Category: Prague AP

Čaute všem!

Well, my time in Prague is up again, and I’ll be shipping out tomorrow afternoon for what will probably be the last area of my mission, the beautiful town of České Budějovice. České Budějovice (or C-Bud for short) is a town in south Bohemia, about an hour and half to two hours south of Prague. I am super excited to head down and see it! I am of course sad to leave Prague, especially cause I just told everyone I would be staying in Prague until June. I am also sad to be leaving before things have opened up again, since I don’t get to meet a lot of the people we are teaching here in person, but I will get to swing through Prague on my way back to America, so hopefully I’ll get one last chance to see everyone.

This week we unfortunately didn’t get up to too much exciting. I ended up making another loaf of bread, just to keep things interesting. We had an MLC this week, and then also helped fix a tire on a car here at the mission home. We also got filmed for a video for a local Facebook page here ran by members, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Of course, it will be entirely in Czech, so unless some of you have been secretly studying, none of you will understand what’s going on. But you’ll get to see me, so I hope that’s worth it. That’s all I have for you this week! Enjoy this nasty looking photo of what ended up being a good meal and what is probably my 800th photo of the Vltava river.

S pozdravem,
Starší O’Barr

Jak se vede, kamoši a kamošky?

It is another week here in Prague! I hope you all watched general conference! If you didn’t, I can only recommend. The fact that we have a living prophet is amazing, and we should be taking every opportunity to listen to him. It certainly was another good and inspiring set of broadcasts.

Spring keeps chugging along here in Prague, despite minor setbacks like today’s snow. Luckily for us, the weather was pretty great for our morning run through the city. Prague is absolutely gorgeous in the springtime, and I cannot wait to see it once more. I think it’s just an absolutely fitting time for our Easter celebration. Christ truly is risen, and the reawakening earth testifies of it just as well as I can. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter, and if you’re looking for an opportunity to testify of what you believe, now is the time! Just express your feelings to someone or on Facebook! Let people know about the glorious blessings Christ’s resurrection brings into your life!

Veselé Velikonoce a mějte se hezky!

Starší O’Barr

Čau lidí!

I’m back again! You lucky ducks, I nearly didn’t write one of these, but I found myself a spare minute and so I’ll write something quick. I really wish we had more updates for ya, but things with covid have continued to put a damper on things. We are busy keeping up spirits and trying to stay in contact with our ward. We still have a lot of time to do work on finding new people to teach, and we’re also keeping preoccupied running our Facebook page and giving out copies of the Book of Mormon and the Bible. It ain’t much, but it’s the lot we’ve been given and we’re making the most of it. Probably the most eventful thing that has happened this week was the weather finally cracked and warmed up. We even got to put on shorts again this week for a hike. Keep your eyes posted for some more pics of the places we visit!

If it were possible to choose a favorite part of missionary work, interacting with members of the church would be real high on the list. Your testimony and faithfulness in your service leaves a more lasting impact than just about anything else you can do. I mean it. The details of conversation might leave us, but the love we can feel and see sticks with us. This week we had the opportunity to call some long-time members of the church here in Prague. There is nothing quite like it. These people have given their whole lives to the God that they love, and their lives teach lessons deeper than words can express. I actually can’t quite tie my thoughts together this evening, but know that a life lived right is a most valuable possession.

Ať Bůh Vám všem žehná,
Starší O’Barr

Zdravím vás,

Well boy howdy has it been another week. Things are actually looking a little brighter! Covid restrictions are still in full force here, we’re going on about our 3 month in a row with only essentials open, and it probably won’t let up for another month, but at least the weather is improving! It  only snowed a little bit last week, and this week we should be above freezing the whole time! We are pretty darn excited to see the sun again.

Keeping with the theme of weather, one of the friends of the other missionaries here in Prague was finally baptized on Friday, after a couple months of waiting. As it is currently illegal for people to cross district (county) borders, he was baptized in a pond in a small town. It was just warm enough that the snow was melted by the time they got there. He is a really awesome example, really humble and determined to get baptized, and he does a lot of work helping others who are preparing for baptism.

My companion and I are trying to focus on trying to really solidify our relationships with the people we are teaching, as well as the ward here in Prague. Not being able to go to church really hurts our ability to communicate with the ward, so if you haven’t seen the missionaries where you’re living in a while, you should send them a text! They’ll appreciate it. Not much else has changed here. Prague is gorgeous as always, and I am excited to see the spring weather and all the flowers that pop up.

As always, if you have any questions about missionary work or the things I’m doing, don’t hesitate to contact me! I’m always happy to help. Mějte se krasně, všem, a uvídíme se příště!

S láskou,
Starší O’Barr

Dobrý den, a vítám Vás všem!

Welcome back to another email from everyone’s favorite elder in the Czech Republic! This week was incredibly busy, but also pretty exciting! In case you were wondering, our friend Nikola, the daughter of a local member, did get baptized on Saturday, even with restrictions and craziness. She was so excited for her baptism, and she invited her friend as well, which we were so excited to see! Nikola is only 13, but her testimony has really grown a lot, and it has been awesome to teach her, and to see her share this gospel with her friends. She’s a good example for Elder Nicholls and I.

This week we had to do a lot of procedural administrative stuff regarding the start of the month, which sucked, but it’s all over now! We also got all the way through the first MLC of the transfer, which was fun. The Lord saw fit to give us some nice sunny weather for the end of the week though, which was graciously received. I have missed basking in the sun. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am hyped for summer to be here! Nothing makes you appreciate the summer more than a long winter.

Similarly, nothing makes the bright spots in our lives brighter than some dark spots for comparison. If you feel like you’re facing one of those dark spots right now, please remember that a bright spot is coming. “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so… righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad.” (2 Ne 2:11) Just be sure to don’t lose sight of all the bright spots you’ve already seen, when facing a dark spot.

Mějte krásný týden všem,
Starší O’Barr

Dobré odpoledne bratři a sestry,

It has been quite the week, and if we’re being honest, I have forgotten half of it. But it was a good week! Today marks the start of my 2nd to last transfer, and I am still in Prague. I’m actually about to come up on one whole year here in Prague. Things got crazy for a day or two as the Czech Republic started on another hard-core lockdown, and we had to transfer most people a day or two early. It all worked out in the end.

Our friend’s baptism got pushed back a week, and might get pushed back even further due to covid. We’ll make do though. We are looking at another crazy busy week, but hopefully after that things will settle down for a minute. Today we did get out on a quick walk around the city just to stretch our legs. Take time to be grateful for the little things in life, that’s where God’s hand really is.

Have a good week folks, I’ll catch ya next time,
Elder O’Barr

Sorry folks, I’m fresh out of time, so this will be quick.

We had an amazing zone conference this week, taught some lessons, and hopefully our friend will be getting baptized on Saturday. Enjoy some photos of us climbing some rocks and watching the sunset.

S láskou,
Starší O’Barr

Milé dámy a drazí pánové,

Another cold and snowy week has passed here in Prague. We had a handful meetings this week, Covid is still keeping things relatively tightly shut here. As you can tell from this weeks title, we got ourselves some good American pizza hut. That’s a hot commodity in this part of the world, and I forked over a pretty penny for it. Today we went for a winter walk to one of my favorite places here, Priest Hill, the spot where the Czech and Slovak lands were dedicated for the preaching of the gospel. I also included some pictures of Karlštejn, the castle located right next to Priest Hill.

Mějte se krásně všem!

Starší O’Barr

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Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen,

I’ll try to keep this week’s email nice and short, but it was a pretty exciting week, at least as exciting as it can get given the current Covid restrictions. We are still teaching some, but in the past weeks a few people have decided that baptism is not for them. That is always a tough moment, but baptism is a big decision, and not everyone is ready to make that step. It is the start of a new life, and it does require our all. Fortunately, we do have some other friends here who are really excited to keep learning and possibly get baptized!

One of our friends, who recently decided baptism wasn’t for her, invited us to attend her virtual birthday party! That was a first for me, and so we took the invitation and joined for a little bit to support her and meet some of her friends. I accidentally joined from the wrong account though, which meant my unchangeable name in this meeting was “Assistants to the President.” That caused enough confusion. I also gave myself a haircut one night. I have never cut my own hair before. It definitely could have been worse. It also dumped snow on us this week, which got me hyped as all get out! I do love me some good snow, especially in such a pretty place. Unfortunately, Czechs do not like plowing the roads. My companion has only had to push me a handful of times…

That’s all for now folks, mějte hezký týden!

S láskou,
Starší O’Barr