On the 13th of October we will have been on our mission for 6 months! In each of those 26 weeks we have said on Sunday, we will write on our blog this week about - whatever wonderful and interesting thing has happened or will happen. Then the week evaporates and we feel yet another week behind. But now we have completed the longest move ever, we live in Maribor in the eastern side of Slovenia, we have traveled many places in the mission and in Europe and really, there's no catching up. But writing about our experiences is still the best way to keep them fresh and we have a year or so to go, so let the repenting begin!
We received a new assignment in the mission so we moved after a quick 5 months in Kranj. That sounds so short, but we had really settled in there and it was hard to leave. Our primary mission assignment has been to work with young single adults throughout the 5 countries (President Grant calls it the 54321 mission - 5 countries, 4 currencies, 3 languages, 2 alphabets, 1 mission). The goal is to meet with them in their home countries in small groups occasionally, hold some country or zone activities for larger groups and twice a year organize a large whole mission get together.
There are also regional conferences like one in Romania which we and some of our mission young adults attended, and we help encourage them to go to those. Romania was a great experience, the YSAs were so much fun and we all went to Bran Castle as part of the activity. For being known as Dracula's castle, it's actually a nice little family castle.
And our brief time in Budapest, Hungary on the way was amazing. What a beautiful city.
Our fall conference is now behind us and we begin our visits to young single adults around the mission. The move to Maribor was a long process. Greg was sustained in July, but the senior couple who was here was not released for a few weeks. Then we found that we needed a new apartment, plus we had a trip to Romania and one to Frankfurt scheduled, so it was September before we actually moved. We made the hour and a half drive from west to east many times and grew to love the landscape of the trip more with each drive. The branch is small and it has a unique personality and while a native speaker and resident is always the very best thing, the members have welcomed us warmly. Our apartment is only a short walk from the church. Greg's 1st counselor is a Slovene man with a fascinating military history and the other is a young missionary who is a language buffer for us. We have two strong families, and several single people who attend with faithful regularity. It's a sweet little branch and we are happy to serve here. Our walk along the river to the church is quite lovely.
We have a view of the river and cute little balcony full of flower boxes which Jayne loves to fuss with when she is seeking peace.
Our apartment is small, but very well arranged and we love it.
So here we are, a third of the way in to our mission and we can hardly believe it. We were warned that it can be hard to fill the time, but for us it has just flown. We miss our family and friends so much, but the richness of our life and opportunities is just a wonderful thing. Here's hoping we get it all in writing!
As this monument in the square near the Maribor old town, we are very grateful that the plague ended 800 years ago. And that so much lovely art was created in memory of that time. This piece has stood in Center since the 12th century, a mere century or two after Vikings landed and centuries before Columbus. Mind boggling.
