Happy Monday everybody! It sounds like you have all had a good but crazy week and there is another one on its way. Things are going good here as well. I am still happy, Im still tired, and I still love it here in Zadar.
Monday...It was some holiday here in Croatia. 3 Kings day or something like that. They seem to have holidays once a week...ok maybe not that often but it feels like it. But, because of this everything was closed. So we spent Monday at the church emailing and such. Monday night we had an appointment with someone that we had called from the area book. We werent sure what to expect and honestly werent sure if she was going to show up because she seemed kind of hesitant on the phone. But she came! It ended up being a good lesson. We got to know her and kind of set expectations with her and discussed what it was that she remembered from the missionaries that she had met with in the past. She was very nice but had some interesting ways to look at things (to put it lightly). But we had a really good lesson with her and were able to talk about the Restoration with her. She felt the spirit and she set up a time to meet with us again.
Tuesday...I went on an exchange to Karlovac, Croatia and I was with Sister Erbe which was a lot of fun! We spent the morning contacting/tracting without much success. No one was home in the area that we tracted in and there was no one on the streets. But we stopped everyone that we could. We talked to some nice people but no one seemed very interested unfortunately. Later in the afternoon we had an appointment with one of the members. She is an older lady that has been a member for about 6 years. She lives alone but has a son who isnt a member. We went in and had a plan of what we wanted to talk about with her but after a few minutes we found out that she doesnt read the Book of Mormon very often. So we switched gears and talked to her about the importance of reading the Book of Mormon and reading it every day. It was a powerful lesson and we committed her to reading it every day. I told her that Sister Erbe would keep me updated so she better do it. It was nice for a day to be with a companion that we could both speak and understand what was being said so we could teach more effectively and powerfully.
After we went to the church for English class...but no one showed up. So we went out tracting until our next appointment which was with some members. When I got to Karlovac in the morning we had talked about the day and she told me a little bit about the people that we would be meeting with and asked me what I thought we should teach them. They are members who were baptized 15 years ago. They have been to the temple almost every year since. They come to church every Sunday and they know the doctrine. A few zone conferences ago we talked about practicing teaching/role playing with members and then they can give us feed back and we can help them to be able to help teach people. I asked if she had done this with them before and she said no so we decided that we would teach the first lesson with them. So we got there and suggested this to them and they thought it was a great idea. Well...Sister Erbe started out with God is our loving Heavenly Father she said about two sentences and then asked a question. B responded that he didnt know enough information to answer the question and told her to start from the beginning. So she restarted and talked a little more and then asked a question. This time he told her she gave him too much information at once. Then he went off about how no one is going to understand her anyway because she isnt a native Croatian and such. He was going off for a good 10 minutes while we all just sat there in silence...even his wife. So we asked him what interested him in the church. He went off about a different situation. So we asked him to teach us the first lesson. He then said I dont know how. So we taught him how and he taught us exactly how Sister Erbe had taught him. But apparently his way was better. Anyway...we were able to bring the Spirit back at the end but it was kind of miserable. I dont know if I will try practicing teaching with members again.
Wednesday...we traveled to Zagreb for Zone Conference. We went by bus but Karlovac is less than an hour from Zagreb so it wasnt bad at all. I always enjoy being able to see the other missionaries at zone conferences. They have asked us to start coming to zone conference fasting which was a really neat experience. I feel like I got more out of it and was able to pay more attention to what was being taught. We reviewed points from last months zone conference and then they focused a lot on baptism and getting people to the point of baptism and not being afraid to ask because we dont want to lose investigators or we are afraid they will say no. Anyway...it was a really good zone conference. We then traveled back to Zadar.
Thursday...we normally have institute Thursday morning. So we prepared a lesson and went to the church. Well...apparently no one thought to inform us that they had cancelled institute. So we didnt really have it. We went back and did weekly planning and then we went to the church for an appointment but the person never showed up. So we went out and contacted some former investigators as well as a referral that we had gotten. The referral was in the middle of writing a paper for school but told us that we could come back. The former investigators werent home. We were then back at the church for something and making a plan of what to do next and the Elders told us that they were going to go over by the sea organs/coast. I had never been over there at night before so we decided to head that way too. I actually have been wanting to go over there for awhile. I normally hate contacting...I do it but I hate it. But for about a week I have had a feeling that we should go along the coast and contact we just have never had time. So I was excited to go over there. It was really cool at night. They have little things that represent all of the planets and at night the giant sun lights up and is like a disco ball. Anyway...we saw that and then were just contacting along the coast. We saw a man and said hello to him and he stopped us and asked if we knew him. We said no and explained who we were and what we were doing. He knew Krešimir Čosić...well of him...and had a few questions for us. We ended up having a really good, fairly lengthy discussion with him. He was very interested in what we had to say. We talked to him about the Book of Mormon and gave him a copy and got his information to meet with him this week!
On the coast by the sea organs at night
Friday...we had some time in the morning and had some formers that were a little ways away that we decided to go check on. It ended up being a little bit farther than we thought but it was worth it. It was like missionary heaven because there were apartment buildings everywhere you looked and there were hundreds of them...we will definitely be going back. Anyway one of the former investigators named M was home. She was very nice and we had a good conversation with her and invited us to come back. So thats exciting.
We then had a lesson with S which went good. She was babysitting her grandson who is adorable! We talked to her about Christ and how he is our example. I love listening to her talk and share her testimony. She is an amazing woman!
We then met the Matosiches at the church and went to J's. N was there again and was crazy as ever but this time we were able to go in another room so we didnt have him as a distraction. We had a similar lesson with her as we did with S. And again I love listening to her testimony and to the Faith that she has.
Then after we had a lesson with S, and his wife Mwho is a member was on the lesson with us. We talked to him about Faith and what it means to have Faith. We had a really good lesson with him. We were hoping that we could commit him to baptism and get a date but he isnt ready quite yet...but soon!
Saturday...back up to Friday we were walking and heard someone driving in a car and they yelled to us Mormons. This doesnt happen very often and we werent sure whether to go or to just ignore it. But the car pulled over and it was a man and a woman. The man was named S and was a former investigator and his friend L was in the car. We talked to them for a minute by their car and L asked us if we could meet with her. So we met with her Saturday morning. We met her at the church and gave her a tour of the church. One of the members randomly showed up and was able to help us teach her for a little bit which actually turned out really good. Anyway...we gave her a tour of the church. She really liked the pictures especially the one of the first vision. When we told her that the fullness of the Gospel is on the Earth today she was surprised but seemed very excited about it. After her we had a meeting with A, he is great but he is frustrating. We had a really good lesson and discussed the sections that he had read in Doctrine and Covenants and then we decided to talk to him about Faith too. We were talking to him and I had a feeling that I needed to ask him about baptism. So we brought it up. His problem in the past is that his family wasnt accepting of it. He told us that at this point his family wont come to his baptism but they have told him that it is his decision what he wants to do. I asked A if he had thought of a date for baptism and he said he has thought of one but he doesnt want to tell anyone right now. We told him that we have to know in advance so that we can help him prepare. We told him to go home and pray about the date that he has in his mind and he will get an answer of whether or not it is right. He told us that he would do it. So he has a date in mind but he is scared to tell people because he has had a date before but it fell through. His birthday is coming up and a few lessons ago we suggested his birthday. So we have high hopes that it will be soon. I can see his faith growing every day. He has a desire and he has a testimony and when he finally makes the decision he will be in it to the end.
Saturday night we had English which was good. We had another new English student which is always exciting. After we cleaned the church because the church was pretty gross and we decided it would be a good idea to clean it before church on Sunday.
Sunday was a good day. Church was good. Z had asked us to teach Relief Society so we were planning on doing that. But then the Priesthood teacher didnt show up so I ended up teaching Priesthood and Relief Society. We are starting the new book which Im sure is the same for you, Teachings from President Joseph Fielding Smith. We had to teach the whole introduction which was the first 34 pages of the book. It was hard to decide what to include and what not to but I just went with the Spirit and it ended up being a great lesson and I got a lot of complements on it.
After church we had another lesson with L. This lesson was a little shaky at first but it ended up being really good. L has had a long road to get where she is and she has a long road to go. We taught her the Restoration and it was a really powerful lesson. I could feel the Spirit so strong and she kept telling us I feel good when I am here. At the end of the lesson I said the prayer and after she looked at me and said He hears you when you pray. I said He absolutely does. She had felt alone and abandoned a lot of her life so we talked to her about how Heavenly Father is aware of her and if she prays He will hear her too and be there for her. She started crying and we committed her to go home and pray at night. We have a lot to work with L but I am really excited for what I see in store for her!
We then went to V's and did Personal Progress with her which was good. I love meeting with V. She has been out of town a lot recently so it has been awhile. And after V we spent the night out tracting.
A few pieces of information:
1-I learned this week that the pen was invented or the first pen or something came from Croatia...I found that fitting saying that I love pens.
2- I had to take my first cold shower this week. It was miserable. We arent really sure why but we had no hot water for one day. Dont worry...its back on now. We thought about boiling water but saying that the only pot we have is really small it would have been too big of a pain.
3-Got both packages this week, the one from Grandpa and Carrie and the one with chocolates. Thanks for those! I sent some chocolates to Sister Preston through the APs after zone conference and she said to tell you thank you and that she loved them!
Those are my fun bits of information for you for the week.
Anyway...I love life as a missionary. The experiences I am having and the knowledge that I gain every day is life changing. I am changing and it is for the better. I am grateful for the good days and for the challenging days that come and for the lessons that I learn from all of them. I love Zadar! I love the Gospel! I hope that you all have a great week! Love you lots!
Sestra Clark
Shoutouts!
Thanks for the emails from Mom, Dad, Carrie, Lex, Grandpa, Tyson, Heidi
Good luck on Wednesday! I will be thinking about you and praying for you. Good luck in the MTC Tyson! Love you lots!
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