Letters from/to Mom and Dad, his future wife, and Toast Olympics....

Dore here.... I decided to put excerpts from letters that Phil (P.J.'s dad) and I  (P.J.'s mom) wrote to him and then excerpts of what he wrote back.  I may do another post of letters he wrote to his sisters in the next few days because they are pretty funny....

From Phil:

 Hope all is well!!

 We moved Mom’s office this weekend. Her new office is nice; We will take some pictures when we are finished decorating it. We are trying to do a beach theme and it's looking good so far. Mom got in to it with the guy who rented us the trailer for the move.  Mom said he was really rude and dismissive. Wrong thing to pull with your mom! I didn't get to see it I was unhooking the trailer. I would love to have seen her go off on him!! We got a new bed on Friday. The verdict is still out. The bed is not as soft or as comfortable as the one we laid on in the store. I called the store on Saturday and they said it would take about three weeks to break in. I hope they are right. If not we have a one-year replacement guarantee;  if we don't like it they will replace it. We also bought some coconut foam pillows. They were $130.00 a piece at the store. We found them on line for $(let's just say for a lot less...)  for the pair from someone in Keller. Mom loves the pillow I'm not sure about it yet but I'm trying it out.  That's about all that has happened this past week.  

 P.J.'s reply:

Hey!

I'm glad to hear that your talk went well. It's looking like I'll probably have a 20 minute talk here next month. That's not gonna be too fun, but I'll worry about that when it gets here.  

A week ago Monday was my 20 months left mark, and yesterday was my 5-month mark. It's crazy to think that in a day less than a month I'll be a quarter of the way done. Sometimes it still feels like I'll be here forever, but other times it feels like times slipping away. It's kind of weird.

Last Wednesday we were going out by bus to a little village about 10 km outside of Karlovac called Duga Resa, and as I was watching the landscape, all green rolling hills covered with trees and the river running next to it, it kind of hit me, that even though I miss all of you a ton, I don't want to go home at all right now. I like where I'm at and I like what I'm doing. 

That's cool about the new office, and funny about the dumb guy. I'm tired of rude people, but I just have to grin and bare it. I would love to give some people a piece of my mind every once in a while, but they probably wouldn't even understand me even if I cracked and did ;).

I'm a little jealous about the new bed. If you felt our beds you would probably die. It's basically a wooden box with an inch of padding on top with fabric sewn over it. The good thing is that every night I'm so tired that I don't care too much. The lack of air conditioning is starting to kill me though. I have a washcloth that I get wet and freeze and then take it out when I go to bed and wrap it around my neck. It helps. It's also not quite as hot here as back home, but it is super humid, so we still get sweaty.

$**** for 2 pillows? Do they make you breakfast and sing you compliments when you wake up? And they're foam? Hmmmm.....I hope Mom likes them a lot because it sounds like she got ripped off, but oh well. 

**A little commentary here....Let me just say that even though those coconut pillows were obscenely expensive, they have been LIFE-CHANGING!!!!!  First time in forever that I haven't woken up with a headache...so yes, it does sing to me ...though it has yet to give me a compliment... 

The other day on the way to church I saw a grabber blue 2011 v6 mustang at the intersection. It was so weird. It's the only one I've ever seen here and it was from Germany. But it was a nice sight. 

Things are pretty routine here. We teach whom we can and eat and sleep in between. Sometimes it gets a little annoying when people ignore you, but oh well. A couple of weeks ago we tracted a 13 story building with over 60 rooms in about 45 minutes. Everybody either looked through the peephole and ignored us, or just opened the door and slammed it again. It gets old, but just one good door, and you remember that it's not a complete waste of time. We're starting English class again in a couple of weeks so we're gonna work on getting flyers out this week, but I think that's just about the most of it. We have specialized training (zone conference) sometime in the next couple of weeks, so I'll either be going to Slovenia or Zagreb. That'll be nice. They're always really good. And it's a way to get out of Karlovac. B***, our old landlady had us over for another barbeque last Thursday. It was so good! She had pork chops, chicken pieces, kobasica, and a ton of čevapćići, which is a type of sausage from Bosnia. Oh it was really good. I filled up big time.

 Mom and P.J.:

  Dear Favorite Missionary/son/P.J./dude-who-eats-lamb-without-complaining,

How are you doing?  We are doing swimmingly well.

So…Here in part is the e-mail I received after sending off your package:

 So, Yeah….I had all these thoughts of my poor son rotting in a Croatian jail.  Yeah...it bit.  Then I got smart and looked up mailing prohibitions for Croatia.  It appears I was okay, and didn't do anything wrong.  Phew!  Tell me you didn't have issues AND that you got the package.  All I can say is that you are pretty much going to get ties from now on for gifts.  Sorry….  But, on a side note, did you know that one CANNOT send used beehives to Israel?  I stop and ask myself, "Why would one want to send a bee hive, let alone a USED bee hive?"  I mean, when would that EVER be necessary??!  Also, You basically are only allowed to send letters to Italy.  You can't send shoes, clothes, pictures, or anything else.  You can send toys to Italy as long as the whole thing is made of wood.  Go figure.  Be glad you aren't there….otherwise you would come home with a  nice collection of spinning tops, tic-tac-toe boards, chess sets, and the wooden golf-tee triangle thing from Cracker Barrel.  

So, what did you think of the cat-helicopter?  Ever see anything so nutty?

I better take off….Other people are waiting to use the computer.  Love you tons!!!!!  I love Mondays!  Take care, be safe, and behave yourself.  

Love you and I'm proud of you!!!!!

Love,

            MOM!!!!  

 P.J.'s reply:

Dobar Dan Family!

So I'm doing well. Sorry for the delayed email. We came to internet to email yesterday, but the place lost power and we got tired of sitting here waiting for it to get turned back on, and there is no plan b for emailing here in Karlovac. It's either this place or Tuesday, so that's why there's a delay.

 Congrats on moving offices. It must be nice to kind of have your own place. Now you get to go all HGTV all over your office. Have fun with the debit card!

I died when I read that postal e-mail. To be honest I was going to start off this email saying, "Sorry I wasn’t able to email yesterday. Just wondering, why did you mail that stuff to me? I don't really care why, but the Croatian police kept on asking me yesterday why you did it while they were beating the trash out of me in some dungeon in Zagreb.", but I figured you wouldn't find it all that funny. And all joking aside, I still haven’t gotten the package but I hear that's normal. For all I know, it could be sitting up in the mission office in Zagreb. Most missionaries only get mail once a month, but we have the H****** that go up to Zagreb once a week, so we're luck. I'm holding my thumbs (Croatian version of crossing your fingers...I’m just so immersed in the culture ;) yeah right.....) that I get it soon.

And wait....does that mean that I didn't get the one thing I was asking for.....a used bee hive? Too bad.

Question time:

1.  How are your clothes holding up?  Do you need us to send you anything?  Don't be shy.  And don't ask for a used bee hive…I don't know where to find one of those.

I think everything is okay. My tape on my suit pants is still holding, and I wore out my grey pants, but I still have 4 other pairs and I think that I could probably buy more pants here in Karlovac, I just haven't tried. So I think I'm holding up well...or at least my clothes.

2.  Have you been teaching anyone?

Yup! We met with all of the members that went to Zadar and district conference the previous weekend and discussed the experience and who they would like to share that sort of experience with. (Directions of President Rowe) We also found a new investigator, M******. She speaks English! In Karlovac! She is a retired English teacher from Gymnasium here in Karlovac (Croatian high school). She is super nice and she used to translate for the missionaries when they first came to Karlovac back in the early 90's. It's kind of funny. I was doing a door approach in Croatian and she responded back in English and told us that she used to do work for our "people". She said that she wanted to talk to us, but she was really tired because her family just got back from a trip to Slovenia, and she asked if we could come back the next night. So we returned and had a great lesson in English! She offered us ice cream when we got there and she showed us scrapbooks of Karlovac during the war and some of the old missionaries from the 90's. She has real interest in the church and said that she has been on Sunday a few times and would like to come in July when her weekends open up. She's reading the Book of Mormon and we set up a return appointment for next Saturday evening. It's things like this that make tracting worth it. It gets rather old when it's fruitless night after night, but just one good thing like this makes it worthwhile.

3. So, what did you think of the cat-helicopter?  Ever see anything so nutty?

The cat helicopter is freaking weird. I showed it to the others and they were all laughing. It was definitely a trip. Now he needs to make little mice airplanes and chase them around outside with his cat-copter.

        **Another commentary... In case anyone is curious....this is a cat that died then the owner had it stuffed and made into a   helicopter....kinda disturbing....

Nothing too interesting the last couple of p-days. We played Risk last week and yesterday we explored the bombed out hotel again then played a bunch of rounds of Clue. It's a pain here on p-days because there's not a whole lot to do and it almost always rains on Monday. But we get by. Sorry for the short email this week, but I’ve got a headache and I still have to email President. But I hope the uploaded pictures redeem it. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

P.J.

This is my future wife. Yes mom, I know you don't approve, but oh well. She's pretty isn't she? She's Italian and a little dangerous, but totally worth the risk. I can't wait until after my mission when she'll be mine! Just kidding. I'm not that weird, but i really do want an Aprilia bike some day!

It's a carved wooden pen and base that i got at the medieval fair. It cost like $4 and i thought it was pretty cool. It's hand carved and stained.

Every Sunday night we have the Toast Olympics. We take all of the left over bread that's hard as rock (because nothing lasts here) and throw it out the window of our kitchen like Frisbees and see who can get it the farthest. It's fun. Simple things for simple minds, I guess. So that's just a picture of all of the bread. You throw the big loaf pieces like footballs. They bounce pretty high when they hit concrete.  

How you know you're in Duga Resa (or a small town)...... 

Until next week.........

An old lady who rubbed his face (and he didn't even have a cow...) and newsy stuff...

Hello Everyone!  Because P.J. responded so much to my e-mail, I decided to include parts of it so his letter would make sense.  Have a great week!!!!  Oh...and thanks for keeping tabs on the boy!

~Dore

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Hey Elder Peejin……

How is my favorite missionary/son doing on the other side of the world??  We are chugging along.

So…In FB news:

A******:Found out today that a box of Lucky Charms is £8, which is about $12. Lol.

C*****:  posted a picture of a guy praying with the caption, "Let's all take a moment and be thankful that spiders don't fly."

D*****:  I tried to catch some fog the other day……..  Mist.

So…In other news.  

Audrey told me in nursery today that maybe I'll like fishie crackers when I grow up.

Oh!  About Tyler, Texas…yeah.  Dad really ticked off a rattle snake in the snake house.  Mollie walked right by the snake and you know how they are usually looking as though they aren't even alive?  Well, this one opened his mouth a little when Mollie walked by it.  Then Dad had to go shake his hand and tap the glass next to it.  Holy Cow if that thing didn't open its mouth completely, unfurled fangs and all.  Pretty much gave me the heebie-jeebies.  I made Dad stop before it struck the glass.  I would've had nightmares for a week if that had happened.  Dentists and snakes…

Speaking of the dentist.  Yep…I'm going to have to go in again soon.  A piece of one of my molars broke off the other day.  What the heck???  Looks like another root canal.  Fun stuff.  Maybe I can get them to hop me up on anti-anxiety meds this time.  I think I might try it.  It's embarrassing to be crying when they are only taking an x-ray.  You thought I was kidding about the dental phobia.  

Back to Tyler.  We had a good time getting away for a few days, though.  Oh…one more zoo story.  So we went back at the end to watch the people feed the otters.  Okay…I thought they would throw a few sardines in and call it a day.  Nope!  They threw in LIVE fish and we watched death and destruction by otters.  It was kinda nasty/cruel when one kept messing with the fish by letting it go and chasing it again over and over.  Yep, it was a tad traumatizing.  Lots of fish guts and all. mmmmmmm……

We went swimming at the Greers last night.  Watched two people suck face for about an hour only coming up for air once.

 Mollie is done with school now, and to celebrate she has come down with bronchitis.  Nice.  I get to take her to the doctor on Tuesday because my schedule is too packed tomorrow and I've missed a few weeks of Monday appointments already.  Hopefully she won't stop breathing by then.

We talk about you all the time.  Please be safe out there because I keep telling myself to stop being a wienie because you'll be back in A YEAR AND A HALF!  I'm so proud of you for doing good things with your life. You are awesome!!!!!  I pray for you every day and hope that you are happy and learning a lot.  

Love you!!!!!!!

Love,     Mom

Bokety, bok, bok, bokers Family!

Too bad you don't have a Croatian branch. They don't really understand how certain things work....Since all of Croatia had district conference in Zagreb yesterday on the first Sunday (I'll explain more later), we don't have fast Sunday this month...kind of strange, but they just don't quite understand that it doesn't have to be the first Sunday. 

And what the heck? Yeah, $12 is a lot for lucky charms, but he's lucky that he's in a place where he can buy them. I might pay 60kn for them if they even sold them in Croatia. But I'm stuck with like 50 different brands of corn flakes, cookie crisps, nesquik coco puffs, honey nut cheerios, knock off cinnamon toast crunch, and other weird chocolate (Hey look! This is what the Americans eat [not quite....]) types of cereal. Yup....and all of them are at least $3 or $4 and most of them are the little mini boxes. But yeah, that's what the cereal section looks like in Kaufland, and in some other stores it's even smaller.

That fog pun is pretty good. Everyone just groaned when I read it to them, but I enjoyed it. And not to call you old, over the hill, middle aged, ancient, prehistoric, grandma, decrepit, elderly, orthopedic, or anything like that, but I think the "maybe when you're older train" left the station a long time ago, so I think you're destined to hate gold fish forever.

Gross....I hate snakes. That’s really all I have to say. That and the fact that I would be the one tapping the glass if I was there. I just have to fiddle with stuff and touch stuff that I'm not supposed to.....remote battery covers, cell phone sim cards (but that was fixed over a month ago), etc.....

Ooh! I hate the dentist. To think that I ever wanted to sell my soul to the devil and join their evil forces....Makes me shudder. But good luck. Trust me though. It's so much easier to just get the whole tooth pulled. Elder B**** and I decided last night that I have ambitions to do all this stuff to my body to make life easier. Like tooth implants (imagine be able to put anything on your teeth and not feel it and not have to worry about it), Lasik surgery, getting my nostril cauterized so I’ll never have bloody noses again, and maybe some lip injections. Kidding about the last one.

This week's interrogation:

1.  Did you get your package yet????????

No, not yet. I hope I get it sometime this week, but I was in Zagreb yesterday and they said that it wasn't at the mission office. But the Higbees have meetings in Zagreb today, so they'll check while they're there. I'm excited to get it. And maybe I'll wait until the 28th to open it. Yeah, just kidding.

2.  Did you teach anyone this week?

Yup! We have a super nice couple that we met a couple of weeks ago, the V****** Family. They are Jehovah's Witnesses, but they are actually nice. Usually the Jehovah's Witnesses are some of the worst people to talk to because they like to try and bash with us and tell us we're wrong, but this couple is awesome. We found out that he teaches at the university....And just our luck, he teaches Croatian. It's so nerve wracking to talk in broken Croatian to somebody that is a professor for it! But they are so nice! They have so many questions! They know so many things that we have to teach on a deeper lesson, which is a bit of a change. We taught a crazy Plan of Salvation lesson. Usually it just goes, We used to live with God, we came to this earth to be tested and get a body, We have to follow Jesus Christ and except his gospel in this life, after death we go to spirit paradise (paradise, prison), we'll resurrect, get a perfect body, be judged, and live with God again. But this couple had so many questions about everything! We went into so much detail about the pre-mortal life and the fall of Adam, which usually isn’t too interesting to most people. But they asked about everything. I'm not sure how interested they are as far as converting, but they said that they would read if we left them a Book of Mormon, so we did, and now we wait until Tuesday.

3.  How goes tracting?

Good. We've pretty much tracted out our area of town, so now we are creeping into the other elders' area to tract. We got let in on Sunday and we met a really nice strong Catholic man that actually knows what the Catholics believe. And his mother was there....But she was kind of odd. She is in her 70's and she kept on rubbing my face with her hand while Elder B***** was talking and then she brought in her rosary beads, all her pictures of Mary (Gle! Maika Božje!- Look! The mother of God), and some pictures of Jesus. And she kept on kissing them and showing them to me. It was kind of strange, but she was really nice.  But tracting goes all right. Not usually a ton of nice reception, but just one person letting us in every once in a while makes it worth it.

And about people sucking face at the pool....You've seen nothing. Young people aren't in huge abundance here, but when you see them, they are usually making out...on all of the park benches. They do this thing where the guy sits on the bench and the girl sits on his lap while straddling him and they then make out. So wrong.....and no shame in public. We call it a human pauk. Which is a human spider. Because there's just a human clump on the bench with 8 limbs. It's weird stuff.

Now for some newsy stuff. So this last weekend, the members in all 4 countries in the mission had a giant anniversary party in Zadar, Croatia to celebrate 40 years since the first baptism in Yugoslavia, which was Krešomir Čosić, the BYU basketball player/Croatian sports star. But yeah, they had a big celebration and then they came up to Zagreb for district conference (like stake conference. every 6 months). District conference was so cool. There were so many members in one place....Okay. So maybe somewhere near 100, but it was so awesome to see everyone at the chapel in Zagreb. And we had a good lunch afterwards with chicken, burek with cheese and potatoes, bread, cabbage, and different pasta salads. But the meeting was cool too. The district president, President Babić, spoke about building the church here and that in 8 years, there will be a stake here. Which is quite the statement considering that the biggest branch here (Zagreb) has 50 active members, and we're the next largest here in Karlovac and we have 20 or so, and after that is 4 other branches that usually have somewhere between 8 and 12 people each week. And then President Rowe spoke about how everyone here has labored super hard here for the last 40 years to build the foundation and now the foundation has been poured and now it's time to build the beautiful structure on top of that foundation. It was so cool to hear things like that said. It really does help me feel purpose, because sometimes it gets a little disappointing when you get rejected all day, but when we hear things like what was said yesterday, it gives me hope that our little every day efforts will become something big over time. So we were in Zagreb from 8 until about 4 yesterday for the meeting. And it was so cool. I just wish we could do something like that every month. I kind of miss big established smooth running wards.

Oh yeah! I saw Elder R  and Elder H from Banjaluka in Zagreb yesterday. Things are going well for them. Bosnia looks so cool from his pictures. It's so green! And they have some cool cities to go to on p-day. We're kind of out of things to do here. But yeah, it was nice to see him. I also saw Sister J and Sister M from my MTC group. They're both doing well too. I don't usually get to see anyone because we've always gone to Slovenia for zone stuff so far, but it was cool to see everyone yesterday. Elder S is still locked away in Beograd, but I heard that he's doing well and getting good at the language.

I can't really think of a whole bunch else at the moment. It's still relatively nice here where the temperature is concerned. It's June, but it's still somewhere around 75 or 80 most days. Elder B**** calls it hot because it's humid, but I know that it's not because I know what it could be by this time of year.....ugh. And we keep getting a lot of rain. People say that it's abnormal to be getting this much rain. I just know that I'm tired of getting wet all the time. A smart missionary would finally buy an umbrella, but oh well. I don't like the idea of always having to carry one. I like to try and travel light.

I think that's about it for this week. I love all of you and wish you the best of luck in your week of stuff to do. Get better Mollie....and be glad you're not here. I'm having terrible allergies. But yeah, I'm holding up and doing fine. I hope all of you have good weeks until I can talk/type/hear/read from you again!

Love,

P.J.