Transfer week.....

Well...here goes another week. This week has been a crazy busy week. And these next few weeks are going to be even crazier. But I will get to that later.

 

Monday...for pday we didnt really do anything super exciting. Monday night after pday we had an inactive member that we decided we would go check up on. On the way to her house we decided we would do some tracting. After a few houses it just didnt feel right so we decided to just head straight to her house. We got to her house and she wasnt home...no one was home. We stood there for a few minutes really confused as to why we both felt that we should go to her house when she wasnt even there. So we decided to look around the area and find some other people that we could talk to. One of her neighbors was outside so we talked to him for a few minutes but he wasnt interested. So we started walking. We walked a little ways and ran into two girls. We started a normal conversation with them and talked to them for a good fifteen minutes. We told them that we teach free English classes and they were both really excited about it and said they would come. Hopefully it turns into something! The Lord works in mysterious ways. We both felt the reason we were supposed to be in that area was to talk to the less active member that we were originally going to visit. But sometimes the reason we are put in specific areas is for a different reason than we think.

 

Tuesday...we met with B again. We had assigned him 3 Nephi 11 to talk about baptism after our lesson from last week. We are at a loss of where to go with him. He is and possibly forever will be an eternal investigator. What he got out of that chapter was that he needs to become as a little child. When we brought up the part about baptism and following Christ and being baptized he went back to the fact that we need to be like little children. We arent sure if he really doesnt understand what we are trying to teach him or if he understands and just doesnt want to talk about it. After meeting with B we had district meeting. For district meeting today we discussed things that we need to do to help the branch and the area grow and then we spent the rest of the time reading scriptures together and discussing them.  I loved it! I love studying the scriptures and I love studying them with other people to get different perspectives on the scriptures.

 

Tuesday night before English we met with one of the members and did Personal Progress. Her name is M and she is 17. She is one of the more active members here. We then had English and then after had a lesson with B. We taught him a few times my very first week but then he left and went to the coast for awhile but now he is back. Tuesday night we talked to him about the Word of Wisdom. The word of wisdom is one of the hardest things for people here because everyone smokes. He was really surprised when we told him we have never smoked, never drank, and never had coffee. He didnt belive us at first. Anyway...the lesson went really well and we committed him to stop smoking. He said it will be really hard but he wants to quit and knows that with the Lords help he can do it. We met with him again on Thursday and talked to him about baptism. He is catholic so was baptized as a baby. People here dont understand why they need to be baptized again if they were already baptized. He actually said it made sense to him why babies dont need to be baptized. But he still says he was already baptized so he doesnt need to be again. So even though he understands why babies dont need to be baptized (which is a step in the right direction because a lot of people dont even understand this) he thinks that because he was baptized as a baby he doesnt need to be again.

 

Wednesday...all of our appointments cancelled on us. Seriously...all of them. So we went out and tried to do some contacting. But it is so hot in the middle of the day that no one is outside. So we decided to go home and call people from the area book. We were able to talk to a few people on the phone and then were able to meet with one of them Thursday morning. She asked us questions about how our church works and why we are here. I think we had a pretty good meeting with her...but she seemed a little crazy. So we will see how it goes.

 

Thursday we got to go out to Čepin to visit Z again. She has been a member for several years but has been inactive. We went out and visited her towards the first of this transfer and a few weeks later she came to church. Since then she has come to church every week and she calls us and asks us when we are going to come visit her that week. So we have been doing weekly visits with her. Which is good because I think she needs it and it seems to help her. Even though we dread going to her house because it is one of the grossest ones here. But its ok. Thats not what matters.

 

Friday morning...the anticipated day for transfer calls. I was seriously so nervous it was ridiculous. We had been told that there was a chance they would come on Thursday but most likely on Friday. Elder Mulder kept calling us on Thursday telling us that they had gotten their call and wanted to know what we were doing. They didnt really get them on Thursday he was just trying to scare us...and it worked. I was seriously afraid I wouldnt be able to sleep Thursday night. But I managed to just fine. But calls came Friday morning. The Elders did get their calls before us. Elder Mulder is going home so we already knew that. But Elder Baldwin is going to Slovenia. Anyway...Elder Mulder also found out what we were doing too but couldnt tell us. The one thing he did say was I would be more scared if I was Sister Clark than Sister Mortensen. So we assumed that meant that I would be leaving and she would be staying. We had to start ignoring calls from the Elders because it took a good hour for the APs to call us after they called the Elders and the Elders kept calling us every 5 minutes. Anyway...we finally got a call from the APs. They started off by telling me that I would be staying in Osijek and Sister Mortensen would be going to Varaždin. Alright...I can handle that. I was actually happy about getting to stay here for another transfer now that I am used to it. We were then really confused as to why Elder Mulder said I should be afraid and figured he was probably just trying to mess with us. The APs then told us we would both be training. Terrifying...but I can handle that. So then we asked him if he could tell us what Elders would be serving in our areas with us. He told Sister Mortensen which Elders she would be with and then said and we wont have Elders in Osijek. Yep...thats right. I am staying in Osijek and training. And it will just be the two of us. So not only am I training a new missionary, I will be the most experienced missionary in our area. We get to take on the elders investigators as well as the ones we have and we are in charge of the entire area. I may have had a slight panic attack at the time. I am still a bit terrified about it but I am feeling a little bit better about it. Not only that, it is up to me for translating. We have let Elder Mulder do the translating for sacrament meeting, etc. because he knows the language so well. And now it is up to me. The Senior couple will still be here but they dont know Croatian at all. The reason they are taking the Elders out of Osijek is because the senior couple that was in the office went home early so they had to move a set of Elders to be office Elders which meant that they had to take Elders out of somewhere. I am not 100% sure why they decided on Osijek because there are a few cities that have more than 1 set of Elders but I guess it is what President Rowe felt like he needed to do and I trust his judgement.

 

Friday night I had a sit down with Sister Preston and told her how I was feeling about all of the changes. She told me not to worry. She said I just need to focus on doing missionary work and training the new sister and that I just need to let them know what I need and they will be there to help me with it. We have members that know English that can help with translating, etc. She told me when they first found out what was happening they were shocked because of how young of a missionary I am but after thinking about it she says it makes sense. She said out of the two of us sisters right now she is glad that it is me staying because I have the personality that I will set a plan of what I want accomplished and do whatever it takes to make it happen. She said that once the new trainee gets here (we go get her from Zagreb tomorrow) we will all sit down and have a meeting of what needs to be done and how we are going to do it and we will all get to work. She said in a way it will be nice because we are all fairly new and havent been anywhere but Osijek so we dont know how it is done other places. So we can make any changes we feel need to be made and move forward without anyone telling us it wont work. And that way when they put Elders back into Osijek we can tell them this is how we do things here and this is what needs to be done. This transfer is only 3 weeks so we are thinking that there will be Elders back in at that point but we arent positive. It will be difficult to do things such as English class since we are done a set of missionaries to teach a class, we will all have to speak in sacrament meeting more often, we wont have as many people to help plan aktivnost, etc. but it will all work out. Im not 100% sure what will happen with our district because we wont have a district leader. And since the nearest missionaries are more than an hour a way we will see what happens. Sister Preston and Elder Mulder said that I will act as the district coordinator so to say until they put missionaries back in but I havent actually heard that from president so we will see what happens. I am hoping that when I go for training meeting I can talk to him and get a little more information as to what exactly is going to happen.

 

I have also talked to Elder Mulder and told him how terrified I am and he said that the same sort of thing happened to him his second transfer. He said it was definitely his hardest transfer and the time when he had to work the hardest but it is also the time that he grew the most and learned the most on his mission. He said that it will be hard but I need to just relax and not worry and I will do just fine. Saturday we did a language study with him to pick his brain one last time. He told me that if I can just speak slow and think about what I am going to say before it I will be just fine. I know the grammar principles I just need to be better at applying them. He also said that if I insist on only speaking Croatian even to people that speak English then it will help me improve a lot. I have talked to a few of the members and told them to only speak Croatian to me and when I say something wrong to correct me so that I can fix it. What better way to learn the language then when I am put in a situation where I have to learn it because I dont have anyone else that I can rely on.

 

Anytime I have doubts or feel overwhelmed I think "The Lord qualifies whom he calls." Yes this transfer will be hard and it is going to take a lot of work but I know that I am supposed to be here for a reason and that if I can rely on the Lord everything will be just fine and I will be led to do exactly what needs to be done to help build the branch here in Osijek and I know that it will be worth it. When I was talking to Sister Preston she told me that she could feel the prayers of my family back home helping me to succeed and be better every day. And shes right. You guys are awesome and there is no way I would be able to do this without knowing I had a huge support system back home!

Friday night for Aktivnost we played tellestrations. Everyone had a lot of fun and really enjoyed it!

Sunday...Church was really good. Elder Mulder was already scheduled to speak since it was his last Sunday and the other speaker didnt show up so Sister Mortensen and Elder Baldwin both bore their testimony since they are both leaving to other cities. I sat next to Sister Preston and she turned to me after the announcements and asked me to translate for her. So I translated sacrament meeting for sister Preston. And I understood everything! It was easier because it was only the missionaries speaking rather than a native but I was still able to understand it all which is improvement from 2 months ago. It was a little confirmation that I will be ok on my own without someone else that knows the language better than me. When natives speak i still dont understand 100% of what they say but I understand enough to figure out what they are trying to say.

 

After church on Sunday we went to visit the member of the branch that lives in the Nursing home, R. We took hymnbooks and went and sang with her. The Prestons didnt sing with us but just sat and listened. When we finished Sister Preston told us that singing really is like bearing testimony because when we sang it was as if we were angels singing. And the Spirit in the room was so strong. And even though Elder Mulder is the only one of us that actually has a good singing voice it didnt sound bad. When we went to leave Rajka told us thanks for coming. She told us that when we come the feeling is so Powerful that it is as if time stops.

 

Normally when we go places together we let Elder Mulder do the translating. But today he told me I had to do it for practice. So I did. It wasnt as good as if he would have done it but I did do it and we were all able to communicate.

 

Tomorrow morning we are heading to Zagreb so that we can both pick up our trainees. We will have training meeting on Wednesday and then I will be heading back to Osijek to survive on my own. The other missionaries in Osijek right now have made sure to not let me forget how much time I have before I am on my own. And I dont really like the fact that all of the other missionaries are leaving me. Not even one of them are staying. But I was just as sad to leave my MTC group and I have survived just fine so it will be ok. I know that with the Lords help I can do anything and that if I obey with exactness I will see miracles. If I overcome my fears and doubts and have faith to push forward I can find those people that are prepared for the gospel in their lives. With Faith miracles will happen. I hope that my new trainee is ready to go to work because we have got a lot ahead of us. And that is exactly what we are going to do. We are going to forget ourselves, overcome our fears and weaknesses and we are going to step out of our comfort zone and do whatever it takes to spread the Gospel here in Osijek.

 

This morning in my personal study I was reading in Moses chapters 6 & 7 about the story of Enoch. The Lord called him to go out and preach the gospel and his response was why me. Im young, the people dont like me, and I am slow of speech. That is exactly how I feel...I am young, and my language still needs improvement. And although its not that the people dont like me they dont know me and I dont know them. But the Lord said to Enoch that he would walk with him every step of the way. So Enoch went and did what he was asked. And in chapter 7 it says that he was able to move mountains and gain the love of the people and able to talk to them in their language. And I know that the Lord will do the exact same for me. He will take me by the hand and lead me to exactly where I need to go to be able to "move mountains" here in Osijek. I know that it will take time but if I try and not be afraid of failing I will be able to learn the language and communicate with the people here. I know that if I will be exactly obedient I will see miracles. I know that the Lord called me here for a specific reason and although sometimes I may not understand exactly why things happen, he does, and he knows what is best. So I am ready to put my doubts and fears behind me and make this next transfer even better than the last. And I know that if at anytime I feel like giving up or feel like I cant do something, I can turn to my Father in Heaven through prayer and he will be there to lift me back up and help me make it through.

 

I hope that you all have a great week and remember that I love you lots!

 

Sestra Clark

 

 

 

Shoutouts...

 

Thanks for the emails from Jordan, Dad, Grandpa, Lex, Carrie, Mom

 

Sretan Rođendan MOM!

 

 

 

 Sister Clark & Sister Mortensen

 

 Sisters with the Prestons

 

Final district picture

 

Bok Svima

Well...here goes writing another letter. Hopefully I can answer the questions you have and tell you about the other exciting things that happened this week. This week was another crazy busy week. But it was good. I already told you about last pday so I will skip right to Tuesday.

 

Tuesday...Every Tuesday the senior couple reads from the Book of Mormon with B (the older man that has been investigating for years but wont get baptized) and they usually have us come read with them to help translate. Anyway...Tuesday we were reading about the commandments and why we have commandments and talking about how if we keep the commandments we can have happiness for eternity. We asked him what he thought the commandments were and he started listing off the ten commandments. My companion then asked him if he thought baptism was a commandment. He paused for a minute and answered "No, but God is love.". Me and my companion both looked at each other really confused by what he was trying to say so we asked him again. His response again was "God is love". We came to the conclusion that he didnt realize why we have baptism and that it is a commandment and that if we want to have happiness for eternity we have to be baptized. So we assigned him a few chapters to read about baptism and this week we are going to talk about it in hopes that we can get him to realize what baptism really is.

 

On Wednesday we went to the hospital to visit a member that was in the hospital. Croatian hospitals are a lot different. Each area of the hospital is a different building and there is no master list of where patients are. So if you dont know exactly where someone is then you have to wander from building to building to try to find them. We knew what she was there for so we went and asked someone where she would be. They told us exactly where she would be. So we went there...but she wasnt there. However, another member of the branch that we didnt know was in the hospital was there so we were able to visit with her for a few minutes and then we were able to get directions and find the other member too!

 

Thursday we had scheduled to spend an hour or so in the morning cleaning our old apartment with Sister P. On the way Sister M started feeling light headed and dizzy. So we took it slow to the apartment and once we got there she slept the whole time while Sister P and I cleaned. It was disgusting but we got it finished. Sister P told us that we were to go home and let Sister M sleep for the rest of the night and cancel all of our appointments. But we got home and felt like we should still go to our appointments. So we decided to say a prayer and both felt strongly that we were supposed to go about our appointments for the rest of the night. So we did. And Sister M did just fine. I made sure she was drinking a lot of water and we just took it slow and walked in the shade as much as possible. We dont think she had completely recovered form Sunday. But she is doing a lot better now. I had several people ask me in emails...yes I am drinking plenty of water. I always have a water bottle on me and I drink a lot. I probably still drink more than Sister M even though she has been dehydrated and I have been fine. I have started to let her worry about herself because every time I would remind her to drink water or bring a water bottle with her she would get mad at me. So if she passes out from dehydration again it wont be my fault because I have tried. :)

 

Friday we had zone conference. We decided to take the bus to zone conference with the Elders so that we could do some language practice on the way. So we had to catch the bus at 7 for a 4 hour bus ride to Beograd. It actually wasnt that bad of a ride. Zone conference was really good. They talked a lot about resolving concerns and we did a lot of practicing. President Rowe talked about finding in the Lords way rather than our way and gave us a list of things that had scriptures that are some ways we can know that we are finding in the Lords Way. He really is great. He knows exactly how to teach in a way that we can understand and learn. Because my birthday was last month I got to have my birthday celebrated at Zone Conference along with a few other missionaries. What they do for birthdays is they have a two minute timer and you have to stand up for 2 minutes while everyone gives you complements. It was really awkward...1. because we all know how much I love being the center of attention and 2. I dont know most of the other missionaries besides the ones in my district very well and they dont know me either. But I survived it. We rode home with the Prestons because they wanted to stop and visit a member on the way home. She wasnt home though and what was supposed to be a 3 hour trip turned into a 6 hour trip. It was awful.

 

Saturday morning we went to the dog shelter. We know how much I love dogs. And then we had a lesson with D. I think I have mentioned her before. She is an atheist. We taught her the first lesson even though she has heard it before. We felt like it went really well. But after she told us that she thinks its great that we belive it but she doesnt see how it is different from any other religion. She also said that she doesnt ever see herself changing and becoming religious because what she has now works just fine for her. It was a little bit disappointing.

 

We really need to find more investigators to teach but we are having a really hard time with it. Everyone we talk to is either not interested or they seem really interested but when we go back they arent interested anymore.

 

Sunday for church we watched the world wide mission broadcast in Croatian. After church we went to a mans house (D- he isnt a member but comes to church every week, its a long story) because it was his birthday yesterday and he invited us over. He made a cream pie type thing that was pretty good. His Mom had also made some cookie bar things. Elder M took a bite of one first and pulled a really funny face. Which made me really nervous to try it but I couldnt not eat it so I took a bite. And there was something really hard in it. It was a cherry bar cookie thing. It was good. But the cherry pits were still in it. We didnt really know what to do. So we awkwardly ate it while trying to pick out the cherry pits. It was an interesting experience.

 

After we had a meeting with V and S. They have been investigating the church for over a year but this is the first time I have met with them because they are really hard to set up appointments with. He is Catholic and she is atheist. And they are both really nice! We had a really good lesson with them. They were asking us a lot of questions and we were asking them questions to make sure they were understanding. We could feel the Spirit and after we got S (who is atheist) to pray! We were really happy about it! She also said that she would pray about the Book of Mormon. I really hope that she does and that she does it with the attitude that she can recieve an answer rather than that she wont recieve an answer.

 

This week was a good week. We have transfers in a week and find out what will be happening on Friday. I am terrified. I honestly could not tell you what is going to happen. Sometimes I feel like I will be staying in Osijek and sometimes I feel like I will be going somewhere else. I honestly will be ok with whatever happens I would just really like to know. I just hope Im not training. I barely know what I am doing for myself let alone having to teach someone else. But we will see. There are 7 Sisters coming out from the MTC so its kind of a lot. I wouldnt be surprised to see a few new areas opened to sisters. There are a few areas that only have Elders in them right now. Especially with the addition of Montenegro to our mission...I personally dont think Sisters will go there yet but I could be wrong. So we will see what happens. I know that it is all through inspiration so I will be in the area where I am supposed to be with the companion that I am supposed to be with.

 

The language is still coming. I am improving and getting better every day and thats all that I can ask for. I would like to just all of the sudden be fluent but I know that that wont happen...I have to work for it. So thats what I am trying to do.

 

I hope that you all have a great week! I love being a missionary and I love it here in Osijek. I am learning so much about myself and about the Gospel. There is no place that I would rather be right now and I am so glad that I have the opportunity to serve here. I really do love it here!

 

Volim vas!

Sestra Clark

 

 

 

Shoutouts!

 

Emails- Carrie, Lex, Ryan, allie, Dad, Tyler, Grandpa, Mom, Heidi

 

Sretan Rođendan B!

 

 Sister Clark on the balcony of her apartment

 

Pictures from PDay in Ilok

Spraying for mosquitoes

Happy Monday!

Well...here goes another letter. I never know how to start them. This week has been a good week. It has been a crazy busy run around week. It has been good but is starting to take its toll on me...I am exhausted all of the time! But thats ok! I would rather be crazy busy than not have anything to do.

 

Monday...for pday it was a chill day and we just hung out at the church and surrounding area. One of the members who lives in Osijek to go to school was leaving to go home for the summer so he wanted to hang out with all of the missionaries and he made us lunch. He described it as meat and cheese which is about what it was. A piece of meat with sour cream and cheese on it and then mashed potatoes. It was pretty good. We just hung out at the church and played games and played the piano and other things. It was actually kind of nice to not really have anything we had to do. After we went tracting and it was one of those nights where no one wanted to talk to us. We had door after door after door after door shut. For 3 hours. It was not one of my favorite nights of tracting.

 

Tuesday morning we decided to do language study with the Elders because it is hard with me and my companion both being so new.  There are some times that we have questions that neither of us can answer. Elder M is really good at the language. We have had natives tell us that he is the best missionary they have ever heard with the language and since he goes home in 2 weeks we decided we need to take advantage of it and have him help us. He is really good about helping us and correcting us and answering and explaining questions to us which is nice. So we did language study with him and he basically just explained grammar principles to us and practiced with us. It was really helpful and we are going to do it several days a week for the rest of this transfer before he leaves.

 

Tuesday we had a lesson with V. We decided to talk to her about the sacrament and why we have the sacrament and what we are supposed to do during the sacrament. When we asked her what we were supposed to do during the sacrament she looked at us like we were asking her a foreign question. We then explained that it was a time to ponder about Christ and what He has done for us. She got a huge grin on her face and said, "Thanks for telling me that,  I had no idea what I was supposed to do or what the point of the sacrament was." So we decided to use this topic for all of our members that we taught this week and we found out that even some of the members who have been members for years didnt understand why we had the sacrament or what to do during it. It ended up being really good to talk about and I think we helped a lot of people to understand. We gave them all a picture of Christ and told them that they could bring it to church and look at it during the sacrament. I was playing the piano and was sitting in the front row so I didnt notice if any of them were using it but it was a lot quieter during the sacrament than usual.

 

Wednesday we had our first official food fail in the kitchen. Everything else we have made has at least turned out even if it wasnt exactly what we were wanting. We decided to make orange chicken. It hadnt even cooked for half the time it was supposed to before it was completely burnt. And even without the burnt it tasted nasty. It will definitely not be a repeat.

 

Wednesday we had a lesson scheduled but when we got to the persons house they werent home. They live right by D so we decided to go and visit her instead. Since we werent planning on visiting her we didnt really have a lesson planned so we just talked with her and shared some scriptures. It ended up being a really good lesson and she was really glad that we had come to visit her. Even though we were first upset that our appointment fell through, it ended up being for the best.

 

Thursday for language study we decided to do it with the senior couple to help them learn. They didnt have any language study in the MTC and they are trying to learn on their own but arent succeeding. We all cringe when they speak because it sounds so bad. Its probably what Croatians do when I speak. Anyway...we decided it would be helpful for them to help them learn as well as for us because I know when I teach something it helps me learn it better. So we decided to try it. It didnt go exactly as planned. Sister Pwas really good and asked questions and listened to what we were saying and took notes and wrote down some things to work on. Elder P was determined that his way of learning was better than what we were telling him. So we arent really sure if we will keep doing it with them because we arent sure how much help it will be.

 

Thursday we went to E and J's. J still hasnt come to church since she came that one week. We think we know why but arent really sure how to help her. We are hoping that just consistent contact will be good. They are probably one of my favorite lessons that we go to each week because they are always so sweet and so happy to see us.  They really have a great understanding of the Gospel and we always have really good discussions with them. We are hoping that if we keep going and keep encouraging and helping that we will be able to get her to come to church again. Her son still really wants to come to church so we are hoping that maybe that will help her want to come back again.

 

Thursday night we also had English class. I dont know why but it was a really good English class. We taught more information than we ever have taught before and the students were understanding and practicing and participating. By the end of English class we were wiped out.

 

Friday was moving day. It went well. We only had one car to move stuff but we were able to make it in 4 trips. The Elders were kind enough to help us so me and my companion were at our old apartment and would load up the car and then the senior couple would drive it to the new apartment where the Elders would unload it. Until we got to the heavy stuff and then the Elders did it all while we worked on putting stuff away at our new apartment. It went pretty smoothly and we managed to get everything moved in not very long.

 

After moving we had an appt with D. She has been struggling with understanding the importance of tithing so we decided to take the seniors with us to help talk to her about it. When we got to the lesson she told us she wasnt feeling well because she had some Canker sores in her mouth. Elder P's first reaction was to give her a blessing which she accepted. It was amazing and immediately brought the Spirit into the room. Its not something that I think of when investigators are struggling because it is usually just me and Sister M and neither of us can give blessings. I thought it was really cool when that was immediately what he asked when she said she wasnt feeling well. The rest of our lesson went well. We talked about the why of tithing and the blessings that can come from it. We talked about how it is a principle of faith and that although sometimes it may seem hard, life is harder when we dont pay our tithing because of the blessings that we miss out on. She still doesnt completely love the idea of tithing but we could tell that she was really feeling the Spirit and I think she is more ok with it than she was before. Now if we could just get her to be open to moving her baptismal date up...she is set on waiting until October.

 

Friday night for Aktivnost we played psychiatrist and it was a lot of fun. For one of the "problems" you had to act like the person that was sitting next to you when you were asked a question. One of the Elders had to act like me and all he did when they came to them was laugh. Apparently I laugh a lot. Ok actually I knew that. But they like to point it out to me all of the time. It was really funny though because everyone was spot on to the person they were acting like. There were a couple times that someone would act like someone and then the real person would say I dont do that as they were doing exactly what the other person had just done. That probably doesnt sound as funny as it was. But just trust me it was funny. And I was laughing...a lot.

 

Saturday we went out to Čepin to visit Z. We decided to bring the Elders with us to experience it so we took the bus. When we got there she said her house was too hot to go inside so instead she wanted to go on a walk with us. So we just walked and talked. It was a little bit weird but it was good. We shared part of our lesson with her and then just talked to her as we walked around the town. Luckily it was nice weather outside.

 

Saturday night we played soccer. I am still not the biggest fan of soccer and every week try to come up with a reason as to why I have to sit and watch rather than play but it never works out. They make me play. This week I actually scored a goal which I was pretty proud of myself for. I still dont like soccer though.

 

Sunday...was an interesting day. We had church in the morning. And again had a losing battle with the air conditioning/opening of windows. Sister M had to give a talk. She was super stressed out about it and we had stayed up a little bit later than usual because I was helping her translate it and helping make sure her grammar was correct. It took longer than it should have since niether of us are super great at it yet. But we finally got it finished. She gave her talk and did a great job but at the very end I noticed she rushed to finish and then as soon as she was done she booked it out the door. About 30 seconds later someone started screaming and she had passed out in the other room. Croatians dont know how to react in a situation like this and they all ran into her. I quickly ran in to find her laying on the ground face first. I quickly laid her on her back while yelling at everyone to go in the other room because we didnt need 30 people surrounding her and watching. After a few seconds of no ne moving I realized I probably needed to tell them to leave in Croatian rather than English (haha). Anyway... We got her up, got her water, and I used my fan to cool her down (the fan Dad brought me back from China is a life saver! I carry it with me and use it all of the time). She was dehydrated, stressed, and it was really hot in the room (it may not have happened if they would have let us turn on the air conditioning). After a few minutes she was still kind of out of it so we decided it was best to take her home to rest. So Sister P drove us home and I got to play nurse for the day. I put her to bed with some ibuprofen because she had a really bad headache, and a water bottle and made her drink a lot of water. She slept for a few hours and then I made her come eat and then I sent her back to bed for a few more hours. So I got to spend the day organizing the apartment, and doing studies. You might be surprised by this but our apartment is really organized. I even made a detailed list of everything that came with the apartment so that future missionaries that move out of this apartment will know exactly what stays and what goes. Just a little bit of my OCD took over. Our apartment seriously looks good. That only took a few hours so then I did personal study, language study and just some other things around the apartment. We had an appt at 6 and Sister M was feeling better so we decided to go and not cancel it. I made her take a water bottle with her and was constantly making sure she was doing ok and we took it very slow. The Elders told me I was acting like her mother.

 

Our appointment was with V. She wanted to make us and the Elders dinner. She made Punina Paprika which is peppers stuffed with meat and I think rice and it is in tomato sauce. There is more to it than that but it was really good. We ate dinner with her and her husband and then read a chapter from the Book of Mormon. She was baptized at the first of last transfer and her husband is investigating the church right now. Afterwards we headed home. Sister M was feeling ok but was a bit exhausted and I didnt want to wear her out too much so we went home and did comp study and planning. Luckily she is feeling a lot better today.

 

Today for pday we went to Ilok which is a city about an hour and a half away from Osijek. There was supposedly a castle there but it wasnt really that great of a castle. But there were some cool buildings that we saw and then we ate lunch there. It was pretty cool.

 

Anyway...Im off for the day. Have a great week! Love you all!

 

 

Shoutouts

 

Emails from Justin, Dad, Carrie, Mom, Grandpa, Lex, Allie

Happy (late) Fourth of July!

Well...another week has come and gone. There have been a few ups and downs this week but all in all things are still going well and we are still surviving and pushing through. Unfortunately the heat has come back. Although it has rained several times at night (the thunderstorms here are amazing!) but all it has done is made it more humid. One night it started raining when we were still out and we had to run for cover because it was raining so hard. The bad thing about rain is the second it starts raining the streets become desolate so there is no one to talk to. There was one night this week where I went to bed with a major headache and after thinking about it realized I hadnt had very much water that day and was pretty sure I was dehydrated. So now I carry water around with me everywhere and drink it like it is going out of style and I havent had anymore headaches or gotten dehydrated so its good.

Monday night we got a knock on our door which was weird because no one ever comes to our apartment. We opened the door to find two policeman. It was a little frightening at first but apparently it is normal. I had to go to the police station the next morning to answer questions for my Visa. They basically just wanted to know why I was here and how long I will be here. Nothing too harmful. The good news is it means I will be getting my Visa shortly.

 

Tuesday night the Elders had something run late so they werent going to be able to make it to English class. They usually teach the beginners class and we teach the advanced. So we had to combine classes and teach both of them. We were a little bit worried because we only found out about 15 minutes before so we didnt have much time to plan for it. And we like teaching advanced because they speak English really well whereas the beginners dont as well. So it made it a little bit more difficult to have to explain English grammar principles in Croatian but we managed to make it through and had a good class.

 

Wednesday we had district meeting. We usually do it on Tuesdays but the elders were in the middle of switching for an exchange when we would normally have it so we switched to Wednesday. The Elders were on an exchange during district meeting so we had one of the zone leaders at district meeting with us. I hate role playing. Hate it. But it is helpful so we still do it. Anyways not only did they decide to make us role play during district meeting they decided to make us do it with everyone watching and then they critiqued us after. I was not very excited about doing it but it ended up going really well. And after I got more compliments than critiques so it was good. We practiced contacting approaches which was good. I would rather go tracting than contacting. Contacting is just so awkward to me to just talk to random people on the street. But the Elders were able to give us some good contacting approaches and ways to go about it that make it not as awkward and we have been able to use some of their ideas this week and it has been really helpful. We made the cake that you sent for my birthday and took it to district meeting. It turned out really good! Everyone raved how good it was even though it was just a cake mix and store bought frosting. They were just excited to have an American treat. One of the members was at our district meeting and he didnt like it because he said that it was too sweet. And he looked at us like we were crazy when after district meeting we all got forks and just ate the rest of the cake out of the pan. It was really good!

 

After district meeting we had a lesson with J and E. J came to church that one Sunday and hasnt come since. So we are trying to get her to come again. Her son was at the lesson with us and told us that he really wants to come to church and reminded her on Sunday but she told him that they werent going. So we are hoping that if we can keep working with her and getting her son to want to come that he can help us get her there. We told her son that even if his Mom cant come we would love to have him come with his Grandma. We had a good lesson with them. They both have testimonies and they both know the Gospel really well...maybe even better than some of the members that come to church every Sunday. We think that the biggest reason why she doesnt come is because she feels guilty so we are trying to help her understand that no one is perfect and that it is ok.

 

After we left their house we decided to try some of our contacting approaches while waiting for the tram. There was a guy that we went up and started talking to. He told us that he wasnt interested and didnt want to talk to us. We then went and started talking to another guy who was again not interested. But as soon as we finished with the second guy the first guy came back up to us and asked us if he could see the book that we were holding. So we gave him a Book of Mormon and told him a little bit about it. He asked us where he could get one and we told him that he could have that one. We asked him if he would like to meet sometime and discuss it some more and he said that he would. He then asked us if we wanted his number so that we could call him to set up an appointment. The tram then came so we got on the tram and so did he. And the entire tram ride he was reading the Book of Mormon! We were really excited about it because when we first talked to him he did not seem interested but then after about 10 minutes he came back up to us and started talking to us. We know that he must have felt the Spirit and that it prompted him to come and talk to us.

 

Thursday was the fourth of July. It was a day just like any other. We had appointments, etc. We did wear red white and blue and for dinner we got together with the Prestons and the Elders and had a small barbeque to celebrate before English class.

 



Sister M, Investigator M, Sister Clark

 

Friday was a good day! We started off having a lesson with one of our members V. She comes to church every Sunday but she has a problem in that she believes everything she hears. Not only does she come to our church but she goes to a hari krišna church as well and believes their teachings. She wont read from the Book of Mormon either because she said that she has read it once and now it is boring. So we like to have contact with her at least once a week and encourage her to read from the Book of Mormon and try to help her understand why she doesnt need other religions in her life. We are still struggling to get her to read the Book of Mormon every day but we have been able to get her to read the Doctrine and Covenants and she is loving that. So its a start. Its better than reading her Hari Krišna books. We had a really good lesson with her on Friday and she told us that she is really trying to change and be better. But she still thinks it is ok to go to hari krišna too. She is a really sweet lady she is just super naive.

 

Friday night we had a meeting with M. It was a bittersweet meeting. We were hoping to commit him to a baptismal date. He told us that when we started meeting with him he was 100% for the Catholic church. Now he is 50% catholic and 50% Mormon. He has stopped going to the Catholic church he is just having a hard time giving up some of the Catholic traditions. He says he feels like he is turning his back on them. He also told us that he has been feeling a lot of pressure for baptism. We told him that we want to just keep teaching him about the Gospel and we will give it a little bit before we start talking about baptism again. The only problem is he has been jobless for over six months and finally got a job...in Germany...for 2 months...and he left today. At first we were really disappointed but we think it will be good. We gave him the address for the church in Germany and he said that he will go every Sunday (and he is one person that when he says he will do something he will do it). We are also trying to get ahold of missionaries in Germany where he will be to explain his situation and see if they can meet with him while he is there. We are excited for him to be in Germany and see how the church functions there because they actually have wards there rather than branches with only 20 active members. We have his contact info so that we can keep in contact with him while he is gone and he said he will be back the end of August and wants to meet with us still. When we were talking with him he talked about his future in the church and how he sees himself being baptized just not now. So we think these two months will be good and hopefully when he gets back things will pick up again and hopefully at least either me or my companion will still be here in Osijek when he gets back.

After meeting with M we had Aktivnost. We have found that the people that come to Aktivnost like it better when we just play games rather than actually planning something. So we played Mafia (the members LOVE this game! they request it every time- some of them understand it better than others but it is fun), fruit basket but with names of countries rather than fruit, and another game where you make animal noises. It was a lot of fun and pretty funny. They reminded me of games that we would play at home!

 

Saturday Sister Preston decided that she wanted to do a really good cleaning of the church. So we had some members come and with the 5 of them and us 6 missionaries we were able to do a good deep clean of the church in not very long. They put me in charge of cleaning out and organizing the kitchen cupboards because no one else wanted to do it. Little did they know I love organizing and was totally ok with doing it.

 

After we had a meeting with one of the members who lives in one of the towns not far from Osijek. Z is one of the members that we went and visited a few weeks ago with the Prestons. She called us Friday night and asked us if we could come and see her on Saturday. So we called the Prestons and they told us they couldnt come with us but we could take their car so we went and visited her. It was a really good visit. She has bad eyesight and is unable to read so we read a chapter from the Book of Mormon with her and then just talked to her. She told us that she is trying to find more peace in her life and she feels peace when we come visit so she wants us to come visit her more often. We found out that there is a bus that goes right by her house so we are going to go try to visit once a week. The Prestons also told her that if she would like they can pick her up and bring her to church each week which she was really excited about. Dad asked about cars and driving...none of the missionaries actually have cars but they sometimes drive the senior couples cars. You have to do a training before you can actually drive which I havent done yet so Im not really sure on your question.

 

Saturday night we played soccer. Normally I am ok with playing because there are only a few of us and no one cares if you arent good. But Saturday we had a big group come and they were all really competitive. So I chose to sat and watch. It was nice because one of the members didnt want to play either so while they were playing he helped me with Croatian and helped me practice speaking and understanding which was really helpful. Afterwards we went home and were looking through our cupboards to make dinner and realized we had no food. I then remembered that I had macaroni and cheese in my suitcase. So we made a box. And it was delicious. My companion laughed at me when I told her it was my favorite food. So we ate macaroni and cheese in the dark so that we could watch the lightening storm. It was great!

 

Sunday we had 18 members at church! So we are getting our numbers back up! Our goal is to get to 20...we can do it! We taught Primary which went well. I like teaching Primary and I think it is good for the kids to have things taught to them on their level because I dont think a lot of them get it in their homes. And it is good because the kids like it too so they are excited to come to church each Sunday! After church we went to the Prestons for dinner and then we went out finding for the night. We had a neighborhood that we really wanted to go to but we got lost trying to find it. While looking for it we ran into a lady that started talking to us. She is a native Croatian but has lived in Singapore for more than 30 years and is here visiting. She doesnt remember much Croatian but she knows English. She said that she was born and raised Catholic but doesnt agree with some of their teachings and so she has found a new faith. She told us that she thought she had found the truth and then she met us and now she isnt sure. We talked to her for over an hour and a lot of the things that she disagreed with about the Catholics we could give her answers of what we believe that she agreed with. The sad part is she is going back to Singapore on Friday. We tried to give her a Book of Mormon as well as some of the pamphlets that we have but we only had Croatian ones on us and she said that she doesnt understand Croatian but would like them in English. So we gave her the address of the church and our number and told her that we would love to meet her at the church and can give her them in English so that she can take them with her. She was really excited about it! We never found the neighborhood that we were looking for her but I dont really think that we were supposed to.

 

Dad asked about how often I get mail that is sent to the mission home. It kind of depends. We get it once a month at zone conferences. This week we got it because zone leader that came here on an exchange had been in Zagreb a few days before and had grabbed it. So it just kind of depends. Whenever there is anyone in Zagreb that comes to Osijek we get it. So not very often. But its ok.

We have gotten things finalized on our apartment and will be moving in this week which will be nice. Im just excited to have it over with. We have spent our exercise this time as well as one day Sister Preston came over for an hour and helped us to clean out things and start packing. Its great fun having to clean up after missionaries that have been living in this apartment for years. We have found some great treasures.

 

Things are going well. We are working hard every day and trying to find new people to teach. The language is still a work in progress...slowly but surely. I have found that when I am talking to someone and know that they are talking to me and can focus intently on what they are trying to say I can usually figure out what they are saying and then it takes me a few minutes to process a response. However if someone tries to talk to me and I am not aware that they are going to start talking to me I am doomed and do not pick up what they are saying. My grammar and speech is improving and my vocabulary is also increasing. Ive still got a ways to go but it is coming. I am trying to not get frustrated with the fact that it is taking time even though I would like to learn it a lot faster than I am I know I am trying my hardest and doing the best I can and that is all that I can ask for.

 

We are hoping for another good week this coming week and that we will be able to move upwards and help people learn and grow and progress. I am learning more about the Gospel every day and I am getting better at explaining it in terms that the people can understand and comprehend what I am saying. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be here in Osijek teaching people about the Gospel and I cant wait to see what is in store for the people and the branch here.

 

I hope that you all have a great week!

 

Volim vas!

Sestra Clark

 

Shoutouts!

 

Emails this week from Grandpa, Jordan, Mom, Dad and I also got a card in the mail from Grandpa

 

Sretan Rođendan Al and Lisa this week!

 

Also good job to Zach on stepping it up at Cottonwood. I heard that you did a great job with the drinks and that you saved Cottonwood! (Im putting this here because I dont have his email so make sure he sees this)

Pictures

Kopacki Rit, a swampland with wildlife

 

 

 

Watermelon carving activity 

Bok Svima

Happy Monday everbody! I hope that you have all had a great week! Things here are going well. The best news is the weather here this week has been amazing! After the few weeks of extreme hot it was much needed. It was in the 70s all week and the humidity wasnt bad. And there was a breeze most days. There were a few days that it was even cold enough that I had to wear a sweater. But I didnt complain one bit because I know that it wont stay for long.

 

Monday...We had Aktivnost on Monday because we were in Bosnia on Friday. Since Sister Madsen was here we decided to do a bigger one than usual so we cooked hamburgers and had food and played games. And it was awesome! We had at least 40 people there if not more (members and investigators). And everyone was talking to everyone and everyone played games together. It was really good and really fun to be able to talk to everyone!

 

Tuesday...We had a lesson with M because Sister Madsen wanted to meet him and his family.  We talked with him and asked him a lot of questions about what he knew and what he understood and how he feels when we are with him or when he comes to church, etc. He told us how much he enjoys reading the Book of Mormon. We werent going to bring up baptism because we feel like we bring it up so much and we dont want to seem pushy with him. We want it to be his choice on his timing. But like last time he brought up baptism again and started talking to us about it. So we had a really good discussion with him talking about the importance of baptism and through repentance he can be rid of the guilt he is feeling in his life. We had a really good discussion with him and kind of let him lead it by asking us questions of things he was concerned about and then we would answer them. It was a really good lesson and the Spirit was so strong. After the lesson Sister Preston told us that it was a really good lesson and she wasnt just saying it to make us feel good. She said it really was good. We still dont have a baptismal date but we are getting closer. And how we get to a baptismal date is more important than when we do. it is going to take some time but we really want to make sure that he feels ready and that it is his decision and he doesnt feel like we are pushing it on him.

 

Wednesday...was a great day! I woke up and did my normal routine (exercise, get ready, studies, etc.) Sister Mortensen made me Palačinke for breakfast which was delicious. We then had to go to the MUP (police station) as well as the health center (Croatia has universal healthcare so everyone is required to sign up for it even if you dont need it) to work on getting things set for my Visa. All of the paperwork is done and so I should have my permanent Visa within a few weeks. Right now I just have a temporary one. We got Kebab for lunch with is like a bread/roll that is filled with meat and vegetables and sauce. It is really good. After we had 3 lessons that we went to and they all went really well. We went tracting for a few hours and got let in once and got a return visit for the next day at another house. The house we got let into was a really nice lady. She is a hindu that studies religion.  She didnt seem very interested in learning more though which was disappointing. After Sister Mortensen told me that she wanted to go check up on someone that she had met last transfer who worked at Hotel Osijek which is a really nice hotel with a nice restaurant in it. I didnt think much of it so we went there and instead of finding the person we found the Elders and the Senior Couple for a surprise birthday dinner! Which was fun! Dinner was delicious! The Elders gave me a Croatian Bible and some chocolate and the Senior Couple gave me a chocolate bar as well. After dinner we started heading home and got an ice cream cone on the way home. So it was a good day! It didnt really feel very different and I dont feel any older but it was a good day! Also thanks for the presents...I waited until my actual birthday to open them and they were great!

 

Friday we got to watch the broadcast on missionary work. Im sure most of you have either seen it or heard about it so I wont go into too much detail. It was really cool to watch. They really are hastening missionary work. It will be interesting to see how they make everything work and how soon we get it here. I would bet they will start the programs in the states and we probably wont have it here for awhile. The talks were also really good. I wish I had my notes with me to tell you the things I liked but I forgot them. They talked a lot about member missionary work and that is what we are going to try to work on a lot with our branch to help them be missionaries and to share the gospel and to help in this work. I think that if we can even get one member to bring someone else into the church it will encourage others to do it as well. We had an impromptu district meeting after the broadcast and came up with a lot of good ideas on how we can help members to do this and so hopefully they will work and we will be able to help strengthen the branch.

 

Friday we also went to see a less active member. She has been a member for over ten years but got offended by another member a few years ago and hasnt been to church since and wont have any contact with the missionaries. She wont answer phone calls and she has a peep through in her door and whenever she sees that it is missionaries she wont open the door. So there has been no contact with her or any of her family for years. We decided that since we were both new missionaries and she wouldnt recognize that we would go try to talk to her. When we got to the door they actually opened it! Which we werent expecting because they havent even opened the door for missionaries before. She wasnt home but her husband was so we talked to him for a few minutes and left a note for her and we are going to try to go back this week and hopefully be able to talk to her.

 

Friday night we had Aktivnost. We had a great idea to carve watermelon. The Croatians didnt like this idea too much. They did it but werent very excited about it.

 

Saturday...We went to E and J house. This is the mother and daughter. We had a lesson planned but it was geared toward the daughter and she wasnt home when we went so we decided not to give our lesson. E was home so we just went in and started talking to her. She talked about some problems she is having right now and so we opened up the Book of Mormon and read a chapter with her. We talked about that even through her struggles she is never alone and that through Christ and his Atonement she can recieve help and strenth in her life all she has to do is ask. She started crying and told us how grateful she was that we had come. She told us how much she appreciates knowing that we truly care for her and how we bring her strength and say exactly what she needs when she needs it. She is usually one of the ones that I have a really hard time understanding but sitting in this lesson I was able to understand everything that she said. We left her house and I just felt so good. It was one of those times that I just had a smile on my face and it was an ah ha moment of I can do this. We were led by the Spirit as to what to talk to her about and I know that it was only through the Spirit that I was able to understand what she was saying to us.

 

Saturday we also had a lesson with an investigator named D and her boyfriend N. She is an atheist and she is really hard. She asks us questions that cause us to have to think and have to search for answers which is good. Right now we are having a hard time getting her to have the desire to change and accept religion in her life but everytime we leave we feel like we need to go back because there is something there she just isnt willing to try yet.

 

Saturday night we played soccer. It was fun but it was really long. We played for over 2 hours. And I am not a fan of soccer. But we had some less actives come so it was good to see them and get in contact with them.

 

Sunday....We had a surprise visit from President Babić who is the district president of Croatia. And of course he came on a day when no one else decided to come to church. We only had 13 members at church on Sunday and then there were only around 20 total. But it was a good meeting. Sister Preston talked in sacrament meeting and talked about the importance of scripture study and how much of a difference it can make in your life. She did a really good job of speaking to the members. For Priesthood/Relief Society the District Relief Society President taught. She did a good job but she talked about visiting teaching and it was geared towards the sisters and we probably had more men there than women. But it was still really good and at the end she tried to tie in home teaching as well so I think it ended up being good.

 

Sunday night we had a lesson with D. She is an investigator that has been taught all of the lessons multiple times and has even had a baptismal date before I got here but backed out because she didnt feel ready. This week we were able to get down to what her real concerns were so hopefully we will be able to help her resolve them and have the desire to be baptized. The only problem is she wants someone specific to baptize her and he cant come until October and she is set on having him baptize her so right now we are focusing on helping her to resolve her concerns and staying in contact with her.

 

Today for pday we rented bikes and rode them out to Kopački Rit which is a swampland about 6 kilometers from Osijek. It was a lot of fun and was a really cool place to go. We were hoping to see some wildlife but other than birds and a few frogs we didnt see anything but it was still cool. I will send you some pictures of it.

 

The exciting news for this week. First, our mission was able to make the goal of having over 10000 invites to church in the month of June. And we even saw results from our efforts. Also we just got an email today from President Rowe saying that Montenegro is being added to our mission on July 28. So it will be interesting to see what happens with next transfers. I dont even know what language they speak there.

 

I cant really think of any good stories for this week. We are still keeping super busy. We have found a new apartment that we will be moving into in the next couple of weeks as soon as we get contracts and stuff worked out. We are still having a losing battle with members when it comes to opening windows and turning on the air conditioning for church (wouldnt want anyone hurting themselves from having air blow on them). I still love it here. I love the members. I love our investigators. I love the other missionaries I am working with. Things are going great and hopefully we continue to progress and to help our investigators and members progress. The language is still a work in progress but it is coming. In our lesson with M this week (he speaks really good English but we still speak to him in Croatian. We speak in Croatian and he responds in English because he wants to practice it) I said something and he looked at me and said your Croatian is really good. Which gave me a boost to keep trying to do better. I am improving and I can understand more and more everyday and I learn new words everyday. My biggest problem is still the grammar. I know a lot of words I just cant speak grammatically correct but it is getting better. Elder Mulder who goes home after this transfer tells me that I know more words than he does. Im not so sure about that but there have been a few times when he didnt know a word and I did know it. The only difference is he can speak fluently and understand people. So if I can just continue to put all the words I know to use and continue to work on my proununciation hopefully oneday in the near future I will be able to communicate with people.

I love you all! Thanks for everything! I hope that you all have a great week and that you are all doing well!

Volim vas!

Sestra Clark

 

 

Shoutouts!

 

Thanks for emails from Alexa, Chris, Carrie, Mom, Dad and Grandpa

 

Sretan rođendan to Trisha this week!

 

I hope you all have a great fourth of July this week!