Tue 6/24/08 12:29 PM

Dear Family,

Well it happened. We held church in the New Building in Ljubljana on sunday the 22 June 2008. Please see the pictures taken by the National Director of Public Affairs Sister Dora Glassford. We had 150 people in attendance. It was great. I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed these saints with this facility. And we will have one soon in Zagreb. We missed the piano concert on saturday evening because an electrician was at our home trying to convert the electrical system from a fuse box to a breaker box. Well he said it would take about 5 hours and he started at 9 am on saturday. Well he left at 9 pm and it still was not complete. We had to take cold showers for the next couple of days. On monday he came back at 9:45 am and left at 3:45 pm. We had to leave and go to a baptism held in Zagreb. We took the two Senior Sisters Kram and Black with us. On the way we stopped at the Zagreb New Church and took pictures of the exterior. It is looking good also. The baptism was great and we said our final goodbyes to the members in attendance and the missionaries. Igor Kaloper the District Excutive Secretary was so kind. He did not want to let us go. He even kissed Sister Weight on the cheek and forhead. It was a tender moment. Elder Oaks our Area President called on the cell phone as we were leaving Zagreb. He is so thoughtful and kind and complimentary to us. We are blessed to have served with him and others. We arrived home after 11 pm. Today I read the last missionary letters to the mission president. What an experience that was. I really love the missionaries. How they have blessed our lives. I am having a hard time this week. I must confess. I will really miss this experience so full of precious memories. Roylene and I have become closer through it. I really knew I was blessed to be married to this special daughter of Heavenly Father. But it has been a glorious experience to watch her serve so many and to do it so well. I love her and I love who she is with all of her qualities. We will see you before you know it. Please be patient with me as I try to get back into life in Pleasant Grove. I know it will be a blessing to be with all of the family. Especially our children and their eternal companions ( who we consider as our children too ) and our grandchildren. What a blessing. I am thankful for all of you and for your influence to me. Thank you for all of your prayers and for the emails during the last three years. What a blessing they have been. I know there is much to still do in this part of the vineyard, but President and Sister Hill will do a great work as they serve here.

Love

Dad

--- On Tue, 6/24/08, Dora Glassford wrote:

From: Dora Glassford
Subject: FW: Newpaper scan of Article in NeDELO, national Sunday newspaper
To: "Dora Glassford"
Date: Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 11:40 AM



Subject: Newpaper scan of Article in NeDELO, national Sunday newspaper and some pictures from the first day in new chapel





Dear friends,



please find attached article as a result of my informing media about the Fireside in the new chapel. The article says:



Ljubljana

Concert in the Mormon Centre

In the new built Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which the Slovene Mormon community has built on the crossroads of Sisenska street and Vodnikova road in Ljubljana , there will be tonight at 19.00 hours the first event with a title The Power of Music. They will host American pianist David Glen Hatch . As Dora Glassford Cimerman, Director of Public Affairs for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has said, the official dedication and introduction of the new premises will take place in September, when they will prepare Days of Open Doors (Open House). In Slovenia where there are about 300 Mormons – in Ljubljana community there are around 170, in Maribor and Celje around 40, this is the first Mormon church or Centre. R.N.



The article was an excellent announcement of the first public event in the beautiful church building after Sunday morning worship. I doubt there were many visitors attending the Fireside because of the article, but we have told Slovenes that we have accomplished a great task and we are operational. We are now eagerly awaiting the Open House and Dedication, hopefully by our beloved Prophet, Thomas S Monson. We have not given up hope yet! We eagerly await the dedication date!



We are so proud of the new building and what it represents and so grateful to our Heavenly Father for this great blessing. I felt almost like being in the Temple ! The beautiful pictures, the water fountain… The first Sacrament meeting on the beautiful sunny Sunday morning of 22 June 2008 in the first ever church building in Slovenia was a historic event for us, the chapel was almost full with members, families, friends and investigators. Ljubljana Branch President Bogdan Kralj lead the meeting with Mission President Douglas Weight, in attendance just one week before his release. President Weight said in his talk that this chapel is only the first of a kind, and in the future, if we grow strong in faith, there will be a Temple in Slovenia . What prophetic words. We shall pray they may come true! He talked of how the building still has here and there some amendments or repairs to be done but he had insisted that it became operational on 22 June 2008, as otherwise the first session could be put off for a while yet, but we wanted to host a Fireside in it on the first operational day with a fine American pianist, Dr David Glen Hatch (www.davidglenhatch.com), with his protégées, wonderful young awarded pianists, at a Fireside, entitled The Power of Music. It was a great evening of sacred well known hymns and music by famous composers, and David’s spoken words, where the Spirit was present in such abundance. On the previous night the artists performed at a charity piano concert at the Theatre for Children and Youth, Ljubljana , to an audience of 115, the proceedings from tickets are to go towards purchase of an electric wheelchair for 16 year old member Ram Vidra, who lives with spinal bifida. We are very grateful to Dr David Glen Hatch and his awarded young pianists for two most wonderful evenings, which he has so selflessly paid for in full, including the hall, piano tuning and majority of publicity, and proceedings were given as charity. What noble action of kindness and generosity, Christlike attributes we so often talk about and so rarely see in action. May I use this opportunity to commend Dr David Glen Hatch on the wonderful Spirit they have brought to the yet undedicated church building. May they have success after Italy also in Hungary and Romania where the tour takes them after Slovenia ! A few pictures are included.



With love until I get the date of dedication!



Dora xxx