This is life and it is amazing!

Hello all family,

The weather this week has actully been quite amazing. Up until today. The sun came out and I was actually able to see the mountains all around Ljubljana for the 3rd time since being here, despite having been here for more than a month now. Oh well. That is just winter, espceially in Ljubljana. But then today happened. The stuff falling from the sky right now is a varying mixture of snow, rain, and ice. So it is all quite nasty, especially when you add the wind into it all. But it should all be ending too. With the sun, we got the first taste of Spring, so it isn't too far away! Just a little strange though since Pust (Slovene halloween/groundhog day/festival) is still about 2 weeks out.

This week was a fine week. I went down to Zagreb for an exchange with the assistants, and learned that while I can somewhat speak croatian, and can understand most of it, I really just dont like the headache that comes with it all. So I am glad to be back in Slovenija.

Otherwise for the work this week- The 15 year old person we taught for the first time last week and then came to church with us, came again this week, just this time he brought his 17 year old friend with him! Elder Burdette met the friend on Tuesday while I was in Zagreb, and both committed to come to church with us. We then last night had another visit with them, where both were present, but then about a third of the way through, they got a call from another friend saying he was going to be there in 5 minutes! So he came - 16 years old, and we started teaching all three. The best part of it all though, was the 15 year old who is most committed, and when we were alone with him for a bit, told us that he knew that everything we said was true, especially about the restoration, and then proceeded to teach his 16 year old friend the restoration and first vision right in front of us! He is so great.

Otherwise this week we have a zone conference for all the Croation and Slovene missionaries in Zagreb. An Area authority, Elder Charles (Who came specifically to Slovenija some months ago for a fireside) is coming to focus specifically on the mission. This next few weeks should be crazy as we are going down on Wednesday, then we have to go back to a leadership council with him on Saturday. Back and forth to Zagreb a lot this week. But it should all be a geat and inspiring week. Lots of correction from the Lord should be coming. That is the best. Change is the best. This is life and it is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope you all have a great and amazing and inspiring week as well!

Much care-

-Starešina Benson

More miracles, can you believe it?!?!?!?

Dober dan dragi prijatelji,

 

This week has been just as miraculous a week as was last week if that is even possible. The weather has still been quite dank and gloomy, but the work has been amazing.

 

This week, we met another friend of the member friend through whom we met the lady and her handicapped friend. This friend is a younger woman, about 26 years old, and is a law student at the university. She is incredibly energetic, and excited, and interested. What she is doing is organizing a free home makeover for them through the interior design school in Ljubljana, because of their disabled son. They were so grateful for how she was helping them, and so wanted to help her and return her kindness with the gospel of Jesus Christ. This family gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon for Christmas, and is excited to read it. After having met her and describing who we are, she was even more interested, especially in the aspect how our personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ is the center of everything we do and believe.

 

Otherwise the other great miracle story of the week was a young 15 year old guy we found. Elder Burdette found his mom about 4-5 months ago, and taught her at their home once, but after that she disappeared. Then, he went back a little later to invite them to the last all of Slovenia conference, but she wasn't home. However, her 15 year old son, whom he had briefly met when he had last been there was home, and so he invited him to church that Sunday, to which he came with a friend!! Then he disappeared, until this last Friday, when we went by his place again, and he was home. We talked with him, in which he shared a very personal spiritual experience and we taught the story of the restoration. We invited him to come to church then this Sunday with us, and he came with us. He had a great time, and was invited by the youth of the branch here to an activity. He is great, very sincere and humble, and prepared.

 

Otherwise this week I have an exchange in Zagreb tomorrow with the assistants. That will be fun. Ne mogu pričati na hrvaskoj. We will see how it goes.

 

Be great as you all are, and live towards a miraculous day every day!

-Starešina Benson

An icy, but MIRACULOUS week. Really really icy and miraculous.

Hello all family and friends. Lep pozdrav... actually from Celje today because I'm here for p-day, but normally from Ljubljana. 

This week, winter really really came and made it obvious that it was winter. Granted it took all the way to February to do it, but it has finally come. The snow that fell last week was only the beginning to a really awful week weather wise. It snowed again early in the week, and then the snow stopped, and the rain began. It was too warm to snow up high, but the air on the ground was freezing, especially at night, so all the rain that fell, soon froze into a layer of ice over EVERYTHING. A bit further south and west of Ljubljana in Postojna, the ice was about 2 inches thick. People's cars were completely encased in ice two inches thick, and the electricity failed along with the water pumps. Supposedly everything will be fine, just not very good. Yesterday getting to church, it probably would have been easier to get to church with ice skates than with boots there was so much ice everywhere. The snow is kind of off and on, but whatever has fallen and not been cleaned up, all has a layer of ice over it now.

So the weather has been really really bad, but other than that, this week has absolutely been amazing for Elder Burdette and I.

It all started from the beginning on Monday. We went to a apartment building where Elder Burdette had met a few people some time ago who had said he could come back. So we went to the first ones, on the 10th floor and knocked on the first door, hearing that people were home, but no one came and opened the door. We then went to a younger woman's door nearby and knocked, but it was obvious no one was home. We then decided we can just keep going then and knock on a few more doors on a lower level where Elder Burdette hadn't reached. Unfortunately, the elevator we got into only went to even floors, so we had to go down to level 6 instead of our goal of level 5. So we go down, and when the door opens, directly in front of us is the younger woman whose door we had just knocked on. She was walking up the stairs, and when she say us get out of the elevator she gasped! It was truly a miracle that we ran into her. It was truly the perfect timing to the second, in a completely random floor. The Lord truly guided us to her in very strange, but intentional way. We talked and she expressed a lot of concerns. We set up to come back on Sunday (yesterday). We came back yesterday, inviting a member to come along with us, and had a great, quick visit with her.

The next truly amazing thing from this week came with the help of one of the member families here in Ljubljana. I had known them from before when I was in Kranj. They always had the reputation of giving missionaries lots of referrals of who they could go to, but nothing ever came of those referrals. My first week in Ljubljana, they asked us to come by, and (in addition to giving us 2 referrals) mentioned they were going to invite their neighbors over to meet with us. We didn't hear too much from them the week after, but this last Monday, we got a text message from them saying they had set up with their neighbors to come over in the evening to meet us. We go over, not really knowing what to expect, and their neighbors come! We get to know them and begin to teach. They are two women, the first a handicapped woman and then her friend who helps take care of her. They were both incredibly interested if not a bit cautious at first. They asked us two very good questions, ˝How can I grow my faith when I have lost most of it?˝, and ˝How can I know which faith is true?˝ They are incredibly good and ready for the message. We were able to meet with them again a few days later and finished teaching the restoration of the gospel. It is truly amazing to see the trust the members have developed with the missionaries, and has now developed to allowing us to meet and teach their friends.

Also, this week we set up with our English class student who is also an investigator. We asked one of the members who is living in Ljubljana to come on the lesson with us. The member actually is an American, not a Slovene, but served his mission in Slovenia, even Ljubljana 8 or so years ago, and knows many people from his time here. So we taught the lesson (and got lunch from it as well), and then asked if he wanted to go try one of the less active members who literally lived a 2 minute walk from where we were. He knew this less active member from when he was a missionary, and she was actually the third Slovene member ever, the first baptized member. So we ring her name outside her building, and she answers! She recognized him immediately, and invites us all up. We go and have a quick visit, getting to know her, and that she still has an incredible testimony of the gospel. We teach a brief spiritual message which brings her to tears, and set up with her for the next week. It was amazing. She is so strong and knows what is right. I can not wait to see where things will go with her.

Other than this we had an excellent visit with another member family who lives outside Ljubljana and taught a much needed lesson on the Atonement, and met her less active daughter. We are getting to know many of the members here now, and building good strong relationships with them.

The work is brightening up, even if the weather isn't. Here's to even more miracles before us in the upcoming week.

Much care and warm wishes-

-Starešina Benson

First time in Maribor and the calm before the storm

Hello all family and friends!!!

 

This week has been an interesting week. We finally had our first snow since a light overnight dusting a month or two ago. It snowed for the majority of the day on Friday, stopping around sunset (at like 4:30). But of course none of it was very good. Here in the city we didn't get very much, maybe just like an inch, and none of it was very good. Practically all slush falling to the ground, and instantly melting  in many places when it hit the ground. But it did color (or rather decolonize) the place. There is still snow on the northern facing slopes and north slopping roofs too where the sun can't hit yet. But it won't last long if it doesn't snow again, which it doesn't look like it will soon.

 

This week, we had my first exchange as a zone leader. I went up to serve the day in Maribor (that was Wednesday) with Elder Stott who has been in Maribor some 10 weeks, while Elder Dereanger who just moved to Maribor from Ljubljana came back to Ljubljana to be with Elder Burdette. It was a great experience, and actually my first time ever serving as a missionary in Maribor.

 

I arrived in time to help teach English class and then be at a branch activity afterwards.

 

Then, the next day started. We had a few things in the plan, but nothing in the morning until 12, so Elder Stott and I went out and talked to nearly every single person walking along the river from 10:30 to noon. It was a great experience and we met a lot of great people, and had the opportunity to teach and hand out a copy of the Book of Mormon. The exchange was great for Elder Stott, as it gave him the opportunity to see a different style of missionary work than before.

 

Afterwards, we had the opportunity to teach a less active member whom they were teaching for the first time. Then, using a list of people who had met with missionaries in the past, we went around contacting people and seeing if they were interested in meeting again,. We set up with two people right their at their doorsteps to meet with the Maribor elders for the next week. At the end of the night, we came to one person where we knew which apartment building he lived in, but nothing more exact, and so we went through the building watching for him, ultimately however, we didn't find him. However, the very last man, looking about 25-30 years old said he was interested in what we had to share, and so we set up with him for the next week as well. A total of 3 lessons set up for next week.

 

Otherwise in Ljubljana, this week has largely been a week of meeting with some of our great active members and inviting them to act, some of whom haven't met with missionaries in many months. also, we have been reevaluating and planning how we should go about doing missionary work in our area. Here's to hoping this week will hold some great success and new people as we go out and apply the things we have prepared!

 

I hope you all have great and inspired weeks as well.

Take care and stay warm!!

-Starešina Benson

Welcome to the big city - Ljubljana

Živijo, živijo, živijo

 

Hello all family and friends. The end of an era in my mission has come, and a new beginning has begun. With this, last Tuesday, my time in Celje came to an end, I have officially been transferred after 10 months to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenija. Ljubljana has the biggest population of Slovenija, a MASSIVE 250,000 people. As well as the oldest and most developed one branch in Slovenija with about 60-70 people at church on Sunday. It has been a big change from Celje to say the least. Ljubljana is at least a real, proper city.

 

With the move and the adjusting has also come new responsibilities. I am now the Zone leader for Slovenia, meaning I represent the mission President for all of Slovenija, and am the connection between him and the missionaries here. It has all been a lot to take in, but it helps that I was in Kranj a year ago so I already know most of the members here in Ljubljana. But the weather didn't help the transfer. It was clear on Monday, then the moment we went outside with my luggage, it started to rain, and has basically been raining ever since until last night. But who knows, normally it would be cold enough right about now that that rain should normally be snow. Could always be worse. ;-)

 

This week, I went to English class in Ljubljana for the first time, and we had a great lesson. The zone leader companionship teaches the advanced class, which is all in English of course. At the end of the lesson, we invited everyone to a short spiritual thought which we lead, and everyone was invited to take part in if they so wished.

 

One of those people who stayed was from Bosnia, and was very interested in what we taught. I spoke with him after, asked if he wanted to meet with us to talk about faith more, and got his number. Two days later, we had a good lesson with him about God and the importance, vitality, and necessity of family. As we were finishing however and about to go, he said ˝Wait! My parents are coming! I want you to meet them!˝ So we waited another five minutes, when his mom and dad whom he had just talked about came in. We then proceeded to have another discussion with his parents over a lunch they hastily prepared for us. The good, but strange thing about Bosnian hospitality, they force the goodness and charity on you, and never want you to leave. And so about 2.5 hours after we first arrived, we finally were able to force ourselves out. A good visit, but very draining.

 

Otherwise I hope you all are well and happy in America. I hope the horrid cold that gripped America is coming to an end. We are still exceptionally warm here in Slovenija, thus all the rain.

 

Well and warm wishes-

-Starešina Benson

Transfers

Dear Family and Friends,

My time in Celje is coming to an end. After 10 months being here, I am moving to Ljubljana to be Zone Leader with my MTC companion, Elder Burdette!!! It is super exciting!!!!!!!  I am really grateful too, that the snow has been really late in Slovenija this year, as I came to Celje in the snow in late March, and would be leaving in the snow as well (a full cycle). But it is not to be. :-)

My visa (after a ridiculous 2 long months) has finally come in. I will be picking it up after I move to Ljubljana tomorrow.

My memorization of the sermon on the mount hit a slow point after I finished Matt 5. Riding bikes instead of walking around everywhere is not all that conducive to looking at a book and memorizing. But there are no bikes in Ljubljana, just buses, so there should be more opportunities now. We shall see.

We took down the Christmas decorations in the church this week.

I will send pictures next week probably. I have planned to get pictures of all the important people from Celje, as well as their addresses.

We have been going around visiting a lot of people before I head out. It has been a great week. Next week in Slovenija it is rumored to be really rainy and even potentially snowy. We shall see. A... interesting introduction to Ljubljana I suppose.

Much Love,

-Starešina Benson

Warm winter and a fiery New Year

Hello all family and friends, lep pozdrav.

I heard that in America it is brutally cold and 40 of the continental 48 have tons of snow. Well, what is the weather here in Slovenija while you all are freezing under layers of snow? Rain. And clouds, and more rain. It is just too stinking warm to snow. Sorry America. We gave you all of our cold this year it looks like. Nothing like two strange winters on my mission. Last year it was the year of the never ending snow. This year it is the outrageously warm year where it can't snow. Exciting times.

This week has been an interesting week. It has also felt like one oN the longest weeks in a long time. I can't believe New Years was this week. It feels like decades ago.

This week we had a lot of progress with the mother who has been investigating the church for a bit with us that I had the prompting to go visit some two months ago. She has been reading now, and praying (sporadically, but still it is something and she will benefit from it all), but the big progress she made is she came to church yesterday!! We didn't even have to invite her, she just asked us on her own when it starts and where it is. When we offered if she needed any help, if we wanted to go together she said, of no, it's not necessary, and she came. It was in the end, a great testimony meeting, and she had a great experience.

New Years was a good day as well. We had a New Years activity at the church which was punctuated by excitement, but ultimately a good experience. New Years here is crazy. The fireworks start going off around Dec 21st there abouts, and are at least a few fireworks every day for the next moth practically. Then on New Years eve it is practically a war zone with people launching fireworks out of their windows on the 8th floor of an apartment tower, or just in every free parking lot in Celje, or just a street, doesn't matter where. There are no laws about that.

But it isn't over yet. Tomorrow is Serbian Christmas, then 7 days later will be Serbian new years, so it will all happen again. It is exciting though. The grand finale woke me up this year unlike last year, so I sleepily shuffled over to the window to watch the fireworks for a few minutes before going back to sleep. Now I can say I saw New Years on my mission!!

Well, it's unlikely that this letter will change the weather much, but my wishes are warm through this week. Much care-

-Starešina Benson