Week #50

Sretan Božić!-Merry Christmas!

Wow all this switching around of companions has been messing with my mind a bit. More with Sestra Trumbo, but we're getting refocused and on track to start these holidays with some great contacting on the street with "Living the Christ" tonight and then going around to the members caroling before we call families!!! This last week we were blessed with a senior couple: Matosich's! Their name is Croatian which has already been great for the members here. Elder Matosich's grandpa was born in Split (which I visited about a month or so ago) and his grandmother was born on Hvar which is an island that's pretty popular to go see. It's great! Our branch president asked him to give his testimony at our branch Christmas party/dinner, and Elder Matosich did it all in Croatian! It was very simple, but powerful. And everyone there loved it because he tried so hard. We had a lesson with a member that was having a hard time and Sestra Matosich was able to say the perfect thing and made the member feel so much better. They are going to be a great contribution here in Zadar. I'm excited for their work here. They will be great. So the branch Christmas party was hectic, but such a success! We've been trying to plan something for weeks, but we never got together to plan. Then Friday night our branch president met with us and we planned it all pretty much right there. So in less than 48 hours we had a fantastic party with about 25-30 people and half members and and half nonmembers. What a success! It wasn't like the ward party back at home, but our little church was filled! So great! The best part was a former investigator we invited said she wanted us to come over again and we'll talk more. She's been reading from the Book of Mormon and she really felt the Spirit during the Christmas program we had. Yay!!! So I'll let you know how that goes.

Our woman with a baptismal date didn't come to church...so her date has to be pushed back. She still doesn't understand what baptism means completely still, but we're working through it and I'll get back to you with her. But a baptism that did go through is a woman I taught in Rijeka. We taught her when we first got to Rijeka and her first baptismal date was at the end of June but then she continued to not come to church so her date was pushed back and back then I left. Then I heard that she left Rijeka to go to school in Germany. I thought that was the end for her. But she came back in November and she is now baptized! I talked to her on the phone for a little bit and it was so good to hear her voice and how excited she was to be baptized! She even mentioned some things that she learned from Sestra Lethco and I and how much we helped in her conversion. I wasn't able to make it to her baptism because it was 3 1/2 hours away at least and I'm needed here in Zadar. But it was good to see pictures and know that I was an influence in her life. There are so many people we talk to on the street and people we teach, but I will never know how much of an impact I really gave to everyone. But I'm grateful to know that I did help with this one girl who is so strong now and such an energizer bunny to the branch. It's great!

This last week we had a Christmas devotional/party with the whole mission, it was so great and too short. There were so many people I wanted to talk to and I talked to everyone, but it was like 5 minutes. But then I thought that we'll have more time after the mission so it's all good. But it was very fun to see everyone, play some games, then end with a wonderful devotional with Pres. and Sis. Rowe as the speakers and missionaries doing musical numbers in between. It was a nice ending to a very fun day.

For the branch Christmas party, it was really cool because we had different testimonies from the apostles and prophets that went along with the Christmas story. It may sound confusing but it worked really well. And we started the Christmas story talking about the ancient prophets prophesying of Christ in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. So in the Book of Mormon we quoted Alma 7:10-12. I loved the part that says that Mary is a precious and chosen vessel. I was thinking more about that and how we are all precious and chosen vessels. We all have the potential to fill our vessel, our purpose in life. We need to do everything we can everyday to follow Christ. He's right there along the way. He knows the way. He's already been on the same path. I'm so grateful for this opportunity this Christmas season to teach these people what Christ can do for them. Have a happy Christmas and enjoy this time with your family and friends! Volimo vas!

S vjećnom ljubavlju,
Vaša kćer,

Sestra Kristine Jolley
Uvijek Sljedići Braće

Week #49

Kiša Umjesto Snjega-Rain instead of snow

It's weird for it to be December 17 and I look outside and it's still raining. All the other cities in Croatia have snow, but lovely Zadar is looking green as ever. It will be weird to have a Christmas without snow or some sort of wintery feel. This last week was extremely weird because it felt very warm, even with the rain. So I've just been enjoying the October weather :) As I mentioned last time, Sestra Trumbo is with me and Sestra Compare left to Beograd. It was interesting to switch from someone who I had been training and had similar missionary habits (because I trained her) to someone who was trained differently and had different experiences. It's been fun putting both of our thoughts and opinions together. But alas, it didn't last that long because Sestra Trumbo went on an exchange to Slovenia and I'm here with Sestra Tanner. So in the last week I've gone through 3 different companions. I keep forgetting what I've told to whom and how well does she recognize the city or not. It's been interesting. But all good because I've been learning lots in the last week which has felt like a month.

Well, there's no baptism this week, but she's still progressing. We're just trying to figure out what her true concern is. We've been bouncing around to different thoughts and they have been good lessons, but we haven't hit the motherboard. We were talking about the different concerns it could be and I think it all boils down to trusting the Lord and what that means to her. We want to trust the Lord. We want to be the best we can be through him, but what does that mean? While I was thinking about that, I thought that trusting the Lord to me means that I will talk to many people on the street. I won't have fear of rejection or worry about going to the destination of where we want to go but instead have the journey be the goal (if that makes sense). I thought of what trusting the Lord means in different parts of my life and it's different for each part. For you to go out to each person on the street and ask them about the gospel of Jesus Christ isn't necessarily your job, but waking up an hour earlier each morning to have a meaningful scripture study might be a struggle. Then it's trusting the Lord that this is what you need to do. For this woman, trusting the Lord that she'll be able to pay the bills because she paid for tithing and she's afraid to tell her friends about the church because they're strong Catholics. Trusting the Lord is something that's hard for each of us, but the Lord expects us to do it and so we do it anyways. But when we trust the Lord, we're not in it alone. He lifts us up (Mosiah 23:22). He promises that. And I have seen that on my mission and in life. If we do the things we need to do and trust that things will turn out all right, then we're lifted. We are stronger. I know we can do this! For the purpose of life was not for God just to see us fail, but to overcome our weaknesses and come to a higher plane than where we were before. So this week, do something that is hard for you, but God still wants you to do it. Put your trust in Him and I know He'll help you through it. Volim vas! Ugodan tjedan!

S vjećnom ljubavlju,
Vaša kćer,

Sestra Kristine Jolley
Uvijek Sljedići Braće

Week #48

Nisam Znala-I didn't know

A few weeks ago, I thought I was going to be transferred out of Zadar and go to Beograd, Serbia. But then President Rowe asked us to stay, and I was very grateful because I love these people. It's frustrating sometimes, but I love them. We got a call from President Rowe last week. He talked to us for a few minutes and then said, "Sestra Compare, I would like you to go to Beograd." At first I thought he just meant an exchange because he talked about us going on exchange for a little bit now, but then he mentioned being transferred. It's crazy. Both of us thought I would leave before Sestra Compare. But this is good. Sestra Trumbo is coming to Zadar and we were companions in the MTC, so it'll be fun. After thinking I was leaving Zadar, I found some more ways how I could help and I haven't finished. There's so much for me to do. There are so many more people I need to find and talk to. There's plenty for me to see happen. We thought we were going to have a baptism on Saturday, but she isn't ready. She's still progressing towards baptism, but she still needs a little more time. Definitely before the end of the year. She'll be ready.

I have been reading the Book of Mormon over and this time summarizing each chapter and how it could fit in one of the Preach My Gospel lessons. I'm in the middle of Alma and all the missionary work from Ammon, Aaron, and the brothers. It's been interesting to see the contrast of the missions, but what I loved most from this week was in Alma 23:6. We were talking to some members and they were joking that Zadar people are like the Lamanites. But then I read how the Lamanites just flocked to baptism as they came to believe "according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy." My mission president is inspired. My zone and district leaders are inspired. Now I have to act on my inspiration and those I just mentioned, so the miracles can work within us and those who believe what we preach will be converted and never fall away. We're finding these people. Now we just need to preach them according to how they need to hear it. It's coming. I know that's what I have been saying pretty much my whole mission, but I have to see the potential these people have. Have faith in them. Only when I see them how God does, then the miracles will happen. Have a great week! Volim vas!

S vjećnom ljubavlju,
Vaša kćer,

Sestra Kristine Jolley
Uvijek Sljedići Braće

Week #47

Danas-Today

This week was full of a lot of cancelled lessons and unexpected events. I felt like this whole week was spent just shifting plans around and trying to figure out what to do. It was rough, but at the end of the week we had District Conference where all of the members of Croatia can gather together. So some people from Zadar went and I was able to see many of the people of Rijeka! (the only other place I've served) It was sooo good to see them again. Things are looking so much better for them, and it was good to hear more faith and hope in their lives especially with the gospel helping them through it. The conference was really good too (it also helped that I understood most of it this time). There was a lot of talk about change and strength for the future. Something that in particular I liked was when Sister Rowe, the mission president's wife, talked about repentance. Repentance isn't a bad thing, it's a gift from our Heavenly Father that we can use to become like him. It's our tool to overcome our mistakes and our faults, but like any tool, we have to use it in order for it to work. President Rowe mentioned about repentance and that our past doesn't have to define our future. We are the ones that make that decision. So from this conference I gained so much more strength and drive to become not only a better missionary but a better person. I have made so many mistakes and I've recognized even more mistakes as a missionary, but I've also learned from those mistakes and use them to help me be better. Repentance means change. A quote that I loved before my mission says something like this, I am who I am today because of what changed me yesterday and what I do today will make me who I am tomorrow. That's not exactly how it goes but it's something like that and you get the picture. Our past has impacted our lives forever, but it doesn't have to define our future. What we do now, today, will determine our future. Yes, we still will make mistakes along the way, but what we do with those mistakes will influence who we are tomorrow. I love the last verse in Enos, and I want that for me (not to die soon, but to be able to say what he says). So I'm willing to do whatever it takes to return with my Heavenly Father. I'm learning more and more of that. So here goes another week of mistakes but another week of learning and repentance. I hope you have a wonderful week of learning! Volim vas!

S vjećnom ljubavlju,
Vaša kćer,

Sestra Kristine Jolley
Uvijek Sljedići Braće