My companion and trainer, Sister Walker by the steps of the sea organ.

Hey all,

It's crazy, tomorrow marks 2 weeks in Croatia. Before I know it, I'll have two weeks left. Just kidding, it doesn't really feel that fast yet. I'm still getting used to being here. I'm just taking it one day at a time. 

The good thing is, I love it here! I think I like it more every day. The work is picking up a little bit more, too. We've talked to more people, taught some more lessons, and I feel just a little bit more comfortable with the language. Slow and steady, and all that.

So last week was zone conference, remember? On the coast? It was SO nice. I saw the sun!! That was my first time seeing the sun in Croatia, and I haven't seen it since. Zone conference was really a treat, and I got to see a few of the missionaries that I was in the MTC with. It had only been a week since I'd last seen them, but it's crazy how much I missed them in that time. That was nice. 

Another cool thing: we had a break after lunch, and so my companion and I decided we would walk to the coast real quick (it's like 5 minutes from the church where we met), but then it turned out tons of people wanted to come along, so our mission president pushed back the next meeting a bit, and we all got to go to the coast! It was gorgeous. You'll see pictures. One of the pictures, my trainer and I are standing on these steps by the sea called the 'sea organ'. The thing is, the vertical sides of the steps have bunches of slats cut into them vertically at diferent depths, and when the wind blows across them, it makes notes! It kinda sounds like a really low flute, or a marimba maybe. Maybe a mix. It's beautiful and eerie. It's always windy in Zadar too, so they make noise constantly. I loved it. 

My exchange in Zagreb was fun too! I was with a sister who has only been out here for 9 more weeks (1 transfer) than I have, and she just barely got placed in Zagreb the week before, so we got a little bit lost sometimes. But it was a good adventure, and we talked to some pretty cool people. Zagreb is beautiful, and the sidewalks are packed even in the winter! The square downtown is all decorated for Christmas with wonderful little stalls of delicious things and beautiful trinkets. Good times. 

And then tomorrow I leave town again for ANOTHER exchange, but this time to another coastal town called Rijeka. It's farther north than Zadar, so it will be colder, unfortunately, but still a coast! Man. Feels like I'm never home in Karlovac. This one is a normal exchange though, which means that a sister (or elder) from one companionship will switch places for a couple days with a sister (or elder) from another companionship. This is mostly done so that we can see how other areas of the mission are, maybe what they're doing differently that we can apply, and also because my trainer is a sister training leader (kind of the head sister in the 3 cities that make up our zone), and now she can see how the other sisters are doing, emotionally and mentally and linguistically and physically. Whew.

Okay, I think I've talked your ear off enough. Get back to work! 

Fraza dana:

'Jel?' - (yell) Doesn't have a direct translation. Kinda like when Minnesotans and Canadians end their phrases with 'eh?' Just a thing that you end a sentence or question with.

Love,

Your favorite sister missionary

Overlook on the way out of Zadar. Funny, the Elders just look
dang good, and we're over here just trying to keep our skirts down