October 1, 2012
Hey! How's it going over there in the land of the free and the home
of the brave?
It's going pretty well over here. I have to apologize now and say
that this week hasn't been the most exciting of my life, so I might have to
stretch to keep your attention.
So something random that i meant to tell you a while ago, but I
forgot. Have you ever checked out mormonchannel.org? It's pretty
cool. They have all of the church radio shows and they are pretty interesting.
You can download them and listen to them whenever. I downloaded a bunch and put
them on my flash drive and I just listen to them in the mornings or at night
when I have time. Sometimes the music that I have gets a little old, so it's a
nice change. History of the hymns is a cool one. They talk about the history of
the hymn (go figure, eh Copernicus?) but they also have multiple arrangements
of the hymns and different versions. They are pretty cool. There's also a cool
program called, “Enduring It Well.” It's just got a bunch of different people
telling interesting stories about trials they've faced. It makes your own life
feel easier. They also have a show called, “Conversations” where they interview
general authorities and their wives and stuff and it's pretty casual and
interesting. I just finished a cool show with Rob Gardner today: http://mormonchannel.org/everything-creative-discussion/45 I figured
that you don't have a whole of time to just listen to stuff, but if you're
bored or just cleaning or something, I would recommend them. They have a few of
them with Susan Easton Black (my former professor for church history at BYU).
She's so cool and they are super interesting. She's just such a good
talker/storyteller. That's the end of my plug for the site....sorry.
So about the Christmas stuff......Honestly, I really don't want a
tree of any kind. I didn't even like them at home too much....(if my future
wife is reading this some how, get over it...I'm just not festive). I found a
cheesy little Christmas tree in our apartment (missionaries love them so much
they always leave them behind when they move...we had like 3 in Karlovac) and
if I fall on my head/go insane and decide I want one, I'll just use that one.
(I swear I'm not depressed or anything. I realized that this paragraph sounds a
little moody. Sorry for the sarcasm and the strange tone).
I don't envy Brianne at all about the teeth. [His older sister is getting her wisdom teeth out] That was freaking
nasty. I'm glad they don't grow back. It's a nightmare just thinking about it
again. Too bad you have to take her. Don't pass out while driving. And don't
take 2 Vicodin without eating anything...or just in general. Sure it makes
"How I Met Your Mother" funnier (and it makes the iPad look like it's
spinning in your hands), but puking blood and stuff for 12 hours bites.
That's so cool about Brother F. That's probably the best news
I've gotten in a little while; definitely a bit of a relief. Do you think that
you could find out a way to get their address? I want to send something...like
a letter. That guy’s a fighter for sure.
Have I ever told you how many freaking lizards we have here? We've
tried to catch a few geckos in our apartment, but they run away into different
cracks and stuff...so we're probably living with 50 million of them, but we
only find them every now and then. But you always see lizards everywhere when
you're out walking around. Seriously, they're everywhere. And those little
buggers are so freakin' fast. You can't catch them.
That's so cool that M is going to Ukraine! What language is he
speaking? Ukrainian or Russian? And I am grateful that I'm in Croatia.
Short story time: Elder M and I ran into some American guys a
few weeks back. They walked by us and they said, "How's it goin' out here,
Elders?" We were kind of taken back by the English, but we started talking
to them (a bunch of military guys) and one of them asked us where we were from
and I said Dallas, and he said "Okay, I've been to that temple many, many
times." He asked what ward I was in and I said Flower Mound 3rd, and he
said that he knew a bunch of people in Flower Mound. He said that he was from
Plano. And then he said, "What you're doing out here is great." So that was kind of the end
of it (we don't know if he was inactive, or really not a member anymore). We
ran into them a few days later and they were so cool. There were more of them
that time and we talked for a while. Another guy was an inactive guy and he was
asking us questions. He invited us to go scuba diving with them...he didn't
know about the no water rule....he's really inactive I guess. But I was talking
to the guy from before and he was just a really cool guy. He
was here during the 90's in the war. He said that he's Porter Rockwell.....he
knows what's right and he's devoted to his friends, he just has stupid things
in his life that are hard to get over. The other inactive guy was from Utah and
he asked Elder M to send a message to his cousin in Salt lake if he ever
ran into him. So now to where I was going with this:
They all were telling us how lucky we were to be here in Croatia.
"You lucky dogs...who'd you pay to get put here. This place is
awesome." We also ran into a member guy here with the military that was
doing joint training with the Croatians and he was surprised to know that the
church was here and he was telling us how lucky we were to be here. It's true
though. It's a cool place.
You don't worry about my safety because you have no need to. This
place is safer than Flower Mound.
Man, you mentioned the triplets+1 and it made me think of a dream I
had. I just had a dream where I woke up and I*****was in my apartment. It was
super random and super weird. I have no idea where it came from. But it was
cool. We just played for a couple of hours and then I woke up. I really miss
those kids. It's kind of sad that they'll be completely different by the time I
see them again.
Questions:
1. How much are suits over there?
I think that most suits are like American prices. About $200-$300. I
got the short end of the Eastern European (sorry...I meant Central
Europe...people don't call it eastern here...that's Serbia and Bosnia, but not
Croatia....go figure, eh?) deal. Things are still expensive here.
2. Any foods you are missing?
I don't think so. We have pretty good stuff here to tie me over.
Well, Riscky's sounds pretty good right now. I hope you and Greers are up for
going in about 16 months. I'm gonna eat so many ribs. I miss beef.
3. Can't think of any more questions.
Feel the need to point out that that's not a question.....
So this last week was pretty slow going. Not a whole lot happened
other than people flaking on us.....the same as usual. not too big of a deal.
We went this morning and helped some branch members move...F*****and Z****. They needed help moving their washer and fridge, so we loaded them
into the car, followed them to the new apartment on their bikes (I rode a bike
with a basket and a bell.... cross that off the bucket list) while they drove,
unloaded the car and rode back to the other place to make another trip. I
haven't ridden a bike in years...I guess since I got my license (I just
realized that I haven't driven a car in 9 months...crazy)... and it bit. We
only made 2 trips, but it killed my thighs. I've been on my mission for 9
months and that's the first time I've touched a bike, so I guess I'm lucky.
Let's see if I can go another 9.
We ate at a really good palačinka bar this last week. They're like
crepes, but they're palačinke. Mine had Nutella
inside (they fold them up) and it had crunched up snickers, vanilla pudding,
and a chocolate drizzle on top with whipped cream around the edges. The place has
over 50 different combinations on the menu. It's pretty good. We also went back
to the Chinese restaurant that we went to before and realized that we were just
hungry the first time. It wasn't so great the second time around. I had a
really good lunch at a place called Conzona's today. It was a
tortellini with mozzarella chunks and tomatoes throughout with a bunch of
cheese on top, and they bake it in a clay dish and bring it out to you still
sizzling. It's way good. I guess that just goes to summarize the week for
you....the most exciting part is the food.
I wish I had more to say, but I think that's about it. I hope you
all have a wonderful week! I love you all and Christmas is less than 3 months
away...and in 3 days I have 16 months left. Crazy how time is flying!
Love,
P.J.
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