Where do i even begin this week. Lets see, I'm no longer zone leader anymore! I'm really glad I got the experience and opportunity to serve in that capacity but man it feels good to 'relax' now. Elder Deleeuw and Matthews from our district got called this Sunday and I think they'll do a really good job. if Elder Matthews doesn't go home that is. For the past couple of weeks his knees been hurting him and he finally went to the doctor last Friday and it turns out his kneecap got moved out of place and he chipped of a piece of his Femur and now he goes into surgery tomorrow and they'll see if he can recover here or if they have to send him home. we've been praying and fasting for him and even though his position is pretty bad he's only gotten the best news possible for right now so he's trying to keep his head up.
The bulgarians left on Monday night at like 3;30 so we were up saying our goodbyes and helping them get everything squared away. It was sad to see them go but we were excited for them at the same time. The Macedonians in our group were supposed to leave with the bulgarians but cant get their visas because apparently Macedonia shut its boarders down and isnt letting anyone in because of the Syrian refugees. Interesting how the Lord works though who knows maybe they, or we, will convert some Syrians and they'll take the church back over there. That would be pretty cool. Apparently the refugees are pretty much going everywhere but theres been a little unrest I've heard in our area because of it so if you guys could just maybe keep track of the news over there that would be sweet.
Now skype. Yesterday we skyped a man named Tomislav Ivan Flis. he lives in Zagreb and is 34 years old. Has a wife and 4 year old son and one of the strongest testimonies I've ever heard. turns out he is the branch president of the Zagrab branch so it made sense haha. But boy was it a slap to the face actually trying to communicate with him. At one point he stops and says, "So is it the words you dont understand or how fast I'm talking and in broken croatian said its just the speed. To which he responds, "Oh well im actually talking really slow compared to what you will hear here. But dont worry you guys are the best i've skyped i have no doubts you'll be fine after a week here." So that was.. yeah good i guess haha. He was a way cool guy.
The language. Apparently we're the fastest progressing group our teachers have ever had and they've been teaching for almost 3 years so thats really comforting to hear. Still super hard though because its nothing like english in the way you have to think. First, go ahead and take out articles, croatian and serbian dont need them. Add clitics. I still dont really know what those things are but they are the only thing in the sentence that have an order. They are always the second word you put in the sentence. After that its a free for all. Put words wherever you want. The way croatians tell what tense it is by the way the verb is conjugated. So thats past present and future and 1st 2nd 3rd person singular and plural. all with different endings. But thats not bad spanish is the same way. Whats hard is casing. This is what makes you think super differently. Theres 5 cases, or endngs, put on the end of adjectives and nouns that make the context of the sentence. Thats why you can pretty much put words wherever you want. with each case theres the masculine, feminine, nueter and feminine 4th gender. All of them make the adj or noun end completely different in every single case. For example, Mormonova Knjiga(book of mormon) nominative case is feminine singular. but if its plural nominative its mormonove knjige. then if its being acted upon by a verb it would be in the accusative case and would change to mormonovu knjigu. then plural accusative mormonove knjige. then if its indirectly referring to the book of mormon in the genitive case is mormonovoj knjizi. then plural genative is mormonovih knjiga. theres still 2 more but you get the idea. I didnt realize how hard it was until i talked to some japanese elders about croatian and japanese and realized how much easier japanese is. none-the-less this language is still awesome. And if you look at the language in a negative light it will be harder to learn and more of an obstacle than a tool in doing the Lords work. I just cant wait to be immersed in it.
I think thats all for this week! Čao!
-Starješina Tejlor
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