WEEK 41: Short and Sweet

It was a super cool week. It was Easter and so I loved the chance to remember what Christ did for us all. The sacrament was a special experience this week.

I read recently the talk from conference from S Mark Palmer. It touched me so much, especially the last several paragraphs.

We went roller skating for P-day today and it was pretty sweet. Also, transfers happened and I can't wait for the changes, even though I am in the same area with the same companion

Love you all
Elder Pace

Here are the last several paragraphs from Elder S Mark Palmer's talk if you are curious about what touched Tyson...

"I have learned many life-changing lessons from this deeply personal experience with Mark chapter 10. Here are four of these lessons I believe will help each of us:

1. As we learn to see others as the Lord sees them rather than with our own eyes, our love for them will grow and so will our desire to help them. We will see potential within others they likely do not see in themselves. With Christlike love we will not be afraid to speak with boldness, for “perfect love casteth out fear.”4 And we will never give up, remembering that those who are hardest to love need love the most.
2. No true teaching or learning will ever occur when done in frustration or anger, and hearts will not change where love is not present. Whether we act in our roles as parents, teachers, or leaders, true teaching will happen only in an atmosphere of trust rather than condemnation. Our homes should always be safe havens for our children—not hostile environments.
3. Love should never be withdrawn when a child, friend, or family member fails to live up to our expectations. We don’t know what happened to the rich young man after he went away sorrowful, but I am confident Jesus still loved him perfectly even if he chose the easier path. Perhaps later in life, as he found his great possessions hollow, he remembered and acted on the singular experience of His Lord beholding him, loving him, and inviting him to follow Him.
4. Because He loves us, the Lord expects much of us. If we are humble, we will welcome the Lord’s invitations to repent, to sacrifice, and to serve as evidence of His perfect love for us. After all, an invitation to repent is also an invitation to receive the wonderful gift of forgiveness and peace. Therefore, “despise not … the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him: for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.”5

My dear brothers and sisters, now anytime you feel you are being asked to do something hard—give up a poor habit or an addiction, put aside worldly pursuits, sacrifice a favorite activity because it is the Sabbath, forgive someone who has wronged you—think of the Lord beholding you, loving you, and inviting you to let it go and follow Him. And thank Him for loving you enough to invite you to do more."

WEEK 40: General Conference Round 2

We had general conference round two this week, but it was in Czech so I didn't understand it all. It helped that I had seen the session in English a week before, but some of the accents really just killed me. I can report that it went better than last conference. I definitely have improved in understanding over the last six months.

Nothing crazy happened this week. We are working with a guy named Miroslav. He is pretty cool. He, like half of the people in Darnall, knows Elder Rhea. That's always a good place to start since everyone I have met seems to like Elder Rhea. He is pretty cool and his kids love us. It might only be because we give them stickers, but you take what you can get. If I have to buy the affection of 4 year olds with stickers, so be it. He is someone that just really loves God. He feels like he lost God in his life and he wants to invite that help back. What can be a better goal? I hope we can help him. Or rather, I hope he reads the scriptures and prays because I know that will help him. No questions asked.

There were a few long days as literally everyone that had agreed to talk with us flogged hard. We spent some serious time on the streets those days. Most of the time, at least one person comes in clutch. 

Happy Birthday to my dad and brother. They are awesome. That about sums it up.

Love,

Elder Pace

P.S. you can listen to two of the people that taught me Slovak. Go to lds.org and change the language to Slovak. Go to general conference and click on the talk by Henry B Eyring about gathering the family of God (should say Zhromazd'ovanie sa) for Brother Sharp and the one by Linda K Burton in the women's session for Sister Palenikova

WEEK 39: General Conference

Well, we had a great week. The blind man that I met in Rotherham one of my last weeks got baptized. His name is Ernest and he is pretty cool. He is so funny and I am glad that he got to take that step.

Also, we had interviews with President Turvey. He is so great and any chance to meet with him is wonderful.

We played football with lots of kids in Darnall. We played With Dušan and his friends. Most were about 13 years old, but some were our age.  It was so much fun. Elder Campbell and I wrecked them all don't worry.

Of course, we also got to watch General conference for our church which is when the prophet and apostles speak to us. The messages were inspiring and I can say even more surely that they are men called of God. I would encourage anyone to listen to the talk of President Monson. As the prophet of the Lord, his message is for everyone. My favorite was President Eyring in the priesthood session. Feel free to watch that one as well.

Love you all,
Elder Pace


I asked Tyson if he was able to watch Conference at all and if so what his favorite talk was.  Here is his reply (he referred to this in his general email as well):

Yes. We saw the Saturday Morning session, the Sunday Morning and the priesthood session. We missed the Saturday afternoon because of our branch meeting. Since Czech won't come out for a week, we had a normal meeting on Sunday. We will watch a session in Czech next week.

My favorite talk was by President Eyring in Priesthood. I think if I can manage to do what he did and see people with their potential, my mission will be a success.

WEEK 38: The Sun is Shining

My first full week with Elder Campbell was this week. It was pretty cool. We met a few more great people in Darnell and Tinsley. One of these people was a man named Marek. He was so sincere in wanting to care for his family. As we asked him why God and faith were important to him, he took a pause and then powerfully told us that through his life he had come to know the the help we get from God is the only help that matters. He told us of how any problem we have can be solved as we escape to God to use his words. It was so powerful as we all took that moment to appreciate God and His matchless power.

I know that Marek has found one of the greatest truths we can ever learn. I hope that I can get to know this man better and learn more from him about how he grew to follow God as well as invite him to experience the joy of the additional truth  our church has. I have found that just like the Bible, the Book of Mormon has quiet my fears and answered my questions. I know that a living prophet has encouraged me to make very important changes in my life that have shaped me. And most importantly, I know that I have access to the power of God to be cleansed from anything that holds me back through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Other than that, we tried talking to lots of people and I got good practice speaking conversational Slovak. I got to have a week with Elder Campbell who is so cool. He is from Utah and has a sister and was baptized three years ago. He loves this gospel and the Lord and you can feel the power of his conversion. He is hilarious and I can't wait for each new day. All is well over in England. The sun is even shining we also went to a sweet Cathedral and I will send some pics


We also had zone conference which was so good. I loved getting to see all of the friends that have since moved away. And I loved the spiritually uplifting messages.

Love you,
Elder Pace

Love you all,
Elder Pace

WEEK 37: Responsibility Change

 with new companion, Elder Campbell

saying good-bye to Elder Peck

This weekly email will probably be pretty short even though lots changed.

My companion is now Elder Campbell. He is awesome. I have already learned so much from him and I am excited for the work we have ahead of us. We did tons of knocking doors and talking to people on the street since we don't know anyone in our areas and missionaries haven't been there since about October.

We found one man that is willing to meet with us this week. We met him Sunday night as we were about to go in and we decided to knock one last door. His name is Fero. We met lots of people who were flabbergasted that we could speak Slovak and some reactions were hilarious. We still live in Rotherham temporarily and Elder Eberhard is the other new lad. He lives with us and Elder Armstrong and he is so funny. I love both the new Elders.

Elder Peck is gone, and it still stings, but it hasn't fully set in.

The Lord has been so kind to us as we have tried to be diligent and obedient. In the past, the missionaries were not very welcomed by the Islamic population and it caused some issues, but  we have been very blessed and I am excited to keep going. I have seen repeatedly that if we do what God wants, he will make miracles happen.

Love you all,
Elder Pace

More details about his new companion:  My companion is Elder Campbell and he is so cool. He loves soccer as well, but watched basketball so we get along fine with that. He loves the people so much and has a fire from the gospel. He is a convert of three years (one sister joined but parents are not members) and he is so willing to share his experiences with everyone. He is diligent and has been a trooper through our long days of finding in these new areas. He has  tons of faith in these people and in the Lord and I am so excited to work with him.

WEEK 36: Future Fathers of England

Left to right:  Elder Armstrong, Elder Rhea, Elder Peck, Elder Pace, Elder Buchoff, and Elder Poggemann

Well, where to start. I am leaving Rotherham after a brilliant 6 months! But that's not all, I am going to train one of the new Slovak elders! I don't know which one it is, but it will either be Elder Eberhard or Elder Campbell. I find out tomorrow when I meet him, and I am so excited. I will finally end my phase as a mission "son". I can't wait, but I am a bit nervous. This isn't the only change. On Thursday we had a meeting with President Turvey to discuss the possibilities of Slovak work spreading out. Everything he talked about happened this transfer call.

Elder Rhea and Elder Buckhoff are now Zone Leaders in Leeds.  Elder Peck is helping Elder Larsen learn Slovak up in Middlesborough which is on the opposite end of the mission, Elder Poggemann is helping another lad learn Slovak here in Sheffield and Elder Armstrong is training the other new Elder. The best part of the meeting was when we saw Elder Buckhoff and Elder Rhea and Elder Klinger here! I miss those guys all the time so it was awesome to see them. Anyways, I am going to miss Elder Peck so much. He was with me from the beginning and they are going to take him to the North where I will never see him. I remember when we got separated the first day after the MTC and it just wrecked me. I feel like it will wreck me even more when he is taken further. I'll send some pictures from the meeting

That was really all that was important this week.

Love you all,
Elder Pace

P.S.  I found out he will be "in Sheffield in the Darnell and Tinsley area.  Nowhere crazy, just new to me".

WEEK 35: A "Proper Good Week"!

(Great letter with NO PICTURES--again!  I'm beginning to wonder if he's really my child?!  Read the first paragraph out loud--it will make more sense! :)

I have decided to start using more of my English vocab so if I say proper or right a ton, you'll just have to take it on the chin.

Well, as the subject line tells us, this was a proper good week. We 'ad so many fings just go right and we didn't 'af to do owt. While we were cruisin' fru streets of Rovrum, we met some bloke named Ernest, raver we met 'is wife. She were on 'er way to store and we asked if she could cook us some Slovak food. She politely declined, but invited us over anyway. We went on over and 'ad a good long chat wif Ernest. Me companion and I found out that 'ee knew Elder Poho, 'oos me mission grandad. 'Ees mostly blind, but 'ees a good geezer, 'im. 'Ee even wanted to come to church wif us this week, which 'ee did. We are reyt excited for 'im and we 'ope 'ee keeps up good work. 

To be honest, that is about all I can type out. It is right hard to think about typing stuff out like that. If you just read it out loud, it all makes sense and that is a pretty accurate description of some people's accent here in Rotherham. Anyways, Ernest is a good guy and we are excited.

We also met some old friends of Elder Syndilek who is my mission great grandad. He is another Czech guy like Elder Poho and we really like him. The people we met that know him are pretty cool as well. It is a family that lives pretty far from the rest of the people we teach and they don't live by other Slovaks. The walk is worth it though. The mom, Kristina is a single mom with three kids, Ramona, Dominika, and Dominik. They are all super nice and they made us this strange Slovak food. I don't know exactly what it was. It looked like a roll, but it was denser and had a tiny line of jelly-like stuff injected. it was topped with oil and we think poppyseed and some brown paste. It was an iteresting flavor combo, although Elder Armstrong is not a fan and I am mostly indifferent. The first few bites I didn't enjoy, but the last few were pretty decent. So I was always confused on whether I liked it or not after eating one.

We were able to see Julia enter into the waters of baptism this week and that was special. (When I complained about lack of pictures, he finally sent these!)  I did the baptizing and it was a fun night all around. She invited a few of her friends that we had never met and they were pretty cool. A few of them had grown up in Canada despite being originally Czech and therefore spoke English fluently and had an accent really similar to ours. It was strange to hear since any Slovak that speaks English here usually has a proper British accent.

All is going well in Rotherham, miss you all, love you all, and hope you have a great week.

Elder Pace

Some extra tidbits I learned from him this week:

1.  His suits are serving him well and he has no complaints.

2.  He is learning how to set boundaries for himself with technology.  One of his favorite guys over there, Alex, didn't set foot outside his house for an entire year since he literally played games all day unless he was eating (he was out of school so he wasn't even going there).  Tyson said they destroy him and sucks away his life which is sad to see.  He does not want technology to take over his life when he returns home (now THAT'S my boy! )

3.  He has become "quite a stickler for cleaning the flat and I do a fair amount of cleaning in the free time we have during the week".  He said one of his greatest wishes at the moment is to have "a nice quality vacuum, which is going to be granted soon I hope". 

4.  I asked what he does to handle mission stress and he told me cleaning has helped him and some exercise and reading his patriarchal blessing and then saying a prayer afterwards focusing on the things he is grateful for and writing at night in his journal but then said "I am not a very stressed person most of the time, so I don't need to get over stress very much."  (Pheww....that's always good to hear)

5.  The new elders arrive March 14th and they will find out March 12th what the new arrangements will be. 

6.  I asked him to explain his last email a little further on what has been difficult for him to accept with the Slovak culture.  He went into more detail but in a nutshell he said it's the "laziness and the dishonesty and the animosity (between each other)".  Those qualities are opposite of Tyson so I'm sure that has been an adjustment and why he was sent there!  It's easy to love those that are the same as you.  A lot more Christ-like and a lot more difficult to love those that aren't!  And every missionary seems to be sent where they will be tested!

He sent these after I complained of no pictures....not exactly what I had in mind...he is not in sight at all!  But this is Alex (the guy that lives by videos) giving his companion, Elder Armstrong a haircut and "their fearless Zone leader, Elder Stirling" :)

And thanks to Facebook here is a picture of I'm assuming their zone and I think Tyson is on back row next to red haired Elder Peck?

Compliments of Elder Peck's letter today! :)