Week #3 in Novi Sad

We didn't get a group update from Darren this week so following are some excerpts from letters he wrote to us as well as some good advice from his Grandmother and a nice story shared with him about his Grandfather.

From Elder Novakovich:

Winter here in Serbia has been pleasant so far!  Today it's 8 degrees Celsius, which means we are going to play basketball!! I am so excited for that.  Last week was absolutely beautiful here.  I actually had the joy of seeing the blue sky!  It took two weeks to see it!  But I am glad I have the chance now....I can't for the summer months as well! From what I have been told, they fly by like crazy!  Thank you again for your emails.  I love reading about you and Grandpa are doing! Love you so much!

Well the work is going along great.  I have the chance to teach three lessons to members in our branch.  We have taught a recent convert two times so far.  She speaks a thousand miles per hour!  I can hardly understand anything she ever says.  It's crazy.  I'm like........ I have no idea what you just said.  But its good practice though.  I'm excited, we are starting to give English lessons to one of the members, and in return, she will be teaching us some Serbian.  Supposedly, she worked as a journalist.  So she knows how to speak Serbian very well. I'm excited to learn a lot more from her.  Ha ha I need help with the language desperately.  It is so hard!  I really have never struggled more in my entire life.  This language pushes me to the limits every single day.  I am getting pretty good at reading however.  I read five pages of the Book of Mormon every day, and it seems to help with me speaking. 

Wisdom from Grandma Novakovich

 I have printed out several talks lately by Neal A. Maxwell.  I loved hearing him speak and felt like I could read them again.  He has such insights and a wonderful, gifted ability of expression.  I wanted to study again a statement that he made which meant so much to my understanding of life.  Here it is:

"The submission of one's will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God's altar...The Many other things we give to God, However nice that may be of us, are actually things He has already given us, and He has loaned them to us.  But when we begin to submit ourselves by letting our wills be swallowed up in God's will, then we are really giving something to Him.  And that hard doctrine lies at the center of discipleship. " 

Missionary Example set by Grandpa Novakovich

Well, Darren, again I leave you my testimony of the church.  This week we went into a restaurant where your Uncle Matt and Aunt Tiffanie were eating lunch.  Matt whispered that the people sitting next to him were bashing the church and one man (who he thought was a minister) was explaining how awful the Mormons are.  Grandpa listened for a moment and then (much to my shock and chagrin, I might add) he butted into their conversation and told them that if they really wanted to know what the church was about they should ask a member.  He went on to explain a variety of things.  Finally he said he was sorry to interrupt their lunch, but could not stand by and let them be disrespectful to another church and shook their hand and we left. Of course,  I asked him why he did that.  Was he nuts?  He said that when we pulled up to the restaurant (where we were just going to drop off our granddaughter) he felt he should go in and then he just felt strongly that he could not let that go on.  I was proud of him.  He certainly does not falter in standing up for his testimony of the church and the Savior.