Happy Memorial Day!‏

Well...it has been another week. As usual I never know how to start these things so I am just going to get straight into my week and see if I can come up with something to say at the end.

Monday...We just had a normal Pday hanging around Zadar. Monday night we went to Z's for family night with her and her kids. We taught her kids about the Holy Ghost. As you would expect for children we did activities with them to keep their attention and sang lots of songs because they love to sing! We made bracelets with them to wear to help them to remember to listen to the Holy Ghost.

 

After Z's we went to see A. A is the same as usual. She loves it when we come and visit...but always tells us the same thing and she wont come to church. We are working with her to help her build her faith to see that she really does need church and the little things and it will make a difference in her life.

 

Tuesday morning we went out tracting because we didnt have any appointments. After knocking on several doors and no one answering we decided it wasnt the greatest time for tracting so we did contacting and then we went to the church for district meeting. We had a good meeting and we practiced role playing asking members for referrals. The month of June is the month of invitations throughout Europe. This year they are focusing on having everyone (members and missionaries) invite someone to attend Sacrament Meeting with them. We as missionaries do that all the time but are going to work even harder to get people to come to church. As we teach members we are supposed to invite them to invite and then to follow up with them and really get them thinking about a specific person that they could invite rather than just generally telling them to invite someone.

 

After District Meeting we went to see J...she is an inactive member. She has been ignoring our phone calls lately so we decided to just go show up. We are pretty sure she was home...actually we are positive she was but unfortunately she didnt answer the door. So we are going to keep trying and hope that we can get in contact with her again.

 

We had German class which went good. At least I think it did...I didnt understand most of it. I have started using German class as extra language study for me because I dont want to try to learn German and confuse my brain too much. After German we spent Tuesday night out contacting.

 

This was another one of those weeks where no one really wanted to meet with us. So we had a lot of time to tract and contact and find new people that will meet with us. The only bad part is that I am quickly remembering how hot and awful it was last summer. Its really hot. But...I am getting some nice tan lines!

 

Wednesday morning we had piano with B then the rest of our day was open. We tried to go visit some potentials but none of them were home. We then went tracting. We went to the building that we went to a few days ago and no one was home but we went at night so we were hoping that more people would be home. It is a building that I have had a feeling for a few weeks that we should go to but it is kind of far out and we havent been able to. But we had plenty of time so we went there. At first...nothing. But as we were getting to the point that it was almost time to go home we had a woman invite us in. She told us that missionaries had come to her house before but Im not convinced it was really missionaries from our church because she said it was just a few months ago...and I have been here for that long. Anyway...we were able to teach her the first lesson. We focused on the Apostasy and why there was a need for the Restoration. It seems that she has learned a lot about different churches and we honestly couldnt tell what religion she actually claims...it seems as if she has taken bits and pieces of everything. What we taught her made sense to her and she asked us a lot of questions. She was also very interested in learning more about the plan of salvation. She said that she believes that something has to exist after life she just doesnt know for sure and doesnt know what it is. She was so nice and talked about her family a lot and we set up a time to go back and see her...actually tonight! New investigator!

 

Thursday...all I remember about Thursday is that it was a day of lots of walking. We seriously walked all over the place. I dont really remember why or where we went exactly but we did a lot of walking. We ended the night on Thursday with a lesson with B. We did what we had practiced in District Meeting and invited her to invite someone to church...which she said she would do.

 

Friday...Friday morning we went and walked to an appointment with L. She had asked us to walk with her because she didnt want to walk by herself so we told her we would.  It ended up being good because after we were able to have a lesson with her. Unfortunately, it has been awhile since we met with her so all the progress we made before wasnt very evident...I felt like we were kind of starting over with her again. She has a desire to learn but other than that we cant figure out what her intentions are beyond that.

 

Friday night we had German class and then we had an activity. We played games and had cake and ice cream because it was the birthday of one of the members. All the dumb sit in a circle games and play with everyone have really come in handy on my mission...we use them all the time. Like do you love your neighbor, the name game, etc. And the people here love them! It was a good activity and we had a great turnout.

 

Saturday...We went out to see H. She wasnt answering our phone calls so we just showed up and she let us in. Her lesson was another interesting one. We still arent really sure what to do with her and how to help her but we are trying.

 

We also had a lesson with A. He is still the same. We had a really good lesson with him and he was really excited to invite someone to come to church. We talked to him about knowing that it is ok if they say no...all we can do is invite. We also told A that when he invites someone to church to invite himself with them. It has been awhile since he has come to church because he got a job that requires him to work on Sundays sometimes.

 

Saturday night we had signups for our English and German classes. Our classes havent been as effective as they could be so we decided to kind of start new. We have changed the days and times that we hold our classes and are going to start over from the beginning and were hoping to get a new group of students.  We actually had quite a few people come to signups. So hopefully it all works out and we can get investigators out of our language classes. We also had piano with L.

 

Sunday was a good day at church. We got K to sing in Sacrament Meeting. She was scared but we told her we would sing with her and so she said ok to that. So we just sang really quietly so you could only hear her. :) We were hoping that K would too but he was too shy. We had the youth sunday school class and we talked about the Spirit and what his purpose is in our lives. It was one of the better classes we have had with them and they actually got involved in the discussion and it was a real discussion rather than just the missionaries teaching...progress!

 

We tried to do a finding activity on Sunday but after a little bit of not very many people coming we decided that it wasnt very effective so we stopped and we spent the rest of Sunday tracting instead. We got a few potentials but no one would let us in.

 

Anyway...my brain still cant think of anything great to say to end it. This week has been a good week...hot, but good.

 

This week in Personal Study I read Ether 12. It is one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon because it gives so many great examples of miracles that happened. But as we know none of them came until after the people showed their faith. Sometimes it is hard...to let faith overcome our fear but as we know miracles wont come until after the trial of our faith. Miracles do happen every day...even though sometimes they are harder to see than others.

 

I hope that you all have a great week! Love you lots and lots and lots!

 

Volim vas!

Sestra Clark

 

Shoutouts!

 

Emails...Lex, Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Tys

Sretan Rođendan Brock!

With her companion

Their church is on the bottom floor

 

Jordan on the mailbox, not a common name there

Beautiful Zadar

 

Pictures

 

City centar in Sremska, Serbia

Ruins in Sremska

 

Back in Zadar

Pday Again!

Well...Here goes another email. Lets see what I can come up with to email today. I accidentally forgot my book that I write things down in that I want to email about so this is all going to be coming from memory. We will see how I do.

 

Monday...was a good Pday in Sremska. We didnt do anything too exciting. We did however accidentally schedule an appointment in the middle of Pday so we went and met with a man named I. It was the first lesson with him and it went really well. He has a wife and a daughter. It was kind of just a set expectations lesson with him and talk to him about our purpose, etc. But it went really well and he said that missionaries could come back. Even with an appointment in the middle of the day I was still able to take a nap which was so nice. Monday night we had a lesson with an investigator named M. The first of the lesson was kind of shaky and I honestly thought he was trying to tell us that he didnt want to meet with missionaries anymore. But, we were able to answer his concerns through using the scriptures and talked to him a lot about the Spirit. We helped him recognize when he feels the Spirit and how he can feel the Spirit more in his life. We got a soft baptismal commitment from him as well. We spent the rest of the night out contacting. We talked to one lady that I dont remember her name but she was really interested. She talked to us about how she is confused because there are so many churches but they are all conflicting...that led perfectly into the Restoration and she gave us her contact information!

 

Tuesday was a day of traveling. We traveled from Sremska to Zagreb and I picked up my companion and we barely made the bus to get back to Zadar. We got to Zadar and had to go straight to the church so that Sister Konietz could teach German. Since she didnt have much prep time it wasnt the greatest German class but it went all right. I get to sit in on the classes so I am pretty much going to be fluent in German soon. Just kidding...I tune it out most of the time so as not to confuse my brain too much. We went back to the apartment and got settled and then we spent the night contacting.

 

Wednesday we started the morning by going to the MUP and getting Sister Konietz registered and such. Since she is from Germany which is part of the EU the process is a lot easier for her which is nice. We then went to the church and had a piano lesson with B. We had Branch Council which was good to be able to get caught up on what has been going on the past week and such and also look ahead the next couple weeks and see what we need to do for that.

 

We then went and met with V. She is the member from Varaždin who is in Zadar right now working...well trying to find a job. She has started working on Personal Progress so we did that with her. Sometimes it is hard to meet with her because I feel like everytime it is like we are starting over with the basics. She is struggling to increase her faith. She knows what she needs to do for it...she just wont do it.

 

We then went and met with H. It was a very interesting lesson. Im a little worried that it wasnt good that we werent able to meet with her at all last week. I dont even remember exactly what happened it was just all over the place. She knows the church is true and she is still so happy that she was baptized but she has some other things going on in life that seem to kind of be holding her back a bit.

 

We ended the night with A. We had a good lesson with him talking about the commandments and why we have them and how they bless us more than hold us back (not really sure how to word that). Anyway...it was a realy good lesson. A still studies so much on his own and loves to share with us from his studies. But, he hasnt been to church in over a month now which I am really worried about since he is such a new member. He tells us how much he misses church and that he knows he needs to come but there is something missing that we are trying to help him with.

 

Thursday...we went to visit a potential that Sister Bunker and I went to a few weeks ago and she told us we could come back. Unfortunately when we got there she wasnt very happy to see us and told us that she would come to the church when she felt a need for it. :( We then went home and did weekly planning. It was good but took a lot of extra explaining because I had to tell Sister Konietz about everyone and kind of get her updated with the area. But it was a good weekly planning. Thursday night we had a lesson with D. It was one of the better lessons we had with her and she even shared with us something she has been studying that went right along with what we were teaching her. June is the month of invitations throughout Europe and the goal this year is to get every member to invite one person to church with them throughout the month. So we talked to her about that and shared with her the letter that we recieved talking about it. We are really hoping that she will bring her daughter who is an inactive member to church. We talked to her about it and she said she would try.

 

Friday...was a day where no one would set up with us. Like for reals. It was actually a bit ridiculous because we were out of Zadar for a week so we werent able to meet with any of our investigators. This week I was able to get in contact with a few of them but they wouldnt let us meet and the others I couldnt even get ahold of. But it will all be ok. But anyway...we spent the day contacting. We are doing signups for new German and English classes since we have new missionaries we decided it was a good time to kind of start over and try to get some new students. So we spent the day going around to places particularly where younger people would be and passed out flyers and hung up posters for that.

 

We had German class Friday night which was really good. We actually had 2 new students. One of them the Elders started teaching this week as an investigator and the other one I think we can get her there.

 

Other exciting news...Friday right before German we had a man walk into the church. He came up to me and asked if it was the Mormon church and if he was in the right place. I told him he was. He explained to me that he had been to the church several years ago before we were in this location and that he had talked to missionaries and they gave him a Book of Mormon and he had been reading it.  He literally asked me the question how do I become a member. I explained to him that he has to meet with the missionaries and that we teach lessons and if he was interested we could do that and talk more about what it entails. He asked when we could start. So we got his information...we however gave it to the Elders since he is a male we figured it was more appropriate for them to teach him. And he came to church on Sunday. 

 

Saturday we started out the morning by going with the Matosiches to try and find some inactive members that live about half an hour outside of Zadar. We lucked out in finding them home. The husband was not so happy to see us and would barely even say hello. But the wife sat and talked with us for a little while. She was so nice. We got to know her and her story. We invited her to come to church and she said she would like to but it is hard because she cant drive and her husband isnt interested. We encouraged her to start reading from the Book of Mormon again which she said she would do and she also said that we could come back and visit again.

 

When we got back to Zadar we did contacting and then had piano with L. We then cleaned the church while the Elders taught English. Right now we only have one level of English students so since we teach German the Elders teach English...but we are hoping to get more students and have a couple different groups and then we will both teach. We spent the rest of the night contacting.

 

Sunday...was church. I got to speak in Sacrament meeting. I actually was supposed to last week but then ended up not being here. So they moved me to this week. I actually dont mind it now, at first I hated it and it stressed me out. We had Sunday School and then we taught Primary. We did our finding activity which went all right. It wasnt as great as it has been in the past. But it was still beneficial. We wanted to meet with V but she had a test she was studying for so she cancelled on us. So we went and met with V. She is hoping to go back to Varaždin on Tuesday and wanted to meet with us before she went back. They took Sister Missionaries out of Varaždin this past transfer and Im a little worried that wont be good for her. But it will be ok. We had a really good lesson with her and asked some really good questions that got her thinking. We had a really good discussion with her and I really think that she might start making changes in her life now.

 

Well...that was my week. I am happy to be back in Zadar and I am finally feeling adjusted again. I know a lot of you talked about the flooding that is going on...I can honestly say that you all probably know more than I do because of the fact that the things you sent me through email are more information than I knew before. I can also tell you that I am safe. There hasnt even been rain here since I have been back and I have not been affected by it in any way. I also know that all the missionaries and members in the areas with flooding are also safe and that the humanitarian couples are helping to make sure that people are taking care of. Keep the missionaries and the people in these countries in your prayers.

 

For my talk this week I based it off of a talk from this last General Conference by President Packer titled The Witness (I think). It talked about how he gained a witness and then he discussed the simple truths that he knows and how they are things that he wasnt taught but that he learned. I love how the main points that he focused on where that God lives, The Holy Ghost is Real and that Christ lives. That is what a testimony is...that is what a witness is. That we know they are real and we strive everyday to show that. I thought a lot about what it means to be "Valiant in the testimony of Jesus" and how that means that not only do we need to learn of him but also strive to become more like him. He is the perfect example for us and in the church we learn exactly who he is and what we need to do to become like him. We wont ever be perfect, but we can strive to be more and more like him every day.

 

I love you all and hope that you have a great week!

 

Sestra Clark

 

 

Shoutouts!

 

Emails...Lex, Mom, Dad, Carrie, Grandpa, Tys

 

Sretan Rođendan...Grandpa and Kaitlin!

Bok....uh, Zdravo!‏

First off, I just want to start by saying that you are really lucky that I am emailing today...because I honestly have no motivation to do it. I feel like I already told you about this week yesterday so I dont have much to say. But I am going to be a good girl and email you anyway...you are welcome.

 

Anyway...Monday...Monday was a good Pday. It was one of those days where we woke up Monday morning and luckily had this extra boost of energy and just got everything done in no time. We are convinced that time stood still for awhile because we were stressed about finishing everything before we had to catch our bus but we ended up having extra time. Anyway...we did our normal Pday things and then we caught a bus and headed to Zagreb. We got there at 830 and one of the senior couples picked up Sister Bunker to take her to the mission home and I went with Sister Sare who is a senior sister...she is the mission nurse. We went back to her apartment to stay for the night.

 

Tuesday morning we woke up and went to the office to meet the Zagreb sisters so that I could go out and work with them for the day instead of having to hang out in the office. They got to the office and we went to a lesson with one of their investigators named M. He has been investigating the church for about 6 months. He knows it is true he just feels like he needs to learn everything. We had a really good lesson with him talking about the Apostasy and authority and why there was a need for a Restoration. It was a really powerful lesson and the Spirit was so strong. We invited him to be baptized and he said yes I think that is something that I would like to do. So we then gave him a date. He was unsure of that and didnt want to commit to a date. So we prayed together. He said the prayer and was so sincere in asking if that was right for him. He ended the prayer and we were all still on our knees and he looked up at us and said Heavenly Father told me that I need to be baptized on that day. It was an amazing lesson.

 

The Zagreb sisters actually are in the office part of the time so we then went back to the office for a few hours. I sat at the computer of one of the senior office sisters and just did what she told me to do the whole time. It wasnt my favorite thing to do but it was ok. We then had a lesson with a member in Zagreb named S. It was another great lesson. We talked to her about the Doctrine of Christ and what it means to keep our baptismal covenants. She is the only member in her family so we talked to her about her family and encouraged her to invite them to come to church with her. She expressed some other concerns that she has been having and we were able to talk to her and help to ease those concerns which she was very grateful for. We then went to the church for English class.

 

Wednesday the Zagreb sisters actually had an exchange planned so I was with Sister Erbe and Sister Sturtevant in Zagreb for the day. It was a good day but everything seemed to fall through. For reals. We spent the morning contacting. We tried to get the whiteboard and contact using that but we soon realized there werent enough people and that it wasnt an effective use of our time. So we just did regular contacting. We were able to contact one woman who we were able to set up an appointment with. We then had a lesson with one of the members. She actually served a mission in England a few years ago. She is great. We had a really good lesson with her.

 

After that the Sisters had a few referrals that they wanted to try and go contact. So we went, unfortunately neither of them were home but we tracted their buildings. It was a little awkward tracting with 3 people but it ended up being great. We got let in and had a lesson with a man named M. He was very hesitant and kept saying that we could teach him and he would even come to church but he would never be a member. We had a really good lesson with him though and I really think that with time he will soften his heart and change and have a desire.

We then went to the office for a lesson with R...her family lives in Zadar so she is there sometimes. She is V's sister. She is great! We had a really good lesson with her. We showed her the Mormon Message Good Things to Come and it tied in perfectly and was just what she needed. We read some scriptures with her where the people in the Book of Mormon had hard things happen but they had an eye of Faith and it turned out ok. She shared an experience she had in the past couple of weeks with paying her tithing and how she knows that she was blessed because of it even though she didnt know if she would have enough money to get by...it was really powerful!

 

Thursday was zone conference. It was a really good zone conference. The focus was on teaching the Doctrine of Christ and particularly teaching the Doctrine of Christ from the Book of Mormon. President talked about how every scripture story can apply to it in some way. The Europe Area Presidency has also announced June as the month of invitations...it was last year as well. The goal this year is to get every member to bring one person to church with them during the month. So we talked about how we can work with members to accomplish that.

 

After Zone Conference I headed off to Sremska Mitrovica with Sister Palmer. It was kind of stressful figuring out what I would be doing but it worked out. When I went to Zagreb on Monday I was told I would be there until Thursday after Zone Conference and then someone would be coming back to Zadar with me. Well... that changed on Wednesday and I found out I would be going to Sremska because Sister Palmer was also companionless and President felt it would be better to have Sisters out of Zadar for a few days because the Elders are there and there are no other missionaries in Sremska. Anyway...so after zone conference I headed off to Serbia for a few more days with the 3 pairs of clothes that I had brought to last me a few days in Zagreb. Luckily the Zagreb sisters let me go through their closet and borrow a few things to make my clothes last.

 

Friday...a great day in Sremska. We spent the morning contacting and then we had a lesson with one of the investigators here who is actually on date for baptism. We had a member on the lesson with us, he is 17 and was baptized just a few months ago. He is great and he loves missionary work and he loves helping the missionaries. Ive also decided he is my new best friend because he is hilarious...but thats not important. Back to the lesson. We taught about the Plan of Salvation and it ended up being a really good lesson. M talked about his Book of Mormon reading and he really understands what he is reading. He feels good in the church and he knows that it is right but I dont think he completely understands baptism and what it means. But it was a really good lesson with him and I really do think he will be baptized.

 

We did some more contacting and then we had Aktivnost. We played games and had several members and investigators that came so it was great!

 

Saturday morning we went and cleaned the church. We had several members that came and helped. One of the members is a less active and after we were able to have a lesson with him. His name is A. It ended up being a really good lesson with him. He opened up a lot and we were able to see what he still knows and what faith is missing in order to help him to come back to church.

 

Saturday we had a lot of free time so we went out for several hours of tracting. It actually ended up being really good. One lady let us in and we had a lesson with her, I dont know if it will go anywhere from that but it was a really good lesson and she listened. We also found several other solid potentials.

 

Sunday we went to church. Sacrament Meeting was supposed to be music Sunday which is where all of the members pick their favorite hymn and bear their testimony of why and then we all sing one verse of it. When I heard about it I thought it was a great idea...but it didnt really work out that well...not sure why. We taught Sunday School to the youth and we talked about the Gathering of Israel and how we can all be a part of it...for those who are living and those who have passed on. The Branch in Sremska has a lot of families...and a lot of younger people which is really good. It was fun to meet the members.

 

We went out and did some tracting and contacting and found 2 more solid potential investigators. We then did Skype and then we had a lesson with N. He is hoping to serve a mini mission next month so he likes to practice with the missionaries. So we role played with him and had him teach us. He did a really good job and he knows a lot especially for only being a member for not even 6 months.

 

It has been a bit of a crazy week but it has also been a great week. As much as I have missed Zadar and I am ready to get back there I have really learned a lot this past week. I have enjoyed being able to work with other missionaries and be in other areas to see different ways of doing missionary work...I have made a list of things that I feel like I can take back and apply in Zadar to help the work to progress more there. It has also been fun to be with Sister Palmer and see how we have both changed since we were in the MTC. It has been a bit interesting switching from Croatian to Serbian...they are similar but different. Ive had to catch myself a few times because even the way you say hello is different.  It has been interesting to see Cyrillics because I havent looked at them since the MTC...but have no fear, by the time I go back to Zadar tomorrow I will be fluent in them! But, I am excited to be heading back to Zadar tomorrow with Sister Konietz. I am excited to be able to get back to work with our investigators and the people we have been working with.

 

I love you all and hope that you have a great week!

 

Volim vas!
Sestra Clark

 

Shoutouts!

Emails...Dad, Mom, Tyson, Grandpa, Carrie, Allie

I cant think of any birthdays of the top of my head but since I wasnt planning on being gone I didnt bring my list with me...so hopefully Im not missing anyone!

Mothers Day Skype

Pictures

 Cherries from a tree in their yard

 

 "Ice cream is delicious!"

 

 English class

 

 A hidden garden in the middle of the Centar

 

 Path that leads to garden

 

All the Zadar missionaries



Happy Cinco de Mayo!‏

Well...It looks like we have all made it through another week! This week was a good week...thinking back I dont remember anything super big or exciting that happened but it was a great week and a week full of miracles as usual.

Monday night just as we were ending our Pday we got a phone call from L asking us if we could come over. We had decided to drop her previously because we had tried for several weeks to get in contact with her and couldnt get her to answer her phone or door when we went over. Anyway...it turns out that she has been super sick for the past couple of weeks. We ran into her daughter during Pday and she went home and told her Mom she had seen us and she was feeling better so she called us and asked us to come over. So we went over. It was very brief because we had our night planned out so we just talked to her for a little bit and then set up a time to come back. We then went to Z's to do family night with her and her kids. We sang songs and then talked about Joseph Smith and drew pictures of him. I know I say this every week but her kids are seriously my favorite.

 

Tuesday morning we went out contacting. The Elders had a potential investigator that is a single woman that they wanted us to go visit. So we went there. We were able to talk to her and set up a time to go back next week. We then had District Meeting. We talked about the importance of asking for referrals and making it more personal to the person so that they know we have thought about them and their situation. I am really good at asking for referrals...we do it in every lesson and with every contact...but we usually dont get them. So we talked about how to actually recieve referrals from people.

 

We then went and had a lesson with M. He said that he had something that he wanted to show us. So we went and met him and he took us on a walk to a part of the coast that I had never been...it was breathtakingly beautiful (unfortunately I didnt take pictures because I didnt think it was appropriate with an investigator). We were able to sit and teach him outside which ended up being really good (usually I am not a fan of it because it is distracting) but it was super calm and peaceful and there werent a ton of people around. We talked to him about his reading in the Book of Mormon and his desire to find truth. He talked about how he really wants to find truth but he doesnt know how...so we talked to him about how he can do that. He was having a hard time with it because he said he has a hard time thinking about God as a person. So we talked to him about that and at the end of the lesson he prayed! We pointed out the Spirit that he was feeling and were able to help him see that is how he will recieve an answer.

 

We then went to B's...we hadnt actually broken up with her yet. So we went to talk to her and she actually took it really well. We talked to her about our purpose as missionaries and she told us that she doesnt see herself changing. We told her that she is still welcome to come to church but that we wont be able to come meet with her at her house anymore.

 

Wednesday we went to D. On the way we saw A and said hi to her and then partway through the lesson A showed up at her house. It actually ended up being really great! Croatians are blunt and straight forward and can say things to each other that wouldnt be good for the missionaries to say to them. So it ended up being a great lesson! We did some contacting and tracting until we had English. We had a good English class and then we did a branch family home evening. Sister Bunker and I taught the lesson and we decided to have the family home evening lesson be based off of Preach My Gospel. We taught about chapter 2 which is effective studying. We taught the lesson and then we had a few activities. We had a pretty good turnout and it ended up being a lot of fun!

 

Thursday morning we went and met with H. It was a bit of an interesting lesson but it went ok. She is still learning and trying and she is still so happy! We had Branch Council which was good and then we were able to go have a lesson with L which turned out really good. It was probably the best lesson I have had with her. We changed our plan of what to teach her right before our lesson and it ended up being perfect. When we got there she started talking about sacrifice and how she has been making sacrifices and it has helped to strengthen her love for Heavenly Father. We talked to her about fasting and were able to commit her to fast with us this Sunday which she was so excited about! We also talked to her about the Priesthood and Priesthood blessings. It just ended up being a perfect lesson. In the past with her I have left feeling like we have been making baby steps...but today I felt like we actually made a normal person step forward. We are just really hoping that we can start meeting with her regularly...she gets sick often that it makes it hard...because I think that will be the turning point for her when we can actually have lessons and build off of them rather than having to start basically over each time because it has been so long in between.

 

Thursday night we went and saw A. We talked to her about the Sacrament and the importance of coming to church each week so that we can partake of the sacrament.  We were able to commit her to come to church after not coming for several months! 

 

Friday morning we had piano with B. We also went and saw S and M. They are struggling right now...it is so hard with them because their answers to everything are perfect and when we talk with them you would feel like they are fully active members...they just struggle with commitment...they know what they need to do they just let other things get in the way.

 

After leaving their house we had something we had planned on doing but it ended up not working out. We quickly ran to the church because we had something that we needed to do and got there at the perfect time. The Elders were just finishing up German and had two people that had questions and wanted to talk to us. So they asked us if we could meet with one of them named V. She has had a few lessons with the Elders and has been reading the Book of Mormon and had some questions about it. We ended up having a really great lesson with her. She has been being prepared for this her whole life...and she recognizes that. She tells us how good she feels when she comes and that she wouldnt feel that way if it werent true. We invited her to be baptized but she said she needs some more time but that she really has a desire to find truth. I feel really good about her and our lesson with her was great. I think she knows it is true she is just scared to admit it and is especially scared of what people will think.

 

We then had a lesson with A which was great. He is still doing great except for the fact that he has been out of town for the past few weekends so he hasnt been to church in awhile.

 

Saturday we had planned on doing a service project but due to weather it got cancelled so our morning plans were changed. We spent the morning contacting and tracting with not much luck. Saturday night we had English class and V came to help us for personal progress. It ended up being a good English class and after she stayed to help us clean the church then we went to H's. She is such a sweetheart. We had a good lesson with her.

 

Sunday was church. We had Sacrament Meeting, we taught the youth Sunday School class and then we taught primary. After church we tried to do our finding activity but after a little bit of no one coming we decided it wasnt very effective and that we should try something else and take a break this week (Sunday wasnt very good weather so no one was out and about). Z had asked us to come to her house so we walked to her house and contacted on the way. We had a good visit with Z then Sunday night we went to V's to do Personal Progress with her. She finished another project this week! She is so close to being done with it!  V is my favorite! I love when we get to be with her...she is just a unique personality and there is never a dull moment!

 

This week was a good week! This next week will probably be a crazy week...because my companion is just a mini missionary she is flying home on Wednesday which is 2 weeks before the transfer ends...I have found out that I will be staying in Zadar but they arent sure who will be coming back with me. So we are heading to Zagreb tonight and I will be back to Zadar on Thursday with a new companion.

 

Our Sunday School lesson that we taught this week was on testimonies. We talked about what a testimony is and how to gain it. It was a really good reminder for me of what a testimony truly is...it doesnt have to be a big miraculous story or experience that happened. It is simple knowledge of truth that is witnessed through the Holy Ghost. I know that this church is true, it is Christs Church that was restored to the earth through Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon is true. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and love us. The Atonement is real. Living the Gospel is the only way to find peace and happiness throughout our lives.

 

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

 

Volim vas!

Sister Clark

Shoutouts!

 

Emails...Dad, Mom, Lex, Grandpa, Zach, Tys

 

Sretan Rođendan Paul