22nd August 2017

ELDER WINFIELD LANDED TUESDAY 22ND AUGUST 2017 AT APPROX 5.30PM

WORDS DO NOT DESCRIBE HOW HAPPY WE ARE TO HAVE OUR SON HOME. WE LOVE YOU AND ARE SO PROUD OF THE WORK AND SACRIFICES YOU HAVE MADE TO SERVE HEAVENLY FATHER FOR 2 YEARS.

YOU WILL BE BLESSED FOR YOUR EFFORTS.

ELDER WINFIELD'S FLIGHT PLANS 21ST AUGUST 2017 - ARRIVING HOME 22ND AUGUST 5.50PM

ELDER WINFIELD'S FLIGHT ITINERARY

FINAL EMAIL 8th - 14th August 2017

Well...... I guess this is it! The last one. Who would have thought. This week went really really fast, a little to fast for my liking but that's okay usually when it goes quick it means that you had a great week which is true. 

So just to start off on Monday we had a pretty chill day, we emailed and did a few other things that we had to do like shopping etc.. just a really cruisy day which was nice I needed that! We also visited a less active member who wasn't home but some other guy was and he kicked us out! But that's okay, he wouldn't even take the cinnamon rolls that Sister Decker made but whatever, do what you wish!

Tuesday was about one of the only normal days of the week, we just contacted as usual and had all the normal things happen like lunch, studies, dinner and some more contacting! Oh don't forget to mention that we had english too, that went well we actually have a bunch of kids that have started coming with their grandparents! it's kind of strange I feel like I'm a 1st grade teacher...But nonetheless it was fun, I kind of forgot about kids, you really don't have a lot to do with them out here!

Wednesday was Zone Conference! Our very last one! It went really well though, it was focused a lot on doctrine, a lot differently run that how President Grant did it but it was still great nonetheless :) We got to bear our final testimonies in front of everyone, they also asked us to pick a name of the Saviour which was used and explain why we like it etc.. I picked 2 Samuel 22:2 and the name used is "Rock" as he is my rock and its good to have someone you can always rely on. Big rocks don't move either, and its the same for the Saviour, as much as we are moving he isn't so its up to us to come back and not up to him. After Zone Conference we had to quickly take a bus back as we had a dinner appointment with one of the families here! It went great :) what else to say than that!

Thursday was pretty busy! We had a lot to do in the morning. First off we had to prep for district meeting and after that we had a lunch with a less active, and the daughter who is about 9 or so is learning the guitar and the Branch President/Senior couple is teaching her so we were mainly there for translating and friendship support :) but it went well! After that we had district meeting which was good, just another one in the bank! After that we had some studies and dinner etc... we had English class as usual which was nice, this time we had the advanced so it was just our man Dragan who always comes, he is a great guy! The day was also great for many other reasons! One of which was that we had an exchange and I was with my boy Deleeuw just like old times! 

Friday we switched back and had some lunch as usual, and apart from that I guess we just had a pretty normal day! I don't really remember what happened! I'm having a mind blank, I think it was just contacting but i'm sure something happened... a lot happened this week so please excuse me on this one!

Saturday was very busy! We had a going away party for someone named Ada in this branch who is actually leaving tomorrow for her mission in the Ukraine! So during the day we went over and I made some classic aussie pav, but without strawberries it was a little hard, it was okay though we replaced it with raspberries and it was alright, it failed a little but it was okay, they party was great and it was cool to say goodbye to one of my very good mates here! 

Sunday was the busiest day of them all! Seeing as it was Ada's farwell day and to an extent ours too but more for her anyways there were around 40 odd people at church! that is a ton! so it was a full house, anyways I had the honour of being able to say a few words and share my testimony which was great, even after 2 years of learning and speaking this language I still get very nervous going up and speaking! I thought it would go away but I guess not. After the sacrament meeting there was food and great vibes with some great people! After that Ada was set apart! It reminded me of me when I was set apart and what was said and I can honestly say that it has all come to pass! It was also an awesome experience to be apart of the setting apart. 

Well.... I guess I should finish off this email. Its been a great 2 years! It's been the best, hardest, craziest, unexpected 2 years of my life. In the end though I know what I did was right and that it was worth that least something to my Heavenly Father, and to me that is all that matters, because he gave me and and all I want to do is give my all. I can't wait to get back and get into life again, its a little scary to leave I must say, and in many ways I really don't want to, the people I have met here the experience I have had, the culture, the food ;), all of it I wish I could have with me! Unfortunately you cant have all you want. But regardless I still will keep what has been very close to me and I never want to lose any of it! I love you all and thank you all for your support throughout my mission, for those who have constantly emailed and given me words of encouragement, thanks from the bottom of my heart! And I guess apart from that there isn't much to say! See yous in a bit! Lataz! 

I will leave you all with a poem that was made by me and a great mate of mine :)

Ostavih stare i produžih dalje

treba reći zbogom

liti puno suza i služiti s Tobom.

Jedan od njih biću ja,

upamtih tad.

Ruke na mene oni polažiše i

zaboravit' te reči nika neću,

da ću ovim svetom širiti sreću.

Kroz školu jedva prođoh,

a sad novi jezik da učim dođoh.

U Beograd stigoh kao Gušter pravi

i sve se mislim šta sad da radim?!

Bog je velik i uz mene biće on, 

ukoliko ja služim snagom svom.

Korak po korak, stan po stan, 

stao nisam smeti tad.

Rekoše mi oni "Nemoj biti lud"

s razlogom si poslat' tu.

Znati mislio sam da nikada neću,

kome sada da udelim sreću?

Korak po korak, stan po stan,

nađoh razlog taj.

Kroz trnje do zvezda, prijatelje koje ovde stekoh,

moraću da ih ostavim,

ali nikad i da zaboravim.

Polako moram da privodim ovo kraju

i svi to znaju,

Rusty me željno očekuje, i njega ja,

ali znam da će nešto da mi fali tad.

Svojoj kući kada pođem

poželet' ću da na misiju opet dođem.

LATAZ!

--

Elder Winfield

Starješina Winfield

Старешина Винфилд 

Adriatic North Mission 

1st - 7th August 2017

Well this week was on word.. HOT. 

This week was my last non busy week you could say so it was fun just to do the usual grind of contacting and more contacting! Unfortunately we didn't find anyone really cool but yeah. 

Monday was great apart from that the email place that we usually go to wasn't open so all 4 of us had to share the church computer which is a potato.. But after we got done with all of that we went to a members place and had some lovely stew and just had a chill day! It was great, although hot >.< at least we didn't have to be in our proselyting clothing. 

Tuesday was a long day, we went on exchange as my comp and elder Deleeuw had to do an audit at the church which took forever so I was with Lerohl all day! It took me back to our hot days in Varazdin! It was fun though it was just work, eat, nap, work, eat, study nap. We did also have english but I think because of the heat no one really showed up, we ended up have just 1 student come. 

Wednesday was good, we had district meeting and I had the lesson which was on baptism, I think it went well I don't know.. I can't be the one to comment on it so I guess I'll just leave it at that! After district meeting it was just work work work! We had a dinner appointment at our favourite peoples house! That was a blast as always! 

Thursday again was just a lot of work! Really hot but we got there eventually. It was just a long day of contacting and then we had dinner with the other elders just before english class! Again it was a pretty poor turn out but we had our dedicated student who always comes! He is a really nice guy, he is also counting the days down for us! He is going to party with us on James Bond day, which is when we have 007 days left! haah 

Friday was probably the hottest day of my mission! We Didn't have a lot to do either... it was again just contacting. I don't really remember what happened this day I just remember it was hard! 

Saturday was good we cleaned the church and the morning and had lunch with the other elders and then we had a lesson with a member. After that it was contacting until the other elders came back from Beograd then we went to a fancy restaurant for dinner to celebrate our 2 year mark!!! wooo so yeah that was fun, they then stayed the night at ours and we danced and laughed about good old times until we slept. 

Sunday was church as usual, we had our usual investigator who has been coming and we asked him to have a lesson for today and he said yes which was cool so we had a good lesson but ill talk about that after this. Anyways so it was fast and testimony meeting and it was cool to hear others testimonies! I got a text during the meeting though that we were not going to be able to spend our last Sunday of the mission in Sremska Mitrovica so us 3 that are going home bore our last testimonies, it was a bummer because I felt a little rushed and I didn't really say all that I wanted to but that's okay. After that we contacted some more and then we had dinner etc... made our classic Sunday evening Palacinke! and slept... 

Today we don't have a lot on which is nice so we can have a relaxed day! Much needed! We had a lesson this morning with one of our investigators and when I asked him whether he wants to get baptised (as he has came to church the last 7 weeks in a row) he said yes! He said he wants to learn a little more before that but said that he would. Which is awesome! I won't be here to see that but I'm excited for that to happen, we will be meeting him again this week and have some more lessons which is good, he is an old man and prefers just to talk in a casual manner rather than having a proper lesson so it's a little different than usual but it works!

On the whole it was a successful week! This week will be pretty busy as we have a lot on with zone conference etc... so I guess until next week! Lataz! 

​Love yous! xo​

--

Elder Winfield

Starješina Winfield

Старешина Винфилд 

Adriatic North Mission 

25th - 31st July 2017

Hey... so the emailing place we usually go to is closed so we have 1 computer in the church that we get to email on and we are only going to do 30 minutes each so we can actually have a pday. I'll just give you a short summary on how the week was! In general it was another week of grinding! Lots of work. We didn't have the most successful week in terms of finding people but we worked really well which is the main thing for me.

We had a list of about 15 peoples numbers that we had gotten during the transfer so we called them all up again and none of them wanted to have a lesson anymore which was a bummer. We still have a few that we could meet up with so we will see. The good news is that we had 5 investigators at church! most of them being internals but one guy came who we contacted earlier in the week, he was a very old man and we had probably a 20 second conversation with but we invited and he came which was a cool little miracle to see.  He said he enjoyed the sacrament meeting and all, he doesn't want to meet up but I think he might come next week so lets hope for that!  

We also had a good pday last week in Beograd. It was weird to go back there! Reminded me of my first transfer and I felt like a ton has happened since then. I even went back to my favourite gyros place which was awesome, it had been a while! It's getting pretty hot here though.... I forgot what it was like to be a missionary in the summer it has been a while! All is going well its just grinding and working hard to the end.

A lot more happened in the week but I really don't have time to make a big one sorry :/ I promise it will be better next week! It's all good it won't be long and then I can just say it all in person anyways... Seems like yous are doing good, hope you had a good birthday Dad! UP THE TIGES! eat em alive! If we get top 4 I'll be over the moon... we really need it! Wait did faith go on another mini mission? or... were they just more photos from last week? Tell Rachy as well that she should clean my car for me before I get back :P 

Sorry I couldn't email and say more! I hope yous have a good week and all goes well.. Love yous all! xoxo

--

Elder Winfield

Starješina Winfield

Старешина Винфилд 

Adriatic North Mission 

18th - 24th July 2017

I'll just send a short one :) I am about to go to an escape room with the zone.

This week was good, it was mainly another normal week in the mission! We found a decent amount of new investigators this week so that was cool to see that, we have their numbers now its just a matter of having constant lessons! The other investigator is doing okay.... he just doesn't understand a lot we teach and doesn't want to change unfortunately. 

The new Mission President and his wife are a lot more quiet and laid back than the last one. It's kind of weird because I really won't have any time with them so that's just how it is...

Happy birthday to liambird :) and to Dad as well :P and happy anniversary Mum and Dad :) love yous all and hope that you have a great week! xoxoxo be safe!

--
Elder Winfield

Starješina Winfield

Старешина Винфилд

Adriatic North Mission

11th - 17th July 2017

Hello! well.... another pretty quick week. :) 

Monday was fun we had a casual pday with some of the members and played some card games and Frisbee etc... it was hot as though... like 40 odd degrees outside! After all that we had a lesson that night with a guy who has been coming to church the last few weeks, it went well I mean I think he just wants to talk and have a really casual conversation rather than a sit down lesson. I'm not 100% what the next step will be. He drinks, smokes, (which is fine, fixable) he says he can't read because he doesn't have glasses or something I'm not 100% sure but either way he says he doesn't read at all really and that will be hard for him to get a testimony of the Book of Mormon if he can't read. We had a member on the lesson too she helped a lot! He came this week though which was good, he makes it seem like he doesn't really want to change and just enjoys the socialization, we will keep working with him and see what is to be done next. 

Tuesday was pretty normal, we had a contacting session in the morning and walked around the city trying to find strawberries.... there is legit none because of the season but it's fine we found mangos to replace it instead. (as I was making pavlova) anyways after all of that it was just normal contacting and then we had English class, we didn't have anyone show up to advanced so we helped the other elders with their beginners class. I also realised that I caught some sort of bug and was becoming sick... so yeah I was pretty much sick all week, it's hard though you still got to keep functioning and I still have never taken a day off on my mission :P I know I took millions off school. Maybe because the Lords work is 1000 times more important than school? I'm better now though which is great. I hate feeling sick it is the worst. anyways......

Wednesday was pretty busy, we worked in the morning and then had lunch, after that we had district meeting, it was good to have the whole district back together for that as the senior couple has been away the last couple of weeks. After that it was a little more work and then we had a dinner appointment at a members house. We went a little early as I wanted to make some Pavlova, it turned out alright it was kind of hard without fresh strawberries but it was okay. The mum of this family is an amazing cook! It was really great and kind of them to do that, you could probably count the amount of times you have been fed on 2 hands so you could say that it is nice to have that for a change. 

Thursday was as well fun, in the morning the zone leaders came here for our exchange, I was staying here in Sremska with Elder Valentine! (my son :)) so it was fun to be back with him in the city where I trained him, it was cool to see the improvement, I remember when he could barely say "my name is....." and now he is going great so that was really fun to see, obviously doesn't have a hell of a lot to do with me as I just trained him and it is more about your personal attitude but nonetheless it was cool to see. We just mainly contacted a lot and then we had English class, we only had one student so it was just nice casual conversation in English. 

Friday was pretty packed as we wanted to visit some members with Valentine being back. In the morning it was contacting mainly and then we had a lesson booked with a couple of guys that called and gave us their address, we went over there and they weren't home or anything, I called them like 10 times and still nothing so we just went back to the normal grind!, after that we visited another members house and had a good discussion and ended up giving a blessing to her and her daughter which was awesome. After that it was more member visiting and saying hello to people that Valentine hadn't seen in a while. It was great though :) I wish we could do that more than contacting but you know you gotta find people somehow and that's the main way right now... regardless it was a great day.

Saturday was again pretty busy, we had the Beograd elders return and I got my comp back, we had lunch at our little BBQ place that we always go to. After that we had the land lady come around because on Wednesday night our apartment flooded a little because of a stupid as leak we have in the corner of our house, anyways she came and checked it out and someone is supposed to come today and fix it. We will see though.... Those guys who weren't home ended up calling us back too and wanted to have the lesson still so we went over to their place which is around a 30 minute walk from our place, their house was pretty rank, everything was just dirty and all they had were cigarettes, water and rakija (dad you can ask Tony Difresco about that). They were high the whole time I'm pretty sure... so we weren't there too long just because it is really a waste of time dealing with people like that. We might play some basketball another time with them though we will see... we had to book it back to the church though as we had to help with cleaning, after that it was just studies and dinner!

Sunday was the big day as always! I always think of church on Sunday like my football game on Saturday, we get there early prepare etc... and hope we have a good game (meaning we hope we get some investigators and have lots of members there) this week you could say we won! We had a decent amount of members, mainly because we had the area president and counselor come down, they gave great lessons and talks though. After church we went back, did some weekly planning and then we had dinner at the senior couples place, they are really nice, (elder  Decker) loves sports and was a carpenter so you could say we have a decent amount in common, although he loves that panzi American football sport its okay I still respect the man. :) he actually served his mission in new Zealand like you dad but a little bit earlier.

That was about our week though, this week should be pretty normal though we don't have a lot on, we have the misison president coming down tomorrow for some interviews, so that will be cool to be able to finally talk to him face to face. 

I heard that Federer won Wimbledon.. (however you spell it) bet you and pappa are pretty happy mum! Hope yous are all doing good :) love you all! have fun in the cold while I'm in the heat.

-- 

Elder Winfield

Starješina Winfield

Старешина Винфилд 

Adriatic North Mission 

4th - 10th July 2017

Well this week was quick! We had a fair bit on and was pretty strange at some points but it went well in the end :) 

We first started off the week on our pday doing nothing really until it was later then we went down and played some basketball with some random people. It was fun they were alright, one guy could just dunk it and just wrecked but it went well. After that it was just normal pday things, just cleaning etc..

Tuesday we had zone conference so we had the other elders stay over then in the morning we went off to Beograd to meet our new mission president! It was an interesting Zone Conference... most of it was just getting to know them etc.. but for us it doesn't matter too much but nonetheless it was still fun! On the way back we stopped in and got some things from the shopping centre. Apart from that nothing too much happened on Tuesday.

Wednesday was pretty bland, there was just a lot of contacting and we had district meeting which was nice to split things up but apart from that it was just the same old same old! We also played Frisbee with some of the members here and taught a little lesson. I brought the footy as well so it was great to kick the pill for a bit! I was rusty as but I think it didn't really help wearing crappy shoes. Cant wait to get back into it again! The young girl was pretty good at kicking the footy, beats the rest of the Americans that have tried :P 

Thursday was really a strange day.... My comp was a little sick in the morning so we did our studies then.. I also got really burnt that day which sucked! We have a balcony and I'm trying to fix my stupid as neck tan that looks horrible! Its alright I got some aloe vera and she'll be right! After that we went contacting and had some weird experiences... not sure why, must of been something in the air but we had some really strange contacts, the main one was when we were on the bridge and we were talking to some lady, we just got her number when about 20 meters down the bridge some old guy ate the bitumen and fell off his bike. There weren't a lot of people around so we went over and helped him up etc... then a couple of others came and called the ambulance. He wanted us to leave him and let him walk home but he was for sure wrecked and no way was he making it back alive! Anyways that was really weird... but yeah. Apart from that we just had english class which was good, we had someone come in who was new and he took a bunch of church material and seems a decent amount interested, I'm not 100% sure about him I thought he was high when he came to english but I don't know, we will see.

Friday was pretty normal, we just had contacting as usual, we ended up doing a mini exchange just to change things up! The beauty of 4 elder districts is if you are sick of your comp it is okay because an exchange is only just around the corner. The whole day was just contacting though I don't really have much else to say than that.

Saturday was good, we kicked it off with a morning session of contacting, we couldn't find anyone cool but nonetheless it was good. After we went and cleaned the church and had lunch together. We had a lesson organised too but unfortunately he didn't turn up. After that it was back to the grind!

Sunday was pretty good, we had one of our investigators turn up which was cool, we organised a lesson with him and we will meet with him tonight so I'm hoping that will go well, he is around 80 years old and smokes and drinks so we will see how all that goes, he seems to enjoy church but it will be a tough one! After church we had lunch at the other elders then we went contacting. After that we actually bumped into like 20 Americans who were here for something. Lucky Sorensen was there to translate for me so they could understand. They were on kind of a mission for their non-denominational church which went for 2 weeks.... I was like geeez I have been out here more months than you have days! But it was interesting, they were nice at least. After that we went back to the apartment for dinner and had some Palacinke for desert!

This week will be fun, we had a decent amount on, I'm going on exchange with the zone leaders who is actually my son (the one I trained) so Valentine is coming back here to Sremska! Same apartment and everything, it will just be like old times, expect he will know what he is doing and I heard he is pretty good at the language now so it will be awesome to see the changes that have happened since I was with him last. 

I love yous all :) sorry about the tiges dad... cant win em all aye? Anyways... thanks for finishing my room! Look forward to seeing it! Lataz xoxo

Zone conference with our new Mission President and wife 4th July

President: 'During the lunch break, we also took a picture with each missionary with their favorite scripture listed on a board next to us. We thought you would like to have these pictures, so I've attached them here.' 

-- 

Elder Winfield

Starješina Winfield

Старешина Винфилд 

Adriatic North Mission 

27th June - 3rd July 2017

Well this week was pretty good!

Monday was pretty busy we emailed of course as usual, after that we shopped and chilled out for a bit, I actually took a nap which was nice, well needed! After that we got our gear on to play some basketball, it was pretty good, I mean out district isn't full of basketball champs but its all good we had fun nonetheless. Some chick came up as well who was barely wearing anything and wanted to play.... it was pretty awkward to watch all the other elders not know what to do or how to talk to her..  haha it was funny though, she realised we weren't interested at all! After that we had some food and headed back for a normal night in the apartment.

Tuesday was pretty long we didn't have a lot on, it was mainly just contacting all day! We had a lesson organised with some guy but he didn't show up... after that it was English and some dinner! Apart from that though that was about all we did, we didn't find anyone who would listen. We also had a 5 minute skype with President and Sister Grant to say our last goodbyes! Its kind of weird knowing that they are now gone.... I didn't think it would ever happen. 

Wednesday morning was just contacting and then we had lunch as a district at their place as they owed us a lunch. After that it was just district meeting and seeing as the senior couple wasn't here because of some problems at home we just did district meeting at their place. After district meeting we just went back home and did our normal studies etc... just the usual you know! :) Had dinner and finished the night off with some contacting, we got a couple of peoples phone numbers which was cool, we are hoping to meet up with them this week. we had a lot of problems with some unpaid bills for our apartment which was a pain and then the office was being a pain so yeah pretty much it was a big waste of time but that's okay... I guess someone had to do it!

Thursday was pretty normal we had to go finish off with all those bills in the morning at the post office, after that we started a mini exchange I guess.. I was with Deleeuw, it was just like old times! We didn't have much success contacting unfortunately but the other elders did so that works :P I guess that's the beauty of having a 4 Elder district! We met back up and had some dinner before English class then we had English. After English class we had a couple of the members who know Russian try to teach us a bit haha it is actually really hard >.< I thought it would be easier but yeah, that's okay maybe another day, need to still get better at this one first :P 

Friday we went to a members place to visit and teach a lesson which was nice although it was pretty hot! The mum member has a younger daughter so we played a few games with her which was fun, here you don't really have much to do with younger kids as there isn't many of them. It's a blessing in some ways and in others it kind of sucks to not have little kids running around causing chaos! After that we had to visit another members place to drop some papers off, now I thought the first house we were in was hot... this place was at least 40 degrees I swear.... haha we were all dripping! We were there for like 40 odd minutes too. Anyways but yeah that was about it for Friday.

Saturday we contacted in the morning until around 1 o'clock then we sat and argued for like 20 minutes as to what we wanted to have for lunch.... sometimes the heat just gets to you haha but anyways we finally chose what we wanted then had that.... After that we cleaned the church etc.... Then we went contacting for a change :) woo! We actually had a lesson booked too.... So we had the guys address which was a little different as we don't usually get addresses but anyways we tried to find the place and eventually we got to what we thought was his house but he wasn't home and was at a meeting... We will go back another time, we know when he works so we will just pop in one time! After that we got a surprise call from the other elders to visit another member as he wanted a blessing, he has rarely came to church for the last year or so and really needed some help so we gave him a blessing, the spirit was really strong though which was cool :) he said he would come to church the next day and we got the other elders to swing by in the morning to pick him up but he bailed the last minute.... that sucked but oh well... we aren't going to stop trying of course! 

Sunday was church and seeing as the Senior couple wasn't there we kind of had to run things a little more and take up the slack. We had the Sunday school lessons so we went to the church early to finish preparations for that etc... anyways then church started and we realised that we had no one that could play the piano! Because the member that usually plays decided to turn up late :P (thanks Ada..) anyways but we somehow managed to get something going but it was probably the saddest Joseph Smiths First Prayer song I have ever heard sung... I also realised I forgot how to conduct as Elder Bowles taught me ages ago in Zadar but anyways... so yeah I decided that I'm going to retire after Zone Conference tomorrow as they asked me to conduct for that... for some stupid reason but that's okay.. I'll do it...  Anyways we had Sunday school after Sacrament meeting and it went alright for the amount of prep that went in etc... we only got told last minute by the other Elders because they are spuds and forgot to tell us but that's alright we did it and it's done so end of story :) After church I had some help from a mate translating some things which was great :) then we headed back to the apartment and did some studies before we had a nice dinner to break our fast! Later that night we had the other Elders come around and stay over as they wanted to... so yeah that was fun but our place is a mess now as always when you have someone over.

That about sums up the week... This week will be different I guess..  We are going to Beograd tomorrow for our Zone Conference and we will get to see our new Mission President! It will be weird and from what I hear he is a hell of a lot different than President Grant so I guess we will see... it should be fun though ill get to see some old faces at the Zone Conference who I haven't seen in a while. 

Sounds like things are going alright back at home I hope that everyone's doing alright. Love yous all! Have a fun week :) xoxoxo

--

Elder Winfield

Starješina Winfield

Старешина Винфилд 

Adriatic North Mission 

20th - 26th June 2017

Well... what a week! ​I'm now here in Sremska Mitrovica where it will all finish I guess.... kind of sad. But regardless it's been an awesome first week of the transfer. 

So Monday was my last day in Banja Luka, we just emailed and I had to finish of packing etc.... after all of that I had to find a magnet as I get one for all the cities, I eventually found that then Parko and hole came down and then me and Parko left off to Tuzla where I would spend the night.

Tuesday was pretty busy we first had to leave really early with all my stuff, I was with elder Hardy who was going to Beograd, we ended up arriving in Sremska a little earlier than expected so we got some lunch. After all of that it was just waiting for Lerohl and my new comp Sorensen to arrive. Eventually they came and yeah we unpacked a little and just did the normal "Beginning of the transfer" things. We had English class to teach as well, seeing as no one came for the beginner class we all just joined the advanced group. After that we went with the Senior couple here, "Elder and Sister Decker" he actually served his mission in New Zealand dad so you might know the same people... he likes his sports, obviously not aussie footy but that's alright ;) I'll convert him! Anyways after that we visited a member's place where we had Institute, it was an awesome lesson! Better than what I could ever do anyways but yeah that was great, after that we went back home and it was already pretty late so we just went to bed pretty much straight away, I was wrecked from the day anyways. 

Wednesday was fun, we had to go to the police station in the morning to get my short term visa, I'm not going to bother getting a work visa seeing as I'll leave but yeah anyways so I got that all sorted and after that we had some lunch and did some planning for the transfer. We have some good goals so I'm looking forward to the work :) We also cleaned the apartment as it always needs a good clean, missionaries aren't usually the best at cleaning but yeah I guess what can you expect from a couple of 18 year olds. We also went shopping for all of our food, I can't wait to not have to cook so much haha, I like it but yeah its annoying because all of the equipment sucks... when I have good equipment it's a lot better but yeah.. After all of that it was just dinner etc and some good old contacting! 

Thursday we had to go back to the police station for Sorensen seeing as he is changing address so that was fun as always.. after that we had district meeting, it was fun we have a cool district so it makes things a lot easier to do!!! After that it was lunch and just the normal things. We then did a bunch of contacting, it was so hot...... I forgot about summer! haha there weren't really many people out either and I don't blame em. Anyways after all that we had English and we had one student for our beginner class, she doesn't know a ton but tries hard so that's cool. After that it was just dinner and some language study...

Friday was pretty busy we had a decent amount on.. First up in the morning we visited a recent converts place to translate for the senior couple who is teaching the little daughter guitar, that didn't take too long so after that it was just contacting and a little snack really. After that we were going to a members house as it was Ada's birthday, we decided as a district to all buy a gift each, (you know just something kind of stupid) but yeah it turned out well haha it was really fun though! I missed going around there! After that it was just contacting in the heat as usual, good fun though, I swear I never sweated as much as I do now, I think it's just the white shirts but eh I don't know.  

Saturday was pretty blank, we had a lot of contacting to do so we just started in the morning to avoid the heat! We actually bumped into a couple of Australians of all people, I haven't really bumped into that many so it was pretty surprising seeing as Sremska is a little smaller than other places I have been in but yeah they were 7th dayer's.... but it was still fun to hear an aussie accent, it has been so long!  After that we had lunch and did some studies (Just the usual...) after that we had some more contacting and then we had to clean the church and prep for an activity we were having, we watched kung fu panda 2! haha that was great, I hadn't even seen it so I mean it was good. We had a decent amount of members and non members too which was cool,. the Decker's made some great chips for us all too. After that it was just cleaning up all the church and heading back for the apartment!

Sunday was church! It was cool to see all the members again, I'm surprised they all remembered... I mean it has been like 8 months and I was only there for 8 weeks but nevertheless it was great, I had a talk which was based on an awesome general conference talk. I butchered my reading... for some reason I couldn't speak the language, just like a cat got my tongue.. oh well doesn't matter everyone understood :P just hurt my pride a little! After church we had the elders over for lunch, they just made a mess in our apartment... oh well, they ended up sleeping over too! but anyways doesn't matter, we did some contacting and found a couple of people who seem decently interested, we will meet with them this week. We also bumped into another Australian/Serbian....... he just moved back from Australia because he was born here, it was the same for the other lady too. Anyways but yeah that was about my whole week, we had the other elders stay at ours for the night because they had to leave early in the morning for some things....

That was about my first week though! I'm super pumped to be here, it's going to be a great last transfer.

Hope yous all have a great week :) sounds like everything's going alright.

go the tigers :)!

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Elder Winfield

Starješina Winfield

Старешина Винфилд 

Adriatic North Mission 

13th - 19th June 2017

Hey, sooooooo..... this week was pretty busy I guess....

Turns out I'll finish off my mission back in Sremska Mitrovica! I'm super pumped it should be good, Deleeuw and Lerohl will be in my district and then my comp will be someone I don't know so that will be interesting but either way it should be great.

So this week was fun, we started off going on a hike to Banj Brdo which was fun, I'm not a big fan of hiking on the mission because I mean we walk all day everyday so why walk more than what you have to but that's okay, it was actually pretty good. After that we went to Kod Muje.. we then got some souvenirs as Bowles was leaving the next day and after that we went to this fancy restaurant which would have cost in Australia probably like $30 a meal but here it was like $10 so I mean it felt expensive because I'm used to my cheap cevapi but it was really good :) it was kind of a goodbye dinner for Elder Bowles. 

Tuesday we were off to our summer conference in Zagreb, we had to take the 7am bus which was fun...... but yeah we eventually arrived and got some ice cream in the centre with a Zagreb member that Bowles knows.  After that we went to the mission home and started our Zone Conference, we were up second with our presentation so that was good to get out of the way early, after our presentation we had some outside time/ relax time which was good, we played some volleyball. It was a little sad as none of my mates were in my Zone but none the less I still had Parko and a few others but not the normal crew so we couldn't play basketball.... but that's alright.

Wednesday was the conference again and transfer reveals! My last one... wow. crazy. anyways, a lot of people already knew where they were going, there were like 4 out of the 20 that still didn't know and 1 of them was me so in the morning we got the transfer board, I was super surprised when looking at it but I'm super happy - it will be great. After all the presentations it was back to Banja Luka where I would take Elder King and train him into the area before I leave.. once we got back it was just dinner and unpacking etc..

Thursday was pretty busy we had district meeting, my last one as district leader (wooooo) now I don't have to worry about all of that... anyways that was good.. after that we went contacting and had lunch etc... I got my visa too which was kind of useless as now I'm leaving but that's okay. After all of that we had english class, it was sad to say goodbye to all of them as usual, you kind of have to get used to saying your goodbyes but yeah... I hope I can see them all again one day. After all that we went back home and had dinner and that was about it.

Friday was pretty normal we had a lot of contacting which was good, we got one person to come meet up with us so that was cool, we organised it for Saturday. After all of our contacting etc...  we had our last institute class! And then uno of course... I won one but lost the others.... so sad.. but that's okay I still got one! 

Saturday we had a few lessons and had to do a few business things at the church with the Branch President so we did all of that.. Our lesson went well with this young guy, he is really interested as to why we would travel half way across the world to come to a place like this... well we explained, I'm not sure how much he really believes what we say but we have another appointment with him. I won't be there but I'm sure it will go well. After that we had to clean the church and yeah I think that was about it..

Sunday was my last day at church here in Banja Luka. I gave my last talk which was nice, we had 2 investigators there too which was really good to finish on that note. One of the investigators is a seventh day and after church started on a bible bash talk etc... it was frustrating but we just said we can meet up another time we don't want to argue about the bible etc... it's kind of hard to pull yourself back sometimes because you want to be the best and the guy who proves him wrong etc... but you gotta realise sometimes that it's better to not do that as they say "it's not what you say, its what you don't say" anyways after that we had to translate for an interview for a member getting a temple recommend. After that we booked it to a members house to say goodbye and then we had lunch etc... after that we went back to the church to say goodbye to a mate that I made here. We then had to book it back home to clean the apartment before President came because he wanted to do the temple recommend interview with the member there for some reason... anyways there were like 10 people in our tiny little apartment, it was really weird but anyways.. said my last goodbyes to President Grant too as I wouldn't see him again, it was pretty sad actually.. he is a great man, it was awesome to have him as my mission president it was for sure inspired! After all of that I just finished packing and we made some palacinke! 

So yeah that pretty much sums up my week..... today I'm leaving with Elder Parkinson to Tuzla and we will stay the night there and then tomorrow morning I'll head off to Sremska to finish my last transfer! I'm super excited to work hard and finish strong, we have a great district and I'm looking forward to seeing all the members there and just really enjoying the last bit of my mission.

I love you all so much! hope yous are doing good, by the sounds of it everything is alright.. 

Take care and be safe :) xoxo

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Elder Winfield

Starješina Winfield

Старешина Винфилд 

Adriatic North Mission