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 :)