Hello everyone! Happy New Year! I hope you all have been having a great week and that the
weather where you are hasn't been too bad. The weather here in Celje hasn't
been too bad this week. There was one night when it was raining and really
cold, but then it kinda turned into snow, so that was interesting. I think that
might have even been last Wednesday after I emailed you all.
Speaking of last Wednesday after email, we went out to some
distant parts of town to try to make contact with a potential investigator, but
all that came of it was someone else saying we could come back in 2 weeks.
Better than nothing, right?
On Thursday we started off with some work in the area book.
It's kinda nice this transfer that we have both area books and both phones,
since there's not another companionship of Elders or Sisters here in Celje. So,
in place of the typical 1 book and 1 phone for 2 missionaries, this transfer we
have 2 books and 2 phones and we can go simultaneously. For lunch I had some
canned Sarma, which is no where close to as good as it is when made in the
kitchen of a local member, and then we had comp study. We found out that
"Mary" couldn't come to the lesson we had planned, and so we went out
in the rain to find some addresses from the area book. We found all but 1 of
the addresses, but none of them were home, I guess. Then we had ECG of course,
and that was really good like always. After class, one of our participants
talked to us for quite a long time about his career in Judo. He's really good
at Judo. Then Elder Love and I made pizzas for dinner before language study.
Friday morning started off with us setting up a table in
front of the church and putting out a bunch of copies of The Book of Mormon,
plus a big poster thing about The Book of Mormon. One of the members showed up
and stopped to talk to us for a bit. After lunch and studies and stuff, we went
contacting for a while before we had dinner and headed over to the church for
branch game night. I really like branch activities like that. It's good to get
members together and socializing.
On Saturday we went with the Monsons to visit a member that
hasn't been to church in quite a number of years. She's extremely friendly, and
we nice discussion with a little spiritual thought at the end. She also speaks
remarkably good English, and so the Monsons were able to freely participate
without translation, which was very helpful. After lunch and some study, we
actually went grocery shopping, since we found out that all the stores were
going to be closed on New Year's day, and the day after (today and tomorrow).
We weren't going to last that long without being able to buy food. Since the
Monsons were available, we went with them in the car to some more distant (but
bigger) grocery stores, and we really hit the jackpot on one. We found barbecue
sauce, and my favorite types of yogurt and cereal that are available over here
(I haven't found those types of yogurt and cereal anywhere else in Celje). That
afternoon I also had to do some work as "Data Master", or more
officially, as the Mission Clerk, since the new year was obviously coming up.
After that, we went contacting through the center of town, since there were a
lot of people there. They still have the Christmas markets set up there, and
there were even some stages where I think they had some concerts that night.
Anyway, we did talk to one guy who briefly listened to what we had to say and
set up for a lesson! So we'll see how that goes this next week. Then when we
got home for the night, I started doing a jigsaw puzzle that my mom sent for
Christmas.
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| A jigsaw puzzle my mom sent for Christmas. It is a picture of donuts! |
Yesterday of course started off with church, and it was
great. Our Judo friend from ECG came, plus an investigator, and a member who
hasn't been to church in about 6 months. I love it when people simply show up
to church. In the little break between Sacrament Meeting and Sunday School, our
Peruvian member started talking in his Spanish-y Slovene (he is so awesome) to
that investigator that came, and asked him when he was baptized. After it was
quickly clarified that he wasn't yet baptized, the member talked to him a bit
about how he doesn't need to wait a long time to be baptized; he just needs to
know that it's all true and be willing to live it. I think it was really good
to have him mention that, since it seems like sometimes people take months on
end to make decisions like getting baptized, when it's really a lot simpler
than that. Also, that little discussion enabled me to get a lesson pinned down
with the guy, since his schedule is really slippery and it's hard to get a hold
of him and get a lesson concretely on the calendar. Anyway, after lunch I had
some more of that stuff to work on as Mission Clerk / Data Master, since it was
the last day of the year. Some problems came up though, so it took a lot longer
than expected. I didn't really get to witness "Y2K", but I felt like
I got a small taste of what that must have been like for those involved (such
as my Dad. I guess it runs in our blood). In any case, Elder Love and I had a
nice New Year's dinner with the Monsons at their place, and then did weekly
planning for the rest of the night. Great way to spend New Year's Eve, haha.
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| A beautifully lit fountain. |
As for today, so far the streets have been near-abandoned
(though they're not as bad as last year in Serbia), and we've tried to scrounge
up some work to do even though no one's around. We also went to a cool church
across the river that has a really long staircase. I'd been there before, but
it was cool to see again.
Your homework for this week is to read the 13 Articles of
Faith! They're fairly foundational to our faith, so it's a good idea
to be familiar with them.
Well, here are some photos from this week. One of them is my
jigsaw puzzle, and the other is a fountain that currently has no water, but it
has lights! Have a great week!
--
Elder Ryan EcholsAdriatic North Mission
Svačićev Trg 3/1
HR-10000 Zagreb
Croatia
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