First week in Slovenia

Yes, some of you have already read this post via email, but for the record.....

We arrived here in Ljubljana on Monday, spent a few hours with the mission president, his wife, the assistants and a few other Slovene members. We had dinner at an Argentine restaurant, and then the mission work hit like a flood. The mission office couple and the assistants have been initiating us as gently as possible, but it has still been quite overwhelming. We are totally dependent upon elders who speak the language and who can navigate the twisted, narrow (but charming!) streets and the freeway (the "Rrring"), read the street signs, interpret the traffic symbols and park the car. Our garage is so narrow that we have only two inches clearance on either side of the car as we back out. Well wouldn't you know...Our first time backing out solo on our way to church this morning, Dave scraped the side and popped off the sideview mirror! And so much for all our Croatian study in the last few months -- everyone here speaks Slovene, and we don't know a single word! I am dismayed! We have a lot of catching up to do.

We have been on the road for two days already in the quest to visit all the missionaries before zone conference and have four more days of travel ahead of us. Dave caught a horrible cold in Frankfurt, and was very ill when we arrived. Nothing like a little adversity to add to the excitement. We have visited all the missionaries in Slovenia, and today Dave and the assistants made the first foray into Croatia. We generally leave at nine in the morning and are not home until eleven at night. It is really exhausting. It is warm and humid and jet lag has not totally relaxed its grip on us. I think Brett hit the wall yesterday. After hours in the car and sitting through interview after interview and a baptism he is starting to worry that he will have no life here! I was thinking of staying home today after church and missing the introductions with the elders and couples in Rijeka, until I began looking over all the pictures of the missionaries I have met so far. It has been such a joy to meet them and know them for more than a face on a card, that I am really had second thoughts. However, we have also been counseled that our family needs to be our first priority, and I need time to help Brett get set up here.

I did stay home. I certainly am beginning to understand the time constraints on missionaries. Our good friend Luann has sent me several notes wondering if we have dropped off the earth. No, we haven't, but there hasn't been much opportunity to write.

Slovenia is everything they said it would be. It is beautiful and picturesque. We live at the outskirts of the city of Ljubljana at the base of Smartno Gora, a small mountain with an ancient stone church at the top. The Julian Alps are visible in the distance. The road to our house is a very narrow drive with a shrine to the mother Mary at the entrance. At the end of the road about fifty meters from our house is a footpath through the grass that leads to the trail up Smarto Gora, a mountain with a small stone church at the top. In front of our house is a large grassy meadow which is cut for hay. Our back windows look out onto a sheep pasture. The homes here are painted in beautiful washes of taupe, off white, gold, warm yellows, siennas, deep mauves and burnt oranges and are set off by picturesque red tiled roofs. It is kind of a mix of Prague and Italy. (Well, I just found out at church today that the reason it looks like Prague and Italy is because the famous architect who designed the old city was also the architect for Prague and parts of Italy! Was I right on???)

Brett was the first to climb the mountain. He came back and told me all about it. Well, we have been sitting for four weeks, so early Wednesday morning I rousted Dave from bed and challenged him to climb it with me. It's a short but steep hike and takes about 30 minutes to reach the top. The path is through a canopied forest reminiscent of upstate New York. Near the top we came out onto a lovely meadow and heard what sounded like a clanking dinner bell. A little further, we discovered the source when we saw a little stone keep where a bunch of sheep with bells around their necks were bleating their impatience to be let out to graze. We reached the top (breathing heavily!) and enjoyed a lovely misty view of Ljubljana below for a few minutes, then ran all the way back. Yesterday my legs were so sore, and we had many flights of stairs to climb! I winced at every step!

We have met the most impressive elders and sisters! Every one that we have met has been outstanding. They are energetic motivated, positive and dedicated. They are required to assume a lot of responsibility and are given a lot of trust on account of their ability with the language and our lack of it. They find their own apartments, serve as translators when there are legal or health problems, and are called upon for leadership counsel and training. They have proved to be trustworthy and capable. Our couple and senior missionaries are also wonderfully capable and invaluable. Our assistants, Elder Beazer and Elder Priest are amazing and extremely patient. They have driven us all over Slovenia so far, and today will begin our foray into Croatia. As I said, we were scheduled to go to Rijeka right after church today, then come home late tonight. Tomorrow they will take us on a three day travelthon of driving and interviews. We will return late Wednesday night and get up the next morning to begin two days of Zone Conferences -- One in Slovenia, and one in Croatia.
We attended two baptisms this week -- a new record for this area, I hear. One was the first held in the beautiful new chapel in Ljubljana. Everyone is thrilled with the new building. It is only the second building in the entire mission. It is a great boost for the members here. The other was held in a building that the church leases. The font was a portable, set up in a quiet alley way. The young woman baptized is highly educated and speaks several languages. She is a lovely person with a strong testimony and will be a great asset to a small but vibrant little branch. Her non-member husband and mother attended her baptism.

I am still trying to figure out where everything is in the house, and it is really a challenge when you go to the store and you can't read any labels! Sister Hensley accompanied me so I could make lunch for mission council, but other than that, there has been no opportunity to go shopping for our own food, nor will there be for another week if I go on all these trips. My cupboards are pretty bare. It's pretty crazy! Thank heavens for a "break the fast" meal that Sister Peterson prepared for the missionaries after church or we would still be fasting -- no -- probably eating peanut M&Ms of which there is a large stash in the cupboard. Well, that's it for now.