Monday night after Pday we had 2 lessons. Our first one was with a potential investigator named A. She is an older woman that we had tried going to see before and she hasnt let us in. But she called us on Monday and said she was ready for us to come over. So we went over Monday night and had a lesson with her. It was pretty interesting. We taught her the first lesson. When we told her about Joseph Smith and the Restoration she told us that her church has the same thing...we explained to her that it doesnt. When we explained the Apostasy to her she looked at us and said so the church I go to isnt true. We told her no, there is only one true church on the earth. She looked at us and said I dont care if my church is true or not, I wont change because I was born this religion and will die this religion...unfortunately everyone in Croatia has that attitude. She talked a lot about her family and how they arent religious at all and how hard it is for her. We told her that we would love to go meet them and talk to them but she wouldnt give us their information...she said it would be like sending us to hell and she would be punished for it. She had some weird points of view and we think she just wanted us to come over because she is a lonely old lady...unfortunately.
After A we went to see J who is an inactive member. She had supposedly moved to Rijeka a few weeks ago but is now back in Zadar (I dont think she ever honestly left). We had a good but interesting lesson with her. She has some mixups on some of the doctrine and beliefs of the church so we have been talking to her about that and clearing up some of the things that she says.
Tuesday morning we went out tracting...or maybe it was contacting...I dont remember. I just know that we were out and about talking to people. We then went to the church and had branch council which was good. After branch council we went out tracting (that one I know for sure). We kind of just started walking and ended up in some random area with houses. So we started knocking on doors. We found a lot of people at home and had some good conversations with people but no one was interested. We walked down some random pathway and knocked on a door. A younger girl (college aged) came running down the stairs, opened the door, and said come on in before we even had time to say hello. So we went in. Her name was R and she had a friend named T there as well. They are both students here in Zadar and were very interested in what we believe. We talked to them about the Book of Mormon and what it is and where it comes from. They were both really interested in it and took a copy of it. They arent from Zadar and were just leaving to go home because it is in between semesters but they gave us their phone number and told us that when they come back to Zadar in a few weeks that we could come back and teach them more!
We then went back to the church because we had a fireside. Elder Charles was here doing a mission tour. He is the area seventy over our mission. So Tuesday night we had a fireside broadcast from Zagreb for all of the members in Croatia. He and his wife spoke...they are from England. They are amazing. The fireside was really good. He talked about letting our light shine for others to see and letting go of things that are holding us back...I dont have my notes from the fireside and honestly right now cant remember what else he talked about.
Wednesday we had zone conference. We woke up early Wednesday morning and headed to Zagreb. The zone conference was with Elder and Sister Charles and the spirit was so strong. Throughout the meeting Elder Charles kept reminding us to be listening to the promptings of the Spirit and to write them down...even if they have nothing to do with what was being said. They are converts to the church and they told their conversion story and talked about how they were being prepared before the missionaries even knocked on their door...just as there are people being prepared here in Croatia. They talked about how we need to preach the Gospel 3x3 and not 2x2 with the Holy Ghost being our third companion. They talked a lot about the Holy Ghost throughout the conference. I think the thing that stuck out to me the most was that they talked about silence. The Holy Ghost is a still, still voice. So we need to have situations throughout the day where we can feel it. We need to have silence in our lessons for the Holy Ghost to be able to speak to the investigator, we need to have silence in our own lives, during our studies, as we are walking, as we are doing everything so that we know what we need to be doing. They also talked about how after we pray we need to stay on our knees in silence in order for the Holy Ghost to speak to us. He did an example where he walked up to someone and asked them a question and then turned and walked away before they had a chance to answer. He told us how this is what it is like when we pray and then get up and go on with our day. This is something that I have heard before, and I always try to pause and listen after praying but it made it more clear to me why when he gave us the example. So I guess thats my challenge for you for the week...fill your lives with more silence so that you can hear the Holy Ghost more clearly. After Zone Conference we got to take the bus home so we barely made it home in time to get ready for bed. It was a good day, but a long day.
Thursday was a crazy, crazy day! We started off the morning with a lesson with L. She was sick all of last week so we were unable to meet with her. We had a really good lesson with her. We are trying to help her allow Heavenly Father to play more of a role in her life, to see his presence in her life, and to submit his will to hers to know what she needs to do. I have loved seeing L change over the past few weeks that we have been working with her as she is taking in the Gospel more each time and being more willing to accept it.
After L we had Weekly Planning and then we went to S's. We read 3 Nephi 18 with her and talked about the Sacrament. We have a problem in that most of our members show up late to Sacrament Meeting...and sometimes it is after the sacrament. So we are trying to help them realize the importance of the Sacrament and are encouraging them to make the effort to be early to church so that they can be prepared for the Sacrament.
Thursday night we met with E and her friend M was there. Since M was there we taught the first lesson again. So it was a bit of a review for E but it was good for her and it is what we felt like we needed to teach them. We had a really good lesson and the Spirit was very strong. M was focusing intently and asking questions. She doesnt know what she believes at this point in her life and is really searching for truth but is struggling with the idea of going against what her parents believe. We are trying really hard to help them see how prayer can help them in their lives but we havent been successful at having them to pray yet...they are both really hesitant. But we have really good lessons with them. M has been reading the Book of Mormon and said she will continue to read it.
Thursday for some reason turned into a crazy day. I have started showering at night since I have been here and I was literally getting out of the shower at 10:25 Thursday night and jumping into bed with wet hair to be in bed by 10:30. It was crazy.
Friday morning we had a lesson with A. He is still frustrating but he is still getting closer. He has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and he knows that the church is true. He told us that he will for sure be baptized in March but he wont commit to a for sure date yet. March is coming soon so that is good but it would be nice to be able to commit him to an actual date so that we can make sure he is ready and everything is ready for it. I am so excited for him to get baptized because I know how great of a member he will be and all the great things he is going to do for his branch. For a few days before his lesson I had a strong feeling that I needed to write down my testimony and give it to him to take home and read. So Sister Burton and I both did that and are hoping it will help him come to a decision.
We then had a lesson with J. We had a good lesson with her and read Mosiah 24. As we have been meeting with members lately we have been reading chapters in the Book of Mormon that we felt like they needed and our lessons with them have turned out to be amazing. They love it and it brings the Spirit so strongly to our lessons. After J we spent the rest of Friday out tracting. It was a bit of a rough night of tracting with not much success but we survived it.
Saturday...everything seemed to fall through. We had scheduled to do a service project for someone Saturday morning but they cancelled on us the last minute and no one would schedule with us to meet on Saturday. We did have piano signups on Saturday...no one came...so it looks like we probably wont be teaching piano after all, which I think is good because it was starting to turn into a pain and be more stressful than it would have been worth. We had English Saturday night which was a good class and then we cleaned the church. On the way home we felt like we needed to stop at D and L's to see how they were doing so we did. They were home and they were so happy to see us and let us in. We didnt stay long and we had a really good talk with them but they still arent ready to start having missionary lessons again.
Sunday...church was a bit of a nightmare due to the fact that N was there again. That child is crazy and there is no way to control him. I dont think he knows the meaning of the word no. J spoke in sacrament meeting so we had to try to keep him entertained without being too loud in the chapel. Then we taught primary so we had to deal with him then too. Elder Matosich had asked us to teach Sunday School so we went prepared to teach but he had prepared the lesson and he taught so we didnt end up having to. After church we went out contacting potential investigators and tracting. We got 2 new potential investigators...they were both men so we couldnt go in but gave us a time to come back when their wives would be home. Then Sunday night we had a lesson with V and worked on personal progress. I love meeting with her and seeing the faith she has and her love of the Gospel. It is great to see young members who are going to be the future of the church here.
This week was a lot of tracting/contacting and trying to find new investigators. We had a hard time scheduling appointments this week...it seemed that everyone was sick or had some other reason that they couldnt meet with us this week. But we still managed to have a successful week here in Zadar. I love being a missionary. I love learning more about the Gospel every day and I love teaching others about it. There really is no greater work! I hope that you all have a great week!
Love you lots and lots!
Sestra Clark
Shoutouts!
Emails...Mom, Dad, Carrie, Grandpa, Lex, Tyson
At zone conference we got mail...I had a couple letters from Dad and I got the letter that had the letter from Tyson in it.
Sretan Rođendan Allie
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