Pictures

 Visiting a member in a rest home apartment

 

 English class

 

Aktivnost Scavenger hunt

 

 Visiting trains on Pday

 

 Elder Preston where the Murder on the Orient Express happened

 

 Branch conference

 

Fantastic 4 - the missionaries in Osijek



Happy Halloween...almost‏

Well...here we go again. This week has flown by. I cant believe how fast it has gone! It was a good week though.

 

Monday night after pday we just went out checking up on former investigators, potentials, and tracting...nothing super exciting happened.

 

Tuesday...We met with B which went about as usual. It is great that he comes and reads the Book of Mormon with us each week but it just doesnt really seem to go any further than that. We had District Meeting which went well. We have kind of started making things and then we bring them to District Meeting and share. This week Elder Preston cooked some of the Dunjas that N keeps bringing. They were actually really good. For district meeting this week we talked about Chapter 6 in Preach My Gospel which is Christlike Attributes. We all picked an attribute that we wanted to work on and then we set goals of how we were going to accomplish it this week. After District Meeting we went over to visit E because she has been sick. While we were there Elder Preston gave her a blessing. It was amazing. J was there for it as well as her 2 sons who are not members. The Spirit was so strong in the room and they were very grateful for it. Tuesday night we had English class. We started the program over and so we are teaching the same students and the same program but they are all on different levels. I was a little bit worried about it because the level we decided to do for the class I am teaching is a level down from what they have been learning but it ended up being really good and I think it was very helpful for them.

 

Wednesday...What a day...we first has a meeting with the Red Cross. Well...the Prestons had a meeting and needed us to translate. So we went with them and just basically found out exactly what it is that they do here and what we can do to help them. They told us that they had a meeting Wednesday nights where all of their young volunteers come and they talk about the events of the week and they invited us to come so that we could talk to some of the volunteers. We had some other things scheduled for the night but switched things around so that we could go. After we went to a members house. Elder Preston had asked one of the members who only speaks Croatian (no English) to talk on Sunday. And then he gave her a talk from conference to base it off of...but the talk was only in English. So we had to go over there to help her translate the talk so that she knew what it was that she needed to talk about. It actually went really well. This is a member that when I first got here I kind of had a bit of a hard time with...she was one that smoked, that came to church only because of what she could get out of it, and it was just really hard for me to see. But in the past 5 months since I have been here I have seen a HUGE change in her. She has stopped smoking and her husband has too. Their house is a lot cleaner and they take better care of it. They come to church each Sunday and they actually make comments in Sunday School that are good and apply to the lesson. And the talk that she gave on Sunday was perfect...it was short but it was good. If nothing else comes from the time I have been here we have seen a HUGE change in our members here. Members that werent coming or were only coming sometimes are becoming more active. Their testimonies are strengthened and they are all getting out and trying to do something with their lives. When I first got to Osijek not a single one of the active members had a job...now over half of them do and the other ones are actively out looking for it. I have even noticed a difference when we go and teach the members...they are more sincere with their answers and they are making the Gospel a bigger part of their lives...we still have work but it is definitely moving up!

 

After we went to the church for Family History. But no one came. Which was good because the internet at the church ended up not working. So we left. We went and grabbed something to eat and then we had a little bit of time before our meeting. We didnt know what to do because we didnt have a ton of time but we didnt want to waste it either. We had a few ideas of apartment buildings that we wanted to try but none of them seemed to work out and we just kept walking. We came to an apartment building that was completely out of the way from anything and we managed to get in. We went up to the top floor knocked on a door and the Mom answered. We talked to her for a minute at the door and she told us that they werent interested. We then told her about our English classes (we do this when people dont let us in in hopes that it will at least get them into the church) she opened the door and let us in. Her son is learning English in school and has been struggling with it. We talked to them a little bit about the English program and then her son started asking her questions about who we were and why we were here. She told him I have no idea ask them. So he did and we talked to them about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration. I was talking to the Mom a little bit and she said that when she was 17 she was baptized into the Catholic church. She said she doesnt know why she did it because she had never gone to church before that and she hasnt gone back. She has 3 children (2 boys and 1 girl) and she let them choose if they wanted to or not. One of her sons has and the other one hasnt. She then told us so if my boys want to come to your English classes in your church they can and if they decide they want to learn about your church that is fine with me because I want them to be able to choose their religion. We left them a Book of Mormon and told them to read it and I really think they will. I think we could get the Mom to learn about the church too. One of the boys came to English on Thursday and I think they both will this week. After meeting with them we went to the Red Cross thing and it didnt turn out to be what we thought it would be. They basically ran through the weeks activities and said who they needed when and then everyone left. We talked to a few people but it wasnt very effective. But...if we wouldnt have rearranged our schedule earlier in the day in order to go to this meeting we would have been in a completely different part of town and wouldnt have met this family.

 

Thursday...another great day. I had a zone conference phone call for all the district leaders that I had to be on for an hour in the morning. We did our studies and weekly planning and then we went out to the area that we were planning on going to Wednesday night. None of the people we were trying to check up on seemed to be home. But...we knocked on a door and asked for a man. The woman looked at us and said no one by that name lived there and she didnt even know anyone by that name but she would ask her husband. So she went and got her husband and he came and had no idea either. We talked to them at the door for a minute and then they invited us in. We sat down and talked to them for a little while. We had a good conversation and they asked us what made our church different from the Catholic church. We talked to them about the Book of Mormon. They asked us a few other questions and we also talked to them about prayer and how we believe that prayer is a conversation with our Heavenly Father. It went really well. They have 2 young boys and they told us we could come back. The Dad works and he told us that he hates his job but he has to work because he has to be able to provide for his family. He told us that they may not have a lot of money and they dont have the nicest things but they have eachother and so they are happy...thats an attitude that more Croatians need to pick up!

 

Friday...we had 2 appointments with less actives that live in the villages outside of Osijek. We went with the Prestons and the first counselor in the Branch Presidency came with us. We first went and visited the B's. It went well. We talked to them about hope and faith for the future and having Faith in Christ. Elder Preston had a few other things that he needed to talk to them about that he needed help with translating. M told me he wanted me to do the translating. So I translated and sometimes he would repeat exactly what I had said to them again. It kind of got a little frustrating and I was feeling like I wasnt making any sense. But after he told me that I did a good job translating and what I said was right he just repeated some of the things that I said to emphasize the point...so I felt better about myself. Apparently the B's have a referral for us to teach by them so we are going to go back either this week or next week for that...hopefully it goes well. After we went to visit V. She is a crack up. She is so naive and she says things how they are. We had a lesson with her and it was going really well and then apparently she decided she was done with it because she picked up her phone and made a phone call. I dont remember what she said that was so funny but I was keeping myself from laughing the whole time...we all were actually.

 

Friday night for Aktivnost we had a harvest party. We had hot dogs, and beans, and fruit and such. It turned out to be a lot of fun and we had a lot of young people come which was kind of refreshing.

 

Saturday morning we went and cleaned the church and then we did Young Women with A...it was nothing compared to the Young Women in Excellence that you had but it was good. We talked about individual worth and read scriptures that showed how God knows and loves each of us individually. For her Faith value project she decided that she wanted to write a song about Faith. Sister Frampton has written a lot of songs so she helped her get started with that also.

 

V hasnt been at church for a little while and we havent been able to get ahold of her this week. So Elder Preston decided that he wanted to just go show up at their house. They were a little caught of guard at first but it ended up being really good and they were grateful that we had come. V said something to us and I went to translate it and Elder Preston stopped me and translated exactly what she had said. I was amazed! They dont know very much Croatian but they do pretty well. Anyway...we had a lesson with N and V and it went well. We still cant get N to realize that he cant just read the Book of Mormon and be good. He needs to act on it and he needs to come to church. One day we will get him there.

 

Saturday night we had a lesson with F. We talked to him about the Word of Wisdom. He said it will be hard for him but that if he takes it a little at a time he thinks he can do it. We also talked more about the Book of Mormon. He has read it some but wont pray to find out if it is true. And he still struggles with his family because he said they could never accept him learning about another religion. But he told us that he can feel our goodness and he wants to keep learning and that he can see himself changing.

 

Sunday was great! First off it was daylight savings so we got an extra hour of sleep...happy day! Church was good. We had several less actives which was good. One of them walked in and said to Sister Preston...I miss church once, and then I miss it again and think oh I dont need it anyways. But the second I walk through the door I realize that I do need it I just need someone to push me. So now that we know that we will definitely be pushing her. We had planned to have our Primary sing in Sacrament Meeting...but our Primary didnt show up so that didnt happen...maybe next week! Z was at church this week before he starts his new job in Zagreb so all of the members were really excited to see him.

 

After we went and checked up on some potentials and former investigators over by the Prestons. We got one person to set up a return appointment with us! So that is exciting! The Prestons had invited us over for dinner so we went there and then we finished checking up on people that lived by them. And then Sunday night we had an appointment with a less active member...she has been sick (she always seems to be sick) but we had a good visit with her. I think she really does have a testimony and she really does know the Doctrine she just doesnt come to church. She said when she feels better she will come. But she constantly had one illness after another. We have good visits with her and I think it is good for her to see that we care and we know when she is not at church we are just hoping that we can get her to start coming soon.

 

We are hoping to have another good week this week! We have found a lot of potentials this week and we hope that as we go back things seem to go just as well. It always seems to be that our first visits go great and then we go back and they dont seem to go as well or dont want to talk to us. But I have faith that one of these days things will get better. We are planting seeds that will one day bloom. Last night as I was talking to the Zone Leaders to give them numbers the advice he gave us was You wont fail until you stop trying. And we dont want to fail so we wont stop trying. Some days it would be nice to see something happen from all of our effort but even if we arent having baptisms left and right I know that we are making a difference here in Osijek and that it is exactly where I need to be right now.  We are seeing things happen and they will continue happening as we keep working and pushing forward. I love being a missionary. I love Osijek. I love the members, I love the people. I love the Gospel and am learning so much more about it every day!

 

I hope that you all have a great week! Love you lots!

Sestra Clark

 

 

Shoutouts...

 

Emails from Mom, Dad, Carrie, Ryan, Grandpa, Lex, Chris, Kelsey

Pictures

 Doing selfies in a mirror in an apartment building

 

 From the top floor of a building with no elevator

 

 Chocolate duck beaks

 

 Elder Preston on a corn crib

 

 In front of an old castle

 

A building next to the castle

Happy Monday Again

Well...here we go again! It seems like I was just here writing home and now it is time again.

 

Last Monday...pday wasnt too exciting but Monday night we went over to the Prestons and had Family Home Evening with the Young Single Adults. Sister Preston taught the lesson and talked about putting the priorities in life first and then letting everything else fall into place. We then played Mexican train dominoes and Elder Preston had made Apple Crisp.

 

Tuesday...We read with B and had District Meeting. Sister Preston is kind of spearheading the English classes for the mission and had to put some binders together that she had to have finished by Wednesday and she wasnt even close to being done. So she asked us to help her finish those. So we did. It took a good part of the afternoon but there is no way that she would have finished if we wouldnt have helped her so it was good. After we had English...We finished our final English lesson for this session before we start over this week. Tuesday night was a really good English class and I love the growth that I can see in each of the students. They have definitely improved since the beginning of the classes.

 

Wednesday...We had some potentials to check up on. We were walking over and were on a street that I had remembered from a few weeks ago and remembered a lady that we had met. She was one that told us no but you could tell she was fighting it. So I decided that we should go check up on her. She is married and has 6 kids...which doesnt happen often here. We got there and she was just getting ready to put her baby down for a nap but told us if we come back earlier in the day on a different day that we could come in and talk with her. We then went and checked up on one of the potentials.  She was an older lady who had met with the missionaries before a couple of times but it hadnt gone anywhere. She let us in and we talked to her a little bit and she just couldnt accept the message that we were trying to share with her. Her situation made me so sad...she has obviously been a heavy smoker for most of her life...her fingers are dyed from the cigarettes, her house was not in the greatest shape, and she lived alone. It just made me sad because of the great message we have for her but she just couldnt see the need for it or how it applied to her.

 

After meeting with her we went to Family History and then we went out tracting. Twice we had people that answered the door and told us they werent interested but pointed us to their neighbors house and said they would be...neither of them were home.

 

Thursday...we finished the 12 week training program! For the first 12 weeks they have you do an extra hour of companion study and they have a program that you are supposed to use. Sometimes it was good and helpful...sometimes it wasnt. But...we did it and we finished it so now we dont have to do it anymore...at least not while we are together. We also did weekly planning on Thursday morning and then we went out to some appointments. We had a potential that lives right around the corner from us so we decided to stop by there real quick to see if she was home...and she was. She let us in and we talked to her for awhile. She had her Doctrine and Covenants right on the table and said she reads it often but she doesnt know where her Book of Mormon is. We talked to her for quite awhile but again she isnt ready for the Gospel right now. We are hoping that one of these days as we get in contact with these former investigators one of them will be ready now. We then had an appointment with a less active member that went well and we actually got him out of the house to come meet with us which was good...normally that is kind of a challenge.

 

Thursday night we had an English activity to celebrate that we had completed the program before starting over. We decided to try and play family fued.....not a good idea. They had absolutely no idea what it was and even after explaining it multiple times they could not figure out how to play and it did not go well...but Elder Preston had made treats for after so they all liked that and said they will be coming back...so thats good. We tried to talk to D after both English classes this week but she seemed really weird and wouldnt set up a time to meet with us again...but she is coming to English again this week she said so we are hoping that maybe this week we can meet with her.

 

Friday...we had gotten a referral for a man that lived in a town about 15 minutes out of Osijek, Josipovac. We also found a former investigator that lives out there so we caught a bus and headed out. The former investigator wasnt home but we talked to the referral. He had been referred by his relative who lives in Australia...he had no idea who she was. He was an 80 year old man that had absolutely no desire to talk to us. But it was nice to kind of get a change of scenery and we talked to a really nice girl on the bus ride home. When we got back we did some checking up on other former investigators and did some tracting and then we went to the church and did Personal Progress with A. It has been a few weeks since we have been able to meet with her because her school schedule is so bizarre but it was really good. We finished the last value experience that goes with Faith and so now she just has to do her project for it and she has one of them done. I love how much she loves coming...she loves reading the scriptures and she loves it when we all recite the theme together. After her we had Aktivnost. The Prestons had put together a historical scavenger hunt around Centar so we split up into two teams and went around Osijek finding clues and going to other places. It turned out to be a lot of fun and the members really enjoyed it!

 

Saturday...we went to the church to clean it and had an appointment after that got cancelled. The Prestons were going out to one of the villages to visit a member because there was supposedly something going on out in the village that day so they invited us to go with them. So we did...but we got out there and the thing they thought was going on was really a week ago. When we got home we ran home to eat lunch and were making something that we needed to open a jar...neither of us could do it. So we went outside and found some random man on the street and he opened it for us.

 

We then went to Sarvaš which is a village about half an hour from Osijek because we had an appointment with a lady who was referred awhile ago and we had met with her before and she told us we could come back. She had lived in Switzerland for 20+ years and had met with the missionaries there for about 2 years before she moved here. We went to see her and we had a really good lesson with her. I felt the Spirit stronger than I have than any lesson so far. It really was amazing. We talked to her about the Book of Mormon and I asked her if she knew it was true. She said she knew that it was. She said she knew that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that everything we were telling her was true. I asked her if she would be baptized and she said that she could never be baptized because of her family. They are strong Catholics. I told her that if she prayed and really felt that this was the right path with her then her family would understand. She said that they wouldnt. I asked her if we could come back again and keep teaching her and she thought about it for a minute and then said no. Her daughter was there with us and she looked at her and said do you realize what she just asked...and she said yes. She said that maybe someday she will have a change of heart but for now she just cant see herself ever being baptized and she doesnt see any reason for us to come back. It made me so sad!  I could feel the Spirit so strong and she even told me that she could feel it. But she told us that we couldnt come back. I told her that we werent going to forget about her and that we would keep calling her and she said that is fine she just doesnt want to meet with us again. She also asked us about the Word of Wisdom. She said that she had learned about it she just didnt understand it and why we dont use alcohol or tobacco. I talked to her about how the Word of Wisdom was given as revelation and that is exactly what it is...a word of wisdom. It tells us exactly what we should do to take care of our bodies to keep healthy and what we shouldnt take into our bodies. She didnt seem to like my answer. The word of wisdom is something that people struggle with so much here because everyone smokes...and they start at such a young age.

 

Saturday night we had a lesson with N and V. Their lessons are so frustrating. They say they will read, they say they will come to church, and then they dont do them. N really isnt progressing and part of me wonders if he ever will because he just doesnt see the need to change. Right now we go to their house more to strengthen V as a member rather than to help N....I dont know how many times I have asked him about baptism and he just doesnt see why he needs it.

 

Sunday...what a day! Sunday was our Branch conference so the District President and the District Relief Society President came. It was a really good meeting. Since our Branch President found a job in Zagreb and isnt coming back to Osijek Elder Preston will be acting as Branch President and they put one of the other members in as first counselor. Church was really good. Both President and the Relief society president spoke in Sacrament meeting. I got to translate for Sister Preston...translating is hard. Especially since they dont stop for me to say what they have said. So they say something and I have to say it in English to Sister Preston while at the same time listening to what they are saying in Croatian to know what to say next...in short periods of time it is ok but Sunday I did it for 3 hours straight (both Sacrament and Sunday School went over half an hour). President taught Sunday school and he did an amazing job. He taught exactly what the Branch needed right now about paying tithing and becoming self reliant.

 

After Church we taught a lesson to M. We read from Preach My Gospel and talked to him about missionary work because he is hoping to get his papers started and such at the first of the year.

 

We then had a list of former investigators to go check up on. We had a street that we had never heard of before and when we got there it was kind of in the middle of nowhere and was more of a country type feel...it was kind of cool. Anyway...one of the formers let us in but only wanted to talk politics...so we left. Another one was super nice but told us she wasnt interested...another one was a completely butthead (pardon my language) and told us she wasnt interested...I think her exact words were "I know who you are and there is nothing else we can discuss. Im not going to read your book so you can leave and never come back." We have decided that it is a good thing that Sister Frampton cant understand what people say to us because when we leave and I tell her what they said she tells me what she would have said to them if she had known...and I say that is why you didnt know. :) Anyway...the other people either werent home or not interested. We also knocked on a few doors but didnt find anyone interested. We thought we were done with the street and started heading to another one when I suddently saw a name on the paper that I swear was not there before...so we turned around and started heading back to it. There were some people on the street that we said hi to and they stopped us. So we stopped and talked to them for quite awhile. We talked to them a little bit about why we are here and talked to them about the Book of Mormon. They asked us about our beliefs so we told them and we cleared up some misconceptions...like that we only have one wife. They were so nice and they invited us to come look at their yard. They had 4 huge greenhouses full of flowers...it was beautiful.  They sent us both off with a pot of flowers. We were right by the Prestons and decided they needed them more than us so we stopped by the Prestons and delivered flowers to them. They definitely werent expecting them so it was pretty funny.

 

This week has been a good week.  I cannot believe how fast it has flown by. For part of my personal study I have been reading from True to the Faith and I read the scriptures that go with it. I call it my gospel dictionary because it explains all of the gospel principles in such a simple way. Anyway...this week as I was reading I read about Joseph Smith and one of the scriptures that was with it said to read all of Joseph Smith History. So I read it. I cannot tell you how many times I have read his story but each time I read it it is just as powerful. He went through so many things so that we can have the peace and happiness that we are so blessed to have in our lives right now. And it all started when he was such a young age. It really was a miracle how everything worked out exactly how it was supposed to. What we have really is amazing and there are so many people that just dont know about it.

 

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

Sestra Clark

 

Shoutouts!

 

Emails from Jordan, Dad, Lex, Mom, Carrie, Ryan, Allie, Tyler, Grandpa

 

The Prestons took a surprise trip to Zagreb this week and brought back the mail so I got 2 letters from Dad this week too!

Pictures

Adventure across the river

 



Over the river and through the woods

 



A beautiful park by the river

 



Volunteering at a special needs center

 



Making bracelets on the bus

 Making bracelets at Aktivnost

 

Breakfast with investigators

 Being creative yet unsafe when the outlet didn't work

 

 Primary

 

Emailing home!



Time to Write Again!

Happy Monday...I cant belive that it is time to write home again already...I wont lie sometimes I dread emailing because it kind of stresses me out because I dont know what to write about. But its ok. I mostly just hate starting to write.

 

Monday...we spent our pday at the church emailing and watching conference. It ended up being a good day and after we went to try to check on some potentials...none of them were home but we will go back.

 

Tuesday...was zone conference. The Prestons picked us up Tuesday morning and we headed to Belgrade. It was a really good zone conference. They talked about planning and how planning is so important and how to do it effectively. They gave us some sheets to use to help us with it...I am all for organization. Zone conference is always good...it is always rejuvenating and is fun to see other missionaries. We also talked about English classes...Sister Preston is kind of spearheading the English Program so she talked about it and then had me kind of tell a little bit about what I do and how I like it and how it is helping us because our English classes really are doing well. We went from maybe having 5 students at the beginning of last transfer to having 20 students each time. It really is amazing and the English students love it and are improving and they can see that they are improving...they are trying to get it going mission wide but some people are struggling more than others with doing it. At zone conference Sister Frampton and I were talking to President Rowe and the new AP walked by and President said these are some powerful Sister Missionaries right here. The AP turned to me and said are you from Osijek...I said yes...and he said I have heard a lot about you...we are hoping those are good things. Im not sure how I feel about being talked about. But it seems like it is a good thing.

 

On the way home we stopped at an inactive members who we have been trying to get in contact with since my first transfer.  She was home and she let us in! Her son was home too. They were both very nice and we had a good conversation with them. They live more than an hour out of Osijek so it is hard to visit them often and it is hard for them to come to church but they told us to come back when we can and we got their email address so that the Prestons can email them and keep in contact with them. So it was good.

 

Wednesday we had to go to the MUP to apply for Sister Framptons permanent Visa...it has seemed to be a process...but she has officially applied for it and the MUP ladies love us. Before they were always not very nice to the missionaries but we have them talking to us and joking with us. Its great!

 

We had family history on Wednesday which went good and then the Prestons asked us to teach institute for them because they had to go to all of the zone conferences to talk about English. So we taught institute. We talked about the large plates and the small plates and the lost 116 pages and watched some videos on it. I actually learned a lot from it and the members enjoyed it too. After we went with the members who were at institute and went contacting in Centar together...we had gotten permission from President to do it and had wanted to for awhile because we thought it would be helpful. But it turned out not to work too well and proved not to be very effective because they didnt seem very excited about it and just stood there the whole time...but now we know.

 

Thursday...we had an appointment scheduled that didnt show up...we always hate when that happens because we feel like we are wasting time at the church while waiting...but we got other things done at the church that we needed to so it worked out. We then went and visited a member who is in the hospital. She was very grateful to see us. The hospitals here are so different than in America. Each room has 4 or 5 people in it and visiting hours are 1 hour every day. I dont like going to the hospitals here because it is such a sad situation. But she was so happy to see us and was so glad that we came that it made it all worth it.

 

Friday...a few weeks ago we had found a special needs center that has people come and volunteer. So we had gotten permission to go there and volunteer and decided to go and do it Friday morning. It turned out to be a little different than we though but it was good. We basically just hang out with the people there and do what they want to do. They have art projects and such that people can do but since we were two new people they didnt want to do those and they just wanted to show off. But the people were so cute and loved having us there. As we were leaving one of them told us to come back tomorrow but not to wear skirts. We talked with the workers for awhile too so it was good. What it is is a facilitly where people with disabilities can come to be in a good environment and then it is an agency that tries to help them get jobs and they have apartments for them to live in. It really is a good association.

 

Friday night we had a lesson with D...the English student who came to conference. When we got there her Mom was home too so we taught them both. We first talked about conference and answered a lot of questions that she had and then we talked about the Restoration.  She is a catholic. We had given her a Book of Mormon at English class and we asked her if she had read any of it. She said yes. We asked her what she thought about it and she said its better than the Bible. She was focusing intently as we taught her and asked questions and I could tell she was really feeling it. We read Moroni 10: 3-5 and after her Mom said so if I read this Book and pray about it I can know that it is true. We said absolutely and committed them to read it with a sincere desire and then to pray and then that they would recieve an answer. D then asked us who was allowed to come to church. We said anyone is welcome...she said then I will be there on Sunday. So she came to church on Sunday and she really enjoyed it. We are going to meet with her again this week and hopefully soon we can get her committed to baptism. I can tell that she really feels something and I think she is seeing it is a good thing that will bless her life.

 

We then had Aktivnost and we made bracelets. We were worried how the members would like it but they LOVED it. Seriously it was crazy how much they liked it. It turned out great.  We had a girl  who we met on the street and invited to come and she came and said she will come back. She really enjoyed hanging out with the members and had a lot of fun.

 

Saturday...we had a lesson with F again. We asked him if he had read and prayed about the Book of Mormon and he said that he had read it but hadnt prayed about it. We asked him what he thought and he said it was different. We talked about prayer and that through prayer we can communicate with Heavenly Father and that he will hear and answer. He told us that he wants to keep meeting with us but needs to take things slowly because his family wouldnt be very happy if they found out.

 

We then went and visited M and had a good visit with her. She has had some hard things going on lately so we talked to her about having faith through our trials and how it will all work out in the end. We are having a hard time with getting her to see the importance of coming to church so we talked to her about church.

 

Saturday night we had a lesson with N and V. We talked to them about covenants and how we make covenants and in order to recieve blessings from those covenants we have to keep them. N can be frustrating...he loves it when we come and when we talk to him he is all for doing things...he always says he will read, he always says he will come to church...but then he doesnt. We are struggling with getting him to find the importance of church and baptism.

 

Sunday...church was good. For prelude music I played through the Primary book...I forgot how much I love Primary songs. It was fast Sunday and sacrament meeting went really well. We then taught Primary. We talked about when Nephi breaks his bow and his family has no way of getting food. His brothers and family murmur and complain but he made a bow and then with Faith they were able to use the Liahona to know where to go to find food. After the lesson we had some more time and didnt have an activity to do and I was trying to come up with something and suddenly thought...we can make fortune tellers. So we made fortune tellers and called them Liahonas because they can direct us. A and L loved it!

 

We then went to check up on some potentials...We had 2 potentials that live just on the other side of the Drava so we decided to go over there and see them. It was a perfect day to do it because the weather was so nice and it was beautiful over there. We first stopped and talked to a lady who was working in her garden. She was very nice and we talked to her for quite awhile. She raises bees so she showed us those and showed us her garden. We then went and visited our first potential...N. She is an older lady that lives alone. She had met the missionaries but had never actually met with them and had a lesson. She let us in and we had a good discussion with her. We taught the Restoration and she listened but told us she wasnt interested and she wouldnt even take a Book of Mormon. She said that her whole life she has read the Bible and is afraid to try to read anything else. But I felt the Spirit and I know she did and maybe someday down the road she will not be afraid to try. The other former investigator wasnt home so we left them a note and will try another day.

 

We then headed home. There are 2 little boys that we met last Monday night on the tram with their Dad (they remind me of Justin).  When they were on the tram we talked to them with their Dad...a few days later they rode by us on their bikes and waved at us...later that day we saw them again with their Mom and talked to them with her again for a little bit.  Then Sunday night we walked into our apartment complex and they were in the parking lot playing with one of the boys that lives in our building. We found out they live right around the corner from us. They are so cute and they LOVE us...they are very concerned about who we are and what we do.  They keep asking us questions...I think that we keep seeing them for a reason and now that we know where they live we may just have to stop by sometime and talk to their parents again. :)

 

One funny story...this is the best response we have gotten at a door this week. Sometimes people talk to us through the door before they will open it. So a guy started talking to us through the door and we talked back to him. As soon as he found out who we were he said no one is home and stopped talking...apparently we were talking to a ghost.

 

Anayway...this week was a good week. After all the work we are putting forth we are finally starting to see things happen...slowly but surely...and it is really exciting. I am excited for what we have ahead of us here and I can feel change in a good way. Our branch is growing...the branch members are growing in testimony and strength and things are just going well. I love being a missionary and I know that Osijek is exactly where I need to be right now. I love you all and pray for you daily! I hope that you have a great week!

Volim vas!

Sestra Clark

 

Shoutouts...

Emails from Dad, Mom, Grandpa, Tyson, Lexi, Justin

I forgot my birthday thing so hopefully no one has a Birthday this week. :)

Conference Weekend!

Well...What a great week it has been and we got to end it with conference which was great!

Monday...for pday we went to the mall with one of the members. It was fun but you know how much I love shopping. My companion and I decided it was a good thing we met here because if we would have met outside of our missions we never would have been friends because we are complete opposites. She loves shopping...and loves spending money. I on the other hand do not. That isnt the only way we are different. But I still love her!

 

Anyway...after pday we had an appointment to do family home evening with K and her kids. On the way there we said hi to a man and he stopped us and asked us if we had said hi to him last night...we were pretty sure it wasnt us but started talking to him anyway. We told him why we were here and what we were doing and asked him if he would like to meet with us to talk more. He said he would and gave us his phone number.

 

We then made it to K's for family home evening which went really well. It was L's birthday last week so we took him a present...I regifted the glowsticks that you sent me for my birthday. But its ok because he LOVED them! A taught the lesson and she did a great job and shared her testimony and then we did an activity with them about Faith. We blindfolded L and then had A direct him around the house in sort of an obstacle course and talked about how he had to trust her and have Faith that she wouldnt run him into a wall or off the balcony and thats how we need to trust Heavenly Father because even though sometimes we cant see everything, He can. It was a short and sweet Family Home Evening.

 

Tuesday nothing spectacular happened...We read with B, did District Meeting, and had English and then did contacting and such inbetween those.

 

Wednesday...we went back to our dear friend P's house to teach her English. We arent going back. Its too stressful and we feel like it isnt worth our time. We taught her how to say I, He, She, They etc.  then we read from the Book of Mormon. We had her read a verse in English and then the same verse in Croatian. So it was good. We showed her our favorite verses and then she showed us her favorite verse...that she had never read before. Maybe someday the Book of Mormon in their house will be a planted seed but we just feel like for now we can use our time better somewhere else. After we had family history which went good again. And we met with N and V. The Prestons came with us because it had been awhile since they had been there and they have been trying to visit all of the members. We read 2 Nephi 32 and talked about prayer and scripture study and how they are commandments. I think sometimes we dont think of them as commandments but I think they are 2 of the most important commandments because if we arent reading our scriptures and praying daily we will be more likely to not keep some of the other commandments. After the Prestons came over to our apartment to do a cleaning check...apparently they are supposed to be done once a transfer but this is the first one I have had. Luckily we keep our apartment clean so it wasnt a problem.

 

Thursday we did weekly planning and then we headed to do an exchange. The Banja Luka sisters called us Wednesday during Family History and asked if we could do an exchange the next day. We had to change around some of our plans and so did the Prestons but it ended up working out well. So we met them halfway and then I headed to Banja Luka, Bosnia with Sister M. She cant drive yet so I got to drive so I have now officially driven in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia. She is actually a mini missionary right now. This is her second transfer and she didnt go through the MTC so she doesnt know Croatian very well so it was kind of interesting. She is actually a convert to the church of about 7 years but has been less active most of those. She came to Croatia on vacation and went to church and had been here for about 2 months and President Rowe asked her to do a mini mission.  Anyway...we got to Banja Luka just in time for English. So we taught English and then ate dinner and went to bed. In Banja Luka the sisters, the senior couple and the church are all the same building. Like it is a house. The Sisters live in the basement, the church is the middle floor and the senior couple lives on the top floor. It is kind of interesting and Im not sure if I would like it. Elder F from the MTC is serving in Banja Luka so I got to see him which was fun.

 

Friday...we woke up and did studies and then went tracting around Banja Luka for the morning. Sister M had just been transferred there 2 days ago so she didnt know her way around at all so it was kind of interesting but we managed not to get lost. We talked to some nice people...we had some people that you could tell were feeling it and I think they could tell it too but they just wouldnt admit it. But I think in the future they will be ready. We tracted for a few hours and then went and switched back. When we got back to Osijek, a member, M had actually asked us to watch the relief society broadcast with her. So we did that which ended up being really good...we watched the broadcast which was great and then we discussed it after!

 

Saturday morning we cleaned the church and then we had a lesson with a man named F. We had called him a few days before from our Area Book and he agreed to meet with us. We had a really good lesson with him. He had met missionaries before but had never had a lesson with them. So we gave him the first lesson. He kept asking us what he needed to do. We told him for now he needed to read from the Book of Mormon and with a sincere heart pray to find out if it was true. He then asked what he would get if he did. We told him that he would get a confirmation that it was true and that he would find more peace and happiness and direction in his life. He didnt seem convinced but we told him to try and if he did it with a sincere desire than he would. He said that he would and we have an appointment to meet with him this week to talk about it.

 

Saturday night we had a lesson with one of our English students D. She had told us that she would come to general conference on Saturday and if it wasnt boring she would come again on Sunday. We had set up to meet with her before general conference but she didnt come to the appointment. So we didnt think that she would come to conference either. But she did! And she loved it! She told me after that she really enjoyed it but it was a little confusing because she didnt completely know what was going on. I told her thats ok and that we can meet to discuss it. And then she said that she would come again on Sunday. And she did...to both sessions! We actually had another English Student come to the Saturday night one and she told us that she really enjoyed it...but she didnt come again. M came to the Sunday morning one. And then another English student came to the Sunday night one. But he told us the only reason he came was because his heater wasnt working and it was cold...but hey whatever gets them in the door! For Conference we watched the Saturday morning session live on Saturday night. We then watched the Saturday afternoon session Sunday Morning and then the Sunday Morning session live Sunday night. So we watched 3 sessions. We had a pretty good turnout. We watched it all in Croatian. I understood enough of it to understand what they were saying but we are rewatching them in English to get it all. And because there is just something about hearing the actual persons voice while they are talking rather than a translator. We havent watched all of it yet but I thought this was a really good conference. Its hard to pick my favorite talk. I felt like they talked about missionary work and hastening the work, especially member missionary work a lot. I really liked Elder Hollands talk. My favorite talk was probably Elder Uchtdorfs talk though. I think I liked it so much because we are working with people right now who either dont realize why they should join the church or else they are struggling to keep the faith that they once had. My favorite quote from him was "doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith". The doctrine of the church is perfect, the people are not. And I think that is what some people fail to recognize. I also like the talk by the black man...dont remember his name...that talked about learning from the past but looking to the future instead of looking back.

 

Sunday between sessions we did some contacting and made some phone calls...best part of it...so I had made several phone calls and Sister Frampton had been listening. So then I told her it was her turn. So she called someone and they answered...she had been listening to me for so long and was just copying what I said so she said...in Croatian...Hello this is Sister Clark. I started busting up. And then they didnt understand what she said. So she said it again. Apparently she cant copy every word I say. :)

 

This week was a good week. Even with the surprise exchange we managed to stay pretty busy. A few notes...first...hopefully this doesnt make you sad but I see Brisco dogs here everywhere! They look exactly like him...its just weird because at home it isnt very common.

 

This past week (like a week ago and we ended it this week) we decided as a district to do a week where when we prayed we only expressed gratitude and didnt ask for things. It was a really good experience. It made me think about what I was saying more and made my prayers more meaningful. And I realized that you can say almost the same things you just have to reword it. And I feel like it showed more Faith. Instead of asking for things I would say I know that this can happen if I do this. It definitely helped me to make my prayers more meaningful and rather than just asking for things it showed the faith that I have and the effort that I am willing to put forth in order to make things happen. This week we have zone conference which I am excited about! I hope that you all have a great week! Remember that I love you lots and pray for you every night!

Volim vas!

Sestra Clark

 

Shoutouts...

 

Emails...Zach, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Carrie, Lex

 

When we did the exchange one of the senior couples who were coming from Zagreb actually met us so I got my package and letters! I got letters from Carrie and Dad and then the package which had letters in it. The package was great! Sister Preston said to tell you thanks because I have been sharing!

 

 

 Doing splits in Banja Luka, Bosnia

 

 Bosnia, very green and pretty!

 

 Lunch at a Chinese restaurant