Sharing Slovene Stories

Today after work we went over to Mom & Dad’s house and had mac & cheese for dinner b/c Mom wasn’t feeling good and wasn’t in the mood to cook.  Plus, I had to eat fast and head out the door.  Last week one of the Young Women’s leaders called and asked me if I would be willing to come talk to the Laurels (16 & 17 year old girls) about my mission and the things I experienced and learned.  I had typed up a little outline of things I wanted to talk about, and could have talked for hours and hours.  However, I only had 20 minutes. 

I talked about how I had never planned on going on a mission and even after I turned 21, I didn’t make any plans to go.  Then one Sunday I was sitting in Lexie’s dorm room talking to her and she had an EFY CD playing.  I was laying on her bed and the song “The Olive Tree” came on and out of nowhere I started bawling and just knew in my soul that I needed to go on a mission.  I applied that to their lives now by telling them they always need to follow the Spirit & trust the Lord’s timing.

Then I talked about how struggling so much w/ the language made me humble and made me rely on the Lord.  I also shared the AMAZING miracles I got to see while on my mission like getting to meet Pres. Holland the day I got in the country, getting the Book of Mormon in Slovene, the Slovene Saints getting to hear General Conference for the first time, etc.  I passed around a Mormonova Knjiga, my discussion books that I had to memorize the discussions out of, the first hymn books we had, etc.

To wrap up my part, I gave them all a handout of the mission motto Pres. Strong initiated.  I LOVE it, and it applies to any situation in life.

Obedience is the price.
Faith is the power.
Love is the motive.
The Spirit is the key.
Christ is the reason.

Another lady in my ward also spoke about her mission to Sweden.  It was neat to hear her stories and recognize the similarities and the differences.  I don’t get very many opportunities to talk about my mission, so this was a great opportunity for me.

I went and picked Autumn up from Mom & Dad’s at 8:30 and she was SO PROUD of herself, b/c she learned how to put elastics in her Barbie’s hair all by herself!  She’s always had an infatuation w/ putting elastics in their hair, but hasn’t known how to do it herself and has asked me or Mom or Dad to help her.  But, today she did it all by herself and I am so happy for her and proud of her.  She is learning and growing so much!  We came home and I put her to bed and watched some TV and did some laundry and then called it a night.