10/03/2011

Hey all you blog followers...I repent for not posting on a more regular basis. I will be sure to post every Monday....so tell your friends and neighbors to check out the latest and greatest. Also, if you are wanting to send something (letter, gift, chocolate) to Chase, get it to me and I will include it in the next care package.

Thank you for your continued prayers on his behalf...you are all a blessing to him.

This one goes out to all the people who have ever been loved. So, All of you.

The China Shop.
Here's the thing. There are China Shops (places with ACTUAL asian people - crazy) and then there's THE China Shop. This is how Serbian Elders spend their time in Beograd. They go to the most incredibly insane shops on the sketchy side of town where they sell 300 Dinar ties and switchblades and ninja stars by the bucketful. No big deal, though. No big deal. This is where we got to go last P-Day. We saw the bombed-out embassy building in downtown, missed our bus, and saw the American Embassy which is basically just a bunker in the middle of the Capital, just in case, you know?

The Buba (Bug)
We spent about a half an hour of our week watching the absolute stupidest bug run into a lamp in our kitchen, get caught in a spider's web, almost die, escape, and then walk straight into a BIGGER spider's web, almost die, escape, etc. It took him about half an hour to get up the energy after all this to fly around and run into the lamp again. He's probably dead, or at least I hope he is and that Natural Selection is running it's course.... Oh, Darwin.

The "Workout Plan"
We decided to be good and do something with our bodies but fill it with the most disgusting, amazing cereals known to mankind this week. Here's how it went. I'll quote my journal from Tuesday: "This morning we went running. Probably only did about 3-4 km, but wtill. It was nice. His giardea started kicking in, or whatever it is he has. Tricky. So we just walked back and talked. It was kind of nice. The River Sava looks absolutely gorgeous in the foggy haze of dawn. There is beauty, if I just look." We didn't do anything else all week. We ROCK at consistency.... Yay, goals.

Ракиа Which is to say, Whiskey.
We ran into a man in one of the residential areas who was rank with it. He wanted a hand-out of money so that he could buy more. We tried to teach him how he could have a better life and pull himself up by means of his bootstraps, but to no avail. Best thing I could give him was a Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet. I want you all to look up the word "rank" and then multiply it by the word "sewer". Welcome to that expository moment of my life. :/

The Ruma Files
We've received the information of a nearby town called Ruma and all that the missionaries that were there have deigned to give to us. There are wonderful finding ideas such as "American Football Contacting" in which I believe a football is thrown around until someone asks when they can be baptized.... It's incredibly useful information.... Allow the sarcasm to build up and swell..... Yeah. Apparently they missed something. Ah well, there's some good stuff about the people that they talked to. Could, at some point, be getting bikes and heading over there. Idk. We'll see. That's a lot of cornfields to cut through....

English Class
Beginners. It's going well. Mama (our gazda/landlady) is coming which is way cool. She probably at this point speaks about as much English as I can Serbian, but whatever. They're an interesting class, but we're excited and hopeful about a few of their members of being interested. Either way, we're just in service stage right now. So, spiritual thoughts it is until they are more open and questionative. Is that a word?
Middle Level. Pretty young class. Some guy we ran into on the street named Boris is coming and he's 25ish. But the others are the Vucenovic girls and their friends. And Zlata, our one referral which hasn't really been a referral and who we have yet to really contact in that way. Nervous about being wrong about anything, all of them. A very prevalent mentality is that you must know everything and be perfect in all your endeavours. Tricky. Tricky.
Advanced. We have Emilija, who is an English teacher in Elementary school. Totally conversational class. We just have it at her home with her husband there and it's nice. We're working through an online class with her on how to teach better. Pretty fun. Oh, Serbian Custom. Guests are served Rasberry Preserves (just like how we make jam) and water. Then coffee. Then Rakia for the men. Well, we had preserves. It was fun. Very hospitable once you get to know them....

?
We don't really know what it was. We were cleaning the church and got invited to something unintelligible over the phone by Zlata. It ended up being a kind of Toast of the Town thing for CM at the Roman Ruins. We met people who were displaying their art, and saw a really cool firedance thing in the middle of the ruins to an amazing song. Pretty cool, but we don't really know why or how or anything about our being there.... It was... cool? Very cool, yes. Just... hmm.

The Attempted Planning Session
We took a LONG time to plan for the week, this week. Like, several companion study sessions. Shouldn't have been that way, I know, but it was. I just couldn't see the purpose of all these numbers that we throw on the page every day and week and how that's somehow supposed to help us feel better and help us to achieve our goals here.... It was very frustrating as I have absolutely no testimony of those types of goals. It's something that doesn't work with my head. I still don't get it, and am only hoping upon hope that maybe something good will happen because of them. We'll see. I just can't translate that in my head....

The Smartt
Elder Smartt who lives in another country was up this week. He met with us and, well, taught by example. He kept telling us to be bold in everything we do, and he's well, quite simply from the South. He was very bold in our meeting with the Branch Priesthood whilst we talked about Home Teaching and very bold as he told us how we should do things in Sremska. Some good information, though I'm unwilling - for silly, inconsequential reasons - to implement some of his tactics.

General Conference
I could understand the beginning! That is, when we heard the first 7-8 words in English... Outside of that? Not a thing. Okay, not true. I did get something about Храброст (courage) on Sunday Morning. That's where I directed my personal study today, actually.... It was very interesting to listen in a different language. My comprehension capacity was taken back down to being 6 or 7 years old but I was actually trying to listen, though I wasn't then. I'm sure they were good messages. We saw both the morning sessions with the Vucenovic's, at around 6 at night. We're going to watch Priesthood for FHE tonight. I won't be able to understand... I could REALLY use an Ensign with all the talks as soon as they come out? That would be fantastico.

Randoms
Happiness = What you get/What you Want.
That is to say 2 Палачинке/ 1 палачинке = 200% happy. But who in their right mind just wants one? ^That's a Serbian Crepe, btw.

"Often the ones who need our love most are the most unlovable." -Cecil O. Samuelson.

"We Relish news of our heroes, forgetting that we are extraordinary to somebody, too." -Helen Hayes (Quote contributed by Ms. Kyra Nelson of Billings Montana to whom I am eternally grateful for letters which cannot be read in under 7.69 minutes).

Study Journal Excerpt
"When President Monson got up to speak I heard the first few words and was sure that I knew what they meant - that he was talking about Temples and where the new ones would be. I was sure of this and so was listening for specific vocabulary only - i.e. city names. Because I was trying to listen to what I wanted to hear, I missed entirely his message and did not grow from it at all. Too often I try to fit other people's words and thoughts into my pre-calculated, pre-supposed paradigm that I've set up for them and so miss out on the truly important messages in this life."\

Word of the Week
Породица
Porodica
Pronunciation: Po (Kung fu Panda) Rod (Road) i (Spanish "y") ca (hissy sort of sa with a "ts" almost.)

I appreciate your continued prayers and love and all that jazz. Sun's shining, music's jamming, Jokovic is winning at that tennis thing. Yay Serbia!

Vazi, vazi, ciao.

Старешина Адамз