Well...its been another great week here in Osijek. We are seeing miracles every day and we are surprised more and more each day by the things that we are seeing. It really is a great time to be a missionary and we are going to make a difference here before we leave.
Monday night after Pday we went tracting. We went and found a random street and decided to tract it. We tracted a few houses and knocked on the door of a lady who we found out was a former investigator. We talked to her for a few minutes but she said she wasnt ready to start meeting with us again. A few houses later was a house where the Mom answered. She had 6 kids. We talked to her for a few minutes. She told us that she was Catholic and that the Catholic church had been good for her family and that she didnt see a reason for us to talk to her because she didnt see them changing. She wouldnt let us come inside but she stood at the door and talked with us for a few minutes. I could tell that she felt something but we couldnt get her to let us come in and talk to her more. We left her house and I kept thinking that we should go back and talk to her but she had told us that she had no interest. About five minutes later we knocked on the door and a man came out and started talking to us. He told us that he was Atheist and he didnt see a need to belive anything different than that. We ended up talking to him for more than half an hour and by the end of it he told us that he knows that his family needs a change. He asked us what he could read that could prove to him why we are different and why our church is the right way. So we handed him a Book of Mormon. He gave us his contact information and told us that we could come back and talk to him. He told us that he would read the Book of Mormon and if he felt good about it he would keep it and talk to us more about it and if not he would give us the book back. It was really great because at first he was Atheist and had no interest in anything we were saying and within half an hour we committed him to reading the Book of Mormon and learning about religion. If we would have gone back to the house with the mother we wouldnt have met this man.
Tuesday we tracted for quite awhile with not much success. The best we got was a lady that let us in but we found out it was only because she wanted us to babysit her handicapped daughter...which we cant do. Tuesday night we had English. I love teaching English. This new program is great. I dont do exactly what the program says but pretty much. I can tell that the students really like it and they are learning and actually retaining the information.
Wednesday Sister Frampton decided that she wanted to do an SYL day. So we did. She told me not to speak a word of English. So I didnt...for the first half of the day. It got to the point that I couldnt do it any longer because I had to repeat myself a hundred times and then she would have to guess as to what I was trying to say. But we lasted half a day and it went really well. Maybe this week we can last a little bit longer.
Wednesday we had an appointment scheduled but when we got there they had forgotten and asked us to come back a different time. So we went to visit some people that we had met a few weeks ago. They invited us in and we talked to them for quite awhile. We had another appointment so we left and were walking to our other appointment and a lady started waving at us and called us over. This doesnt happen very often so we went over. She invited us inside and said that she wanted to show us something. She took us into a room and pulled out a Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants. She said that she had lessons from the missionaries about 4 years ago but it wasnt the right timing and that they had lost contact. Since that time she has gotten married and has a son. She was super nice and we talked to her for a little bit and are going to go back this week to talk to her again. We then went to the church to do Personal Progress with A. It went well again and she loved it.
Wednesday night we had a meeting with D. We went in and were firm with her again. We asked her questions and told her that the only way she is truly going to feel ready for baptism is that if she gains a testimony for herself about the Book of Mormon and about the Gospel and that the only way to do that is to sincerely pray about it. She said that she prays every day and that she knows she recieves answers but she doesnt know if she can pray about it. I testified to her and told her that if she has doubt than she wont recieve an answer. When we left I told her that I hope that she will pray about the Book of Mormon, I hope that she will have a sincere desire for baptism, and I hope that she would come to church on Sunday even if it was hot outside but that the only one that could decide she needed to do it was her. And the only one that could make it happen was her. After leaving we decided to give her a break for a few days and let her think about what we had said and make the decision if she wanted to keep meeting with us. And yesterday she came to church...without us reminding her about it. She walked in and told me its hot today but i decided that I needed to come to church anyway. I could tell that what we had said to her really hit her and I think she really does have a desire to gain a testimony and a desire to get baptized it is just taking time for her to realize it and it is something she needs to realize on her own through the Spirit. We can help her but we cant force her into anything.
Thursday we decided to go check up on inactive members. The first one we went to her parents were home but she wasnt. We talked to her dad for awhile and he was very nice and gave us information of how we could contact her. The second one wouldnt open the door. The third one his daughter answered and he wasnt home. But we went back a few days later and were able to talk to him for a little bit. I dont know if any of them will come back anytime soon but at least we are trying to find them and hopefully sometime down the road they will. We have a lot of inactive members right now that we are hoping we will be able to get to come back or at least let us get in contact with them. Baby steps...
We went tracting Thursday night and my favorite phrase someone said was Im not interested in anything...alrighty then. We also had English which went really well again. And our friend that we met from Hungary came.
Friday we went tracting for the morning. We were in an apartment complex and knocked on a door and I dont even remember what we said but it was something about the Book of Mormon. The guy looked at it and then looked at us and said I dont have that book and I need it. We said yes you do and gave him one. He was even willing to pay for it. We told him a little bit about it and told him to read it and that we would come back and talk to him about it. Its hard when we find males that are interested because he was home alone so we couldnt go in and teach him so we have to find someone to go with us and go back another time.
We went and visited E and J again and it went really well. We got Js son D involved in the lesson and are hoping that if we can get him excited about the church he will want to come and it will help J come back too. They love having us come and are great. They know the Doctrine. J just wont come to church.
Friday night we had Aktivnost and it was awesome. While we were waiting for people to come Elder Preston started a giant dot game...you know the one you play during church where you make boxes. So we had like 10 people playing on one board and everyone got really into it. For the activity we had a bunch of random objects that we had found around our apartments and the church and we split into groups and made inventions. Everyone got super into it and loved it. We came up with some pretty creative things. I will send pictures.
Saturday...we went and cleaned the church in the morning and then we had a lesson with N and V. We decided to just start at the beginning with N and so we taught about the Restoration and had V help us teach it. After we finished the lesson he asked us to read a chapter with him in the Book of Mormon so we said ok and asked him where he was. He opened to 2 Nephi 3 which is the chapter that talks about Joseph Smith and The Book of Mormon coming forth. It was perfect for what we had just talked about.
After their lesson we went tracting. We decided to try apartment buildings. The hard part about apartment buildings is that they lock the outside door and so it is hard to go in. Sister Frampton saw a man walking into a building and decided we should follow him in. So we did. We walked all the way up to the top floor knocked on the door and a woman named L answered. We showed her the Book of Mormon and she invited us in to talk about it. She had 2 kids who were so cute. We gave her the first lesson and talked a little bit about what she belives in. We left her with a Book of Mormon and committed her to read it and we are going to go back this week to teach her again.
Later Saturday night we went to check up on a former investigator. They too lived in an apartment complex that was locked. Sister Frampton told me that she was just going to try and guess the code to get the door open. I told her there was no way she would be able to guess it. She typed in some numbers, we heard a noise, tried the door and it was open. We tracted the buliding with not much luck and then talked to the former investigator for a little while. She had guests but set up a time for us to come back...hopefully she will actually follow through.
Sunday...we went to church which was good. 2 members of our Branch went to the temple this week one for endowments and one for baptims so they both shared their testimony which was really great. S came to church again this week! We were unable to meet with him this week but we talked with him several times and are hoping this week we can meet with him and get somewhere with him.
After church we went tracting but I wasnt really feeling it. I was in a weird mood on Sunday. I was just kind of feeling down. I was just feeling like I wasnt doing enough and I didnt know how I could do more. It was kind of like I needed verification that we were doing ok and that we were doing what we were supposed to be doing. I talked to Sister Frampton and we decided to go home and eat lunch and then head back out and start fresh. We ate and then we headed back out and started knocking on doors. After a few doors we got let in to a house with a family with three kids. They werent interested but they listened to what we had to say. A few houses later we got let in to another house. We had a good conversation with them and they fed us a ton of food. We left them with a Book of Mormon. A little while later we got let into another house. This lady again listened to what we had to say but wasnt interested. We got let in 3 times. 3 in one day. None of them were super interested and I dont know if they will go anywhere but it was a little reminder that we are doing just fine. As long as we are working hard that is all that we need to do. W will see little miracles and we will find people that will be willing to listen to us. And maybe these people arent ready now but maybe they will be ready a little ways down the road. We are doing what we need to be doing. We are working hard, we are being obedient, and thats all that we can do.
Today was a good day. The Prestons called us last night and told us they were going to some mansion and asked if we wanted to go with them. So we did. On the way to theirouse we talked to a lady on the tram who was super nice and gave us her information and told us to come by sometime. I dont remember the name of the place that we went to today but it was really cool...I will send pictures.
Anyway...things are going well here. I have heard that the heat wave is over and it will still be fairly warm but it wont be hot hot anymore so hopefully that is right. We have got a lot of work to do but we are making baby steps every day and helping to strengthen the people here. I love Osijek. I love being a missionary. And I love the Gospel.
I hope that you all have a great week. Love you lots!
Sestra Clark
Shoutouts
Sretan Rođendan Carrie
emails from Lex, Justin, Mom, Dad, Carrie, Grandpa
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