Pictures

 A main street in Osijek

 

 Older part of town - Osijek

 

 Sister Mortensen by door of church

 

 Missionaries visiting a nursing home

 

 Riding the train in Bosnia

 

 Ethnic Village in Bosnia



Bok Svima‏

First off Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes. It will probably just be a normal day of working here but it will be good. And I did get the package. I got it on Thursday when we had zone conference which means that it got to the mission home before that. So Im not exactly sure how long it took to get here but I do have it. And I havent even opened the presents yet. I am saving it until Wednesday. Arent you proud?!

 

This week was a crazy busy week! Monday was pday and we didnt really do much. That night for Family Home Evening we went to V for family night with the Elders. She is the one that just got baptized the transfer before I got here. We talked about Spiritual needs and Physical needs and how we need both and that when we put our spiritual needs first everything else will work out.

 

Tuesday we had a lesson with M. He is sssssssoooooooo close to baptism but wont commit to a date. He reads the Book of Mormon, comes to church every Sunday, and he wants to be baptized he just wont commit to a date. So we are trying to find the iceburg right now (the deeper concern) as to why he wont commit. Our lessons with him always go so well and we can always feel the Spirit. And he would make a great member. He is exactly what our branch needs. We need to find more people like him.

 

Wednesday we met with E and J. I think I told you about them last week. They are a less active mother and daughter who were baptized 11 years ago and have been inactive for years. The mother has recently started coming back to church but the daughter hasnt. So we go visit them weekly because the consistent contact with them is good and we have been hoping that one day she will want to come back. On Wednesday we talked to them about the importance of coming to church and the Sacrament. They understood what we were saying and could see that it was important but J still wouldnt commit to coming to church.

 

Thursday we had zone conference in Beograd, Serbia. It ended up being about a 3 hour drive. We rode with the Senior couple which was nice because we didnt have to take the bus. Zone Conference was really good. We had training from the APs, ZLs, and Sister Training leaders. They talked about teaching with the Spirit, using the Book of Mormon in our teaching, and asking inspired questions. These are all things that we talked a lot about in the MTC but it was good to have a review of them. We did a lot of role playing. I really dont like role playing but it is super helpful so we do it anyway. And it was nice to be able to rol eplay using our investigators with other missionaries because they were able to give us ideas for our investigators from a different point of view. They fed us lunch and then President Rowe talked to us. He is amazing. He talked about Joseph Smith and how for him James 1:5 was an invitation to go and pray and because of that he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and we have the Gospel on Earth now. He talked about the importantance of invitations and told us that every time we talk to someone we should leave them with an invitation to do something. The two most important words for a missionary are "will you..." The worst thing that can happen is they will say no. But If we dont ask we will never know.

 

After Zone Conference we got on a bus to Novi Sad for the night. Novi Sad is in Serbia and is about an hour and a half from Beograd. We were going there to stay with the Sisters there for the night. Sister Erbe is in Novi Sad so it was fun to see her.

 

Friday we had a zone activity. They have them once a year. For our zone activity we went to an Ethnic Village in Bosnia. So I have now officially been to Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia. The village was made by a man as a replica for something,  Im not really sure. It was kind of cool to see. We ate lunch there and then we played Soccer and Frisbee on a field. President Rowe even played with us which was fun. We got to ride to the Ethnic Village with the Rowes. They are amazing people. It has to be hard for them to be a mission president with such young kids but we are so lucky to have them. After the village we rode back with the Senior couple to Osijek. It took us about 3 hours. On the way we had to stop to get gas. We went into the gas station and started talking to the worker. We left him with a Book of Mormon and a pass along card and he seemed really interested. The only problem is he is quite a ways from where we are.

 

Sister Madsen (she is the wife of Truman Madsen...I think I told you about her while we were in the MTC. She came and talked to us about Kresimir Cosic) is in our mission right now and is going to each area for a few days talking about the new Sunday School Curriculum, Come Follow Me. So while she is here she wants to go on visits with the missionaries. She is in Osijek until tomorrow. So on Saturday we decided to take her to Visit J and E. We had a lesson plan but when we got there it just didnt feel right. So we just talked. It was a bit difficult because we had to translate and E is really hard to understand in Croatian and Sister Madsen talks a lot so it was a bit interesting. But it went really well. We just talked to them about whatever we felt was right and we could really tell that they were feeling the Spirit. Its the first time since I have met with them that you could really see that they were feeling it really strong.

 

So Sunday...I was really disappointed when E walked into church and J didnt come with her. But a few minutes later J walked in. And she brought her son D. She came to church!!!!!! She hasnt been in years! And just a few months ago she wouldnt even let the missionaries come over to talk to them. And she came to church! It was a great day! And to top it off we had 19 members at church (it was over 30 with missionaries and investigators). Thats a new record! Its only one more than last week but it is still more. Baby steps! And next week maybe we will get one more and keep bringing that number up. And we had 2 of our investigators at church too! Happy day! Sister Madsen spoke in Sacrament meeting and taught Sunday school and she did a great job. Everyone, including the children were intently focused on what she was saying and the Spirit there was amazing. She is an amazing lady.

 

Elder M who is one of the Elders in Osijek has an amazing voice so the Senior couple had asked him to sing in church yesterday and so I got to accompany him. He wanted me to play a fancy song but there was no way I would be able to learn it in one week when we have no time to practice. So I just played it out of the hymn book. However I used my AP music theory skills and transposed it into another key for part of the time. I was pretty impressed with myself and it ended up sounding really good. He was trying to get me to sing and he would play the piano for me because he is really good at the piano and can sightread anything. I just laughed at that and told him that was not going to happen.

but anyway..Sunday was a good day!

 

The language is still coming. We are still trying to do SYL a few days a week. Each time we do it we do better at it and I really think it is helping because it puts my brain in the Croatian mode. We do language study almost every day. Sometimes it is hard to fit it in but we try to as much as possible because we need it. Most things are written in Croatian. Every once in awhile there is English too. But for the most part when I read signs I can tell what they are saying or at least usually figure it out. When we are going places I read everything I see and talk to myself. People probably think I am crazy but it seems to help. One of the members is really good at helping me. He quizzes me and whenever I have questions he helps which is good. I feel like I am improving and learning more every day although I still have a lot more to go. But it is coming slowly but surely.

 

This week we attempted to make cookies. We used the good cookie recipe and Jordan and Tyson will be glad to know that they didnt turn out that great so they didnt miss out on anything. I dont know what is different here because I did what I usually do but they were just not right. It will take practice but if we can find time to make them again hopefully it will improve.

 

Remember that time that we went to Washington DC and it was really hot and humid and miserable. Ya thats about what it feels like here only worse. The good news is I keep a smile on my face and dont get grumpy and complain like I did there. The heat is terrible and at the end of every day I feel completely disgusting but its all right. Im hoping I will get used to it soon but if not I will just feel gross all summer and thats ok. The worst thing is when we go into someones house it is usually hotter than outside. Croatians have something against air conditioning. They think the air and breezes, etc. make them sick or makes their body hurt so they dont use it. In church they make us turn it off so they dont get sick. Im not really sure why because it is so hot here. When we go home at night we blast the air and lay under it.

 

This week really has been a great week and I am doing just great! Since I have been here I have decided to pick a Subtopic of Christ from the Topical Guide to study each week so I read a few verses on Christ each day. And it has been great. He is the reason I am here and I know that through Him and through His Atonement I can do this.  I love starting my day each morning reading about Him and everything that he has done for me. I have also started reading the Doctrine and Covenants and I never realized before how much it talks about missionary work. I learn so much from it every day that I can apply to what I am doing. Its great. I love the scriptures! I love this gospel! And I love missionary work! I am so glad I am here and that I still have so much time to go and teach other people about the Gospel!

 

Volim vas

Sestra Clark

 

 

 

Shoutouts!

 

Thanks for the package! And I heard this week from Alexa, Dad, Mom, Grandpa, Carrie, and Ryan

 

Sretan Rođendan to Renee this week

 

Im glad that this week is behind us and that I survived and I know that now that I have made it past Friday I can make it past the rest of my mission. It is probably going to come a lot faster than I want it to. It already has gone by so fast. Im glad that Friday was a good day and that everything went smoothly. Thanks for sending the pictures. Justin was a stud in his tux. Im a bit dissapointed that Tyson didnt wear his bowtie. You all looked great. Everyone looked so happy and I know that it was a great day. Congrats to Jordan and Amanda! Love you lots!

Pictures

 A cathedral in the middle of Osijek

 

 Centar, the main area in Osijek

 

 Cemetery in Vukovar

 

 Cemetery where war veterans are buried

 

 Vukovar, the city hit hardest by the war

 

 Water tower in Vukovar - symbol of Croatia's victory in the war

 

 Flooding in the river - over the walkway

 

 Sis Clark & her companion by the river

 

On the side of the buses - ice cream and dogs not allowed!

 



Busy week in Osijek

Well...another week has come and gone. Its crazy how fast time is moving. I have almost been in Croatia for three weeks now and I cant believe it. We are constantly crazy busy but its great. We are constantly doing something or going from appointments or tracting or contacting, etc. There have been multiple nights this week when we eat dinner when we get home for the night at 9 because its the only time that we can because there is so much going on. But its great!

 

Monday night after pday we had a meeting with A and T. It was my first time meeting with them. They are Jehovah Witnesses and have been meeting with the missionaries for awhile. My companion told me she wasnt sure how she felt about meeting with them but wanted me to go once to see what I thought. I did not like it. We went in there and they basically had a presentation to prove what we were saying wrong. They werent listening to anything that we said and had "research" from jw.com to prove why what they believed were right. They have no interest in learning about the Gospel or reading the Book of Mormon, they basically want to Bible Bash which is not what we are here for. Needless to say I dont think we will be meeting with them again.

 

Tuesday. We first met the Senior Couple to read with an investigator named B. He is in his 70s or 80s and has been investigating the church for more than 8 years. He comes to church every Sunday. He reads the Book of Mormon every day. He meets with the senior couple once a week. He comes to all of our activities. But he wont get baptized. He is Catholic and thinks that the Catholic church needs him because they need good people too. My companion and I went to the meeting with him determined to question him about it. And we got the same answer. He wont get baptized but he will keep coming. It really is sad. I had heard about him from my teachers in the MTC.

 

Wednesday. We have a member who lives in a nursing home. Wednesday she had a program that she was in and wanted us to come to so we went. I have a special place in my heart for the elderly. They sang and played instruments and even though they all sounded awful because none of them could sing and I couldnt understand much of what they were saying it was great. And after we were able to talk with R who is the member. She was really glad that we had come and happy to see us so it was good. They served us lunch at the program. They had traditional Croatian soup with was like a broth type thing with meat it it and pollenta and cabbage. It was good. The desserts werent very good. Croatians dont like sweet things so they werent very sweet. It was good though.

 

After the program on Wednesday we went to meet with E and J who are a less active mother and daughter. We talked to them about recieving revelation because they had asked us about it last time. And then we asked them about their conversion story and how they had met the missionaries which was cool to hear. They were both baptized many years ago. E has started coming back to church. She is older and is so sweet! We are still working on J but we will get there!

 

Thursday our investigator M invited us to his house for lunch. He told us that he was inviting a lot of his friends and family and wanted us to meet them. We thought it would be a good place to talk to people and get some potentials. Apparently there was some miscommunication because we were the only ones there besides him and his parents. We were able to talk to his parents quite a bit and get to know them which was good. His Mom made a fabulous meal that she had probably spent days cooking. Everything was made from scratch and all of the vegetables were grown from their garden. We started with a soup that was basically chicken noodle soup. We then had chicken that was delicious and pork along with potatoes, fresh vegetables, bread. It was delicious. Most of the members are poorer and most of our investigators are as well so we dont eat with people a lot. So this was a rare occasion to eat at a Croatians home and have a traditional meal and it was delicious! She also made a cream pie for dessert. We felt bad that we werent able to stay very long because we had other appointments.

 

Friday night for Aktivnost we played games outside. It was a lot of fun for those people that we were able to get to come outside. The Croatians dont like being outside a ton because the mosquitoes are so bad. So a group stayed inside and played games with the senior couple while the rest of us played capture the flag and other games outside. It was a lot of fun and we had the biggest turnout that we have had at a Friday night activity since I have been here which was good.

 

Saturday the senior couple asked us to go visit some less actives with them that live a little ways from Osijek. The senior couple doesnt know Croatian so they have to take us for translation.  That can get interesting when sometimes neither me or my companion know what is being said either. The senior couple is great. Sister P is awesome. Elder P likes to have us translate things using words that most people wouldnt even use in English so we have no idea how to say it in Croatian. So it can be interesting. Anyways...we first went to Čepin to visit S. We had an appointment with her. She was really happy to see us and was glad that we had come. We talked to her about reading the Book of Mormon. She told us that she wants to read the Book of Mormon but cant because she doesnt have good eyesight. So we are going to try to find another way for her to read it...maybe a tape of something to listen to. Her living circumstances were not very good. She has a very small apartment and it was really dirty and quite gross. But we had a good visit with her and it was good for her to have contact with the missionaries. She lives about 20 minutes away from the church and has no means of transportation so she is unable to come to church.

 

The other member we visited lives in Vukovar which is about 45 minutes from Osijek. We were unable to set up an appointment with her but decided to go anyways. When she answered the door she was very hesitant and I dont think that she really wanted to let us in. But she did and it ended up being really good. She has been really sick so Elder P was able to give her a blessing. After a little bit she warmed up to us and I think she ended up being really glad that we had come. She even told us that we could come by once a month to visit. She was baptized in 1997 in Italy. She showed us pictures of her baptism and talked to us about it which was really fun to hear. We tried to leave several times and she would go get something else for us to see which was good since at first she didnt even want to let us in.

 

Afterwards we drove around Vukovar a little bit. It is the town that was hit the worst during the war. A lot of the buildings and houses are still destroyed from the war because people couldnt afford to fix them but people still live in them. We saw the cemetery where the war veterans are buried. We also saw the water tower which is the symbol of Croatias victory. It is destroyed quite a bit from the war but is still standing. It represents that even though there were many shots and bullets Croatia is still independent and still standing.

 

Afterwards we went back to Osijek and had a lesson with D. She is Atheist so she is very difficult but everytime we go she understands a little bit more and is open to learning more. It is going to take some work but we see a lot of potential in her. We talked to her about the afterlife and she asked us why God allows bad things to happen to good people. So we used the scriptures and talked to her about that.

 

We then went straight to a lesson with M which went great. He has been investigating for awhile and has had all of the lessons he is just having a hard time giving up his traditions and people around him dont agree with him learning about the church. We have pounded baptism into his head so much that we decided this time we werent going to talk about it. But he brought it up. We showed him Doctrine and Covenants 58:42 which is the scripture that talks about if you repent of your sins they will be remembered no more. We showed him that scripture and told him that is what baptism is for. Its so that we can retain a complete remission or our sins and move on and start with a clean slate. It really clicked with him that that is why we are pushing baptism and why it is so important and that its not just the way to gain membership into the church. We were still unable to commit him to a date but we took a step in the right direction. And we were so close to getting a referral from him for his brother in law and sister but he said he needs to talk to them first before giving us their number.

 

Sunday church was good. I understood more of what was said than I have the past few weeks so that is good. I got to play the piano today. My companion also plays as well as one of the Elders so we switch off which is nice. We taught primary and had 4 kids there which is the most we have had since I have been here! We also had 18 members at church today (not investigators, missionaries, etc.) which one of the Elders said he is pretty sure is a record. So we were really excited about that! We are focusing a lot of our efforts on reactivation and strengthening the testimonies of the members to help them become more independent because right now everything is run by the missionaries and we want them to be able to survive and run things if we werent here.

 

Sunday night we had a lesson with D. I may have told you about her in past letters. She has had all of the lessons multiple times and is so ready for baptism but wont get baptized until October because she wants a certain person to baptize her and he cant come to Osijek until October. We brought the Elders with us on the lesson to see if they could help her understand the importance of not waiting but she has her mind set. So for now we are just going to keep in contact and go by weekly and teach her or read a chapter in the Book of Mormon because she is set on waiting.

 

Things are going great here! Our apartment right now has 3 rooms we use one as a bedroom, study room, and storage room. It has two bathrooms a living room and a kitchen. It is on the other side of town from the Elders but is right around the corner from the Senior couple. We are actually in the process of looking for a new apartment which is stressful because we dont have any time for it but missionaries have been in this apartment for a long time and its time to get out.

 

We get food from grocery stores. There is one right around the corner from our apartment and there are several others really close. For the most part we can find everything we need to make stuff at the store. Sometimes we have to get a bit creative with substitutions because they dont have somethiing here but everything we have made has turned out. We do a lot of our own cooking which is good and is a lot healthier and cheaper. The food here is good. So far I havent tried anything I dont like. But like I said we make a lot of our own food.

 

Our church used to be an apartment that we turned into a church. It is small but works for what we have now. There arent any wards in Croatia. Im not sure how old this branch is.

 

I think that answers all of your questions.

 

The big news for the week here is flooding. Everywhere we go that is all we hear about. And everytime we hear about it, it is much worse than it actually is. They have had people preparing sand bags but we havent had to use them yet and I think that we hit the peak of the flooding yesterday. Apparently some towns and countries got it worse than we did. The river has raised by about 10 feet. If it were to raise anymore there probably would be flooding because it would start overflowing but at this point nothing too serious has happened. Some of the walking paths are underwater though.

 

It is hot here. And its not even as bad as it is going to get. We leave the apartment and start sweating. But its great. I just try not to think about it.

 

The language is still coming. I like to think I am improving every day. My companion and I did our first SYL day this week which was hard but I think it helped. We are going to try to do them every other day which will hopefully help me improve. Ive still got a ways to go but I am starting to pick up on more words and I am understanding more. My pronunciation needs help still but Im working on it. One of the Elders here is on his last transfer and knows the language really well and is really good about trying to help. I have told him if I ever say something wrong that he should correct me so he does that which helps. He is also good that if I ask him how to say something he will tell me how and then explain it so that I understand why and then he will quiz me on it later which is good. Sometimes I get frustrated because I want the language to come faster but I know that it takes time and that as long as I keep trying and pushing myself it will eventually come. Yesterday while contacting we started talking to some people and after awhile they asked us where we were from. We said we were from America and said sorry our Croatian isnt very good we are still learning. Their response was we know. The people here are very honest.

 

I am still doing good. Time is flying by and I cant decide if it is a good thing or a bad thing. I am still liking it a lot in Osijek. I love the people here and the members and I am glad to be here. I know there is a reason that I have been called here and I am looking for those that are prepared for me to teach them. I will find them!

 

I hope that you all have a great week! I love you lots! Thanks for everything!

Love,

Sestra Clark

 

 

Shoutouts!

 

This week I heard from Tyson, Grandpa, Ryan, Al, Lex, Carrie, Jordan, Mom and Dad.

I hope that you all have a great week this week! I will be thinking about you and I hope that everything goes smoothly and goes well.

Pictures

 

View of the main part of the city

 

 

AT THE ZOO

Sister Clark 

 

 Peacock

 Cows

 

 

 Doing service at the dog park

 

 

FIRST APARTMENT

 

 

First Full Week in Croatia!

Well...I have officially survived a full week in Croatia. I think I am finally over the jetlag and starting to figure out how things work around here. Its been a bit of a crazy week but it has been good. I am learning more and more every day. I am doing things every day that I never would have even thought of doing before. I still dont understand most of what people say to me but for the most part I can figure out the basics of what they are saying so I know how to respond. Or maybe I completely dont understand what they are saying and my answers make absolutely no sense to them. Either way I am trying.

 

This week has been good. Last week for pday we went to the zoo. The Elders came with us as well as a few of the members. It was fun. We walked to the zoo and Im pretty sure it took us longer to walk there than we were actually there. Monday night when pday ended we went to one of our recent converts house for FHE. We took the branch President with us. He is awesome. Unfortunately, he has left Osijek for the Summer to go work. But he will be back. He just left a few days ago so we are trying to figure out how to run things without him while he is gone. Elder P who is the senior missionary is filling in for him while he is gone. The only problem is he doesnt speak any Croatian so we have to have a translator which is difficult. But we are making things work. Anyways back to the recent convert. She was baptized last transfer. She is great. She loves when we come visit her. She always waits outside for us and then gives us juice and cookies. Yes I havent had anything to drink besides water for a good couple of years but they drink a lot of juice here and when we go to lessons they always offer it so I have started drinking it. Still no carbonation though. We meet with her about once a week and either read a chapter in the Book of Mormon or talk about one of the new member lessons with her.

 

Tuesday was a crazy day. We had a full day planned. Everything fell through but we still managed to stay busy all day and we were running around all day. We taught our first English class (well my first English class) on Tuesday. We teach the advanced class so most of the students know English well and can hold conversations so it is hard to figure out what to teach. We only have a handful of students who come to English so we are trying to spread the word more and get more people to come.

 

On Wednesday we made palačinke with some of the members and less actives at the church. Palačinke means pancakes but it is pretty much a crepe. It was good because we had some of the less actives come and we met with them in a not so serious situation and just talked to them. And one of them actually came to church on Sunday after it so it was good! Wednesday night we had a lesson with an investigator but she called and cancelled at the last minute. So we decided to go check on some former investigators. Our branch really needs a family. We dont have any one that is a full family mom, dad and kids so we decided we were going to go find one. We knocked on one door and no one answered. We decided to stay in that area and go tracting. It was my first time tracting because we had only done contacting up to that point. We knocked on several doors and people either didnt answer or shut the doors. We looked at our list of former investigators and saw a name that we felt like we should go to. It was pretty far from where we were but decided to go anyway. Due to our lack of knowing the area well we missed the tram stop that we were supposed to get off at. We got off at the next one and decided rather than walking back to the other one that we would just stay there and tract. We knocked on a few doors with no luck. We walked a little bit farther and saw a house with a stroller in front. We looked at eachother said family and walked up to the door. We knocked on the door and a man answered holding a baby. We gave a power statement and talked for a minute and he said a few things that I didnt understand and next thing I know he was telling us to come in. We were both super shocked and didnt know what to do from there. My companion said all of last transfer she only got let into a house while tracting once. We went in and his wife was there and they have 3 kids. It was about 830 and they were getting their kids ready for bed so we only talked to them for a few minutes but we made a return appointment to go back. We went back Saturday night and taught them the first lesson. It went well and they seemed to accept it. He said that he used to be Catholic and that he actually wanted to be a Priest but he had lost Faith. He said that he was willing to try out religion again though. This was a really cool experience. We were led to this house for a reason. We got off on the wrong bus stop for a reason. The Lord works in mysterious ways and when we follow the promptings of the Spirit we will be led where we need to go when we need to go even though we may not understand why.

 

Thursday was a good day. We had a day full of lessons. We went from one lesson to the next all day and it went really well. One of our lessons was with an investigator named M. He is so close to baptism. We think that he knows that he needs to be baptized but he has been Catholic his entire life and is having a hard time giving up some of his former traditions and how other people are taking it. He takes in what we say and asks really good questions that show us that he is listening and thinking about what we are telling him. He has a really good head on his shoulders and is exactly what our branch needs.

 

Friday for service we went to a dog shelter. You all know how much I love dogs so Im sure you can guess how excited I was for this. It was miserable. It was loud, and it smelled bad, and there were mosquitos and bugs everywhere, and I dont like dogs. Im hoping this week we can find another way to do service because I dont like animals. But I did do it with a good attitude and didnt complain.

Friday for aktivnost we were in charge. We played minute to win it. It was actually my companions idea. She brought it up and said it would be fun to do something like that but since we dont have access to internet and cant look up the games they play we couldnt do it. I however, know a lot of the games from memory due to how many times we have played it so we grabbed various items from around the house and the church and made it work. They all seemed to enjoy it a lot. It was a little interesting trying to explain each game in Croatian because I didnt know most of the words but it worked and it turned out good.

 

Saturday we played Soccer. Its a good way to get people to come and get to know them and gradually work into talking about the church because then they are more accepting of it. Even though I am a horrible soccer player it actually ended up being a lot of fun.

 

Sunday I got to talk in church. They had told me about it before hand so I had time to prepare which was good. I was going to have one of the members read over it before hand to make sure it made sense but I didnt have time. So I just went with it. They were surprised that I had done it all on my own. They told me the grammar was good and that they understood it. The pronunciation on the other hand needs some work. Which I already knew so I am working on that. I still cant roll my rs so if anyone has some tips on how to do that I would appreciate it. I have told the members and the other missionaries that when I say something wrong to correct me. They have been good at doing that which has helped. I still feel like I dont know the language at all but it is getting better every day. My companion and I are going to start SYLing 24/7 starting tomorrow. We are going to take it one day at a time and see how it goes. We think it will help us a lot with pronunciation, grammar, words, understanding, etc. So hopefully it does. Because most of the time I feel pretty lost as to what is being said around me. I have to really focus in on what people are saying and if they talk to fast I am completely lost.

 

The Senior couple that we have here are amazing. They got here about a month before I got here. They dont speak any Croatian but they are trying. Now that they have been here for a little bit they have some good ideas to help make the branch here stronger and how to improve things. They had us and the Elders over for dinner yesterday. It was nice to have a home cooked meal. We actually do pretty good at cooking meals. We try to cook one meal a day. We usually do it around 3 and just do a late lunch/early dinner and then just take snacks with us for the rest of the day. We have made some good things using the recipe book I brought. Sometimes it is interesting because we have to make substitutions but so far everything has turned out pretty good.

 

There are mosquitos here really bad and I have bites everywhere. But its great. Jordan was placing bets on how long I would keep doing my hair. Whoever guessed less than a week wins. I have officially given up on it. I do it and within five minutes of walking out the door it is crazy from the humidity and it ends up in a ponytail. But its great.

 

The money here is Kuna. However it is switching to the Euro in July sometime. I think that 5 dollars is about 1 Kuna although I could be wrong on that.

 

I sent my address to mom in another email so look at that so I dont have to type it again. You can send mail here its just better to send it to the mission office. I explained that to mom as well.

 

The weather hasnt been too bad until lately. It was a pretty good temperature. But it is starting to get really hot and really humid. Last night there was actually a really bad thunder storm. We had the blinds closed and curtains and every time there was lightening our entire room looked like we had turned the light on. And it did it about every 30 seconds for a good 45 minutes. It was actually kind of cool but a bit frightening.

 

Funny language story for the week. I sat next to a lady in church. And I didnt understand a word she was saying. So I just did my smile and nod and say da (yes). Apparently what she told me on Sunday was that I needed to wear tights (they dont like that we wear skirts and no tights and that our legs are bare, but wearing tights would be miserable with this humidity) and she also told me that she wanted to set me up with her son. And apparently I agreed with everything she said even though I didnt understand it. So apparently I cant just nod and say yes to everthing.

 

Well...I think thats all for today and I think Ive answered all of your questions! I hope you all have a fabulous week! I am really glad to be here. And even though I dont understand everything and I cant speak much I am trying my hardest and improving every day. My companion is great and she helps me learn so much! I hope you all have a great week!

 

Love you lots!

Sestra Clark

 

 

 

Shoutouts!

 

Thanks for the emails from Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Lex, and Kylie (as a side note I havent heard from any of my brothers for probably a good month ...hint hint)

 

Congratulations to Tyson on graduating both high school and seminary. For awhile there I wasnt sure if you would make it. Also good luck with your new roommate. Dad sent me the picture and it looks a bit creepy.

 

Good job to Lex on getting rid of Bustin Jieber. It must have been hard for you but Im glad you did it.

 

I hope life is going great for everyone else. Love you all lots!

And the verdict is ......

Well....Since the main subject at the top of all of your emails is where in the world am I, Im going to make you wait. Youre welcome. First off I want to appologize for the gramatical errors and possibly even spelling errors that are bound to happen. This keyboard is different than the ones in America and I am having a hard time figuring it out.

 

Well....after a long 50 plus hours of traveling we finally made it to Croatia. I talked to you in Seattle so I will go from that point. We finally made it on the flight to Paris more than 24 hours after we were supposed to. And surprisingly the flight ended up not being too bad. The flight was super empty so we all got our own rows and tried to sleep. It was hard to find a comfortable position but it worked. We landed in Paris and it ended up being good that we had a longer layover than we were originally scheduled because if we wouldnt have been delayed I can guarantee we would have missed our flight from Paris to Croatia because of how the layout of the Paris airport. Luckily though everything went smoothly and thanks to Sister Menjivar speaking French fluently we made it to where we needed to go and caught our flight to Croatia. And I cannot tell you one thing about that flight because the second I sat down I fell asleep and stayed that way the whole time. We all did actually. I dont even remember taking off. But the important thing is we made it to Croatia safely! And we only lost one bag. It wasnt mind and I am pretty sure if has been recovered now.

 

We got off the plane and met President row and the APs after getting our luggage. We loaded up the cars and went to the Mission home. I had heard so many good things about the Rowes and everything I have heard is true. They really are amazing people! We arrived at the mission home where they had dinner ready for us and then they sent us to shower and straight to bed. We woke up in the morning, they fed us breakfast and then sent us to the church to meet the trainers and have a training meeting. President did interviews during the meeting while the Office couple were talking about the information they had. My interview went great. President Rowe is great and you can tell he is an inspired man. He really tried to get to know me and tell me things that would help me personally to be a good missionary and he talked about things that I needed to hear and things that would help me.
 

Training lasted most of the day. And then we all went our seperate ways to our area. I am in Croatia. It is an area called Osijek. It is about a 2 and a half hour drive from Zagreb. It is actually right on the border of Serbia so we are actually in the Serbian zone. My companion had borrowed the senior couple in our areas car so we actually drove back here. Which was nice that we didnt have to haul all of my luggage on a bus. And I was actually able to stay awake the entire drive which was a miracle because I was exhausted. The drive was beautiful! It is so green and I loved just looking at the different area.

 

The jet lag has not been fun. The first few days I was exhausted all the time but it is getting better and I am getting used to the different time zone, etc.

 

My companions name is Sister Mortensen. She is from Provo. She is on her second transfer right now so we are kind of learning together. But it is going great. She knows the language well for how long she has been here and is doing good at helping me to learn. She makes sure that I understand what is going on. She challenges me to do things that are scary to me but she doesnt challenge me too hard. Luckily the members here are good about coming to lessons with us when we need them which is helpful because sometimes neither of us know what is being said. Some of the older people talk really fast and mumble so it is hard to understand them.

 

Our first lesson was on Friday with a recent convert. I understood most of what she said, at least I think I did and I was even able to talk a little bit with her and she seemed to understand what I was saying. Some of the people I can communicate pretty well with. Others talk really fast and mumble making it a little bit more difficult. When that happens I just smile and nod and pretend like I know what they are saying and pick up as many words as I can. Its hard but it will be ok.

 

The members here are great. Every Friday night we do Aktivnost where members and investigators can come to the church and we play a game or do some other activity. This Friday we played spoons and it was really fun. The members here are great. There are about 20 people that are active and come to church each Sunday. We had about 10 people come to Aktivnost. It was fun to be able to talk to them and get to know them and they are really good with realizing that I am still learning Croatian and dont understand everything that is being said.

 

We are trying to work on reactivation a lot and meet with one less active or inactive member everyday.

 

This month for the entire mission it is the Month of Invitation. Our goal is by the end of the month to have invited over 10,000 people to church as a mission. This means each companionship needs to invite about 11 people a day. However, my district decided they wanted to raise that and invite 15 people per missionary per day. And that started on Saturday. When that was decided I was terrified. I had only been in the country for a day. But, we have done it. On Saturday we were walking along the river that is in Osijek and there was a group of about 11 people standing around talking. My companion looked at me and said go invite them to church. I looked at her like she was crazy and then realized she was serious. And so I did. I just went up and started talking to them and invited them to come to church with us. They gave me dirty looks and walked away while saying things to me that I didnt understand, and im glad I didnt understand. It is so weird to talk to people that I dont know because it is something that I never would have done before. Starting conversations with people on the bus is scary but I have already done it a few times. I have actually surprised myself with how much I have been able to do. Most of the time I dont even realize what I am doing until I have already started and its too late to turn back.

 

Sunday was fast Sunday. I really liked being able to hear the members bear their testimony. One of the Members who speaks English really well told me if I wanted to bear my testimony he would translate it for me. But I decided to try it be myself. And I made it through. After people told me they understood it. I hope they really could and werent just trying to make me feel good. A lot of the members speak English which makes it difficult because they try to talk to us in English which makes it hard to practice and learn Croatian. I have just learned to say I want to practice my Croatian so lets speak in Croatian. And it is still hard to understand everyone but usually I can pick out enough information to understand atleast what they are trying to say. Sunday we decided to hold primary for the first time in a long time. We had 2 primary kids and it went really well. My companion and I taught it with one of the members. We talked about the Apostasy and Restoration. We used the color by numbers book that Mom sent but didnt tell them which color was which number and how because they didnt know which one was right they colored it wrong and applied that to the Apostasy and talked about how because people couldnt find the truth they just did what they wanted and they didnt have it all right. It went well and the kids enjoyed it.

 

Right now we have about 8 investigators that we are working with. I havent met all of them yet. We have 2 that are close to baptism and our goal is to get them baptiyed this transfer.

 

In our district/area we are the only sisters. There is also a set of Elders and then a senior couple, The Prestons. They are all great!

 

To get around we either take the tram/bus or walk.

 

The culture is definitely different and it is taking some getting used to. My companion told me that when you meet the members you would be able to tell which ones have showered in the past few weeks and which ones havent. And you definitely could.

 

I am really doing ok. I am glad to be in Osijek. The members are great, the people are great, and it is a great city. I still dont know directions and I dont know where we are half of the time but luckily my companion does. Our apartment is decent. Compared to some of the other apartments I have been in while here it is really nice. We are lucky enough to have a washer and a dryer in our apartment. I am pretty sure we are the only missionaries in our mission with a dryer so thats a bonus.

 

The food here is good. So far what I have had is a lot of bread. Oneday for lunch we had Kebab which is a roll that has meat and veggies and sauce in it. Im not sure exactly what was in it but it was really good. I even ate it all and Im pretty sure there were tomatoes and onions in it. They also have bread that has chocolate in it which is good. Thats all that I have eaten so far that we didnt cook on our own. Im excited to try more foods this week.

 

I am glad to be here. I know that I am in the area that I am supposed to be in with the right companion. I am still getting used to things but it is going well. We have got a great week planned and I am excited to meet more of our investigators. The past few days we have mostly only met with less actives. I am excited to be here in Osijek and I am excited to help spread the Gospel to the people here. Ive got a lot of work to do on the language but I know the only way it will come is if I open my mouth and try. So thats what I am trying to do. It is hard and it is scary but thats ok. I know that the Lord is with me every step of the way and that if I do my part and try and open my mouth it will be filled with what needs to be said to these people. I know that there are people that are prepared for me to teach and they are waiting for me to find them. Now that we have the first week of getting used to things behind us I am ready to jump full force into missionary work.

 

I love you all! Thanks for all of the love and prayers and support! You really are amazing!

 

Love, Sestra Clark

 

Shoutouts!

 

Thanks for the letter that was sent and waiting for me when I got here! It made things a lot easier and it was good to hear from home! Also, thanks for all of the emails that I had this morning!

 

You have asked where everyone ended up so here it is. Sister Palmer Banja Luka (Bosnia), Peel Zadar, Erbe Novi Sad (Serbia), Fausnaught Banja Luka, Stuart Tuzla (Bosnia), Menjivar Sarajevo, Rankin Karlovac (Croatia)

So we are all all over the place. I have been told that the closest to me is Banja Luka which is about an hour and a half away. Novi sad is about that far too.

 

Anyways love you all! I hope my email isnt all over the place and that I answered your questions that you had. Let me know next week if there are things you want to hear about or dont want to hear about or any questions. I liked the list of questions that Dad sent and I am pretty sure that I answered them all in here somewhere.

 

 

A few pictures!

 

Landing in Croatia!

 

 Sister Clark with her companion & the elders in her area

 

A view of the river in Osijek