Week 58: Ljubljana, Surprises, and Accordions

Hello everyone!

So, the weather this week started off with even more rain, like it had been the previous two weeks, but the last few days have been sunny again, and that was nice. It's also starting to get cool enough that sometimes a jacket is necessary. I guess that shouldn't be a surprise for late September.

So, last Monday we were in Ljubljana because of district conference, and we were going to start an exchange on Tuesday with the Ljubljana Elders, Elders Sharp and Smith. We figured it'd be better to just stay in Ljubljana for an extra day then use up the time and money for train rides from there and back again. Apparently there's a Subway (the food) in Ljubljana, so Elder Jensen and I got that for lunch after emailing. I was so glad that they had meatball subs. Then we went to meet up with the other Elders and played some sports in the Ljubljana chapel's underground parking garage. Our original plan was to play Australian Handball like Elder Sharp and I did back in the MTC, but we couldn't find anywhere to buy a raquetball, so we did Ultimate Frisbee, soccer, badminton, etc. A bit later they had an activity there, and so we had a spiritual thought and then played a bunch of games including ping pong and telestrations (a mix between pictionary and telephone). Telestrations was even more confusing than normal because there were two languages going around, and not the whole group was entirely fluent in both, of course, so that was funny. That night, walking back to the Elders' apartment with them, downtown Ljubljana was pretty lit up. Huge crowds of people in Slovenia gear with vuvuzelas and such all celebrating. We heard later that it was because the basketball players that won the European basketball tournament were coming back then for a party/reception, and all the trains and busses to downtown Ljubljana were free so that more people could come. I guess they hit a record 20,000+ people in the main downtown square?

These bikes were up in a tree during a rainstorm at night!

In the morning on Tuesday, I went with Elder Sharp to start our exchange. To start off, we went to the chapel to teach a lesson, and while we were waiting some members showed up and gave us some fresh fruit for breakfast. That was a surprise. The lesson didn't show up, but we got some studies in. Then we headed out to go contacting in the main park, Tivoli, but it was raining so there was hardly anyone out at all. Then we migrated into the center of town and there were a few more people. We had some good discussions, but no one set up for lessons right then. At some point in this process we found out that the exchange had to end early, since Elder Smith needed to go to Croatia on Wednesday for some visa stuff. So, Elder Sharp and I got some ice cream at the infamous ice cream place Vigò there in Ljubljana (it was really really good) and then headed over to the train station to buy some tickets, and then waited for the other Elders to show up. Once they did, Elder Jensen and I got on a train back to Celje. At some point around here we heard from the Ljubljana Elders that they were then heading over to a surprise lesson with one of the people that Elder Sharp and I had talked to that morning. Apparently she also knows the Peruvian member that's in the branch here in Celje. Anyway, that evening we had ECG like normal.

There are lots of beautiful buildings in Slovenia.

On Wednesday morning we had district meeting. On the way there some guys from a different christian church tried to stop me to talk to me. Normally I would've stopped to talk to them, but we were going to be late for district meeting and Elder Jensen was way ahead of me and the situation just didn't work out. A little bit later in the day we had a short-notice lesson with an investigator that was apparently really solid last transfer. She still seems to have a good desire to be baptized, but she'll have to marry her boyfriend first, since they live together and have a kid, and that might take a while to actually happen. That evening we did some area book work, and actually got one guy from a sheet of potential investigators who we called that agreed to meet up. He kinda sounded drunk on the phone.

On Thursday we ended up buying groceries, since we couldn't on Monday because we were in Ljubljana, and later while contacting we helped an old lady carry her bags and even actually cross a street. Around then, we ended up briefly meeting up with some of the office missionaries, since they were driving through and had mail to give us. Turns out Saturday was going to be Sister Brown's birthday, so she got a notable quantity of packages. During the rest of the day we had just the normal stuff, like ECG. After that, Elder Jensen and I had Kebab for dinner (in Bosnia they call it Döner), and instead of the normal sandwich thing, I got a Jufka, which is more of a burrito shape, quite like gyros (the greek food). That was really good.

Friday is when some really interesting stuff started happening. Our schedule on Friday was really just only finding and one lesson that ditched, but it was ok since people seemed to listen to us and we had some really good discussions with some people. I feel like we did some good in the world. Near the start of the day, one guy we talked to was really interested in the different holy books of various religions, and so of course was interested to get his own copy of The Book of Mormon, and he said he'd read it. Also, it turns out he's co-workers with the mom of one of the members here in Celje, so he was already vaguely familiar with us. Later, by the river, there was this really awesome young couple that stopped and talked with us right there for something like 20 minutes. The guy had a really awesome beard. They were really good, bright, friendly people, and seemed really interested to actually hear what we had to say. They offered their own viewpoints, and we taught a lot of main principles, and it was awesome. But somehow, at the end of the discussion, they didn't agree to deliberately meet up at a different time. Later on, again along the river, we used the accordion that I've been borrowing from the senior couple's apartment to play some music. People seemed to like that, but not a whole lot more than normal were willing to talk to us. Later that night while we were tracting, a slightly older guy let us right in, and that's always unexpected. We feel like he'd met missionaries before, since he knew that we didn't drink alcohol and that Utah has a lot of mormons, but he also might've gotten that from a movie or something. He have us a lot of candy and peanuts to eat while we were talking with him, and he was really friendly and pretty funny. The conversation was bit disorganized, but we did teach him a bit about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and gave him his own copy to start reading. As we were leaving, he gave us a giant chocolate bar (250g) to take with us to split.

Elder Jensen trying out the accordion in our apartment

Saturday started off with some area book work, calling people, then some contacting, and then companionship study. During comp study we got a call from the Ljubljana sisters, Sisters Bennion and Kanell, letting us know that they'd be driving through Celje shortly, and wanted to sing happy birthday to Sister Brown with us, but they needed our help to make sure we'd all run into each other and still have it be a surprise. So, we called Sisters Brown and Crosby and told them we were meeting up with "2 girls" at the church in just a bit, and asked them if they could come. If we had a lesson set up with 2 random girls with Celje, that's exactly what would happen, so the sisters didn't think anything of it. Then I grabbed the accordion, re-figured out how to play the happy birthday song, and then we headed over to meet up with the Ljubljana sisters and surprise the Celje sisters. The Ljubljana sisters were fairly surprised and amused that I had an accordion, and also knew how to play it. Anyway, we successfully surprised Sister Brown for her birthday, and it was great.

And it came to pass that Elder Jensen and I went tracting. We got two people who said we could come back a different time, and one of them seemed actually pretty excited to talk to us, just busy at the moment. As we continued through the really tall apartment building, we could hear the sound of an accordion coming from somewhere. Eventually we arrived to the door from behind which the accordion sounds were coming. It sounded like a real accordion, not a recording, and whoever was playing was a total pro at it. When we run the doorbell, the playing stopped (I felt kinda bad for interrupting) and a slightly older guy comes to the door. I told him that we're missionaries, that we heard him playing and that I played accordion, and asked to come in and listen. He said sure and showed us in the door. He gave us some little cake squares and water, we talked just a bit about who he is, and then he started asking about what weligion we're missionaries for, and such. Turns out he's kinda Christian, but really doesn't like how (as he stated it) "most Christians have confessional but never improve, baptism to remit the consequences of Eve's mistake, and how a murderer can just pray for forgiveness and then be on the same playing field as a normal man." He had a strong belief in God's justice. He really din't believe in forgiveness of sins at all, but rather that we all have to serve a sentence of sorts for every mistake, and that is made possible by reincarnation. He believed that some people are born into good homes in 1st world countries because they were good in a previous life, and some people are born "in Ethiopia with no clean water" because they did something really bad in a previous life. Honestly, he'd actually thought a lot of this through pretty well, and had a few good points, but really just didn't understand mercy, the Atonement and what it means for us, or the Gospel itself, or how all that works together with justice. So, we read part of Alma 34 with him. At the end, he tried to give us 20 Euros for being good people and spreading good. He was very persistend about givit it, but we were very persistent about refusing it. Then I distracted him and asked him about his accordion. He brought one out of the other room, and man that was a nice accordion. Not the kind I play though, haha. Anyway, he said he'd read the Book of Mormon (we gave him a copy), and said we could come back at the end of October... we'll probably come back sooner and see what happens.

Yesterday we had branch council before church, and then church itself, you know. Since the Monsons, the senior couple here, had some relatives visiting, and one couple within that group is a temple president and matron, they spoke, as well as a local member. Good stuff. Also, "Ed" came to church (the one that was originally planning to get baptized on this next Saturday), and even though we couldn't meet up with him, we gave him a card that said "Call the missionaries!", since he has memory problems. Hopefully there'll be some time soon when he looks at it, calls us, and we can meet up with him right then. We'll see. After church we put in numbers, received a cabbage from a member, and then went to the Monsons' for lunch. With us, the sisters, and the 6 of the Monsons, it was a pretty good crowd around that little table.

 

We found these "American Cheeseburgers' in the grocery store. They were expensive so we didn't buy them.

Your homework this week is to read Alma 34! It explains pretty well why a Savior is necessary. Why we need Christ. It's pretty good stuff. Also, quote of the week: "The most sure way to have a really good idea is to simply have a lot of ideas." I don't know where it originally came from, sorry. In any case, I really like it, and I think it applies to a lot more than just good ideas. For example, good experiences! If you want to have a lot of good experiences in life, you have to have a lot of experiences! Don't be afraid of trying new things!

Here are some photos. Enjoy!

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Elder Ryan Echols
Adriatic North Mission
Svačićev Trg 3/1
HR-10000 Zagreb
Croatia