Week 20 - Sickness and No Wifi

This week was so interesting. I don't really know how to describe it. Essentially almost this entire week was a self-quarantine vibe because Sestra Williams had some kind of a bug. NEVERTHELESS it was a fantastic week where I was finally able to check a bunch of things off of my to do list. 

Monday 5/22:

Pdaayyyy!!! Today was a really chillax day. We went shopping for groceries in the morning and then ate at a Chinese restaurant afterwards. That was alright. I spent the rest of the day finally answering back emails and things people have sent to me. I didn't get to everyone though so I am sorry if anyone is still waiting on a response. I will get to you sometime soon haha. 

Tuesday 5/23:

Sestra Williams was ko'd all day because of being sick. I took today as an "organize all of my photos and files" day. That was very fun and long. Pretty much a day of studies and organizing. Nothing too too crazy.

Wednesday 5/24:

Today we woke up and the wifi was not working. Yikes. Apparently the bill had not been paid in forever and so it was shut off wooooo. Apparently everyone’s data in Slovenia got cut out too but only our apartment got the wifi cut too. That was very inconvenient, especially when we rely on wifi and our data to message people and plan lessons. Thankfully we had district council in Maribor so we were able to get out of the house! It was good per usual. We walked to a yummy čevapčiči (kinda like sausages but better) place and that was good. I actually didn't order čevapčiči, I got breaded chicken with french fries and a specific kind of bread, but I forgot what it was called. It was pretty good. I ended up eating some of Sestra Williams' čevapčiči because she was not feeling good. 

District council lunch

My lunch at disctrict council 

On the drive home, Sestra Williams looked at me, said she thinks she is going to throw up and then proceeded to throw up into her bag multiple times. What an experience hahaha. 

Post throw up picture 

When we got home Sestra Williams rested while I came up with my “No Wifi Plans” of stuff to do so I wasn’t just lazing around. I ended up doing quite a bit! I cleaned my closet, found jars for my ranch and syrup, organized my drawers, went through the entire cabinet and organized things/checked out what was in there, went through all of my notes, drafted a whole bunch of responses to people so I can actually respond to them on time haha, made my ranch (WOOOOOOO), made my syrup (this is literally the best syrup ever, if you want the recipe I can send it to you but yeah thank you mom). And then of course because I made syrup, I had to make pancakes - it’s like the whole “if you give a mouse a cookie he will want milk to go with it” sorta thing. The only problem was again, no wifi so I couldn’t find my mom’s recipe that she sent me, nor sister barrus’ recipe, nor anyone’s recipe because no wifi. I looked through our shelves and found a cookbook and it had a recipe for pancakes but sadly all of the ingredients were in Danish and I had no means to translate so I had to keep searching. Eventually I found a recipe in one of the random books and got cooking. It turned out pretty good! Sestra Williams and I had a fun little pancake eating party. 

Pancake party!! 

Thursday 5/25:

Day two with no wifi. 

We got a small taste of wifi when we went to the church in the morning. We didn't stay there for too long. Sestra Williams is still ko'd from her sickness so I continued to fulfill my "No Wifi Plans" list. At one point I got bored but I remembered that I found one of those tiny portable dvd players. The only dvd we have is a "drive safely missionary training" video. Do we have a car? No. Will I be driving anytime soon? No. Did I watch the video? You bet I did. Haha it was very educational and I feel prepared for the time that I will need to drive a car. Other than that, my main focus today was on spiritual stuff. I was able to read so many conference talks and study from the Book of Mormon. I feel like an expert now haha. I was on a spiritual high all day haha. Later in the afternoon, we met up with one of our members to sing hymns and check in on him. That went pretty well! We are going to practice singing a musical number for church next next Sunday. Then we had English class and only one guy showed up but it was so fun. We talked about all of the different folklore legends in Slovenia, Utah, and Connecticut. I learned a lot of cool historical things about Slovenia! 

The oldest grape vine in Slovenia

Friday 5/26:

Today I was the one who was sick! I had a massive headache all day and it was killing me. But! I persevered. Later in the day we were supposed to meet up with one of our friends and pray with her, but we ended up doing a call instead. She and her son are struggling right now so if you could all pray for her that would be so wonderful. 

Saturday 5/27:

Good good good good day. Sestra Williams and I both felt really good and healthy haha. In the afternoon, we taught Luigi and it went so well. We showed him the restoration video (amazing here is the link - https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/video/feature-films/2008-06-01-the-restoration?lang=eng). and had a wonderful discussion about it and all of the other questions he had. There was a really cool moment where I felt the spirit very strongly and asked him if he would pray and ask God, like Joseph Smith did, if this church is the true church. He said he would pray about it later that night and tell us what he decided after church on Sunday.  WOOOO. After our lesson, we had game night. All of the people we are teaching came as well as one of our friends from English class! That was so fun. We played ping pong, foosball, and uno. The friend from English class and I played a really intense round of ping pong but without the paddles and only our hands. So fun. Another really cool miracle is that one our way out of the church, the woman who we helped carry the dirtbags to her house a couple weeks ago was there. She gave us cookies!!!! What?!?! That was so amazing!! And the cookies were bomb!!! When we said goodbye to everyone, Sestra Williams and I decided to treat ourselves by going to Stari Pisker and get some of their famous ribs! It was so good! 

Ribs mmmmmmm

Ribs again ft. Sestra Williams 

Sunday 5/28:

Sunday was so good!!! It was super rainy and cold though which was not amazing but Luigi told us that he had not received an answer yet, but will keep trying. I find it so cool that he recognizes that God answers in His own time and way. We hope that he will keep praying and asking God. Church was completely filled with the spirit. It was just such a powerful meeting. I was able to understand more and more of what people talked about in Slovene. Great dinner with the Barrus' and a lovely call with my family afterwards.

Pretty flowers 

Spiritual message:

Definitely my favorite thing that I studied this week was the fact that God has not stopped talking to, guiding, and loving His children. 

Moses 1:4

"And, behold, thou art my son; wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease."

Not only has God's words never ceased, but His love for you specifically has never and will never cease. I promise that God is looking out for you. He is with you every step of the way!!

Ice cream: 0 :'( 

Memorable moments:

- I wanted to see if I could get out of a ziptie so I had Sestra Williams ziptie my hands. Well... at the moment I cannot BUT I will keep trying!!! 

- When we were walking to the church on Thursday there was a big modeling event set up by center. They had a runway and everything 

Week 19 - The Party Goes On

 Hello everyone!!!! This week was stacked!! There was so much going on so let's get right into it haha. Also brief reminder: sometimes when I read missionary emails I completely forget where they are haha so for those of you that have no clue where I am, I am in Slovenia. I am serving in a small area called Celje and I am speaking Slovene. ;)

Book of Mormon ft. beautiful sunset

Monday 5/16:

Pdayyy woooooo! The morning started off pretty simply with going to the store to get food for our big hike today! Our plans were to hike Pohorje with the Maribor elders and one of our members. Pohorje is essentially straight uphill. It is pretty brutal. I will attach a picture of the starting point. If you zoom in you can see an arrow that shows where the top and end of the hike is.

The bottom of Pohorje (zoom in to see the red arrow with where we finished)

This hike took 6 hours and man was it hot. But the view was so worth it. And! I got a nice tan hahaha. This took up the vast majority of the day with the train rides there and back, the hike, and of course, an ice cream trip afterwards. So good. 

Sestra Williams and I at the top of Pohorje

Tuesday 5/17:

We had a workshop and mentoring session in the morning. During the workshop, we saw sister wendt and her companion sister olsen. That was so much fun because it was just us in the workshop with the teachers. We made plans to visit Betty in her house today so we went to the bus station to get to betty's house but lo and behold the bus never came so she had to come pick us up hahaha. It is always fun when Betty drives. When we got to her house, we looked through all of her photo albums which was really cool to get to know her more and build a connection. We also played Life, but the Slovene version. That was so fun. We also got the chance to read from the introduction to the Book of Mormon and pray with her. She said she would be willing to let us teach her the lessons which made me so happy. 

The absolute most precious dog I have ever met

Wednesday 5/18:

ZONE CONFERENCE IN ZAGREB CROATIA WOOOO

The drive over was super chill and very scenic. It was right through the countryside. The Zagreb chapel is gorgeous. It was so fun to be able to see everyone in the zone (the zone consists of every missionary in Slovenia and Bosnia)! I finally got to meet the missionaries from Bosnia in person! After zone conference, we went to the famous American store haha. This was a really small store that was filled from floor to ceiling with random candies, cereals, and food from America. I got to buy some goods from home to enjoy. 

Sestra Williams and I with our American spoils 

We drove right back after this and the rest of the day was super chill and filled with our studies. 

Thursday 5/19:

We had district council in Celje which was super nice. For those of you who forgot what district council is, we essentially meet together with our district (the two Elders in Maribor and the senior companions, the Barrus') and talk about our weeks, what we did, people we met with, etc. Kinda just a check-in. We went to Wok N' Roll and I actually got something new instead of my usual. It wasn't as good as my usual but still yummy. The rest of the day was studies and another mentoring session. We did 

Friday 5/20:

This morning we went to visit with our Branch President's wife and help her in her garden. They live in one of the most beautiful places ever and I loved every second of it. Well not everything everything - I was dying from allergies the entire time. If anyone has any good tips for combating allergies, please send them my way. Regardless, gardening is very therapeutic. They have the most adorable dog I have ever met. They also had two horses who were so chill and fun. Overall this whole experience was a 10/10. 

The view from our branch president's house

She even made us a bomb lunch afterwards. I love this woman. When we got home we met up with Betty and her son really quickly to play jenga at the church and talk a little bit about the Restoration. We had to leave to meet with some of our other friends at the park. It was good to catch up with them. 

Saturday 5/21:

One of the members in Ljubljana planned a service project where we went to this place in Lož and cleaned up a castle. That was so cool. It was insanely hot but so good to serve. I've got the meanest farmer's tan and it cracks me up. Haha I love being a missionary. We spent several hours chopping trees, clearing bushes, and getting stung by a bunch of stinging nettle. For a little service reward, we went to a different castle about ten minutes away. We were told that this was one of the most beautiful castles in Slovenia. It was so cool. It had a moat around it and we toured the inside which was completely preserved with the original decorations and furniture. It was more of a modern castle but still super cool. When we were leaving, there was a wedding happening!! Sestra Williams and I accidentally became part of the bridal party when we were trying to catch up with everyone else. Overall a really good day filled with service and castles. 

The beautiful castle 

Sunday 5/22:

I gave a talk in church today! I was really scared but it went so well. I talked about my favorite word, nevertheless. There is a really cool pattern with this word in the Book of Mormon. I am pretty sure I have already talked about this word a little in past emails but I am going to talked about it again. A couple months ago, I decided to go through the Book of Mormon and highlight every “vendar”. In the entire Book of Mormon, there are 179 times it appears. 179 times!! Almost every time it is used in the scriptures it follows a specific pattern which is:

First, They explain what they are struggling with or a trial they are going through
Second, They say - "vendar"
Third, They bear their testimony of how they still see God's influence in their lives.
 I shared some of examples from the scriptures (Alma 57:25, 2 Nephi 10:2, 2 Nephi 2:1-2, 2 Nephi 10:20, and 2 Nephi 4:17-23 - shout out to Sestra Tuckett for jumpstarting my love for 2 Nephi chapter 4). My dad was so sweet and joined on zoom at 4am his time. Tears. I love my dad. Later on in the day we met with an old returning sister missionary. She was actually the sister missionary I replaced which was cool. We hung out with her for a minute and then went our separate ways. As always dinner with the Barrus' was great and I got to call my family later too. 

Overall very very busy but so worth it. 

Ice cream count: 2 :( 

Highlights:

- we saw a paraglider launch off right in front of us 

- on our hike on Monday, Elder Hughes and I somehow managed to convince everyone minus Sestra Williams (lame) to roll down the hill with us

- Betty wanted to take a picture with me and the Book of Mormon so SCORE 

- when driving home from yone conference, we saw Sister Mefford and her companions walking so I got to scream hello from out of the window 

- SOMEONE BROUGHT ME RANCH AT ZONE CONFERENCE - literally the best thing ever

- Sister Fidler gave us a bunch of fresh goodies from her garden! We got so many random herbs and fresh eggs. 

Week 18 - Hot Weather and Allergies

 This week was blazing hot!!! 

Sestra Williams and I chilling (not featured: us sneezing every three seconds from allergies)

Monday 5/9:

Today was Sestra Williams' birthday!!! Our birthday plans were to go to a bunch of stores and treat ourselves. We went and explored all of the stores around our street. It was so fun to go into all of the cute tiny stores and see what they had. We had been wanting to do that for a while. Sestra Voigt and Sestra Hart texted us and told us that a person they had been texting lived in Celje and wanted a Book of Mormon. They asked us to meet her and give her one around 12:30ish and let me tell you this was such an interesting experience. Originally we were going to meet up with her in center, but she texted us saying that center36 had too many people there and that she found the address to our church and would just meet us there. That was understandable because there was a really big festival going on. We walked over to the church and saw a lady standing outside of the building. She wasn't facing us and was kind of just looking for us in the wrong direction. That was a little confusing because she wasn't facing us. We got to her and I asked if she was Maja (the girl we have been texting). She kinda just said hello hello so we introduced ourselves, shook her hand, and then I tried to give her the Book of Mormon. She shook her head, said she didn't have time, and then I guess her friend came by and they walked away together. So uh that was confusing. Turns out that was not Maja and some random lady that was waiting for her friend hahahaha. Too good. We texted the girl and asked her where she was. She said inside the church, but we knew that she couldn't possibly be in our church because it is locked so she must be in the Catholic church across the street. 

Text exchange with fake Maja pt. 1

We walked across the street and looked all through the church but did not see her. She sent a text saying that she is in the church with blue carpet (that is the color of our church carpet) but again, our church is locked. We wander around the streets and through random buildings for probably another couple of minutes until we get another text from her. She sent a picture of the inside of our church. 

Text exchange with fake Maja pt. 2 

What...the...heck. We were so confused. How did this random lady get into our church, especially with it being locked?? We start heading back to our church when we see a group of random people taking a picture in front of our church sign. Now, this does not happen so either these people are making fun of us or they are members from somewhere else. Turns out one of the girls was a missionary here quite a long time ago. We are still anxious to see Maja and get her the Book of Mormon, so we just invited them to come inside. We walk in and all of the lights are out. I am starting to think that this woman lured us here to murder us. I am so scared haha. But I go up the stairs and SURPRISEEEEEE!!!!! It was all of the other missionaries haha. They planned this entire thing as a surprise party for Sestra Williams. They literally made a whole fake FaceBook account. So so so funny. I nearly had a heart attack. We had some yummy desserts and played some games. We also shared our favorite memories of Sestra Williams. I shared about the time when she pushed me into a flower pot. We spent a good amount of time with them and then Sestra Williams and I headed out because we were still on a shopping high. We walked to a shopping mall that was maybe a 20 minute walk or so. That 20 minute walk actually took us maybe 30 minutes or so because we got lost a couple times but it just made it more of an adventure. We shopped for quite a while and when we went outside to go home, realized that it was pouring BUCKETS outside. Of course the jacket that I brought did not have a hood but once again, it made it an adventure. I made a point to jump in every rain puddle. We walked home but made a quick detour at our favorite Thai food restaurant. That place always hits the spot. 

Wok N' Roll after some heavy downpour 

Overall it was a really wonderful day filled with yummy food, lovely people, and fun adventures. Happy birthday to my lovely companion :)

Tuesday 5/10:

Today was sooo hot!! We did our studies outside and it was glorious. The birds were chirping, the bees were humming, etc. I definitely got a nice tan out of it. I got ice cream too. Beautiful beautiful day. We went on a really nice walk with Betty and talked to her more about what she believes. 

Betty :)

Then we had a call with one of our friends. She is a younger girl and is having a hard time understanding what the Book of Mormon says. We are going to start having more calls where we read the Book of Mormon together and talk about what is confusing. It was really nice! We helped her with some basic questions about the history of the Book of Mormon, how it is structured, and then read a bit with her. The best part was after our call she texted us talking about how she doesn't know why but after the call she started crying because she felt so happy and loved. We told her that what she is feeling is the Holy Ghost confirming that what we are teaching and reading together is true. I am glad we were able to help her recognize the Holy Ghost. :)

Wednesday 5/11:

District councillll woooooo!! We went to Maribor and wow the weather was gorgeous. Usually it has been downcast and rainy every time I've gone to Maribor but today, wow. The sun was SHINING! 

Pretty building in Maribor 

After district council we went and had lunch at a place called La Pizzeria and it was amazing. The pizzas were splendid but the best part was they give you these giant scissors to cut the pizza with. I think that is absolutely genius because you get to cut a slice however big you want it to be. I loved it.

District council lunch at the pizza place with massive scissors 

Later on after coming home, Sestra Williams and I got some yummy ice cream. The rest of the day was pretty chill. We had one of those training workshops, but other than that nothing too crazy. 

Thursday 5/12:

Another beautiful and insanely hot day. It was pretty humid too. The main highlight from today is we went and visited one of our members, Hilda. She is a sweet sweet older woman who has a hard time hearing. She is hilarious. She actually speaks a mixture of Serbo Croatian and Slovene so lots of times you've just gotta roll with it. She hasn't come to church because she has had a hard time hearing. We went over to her house so she could teach us how to crochet. Learning how to crochet in English is hard enough, but learning how to crochet in a mixture of different languages is pretty hard. I could not get the hang of it haha. There were several times where she just took it and did a couple rows and then gave it back. While we were crocheting, I noticed a packet on hearing aids on her desk. I showed her that I had hearing aids and was basically deaf too. She told me about how she wants better hearing aids because hers are very bad and she doesn't have any batteries for them. She showed me them and I am pretty sure they were from the 60s haha. When she showed me that she didn't have batteries, I had a thought to try putting my batteries in her hearing aids. They worked! She put her hearing aid in and I will never forget the look on her face. It was a look of pure joy and wonder. It pierced me right to the core. I remembered that when packing to come here, I packed more batteries than I needed. I packed extra. I didn't know why then, but I do now. It is so I can give them to her. God's timing is one of the most beautiful things to witness. It is like seeing the last piece of a puzzle or a project fit in its designated spot. I know that God perfectly timed this. She invited us to come back again tomorrow and we had to head back for English class. Two people came to English class! Both of them were people that either had not come in a while or it was their first time. That guy from last week who said he wanted to learn English came and then a younger boy who had come a long time ago started coming again. They are both pretty chill. We just talked with them and helped them get better at responding. The younger boy already had amazing English! He wanted to know fancy words so we taught him "baffled", jurisdiction", "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and more haha.

Friday 5/13:

The morning started out with cleaning the catholic school. The worst part was I had to kill three separate spiders and I hate spiders. One of the other ladies there made fun of me and told me I had a "spider phobia" hahahaha. She is right. One of the other main things we did was sweep the courtyard. That was pretty fun but Sestra Williams and I were both dying by the end of it because of allergies. We did some of our studies in the library today which was so nice. Afterwards I got a smoothie and a cake pop while Sestra Williams got ice cream. We then walked to Hilda's house. I know I said I sucked at crocheting yesterday but today something clicked and I got it down! It does not look perfect or very pretty but I am proud of it. I gave Hilda my extra hearing aid batteries and she was so thankful. During our visit she would just stop to tell us that she heard something and it was so sweet because I know how she feels. I know how it feels to put on hearing aids and hear sounds you didn't know existed. We stayed with her for a bit but then we had to leave to get back in time for a meeting. After our workshop we went out to eat with the Barrus' for a birthday dinner (both Sestra Williams and Elder Barrus have birthdays in May) at Stari Pisker which is this really really yummy restaurant in Celje. That was so yummy. When we got back home there was an absolutely beautiful sunset. 

Beautiful sunset one evening 

Saturday 5/14:

We have heard that natural honey helps with allergies so in the morning, we went to our local market. While there I couldn't resist getting some fresh cherries and strawberries. I also couldn't resist getting some kind of a strawberry shortcake that one guy was selling. It was so good!! We came back home and then got ready to visit our investigator, Luigi in his hometown Velenje. He has been asking us to come visit and walk around the lake for the longest time ever but whenever we try, it rains or one of us had to cancel. But today we were finally able to go and it was absolutely gorgeous. There are three lakes right by each other and we walked around two of them. 

The lake in Velenje 

Everything was just so green and the air smelled so great! At one point we went and bought ice cream and the ice cream truck man found out we were Americans and so he put some fun little American flags in our ice creams.

Our ice cream with the American flags the guy gave us 

We talked to Luigi about prayer and the Book of Mormon. He is progressing very well which makes me happy. 

Sunday 5/15:

Today was another beautiful day. At church Hilda came and she gave me a knitted pouch for my phone. So so so so so precious. I love this woman. One of our members was feeling sick so we walked 20ish minutes to his house to give him cookies only to find out that he was not there hahaha. We called and he said to just give the cookies to his mom. The rest of the day was pretty chill and nice. Nice and hot outside. 

I hope everyone has an absolutely wonderful week this week. Do not forget to make adventures out of your life. Anything can become an adventure if you find a way to make it fun. I love you all and se vidimo kasneje naslednji teden <3

Ice cream count: 5 (wooooooo!!!)

Highlights:

- on Monday they had a fun festival with booths all over in center. The booths had information about all of the different countries in Europe. I am not sure what it was but it looked like a fun get to know each country fair with music and dancing

- my sandal tan lines are coming in real nice

- I tried Burek for the first time and it was so good 

- I had cake for breakfast

- I have become addicted to crocheting 

- I had told Luigi that my favorite animal was a beaver but he thought a beaver was a squirrel so when we came across a squirrel he said "Look a beaver!" and that made us all crack up 

Week 17 - Return and Report

What a fun week filled with rollercoaster moments!!! This week was R and R (return and report). It is something that I think only my mission area does because I haven't heard of anyone else doing it. Essentially, 6 weeks after you have been in the field, you get back together with the people in your mtc group and do a check in kind of a thing. You teach each other a lesson, review how the training program is going, talk about the languages, etc. It is all super fun and a good chance to see everyone again. 

Monday 5/2:

Today was SO FUN!! It was a holiday so everything was closed but Betty and her son came and picked us up for a fun adventure. Betty is so funny everytime we drive with her, she blasts music and it is so fun. We drove to this one area first and visited a church and my goodness. It was absolutely gorgeous - so stunning. The artwork was just fabulous. She was so sweet and gave us all of these different church pamphlets in both English and Slovene - I love her to death

The other super cool church

I love it. We took more pictures outside of the church on the bench and by a pretty bush then headed on towards podčetrtek. The drive was just stunning. I don’t think I will ever get over how absolutely breathtaking slovenia is. Also on the way there we found out we are literally right next to Croatia and within sight of the border - hello to all of my Croatian friends! Once in town we stopped at this other church/cool building and it was super cool. The church had a really cool gothic/black vibe going on. 

Goth church on the outside

Beautiful view from the church

The goth church building

Then we went to this place called jelenov greben which is essentially a giant deer park. There are deer everywhere that you can feed and interact with. 

Sestra Williams and I with some fun deer

After feeding the deer for a bit, we went to the cafe area and got some fun desserts. Betty and Sestra Williams got a peanut butter/caramel cheesecake, Betty's son had a chocolate one and I had the most heavenly ice cream ever. 

My scrumptious ice cream

Now, I know I have said this for essentially every ice cream I have ever tasted here, but this ice cream was amazoned here straight from heaven. It was lavender flavored and the epidament of everything good in the world wow. If you ever do anything in Slovenia, go here and get this ice cream. After eating I got myself a sweet little souvenir and then we headed back to drop Betty's son at his dad's house. There we got to meet his dog and it was the CUTEST DOG EVER!!! I wish I got a picture but next time I will. The dog was a spaz too haha. It kept running around every one and doing donuts hahahah. After dropping him off, we headed back home but then Betty had us stop by another ice cream place because it was ˝the best ice cream˝. I got a bubble gumish flavor with vanilla and it was pretty good. I wouldn't say the best but definitely good. 

Tuesday 5/3:

Today was good. We went on a run along the river and found our new favorite scenic path to take! We also ate some pizza palčka (that yummy bread thing I always rave about) so that was lovely. One of our less active members was moving so we went over and helped her all morning. There was so much stuff in her house but we were able to make a very big dent in it which made us happy. She kept pawning stuff off to us haha so now Sestra Williams and I have a brand new knife set, nail polish, and a portable sewing machine thingy. We love it. Remember that guy from last week who wanted to learn English, well we had a call with him and he wants to come to our English group. We also invited his buddy to come too, so now we will have more people coming woo!! The rest of the day was just studies but overall a good day. 

Wednesday 5/4:

Today we had district council which was fun. Right in the middle of it we heard some noises coming from outside where there was a woman and her kids trying to carry big bags of potting soil. We all jumped right in and helped carry them to her apartment. Afterwards we stayed and talked to her for a little bit. It was funny because she asked us if we had found love yet hahahaha. Definitely one of my favorite interactions of the week. As always we went out to lunch afterwards. I got a four cheese pizza (a štiri siri - such a fun name) and it was pretty good. We got ice cream later on and as always it was the bomb. I got green apple and oreo which was actually a really good flavor combo. We didn't have anything too crazy going on today. We got all packed and ready to leave for tomorrow! 

Ice cream for dayz

Thursday 5/5:

Woke up at 5:30 and got ready to leave for Ljubljana by 6:30. We drove to the train station, met up with Sestra Voigt and Sestra Hart, and then headed2 onto the bus. We got on and man it was crowded! We had to ask random people to sit with them. We were all split up across the bus. I sat by a sweet old grandma. I tried talking to her but it didn't go very well haha. I asked her why she was going to Croatia and she just said yes haha rip. She slept the entire time so I just let her be and enjoyed the 2 hour ride. The two border stops were alright - the first one a lady asked if we had a cigarette lighter haha. We said no ofc. 

On route to Zagreb! 

The second border stop, Sestra Voigt and I were in line together and the same lady (who asked us about the cigarette lighter) was behind us. She kept talking to us but we had no clue what she was saying at all . She actually might have been speaking Croatian but I have no clue. Anyways she literally stood so close to us it was crazy. Everytime we moved she would move directly behind us again. There were a couple times where she stepped on my foot because I swayed forward and she thought I was stepping. Pretty freaky haha but we kinda just rolled with it and kept talking to each other in English. At one point Sestra Voigt was talking and the woman tapped her a bunch of times and then said "SSSHHHHH". We were so stunned. We were absolutely baffled. I had absolutely no clue what to do or say hahaha. Thankfully we were pretty close to the passport check area. We avoided her for the rest of it haha. She was sus. Anyways we arrived and got all of our stuff and whatnot. We were the first ones to arrive so we went and picked up all of our stuff and picked our beds (we went in the cool kid corner). Soon enough Sister Mefford and  her companion, Sister Coleman came with Elder Walters and his companion Elder Brown following. Later on Sister Wendt and her companion Sister Olsen and Sister King and her companion Sister Matuschek arrived and the party started!!! 

The mtc gang reunited <3

We ate some lunch first (I got teriyaki chicken and rice and it was so yummy) and then got right into teaching each other lessons. Everyone did so well4,!! It is really cool to see how much everyone has progressed, especially with the language. The rest of the day was meetings and then we played fun games together. I would say that the highlight of this entire thing was I got to hear Sestra Voigt play the piano again. After we were all done with the games, her and I went into the piano room. She played and played and played while I journaled and relaxed. 10/10 would recommend. Later on before bed we all came with a gift from our area to give to each other. I gave everyone a cute little Celje magnet and in return I got some yummy chocolate candy things from Novi Sad, a magnet from Belgrade, some cedevite vitamins from Ljubljana, and a cute wooden bookmark from Zagreb. 

Sister Wendt and I's traditional selfie - my favorite part is just how blurry it is

Friday 5/6:

We finished off the rest of R and R today which was sad because I had to say goodbye to everyone again :( I am so glad that I even got to see them in the first place though. Sister Wendt wanted a shout out in my email. She told me she would actually read it if I shouted her out haha rip. So here's my shout out: I LOVE SISTER WENDT!!!!!! Thank you. We left for Slovenia around 12ish. The way back on the bus was pretty chill. There were not a whole bunch of people so Sestra Williams and I got to sit together. At one point the bus stopped at a gas station so we got out and grabbed ourselves some souvenirs. For the train ride back to Celje, I had a really cool experience. Of course it is super full so Sestra Williams and I get separated with her sitting behind me, but I noticed that the woman across the row from me had an ˝Learn English˝ book that she was reading. So of course I strike up a conversation with her and she does not really know a lot of English haha so we were going back and forth in broken Slovene and English. We had a really nice conversation! We talked about food, I showed her pics from my family (thanks Brat Kunzler for the idea), asked her to show me pictures, etc etc. At one of the stops, a younger boy probably in late teens or early 20s sat by us and he spoke very good English. He kind of worked as my translator when I did not know a word or how to say something. At one point she asked me why I am here in Slovenia and after telling her about me being a missionary and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, she asked me what our beliefs and principles are. WOOOOOOOO!! I was actually pretty nervous because I could tell that more people around us were listening in and being interested but I still sent it and told her about what we believed. She did ask me if I was going to get married here hahahahaha. I told her that was not my focus haha. Overall it was such a nice experience and I was able to exchange contact information with her.

Saturday 5/7:

Today was so good! We had planned a branch picnic and it went so amazing. It was raining outside so we had to do it in the church but no biggies because we had so much fun and amazing food. It was great to see a lot of our members and build relationships with them. The rest of the day was just studies and planning what to do for next week.

Sunday 5/8:

Happy mothers day to all of the wonderful mothers out there!! Little shout out to my mom for being my best friend and such a big support. I am forever grateful for her. Today was a very good day! Church was amazing as usual. We sang in church again. Me, Sestra Williams, and two of the kids in our branch sang the song Love is Spoken here in Slovene. That was very fun and interesting because it has two parts, an alto and soprano part. Everybody wanted to do the alto part so I got the soprano part all on my own wooo. I love how much peace music can bring. Sestra Williams also spoke in church. She shared a wonderful message about families and the blessings we can receive in the church. Later on in the day we met up with Betty. She took us on a ride up a nearby mountain that had an absolutely wonderful view. We came back and had dinner with the Barrus' which is always great. 

Betty and the gang66

Ice cream count: 3

Highlights:

- I found someone else with hearing aids and we first bumped so that was a cool interaction

- the deer place had a dog and a cat that just wandered about through the different cafes/areas - the cat was asleep under a car and the dog followed us to the store - so cute

- all of the flowers are blooming like crazy and it is so beautiful to see 

My favorite interactions from R and R:

- Sister Olsen's hugs are the most fabulous things in the world 10/10 would recommend 

- Sister Wendt and I got to take our traditional selfie <3 

- Sister Mefford called me an idiot (our lovely inside joke)

- Elder Walters ate a whole loaf of bread 

- Sister Matuschek and Sister Voigt are both from Germany so they got to speak together in German which was so fun to see 

- When I was narrating for Werewolf (a game like mafia), I was trying to give hints to Sister Coleman and King about who the werewolves were. They would accuse someone and I would slowly shake my head so they would accuse someone else and still be wrong. I would keep doing that until they accused the right person

- Elder Brown was the right accused person haha sorry I threw you under the bus. 

WEEK #16 - exchangesssss

 Hellloooooooo!

This week was an adventure haha. We had exchanges where for a day or so we essentially switch companions haha. Sestra Voigt came here to Celje and spent the day with Sestra Williams and I went to Ljubljana with Sestra Hart. You will hear more about it later in my email but it was an absolute blast. Right now as I am writing this email there is a guy outside our window singing and playing songs on the guitar. I love Celje. 

Monday 4/25:

pdayyyyyyyyy

Today was so fun! All of the missionaries in Slovenia came to Celje for a fun hike and hangout. Before meeting up, Sestra Williams and I made a necessary stop at the bakery to get that heavenly pizza bread again. I really need to remember what it is called haha. But anyways we all met up by the ice cream truck and of course we just had to get ice cream. It was right there hahaha. I got cookie flavored and it was the absolute bomb. While we were waiting for the elders from Maribor to arrive by train we walked to the park and played ultimate frisbee (my team won). Everyone arrived and then we went forward on our hike! W

e hiked straight up and it was so fun. I

 got to catch up a whole bunch with Sesta Voigt which was lovely. We had a beautiful view of the entire from the very top.

Later we went back down and ate at hood burger. I got the brie burger again. We were going to grab something from our apartment when the elders saw a guy they knew who sharpened knives so they had us go get ours. The guy straight up just sharpened our knives for free which was sick. Then we went and dropped off everyone at the train station. And then went shopping because one store had an everything is 3 euros sign. We got a whole bunch of new shirts and whatnot for super cheap. Super fun pday. 

Tuesday 4/26:

I woke up to a tick on my leg from the hike yesterday. So fun. We called our medical advisor lady and she said she had never dealt with it before and that she doesn't really know what to do....... what the heck. hahaha we just googled what to do and went from there. Everything is all good now though. 

We met up with the same girl that we made those funky cookies with a couple weeks ago. We went to a cute little cafe and just caught up. That was so fun. We were going to go meet up with one of our members but then it was pouring and thundering so it got cancelled. This day was pretty long and filled with a lot of phone work. 

Wednesday 4/27:

Today was bomb! We had district council today in Maribor and that went super well. I swear every time we go to Maribor it gets greener and greener. SO beautiful. 

Afterwards we went to lunch at this place called Jack and Joes and let me tell you this place is insane. Their menu is at least 28 pages long. Insane. I got a pizza burger. Yes you read that right... a pizza burger. It was so delicious.

 I don't even know how to describe it but it was massive and had three different types of meat (regular beef patty, salami, and then another type of meat that I don't remember). It took me SOOOOOOO long to eat it, BUT I ate the whole thing. The fries were also fire. When we got home the Barrus' did an apartment inspection and we passed with flying colors so WOO! We then went and got ice cream. 

I got lime and wow. Fire. Soooooo good! I will never tire of the amazing ice cream over here. We went to the church and did some studies and then went back to the apartment so I could grab my packed bag for exchanges. However I was really craving green apple ice cream. I know it sounds a little weird, but trust me, it is amazing. Well, lo and behold, we pass by one of the thousands of ice cream shops here and they have green apple ice cream. So of course I had to buy it haha. 

Later on in the evening Sesta Hart and Sestra Voigt drove over from Ljubljana to do our exchange. We swapped and Sestra Hart and I went on our way to Ljubljana. I was excited because I have only been to Ljubljana twice and both of the times were for less than a day. 

Thursday 4/28:

This day was so good. Sooooo good!!!! In the morning Sestra Hart and I exercised and I realised just how long it had been since I had a proper run. We ran over to a track, ran all around the track, and then ran back. My legs were shaking hahaha. She worked me hard but it was good. The rest of the morning was filled with studies and then we contacted this sweet old couple to ask if we could help them in their garden. They said yes and we started on the 25 minute or so drive over. 

Well uh those 25 minutes ended up turning into over an hour and a half because the traffic was so bad. Škoda (the literal translation is damage and it is used like dang it hahah - I love this word). When we showed up, the wife had prepared an entire full course meal for us. We had a really yummy noodle soup, chicken with seasoned rice, and a salad. They just kept piling it onto our plates until everything was gone. I was in heaven haha. AND THEN she brought dessert out which was a fried banana, chocolate ice cream, some kind of yummy pudding and whipped cream. I loved everything. Then we went and helped in their garden and just chatted. They had a really really cute cat. After we finished we sat and just hung out. Oh also we had these oranges that were kind of a mix between a blood orange and a regular orange but that was also the best orange I have ever eaten. So so so so so good. In the evening we went back to Celje and I was reunited with Sestra Williams. 

Friday 4/29:

Today was so random and so good. Basically many unexpected blessings haha. The morning was just filled with our studies but the craziest thing happened! During one of our studies we got a call from one of our members who was less active who we have been trying to meet with for a while. She essentially said hey I am coming to your apartment, I will be there in 2 minutes. Haha WHAT. We went down and met her and she was with two other girls. One of them was actually a previous missionary here in Slovenia, Sestra Jennings and the other was her friend. That was a welcome surprise! We went and got ice cream with them! I got a dragon fruit flavor which was so so so good. We just sat around and chatted with them all for a bit BUT then another less active member who we have been trying to meet up with walked by and recognized the past missionary. I was able to meet this less active member for the first time ever which was so good. We had to split up after a bit but that was just such a lovely bunch of miracles. And then later on we had a dinner schedule with this lovely family. It consists of the mom (Dani), the dad (Rob), a son who is 10 I think (Ben), and a brand new baby (Liz) who was just born around when I first arrived. Dani is very strong in the church but Rob is not. In the past we haven't been allowed to go over or really interact too much with the family because the father didn't allow it but we were able to go over for dinner and share a spiritual message with them. Dani's mom was actually there who is also a member and she only speaks Spanish. I forgot to mention this earlier but Dani and her mom are from Bolivia. But anyways we had a bunch of google translate conversations with her. She made two Bolivian desserts that were so so so so so good. One was a kind of cookie thing with coconut shavings around it and some kind of caramel or sugar glaze in the middle. The other translated to cheese bread but it wasn't super cheesy. They were both delicious and I stuffed myself to the brim with them haha. Overall a day filled with good food and good times. 

Saturday 4/30:

Boosted from my run with Sestra Hart and having a desire to workout more intensely, Sestra Williams and I went on a run this morning. We ran along the river which was so pretty. Walking up stairs after it was a little rough though hahaha. Studies were all in the morning per usual but then we had to leave around noonish to go drop some things off and show a couple of our members how to get to a picnic run by two different previous missionaries haha. We only stayed for a little bit and then had to leave to prepare to have a lesson with Betty. To get to Betty we had to take a bus which is something that I personally haven't had to do yet and it was kind of a rollercoaster. I guess the people could tell we had no clue what we were doing because this one guy came up to help us. He was wearing a hot pink sweater, had slicked back hair with shaved sides, a chew spit cup in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other. He was such a character. We had the funniest convo with him. He asked us where we are from, why we are here, why we are learning Slovene, etc. And we told him all about it and I guess one time when I was saying my answer my head was turned so he could see my hearing aids. And here is how the convo went:

Him (in Slovene - this is a rough translation): Is there someone talking to you in your ears? Telling you what to say?

Me: *did not understand*

Sestra Williams: *translates for me*

Me and Sestra Williams: *kindly explain that no, these are hearing aids because I can't hear*

Him: Oh so you have problems?

Me: ne veliko samo malo (not a lot, only a little) 

 I think he still thought it was sus but he was so funny. We added him on Facebook and everything. Hopefully we can have more funny interactions with him. But yeah then we met up with Betty and Žan which was so good. We just went and walked around a beautiful river. We made a bold move and asked them if we could teach them and they said yes so woooooo! On the way back home we saw the past sister missionaries again and they found a guy who wants to learn English so we are going to start teaching him English!

Sunday 5:1

Such a good day! Today was fast sunday so that meant that people were able to go up and bear their testimonies! We broke another record!! We had 10 people at church!! They just kept on coming in which made my heart so happy. We had a yummy dinner with the Barrus' and I got to call my family later on. So good. I am running out of time sorry this one is late haha

Ice cream count: 5 

Highlights: 

- I am getting tanner so I no longer look like a ghost next to Sestra Williams (I still look very pale though haha)

- Sestra Williams told me that one thing she likes about me is that I am deaf because it makes her life more fun

- I showed Sestra Hart a fun Slovene song and we listened to it on repeat for at least 8 times

- I saw the cutest cat from across our building in Ljubljana 

Photos:

1. Random stretch of yellow flowers

2. The beer fountain 

3. View from the top

4. Cat in the window :)

5. My pizza burger

6. My favorite people in the world

7.  Reunion with Sestra Voigt + ice cream