Week 72: Canned Sarma, Home-made Pizza, and a New Year

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.

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.

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

Week 71: Transfer Madness, Christmas, and more Christmas

Merry Christmas!! This week has once again been kinda crazy, but that's ok. I'm back in Celje now! So that's good. Ok, here comes the recap.

Last Tuesday morning, we went with the Deckers to Caritas to help package up some gift packages for sick children. After that, Elder Criddle and I went back to the apartment and I did some of my own packing until a bunch of other Elders showed up as part of the transfer. We exchanged some luggage around, and then  I went with Elder Love (my new companion) and Elder Christensen over to Belgrade. We got burritos for dinner at the end of the day, and stayed the night with two of the Belgrade Elders.

In the morning on Wednesday, Elder Love and I went out to the car and found a parking ticket from sometime the day before. Oops. Then we went to the Slovene embassy for me to get my passport and Visa, and waited outside in the cold for 2 hours in a crowd of other people waiting. Right as we got in, our 2-hour parking ran out, so when we were done we had to rush over to the car and move it to a different parking place. Then we ran some circles looking for a place for lunch, and then a place to pay that parking ticket from the night before. The bank that we went to to pay it didn't take payment by card, so that made it a bit of a hassle. A few hours later we got back in the car and headed out in the direction of Celje. A few hours later we were passing Zagreb, and needed food again because we're human beings. So we used the GPS to try and find food, and it was another huge runaround for some reason. Since our phone was from Slovenia and paying for parking is by texting, I couldn't get our phone to pay for parking, but I asked one of the Zagreb missionaries to text in the parking for us. We had dinner at a food court at some huge mall, I burned my tongue on my food, and then we went back to the car to find another parking ticket. Apparently the parking guy got to our car before the text came in from the other missionary to pay for it. Nice. That means that I got two parking tickets in the capitol cities of two different countries in less than 24 hours. Then we drove to Celje, dropped off my stuff at the apartment, and gave the car key back to the Monsons. Celje is decorated pretty well for Christmas.

Me, Elder Love, and Elder Christensen in Belgrade.

On Thursday we bought groceries and did transfer planning, and that kind of thing. Just before English Conversation Group, we all had some cake that someone brought because it was someone's birthday, and then after ECG we had a branch choir practice to prepare for the program for Saturday.

Friday morning we did some calls and sent some texts to try to get some lessons set up, and then went and looked up some church members' addresses so we could deliver some Christmas cards from the church. After lunch we went to deliver all those cards, and of course since people are spread out through the whole city, we ended up walking a big loop around almost the entire city. A little bit later we set up a table in front of the church and put up a TV to play some Christmas videos as we handed out Christmas cards. After that we had branch choir practice in preparation for the Christmas program, and then Elder Love and I finished the day with language study.

On Saturday morning we again set up the table and TV in front of the church, and I think it was again successful. We had curry for lunch, then companionship study before we went to do some classic contacting. It was interesting though, since now there's not a companionship of sisters in the city, we can go into their half of the city. Then we went to the church early to help set up and prepare for the Christmas program for that night. Just before the whole thing started, we had a fairly short lesson with "Mary". Yes, this is the same "Mary" from when I was last in Celje. She seems to be doing really well. She knows she wants to get baptized, but just doesn't know when, and she doesn't feel like it's right now. Then we all went in and had our Christmas concert/program, and it was wonderful. Someone played a different version of Jingle Bells on piano, at that was really good. We of course also had some choir pieces where I was accompanying, and I also did 2 short pieces on accordion. A lot of people came, both members of the church and not, and it was great to get to see a bunch of people that I know. There were of course cookies and such, and people stayed around to talk a bit, and everyone seemed to really like it.

Christmas decorations in Celje, Slovenia.

Sunday we of course had church, and some members came that didn't come a whole lot while I was here last time, so it was great to seem them come. I actually also blessed the Sacrament for the first time in Slovene. Usually local members do it here in Celje. For the second part of church, Elder Love and I went with a local member to help with the primary class, since the regular teacher was home sick. It was kinda crazy, but we managed to handle them by playing some videos of the Nativity and talking about it, and singing some songs together. Once we got home we of course did weekly planning and such, and then went to the Monsons' for our Christmas Eve dinner, and since we had the evening off as approved by our mission president, we stayed to play some games with them.

Our little Christmas tree and a few gifts from home.

Monday was Christmas! But you probably knew that. First thing, Elder Love and I opened some packages and letters from home marked as "do not open until Christmas", and then a bit later went over to the Monsons' for breakfast. The rest of the zone came too. So, we had all 12 junior missionaries, all 4 senior missionaries, and then President and Sister Melonakos both came, along with their daughter. It was really great to see all those missionary friends of mine, plus some new ones that I hadn't met yet because they just got to Slovenia in the 2 months since I left. 

Fun with missionary friends on Christmas.

Anyway, we all had breakfast, watched "The Best Two Years" (with permission), played some games, had lunch, and of course all Skyped our families. There was a little bit of confusion on times for Skyping and such, but it all turned out fine, of course. It was obviously really good to get to talk with my family, even if for just 40 minutes. While some other people were Skyping, some of us played some more games, shared some family photos, etc. I really like being with other missionaries like that. After dinner and some more games, we all went into the center of town where they have the lights and big Christmas trees and little booths for the Christmas market and we all just explored a bit and took some photos before people had to leave. Once the other missionaries left, we helped the Monsons clean up a bit and then went home. It was a pretty good Christmas.

Skyping with my family in Loveland, Ohio on Christmas.

Yesterday morning (Tuesday this time) I made an agenda for district meeting for the first time ever, since this is the first time I've ever been a district leader (our district is comprised of me, Elder Love, and the Monsons). We planned a lesson, then had lunch and district meeting. At the end, Elder Monson drove us over to our lesson that we had scheduled with a member, and came with us. Even though it was kinda short, I think the member really appreciated it since he has a hard time walking or getting much of anywhere because of that. He had a bowl of these things that were basically mini cheese puffs, but flavored like peanuts instead of cheese, and as we left he insisted that we each take a fistful "for the road". Elder Love gave me us as soon as we got out the door. After Elder Monson drove us back to the main part of town, Elder Love and I went contacting some before English Conversation Group. Then no one came to English, since it was apparently the Slovene day of Independence and Unity (not to mention the day after Christmas). So after taking care of some business in the church, we went contacting again. One guy who we tried talking to said "I'm a Bosnian" and kept walking, so I took a few steps with him as I said (in Bosnian) that I could speak Bosnian. He stopped for a few seconds, but he wasn't interested after all. We did run into one guy that stopped and kinda debated with us for a few minutes, but was willing to take a copy of The Book of Mormon plus a pamphlet, so that's good. Then we got dinner at the Kebab stand and went home for language study.

Today we've done some contacting and emailing so far, and I also got a long over-due haircut. Like always, my language skills fell out of my pocket on the way into the haircut place.

Your homework for this week is to find a chapter in The Book of Mormon or the Bible that talks about Christ. Now, that shouldn't be too hard, but then you also have to read it and try to learn something new from it ;) Enjoy!

Here are a few pictures. Most of them are from Celje, but the one with Elder Love (and Elder Christensen) was actually in Belgrade. Have a great week! Merry Christmas!

--

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

Week 70: Adventures in the White City...And Some Other Stuff

Hello everyone! First of all, transfers are this week; I'm off to Celje again! That's back in Slovenia, where I just was before coming to Sremska Mitrovica. So, this week was kinda crazy. A lot of good stuff, and a lot of unexpected, but not much bad. I'd call that successful.

To start of with, on Monday we ran some errands, than went to Belgrade for our p-day. In the process of meeting up with people, Elder Jones and I ended up on a random bus without the rest of the group, and got sent off to the outreaches of the city. Then we got on the same bus line going the other way and eventually ended up right back where we started. Eventually we all made it to a bowling place and had a great time. 12 of the 18 regular missionaries in our zone were there.

Bowling fun with the other missionaries!

Bowling in Serbia!

Then we rode some buses to get back to the church and such, got the car from the parking garage to drive back to Sremska, and quickly discovered that we had a flat tire. So, Elders Criddle and King changed it out for the tiny spare we had, and since all the repair places were closed for the day, we just emailed with the Belgrade missionaries, and then stayed there in the city for the night.

A flat tire changed our travel plans.

In the morning on Tuesday, Elder Jones and I went to a bakery for breakfast and I finished my Slovene Visa application form, while Elders King and Criddle went to get the car tire repaired. Then, since we were already in Belgrade where the Slovene Embassy is, we made a quick stop, but the doorman guy said they were too busy and to come back tomorrow. He wrote down my name as the first one for Wednesday. Then we all went back to Sremska, we did some business stuff, and then some random lady from New Jersey showed up at the church to say hello. She was a Presbyterian that had lived in Utah before, and had recently been living in Poland, I guess. Then we set up our table in Centar, and there were a lot of people at the skating rink there in the square. Eventually some kids started throwing tiny snowballs at us from the skating rink, so we moved to a different spot on the square.

The skating rink in the town square.

Our information table.

That night we of course had ECG. We also found out from the Deckers that one of our members got non-fatally electrocuted (it's a miracle that he's alive) while at work. So, he was in the hospital for a few days.

On Wednesday, Elder King and I headed out to Belgrade to do my visa stuff, since he knows Belgrade pretty well. We got there to the Slovene Embassy just before 10:00 when they open, and there was a bit of a crowd. We were up front when the doorman guy came out and started taking people. Since we were first on his list, he asked what what our deal was, I told him, and then he told us fairly loudly in front of the whole crowd that that doesn't exist. The problem is that I know that what I needed does in fact exist, since that's how I got to Slovenia the first time. He told us to go talk to someone else, we did, and that second guy said that he'd tell the first guy to let us in. Then we talked to the lady inside and waited around and found out some other stuff that we needed to go get, but thankfully all of it was possible to get in Belgrade. So, then we went and ran around a bit to get the things and fill out a new form. Then our phone said that it was extremely close to dying. So, we quickly called some of the Belgrade missionaries to tell them to meet us at the church in an hour with a phone charger. Then the phone died entirely. The only problem was that we needed to renew our parking, and you can only do that by text. So we ran around some more, got a sketchy parking spot, ran back to the embassy, and got there at 12:08, 8 minutes after they close. But, the doorman guy was there and he let us in to talk to the lady since she knew we'd be returning soon. So, we got all my Slovene Visa application stuff turned in. Then we realized that Elder King didn't have his nametag like he did earlier in the day. So, then we ran around town some more to the places we'd been before, looking for his nametag. Nothing. So then we went to the church, joined in on the Belgrade district meeting while our phone charged some, and then went to get a late lunch before heading back to Sremska. In the meantime, we have at least 6 people blowing up are phone for various reasons, and it was kind of absurd. Right as we were leaving the edge of Belgrade, something flew up and hit our windshield, and it may or may not have been Elder King's nametag. It went by really fast, so we don't know. As we got to Sremska, somehow we missed the exit, and it turns out that the next exit is 22 km (almost 14 miles) down the road. Oops. Thankfully we managed to pull a cool and safe U-turn thing at that next exit to avoid paying an extra 44 km (27ish miles) of toll costs. We got into town, got gas, picked up the Deckers, visited that member that got electrocuted, and his family, since he'd just gotten out of the hospital. Apparently the current went from his right hand to his right foot, totally avoiding his heart and not damaging any major organs. He has some solid burns on his hand and foot, though. We gave him a blessing, as well as some other sick family members. Then we went and put up our stand in Centar for a while before we finished off the night with some other random things that needed to get done. One of those things was setting up a miniature Christmas tree in the church.

Our mini Christmas tree.

On Thursday we got transfer announcements! Like I said earlier, I'm going back to Celje in Slovenia, right where I was last transfer. I'll be companions with Elder Love, who I've never met before, and the Monsons will also still be there. I'm excited to get to work on my Slovene speaking some more. Later in the day we got ditched for a lesson, we did some contacting, had district meeting, etc. We also found out that our investigator's sister died recently. The investigator whose name starts with an M. I forget the fake name that I gave him before. Sorry. Anyway, we set up a lesson with him for the next day in the morning so we could talk about it. Also, at district meeting, Elder Decker shined all of our shoes just to be nice. What a great guy. Then we had dinner, ECG, etc.

Friday morning we had that lesson with M, and re-taught him the Plan of Salvation, of course emphasizing the resurrection. Because of Jesus Christ, all people will one day be resurrected, body and soul together again, and we'll be able to see all of our friends and family members again. Though it's hard to be separated from loved ones, it's only a temporary thing. A bit later we looked up where an address is so we could go there for a lesson we had scheduled, and then went to the lesson. He was someone that had been taught by the missionaries before, and he was really nice, but I'm not sure it'll really go anywhere with him, since we could hardly get a word in. After that lesson, I got some information that my Slovene Visa will be ready on this next Wednesday. The original plan was for me to participate in this big carpool switch-around thing on Tuesday, but that won't work since the embassy has my passport. So, I called the Assistants to the President and got a new plan figured out. It turns out that Elder Love will be making it all the way over here to Belgrade. That's a lot further than most Slovene-serving missionaries ever get. Anyway, then we put up our table in Centar by the ice skating rink, saw our investigator "Danny", and set up a lesson for the next day. Then at the end, he helped us carry our stuff back to the church. He's a great guy. That night we went over to a member family home for dinner, and it was great. There are some really awesome people around here.

We love the people here in Serbia.

On Saturday morning we had a lesson with "Peter"and we taught him about some commandments, and he seems to be doing pretty well. He told some off-topic stories like usual, but it wasn't too bad. After lunch we helped Elder Decker with some paperwork and clerical things, and later on we had that lesson with "Danny". We talked about tithing, answered some questions, and then at the end talked about baptism some more. He's still afraid of what people will say to him if he were to get baptized, and how they'd treat him. Thankfully, some members showed up at the church right at the end of the lesson to start with something else, and we got them to tell their own stories of how they came to join the church and their overall experience since then. He's still not resolved on that, but he's coming along. That night we went with the other Elders and with the Deckers to go to dinner at a nice restaurant on the river, but then the whole place was reserved, so we went to a different nice restaurant slightly further from the river. They have some pretty good food in Serbia, by the way.

Yesterday was Sunday, and so we of course had church. It was really good, and since I'm leaving, I gave some notes to some members. I really like these people. After church we did some more paperwork stuff, had weekly planning, then had dinner at the Deckers like usual. It was also really good, like usual. But this time, Sister Decker made a traditional Serbian dish, Sarma. One of my favorites. From there we went to quickly visit some other members, and the visit wasn't exactly as quick as planned, since they also decided to feed us some cake.

As for today, we cleaned up the apartment and packed and such and had our apartment cleaning check. We also have emailed, as you can see. Nothing special.

Your homework this week is to read The Living Christ. It's a statement from modern-day Prophets and Apostles about Jesus Christ. It's quite a good read. We talked about it a lot at Zone Conference last week.

Here are some pictures from bowling and the skating rink and such. Have a great week!
--

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

Week 69: Christmas Conference and a Flat Tire

Hello there, friends and family! I hope you all are doing well. This week was a pretty good one. It's snowed some more, we got to go to Zagreb and see other missionaries, etc. I like zone conferences.

So, on Tuesday after our studies we went with the Deckers to visit that same member and her mom who isn't a member. Same pair from last week, or whenever that was. We taught them the Plan of Salvation, God's plan for us, and it went really well. At the end we asked the mom if she'd prepare to be baptized, and it basically came out that she doesn't understand why she'd need to, since she was baptized in the Orthodox church. We tried to explain the authority thing better while we were there, but we'll need to work on it some more. After lunch, Elder Criddle worked on some random stuff, and then put up our Christmas stand/table in Centar on the main square again. It was really cold that day, but some people took stuff and it was good. That night we had ECG with one student, but it was really good.

Me playing the accordion at our Christmas Zone Conference in Zagreb

On Wednesday we packed up and headed out on the road to go to Zagreb, Croatia for Zone Conference. This one was special, since it's the closest one before Christmas. So, Christmas Conference. The drive all the way to Zagreb was long and cramped, with 5 not-so-small people in a fairly small car with hardly 5 seats. Once we got to the mission home, we got to see some old missionary friends, like Sisters Locey and McColm who were in the same district as me in Sarajevo at various points, or Elder Valentine who was in the same MTC group as me over a year ago. Also, the Belgrade district had all matching sweaters. We had some scripture trivia and such, and then all went out to do some Christmas caroling in the big park right there. When we finished caroling, we all got to go wander around and look at the shops and all the cool stuff that's set up in Zagreb. It's quite amazing. Then we had a big fiasco while trying to take our car from the parking garage so we could go to the mission home for the night. Long story. We eventually made it out and over to the mission home where we then had a talent show. One of the highlights was President Melonakos telling jokes. And, in case you're wondering, I did participate by playing something on accordion. I enjoyed it. To end the night, we all had some free time for games and such, and some of us ended up playing a huge game of Uno that was total insanity, and then a few rounds of "4 Women on a Couch". That game is kinda hard to explain without seeing it, so I'll just let you wonder. Sorry, haha.

I got to see lots of other missionaries at zone conference, which was so fun!

On Thursday morning we got up and had breakfast and stuff, and continued on with zone conference. There were a lot of good presentation, a number of which were based on passaged from "The Living Christ". We had a lot of really good discussions, and good musical numbers spread throughout too. At the end, Sister Locey gave her departing testimony, since she's finishing her mission at the end of this transfer, which is in a week. Anyway, after some lingering, we all headed on the road back to our respective cities, and the drive on the way back was just as long and cramped was it was on the way there. Weird how that works.

Driving in the car with other missionaries and Elder Decker

On Friday life returned to normal. Though, on our way out of the apartment in the morning, before even getting out of the building, a lady stopped us and set up a lesson with us for the next day. Apparently she's one of the people in the phone that Elder Criddle and I have never actually met, but who we'd called a time or two to see if they'd be interested to learn more. Anyway, then we went outside to do some contacting and didn't get any other new investigators. We gave out some cards, though. Then we got lunch from Tesic and took it back to eat at the church, at which point we discovered the other Elders working there and waiting for their own lunch from Tesic to be delivered. After that we got our little table set up again in the main square of town, and while we temporarily split up, Elder Jones and I ran into "Peter" and his brother on our way over. So, we set up a lesson with him for the next day. Right as Elder Jones and I were arriving at the stand, a guy from across the street waved and stopped us and asked us if we were from America. He said he was partially from North Dakota and partially from Serbia, and said that he'd bring his family to church on Sunday. Awesome. At the stand, some lady came up and almost immediately asked what'd take for her to be able to meet with us to learn more. So, we exchanged phone numbers. Nice. All the cool things happen when we're not trying to make them happen. After we were done with the table for the day, we had district meeting back at the church with the other Elders and the Deckers. Then Elder Criddle and I had dinner and a companion study before we had a lesson with "LJ". He's a guy that flips back and forth between Sremska Mitrovica and Novi Sad, where I started my mission. So, I've actually met him a number of times before while I was there a year ago. In any case, it was a good lesson and it seems like he's learning a lot from long-term exposure to the gospel.

Our little display table set up at the main square.

Saturday it was snowing more! We started off with some lesson planning, and then we went over to the church for our lesson with "Danny". He's doing really well, and we talked about prophets, temples callings in the church, marriage, and the Word of Wisdom. He always has really good questions. We also invited him again to be baptized, and though he knows that baptism is a really important and good thing, he said he's afraid of what friends would say to him if he got baptized in this church. At least it's a clear next step, right? After that lesson we helped Elder Decker with some stuff, then had another lesson, but this one with "Peter". This lesson was really good, and he didn't go off-topic talking about paranormal stuff quite as much. We taught him about obedience, and how it's a commandment to read the scriptures like the Bible or Book of Mormon, as well as of course keeping the Sabbath day holy, and following the prophets. I think we got some good stuff cleared up, too. After that, our lesson with the lady from the stairwell didn't happen, and so we had lunch. Then we set up our table in Centar on the square, even though it was snowing. Then we had language study and dinner before going over to the branch activity, another game night. People here really like Uno, and it's great to have everyone socializing like that. I also played two heated matches of Fusball (does anyone know how to spell that?) with "LJ", and we each won one. Once the activity was over, we cleaned up the church and then headed home for the night.

Enjoying the Christmas Market in Zagreb with other missionaries. I'm behind the sister with the white hat.

Yesterday, Sunday, we had a lesson with "Danny" before church, and we had a member come to the lesson. It was that young man that recently got ordained to be a priest, and he really helped a lot. He helped answer some of Danny's concerns about how his friends might react to him getting baptized. It was really good, and we told him to pray about it too. I think he'll get baptized within the next 2 months for sure. Anyway, then we had church of course and "LJ", "Peter", and "Danny" were all there. It was great. There were some really great talks and really great classes. After church some of us had to wait around a bit, and I got to talk to some of the younger members about their mini-missions that they'd served in Sarajevo, where I served before, of course. Anyway, the rest of the day was just the regular thing with weekly planning and a wonderful dinner at the Deckers'.

As for today, it's been kinda crazy, but among other things, we went to Belgrade and went bowling with pretty much the entire zone. All 12 of us except the 4 Podgorica missionaries and the Zone Leaders. So, I guess it was 2/3 of the zone. We also discovered as we were heading out to head back to Sremska Mitrovica that our car had a flat, so we're figuring that out. I guess we'll be going back to Sremska in the morning.

Elder Criddle and I with Sister Decker

Well, I don't really have much time for email, so you'll have to figure out some homework to assign yourself. Have a great week!

 --

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