WEEK FOUR

We are a little late getting a blog post out but here we go! Life is a whirlwind! Last week Rod and I had the opportunity to attend Zone Conference.  For those who may be wondering, Zone Conference is a gathering of missionaries in a certain geographical area.  In the Czech/Slovak mission there are 3 Zones.  Two in the Czech Republic and one in Slovakia.  So all the missionaries serving in Slovakia met together for 2 days. There are 4 senior couples and 20 missionaries in Slovakia.  President Skousen, his wife and the Assistants came from Prague and the Zone Leaders from Slovakia lead and trained us.

 On the first day we met in the city of  Žilina and the young missionaries went to the park for games and then met up for a luau.  While the young missionaries were at the park, Rod and I met with one of our Implementing Organizations about a current project that is providing hygiene kits to underprivileged children and their families.  In those kits are things like laundry detergent, soap, shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste, etc.  The children are taught at school how to properly use the products in their kit.  We were certainly impressed with the many worthy Humanitarian projects they are implementing and it is an honor to be a part of this wonderful organization.

The second day of Zone Conference was held in the town of Trenčin where we were trained by our leaders. We weren’t in every meeting as we had other things going on but we witnessed a lot of role-playing between the young missionaries and it was fun to see them laughing, clapping and teasing each other over their acting skills.  They ended the day by singing a rousing version of the Czech/Slovak Mission Song. We didn’t understand a word but we were brought to tears by the spirit of these valiant missionaries.  We love being around them!

Elder Waisath and Elder Grandon have worked hard in Prešov the past couple of months.  On Saturday we were privileged to attend the baptism of Sveta.  What a beautiful young woman who earnestly and anxiously began meeting with these two young missionaries.  Because the two Elders are not allowed to meet with single sisters, we have had the blessing of attending the last two lessons with Sveta.  We have grown to love her and admire her for her commitments to the Gospel.

Speaking of Zone Conference, we experienced a “tender mercy” that we wanted to share.  We were to bring cookies to Zone Conference for one of the lunches.  As I looked at the ingredients in our pantry I saw oats, brown sugar and chocolate chips.  So I decided to make Oatmeal/Chocolate chip cookies.  Easy right?  I made one batch of cookie dough and when all was said and done we only had about 28 cookies and I knew I would have to make another batch of dough.  I looked at the remaining ingredients in the canisters and knew that I would not have enough oats, brown sugar or chocolate chips to make another batch so off to the store we went.  

After an hour of searching and asking 2 employees we discovered that brown sugar and chocolate chips are not to be found in Slovakia!  We made the decision to head home and make a different kind of cookie. We didn't even buy more oats because we were so hyper-focused on the other 2 items that we just walked out of the store without them.  When we returned home I had a thought come into my mind to just measure the ingredients we had and maybe make a half batch of the original cookie and to my amazement this is what I found...

3 cups of oats-I had exactly 3 cups of oats in the canister.  

1 cup of brown sugar--I had exactly 1 cup of brown sugar left in the canister.

2 cups of chocolate chips--I had exactly 2 cups of chocolate chips in the canister.

We looked at each other and I quietly said, "Did a fairy come and put more into those canisters while we were at the store?"

This is what we know to be true.  I was positively sure that there wasn't enough of those ingredients to make a second batch of dough and then there was the exact amount.  Not any more. Not any less.  Those canisters are empty now. 

This is our testimony.  When we are trying to do our best to serve the Lord He will magnify our efforts, even with the little things. He will give us the strength, the ability and yes, even the ingredients to accomplish His work.  

We love you all and miss you, but what wonderful experiences we are having here in Slovakia.