That is the word for family in Serbian! Because that is where I got to go this week! There is a member there who is new on the Mission Public Affairs council and they had a district relief society activity. So we rode with Pres and Sis Grant all the way to Sister Allred's home town Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia where we trained her, got to see all the sisters there and then stopped at a baptism in Osijek on the way back. Quite an eventful day. I got to meet some people that I have talked to on the phone and guess what? They talked to me in Serbian! Ya! Croatian and Serbian are practically the same language but there definitely is a difference. It was a really great experience and there are some fantastic members over there.
They also had a homemade, serbian, dessert bar... so. Enough said.
Other highlights of the week. English class. I have been teaching English class twice a week for about the past year and sometimes people stay for the spiritual thoughts sometimes not. But frequently it is only the older people that have been coming for years. However this transfer we had a fair amount of new people and this one girl who came is really awesome! She is young and happy and we became friends really quick. Well this week after english class she did not have to leave and we talked about the gospel and she asked how we are so confident and happy all the time and if we are ever scared. I then told her about my freakout i had on the phone with Mom in the airport right before I left the country and about how tracting is not the easiest. But we talked about what gives us motivation and how the gospel will always provide us the happiness and confidence we need. I told her a little bit about what we do, how we meet and teach people and she immediately said, "I would like that." So we are meeting her this week and I am really excited! The spirit was SO strong as we were talking and I KNOW that she felt it too. The Lord is truly preparing people over here!
We have a couple lessons set up already for this week with more to come hopefully. There are a lot of really great people to teach right now and they all deserve the best. This gospel can give them the best. So these next few weeks before Sister Allred leaves will be pretty defining as far as our investigators go. And 3/5 people we are teaching have wanted to learn more because of MEMBERS. These members are seriously so great. They are so few in numbers but so strong and I love being around them, hearing their stories and learning the gospel with them.
The church is true everybody. Have a WONDERFUL EASTER! It is probably my favorite time of year! The weather is starting to warm up (so people are happy), contacting is great (because people are happy) and people are thinking about Easter and Jesus Christ. What an amazing time to teach people about His resurrection and what it means. I love it. Also fun fact. People go to church twice a year here. (Generally) Christmas and Easter. Well they have special Easter masses going all week and yesterday because it was the day of the triumphal entry, everyone carried or had in their pockets, little palm leaves. I like that the focus goes throughout the week not just Easter Sunday. They do not have school all week either. Even if it is just tradition for a lot of these people, it is a good time for us to actually study the last week of the Saviors life. It will bless all of us if we do.
I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!
Love,
Sestra Rhodes
SRETAN USKRS SVIMA! pusa
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| Serbia |
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| Serbian goodies goodness! |
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| Serbia with Sister Allred |
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