Week #21

Dobro je. It is good.

This week was filled with just love for me. Love for my companion, my investigators, and everyone I come in contact with everyday. This week, we dropped in on one of our investigators who wants to be baptized but said she was going to Switzerland for 2 months. She was home and told us that she was not going to Switzerland because her mom was not doing well health wise. She was coughing up a lot of blood, and so our investigator didn't want to leave. But through this experience, she is still trying to read and have her faith grow. We haven't been able to meet with her lately because she hasn't answered her phone and isn't home when we stop by. But we'll keep trying to meet with her and hopefully she'll gain strength throughout this trial. But at the end we asked her if she would be baptized then on June 23. She just answered like of course. AH! My first baptismal commitment! Her steps of showing faith. AH!!! It's so great so see people wanting to be better and change their lives towards God. I can't believe how blessed I am to see these changes.

Another investigator we had planned to teach him about scripture study and prayer even though that's not the typical order. We would have taught him the Gospel of Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end), but for some reason I felt that we should talk about scripture study and prayer. We get there and we ended up talking about the Gospel of Christ anyways. Which is totally fine because I don't think the lesson would have been so Spirit guided if we had planned it. Sometimes we stick to the lesson which is not good, but this lesson just flowed. He was accepting everything and then I talked a little bit about authority and that's why Christ was baptized by John the Baptist. I then asked if he would follow Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone with the proper authority of God. There was so much heat! And not because it's summer but the Holy Ghost you could just feel throughout the room! At first he didn't understand (because I kind of butchered the invitation) but then Sestra L re-explained authority a little bit and then he said ok and turned to me and said, "Now what did Jolley just ask? What was your questions?" I repeated the baptismal commitment (better this time), and he said maybe. Sestra L asked him if he found out our message was true if he would be baptized. He gave a very strong, "DA!" It wasn't a sure or yeah because that makes sense, it was a yes with a desire to do better. We then asked him how he could find this answer, and he said he didn't know. So we read Moroni 10:4-5, and talked about the Holy Ghost. We asked him when he had felt the Holy Ghost in his life. He wasn't sure, so I asked him what he was feeling right then. He said he felt good whenever we taught him and some other times, but wasn't sure if that was the Holy Ghost. And he thought that we had the Holy Ghost after we were baptized. Sestra L explained though an object lesson that we feel the Holy Ghost when we do good things or when we hear truth, but we can receive the Holy Ghost and its guidance after we are baptized and confirmed. He seemed to understand and gave some more thought to what we said. It was soo great!!! I can't wait to see what will happen this week :)

Yesterday we had a district conference with all of Croatia, and this year is the 40th anniversary of the first baptism in Croatia, so there was a great celebration in Zadar and a lot of people from all around came to Croatia to celebrate with us (old missionaries, friends of Krešmir Ćošić, and many more). But I want to talk about two very important statements that were said. The President presiding over the Church in Croatia said that he sees in 2020 a stake in Zagreb. That was a shocker to hear because that's like taking all the members in Croatia right now and putting them in Zagreb. That's quite a bit, but I know it can be done. Our mission president said that the people here had built the foundation. Sometimes it felt really slow because it's hard to make a foundation, but now the foundation is finished and it's time to build. Hearing that gave me goosebumps too. I'm here at this wonderful time to see the church in Croatia build.

The scripture of the week is something I talk about weekly, if not, daily. Moroni 10:5. Through the power of the Holy Ghost we can know the truth of all things. I was on the bus talking to a man who kept saying there was no scripture after the Bible. I tried to ask him other questions and testify, but he would just continue to say, no, no, no. Then got off the bus. I know that what he said is not true. I know through the power of the Holy Ghost that there is more scripture today to guide us and help us understand what we need to do in this life. I also know that there can be a stake in Zagreb before the year 2020 and that I am here at a very special time in Croatia's history because I have felt the Holy Ghost testify that to me. The last song we sang at the district conference was Come, Come Ye Saints and I just kept looking around at all the saints in Croatia. They are the pioneers. They have gone through so much, but they are receiving so many blessings too. The last phrase in English says All is Well but I like the Croatian translation. Dobro je. It is good. Life is good. The gospel is good. God is good. He loves us and will not leave us. He's hear to push us and cheer us on until the end. Dobro je.