Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Monday! This week has been another busy but good week!

 

Monday night we got back to work and decided to go try and visit M. We had visited her a few weeks ago and had a great lesson and kept trying to go back but she was never home...and one time we were pretty sure we heard them home but they didnt answer the door so we were nervous to go back. But we went. They had just walked in the door from somewhere and were eating dinner but they opened the door. We talked to them for a few minutes but said that now wasnt a good time but that they really wanted to talk to us so to come back another time. We were so happy when we left there! We then went to the Prestons and did Family Home evening with the Prestons and K and her kids which turned out great. It was K's birthday on Saturday so we did a family home evening/ birthday party. We taught the lesson and did an object lesson with string about how we are stronger when we have the Spirit with us and when we take away the Spiritual things in our lives we get weaker until we can break. The kids loved the lesson and it ended up being a great night!

 

Tuesday...we went to the church to read with B. Apparently N had some business in Osijek Tuesday night but came to Osijek in the morning and just decided that he wanted to hang out at the church...he did the same thing Wednesday and Thursday. So he was just hanging out at the church while we did our things on Tuesday. We read with B which went well and then we had District Meeting. After we went to V'. Apparently N had been riding his bike and was hit by a car...he is ok but he had to go to the hospital to be looked at. V called us in a bit of a panic and said that she didnt know who else to call so she called us and asked if we could come over. So we went over to her house and she just wanted someone to talk to about it. It ended up being great and we are happy that we were the ones she thought to call because we were able to read scriptures with her and pray with her and help her to calm down. Tuesday night we had English class which went good. I love English and I love my English students...they love me too. I really think they might have a heart ttack when I leave Osijek. Even on the days when I feel like the class doesnt go so well they tell me how much they love it. So its good!

 

Wednesday we went out to a village to meet with one of the referrals that our members had given us. We tried to get the members to come with us but it didnt work out that they were able to come. But the lesson ended up being great! We went and the rest of her family was there too. They all sat in on the lesson and because some of them hadnt been there I switched gears at the last minute and decided to do a repeat of the First Lesson...Restoration, etc. It went so well! The Spirit was so strong and I could tell that they were feeling it too. We had assigned A to read 2 Nephi 31 which is the chapter that talks about the Doctrine of Christ. She had read it so we discussed what it meant with her. We talked to her about the steps she needs to take and talked about Baptism. She said that she can see herself getting there she just isnt ready for it quite yet and wants to learn more first. I just wish that they were closer to Osijek because they would be golden! It is hard because they are almost an hour away and have no way of transportation to get to Osijek! Somehow there will be a way! After them we did a quick visit to E and J's with the Prestons. I love visiting them and I love D! He is so cute and as much as he tries to act shy he loves it when we come! We always have such great lessons with them...but they wont come to church. E is feeling a lot better and she looks a lot better to so we are happy about that. We are going to work really hard to get them to come to church because they need it!

 

We headed home to grab something to eat and the second we walked in the door we got a call from the MUP telling us that we had to go there today for Sister Framptons Visa. We looked at the clock and noticed that they closed in half an hour so we walked right back out the door and headed there. We were there for about five minutes and they told us to come back tomorrow...seriously. 

 

Wednesday night we had our first childs English class. We were so excited about it. We had passed out a ton of fliers and talked to a ton of people and were positive that it was going to be great. Well...it came time for it to start and we had no students. About 5 minutes late A showed up. So we taught her English. We are going to stick with it for a few more weeks just to see if it will take off but if it doesnt we unfortunately may have to just go back to our regular English classes.

 

Thursday we did studies and then headed back to the MUP. Sister Frampton had to have an interview (I had one too) that they basically just ask why we are here, etc. It went well.  There was a woman and a man interviewing her and they were so nice. Usually the people at the police station arent very nice to us. But they were joking with us and talking to us and they asked us a lot about who we are and what we are doing. We were able to talk to them about the church quite a bit. It went really well.

 

We went home after the MUP and did weekly planning and then the Prestons picked us up and we went out to M's parents to do Family History with them which I loved! M's Dad wasnt actually there so we just talked to his mom. At first she was very hesitant about talking with us but at the end we couldnt get her to stop talking. We asked her questions about her family and growing up and asked her questions about M. I absolutely loved hearing her tell the stories and it made me excited to do more research on our family. Sister Preston is making a book for M for Christmas which will be good. I think family history is a good way to get people started with the church.

 

After M's parents we did some tracting and tried to find inactive members. We had another member that I had found her address while searching through papers. So we went out to find her. We found a door that had her name on it but the man that answered said that she didnt live there anymore. We asked were she lived and he said it would be too hard to explain. So then I asked if he had a number for her and he said that it was a secret number. Some way, somehow we will find these members! We then had English again which went well!

 

Friday...we had to go to the MUP again...3 days in a row! But we are done now! Sister Frampton officially has her visa and everything...happy day! When we were finished at the MUP we went out tracting. We ended up in a different area that had several apartment buildings. We were trying to figure out which building to go to and Sister Frampton pointed to one and said that one. So we went and the door to it was open! We went up to the top floor and knocked on a door. No one was answering it and we were about to go to the next door when a lady answered. We gave her a power statement and she said thank you but I have my religion so I dont need to talk to you. I asked her what it is that she believes and she said that people just have to be good people and that is all. I was very firm and bold with her and told her no that isnt true. I dont want to say we got into an argument but we just werent agreeing. She would say something and didnt like it when I would tell her she was wrong and then tell her what we know. We were positive that she wasnt going to let us in and were about to leave when she said why dont you come inside so that we can talk some more. So we went in and it ended up being a beautiful lesson! She has 2 kids and 2 grandchildren. Her husband was lost in the war and she opened up to us about herself. We talked to her about the Plan of Salvation and the Restoration. She listened intently and asked questions. We testified a lot and in the end we left her with a Book of Mormon and she told us that she would read it and that we could come back and talk with her more!

 

We then went to the church and got ready for Aktivnost and had Aktivnost. One of the members wanted to make ornaments and Christmas decorations. So we did and it turned out great! We had several of our English students come and they loved it and the ornaments turned out cute! I made a ton of snowflakes...not quite as many as I made last year to decorate the kitchen but enough! I cant believe that Christmas is so soon!

 

Saturday we went and cleaned the church and then we met with A. One of my favorite parts of the week. We worked on Personal Progress with her which went great! We love A.  After we went to N and V's and had a great lesson with her. We talked to them about the 13 aritcles of Faith which neither of them had read before and read a talk from conference with them about it. It was Elder Perrys from the Priesthood Session and it was a really good talk. They were asking us questions about the articles of faith. It was good!

 

After we did some tracting.  Then we had a leadership broadcast for the District. So it was broadcast from Zagreb with all of the branches in Croatia. They have had them before but missionaries hadnt gone but this time they invited us and Im glad that we were able to go. They talked about the District Schedule and a few other things and then they talked about how things are going with members getting more involved with missionary work. President Babić who is the District President talked and he is amazing. He talked about how without fasting and prayer nothing is going to happen and that we have to have Faith...the missionaries and the members. We have to have Faith that we can have Zion here, that the church can grow here, and that we can strengthen members as well as bring in new members.  It is not just the effort of the missionaries that will do it. We need the members working with us in order to accomplish this goal.

 

Sunday was a great day! On the way to church we got a phone call from someone asking us about church and he said he was going to come. And he did. Apparently he had met with missionaries before but then had gotten sick. Im not really completely sure what his intentions are and he had some interesting points of view but we will see how things go there. N came to church! Last night when we were at their house we asked them if they were going to come to church. N usually says maybe but this time he said yes. We asked him multiple times and he said I told you I would be there so I will. And he came! And he loved it! We have been teaching N since we have been together and this is the first time I would actually consider him a progressing investigator. He actually came to church and was asking us when we were going to come meet with him again. When we talked to him about Baptism Saturday night instead of saying I have already been baptized he asked us questions about it and I think is actually starting to understand why he needs baptism. It is seriously so exciting! This is the first time that I have actually felt that we can get him to Baptism in the near future. I dont know what that accident did to him but I think it really made him think and realize the important things. Sacrament meeting went great...Elder Preston and K spoke! After church we went to J's. He is the one that we met last Sunday while we were looking for a member. We had called him during the week to ask when we could come again and he told us to come on Sunday and that he was excited to learn more.  It ended up being a great lesson! He had started reading the Book of Mormon and likes it. We taught him about prayer and then we taught the Plan of Salvation. The lesson was so good! We had an even balance of asking questions and getting him talking as well as us teaching and we had a perfect balance between the two of us. We could tell that he was intently focused on the lesson and that he was understanding and liked it. I know that he felt the Spirit! We committed him to come to church on Sunday and he told us that we can come back and teach him again! So exciting! I can really see things leading to baptism with him.

 

After that we went and checked up on some potentials. The first one, her Grandma answered the door and was being kinda mean. She kept asking us to say something and then would tell us to repeat it and each time she would laugh at us...at least we brought some laughter to her Sunday evening. But then her granddaughter came and she was so nice. We had a short discussion with her but she didnt seem very interested in us coming back. The next one we checked up on was so nice and told us that we could come back another time to talk more. I think she was serious and really is interested so hopefully that will be good!

 

On our way home we saw our little Sestra (A). I call Sister Frampton Sestra and she does the same...and recently we have realized that we do the same with A. I love it when we see A and L on the street because they arent afraid to come up and say hi to us even when they are with their friends. Some of there friends will come up and talk to us now even when they arent with A and L! The kids here love us...we are still working on their parents!

 

This week I went back and was reading through the talks that I have given heren Croatia and I love seeing the progress that I have made language wise. Even the talk that I gave just a month ago I have read it and have noticed mistakes and I love being able to see how much I have grown from the first talk that I gave my second week here until now. It was almost tortorous to read my first talk. I still have a lot of room for improvement but it shows me that I am learning and I am improving and I can get there. I am at the point that I understand pretty much everything people say.  M speaking is still not perfect but it is a lot better than it was.

 

This week was a good week and I am excited for this coming week! I am going on an exchange this week to Tuzla which is in Bosnia so I am excited for that to get a little bit of a change of pace. It is also Thanksgiving and we get a half a Pay so we are celebrating Thanksgiving at the Prestons. Time is flying by and I have a feeling that time is going to start to go even faster over these next couple of weeks/months.

 

I love you all and I love it here! The experiences that I am having truly are life changing and I am learning so much! I hope that things continue to go up and that we can keep having these little miracles every day that lead to the bigger miracles. We have more progressing investigators right now than we have had since we have been together and it is so exciting to see these people making changes in their lives to come closer to the Savior. The Gospel is amazing, it is life changing but it is so worth the change! Remember that I love you all! I hope that you have a great week! Have a Happy Thanksgiving...try not to eat too much!

Volim vas!

Sestra Clark

 

 

Thanks for the emails...Mom, Dad, Carrie, Lex, Grandpa

Also...the Prestons made a trip to Zagreb this week and brought back 2 letters from Dad (one of them had a teeny note from Joe!) and one from Carrie!

 

Sretan Rođendan Ryan!