Hello everyone! Happy Monday! I hope you're all doing well!
Life in Novi Sad is pretty good.
On Monday last week we went contacting some, and then went
to email. After emailing, we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant that was pretty
good, and then the rest of the day was kinda just the normal P-day stuff like
buying groceries.
Tuesday also started off with some contacting, and we did
talk to one guy that gave us his phone number. There was another guy who didn't
give us his number or take a copy of the Book of Mormon, but he seemed to like
what we were talking about, and said he'd come to church. After language study
and lunch, we went with the sisters to the park to set up a whiteboard with a
scripture on it, since it was a big holiday. We got a few people to stop, but
nothing quite notable until one guy stopped and talked to us for quite a while.
Since we'd written James 1:5 on the whiteboard, and he asked what the deal was
with it, we got to tell him the story about Joseph Smith searching for the
right church. That night we of course had ECG, and 2 of the old regulars that I
knew from "back in the day" came, which was cool.
On Wednesday when we were doing our morning contacting we
got slightly lost and it took longer to get back for lunch that we anticipated,
so we ended up just going to the legendary "Gyros Master"for lunch.
We had language study and then district meeting, which we had outside this
week. Later on we made some phone calls and got some stuff set up, and then met
up with a member that I knew from my last time here. We walked through the park
over to the church, read a chapter from the Book of Mormon and talked about it,
and then went to get some ice cream with him.
Thursday included lunch at the new place for Mexican food
that didn't exist when I was here at the start of my mission, and then going to
visit a guy that we'd called on Wednesday. He was really cool, and seemed to be
glad to get back in contact with the missionaries, since he used to know other
missionaries here in the past. Apparently he's had some really hard stuff in
his life, like having been in a coma, but things are starting to get better for
him now. We tried to help him know that we're here to help, and that the gospel
can help more than anything else. That evening for English group there were a
few more people, one of which I again knew from before.
Friday included a lot of contacting, some of which was us
kinda getting lost again in the unfamiliar northern outskirts of the city.
While we were out and about, 3 different people deliberately approached us to
talk to us, which is highly peculiar to happen even once. The first one was a
lady with LDS/Mormon friends in Canada that she was going to visit soon, the
second was a guy immediately after that who apparently met missionaries about
15 years ago and wanted to know where we had church here, and the third was a
guy that simply asked for a copy of the Book of Mormon. We also met a really
kind older man that talked to us briefly, and then took a card and said he'd
come to church. After walking around the city for almost the whole day, we
ended up at American Corner, just like we did my first time in Novi Sad. That's
a place where kids can come to get more practice speaking English with each
other and with native speakers like us. After that we got some more gyros from
Gyros Master, and found out that Sister Smith is getting mid-transferred.
She'll be going to Banja Luka, and we'll be getting Sister Icke in her place.
That means that both of the sisters here, Sisters Icke and Marinković, will be
from Germany.
Saturday of course started with church cleaning as a
district, and then we had lunch at Domaćica, a restaurant that I've walked past
dozens of times on the way to the Novi Sad church, but never previously eaten
at. It was pretty good after all, haha. After that we helped the sisters with
some lessons, and then the rest of the day wasn't very interesting.
Yesterday of course included going to church and seeing more
old friends from the branch here, and also the surprise that the older fellow
who said he'd come to church actually did end up coming. He stayed for the
whole thing, including Sunday School and going to Priesthood. The people there
for our Priesthood class were me and Elder Christensen, Elder Nield, the fellow
that came to visit, and one of our members that comes every single week. The
original lesson plan for our Priesthood class was to talk about "ministering",
but it pretty much turned into a lesson specifically for our non-member friend
about where the Book of Mormon came from, why it's important, who Joseph Smith
is, etc., with significant help from the local member who was there. The man
left with a copy of the Book of Mormon and the plan to read it, which was all
pretty cool. After church we of course did our typical business-y stuff like
counting attendance and finances, and then later on we had dinner at the
Nields' place with them and the sisters. As with every meal at a senior
couple's place, both the food and the company was wonderful.
Today so far we helped the Nields renew their visas and have
done some emailing (as you can see), and we're planning on going to Fruška Gora
later for some fun.
You homework this week is to read Joseph Smith
- History 1:1-20. That's the story we related to our investigator in church
on Sunday that we want all people to know about. The heavens have opened again.
Anyway, here are some of the local Novi Sad sights,
including the Mormons in the park with a bible quote! That's us, haha. Have a
great week!
--
Elder Ryan Echols
Adriatic North Mission
Svačićev Trg 3/1
HR-10000 Zagreb
Croatia
Adriatic North Mission
Svačićev Trg 3/1
HR-10000 Zagreb
Croatia
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