June 29, 2015 - In which we meet everyone in Zlín

Dear family,

Last week went really well! Elder Page and I have been teaching a lot. We're doing pretty well, though I don't have a lot of time to go into details, I'm afraid. Sending all of those photos took a lot of time.... :)

During the last week I was able to meet a lot of the members and some of our investigators. Thursday and Friday we had branch activities, which were really nice. I sent photos for the blog :) We're working right now with a great couple that Elder Page and Elder Yentes found, J and K, who would be great for our branch. They have two small children and last week ate up the message that we shared about the Restoration. They both are excited to learn and strengthen their little family. At one meeting before I got here J apparently shared a thought that it's importantly for one to everything once in a while step back and make sure that you don't need to make changes in your life, and that seems like the approach he's taking to learning about the gospel.

We're excited to also be working with J (another investigator). His wife and daughter have both been baptized during the last six months and we're working with him to make the same step. He and his family drove us to the branch activities that we had last week and we appreciated the time that we were able to spend with them. J, M, and A are great. J is already living exactly as a member would, he just hasn't made the decision to be baptized yet. From what I understand there is some family opposition that makes things difficult, and I think he's concerned about making his other family members upset, but other than that we think that the main thing holding J back from being baptized is simply the decision to do it :)

I'm enjoying working with Elder Page! He's very diligent and is great. The branch here is also wonderful, but I'm going to have to say more next week because I'm truly out of time.

Love,
Elder Boyce

Last Friday we also went an on approved trip out to Kroměříž to see some world-famous gardens with a part-member family that we're teaching and some other members. I took a ton of photos, but I'll try to send you the prettiest.​

Oooh

Aaah

We totally played tag in this maze!

Tree of life!

Pretty

Gorgeous

This is a famous shot (this is a UNESCO World Heritage Site)

It looks like we're really red because I left my camera on a weird setting for this photo. Elder Page and I!

Making svičková last Monday before I left Olomouc.

A candid photo of me making svičková.

The result (I was working on the sauce)

District conference in the hall.

​I tried to do a panorama of the crowd at conference and failed a little bit... we had a full house!

Our church building.

We have a Star Trek pulpit!

Last Monday on the way to emailing there was a HUGE cloudburst with sideways rain... our front halves got soaked!

​Elder Petersen and I leaving Olomouc, with the other missionaries, our luggage, and the branch president.

Elder Smith and I as I'm leaving :(

Last week a missionary that served here for a long time was leaving and his family picked him up. The branch threw a BBQ for them, and we went. It was a nice chance to be able to meet all the members.Here's some Czech BBQ for interest (plus some dessert!)

I've taken almost 100 photos during this week!!!!!​ Zlín is a very atypical Czech town. It was established in 1920 by Tomáš Baťa. He had his shoe factory here, and got people to come by building them these brick cubes. They are all over the city! Because it's so new there's very little traditional Czech architecture. In fact 90% of the city is the red brick and white that you see here.

Zlín!

Baťa cubes on the hill

​Our favorite old factory town

When we were tracting an older gentleman asked if we wanted some cherries. We said, "Sure," then he came and cut off three whole branches from his tree!! We weren't quite expecting that.