Zone Conference and a Wedding

Hey all,

This is has been an extremely long, and extremely busy week. Was it only a week since my last email??

We started off the week pretty well volunteering at that school again. Always fun. The highlight was probably one girl asking if we had ever been to California and then wanted to know EVERYTHING about it when I told her I grew up there. Another girl in the class asked what she could do in CA because her family was going this weekend. The first girl looked like she was going to cry-she wanted to go that bad.

Wednesday night we travelled to Brno to stay the night for a mulit Zone Conference on Thursday. We stayed with some other missionaries there. It's nice to get out sometimes and get to know your fellow missionaries. The Zone conference was great and was exactly what I needed. During one of the roleplays (we roleplay alot at these things..) I was reminded of how important it is to remember spiritual experiences and that there can be real power in sharing them. Sometimes in the chaos of finding people to teach and boosting our numbers I forget why I am in Slovakia in the first place. I am here, first and foremost, because Heavenly Father has asked me to be here. He knows there are people here that are desperately trying to find their way back to Him and they need me to show them the way. That is why we all have specific callings in the Church, isn't it? To help others find that peace that God has to offer. The Gospel is so true and I love it!

On Saturday we had the first LDS wedding in Slovakia!! Hanka, the daughter of our Branch President, got married to Ondrej, a member in the Czech Republic. He is a convert to the church and actually served a mission in Salt Lake City. It was great! I managed to wear a green tie to match the colors (like I always do:) The best part was seeing that SOOO many people came from ALL over. My mind was mush at the end of the night hearing all of the Slovak, then Czech, then English- but it was so nice to be around so many members in Trenčín. :)
In between the wedding and the reception Taylor and I had a meeting with Roman, one of our long-term investigators. President Irwin was in town for the wedding and not wanting to pass up the oppurtunity to teach with a member we asked him to join us. President is a fantastic person to teach with! We planned on giving him a baptismal date for March 5 and he accepted! We are hoping that he can quit smoking and that he can follow through on this date. (He's had two other dates before) He is a great guy who really just wants to follow Christ.
The reception was tons of fun and we ate some good food. I just love receptions. I was worried that 2011 was going to be a dry year for me. 2010 was full of receptions. But I should be good until 2012.
We were literally filled to capacity at church the next day. 26 people at church. Definitely a record and a pleasant change from the average 8. It's a shame none of them agreed to stay in Trenčín when I asked. :(

Hope everything is going good with everybody and that everyone has a Valentine!

Starší Williams