In front of a computer sit my companion and I. With Skype open, we are one button-click away from calling a native Slovak who lives in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. She has been instructed to only speak to us in Slovak. We have the notes for our lesson on the desk. My companion and I look at each other one last time, then I click "call." She answers instantly, almost:
"Ahojte, ako sa máte?" she says (Hello, how are you?)
"Máme sa dobre, ďakujeme," I reply (We're doing well, thank you.) My favorite phrases to use are "Nerozumiem" and "Nepočul som to." Those mean "I don't understand" and "I didn't hear that." Then she repeats what she said. Still don't understand. I just nod my head and we move on with the lesson.
"Am I speaking too fast?" she says. Wow, I understood that as if she said it in English! Well, she did. That's how we know we're doing great.
"No," I say.
"Yes," my companion says. The problem isn't the swiftness of her speech, we just don't know the words which she's using. We'll get there one day.
The saying goes as follows: "Obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles." Does exact obedience mean perfection? Nobody is perfect. If one is exactly obedient, then he disregards no rule or commandment. We may not understand each of God's commandments perfectly, but our purpose on Earth is not to understand everything. If that were the case, it would be very hard to pass the test of life. We need only to have faith that God knows better than we do, and each of His commandments are given by reason. Exact obedience doesn't mean perfection, but striving to follow each commandment, then doing better tomorrow.
Day 44 - Thur (8 Mar)
How long can Elder Augenstein convince the new Elder Cottam that he's from Scotland? His accent is spot on, I must say.
Day 45 - Fri (9 Mar)
First Skype lesson with a native Slovak. You know how that went.
Day 48 - Mon (12 Mar)
Polish Elders off to Poland. What a fun group. We've been together at the MTC for 7 weeks, so it's tough to say goodbye. Dovidenia, poľskí misionári.
Pics
1. Slav Squat
2. Zone
3. Slip & Slide on... grass?
4. :D
5. White Handbook Enforcers
6. To je čisté
7. This is pretty cool
8. Have you ever done a back-flip? Neither had I.
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