Enjoy every last second of your mission!  Actually, enjoy every last second of your life.  There is so much that happens.  As I read through my journals to post them, flashes of memories go through my head.  There is so much more than what I wrote.  The emotions and thoughts are deeper than the paper holds.  Thankfully, however, these little jots help to springboard the memories back to the front of my mind.  Hopefully the lessons that go along with them will continually stick.

 

3 March 1996

Wow!  It’s March!  This is my year month.  I know that’s not until the middle, but still.

Well it seems like I’m always catching up on my journal entries.  I should learn to write everyday. Then this wouldn’t happen so much.  But since I don’t, I guess I’ll be writing a lot lately. Best get started.

Friday we went over and had breakfast with the Fryers, then we listened to the tape Sister Purser sent.  It was fun. She’s so awesome. Then Ana dogged us. No wait, that was a different day. Then we had a language lesson with Maja, and then an appt with Erika.  That was the best! We had such a good meeting. We taught her a 3rd discussion. It just went so well. She has such childlike faith. She said she would get baptized.  She just doesn’t have a date yet.

Then we met Pema.  She’s from India. I’ve probably already written stuff about her.  I met her on the street with Sister Mix. Yep, long while back. It was cool.  it will take a while to teach her. She’s Islamic, I think, but she came to the church and watched On the Way Home.  Bojana, Marko, and Anka were there and they were awesome. She totally liked it. She said it felt good in the church. She’s so cool.  She talks really fast, but she swears a lot too.

Saturday was cool.  Sasa dogged us. That wasn’t the cool part.  We went to lunch with Bojana and Marko. It was fun.  Then we went to the church to learn guitar. When we got there, the elders (Tingey and Clawsen) were there.  So we listened to them play for a while. Then Leon and Uros came and so it was just the 4 of us again to play.  Bojana taught us a couple more chords, then we all played Sister Groberg’s song. 

Then we went to visit Zdenka.  Poor lady had an operation on her leg and it’s pretty messed.  

Here’s the best part.  We went to dinner and had Indian food.  Janak invited us to come the day before, but it wasn’t at his house, so I was really nervous.  I didn’t know what to expect. I was kind of scared there would be a lot of Jahovah’s Witnesses there, but we were brave and went anyway.  As we walked up and rang the doorbell this guy came up and asked if we were two American girls. We said yes, and he said ok, you’re coming up to my flat for dinner.  

Man, I can barely write.  I keep falling asleep. I guess I better rest a bit…I’m going to have to finish in the morning.  Lahko noc!

4 March 1996

Today’s been beautiful!  But first, I have to pick up where I left off.

Ok, so the whole night was so funny.  There were us two, Andrej (it was his house), Janak and Jasna.  Then came two more, Peter, and I forget his friend’s name. Andrej and Jasna were completely drunk before we even began.  That makes me kind of worry, since they were doing the cooking. Andrej is a big new artist in Slovenija, and is also exhibiting in Austria.  We’ll see if he get to the States. He gave us a little exhibition book. I like it. Anyway, he was so funny. He kept tripping and wobbling and really it was sad.  He invited us back anytime we were in the area. It was so funny. He told us, ”Don’t fear me if you see me.” That was funny. He doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into.  Hee hee! Peter was actually pretty interested in hearing about the church. Of course just for information though. Isn’t everyone in the beginning. He wouldn’t give us his address.  He said it’s dangerous to give Mormons your address. I guess he’s kind of right. So we gave him a flyer with the church address and our phone number. He was cool though. He hasn’t been here for 30 years, but has been living in Sweden as a pilot.  

5 March 1996

Maybe I’ll get through the weekend stories by next weekend.  Geez!

Anyway, that evening was very entertaining and maybe something will come out of it. We were pretty much laughing the whole time and the food was good.

Sunday was cool.  We didn’t have electricity , so we sang acapella and Katja and I had class in the dark.  We only had one person to correlate with, so correlation meeting was very short. Then we went tracting for a while.  It was fun. We met a very nice lady and taught her a first, but she wouldn’t accept organized religion. She took some pamphlets but wouldn’t take a copy of the Book of Mormon.

After church Davor came up and gave me this, (insert pic of heart).  He gave them to a lot of people. I just think it’s so cool. That little boy is growing up so well.  He already has an awesome testimony and he’s only 7.

That night we had an appointment with Nataša.  It was incredible. She completely opened up. There still wasn’t electro, so we just sat by the windows and used the sunset for light.  We all cried and prayed and hugged, and wow, it was a huge step. She reminds me of Emily and Bonnie all mixed together. Man that girl is hurting.  I hope I never make anyone hurt like that. I just want to write the hugest letter to Emily. I hope she’s doing well. There are some people you meet on your mission that make other things in your life so much clearer.  

I’ll catch up on yesterday and today later tonight.  I have to get ready to go now. We’re actually going to do street boards today.  Awesome!

Ok, it’s still the 5th, but it’s late now, and I have to write fast so I can go to bed.

It’s been so psycho lately.  We keep meeting people from America, or that at least speak English instead of Slovene.  Monday was an awesome day for it too. We were at Nama and I heard a lady speaking English to her kids, but I wasn’t sure.  I tried to listen very closely. I think I looked very suspicious. Anyway, I noticed her trying to talk with some people and then looking very lost, so I went over and asked if I could help.  She was very grateful and ended up being from Colorado. She just looked so cute. She had 3 kids and the oldest was 5. They were with her husband on a business trip. He is Swedish. So they lived half the time in Sweden and the other half in CO.  We helped her find a bank and played with her kids while she was inside. They were so extremely cute. The boy, Andreas was 5, and his sister, Aleksandra was 3. Then they had a baby brother named Marcus. They were awesome. The little boy just took my hand and walked along with me.  Then the little girl came over too. They asked me if I knew Jehove. I figured out really quick that they were Jahovah’s Witness. I told him of course, and that I taught people about Jesus Christ. Then they played like they were a dog and cat. The cutest though was when Andreas saw a planter and said, “Look all the flowers died because of all the cigarettes.”  There were a lot of cig. butts in it. She (the mom) was so nice. She said they work with a lot of Mormons and she knew they were trustworthy. It was just a fun experience and I fell in love with the kids in a second.

Today we met some kids from Australia, and one from Switzerland, but he spoke English perfectly.  They lived here a year or 2. They wanted to play on the slide at McD’s but it was locked and we heard them talking in English.  Then another lady from DC, who lives here now. She married a Slovene and now has a 4 yr old daughter. She was cool too.

All these kids knew at least 2 languages.  They were so smart, and they were probably all under 10.

We also did street boards today, then went and took Anka some irises.  It was so fun, and she was shocked.

 

12 March 1996

I read the first 4 chapters of the Slovene Book of Mormon today.  It was AWESOME!! Although, no one is supposed to know it. Mojca was typing it up and asked me to check for spelling errors.  Hello, like I know. Well, some things of course, but well…It was so fun! Wow! I can’t wait until it’s done! Then we had an appointment with Ana.  She is so dang cool. We committed her to pray tonight about Joseph Smith. I pray she does. Then that she receives, and recognizes her answer. She says she wants to believe it so she can say she knows, and that she can tell anyone.  We reminded her that there’s only one way to get that knowledge. Then she asked us why we were so mean. Only kidding, of course. We invited her to the Relief Society thing on Saturday and then for the dance afterward. I hope she comes.

Those were the good things.  Of course there had to be a damper.  It freaking snowed today! All day! I’m getting sick of this white stuff.  Plus, we didn’t get any mail. That’s 2 weeks without a letter from my mom. Of course, I’ve gotten 2 from Dad this week.  I love getting letters from Dad. They’re so creative.

Tonight we were late to English because of our appointment with Ana.  But, when we got there, Bojana was teaching them “Oh Susanna”. It was so cool!  Bojana is Amazing! Then I shared The Cremation of Sam McGee. It was cool.

Time for bed.  Sister Basker is already on her knees.

14 March 1996

We visited Lepa this morning and read some more in the Joseph Smith pamphlet.  It was so cool. She’s really catching on and I think I might have finally portrayed to her how important it is to pray.  Or rather, the Spirit did. I had no clue what I was going to say, and then words just came out. She said she would pray, and tell me right away when she got her answer.  She’s so cool, and she always makes me laugh because she’s so dramatic about everything. Then we went to help the elders, who didn’t really need help. Well they do, but not that we can give them.  Hee hee!

Then we went over to the Fryers, met the new couple, and ate Subway.  Wow! it was so amazingly good. it’s been about a year since… oh wait, I’m wrong.  I had Subway my 1st night in Slovenia, but it wasn’t quite as appreciated as it was today.  Elder Reynolds was so cool to bring it down from Vienna for us. I do feel bad though. We were so driven by the food that we didn’t even think to thank the elders for getting it for us.  Thanks, Elders!

The new couple was nice too.  I can’t believe the Fryers are going home.  Crazy!

We had an appointment with Daša next.  She’s the little girl I met on the bus the other day.  She didn’t show though. I’ll call in the morning and find out what happened.  I also dropped off some film today and can’t wait to get the pics. It’s of when we went to Piran.

Tomorrow is my year mark.  It’s been a year since I left home.  Holy cow! That is so weird. Better not to think about it.  Off to bed. First, of course is sit-ups. I have to do them every night.  We also decided to start walking up the stairs instead of taking the elevator.  

Oh yeah!  I got cool mail yesterday.  My dad is getting better. The farm is supposed to sell this month and my family’s serious about coming over with all the unmarried kids. Cool! We also got an awesome letter from sister Groberg today.
15 March 1996

One year ago today, I was leaving home to go on my mission.  I can’t believe time has gone by so quickly. Wow! So much has happened today.  First, we had DDM. That was cool. Then Sister Basker and I went on a wild goose chase to find some paint for the wagon picture for the Relief Society thing tomorrow.  I have so much to write, but I have to go to bed. It’s 11:30. Ouch!

17 March 1996

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Actually, it’s 9:45pm, and we just remembered.  Lame! We went the whole day and didn’t even get to celebrate. The day was awesome anyway.  We had 4 actual investigators at church today, and 2 contacts. Things are just going great! I was so happy when I saw Silvija walk in.  It’s been over a month since she’s been to anything except for meeting with us, and she even dogged us on Wednesday. I just sat there all during sacrament and said thank you.  Erika and her mom came too. They’re so extremely cool, except I think Elder Clawson talked their ear off during Sunday School.

We had an appointment with Nataša.  Geez! She wants to know everything.  All of the sudden she has weird questions, like birth control, polygamy, and if we’ve ever eaten this weird Slovene dessert. Ok, so she didn’t get enough sleep last night, but… she’s still doing so good.  Line upon line, right?! We talked mostly about Joseph Smith and committed her to pray about him. She said she would. She better!

Last night was awesome, but it’s late so I’m not writing about it.  I’ll just tell my parents on the tape. I have to hurry so I don’t forget.  But, Erika’s mom wants to start coming to appointments. Yes! Now we just really need to find out her name.  Well, there’s lots more I need to do. I know they’re having problems with Erika’s dad, but my Book of Mormon reading helped me so much this morning. I was praying so hard to know what to tell them, and how to help them.  They asked us to give them advice. Then I was reading the end of 2 Nephi and it said to know what to do, feast upon the words of Christ. There was other stuff too. I loved it.

I just love our investigators so much, and I want to help them so much.  I’m just glad I don’t have to do it on my own. I know there’s no way I could.  I love this work, church, Book of Mormon, my comp, Jesus Christ, and everything associated with those things. Man, I’m tired now though.  Lahko noc!

21 March 1996

Happy day!! It’s spring!  Really, the calendar said so.  Plus, it was incredibly sunny and warm today.  We also had 2 great appointments. This morning we had an appointment with Lepa.  She is doing so great! She said she wants to do what God wants her to do, and not what she wants.  Then we got dogged by Daša again. We had an appointment with Silvija and it was so cool. She is progressing so well.  Ok, maybe not as fast as I would like, but I can see how much she is scared. She said she wants to be both Mormonka and Katoličanka.  Sorry. That won’t work. But, we were talking about Joseph Smith and the Spirit was there so strong. We all got down on our knees and took turns praying.  It was so cool. She’s thinking of baptism for April 6th. Awesome! She is really gonna freak when we tell her about the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity.  She’ll go though, for sure.

Then we went to dinner with her and Maja and the elders.  It was cool, then we came home and got ready for bed and stuff.

22 March 1996

My mind is all jumbled with things to write about and I don’t know where to start.  I guess the beginning of the day would be good.

Well, I woke up this morning a little late.  Man, I’ve got to get better with that.  I was just doing the normal stuff, when I hear the phone ring.  So, I go to answer it, and no answer. “Hello?” one more time. Then I hear a beep and “Go ahead Elder Groberg”. Then Elder Groberg’s voice says hello, then sister Groberg. “Holy Cow!” I screamed in her ear. I hope it didn’t hurt.  That was so cool. We talked to her for a while then I went to find my scripture for DDM. I couldn’t find it, and I couldn’t remember what it was. So, I was just skimming the pages of Proverbs, trying to find the verse. It didn’t work and it was time to go. So, I threw on a dress and we were out the door. The whole time I was praying that I could find the scripture.

Small insert:  While on the bus, it was so funny.  We turned the corner kind of fast and it completely pulled Sister Basker out of her seat and across the bus.  She couldn’t stop herself.  It was so funny. Ok, it wouldn’t have been if she fell, but she didn’t.

Ok, so then I was searching and praying all the way to the church and once we got there too.  Then Elder Reynolds come in and just blurts it out. Yay! And my prayers were answered.

23 March 1996

This morning we had an awesome appointment with Bojana.  It was the 4th new member discussion on sharing the gospel.  It was great and she is so excited to do it. It’s great talking with people who are so excited about the gospel and sharing it.  She makes me so happy.

The other thing that I just have to write about is that while we were there teaching Bojana, Bojan came into the church.  I couldn’t believe it. Seriously, I almost fell out of my chair. It was the coolest thing, at first. Then he asked me to come into the hallway.  I did. Then he asked me to tell the missionaries not to go by his door anymore. My heart just sunk beneath the floor. He didn’t really say anything else, but was out the door before I could barely say “how are you?”.  I wanted to run after him and say wait. Are you sure? Pray about it. Just come to church one more time, or something. But, I couldn’t. I was far too shocked. That affected me so much and I couldn’t even control my tears.  The guy who was supposed to be the next branch president just pretty much walked out of the church doors forever. I can’t really say that. I have to have hope, faith, something. But that’s how I felt. It was the worst feeling ever almost, except for my own family leaving.  I wish I knew what to do. I have to talk to Elder Reynolds. He’s the one who always goes by. I’m glad I had Sister Basker and Bojana there. I think I just would have broken, but then we all talked it out. It helped a lot.

25 March 1996

Mothers are the best!  It’s about 1:00 and we’re home for lunch.  We had sloppy joes and salad, yum! Oh, here goes the washer again.  Every time it’s on the spin cycle it goes mad and we hear everything falling off onto the floor.  it’s crazy. We went to try and visit Maja Kobal this morning but she wasn’t there so we went and bought our tickets for the ballet and do some other errands.  On our way back home we saw Jasna. It was so cool. She seemed a little weirded at first, but then she warmed up to us, and was nice. She says she’s too busy to come to anything though.  Now we’re just on our way tracting, and we’re going to go visit Silvija and her mother. I hope there’s mail downstairs.

27 March 1996

Today was really cool.  We woke up early this morning and went over to the Balazics to help them paint their living room.  it was fun. The elders came too. That really made it more fun. Elder Yockey is just so funny in most situations because he doesn’t say anything but when he does, everyone is laughing.  You’d think he’d get a complex. Hmm… maybe that’s why he doesn’t talk much.

It was funny, Sister Balazic just kept hinting at what she wanted done.  Elder Reynolds kept singing the same line of the same song over and over, and Elder Balazic changed 3 times.  It was just funny. Human habits are hilarious.

Then we came home and YES, big surprise for me!  There was a package in the box. It was so jammed in there that we had to have all our neighbors help us get it out.  Yay! A package for me filled with chex mix, plus a letter from Mo and Sheri and Ian’s wedding announcement. Cool pic inside.

Then we had an appointment with a contact named Ines.  She is a 15 yr old girl who the sisters taught a first to about 2 months ago.  We weren’t all that excited to go because we didn’t know if she’d be interested.  Then when we got there she wasn’t there. Her grandma answered the door and said she had a test for school and she didn’t know when she’d be home.  Well, we were about 10 minutes early, and I just remember Elder Reynolds’ experience with Matjaž yesterday and thought we better wait. So, I asked if we could wait for her for 10 minutes outside because I was sure she knew we were coming.  Her grandma invited us into the kitchen. She was really nice and Sara, Ines’ sister, was there too. She was so cute. She just kept talking about different things to her grandma. She’s only 9 and she reminded me of a mini Sister Caswell.  Then Ines called to see if we were still there and said she was on her way home. She got there completely out of breath from running. We talked to her for a while and found out she hadn’t read any of the Book of Mormon because once she got it, her mom took it and read it.  Then her grandma is almost done, and she’s had to wait in line. We read 3rd Nephi 11 together. We got about ½ through when her dad got home. Then the whole house was up in a stir. It calmed down a bit and we finished the chapter and everyone was quiet listening. It was cool and she loved it.  There was so much commotion with her whole family there that we didn’t pray, but we will next time. She said she would come to the baptism and we’re hoping her family will too. We could see her whole family being baptized. Her sisters even old enough. Then we walked down to the bus stop and she was talking with us and practically asked us if she could get baptized.  So we asked her if she wanted to listen to the other discussions. She said yes. I just see 2 problems in the future. One, the wine all over the wall. I’ve never seen so much alcohol. Two, the porn calendar on the wall. OOps! Bad stuff. Ok, so they don’t know and they’re Europeans. Oh yeah. They are also huge fans of Erika. I love it!

29 March 1996

Hello!  We’re just home for lunch, so I decided to drop a little note.  It’s a beautiful day outside. The sun is shining and I’m not even wearing a coat out.  It’s been kind of weird other than that. We had DDM this morning and the elders seemed a bit weird.  Then later we were dying Easter eggs and Sister Basker in a bad mood.  That’s not good, ever. Then our little egg dying party didn’t seem very zabavno (fun) anymore. It was kind of funny though, because the elders were filling up the font and there was no hot water and the heater wasn’t working very well, so Elder Clawson asked Elder Yockey what he would suggest for heating the water.  Elder Yockey thought a minute and then he goes,”Well, maybe if we boil some water and put some rocks in it, then dump it all in and have the hot rocks heat up the water.” It was so funny. He says thing so matter of factly. It just makes me laugh.

We have a pretty cool appointment with Erika tonight, then the baptisms.  That is so extremely cool. Lea, Uroš, and Aleš are getting baptized tonight. Then we’ll have tacos afterward.  What could be better? Right now we’re just waiting for the mailman to go away so we can check our mail. I hope Sister Basker gets mail.  She really needs a pick-up today. Well, I bet he’s gone by now.

Only a bill?!

This was the most amazing night of my whole mission!!!  First we had an appointment with Erika and we were going to teach her the 2nd ½ of the 4th.  But, when we got there they wanted to show us the video clips of Erika singing. So, it was more just BRT, but with some very interesting questions.  We did find out though that they talk to their friends about us. It was so cool. Erika’s mom went out and bought a huge copy of a detail of a famous picture of Christ.  It was so beautiful. She bought it to hang in Erika’s room. Then we went to the baptism with them. Erika came, but her mom had to go somewhere else. We were sad, but she said she’d come back before the end.  When we got there, Ines was already there and had made friends with Katja. Then it was starting and Nataša walked in and sat in front of us. Then Lepa came in and sat at the end of the row. Then Berta came too.

Wow!  Lea just looked beautiful and glowing.  Same with Uroš and Aleš. They were amazing!  I forgot, Leon gave the talk on baptism. It was so cool.  

When we got up to watch the baptisms I was standing next to Erika and she kept making little comments about the baptisms.  So I asked her if she saw their faces. Uroš had an amazing look on his face when he came out of the water. She goes, “yeah, their faces are all red.”  I almost started laughing. It was an answer I wasn’t quite expecting. But then she said,”It must be because they’re all warm inside.” That was so cool.  Then we all went back and watched “On the Way Home.” I think most everyone was crying. They Spirit was so extremely thick in there. Then they all came back in after changing and Sister Balazic gave a talk on the Holy Ghost.  Bojana translated. It was so cute. Through the whole thing I kept looking around to see the expressions on people’s faces, mostly our investigator’s faces. Then, wow, the best! During, or right after Sister Balazics talk, Nataša turned around and looked at me and smiled and she had the cutest look on her face and her face was all red, and then an amazing feeling came over me stronger than the Spirit already was, which was pretty dang strong.  It just told me, almost shouted at me, even though it was just a feeling that our little Nataša got her answer.  She is going to get baptized. Then the confirmations were so cool, even though I wished that the members would have been up there too. The only one was President Lotrič and the rest were missionaries. But anyway, after it all was over, Nataša stood up and came over to me to tell she brought the pics for me to see. Then she says, “I decided to get baptized on my birthday.” Yes! I was so taken back, especially after our Sunday visit. But at the same time I knew she had gotten her answer. So I asked her when her birthday was and she said April 27th, and that she would be 20.  She wanted it to be so special. Then the best was this. She said, “I felt tonight, I really felt it. It was so amazing.” Then we were all gathering around taking pictures and Ines came up to me and asked me if we could set a date for her baptism, and that she got permission from her parents. She is just a miracle child. I don’t even know what to think. All I know is that she was just floating around the church tonight and talking to everyone and telling them she was getting baptized. I was on air! Tonight has been so amazing, with more Spirit than ever. I love this work!!!!!

31 March 1996

Holy Cow!!!!   That is all I can really say.  Actually I have tons to say, just not the time to write it in.  It’s already 10pm and I’m so dang tired.

Last night we got to go see Giselle with Jelka C.  It’s a ballet and I loved every minute of it. But, of course, we got home kinda late, not too late though.  Then we find out that we miss an hour of sleep because of that crazy daylight savings thing again. It was pretty funny.  Almost everyone was late today for church. But, that’s jumping a bit ahead.

First, we have to start with this morning when I woke up, and was thinking, hey, we might get transfer calls this morning…”when what to my wondering eyes should appear”, but Sister Basker handing me the phone and dropping a tear.  Ok, so that’s a little exaggerated, but the phone did ring and it was Elder Reynolds, for me, and yes, I was transferred to Maribor to be Sister Fife’s companion. So how’s that for a good run-on? It was very weird all day. I was going to cry a few times, but I contained myself.  I think I got a glimpse of what it will feel like in 5 months (Ouch!) when I go home. It was very hard and the worst was when we left and I was watching all the little kids outside in front of the church playing. I said good-bye, but really I don’t think they understood that I was leaving.  Man, just when our program was at a peak too. I love this place! Ten months in the same city, apartment, program, branch, everything. We have the coolest companionship I’ve had since I’ve been here. Man, lame that it was so short. But, I know everything will be fine because this is the way the Lord wants it.  So…I’ll be happy. Just make sure I have my camera everywhere I go. Crazy!