Week 99: Oops!

I have about 5 minutes to write something. I ran out of time since I was busy PRACTICING THE PIANO, so Mom and Dad can't get mad at me because they've been bugging me to do that for maybe 16 years. Well, all those years finally paid off. 

Quick update, I guess:

I'm training a new missionary, his name is Elder Abbott. You'll hear about how much of a stud he is... next week. 

A father and son came to one of our church meetings and we went to Catholic mass with them that same evening.

That's all, folks. Get lots of sleep tonight.

Week 98: Ešte jedno

Transfer calls are always fun. You find out on Saturday who your next companion and what your next area will be, and then you leave the following Monday. Wednesday night before transfer calls, we figured we could get some juicy details from Prez in advance. Wouldn't be easy, though, so we decided to take a more indirect approach. As an excuse to call him, we thought up a question we could ask about the new missionary handbook. He answered the question very nicely, as expected. 

Elder Clayton: "Well, Prez, thanks for your time, and I don't mean to put more on your plate. I know you have bigger fish to fry."

*awkward silence*

President: "Yeah."

Elder Clayton: "Alrrrighty then, catch you later!"

*phone call ends*

Well, that yielded no results. We called the zone leaders in Hradec Králové to report. 

"How'd it go?" they asked.

"Nothing," said Elder Clayton. "You should call him now and ask the same question. And make sure you use the phrase 'I know you have bigger fish to fry'."

"What did you ask?" they wondered. 

"We asked if we could take the car to do P-day activities," I told them. "He said it's fine, as long as we don't go over our monthly kilometer limit or do anything we're not supposed to."

"I could have told you that," said Elder Mangum. "Anyway, we get home in an hour, so we'll call him then."

"Sounds good." An hour is a long time to wait, so we decided to call him. It didn't go through, so we tried again. Still didn't seem to work, so we tried from Elder Clayton's phone. Then it told us that the line was busy. Oops. Don't know why it didn't say that from MY phone.

Week 97: Veľký mozog

I once mentioned a quiz night that we go to every Wednesday with one of our friends. There we meet up with his friends and compete against other teams in answering questions that test our general knowledge; the winning team gets some sort of prize, but we're only there for the food. And the company. 

Out of the four rounds, you'll find questions like "How many town squares are in Banská Bystrica?" or "What percentage of mass does the sun take up in our solar system?" I don't know why they keep inviting us back, because we know pretty much nothing. Maybe they like us for our looks. 

I do have my golden moments, though. One question was "How many sides has the traffic sign that requires you to come to a complete stop?" You'd think the answer would be obvious, but because they don't have many stop signs in Slovakia and no one on our team had ever driven before, no one knew the answer and so they collectively decided that it's a circle. This was all without my approval. Well, the question was written in Slovak, so it took me a second to catch up, but when I did, I said, "A stop sign? So, that has eight sides."

"Are you sure?" they asked.

"Um... yeah." I had never been so sure and yet at the same time so unsure of anything in my life. It had been a while since I'd seen one of those things and even longer since I'd listened to one. But I stood my ground.

After the round was over, we found out that a stop sign does in fact have eight sides. We got an extra point because of me! I didn't feel too proud, though, because in my mind, it doesn't take a genius us to know something every American should know. Everyone was impressed, though. My friend wrote BIG BRAIN on the test sheet and then drew an arrow pointing at me. You can tell I don't get a lot of these questions right.

***

Missionaries have two sets of funds: mission funds (allowance) and personal funds (to be used for non-missionary purchases). Whenever my semi-monthly allowances come in (not to be mistaken for income), I take all of it out in cash to avoid paying an international transaction fee. Then a couple weeks ago, my mom wrote me out of nowhere something like, "Miles, take out xxx dollars out from your personal funds, I'm closing your bank account." I've never said no to a fat stack of cash before, so I obeyed. 

Well this past week, we had an exchange in Hradec Králové, which is a couple hours worth of driving into the Czech Republic, where they don't use euros. Somewhere along the 6-hour drive, we put 2 and 2 together and realized that despite how loaded we were, we were powerless in the Czech Republic. Did we mooch off of the other elders? Yes. Will they ever be able to use the euro banknote I gave them? Probably.

Weeks 95 and 96: -13 & -12 Lots of Whales

Upon arriving for an exchange in Nitra, which is about an hour away from Bystrica by car, I realized that I had left my nametag at home. Thank goodness Elder Clayton had brought two. We both got to be Elder Clayton for a day. 

***

Have you ever been teaching English to a Slovak, then suddenly he corrects your English? Our good friend (you know, the one whose favorite song is 7-Nation Army) met up with us, and instead of starting off with a card game, we started by talking about the chapter we gave him from the Book of Mormon. After finishing that discussion, he still wanted help with an English assignment, but time had gotten away from us and it was already time for our English class to start. Elder Clayton and I made a quick decision and decided that he would teach our English students while I would help our friend with his assignment in the other room.

Helping my friend included my reading aloud scripts for him so he could answer questions based on the text. I read them in the most manly, actor-like fashion I could muster, except when a woman was supposed to be speaking, then I raised my voice a little. His English must be so advanced, because I myself could hardly understand some of the words in the scripts, yet I somehow knew how to pronounce them, at least as an American would. I was able to pull off an actor's voice quite nicely, nicely enough to convince my friend that my English is well above average, I think.

"Hey!" called Elder Clayton from the other room. "How do you spell the country that borders England just to the left?"

I shouted: "W-H-A-L-E-S"

My friend looked at me in shocked dismay. "No," he shook his head. "That's a big fish!" He proceeded to spell it the correct way to Elder Clayton. My credibility has taken a hit. Oof.

Testimony and Conversion

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we strive to learn the truth of things for ourselves while relying on faith to help us make it through until we get there. For now, none of us knows everything, so faith is important for each of us. A testimony is how you know something is true. I, for example, know that flossing your teeth helps keep them straight. A testimony of a principle becomes personal for you when you have experiences with it. Have you seen the effects of the principle? What do others testify about it? Have you tried applying the principle to a life situation?

Gaining a testimony of truth is definitely important. Alma taught that "even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it... and its motion... and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator" (Alma 30:44, The Book of Mormon). But even more important is conversion or loyalty to what you know is true. If one isn't willing to be loyal to the truth he learns, it's pretty hard for him to come to the right conclusion and he will likely let himself be dissuaded. There's a lot for me to learn about the conversion process, but from what I know now, it starts with a desire to do and become better by strengthening one's testimony of true principles and faithfully striving to live them, even in the face of adversity. Whether your conversion is like a new tree or a great oak, there's still work to be done and it will take time. Don't give up! You'll thank me later.

Week 94: -14: Ako Maďar

In a past email, I mentioned that some people had mistaken me as a Hungarian because of my accent, which I took as a compliment, because as long as they couldn't recognize any American I was in the clear. But I recently learned that if you want to criticize one's ability to speak Slovak, you can say, "You speak like a Hungarian." But to the Hungarians' defense, their language seems to me much harder than Slovak. 

***

Who would be excited for a new handbook of rules and standards? Only missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After nine years, they finally came out with a new booklet of guidelines to replace the somewhat out-of-date missionary handbook. It's definitely more principle-based and less oriented around rules. 

For example, in the old handbook was written that if we play basketball, we can only play at half-court. This was one way to keep the game from getting competitive, thus avoiding injury or extreme fatigue. However, in the new handbook, we find this guideline: "Play sports in ways that avoid injury and extreme fatigue." Nothing is specifically stated about only playing half-court. 

I think this new approach will help us be more spiritually self-reliant rather than needing to rely on written rules to tell us what is appropriate and what isn't. That being said, not all the rules have been replaced by principles...

***

Sunday happened as it usually does in Banská Bystrica; we forgot to assign talks in advance, so Elder Clayton and I prepared "surprise talks" for the fourth time in a row. They're honestly not much of a surprise at this point. Regardless, we survived again. 

During the second hour, one of our members was talking about how it was her dream to one day serve in the temple. However, because the nearest temple is currently in Germany, she wanted to wait for the one in Budapest to be constructed.

"I'll learn Hungarian so I could serve there," she said. 

"I'll learn it with you!" someone else chimed in.

"But you already speak like a Hungarian," I said. Boom, roasted.

So I have more photos, but they'll have to wait. 

Week 93: -15: Elder Nelson's Hidden Talent

I got to go on an exchange with Elder Nelson, who arrived in Slovakia about three months ago. His Slovak is great for a first-transfer missionary, seriously. I was blown away. During our exchange, we talked about how very super duper important it is to work with members rather than spending most of your time out on the streets talking with random people. 

Did you know? 1/1000 people street-contacted or tracted by missionaries gets baptized. Did you also know? 1/3 referrals from a member gets baptized. Also, retention rate is higher because they already have a friend in the church. Just a fun fact. 

Anyway, I showed Elder Nelson how Elder Clayton and I have been focusing on strengthening and building our relationships with members (a skill that Elder Clayton learned during his two months in the Czech Republic and has brought to Slovakia). Building relationships and doing things with those you are teaching is also a very good use of time. For instance, one person we're teaching invited us to a tea house for trivia night. We went and met some of his friends, who are also really cool and are learning Chinese. Today, we met up with him and one of his friends to play cards. Afterward, the conversation naturally flowed into religion and we got into the history of the church and the Book of Mormon. We gave our new friend a copy of the Book of Mormon and recommended a good chapter. He'll read it and we'll talk about it... when we go on a trip together to Banská Štiavnica next week! Missionary work has never been so fun.

Besides filling your time with useful activities, it's good to talk to people to and from planned events (for example, on a bus to the city). Elder Nelson and I did that. As I was talking to someone on one side of the bus, Elder Nelson struck up a basic conversation with three teenage girls on the other. Being the stud he is, they were way into it. He hadn't yet told them what he was doing in Slovakia as a missionary. 

One said, "Do you have Facebook?" A missionary never has a problem with getting someone's contact. 

While she was looking him up, he thought to himself, After she adds me, I'll tell them I'm a missionary. She couldn't find him, so he gave her his phone so she could find herself. 

For sure, he thought, right when she finds herself, I'll tell them I'm a missionary. She found and added herself on his phone right as the bus stopped. Then at once all three girls jumped off the bus giggling and screaming. 

Oh no, he thought.

The pics of the guy with a beard is Laman from the Book of Mormon videos that have been coming out. They're good templates for memes.

Week 92: -16: Babysitting

If you ask most missionaries whether they've babysat on their mission, they'll likely say no. After all, it is strictly against the rules. That doesn't stop Elder Aillery, though.

President Gehring and his wife were away in Italy at a conference for mission presidents. Meanwhile, I was on an exchange with Elder Webb, who, along with his companion, received an assignment to spend time with President's kids a little every day while he was gone. That evening, we were supposed to take his kids to the cemetery for All Saints' Day, a holiday that has to do with cemeteries and dead people. Well, when it was time to leave for the cemetery, it was cold and raining, so we just stayed at their house. We played some games and made them dinner. Definitely not what I thought I would do as a missionary.

I've mentioned someone that we sometimes play chess with. Can I just tell you how cool he is? He lent me a couple Slovak grammar books for children. Also, he took some of the pictures you'll see this week.

Week 91: -17: The Best 2.08 Years

Arriving at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) three months short of two years ago, I was prepared for some time without some things I knew and loved: EDM music, binge watching TV shows and hanging with friends, just to name a few. I remember lying on the top bunk that night and thinking, "This is great and all, but I have two years of this. How will I make it?"

I still have some time left, but the more it passes, the less I want to go home. I wouldn't trade my mission experience for all the binge watching in the world. I wanted to touch on some things that I have either converted to or strengthened my conviction of on my mission, including time both at the MTC and in Slovakia.

1. Flossing. Not just flossing really thoroughly, but dental hygiene in general. I used to think that brushing your teeth was just that: brushing your teeth. But I've learned that it's less about going through the motions and more about following steps and principles that make for a cleaner, healthier mouth. Is it guaranteed that you will learn this on a mission? No. Did I need to learn this on my mission? No. Should you use a spoon to aid in brushing your teeth? If you don't have a better alternative, yes. 

2. Families. I thought I would miss my family when I left but soon realized that weekly communication was enough for me. It wasn't until later that I learned something very valuable. Missionaries I serve with and around, members of the Church from Slovakia and people I help teach have in a very special way become part of my family. Because I don't have the time or possibility to binge watch, I have no choice but to spend time with them in more meaningful ways. In doing so, our bonds have become strong in a relatively short time. As this has been happening, I've felt a greater desire to go back to America and take individual members of my family on a hike, to the park or just anywhere to spend quality time. 

3. The gospel blesses families. Faith in Jesus Christ is more than just believing that He exists. It includes a belief in Him as the Son of God, the Redeemer of mankind and the Savior of the world. It includes trust that by following His teachings, we can overcome sin, weakness, sorrow and pain, find greater peace and joy and develop stronger relationships. True faith in Christ leads us to change whatever necessary to live more in harmony with His teachings. Such living is not passive, but is active and takes effort; being born into a religious family doesn't guarantee that you'll make the personal effort to have faith and change. I've felt the relief that comes from doing so and I've had more joy with other people as we have done so together. I can only imagine what life-long dedication to this principle would do in a family.

Week 90: -18: HALF — PAST — SIX

Sometime this last week, Elder Clayton asked me who were to give talks this Sunday. My lack of an answer told him that he and I were likely to do so because I hadn't assigned anyone anything.

Sunday morning before church, Elder Clayton sat at the table jotting down some notes about what he'd do for his talk. He finished relatively quickly.

"Are you prepared?" I asked.

"Yeah, totally," he answered.

"What about second hour?"

"We'll wing it!" said a grinning Elder Clayton. Well, alright.

As we hurried out the door to catch our bus, he asked me what I was going to speak on. I still had no idea. 

A half an hour before church started, I found some scriptures and thought of stories related to... I don't know, enduring to the end? Classic. 

Me: "Hey, Elder Clayton, can you play a musical number?" If he could, we wouldn't have to speak for so long. 

Elder Clayton: "I'll think of something."

Church started at 10. It went normally according to the program up to when Elder Clayton spoke. He ended at half past 10. Okay, not bad at all. But now I had to speak for 25 minutes. Just after Elder Clayton finished his talk, he glanced at me and I motioned for him to do his musical number. He gave me the look that says, "I gotchu, fam."

So I forget how long exactly I had to speak for, but I ended at about 10:55, just in time to conclude with a song and prayer. 

After we survived both hours of church, Elder Clayton said, "Oh, I forgot how fun church is in Slovakia!" He had spent the last transfer in Brno, Czech Republic, where the church is a lot more established.

***

During a call with the assistants and the zone leaders from the west zone, we were figuring out who could take what for exchanges in Prague: October 25 or November 1. We said the 25th would not work for us, as the day before was already completely planned (and packed).

Elder Smith (assistant) to us: "When's your latest meeting on the 24th?" 

Me: "At HALF — PAST — SIX." The way I said it was somewhat of an inside joke. 

Elders Webb and Clayton were laughing.

Elder Mangum: "I feel like we're the only ones who don't get it."

Wolfenbarger from offscreen: "No, I get it."

Mangum: "I guess I'M the only one who doesn't get it."

Week 89: -19: Bye-bye!

John, the man we're teaching, was asking us about the organization of the missionary program:

John: "So who is this mission president and what does he do?"

Me: "He's over all the missionaries in the Czech/Slovak Mission. He serves the missionaries, or in other words, he helps and supports them in their missionary efforts."

John: "Is it that American who was here at church with his wife that one Sunday?"

Elder Barton: "No, that was President Dresher. He's the president of the Žilina branch."

John: "So does he 'serve' you, too?"

Me: "Well, he buys us lunch sometimes."

John thought that was a funny answer, but I meant it seriously. 

***

Fun side note, President Gehring has just okayed me to read Sherlock Holmes in Slovak for language study, as long as I keep it to 20 minutes maximum per day.

***

Transfers. Again. Well, we all knew that Elder Barton was going home. On the car ride over to the train station in Žilina, we had a solid, hour-and-a-half talk. We reminisced on the past transfer: what we did, what we learned, and how to move forward.

You know how they say the more inside jokes you have with a person, the better your relationship is? Maybe they don't say that, but Elder Barton and I had a lot of inside jokes with each other. 

Here are a few of my favorite things about Elder Barton:

-During our transfers together, he called home often, pretty much every week. You can call his dad "Mr. Cool." He's given Elder Barton advice that has changed my life.

-Elder Barton loves clean dishes and a clean apartment. We've made this place into a home.

-He always has a clear idea of what he wants and how to get it. 

It's been a great two transfers learning from his strengths. I'll miss this šašo (doofis). Watch out, Sandy, Utah! 

Week 88: -20: The Hassle Zone

In our mission, we have two zones: the west zone and east zone. The west zone consists of most of the Czech Republic (CR) while the east zone has part of the CR and all of Slovakia. This past week, each zone had a zone training. Here on the east, however, because we wanted to reduce travel time for everyone, we split ours into two; one we held in Bratislava and the other in Košice. If you know anything about geography in Slovakia (and I can't imagine who wouldn't), you might know that Bratislava and Košice are just about as far away from one another as they can be.

In preparation for the training, we texted the zone chat on Facebook, encouraging everyone to read in the introduction to Preach My Gospel the section on study journals. We promised that if they came ready to take notes, they would get a lot more out of the training.

First, we had the zone training in Bratislava. Everything was going wonderfully. Something cool we changed was that instead of having someone stand in front of everyone and give a thought from the Missionary Handbook, we had a companionship put on a short skit, illustrating a principle from the handbook.

Finally, after most of the leaders gave their trainings, President got up to give his. To teach a principle about getting our of your comfort zone, he made an analogy about "Comfort Island." He said that on Comfort Island, everything is great (I suppose you could compare it to the Garden of Eden), but there's a catch: on Comfort Island, there is no growth or opportunity to learn. Going farther away from Comfort Island means going into progressively deeper waters, but the farther out you go, the greater the opportunity for growth. The stages are as follows:

-Comfort Island: fun for a little while, but no growth.

-The Hassle Zone: here are water levels up to your knees or waist. The main obstacle here is just the inconvenience of getting off the island. Maybe you'll step on an oddly shaped turtle or something. It's mainly just a hassle. Limited growth is available here. 

-The Fear Zone: here the levels are up to your neck. Perhaps you'll hit a sharp reef. Fear of what could be at this point and beyond. Great opportunity for growth. 

-The Deep Blue Ocean: uh-oh. You can't even feel the ocean floor, but here is the most growth available. Also, whales. 

As he was drawing all of this up on the board, the thought came to my mind of renaming our zone group chat. Genius! I was stuck on deciding between "The Hassle Zone" and "The Fear Zone", but I ultimately settled on the the former. Only one problem: half of the zone hadn't yet had the chance to hear the analogy. So to them, my renaming of the group chat to "The Hassle Zone" would be completely out of context. I did it regardless. 

***

The next day, we were in Košice going through the same program. During his training, President told the analogy of Comfort Island to the eastern half of the east zone and along with that drew the whole diagram. When he wrote "the Hassle Zone" on the board, a quiet "aha!" swept the room and a few heads turned to me and nodded as if to say, "It all makes sense now." Then, continuing with the analogy and completely oblivious to the fact that we named our group chat what we did, President said something to the effect of "I don't like the Hassle Zone at all. Not a huge fan." Maybe the laughter that followed didn't make a lot of sense to him, but it must not have been too distracting, because he continued normally with his training. 

***

This past weekend, General Conference was broadcasted across the world in many different languages. Here, the prophets and apostles address the entire church. We still haven't seen the whole thing, as we don't watch it live (they don't translate it into Slovak that fast.) Maybe some of you remember that a choir from BYU-I sang at General Conference back in 2016 (when I was in it). Rewind to about a year ago: President Pohořelický called to inform me that he found me in that session of General Conference. How did he find me and why was he watching a session from 2016? Turns out, a girl from that choir was going to shortly arrive in this mission, and while President Pohořelický was looking for her, he found me.

When we had our final conference with President Pohořelický, we met as a mission in Štamberk, Czech Republic. The sister who had sung in that choir had written a song and was to perform it at Štamberk. The performance was recorded on the spot. I've included the recording in this email.

Joy to be Loved

In these photos you'll find 1. Charles Bridge in Prague and 2. evidence for my mom that I am committed to this healthy-eating thing. When on an exchange in Prague, we ran to Charles Bridge early in the morning before it was packed with tourists. 

Week 87: -21: Hurrah for Israel

Sitting and waiting for church to start, I was watching our handful of members gradually roll in. 1... 2... 3... 4... nice! Time to start. Just one problem: one of the two members that were supposed to give talks was absent. Uh-oh. And Elder Barton and I decided beforehand that if such would be the case this week, I would be the one to give a backup talk, which I did not have prepared. Bigger uh-oh. But there was hope: that member might walk in late. Let's hold our thumbs ("držme palce" basically means "let's cross our fingers".)

Through the entire first talk, I was paying attention the whole time, but I was also trying to think up what I would talk about for 15 minutes if this member didn't show up. Well, he didn't. As the speaker concluded, I resolved to talk about member-missionary work and had a few stories in mind. What happened next was magic (it was at least *pretty good*.) But I call it magic because I managed to use a scripture, share stories, speak from the heart, and take up all 15 minutes. And it was in Slovak. That's amazing to me because when I was giving my farewell talk before my mission (in English, mind you), even after a lot of preparation (if you consider the night before a lot), I struggled to cover 10 minutes.

I do believe in member-missionary work. Many months before I left on my mission, the missionaries in my home town invited me to teach with them a particular person on a regular basis. That person and I became so close, even to a point that full-time missionaries couldn't reach. For example, we would drive together to and from meetings with the missionaries, bumping to some sweet music. Those are some great memories.

***

Elder Barton and I called the missionaries from Budapest to tell them about someone they should call. When the phone call was coming to a close, an elder on the other side said, "Hurrah for Israel!"

*phone call ended*

Elder Barton: "What does that mean?"

Me: "What?"

Elder Barton: "Her offer is real. Whose offer?"

Me: "No, Elder. Hurrah for Israel!"

Then we had another one of those uncontrollable-laughter moments while saying to each other, "Hurrah for Israel!" or "Her offer is real!"; I couldn't tell which one we were saying.