Okay, so here's the deal. We started out the day planning on going to a town in Croatia called Илок but the silly Нови Сад elders decided that it would be a good idea to throw a tank full of Euro diesel into the car. So here we are sitting in their city hanging out in this totally sketchy internet cafe. But, there's always a silver lining - they definitely have a McDonalds here. Ah, such horrible, greasy, american food! :P Anyways, now I've seen about a million times more of Serbia than I'd done heretofore. No big deal though.
Okay, about Сремска Митровица и Храна тамо: It's a tiny little town with a very European feel. Everyone rides on bikes with baskets or on mopeds in flip flops and shorts. There are probably 4 Orthodox cathedral deals and whatever. Our diet consists of rice with which we use this stuff called Vegeta (basically a bullion) and pasta. We eat a lot of pasta. I splurged this week and got a little bit of meat, which was nice. There's a wonderful thing called бурек which Брат Морис says is actually best in сремска, in this little place down some back alley. We will see. Everyone who talks to us (actually talks to us) offers us something. Usually сок (they are crazy about it here. It's just juice, but they have literally EVERY flavour imaginable. NBDeal) or like grapes that they grow themselves. There was also a man who we talked to the other day who pulled some смоква off of his tree and gave it to us. I guess they're figs, but I'd never had them before. Really good, just tasty and stuff. The people here, on the other hand, just basically eat паприке и парадаизе which I think is strange. We talked to this one man for a second time the other day and he had this stuff called салина, some homemade хлеб and (of course) парадаизе. It was really good (of course, he had to share it with us) and also this nummy сок.
Normal Sunday:
6:30 - "Arise" bahaha. Jk. We actually do get up on time.
8:00 - Personal Study
9:00 - Companionship Study
10:00 - Language Study
11:00 - Sacrament. This usally actually starts at around 11:05 or 11:10 which is just whenever the Вученовић и Ивановић families show up. Actually, grandpa Вученовић has been there for two weeks now in a row. We sing, led by Ада Вученовић and have a prayer and then do the sacrament which usually takes about 3.257 seconds to get through. It's pretty funny. About two weeks ago, Преседник Вученовић asked C. Jacobsen to give a talk, but has apparently forgotten about it. Yesterday, then, he just handed out some parts of a talk given by I think President Ballard, and had members come up and read it. Сестра Ивановић got to the end and was like, "И све то сам прочитала у име Исуса Христа, амен..." which is to say, "all this I read in Jesus name... amen..." Too funny. Then for the rest of the time Преседник Вученовић just talks.
12:00ish - Sunday School or Priesthood/Relief Society (depending on the week). Somebody gets up and talks for an hour. I assume good things are said? Idk. Apparently now, though, we are going to be teaching out of PMG every other week in Sunday school which should be fun. I don't know if I told y'all about the disaster that was my part of our Sunday School lesson given that first Sunday, but I'm definitely going to be prepping a little more material for that. Dang, I just can't wing things here! Sheesh.
1:00 - Lunch of Blue Fanta and Rice, etc. (P.S., whatever it is that America has been telling us is "Fanta" is a lie. They have the nectar of the gods here and it is the most wonderful thing EVER)
1:30/2:00 - Second Companionship study for гуштери (newbs).
After that - Kind of depends on the day. Sometimes we've just gone contacting and tracking, but some other times we've had appointments and the like. I don't know, we'll see.
9:00ish - Home, dinner (if we feel like it. Oh what healthy children we aren't....)
10:30 - Sack time. AND! Pedak the next day. So, good times.
Anyways, that's what it looks like on a Sunday. Pretty standard. So fun. Oh, and I've no calling outside of missionary. No assignment that is. Our branch has 3 priesthood holders (which is almost more than the rest of Serbia jk) and so we don't have to worry about it. But, there are tons of places in Croatia where Elders are.
I had no idea that they were doing the I'm a Mormon thing in Seattle! So cool! We definitely just sat around and watched like ALL of those videos about the people on Sundays in the MTC. There's this one army guy who spins a cat at the beginning, which is SO funny!!! Can you tell we were cooped up? Anyways, have fun with that! They are so cool and a really good way to get out the word that we're not a crazy sect like everyone thinks that we are.....
JB. For real, gurfrend. For real. You're the girl who's the crazy mormon at school now. Hold up that pride and stick it to 'em. Seriously, though, just answer their questions and don't just brush it off. I think one too many times in school I just went along with the prevailing trend of poking fun at myself and my religion in order to get by. There are tons of times now that I wish I would have just told people what we believe. I mean, we believe it, right? Why not? You go gurl.
I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT JOSH GARDNER IS IN OUR AREA. Okay, nvm, I can believe it. Basically predicted it as soon as he got his call. As you will remember, he was my roommate (or Scott's, anyways) during our first semester at the Y. Funny kid. WAY excited about, well everything. And I mean, like lugnuts could do it for him on certain days... Really funny kid. Just love him up when you see him and stuff. Sheesh. What a kid. I don't know what you remember, but he's the egg kid. From Arizona, so he doesn't actually understand rain or cold.... When he and Riley (the other Arizonan) saw snow for the first time it kind of freaked em out. As we approach winter, help 'em out and let him know that jackets and umbrellas are okay.... He just won't understand it.... :P
Go something classy with the room. Idk about coloration. Something that the summer sunsets will hit well with on the wall. And maybe paint a mural reminiscent of the Sistine Chapel on my closet or something. or do some cool sort of tagging. Idk. Have fun! But yes, wood beds rule. Js.
Tape recorder thing. I just want to be able to record like stories. I'm writing every day in my journal, but it's not the same as when I speak. You know how I am. I just want to be able to like compile some stories onto a card or something and send them home for you to store and listen to. That would be way cool. Sestra Izatt in the MTC had a tiny little digital one which took cards which would be nice for just putting onto the computer and stuff. Don't really know cost on that. Let me know. Just would be fun to be able to listen to you all a little too, when you sent back the cards. Oh, speaking of which, the internet cafes that we go to never really have capabilities for anything other than internet. So, yeah. Not really gonna be able to drop pictures into the file there. C. Jacobsen has a harddrive type thing filled with pictures and then he sends cards back home (so that he won't lose them and stuff). Still waiting to hear about that card I sent home, btw. Anyways, may do something like that.
Anyways, too many and simultaneously too few stories to dish out from this week. Had our first zone conference here which was great! Our zone is Serbia and also Osijek which has elders AND sisters. The sisters almost died en route to Сремска Митровица but we saved them from the sketchy bus with a sketchy cab. Conference was good, but didn't really meet the people much. The Serb missionaries are tight, but we don't really know the Croats. Well, Jacobsen does, but whatever. The work is slow, but it's coming along. Thank you so much for your prayers and advice and hope. Thanks so much for everything!
Oh, and hello to Elder Freeman's mom, who apparently reads this. I'm looking at him right now. What a dork. :P He says, "and by the way, Elder Freeman loves you." Oh, and he wants Betty Crocker stuff in his package. And you could send me some mapleine extract or something for палачинке... That is all. :)
Which reminds me, mom, I got your package you sent. Got it on Thursday? Yes thursday. That was nice. Thanks so much! No idea what to do with all this pancake mix without Syrup in this forsaken country, but nbd.:P C. Defreitas is definitely jealous of my granola though, I'll tell you that right now. Oh, and definitely send me General Conference magazines when you get them. Could definitely use some of that. Apparently Душка Вученовић translates and already knows about the October session talks. Lucky dog...
Okay, I'm peaceing out. Latuhs.
Старешина Адамз
Croatia
Monday, October 3, 2011
09-12-2011
Hey kids.
So we've found a different internet cafe here in our BEAUTIFUL town of Sremska Mitrovica and it plays the best mix of like everything. Okay, so it's like soulful music that's usually from the States or Britain or something, but it also plays Serbian. WAY better than that rank bar that we were in last week. Suffice it to say, my heads a little clearer this time around for e-mail and stuff. So great.
I'm just going to describe my town here first off because it's great. We live very close to the Centre area and that is really nice. Our road is (kind of transliterated) Shecher Sokak - which translates to Sugar Lane. That I actually found out from an atheist guy who let us into his home for some chat and some of his low-budget Serbian rap to share. It was pretty funny.... Anyways, there are like 3 cathedrals in this town and then our little chapel which pales in elegance but abounds in Spirit. The streets are windy, the lanes pot-holed and dusty, and the walls covered with all sorts of grafiti in both languages - neither of which I can read which is probably a good thing.... Still, provides Cyrillic practice while we're walking along - and the people gruff and still horribly post-communistic. The town is right next to the River Sava which is very brown, but where all the city inhabitants go and swim and hang out in the evenings. We see the most brilliant hues over that water and the flat land past it in the evenings which is really nice. AND, since our city is so small, we get to see stars! Real stars! Like not the blackness that is the covering over Provo! Ah, to be away from the MTC. There are huge communist-style apartment complexes whose lights turn off every 45-100 seconds in the stairwells which is actually usually perfect for the amount of time that we're talking to people at their doors... The facades that face the streets are usually the backs or sides of houses, and first you must gain entrance through huge metal doors that connect them all. Everything is in huge blocks with people's living space going into the middle of the block, and not lengthwise, if that makes sense. The roofs are red-tiled, though covered in moss and the larger buildings of crumbling brick. It is so perfectly wonderful, and my camera has been thirsting in order to get at some of these visions. So great.
Mom, I got the package that you mentioned, at least I'm pretty sure that I did. I definitely got a bunch of little letters from the people in your Sunday-School class (of which Jason Pynn's was very helpful and I play that advice over in my head quite often). However, I got that the last-ish week of the MTC, so I doubt that you sent that one to the mission home? I don't know. We have yet to receive any post here in Sremska, but it's only been two weeks. We are actually going to have a Zone Conference (Our Zone consists of Sremska Mitrovica, Novi Sad, Beograd, and Osijek - a Croatian city near to us) and President is coming down, so he may have some letters or something.... Nadam se. Nadam se. Nadam se..... :P
Serbian is really fun, actually. The Cyrillic is coming pretty easily, but that just means that now I can understand as much Serbian as I can Croatian, which is practically zero. JK. Basically, there is a large handful of words that I've had to throw out and re-learn, and the "ije" is gone because the predominant dialect here is ekavian and not ijekavian which is cool. So I've just dropped all the many Js from my speach and it's fine. C. Jacobsen has actually been having some issues with that, though, because he's been out for about a year and a half and so all the habits are really formed in his head for that. But, my comprehension is coming up for quickly. Those first few days I just had absolutely no idea what people were saying and couldn't really differentiate the beginnings and ends of words, but now it's coming along quicker. People just speak so darn fast! Yrgh. Suffice to say, I'm learning, albeit never to the extent that I would like and expect of myself. Either way, as they always tell me here - Polako, polako. Uredu je. :)
So sorry to hear about Art! So happy simultaneously, though. I'll say it once, and probably a thousand times, but I just can't get over how lucky some people are to go back home. Ah well, I've got stuff to do. Later, then. I was excited that you all got to see some of the old gang though, especially Bro Reed! So great. 4th dimensionally say hi to him for me! Okay, okay. Good job. :)
Oh, and M.S. (that's a new term that I've just coined today actually - Meridian Script. Okay, so maybe it needs work, because I just think of, well, MS) somebody needs to tell me about all the horrible things you're doing with my room. Something about a bed, hmmm? Okay, okay, let's have it out.
I miss Bear, too. The Vucenovici here just rescued a dog and I told them to name him Bear, but I don't know if they will. Probably some silly Serbian name like Grgun or something like that. Such good memories. Sad, but good. Love you, mom. You'll be fine. I actually talked to a lady from Ottawa on our flight to Chicago and we talked about dogs for a long time. Such attachments there! Ah well, never really gone. He's imprinted on my heart.
This week was mainly spent in telling people about our English class for which we will have sign-ups tomorrow evening. We're hoping for a big turn-out, but we will see. We may actually get called in to help out the Beograd Elders who I guess usually get like 200 people to show up for those, which would be incredible if we were overwhelmed to that extent. I think their sign-ups are either Wednesday or Thursday. Anyways, we're hoping to do some good service by offering this free class and by maybe introducing some people to the Gospel through it. However, we also have our area book now and so are trying to find those less-active members that still live in the area, but that's tricky because the last time that people were in Sremska was like almost 2 years ago. We've got quite a bit of work to do with that.
Pricha: On Saturday it was late but we decided to go and see if we could find one more less-active and invite her back. She wasn't home, but on our way back from her place somebody cat-called us in English and I decided to invite him to English class or something like that. It took about 3.569 seconds for Branko (a man who we street-contacted the first day we were here) to recognize us and stand up. Long story short, we clarified some things, and set up an appointment with his family for Sunday. Yesterday, we went there and taught him and his wife about faith and the action that we need to take when we believe. Their neighbours were also there for most of it. It was really nice. They're a family of gypsy-descent or something like that so basically the dregs of society, but so loving and so nice. They accepted my poor Serbian and I think learned something. Spirit was definitely there. We've a follow-up with them on Wednesday, and we've assigned them 2 Nephi 31, so we want to talk to them about the importance of baptism and such. Funnily enough, they were actually prepared for like lesson outlines and commitments by the JWs that they had been receiving lessons from until recently. Should be good, I'm really hopeful about this family.
Other than that, the work is progressing, though slowly in my eyes. We study, we find, and now we've taught. Time to repeat. Serbia is great, people are great, the gospel is great. I wish you all well this week and hope you'll find joy AND fun in the things you do.
All Love and Hope,
C. Adams
P.S. In the next package that you send I could really use a USB stick. It's seeming to be a prevailing trend in order to print flyers and posters and to store information. That would be great.
P.P.S. Also, did you ever get that envelope with my memory stick in it? Or how about the package that I sent from the MTC?
'Dgenia. CMA
So we've found a different internet cafe here in our BEAUTIFUL town of Sremska Mitrovica and it plays the best mix of like everything. Okay, so it's like soulful music that's usually from the States or Britain or something, but it also plays Serbian. WAY better than that rank bar that we were in last week. Suffice it to say, my heads a little clearer this time around for e-mail and stuff. So great.
I'm just going to describe my town here first off because it's great. We live very close to the Centre area and that is really nice. Our road is (kind of transliterated) Shecher Sokak - which translates to Sugar Lane. That I actually found out from an atheist guy who let us into his home for some chat and some of his low-budget Serbian rap to share. It was pretty funny.... Anyways, there are like 3 cathedrals in this town and then our little chapel which pales in elegance but abounds in Spirit. The streets are windy, the lanes pot-holed and dusty, and the walls covered with all sorts of grafiti in both languages - neither of which I can read which is probably a good thing.... Still, provides Cyrillic practice while we're walking along - and the people gruff and still horribly post-communistic. The town is right next to the River Sava which is very brown, but where all the city inhabitants go and swim and hang out in the evenings. We see the most brilliant hues over that water and the flat land past it in the evenings which is really nice. AND, since our city is so small, we get to see stars! Real stars! Like not the blackness that is the covering over Provo! Ah, to be away from the MTC. There are huge communist-style apartment complexes whose lights turn off every 45-100 seconds in the stairwells which is actually usually perfect for the amount of time that we're talking to people at their doors... The facades that face the streets are usually the backs or sides of houses, and first you must gain entrance through huge metal doors that connect them all. Everything is in huge blocks with people's living space going into the middle of the block, and not lengthwise, if that makes sense. The roofs are red-tiled, though covered in moss and the larger buildings of crumbling brick. It is so perfectly wonderful, and my camera has been thirsting in order to get at some of these visions. So great.
Mom, I got the package that you mentioned, at least I'm pretty sure that I did. I definitely got a bunch of little letters from the people in your Sunday-School class (of which Jason Pynn's was very helpful and I play that advice over in my head quite often). However, I got that the last-ish week of the MTC, so I doubt that you sent that one to the mission home? I don't know. We have yet to receive any post here in Sremska, but it's only been two weeks. We are actually going to have a Zone Conference (Our Zone consists of Sremska Mitrovica, Novi Sad, Beograd, and Osijek - a Croatian city near to us) and President is coming down, so he may have some letters or something.... Nadam se. Nadam se. Nadam se..... :P
Serbian is really fun, actually. The Cyrillic is coming pretty easily, but that just means that now I can understand as much Serbian as I can Croatian, which is practically zero. JK. Basically, there is a large handful of words that I've had to throw out and re-learn, and the "ije" is gone because the predominant dialect here is ekavian and not ijekavian which is cool. So I've just dropped all the many Js from my speach and it's fine. C. Jacobsen has actually been having some issues with that, though, because he's been out for about a year and a half and so all the habits are really formed in his head for that. But, my comprehension is coming up for quickly. Those first few days I just had absolutely no idea what people were saying and couldn't really differentiate the beginnings and ends of words, but now it's coming along quicker. People just speak so darn fast! Yrgh. Suffice to say, I'm learning, albeit never to the extent that I would like and expect of myself. Either way, as they always tell me here - Polako, polako. Uredu je. :)
So sorry to hear about Art! So happy simultaneously, though. I'll say it once, and probably a thousand times, but I just can't get over how lucky some people are to go back home. Ah well, I've got stuff to do. Later, then. I was excited that you all got to see some of the old gang though, especially Bro Reed! So great. 4th dimensionally say hi to him for me! Okay, okay. Good job. :)
Oh, and M.S. (that's a new term that I've just coined today actually - Meridian Script. Okay, so maybe it needs work, because I just think of, well, MS) somebody needs to tell me about all the horrible things you're doing with my room. Something about a bed, hmmm? Okay, okay, let's have it out.
I miss Bear, too. The Vucenovici here just rescued a dog and I told them to name him Bear, but I don't know if they will. Probably some silly Serbian name like Grgun or something like that. Such good memories. Sad, but good. Love you, mom. You'll be fine. I actually talked to a lady from Ottawa on our flight to Chicago and we talked about dogs for a long time. Such attachments there! Ah well, never really gone. He's imprinted on my heart.
This week was mainly spent in telling people about our English class for which we will have sign-ups tomorrow evening. We're hoping for a big turn-out, but we will see. We may actually get called in to help out the Beograd Elders who I guess usually get like 200 people to show up for those, which would be incredible if we were overwhelmed to that extent. I think their sign-ups are either Wednesday or Thursday. Anyways, we're hoping to do some good service by offering this free class and by maybe introducing some people to the Gospel through it. However, we also have our area book now and so are trying to find those less-active members that still live in the area, but that's tricky because the last time that people were in Sremska was like almost 2 years ago. We've got quite a bit of work to do with that.
Pricha: On Saturday it was late but we decided to go and see if we could find one more less-active and invite her back. She wasn't home, but on our way back from her place somebody cat-called us in English and I decided to invite him to English class or something like that. It took about 3.569 seconds for Branko (a man who we street-contacted the first day we were here) to recognize us and stand up. Long story short, we clarified some things, and set up an appointment with his family for Sunday. Yesterday, we went there and taught him and his wife about faith and the action that we need to take when we believe. Their neighbours were also there for most of it. It was really nice. They're a family of gypsy-descent or something like that so basically the dregs of society, but so loving and so nice. They accepted my poor Serbian and I think learned something. Spirit was definitely there. We've a follow-up with them on Wednesday, and we've assigned them 2 Nephi 31, so we want to talk to them about the importance of baptism and such. Funnily enough, they were actually prepared for like lesson outlines and commitments by the JWs that they had been receiving lessons from until recently. Should be good, I'm really hopeful about this family.
Other than that, the work is progressing, though slowly in my eyes. We study, we find, and now we've taught. Time to repeat. Serbia is great, people are great, the gospel is great. I wish you all well this week and hope you'll find joy AND fun in the things you do.
All Love and Hope,
C. Adams
P.S. In the next package that you send I could really use a USB stick. It's seeming to be a prevailing trend in order to print flyers and posters and to store information. That would be great.
P.P.S. Also, did you ever get that envelope with my memory stick in it? Or how about the package that I sent from the MTC?
'Dgenia. CMA
Friday, September 9, 2011
09/05/2011
Hold on to your pants....you won't believe what happened. I'm just a little freaked out.
Okay, update number 50000. I definitely hope that you're not all totally bored with this correspondence at this point, but let's face it, it's all I've got. Well, we might as well have it over with - I'm in Serbia. We're currently in a little hamlet called Sremska Mitrovica. Here's the story - so on Thursday morning, after finally having slept a little bit and having eaten a wonderful breakfast of pancakes that Sestra Rowe made for us, we were sat down and listened to a presentation about the countries that we are serving in and then got to talk about the dedicatory prayer of Croatia - which you should all read.... by the way - then we were assigned our companions. President Rowe started out by flashing a picture of this S. Jacobsen guy and then said the city Sremska Mitrovica and then my name. I guess we were just playing some sort of game of matching the blue cards that all these names and places were written on and so there I was. The look on my face must have been priceless I'm sure because I'd kind of pegged myself in Rijeka or Zadar or something like that, but I ended up going basically as far away from the coast as I could. It took me a few minutes to compose myself and to give a Sveta Troica - kind of a Serbian pride - handshake to Ctaresina Defreitas, but now I'm really doing alright.
So for shock factor, here you go. My trainer doesn't speak the language - and if you think I can, with whatever these weird rules are... well, anyways -, we're opening up an area that hasn't been opened in nearly two years, I can't read a word written all over the walls whether its advertising or if it's grafiti, I had a total Other Side of Heaven moment in Church yesterday while bearing my testimony - or whatever that was - and had to teach in Sunday school as well. So basically what I'm saying is that this is the absolute best thing that has ever happened to me in my life. For real, actually. It's been kind of this nagging desire since I heard that there was a possibility to be transferred over here. I don't actually know what it is, but this place feels right and whenever I learn to just accept this place, this language, and the fact that I'm actually here serving the Lord, then maybe I'll do some good.
The President - he's everything that we thought. Probably more. We had interviews with him and dinner at his home on that first Wednesday after that e-mail that I sent you. He's got this great love for the people here and his missionaries in general. He's very hands-on and exactly what I need in order to be motivated always. In fact, he showed up in our Branch President's house yesterday for a brief - and freaking amazing - meal put on by Sestra Vucenovic and spoke but a few words to me but they're enough to keep me going for another 30 days or so until we go back up to Beograd for a little Zone conference. Aaah! I'm in the Serbian Zone! There are now six of us here. Two in Beograd, two in Novi Sad, and two in Sremska Mitrovica. We also have the two elders and two sisters in Osijek in our Zone which means that I'm with Sestra Black!! and here trainer Sestra .... I've forgotten. But she's really cool and I met her that first day in Zagreb. Should be really. It's hard because now my entire class - basically my support system - is spread across several cities. I'm so excited for them. Anyways, this paragraph is about President. His wife is really nice - just the kind of mother figure that we need here. Very loving, very straightforward no funny business boys type of a deal. They have five kids - I remember Conner -whose room I borrowed that first night - and David who are both High School Age. Cute kids. There's Colton who's actually around Colton Pritchett's age which I thought was funny. Then two twin girls around 7 years old. Jessica and...... oops. Forgot. Ah well, I'll figure it out sooner or later. They live in this cool house that has a decent view of Zagreb and up all these twisty windy streets. Very fun.
That first night we got to see a contact in action which was cool. We were on a walk - all of us dragging our feet because we were so jet-lagged - and the elders we were with just started talking to this guy and I understood most of it, surprisingly enough. Granted, that was back in the days of Croatian speaking, but whatever. So that was fun, I hope they did get to meet up with him. We'll see.
So, had a meeting with our new companions - Elder Jacobsen actually reminds me a lot of Elder Mulder except that he has been out here for like 18 months and can show me the ropes, or at least he could have if we'd have been in Croatia... Salim se.... :) - and then were thrown into a boxy type van and sent down to Serbia. Got into Sremska like at 5 and talked with Radomir Vucenovic our Branch President. We ran into his wife and two daughters - basically the coolest cats I will ever meet, js. Milica and Ada are their names. Best voices together e'er. - and they were all super excited to see 6 missionaries in their little town. Very excited. I'm sure mama Vucenovic would have started cooking us something straight away if we hadn't been in the street - seriously, mom, she's a woman after your own Italian-based heart. So funny. We met with our land lady whom my teacher - Brat Morris - called Mama from his stay here. I believe that her name is Jovanka Osterman, but quite honestly she speaks this whole Serbian thing so fast that I get about .0942 percent of what she says. She'll always kind of look at my face, then back to Jacobsen and say "On ne resume..." - He doesn't understand... And then he'll translate for me. It's getting better though? Idk.
Anyways, now we're here and trying to get our feet under us. Finally got our Area book YESTERDAY so now we can find all of these 58 members that apparently we're supposed to have excluding, of course, the 9 that were in our Branch yesterday. Of course, now we have to learn now to read cursive cyrillic characters because all the Serbian Elders before us thought it would be fun to show off their new skills in that arena. Of course, I plan on being just like that. Just give me a couple more days, and I'll be fluent. :P
Let me try to describe the city. It's very.... reminiscent of post communist Yugoslavia. How does that sound? There are crumbling brick buildings and dirty streets and gypsies wandering around at night and about 8 cathedrals. Okay, 2 but still. It's actually very beautiful in a way and you know how I am about dirt and grime - especially for pictures (my camera is itching) - so I'm absolutely loving it. There are a couple of really huge tall apartment complexes that I'm sure were conscripted by Tito himself where all the old Communist people are living and where we've been tracting for the last couple of days. Everybody and their dog smokes, people don't smile, I can't read a word of what's in the store that we're going to go back to today and there are always children wandering around alone. I mean like little ones. I don't know exactly what's up with that... Anyways.
First day here was great, we talked to a man who seemed incredibly interested in what we had to say - Branko was his name - and who has six kids I guess. We invited him to church, but he didn't come so we'll contact him soon. We've found some other people who have expressed mild interest in the Church, but have yet to have a lesson or get a referral, even from our members which is kind of sad. Area book, it is! We have given out two copies of the Book of Mormon, though and a few pass along cards. People are just busy. Summer summer summer. Yay.
I am absolutely loving this place, and hopefully we'll do some good work here. President Rowe keeps referencing this Rich Harvest deal that's in the Croatian Dedicatory Prayer and I'm banking on it. The members here are incredibly strong and great and we're hoping to build on that a lot. I really do need some ideas for some things though, because obviously what I'm doing isn't working yet - okay, maybe I should have patience, but I mean, come on! We haven't even had a baptism yet! - so maybe if you could like take Family Home Evening night and write out some quick little sentences that I could say while tracting at doors or while walking around on the street, and I'll translate them. That would be superb. Could definitely use all the help I can get. Other than that, Sunday School answers: Read your scriptures, go to the Temple, pray - kind of a lot - and all that jazz. I love you cats, so here we go. Love you.
CTAPEWNHA ADAMS
Okay, update number 50000. I definitely hope that you're not all totally bored with this correspondence at this point, but let's face it, it's all I've got. Well, we might as well have it over with - I'm in Serbia. We're currently in a little hamlet called Sremska Mitrovica. Here's the story - so on Thursday morning, after finally having slept a little bit and having eaten a wonderful breakfast of pancakes that Sestra Rowe made for us, we were sat down and listened to a presentation about the countries that we are serving in and then got to talk about the dedicatory prayer of Croatia - which you should all read.... by the way - then we were assigned our companions. President Rowe started out by flashing a picture of this S. Jacobsen guy and then said the city Sremska Mitrovica and then my name. I guess we were just playing some sort of game of matching the blue cards that all these names and places were written on and so there I was. The look on my face must have been priceless I'm sure because I'd kind of pegged myself in Rijeka or Zadar or something like that, but I ended up going basically as far away from the coast as I could. It took me a few minutes to compose myself and to give a Sveta Troica - kind of a Serbian pride - handshake to Ctaresina Defreitas, but now I'm really doing alright.
So for shock factor, here you go. My trainer doesn't speak the language - and if you think I can, with whatever these weird rules are... well, anyways -, we're opening up an area that hasn't been opened in nearly two years, I can't read a word written all over the walls whether its advertising or if it's grafiti, I had a total Other Side of Heaven moment in Church yesterday while bearing my testimony - or whatever that was - and had to teach in Sunday school as well. So basically what I'm saying is that this is the absolute best thing that has ever happened to me in my life. For real, actually. It's been kind of this nagging desire since I heard that there was a possibility to be transferred over here. I don't actually know what it is, but this place feels right and whenever I learn to just accept this place, this language, and the fact that I'm actually here serving the Lord, then maybe I'll do some good.
The President - he's everything that we thought. Probably more. We had interviews with him and dinner at his home on that first Wednesday after that e-mail that I sent you. He's got this great love for the people here and his missionaries in general. He's very hands-on and exactly what I need in order to be motivated always. In fact, he showed up in our Branch President's house yesterday for a brief - and freaking amazing - meal put on by Sestra Vucenovic and spoke but a few words to me but they're enough to keep me going for another 30 days or so until we go back up to Beograd for a little Zone conference. Aaah! I'm in the Serbian Zone! There are now six of us here. Two in Beograd, two in Novi Sad, and two in Sremska Mitrovica. We also have the two elders and two sisters in Osijek in our Zone which means that I'm with Sestra Black!! and here trainer Sestra .... I've forgotten. But she's really cool and I met her that first day in Zagreb. Should be really. It's hard because now my entire class - basically my support system - is spread across several cities. I'm so excited for them. Anyways, this paragraph is about President. His wife is really nice - just the kind of mother figure that we need here. Very loving, very straightforward no funny business boys type of a deal. They have five kids - I remember Conner -whose room I borrowed that first night - and David who are both High School Age. Cute kids. There's Colton who's actually around Colton Pritchett's age which I thought was funny. Then two twin girls around 7 years old. Jessica and...... oops. Forgot. Ah well, I'll figure it out sooner or later. They live in this cool house that has a decent view of Zagreb and up all these twisty windy streets. Very fun.
That first night we got to see a contact in action which was cool. We were on a walk - all of us dragging our feet because we were so jet-lagged - and the elders we were with just started talking to this guy and I understood most of it, surprisingly enough. Granted, that was back in the days of Croatian speaking, but whatever. So that was fun, I hope they did get to meet up with him. We'll see.
So, had a meeting with our new companions - Elder Jacobsen actually reminds me a lot of Elder Mulder except that he has been out here for like 18 months and can show me the ropes, or at least he could have if we'd have been in Croatia... Salim se.... :) - and then were thrown into a boxy type van and sent down to Serbia. Got into Sremska like at 5 and talked with Radomir Vucenovic our Branch President. We ran into his wife and two daughters - basically the coolest cats I will ever meet, js. Milica and Ada are their names. Best voices together e'er. - and they were all super excited to see 6 missionaries in their little town. Very excited. I'm sure mama Vucenovic would have started cooking us something straight away if we hadn't been in the street - seriously, mom, she's a woman after your own Italian-based heart. So funny. We met with our land lady whom my teacher - Brat Morris - called Mama from his stay here. I believe that her name is Jovanka Osterman, but quite honestly she speaks this whole Serbian thing so fast that I get about .0942 percent of what she says. She'll always kind of look at my face, then back to Jacobsen and say "On ne resume..." - He doesn't understand... And then he'll translate for me. It's getting better though? Idk.
Anyways, now we're here and trying to get our feet under us. Finally got our Area book YESTERDAY so now we can find all of these 58 members that apparently we're supposed to have excluding, of course, the 9 that were in our Branch yesterday. Of course, now we have to learn now to read cursive cyrillic characters because all the Serbian Elders before us thought it would be fun to show off their new skills in that arena. Of course, I plan on being just like that. Just give me a couple more days, and I'll be fluent. :P
Let me try to describe the city. It's very.... reminiscent of post communist Yugoslavia. How does that sound? There are crumbling brick buildings and dirty streets and gypsies wandering around at night and about 8 cathedrals. Okay, 2 but still. It's actually very beautiful in a way and you know how I am about dirt and grime - especially for pictures (my camera is itching) - so I'm absolutely loving it. There are a couple of really huge tall apartment complexes that I'm sure were conscripted by Tito himself where all the old Communist people are living and where we've been tracting for the last couple of days. Everybody and their dog smokes, people don't smile, I can't read a word of what's in the store that we're going to go back to today and there are always children wandering around alone. I mean like little ones. I don't know exactly what's up with that... Anyways.
First day here was great, we talked to a man who seemed incredibly interested in what we had to say - Branko was his name - and who has six kids I guess. We invited him to church, but he didn't come so we'll contact him soon. We've found some other people who have expressed mild interest in the Church, but have yet to have a lesson or get a referral, even from our members which is kind of sad. Area book, it is! We have given out two copies of the Book of Mormon, though and a few pass along cards. People are just busy. Summer summer summer. Yay.
I am absolutely loving this place, and hopefully we'll do some good work here. President Rowe keeps referencing this Rich Harvest deal that's in the Croatian Dedicatory Prayer and I'm banking on it. The members here are incredibly strong and great and we're hoping to build on that a lot. I really do need some ideas for some things though, because obviously what I'm doing isn't working yet - okay, maybe I should have patience, but I mean, come on! We haven't even had a baptism yet! - so maybe if you could like take Family Home Evening night and write out some quick little sentences that I could say while tracting at doors or while walking around on the street, and I'll translate them. That would be superb. Could definitely use all the help I can get. Other than that, Sunday School answers: Read your scriptures, go to the Temple, pray - kind of a lot - and all that jazz. I love you cats, so here we go. Love you.
CTAPEWNHA ADAMS
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
08/16/2011
So, just a shout out to all you wonderful people, I thought it would be great for us to all pray for Chase as he is struggling with learning the tenses in Croatian. I know he would appreciate it. Thanks for all your cookies, letters and support...I know that he is so grateful. Here we go:
Hey! So this one may be a tad short because I've just spent some of my time e-mailing an Elder who's over in Croatia now. They left us some sort of treasure hunt that ended in some candy and so we've been corresponding a little bit with them. Sounds way cool. Super stoked. Here goes.
The Yo-Yo Woes
So the yo-yo (which was the best thing to happen to this earth since irrigation ditches) has died. Yes, absolutely died and is no longer a member of my MTC family. It is tragic. I calcualate that after 9-10 days I had actually played it to the fraying point of the string and had to bargain my way into a new string from another elder. Even so, I ended up causing it to crack in half after about 5 more days of its use. It was one of the saddest days of my existence here. Ah well, farewell dear freind.
The Pie Fiesta
Thank you so much for the pie! We've a few Brits and Knucks in our midst and I've been trying to explain to them for weeks now the Americanness of Apple Pie and they just will not accept it. Needless to say, with the pie, we definitely gave them all a testimony of what it means to be American. Picture that opening scene in Free Willie, only with some Apple Pie. Mmmmmmmm. So nomnomnom. later we ended up doing the same thing with a 2 pound Rice Krispie Treat that Starjesina Biskup received from his mother. It was pretty disgusting. Man, I love being a teenage boy.
The Cases Case (OR, a Bad Case of the Cases)
This week I've really been trying to understand how and when and why to use the five cases that are in this language. After speaking Tarzanesque Arabic and Englishesque German, these things are tricky for me, but I'm SLOWLY getting them. It just has been making me a little mad because I've been the only person in my class who doesn't really understand them and so on one particular day here I had 7-8 people, including a Serbian teacher, trying to explain them to me. I'm just stubborn and will need to spend approximately 9.8076 billion hours by myself trying to understand it. Good thing I get so much alone time.....
Biskup's Hidden Talent
Starjesina Bishop, who we lovingly refer to as odboika (volleyball) and Biskup (bishop...) is basically my favourite person here. When we all showed up we sized each other up and basically judged eachother on how we'd all learn and teach and be as missionaries. Whatever I decided on him was exactly the opposite of what it is. Everything he does blows out of the water the preconceptions that I've had about anything. Anyways, on a certain day this week we were playing the piano to kind of detox from studying and he hops on right as we're about to leave and flies through All of Me by Jon Schmidt and basically made me nearly cry. It was so impressive. I've likely never seen a better live performance of it nor heard better dynamics. So cool. i think he's probably the single most genuine person that I have ever met. Cannot wait to get him as a companion, insha allah....
The Greeks
After our Temple Walk on Sunday my favourite Brit and I talked to the Greeks for a long time. Interesting bit about them is that they're all European as they don't allow Americans into the country as missionaries anymore citing past issues and mishaps. Anyways, they've Fins and Frenchies and Austrians and Germans and I believe a Portugeuse sister. We just talked to them about everything and it made me super stoked to get over into the country and just be in Europe, albeit South and East of the normal metropolises. Should be fun.
The Croatian Attempt
Dad. Nice try. Srsly. hahaha. Ummmmmm, here's the thing. Imagine taking a google translated paragraph into Spanish and then putting it through a system which takes out every nyay and other "nasties". Yah, it comes across as ?s and I've no idea what it's trying to say. Imagine, then, having your entire vocabulary limited to the subject of the gospel and your favourite colours. It's pretty tricky. I'm sure that you had a really good week, and I'm happy for you but really all I got was that you ate some ribs. Thanks. LOVE YOU!!! :P
The Five-lettered Fiasco
Yeah, I got five letters on a single day. That's um, that's like uh basically it... So yeah.
TRC
Okay, I don't know what I've talked to you about the TRC, but it's fantastic. It's basically my most favourite time here. On Thursdays we go and we teach, as to members, a spiritual thought to either return missionaries or natives. They're all volunteers and they're all super excited to help us learn. As we've two Serbs now, and as the language differs slightly, I got thrown with one of them. We ended up teaching two native serbs. Aleet and Nikola. So much fun. Such great stories. Aleet actually fled during the war. I'm finding out that really I know nothing about the war.... I think I should. If you could find it in your hearts to maybe DearElder me a complete (and by complete I mean brief, but explanitory) history of the war in the 90s over there I'd be very grateful. Thanks! Anyways, it was really fun and spiritual and I think I'm starting to comprehend a lot. In fact, we're now listening to General Conference talks in Croatian and getting like 40%. So fun.
Futbol with Friends
The new Bulgs showed up this week and they've two Brits of their very own. We challenged them to futbol and basically destroyed them totally. I think I scored 5-6 and so did my other 5 teammates. Their Brits just layed down and took it. So fantastic. I love the sport, and it's just beautiful. Can't wait to play some in Europe.
Temple Sightings
We ran into S. Mulder's best friend Josh at the Temple and he's coming in tomorrow. It was really nice to see some real people and real children. The better sighting, however, was the Grandmother of one of the Serbian missionaries now. We talked to her about everything over there and she pumped us way up. I'm so excited and entirely terrified to be over there. It's going to be the best and worst. So excited. Did you ever see Elder Nelson's dedication? Check it.
Anyways, I'm loving it here and loving the work. It's rather polako, but so zabavan. I'm losing all typing skills and some hrvatski words are coming more naturally than English. I take this to be a good sign? I sing hymns and I pray and I study and I work. I love. I live. Ciao, ciao. Until next time. This is ke7dvp, Starjesina Adams. Clear. :P
Hey! So this one may be a tad short because I've just spent some of my time e-mailing an Elder who's over in Croatia now. They left us some sort of treasure hunt that ended in some candy and so we've been corresponding a little bit with them. Sounds way cool. Super stoked. Here goes.
The Yo-Yo Woes
So the yo-yo (which was the best thing to happen to this earth since irrigation ditches) has died. Yes, absolutely died and is no longer a member of my MTC family. It is tragic. I calcualate that after 9-10 days I had actually played it to the fraying point of the string and had to bargain my way into a new string from another elder. Even so, I ended up causing it to crack in half after about 5 more days of its use. It was one of the saddest days of my existence here. Ah well, farewell dear freind.
The Pie Fiesta
Thank you so much for the pie! We've a few Brits and Knucks in our midst and I've been trying to explain to them for weeks now the Americanness of Apple Pie and they just will not accept it. Needless to say, with the pie, we definitely gave them all a testimony of what it means to be American. Picture that opening scene in Free Willie, only with some Apple Pie. Mmmmmmmm. So nomnomnom. later we ended up doing the same thing with a 2 pound Rice Krispie Treat that Starjesina Biskup received from his mother. It was pretty disgusting. Man, I love being a teenage boy.
The Cases Case (OR, a Bad Case of the Cases)
This week I've really been trying to understand how and when and why to use the five cases that are in this language. After speaking Tarzanesque Arabic and Englishesque German, these things are tricky for me, but I'm SLOWLY getting them. It just has been making me a little mad because I've been the only person in my class who doesn't really understand them and so on one particular day here I had 7-8 people, including a Serbian teacher, trying to explain them to me. I'm just stubborn and will need to spend approximately 9.8076 billion hours by myself trying to understand it. Good thing I get so much alone time.....
Biskup's Hidden Talent
Starjesina Bishop, who we lovingly refer to as odboika (volleyball) and Biskup (bishop...) is basically my favourite person here. When we all showed up we sized each other up and basically judged eachother on how we'd all learn and teach and be as missionaries. Whatever I decided on him was exactly the opposite of what it is. Everything he does blows out of the water the preconceptions that I've had about anything. Anyways, on a certain day this week we were playing the piano to kind of detox from studying and he hops on right as we're about to leave and flies through All of Me by Jon Schmidt and basically made me nearly cry. It was so impressive. I've likely never seen a better live performance of it nor heard better dynamics. So cool. i think he's probably the single most genuine person that I have ever met. Cannot wait to get him as a companion, insha allah....
The Greeks
After our Temple Walk on Sunday my favourite Brit and I talked to the Greeks for a long time. Interesting bit about them is that they're all European as they don't allow Americans into the country as missionaries anymore citing past issues and mishaps. Anyways, they've Fins and Frenchies and Austrians and Germans and I believe a Portugeuse sister. We just talked to them about everything and it made me super stoked to get over into the country and just be in Europe, albeit South and East of the normal metropolises. Should be fun.
The Croatian Attempt
Dad. Nice try. Srsly. hahaha. Ummmmmm, here's the thing. Imagine taking a google translated paragraph into Spanish and then putting it through a system which takes out every nyay and other "nasties". Yah, it comes across as ?s and I've no idea what it's trying to say. Imagine, then, having your entire vocabulary limited to the subject of the gospel and your favourite colours. It's pretty tricky. I'm sure that you had a really good week, and I'm happy for you but really all I got was that you ate some ribs. Thanks. LOVE YOU!!! :P
The Five-lettered Fiasco
Yeah, I got five letters on a single day. That's um, that's like uh basically it... So yeah.
TRC
Okay, I don't know what I've talked to you about the TRC, but it's fantastic. It's basically my most favourite time here. On Thursdays we go and we teach, as to members, a spiritual thought to either return missionaries or natives. They're all volunteers and they're all super excited to help us learn. As we've two Serbs now, and as the language differs slightly, I got thrown with one of them. We ended up teaching two native serbs. Aleet and Nikola. So much fun. Such great stories. Aleet actually fled during the war. I'm finding out that really I know nothing about the war.... I think I should. If you could find it in your hearts to maybe DearElder me a complete (and by complete I mean brief, but explanitory) history of the war in the 90s over there I'd be very grateful. Thanks! Anyways, it was really fun and spiritual and I think I'm starting to comprehend a lot. In fact, we're now listening to General Conference talks in Croatian and getting like 40%. So fun.
Futbol with Friends
The new Bulgs showed up this week and they've two Brits of their very own. We challenged them to futbol and basically destroyed them totally. I think I scored 5-6 and so did my other 5 teammates. Their Brits just layed down and took it. So fantastic. I love the sport, and it's just beautiful. Can't wait to play some in Europe.
Temple Sightings
We ran into S. Mulder's best friend Josh at the Temple and he's coming in tomorrow. It was really nice to see some real people and real children. The better sighting, however, was the Grandmother of one of the Serbian missionaries now. We talked to her about everything over there and she pumped us way up. I'm so excited and entirely terrified to be over there. It's going to be the best and worst. So excited. Did you ever see Elder Nelson's dedication? Check it.
Anyways, I'm loving it here and loving the work. It's rather polako, but so zabavan. I'm losing all typing skills and some hrvatski words are coming more naturally than English. I take this to be a good sign? I sing hymns and I pray and I study and I work. I love. I live. Ciao, ciao. Until next time. This is ke7dvp, Starjesina Adams. Clear. :P
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Aug 9th, 2011
We are getting close...I can't believe that he will be gone in 20 days and 60 MTC meals. We are all very excited to see how it goes. Tune in next week for the continuing story of...Leave it to Chaser!!!!
Ciao!
Okay, important things obviously come first in this sort of thing, so here goes: Dad, the yo-yo was the BEST.IDEA.E'ER.
just saying. okay, the rest is drivel.
So there's this Canadian from Vancouver in my District who's going to Slovenia. He's basically a northern version of Soren, but on a mission, so it's pretty funny. Thing is, since the MTC is so horribly ridiculous already, he's decided that somehow we're actually just on a sitcom about it and every week we are having a new episode. The first was us tackling a sever social problem in a light-hearted manner (Anorexia) and this week we will be trying to be incredibly positive about dire circumstances around the world. YAY! Anyways, now my life is broken into either cut-scenes or episodes. So here they are from this week:
The Plight of the Bulgs
So on Tuesday the Bulgarians were told that they have no visas and would not be allowed to travel to their country. They were told they may have an extra 2-3 weeks here or else be sent somewhere until it could be fixed. Cectpa Meyers, the kind, motherly genteel woman of our zone basically blew a gasket and was hyperventilating for around three days. Apparently it was like perfect and there's a huge party this weekend celebrating the 30th anniversary of it being a mission. She was going to explode. S. Harris sprained S. Seymour( the other Bulg)'s wrist a few weeks back in futbol and so he had a cast on and would probably have to wait even longer! However, after an understated Zone fast, yesterday they were given their visas (along with roughly 10 hours to pack and get everything ready) and then flew out this morning. Yay for miracles! Seriously though, we were so happy for them, and had a really big party after class last night. Cookies all around.
The Serbian Drama
So we've a Croat and a Slovene who have now metamorphasized and become Serbs. They were told on Wednesday that their mission has been changed at the request of Presjednik Rowe and now they must forget most everything (well, at least the Slovene must) and learn their Cyrillic alphabet. Minor freak-out for both of them. Apparently there are 2 missionaries in Serbia right now and Presjednik Rowe doesn't think that's enough at all. I guess Serbia has been opened and shut like a billion times in the last 5 or so years. our teacher actually was evacuated while serving there and then sent to Colorado. Mom, didn't you mention someone like that who you knew their mom or something? Anyways. So now we think that Presjednik Rowe is the most amazing, ambitious man alive and figure that we'll have all of the Slavic area converted in a couple of months. no big deal.
The Fast part I
So first fast Sunday. (And only, now that we're going early!!!!) As mentioned previously we all basically simultaneously decided to fast for the Bulgs. It was just funny to see the dynamics of people and how they combated it. A lot of sleepers, a lot of whining. I was just like, come on Elders! Srsly, this stuff is fun! Actually, it was really only easy for me because I looked at some of my stash and mentally told myself that I would not bring it. This was how it became voluntary in my head, and therefore easier. Not to mention it was almost a vacation to get rid of the nasty MTC Cafeteria food. Someone rubbed it in my face yesterday that I still have like 60 meals here in there. Barfffffffff......
The Fast part II
Yesterday we did our first District-wide English Fast! Didn't speak a lick of English yesterday. Well, that's kind of a lie. I forgot during our Odboika time and so didn't quite make it all the way, but for the most part we only did Croatian! So much fun. i loved it. I did get really mentally tired toward the end of the day, and had to take a breather or two especially during our last class period, but it was really great. I know that we won't be able to really communicate AT ALL when we get over there (IN TWENTY DAYS!!!!!!!!!!! okay, little excited) and will just be calling people to repentance and awkwardly flailing our tongues at them, but still. Feels like we got this DOWN! uh. huh.....
um, this is the part where nothing flows... An episode.... <--- See how cool of a title that is? haha Happy Anniversary! What did you do?! Where did you go?! Man, but you kids are old. :) love you both. The letters I got from Camp and from the Activities Day Girls were the best things ever! Thanks so much for sending that, mom. It was really nice to have and to just be able to go through that. So cute. So great. Oh, and m.s. <--- that's mid-script My ring size is a 10. Going off of what you gave me, that is. So there you go. i would love a Hrvat CTR ring! There's this Elder in my Zone going to Czech Prague and he's got one, but he says it's a bad translation but it still looks cool There are so many languages here that i'm basically in heaven. I can't take five steps without hearing something foreign. I was studying Croatian Grammar outside underneath a really nice tree when this Finnish Elder who's on my floor came up and was only speaking in Fin. He just asked if he could bear his testimony and then the Sister that was with him translated for us. I definitely do not envy those Elders at all. i figure that there was a reason that i am only here for 8 weeks, because if i had to stay for the twelve I would bust a cap. Probably. ya. It was really cool. Anyways, I see friends who are going to Russia, Romania, the Phillipines, New York, Madagascar, and basically everywhere. It's really cool to see. I've been reading through this Grammar book on the Slavic languages and have found what I want to do when I grow up! Maybe.... It's just that they've been arguing for about 700 years over there about the appropriate endings to their verbs. Sounds like my kind of people. Totally see secret combinations cropping up trying to influence Bosnian children in their language. *Evil, maniacal laugh* Yay! it's interesting to me though. Go languages. Administration How is my FBI clearance coming along? How about my visa? I'm pretty sure WE don't actually need visas to get into the country, but it would be nice to know how it's coming along. Shoot me a letter or something. We are trying out our translation skills and would like some songs. Please send along (Maybe via DearElder) lyrics to If I Were a Rich Man; that one from hercules where he says I will go most anywhere....; and the Mulan Make a Man out of You song. We're just bored with translating our textbooks.... Variety! I do not yet know my flight number, but by virtue of last name I am the first person to get the information about it and will definitely send along the info for Rod. P.S. LOVED the cookies and pictures. Have fun with those huskies! Love you kids. I need Soren Paul Budge's address. But we have to be sneaky about it. Go on my fb and send a message to Alex Riehle asking for it. She'll know what to do. Fly low. Trust nobody. ;) Anyways, I love you all. It's been really great this week, though I'm beginning to feel ready to just try my mettle out there. Keep it up. Volim hrvatski, volim moi obitelj, volim Boga. Ciao Ciao! Vidimo se. Starjesina Adams
Ciao!
Okay, important things obviously come first in this sort of thing, so here goes: Dad, the yo-yo was the BEST.IDEA.E'ER.
just saying. okay, the rest is drivel.
So there's this Canadian from Vancouver in my District who's going to Slovenia. He's basically a northern version of Soren, but on a mission, so it's pretty funny. Thing is, since the MTC is so horribly ridiculous already, he's decided that somehow we're actually just on a sitcom about it and every week we are having a new episode. The first was us tackling a sever social problem in a light-hearted manner (Anorexia) and this week we will be trying to be incredibly positive about dire circumstances around the world. YAY! Anyways, now my life is broken into either cut-scenes or episodes. So here they are from this week:
The Plight of the Bulgs
So on Tuesday the Bulgarians were told that they have no visas and would not be allowed to travel to their country. They were told they may have an extra 2-3 weeks here or else be sent somewhere until it could be fixed. Cectpa Meyers, the kind, motherly genteel woman of our zone basically blew a gasket and was hyperventilating for around three days. Apparently it was like perfect and there's a huge party this weekend celebrating the 30th anniversary of it being a mission. She was going to explode. S. Harris sprained S. Seymour( the other Bulg)'s wrist a few weeks back in futbol and so he had a cast on and would probably have to wait even longer! However, after an understated Zone fast, yesterday they were given their visas (along with roughly 10 hours to pack and get everything ready) and then flew out this morning. Yay for miracles! Seriously though, we were so happy for them, and had a really big party after class last night. Cookies all around.
The Serbian Drama
So we've a Croat and a Slovene who have now metamorphasized and become Serbs. They were told on Wednesday that their mission has been changed at the request of Presjednik Rowe and now they must forget most everything (well, at least the Slovene must) and learn their Cyrillic alphabet. Minor freak-out for both of them. Apparently there are 2 missionaries in Serbia right now and Presjednik Rowe doesn't think that's enough at all. I guess Serbia has been opened and shut like a billion times in the last 5 or so years. our teacher actually was evacuated while serving there and then sent to Colorado. Mom, didn't you mention someone like that who you knew their mom or something? Anyways. So now we think that Presjednik Rowe is the most amazing, ambitious man alive and figure that we'll have all of the Slavic area converted in a couple of months. no big deal.
The Fast part I
So first fast Sunday. (And only, now that we're going early!!!!) As mentioned previously we all basically simultaneously decided to fast for the Bulgs. It was just funny to see the dynamics of people and how they combated it. A lot of sleepers, a lot of whining. I was just like, come on Elders! Srsly, this stuff is fun! Actually, it was really only easy for me because I looked at some of my stash and mentally told myself that I would not bring it. This was how it became voluntary in my head, and therefore easier. Not to mention it was almost a vacation to get rid of the nasty MTC Cafeteria food. Someone rubbed it in my face yesterday that I still have like 60 meals here in there. Barfffffffff......
The Fast part II
Yesterday we did our first District-wide English Fast! Didn't speak a lick of English yesterday. Well, that's kind of a lie. I forgot during our Odboika time and so didn't quite make it all the way, but for the most part we only did Croatian! So much fun. i loved it. I did get really mentally tired toward the end of the day, and had to take a breather or two especially during our last class period, but it was really great. I know that we won't be able to really communicate AT ALL when we get over there (IN TWENTY DAYS!!!!!!!!!!! okay, little excited) and will just be calling people to repentance and awkwardly flailing our tongues at them, but still. Feels like we got this DOWN! uh. huh.....
um, this is the part where nothing flows... An episode.... <--- See how cool of a title that is? haha Happy Anniversary! What did you do?! Where did you go?! Man, but you kids are old. :) love you both. The letters I got from Camp and from the Activities Day Girls were the best things ever! Thanks so much for sending that, mom. It was really nice to have and to just be able to go through that. So cute. So great. Oh, and m.s. <--- that's mid-script My ring size is a 10. Going off of what you gave me, that is. So there you go. i would love a Hrvat CTR ring! There's this Elder in my Zone going to Czech Prague and he's got one, but he says it's a bad translation but it still looks cool There are so many languages here that i'm basically in heaven. I can't take five steps without hearing something foreign. I was studying Croatian Grammar outside underneath a really nice tree when this Finnish Elder who's on my floor came up and was only speaking in Fin. He just asked if he could bear his testimony and then the Sister that was with him translated for us. I definitely do not envy those Elders at all. i figure that there was a reason that i am only here for 8 weeks, because if i had to stay for the twelve I would bust a cap. Probably. ya. It was really cool. Anyways, I see friends who are going to Russia, Romania, the Phillipines, New York, Madagascar, and basically everywhere. It's really cool to see. I've been reading through this Grammar book on the Slavic languages and have found what I want to do when I grow up! Maybe.... It's just that they've been arguing for about 700 years over there about the appropriate endings to their verbs. Sounds like my kind of people. Totally see secret combinations cropping up trying to influence Bosnian children in their language. *Evil, maniacal laugh* Yay! it's interesting to me though. Go languages. Administration How is my FBI clearance coming along? How about my visa? I'm pretty sure WE don't actually need visas to get into the country, but it would be nice to know how it's coming along. Shoot me a letter or something. We are trying out our translation skills and would like some songs. Please send along (Maybe via DearElder) lyrics to If I Were a Rich Man; that one from hercules where he says I will go most anywhere....; and the Mulan Make a Man out of You song. We're just bored with translating our textbooks.... Variety! I do not yet know my flight number, but by virtue of last name I am the first person to get the information about it and will definitely send along the info for Rod. P.S. LOVED the cookies and pictures. Have fun with those huskies! Love you kids. I need Soren Paul Budge's address. But we have to be sneaky about it. Go on my fb and send a message to Alex Riehle asking for it. She'll know what to do. Fly low. Trust nobody. ;) Anyways, I love you all. It's been really great this week, though I'm beginning to feel ready to just try my mettle out there. Keep it up. Volim hrvatski, volim moi obitelj, volim Boga. Ciao Ciao! Vidimo se. Starjesina Adams
Monday, August 8, 2011
August 2, 2011
Grab some tissue....holy cow this is good.
Heyy! Supp cats? Otay, it's early so this one may be a little well.... early-style writing. We're just doing laundry at this Godless time of morning because my companion's eyes are about to fall out of his head so we have to go check his glasses during our normal time. Anyways, here we go! (Man, I feel like Mario when I say that. Could I pull of Italian?)
Dad. Srsly. I get your DearElders. Stop freakin'. They come in about two days I feel like. They're great. No need to keep printing everything off and sending it to me. It works. Trust the system!! Okay, maybe not, but this part of the system is effective.... I LOVED getting your package. It was mostly just sweet and awesome because of the vast amounts of electrical tape all over it, but the inside was fun too! I walk around with that yo-yo all the time. Definitely helps me to remember the vocab that I'm trying to get down. It's fun. And, it came on Starjesina Armond's birthday, so we had some fun and party time with that. His parents actually sent him a cake in this massive box (he's from Provo, like two secs away....) and balloons and streamers. So much fun. And then of course, back down to quiet time and journal writing. I'm still writing in my journal everyday! It's fun, but I think that it'll definitely be worth it even though most of it is just boring day-to-day. Whatevs.
I'm so excited about Blake! I wish that I could have been there, but it sounds like it was really awesome. Way to go, kid. He's here in like October, right? Or is he just going straight down to Sao Paulo?
Our investigators are great. With Srdan we had a REAL conversation! I was so happy, because we actually talked for 45 minutes in straight Croatian, and half of that was me. Admittedly, my companion does little to help with the whole teaching bit, but it's nice because I usually have him pray or do something along those lines so that he's included. It's hard by myself, but I feel like there's a lot of good things that happen in our lessons. With Srdan, he is an Orthodox Serbian and so is nationalistically decided against baptism because of his family. He's been taught by like 6 sets of missionaries, but has been mistaught something along the way and I can't quite put my finger on it. Like someone taught him that our prayers with God are more of a rote thing? I don't know what that's all about, but he is seeming to be intrigued and interested in what we have to say and when we show him the actual reasons that we're here. It's interesting. Marilena, our other investigator is very interested in the whole after life bit. We talk to her about ordinances for the dead and everything and have now invited her to baptism twice. She just needs to know for herself. Prayer prayer prayer.
OH!!!!!!!!!! I'm so glad I didn't forget. We found out like Thursday sometime that we are now leaving the MTC a whole week early! So now our departure date is like Tuesday August 29 or something like that. You've no idea how excited AND freaked out we were when we translated that message on our chalk board. Vi Odlazite jednog tjedna rano!!!! It was insanity. The thing is, with our new Mission President, transfers have shifted to a different week (apparently we are 9 week transfers) and so they bumped us up. BUT, our mission is losing around 8 missionaries this transfer, and there are around 4 greenies there right now of the 26, which means that after another 6 or 7 leave after our first transfer, and their replacements come in, we will be the majority of our mission and will likely have to train and be the senior companions that second transfer out. Little freaked out? Oh, you betcha. It is so amazing though, we are incredibly excited to get out of here and just start this work. I NEED to bee out there. I'm so excited.
The language is coming along as it is supposed to, I believe. We are speaking only in Croatian for roughly 3 hours every day and are trying a mixed Croenglish whenever it is physically possible. We actually do a decent job of that, though mostly it's just for our entertainment so we can mentally escape the monotony. Yesterday S. Mulder and I were translating Preach My Gospel back into English and I hit about 7 sentences right on the nose word for word. Granted, I can only really call you to repentance and teach the Plan of Happiness, and would have no idea how to ask directions or tell you my favorite colour at all. It's pretty messed up, but it's fun. We sing hymns three times a day in our class in Croatian and are starting to be comfortable with the words and phrasings. I can usually translate about half of them as we sing, which is cool. It's pretty darn easy to rhyme in Croatian, which makes for fun hymns and things. So cool. We're also praying a lot more in our language and have memorized the Our Purpose thing and the beginning of JST in it. Coming along. Polako, polako. As Skylar would say, malo pa malo.
I thought about it on Sunday and thought that maybe I should let you know why I'm here. It's so easy to think that because I'm LDS and a Mormon that I was always destined to come on a mission and had to go through my right of passage. It's easy to suppose that I'm here through blind obedience, but I want you to know the real reasons, or at least the real reasons that strike a chord with me right now.
I am a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because I love my God. I know that he is there and that he loves me entirely. I have been placed in a wonderful home with parents who sought to teach and to educate me about my purpose here on this earth at this time. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities and people and love that have been placed along my path and cannot help but feel a sweet desire to in some way pay it back. I am here because of Jesus Christ. My brother has asked that I take on his name every day for a tiny portion of my life and preach his redeeming love; preach joy and happiness and truth. I am here because I love people. I love the people in my life, I love the people of Croatia on an unprecedented level. I love the thought that I get to serve them. I love. And so I share.
I want to share this gospel that causes me to laugh and giggle and cry and feel because I know that it can bring happiness unfounded in the world. I know that if people will but listen to the broken words that I offer, they will find a joy and a peace and a hope that is uncomparable with any here by a far cry. I am here because I hold the Priesthood of God and because I have been given the gift of knowing the truth about why we are here and what our purpose is on this life - to return to him; to love Him. I am here because in the early 1800s a boy had a question and asked it. I am here because he received an answer to his prayer and was given the same Gospel that was given to Adam, Moses, Noah, and Jesus Christ. I am here because I asked. I took the promise of the prophets and asked and felt that warm, filling, comforting, loving, entirely encompassing feeling of joy and peace and love and happiness and goodness. I am here because I cannot be anywhere else. I am here because it is right.
I love my Heavenly Father with an undying desire to serve him in my small way. I love the joy. I love the hope. I love the truth. I hope to continue on and be a good servant and yearn for that day when I might return and kneel before Him. I believe in Christ. I hope in Christ. I know.
I love you all, my family. I hope for you and pray for you and know you to be doing good things always. I am so excited about this work and this joy.
Yours,
Starjesina Adams
Heyy! Supp cats? Otay, it's early so this one may be a little well.... early-style writing. We're just doing laundry at this Godless time of morning because my companion's eyes are about to fall out of his head so we have to go check his glasses during our normal time. Anyways, here we go! (Man, I feel like Mario when I say that. Could I pull of Italian?)
Dad. Srsly. I get your DearElders. Stop freakin'. They come in about two days I feel like. They're great. No need to keep printing everything off and sending it to me. It works. Trust the system!! Okay, maybe not, but this part of the system is effective.... I LOVED getting your package. It was mostly just sweet and awesome because of the vast amounts of electrical tape all over it, but the inside was fun too! I walk around with that yo-yo all the time. Definitely helps me to remember the vocab that I'm trying to get down. It's fun. And, it came on Starjesina Armond's birthday, so we had some fun and party time with that. His parents actually sent him a cake in this massive box (he's from Provo, like two secs away....) and balloons and streamers. So much fun. And then of course, back down to quiet time and journal writing. I'm still writing in my journal everyday! It's fun, but I think that it'll definitely be worth it even though most of it is just boring day-to-day. Whatevs.
I'm so excited about Blake! I wish that I could have been there, but it sounds like it was really awesome. Way to go, kid. He's here in like October, right? Or is he just going straight down to Sao Paulo?
Our investigators are great. With Srdan we had a REAL conversation! I was so happy, because we actually talked for 45 minutes in straight Croatian, and half of that was me. Admittedly, my companion does little to help with the whole teaching bit, but it's nice because I usually have him pray or do something along those lines so that he's included. It's hard by myself, but I feel like there's a lot of good things that happen in our lessons. With Srdan, he is an Orthodox Serbian and so is nationalistically decided against baptism because of his family. He's been taught by like 6 sets of missionaries, but has been mistaught something along the way and I can't quite put my finger on it. Like someone taught him that our prayers with God are more of a rote thing? I don't know what that's all about, but he is seeming to be intrigued and interested in what we have to say and when we show him the actual reasons that we're here. It's interesting. Marilena, our other investigator is very interested in the whole after life bit. We talk to her about ordinances for the dead and everything and have now invited her to baptism twice. She just needs to know for herself. Prayer prayer prayer.
OH!!!!!!!!!! I'm so glad I didn't forget. We found out like Thursday sometime that we are now leaving the MTC a whole week early! So now our departure date is like Tuesday August 29 or something like that. You've no idea how excited AND freaked out we were when we translated that message on our chalk board. Vi Odlazite jednog tjedna rano!!!! It was insanity. The thing is, with our new Mission President, transfers have shifted to a different week (apparently we are 9 week transfers) and so they bumped us up. BUT, our mission is losing around 8 missionaries this transfer, and there are around 4 greenies there right now of the 26, which means that after another 6 or 7 leave after our first transfer, and their replacements come in, we will be the majority of our mission and will likely have to train and be the senior companions that second transfer out. Little freaked out? Oh, you betcha. It is so amazing though, we are incredibly excited to get out of here and just start this work. I NEED to bee out there. I'm so excited.
The language is coming along as it is supposed to, I believe. We are speaking only in Croatian for roughly 3 hours every day and are trying a mixed Croenglish whenever it is physically possible. We actually do a decent job of that, though mostly it's just for our entertainment so we can mentally escape the monotony. Yesterday S. Mulder and I were translating Preach My Gospel back into English and I hit about 7 sentences right on the nose word for word. Granted, I can only really call you to repentance and teach the Plan of Happiness, and would have no idea how to ask directions or tell you my favorite colour at all. It's pretty messed up, but it's fun. We sing hymns three times a day in our class in Croatian and are starting to be comfortable with the words and phrasings. I can usually translate about half of them as we sing, which is cool. It's pretty darn easy to rhyme in Croatian, which makes for fun hymns and things. So cool. We're also praying a lot more in our language and have memorized the Our Purpose thing and the beginning of JST in it. Coming along. Polako, polako. As Skylar would say, malo pa malo.
I thought about it on Sunday and thought that maybe I should let you know why I'm here. It's so easy to think that because I'm LDS and a Mormon that I was always destined to come on a mission and had to go through my right of passage. It's easy to suppose that I'm here through blind obedience, but I want you to know the real reasons, or at least the real reasons that strike a chord with me right now.
I am a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because I love my God. I know that he is there and that he loves me entirely. I have been placed in a wonderful home with parents who sought to teach and to educate me about my purpose here on this earth at this time. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities and people and love that have been placed along my path and cannot help but feel a sweet desire to in some way pay it back. I am here because of Jesus Christ. My brother has asked that I take on his name every day for a tiny portion of my life and preach his redeeming love; preach joy and happiness and truth. I am here because I love people. I love the people in my life, I love the people of Croatia on an unprecedented level. I love the thought that I get to serve them. I love. And so I share.
I want to share this gospel that causes me to laugh and giggle and cry and feel because I know that it can bring happiness unfounded in the world. I know that if people will but listen to the broken words that I offer, they will find a joy and a peace and a hope that is uncomparable with any here by a far cry. I am here because I hold the Priesthood of God and because I have been given the gift of knowing the truth about why we are here and what our purpose is on this life - to return to him; to love Him. I am here because in the early 1800s a boy had a question and asked it. I am here because he received an answer to his prayer and was given the same Gospel that was given to Adam, Moses, Noah, and Jesus Christ. I am here because I asked. I took the promise of the prophets and asked and felt that warm, filling, comforting, loving, entirely encompassing feeling of joy and peace and love and happiness and goodness. I am here because I cannot be anywhere else. I am here because it is right.
I love my Heavenly Father with an undying desire to serve him in my small way. I love the joy. I love the hope. I love the truth. I hope to continue on and be a good servant and yearn for that day when I might return and kneel before Him. I believe in Christ. I hope in Christ. I know.
I love you all, my family. I hope for you and pray for you and know you to be doing good things always. I am so excited about this work and this joy.
Yours,
Starjesina Adams
July 26th, 2011
We got this letter while Jessica and I were at camp so we didn't get a chance to post it that week. Do you like how I got the smack down on the food? Do you know how hard it is to fill a care package if you don't send food? Mike did put together an awesome care package though with fun stuff. Yay Dad!!!
Dobro jutro moj obitelj! I love you kids! Okay, it's weird, but every time that I get on this computer I kind of freak out and tense up because I just don't know if I can get it all in... Well, here goes nothing!
This week seemed like it took about 5.6 seconds to get through, though each individual day consists of about 30 hours of study and simultaneous boredom. It's pretty great. The people are really fun to be with and the teachers even more so. Um, this is going to be all out of order, but I'm just following bullet points that I have. So bear with me. There's really no way of telling which day is which here. Except of course for p day and sundays. Is fun. :) We did something this week for the second time in MTC history - took a picture of ALL the missionaries here. We are about 2500 strong (which is tiny compared to the 52000 out in the field) and it was cool. That was immediately following a really great Sunday Fireside by a seventy about the importance of the Book of Mormon. S. Mulder and I were completely blown away. It was the best, most steadfast testimony of its importance that I have heard since Elder Holland's talk 2 years ago. So, basically I'm sold. Love it. It quelled some of my worries about retention in Croatia because if we just attach them to it, there's no way they can deny it. Such a good book.
I've started a study journal at the bidding of PMG so that I can better keep my thoughts oriented and remember things. It's way fun and a really useful tool for remembering what I've learned. Which just so you know is kind of a lot. It's just been great to write and read. I'm also going for two years straight of not a day missed writing in my journal. I've almost filled a third of Jessica's that she gave me already! Crazy cray.
Um, there's a song Prayer of the Children that S. Mulder was singing a while back that we realized we could translate some of it! So cool. It's apparently about the Bosnian children during the war in the 90s. It says Da li chuete, sve dieche molitve... Which is something about hearing the prayers of the children. It was a really cool moment and a huge boost in confidence for us. Also Come thou Fount. Heard that for the first time here. Ways good. Way.
Investigators. We have two. Marilena is great. We were teaching her a little about the Plan of Salvation and she really opened up about a friend that had died in a car crash. It was way sad, but filled us with hope as we explained about the Spirit world and how we can be with families and friends again. She read this great Hinckley quote with us too and really wanted to read the BoM. So much fun. So great. We also have one named Srjon. (Can't spell it without the "nasties" - the letters not in the standard latin alphabet. So frustrating while typing to you....). He believes in the church, has read the BoM, and loves what we teach. No way he's getting baptized though, because he's Serbian and thus Orthodox. He's only interested in like music and whenever we're exciting. Which means that with S. Harris, my teaching companion, he's often bored. We probably gave the worst lesson of all time on Friday, but we're seeking to redeem ourselves this week with just singing with him. Creative, no? Thanks, Pres. Stapley.
It was Pioneer day here and all the Utahans went crazy! I feel like I know NOTHING about Church History. The choir director on Sunday went crazy with all these little stories and things. So fun, but I'd never heard them. The devotional also talked about being our own self pioneers. First times for everything!
It rained last night. Oh, it rained. I love it. I was trying to breathe through my sicky sick nose to smell it, and it was wonderful. I absolutely love the rain. Oh my gosh, yes.
we play sick nasty tight volleyball during gym periods. We're actually really good, I think. It's fun to play with people who care. I'm too short and white, though so I've no hops for the front row. Ah well, we've got S. Biskup to spike it for us. My sets are getting way good! S. Mulder and I are going to start running a mile every gym period though, because we're getting fat from this nasty food and lack of moving around. It's pretty rediculous.
Sunday in Sacrament we had a really great talk given by our Branch president Presjednik Creer. He's great. Just absolutely fantastic. Love him. He talked about prayer and the need that we have to ponder things and then go and talk to the Lord about them in order to know what He needs us to do. Really simple, really profound. While trying to pray in Croatian all the time, now, we still have some in English and I've seen a huge change in my own. I love it. Prayer is just cool, you know? Such great answers all the time.
Wednesday we had new missionaries come into our zone. We inducted them by having "Zone prayer" and only speaking in our various languages rather loudly, having a speech given by our "Bilbo" and a fight between the new and old gingers. It was pretty great. Wrapped it up with a spiritual thought and prayer and then lights out and quiet time on time. Just to be the examples. Fun fun fun and then be good still. So fun. We realized that we'll probably have 2 more sets of English speakers before we leave here. Should get better every time!
So, tell me about some stuff! how was camp?! How is home? How is work? Really anything is good if it comes in a letter. Mom, I love to get yours because they're fun. This week I wasn't quite so inundated so I was able to read it a couple of times. So great. I like you. There are some things that I would like if at all possible. In your next care package, whenever it may be, DO NOT SEND FOOD. Blunt? Okay, maybe. It's just that we keep eating crap right before bed and it's gross. The gummy bears went quick, because I tried to parce them out and share as much as I could, ending up instead with more cookies and twizzlers than I could have ever dealt with alone. The M&Ms, though I have horded. Starshi Loynes (the British zone leader) has been coming in every night and praising your name. Even so, unless it's like a fruit leather or bag of baby carrots (hopeful look?) please don't? We's dying. Instead you should send me like another pair or two of athletic socks, because mine are pretty gross by end of week. And maybe like a bouncy ball or yo yo or something to keep me occupied and not going crazy in our residence hall. Idk. This is in no way a bash on your last package. We loved it, but just... ya. Love you.
I'm worried about the Croats. I don't know if I'm doing enough to be ready in the languages I'm learning. Croatian is easy compared to this gospel thing. I have a hard time simplifyng. I just worry that there will be people I miss because I'm not doing all I can here. Our 50 words per day goal is cute and all, but is it enough? Maybe. Our serbian teacher pushes us really hard. But it's good. I am trying to learn cyrillic on my own, because I think it's beautiful. It's really great. Maybe they'll transfer me to Serbia! Lawlz. Someday maybe I'll be ready to understand the magnitude of this. Will I? Idk. I hope so. It's the work. I'm hoping to do it my whole life long. My life is so incredibly rich right now. I am raw and sensitive to every emotion and spiritually uplifting teaching right now and I couldn't imagine a better place for me. There's so much for me to learn, there's so much for me to teach. I love you, guys. I love home. I have been blessed, however, with not being able to focus on home at all. I cannot think of you. It's not an admonition to myself, but rather a physical impossibility. Strange tender mercies. Be well this week. I love you all.
Znam da ovdije je dobro za ja. Volim moj obitelj, prjatelji, i Bog. Ja sam dobar sada. Ciao Ciao.
Starjeshina Adams
Dobro jutro moj obitelj! I love you kids! Okay, it's weird, but every time that I get on this computer I kind of freak out and tense up because I just don't know if I can get it all in... Well, here goes nothing!
This week seemed like it took about 5.6 seconds to get through, though each individual day consists of about 30 hours of study and simultaneous boredom. It's pretty great. The people are really fun to be with and the teachers even more so. Um, this is going to be all out of order, but I'm just following bullet points that I have. So bear with me. There's really no way of telling which day is which here. Except of course for p day and sundays. Is fun. :) We did something this week for the second time in MTC history - took a picture of ALL the missionaries here. We are about 2500 strong (which is tiny compared to the 52000 out in the field) and it was cool. That was immediately following a really great Sunday Fireside by a seventy about the importance of the Book of Mormon. S. Mulder and I were completely blown away. It was the best, most steadfast testimony of its importance that I have heard since Elder Holland's talk 2 years ago. So, basically I'm sold. Love it. It quelled some of my worries about retention in Croatia because if we just attach them to it, there's no way they can deny it. Such a good book.
I've started a study journal at the bidding of PMG so that I can better keep my thoughts oriented and remember things. It's way fun and a really useful tool for remembering what I've learned. Which just so you know is kind of a lot. It's just been great to write and read. I'm also going for two years straight of not a day missed writing in my journal. I've almost filled a third of Jessica's that she gave me already! Crazy cray.
Um, there's a song Prayer of the Children that S. Mulder was singing a while back that we realized we could translate some of it! So cool. It's apparently about the Bosnian children during the war in the 90s. It says Da li chuete, sve dieche molitve... Which is something about hearing the prayers of the children. It was a really cool moment and a huge boost in confidence for us. Also Come thou Fount. Heard that for the first time here. Ways good. Way.
Investigators. We have two. Marilena is great. We were teaching her a little about the Plan of Salvation and she really opened up about a friend that had died in a car crash. It was way sad, but filled us with hope as we explained about the Spirit world and how we can be with families and friends again. She read this great Hinckley quote with us too and really wanted to read the BoM. So much fun. So great. We also have one named Srjon. (Can't spell it without the "nasties" - the letters not in the standard latin alphabet. So frustrating while typing to you....). He believes in the church, has read the BoM, and loves what we teach. No way he's getting baptized though, because he's Serbian and thus Orthodox. He's only interested in like music and whenever we're exciting. Which means that with S. Harris, my teaching companion, he's often bored. We probably gave the worst lesson of all time on Friday, but we're seeking to redeem ourselves this week with just singing with him. Creative, no? Thanks, Pres. Stapley.
It was Pioneer day here and all the Utahans went crazy! I feel like I know NOTHING about Church History. The choir director on Sunday went crazy with all these little stories and things. So fun, but I'd never heard them. The devotional also talked about being our own self pioneers. First times for everything!
It rained last night. Oh, it rained. I love it. I was trying to breathe through my sicky sick nose to smell it, and it was wonderful. I absolutely love the rain. Oh my gosh, yes.
we play sick nasty tight volleyball during gym periods. We're actually really good, I think. It's fun to play with people who care. I'm too short and white, though so I've no hops for the front row. Ah well, we've got S. Biskup to spike it for us. My sets are getting way good! S. Mulder and I are going to start running a mile every gym period though, because we're getting fat from this nasty food and lack of moving around. It's pretty rediculous.
Sunday in Sacrament we had a really great talk given by our Branch president Presjednik Creer. He's great. Just absolutely fantastic. Love him. He talked about prayer and the need that we have to ponder things and then go and talk to the Lord about them in order to know what He needs us to do. Really simple, really profound. While trying to pray in Croatian all the time, now, we still have some in English and I've seen a huge change in my own. I love it. Prayer is just cool, you know? Such great answers all the time.
Wednesday we had new missionaries come into our zone. We inducted them by having "Zone prayer" and only speaking in our various languages rather loudly, having a speech given by our "Bilbo" and a fight between the new and old gingers. It was pretty great. Wrapped it up with a spiritual thought and prayer and then lights out and quiet time on time. Just to be the examples. Fun fun fun and then be good still. So fun. We realized that we'll probably have 2 more sets of English speakers before we leave here. Should get better every time!
So, tell me about some stuff! how was camp?! How is home? How is work? Really anything is good if it comes in a letter. Mom, I love to get yours because they're fun. This week I wasn't quite so inundated so I was able to read it a couple of times. So great. I like you. There are some things that I would like if at all possible. In your next care package, whenever it may be, DO NOT SEND FOOD. Blunt? Okay, maybe. It's just that we keep eating crap right before bed and it's gross. The gummy bears went quick, because I tried to parce them out and share as much as I could, ending up instead with more cookies and twizzlers than I could have ever dealt with alone. The M&Ms, though I have horded. Starshi Loynes (the British zone leader) has been coming in every night and praising your name. Even so, unless it's like a fruit leather or bag of baby carrots (hopeful look?) please don't? We's dying. Instead you should send me like another pair or two of athletic socks, because mine are pretty gross by end of week. And maybe like a bouncy ball or yo yo or something to keep me occupied and not going crazy in our residence hall. Idk. This is in no way a bash on your last package. We loved it, but just... ya. Love you.
I'm worried about the Croats. I don't know if I'm doing enough to be ready in the languages I'm learning. Croatian is easy compared to this gospel thing. I have a hard time simplifyng. I just worry that there will be people I miss because I'm not doing all I can here. Our 50 words per day goal is cute and all, but is it enough? Maybe. Our serbian teacher pushes us really hard. But it's good. I am trying to learn cyrillic on my own, because I think it's beautiful. It's really great. Maybe they'll transfer me to Serbia! Lawlz. Someday maybe I'll be ready to understand the magnitude of this. Will I? Idk. I hope so. It's the work. I'm hoping to do it my whole life long. My life is so incredibly rich right now. I am raw and sensitive to every emotion and spiritually uplifting teaching right now and I couldn't imagine a better place for me. There's so much for me to learn, there's so much for me to teach. I love you, guys. I love home. I have been blessed, however, with not being able to focus on home at all. I cannot think of you. It's not an admonition to myself, but rather a physical impossibility. Strange tender mercies. Be well this week. I love you all.
Znam da ovdije je dobro za ja. Volim moj obitelj, prjatelji, i Bog. Ja sam dobar sada. Ciao Ciao.
Starjeshina Adams
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