Every week I start off by complaining about how I never know how to start the email. So I will just skip that and move onto my week. I guess that was a little bit of complaining....sorry about that.
Monday we just had a chill pday around here getting things done that we needed to and getting ready to go.
Tuesday...we headed to Zagreb to meet the new missionaries. We got there Tuesday afternoon and went to the mission office. We hung out there for awhile and then the new missionaries came. 7 sisters came in and 5 elders. We had a brief meeting talking about office stuff and then we split the missionaries into groups and took them out contacting as well as doing other things. I took 2 sisters out contacting (seperately, not together). It went well. One of them was not afraid to talk to people and was doing great. The other one I could barely get to say a word. After we went and stayed at one of the senior couples apartment for the night (just me and Sister Mortensen) and got to watch the driving videos so that I could drive home on Wednesday.
Wednesday...The best part about being a trainer is that we get to go to training meeting where President and Sister Rowe talked to us as well as the APs. It was a great meeting. I also got to see some of the sisters that I was in the MTC with because they are training too...Sister Menjivar, Sister Erbe, and Sister Rankin. So that was fun. We also met our companions. My companion is Sister Frampton. She is from Lindon, Utah. She is very enthusiastic and is FULL of energy (like its unreal...I dont know where she gets it all). After training meeting we got in our car and headed to Osijek. It was about a 3 hour drive and we spent the car ride talking about the area and getting to know each other. I told my companion that she had to stay awake because the person in the passenger seat isnt allowed to sleep. I thought she was going to have a problem with it but she did just fine. I think I was more exhausted by the time we got home than she was. Seriously...she has a lot of energy. When we got home we met up with the Prestons to give them back the car and they took us to get ice cream to talk a little bit and get to know Sister Frampton. Im an awful trainer and that was our dinner because we didnt get home until 9 and by that point neither of us wanted dinner. But...I survived my first time driving in Europe and even though I hadnt driven in over 4 months it wasnt too bad.
Thursday...we woke up and did our studies and then headed to the MUP to get registered. They wouldnt let us register because we didnt have one of the papers we needed so we had to go back on Friday to do it. I had scheduled a lot of appointments on Thursday just so that we were busy but I left time in between them so that we werent rushed to get places. So our first meeting was with V and it was good because her husband N who the Elders had been teaching was there so we got to talk to him for a little bit. Our lesson with V went really well. I understood everything that was said and was able to communicate and tell them what I wanted to. And Sister Frampton really surprised me with how much she talked. She is not afraid to speak...her grammar isnt correct and sometimes she doesnt make sense but she isnt scared to try which is great. After V we went to meet with E and J. We got there early so we decided to tract their apartment building. We had one girl that we opened the door and started talking to her and then she told us she spoke English. We talked to her for a few minutes and then told her that we taught free English classes and gave her a flyer. She told us that she had been looking for English classes because she is going to Canada soon and wants to practice. So she said she would come and would maybe bring friends. So hopefully tomorrow she really does come. We didnt find anyone else that was very interested but everyone at least listened to us and talked to us for a few minutes.
We met with E and J which went well. E had made us some pastry bars that were kind of like turnover things. They were super sweet and super delicious! She asked us what we thought was inside them and I said apple. She said no. I said pear. She then told me what was inside of them and from what I understood I heard zucchini. So I was really confused. So she went and brought one out of the kitchen. Sure enough it was a zucchini. But it was sweet. It was weird but really good.
After we had a lesson scheduled with D but had some time so we decided to walk and take it slow and contact along the way. We were stopped at a stoplight and Sister Frampton said hi to a man that was on his bike. We talked to him for a minute, he asked where we were from, the light changed, and we both went our seperate ways. Less than an hour later we were walking past a house and heard someone yell America. We stopped and looked around and it was the same man. He invited us in and offered us juice to drink. So we sat and talked to him and his daughter and her boyfriend. They were super surprised that we were from America and were sitting in their house. We talked with them for a good half hour and told them about who we were and why we were there. They seemed fairly interested. We left them with our information and they told us that we could come back. So we are going to go see them again this week!
We made it to D's lesson and it went as usual. She likes to talk a lot so when we got into the lesson I told her we could talk for ten minutes and then we were going to say a prayer and start the lesson. She said ok. So she talked for ten minutes and we listened (and I understood what she was saying). And then I told her that it was time to stop talking so that we could start the lesson. (If you dont say this to her she will just talk the whole time.) So we did. We had planned on talking to her about the Spirit World but the minute we started talking about it she said that she already knew everything. I tried to keep going with it but she wasnt having it. So I turned to my companion and said we are switching gears. She is the one that wants a certain person to come baptize her and is set on waiting until that date. But part of me feels like the only reason she is getting baptized is for him. So I decided to ask her about it. So we read a scripture about baptism and then I questioned her about it. I asked her why we have baptism and why it is important to be baptized. I had told my companion about the situation so my companion told me to ask her if this guy couldnt come to baptize her if she would still want to be baptized. So I asked her and her response was he will come. I then told her to pretend like she had never met this guy and had only met us if she would still want to get baptized. Her response was If I hadnt met him I wouldnt have met you. I felt prompted to ask her about the Book of Mormon. So I asked her if she knew the Book of Mormon was true. She kind of paused for a minute and then said I read the Book of Mormon every day. I said thats great but do you know that it is true. And she couldnt give me an answer. She has been investigating for over a year and has had baptism dates in the past but doesnt know that the Book of Mormon is true. She loves the missionaries and she loves us to come but I think the reason that she lets us keep coming is because she is lonely and likes us to come. So I left her with the commitment to pray about the Book of Mormon and we will follow up on it this week and we are going to figure out what her real intentions are for meeting with us. After meeting with D we went and got an ice cream with one of the members and then walked along the Drava.
Friday...we went to check up on one of the inactive members that we have been trying to get in contact with for awhile. But we havent gotten any farther than talking to her husband for a brief minute at the door. Sometimes when we go we can hear them inside but they dont answer the door. We are hoping that if we keep going every week they will realize that we arent going to give up and will eventually let us in. Friday when we went her husband answered the door and we talked to him for a good 5 minutes. He said that she wasnt home but that we could come back a different time. So we will just keep trying.
We did a little bit of contacting and then met the Prestons and got Kebab and then had district meeting. I ran my first district meeting and it went well. We just talked about things to make sure we were all on the same page and to see what we need to do within the next few weeks to help the branch grow as well as to strengthen the members. Weve got a lot ahead of us but if we combine all of our efforts together and move forward we can do it and its going to be great. We talked about some things that we are going to try and do and I am really excited for what we have ahead.
We then had a lesson with M who is a less active member. We got there and were talking to her for a few minutes and then her son who I have never met before came in and introduced himself to us. We invited him to stay for the lesson. He asked us if we wanted some juice so we said sure. He then disappeared for awhile. So we started with the lesson. M started telling us about how much she wished that she could get her family to come to church and stuff. He came back and had gone to the store and bought juice and ice cream for us. We then started talking to him and asking him questions. We gave him a Book of Mormon which had the questions of the soul in it and he read them and asked us questions about it. So we talked to him about some of them and gave a brief first lesson. So what was supposed to be a less active lesson turned into a member present lesson. M was testifying and helping us to teach. It was great. He told us that he would come to church...he promised us he would. But he didnt. But maybe he will this week. But he told us that we could come back and that he would like to learn more.
They live far from us so we decided while we were out there we would do some tracting in that area. We found a street and started knocking on doors with no luck. Sister Frampton is a singer...she sings really good. I remember from YW Sister Giacalone telling us that on her mission when they were tracting when people were going to close the door they would ask them if they could leave them with a song and that a lot of times it would make it so the people would talk to them. Im not a singer but I can carry a tune if I have someone else that knows what they are doing so I suggested it to Sister Frampton and she said it was a great idea. So we knocked on a door and a lady answered. She told us she wasnt interested so we asked if we could sing for her before we left. She seemed hesitant but told us that we could. So we sang I am a Child of God in Croatian. And it brought the Spirit and we then spent a good 10 minutes talking to this lady who was about to close the door on us.
Saturday...We cleaned the church in the morning and then had to go somewhere and did some contacting along the way. On the way we talked to a guy named S. We talked to him for several minutes and invited him to come to church. He told us that he would and he told us that he was not a liar. We then walked towards the bus station and contacted along the way. The bus station is by a place called the Cookie Factory which I have never been too. Sister Frampton wanted to go inside just to look. It was their birthday and everything was half price so we got ice cream again...except for this time it was a brownie with ice cream. It was delicious. I know ice cream 4 days in a row is not a good idea and we arent doing it anymore but it was really good! Anyway...we caught a bus to go visit Z out in Čepin. Sister Frampton really is fearless. She spent the entire bus ride talking to a group of people and singing to them and just not caring what they thought. They were laughing at her the entire time but she just kept going. We had our visit with Z which went fine and then we caught a bus back to Osijek. While waiting for the bus we talked to a girl at the bus stop and then talked to her on the bus ride home.
Saturday night we spent the night contacting along the river. We talked to a lot of people and had some good conversations and hopefully something will come from it. On the way home we saw a police officer. He then walked and talked with us for a good 15 minutes before he had to go somewhere. We talked to him about who we are and why we were here. He said that he thinks its really great what we are doing and wants to meet again to find out more. Not even a minute after he left a car pulled up next to us. We were a bit confused but it was President and Sister Rowe! We knew they were coming to church this week and they were just pulling into town and saw us. President said he saw a light and knew it had to have been the Sister Missionaries.
Sunday...such a great day! Church was great! The Spirit was so strong at church. And S, who we had met the day before on the street came! He walked in and said I told you Im not a liar. He sat through Sacrament (I translated for Sister Preston during Sacrament) and then I sat next to him during Sunday School. He was very into it and was following along in the scriptures. Afterwards I asked him what he thought and he said he really liked it. I asked him if he had any questions and he told us he only had answers. He then tried to tell me his story but I could only pick out parts of it and wasnt really getting it all. Elder Mulder was there with his Mom and Sister and so he talked to him and told me what he said. He had a really cool story about how when we met him we were an answer to a question that he had and that we found him at the perfect time. He said that he really enjoyed church and that if he doesnt hear from us before next Sunday he will see us on Sunday. He said that he liked being at church and then he said I think this is it. No I know this is it. It was such a great moment. Out of all of the people we had talked to the past few days one came to church. But he is one that I think if we take it slow enough and keep working with him it will eventually lead to something great.
After church we had a branch council meeting with the leaders in the ward, the missionaries, and the Rowes. It was good and we talked about how we can work together to help the branch grow. I then had an interview with President Rowe. He is a great man. He gave me advice and encouragement and said exactly what I needed.
Sunday night we were out tracting a neighborhood. We walked past a church that I had never seen before and there were some kids around it so we asked them if they knew the name of the church. They didnt know what it was. They asked us where we were from. They also asked me if I was Sister Framptons translator. We talked to them for a few minutes. We pulled out our passalong cards and let them pick one and told them to go share them with their parents. About a half an hour later one of the kids came riding towards us on his bike really fast. He stopped us and said I found out the name of the church. He told us what it was and then turned around and left. So he came chasing us down just to tell us the name.
We have spent so much time the past few days contacting and tracting. And I love it! We have had more people willing to talk to us even though most of them arent interested they will atl east listen to what we have to say. Sister Frampton is really good at just being friendly and starting small talk with people which leads to a conversation. We work really well together. She has a ton of energy and will start a conversation with someone and then I can keep the conversation going and talk to them. We seriously talk to everyone. And we get a lot of weird looks but its ok. Sometimes when Sister Frampton talks it sounds like she is singing which people arent really used to here. But I have learned that by just being friendly and starting conversations with people they will talk to you. So it is to the point now that everyone I pass on the street instead of just saying hello and walking by I will stop and ask them how they are. Sometimes they dont answer and keep walking but other times they will listen to me and then we talk for awhile. Just be being genuine and real people the people are being open and listening to us.
This past week has probably been my favorite week of my mission so far. Last week when I found out what was happening with transfers I was terrified and stressed. But we all know how I stress about everything. But this week as I have learned to rely on the Lord and put my trust in Him that this is exactly what was supposed to happen everything has been great. I truly am happy and I love doing missionary work. Sister Frampton and I work really well together. We balance each other out, we work hard, and we have fun. My language skills have improved so much. I have definitely been blessed with the gift of tongues. As we sit in a lesson I understand everything they say and I am able to communicate with the people and the second we leave I dont remember a word of what was said. As I am talking to people I will say something and then I will think hey i just cased that word in the right case. Its a great feeling. I still have work to do...I am no where near being fluent but I know enough to be able to communicate and understand people which I know is not because of my own effort. As I give everything that I can the Lord will step in and fill in the rest. And He has. I have even had natives tell me how much my language is improving and how impressed they are with it which is a great feeling. Sister Frampton and I decided that by the time we finish our missions we arent going to be just missionary fluent we are going to be fluent. And by giving our all every day and just trying I know that we can do it. I know that this is exactly where I need to be and who I need to be with right now and I am so excited to see what else we have in store this transfer.
Funny stories...
We were tracting and a lady answered the door in her swimming suit. We started talking to her and she told us she wasnt interested and it was a little awkward because she was in her swimming suit.
We saw some old ladies sitting on a bench and asked them if we could sing for them. They responded we are grandmas go find someone younger to sing to.
We were at a train stop and a lady came up and asked us where we were from. So we told her. We were speaking to her in Croatian and she understood. And then she would respond in some language. I have no idea what language it was I just know it wasnt English and it wasnt Croatian.
I hope that you all have a great week! Thanks for all of the love, support and prayers.
Volim vas!
Sestra Clark
Shoutouts
Thanks for the emails from Jordan, Dad, Carrie, Grandpa, Mom
Good luck to Justin with football
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