Week 6 -- Fasting & trying to learn the language...learning the language...

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Moji Prejatelji,

Kaj je to! I can't believe I’m beginning my 7th week here. I can't believe I will be expected to communicate with people in Slovenian not too long from now.

My Slovene is improving, but I am still rather wretched with the complicated grammar. If you want to learn about something strange and confusing, look up “Slavic Cases.” They are one of the most peculiar things I have ever seen, and they are pretty much the backbone of any Slavic language. However it IS rather awesome to be speaking a Slavic language because I can understand about 90 percent of what the Croatian Elders say, about 40 percent of what the Czech sisters say, about 40 percent of what the Russians say, and Bulgarians and Poles and so forth. It is amazing to realize how similar these languages are. With English, we don't really get a good concept of what it is like to have a sister language. English's closest relative is German and that isn't even very close. But this Slovenian is way cool. It is almost like the difference between speaking English like Californians do and those speaking with a heavy accent from some more remote part of the English speaking world. But anyway…

This has been a wonderful week. I had a "sugar fast" last week because I felt that I needed to understand the Word of Wisdom better (we were teaching it to our investigators). It was intense, let me tell you. Then, when I started eating sugar again, which was last night, I felt sick for about half the time. The candy was great though (Thank you Mom!) That Halloween candy really did make me feel loved. I made sure to share the majority of it with others. I have realized there is a high correlation between how healthy you eat and how close to the Lord you feel. I want to have a clean mind, body and spirit, and this partly entails good control of what I consume.

Now Sister Tanner and I are on an “English fast.” This means that we aren't speaking English at all for an entire week. This is our third day of doing it and it has been pretty good. Sometimes it’s a little hard because there are times when we need to communicate with people who don't know any Slovenian or Croatian, and they can get a little frustrated when we try to pantomime the things we're saying in incomprehensible tongues. A woman behind the counter where I was trying to ask for green beans eventually just turned away from me and loaded a plate with them, handing it to me without a word. I still don't think she understood what I was saying, but I was lucky that she was pretty much right…though I really didn't need that many green beans…

I still haven't heard when I’m going to travel to Washington, D.C. to get my visa. The assumption is that it will be sometime late next week because then it will have been about a month since we finally got all the documents turned in (thank you so much Mom!!!!)

So here is some big news: the church has changed the name of our mission. Before it was the "Slovenia/Croatia Mission” and now it is the "Adriatic Mission.” I think that is a pretty wonderful name, but the major downside is that no one knows where Slovenia is already and this won't help much. But the Adriatic is beautiful. There is some speculation the reason this happened is because they are planning on opening BOSNIA! How sweet that would be! I heard (on the wind) that there was one entire Bosnian family who were baptized into the church, and so this is might be some of their reasoning for opening it. If Bosnia is opened to missionaries, it is highly unlikely I would be sent there. The church generally doesn’t send sisters into an area at first because the priority is having enough people who can fulfill Priesthood ordinances. Also, Bosnia isn't the safest place in the entire world. Sisters still don't go into Serbia at all because things are still really crazy there. Also, Bosnian is almost exactly the same as Croatian, but Slovenian is a lot different from both of them. So it is unlikely. Nonetheless, if they did open it, it would be awesome!

Going to the temple today was just so wonderful. I read Isaiah 26, which talks about trusting in God. I also read Ether 3, where the Brother of Jared is asking God to make the rocks shine with light for his people to have light in their boats. I realized something cool there: because the Brother of Jared says that it is because of the fall that we are all continually wicked. But then, when he sees the hand of the Lord, and the Lord is about to reveal Himself to him, the Lord says that because the Brother of Jared knows that the Lord is the King, and knows that the Lord cannot lie--because of his faith, he is redeemed from the fall and can return to God. If you get the opportunity, it is a wonderful chapter of the Book of Mormon to study.

I have found something amazing. I discovered when I study during my personal study time with diligence--we have one hour a day for this--the things I study have a direct affect on the things that happen soon after. In other words, it always seems that when I study diligently, the things I study are the things I need within a few hours of that study. The Lord leads me as I take the time to come to know His word. I love that He has promised that as we come to know His word and treasure it up in our hearts, we will have the ability to open our mouths and say the things we need to say in the moment we need to say them. This is exactly what I need right now as a missionary. I know that the times I try to do anything without preparation or without the Spirit, I fall flat on my face. The Lord has chosen the weak and simple of this world to proclaim His gospel. I think I've said that before, but it runs through my head every day, reminding me that it is OK that I am so bad at so many things here at the MTC because choosing people like me to serve here was intentional. The Lord wanted to use these things to demonstrate His power, and to prevent the "greatness" of man from getting in the way of what really matters: the eternal Holy Spirit communicating with the eternal souls of God's children.

It is amazing to see my investigators, even though they aren't real investigators (though soon there will be!) turning their hearts to God. It is also amazing to see my own heart turning to God. I echo what Elder Payne has said--I am amazed at how little I understood of my own religion prior to these few months. Everything we do has a purpose, and everything we are asked to do is for a good reason. It all makes a whole lot of sense, but we can't necessarily understand it without the Lord. With the Lord though, we can come to see how everything is related, and remember that the purpose of it all is to lead us back to God so we can live with him in Eternity.

I am so happy to be on a mission. I woke up this morning just feeling giddy about the opportunity to go to the Temple and fell asleep last night thinking about the people I am going to have the opportunity to teach. I am so incredibly blessed. If you are in the church, I ask you to not be hesitant to share. The gospel can change people's eternity. It is the single most important thing they can even learn. And if you are hesitant, then study the words of God, and He will give you the portion which shall be meted unto every man in the very hour that it is necessary. Trust God, learn His words, and be happy. I love you all!

Vedno,

Sestra Ary