TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Valrico Couple To Lead World Mission

The Slovaceks will spend three years in Prague.

ADVERTISEMENT

By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 22, 2007

Valrico - Valrico - The ramifications of their decision didn't really sink in until Ellen and Marvin Slovacek began to sort through the personal possessions they'd accumulated throughout more than 30 years of marriage.

For 54-year-old Marvin Slovacek, it wasn't giving up the successful real estate development firm he'd built or the house in Bloomingdale where they'd raised their four children that struck him hardest.

It was parting with all the "stuff" he and his wife, 53, had collected over the years that was most challenging when the couple decided to leave it all behind and head to the Czech Republic for three years to serve as full-time missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

They simultaneously pointed to each other when asked who wanted to keep the most "stuff."

"She did," he said.

"He did," she said.

In the end, all they kept were the clothes they felt they'd need for the next three years: books, family photos, some family heirlooms and keepsakes they'll put in storage, such as the traditional homemade Christmas gifts they gave to each other.

"It was kind of liberating," Marvin Slovacek said. "We're walking away from everything and taking on a whole new challenge. Once you get past the material things, the need to make a living, helping other people is what's important."

"The only things that mattered were the memories," Ellen Slovacek said. "The other material things just fall away once you put yourself in the right mindset."

Now, with their house empty and on the market, the Slovaceks are on their way to Prague, where they will spend three years living in a third-floor apartment above the Czech Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving as full-time missionaries for no compensation. The church will provide them with the apartment, a car and basic reimbursement for food and other necessities.

It will be quite a lifestyle change for the longtime Valrico residents, but one they say they are looking forward to.

Although Marvin Slovacek was born in Taylor, Texas, his grandfather was brought up in Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic.

In the Mormon church, young men are encouraged to sign up for two-year missions when they turn 19, and Slovacek did just that, serving his mission in Austria before returning to the United States and earning a business degree from Harvard University.

Both Slovaceks have long been active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, most recently at the Brandon Stake on Bell Shoals Road in Valrico, where Slovacek has served as president for seven years.

Ellen Slovacek is a former seminary teacher, ward for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Relief Society and Young Women organization.

Now that their four children, age 21 to 30, are grown and on their own, the Slovaceks had been discussing doing missionary work when they received a phone call out of the blue from the secretary for Dallin Oaks, one of the church's 12 apostles, in November.

They had been recommended as excellent candidates to lead one of the church's 300 missions worldwide. It was high praise. It's been more than 15 years since anyone from the Tampa Bay area has been asked to lead a world mission.

"We were ready to go wherever they asked us to go," Ellen Slovacek said.

Fortunately, "wherever" proved to be a place they'd visited and loved: Prague.

"We visited Prague when our daughter served as a missionary in Bulgaria in 2000, and we fell in love with the city," Marvin Slovacek said. "It wasn't bombed during World War II, so it retained a lot of its beautiful historic buildings. We always wanted to return there, so now we're getting the chance."

In addition to selling, giving away and storing all their belongings, the Slovaceks have been spending the past few months getting a crash course in the Slovenian language.

"All I remembered how to say from my grandfather was 'How are you?' and 'bellybutton,'" Slovacek said. "But the church has a language training center in Provo, Utah, for its 50,000 to 60,000 missionaries throughout the world, and we've been getting long-distance language instruction twice a week for an hour."

In Prague, Slovacek will serve as president of the Czech Prague Mission, overseeing 90 to 100 missionaries from the United States and other countries, as well as presiding over the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Czech Republic and Slovenia territories

Ellen Slovacek will train the missionaries and oversee the ladies auxiliary, youth and children's programs.

Although the Mormon church existed in Czechoslovakia before World War II, the rise of communism forced it underground until communism fell in 1990.

"Most of the people are still atheists," Ellen Slovacek said. "So our No. 1 priority will be to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and show them what a difference it could make in their lives, to give them hope and joy, that the possibility is within them to believe."

The Slovaceks said they have mixed emotions about leaving behind their children, 6-week-old grandson, 2 1/2-year-old granddaughter and friends. However, they pointed out that three years isn't all that long, and technology and ease of travel mean they are never really far away.

In fact, son Matthew, 21, who just returned from serving a mission in Washington state, will join them in Prague, and the other children will visit.

The Slovaceks have set up a Web site where they will post information and photos to keep family and friends abreast of what's happening in their lives. Visit http://www.mission.net/czech/prague/missioninfo.ph....

Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524 or dlwhite@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT