Fri 2/24/06 1:15 AM

Dear Family,
Wow how time flies. On the 12th and 13th I did interviews. Then on the 14th we received a new senior couple. They are the Evans that is from Utah and they are related to Cole Kelley’s wife. They will be serving in Osijek in Croatia. After lunch with them I did the rest of the Slovene interviews except for the Kranj Elders ( two of them ) The next morning we had Slovene Zone Conference. We then left for Croatia. The next morning I did more interviews until 4:30 . We then went out with the senior couples for dinner. After that I met with the District Presidency of Croatia and announced to them that they would be released at the District Conference March 18th and 19th. The next day 17th of February we held Croatia Zone Conference. In my closing remarks I found myself saying “ I prophecy that within the boundaries of our current mission the way will be opened up for missionary work”. I found out two days later that I am to go to Kosovo to explore creating a branch a the possible teaching and interviews of some three people that are prepared to be baptized. This was approved by Elder Uchtdorf and the First Presidency as I understand it. So I will change my schedule the 25th and 26th to fly there and explore the possibility of creating a small branch or group. Never a dull moment around here. After the Croatia conference we drove four hours to Serbia. I then held a Zone Conference with them on the 18th and did interviews after. In the morning before conference I had a breakfast meeting with a Brother from Frankfurt who was there to meet with the Humanitarian couple. He gave me some counsel to follow in working with them. Then on Sunday morning I met with Elder Wondra from Austria and his wife and the Humanitarian couple. We held church in Belgrade and then we went to Sremska Mitrovica and held church there. The members from Novi Sad also attended with us. After sacrament we held a joint Priesthood and Relief Society meeting. Then after church we held a training meeting for Priesthood Leaders. It was all good with a wonderful spirit. Roylene and I spoke in all meetings except Elder Wondra and I team taught in the Priesthood Leadership meeting. We got back to the Hotel after 9pm. The next morning we met with some government officials. What an experience. It went very well. I told them of how the missionaries love their country and the people. And when I interview them before they go home they all have tears in their eyes because of their love for Serbia and the people. I told them that our church believes in sustaining the laws of the land and I wanted them to tell me how we should respond if on a rare occasion a missionary is attack. They said report it and if it is not acted upon to let them know and they will go after the police. We then went to Milo Milovich who was imprisoned for over nine years by Tito the ruler as a disadent. He is an author and wrote many things against the dictatorship. He is from Russian parents. We then had dinner with the wife and son of the Arch Deacon of the Orthodox Church. They were very kind and good people. Then on Tuesday morning we had breakfast with the President of the veterans. Lunch with some musical artists and a short concert. Then I met afterward briefly with the Assistant Director of the local Rotary Club. I told him that he was a good person and that I could see his goodness in his face. He hugged me and he started to cry outloud. It was a touching moment. I then told him that we were brothers and we imbraced once more. He had tears running down his face. I felt that he had never been told something like that before. I felt like he will imbrace the gospel in the future as it is presented to him. We then drove for six hours to our home in Ljubljana. Yesterday I read emails and tried to catch up. I am still way behind. I best go before you fall asleep. Love Dad