Week 14

My Dearest Family,

So Croatia is going really good.  We are just working hard and doing our missionary thing.  We have been teaching about 9 lessons each week which is a lot for this mission.  We also went on exchanges with the zone leaders so that was fun.  Which leads to the first story of the week.

So I am with the zone leader that has the car so I am just living that up.  I actually get to sit in a car when we go somewhere and not just stand on a tram.  So we had a lesson with a member which was kind of far out of the city.  So we get there and every time I see this guy I think of Dustin Hoffman.  He looks just like him.  It's funny that I say that because every time he sees me he tells me that I look like another missionary.  So we go to his house and teach him and it's all good.  Well then we decided to go to this huge park that is kind of far away from their apartment, but don't worry we have a car.  So we go there and it is the biggest park in Croatia so I am just playing kind of tourist and taking some pictures and feeling terrible about contacting people.  So I decide I will contact the next person I see.  I was totally unprepared and had not idea of what I was going to say.  So I walk up to this guy and say, ˝Ja sam iz misionari˝.  Well just figure that means ˝I am from the missionaries˝.  Then I get flustered and don't know what to say.  He tells me he is catholic and I say well great.  Then I say I am a missionary AGAIN.  Then right after that I say ˝Ja sam....˝ which means I am, and the guy finishes my sentence, ˝misionari˝ and walks away.  I felt so stupid but right when we got back in the car Elder Nitta and I just started busting up.  I sounded like a complete idiot and we were able to have a good laugh. 

Then on the way home from that park the car started doing funny things.  Just my freaking luck right, because I am so good with cars!  So we got to the church ok but it is now dead because of some tube or another.  I took a look at it and didn't seen anything wrong I don't know what all the fuss is about lol.

So I have no had very good luck with my laundry this week.  I went on that exchange which means that while I was sleeping in someones else's nasty bed they got to dirty my nice clean bed!  So when I got home I put my sheets in the wash and when they were done, because it has been nice here, I hung them out on the clothes line so they would dry faster.  Well that was all fine and dandy.  After that I washed my white shirts and hung them out so that I could iron them that night and have it all taken care of for awhile.  Well when I came home that night I went to get my shirts from outside and ya you guessed it.  The devil pigeons freaking pooped on them!  Two of them just got destroyed and I was pisses!  So instantly I put them back in the wash so that it would be taken care of asap.  Well Warren told me he had some shirts to wash too and that he would start it.  Oh he started it alright, WITH A BLACK SOCK IN THE WASHER!!  So when I pull my shirts out to dry AGAIN they are dark gray!  So I am now in the process of bleaching them and if they don't look better it is coming out of Warrens hide!  So ya that's that story or as the Croats say it, to je to, meaning that is that, or that is all. 

Elder Warren and I had the opportunity to got to some members house for dinner the other night and that was fun.  Apparently then already like me because the other Elders told me that they didn't get a dinner appointment till they had been our for like a year.  So that was fun.  The dad used to be District President here and he is really cool.  They have the two cutest daughters, Vita and Hana (Hannah).  They kept trying to sit on my lap but I had to tell them no, I was so sad.  I miss my little brothers and sisters and now I can't play with little kids.  So I ate a late lunch that day, bad idea.  The wife, Lydia, made lasagna, and it was amazing.  However, I wasn't able to finish my serving because she gave me like half the dish, SHOOT!  But they understood and love me so it's all good.  I brought them life savers because they can't get them here so I thought it would be fun and the mom said they taste like root beer.  Root Beer! I know my root beer and life savers are nothing close to it. She is a professional family historian and is going to Germany for a conference the end of the month and told me she would buy me some Euro root beer there because you can't get it in Croatia. 

Also I forgot to tell you all I met the guy who is playing Christ in the new Book of Mormon video but I am not supposed to know what.  It was weird to see a guy with long hair and a full beard at church.  That was pretty neat. 

So the work is going great we are working on some reactivating right now.  I love helping them remember the happiness they had when they were baptized and letting them know how they can find that again.  So sometimes you don't get to see the results right away but that makes it so much sweeter when you do.  I am not so depressed about the language.  I just ask millions of questions a day.  Just because I am not depressed doesn't mean I still don't get frustrated like everyday! But all the members tell me, bit če bolje, which means that, it will be better.  So life is good and dandy.  I love you all and can't wait to talk to ya'll in May. 

Love, Elder Massey