Velkanoc...Druha Kola!! (Easter...2nd Round!!)

Nazdar!

Hey everyone, I am SO excited to tell you about Easter this year, it's been the best one of my life! Haha, I am in the funniest environment right now. People are being n00bs and playing random internet games and just swearing, and I am laughing my head off remembering how much I used to love those (minus the swearing, ask my friends, I don't do that). It is really really quite interesting to think of how empty a life filled with just a computer can be. Somebody really needs to find out how to combine the fun and entertainment of computer games, with life lessons and work, like make a fun, not stupid school game, where you like teach people calculus or something. Or teach Bible stories in an epic fashion, that would be pretty sweet, I'll probably do that. Well anyway,

Monday last week we went to Devinsky Hrad, which was pretty sweet, except the top portion has been closed for the last 5 years due to a lack of funds to repair it. How dumb is that?!? But we've become the district that does fun things together on P~Day, which is SWEET, I've been dreaming about that my whole mission, and it is just as fulfilling as I thought it would be. We went to Narnia pub afterwards, have I mentioned that they sell Kofola there in LITRES?!? So great...

Devinsky Hrad

We haven't really had a ton of lessons in the past week, which was pretty sad, but I think we needed it, as a little wake up call, not to sit back in a great area, that we still have to work to break 20. I think we got 17, and I have been thinking about this a TON. I don't know if I've already mentioned this, but when I first came here, Elder B. (his trainer) and I had one of the better areas in the mission, especially Slovakia, and we were fighting, FIGHTING every week for like 12 or 13 when the standard was 14. We were putting everything we had into it, and falling short all the time, at the same time when a lot of people were fighting for 4 or 5. Now we had a "bad week, where we only had 17 lessons and 3 baptismal dates." This mission has progressed so hardcore, and I think the main factor in it all is the attitude of the missionaries. Something I talked about with Elder K. a bit, is the whole, 97 no's and 3 yes's. You have to go through the no's to finally find the yes's, and it's so nice to go out with that attitude and then get like 16 yes's right in a row at the beginning. So nice.

We had our concert this week. I am so embarrassed, I feel like I'm worse at sight-reading than I was at home. That is definitely my weak point on the piano, however, Elder W. (current companion) and I KILLED it on the finale. We played a modified (both musically and lyrically) version of "Below my Feet" from Mumford and Sons THANKS MOM, and we're working on doing the same thing with Neon. It is amazing how these concerts can really bring people closer to Christ. We invited tons of people to it, and on top of that, we had T. R. (a less active member who happens to be a virtuoso) play with us, and he had a spiritual experience doing it. We even had a deaf member stay for most of it, just because he loved the spirit he felt there! I love music. Unfortunately I have no pictures nor video of the concert.

So, Easter, we had a very very interesting Saturday, but we got to make a velkonocna baba, which is a traditional Slovak Easter Food that I learned from Sister P. last year, and then today, we actually got to go and do the Easter visit, where we "whip" a girl and wish her to be healthy and pretty for her whole life. SO fun, also, we added spiritual to the list of good qualities. You tap the girl with a whip made out of reeds, and say a poem, and then you have the option of pouring water on them to give them beauty health and fruitfulness for their lives, and they give you eggs/money/chocolate, its pretty great. Then the girls get to do it to the boys the next day. I am TOTALLY making that a tradition in my family, it is so sweet. Also, highlight of everything, we went to the zoo today with FOUR investigators. So much fun, turns out they had a Dinopark right in the middle which was of course my favorite. It's just like Vernal but smaller. The animals also seemed to be really acting up just because all the missionaries came to see them, it was so great.

Well I'm pretty much out of time. Love you all, thanks for reading and being a part of my mission with me! Este, I apologize again for the lack of wifi, I am going to try my hardest to get pictures as quick as I can.

Hrda Lasky,

Elder Brousseau

New Years Resolutions from Slovakia

Nazdar!

I'd like to apologize first off for not being able to email last week, there was some problems because the library where we normally email closed early for the holidays, so I only had like 15 minutes, and that's not enough to put everything across! So! Here we go, into the highlights of not one, but 2 weeks in a missionary's life.

Christmas Eve: Well nut dog elder, we had success during this day. We were able to get in contact with an inactive Philippino member who teaches English here in Zilina, and we shared the "He is the Gift" video with many more people than I had expected (I know, I need to raise my vision and faith). It was SO cool for some of them as well, for example, there was one family where the one guy who IS a member wouldn't even look at us, let alone talk to us while we were there, but his wife and family were extremely kind and happy with us. They loved the video and had all sorts of questions about the church, it was so fun to get that wholly unexpected teaching moment with yet another R. family (I swear, they are the most prepared people I've ever met). We ended the day with the S. family, where I got to experience a real live Slovak Christmas, it was EXACTLY as magical as had been expected. We had cabbage soup, and some (I think it really was carp, but I forgot to ask) fish, and some potatoe salad, just like tradition dictates. We had some of those sweet wafers with honey, again, straight out of tradition, and Sister S. even cut an apple in half to see how this next year will be, and we got a star, so great. The kids all opened the presents that they got for each other, and Jezisko (Santa) will bring them all gifts during the night, I'm totally stealing most of these traditions for my family in the future, it was the absolute best Christmas Eve I've ever had.

Christmas Day: Opened presents (sort of opened some of them before-hand if I'm honest, but a lot of them stayed until the day of), and I have some thanks to give. THANK YOU FOR THE TIES, THEY'RE AWESOME!!! Also, goodness, Grandma and Grandpa Brousseau have done it again, they got some Grade-A maple syrup all the way to Slovakia, so now I'm planning on how to use the good real stuff. Thank you Uncle David and Aunt Michelle and family, I really loved the card and the Christmas Orange! That story is so classic, thank you for taking the time and thought to send the pictures as well, that means a lot to me. Thank you Uncle Ricky and Aunt Karin and family, I love the ties, especially the blue one, and oh my goodness, that stocking is AWESOME! I may just use it for the rest of my life and give gifts to the missionaries wherever I am. Thank you Uncle Mark and Aunt Alisa and family, you don't know how much I've been missing Kool-Aid, I've already used it at 2 missionary District lunches, and it's a hit! Thank you to the rest of the family as well, I can sincerely feel your prayers, and I am so happy to be a part of your lives! I had maybe the best meal of my whole mission for lunch with the District at the other Elder's apartment, it was chicken that had been marinaded in Cinnamon Kofola with some grill spices in it, SO good, along with Brynzdove Pirohy, and some mashed potatoes, with some kid's champagne that we got at Billa. Mine had Winnie the Pooh on it, made my day. The highlight of the day of course was getting to Skype with my family at the building, thank you so much for being happy and willing to take time out of Disneyland for me, I am so glad I got to see you, it was really awesome. 

Boxing Day: Well, we pretty much continued with the Christmas Eve visits, with again, monumental success, we got invited to 2 meal appointments in one day, which is a record in this area! Lunch with the S. family again (you'd think they'd be sick of the missionaries by now, but they keep inviting us over), and then dinner with A., that Phillippino member. It turns out, that he liked our surprise Christmas Eve visit so much, that he wanted to spend some more time with us and made a huge dinner, He's such a nice guy. My favorite visit though was to this super old former investigator lady. Slovak's most of the time have the opinion that once a person is like 55, they're just supposed to sit at home and slowly get more and more melancholy until they die, and she was TOTALLY in this state of mind, and it was really nice to actually spread some Christmas joy into her lonely life.

Saturday: We got invited to ANOTHER member's house for lunch, this time Brat Ď., who has been a member for about 6 years, and just turned 71, and he wanted the missionaries at his birthday. He is such a cute man, he's JUST like Grandpa Joe, if they spoke the same language, they would be as thick as thieves, and still probably could be WITH the language barrier. He's pretty cool too, his grandkids all came and he had them sit down and have a spiritual thought with the missionaries so that they could, "Get the spirit amidst their tomfoolery," and his daughter (who has served a mission) talked with us while his son gave us some great Bryndzove Halusky. Loved it, and this is seriously the most members houses I've visited in such a short time in the last year.

Sunday: I gave a talk about New Year's Resolutions, and it wasn't the best talk I've ever given, but goodness are the members here so happy to have missionaries speak. We had a "Branch Council Meeting" before church, to decide on our branch vision for the year. It was so cool, these members have such faith despite the difficulties we have in a war-torn socialist nation, it's amazing.

I'm just going to give some highlights until we get to the good stuff. First, we're working with a Recently Activated member named P. M., he's such a sweet guy, I love him to death, and we have been helping him to have the confidence and happiness to repent, and he told us something really cool on Monday, which was that that Christmas was the very best he has had in the last 14 years, it was so great to see some success in brightening someone's life that fully, I love it. 

New Year's Eve: Well, we had burritos for District lunch because Elder F. had a recipe for some good stuff to put in it from Eastern Europe, and Elder S. splurged and spent 6 Euros to get us 8 tortillas. So worth it, probably better than Cafe Rio...maybe not, but still great. We did some good work until 5:30, when we went to our building and ate the brilliant pumpkin pie Elder S. and I made while we watched the Saratov Approach. I want to get kidnapped so bad, that movie was the bomb! Haha, I understand now why Maddie emailed me all scared though after watching it, that looked and sounded pretty much exactly like where I'm serving! It was even pretty cool to be able to understand some of the Russian, I really want to work on my Russian and get it as good as my Slovak. Elder S. and I then went home and watched the first installment of Work and the Glory, I forgot how good those movies are, but now we have a problem because I just want to see 2 and 3, but I have to wait a while. We stayed up to watch the fireworks, which I now wish I had done last year, I didn't last year because I was in a bad mood that the week wasn't going the way I had expected, so I went to bed early, but this year I got to see something astounding. The people here at midnight, nearly everyone that we could see out our windows set off fireworks from their windows and balconies, it. Was. Spectacular. We saw some of those paper lanterns go off as well, the wishes for the New Year. I wish I had taken some pictures, but the memories are probably going to satisfy my needs, it's an experience that you can't have in America or anywhere else for more reasons than just the legality of fireworks. This place truly is magical, and I love it.

New Year's Day: We got to take a P~Day today because No one was outside, so we went and hiked up the snowiest of mountains (I think the Lord heard my complaints about not having the whitest of Christmases) up to see a ruined castle with Brat S.. I feel like it wouldn't be tasteful to repeat exactly how much I love Slovakia, but gosh, while we were there it felt like I was living a real version of Skyrim, they really did put good graphics in that game, and I wouldn't be surprised if they used Slovakia as the basis for the country in which it's set. For those of you who know how much I like Skyrim, that's a huge compliment. Anyway, I need to go, it's a pleasure to know that everyone who I'm emailing supports the work I'm doing, and most of all is my friend and family. I love you all loads.

S laskou (Love)

,

Starsi Brousseau

A Nitra Thanksgiving

NaaaaAAAzdar!

Haha, can you tell I'm in a good mood yet? This week has been nuts, I agree totally with Elder Brooks; the blessings come after the storm. So to start off, I love you all so much for your Thanksgiving wishes, and other holiday tomfoolery; it makes me proud to know you. Also, thank you thank you Taylor and Daniel for visiting my family! Congratulations Daniel on an Honorable Full-Time mission, that's what we were going for. I realized as well that I've been a bad brother and forgot one of my siblings in my Thanksgiving letter. So SARAH, here you go! Thank you for being so outstanding. You are an amazing dancer, who is nerdy just like her older siblings, you won't find that combination anywhere else. I love you so much for your attitude of gratitude, you're always telling me thank you for things, so I'm glad I get a little turn. Thank you also for asking me questions every time you email me, it always makes it easy to write back. I love you!

OK, now on to the week.

Monday: P~Day, nothing seemed to go right, except we DID get to play some games in the building as a district. Always a fun activity, but no miracles were noticed by me during the day.

Tuesday: For some strange reason, every single time we have apartment checks, our day just kind of seems to drag, and not go the way we want it too. The day was really good, don't get me wrong, we continued to help J. build his garage, and we had a crazy good game night where S. brought his friend and we had a blast. But it just wasn't what was expected. Miracle of the day was the busses. Despite our lack of sticking to our plan because the apartment checks went like 2 hours over, the busses all came exactly when we needed them. Good stuff.

Wednesday: YEHEHEHEEES! Taught P. again, and he's amazing as ever, LOVED the Plan of Salvation, and is happy to continue meeting with us, I think what would be best is to establish some daily contact with him, if that needs to be by phone, so be it. Also, English went really quite well, S. is getting less shy with us, which makes it nicer.

Thursday: Vdakyvzdanie!!! (Thanksgiving!!!) So fun, we had 2 chickens because turkeys cost like 30 Euros for a little one, and just had a blast. During the day we had a miracle and taught like 5 lessons, which doesn't usually happen on holidays and then we got to go to the other Elder's apartment (we claim to have the best District Unity in the mission), and Elder K (the baker's son) and I (the sick samurai) cooked 1 chicken marinaded in Vanilla Kofola, and another one that he did a lemon garlic onion rub to, and made some glorious mashed potatoes and gravy, and finished it all with bread pudding while Elders R & R played games. Before my mission I would have been a little urazeny (upset) that they just let us do all the cooking, but I really just loved joking around with Elder K and hearing them play. It was just so great, even if the end result wasn't as good as grandma's.

Friday: MIRACLE!!! Ok, this isn't going to make a whole lot of sense if you aren't in a missionary position here, but we went to teach sister P., and she was a little offended that we didn't have more than an hour for her, so when we called Brat M. to tell him we were ready to go, she yelled into the phone inviting them to come to her house. Sister P. is not a super strong member, and she has never met the Majtanovci, nor most of the members in the group. But get this: They CAME, and they MET, and they BORE TESTIMONY! It was so cool to teach Sister M. with 2 strong members who backed up everything we taught with testimony and personal experience, and she didn't feel ganged up on either just because she felt so loved by everyone in the room. I really hope we can get her on date this week because the experience was even cooler when we realized that if they hadn't come to Levice, we wouldn't have had enough cash to get home that night. Ridiculous blessings all over the wazoo!

The weekend was just as good as that day, we're on kind of a spiritual high, a Senior couple came from Brno to visit us on Saturday and took us out to dinner at Golden Hoffer, this wonderful expensive place, and then on Sunday Elder R. and I translated for them as they gave wonderful talks on Sunday during church. They were so sweet, they left us all with Milka and Kinder treats, and chapstick of course. Later last night we had another miracle: when we went to visit N., he lost the key to his gate, and that complicated our situation a little bit, but somehow it worked out and ended up with me giving a half hour long concert on the piano to a congregation of I think Born-Again Christians. Cool stuff, and impossible to tell where it was going from the start. We're really getting a good relationship with J., and I hope we'll be able to make a stir in his Ward, where he's an Elder of his church. Wish us luck, I'm praying for you, and I can feel your prayers for me!

Love you, happy holidays!

Elder Brousseau

Giving Thanks

Nazdar!

Hey all, I hope that this letter finds you safe and sound like always. I'm in Nitra at the moment, but there's a chance that could be changing real soon, so I'll keep you posted. This week I don't really want to talk about my end of the spectrum, but more I wanted to have a little thank you session and try to get every person I'm emailing, so look out for yourself!

Taylor: Thank you so much for your support, even though it must be difficult for you. You are the best guy I know, so thank you for your example. Thank you as well for being constantly willing to help me out with whatever I need. I'm planning on cashing in on some more of that when I get to see your beautiful face in person again. Try and make sure your life is always pretty ok, but if it's not, that's rough, buddy, and I'll be here for you. Thanks for coming with me on all those random and sometimes really stupid adventures, like all those times to Lagoon and the zoo and wherever else we went. Thanks for letting me be right all those times, too. Heaven knows I needed it.

Dad: Thank you for everything. I don't know how to say it better. I am so grateful for you being a father figure for me. I was noticing the other day, it seems like throughout my life, whenever you haven't had a job, it was because you were needed to take care of me. If you hadn't been there my senior year, I would not be on my mission right now. I feel like as well, if you weren't sending me prayers and encouragement, I wouldn't be staying out here. Missions are hard, but I know, because of you, that they're worth it.

Maddie: Hey, girlie, thank you so much for your kindness to me over the years. When I get back I'm going to need a movie night with you. Thank you for never being ashamed to be my sister and for never looking down on me, even though I make all sorts of mistakes. Thank you for laughing with me so much on that lunch date I took you on before I left. I love you to pieces and then put you all back together again.

Alexis: Thank you for being such a dear. You don't know how much it means to me to have someone like you. My surrogate little sis, haha. Thanks for being Hermione, and for letting Taylor and me be weird. Thanks for always being willing for a party. Thank you for paying attention--I was talking to my companion last night about how grateful I am for that time you asked me to the dance using Legend of Zelda (was it Sadie's?). You mean tons to me, and thank you for it.

Lars: Thank you for pushing yourself all the time. One of the things that has been so amazing for me is reading your emails every week and seeing your example of perseverance. Thank you for being supportive as well, missions are hard and it's easier if you've got other missionaries to look up to. Thank you for being so intense as well. It's uplifting. I remember driving with you everywhere just rocking out to your music. It's great to be able to just feel free like that.

Chels: Thanks so much for being so willing and humble! I haven't really known you for too long, but your emails have meant a lot to me, especially to hear how every week you seem closer to the Lord. Thank you for being a light in Mexico. I wish I could be there to see it. Also, thanks for finding the good in every situation, like all the problems with your house there. You don't seem like someone who wants to complain, and I'm grateful for that.

Daniel: Oh goodness, where do I start? Thank you for being patient with me. We've known each other for more than 12 years, and I know from my family that I'm not exactly the easiest person to deal with. Thank you for serving in Peru. I always looked forward to your emails just because they were so YOU. Thank you for always being ready to laugh, even when it was ridiculous and sort of stupid. Thanks for being a good sport, too. I remember when you came up to the cabin with me, how I KNEW you didn't want to play Halo because you weren't winning, but you did it anyway so that it would be fun for everyone. Thank you for being accepting. You never seem to judge people, no matter how far into the dark side of the nerd realm they drift. Thanks.

Paul: Hey, man, thank you for being such a bang-up good person. It really seems like you love people. Thank you as well for helping me through the MTC. I wouldn't be here now if you hadn't been there back then. Thank you for keeping me in mind. It's cool to know I've got a real friend in you. Remember you've always got a room in my house, whenever you're in the mood.

Elizabeth!!! Thank you for being my life at family gatherings! Haha, you're always so good at making me be happy even when I don't want to be. Thank you for teasing me. That April Fool's joke is legendary. Thank you for your wonderful humility even though you're a freaking prodigy at everything you try. Thank you for always supporting me as well. I can feel your trust every time we talk, and it makes me trust you implicitly. Thanks for your wonderful smile. It brightens everyone's day. Keep calm and carry on, haha.

Favorite Uncle: Thank you for everything. I stand by my statement at my Eagle Court of Honor 100% that you have been an amazing example to me of always treating me like an equal. Thank you for playing chess with me, even though I called you Satan once or twice. Thank you for being ready to have fun all the time. I love your attitude. Thank you as well for being excited for me whenever I've been excited about something. It means the world.

Ryan: Thank you so much for being the most sincere guy I know. That's not saying other people aren't sincere, but I feel like no one is ever going to be able to convince you not to be you. Thanks for being such a stud. Whether it's guarding, the MTC, Halo, Left 4 Dead, or a mission, you always do it great. I love having your example to look up to, so keep it up. Steadfastness in all things.

Mark and Alisa Brousseau Family: Thank you so much for being the first to do things. I've been getting a very strong testimony of being the first to say yes, but more importantly, being the first to do. It always seems like when someone needs help in our family or when there's a gathering to be done, you're the first to volunteer service or help for it. Thank you for being so into sports as well. That's always helped me to push myself in everything I do, just remembering the attitude of, "It doesn't hurt that bad! Walk it off! Rub some dirt on it!" Haha. Most of all, thank you for being accepting of me. I have always felt very welcome with each member of your family, without regard to the situation.

Britta: I don't know where to start. Thanks for being such a help all the time. It seems like you are always building others up. Thank you for being supportive and loving, even when I haven't been doing strictly the smartest things, and sometimes, even when they were plain dumb. Thank you for being such a good example of loving your family. It has helped motivate me to strengthen my own family relationships, especially with my parents. Thank you for always asking permission as well. You're really not a person to force yourself into things, and it helps me remember that I shouldn't force my way into everything. Thanks for everything.

Steve: Oh boy. Thanks for your ridiculous smile, you can always tell when Steve is happy. Thanks for laughing at my stupid jokes. You make my day. Thanks for telling me all about Canyon View and video games and movies. Thank you for forgiving me so many times. You are the perfect little brother for me, and I wouldn't ever want it to change. Thank you.

Ricky and Karin Burton Family: Thank you for being so happy towards me all the time. Thank you, Uncle Ricky, for laughing at me whenever I deserved it, even if I didn't want it. Thanks for being so kind to my parents. It's amazing to me. Thank you as well for telling me all about the boys. I always get the perfect picture in my head for what's going on there, and it makes me proud to know you.

Poop, I'm running out of time, I'm gonna try and go quicker.

Gavin: Thanks for being the best Scout leader ever, your advice has helped me so much out in the field. Thank you for being supportive and humble, and for helping me to see the potential of the priesthood. I love you to death.

Grandma and Grandpa Burton: Thank you for being so happy! Thank you, grandma, for always being loving and for being so careful. I am confident that I am still alive because of my grandma's prayers. Thank you for hanging out with me and helping me to always remember my family and where I come from. Thanks for giving me a great family I can brag about to everyone I meet.

Kennen: Wow, buddy, thank you for being my bro. Thank you for being excited to be friends all the time. I am super grateful we're so close. Thank you for being the type of guy you can just chill with. I remember going to school with you for a day and having it be super fun and just the best de-stress. Thanks for being so freaking talented. It helps me push myself to be better. Thanks for your example on your mission. Make sure you find those Brousseaus and baptize them! Thanks most of all for helping me all those many years ago to feel accepted. You and Alan Phillips in Mrs. Siebach's class helped me so much. Love you.

Katie! Thank you for being so much like another mom! You have got to be just the best companion ever. You just take care of everyone. Thanks for being so impressed with me. It never ceases to amaze me how good you can make someone feel. Thank you for coming with me to do baptisms. That was something I'll never forget. Thank you for helping me with all those girls that I dated, too. You are just a miracle worker, and your excitement is contagious. Thanks for including me. You're the best. Never forget it.

Cesar: Thank you for everything, man. You're always the guy I think of if I want to know how to be happy in a random situation. Thanks for being kind to me, even if I wasn't being kind back. Thank you for always saying hi when we saw each other places. You really help people know they're your friends. Thanks for beating me at chess. I've always needed a little help being humble. Thanks for playing scum on the scout trips, and for tanning out in the sun at Lake Powell, and for teasing me about dating people. Those memories are amazing for me, and I hope they are for you too.

Drake: Thank you for being persistent. Thank you for always making an effort to be my friend. I remember back when you were in 7th grade, walking over to your house a half hour before the bus came, just so we could talk and mess around. Thanks for seeing something fun in every little thing, even plasma cars and trash cans. Thanks for being so sincere, too. I'm really looking forward to seeing how that blesses you on your mission.

Ok, well, I think that's everyone. Time to go!

Love,

Elder Brousseau

(Editor's note: this last paragraph was a full page below the rest of the email, and we only stumbled upon it accidentally. Chris has always loved to tease his mother and this is no exception...)

P.S. Thank you, MOM!!!!! Haha, I bet you thought I forgot you, huh?!? Well, NOT TODAY! Thank you for being so brilliant. You are the reason that I want to be better at things, because I see your thirst for knowledge. Thank you for always being excited for me, and proud of me, and supportive of my craziness, and happy for me. Thank you for being there, all the time. I've been giving a lot of thought to the day, when, I called you during the middle of school and you checked me out and took me to Apollo Burger just so we could sit and talk about how I was scared to go on a mission. That helped me so much. Thank you for pushing me to be better. Thank you for being so good at English. I could always ask you anything, and now it's paying off when others need help. Thank you for never freaking out at me when I told you something I did, like when I broke my window, or when I broke my leg, or when I got hit by that car, or when I wanted to go have a sleep-over at the cabin. I love you to death, and I wish I could remember everything I want to tell you thank you for. You're the best. Also Happy Birthday again.

The Best Week Yet!

Elder Brousseau and his companion

Nazdar všetci,

Tak hej so first off, my new companion is someone close to home. Actually, he went to Hillcrest High School. Anyway, so this has been the best week of my mission so far, let's dive right in, I'm excited to talk.

Sword in the Stone-Chris could be King!

So first off, I'm loving Nitra, the city where everything is possible. To illustrate this, like 2 hours before my companion showed up, a guy, to whose brother we had given a contact card called US and asked to meet. We got to teach almost immediately after he showed up, and I noticed we were on almost exactly the same page when we taught, it was really cool. The only problem with this was something that has been happening more often than I care for: He went home and his girlfriend/mom/some woman on the street/girl that he knows flipped out at him and [said] he "can't" meet with us anymore. This guy who was so absolutely awesome and cool got restricted from the gospel by "the woman thou gavest me." Frustrating, but really kind of funny to deal with, we have heard some really just Great blasphemy in the last week from these women, napríklad, "How many times has Pana Maria showed herself to people? And Jesus doesn't show himself to ANYONE! Who's greater then?" No joke though, I really love talking to these ladies, teaching women with attitude has become a wonderful experience because when they find out the truth, they will fight tooth and nail to convince everyone of it. A fine example of this is our investigator, she started out all "O no yoo di'nt!" and now she's just awesome.

Chris and his friend

Another investigator is really on the path to baptism. His new date is the 6th of September, and boy is he excited. This man is just priceless, he was really sad when he found out that his date was changing, and when we talked about what was going to happen with him there, he asked, "How long do I have to stay under the water? Because if it's more than a minute, I'm not sure I can, but I'll try." He's just so Great. We actually got to go with him to Velky Cetin, where we found a river and a lake where he would be excited to be baptized, and had a wonderful experience while we were there searching everything out and picking plums and making fun of cults and all sorts of tomfoolery. He came to church this week, because he's understanding the importance of commitments, he also texted us this week telling us about this awesome spiritual confirmation he got that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. I wish I had recorded him sharing these spiritual experiences, they're just awesome.

We're off to a really good start this transfer as far as organization, my companion is a lot like me, and really likes a good organized area book, so I'm happy to announce that for the first time since the area's opening, our records and apartment are completely organized and up to date. That's really big for me, there are so many people that I feel would be ready and willing to accept the gospel if missionaries updated regularly and wrote legibly.

Levice, Slovakia

We had kind of a sad experience of some Romas who came to our building and listened to our message and everything and became new investigators, but they just for some reason could NOT handle us praying and just busted up laughing every time. It was really sad, but we dropped them and we're making sure we just hug it and love the experience, you know? I now have owning a professional pianist at the piano on my challenge completed list, haha. Our first singing display this transfer went pretty well too, my poor companion isn't much of a singer, so I'm going to be teaching him, so that will be wonderful, he's got a Great attitude, about which I am very glad.

So my Bible has turned into a weapon frankly, and I'm still trying to decide how I feel about it. We don't really Bible-Bash, mostly because I have a terrible hatred for using the scriptures to drive away the spirit, that just feels morally wrong, but when it does happen, the bible has itself categorized according to religion, and actually, brings really good experiences when not used in anger or retaliation. 

Elder Brousseau selfie

Priklad: Teaching this hot-shot who answers the phone with, "hello, this is So-and-so, the 7th day adventist." Our lesson started out BAD. He almost immediately started attacking our church, doctrine, and our Book, and pulled out his Bible to try and start proving it. We listened and didn't disagree with him, even though he was saying some really really not agreeable things. Then, when he had finished with his speech, which ended with, "And so, if it's not in the Old AND the New Testament, it can't be true," was when inspiration struck. I told him, "You realize we didn't come here to try and convince you, right?" We talked about how we have all sorts of evidence, like carvings in stone, and the stuff underneath the Aztec pyramids, but that evidence doesn't really matter to us. Evidence and miracles and signs are absolutely useless if you don't have the basis of faith. We then invited him to pray about it, and he agreed when inspiration struck again. Knowing that Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor, I listened to the spirit and started to show him the references that I've found in both the Old and New Testaments supporting the Book of Mormon, and he was really curious to see Revelations 14:6. We went and read it, and this lesson that had started out so incredibly zlé ended up with him teaching us for about 15 minutes why that had to be absolutely true. It was amazing to see the change. The difference between Bible-Bashing and opening someone's eyes to the truth is very simple. It's the attitude with which you complete the action. If you do it with love and trust in God that they can feel, it will work out, but if you're out to prove something or act in anger, the Lord won't support your testimony, even when backed up by facts.

My companion

We haven't had much time for lunch or dinner in the past week, so it was really wonderful to go visit a wonderful sister in the area and just get stuffed. She reminds me so much of my grandma, she's so sweet, she ended up giving us like several pounds of food to bring to a less-well-off investigator of ours, and she showed us around her little city, it was spectacular. Something cool about Slovak real quick, we have these crazy city names like Levice (where she lives) that are actually plural, so when you talk about them it's like, "Wow, these cities are beautiful," even though it's only 1...It was a little weird to get used to, and I still make some mistakes sometimes, but I'll keep pushing on. People here every day still think that I'm native, so I must be doing something right.

Anyway, that's all for this week, Love you all. I hope all is going well for you!

Lots of love,
Starší Chris Brúso

P.S. My companion has a big crush on my sister, just BTW. =)

When the Student is Ready, the Teacher Appears

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

The Right Words at the Right Time

Elder Brousseau at home in Nitra, Slovakia

Nazdar!

I don't have much time, so I apologize in advance for the shortness of this letter. We've been having crazy and unnatural storms here, where we see HUGE clouds, which aren't supposed to be here this time of year, and we can see circulation going on in them as well, like a tornado is about to start, and they've been flooding our streets, but it hasn't been stopping the work thankfully.

Pondelok: Went to an antique shop and realized that I actually LOVE antique shops. They had army packs from Vietnam there, I wanted to buy one, but I thought, "where would I put it..." so I didn't. Afterwards, we met again with someone. Unfortunately, we're not going to meet with him anymore, he's not interested in the church at all, and we're a little bit fuzzy about what his actual occupation is. We know he's a singer, but he might also be some kind of...recruiter for something illicit...anyway, yeah, not meeting him any more.

Utorok: ZAZRAK, we got a referral from another elder, who is in Dlhe Diely Bratislava right now, a man from Venezuela who lives in Nitra and really wants to meet with us. We set up a meeting for the next day. Later, my companion and I had another miracle, where we went to the Metsky Urad to check up on our concert, and the people there got SUPER angry at us. I don't have time to explain the whole situation, but President wasn't able to answer his phone to tell me what to do, so I said a quick prayer and had the words of an article of Faith come to my mind. When I told them about how, "we believe in being subject to kings...in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law," which means that we want to co-operate and we're willing to do whatever they asked, the whole situation diffused. The anger immediately left, and the main angry lady actually sat down with me and helped me fill out a legal form step by step very patiently and happily. Articles of Faith are worth it to memorize.

Streda: Set up our meeting with someone, but he came 2 hours late, when we were actually starting to teach English. Before English, by the way, we had the very unique experience of walking into the building a half an hour early to begin to set up, and seeing the other Elders standing in the hall looking awkward. Upon asking, what's up, they were just like, "we're not sure what to do," and when we went into our place, there was a lady we had contacted, just whaling away on our little keyboard on the organ setting, and singing some random Slovak song. It was unforgettable. But then we taught English, and I got a super duper triple lesson afterward, where we were starting an Exchange, but everyone was interested in our church, so my companion and another missionary taught one man, another elder taught someone else, and I taught two other people. They were all solid lessons, and now we have a lot of New investigators who have good expectations and real interest.

Štvrtok: Had the Exchange in Chrenova with another elder, we ended up not being able to do a whole lot, but we DID get some really good exercise running from the building to the city park for sports night, which is like 4 kilometers. We did it in pretty ok time too, if I do say so myself.

Piatok: I had left my planner in the building yesterday because we had to just drop our stuff, get changed, and run to sports night, so there's nothing written there. All I really remember is getting this AWESOME potential. So first off, there are not many black people here. In fact, there are so few that tons of people stare at the ones who are here, and I honestly feel kind of embarrassed for them, because that's just dumb, they're still normal, wonderful people. Anyway, so the few who are here, are either African and Muslim, or American/English/French and have heard of Mormons before, so I make an effort to speak to ALL of them. It's one of the ways I've been improving my French here. Anyway, I contacted 2 men on the way to the Námestie, who were both Muslim, one from Sudan, and another from Ethiopia. We had an AMAZING conversation with these men, and got a lot of publicity from it because people were staring at them, and then at us, and wondering, "wait, I thought Mormons were racist," but the most important thing was, one of the men is now an interested potential who is extremely smart and actually lives in the rich sector of town.

Sobota: Today was kind of one of those "Meh...days" where nothing really happens because you have weekly planning, AND Ladovy Medved, AND it's your turn to clean the building, AND you go tracting but everyone thinks you're Jehovah's Witnesses. That has started to get on my nerves. But nothing really to report that day. except for the end, where, when we thought the day was over, the Lord sends a guy our way with his son on our walk home who contacted us, and upon finding that we teach people about Christ, asked to be taught the next day.

Neďuľa: Church was cool today, we only had the missionaries and a sister there because everyone is out of town for the end of the summer, so testimony meeting was where everyone there bore their testimony. But during Sunday School, one of the other Elders' investigators showed up, he's really cool. Later, that lesson with another man was awesome, we've set up again for Wednesday and it was cool, we went in expecting to get uber-haggled about everything because everyone in the building came to the lesson wanting to hear what we were saying, but we just testified and everyone loved it and will probably come back next time as well.

Anyway, loving it here, I hope you all have an amazing week. It's amazing to see really how much we are blessed just for putting forth a little effort in the face of opposition and pushing just a tiny bit further ahead, people come out of the wood-works to find out why you did that, because it isn't normal.

Love you all,

Elder Bruso