Well...It's kinda crazy to think that I am already writing home again. This place really is a time warp. The days all blend together and time goes by super fast. It's crazy but good. I figured out how to type Cyrillic so I tried it on the subject. Hopefully it worked.
Monday was P-day which was good. We went to the temple in the morning and then did our laundry and letter writing, etc. There has been a sickness going around our district. It's just a cold but those that have had it have felt miserable. Luckily, I have not gotten it. Anyways...Monday afternoon we got to leave the MTC for a few minutes to go to the pharmacy because Sister Rankin needed medicine. It's just down the street so we walked but we kind of felt like we were escaping. Monday night we had class but nothing super exciting happened.
Our Tuesday morning exercise consisted of doing situps and yoga in bed. Haha! Tuesday we decided to do another SYL day. This one went a lot better than our last one. We managed to make it through most of the day and even though we still feel like we don't know anything we were able to communicate with each other fairly well. Tuesday is our favorite day at the cafeteria because all the missionaries leaving that week are gone and the new missionaries haven't come yet so there are no lines in the cafeteria. Tuesday night we also had a devotional. When we went to it we were kind of expecting something because they were reminding us of all the rules multiple times and they had extra high security. It ended up being Elder Scott. It was amazing when he walked into the room the Spirit immediately came with him. He talked about prayer and how it is a privilege for us to be able to communicate with God and we should use it as that. He talked about how prayers are answered in different ways and when we are answered we need to act on it. He also said that sometimes we may not get an answer and that's because the Lord trusts us enough to let us make the decision. I could talk about his talk my whole email because it was so good. He ended by giving us an apostolic blessing which was pretty cool. After he sat down we sang the closing song and then the sister got up to give the closing prayer and he went running up to stop her because he needed to say one more thing. He basically just re emphasized some of the points he had already made but we figured it was probably pretty important for him to get back up. One thing he said was to remember the Lord has called you to succeed not fail. As challenging as it may be, with the Lord's help we will be ok.
Wednesday nothing super exciting happened. We started our morning with service. We've decided the reason they make us get up at 6 two mornings in a row is so that we are grateful when we get to sleep until 6:30. Other than service Wednesday was a regular day. Except for during our computer time on Wednesday a bird flew into the window and gave us all a panic attack. The bird survived and flew away just fine.
Thursday was a good day. We had a lesson with our investigator David. We decided to go into the lesson with no notes and just ask him questions and talk to him. I was impressed with how well I did but I felt like I was talking the whole time. My companions said a few sentences each and I did the rest of the talking. He would say something and I would stay quiet and wait for them to respond and when they didn't I would start talking. I paused multiple times to let them say something and they just sat there so I kept going. I honestly don't remember what I said but I know it definitely didn't come from me. I came out of the lesson with mixed feelings. I felt good about what I had said and I knew that the Spirit was helping me but at the same time I can't do it alone and I need my companions help. Thursday we also had one on one interviews with Sister Black so I kind of talked to her about it a little bit and she gave me some advice to help my companions be more confident in their speaking. Another thing she told me is that even though our investigators are our teachers and they have been missionaries, by teaching them it helps them to feel the Spirit and want to feel the Spirit more in their lives so it should give us some extra encouragement to want to teach by the Spirit. Thursday we also had TRC which I love. One of the people that was there was McKenzie which is the girl that had the blog that came home sick. She gave me hope because of how well she could speak when she was only out for a few months. I love the TRC because we get to have a conversation with the people we are teaching and if we don't know a word we can ask them and they will help us. It's basically just to help us get better at speaking to people. Our lesson this week was on enduring to the end. I took notes in with me but I tried not to look at them as much as possible. And I did pretty well. I only had to look down at them a few times.
Thursday we had our first experience with not so great food. The food here isn't bad. I'm never hungry though and I am starting to get sick of the food. Thursday lunch they had beef enchiladas and afterwards we all felt horrible. Not like sick, they just didn't settle well and we were all constantly going to the bathroom. Sorry if thats TMI. But it was everyone, at least my whole district. So note to future missionaries don't eat the beef enchiladas they don't do good things to your system. The worst part was a few days later they had them at the leftover bar and people were loading their plates with them. yes, there is a leftover bar. It is interesting the combinations (mostly elders) that come away from there.
Friday we had a lesson with our investigator Ivitca. We all went into the lesson with notes. My companions read thier notes word for word like a script. I didn't use my notes. I completely changed the order of what I was saying and said some things differently. And I left the lesson feeling so good because I know that the Spirit directed me as to what to say. My companions on the other hand didn't feel like the lesson went well. I don't know how to get them to understand that when they don't use notes, as terrifying as it is they will feel the Spirit more and will leave the lessons feeling good. I have tried multiple times to tell them this but they don't get it yet. It's hard for me too because there are times in the middle of what they are saying that I want to say something but I don't dare because I know it will throw them off and they won't know what to do next. I know I'm not perfect at the language but they only way to get better is to take the leap of faith and try. I've still got a long ways to go and a lot to learn but by learning to rely more on the spirit it is helping me to become better everyday.
Saturday was another fairly boring day. We just had our study time and class. One of our teachers did tell us a little bit about the mission and showed us pictures which was kind of cool. He only served in Serbia. He did say that letters and packages will usually get there but it can take a long time. That's Serbia. I don't know about Croatia. We also found out that starting this week we are going to be investigators and teach each other so it will be interesting to see how that goes.
Sunday's relief society speaker was Sister Esplin from the Primary General Presidency. She talked a lot about D&C 4 and specifically verses 5 and 6 where it talks about the things we should be filling our lives with in order to have the light of Christ and be able to withstand Satan. Sunday since it was so nice outside we decided to study outside. It was so nice! I tried really hard not to but I may have fallen asleep for a little bit. And my consequence for that was getting sunburned. My face is burnt and I have one random patch on my leg. It's great! I'm not the only one who is burnt though. We also had our temple walk on Sunday and we just sat at the Temple for over an hour which was nice. I'm hoping this weather is here to stay. Sunday night devotional was the BYU Men's choir and then the movie was The Testaments. Also to answer a question our Sacrament is in English. I know there are some branches that do them in their mission language but because our branch has 6 different languages (Croatian, Slovenian, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Polish) and none of the Branch Presidency speak any of them we do it in English.
Now just a few stories. First off the other day sister Erbe said Buffet but she said it the Jimmy way. She said that's how she says it. I thought it was pretty sweet.
Tuesday was Sister Peltons birthday. We haven't learned how to sing Happy Birthday so one of the elders started singing it to the tune of This is Halloween on nightmare before Christmas. One of our teachers heard and apparently didn't like it so he taught us how to sing it in Croatian.
We were talking about popping Boba somehow and one of our teachers heard and said there is a place in Croatia called Happy Bubbles that all they serve is Boba. I was pretty excited about that!
During meals the Elders have found a new game to play called hide the saltine. They hide a saltine somewhere on their body and then the other elder has to find it and eat it. It's a really dumb game but it's really funny to watch.
We have been trying to get our teachers to tell us their first names and they won't. We found out what they were though and so now we are trying to sneak them into conversations to see their reactions. And there is one teacher that we know it is one of two names so we are using both to try to figure out which one it is. It has been pretty funny. They haven't figured out what we are doing yet at least that we have noticed. Also our teachers have certain things that they each do that we know how to get them how to do it. So before each class we plan out who is going to say or do what in order to get those specific reactions from our teachers and it works everytime. That might not make any sense but it keeps us from going crazy in class.
My district is requesting that everyone have their parents send a baby picture so that we can see them. So if you get around to that see what you can do. It doesn't have to be an actual picture like you can just copy it on paper. Also if you get around to it I didn't bring any face lotion and could use some of that. If it's easier I could just buy it at the bookstore though.
I'm trying to think if there is anything else I need to tell you. I can't think of anything. I will send pictures later today. I am also going to try to write a quick letter home later. I figure while I am in the MTC I can do at least something short each week. I am doing great. Even though I have a long ways to go I am learning everyday and can actually see the progress I am making. Although I do get frustrated with my companions during lessons sometimes, I really do like them and we get along well. I am learning to rely on the Spirit more than I ever have in my life. The MTC really is an amazing place. I love you all! Thanks for everything!
Volim te!
Sestra Clark
Shoutouts!
Thanks for the pictures!
Letters this week from Dad, Jordan, Nicole Banks, Grandpa, Ryan, Allie, Mom, Carrie (I got the same letter from you twice again :)), and an email from Lex!
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