Saturday, March 17, 2012
Marilyn Sachs, A Pocket Full of Seeds
In this book supposedly written for children, a young Jewish girl and her family, living in France during World War II, discover that their being Jewish matters to others, to them, and to their safety. The book was OK. I don't know why I don't think it was great.
Rodman Philbrick, The Mighty
Originally titled Freak the Mighty, this short book turned into a movie. Apparently. Anyway, I liked it.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Transfers!
Well family, just as I expected, the results of transfer calls was nothing I expected. Our final guess was that Sister Milius and I would stay here and co-train one of the 3 greenies, sister creager would train in Zadar, and sister lethco would train in zagreb. we were partly right. I get to join the select ˝8 months in Osijek club˝, and as of like last week, I have now spent more time in Osijek than any other missionary out now. Hey, maybe I'll spend my whole mission in the same city, like sister Powell in Ljubljana. Probably not, but either way, it'll be great. I love Osijek. Sister Milius, however, has finished her 1 transfer in Osijek, so she's moving on to bigger and better things. Sister Milius and her new ˝daughter˝ [trainee] will be among the first young missionaries in Bosnia. She and her new companion, [and] elder bishop, who was in the mtc with me, and elder chandler, who goes home the same time as me, are headed to Sarajevo, and elder hansen will also be training in banja luka. It's way exciting. When I got called on a mission, I didn't think I'd be a part of helping the very last country in all of Europe to hear the gospel. I feel like this transfer sister milius and i have really learned a lot from each other and we've both learned a lot about miracles and how we can be instruments in God's hands for them to happen. Oh, I forgot... so like I said, I'm staying in Osijek, and I'll be training. It'll be fun. I'm excited. I've been thinking a lot this week about what kind of goals I want to have as a trainer and how I can be a good example and help her learn what it means to be a missionary. Hey, if people reading this who went on a mission could e-mail me and say the best things their trainer did, or if anyone has suggestions for me, they'd be welcome.
This week was pretty good. Suzana is doing excellently. in one week (3 lessons plus 2 weeks at church), she's learned almost every single thing in all 5 lessons. When Elder Smartt set baptismal dates for everyone at church only 2 weeks away, I was pretty skeptical that it was even possible for someone to be ready that fast, but I feel like she'll be more ready than anyone who's ever been baptized in osijek, with maybe a couple exceptions. I knew it was technically possible, because God can do anything, but this has been a big miracle. Every time we have a lesson with her we just feel so blessed to have someone to teach who has been so prepared. it's crazy. For example, I asked her (before we'd really ever said anything about it) why the gift of the Holy Ghost was so important, and her answer was that when you have the gift of the Holy Ghost you can learn spiritual truths better because the Holy Ghost teaches you truths, and it helps you know when you start to stray from the right path, and then it guides you back to that path, and that when you do something wrong He can't be with you, but as soon as you repent He can come back, but he'll always be with you as long as you're doing what's right. have you ever heard such a complete answer from a non-member... one that had been an investigator for only a couple days? crazy. It just goes to show that God is preparing people to be baptized, and our job is to find them and just expose them to the truth so they can recognize it. God does the rest. So, on the schedule we've got a marriage and a baptism this saturday. what a great way to come in as a new missionary. My greenie is so lucky.
Seminary continues to be wonderful. The Taylors (a senior couple over seminary in the mission) came this week and they gave us some training about how to help our students learn from the scriptures, not just giving them cool insights. We're pretty lucky. Marijana always finds cool things in the scriptures, and did, even before we started teaching seminary. this week we did the book of Judges, and at the beginning, we had her share what she learned from her reading. what she shared with us was exactly what we planned to teach the most, that God will do miracles for us when we're doing what he's commanded (Gideon), but that we can't expect him to be with us when we're not keeping the commandments (Samson).
I'm pretty excited to be training this transfer. I loved this transfer, and I learned a lot, but i feel like i'll learn a lot more when I feel responsibility for someone else to learn from my example. I've got a lot to learn still in missionary work, and i'm excited to learn from someone who hasn't been influenced by the traditions/bad habits of the past. I feel so blessed to be a missionary now, when so many great things are happening here. Guess what? this week we had more baptismal dates this week than ever in the history of the whole mission. cool, huh? I told you things were happening here.
well, I'm pretty lucky to be God's servant here. I love you all. Remember that God has important things for each of you to do too. Look for those opportunities to be an instrument in God's hands.
love you!
Sestra Black
This week was pretty good. Suzana is doing excellently. in one week (3 lessons plus 2 weeks at church), she's learned almost every single thing in all 5 lessons. When Elder Smartt set baptismal dates for everyone at church only 2 weeks away, I was pretty skeptical that it was even possible for someone to be ready that fast, but I feel like she'll be more ready than anyone who's ever been baptized in osijek, with maybe a couple exceptions. I knew it was technically possible, because God can do anything, but this has been a big miracle. Every time we have a lesson with her we just feel so blessed to have someone to teach who has been so prepared. it's crazy. For example, I asked her (before we'd really ever said anything about it) why the gift of the Holy Ghost was so important, and her answer was that when you have the gift of the Holy Ghost you can learn spiritual truths better because the Holy Ghost teaches you truths, and it helps you know when you start to stray from the right path, and then it guides you back to that path, and that when you do something wrong He can't be with you, but as soon as you repent He can come back, but he'll always be with you as long as you're doing what's right. have you ever heard such a complete answer from a non-member... one that had been an investigator for only a couple days? crazy. It just goes to show that God is preparing people to be baptized, and our job is to find them and just expose them to the truth so they can recognize it. God does the rest. So, on the schedule we've got a marriage and a baptism this saturday. what a great way to come in as a new missionary. My greenie is so lucky.
Seminary continues to be wonderful. The Taylors (a senior couple over seminary in the mission) came this week and they gave us some training about how to help our students learn from the scriptures, not just giving them cool insights. We're pretty lucky. Marijana always finds cool things in the scriptures, and did, even before we started teaching seminary. this week we did the book of Judges, and at the beginning, we had her share what she learned from her reading. what she shared with us was exactly what we planned to teach the most, that God will do miracles for us when we're doing what he's commanded (Gideon), but that we can't expect him to be with us when we're not keeping the commandments (Samson).
I'm pretty excited to be training this transfer. I loved this transfer, and I learned a lot, but i feel like i'll learn a lot more when I feel responsibility for someone else to learn from my example. I've got a lot to learn still in missionary work, and i'm excited to learn from someone who hasn't been influenced by the traditions/bad habits of the past. I feel so blessed to be a missionary now, when so many great things are happening here. Guess what? this week we had more baptismal dates this week than ever in the history of the whole mission. cool, huh? I told you things were happening here.
well, I'm pretty lucky to be God's servant here. I love you all. Remember that God has important things for each of you to do too. Look for those opportunities to be an instrument in God's hands.
love you!
Sestra Black
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