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!")