Caroling Caroling through the streets..., Dec. 6th, 2015

Sretan Božić family!!!! 

Welcome to the Christmas season! Sounds like you all had a really great week together in Dallas!! Zagreb is also very beautiful this time of year and we started out right this morning by gathering in the office and watching the Christmas devotional!! It was so great! Zagreb is very beautiful this time of year!

The main square in Zagreb turned into a massive ice rink! So magical! 

We also got into the Christmas season by caroling in centar last night as a district!!! There were six of us singing and two of us out talking to people. Sometimes stopping people on the street gets a little old, so when you do something that makes THEM stop themselves.... it is sooo wonderful. Much easier to talk to. :) So we are going to be caroling our hearts out and talking to everyone we can a bout #ASaviorIsBorn aka #Spasiteljserodi. We are also going to celebrate by getting a delicious sausage sold from the street.....sooo good. 

Our investigator via skype got the chance to go to a baptism in Germany and said he would pray about a baptismal date. He really knows it is true, it is just the whole 'changing my life' that seems difficult to him. But he can do it! Anyone can with the Lord on our side! So we will teach him tonight and see how it goes! 

We also had a really successful THURSDAY!! We had a Christmas party. It was for a bunch of natives and their families who worked on the Paul Cardall concert in September. We ate delicious food and then had a mini concert. We started out with the Rhodes family rendition of SLEIGH BELLS!

Rachel Grant and I playing Christmas duets! 

Belt, bells and horse included. The kids really loved it and it was a great start to the concert. I played a solo as well, accompanied for Sister Duffy who came and sang a couple songs and some children also performed. Then we all sang Christmas songs together. However the BEST part was a really awesome couple who said that the party was too short, so we stayed a little longer and played a round of Qwirlke with them...which of course led President to tell them that they would make great mormons...which then led us actually describing what mormons are. By the time they left, she gave me and Sister Allred a hug and her contact info and wants to get together to go on a coffe! (Also known as, I want to talk more...) She was very very cool and almost 6 feet! (There are actually a fair amount of tall women over here in Croatia, its great:)) 

  It was so great after an awesome party to feel the spirit as well all testified of simple truths of the gospel that make us different from everybody else. 

  So here is to another week of caroling and finding some awesome people who want to investigate the gospel of Jesus Christ!!! I hope you all have an amazing week and enjoy the start of the Christmas season and remember what it is all about! 

  Love you all! 

Sestra Rhodes 

                               

                                                         This really describes our relationship... 

                                   

                                 

                                                        post cleaning the church dance party.

Look who I found after cleaning the church in Zagreb!  Yup it's Laurie McKernan!

SQUATS AND DRUNKS - Nov. 30th, 2015

Greetings family!  

    Sounds like Thanksgiving there turned out alright! Happy holidays too all officially (I will now proceed to put twice as many greetings and goodbyes considering I forgot last week). We had quite the successful week over here as well, filled with turkey, spinach dip, some Christmas music and a very drunk lesson. Stay tuned. 

    We had a really great Thanksgiving dinner at the mission home with other missionaries and some of the Grant family. We got some volleyball time and some piano time and some proselyting time. Win win win. A really big success for the mission is the new Christmas website! The church has launched this awesome Christmas campaign #ASaviorIsBorn and the best news is that we have in in Croatian! The website the video and all! It is going to be amazing to use the video and the pass along christmas card and use this Christmas season to find people who want to be baptized and who want to discover WHY a Savior was born. If you haven't checked it out yet get the Christmas season started already!!  https://www.mormon.org/christmas I can not WAIT to be a missionary during Christmas time. We gonna see a Christmas miracle I tell you! 

  Another highlight of the week, on Thanksgiving we got to skype with our investigator in Germany who was getting a temple tour of the grounds and the visitor center. We translated and and the end they all watched a movie about temples and we they asked him how he felt after. His response? -My feelings are too big to tell. But I have this feeling like i want to cry and I don't know why.- Well there are two options here. Considering you are not a female and its not that time of the month....why yes that is the spirit. So remember that feeling!!! 

It was so great to see him feel the spirit and we could not wait to have another lesson with him. Until we did....and he came very drunk. Satan KNOW when good things are happening. Bah. I also got very lightheaded and tired in our small room and was really struggling and had to stand up and do some squats to get some blood flowing... So all in all it was one of the top three weirdest lessons on my mission. but we have a lesson with him again tomorrow and the Lord is on our side. So...I think, let's see...yes, I think we will go one more round with the word of wisdom. He really is so great and am excited to see how the Lord will help him with is word of wisdom problems. He always does. (mostly smoking actually). 

    All in all, quite the week. Croatian is coming slightly better.  I mostly just speak a combo of Slovene-Croatian with an accent from nobody knows where. I am very excited for the Christmas season. What a better place to celebrate the birth of our Savior then in His full time service wearing His name on my badge. 

   I love you all and keep you all in my prayers. Have an amazing week and stay strong! 

Bok bok!! 

Sestra Rhodes 

                            How the world sees the Rhodes. I get tall comments on a daily basis. 

               

   

P-day in Zagreb

 Our p day event in zagreb!           

That was a fun museum we went to with some missionaries from Slovenia!! Shout out to my hometown! 

I made a BOMB spinach dip for thanksgiving appetizer...It just involved a lot of onion cutting. A lot of onion cutting. . . 

                           

           Also, Happy Birthday to my incredible brother!  Thanks for spending the day with me in Croatia!

Driving to District mtg.

Morning study with Teo
Nov. 28th

At the church Teo!

Long Day, goodnight Teo!  Happy Birthday

 

                                                           

                   

END OF A SHORT ERA! - Nov. 23, 2015

                                    Our apartment, is rather small, especially                                 
 for three of us. 

                                

                           

Did someone say they want a BOOK OF MORMON??!!!

Sister Richardson (Bosnia now), jaz, Sestra Allred 

  

Zagreb chapel! A real chapel! 

Bread in Europe. A blessing or a problem? No comment. 

 This week ended a very short era of being in a trio. It was a good time and now we are back to two! The third got sent to Bosnia. She also left a bunch of clothes....so free for all.

Now to details. Last Monday was a beautiful day. (Since then, I have gotten the winter coat out) We had the opportunity to go to the hospital to visit a member who pregnant and was stuck in there for a few days, she lives outside of Zagreb. The coolest part...she is an awesome missionary!! I am so grateful for members. Before we got there she had already told the girl in the bed next to her all about our church, prayer, who Heavenly Father is and some main differences from our church and the Catholic church. (Probably the number one most frequent conversation with people on the streets as well.) We got there and visited and she asked all her questions and we told her about blessings and the priesthood power as well. (When I say we, I mean I testified in my broken Croatian-Slovenian, I am grateful that there are some similarities though.) We went back to visit her this week (the member already went home) and we will talk to her more about the plan of salvation! She is sooo cool, very young, married and already has two kids. All that she needs now in life, is the gospel! She will also mostly likely get a blessing soon as well. Amazing miracle and SO GREAT to see such awesome member missionary work! 

We are still teaching the man in Germany via skype. We skype multiple times a week and he loves the book of mormon and gospel. He already refers to the Church as 'our church' and how 'we' do things. The hardest part now, is that he needs to quit smoking. We taught him about the word of wisdom again and he really wants to keep it, so we will see in our lesson tonight how it goes. The other hard things is the language, his level of german and english are very low, so communicating with members is hard unless they know russian (which one of them does.) He is a great guy though and the Lord will lead him if he keeps the commandments! It is a really amazing thing to have technology to teach him. I grateful for technology. 

Random fact of the week... IT SNOWED! It did not stay for very long, but on Monday we were without coats and enjoying the sun and by Wed, the first snow and I whipped out the winter coat. It did not snow last year until after Christmas. We also got let into a door this week by a crazy lady who yelled everything she said and fed us very interesting fried dessert things.... AND we gave out our first Croatian book of Mormon together. My goal for this week is to explain and give one away all by myself! (I feel like I have rather resorted back to my childhood years...but hey, we are supposed to be as little children right?) :)

Love to you all,

Sestra Rhodes

Thanksgiving Thoughts

Hi Parents!  I have been doing quite a bit of pondering this week. An Elder in our mission came to Zagreb to go to the hospital after not feeling good at all. After less than a week, he was diagnosed with Leukemia and three days later is home and getting treatment. Breaks my heart for him and his family. We never know when it is  our time. End of our mission, end of our mission on earth, end of an era in our lives, we always have to be close enough to the Lord to learn from whatever He gives us and be prepared to meet our maker. I have already learned that from you two and I have just been blessed with a lot and wanted to take a second to tell you.... I am soooo grateful for you two, for raising me in the gospel, for teaching me about baptism, for living the gospel yourselves, for letting me throw us tea parties, for supporting me in every way, for being my friends and my parents, and want you two to know....I will be eternally grateful to Heavenly Father for sending me to our family, to be taught and raised by you. I love you with all my heart. Our family is eternal. I cherish my first time and every time after going to the temple with you two, and for gaining a deeper understanding of eternity. Heavenly Father has told me in many ways that He is proud of you two, He is always telling me to be grateful. So thank you for all you guys do. I love you zero wheel barrels full! Happy thanksgiving! 

Have a great week! 

Sestra Rhodes 

Initiation and KRUH - Nov. 16th, 2015

Hello Family! 

I will dive right into things. 

First week in Croatia? Check. Ne znam što radim.  As far as the language goes, there are a lot of similarities to Slovenian, but not enough. Haha. I understand a lot, but speaking is a whole different ball game. It is a lot more slavic sounding, not as much german and italian influence. But I have two awesome companions who are patient and letting me stop people on the street and I am giving away cards and stuff. It is also nice because Zagreb has a really awesome church building, big, and beautiful! 

We will only be in a trio until the end of this week and then Sister Richardson goes to Bosnia until the end of her mission. They are really awesome and we have been doing plenty of things to 'initiate' me into the Zagreb sisters. Aka, we ate at a really delicious restaurant, Pauza. Amazing Wok. Went running like crazy to make up for the giant loaf of amazing eurpean bread we ate, had a dinner with the senior office couple the hallings, a reeeeally awesome pair of people, and watched some old cheesey seminary videos in our very very small apartment. I also made lentil soup for us. (Shout out to karlie for the recipe.) 

As for my new calling, we are trying to flood the earth with the internet. That is how people learn these days. They aren't asking God, they are asking google. So we are going to fight back and get the correct information to the top of the google searches so people can see, read, and understand who we are and want to learn more. Already on my mission, I have seen 3 direct results of people coming into the church via internet research and am very excited to work with the Lord on this one! 

To get started, Sister Allred and I went to my hometown MARIBOR to give a presentation on the new websites and talk about missionary work online. The same day we did that, a random guy in Croatia had been studying online for a YEAR and finally decided to come to church to learn more. So this is the wave of the future and I am excited to be in Croatia though it was great to see all my homies in Maribor and speak Slovene again!!! Actually, that part was really really really great. 

i also found out this week (again) I really love learning languages! 

Here are the websites we are working on, check them out! 

http://www.cerkev-jezusa-kristusa.si/

http://www.crkvaisusakrista.hr/

http://www.crkva-isusa-hrista.rs/

Right now we are still

 teaching a really awesome guy in Germany who only knows Croatian. So we are teaching him via skype and it is crazy and amazing to see how the spirit can be present even in two different parts of Europe, across the world, wherever it may be. The spirit testifies of truth and it is a gift that we have. I found a super awesome quote in preach my gospel today and it is sooo true: 

"The gift of the Holy Ghost is one of our heavenly Father's most precious gifts. This gift is a foretaste of eternal joy and a promise of eternal life." 

When I fell the Holy Ghost, I am happy; and I am oh so happy here doing things I don't actually think I can do, but  relying on the Lord. We can always be happy and always have the spirit, no matter where we are, what language we are speaking, who we are with, what situation is ours in life...God has a plan, we just have to choose to live it and watch all the blessings! 

I love and pray for you all. Challenge for the week: Lets all work together this week on becoming fluent in the language of prayer. It is a powerful and we could all use it in our lives! Have an amazing week! I love you all! 

Sestra Rhodes

 Doviđenja!!

On our way to Maribor and giving our third to Pres and Sister Grant for the day! 

(Returning the glasses to a Slovene missionary...:)

Zagreb is quite a bit bigger than Maribor haha. 

BOK!!! Nov. 9th, 2015

Good-bye Kranj - Beautiful Alps!

Draga obitelj, 

What an amazing, crazy, fast fast week it has been. Here is the recap for you all.For starters, right now I am writing from Zagreb. My new home. Last monday Sister Duffy and I went to mission leadership council in Zagreb and that evening I found out that I would be moving to Zagreb to work here and to work in a calling that involves helping out with the new country communication pages (church websites in the native language). So...President announced it officially at zone conference on Thursday, I gave my testimony to my Slovenian fellow missionaries along with Sestra Christensen who is going home and said farewell to Slovenia yesterday after church. Quick change and the task of learning Croatian and working in a new country has lead to some pretty earnest prayers and going through my american beef jerky way too quickly... but I know the Lord is in charge and that President Grant receives revelation for this mission. So I will do my best to rely on the Lord in this new phase of my mission. Whew...here we go. 

Other amazing parts of the week. We talked to two really amazing moms in Kranj in our last few hours of Slovenian contacting, and it was a big blessing to be able to not just have small, meaningless conversations for my last few hours, but to teach the gospel and share what we believe. Sister Duffy and I enjoyed our last few days together. We also have been teaching a very much older man who brings his daughter (25 yrs old) to sit in for our lessons. He is not really interested, but we kept going back in hopes for his daughter. Well we decided we needed to talk to her once without her dad, and invited her to come into Kranj, cent 'na kavico.' "on a coffee or tea" they say. She came! AND she had soooo many questions and is just so cute and shiny and the best part... after a good plan of salvation talk, we invited her to church AND SHE CAME! There were multiple visitors that day and the members all greeted her and she stayed for two hours and really enjoyed herself! Sad to say goodbye right when we are making some headway but she is in great hands of sister duffy and sister arsenjuk and the members! 

Sister Arsenjuk, she is a member from Maribor, a dear friend, and SHE TOOK MY PLACE IN KRANJ! I am soooo excited, she is going to be serving a mini mission for a bit and I know it will help her grow sooo much. 

Also..... to be saved for last. Not only did I get to go back to Maribor to teach my friend Tina, but this weekend, she was baptized and confirmed and sister duffy and I drove with the elders from Kranj and their investigator all the way to maribor for the baptism (getting pulled over for looking suspicious and foreign on the way from the scarriest looking, undercover cops, with Slavic accents ..... story for another day.) We sat in the back and then right before Tina went to get baptized we saw each other and she gave me a giiiant hug and was just filled with light and the spirit. What an amazing day to be a part of and to feel the spirit that is there when someone decides to follow Jesus Christ. Sister Duffy and I sang 'I stand all amazed' in Slovenian while she was dressing. 

    So....that was my week. Wonderful. Fast. Spiritual. A little tough. But sooooo rewarding and I am excited to start the next challenge! We are now going to look around Zagreb. Should be fun. >) 

I love you all and pray for you daily! Stay close to the Lord and know that He is in charge! 

xoxoxo

Sestra Rhodes 

Tina's baptism in Maribor!

Good-bye to Sestra Duffy! :(

Patricija (mini missionary) and I...notice the beautiful view of the Alps!

Fun packages from home! (Stephanie)

First day with new companions in Zagreb!  New challenges ahead. Sister Richardson, me, Sister Allred.

Holidays - Nov. 2nd, 2015

 What a week here in Slovenia! Two holidays, an exchange with sisters in Ljubljana and a half way mark! Starting with exchanges, I got to work with my trainer again! It was really great to serve with her again and work for our goals in unity. Exchanges are a time to learn a lot, and I always learn a lot from Sister Robertson. We enjoyed the time in Kranj together and got to teach a sweet member while she was here who happened to feed us a delicious, Slovene rice dish. We also celebrated my half way mark together! I blew out some candles and we watched the Joseph Smith movie. A true party I tell you. Especially considering the fact that neither of us were aware that they were trick candles and it took about 5 minutes to get them all out. 

    We also had two holidays, Halloween (noč čarovnic..night of witches) and Day of the Dead (dan mrtvih). Our miracle on Halloween was that . . . people were having a good time and didnt want to talk to us, but. . . one of our friends who is taking the lessons called to get together for a lesson that night! Perfect time to talk about the . . . plan of salvation! It went really well and she had lots of great questions, and I cant wait to meet with her again. She is so tiny and studying in Ljubljana and very busy, but has one of the kindest hearts I know! We also ran into her and her dad yesterday and her dad knew our names and was pleased to meet us!! pleased! (Having family support is HUUUUUUGE.) I would say the leading factor if they do or do not get baptized. So that was another miracle. 

    Day of the dead miracle . . . President Grant gave us an hour to go see a cemetery. They are COVERED in candles and at night it is really beautiful. But the true miracle is that while everyone is remembering those who passed on, we as members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints can remember with gladness in our hearts, looking forward to the day when we are reunited with our family. The knowledge and a TESTIMONY of the plan of salvation is one of the most priceless gifts we have in this life and it is vital that we have both. 

'And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth, (notice the two part equation here)  they were firm,and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin;and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace,or they buried the weapons of war, for peace.' Alma 24:19 

When we believe and know the truth of the plan of Salvation, our hearts are changed and we can live with the type of hope that is intended and described in this verse: 

'For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.' 

1 Cor 15:22 

I know that God has made a perfect plan for us in order for us to be happy here and become like Him in the eternities. I love you all and testify that this is God's true church on the earth again led by living prophets and apostles. Have an amazing week and know that prayers are coming your way from Slovenia! 

Sestra Rhodes 

Egg and Milk dispenser!  So cool!

The lovely Sister Duffy! 

Happy Halloween! 

Sister Courageous and Cat Woman. 

Beautiful Train ride!

Night of the dead where all the graves are lit with lanterns! 

Happy Halloween!

P-Day! 

Half way mark!!! 9 months and counting!

Sweetest family ever after a Halloween evening with them! 

Nina and her children. 

Miracles! Nov. 2nd, 2015

Celebrating my halfway mark!  Time is starting to fly! October 28th!

Draga Družina, 

    This week was a miracle week, this next one will be a miracle week as well. On October 31, our mission is celebrating the 30 anniversary of the dedication of Yugoslavia for the preaching of the gospel! What an amazing blessing it is to see what has happened in just thirty years and to see the potential that these beautiful countries have. It is such a blessing to be a part of the work at this stage, and to be able to tell people amazing truths that they have never had to opportunity to hear. It is such a priviledge. This past week I had the opportunity to go and do exchanges with Sister Higgins in Maribor. We taught a member together, taught English class, were actually quite busy with lessons...it was amazing! 

    But the best part is the sweet girl that we had the opportunity to teach together. Sister Christensen and I found her right before I left, she is the one who came to church the next day for general conference and then the following evening to family home evening right before I left. Their first lesson with her, she accepted a baptismal date. God has prepared people. When we first met her and talked to her on a bench we asked her how she would feel to know that God has more of his words for us? Her answer, 'I hoped that he would.' She was searching and when we taught her, I saw the light of the gospel in her eyes. It was amazing to see the spirit so alive in her. We taught her the plan of salvation and answered all her questions, testified, and at the end we asked her to pray to know if this really is God's plan for us. She said that she would, but that she somehow already knows it is true and knows this is God's plan for her. THE BEST WORDS EVER! I was just so humbled to be able to teach her again and see her progress. 

   Her follow up question for us, was how she could get her family to believe while they are all on earth so they could all be in the celestial kingdom together. She is actively preparing for baptism and an amazing young woman who is going to build the church here in Slovenia! 

  We also have another exchange this week (Sister Duffy and I actually do not have as much time together as we thought . . .haha) with Ljubljana. I will be staying in Kranj and Sister Robertson will be serving here with me! Yay for serving once more with my trainer! It will be great and miracles will happen. 

  I pray that we all constantly seek for personal revelation and live our lives the way we should when we know the gospel is true and that God has a perfect plan for us. I know He does and that Jesus Christ is our Savior. He is the way back home and it is a blessing to be able to teach that to these amazing people. I love and pray for you all. Have an amazing week.

 Sestra Rhodes

Bishopric social where we all wrote a note to each missionary in the ward on a poster and sent it!