Beautiful Bratislava

This marks the starting of the third week of the transfer, which amazes me because it was just yesterday that I was getting the call from President that I was going to be transferred here, but then again, it also feels like yesterday when I was leaving for the MTC. It's great to feel how much time is passing but scary at the same time, I just think about how fast this time has gone from when I came into the field, Elder Barber had 8 months left at the end of our transfer together, and at the end of this transfer he will only have 2 months, and when he leaves I'm at a year mark. Of course that is still a long ways away but time really just goes too fast, and it's not even the time out here, life in general just keeps on moving and going, not stopping for a moment for any of us to just rest and catch our breath.

 It very much saddens to hear about Brother Turley's passing. He was amazingly awesome, he was always there for me personally and just for every body. He was a big guy but he had such an awesome heart and such a big one that encompassed love for everyone. The world definitely lost one of the greatest people, I will definitely never forget him and all the things that he has done for us as a family and for me as a kid he was just simply awesome.

Well this week was another trying week in many situations and accounts, but I thought it was quite the successful one and then it also had some spouts of spirituality in it. First off this week we tried to meet with every one of the members that had been assigned to us. We missed a few of them but they just didn't answer their phones and I'm sure that we'll get them next week. It's great to see the strength of the members in Bratislava, they are just really strong people who have great testimonies of the gospel, even if they aren't 100% perfect in every single detail and fine line. They're amazing examples of endurance because most of these members here have been members since they found the church in the Czech Republic because there were no missionaries here in Slovakia. They had their bouts of inactivity but they always came back and those people are some of the most devout members. For example, one member Brat Pirovic gets so excited about missionary work that he offered to do anything for us basically. He offered to go contacting, tracting, fighting really anything he would do for the sake of missionary work haha. He is actually the man whose house I was dropped off at when I first came into the country, and we taught his son and him and had my luggage in his living room haha. It was epic! As well we invited Mustafa who is from Afghanistan and is a member from there with a super sick backround story which I'll tell you about later, he brought his girlfriend who isn't a member and we got to know both of them and they are both willing to meet with us more often, Mustafa jsut has a really powerful testimony and everything he just doesn't speak the best Slovak so he's a little hard to understand but he's great. Then the last miracle that we saw this week was yesterday, after a long long week of not a lot of lessons, we were able to meet with 2 less-actives and a member so it took us most of the day to do all that but we had about 20 minutes to contact before we had to go home and do 12 weeks and things. So we go out contacting and we contact like 6 people and the last guy we talk to stops for us. He's Czech so he is a little hard to understand for me but it's okay. He believes in God but doesn't have a firm foundation in any religion really but would like to read the Book of Mormon. He studies here and is training. He is training to be on the row team for the 2016 Rio olympics. He said he goes to the gym and practices like 10 hours a day but other than that he is not really busy, so he has time to meet with us, and so we now have a first lesson with him tonight and we are super pumped for that plus we have other oppurtunities for this coming week as well so we are just pumped.

Other than that, Elder Roosendaal got sick and so we had to stay inside for a long time and I about went nuts, but I'm fine now, I was just all angsty and just wanted to go out contacting or do something. But I eventually calmed down and pulled myself together and we finished out the day by having game night and having some fun there.  They have a ping pong table here but I have yet to play it unfortunatley but that's okay. Other than that we had a training for new missionaries this week in Brno so that was exciting for all of us and then this coming week we have to go back to Brno so we have another training then and blah blah blah we never get anytime in our area basically haha. But, we are working hard and I am trying to drive Elder Roosendaal harder and harder and we are just working our butts off, I am truly exhausted when I wake up haha. Elder Roosendaal also snores but it's not too bad when you're in a dead sleep and only wake up to the alarm because your body is programmed to do that haha. Well this letter is getting quite long but thank you again for the package of candy it's awesome and it's still kicking haha and for the epic and super great calendar, I use it everyday and then get lost in it by staring at Ritchie or Asha or John Wayne and then I laugh at my face on my birthday picture haha, so thanks so much for the work you put into that for me it made my month/christmas!. I love and miss you all and make sure you go to Anzio's and/or pork on a fork for me.   I'm starving right now in case you haven't noticed haha, bye love you!