Week 76 - Zaggie and sand volleyball

Okay so I know I still need to write a bunch of emails but ain't nobody got time for that rn so Imma just write one for this week and the others will come later haha

This week was so fun 

Ribs !!!!!!!

For pday we went up to Maribor again and hung out with the missionaries there. We bought a massive watermelon and ate it again. It was the funniest thing ever because we had a meetup with one of the members in Maribor and so we split from the other missionaries but we had to take the watermelon with us so Sestra Stutzman and I were just chilling on the bench eating watermelon in 90 degree heat. It was just such a funny and bizarre experience. 

The watermelon 

Tuesday and Wednesday we were in Croaatiiaaaaa!! We went for R and R which is when new missionaries get back together with the other missionaries who came out with them after the first 6 weeks in the mission field. It is a good way to check in about how they are doing and talk about what they want to improve on for the next part of their mission. 

 Party van for r and r 

It was a lot of meetings but so chill because I didn't have to do anything XD We also stayed in a really boujee hotel with a fancy breakfast so it was a win win situation for me. 

Sestra McConkie drew me :)

The coolest thing happened on the way back though so MIRACLE ALERT. On the train ride back, the train was just completely full and so we sat by this older couple. The older lady roasted me so hard because I was talking about how hot it was and she was like yeah girl it is literally summer what do you expect. Hahahaha gotta love sassy grandmas. I was mad stressing about the train ride because I knew we both had to pay 3 euros extra to match the actual ticket price but we had a combined 2,26 euros between the both of us haha. And I also didn't know if this was a train where we would have to stop and get on a different train. Overall mad stressing. Ticket guy comes over and he's like bro where is your money and I offer the meager offering we have and explain that bro we don't have anything more than this. He looks at it and then just walks away and never comes back so miracle number one! Later on we start talking to the older couple again and of course the conversation jumps to what the heck what are you Americans doing here. So we explain everything and end up showing them the Book of Mormon. While we were explaining it we just heard in Slovene "Wait are you guys mormons?" Now usually that does not start or end well but it actually was a really good conversation. So we went back and forth between the questions from the older couple and other guy for the entire rest of the train ride. It was so cool. The older guy said that he would fill out a request for a Book of Mormon online (miracle number two). And then the other guy got off at our stop with us and so we kept chatting with him. He asked where our church was so I was just like hey we will show you. Also he is 19 years old which is so cool because he was just so interested and curious. Sadly we couldn't show him inside the church because he has to catch another train but hey we have his contact now (miracle three). 

R and r woooo

Thursday and Friday were both pretty chill. After our english class on Thursday we invited a couple people over for lunch at the senior couples' house so one of the Ukrainian ladies came as well as a new volunteer from Ireland. She is so cool and we were able to explain some of our beliefs and give her a Book of Mormon. We hope to meet with her again soon. Also the weather has been so nice and hot lately. 

Ice cream 

Saturday tho. Saturday was banging. So one of the elders in Lj found a really cool opportunity to get out in the community. Basically it was a 4x4 sand volleyball tournament. Isn't that epic?!?! So him, Elder Owen, Sestra Smith, and I signed up for it and went on a little mini exchange. 

The volleyball gang

And man this was so fun. Everyone there was insanely good and have trained together so it was really good competition. But man was it so fun. I didn't realize how much I missed diving to get the ball. We also talked to so many people and they were all so surprised that 1. we were from America and decided to come to this tournament 2. that we could speak slovene I think the coolest thing though was the fact that one of the people incharge of marketing came up to us and said "hey can we get a picture of you guys with your tags so we can post it on our instagram?" (italics added for emphasis) HELLO?!?!? Is that not the coolest thing ever?!?!?! 

The pic of us they posted 

As far as how we did in the competition, we sucked haha but it was still so good. And the weather was perfect and ugh amazing. The only bad part was when Sestra Stutzman and I were coming back to Celje our travel back was just wow. Insane. Instead of having us take a train we had to take a bus to a random place and then a train. BUT THEN the bus was one minute late so the train left without us and the next train wouldn't come until 9.30 which meant we had to wait basically 2 HOURS for the train to come and then take the train for another HOUR to Celje. We got home pretty late, let's just say that. We were going slightly insane on the train haha. 

Waiting for the train for forever 

 On da train - you can tell how done we were

Overall a pretty good week. To end it off here is a verse that I really liked that was shared while at R and R. 

"Yea, blessed is this people who are willing to bear my name, for in my name shall they be called, and they are mine." Mosiah 26:18 

I love this scripture because it testifies of the simple truth that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father. He loves every single one of us and is so so so so so willing to bless us with whatever we need and I think that is so cool. 

Ice cream: 3 

WEEK # 75ish - Out of order

Hi guys so funny story. Last last Sunday it stormed over here. Like basically step outside and you're in the shower or a waterfall. Well, like normal people my comp and I decided to go play in the rain a bit (we were also out there for practical reasons but we did stay out longer to have fun). Of course I am taking pictures and recording and whatnot and it was so so so so so fun. Well, as you may have guessed by now my phone got ko'ed by the rain and now it doesn't work. Yes I did do the youtube sound to get the water out of the speakers and it has been in rice for the past week but no luck. 

I'm not going to buy a whole new phone because I am going home in less than 55 days and am getting an iphone (blessed iphones :,) oh how I miss you). Thankfully, we do have an extra loaner phone that I can use until I go home but that is in Croatia and I am not going to be in Croatia until next week. So basically sorry if I don't respond and most likely you will get emails later. 

I love you all so much 

UPDATE:

Phone randomly turned on this past Tuesday. The alarm would still go off in the morning so I would have to randomly tap all over the screen to turn it off, but Tuesday morning the alarm went off and barely awake of course, I went to turn my alarm off when I realized I could see my screen. Ain't no way. My phone just rose from the dead. I think I terrified Sestra Stutzman with my reaction but hey how can you not shout and jump for joy when your phone revives itself. So it's been workingish this entire week. It will glitch out every now and then but I'll take it. It just adds personality ;) 

I'll catch up on emails later but love you all and have a blessed day my loves 

Here is the photo I took to test if the camera was working.

It's working :) 

Week 71 - tan lines and fun times

Heeelllooooooooooooo!!! How is everyone? Thungs are lovely over here in the land of Slovenia (here's my monthly reminder that I am not in Slovakia haha). This week was another fun one - it was soooo nice and sunny outside so we spent every minute we could soaking up the sun. 

Some highlightssss

- one of the charity/organizations we work with had a cooking activity where we all got together and made a yummy chicken pasta and dessert. That was super fun and it was cool to hangout with them. Since both Sestra Stutzman and I are new, it was a good chance to introduce ourselves and what we do here. We were able to answer a lot of gospel questions which was fire. 

- we are still doing a lot of english classes for Ukrainian kids, adults, and Slovene adults. It has been going pretty good. We taught some of the Ukrainian kids all of the different ways to say hello and goodbye (ex. What's poppin? What up? Peace out! Aight imma dip! Etc) so funny. 

Lavender ice cream gang

- we went and worked on a farm for like 5 hours. It was so much fun and it seems like we are going to go at least once a week to help. This is the coolest family ever and it is just so cool because we can also talk to them about the gospel. I got the most wicked sunburn but then I tried the old balkan trick where you put plain yogurt on the burn and after a bit it wasn't red anymore! Crazy, huh? But hey! It worked! And it was so good to do some physical service 

Working on the farm with the Maribor elders

Farm gang 

With the farm gang again 

- we had a branch picnic which was super sweet. A couple people came and so we just chilled and chatted for a bit. The branch president's wife told us how they met and their love story which was super entertaining  I love them so much. 

Game night getting intense

The Ukrainian elders + the Wilkersons + us 

Lunch @ the Wilkersons 

- we also got to go down to Ljubljana really fast to go to one of the younger kids' baptism. It was super sweet to see all of the members again. Haha I keep seeing them and so it's funny because they keep saying, "wait why are you here I thought you moved to Celje?" Haha what can ya do? 

- On Sunday it was super precious to be back. I had forgotten how small it was and how many things depended on us. It was interesting to just be reminded of that but also cool to see everyone who came. There were some intense deja vu moments going on when the wifi connection with Maribor cut out haha. Good to see that not much has changed with the bad wifi.  

View from Celje castle 

Me 

Also some big news - some of you already know but sadly my family will be moving  they are going to be moving this week back west to Vegas. Crazy, huh? I'm sad that I won't be going home to Connecticut but hey Vegas is cool too haha. I'll def come back to visit though so no worries 

Ice cream count: 2 :(

Lavender ice cream 

Week 70 - this is true

Hello my lovely people! Today was another insane but good week! Transfers were on Monday but my new companion wasn't arriving until Wednesday afternoon so Sestra McConkie and I posted up together for those three days until our news comes got here. It was soooooo freaking sad to say goodbye to Sestra Williams and Hancock - they are some of my favorite people ever. Love you both. 

This weekend we had an insanely incredible, special, once in a lifetime, unique, and every other word with that emotion experience. Elder Bednar, one of the two apostles came and visited our mission. Now, there has not been a visit from a general authority since 2010 and that was 13 years ago so this was a big deal. This meant that on Sunday, all of the members from Slovenia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Croatia would have the chance to meet up together and hear from a living apostle. Is that not the coolest thing in the world????? And another cool thing was all of the missionaries got to come early on Saturday and have a personal conference with him. I will explain more about both days specifically later. You don't want to miss out on it. Fr

our goodbye to Sestra Williams and Hancock :,(

Anyways let's start at the start of the week! After lugging my luggage all over the place we finally just decided to go to Kranj and have an adventure! We met with Mehtab and that, as always was such a hoot. He is hilarious. And of course we had to get the amazing kebab and the guy was so nice. He was from Macedonia and so he taught me us all of the words of the ingredients in Macedonian. So cool. And then we discovered the best drink to grace the earth. It was in the library (my favorite library ever in slovenia and I guess the world honestly) vending machine and was a bezeg lemonade. I am obsessed with it now. 

The lemonade (I am drooling just thinking abt it)

On Tuesday we were going to go visit one of my favorite members because for some reason the wind decided to become viscious and start a bora (look it up haha) so it was too dangerous to go visit her. I genuinely sobbed and yes, I have the pictures to prove it. I really really really hope I can say goodbye to her before I go. Ugh I am so mad at the dumb wind but what can you do. Later on in the day we went to Celje to help teach a class of Ukrainian kids. It was fun and by the end of this, I am going to be able to speak some Ukrainian. Oh and we also went and saw Lea play basketball again for the national team in slovenia! She is so so so cool. They played against Hungary and of course my first night back in Celje we had to get Stari Pisker. Man I missed those ribs and it was so so so scrumptious. 

We spent the night in Celje and then in the morning went back to Ljubljana to move Sestra Hancock in and pick up our new companions. Well we got a little distracted shopping and eating McDonald's because they arrived EARLY and were just sitting around until one of the other missionary companionships randomly found them. Lol awkward haha. What a welcome to Slovenia haha. The rest of the day was just traveling back, unpacking, organizing, and cleaning. 

my cutie comp

The next day we helped with the adult english class for the older ukrainians/slovenes. That was good! The lady I was teaching english told me that I was like sunshine :,) tears and because the Wilkerson's are amazing we had lunch with them and the other elders (who are assigned to speak/learn ukrainian). It was so good. One of the goals for today was to get Sestra Stutzman registered so she didn't get kicked out of the country. Well, I thought I was an expert so I went to the place I went to when I first got here and was trying to figure all of that out and well it just not working out. The guy kept saying that he can't register her because she doesn't have a visa and I'm over here being like bro she literally just got here yesterday how could she have a visa. Well turns out I went to the wrong buidling hahaha. I went to the place where you get your visa work done and not the police station. my b my b We sent a distress signal to the Wilkersons and got it all figured out. The police guy was funny. He saw that my visa was going to expire in a month or so (aka before I go home) and said "I am just going to do this" while putting his hands in front of his eyes hahaha. 

Friday we went to Maribor for district council and it was really good! We went to Jack and Joes afterwards and it was sooo good. I didn't get the pizza burger this time but Sestra Stutzman did and it got the stamp of approval from her. 

The Jack and Joe's burger

We then met up with Hana who is a girl I met a year ago in an english summer camp. She is so so so cool. We got a yummy oreo cinnamon roll and slushies!! Woooooooo!! 

Hana + slushy + oreo cinnamon roll

We also had another english class that night which was the typical one that I have done in the past in the church. The same two people came as always :,) They have my heart. I love them both so much and find it so cool how they just keep coming. They are both literally fluent but they keep coming. After this english class we lead a bible group class online with the elders and only one of our members joined but hey that was okay. She is hilarious. 

Saturday was a whole blast and a half. We got to the church over an hour and a half early which was such a good idea because that meant we could chat with all of our missionary buddies. It was soo good to see everyone again. Especially my mtc group, Sestra Wendt, Sestra King, Sestra Mefford, and Starešina Walters. So fun. 

SESTRA WENDTTTTTT 

The actual conference itself was amazing. We were encouraged to not write down any of the words that were spoken by him or others, but instead what the Holy Ghost was teaching us. I thought that was so cool because then that way we can pay less attention to making sure you have perfect notes of everything the person said, but instead you have notes of the specific things the Spirit has taught you. I don't remember everything that was talked about in the conference, but if you look in my notes, you will see written three separate times the words, "this is true". As I have gotten closer and closer to the end, it is easy for the thoughts of doubt to creep in and tell you to doubt everything. Doubt why you came. Doubt what you are doing. Doubt why you are staying. Those three simple words along with the feelings I felt that day are more than enough to chase away any inkling of doubt. I can say with a surety that God answers prayers. He answers them in a specific way and timing for us personally. Those three words were a confirmation to a prayer. To a question. 

Buckle up because Sunday was even cooler. A big part of why it was cool was because I got to see all of the members from Ljubljana and Celje and it was like a big family reunion. Hugs were thrown all over the place and it was so precious. But the actually conference itself was so amazing and yet again another testiment of the truthfulness of everything. I would say so much more but I think this email is turning into a novel now haha. Anyways, it was an amazing first week of the transfer. My comp is the sweetest. 

Icecream count: 2 + 1 slushy 

Times said the phrase "when I was here a year ago": 48

Week 69 - back to the place where it all began

Hello everyone!! This is a fun email because we got transfer news!!!! Now keep in mind this is my LAST transfer. Isn't that absolutely insane? Now I'll tell you the transfer news later, we gotta start in the beginning. ;)

Okay so I forgot to talk about this last week but last Sunday we had one of the coolest things ever happen. The entire byu womens soccer team and their familes were at church and so we had a whopping 116 people at church. That is insane because usually we are in the 30s/40s for attendance so over two times the amount of people. We had to bring extra chairs and whatnot. It was just so cool to see so many people and really testified to me that one day that chapel will be filled every Sunday. Not just this one. 

Here are some highlights:

- the Celje sisters came down for pday and we got yummy food and met with our buddy Alenka (love her)

Alenkaaaa <3

- finally got to meet with our famous basketball player Lea - she is so cool and we already planned a cross country road trip with her in the States 

- went over to Teja and Nalu's house and it was so so so funny. Nalu basically told me I looked like this one movie character (Bedanec) which I find completely untrue and then they female-ized the name and have started calling me Bedanka hahaha. I'll include a pic of Bedanec for reference 

The guy I look like according to Nalu. Thank you Nalu for saying I look like bedanec

the sweetest text ever from Teja - I will always be their Bedanka :,)

- helped in the botanical garden and I found my favorite plant of all time. It's called the Cotula hispida in Latin but it is literally so soft. It is so weird but I want it all over my yard because it is so nice.

My fav plant 

- we also went with the other sisters to visit Tina again. I swear I never laugh harder than when I am there. I truly love visiting them. And not just because of their dogs Walter and Felicia. They genuinely are the sweetest people ever. And yes I did have an allergic reaction but who cares. 

- for our last district council we got kebab pizza and it was so fire

Smithy and I

- we went to Kranj and visited with one of the member families there. They are the sweetest and it was so cool because usually they just start talking to us in english but they kept going in Slovene which was so fun. It def was cool to be able to keep having the same conversation you would have in english but in slovene. Guys I've improved so much!! Woooo!! 

- transfer calls!!! okay so this was completely unexpected. Essentially I am whitewashing and training in my first area Celje!!! I totally did not expect to go back but I am so excited. It will be so cool to see all of the members again and see how the area changed. I am very sad though because I finally got close and comfortable with all of the members and our friends here. I also won't have a good chance to say goodbye to everyone. But hey, I'll go where the Lord wants me. 

Crying after transfer announcements ft. Smith and Voigt

Crying again this time ft. smith and non-alcoholic beer

- We met with our friend Omar again and it was so fun. He had so many questions and it was just a genuinely good interaction with him. He invited us to go on a four day sailing trip in Croatia with him and his coworkers. It was so tempting. he even said that it would be the perfect teaching opportunity for us because where would the people go? Swim back? hahahaha so funny

- We had a lesson with Alain and one of the members that speaks french joined and was able to translate and help teach him. It was a really good lesson. We talked about the doctrine of Christ but more specifically, baptism. He had a lot of really good questions. 

Tacoooosss

- We were supposed to have another lesson but they cancelled so we just chatted with one of the members who came to clean the church. She brought Jota for us to eat and it was actually pretty good. I have a love hate with Jota but this one was a good experience.

- On Friday I went to my last english lesson with Karlina. She is the sweetest old grandma who is trying to learn english so she can talk to her family members but she said the sweetest things to me when I told her I was leaving. I don't remember all of the words but I remember the feeling and wow. So sweet.

- We got to visit one of my favorite members, Iva, and that was so good. She has just one of the most precious souls ever. I really am so thankful to have gotten so close with her. I really am going to miss her so much ugh. 

Iva :,,,,,,) tears Iove this woman 

- We also met up with the other sisters for a last dinner together and to talk about who is getting who/technical stuff for the next transfer. While we were finishing up eating, our friend Mehtab just walked into the restaurant and it was so funny we all starting yelling and hugging haha. We had actually tried to plan a meetup with him earlier in the day so we could say goodbye but he ended up just randomly showing up. God's timing is amazing.  

Sisters :) 

- This Sunday was so bittersweat for me. I literally did not want to leave. I spent a lot of the time talking with the members and telling them I was leaving to go to Celje. The branch president snuck me some twizlers from america and then told me that "american candy sucks" hahahaha. Some of the little girls that I got really close with were so sweet and kept brushing my hair, playing with me, looking through my bag, holding my hands, hugging me, and telling me how much they were going to miss me. Bro I don't even know how I didn't burst into tears right then and there. I am so thankful for my time in Ljubljana. I really have loved it here and cherish every single moment I spent among the people. 

my fav fountain in Ljubljana

I am so excited for this next chapter but am so sad to close this last one. Someone mail me more tissues, my supply is running out really fast. :,(

Week 68 - coolest experience ever

Hi guys!!!!! This week was pretty cool! I had one of the coolest experiences ever happen to me on Tuesday so stay in tune for that! :)

Pday was super fun! We went to Vintgar and Bled which were absolutely g o r g e u o s!!! I have always wanted to go to Vintgar but never had a chance to so this was amazzziinnnggg! We also walked around Lake Bled and got some ice cream (woooo!). It was so fun. 

Selfie in vintgar (peep the amazing color of the water!)

Vintgar again

A waterfall/cool bridge in Vintgar

Ice cream at Lake Bled (6/10 - not too bad)

Lake Bled selfie!

Tuesday was an amazing day! First off we had a lesson online with Alain and that was really cool because two of our members joined who could speak french. This helped a lot because Alain understands a good amount of English but it can still be hard for him to express himself/understand everything. The lesson went really really good and he said he was interested in learning more so wooooooooo!!!! 

We also got a referral where a person filled out one of our ads for us to contact them so I called her and she was like yo what i don't remember this I'm not interested. BUT THEN! Like an hour later she called me back and was like wait a minute I actually am interested and so we had a 30 minute lesson on the spot and talked about our purpose here on Earth and where we came from. She was super sweet and around our age so that was even cooler. We hope to keep in contact with her. 

Ice cream #2 (Hazelnut from McDonalds and very mid)

Anyways enough waiting here is the coolest thing that has ever happened to me on my mission thus far. We went to go visit one of our members who is in the hospital (i've mentioned her in past emails) and she is the sweetest person ever. She had asked us beforehand to bring two copies of the Book of Mormon so she could give it to two people who wanted it. So we go but it is rainging which means we can't walk around but instead have to go to this pavillion thing. A lot of people are already there but we end up just sitting at one of the tables. Well after a bit, one of the girls that Iva wanted to give the Book of Mormon to showed up and was so excited that we were there. She kept inviting us over to her house for lunch and dinner and was so excited. She wanted us to write something in the Book of Mormon for her and was just so excited that we came. Well there were three people sitting across from us and obviously they get curious. One woman started speaking to us in english because she had been an english teacher. So we were chatting with her and then the guy next to her brought the conversation back to slovene and asked us if we had a message to share with them. And boy do we have a message for them!! So we ended up sharing Mosiah 24:14 (my favorite verse) and talked about the context of the scripture and it was just so so so cool because we were able to share that sripture which talks a lot about peace and our burdens being lifted to a group of people who are struggling. Sadly, they had to leave early because of dinner but they said they wanted to do this again. So next time when we go back, we will bring more copies of the Book of Mormon :) such a cool experience because the spirit underneath that pavillion was unlike anything I had ever felt. UGH SO AMAZING!!!!

Onto the rest of the week. Sestra Smith and I finally got to work in the botanical garden and it was so fun. We spent the entire morning weeding and making the different plant sections look pretty. It was so fun. I can't wait to do it again :)

Working in the botanical garden ;)

A snail! Or slug? I don't know the difference

We spent some more time in the hospital on Friday and found out that everything is okay so woooo! Also my mtc teacher Brat Kunzler came back on a visit so we got to see him and say hi.

On Saturday they had a city-wide walk to walk around a specific path in Ljubljana. This path is where the old fence had been when Ljubljana was essentially being controlled and in lockdown by whoever was ruling at that time. But every year they do a big walk to celebrate when the wall was taken down. It was so much fun. We walked a good portion of it with a member family. At one of the check points instead of giving you water or juice, we got alcohol free beer. It was so funny. 

Open kitchen in center woo

The weather this week has been amazing! It has been mid 70's basically all week! Wooooo! 

I'm going to start a new count for the random tourists who recognize us on the street because they are members too. Since summer is coming there will def be a lot of them. The count won't count how many people just the interaction itself. 

Tourist member interactions: 4

Ice cream count: 3 !!!!!

Love you all!!