Well...I have officially survived my first week in Bosnia. It took some more getting used to than I thought it would because it is definitely different than Croatia. It is hard to describe what the difference is but it just is. But I already have a love for the people here and I am finally at the point where I feel comfortable and know what I am doing and things are going well. Tuzla definitely needs a lot of strengthening of the members that are already here as well as building up of the church by finding new members.
A random bear she decided to pose with
Birthday cake!
Monday...we had a relaxing Pday and then Monday night we went and had a lesson with A who is the woman that came to church the day before. We taught her the first lesson. It went really well and she listened and we had a good discussion with her. The only problem right now is that she is in the phase of she just wants to learn because she is interested and doesnt get the why or action part of it. But we will continue working with her to help her realize that. After her lesson we did some tracting.
Tuesday we actually took a drive to visit a member who lives in Bijeljina which was about an hour and a half drive from Tuzla. She is a very active member but she goes to the Beograd branch each Sunday because it is more convenient for her due to the bus schedule. But she lives in our group boundaries. We had a good lesson with her and she made us lunch and then after I had to border hop because I had been in the country too long without registering and she lives right by the Serbian border so we quickly drove across the border and then headed back to Tuzla. That took up a good part of our day and when we made it back we went contacting for the night. There werent very many people out because most people were home preparing to break their fast for Ramazan. Ramazan is a difficult time here because no one is out at night but they also are not happy with you when you knock on their doors at night. So after Tuesday night we tried to make sure that we had something scheduled at night.
Wednesday we had Correlation meeting which is where we talk about who will speak in church and the needs of the members, etc. It was a good meeting. We had an appointment with a woman scheduled right after but she showed up at the church with some man and gave us an odd excuse as to why she couldnt stay. So unfortunately that didnt turn into anything. We then spent some time contacting and handing out English flyers. We are taking a break from English right now and doing signups next week so we are handing out flyers like crazy in hopes of getting more students.
Thursday morning we went out contacting in the morning and then we went home and did weekly planning. We then had a lesson scheduled with a member. He was baptized I think a year ago but it might have been longer. He is less active right now. Sister Peel said that the past couple of times they went over there he made it very clear that they were not to pull out the Book of Mormon and that he didnt want them to pray. Well, our lesson with him today was completely opposite. He let us read the Book of Mormon with him and he said the closing prayer. It was a miracle. We had a really powerful lesson with him. We couldnt commit him to come to church but he did end up coming to the fireside where President Grant came so that was good!
Friday morning we started out the morning with District Meeting. Since it was the fourth of July we decided to sing the Star Spangled Banner for the song. We had a good district meeting. We always pick one of the Christlike attributes to study throughout the week and then we discuss what we have studied at district meeting. This week was diligence. We talked about what it means to be diligent...to keep going even when things get hard but that it also means that we need to be happy in the process and using our time wisely and that no matter what the outcome is we know that we have done all that we can. We also talked about how we can better make our purpose known to the people we come in contact with as well as the members.
Pancakes for breakfast
Making ice cream
Happy July 4th from Tuzla, Bosnia!
After District Meeting we decided we needed to celebrate the fourth of July by eating American food...so we went to the most American place we know...McDonalds. We spent the next few hours out contacting and then we had an activity. We made baggie ice cream which actually turned out really good but was a huge pain. The church building here is very tiny. It is literally one room plus a bathroom. So it was very chaotic trying to make ice cream in that one room especially since we dont have a kitchen. But the activity turned out great and we played a few other random games. We had a pretty good turnout and we had put a poster up in our window advertising for it and had some random people show up who said that they would come back another time. So it ended up being a good activity.
Saturday we passed out English flyers and contacted in the morning and then we went to do church cleaning. Church cleaning didnt take too long since our church building is teeny tiny but it still needs to be done. We then went back to our apartment and did some area booking and then we had a lesson with J and B. We talked to them about the Book of Mormon. We got the Book of Mormon and we just opened up to a random chapter and read it and then we all discussed what we learned about it. We talked to them about how it doesnt matter what we read in the Book of Mormon but we can always learn something from our reading if we really study it. We tried to commit them to read the Book of Mormon every day but they didnt seem too sure about it. The members here need a lot of strengthening. They let the missionaries come over and visit but it has seemed that in the past that is all they have done, visited. So we are trying to go and have spiritual experiences with the members that help to build their faith and give them a greater desire to not just come to church every once in awhile but to actually live the Gospel.
Sunday...well folks, we had an all time record at church this week. We had 7 people at church...how many of those were missionaries...6. We kept hoping that someone would walk through the door but they never did. So it was us 6 missionaries and a man named S who isnt a member but comes to all activities and church and such. So, we had no members at church. We have found that the members think that if they come to the church once during the week they are good...so they come to the activity and then dont come to church. So we are working on helping them to see that that is not true. Anyway...with it being testimony meeting we all got to bear our testimonies. And then for Sunday School the Shepherds taught and they talked about family history.
After church we did some tracting and then we had an evening side. President and Sister Grant came as well as two of their daughters. Their kids are all older so 2 of their daughters are here just for a few weeks and then they will be going back for school. Anyway...it was kind of just a get to know you type thing so that the members could meet them. Luckily, we had more people come to the fireside than church so he actually got to meet a few people. President Grant is great. I was honestly a little worried about how things would go with a new mission president and such but as soon as I met him it was totally fine. He and his wife are great and I am excited to get to know them better. After the fireside we had interviews with President which were fairly short but good. We basically introduced ourselves and talked about how things were going and such but it was really good.
Anyway...it has been a great week and things are going well! We are still in a finding phase and doing lots of tracting and contacting but it seems that it is that way throughout the entire mission right now. But one of these days it will start to pick up and until then we will just keep working...we will keep being diligent! I love you all and I love this Gospel. I love helping people come to know Christ and for a lot of people in Bosnia they need that because they dont realize who He is and what He has done for us. I know that He is our Savior and that He is the one that made this whole plan of happiness possible for us.
I love you all and I hope that you have a great week!
Sestra Clark
Shoutouts...
Emails Lex, Dad, Mom, Carrie, Grandpa, Tyson
Sretan Rođendan...Al, Lisa
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