WEEK #10 and #11 - I have arrived

Hello everyone!!! If you are new to this email thread, understand that my emails are LONG and it is okay if you only scroll to the bottom and look at the pictures. For those of you who have been here for a while - thank you for being troopers, you are amazing. 

Very first group pic we ever took 

Thank you to everyone that sent me advice! My favorite one was from a friend that told me to, "not die". I appreciated it, thank you haha. You are still more than welcome to send me a quick email with advice about anything or even recipes for quick and inexpensive meals! Whatever floats your boat. 

Also I have received a number of complaints about the length of my emails so for everyone's sake, I will be including a summary section haha. 

Summary:

Left the mtc last week. Traveled for forever. Landed in Croatia last Tuesday. Left for Slovenia on Wednesday. Arrived in Slovenia. Met my new comp Sestra Williams. She is amazing. Have been vibing ever since. Ate lots of yummy food. Only cried two times WOOOOOOOO!!!

Now the real stuff:

Wednesday 3/16: 

Temple amazing as always.

Sestra Wendt and I's last temple pic :(

Last group temple pic

After I called my fam talked to them for forever - so good talking to them. Ate lunch while talking to my fam - I had fruity pebbles, some fries, and pizza (quality health)- We had gym at 1:50 and the svaka čast elders were there once again haha - we started playing volleyball with them. They are always fun to play with. We decided to play for two hours today and it was SO FUN!! 

Svaka čast eldersssssss so cool  

I was super anxious about being able to finish my weekly email so that was literally all I did after gym haha. I had so much to write that I literally wrote the entire time during dinner and only ate 3 gummy worms and some scoops of ice cream. Quality time though quality time. Today I did not write a lot down in my journal rip. I just know that class was good and I started slowly packing. 

Thursday 3/17:
Today I hit my 2 month mark!!
Woke up at 6 because sister barney was snoring. I actually didn't write anything down in my journal for today. That is so embarrassing - my bad. I am just going to go off the photos in my camera roll. I randomly saw keldon again this morning. 

Brother sighting 

I also saw one of my buddies from the East Coast woooooo!! Her name is Sister Bentley. We got our other East Coast buddy, Elder Standage and took a pic. 

East Cost gang

Today we had our last class with Sestra Kralj. I cried. Brat Kunzler and Sestra Tuckett came in really fast for a departing picture. 

Our teachers <3

Friday 3/18:
Hey uh this is so awkward I guess I didn't write anything for today either. The only thing I got for you is we had our last class with Sestra Tuckett. Did I cry? Yes. Yes I did. I also started packing for real today which was scary. 

What a standard break in class looks like

Saturday 3/19:

For our morning class we had a sub. The Slovak teacher taught us. It was so much fun. We had to teach her Slovene. Today was also our last class with Brat Kunzler. Actually, wait our last class in the mtc EVER. Whaaaaaaaatttttttttt. So crazy. Brat Kunzler came and ate dinner with us and it was so fun. He shamed me for only eating apples for dinner. Our last class with him was so good. We just had a really good last hurrah. I think I cried three separate times during the class. When Sestra Voigt I said goodbye to him, it was ROUGH. I could barely muster out “lahko noč" (our class inside joke). 

Last time in our classroom :(

Last hug in our room rip

Oh also Nattacia sent me a package today that had some of my favorite snacks and also a really sweet letter. 


Nattacia's treat box

Sunday 3/20:

Last day ever dang. I had to say goodbye to so many of my friends today which was rough. We took goodbye pictures with the district. I surprisingly didn't cry so let's goooooo! I am going to miss my district a ton but overall a really nice day.

District picture 

Last group pic under the chandelier

My favorite picture because of my struggle to pick up Sestra Voigt in the background 

I had to pack like a maniac when I got back which was stressful but I did it. 


The nightmare of packing 

Monday/Tuesday 3/21-22:
These days blur together into one because of the timezones and travel

Here are the travel plans:

We leave the mtc at 6:50am and go to the salt lake city airport - our flight doesn't leave until 12:45 pm so that's really nice love it- then we fly to Chicago and land at 4:48 pm and stay in Chicago until out flight at 7pm then we go to Frankfurt Germany and land at 9:20am. We stay in Germany until 1pm then fly to Zagreb Croatia and land at 2:20pm
To sum up my entire flight experience - I was overheated and disoriented the entire time - I literally had no clue what was going on - I have come to the realization that when I am overheated and tired, I go into zombie mode
keldon met us at the goodbye area and we had a sweet little chat
I said goodbye to nat and everyone else earlier which was real sad.
Flights were pretty long - the first one was 3 or 4 hours I don’t remember - I talked to the lady next to me the entire time - she had an intense life - she also studied psychology - she told me her entire life story - her abusive dad - her abusive husband - the horrible murder in her town - etc - just crazy stuff - super fun though and she gave me good advice advice about what to study when I get back! The second flight from chicago to frankfurt I attempted to sleep but it was pretty unsuccessful. 
The first things I did in the german airport: 

changed into less hot clothes

went to the store and had a perfume spray fight with Sestra Wendt for fun

bought a german pretzel AND KINDER EGGS - I love Kinder eggs so this made my entire life

Kinder eggs and pretzel :)

We played a card game while waiting on the plane to zagreb - I don’t think I have ever been more tired than in that moment - I was told that I literally looked so mean because of my resting face haha
Also in the Germany airport - the sweetest man came up to us and started talking to us about our missions - he then asked us if he could pray for us - it was so sweet and precious - I loved it
The flight from frankfurt to zagreb wasn’t that long. It was about under an hour and a half. I sat by Sestra King and we talked about how excited we were and then I fell asleep for a bit (it might have been mid conversation but I have no clue haha - sorry Sestra King). Then we landed and got all ready to step into our whole new world.
I had the worst scare of my entire life. I had a missing passport scare. I left my passport on the plane. It was literally the most terrifying moment of my life. Sesra Mefford saved me though. I was on the ground desperately searching for it and crying and praying. Everyone else but Sestra Mefford had already gone through so Sestra Mefford helped guide me to the lady to ask if we could go back on the plane and see if it was there. They wouldn’t let us but a lady who was some kind of worker went back there and found it.
President Field and his wife Sister Field (the president in charge of our mission)  We took a cute group photo and then headed to the mission home. It was genuinely so pretty. Everything about it gave off pride and prejudice vibes AND castle in Italy vibes. Later on in the evening we went for a cool walk all around Zagreb. We saw some really cool churches and ate gelato.

Gelato in Zagred, Croatia 

Wednesday 3/23:
Today we found out what area we are serving in! I got told I was going to Celje and my new comp would be Sestra Williams wooooo. Sestra Voigt was going to Ljubljana with Sestra Hart. So exciting. We stuck around and played all sorts of games in the morning and then around 11ish we were kicked out to go to the bus station to go to Slovenia. I was kind of freaking out because it was like I was being thrown completely out of the nest but it's all good. We got on the bus and there were no seats that had two empty seats so Sestra Voigt and I had to split up. I had to sit by this really intimidating woman. I wanted to talk to her so I just sent it and asked her (in Slovene) how long the bus ride would be because I genuinely had no clue. She answered back saying TWO HOURS. Bruh. There were a couple other times where I wanted to talk to her but got scared but then sent it anyways. I asked her for food advice and then we just started talking the entire time. Her name is Klara. She is amazing and I love her. She spoke a fairly good amount of english. She would compliment me a lot and laugh at how I pronounced words and whatnot. I asked her what her favorite word was in English (she said butterfly). She asked me mine and I said nevertheless because almost every time this word comes in the scriptures there is a specific format to it. Especially in the Book of Mormon. Before the verse the person usually talks about a trial they are going through. They explain how and why it is hard AND THEN they put the word "nevertheless" and everything after that is testifying of how they see God in their life and how much they love Him. It is my absolute favorite thing in the world. I pulled out my scriptures to show her some examples which was even more cool because she was able to read the verses in Slovene too. Near the end of our ride we became facebook friends and I could tell when we were leaving we were both sad to go. I really hope we can meet up with her later. After arriving at the bus stop we waited a bit for our new comps to arrive and then when we did we took off for the train station - it was a bit of a hassle with the luggage but whatevs. 
Then sestra Williams and I got on the train and just talked for an hour - we got ready to leave the train a bit early and I was completely overheating - I was nauseous and felt like I was either going to pass out or throw up- not a vibe but I persevered and made it. 

Sestra Williams <3

There is a senior couple missionary here (an older couple who can choose to serve a mission together) and they are Elder and Sister Barrus. They spoil us. They took us out to dinner where I ate some really really good Njoči (Gnocchi).

Thursday 3/24: 
I guess I also forgot to write in my journal today. My b. Today we met up with the senior missionaries and the Elders from Maribor (we are pretty close distance wise so we are considered a district). We just had a fun little introduction thing and then went out to lunch afterwards. If you are ever in Celje. Ever. You have to go to this place called Wok in Roll. It is an authentic Thai restaurant and probably the best food I have eaten so far. I genuinely think I am going to be addicted. I got glass noodles with chicken and it was so so so so so so so so so good.

My absolute favorite food <3 <3 <3

We went and took some fun pictures and got groceries because we literally had no food. Sestra Williams introduced me to non-alcoholic alcohol which is interesting. It is not bad. Yes mom and dad I made sure to check the label a million times to make sure it had none in it.

My non-alcoholic alcohol with the pretty view from our apt

 After that we had English night where people can come and just practice speaking in English with us. Only one person showed up but that's alright maybe there will be more next time. He was super chill and very good at speaking English. I asked him a lot of grammar questions. 

Friday 3/25:
Pretty good day! It got a bit rough towards the end ngl
In the morning we went over to a Catholic school to clean it. Some of the ladies there spoke English so we all spoke broken slovene and English to them haha. They made us some chamomile tea and gave us a bunch of cookies. They had us go to the 3rd floor and wash all of the windows. There were a bunch of spiders and cobwebs which was horrible (I hate spiders) but I sucked it up and persevered. I had a lot of time to just think to myself about the beauty of the earth and other random things while cleaning the church. The birds were singing which was so fun - I got a nice little recording of it and some pictures of the scenes. 

The view from the Catholic church 

After cleaning the church we walked back to our apartment and did our studies. We went shopping again because we were in desperate need. The Barrus’ took us which was so sweet of them. They also treated us to mcdonald’s which didn't taste that different from mcdonalds in the States. After shopping we came back and did a couple other things. She told me about the members here and what they are struggling with. That part was hard for me because I want to help people feel peace and joy through Jesus Christ and His teachings, so to hear about how people are struggling and not believing that God can help them was really hard. 

Saturday 3/26:
For exercise today we did yoga which was really nice. After exercise we ate breakfast I think and then left to drive to Ljubljana with the Barrus’. We arrived and it was super chill to talk to everyone (all of the missionaries serving in Slovenia) and see Sestra Voigt again. We played volleyball which made me so happy. The other missionaries in our country are so chill and fun. We stayed and played around with them until around 12ish and then left to go back home - on the way back home we stopped at Trojane (a super famous spot with beautiful valleys and famous pastries) and ate food which was so good. It was such a beautiful area. I had a margarita pizza which was actually just cheese and tomato sauce like a regular pizza - it was still really good though. 

 My Margarita pizza - so yummy

I also tried a krof aka Slovene doughnut with vanilla creme on the inside and chocolate on the outside and coconut shavings on top. I wasn’t the absolute biggest fan of it because I don't like donuts in general but it was still pretty good. 

My krof!!

After eating we went to the gift shop and bought some things. I got a cute little magnet and then a drink that tasted like sunny d. We took a couple pictures of the absolutely beautiful valley and then we headed back to Celje.

The rest of the day was pretty chill.


Trojane valley 

Sunday 3/27:
I swear I am so bad at remembering what happens everyday haha - it is the worst. I had to give a quick talk in church today. IN SLOVENE. Slightly stressful because I didn't have a bunch of time to make it but I knew I would be fine. We got to church and we had 4 people in person and a couple more online. It is kind of complicated to explain but for two areas (Maribor and Celje) their churches are combined on zoom because there are not a lot of people so we had the Maribor ward on as well. It is kind of hard to explain and I don't have enough brain cells to figure it out right now haha. But apparently the entire time I was giving my talk no one could hear me because of technical difficulties. I was a little sad but also a little grateful because now I can practice what I want to say to people when I see them in person. For dinner Sestra Williams and I had a picnic by the river. It was so pretty and nice out.

Congratulations. You survived my email. I am so proud of you haha

Also sorry if there are any typos in this email - I am currently typing it with a Slovene keyboard and all of the letters are in different places. 

Quote of the week:

"I have... what's it called... issues" - Sestra Williams

Highlights:

- Sestra Voigt forgot her name tag once so she wore my extra one - for one moment in time it could be justified if people asked if we were sisters haha - to everyone insisting that we could be sisters I still can't see it 

Sestra LaRose and Sestra LaRose

- Sestra Tuckett came and ate dinner with us for our last class with her

Sestra Tuckett joining us for dinner 

- can't figure out the bathrooms here - I have accidentally locked myself in every single one - do not ask how because I have no clue
- they use military time here which most people know is my absolute nightmare - I never know what time it is
- one day I bought gummy sharks - they taste like the foam stuff they use at the dentist at the end of the visit for your teeth - hopefully that made sense 
- my second day there literally just after I woke up, the first thing s. Williams said to me was "let's hang a flag"
- I slept so well the first night that I had those lines from the pillow on my face - so fun
- they do not have ranch here - they have a yogurtish version I don't know but that is sad 

AREA #1 - 23 MARCH 2022 -

 COMPANIONS:

MEMBERS:

PROVO MTC PICTURES

 

WEEK #9! Last Week MTC?!?!?!?!?!

 Is this seriously my last week in the mtc?! This week has kind of been a whirlwind not going to lie!

 Sestra King and I panicking over our last week - fun fact she had to write this backwards for it to reflect correctly in the picture

Wednesday 3/9:

Pdayyy. As always temple was amazing. Natalie went at the same time as me so we were able to just sit together and be in our own little bubble of home. I will say this in every single email but it is such a blessing to have her here. I love her so much. P.S to all of my other roommates from college I love you all so much too. On the way back from the temple I got to PET A DOG!!! So exciting. 

Tradition post temple selfie with Sestra Wendt 

Then I did laundry and wrote a bunch of emails. It is so good to get emails from friends and relatives so if you have time send me a quick email! Gym was really fun! In the beginning we played a round of horse. My comp betrayed me and got me out. Later I joined a random group of elders who were playing volleyball so it was just two on two for the longest time. Class with sestra kralj for tonight! We taught her a lesson, did grammar stuff and talked about weather which was super fun. Today I also got to say goodbye to a bunch of missionaries who are leaving to go into their missions. I know they will do SO amazing!!

Thursday 3/10:

The coolest thing ever happened. I had a dream and I was literally dreaming IN SLOVENE! Every time I spoke in my dream it was in Slovene. I vibe with that. The rest of the day was mediocre. Sestra Voigt and I got snacks from the creamery. I got two cheese sticks, vanilla and chocolate pudding, a drink, and gummy worms. That was kind of a bad decision because everything was lukewarm and did not fill me with joy. 

Me with all of my lukewarm snacks :(

Later on Sestra Voigt and I ran to the cafeteria to practice with Natalie and her comp Sister Glorious for our musical number on Sunday. We are singing I Know That My Redeemer Lives/I Feel My Savior’s Love. 

Mid choir selfie with Sister Moon, Sister Cragun in the background, and Sestra Voigt's hand 

Class was SO FUN! Brat Kunzler was teaching which is always a party BUT  we were combined with the Croatian missionaries! We did a bunch of random stuff.

Friday 3/11:

Class with Brat Kunzler. I don't really remember what else happened besides Sestra Voigt and I taught one of the missionaries who just got home from Slovenia. The lesson went pretty good. All of the Ukrainian missionaries got their reassignments today! Elder Wendel, Natalie, Sister Wakefield, and Sister Penfold are all going to Poland!!! So freaking cool. They will still be able to touch the lives of the Ukrainians because of how many refugees are in Poland. Gym was so fun. Barely anyone was there but we played volleyball 3 on 3 with a random group of people. They all had only been there for two days (newbies lol) and as we played we taught them a bunch of funny words to say like [svaka čas - good job, smrt - death, spet - again, ne dobro - not good, joj - just an expression like wow, mislim da - I think that, etc] Sestra voigt and I went on an approved split so she could help Sister Moon (the German sister in our room) teach a lesson in German. I hung out with the Croatian sisters. We went to every single mural in t4 and took pictures of them which was so beautiful. A pretty chill day overall. 

The Croatian sisters and I in front of the beautiful chandelier in t4

I took some snazzy pictures with the Croatian sisters and their fancy camera 

Saturday 3/12:

Pretty good day today! Morning class was with Sestra Kralj. We did some grammar work with numbers. Numbers in Slovene are really hard but IT'S OKAY! I CAN DO IT! The weather was SO nice today. Sestra Voigt and I just soaked in the sun for thirty minutes. It was so good but then we actually had to go work so we went back inside.

Sun baskers!!!! 

Dinner was so really fun. I kept seeing people I knew and talked to them for forever. I only had time to eat an apple. So nutritious. Night class with Brat Kunzler wooooooo! We literally spent almost the entire class doing a grammar review. We needed a lot of help haha. After class we went back to the dorms and it was an absolute party. Sister Moon and I did a face mask and then randomly just started arm wrestling. I won. We laughed so hard and just had a grand old time. Sister Moon also attempted to massage all of the knots out of my back. It was not very successful. I was squirming all over the place and laughing like a maniac.

Late night selfie with Sister Moon and Sister Barney

Sunday 3/13:

Today was a good day! I didn't write down anything in my journal whoops. 

We sung our song in church today! It was so beautiful. 

Beautiful sunrise on Sunday

Beautiful sunrise on Sunday ft. me

We had a bunch of meetings all throughout the day which were all centered around Jesus Christ, who He is, His Atonement, and how we can see Him in our life more. So amazing. Later at night Sister Barney (other German sister in our room) and I made key chains while talking about our lives and whatnot. We ended up talking about our life stories late into the night. It was so amazing to get to know her more. Sister Moon and Sestra Voigt joined the conversation later on so it was a big group therapy session hahaha. 

Monday 3/14:

Not a bad day! I saw Keldon while we were waiting for class to start. We hung out and chatted until we both had to leave. The message he left on the board was a little hard to translate hahaha. Even Brat Kunzler was having a hard time figuring out what he said. Regardless, I love getting all of his messages. I am going to miss having my brother so close when I leave. 

Keldon's sweet note 

Morning class with Brat Kunzler was kind of heavy ngl. We taught a specific lesson in slovene and honestly it went really rough. After the lesson he told us that during this lesson, he felt the same way as when we taught 5 weeks ago (aka not good at all). It was pretty rough to hear that especially with us leaving so soon. I was already struggling with fears of inadequacies. But you know what it is okay but we can only go up from there. The rest of the class was not a vibe. We were learning a really hard grammar concept and I could not wrap my head around it. The Croatian sisters walked by when we were learning that and apparently according to sister mefford we looked so sad, hopeless, and like we wanted to die haha. She was not wrong

Mirror selfie!

At lunch my district and I had a really intense discussion about how long we thought we could survive if we were in the Hunger Games. I said maybe top ten Elder Galloway said he would either die immediately or top 5. Elder Wendel said that if the other elders killed the sisters he would be fine because he didn’t think he could ever kill a sister (that was comforting to know that given the chance that Elder Wendel and I are in the Hunger Games together he will not kill me). I can't remember what everyone else said about the Hunger Games thing.

Also while I was in the middle of my hunger games spiel, I looked up and keldon was standing right in front of me. What in the world. That was the weirdest experience for me to look up and casually see my brother right there in the lunch room haha. Apparently it is one of the last days at the mtc for his class so he went and ate lunch with them. Super sweet.

Keldon sighting

It was such a nice day out. We went to the travel office and tried to find out anything about travel plans. Nothing yet. Class with Sestra Kralj. I almost cried because she talked about having a last class soon together. I can't remember what else happened. When we got back to the dorms Sestra Voigt and I talked in Slovene about the most random things.

Tuesday 3/15:

Today was actually a really great day! 

Breakfast was super chill! I snuck myself some fruity pebbles (my fav cereal) from the gluten free area. It made me very happy. It still doesn’t taste as good as the original but hey I’ll take what I can get. 

FRUITY PEBBLESSSSSS WOOOO

We went to class and sestra tuckett taught it. I almost started crying in class again when she mentioned that this was the last Tuesday we would have as a class. Also I have noticed that I automatically start translating things in my head which is really cool but also weird how I just do it without thinking anymore. Class was very very good today. We had a really cool guest come in to talk to us today. Her name is Ann Madsen and she was one of the people that helped bring the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints back to the Yugoslavik area - Slovenia included. She is 89 and will be 90 in September. She is such a powerful woman. She spoke all about missionary work and gave us loads of advice. She also shared some really cool experiences she had in her life and at one point she made me cry because I could feel the Holy Ghost with me. I could feel that the words and the things she was testifying of were true. So cool. 

Ann Madsen and the Croatian missionaries <3

Night class with Croatian missionaries 

Another really really cool thing that happened after this class was we all opened up our emails and boom FLIGHT PLANS AHHHHH!! it is coming and it is coming up fast!! I cried after opening it because I was so excited haha. 

I will leave next Monday. I will give more details later. I have no clue how time zones are working out and how the math adds up but I am pretty sure overall travel time is at least 30 hours? Please don’t fact check me on that. Regardless, it is a very long time. We went to the mtc store really fast and Sister Moon and Sister Barney were there. We literally spent a whole 45 minutes trying on all of the different dresses and cackling. All of the dresses either look insanely good and were also insanely expensive or they were too short or just looked so wrong. It was hilarious. I love our German sisters.

Sestra Voigt and I waiting for everyone to come to dinner

I stabbed myself with my toothpick and now have a hole in my hand. After gym, we hurried and prepared for our last lesson with Kaden!!! I was pretty nervous about the lesson but also pretty chill because I knew this was the last one and I probably will never see him again. The lesson ended up going so freaking well - so good. I felt so comfortable the entire time. The ENTIRE TIME. It was so amazing - of course my slovene wasn’t perfect and casing went straight out the window but it was so cool - I was also able to understand so much of what he said. After the lesson he asked if we had any questions for him and so we just switched into english and talked a lot about a bunch of stuff. It was so cool to talk to him. He gave us some sweet advice about missionary work and told us our slovene was really good. He also walked down with us and it was so crazy to see him smiling and laughing and just being himself and whatnot. He is so chill when he is not in his Slovene persona haha. We ran to dinner and ate pretty fast so we could go to choir on time. I HAVE NO TIME TO FINISH THIS EMAIL UGH.

Quote of the week:

"One of the German sisters genuinely thinks you're Australian. She has not heard your real voice." - Sister Moon

Highlights:

- I was told by Elder Galloway that my eyes usually seem like they peer directly into his soul and have the power to set him on fire but today they just look like they are peering straight into his soul and can see exactly who he is but can’t do anything about it - I don’t  know how I feel about that haha

- We failed our room inspection on Saturday

Our failed room inspection - notice how only my area failed everything 

- When they insected our room on Tuesday, we failed in EVEN MORE - I don't even know how 

This email is very very rushed. I'm sorry!! Also because I am going to be in Slovenia the next time I send out my email, send me any advice you have!!!! It can be about missionary work, how to deal with mean people, how to teach, etc. Whatever you want! That would be so amazing!!

I love you all so much and can't wait to send you my next email from Slovenia!!!!!!!

<3 Sestra LaRose

WEEK #8?!?!?! Oživi me

So I got banned from saying Obij Me (Kill me) because it is too intense. The verb is used in the command form so when I say obij me I am commanding someone to kill me so haha can't use that word anymore. BUT I came up with an alternative!! Oživi me means revive me so WOO! It works haha.

 

Me attempting to point to Slovenia but only pointing at France instead - maybe one day I'll get it 

Also I only have TWO WEEKS LEFT!! WHAT?!?!? I am nowhere near ready but I have also never been more ready in my entire life. I cannot wait.

I did write in my journal every day this week so prepare yourself for another mile long email  

Wednesday 3/2:

TEMPLE WOOOOO! Sister Wendt and I started a new tradition where we always have to take a selfie (with the back camera to make it more fun) after going to the temple.I am the worst in pictures because 9/10 times I am blinking hahaha. We had to keep retaking pictures because my eyes were closed. 

The start of Sestra Wendt and I's temple selfie

It was my brother Keldon's birthday today!! 

Since he works at the mtc I was able to quickly buy some of his favorite snacks (orange juice, pretzels, and a zebra cake), run to his classroom, sing him happy birthday, shove cake in his face, and then take some fun pictures haha. It was so fun because he did not expect it in the slightest. I miss my family!!!!!!!!! 

Keldon's birthday surprise

The rest of today was the typical p-day schedule of laundry, gym, talk to family, maybe clean our room, and eat haha. The weather was SO gorgeous!! For class Sestra Tuckett was teaching. We went outside and read the story of the first Slovenian member of our church. So cool. Then we learned vocab for clothing. For nylons they say hlačne nogavice which directly translates to pant socks. When we came back in she quizzed us by drawing the clothing on the board and we had to shout out what it was in Slovene. Whoever got the most points would win a sticker. I am so passionate about stickers. I love them so much. If you ever want me to do anything for you, give me a sticker. In the beginning sestra voigt kept getting them one after the other which made me almost cry (internally) because I kept not getting any which meant no stickers. But it is okay because I ended up winning but the worst part was neither of us got a sticker. I feel so cheated. 

District picture :)

After class we went back and I hung out with Natalie and her companions. Natalie and I told them funny stories from college. I miss my friends!!! 

Thursday 3/3:

We had class with Sestra Kralj and talked about obedience, taught her a lesson on faith, and honestly I have no clue what else we did haha. Oh we did work on memorizing the case pronouns while listening to music. We listened to a lot of piano music which was so good. We had our personal study right after and continued listening to music. I had a really cool moment where I was reading the Book of Mormon and I found a scripture that I genuinely cannot express how much I love it. It is in 2nd Nephi 9:4 

“For I know that ye have searched much, many of you, to know of things to come; wherefore I know that ye know that our flesh must waste away and die; nevertheless in our bodies we shall see God”

All things denote that there is a God and our bodies are one of the ways that we see this. The length of our wrist to our elbow is the same length as our foot. Our thumb is the same length as our nose. Our wingspan is the same length as our height. I have no doubt in my mind that these are not coincidental. We are created specifically by a God who loves us. What a cool truth. 

My sunburn :(

We had another lesson with Kaden today! We only had about an hour or so to prepare which was stressful because we had no clue what to teach him but the lesson went pretty okay! It wasn’t the best but I did feel more relaxed/natural. We taught about the Book of Mormon, why it is important, how you know it is important, and how to know if it is true. 

Online lesson with Kaden + our cheat sheet and sticky notes with vocab

We had very little time to eat dinner so Brat Kunzler just came with us which was so funny. Class was pretty fun though. We had to teach a lesson but with Brat Kunzler as our companion. We taught about repentance. I did randomly learn a couple new words though! Obviously is: očitno (oh cheet no) and cripple is: pohabljenka (po hab ljenka). We learned about command form which is pretty simple and easy to understand (this was when I was banned from saying obij me). After class we went back and then I went over to the Croatian room and hung out with them for a bit.

Friday 3/4:

Man, today was ROUGH! It was such a mess.

In the morning I got another sweet sweet message from keldon today. Morning class was with Brat Kunzler. It was pretty fun. We learned the head shoulders knees and toes song in Slovene which was so fun. During gym I taught Sestra Voigt how to serve upperhand/overhand (whichever one it is). She did so good! We had tutoring after gym and I felt so stupid. I had to translate sentences that weren't that hard but I swear every two seconds my teacher pointed out something wrong. I was very overwhelmed and felt absolutely no hope AT ALL. Then we went downstairs to the third floor and started our personal study and I saw a person that had hurt me in the past. It was really rough seeing this person and it escalated everything. I started crying and yikes it was rough. 

My post crying snack and piano combo on Friday

But from a miracle from God, my brother who usually leaves the MTC right after teaching his class at 11:30 was still at the MTC. Not just at the MTC, but one the SAME floor, and only a few doors down. What an absolute tender mercy. We talked about what I was struggling with and it was such a blessing to have him there to support me. 

Saturday 3/5:

Only Sestra Kralj taught today. In the morning we did some grammar review stuff and also uhhh I don’t really remember haha. At the gym we played volleyball with the German sisters. It was pretty fun. It started to rain later on! Sestra Voigt and I played in the rain for a bit which was so fun. We attempted to take jumping pictures - we were not in the air at all for any of the pictures haha. 

One of our jumping in the rain pics 

We then practiced playing and singing We Will Trust in The Lord (the 2022 youth theme song). This song is so cool and beautiful. After dinner it was snowing like crazy! We walked with the Croatian sisters to class which was so funny because they were all bundled up like crazy while Sestra Wendt and I were not so we were COVERED in snow. 

Sestra Wendt and I braving the snow on Saturday

Night class with Sestra Kralj was pretty fun. We talked about religion in Slovenia and she showed a video of the hike from church to church in her village which made me so excited to go! It is crazy that we literally only have two weeks left. I want to cry but I am so excited. Overall a really good class We were all in a funky mood so it was super fun and less “we have to get a lot done - teacher to student relationship etc”

Me guiding Sestra Wendt to class with her eyes closed - I am surprised she trusted me

Sunday 3/6:

I woke up so grumpy today haha. We had like an hour before church started so we did comp study. I was still pretty grumpy until we read in the scriptures together. It was a really cool experience to be super grumpy and not want to do anything and then read the scriptures and find nearly all of my grumpiness go away. The peace and comfort I feel from reading the scriptures is amazing. The Elders in our district tend to look like they are mad ALL THE TIME even if they aren't and so during the break we put sticky notes on all of the boys - Elder Murphy “I am happy :)” Elder Galloway “I am also happy” Elder Wendel “I am the most happy” Elder Walters (he rejected it and took it off) “I have joy” Elder Burton “I am a happy child of God :)” They kept them on all day! I did have to bribe Elder Wendel to keep his on with a kitkat and twix bar (I never ended up giving it to him - my bad). Overall a really good and spiritual day :)

The Elders and their name tags with the sticky notes

Us attempting to point to where we are all going - I have no clue where Elder Walters is pointing 

Monday 3/7

Today was fairly good actually! Breakfast was chill. I had a pancake. Morning class was with Brat Kunzler - I don’t really remember much of it (seems to be a common theme this week). The slovene flag was up today which made me so happy. The food for dinner was not a vibe - I had a plate of fries but then didn’t eat the fries lol. We had to run to class while listening to our video prepwork at two times the speed so we weren't late haha. We are always so prepared (not). Sestra Tuckett taught tonight we talked about existentials with grammar (how to say "this thing exists" and "there was/there were/there will be") and then taught a lesson about the Holy Ghost. Overall the lesson went pretty well. 

Tuesday 3/8:

Woke up to a bloody nose! So fun. I love the dry Utah air!

Morning bloody nose woo

We could only speak in Slovene today - we had five lives (represented by 5 sticky note tabs on our name tag) and if we spoke in English we lost a life. For the record I ended the day with all 5 lives still there. We had our very first IN PERSON lesson with Kaden today. It was not a vibe. I was shaking in my boots the whole time. I think I just got in my head too much. There was a funny moment where while we were walking to the room he was in, I realized I still had my sticky tabs on so I was whisper yelling at Sestra Voigt to help me take it off since my hands were full. When we got to the room KADEN WAS NOT THERE - WHAT THE HECK. Not cool - we were panicking. I was frantically texting our teachers “pomoč pomoč!” (help help). Eventually we got on our zoom call and it was a whole mess because we had no clue how to say " hey where in the world are you" in slovene ya know but thankfully he came out and found us but ugh it was a mess. As far as the overall lesson I was overheated the whole time because I was nervous and anyone who knows me knows me + being overheated = grumpy and no brain function. I just could not figure out what I wanted to say which would make me more upset and discouraged. We went over our time and he kept checking his watch which made me feel WORSE but you know what they can’t all be good. 

Post in person lesson with Kaden reactions - me: not happy sestra voigt: happy (also peep the still sunburned cheeks)

We had a devotional tonight with Elder Neil L. Andersen who is an apostle of our church. It was so cool to see him walk into the room and feel the difference.

Quote of the Week:

"It is always a pleasure to be alive." Said by Elder Wendel with the least amount of expression on his face 

Highlights: 

- A member of the church in Slovenia reached out to me through FaceBook messenger and we had a WHOLE convo in Slovene

- I arm wrestled two of the Elders in my district - I won against Elder Burton and then put up a good fight against Elder Galloway but ultimately lost :/ 

- One day during gym I made a basket from the 3 point line BACKWARDS - so cool 

Pictures - enjoy the cursed android quality and also the fact that these pictures are all out of order: