1/07/13
So, I just want to apologize now when I say that I don't have a
whole lot to say this week....Sorry.
I'm doing well. And time is flying by here as well. Elder A and
I were just talking about how it seemed like time suddenly picked up, which is
a good thing, because there have been some long weeks in the last few months.
It's crazy. Transfers are coming up again in 2 weeks. So I might be going some where else after 6 months, which would be a bit of fresh air. If I stay here
for another transfer, it will definitely be my last one. 8 months is kind of
the unspoken limit for everyone. I could go for another 2 months here. It seems weird to think that I've spent a quarter of my entire mission
here. Hmmmm....I guess it's a cool place to spend it.
DANG! Can you believe that I've been doin' this missionary gig for a
year? It's blowing my mind. I think I can hold on and do it over again ;). I
hope so, anyways.
The New Years Eve birthday party went well. We had a cake with 70
candles on it, and 3 of them were giant fountain candles that were more so
fireworks than candles. The night was crazy after that. They legalize firecrackers
here from December 22 to January 2, so people went nuts. I went to bed that
night at like 9:30 just because I was tired, I know I sound like an old guy,
but we got quite the awakening at midnight. I thought Zadar was exploding.
Well, I guess it was. It was crazy. The next day we were walking around as
usual, and there were firecracker casings and trash everywhere.
Church yesterday was awesome. We had a baby blessing. It's crazy how big the baby has grown. I
haven't seen him in a couple of weeks, and he doesn't look like a newborn
anymore....which he shouldn't because he's a month old today. He's pretty cute. A nonmember husband of a member also came to church. He comes when he's
not working. He's a really cool guy. He's an Indian guy named F with
a Portuguese last name living in Croatia as a chef. It's
kind of funny to think about. He's a great cook, and he's a really great
father. It's really funny to watch him with his kids. Yesterday, in
total, we had 20 people at church (12 members, 2 nonmember visitors, and 6
missionaries). That's the most we've had in a few months. It was nice.
You mentioned the animals not leaving you alone. I met a cool kitten
the other night. The story starts when the sisters met a cool guy on the street
that owns a copy shop. They had a good conversation with him and said that they
could meet again sometime. So we went there to print out English class flyers,
which we are starting again on Saturday, and we had a good conversation with
him. He's a super cool guy. I think the coolest thing about him is
that he used to be in an American Football club in Osijek, a city by Serbia.
He's a big fan of American Football, which is uncommon here. He also speaks
perfect english, is super friendly, likes Texas a lot (he was wearing a texas
shirt when we met him), and likes Scifi, which is a plus for Elder A. We
talked for a while, and he ended up not even charging us for the copies....it
was only 10 kuna, but that was still cool. We were there for a while, and we
ended up asking him if he believed in Jesus Christ, and he said that he didn't
believe in the his church because it was too rittled with scandal. He then
said that he wanted to know where the Bible came from, and that was the one
question he's had all his life that no one has been able to answer. He said
that he knows who wrote the books, but he wanted to know who was the first
person to compile it all and call it "The Bible." At least the new
Testament, anyways. He says that he loves the Old Testament and has no problems
with that. So we said that we would try and figure it out for him and let him
know. So about the cat. He had this little black kitten running around the
shop. He was scared of us at first, but then he ended up coming over to us, and
i picked him up and he immediately started purring. It was kind of funny. He
then tried to knead the junk out of my hand. It kind of hurt, but whenever I
tried to put him down, he would just sit there and meow at me or other people
in the shop until I picked him up again.
That's cool that you get to see everyone in San Antonio. Tell
people that I say hi.
I hope you get better soon. Being sick is no fun.
I apologize for being lame this week. I think that I only have time
for this one email. I would send one to Bri and Dad, but I'm out of time. We're
going to go play pool with D for p-day. I
might get back over here later to send more, but I'm not sure how time will
play out. So, if I don't send anything again, I love you all a bunch, and I
hope you all have great weeks. Happy traveling, Dad! I'm glad you all made it
back safely, even if the flight home kind of bit!
Love,
P.J.
