Well, I am officially in Zadar now! It is beautiful here and the best part is it is a lot warmer than Osijek. I havent needed my winter coat and have just been wearing a jacket and even sometimes that is too much. But it has been a great week. It was sad to leave Osijek but it is over with now and I am happy to be here in Zadar!
Monday...For Pday the Prestons took me and we went and bought a suitcase so I didnt have to deal with a broken one. We went to several stores and I got one that should be good. Monday night we went to see R to say goodbye. We had a really good lesson with him. We got him to sing for us and he played some hymns and it brought the Spirit so strong. We then talked to him about the Book of Mormon and are trying to encourage him to start reading it again. We then went to K's and did family home evening with her and her kids. We taught them a lesson about prioritizing and putting things such as scriptures, and church, and prayer first and everything else will fall into place. It was a really good lesson and they enjoyed it and it was fun to do family home evening with them one last time.
Tuesday...we read with B...that was interesting. He just finished writing a 1000 page family history book that he wanted to show us. So we looked at that and then he started showing us a video of when they unburied his brothers casket and moved it to another location. And they opened the Casket...Im dead serious. I dont know why he decided to show it to us but the second we realized what they were doing Sister Frampton and I quickly turned away and started doing something else so that we didnt have to watch it. We then had District Meeting. We had a good last district meeting and I am excited to not have to be in charge of them anymore. After we went and met with A to say goodbye and then had English. I was terrified to tell my students that I was leaving so I waited till the very end. M cried again but the rest of them just wished me luck. They will be ok. After we went and said goodbye to H...it was a lot of goodbyes.
Wednesday...we went to the MUP and to the health center so that I could deregister and that went smoothly and we got it all taken care of. We then went to V's and had a lesson with her. It was a good lesson and as usual she talked a lot and we had to keep bringing her back on subject. A had a Christmas concert at her school that she was singing at that she had been talking to us about for months and told us to come to. So we went to that to support her and I am so glad that we did. She was so happy that we came! The second she saw us she came and ran and gave us a big hug. The thing that interested me is in America in schools we dont talk about religion so all of the Christmas program songs are Santa. Here they were all obviously Catholic songs. It was good and I am glad that I was able to see A, L and K one more time. We then went and walked along the Drava and got an ice cream cone for old times sake even though it was freezing and then met M to say bye. We went and looked at the Christmas lights (that they had just put up earlier that day...yes it is a week before Christmas) and then we headed home to finish packing and getting ready.
Thursday morning the Prestons picked us up first thing and we headed to Zagreb. It was so fun to see all of the missionaries in our mission...some of them that I had never met before and ones that I havent seen for a long time. We took a mission photo but I dont have a copy of that...sorry! We ate lunch and then played some games and then had a Christmas devotional from President and Sister Rowe. They are amazing! After we all headed our separate ways and I was off to Zadar. We rode home with the senior couple the Matosiches so I got to know them a little bit. They are from Washington state. I like them a lot! The drive home was dark so I couldnt see much but we did go through several tunnels that were miles long which was pretty cool. We got back to Zadar just in time for me to unpack and go to bed.
Friday...We got up and went to the MUP to get registered and then we did a little walking around Zadar just to get acquainted. It is beautiful! We walked along the coast...I will send some pictures but the pictures dont do it justice. There are sea organs which are like pipes in the ground that play music as the waves hit them. Anyway...I love it here!
We went and saw the church. They just got a new church not that long ago so it is really nice and actually has a chapel and classrooms and stuff. We then went home and did weekly planning and Sister Maxwell kind of gave me a rundown on everyone and such. And then we spent the rest of the night tracting. It was a good first day in Zadar!
Saturday...Saturday morning we had a lesson with an investigator named A. He had a baptismal date over the summer but had some issues with his family not accepting and it fell through and he has gone through some rough patches. But he is meeting with the missionaries and he is perfect! He is in his early 20s and is a student here. The second I met him I could feel his Spirit and I know that when he commits to the church he will commit for good. We brought the Matosiches on the lesson and they are amazing. The things that they said were perfect. We spent the first little part kind of getting to know each other so that I could get a feel for where to go. He speaks fluent English so since the Matosiches were there and they dont speak Croatian they were speaking in English. But as we started the lesson I kept having the feeling that it needed to be in Croatian...which makes things more difficult since me and him were the only ones that spoke it. But...I went for it. The second I started speaking Croatian the spirit in the room was ten times stronger. I could tell that he really appreciated and when he responded he was more open and able to speak freely because it was his native language. I could tell that he was very grateful to be able to speak in Croatian and actually have someone understand him. It was a great lesson! I dont know when he will be baptized but he kept saying that Christmas is a time of miracles. So we have hope!
After we went to check up on a potential that the Sisters had found a few weeks ago but couldnt communicate with because the other sister that was here before was new and didnt speak real well yet. So we went. She was home and let us in. Her son was there and 2 other men and we were able to give them the first lesson. They all stopped what they were doing and listened to us and I can tell they felt something...but they unfortunately werent interested.
Saturday night we had English. There were only 3 English students which were a little different than what I am used to but I just did what I usually do and it was a great class! We have one member named V who is 18. She was just recently baptized but has been coming to church for years her Mom just wouldnt let her get baptized until she was 18. She came and helped us with English and then after the Elders needed us to stay at the church because they had a lesson with woman so we stayed and talked to V and were able to teach her a short Christmas lesson. It was really good...she is an amazing member! She is the only one that is a member her age but she has come to church consistently for years. She loves missionary work and is constantly asking us about investigators and what we are doing and always wants to help...and you can tell that she is sincere about it! We then went to a less active members named J. She has been inactive for awhile and last time the sisters met with her she was adament that she couldnt come to church. But as we met with her today I could tell that she is getting closer to wanting to come back...consistency!
Sunday was a great day! It was my first time having 3 hour church in 9 months! It was kind of crazy but I loved it! I am officially branch pianist again so I got to do that and then they had me bear my testimony to introduce myself. Sister Matosich spoke and one of the members spoke and the spoke about Christmas and they both did a great job. We had about 20 people at church on Sunday and that is with 6 missionaries and 4 investigators. So there were about 10 members there...and Sister Maxwell said that is most of the regulars and that is about what they usually have at church. Sacrament Meeting was great and then we had Sunday school taught by a member named I who was actually just ordained an Elder recently and then we had Relief Society. The relief society president actually served a mission to temple sqaure awhile back. Her husband isnt a member but she has 3 kids...one of which a new born baby. The lesson was great! There were about the same number of people at church as Osijek but the members here are a lot more independent than in Osijek. Elder Matosich is the Branch President but all of the other callings members have and they take care of it on their own. After church we went to V's and worked on Personal Progress with her which went good and then we went tracting. I was a little dreading it because we had several hours to tract but it turned out to be a great night! We ended up in an apartment complex that almost looked like a motel. We werent having much luck and then we knocked on a door and a woman answered and she called her husband who invited us in. We taught them the first lesson and left them with a Book of Mormon. They are going out of town for the holidays but said we could come back after the new year. They have 2 kids and are a beautiful family! We then met two men who we talked to for awhile about the church. One of them had actaully recently returned from New York. They had a lot of questions for us about Mormons. So we answered them and shared some things with them. They wouldnt give us their information but we left them with ours and are hoping that they will contact us. Then we were heading towards home and Sister Maxwell stopped a kid on the street. I started talking to him about the Book of Mormon and how it compared to the Bible. He was very interested and asked a lot of questions that I was able to answer. He gave us his number so that we can meet with him and we gave him a Book of Mormon to read! I am really excited to meet with him again!
Things are going great here in Zadar and I am so excited to be here! I love my companion and the people that we are working with! I love the members and I love the miracles that we have already seen in these few short days! I love being a missionary especially during the Christmas season when I get to spend it serving and helping others. I love this Gospel and I love you all! Have a great couple of days and I will talk to/see you soon!
Volim vas!
Sestra Clark
Shoutouts!
Thanks for the emails from Mom, Dad, Carrie, Lex, Grandpa, Jordan, Chris, B, Kaitlin, Brianne
And thanks to Mom and Dad for the letters I got from you at the Christmas Conference...love you both!
Sretan Božić
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