Sat 9/16/06 2:47 AM

This will give our last weekend conference report from another Sister (couple missionary) point of view. Love Dad


District Conference for the Last Time…

This past weekend we traveled to Zagreb for our semi-annual Conference trip with Vanda (a very great gal who will be baptized next Sat. She has 2 adorable boys ages 10 and 11). In the back seat of our huge shoe skate vehicle were Lahorka and Ema with Vanda, so it was a very full, but happy crowd. There were meetings at the Church in the late afternoon and evening with our General Authority, Elder Paul from Germany after we had a Chinese food lunch with all the Senior Couples. What fun and what blessings we all feel when we get together. The 3 gals we took with us to Conference were so happy to be there. The number of people that attended the Conference sessions has almost doubled from when we went to our first conference in Sept. of last year. They probably won’t be able to meet in the Zagreb Church again for the Sat. meetings as there was standing room only. A young woman, Monika has been praying that her mother would consent to her baptism for months and finally after we all fasted and prayed and put her name in the Temple, her mother not only gave her consent, but she happily attended the baptism and wants to be taught the missionary discussions. I will have another happy story to tell you next week, too. Monika was baptized on Saturday right after the evening meeting was over and there were over 100 people attending. What a happy day!

Sunday session was held in a ballroom of the Sheraton where we were staying, so that was convenient for us and the President’s group. Elder Paul told stories of a 75 yr. old man who was a good member of the Church all his life and then commited adultry. He was excommunicated and repeatedly counseled to repent, last of all was counseled by Pres. Monson, but he wouldn’t. One day, he went to the Bishop and said he wanted to repent and be re-baptized and have his Temple blessings restored, but the next morning his daughter showed up at the Bishop’s door and said that her father had died in the night. The other story that Elder Paul told was of a Pastor who found and believed the gospel, but said he couldn’t give up his pastorship; he wrote a letter saying that when he died, please have someone be baptized for him in the True Church . SORRY! Elder Paul’s point was that we shouldn’t procrastinate our decisions to repent or to be baptized. We never know when it will be everlastingly too late. Elder Herkovac told of a young man who was in a concentration camp and the soldier went down his row and shot all of the people next to him. He came to him and the gun misfired several times, so he said, “Oh well, I’ll do it tomorrow.” He had no choice but to die or to escape, so he and a few others escaped that night. At the end of the story he said that the young man was himself. (at this point Elder Herkovac’s wife said she had never heard that story; he had never told it to her.) These people and their families have endured unspeakable terror and so it isn’t hard to see why it is hard for them to embrace the gospel and a new way of life. They have been lied to so many times, they trust no one. I think this is a very common thing throughout Europe .

New Missionaries in Rijeka …

With Dist. Conference came missionary transfers. We were sad to say good bye to Sister Edwards and Elder Walker for we have grown to love them so. What fine young people they are. And such good little missionaries. But we got Sister Henderson and Elder Weidler. We said hello to them at Conference, but haven’t been able to spend any time with them yet. Elder Wiedler is about 3 inches taller than EH, so he’s REALLY tall and such a fine young man. Sister Henderson is a seasoned beautiful and sweet young missionary, too so we should tear up Rijeka ! Oh, we are so blessed to be surrounded by all these beautiful young people. Our love continues to grow for Sister Leydsman and Elder Worthington as we laugh and talk together. I just hope and pray that our service has been accepted by the Lord. I find that it is common to feel like …”Did we do enough? Did we do what He wanted us to?” But we have done it willingly and thankfully and have received many more blessings than any good we may have done. Being human is frustrating, sometimes.

Our visit with Ana…

Ana Predovan, the daughter of our friends who live in our apartment building, lives in Zagreb and we try to see her every time we visit there (at least every 6 weeks). She is so darling and funny! She teaches English to children and is translating a 15th Century Old English book of economics, so the language is so different and difficult. Actually, the original was in Italian, and then translated into Old English and she is attempting to translate it into Croatian for a company’s Christmas present to its colleagues. Fascinating thing is that the author makes references to biblical passages which she can’t find as it is translated loosely. We always have lively stimulating conversation with her as she considers us to be her most exotic friends (isn’t that funny?). We always sit in the lobby of the Sheraton and various couples wander over to say hello from our group. We had Chief of Police and wife, Home building contractor and wife (Pres. and wife), engineers, auditor and executive wife, etc. She commented that all of our friends were successful business people ---Why? I kidded her that no one could join our Church if they weren’t successful business people. We all had a good laugh. But really, the couples that are sent here are all accomplished people with great testimonies and many talents and abilities. Eugene entertains everyone with all of his lawyer stories.

Monday AM – Plitvice Lakes Outing with Couples…

All the Senior Missionaries drove to Plitvice Lakes National Park to see all the gorgeous waterfalls there. After we had a good lunch in a beautiful log restaurant, we walked down hundreds of steps to the lake, boarded the boat and cruised down the lake to the other end. Not one waterfall did we see. It sure was different than the last time we went. I guess that is what you get at the end of a dry summer. The people who hiked about 3 miles saw some from the top of the hills, but there were none visible from the boat…. Here is what we saw when we went last spring… www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Croatia/Coast/Licko-Senjska/Plitvice_Lakes/ Quite a disappointment for us, eh? Well, at least they can see on the website what they missed….

Feelings…

We love to read the missionaries letters, especially our grandson, Benjamin who is serving in Ecuador . What adventures he is having! I love to see the growth in their testimonies and think of all the beautiful young people they are becoming cementing their testimonies by serving and studying and teaching. 5000 + young people all over the world spreading the truth of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! What a glorious opportunity for them and for the lives they touch for they truly are beautiful young people, the Lord’s best!
When we went to the Temple , the recently released Berlin Mission President talked of his experience when he was 18 about deciding to go on a mission or work for this incredible company at a very great salary for such a young person. He chose to serve a mission and what a difference it made in his life. His life would be in a whole other place if he had made a decision not to go. We need to always start with the end in mind. What do I want my life to be at the end? What do I want to accomplish? Every time I show my family picture (at least once a day), I am glad I chose to be a mother of 6 beautiful children. I am not and wasn’t a perfect mother by anyone’s standards, but my children, grandchildren and g-grandchildren are. Heh heh

Plans

We will be home October 24th and will have our Homecoming Report on Sunday, October 29th @ 10 AM if any of you would like to attend. We’ll serve lunch at our house about 1:30 PM, if you can come. Please let Robyn know – leave a message on the answering machine 909-598-4330 or email her at robyn@hanks.org so we know how much food to fix.

Love is coming to you from the ever-beautiful Adriatic Sea .

Xoxo The Hanks