Nazdar!Hey all, I had actually forgotten and was completely surprised to remember this Wednesday that this last week was the big transfer week! My companion went back to his first area, Košice, a place, I would really enjoy ending my mission. Goodness, I think I may have just jinxed myself. Anyway, So we had a really great week, I don't know if I want to keep doing that whole day by day analysis, that feels kind of boring, so Im just going to point out some awesome miracles from this week.
So first off, our man who's on date for baptism is unfortunately not going to make his date because he didn't come to church, but I just want to share about how he became an investigator because he's a miracle man with lots of faith and interest in us. So he had decided to leave the Lutheran church, and went out on a walk to be alone in Bratislava. He just happened to decide to say a silent prayer and as he looked up toward heaven to ask where on Earth truth could be found, he saw our building sign. The Elders from Dlhe Diely were taking a bathroom break there when randomly this person came up and asked them to please teach him everything. They found out he actually lives in Nitra, and this amazing South American genetic scientist is now our most promising investigator.
Also, this week someone else became officially a new investigator. We have high hopes for her because in the past, she has been less than happy to discuss gospel topics with us, but it seems like she's genuinely interested, and we have had some seriously great lessons with her because she really wonders about these things. KEEP ASKING QUESTIONS, THERE ARE ANSWERS!Our concert on Tuesday was an amazing success! We had 35 people come for it, and only 1 of them was a member, they just ADORED it. Our performance was spectacular, despite us not practicing very much for it, the Lord really helped us, but the best part was the spirit that was felt. To introduce every song, we didn't even do anything special, we just read straight out of the Gospel of Jesus Christ lesson as written in Preach my Gospel, just in Slovak. I was floating on cloud nine afterwards, it felt so amazing to see the spirit touch that many people through the musical talent of our district. My favorite songs that we performed were: "Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring," "O Divine Redeemer," and "Pane Chcem T'a Nasledovat'" ("Lord, I would follow Thee").
Later, my favorite miracle happened, I was having a pretty bad day, I'll fully admit, I was questioning my ability to be a missionary. I had been told by someone to, "Go home and change your terrorist country, Yankee," but that had just been one of many contacts and other things that had gone wrong that day. Then the Lord decided to lift some burden from my shoulders and to give me a wonderful feeling that I couldn't explain of just utter gratitude to be in Slovakia, and gratitude to be a missionary. At that point, people started to see that, and we were able to teach 2 crazy-good double-lessons, one in a hotel with 2 bartenders there, both of which now testify that they know that Joseph Smith was called of God, and 1 committed himself to read the Book of Mormon through and through in a week. The other one was a part of that war that I mentioned a while ago, where we by chance met the man who owns the biggest auto quality control firm in all of Europe. He and his friend decided that they were terribly curious about why they've been hearing about the Mormoni, and what our fuss was all about. They both as well committed THEMSELVES to reading the Book of Mormon, and as if the day couldn't get any better, another person we've been trying to work with texted us out of the blue, and decided they wanted to talk with us about God's plan for us. Just too good to be true.
Last of all, I just wanted to talk about something that last transfer taught me. I have noticed a huge difference between the people who are just Catholic on paper, and the people who are actually Catholic. I think that that came in part to the wonderful family that I have in Vermont. The people who actually act according to their faith, and aren't just a part of it because of tradition are people that I am proud to know, regardless of which faith that is. As the Article of Faith says, "...Let them worship, how, what, or where they may." That leads me to an important question? Why do we expend so much time and energy into missionary work when we claim to let everyone worship in their own fashion? In answer to this question I would first encourage anyone curious to read Our Search for Happiness by M. Russell Ballard. But second, we love other religions, we recognize that our religion actually wouldn't be possible without other religions and their ways of worship. Can you imagine what it would have been like if Joseph Smith had been born during the Spanish Inquisition and claimed to have that vision? I figure it like this: someone who lived as best they could in this life is someone that Christ knows and loves, regardless of faith.Love you all,
Elder Brousseau
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