Selfies and Sunshine! July 27th, 2015

Dobro Jutro!

Hello family! I am going to jump right into my life this week due to lack of time.

W.O.W. Slovenia can get reeeeally hot. And humid. It is mentioned at least . . . in every conversation I have with every single person. Sometimes you wake up. . . and start sweating. The good news? It rained today! We have a two day cool break before the heat comes back. The other good news? Slovene's always know the weather so it is an AWESOME way to start talking to someone. All you have to say is 'Hello. Hot, no?' Restoration conversation. IN the bag after that.

The family we have been teaching: We have had contact with them, but it has always been hard to feel the spirit because they live in a veeeery small one room apartment with three kids and right on a busy road. But we called them the other day. . . THEY MOVED! What? They are now even farther away. But we can still visit them. The really good news, we called and she needs help putting her house together! We don't get to do a lot of service and I think it will be awesome to go over there and help her out and show her another aspect of this wonderful gospel.

We also found two other moms this week who both want to learn more! Miracles. Now we will see if they will actually progress. Families is what this Maribor branch needs and will help them grow. Priesthood Holders. Primary. God will prepare people and this branch will grow.

We also meet a lot of different religious people on the streets which lead to a lot of interesting conversations. Last night we met a Hindu who was from India and had never heard of Mormons, had a great conversation. . and YET AGAIN we got asked if we would take a selfie with him. This time we agreed. (My vision as he is taking the picture? He posts it on Instagram. Caption? Two mormon missionaries in Slovenia. Response? All of India looks up mormon.org and the church explodes.) It will happen.

   A REALLY common question over here is if my parents and family are also Mormon. Then of course....it is more tradition. (Because religion over here really is tradition.) So I have always hated that question. UNTIL personal study this morning. I read about the 2000 stripling warriors and how they KNEW that their mothers (might I add family) knew the truth of the gospel and the power of God. I read through once again the advice you all gave me from my Christmas book and am so grateful for the strength and support of all your testimonies. I have had your words, faces, and advice come into my mind multiple times and have been so grateful for your strength and help even though I am over here. So stay strong. This church is so true. God knows what we are going through and what we need. I am SO grateful for the happiness this gospel brings.

I love you all! Have an amazing week!

Love,

SEstra Rhodes

Discovery Channel and Mr. Bean! - July 20th, 2015

Zdravo Družina!!

First off...thank you so much for all the birthday wishes! I read and loved them all but don't have time currently to write you all back. Give me time, I'll get there. You are all so awesome and I appreciate all your support. Tako... an update on the works in Slovenia.

You would all be shocked at the amount of times Slovene's bring up the Discover Channel. It is my favorite thing and is so funny. I am talking about a spiritual conversation context. Me: 'So do you believe in God?' Them: 'Well, I have watched Discovery Channel a fair amount of times, so...no.'

Next.

Also as far as tv goes...apparently Mr. Bean made his way over to Slovenia. I was never a big fan myself, but boy is he a conversation starter now! So many random things that make me laugh ever day.

We had a pretty epic day on my birthday. We got to have a yw lesson with two less active girls at the church and went for ice cream and we really felt the spirit. It was super great and reminds me how grateful I am for the yw program and primary and growing up feeling the influence of the holy ghost. Take advantage of these things people! they are there for a reason. :) We then ended the day with a concert! Here in Maribor. Instrument: Half an electric keyboard, guitar, half an electric organ...and missionaries. It was actually pretty successful and we had a few non members come too! A total of about 25 people! Which was almost filling our little chapel. It was great! However...the greatest part? The afterparty. We met a man in the park a couple weeks ago who came to church even, ( i think I already mentioned him), well he came to the concert. AND he brought his accordion. (Accordion over here is like the piano in Utah, everyone knows it or wants to.) But he really knew how to play and played a bunch of Slovene songs while everyone sang along and ate banana bread and had a great time. It was sooooo awesome. Just singing around an accordion in Slovene. Soo fun and the members really loved it. So that was a great birthday bash.

The saddest part of the week? This morning we went and made omelets for the senior couple and invited the elders in our area and we all laughed and shared memories and (while being humble) awed at Sister Rhodes flipping omelets (thanks Dad), BECAUSE . . . today they left. They are going back to Canada. They have been such an awesome senior couple and I appreciate them sooo much. (Shout out to my grandparents for their missions) However life moves quickly and we have to enjoy it, so that is what I am doing..... Being diligent and being happy. I encourage everyone to do the same. The dictionary has diligence as :Persistently and energetically striving to complete a task. Maybe it is prayer, maybe it is searching the scriptures, seeking forgiveness, seeking for help...whatever it is, seek in diligence. God will give it to you. In the words of President Rich Wood : Hang in there! We grow when we have diligence and faith to continue our search when it gets hard.

Sorry for the random thoughts. I love you all and am very grateful for the knowledge of the gospel. I know that sharing that is the most important thing I can be doing right now. Stay safe, have fun at powell! xoxoxo

Sestra Rhodes

ps. If you can give feed back and scriptural evidence to this question, I'd love it: If God is so loving, why do bad things happen around the worlds?

 pretty common on the streets here in Slovenia.

The Eklend's and their last breakfast in Maribor! They saved
my life when first getting to Slovenia!

Goodbye to our dear missionary couple! We will miss you! 

         

Got this addition to our apartment! 

Epic Happenings - July 13th, 2015

Zdravo družina!

Great to hear from you guys and see some pictures! Sounds like summer is proving to be pretty great, as it is over here in Slovenia! The heat calmed down a little bit this week, and we had lots of traveling! Monday and Tuesday we traveled to and from Zagreb again for Mission Leadership Council. It was sooo awesome. We felt the spirit strongly and made a plan on how to better rely on the Lord in order to accomplish our goals. As a result, the zone leaders and sister Robertson and I traveled to the other three cities in Slovenia spreading the words and making goals. Basically it was a giant, spiritual pump up session and now we are all really going to work the second half of this year. Miracles are about to happen over here in Slovenia and the Adriatic North mission, I can feel it. The Lord is preparing this people and I am excited to find those who will accept the blessings of baptism.

A lot of other things happened this week that goes under the 'epic' category. We finally got to see our family again, AND a member came with us! When was the last time a family in Slovenia was taught WITH a member present? I have no idea, but it was awesome. We didnt actually get to talk, but the member and this mom sure did! And the best part, now this member truly has a desire to help this family see how awesome the gospel is.

Another epic happening? Homemade banana icecream. You may ask how this is done? Frozen bananas.

Konec. That's it. Just frozen bananas blended, turns into ice cream? What?

Another thing for the list...we met a man in the park on Wednesday who actually said that he would come to church. (Now mind you in the almost 4 months I have been here, we have had 1 investigator come to church) HE CAME! I don't exactly know what he wants in life (because he also invited us to go to his birthday party on a bus tour with his friends to Bosnia...) but HE CAME TO CHURCH! The same Sunday, we had the first primary classs we have had since I have been here, probably in a number of years for maribor. It was great to be a part of, and this one primary girl (the one that just got baptised) teaches us a lot of Slovene and bore a really sweet testimony in Sacrament meeting. She has such a strong testimony of Jesus AND baptism. I would love to do missionary work with this little one.

So a lot of great things are happening here and we are having fun sharing the gospel. I know that this is the happiest we can be, when we are living the commandments and constantly seeking to strengthen our relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I love you all and am so grateful for the knowledge of the gospel and the happiness it brings. I have started carrying around my picture of you guys and showing it to people when we talk about families and that we share a message for them. What can I say, you are all a crowd pleaser. :)

We are holding a summer concert here in Maribor on Saturday, without a piano. Just a gross, electric keyboard, organ thing.....so.... it is going to be awesome! Love you all! Stay strong!

xoxoxoxo

Sestra Rhodes 

                                 Banana Ice Cream - Who knew that blending bananas turned

                                                            into this delicious dessert!

I Love my America, even in Slovenia! July 6th, 2015

Zdravo Družina! Kako smo? Everything sounds well over in america. Speaking of....Happy 4th of July! No one over here seemed to care about it . . . odd. BUT, they do have a big festival going on in Maribor right now, including fireworks. So we sang some American songs in our apartment, made an awesome american breakfast for dinner, and heard fireworks in the distance. We celebrated pretty hard core basically.

Well, this week was great and reaaaally hot. It has been in the high 90s with 1000 percent humidity. I believe that is an accurate number. In the morning it feels like noon, and in the evening it feels like noon, and at noon . . . it feels like the bad part of the plan of salvation lesson. So, we are trying to keep cool and loving it! There have been soooo many families out lately so we have been able to talk to many of them, which is awesome. As far as our little family we are teaching, they are out of town. Only we didnt know they would be, so we haven't seen them for about two weeks. Baaaah, it's killing me. But they will be back soon and will see progress and blessings in their life I am sure of it.

Other news, we had exchanges again this week. Sister Robertson went to Celje and another Sister came to Maribor with me. We worked hard. It was awesome, and we saw a lot of success. We have two more investigators we found, both young girls, but both agreed to keep meeting with us. So amidst summer breaks and traveling, we will start meeting with them and hopefully their PARENTS soon. I really love testifying to young people. I feel like there is an awesome sincerity there. We also got a new senior couple for our branch president and made that switch yesterday, which means the district president (young single guy who is the church pres over slovenia) came to our branch, which means a lot of members came to our branch, and the spirit was there and it was soooo awesome! We even had a little lunch after church, so it was a really awesome Sunday. Then we tracted until . . . late and met some reeeally cool people. It blows my mind how many crazy, awesome, and interesting characters I meet on a daily basis and it doesnt even phase me any more. I love when random crazy things happen... and they happen all the time. I will write some down and tell you about them next week...I'll leave you in suspense until then, because I have to go.

I love you all! Enjoy the sun and the summer! I also encourage you all to study the words of the most recent apostles who have passed away. I wish I had more computer time for that purpose, but we have a lot of modern scripture at our hands and it is here FOR US! I pray for you all and love you! Stay strong and have a great week!

Adio!

Sestra Rhodes 

Patriotic Breakfast with hash browns, pancakes and blueberries!  YUM!

                  

We hiked 464 stairs just for fun!

We bought these awesome grandma dusters to keep us cool

 at night...best decision ever!

                       

To Zagreb and back! June 29th, 2015

Hello Family!

Long time no contact eh? Since I talked to you last . . . approx 3 days ago . . . we made a trip to Zagreb and back. There we ate delicous food, got spriritually fed, played volleyball and basketball as a zone with pres and I got to play the piano and Sister Robertson and I and the zone leaders took an hour to teach and roleplay about using scriptures and testifying! It was a really awesome 24 hours and now we are back in Maribor knocking on doors and stopping people in the streets.

We also have exchanges with Celje this week, so I will have another Sister with me in Maribor for a couple days and it will be great to get another perspective on missionary work! The family we are teaching..we have not actually taught since I talked to you last. We are going to go pretty slow with them as she used to be Muslim and her husband Catholic. We also are trying really hard to get the whole family involved, not just their mom. If they can find the truth and happiness of the gospel together, it will be easier and more benefitial and they will be that much closer to going to the temple. So if any of you have any ideas of how to teach and get the kids involved and still have the spirit...feel free to pass those ideas on, mothers. That is directed at you.

A quick Slovenec tid bit: Slovene's are some of the most generous people and rather polite. They stand to shake hands, always give you juice. We had a friend buy us a sladoled out of the blue when he saw us and he did the same for the elders and they are always willing to help when you ask questions about Slovene, and time after time, I have been fed by strangers or given juice or water. . . itd. (in tako dalje) Though it is going to take some serious softening for some of these people to accept the gospel, they are a very kind people... Most of the time. Every place has exceptions.

One of the coolest stories of the week: We actually had a lesson with a couple on a bench! Usually one of them will listen and the other won't really talk. But these two are sooo awesome and believe in God...a very recent change for them. They took a book of Mormon and are leaving for the summer but we will call them in August. It is always cool to here how people have truly felt God in their lives, even if it is not through our church. He is talking and helping lots of people every day. And NOW they will be prepared to accept His true church on the earth. So, God is preparing people I know it. I only pray that I am worthy enough and working hard enough and am in tune with the spirit in order to find those who will accept this glorious message.

I love you all, the church is true. Always has been, always will be. Stay strong. Send me picture. I love dem pics. :)

Lepo bodite!!!

Sestra Rhodes

The magic of a plan of salvation pamphlet and 2 bandaids - June 26th, 2015

Hello dear family!

Long time no talk! Shout out to all the fathers out there! Happy day of the dads! You all rock. We are headed to Croatia in about30 minutes for zone conference, so our  pday got switched around. We also get to wear pants today for the car ride and at president's...so holla!!!

So a quick update on the past 9 days: 

SLOVENIA IS SO AWESOME! I got to work with another sister in Kranj for a few days and learned a lot serving in a different area with a different sister for a bit. Luckily, the church is  true everywhere and we found a couple people over there who want to learn more! But the real magic is happening in Maribor. We are frequently teaching a family that lives just outside of Maribor. She and her husband have three kids and are really willing to learn more. She has a Book of  Mormon now and we all prayed together, they even got their little kids to calm down and prayed  with the elders when they were over there too. That is one part of teaching that  EVERYBODY seems to like. When we teach people how to pray, they love it. We are so lucky and blessed to have such a simple way to communicate with our loving Father  in Heaven. We can literally just talk to Him! It is such an important and vital part to our testimonies, and if you haven't REALLY felt the power of prayer recently, I encourage you to  remind yourself what an amazing gift it is. It changes my life, it will change people over here in Slovenia, and it will certainly work for you guys.

Other news...we got locked out of our apartment. Luckily,  we estimated that at some point this would happen, so we had our spare key in the mailbox. The bad news, we couldn't reach our hands far enough in the little slot to get it....so after ideas and prayer and some serious laughter....turns out a plan of salvation pamphlet (in Slovene...they are a little too small in English) and two band aids did the trick. I always loved those pamphlets, but I have a whole new appreciation for them  now. :) 

Ah yes! I almost forgot, we had district women's conference in Maribor on Saturday! IT was so cool to be in a room filled with Slovene women who all believe and know that the gospel is true. We got to serve them lunch AND we all went on a slow boat ride on the  river Drava (one of Maribor's best attractions and has a gorgeous view.) It was so awesome  and I am always strengthened and given hope from members here. This church is so true, Jesus Christ lives, the spirit testifies of HIm and of our mission here on earth. I love you all so dearly and appreciate the updates and pictures A LOT! Keep the faith everybody. 

Lots of Love,

Sestra Rhodes

MTC comp and me

Just a little jog in the beautiful Slovenian countryside!

                               

Celje member, Slavica, Sestra Robertson, me, Anja

Sweetest Maribor members! 

Perks of being in Europe. The Swiss hot chocolate that Dad and I fell in love with!