Happy Monday‏

Happy Monday! I know I start all of my letters like this but I cant believe that Monday is here again. This week seemed to fly by super fast. It was a super crazy week but we are seeing so many great things happen and I love it!

 

Monday...We went to Plitvička for Pday...sent pictures last week and then we had a super crazy Monday night. We started off by going to J's. She had invited us and the Matosiches over for dinner. She is either from Italy or lived in Italy for a time so she made us lasagna and it was delicious! So we ate and then we had a lesson with her. N was crazy as usual. He was dancing and it was the craziest dancing I have ever seen and he was going non stop for at least 10 minutes. I finally pulled out the puzzles that the YW sent me awhile back and I did those with him...he loved it! We had competitions to see who could do them the fastest...he beat me every time...and he was so proud of himself. But...it kept his attention and kept his energy down long enough to be able to talk to J without being interupted.

 

We then met A at the church so that Sister Maxwell could say goodbye and then we went to the P's and did a family home evening with them which went well.

 

Tuesday was a long day. We woke up and caught a bus to Zagreb that left here at 8:30. We got to Zagreb at 12:15...dropped off Sister Maxwell and picked up Sister Burton and were on a bus back to Zadar at 12:30 which arrived at 4. So I pretty much spent most of the day on a bus. I was dreading it. I wont say that it was awesome but it wasnt as bad as I thought it was going to be. When we got back we dropped Sister Burtons stuff off at our apartment, grabbed something to eat and were out and about for the night tracting.

 

Wednesday morning we met the Matosiches and went with them to a meeting that they had at a school because they needed someone to translate. The humanitarian couple was there as well because they are helping the school out with something. It is a school that takes in kids from dysfunctional homes. After the meeting we went out visiting former investigators and then we had English. English class was good and then we went to A's. It was probably the best lesson that we have had with her. Usually she gets super distracted and we have a hard time keeping her focused on the lesson. But we were able to read a chapter with her in the Book of Mormon and talk to her about what it means to endure to the end and the importance of coming to church...and she came to church on Sunday!

 

Thursday...we started off the morning meeting with L. We had a really good lesson with her. She doesnt see the need for baptism or the need to go to church. Our plan was to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ but the second we said something about baptism she kind of freaked out. She has some interesting opinions on life, etc. We talked about faith with her and what it means to have faith. We also talked about the Atonement and how we can find peace and purpose in life through the Atonement. We then talked about how Heavenly Father has a plan for her and that she can find out what that plan is. She was very excited about that and told us that she would go home and pray to find out what her next step in life needs to be. We know that she will see the need for baptism and the need to come to church she just is having a hard time realizing it.

 

After L we went to visit S. We had planned on reading 1 Nephi 8 with her and talking about the tree of life and about how important it is to share the Gospel with those around us, especially our families. We got to her house and before we were even able to start talking she started talking about her family and how she wishes those in her family who arent members would realize how important the gospel is. It was exactly what we wanted to talk to her about. So we read the chapter and discussed how she can better get her family to "taste of the fruit". We went out and did some checking up on former investigators and we also had weekly planning on Thursday.

 

Friday...in the morning we went out checking on former investigators and then we had a lesson with S. It was a great lesson! We felt like we needed to teach him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We drew a diagram on the board that was a path leading to Heaven and the gate of baptism. We showed how there are steps that we need to take in life and we can only make it so far before we can get baptized. We discussed the importance of each step and talked about how they have to come in order. We also talked about how his wife and son have opened the gate and are waiting for him to do the same. He told us that he was really pleased with the lesson and liked that we had drawn it out for him and really helped him to understand it. It was probably the best, most powerful lesson that we have had with him. He still wouldnt commit to baptism but he is getting closer!

 

After we had a plan to stay at the church and make some phone calls and go through our potentials and such. But...the Elders were at the church. And we cant be at the church with the Elders so we ended up going out and checking up on some of these people instead. We went straight to a formers house named L. Sister Maxwell and I had tried to get in contact with her several times but she was never home. Right when we got to her house she was walking out the door leaving. We were able to talk to her and set up an appointment with her. If we wouldnt have left the church right when we did we would have missed her.

 

Friday night we also had a lesson with V which turned into a P family lesson.

 

Saturday...we started out the day meeting with L. She had just read the tree of life in the Book of Mormon and was really confused by it so we explained that to her. It was good except for the fact that she brought her daughter who was complaining of boredom the whole time.

 

We then went back to L's. She was home and let us in! She had met with missionaries before but it was just one time and then something happened and they lost contact. She was very happy to see us and we taught her a first lesson which went really well and she invited us to come back next week to teach her more!

 

We had English on Saturday night which was another good English class. We have more than double the amount of students that we had when I first got here to Zadar! Its exciting! After we cleaned the church and then we went out tracting.

 

Sunday...We had a good church. We actually had more than 2 people when we started Sacrament Meeting. It was probably the most people that have been at church since I have been here in Zadar. Sacrament meeting was good and so was Sunday School and then we had primary with L. We talked about the creation and then we drew pictures of what things would look like if we created a world.

 

After church there was a downpour of rain that we werent expecting...luckily the Matosiches were nice enough to give us a ride home. We got home and ate and it was still pouring rain so we decided to make phone calls from the area book. We had so much success with it that we did it for longer than we were planning on. We got 2 for sure appointments for this week and 5 or 6 temporary appointments...that was all in 2 hours of phone calling! So we are really excited for that!

 

We then went over to V's to do Personal Progress with her. It went really well and she got quite a few finished. And then we went to visit D. We had called her earlier to tell her we missed her at church and that we were thinking about her and she told us to come see her...so we did. Sister Burton was in heaven because she loves cats. And luckily for me that kept them all away from me! We had a good lesson with her and her daughter D actually sat in with us for part of the time.

 

Anyway...it was another good week here in Zadar and I am excited for this upcoming week and for all the new people that we are going to be meeting with. We have so many investigators right now that we are working with and that the Elders are working with and one of these days there is just going to be a flood of baptisms here in Zadar...I can feel it!

 

The past couple weeks the mission has been putting a huge emphasis on being 100% obedient. Of course, that is always a goal but they have been putting extra emphasis on it lately. And not only on the big things...we dont have a problem with those...but the little things...such as exercising for a full 30 minutes, crossing only at crosswalks, and following every little detail in the white handbook even the little things that sometimes get looked over. So we have been trying really hard to be 100% obedient in everything...even if it means walking extra to get to a crosswalk only to cross the street and come back down on one lane roads. It has caused us to kind of map out our walking paths and decide which way we need to go and the most efficient way to get to a place using crosswalks. Sometimes it is difficult because the roads are so narrow that you can cross the street in 2 steps. But as we have focused on being obedient in even the little things we have already seen miracles and they will continue to come!

 

I hope that you all have a great week. Remember that I love you all!

 

Volim vas!

Sestra Clark

 

Shoutouts!

 

Thanks for the emails from Dad, Mom, Carrie, Grandpa, Jordan, Tyson, Alexa, Justin (This might be the first week that I got an email from all of my siblings in the same week...good job!)

 

Also...on my quick trip to Zagreb I managed to get ahold of the mail. So I got a couple letters from Dad as well as one from Mom. So thanks for those! It also had the ones from the ward...and due to the fact that I dont have all of their addresses and I dont have time I wont be able to write them all back...so put a shoutout thanks for those in the next ward newsletter. Thanks!

Love you all!