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!
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