It has been a busy end of the year. On the 4th Sunday we have a lunch after church with our YSA's. We had 14 this Sunday. They are such great people and we have such fun with them. Here we have Tomislav, Barbara, Ada, and Najmeh.
On Paul's birthday we decided to climb Mt. Smarto. It is right behind the mission home. There was snow on the ground and I was begging to go back the whole way but he made me persevere and we finally made it to the top. Everyone we met going up the hill and coming down had ski poles and hiking boots with chains on them. All I could see was myself falling and breaking something. Luckily that did not happen. This is the chapel at the top of the hill.
Paul half way up the mt.
I got to the bell and am ringing it.
On the 23rd we went to Varazdin for their Christmas program. The choir sang, they had some readings and a great dinner afterwards. It was very well attended.
On December 28th we went to the "Nutcracker" ballet. Our YSA president, Rebekeh, is in the ballet. We had such a great time and it was wonderful. We had over 19 members from the Branch there. We also found this wonderful mall with some really great shops in it.
Next came the New Year's Eve party hosted by the Ljubljana YSA's. We had 31 out-of-town guests from six countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Scotland & Albania). We had around 50 throughout the three days. This is our group from Serbia. They went down to Center to check out the castle and the square. Elder & Sister Densley brought them.
Our guests arrived for a 6 pm dinner of soups & salads. Sister Justus and I spent the day preparing for that. It turned out great. We had tortellini soup, corn chowder, chicken noodle, and pasta fagoli. After dinner they started with some mixers and get acquainted games and activities and then the dance started about 9:30 and went to 1. We, the Sr. left about 11.
Just a view of dinner
Ljubica, Sister and Elder Lewis, Sonja and Sister Densley
Sister Willford and me fixing lunch which consisted of baked chicken, mashed potatoes, sauce, salad, bread and Serbian dessert
New Year's Eve the Willfords and us spent the night at Silva's home in Domzale, about 20 minutes away. We gave our apartment to six young men so they would be within walking distance. The Serbian group stayed over two nights so we had them with us and watched a movie "The Ultimate Gift" before going to bed on the 1st.
New year's eve we stayed up until about 1 and visited with Silvja who has been a member since 97. She told us her great story of finding the Church. She worked in Ljubljana and would see these young men in center with name tags but no one ever talked to her. She was interested in religion and looking for something more than she had and she had checked out several other religions but did not find what she was looking for. One day the missionaries knocked on her door and her son said, Mom it's for you (because they knew she had been looking for a church). The missionaries said "We have a message for you from Jesus Christ" she immediately invited them in and it is history from there on. The amazing part of the story is that missionaries had been sent to her town Domzale for just three months, right after she was baptized they took them out of the city. Someone was looking out for her that is for sure, a miracle in our time.
This is Elders Grahavac, Jones, Velimir and Paul
Velimir is from Macedonia and found the church on LDS.org. He was put in contact with the only members in Macedonia, Bro & Sis. Junker who have been teaching him the gospel. President Hill had met him on one of his travels. The Junkers made it possible for him to come and while here he had several missionary lessons with the Elders. We had the privilege of taking him around and having him stay with us a night. Great young man.
Out of order but here are some of the Seniors folding napkins. The fan ones a girl got to sit there and the plain, a guy. That got them to mingle. Sis. Lewis, Elder Thompson, Elder Willford, Sis. Justus
All the Senior Couples and Sister Justus who made it possible for the ysa's to come and be together. Willfords, Thompsons, Lewis', Justus, and Densleys
This is our wonderful group of Young Single Adults in these countries in which we are privileged to serve. We are so blessed.
January 2nd was our 39th anniversary. We went to Bled, Slovenia and drove around the beautiful lake, had dinner at our favorite restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, here in Ljubljana. Again we have been so blessed that our love continues to grow and we appreciate each other more with each passing year.
I'm just adding a little information at the bottom here for my journal. Just a little more detail so you needn't read on since this is pretty long already.
Well it is Sunday and it has been quite a week. It started Wednesday when Paul and I went shopping for food and met up with Rebekah, our YSA president and ballerina here in Ljubljana and from Scotland, to help us pick out the snacks. We got that done and delivered to the Church. Thursday we met got a few more things and headed to the Church to start cooking. Sister Jusust, a sr. sister missionary who serves here with us, came over to help me out. I could not have done it without her. She made a tortellini soup and I made a chicken noodle, corn chowder and frijoli soup, the one from Olive Garden. The YSA started arriving around 3 and Paul took them to get settled, some went to eat, and some went to check out center. By 6 they were all reassembling and everyone had arrived. We had 45 for dinner. After dinner they had activities that looked really fun and helped them get acquainted. About 9 they started the dance with some really fun mixers.
By this time we had the kitchen cleaned up. We had the help of all the sr. couples so that was not a big chore. We started putting out more snacks for the evening. About 11 we all left and headed home. We had six young men stay in our apartment and we and the Willfords went out to an adjoining town and spent the night with a member. It was about 20 minutes out. It was very foggy so we didn't get to see many fireworks. I guess it is really something here, everyone can get them and they go off all the time during the holiday. We stayed up until about 1 and visited with Silvja who has been a member since 97. She told us her great story of finding the Church. She worked in Ljubljana and would see these young men in center with name tags but no one ever talked to her. She was interested in religion and looking for something more than she had and she had checked out several other religions but did not find what she was looking for. One day the missionaries knocked on her door and her son said, Mom it's for you (because they knew she had been looking for a church). The missionaries said "We have a message for you from Jesus Christ" she immediately invited them in and it is history from there on. The amazing part of the story is that missionaries had been sent to her town Domzale for just three months, right after she was baptized they took them out of the city. Someone was looking out for her that is for sure, a miracle in our time.
We got up and left early about 8 so we could start cooking lunch for the group who were going to meet at 11:30. The sr. couples came back to help and we had mashed potatoes, baked chicken, a sauce to put on the potatoes, a green salad, bread and a dessert. After lunch they watched some pictures taken the night before and then they had a wonderful fireside with President and Sister Hill. Everyone went away happy and recharged for the year.
We had a young man come from Macedonia who is investigating the church. He found it on LDS.org and the church put him in contact with an American couple who work in Macedonia and they have been teaching him the gospel. A wonderful young man. He has had several lessons here with the missionaries and met with Pres. Hill. Paul took him to Celje last night so he could spend the night with a couple of our ysa's who live there and he attended church there this morning. We drove up and attended also and then brought him back where he is getting one more lesson and Paul will get him on the bus at 4pm.
It's been quite a week filled with wonderful things. You can see the Lord's hand in all this work.
We celebrated our 39th anniversary Saturday. We drove to Bled, Slovenia with our young friend then dropped him off with the missionaries and went to lunch at the Chinese place, picked up Emillie from the airport. She brought us back a great package from our kids so it was a wonderful day.
