Warmin up, Speedin up! June 27th, 2016

Hej fam! 

It is POURING rain here in Zagreb...rather odd because the rest of the week was blazing hot. Summer has officially begun as well as the awkward missionary tan lines. 

However despite the heat, we had an awesome week. Per president's orders, all of the zone leaders and sister training leaders had to do 'blitz' exchanges with everyone in just over a week. So I went for just over a day to work in Karlovac again. They have a really beautiful river and we talked to some great people. I also introduced the sister I worked with to coconut ice cream King bars...so now the rest of her mission will be different. 

The morning before I left however, we had a lesson with Baka (the grandma.) We went over to her place to teach the plan of salvation. The best part was that her granddaughter the new convert was on the lesson and she was SO AWESOME! She explained things very clearly without us asking and talked about how she can really be ready for baptism and shared her own experiences...she even helped get things on tract when Baka would talk about random things or worry about the Burek (the lunch) that she put in the oven. My favorite part was to see how much she helped in the lesson and to hear how confident she was in what she was saying! So cool! 

The lunch was also fantastic...Burek is a traditional Bosnian (maybe turkish as well) breaded dish, stuffed with meat or potatoes or cheese, ect. that is everywhere here. The reason I tell you this is because late in the week Baka taught Sister Grant and us how to make it! It was a very very funny evening and there is no type of recipe involved...it all comes from the heart.

We also talked about her baptism and when that would be. Her family is going out of town at different times and then she is going to the sea later this summer. She wants her family to be there so they talked about it and decided on the date...August 13th. The Saturday before I leave. I did not even tell her when I leave so that was a little miracle! She and I are glad that I will be here. Then she will go to the sea the Sunday after she gets confirmed. Until then we agreed on lessons twice a week, so we will have plenty of time to teach her and make sure she understand everything! 

I already told this to mom but Sister Pratt sent this quote in our mission newsletter and I thought it was pretty fantastic: "If this world didn't suck, we would fall off!" Haha, so as hard as it may seem, those difficult things in life keep our feet grounded and teach us what we need to learn. I am trying to learn all I can and pic of the pace of the work, the whole mission is and already see miracles on a daily basis. 

I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week! 

xoxoxo

Sestra Rhodes 

Surprise Soup and Surprise Lesson - June 20th, 2016

Bok everybody! 

This week was really fantastic. We got some new missionaries in our district and had a great district meeting to kick it off. I never really talk about district meeting but they are great. There is a lot of support in numbers and after you have worked hard all week, it is great to get together and share success, build some more spiritual stamina for the week. Plus we had two birthdays in the district so the senior couples brought twix, snickers, and .....my favorite. .... BOUNTY ice cream bars. I am aaaaall about the coconut these days and I did not know that my favorite candy bar came in the form of ice cream. Score. 

I also share the Rhodes family tradition of 'birthday memories!' We have all served with Sister Pratt for a while and it was fun to have a little Rhodes family in the mix of the week. 

I forgot to tell something awesome that happened last week...and the week before. There is a new convert in the branch (who found the gospel online) and he is soooo great. However, his mom is really really sick. She just went into the hospital for the 7th time and before was just in a hospital bed in their home. Well she loves music and loves to sing. So all the young missionaries got together and went over to sing to her....one of the most priceless moments. She wept and her sweet husband just sat holding her hand and cried. So we decided to make it a weekly thing right after church. When we went over last Sunday, right as we all walked in the door...the waterworks started and she just kept saying, "Thank you for coming! Oh let God bless you, thank you for coming! You guys are angels...etc. etc." There is nothing better than making someone feel good. It was my favorite part of the week (aside from the baptism.) She is so sick and just laying in bed, but she still made jokes and sang along. Such a great example of a positive attitude. 

This week we couldn't get a hold of Baka to teach her a lesson, but she came to church and we had Sunday school all combined. (Usually we have a beginners, investigators and new converts class, seperate from the others.) Needless to say, talking about the reign of judges in the book of mormon was not exactly entreguing. Then she asked if they were going to ask her those types of question at her baptismal interview about Lamanites and Nephites...etc.So we put her fears at ease and for the third hour taught her the restoration and a member came in on the lesson. It was a last second thing but the member that came was absolutely perfect, it was not a coincidence that we asked her and not another. 

We set up a time for our lesson this week and will go for the baptismal date! She has definitely been guided through her family here and seems very solid. She also said she will teach us how to make Burek this week! Dreams do come true!!! 

I hope you all have a great week. Send pictures of yourself. That is my favorite. :) Love you all! 

Sestra Rhodes

Some very short, very fantastic people. 

Krštenje plesačice - June 13th, 2016

Pozdrav!!! 

She did it! The dancer got baptized. It was so fantastic. We had a lesson with her and her mom and Wednesday and finalized everything, we made programs, put together musical numbers, brought the clothes and towels and then she came. One of the coolest parts was that her brother who was baptized a couple months ago was the one who baptized her. I sat by her during the service and through the first talk she just cried, and she was slightly worried about the testimony at the end and what she was allowed to say and she did a great job! She told a cool experience about answer to prayer and it was wonderful.

Sestra Davis, Anja, me

The second coolest part is that her grandma drove back from Bosnia to come to the baptism (and woke up early to make Burek for it....sooo good.) She introduced herself to everyone as 'Baka'. Which means grandma, or just a general term for an old lady. She is so funny! That was the first time she had been to the church and she really felt the spirit. By the time she came back the following day, she announced to everyone that she had decided to be baptized. It has been sooo amazing to be in Zagreb long enough to see this family come back from inactivity, watch the kids get baptized, soon the Baka, and see them prepare for the temple. It has been a blessing to be a part of it! 

So that was a great end to the week. Other than that, the normal apartment to apartment, talking to people on the streets went down. :) It is also transfer week this week... very weird to be entering my last transfer. I will be spending it in Zagreb. surprise. ;) I love it here and the members and I am excited to work with Baka and teach her the gospel!! 

 As I am entering this last transfer I have been thinking a lot about change. Have I changed enough? Have I seen other people change because of the gospel? What do I still need to change? Well here is a great quote by Winston Churchill  "to improve is to change, to perfect is to change often." Our God works gloriously in the work of perfection. I am so so grateful that his goal for us is progress. I continue to learn that as serve that Heavenly Father gives us all we need, that we might change, become better and closer to Him. What an amazing plan He has for us. 

I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week! 

xoxoxo

Sestra Rhodes 

The Zagreb Bunch! - June 6th, 2016

Bok family! 

Greetings from the Zagreb bunch from the first church in Zagreb (an apartment) which is now the office. The very same building that (now) President Monson stood in to dedicate the land of Yugoslavia for the preaching of the gospel. Normally they do it outside, but since they had to do it indoors they threw open all the windows during the dedication. This is however only half the district. Here are the rest. 

A pretty great bunch!! And a pretty cool building right in the heart of Zagreb. 

This week was a good one. Like every other. Our dancer came back from England!! She and her mom told us aaaaall about it and she had her baptismal interview on Sunday. The baptism will be on Saturday followed by a branch palačinke (aka pancakes...aka crepes) activity. She has grown a lot I feel and is ready to take this step, but my biggest desire is for her to be strong in the church forever. As a missionary I did not expect to be this impatient. I want each individual to accept the gospel, accept it quickly, and have a testimony of steel. However it took me 20 (almost 21:) ) gradual years to learn all that I have and the learning never stops! I am so grateful for that, that God's goal for us is PROGRESS. Eternal progress. And that is my pray for Anja, that she will continue to progress, a lot. 

We have also taken over two investigators from the Elders. They are neighbors, two single older women and we always teach them together. One of them is a self referral and the other she just brought along. I have never met two people with so many questions in my whole life. They shoot out questions in our lessons like two fiery machine guns.  Soooo...we are currently trying to find a balance of teaching and them asking questions for 45 minutes. They are both very sincere however, which is obviously key. 

Another cool thing from this week: we had a district (aka Croatia) wide relief society meeting and I accompanied a really cute non member girl who sang. She and her mom came and they are SO AWESOWE. They do not live in our city, but they invited us to theirs! They are good friends if a member there and there is no way they did not feel the spirit in that meeting or during the song. High hopes for them.  She has a picture but will send t later. 

Overall a great week. This next week is transfer announcements. I am perfectly happy to stay in Zagreb. I love this place and the people and genuinely love Croatian. I thought my heart would forever be in Slovenia, but it grew!!! This place is so great and I can't wait to make the best out of the time I have left. 

Love you all! Have a fantastic week! 

Svako dobro, 

Sestra Rhodes 

Check Out That CHEESE! May 30th, 2016

Bok everybody. 

What a week we all had. Congratulations to everyone for enduring, birthing, and all the other things that happened. 

Here is what happened on this side of the world.

Our dancer has been at her competition all week in England but has sent us pictures and we have been in contact all week. Before she left it was her birthday so we pulled a classic, girly-missionary gift. (Thanks to all those years of young women's crafty handouts for inspiration.) We gave her multiple envelopes to take on her trip that told her when to open them..when she is scared or nervous or happy or at the beginning of everything bla bla bla. THEN, the good part, it had a scripture to match when to open it. In an effort to keep her reading the scriptures while she was gone. She really liked it and we are hoping that she has still been reading and praying and all the important things while in London because her baptism is really coming up quick! 

One benefit about being in one place for a while is that you get to know the members really well and I am really enjoying that lately. One awesome member has been offering and taking us to church with here, more have offered to come on lessons, and we are now going into primary weekly to help with singing time. I love going to church so much and these people are very strong and unique and they are the number one way that the church will grow out here. 

We had zone conference again this week. They come SO fast! For the past few months our whole mission has been focusing on becoming master teachers and I LOVE it. We are learning how to teach better and practicing and it makes me feel a lot more confident going into lessons. (Surprise, knowing everything and being a flawless teacher does not just happen when they give you the name tag.) 

We also had some guest sisters at our apartment this week because one of them was in the hospital again during zone conference. We were supposed to go on exchanges but instead they both came to Zagreb and we got to switch companions up a little bit to proselyte. 

We got to skype with the France, Leon mission this week! Shout out to my French speaking siblings! We skyped with a really cool guy from Serbia who they thought was really interested . . . turns out they just could not communicate very well in English because he had a reeeeeeeally difficult time accepting the book of Mormon. But we asked him to read the introduction before he decides NOT to read it and pray about it. It was a good teaching opportunity and sister Davis and I are continually progressing in teaching unity.

We also had two great p days, last week and today. Last week we had some things we needed to get for our apartment (mainly a stool for my comp who could not see in the mirror due to height challenges....haha) and some other things. Well who else needed to run errands? The senior sisters! The Davenpratts. So once again we went to Ikea, only this time in a lot nicer car and enjoyed lunch together and getting all the things we needed. We also stopped at Metro (the closest thing to costco but still not even close. However their cheese selection was pretty remarkable.)

                  

Driving Presidents car to IKEA!

Notice the change in missionary attire! 

Then today we drove to Rijeka with the Elders to do a service project of unloading a ton of beds and materials for refugees. We are also going to make an article out of it for mission public affairs use. It was the first time I saw the coast line of Croatia!!!! (Which is what people tell me 5 times daily that I need to go see and swim in . . . ) Then we ate on a boat restaurant. IT WAS A DADDY'S BOAT!!!! I even ordered fish since we were so close to the sea:) 

I was reading in Mosiah this week again about the Atonement and a particular phrase hit me that I had never given much thought to: Acquainted with grief. 

Acquainted. Having personal knowledge as a result of study, experience, etc. Jesus Christ has personal knowledge of grief through experiencing every type of grief we have, are feeling, or will ever feel in this life. He is acquainted with OUR grief. Thus of course He is extremely well acquainted with us and our lives. I am so grateful for that knowledge. He knows what is going on and the most comforting . . . He knows what we need to get back home to our Heavenly Father. 

As Joseph Smith taught, 'a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has the power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation.' 

I love you all and pray for you daily. Let the work go on! 

Sestra Rhodes 

Haleluja for free tee shirts! - May 23rd, 2016

Hallo everybody! 

This week was really great because it finally stopped raining!!!! Call me mortal, but contacting in the rain is not quite as fun as contacting in the beautiful Croatian sun. Well this week the sun reeeeally came out and gave me flashbacks to last summer tracting outside of Maribor in the blazing heat. Wonderful times they were and wonderful times ahead! 

We have officially taught Anja all the commandments and now she is headed off to Blackpool England to the worldwide ballroom competition! Maybe Richard Gear and J lo will make an appearance... We asked her to read something out of the book of Mormon every day and something out of the 'for the strength of youth' every day on her trip. That little book is a wonderful wonderful tool. She will be getting baptized in the beginning of June and I am praying that she gets a deeper understanding of the truthfulness of the gospel throughout the next couple of weeks. 

This week we also had the opportunity to help out at the annual Kresimir Cosic basketball tournament for the mission. The members each got a team from their country (Slovenia won) and came to Zagreb to play in this tournament to remember Kresimir. Hugh Nibley taught Kresimir when he went to play basketball at BYU and instead of continuing professionally like offered, Kresimir came back to his country to bring the gospel here. His story is really amazing it is was really neat to see all the members come together, playing basketball in the same gym because of this one man. Though it was a game of basketball, there was a huge gratitude for the gospel among all these members . . . and free t shirts. Win win. Here is me in mine helping keep score. My very first time... you can imagine it went very well. ;)

Cool story of the week. We pass out a lot of cards and pamphlets (and this week we hit our goal of Book of Mormons passed out!), all of which have our number on it. Well Saturday afternoon we got a call from a random number and she said that she found this pamphlet at a friends house and took it home and that it kept tugging at her to go to that church. Well she forgot about it but on Saturday she was cleaning up and found it again and that something kept tugging her to go there. So she called the number to get better directions. I talked to her and she sounded really great and I am hoping that she follows that prompting and comes next Sunday! (If not, we have her number and will prompt her further :) ) It was just really comforting to know that it does good to hand out  things like we do. Maybe that person won't directly benefit from it, but a friend, a family member, who knows. Well, actually one person knows. But we don't so we have to keep working and handing out things and talking to people! It also gave me comfort to remember that Heavenly Father is working on people. The holy ghost still prompts them to pick up a phone, to read that pamphlet, and I know that by these simple things, GREAT AND WONDERFUL things will happen! 

Also my 60 year old English class student invited me again to come stay with her this summer in her 'vikenica' or her little get away house on the coast of Croatia. So if you don't see me in August...you will know where to find me. :) 

 I love you all a lot and hope you have a wonderful week! I am rooting for you all and appreciating your prayers in my behalf as well. 

Lijepi pozz

Sestra Rhodes 

Return of the Worldy Music - May 16th, 2016

Bok bok everybody. 

We had a very busy week as usual; but now busy with the usual. I'll start with the people we are teaching. Our dancer friend is doing great. We meet with her twice a week and she usually has training on Sundays and has to leave after sacrament meeting but this week she stayed for Sunday school! We taught the Sabbath day and (drum roll) law of chastity. Both went over really well actually and her mom has been staying for the lessons, which is a blessing, considering they both need to be taught. She is preparing to go to Blackpool, the international ballroom competition in england and we will not see her for two weeks. She leaves at the end of this week and gets baptized shortly after her return. Two weeks is a lot of time for Satan to work while she is away so we are trying our best to help her be prepared and continue to prepare for baptism without us. 

We got to teach our baka investigator. Though 66 she is very spry and filled with energy. She also loves to talk. Welcome to almost every investigator I have ever taught. She has felt the spirit multiple times and feels like she belongs with us. We committed her to a soft date for baptism and she said that that is her biggest desire. Never bad words to hear when you are a missionary. We will be meeting with her this week and are practicing a lot so we can teach clearly and simply and answer all her questions. 

This week we also had our David Archuleta events missionwide. David, his fantastic accompanist Kendra, and his traveling manager Carrie all came. In Slovenia he had a concert with Paul Cardall in the Ljubljana opera house as a fundraiser for the 25th anniversary of a heart foundation in Slovenia. Seeing we have worked a lot on helping these events come together on the media we were invited and I got to see some of my Slovenian member friends and sit next to my former comp Sis. Duffy!

David hit it home with Imagine and some of his other popular ones INCLUDING 'The Prayer' with a members daughter who one Slovenia idol. They NAILED IT. 

He had a missionary fireside in Slovenia with Paul Cardall as well, then he went to Serbia (we did not) and then he came to Zagreb. Sunday night we had the church the fullest I have ever seen it. Members brought friends, nonmembers brought friends, AND two Hungarian people who saw it on social media came and loved it! They are now going to take the missionary discussions in Hungary!! Yeah! Then Monday morning we had a missionary breakfast with him and his crew and they each shared some wonderful missionary thoughts and then he treated us with some really great primary songs and a repeat (per my request) of 'He lives in you' from the lion king. Very, very enjoyable. What was not so enjoyable, when President Grant made me and sister Davis roleplay the gospel of Jesus Christ lesson to David and his manager (who is baptist) in front of all the other missionaries . . . in English.

David also shared some nice thoughts (from Brad Wilcox actually) about Christ's first miracle of changing water to wine. While some may think 'why was Christ drinking wine' or 'who's wedding was it?' and a plethora of other thoughts, Christ was announcing himself to the world with a divine message "I can change things." 

Christ can change things. I am striving to change every day and it is my sincerest desire that I can help someone else recognize that that change is possible through Jesus Christ. Let us not get comfortable where we are, but let us constantly strive to use the atonement of Jesus Christ to change! 

Love you all. Have a great week. 

Sestra Rhodes

Glad I got to show Sis Davis a piece of Slovenia!