Well...I guess the exciting news for me is that President decided that he wanted to wish me Happy Birthday by shipping me off to another country. Yep, got a surprise phone call from President yesterday morning and there are a few Sisters that are sick and a few other Sisters that need to be changed areas due to other reasons. So, I am having a mid transfer-transfer and leaving Zadar. Im not sure how I feel about it. I have been in Zadar for so long and it is like home to me now. I am going to miss the members and other people here so much. But I also feel like a change right now might be good because things have been going so slow here lately. Anyway...so I get to spend my birthday traveling all day! I am going to Tuzla which is in Bosnia and will be serving with Sister Peel. I was in the MTC with her so I am really excited to go serve with her. Anyway...It will be sad to leave Zadar but I have been here for so long and it is time for a change and for new experiences. I have heard that serving in Bosnia is a lot different than Croatia because the church is even smaller there. So it will be good to see another area and meet more people. I completely trust President and when he called me it just felt right. I know that its what I need to be doing and where I need to go.
So, on to my week. Monday...the Rowes were here so Sister Rowe took us to lunch for Pday. It was fun to go with her and her girls and just talk to them and spend time with them before they leave. I havent had a lot of time with her other than zone conferences so it was good.
Monday night all of our appointments cancelled...and it was pouring rain outside. So we found some big apartment buildings and tracted them.
Tuesday morning we started out the morning meeting with A. We talked to her about how she first came in contact with the missionaries and when she realized it was true. She was actually found through tracting. She said the biggest thing that helped her to realize she needed to be baptized was hearing the members bear their testimonies. That is why we need members! A is the greatest. I seriously dont know how to describe her...she is so loving, and so sincere and thinks of others before herself. She is one of the strongest members here in Zadar. She is great!
We had District Meeting which was good. Elder Peterson was a seminary teacher so he knows a lot. He kept going off about deep doctrine. It was really cool and I learned a lot but he also kind of took up the entire meeting.
We then went and met with V because she is back in Zadar...well she was. Anyway...she had told us before she came that she was ready to start making changes in her life to get back on the right path. Well, apparently she changed her mind because she was right back to where she always has been. She lacks faith and because of that she lacks desire.
We had English class and it was a really good English class. We only had one of our English students come and then L and V were there. It ended up being really great. L and this student, I, are actually becoming really good friends and I think the fact that we have members in class helps the students to see that we are really normal people and there are people just like them who are members. Our spiritual thought at the end of class was really powerful and I am hoping that the influence of the members will help the students to want to learn more about the church.
After English we worked on some family history with V. She is doing that for one of her personal progress projects so we helped her get started on it.
Wednesday we went around trying to find some former investigators and then we went and met with V again. This lesson went better than the one the day before and we helped her to make a plan to start getting back on the right path and helped her to see that she doesnt have to do everything all at once and can start a little at a time and she will see that she feels the Spirit more and more in her life. I just hope that she can actually do it especially now that she is back in Varaždin.
We went out contacting and then we had German class and then the Petersons invited us over for dinner because they wanted to get to know us and they also wanted to take us so that they could go meet their neighbors since they dont speak Croatian. None of their neighbors were home...but we will try another time.
Thursday morning we did weekly planning and then we had branch council. We then went with the Petersons to try and visit H because they wanted to meet her. It was really interesting and she acted really weird and wouldnt even let us in the door. She just talked to us on her doorstep. We dont really know what was going on.
We went back to the church and had English class. V and L were the only ones that came along with the Petersons so we just played a game and practiced spelling words. Then we went out contacting for the night.
Friday we had an exchange. I was supposed to be staying in Zadar but due to a few reasons I ended up going to Zagreb with Sister Erbe. We had a good exchange together. We started out with a Croatian class. All the missionaries in Zagreb have it once a week and a girl comes to the church and teaches them Croatian for an hour. It was review of things I have already learned but was good to review. We then went and visited one of their investigators named M...I have actually met with him before. He wants to get baptized really bad but is struggling to quit smoking. So we talked to him about how that is going and we read with him in 3 Nephi when Christ comes and he calls the people to him one by one...especially those who were sick or weak.
We had English class which was a good class and then we went and visited a less active member named J. She is actually from Venezuela and her Croatian is not very good. We taught her about the Restoration but Im not really sure how much of it she actually understood or took in. Unfortunately, all the Spanish I learned in high school is gone out of my brain.
We were then able to go break into the office...well we didnt really break in it is just closed right now due to renovations before the new mission president gets here. We got the mail and I was able to get my package so I have it for my birthday...I havent even opened it yet and am waiting...arent you proud of me?
Saturday...we woke up and were getting ready to go exchange back and one of the less active members in Zagreb called and was in a panic because her husband had left and forgot to leave a key and she needed to go do something so she asked us if we could come sit in her apartment for half an hour so that we could let her back in. Sister Erbe said that she never calls them and felt like we should go do it. So we told her we would. Well it turned into being a lot longer than she said but she was very grateful for it. So...it put us on the road late to exchange back.
We got back to Zadar and I taught piano to L. It was a really good lesson and she is finally getting to the point where she actually likes it and likes practicing. Then we had an activity at the church. It was a fun activity...we made baggie ice cream (thanks for the recipe mom...you may not know you sent it to me but you did a few months ago :)!). None of the members had faith in it and kept saying that we were just making them look like fools and then we were going to pull store bought ice cream out of the freezer. They were really surprised when it actually worked and tasted good. We played a few games which was fun and then we tried to get everyone to help us clean. It was like pulling teeth to get them to do anything. But we managed to get the church cleaned.
Sunday...was a good day at church. We got to teach Primary. I am going to miss Z's kids. I want to bring all of them home with me...but I wont. We went out and tried to do some contacting but soon realized that there were only a few people on the streets and they were all tourists. So we went back to the apartment and I went through the area book with Sister Konietz...I organized it and made sure she knew all the information she needs to before I leave. I made sure that all the information that I had just written random places or had in my brain was written down where it would actually be seen and beneficial to people. I hope missionaries that come in after me appreciate the area books...because as you know I love to organize. We then went and met with V. We picked out her last personal progress project so that she can start working on that and then she is finished! Yay! We also talked to her about preparing for a mission. I think she is going to start working on her mission papers and I am so excited for that. It will be a great experience for her and she will influence so many people because of the experiences she has had and her experience with the church. (Im not sure how far it has been spread that she is going to do that so I know you dont know anyone here but dont spread that around too far.)
Last Sunday in Zadar
Anyway...It has been a good and surprising week. Oh...the biggest miracle of the week...A CAME TO CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!! I cant even tell you how happy everyone was to see him walk through the door on Sunday! And throughout the entire mission we reached our goal of having 500 people at church by having 502!
We are still doing a lot of finding here in Zadar to try and get investigators but even though that is going slow we are seeing other miracles happen every day as we keep working hard. I hope that you have a great week! Thanks for everything! Love you lots and lots and lots!
Volim vas!
Sestra Mac
Shoutouts...
Emails...Lex, Jordan, Dad, Mom, Grandpa, Chris, Tyson
Letters...Tyson
Thanks for the package!!
Sretan Rođendan...to me and to Renee!
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