Starší O'Barr

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

Čau lídí!

I’m back for another email. I really don’t have too much to say, this week mostly consisted of us sitting inside on our phones or our laptop. That was pretty much the extent of our activities. We did teach a few lessons, we prepped for some upcoming conferences, and we fiddled with some statistics. It really wasn’t bad, I just don’t have much to report on.

This morning we did the legendary Prague run, which takes you to see all of the coolest parts of the city. I was pretty dead by the end of it, hence my face in a few of these photos, but it was really pretty!

Mějte hezký týden, všem!

Starší O’Barr

Zdárec dámy a pánové,

It certainly has been a nice and busy week here, but the kind of busy where I really don’t have much to say. That’s honestly how a lot of work here in Prague is. We had to run some errands, delivering packages and picking up junk from old apartments. We also had another online zone conference, so we got to help (hopefully) train and encourage the other missionaries around the mission. While we were giving our training, however, we selected the wrong option on Zoom, and suddenly couldn’t see anyone anymore! And we couldn’t figure out how to turn it back on, so we just threw all our energy into it and hoped it was well received. We couldn’t see anyone’s faces for the entire thing. I sure hope they liked our jokes.

We also had a good number of lessons. My companion, Elder Rice, was headed back to Slovakia this week, so we had to say goodbye to everyone. It was still pretty fun. He headed out today, and my new companion, Elder Nicholls is now here in Prague. A lot of missionaries had to head out across borders this week, which caused a lot of headaches for us. We are in charge of coordinating travel across the mission, and this time that included getting Covid tests for many missionaries. Unfortunately, we didn’t find out until Saturday, and everyone needed to move on Monday, and most testing places close for the weekend. It meant lots of fun for us, and a couple trips to the military field hospital tents. Good stuff.

Alright, have a wonderful week everyone. I only took one photo this week while running errands in Hradec Králové, enjoy!

Čau,
Elder O’Barr

Milé sestry, drazí bratří,

Another week has flown by, and things stay busy in Prague. We got some actual snow this week, which was way exciting! Snow rarely sticks in Prague, so to have it around for a few days was quite the privilege. I think this winter has been colder and snowier than it ever got last winter in Prague, but I am not gonna complain. I included some photos of Prague, snow, and the sunset today.

Things are actually going really well here in Prague. We are still consistently finding new people to teach, and we are starting to get into better contact with many of the members who have been slightly isolated since this pandemic began. We have recently begun teaching the daughter of a member who wasn’t baptized when she was young, but would like to be baptized now. Although we are still quite confined in our apartments, or at least not allowed to meet with people, we are still getting a good bit of work done.

Have a wonderful week everyone, and if you have any questions, you know where to find me.

Čus,
Starší O’Barr

Welcome back to Prague ladies and gentlemen!

I don’t actually know how long I’ve been in Prague, contrary to what my subject line says (if you even bothered to translate it). I’m not very good with numbers, so I have no clue how many days it’s been, but I know we’re approaching the year mark. Prague is every bit as beautiful as it was last year, even with the ever-present fog and chilly weather. We, luckily, spend a lot of time inside, having video calls, producing content, and planning for more calls. It’s honestly not too bad now that I’ve spent so long working with people online. I do miss the outdoors, but there will always be time for that later.

I don’t have any too crazy stories to share this week, so you can simply enjoy some random photos we took in an abandoned graveyard here in Prague.

Mějte se krásně všem, a Bůh buď s vámi, než se sejdeme zase.

Starší O’Barr

Nazdar dámy a pánové,

That’s right, you did not misread my Facebook post, I am actually serving in Prague again. I will most likely hold a record for this mission, for more than a year in Prague. In this mission is it quite rare for someone to spend that long anywhere. At the very least I am no longer in the office, and will instead be serving as an assistant to President Gehring. Should be a good time.

Christmas this week was great! We did actually get to visit a little bit with members, which was incredible. I had a traditional Czech dinner of řízky (schnitzel) and vinné klobásy (wine sausage, no alcohol I promise) with a side of classic Czech bramborový salát (potato salad). Scrumptious stuff. Czech Christmas traditions are great as well, lots of candles.

Well, I’m fresh out of time, but have a good week everyone! Thank you all for the Christmas emails as well. If I don’t respond today, I will in a bit!

Čaute!

-Starší O’Barr