Mon 11/26/07 5:33 AM

This is interesting. I am not sure how it will turn out. Hope that you enjoy reading the two attachments. Love Dad


Dear all,



I am so excited that I wanted to share this news with you. I have written to President Monson a personal invitation to come and dedicate the first chapel in Ljubljana (attached), and as I do not have a scanner, I have re-typed his reply to me, also in attachment. We all need to pray and fast that he could come, for as you will see, he is willing! Please let me know as soon as you know of the likely date, so I can inform him. I feel so blessed I cannot tell you!



Love and best wishes to all!



Dora Glassford Cimerman

NDPA Slovenia






Dora Glassford Cimerman
Trnovski pristan 8
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
Europe
Mobile: + 386 31 697 059



Ljubljana, 18 October, 2007

Dearest President Monson,

Re: Invitation for you to come and dedicate the first Chapel in Ljubljana, Slovenia, any time you are able to in 2008

Please let me introduce myself: I was called National Director for Public Affairs in Slovenia for our Church in 2000 and I am delighted to be able to help bring the Church out of obscurity in this small land. Please excuse my boldness, but I am writing to you with a special, prayerful request in my heart which comes also from the hearts of my brothers and sisters in the Gospel in Slovenia and also ex Yugoslavia, the land you so wonderfully blessed for preaching of the Gospel on 31 October 1985. I am sure you are aware that the first Chapel ever is being built in the land of ex Yugoslavia, in Ljubljana, capital city of Slovenia, which on that day was one of the six Republics of the Federal Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia. We are eagerly awaiting the building to be completed in Spring-Summer of 2008, alas I have no firm date as yet.

My prayer and plea is to ask you most humbly if you would consider and come and dedicate it, whenever you are able to. We would then organise the Open House and invite members from ex-Yugoslavia, government officials and media to attend. We would prepare a special programme of music and dance and show our talents that Heavenly Father has so richly blessed us with. I am aware that you are very busy, visiting countries with far more members than 350 or so that are currently in Slovenia.

But I am sure if you came, all neighbouring members would love to come and meet you. Of course the invitation to visit us goes also to our beloved Prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley, but I am aware that he is very frail and would probably not wish to make such a tiresome trip. But you are both more than very welcome, of course! The First Presidency and all the Apostles are in my prayers continually! But I thought that you, being the one who has blessed the land of Slovenia among other republics of ex Yugoslavia, would also have a desire of your heart fulfilled if you came to dedicate the first building in the land you blessed so beautifully.

Slovenes are a funny people, I believe they will start taking us members seriously only when they see a proper sacred building, thinking we are only a small group of weird people now. I believe membership will grow much quicker when we have at least one real chapel. We are very blessed to have this building built and we would like to make a realy big thing with the Open House. You must appreciate that for us it is almost like getting a Temple. Of course I am aware that a Temple might be built here once we have 20,000 members in Slovenia, but I am confident that the numbers will start to rise once we can invite investigators to a real chapel. Until then we need to make a 12 hour bus ride to Frankfurt, Germany, to receive Temple blessings for ourselves and for our ancestors on the other side of the veil. But we do it gladly!!!

I hope you will be inspired by our Heavenly Father to think it worthwhile to visit this beautiful small country. The story goes like that: When Heavenly Father was sharing out patches of land to His people, all nations were quick asking for their bit of land. And then when He had thought that He had shared everything out, Slovenes came to Him and asked for their bit of land. What He said was: »I thought I had given some land to everybody!? This bit I have saved for myself, but OK, since you have not got anything yet, I will let you have it. There you go!« And so Slovenes received this most beautiful piece of land of all the world, and I would like you to come and see it for yourself, and to meet with one of the smallest flocks of sheep in the world. We are but pioneers here in this land, we are told, but the first missionary from the second generation of Saints has just been called to be a missionary in the land of Spain. We are very proud of him. But we want you, dear President Monson, to bring the special Spirit you have, to us in Slovenia, so we will know for sure that Heavenly Father loves us and waits for us to return to Him.

With all my love, prayerfully,



Dear Sister Cimerman:

I appreciated receiving your letter of October 18, in which you enquired about the possibility of my coming to Slovenia in 2008 to dedicate the first new chapel being built in Ljubljana. It is too early to know if I would be able to come, but I shall keep this in mind. If you could let me know, as the weeks go, approximately when the chapel will be completed and ready for dedication, I could then examine my schedule for that period to see if it would be possible.
I well remember my meetings with Kresimir Cosic and the other members when I dedicated the meetinghouse in Zagreb, in which we met, and dedicated the former land of Yugoslavia. I recall that it was raining when I dedicated the land, and rather than have all the crowd go outside in a storm, I simply suggested that they open the window, and I offered the dedicatory prayer while standing beside that window.
In your letter you said, »We are but pioneers here in this land.« I like this definition of a pioneer: one who goes before, showing others the way to follow. It fits you and your fellow Saints. May our Heavenly Father ever bless you.

Sincerely your brother,

Thomas S. Monson


November 6, 2007