETTERS!
(thats not blasphemy is it?)
-Starší Čežík