Month: December 2019

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Pekný Nový Rok!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everybody! We had quite a busy week, but not too much to note. For a quick update:

~The other missionaries here are hopefully going to have someone baptized next week, and we’re all very excited. The man they’ve been teaching is really wonderful.

~I ate traditional Czech Christmas dinner, including carp, řížek (schnitzel), and potato salad.

~I was in the office a lot this week, and also I was sick for a bit, so we didn’t get to meet with too many of our friends, but the meetings we did have were great.

I’ve been reading a lot in the book of Job this week, and I wanted to share just a quick thought from it. Job as a whole is a wonderful book full of powerful statements from a man who had everything, and lost it all. Among the most powerful questions he asks while lamenting his situation is in 14:14 where he cries out, “If a man dies, shall he live again?” He answers his own question later though with the even more powerful, “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.”

Elder O’Barr

Pic 1: Us after going to early morning mass with some friends on Christmas

Pic 2: Prague’s main train station. Fun fact Nadraží is a train station, Nazdraví is what you say after someone sneezes. Don’t mix them up.

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Vítej do Prahy!

I moved to Prague! Right from the get go it was busier than Jihlava, and we were running around most of last week. I’ll include some highlights but I already forgot a lot of what happened.

Goodbye to Jihlava: I found out I was being transferred (moving) to Prague a little early, and so I got to say goodbye to everybody in my last couple days there. There are so many wonderful people in Jihlava and I will certainly miss it. It’s amazing how much a place can come to mean to you after only 4 months.

Office work: There is very little down time in Prague. From the moment the other missionaries met me in the bus station to the moment we crawled into bed, we were running around. We ended up dragging my luggage around half of Prague as we attempted to meet other missionaries coming into Prague and get things ready for the missionaries that were going home. Here in Prague we still do all the normal missionary activities like teaching people about Jesus Christ, teaching English, and doing service. We also are in charge of helping other missionaries get their visas and other important legal documents that allow us to live here. We also have to pick up packages for all the missionaries, and prepare orders for the things they need. It is a lot of fun, but also a lot of work.

I ate snails: That’s pretty much the entire story. I just ate some snails.

There are a lot of other random things that happened, but not much worth its own story. Things truly are amazing here. The work here is hard, but we are seeing success. We’re busy preparing a baptism for right after Christmas. To me it has been amazing to see the changes that some of these people have made in their lives in an attempt to draw closer to Christ. They change their entire way of life, but you can see how much happier, how much more full of purpose and hope for the future they are. Over 2000 years ago, Christ was born so that we could have hope in life. Because He was born, I have hope in my life, and I know that change is always possible. There is an indescribable joy that comes from knowing that I don’t have to be who am I today tomorrow, but I can be something better, and we all can be.

Starší O’Barr

Pic 1: We accidentally ended up going to Prague Castle today. We just wanted to get back and the quickest path was through there. Figured I should take a picture

Pic 2: Just a random street in Prague cause it’s pretty

Pic 3: The early morning fog here is intense. We live in downtown Prague, but you can’t see any of the other buildings.

Pic 4: Eating snails with Elder Webb.

Pic 5: Snails in butter and garlic.

Pic 6: Yum, yum!

Pic 7: Streets of Prague.

Pic 8: (no explanation given).

Pic 9: Christmas package arrived.

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Veselé Vánoce!

It was certainly a good week here in Jihlava. The Christmas markets are hopping, the sun finally shone for a little bit, and we even got to whittle a Christmas tree! We had some struggles while contacting people, but we were able to teach some good lessons.

One HOT Dog: I’m officially on the Pillar of Heroes at BurgerBára cause I ate a spicy hotdog. It was really spicy, but I eat fast. Now my picture is forever on their wall.

Whittling a Christmas tree: We had our branch Christmas party on Thursday! We really tried to get members to invite their friends and family, and a lot of them came! We played some fun games and sang some classic Czech Christmas songs. We also watched the Christ Child, which is a video our church put out about the birth of Jesus Christ. It’s an amazing video and if you haven’t watched it yet, I would highly suggest it. There are few things as powerful as the story of Jesus Christ, and I love the way it is portrayed here. A member bought a little Christmas tree on the town square, and then brought a little stand for us to put it in as well, however when we got there, we found out the base of the tree was way larger than what would fit into the stand. So, in typical Czech fashion, the members grabbed a kitchen knife and went to town. We shaved the base down all the way until it was small enough to fit into the stand. Czech people never cease to amaze me with their determination.

Teaching over texting: Unfortunately, both the people we were normally teaching had things come up in their lives that made it hard/impossible to meet in person, but we weren’t about to let that go. We kept up with texting them both. As they went about doing the things they needed to, we continued to teach over the phone, and one of them is now regularly reading from the Book of Mormon and attending church where he’s living now!

Well, those are all the stories I have for this week. The Christ Child video is truly amazing, it’s worth watching. Also, if you want to add a little Czech to your Christmas celebrations, you should try listening to the Czech carols that they sing here. They’re truly beautiful songs, and it’s always fun because all the Czech people know them and will sing along. They’re ‘Nesem Vám Noviny’ and ‘Narodil se Kristus Pán.’ I promise they’re good songs and you won’t regret listening to them.

-Starší O’Barr

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Happy Thanksgiving Y’all

Well, another week down! Things are going well here in good old Jihlava. Not too much out of the ordinary happened. I’ll put some highlights below. This week, while eating my Thanksgiving dinner, I figured out something I’m incredibly thankful for. I’m so grateful that I dont have to do this alone. I have so many people both back home and here that help support me, my companion, and the missionary work here. I don’t have to get up and face life by myself, but with plenty of friends and family. Even when we feel like we are entirely alone, our loving Heavenly Father and His Son, our Savior, are there and willing to help us. That’s the peace this gospel brings, that we never have to face the world alone.

I bake a pie(?): I have been telling everybody that I was gonna make an absolutely amazing pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, and I wasn’t gonna be made a liar. Wednesday night and Thursday morning I hastily put together a pie using some slightly interesting ingredients and methods. But it was good! It may or may not have been amazing, but it was at least edible.

We get creative with crepes: On Friday we went to Prague to meet with other missionaries and participate in some little workshops. One of the workshops was less of a workshop and more of a baking lesson. Part of it was coming up with a creative photo of the crepes your group made, and I joking suggested we put them on our faces. They took me seriously.

Christmas Markets!: They had a big lighting ceremony and officially opened the Christmas markets here. Not too much to say, but it is certainly pretty, and they have a whole skating rink right in the middle of it. I forgot a picture of the tree, but it’s pretty cool as well.

Pic 1-3: Me, my pie, and my Thanksgiving dinner

Pic 4-5: Fun with crepes

Pic 6: A nativity made out of straw