Next Stop New Hampshire

Mission Pictures

2011-12-23T07:03:00.000-08:00

12-19 Update from Elder Novakovich

2011-12-19T08:07:00.001-08:00

So today I am sending my Christmas package to the family! I am hoping that it arrives by Saturday, which I imagine it should. If not, be expecting some package some time after Christmas. There isn't much in it, but it is a descent taste of what New England is like! I figure the only real thing I have to offer is something that you don't get out in Utah.

I don't really know how things are going to work out on Christmas, but I do know that after church, which is only sacrament as well, we will be heading to Donna's (Bill and Betty's daughter) house to eat lunch and spend time together. Of course Bill and Betty will be there as well. From what I know, we will probably spend a good chunk of the day over there. As for the morning to open presents, we have had a less active lady offer for us to come over and open presents at her house. That should be a cool experience.

So Bill heard that we didn't have a Christmas tree in our apartment last week when we were at his house for dinner... The next day he had a little tree with ornaments sitting inside our front door for us.. Bill truly is my favorite person I have met out here in the mission field. I love that guy. I have pictures that I will be sending in the package that will have our cute little tree with presents underneath!

Our investigators are doing great. The only bad thing that really happened this week was one dropped us. He gave us a call last Wednesday and said that he talked it over with his girlfriend and Mom, and the Church wasn't for him. What can you do? But the following day, we were given two new investigators by our Bishop. He visited a less active lady and asked if the missionaries could come teach her two un-baptized children. She consented, and now we are planning on teaching them this week. Cool! One falls from the tree and two more replace the empty slot. We didn't have the chance to teach ------ this week: her fellow shipper went to ER for kidney pain (hopefully not kidney stones) and so was unable to help us teach her. We have tried calling her to see if she was ok, but haven't had any success. We plan on trying to call her tonight to make sure everything was going well.

So I think I will probably call right after we finish dinner with the Esterline's. My guess is that will be around 2:00 PM Eastern time (noon Mountain time), which will work out perfectly for you and the family. I would assume by that point that all the presents will have been opened and omelets consumed. That will give us something to talk about: what presents everyone got. I wish we could use skype... That would make things sooo nice!

Our church this week is only sacrament as well! We are having a Christmas program, which both Elder Peterson and I will be a part of. We will be singing in the choir. I don't know if I told you this before, but Elder Gaykowski and I sang in the stake choir during Stake Conference in August... Anyways, that should be a fun experience. I am looking forward to calling!! I can't believe that time is here at last. It seems like forever since we talked in May.

And so you know, transfer calls will be this Saturday. I talked with President Wilkey during our interviews this week, and he mentioned that he wants to be stay in Gardiner for another transfer. He can't promise anything, because 13 new missionaries are coming and that alone will cause a lot of movement of missionaries throughout the mission. I pray that things work out and I can stay here for my 5th transfer, but you never know. My fingers are crossed.

Love

Elder Novakovich

Excerpts from Some Recent Letters

2011-12-12T11:39:00.000-08:00

We've had several people ask how Darren is doing. The short answer is that he is doing great. Posted below are some excerpts from his two most recent letters:

December 12, 2011

Holy cow! I read Grandma's email before I read this and she mentioned how Tyson was in a sling and experiencing some pain.... At first I thought, "What the crap happened?"... That's a bummer he broke it at Classic Skating. See why I tell Tyson to stop growing? He is much to tall for his poor 13 year old equilibrium. I hope he now understands the wisdom in why I tell him to stop growing... haha. Anyways, that sucks for him! I imagine that will deter his video game playing for the next little while. I bet that's why he is crying the most I imagine: that's why I would be. 4 to 8 weeks without video games... I hope he can survive!

So nothing that exciting happened to me this week... We did get two new investigators. They are the children of the lady we got last week. They came to church yesterday and we had the chance to escort them from sacrament to primary. They are good kids. They sat next to us in Sacrament, and I couldn't believe at how well behaved they were: attentive, reverent, and listening to the speakers! Both the 10 year old boy and the 9 year old girl seemed to love their primary classes. After we dropped them off, we talked with their mother. She expressed a strong desire to be baptized.. Woah. This week we are teaching her and will be extending a baptismal date. Can you believe it? We show up to church two weeks in a row and expressed her desire to be baptized. I imagine her two younger kids will follow suit. She does have a husband and 16 year old kid, but I haven't met them yet. Hopefully they want to hope along for the ride!

Our investigating pool is getting pretty large. We did weekly planning on Friday and had to plan for 13 investigators!!! Of course, 4 or so of them are dead beats who like us coming over. When we first started the transfer, all we really had were those four investigators. Now we have 6 or 7 solid investigators who have potential. It's nice to have solid people to teach!

Elder Peterson and I are getting along great. We both have our routines down and things are meshing quite nicely. Elder Peterson knows a lot for only being out 4 months. He must of prepared quite well before he left his mission, something I wished I would of done a bit better! Oh well, you live and learn.

So we eat at the Esterlines yet again this Thursday. I am sure excited for that. They rock!

So I am putting on my winter cushion quite nicely. I have been trying my hardest to avoid it, but it seems unavoidable. I can't really control it to much, so I have given up trying to put on that sixpack, haha.

I sure do love you Mom! Thank you for everything you do for me. I love you more than anything!

December 5, 2011

So our teaching pool had a HUGE spike this week. I will copy and paste what I sent to the mission President:

I guess I will begin with the recap of miracles we experienced this week. We had a guy last week flag us down while we were walking to an appointment. We talked with him, scheduled a time to start teaching him, and went our merry way. Well we taught him two days later and he seemed to enjoy it. He said he would read the introduction to the Book of Mormon and come to church the upcoming Sunday. Well the miracle is that he did. He also expressed that he truly loved it and wanted to come back. He was talking with a member during Priesthood and mentioned that he had met with 8 or so pairs of Elders before and that these two (Elder Peterson and I) were the first that he felt answered his questions and concerns. What a miracle. And if having a investigator show up as he said, we had a member pull us out of gospel principles and told us that she brought a friend who has 3 kids, ages 16 through 10, who was interested in joining. We talked with her friend and scheduled an appointment this Wednesday at the members home for a lesson. Wow. We were completely speechless. The Lord truly is involved in the work, I have a sure testimony of that! I wanted to call you as soon as church was over due to my overwhelming feelings of joy, but I talked myself out of it. So that was what Elder Peterson and I call our "Miracle Sunday."

We have a busy time ahead of us for teaching, which couldn't be better timing with the winter months ahead of us. Our investigators we do have now seem to be maintaining the same progress. We did however get the chance to meet up with a fellow who we haven't seen in awhile. We set up a firm time of this Tuesday to meet with him.

Pretty friggin awesome.... I can't believe how this week went. It was truly a miracle to see all this happen.

Have you seen my Tomahawk?

2011-11-13T20:07:00.000-08:00

Elder Novakovich and Elder Gaykowski are apparently on the side of the Indians in this pre-Thanksgiving celebration sent to us by one of the members in their ward. Darren was able to e-mail us to let us know that their eighteen week run as companions is over. Apparently the members thought enough was enough having to pronounce "Novakovich" and "Gaykowski" every Sunday. Elder "G" is being transferred to a new city and Darren is getting the opportunity to serve as senior companion to a missionary who has been out for about three months now.

10/2 Letter from Elder Novakovich

2011-10-04T15:22:00.001-07:00

Things went really well this week. I was extremely pleased to hear that Elder Gaykowski and I would be serving yet another transfer together. We seem to be really clicking and it could definitely be seen in how the work is going. A lot of exciting things are happening with John's baptism this Saturday. We still don't know who will be baptizing him, so I guess I will let you know next week in my email. I will be sure to include some pictures as well! I am glad that Dad sent those pants, because the kid who I was going to borrow from is actually transferring out of here. The transfer calls this time around were definitely a surprise to everyone in the district. Everyone, including myself, predicted that Elder Gaykowski would be leaving and Elder Cash(who I have never mentioned) would be leaving.

Man I was so bummed when I heard that Utah State lost to BYU! Ahh man, I had full expectations in Utah State winning yet again this year. I am extremely impressed with the way the football program has performed thus far. I saw the play where USU lost to Auburn and what a fluke that was! If you take away a few defensive mistakes, USU is 4-0,, with a win against a ranked opponent. What a change that is from the past years, where two wins was something to talk about. I am glad that everyone had fun. I wish I could of been there!

I wouldn't mind having conference once a month or so! Some of those talks were outstanding! I haven't heard so many talks about JUST the Book of Mormon in awhile during a conference session. I guess it goes to show the importance of that book is to our conversion.

Well things are going great! I am happier than a pig in a poke (quote from bill). It is crazy to think about it will be a year since I have been out in the field in a short while. I can't even what life is like not dressing up in a white shirt and tie every single morning. I never would have guessed that I would of reached that point, that's for sure.

Well I love you so much. Thank you for everything! Good luck at work! You are always in my prayers.

Take no Thought What Ye Shall Eat or Drink

2011-09-29T15:07:00.000-07:00

A family that is taking good care of Elder Novakovich texted us this picture, I assume to prove that Darren is not starving.

9/26 Letter from Elder Novakovich

2011-09-27T14:19:00.001-07:00

So I find out transfers this coming Saturday, which happens to be General Conference! Woot. If I was any sort of fortune teller, I would guess that I am staying in Gardiner and Elder Gaykowski will be going somewhere else. But I have no clue though, because President has developed the reputation of making transfer decisions no one saw coming! I never would of expected to be leaving Somersworth after one transfer, but it happened nonetheless. Hopefully I do get to stay though. I really like Gardiner. I have especially grown to love a guy who lives really close to us. His wife is a member. He has a golden heart, but he has been messed over by religion before so doesn't want any part of it. He was actually the one who called home the day you had your surgery. We were over at his house and I was talking about how you were going through the surgery that his wife went through just a little while back. He asked me for my home phone number and he called to see how the surgery went. Tyson picked up the phone, and from the sounds of it, he didn't have a clue what was going on. Hopefully he relayed the message, but I imagine that he didn't. He is an amazing guy. I love that man to death!

So the baptism for John was pushed back the 8th of October due to general conference.

I don't know what I would really like for my year mark! For the pizza, I think anything would be good! I can't really remember what toppings the pie has, but I think something with some meat would be good! As for other stuff, I really don't have any cravings. Hard candies like blow-pops, lifesavers, and some others like that would be good. I guess you can surprise me! I haven't been disappointed with anything thus far! :)

That is so cool to hear about Camryn and the blessing. That had to be an amazing thing to hear about how she knew the blessing was going to work. It's amazing how much faith a child can have! I guess that's why the savior repeats over and over again in his teachings "become as a little child." Tell her I am so proud of her!

Ahh I can't believe Taylor is almost in college too! Man, it's going to be sweet being in the same school as Taylor! That will be a really fun experience! I bet she is way excited for college to start...

Oh boy, I think Utah State might win it again this year. BYU isn't doing so hot! Hopefully the Aggies show up to play! The game is at BYU this year, right? That will be a fun game to go to. Hopefully some crazy Aggie fans cause some raucous!

Well things are going great here in Gardiner! We have a combined district p-day today, which is going to be sweet! Everyone in our district can play some basketball! We are going to have some competitive games for sure! I am really excited for that.

More from Elder Novakovich

2011-09-06T10:15:00.000-07:00

The weather here has been perfect. From what I checked out, Utah has been scorched! The weather there has been hotttttt. I am not jealous of that. Not one bit. You can tell though that fall is coming upon us here. People are emptying there pools. Just to go on a little tangent: EVERYONE here has a pool in their backyard, which is ironic because they have MAYBE 3 months of weather that is good for swimming. Anyways, people are emptying their pools and the trees are starting to show signs that they are going to change colors. The only depressing thing about fall on its way is the fact that winter is that much closer. I am not looking forward to experiencing a full blown, frigid winter in New England. No sir, I am not looking forward to that at all. But I will be sure to capture all of the beauty of fall for y'all! I will include a lot of pictures to show you the best part of being in New England.

Things are going absolutely great out here in Gardiner! The gym is still in full force and I have nothing to complain about! This month is going to be a busy month! Elder C. Scott Grow from the Seventy is coming down for our Zone Conference on September 19. And to add more awesome to this transfer, we have interviews with President Wilkey on the 15th! President Wilkey is going to be one busy man this month! I am excited to be able to talk again with President! They are much more enjoyable now that I am not talking about negative things! I am grateful for all that he has done for me. I was talking with him last Zone Conference and he mentioned to me how I was going to be his favorite story. He talked about how happy he was that I am truly starting to plant myself in this mission soil. He wrote a little letter to me and placed it in my BoM, which basically was complimenting me. I was very happy to hear that he likes what I am becoming.

Well it’s good to hear that things are going well on the home front. I miss everyone so much! I love you so much and am extremely grateful for all you do!

I love you!

Elder Novak

8-28 Letter from Elder Novakovich

2011-08-29T10:02:00.001-07:00

Haha yeah I did survive the hurricane! Heck, our apartment didn't even lose power! How anti-climatic is that? We were preparing for something epic, but nothing really happened in our neck of the woods. Our area didn't really do much to prepare for the hurricane, except for buying water and other nonperishable goods in case loss of power. I guess you can count that as a serious blessing, but it still would have been sick to be able to claim you went through a harsh storm like a hurricane. All I can say is that I am glad I got out of Vermont! While we were doing our laundry this morning, I saw that Vermont was experiencing some serious flooding. And I know for a fact that the area I was in must have gotten it bad! We had a pretty intense storm while I was there and it caused serious damage from falling tress (there are A LOT of trees in Vermont). So it definitely was a bust where we were. Some areas lost power due to a tree falling down on power lines, but that is the extent of the damage.

The baptism on Friday went really well! It was very well attended and it went extremely smooth. Everything went to plan and fell right into place. The only hiccup was one of the speakers showed up seconds before he was supposed to talk. But he was forgiven when he explained during his talk that his best friend just died in the hospital and that he has been with him for the past few days before he passed away. It was a touching talk and really brought a special spirit to the meeting. Melissa was extremely happy to get baptized. It was an experience that she won't be forgetting anytime soon! After the baptism, we went over to her place to get our BBQ on! We had burgers, dogs, and pasta salads. For dessert, which I had multiple servings of :), we had a chocolate cool whip spread between graham crackers! Holy cow, it was amazing. What they did was take cool whip and add lots of chocolate into it. Once completed, they took a tin tray and placed graham crackers on their sides and used the cool whip as mortar to keep the grahams together. I don't know how long they sat in the fridge, but by the time we ate them the graham crackers were as soft as the cool whip, which made it amazing to eat! Probably one of my new favorite desserts to eat! It was sooo good.

New Apartment?

2011-08-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

We're not sure if this is Darren's new apartment, but he sent this picture to us and was proud of his tent assembly skills.

Short Update from Elder Novakvich

2011-08-15T21:02:00.001-07:00

Weather in Maine has been absolute heaven! Holy cow, you couldn't ask for better weather... The way I see it, when Winter comes around, I think it is more than ok to ask for this kind of weather... Not looking forward to the -30 degree temps with tens of feet of snow. Yikes.

The missionary work has boomed this week! We had a record amount of lessons given, 19, investigators to come to church, 4(two of them being the first time ever), and new investigators.... We picked up three last week! That is so cool. I am excited to see how that goes. Both my companion and I are getting along great.

Again, sorry that this is such a short email.

I love you so much

Elder Darren !

August 8 Letter from Elder Novakovich

2011-08-08T17:18:00.000-07:00

Golf was fun! Is was quite a downfall in the quality of my game, but what can you expect when you haven't swung a club in about 9 months! The course we played was called Western View and it was a small, small course. It was one of those that the front nine and back nine were the same holes. They had about 5 holes that were approachable par 4s from the tee box. If I had my old swing and set of clubs, I couldn't of even used my driver on some of the holes! The average par 4 length was 260 or so yards. I would of launched it past the green every single time. For the round, we ended up just playing a 3 vs. 1 scramble against the kid who is amazing. We beat him by a few strokes... But he still was pretty dang good. We all shared a ladies version of the sasquatch driver... That was crazy to swing. I could feel the shaft bend like nobody's business whenever I swung. I still had a shot where I bombed it 280 or so, so that was cool.

The teaching pool here is thin. This area had an explosion of baptisms about 4 months ago and now it's pretty slow. We are trying to find some new people to teach, but everyone here has talked to the missionaries about a thousand times. I am hoping that the members will hook us up. The baptism coming up has been through the hands for elders for the past 12 months. I am lucky enough to be able to be there when she finally gets baptized. It was pretty cool... Last time we visited her, I had the chance to play the guitar. Her husband has been taking lessons for the guitar and he let me shred some riffs on it. He has a pretty dang cool guitar/amp combo. I miss my guitar!

I have no clue what I would want for my next package. As of right now, I am sitting solid with the amount of candy. I just was able to finish off the jelly beans the other night. I still haven't touched half of the other stuff in the package. There's so much candy!

Nothing really new happened this week. Just the same old stuff. I miss you terrible and love you so much.

July 25 Letter from Gardiner, ME

2011-07-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

Hello madre!

Woo hoo! I remembered my camera this time around. I figure that deserves a self pat on the back. The family in the pictures are the McInnis family. He was the ward mission leader in that area. He is a machine.

I can't wait to get the packages! This is going to be a good gift, if it takes two packages to send out! I can hardly wait to receive them. Thank you so much in advance for sending those. I appreciate it so much! I will be sure to have that cheesecake in the freezer when it arrives. Luckily packages here arrive around 10:00 AM, so I will be there to rapidly move it from the heat to the nice cold freezer..

Speaking of heat, things have been crazy hot here in Maine. The temperature has been around 100 degrees, plus 70 to 80 percent humidity. You literally walk outside for a few seconds and then get plastered with sweat. Some of my shirts have gone through a bit this week, but thankfully they are still holding up. I bet you could collect the amount of sweat between Elder Gaykowski and I in the gallons! I hate humidity. But thankfully we DO have A/C in our apartment. I would literally cry if we didn't. Glad I got out of Somersworth when I did, because the A/C unit doesn't work there. Poor Elder Miller.

Right now we are teaching several people.. All of them are around the age of 30 or so. From what I have put together from talking with them, I don't see any of them getting baptized any time soon. But they are amazing people and I know eventually something will happen. We do have a lady who is getting baptized on the 27th of August. Her name is Melissa and she is really funny. We had dinner over at her house with her Husband and kids the past week. Her husband plays the guitar, so you know I brought up music into the conversations. He let me play his electric guitar, which was ridiculously fun to play. Their sons listen to the same kind of music I do, so it was awesome to talk with them about that sort of stuff...

So Elder Gaykowski and I did talk to President about the Gym.. We talked with him during the zone training this past week and he told us that it was ultimately up to us, but he gave some words of caution. Apparently gyms are common in our mission, so I think President is going to make an official ruling on whether gyms are OK or not. I hope they are, because they truthfully and honestly make the day better. I definitely have more energy throughout the day. But I can also clearly see the real possibility of a gym being a bad thing. So we are going to finish out our month membership and see what President has to say about gyms this upcoming transfer. I hope they are OK to still attend!

Elder Gaykowski said a deep comment the other day in church, he said "I don't necessarily remember everything that my leaders in church have taught me, but I do remember the actions and the way they lived there lives." I thought that was a great thought. Action speak louder than words.

Things continue to go really well here in Gardiner. I found out last week that our bishop owns the subways in this area, and he gives us free subs every Monday for lunch... Guess I am going to subway!! The only thing better than a subway sub is a FREE subway sub!

I hope you have a great time in Lake Powell. I figure your on the road right now, so I guess I can say that I am enjoying myself more than y'all.. I love you so much

Elder Novak

Letter from Elder Novakovich

2011-07-18T19:31:00.000-07:00

Things are going great. Even though I am writing this email while standing up, things are fantastic I was transferred, I believe I already mentioned it, to Gardiner, Maine. Yes there is a Walmart. Were about to head out right now in fact!

It's crazy how small of a world it is, but I am serving with a kid who was good friends with the companion I had in the MTC. His name is Elder Gaykowski and he is a legit kid. I served with him in the first district and he and his companion there were awesome. It was nice to once a week get the chance to actually talk with someone. WE both love golf, so I am super excited to go for my birthday.

The ward I am serving in is pretty cool. They have member meals for every night, so not paying for as much food is great. The only thing I will have to do is budget the meals we eat out. This district I am in loves to eat out every week, plus my companion I have now likes to eat out too. But I am not too worried about that. All we really have to buy in this area is milk, bread, and cleaning supplies, and the rest is taken care of. A member here gives the missionaries a couple dozen eggs each week, so that takes cares of a lot of lunches. Needless to say, we are doing good in regards to food..

As for missionary work, this area is as "gun-ho" as my last area and it's a great ward. I am excited to be in this area. Both my companion and I get along extremely well, so it's going to be a blast.

Gardiner Maine has a beautiful river that runs through the town, and I will be sure to take some pictures of it. I am going to have a lot of legit pictures to take. I will be sure to get the sundown on the river one night. I will be sure to send some next email.

I am happy to hear that all is going well back on the home front. It's good to hear that things are going great. Hopefully Tyson enjoys the obscene heat that is going around the country. It has been hot and sticky here! Holy cow, it has been nuts.

I love you and thank you so much for everything you do for me! I truly appreciate it so much!

Transfered to Gardiner, ME

2011-07-16T08:25:00.000-07:00

Elder Novakovich was transferred to Gardiner, ME. His new address:

35 Neal Street Apt B
Gardiner, ME 04345

More from Somersworth

2011-06-20T18:30:00.001-07:00

Holy crap....... What an eventful Father's day. I don't even know what to say. I am so glad that things worked out. I can't believe that happened. I'm sorry. You are in a surgery room wayyyy too often. Is the post recovery ok? I imagine you would get the day off for work? I love you so much. I am so happy that things worked out.

Umm...from the sounds of it, things are much less "eventful" over here in New Hampshire. It's hard to compare. This week we had some solid referrals from members. This Thursday we are teaching a family of seven who called our bishop and warned him that he should be expecting seven new members to the area. So we have the opportunity to teach them. I am really excited to be able to be part of that. We also have another lady who we are going to teach that will be having dinner with us at a members home. So lots of good things are going to happen this coming week.

Things in my new area are going great. We are seeing some miracles taking place that I can't believe are happening. We stopped by a non-active member, who hasn't been to church or anything in 15 years on Saturday, and saw him playing basketball in his front yard. So we said can we play some 21 and he agreed to play with us. So we played with him, got to know him a little more, and then we went into his house to cool down and drink some soda pop (perfect treat for a post workout). When we got done talking with him, he agreed that would come to church. I really wasn't sure if he would, but he showed up as he said he was going to. After sacrament meeting, Elder Miller and I introduced him to our bishop and during the conversation, he mentioned how his wife (non-member) was going to change up her Sunday work schedule if possible to start coming to church. If that wasn't enough, he also said that his sons (non-members) and daughters (non-members) said they wanted to start coming to church. I could hardly believe it. A member inactive of 15 years shows up and starts saying all of this. Gotta love basketball.

I am glad Dad enjoyed the hat. I didn't know if the hat was too "bling-bling." But I am glad that he likes it though. The maple syrup was from a member in Vermont. Believe it or not, that little container of syrup runs around $20 or so. It takes around 40 gallons of maple sap to make a single gallon of maple syrup. Hence, the extreme prices for the maple syrup. To be perfectly honest, I still like Mrs. Buttersworth more than the "real" stuff. But I will never admit that to a New Englander. They would lynch me for sure.

Things are going well out here. Besides what I asked for in my package, the important one already being fulfilled, I have nothing really to ask for. The members take care of us pretty well. Both of us are getting really comfortable with the area and seem to have a good grasp on our role in the work in this area. The members have an amazing splits idea they set up every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday where they have a couple of members go on splits with us to visit in-actives. I have never seen that in a ward before. It's a great idea.

Well hopefully everything will work out with Mom. I will keep a special prayer in my heart for her and the family. I love you all so much. Thank you for your prayers. I haven't said this, but I pray every single night that the family will be watched over. I love you all so much.

Elder Novakovich

First Letter from Somersworth

2011-06-06T13:13:00.001-07:00

Sorry I wasn't able to email last week. Since it was a holiday, the College was closed down and we were not able to answer emails at all. But it was a good P-Day though. We had the chance to play basketball with the bishop and other youth members in the ward. It was awesome.

I really like this new area. The members are unreal. We have a ward that is wholly invested in missionary work. We have member meals every night, and the ward mission leader has it set up that we go on splits with certain members every Tues, Wed, and Thurs night from 6-8. It's nice not having to worry what to do in the evening. The Ward mission leader here is quite great. He was a life saver this week because both my companion and I were put into this area fresh. They shot-gunned the area and without his help, we would of been running around blind for quite some time.

My companions name is Elder Miller. He is a good guy. He plays basketball, which is very good news. I plan on balling it hard this upcoming transfer.

The area I live in is considered the older part of Somersworth. I might have been scared in this type of neighborhood before my mission, but it’s cool though, because the kids they all like the missionaries here. They call us the "church boys" What a nice title. We got invited by one of the families on our street to go to a big barbeque they were having right before the husband heads to San Diego for work. They are a Catholic family, but they feed the missionaries and provide support for them whenever we need any. I couldn't have asked for a better area. Even non-members hook us up.

I have had to step up my workout intensity now. We get fed every single night, with leftovers for the following day. I can't complain with that at all. I bought a perfect pushup thingy and it has been kicking my butt. Perfect pushups are hard! I never would have imagined struggling to complete a series of pushups.

Love,

Elder Novakovich

Zone Conference - Sharon Vermont

2011-06-04T12:52:00.000-07:00

Talk about a cool place to hold Zone Conference. A couple of weeks ago Elder Novakovich participated in Zone Conference which was held in Sharon, Vermont at the Joseph Smith Memorial.

Pictures from Johnson, VT

2011-06-04T12:49:00.000-07:00

Somersworth, NH

2011-06-04T12:42:00.000-07:00

Camryn anxiously looked over my shoulder as we put Elder Novakovich's new address into google earth - her reaction when the image appeared - "At least now Darren lives in a neighborhood".

Transfer

2011-06-04T12:36:00.000-07:00

We received a letter from Elder Novakovich today and found out that he received a transfer to a new area, Somersworth, NH. We haven't had a chance to learn much about his new area but he tells us it is on the southern border of Maine and New Hampshire. They have a Walmart and a Target - life can't get any better.

His new address is:

Elder Novakovich
43 Franklin Street
Somersworth, NH 03878

May 17 Letter

2011-05-20T18:22:00.001-07:00

Yesterday all of the Zones (Montpelier and Concord) gathered together at the Joseph Smith Memorial for Zone Conference. Oh yeah, it was way cool. We were lucky to have the chance to "sneak peak" the NASA Exhibit at the Memorial. The exhibit had a bunch of pictures that were taken from a Hubble telescope. The pictures were absolutely jaw dropping. And yes, I did take pictures of the exhibit. Some of the pictures capture galaxies that are thousands of light years apart. It's incredible how technology has advanced.

The Zone Conference itself was great. It was about eight hours long. It's really hard to sit down for such long periods of time, but it was a great Zone Conference. We talked about the upcoming bug season; which is supposed to be quite extreme this year. We learned the proper procedure for removing a tick from your skin:-) Besides frightening us about bugs, they had some messages about how to improve our areas. Apparently President Wilkey is quite the fisherman. And that was the general message of the Zone Conference.

I believe I said this in my e-mail, but church this Sunday was great. I am about to finish wit the Old Testament. I skipped over Psalms and Proverbs though. I don't really care about those. I just wanted the rest of it so I can know what's exactly in the Old Testament. I have found that helpful when trying to have a doctrinal discussion with someone who knows nothing about the Book of Mormon. It also helps when someone starts telling a story from the Bible which is false. I've had that a few times now. It's funny to hear a so called "devout" member of another church speak with such little knowledge about the on book they read. There are so many passages in the Bible that support the Book of Mormon. But I agree with Ezra T. Benson when he said that the Book of Mormon can bring a man closer to God than any other book. You can sense a stronger spirit when reading the Book of Mormon. It's such a strong witness that Jesus is the Christ. Especially in 3 Nephi when Christ comes to the Americas. The love he has for everyone is amazing. One part that strikes me was when he was offering a prayer to Heavenly Father and weeps. Afterwards he gathers all of the children and blesses them. He as such a pure love for his brothers and sisters.

Love,

Elder Novakovich

May 16 - Letter

2011-05-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

zdravo!

Things are pretty much the same here in Ol' Johnson, Vermont. The weather has been showers for the past three days. You would think that after such a long, harsh winter that mother nature would bless this land with some descent weather. I guess that would be asking too much.

No transfer yet. Transfers are in 2 weeks, so it won't be until the end of May. And Zone Conference is actually tomorrow. And I am pretty excited for it. I think its going to be an interesting conference, considering we were told to read the talks from the 2011 April Conference, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten" and "What men and woman ought ye to be"..... I can hardly wait to see what President has for us. And from an email we got from Sister Wilkey, sounds like a apostle will be coming to our Zone Conference.

I had the chance to go on exchanges ALL week, so it was nice to see another area. It was refreshing to get to know a couple of other Elders better and learn from them. I learned a cool faith exercise from an Elder in Colebrook, New Hampshire, so that was really cool.

I did receive the name tag you sent back! And as requested, I have worn it since. It looks boring, but it makes sense to wear it. I will have to wear my Serbian name tag in Essex, Vermont, however. There are a lot of Bosnian families that live there, and seeing the name tag will spark some interest. Bosnian is pretty much the same language as Serbian, so it's a great opportunity to open a door that is not there otherwise.

So how was St. George?? From what Mom told me, it sounded absolutely awesome. I can only imagine what 80 degree weather feels like. I must say that I am starting my summer tan pretty nice. My face has a good start, as well as my hands and forearms. The sweet tan line where my neck collar is coming in just fine! It's a curse to tan so easily when your forced to wear a white shirt all day, every day. But I did have the chance to do some service for a member, so I was able to wear that under armour shirt you sent me. That helped a little with the tan line around my arms.

Brother Stubbs must love me, because on Friday night, he asked me to give a 15 minute talk during sacrament yesterday. And being the good little missionary, I accepted. I talked about following your leaders and the importance of heading to their messages. Next week is Stake Conference, so it was fitting that's what I talked about. I think the talk went really well. It was the first talk I have given, in English, that was just me going by what I felt and thought of. So I am glad that it went well.

But to say thank you, or so I like to think, Brother Stubbs invited us over to eat with his family following Sacrament meeting. We ate so well yesterday night! His wife grew up in the South, so you know that she can cook! We had fried chicken(of course), Mac & Cheese, broccoli casserole, rice, and her famous homemade rolls. Oh, what a feast we had. It was awesome. For dessert we had this tasty thing that I will make when I get home. It was so good. Basically its asphalt pie. You lay a cooking pan with a layer of Oreo's and then spread butter over the top of it to weigh it down. Then you top the pan with vanilla ice cream. You let it melt a bit, then spread the ice cream evenly over the oreo's. Then you refreeze, then pull out later. Then you add whatever kind of chocolate topping you want. I had heath pieces and chocolate syrup on top. Its was delicious, but in no way nutritious. Needless to say, I helped myself to a double portion of it.

I have some good news: I have lost 15 pounds. And it has nothing to do with exercise. I think all the stress and anxiety that I am feeling made my body flush itself out. I can hardly eat food without feeling sick to my stomach. I eat to survive, and that's about all I can handle. But I was able to eat well last night at Brother Stubbs house. He had us over and we ate so well! His wife grew up in the South, so you know that she can cook! For dessert we had this tasty thing that I will make when I get home. It was so good.

Mother's Day Call

2011-05-08T18:45:00.000-07:00

It was so wonderful to be able to speak with Elder Novakovich today. We are so proud of him for his service to the Lord and are impressed with his growth. We couldn't have asked to be blessed with a better son. Some of what he shared with us:

The teaching pool is shallow, but they have great members and are working with many of them to find investigators.
They do a lot of door to door contacting. He appreciates that the harsh Vermont winters are over - it was cold and there was a lot of snow.
He loves the members - they treat and feed the missionaries very well. He particularly likes Bro. Stubbs and his family. [Our thanks to Bro. Stubbs!]
He is busy reading the Old Testament and wants to finish the entire standard works this year.
The Vermont area is rural and very green; lots of trees and very beautiful.
They meet every Wednesday for district meeting. He's met many of the missionaries and is looking forward to meeting more of them at an upcoming Zone Conference.
He loves mail - keep the letters coming.
The church in Johnson has a basketball court, but there it's carpeted and you can't shoot from more than 15 feet away as the ceiling gets in the way.
His clothes still fit - thank goodness for all of the walking.

Letter - Week of April 25 (six month mark of his mission)

2011-04-25T13:09:00.001-07:00

My Easter was fantastic! After church, we had a member invite us over to dinner. The cool part was that he was bringing us along to a non-members house to have dinner. Apparently the nonmember is coworkers with the member and she heard that he would have us for dinner all the time on Sunday's at his house. So she thought it would nice if we came along as well to dinner. It was great to be able to go over to their house. They had quite the feast for us. I haven't eaten that much food in one sitting in awhile. I was wobbling out of the house after it was all said it done. We didn't talk about the gospel at all, but from what the member said, just our presence will make a huge impact with her. The fact she let us in, according to the member, was huge!

Well my talk got changed to our Ward Easter dinner we had. I spoke at that instead of sacrament.

I believe President Wilkey called you a few days ago. He said he was going to, so I assume he did. I love that man. President WIlkey is such a good guy. I like him so much more than President Hill. I look back on how things went down in Serbia, and I can't believe how things turned out. We are all human, even mission presidents.

I got the healthy package... That was an impressive amount of items you were able to cram into that package. I definitely am set with goodies. I have so many lying around our apartment.

I heard from Alex Porter today... Apparently he broke his ankle pretty bad in Mexico and is now back home in SLC recovering from it.

I love you so much... Thank you for everything.

Letter - Week of April 18

2011-04-18T13:12:00.000-07:00

So yeah, transfers happened this week. We didn't get a phone call. So it looks like another 6 weeks in Vermont. Zone conference is in five weeks. The only missionaries I have met are the ones who are in my district. At this point I have been on companionship exchanges with all of them. My companion is the district leader, so we go on companionship exchanges every week.

We have a pretty yummy Chinese place here in Johnson that we go to twice a week or so. Once on P-Day and once with a member who takes us every Wednesday before our scripture study class. That member was actually a member of the seventy back in the day.

As I told mom, our ward has been pretty crazy these past few weeks. We had two members die, an older lady and a two year old. I don't know if the two year old made news over what's going on nowadays, but he was accidentally shot by one of his siblings when they were playing with a gun. So these past weeks have been very emotional for everyone in the ward where I am serving.

Our stove will hopefully get fixed this week. We called the members who are renting out the apartment to us, and they told us they would contact the gas company or whoever to fix the problem. We have been forced to cook in the church building this past week.... OH I HAVE A GOOD STORY!! So last week I was cooking Dad's garlic pasta. It was about done: the pasta was minutes from being cooked and the garlic was completely browned in the oil. So I took off the pan with the olive and garlic and placed it onto a stove that did not have any heat on it. After 10 seconds, I noticed that the oil was starting to boil for some strange reason. I went over to grab it and it started to boil even more. So I put the pan down and as I did so, a few droplets of oil jumped into the air. And I still don't know how to this day, but those oil droplets ignited into a fire ball that reached the ceiling. I thought I was going to burn the church down. I have never screamed so loud in my life. Right before my face was this huge ball of fire. Oh man, it was awesome. The smoke that came from it was pretty impressive. I had to close the room door because it was thick enough to set off the fire alarm, which would have been bad news. But the good news is nothing caught on fire. So I am safe. I don't know if that ever happened to you, but it’s scary stuff.

I get to have pizza for lunch today! We are going to Lydon to play some basketball with everyone in our district. Haha, it’s time to put my game face on. Unfortunately, Vermont doesn't believe in having wood floors to play on. They believe carpet is far better. Oh well. At least we can still play.

April 11 Update

2011-04-12T08:03:00.000-07:00

Now need recipes that require no heat…

I haven't had the chance to try any of the recipes that dad sent. Our stove died on us, so we have no way of preparing the meals. I have stuck to anything that is microwavable this past week.

Things are still going the same in where I am at. Nothing to report. The snow has almost melted. We have had a few solid days of rain here and it has helped with that.

Please send referrals, does this sound familiar to you former missionaries…

This week was pretty much the same. Tract, tract, tract. That's all we really do. We have a pair of investigators who we teach regularly, but that's about it. It’s really wearing me down just knocking, knocking, and knocking on endless amount of doors. Tracting has to be the least effective way to do missionary. I always think what it must be like to have a pair of 20 year old kids knocking on your door saying that they have the knowledge about the restored church of Jesus Christ.... I just wish there was a different way out here, but we don't have any other option. It doesn't help that we have a small amount of miles to use each month, which really restricts are abilities to get around at all. Only this far into the month, we have used half of the miles allotted to us. Oh well.

Call for Help in the Kitchen

2011-03-29T14:40:00.000-07:00

Elder Novakovich needs your help cooking on a missionary budget and time schedule - see below.

Elder Nyman and I are in desperate need of some good recipes. If you recall any other, cheap delicious meals, don't hesitate in sending them my way. I wan't to be known for being the kid who can cook well. I have also collected some delicious recipes from members. When all is said and done, I am hoping to have a nice collection for when I go back to college. It's amazing how cheap one can live when you have too. We spend about fourty dollars a week on food for our apartment. We have found this amazing breakfast thingy that keeps you full for hours upon hours, all the while being cheap and insanely tasty. If you want a amazing thing to help you with your weight loss, I would give this a shot:

The Breakfast of Wisdom!:

1 Cup of Old Fashioned Oats

1 or 2 Tablespoons Wheat Germ

1 or 2 Tablespoons Flax Seed

1 or 2 Tablespoons Wheat Bran

Almond Milk, for creamy texture

4 to 5 spoonfulls of Lowfat Vanilla Yogurt

Cup of Frozen Blueberries

1 Bannana.

Mix all the Dry ingredients into bowl and then add in 4 to 5 spoonfulls of Vanilla Yogurt. Add Almond Milk until creamy enough. Add the Frozen Blueberries and diced up bannanas to bowl. Enjoy.

This meal is perfect for keeping you full, as well as being healthy. I have had this at 7:00 in the morning and had it last till 4:00 in the afternoon multiple times.

Rural Vermont

2011-03-26T13:59:00.000-07:00

Elder Novakovich has commented in all of his letters that the area where he serves is very rural. They have a truck vs. a car. The roads are dirt road, muddied and rutted during bad weather. Houses are far apart - they walk a lot. I had to see it for myself. Thanks again google earth.

Week #2 in Vermont

2011-03-21T10:11:00.000-07:00

Things are going fine. Elder Nyman and I had two dinner appointments with members last week. I absolutely love dinner appointments. I love the opportunity to get to know members out here. The ones I have visited through dinner appointments are the ones that know me the best. It’s always fun to get to know families, all the while enjoying a free meal! You can never complain about getting a free meal.

I have had the chance to teach a non-member. In fact, we meet twice a week with a man and his fiancé every week. They are getting married in June, and are planning on being baptized a month or so before that. From what I have heard, this man was converted awhile back and then left the church two years or so later. So it’s cool to talk with him and see the repentance process that he has gone through. He is a good guy and has made some life choices that hopefully reflect that he is willing to make the change to become a member of the Church.

Yeah, I got the package! Dear Elder sure does load up the packing peanuts! I was impressed at the quantity they were able to squeeze into the box. It’s perfect though, because I need packing peanuts for my package that I am sending home.

Thank you for the fast on my behalf. It's such a comforting feeling that my family cares that deeply for me. I really do appreciate it. It makes a huge difference. I love you much! Thank you.

Elder Novakovich

First Letter from Elder Novakovich

2011-03-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

The language is coming along great! Its like I have been speaking the language my entire life. I understand every word that is being said. Its truly the gift of tongues, haha. I miss Serbian though, I really love that language a lot. I enjoyed learning it and only wish I could of become much more fluent before I had to leave. But such is life I guess.

Yeah the area I am serving is very, very rural. There are houses every quarter mile and thick, forest along the way. For finding, we park our truck, which is actually pretty nice, and go contacting along a long strip of road. Unfortunately, we only 1,500 miles each month with driving our truck. So we don't have the pleasure of driving up to peoples houses and go contacting that way. We walk a ton. Not as much as in Novi Sad, but more than you would think having a vehicle.

For transportation, we ride in a truck and bike or walk the rest of the time. And from what I saw on the deck of our apartment, there are two bikes sitting there. So I guess I will not have to purchase a bike at all. I imagine that every apartment has a pair of bicycles for the missionaries that live their.

Out here, we have a ward of about 70-100 members. But we meet at a normal chapel building. Its a very nice building. It feels good to have a normal, functioning ward to come to. The members were very nice in welcoming me to their ward. The bishop asked me to introduce myself as well as give a small talk the moment I arrived. So everyone now knows who I am.

Thank you for everything. This week has been the worst, and I am so grateful that I have such great parents. You have made the greatest difference.

Love you!

First Pictures of Darren from New Hampshire

2011-03-14T10:25:00.000-07:00

Big Change for Elder Novakovich

2011-03-13T21:27:00.000-07:00

As Elder Novakovich commented in his last e-mail, there have been some big changes over the past couple of weeks. With much sadness, he found out that he and three older elders who were serving in Serbia would be re-assigned to new missions, leaving only two missionaries in the country (Belgrade). While the work was challenging and success minimal, he loved the people and language and will miss both greatly. He has been re-assigned to the New Hampshire mission and arrived there on Friday. He was assigned to serve in Johnson, VT which is a small town about 50 miles north of Sharon, VT where the Prophet Joseph Smith was born. We've spoken to his new mission president who seems to be a wonderful man who loves and supports his missionaries.

His new address is:

Elder Darren Novakovich

1754 Plot Road, Apt. 3

Johnson VT 05656-9512

I'm sure he'd love to hear from you.

Letter from Elder Novakovich - March 7

2011-03-07T09:40:00.000-08:00

Well this week has been very, very interesting. So I guess I will start off by saying that I am now in Croatia. I have no clue why, but they moved me here to Zagreb for this transfer, and possibly next transfer. I still have no idea what is going on, but I assume I will find out shortly. Im not going to lie though, it’s really hard being here. I finally got used to the Serbia, and all of a sudden I get moved to Croatia. I feel kind of cheated in ways. I don't even know what to think about it. When President told us on Thursday, I left for Croatia that night. Without any warning, it happened. Anyways, what else have I done...... I believe I said my final goodbye to Elder Porter. Its incredibly sad to say, but I might not see him as a missionary again, that is unless we have Zone Conference here in Croatia in the next while. Speaking of Elder Porter, he is now one of 4 elders in Serbia.

President Hill told me that I would return to Serbia either this next transfer or the one after that. We will find out I guess tonight. The AP's are picking me up here in Zagreb in about an hour and we will be driving to Serbia to have another meeting with all the Serbian Elders. I have a lot of questions and I hope I will be able get answers to them tonight.

With that all said, I absolute love it here in Europe. I still am a bit reluctant to be here in Zagreb, understandably given the circumstances. I finally got into a groove in Serbia, and in a flash, I start all over anew in a completely different country. I must say, Croatia is much prettier than Serbia. However, I would never want to stay here over Serbia. I love Serbia. But I should be back soon enough. I'm just trying not to count the days. I hope everyone is having a good ol time. I will be sure to report back when things get situated here in Eastern Europe!

Will all of this chaos, the language is really progressing for me. I feel really comfortable know talking to members. The other day, I gave a full 7 minute testimony slash introduction about myself during fast and testimony meeting. By the end of the meeting, I had real conversation with most of the members. I am to the point now I can understand pretty much everything people say to me in basic conversation situations. It’s amazing how these things happen over the course of a week period. I went from struggling beyond comprehension to being able to speak. It feels so good to have no fear of being alone with a native and being able to communicate with them. It’s an awesome thing.

Love

Elder Novaković

Letter from Darren

2011-03-06T14:44:00.000-08:00

There was no group letter from Darren last week, but below are some excerpts from his letter to his mother. She always gets the best letters - fair payment for all her efforts in raising her son.

Things are growing great here in Novi Sad. This week, we have been working at the sajam knjiga, which is a huge book fair here in Novi Sad. The church bought a booth for us and we go their and sell Book of Mormons and other things there. Its been pretty fun. I have the chance to master explaining what is for sale, what's free, and what the Book of Mormon is. Its been quite the experience doing that. Unfortunately though, we are not currently teaching anyone. Hopefully that will change, but since last Wednesday, all Elder Porter and I have done is work at the sajam knjiga. We haven't really had the chance to doing any calling from numbers we received about a week ago. Hopefully those people even remember who we are. We will find out here in the next few days though!

Actually, I will be here in Novi Sad for the next two months. Transfers here in Serbia are in two months periods, which would suck if you disliked your companion. Good thing I don't, right? Elder Porter is doing great. He and I are still getting along very well. I might even get the chance to "kill" him from the mission.

Haha its hilarious to hear about the bromance going on. From what I hear, a lot of people are having bromances with Jimmer. Every article I read it "Jimmer this, Jimmer that. Jimmer is the man, Jimmer for President, etc." Its hard to believe, but there are 4 other players on the court with Jimmer :) Its so funny to hear that Dad is caught in the Jimmer bonanza.

Its friggin cold here in Serbia. We have had about two to three feet of snow in the past week here. No bueno. I strongly dislike the snow. I can't wait for the humid summer... Of course that too is something I am not looking forward too. At least I will be able to run and get my smexxy tan going. I hear the babes love t-shirt tan lines on the bicep area. OH baaby, I is going to be smexyy.

Well things are going amazing! Thank you for everything you have done for me. You are an awesome mother. I love you so much.

Elder Novakovich

Pekara = Happiness

2011-02-21T06:52:00.000-08:00

This may look very similar to someone.......

I'm hungry. That's the first thing that came to my mind. Hopefully all the other Elders want to go to a pekara or something like that after this. I feel like I could eat a lot of food.

This week has been great! I had the opportunity to go on splits with the AP last week. They came down and Elder Matson, one of the AP's, and I went contacting for a few hours. During that time, we managed to get 6 phone numbers! That was the first time I have had true success with contacting. It was awesome. We had a pretty good routine of me introducing ourselves, explaining that I was new to the country and couldn't speak very much Serbian, and explained that I needed to practice in order to get better. After I gave my part, Elder Matson would talk about the gospel and how were here to help others. What we did really worked out well. We have a return appointment with one man and his family this week, so I am excited to be able to finally talk with someone that isn't a member!!

We also had Branch Conference down here in Novi Sad. President Hill and President Mihajlović came down and spoke to us during our sacrament. We had an awesome feast we missionaries prepared afterwords. We had ruska salata, which is a Russian salad thingy, and kulin sandwiches, which is basically pepperoni like meet between bread. I ended up spending 10 hours at the church!

Well the language is going well. I have noticed that I am improving. I am far away from being where I need to be, but at least I am continuing to progress every day. I had a lady comment to me the other day how I was improving. There is a place by our church that sells those Plieskavica's that I mentioned in my list a few weeks ago. Anyways, we went there and she said how she noticed a big difference with language. That made me feel really good.

I found out from President yesterday that I will be spending another transfer with Elder Porter, which means I will be staying here in Novi Sad! I was insanely excited to hear that. I love it here. All the Elders here are awesome, and we all are really tight. But sadly, Elder Christiansen will be leaving us! He finished his mission and now leaves in 6 days to the land of the free! He is so glad to be going home. He tries to not show it, but you can tell he is pumped to go home. I can't blame him: I would be too! But I am looking forward to doing some work here. I feel a change in the air: and it smells like success. I feel like I can have a positive influence here in Serbia.

Well I heard Utah had some snow. That's a bummer.

puno ljybav!

February 14 - Letter

2011-02-14T06:32:00.000-08:00

Well another week in the bag! And what a week it was! I had the chance to go to Zagreb for a zone conference with all the missionaries in Serbia and Croatia. We left Wednesday afternoon from Belgrade and arrived 8 hours later in Zagreb! That night, we stayed at a couple of Elder apartments in Zagreb and Karlovac. It was awesome talking to Elders who were not from Serbia. Even though the countries are so close together, its crazy how different of experiences we have. But it was great to get a different view of missionary work.

Nothing really exciting happened at the conference. We had meeting throughout the day on Thursday, where we had the chance to hear from the Mission President and his wife. We also heard from the AP's and Zone Leader in Croatia. They had some really cool things to say. The best part was afterwards: we had the chance to see the baptisms of two kids in the Zagreb branch. It was amazing to see that happen. It was such an incredible experience to see two children from Croatia become baptized into the church.

After the baptisms, we headed back to Serbia. In two days, we almost spent more time on the train than in Croatia, assuming to don't include sleeping. Croatia is very beautiful country, especially the capitol Zagreb. It was very clean and had a lot of energy near center. It was incredible to visit there. But Serbia's better, so I was glad to return.

This weekend I also got to visit a small branch of 10 or so members in a small town called Sremska Mitrovica. I had the opportunity to give a talk/testimony to the members there. I also had the chance to talk about my family history with them as we had dinner at one of the members house. I have never wished I could speak Serbian more than I did there! I felt so bad when I had to speak English with them. I tried my absolute hardest to speak Serbian, but I just couldn't express my feelings or thoughts as well otherwise. Its crazy, two of the young woman in that branch speak fluent English. They said some things to me in English and I was blown away. They had no trace of an accent at all! Maybe with time I will be the same way!

Have a great week everyone! Hopefully the weather is as nice as it is here in Serbia!!

Sremska Mitrovica

2011-02-14T04:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I had the chance to visit a small branch of members in Sremska Mitrovica. I had the chance to meet the members, as well as give a talk during our meeting. After the meetings, I showed the members pictures of my Serbian ancestors as well as my family.

Veljko Novakovich

2011-02-10T07:22:00.000-08:00

Picture of Darren's great-grandfather Stephen (Veljko) Novakovic who came to the United States from Yugoslavia with his father Duro and mother Sofia Panic in the early 1900's.

Great Link

2011-02-10T06:55:00.000-08:00

Check out this great website. It has a lot videos, pictures and other information about Serbia. I particulary like this video clip which shows the beautiful landscape of the country. We are already making plans to go to Serbia when Darren has finished his mission there.

http://www.ambassador-serbia.com/

Amazing Song!

2011-02-07T04:24:00.000-08:00

It's been a long way
I try hard not to fall apart
Every night I pray
And your voice is singing in my heart

I have been waiting
A long time for you to take my hand
Loving and hating
A desire that I dont understand

I can't breathe, I can't sleep
Why can't I get through to you?
I can't think, I can't speak
What am I to do?

Destiny
Ive been looking for something to guide me
Destiny
Even though Ive tried I can't deny you
If I let you go, Id betray my soul
I know that this is something more
Even though nothings spoken for,
a way that you will feel the same bout me
Destiny

(Instrumental)

Read the stars and see my scars
I feel so low when youre away
So reach out, its not far
Listen to me pray

Destiny
I've been looking for something to guide me
Destiny
Even though I tried I can't deny you
If I let you go (let you go)
I betray my soul (my soul)
I know that this is something more
Even though (even though), nothing's spoken for (spoken for)
A way that you will feel the same
'bout mee.. ooohhh

If I let you go (let you go)
I betray my soul (my soul)
I know this is something more
Even though, (even though) nothing spoken for (spoken for)
I pray that you will feel the same 'bout me
Destiny

Faith is within of me
Destiny

Mormon Tabernacle Choir Audition

2011-02-06T14:33:00.000-08:00

The first presidency found out that Darren is related to Hilary Weeks and while in the MTC, Darren's district was asked to audition for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The church obtained and sent to us this bootleg copy of their performance track. Had he made the choir, he would have been reassigned to the SLC mission. Draw your own conclusion, but apparently, all of the missionaries are currently serving in foreign countries.

Picture of Novi Sad from Google Earth

2011-02-01T14:44:00.001-08:00

If Google Earth works, this is where Darren lives in Novi Sad.

Interesting Facts

2011-02-01T09:55:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone!!

You may be wondering to yourself, “Self, why is Elder Novakovich's email arriving on a Tuesday. He has P-days on Mondays, and I am pretty sure you only get to type emails on your P-Days." Well let me tell you. We were busy all day yesterday and had no time. Well that was easy to answer! :)

So how is everyone? I hope it’s not as cold in Utah, or wherever you may be, as it is in Serbia. These past weeks have been crazy!! I can say that humidity is not a good thing during the winter. Come to think of it, humidity just makes everything worse: warm weather, cold weather, you name it. Humidity ruins it. But alas, let me step off my soap box!

Having been in the country for a month now, I figured I would create a list of sorts of things I find fascinating or peculiar about Serbia.

1. Restaurant Culture: Serbians love to go to Kofić with friends and just order drinks. And when they order their drinks, they just sit there for hours and hours and sip away at their drink. Last week the Elder's from Belgrade came down and we had lunch at Adriana's, which is the best place at center in Novi Sad. As we were eating, we found out we were the only table of 20 or so that had food on our table. No one ordered food. Not what I would do. I like stuffing my face with delicious foods!

2. Beer: Beer here is almost as cheap as water. Price of a 2 L of Jelen Piva: 100 Dinars. Price of a 2 L of water: 80 Dinars.

3. Bakeries: They plague this land like McDonald's plagues America. They have bakeries every fifteen steps. Love it

4. Plieskavica: Google it. Best food known to man. Take an American hamburger, and put it on steroids that make food more delicious. That's how I would describe them.

5. Exchange rate: 1 USD = 75 RSD as of today. Boo ya!

6. Novi Sad Branch: a total of 6 active members. All of them over the age of 60.

7. Language: Serbians learn English far better than we learn Serbian. We have met many Serbians who speak English with little or no accents.

8. DVD: Three bucks a pop, enough said.

9. Zip-lock Baggies: They do not exist in Serbia. You will never find a zip-lock bad in this country. They don't exist. ** Again, I have been corrected. I will have to try to find them, because I can't seem to find them at all!

10. Tennis: It’s hard to imagine, but tennis is one of the biggest sports out here. You see many, many tennis courts throughout the city.

11. Cross Walks: Serbians don't like being the first one to cross at an intersection. Whenever we come up to a crosswalk, we always go first. They always just stare at each other and hope someone else goes first. It's hilarious to watch! I will have to film it one day.

12. Fast Food: Fast food restaurants here are bomb: McDonald's, KFC, and Pizza Hut. I could say with confidence they taste better out here than in the States. They serve french friends in Pizza Hut!

13. Novi Sad: The literal translation for the city name is "new now" ** I have been corrected, it means "New Garden" Thanks for the correction!

Well that's all I could think of on the top of my head. I will include more as I run across them!

That's all folks!

Love Elder Novakovich

Serbian National Anthem

2011-01-30T16:17:00.000-08:00

I was curious about the Serbian National Anthem. I found the posted video - what a beautiful song. I suggested to the family that we learn the song so that we could sing it to Darren at the airport when he returned home. Unfortunately there were no takers. Below are the works in Serbian and the English translation. There are eight stanzas, but only first two are sung.

Bože pravde

Боже правде, ти што спасе
од пропасти досад нас,
чуј и одсад наше гласе
и од сад нам буди спас.

Моћном руком води, брани
будућности српске брод,
Боже спаси, Боже храни,
српске земље, српски род!

God of Justice; Thou who saved us
when in deepest bondage cast,
Hear Thy Serbian children's voices,
Be our help as in the past.

With Thy mighty hand sustain us,
Still our rugged pathway trace;
God, our hope; protect and cherish
Serbian lands and Serbian race!

Novi Sad - Week of January 24 Letter

2011-01-24T06:29:00.000-08:00

Well Hello everyone!!!!

I would like to take my first paragraph of my letter to send out my sincerest apologies for not writing last week. Last week was an interesting week in the fact that absolutely nothing happened. I was contemplating what I should write and kept pulling up blanks. I had not a clue as to what words I could use to fill my internet cafe screen with. With a heavy heart, I decided that it was not possible to write a letter. Please forgive me. It was not an easy decision to make.

But alas, here I am to continuing another chapter in my saga as an Elder n such. We will pretend that last week never happened. But trying to recall what even happened or what I ate, it's safe to say that last week didn't happen. Elder Porter and I were talking last night about my life here in Serbia so far. He was commenting about how it has seemed like I have been here forever. I was inclined to agree with him. I know it has only been a little under a month, but it has seemed liked forever. It's funny, I think back on this previous month and it seems like it flew by. But as I think about it, it feels like an eternity. Funny how that works.

Well I finally had a conversation this week with one of the members here in Novi Sad. She arrived to Church this Sunday and greeted me with a question. As I was preparing to put on my "say what?" face, I realized I understood what she said. And to my disbelief, I knew what to say back! She asked how the language was this week and if I made any improvements. Afterwards, she asked me about my family and where exactly they lived. I didn't know where they lived, so I told her that they were born in Budancia, Croatia and that I believe they lived in Northern Serbia. I was truly astonished! I had a basic, but meaningful conversation with a member! Oh man, you could only imagine the joy I had when I understood what she was saying. I guess you could compare it to the first Christmas a kid has when he grasps the concept of presents. It was awesome.

I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but I love inflation in other counties. Its sooo nice to be able to go to a store and buy a nice beanie/scarf combo, gloves, and a nice white Nike belt with belt buckle for 600 dinars, which is 6 US dollars. Everything here is so cheap. DVD's here are 150 or 200 dinars. Each missionary here has a collection of 10-20 Disney DVD's that have been dubbed in Serbian or Croatian. Were not allowed to watch them, but it's cool to have them as souvenirs. The best thing to buy here though are the ties. High quality ties here at 300 dinars a pop, which is 3 US dollars. Some missionaries here have over 50 ties they have purchased. That's a lot of ties! I don't imagine myself needing that many ties, but it's cool to think you could buy 60 nice ties for about 180 USD. In the US, you could maybe buy 6 or 7 ties for that price. Viva Serbia and its inflation.

Anyways, things continue to progress here. Every Elder here in Novi Sad are awesome guys. I get along with extremely well. My companion, Elder Porter, is a one of a kind guy. He truly has been a great trainer. I am loving life.

With much love!

Elder Novakovich

Week #3 in Novi Sad

2011-01-19T19:47:00.000-08:00

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.

Childhood Friends

2011-01-16T20:01:00.000-08:00

Darren was in the MTC with Jordan Spoerri who grew up with Darren in the same West Jordan neighborhood. Jordan leaves the MTC in February for Moscow Russia.

The following picture was taken the day before Darren left for Serbia.

Pictures from Novi Sad

2011-01-10T08:36:00.001-08:00

The good stuff!

2011-01-10T06:19:00.001-08:00

Well another week has gone by, and here I stand alive, ready to tell my story to the world.

I finally experienced what it means to be a missionary in Serbia: I was physically and verbally abused!!! From what I was told, it's a relatively common thing, at least for the verbal assaults. Well let me set up this intriguing story: My companion Elder Porter and I were just returning from a apoteka, which is basically a pharmacy, with a load of "old men" diapers in our hands. We had just thirty minutes earlier been asked by one of the members in our branch if we would kindly go to an apoteka and purchase him some diapers. That being said, we were making our way back to his apartment. Along the way, we ran into some less than nice looking individuals who called us out and started to approach us. Having no idea of what they were saying, I just sat their where my companion started talking to these three gentlemen. I don't know what was said, but one of the "goons" slapped my fellow comrad across the face. I was at a complete shock at the moment for two reasons: What the heck is happening and more importantly.... Why did a guy slap another guy across the face? I know I am from the United States, but I am pretty sure that fists are a universal language. Slapping seems to send a weird message to my mind when one guy slaps another. Needless to say, I was taken aback. What man slaps another guy???? I just don't even know. Well good thing for them, one of the native Serbians had half the brains to grab his friend and walk away. Because I am more than sure it would have gotten pretty ugly had things escalated.

Well that's about the most excited thing that happened to me this past week. Besides giving a talk in sacrament, nothing really happened. I'm still like a little child here. I always need my daddy to talk to other people for me. I can order food and the like for myself, but besides that, I am a lost little child. It's hilarious whenever someone tries to talk to me... I just point to my companion and basically tell him I have been in Serbia for a week, ту сам неделу дана. Oh yeah, you can put all your chips down that I know how to say that well :D

Not much else to report on than that. Im doing well and I haven't died yet. So there is some good news there.

Love,

Elder Novakovich

PS.. My video blog won't load, so I will have to figure that out next week. Sorry.

Arrival!

2011-01-03T03:06:00.001-08:00

Well I made it!!!

After 9 weeks in the MTC, I have broken free of the little bubble and now I am in Serbia!! What a culture shock. I have absolutely no idea of what people are saying. I feel like a two year old again: I have to rely 100% of my companion, Elder Porter, for everything. Its frustrating to not to be able to understand anything of what people are saying. But that's the way it goes. I learned Serbian is a four out of five on diffiuculty as a language. English is a 2. So that might explain why its so hard to understand anyone.

Its was awesome, for New Years Eve, my companion and I went over to another companionship in our city, Novisad, and stayed the night over at their place. We made all American foods: Steaks, rootbeer floats, ice cream, chocolate, etc. It was sooo good. We had special permission to stay up till midnight also. What a mission president, right? It was a real neat experience. All the missionaries in Serbia seem to be really cool. Especially my companion, he is a really nice guy. We have already shared deep conversations :) That's a good sign, I reckon.

The food here is legit! Everything is so tasty. They have this "hamburger" like creation over here. You have cabbage, potatoes, ketchup, mustard, spicy onions, and this spicy sauce and slop it on top of a patty/meat thingy. It's so good. Holy cow, I never imagined having potatoes on a hamburger would be good. The burek here is amazing. Basically its baklava with meats and cheese inside instead of the dessert. Yikes. I will have to work hard to keep my girlish figure in tact. But its possible. Our apartment, which happens to the best on in Serbia, has a complete free weights set. Huh, and I thought we would of to rough it like pioneers :D

But it has been an amazing experience thus far. I still have no fricking clue what people are saying. I just nod my had and say "da". I can understand a lot at church though. Its apparent where the majority of my study went into: church and lesson words. Its kind of sad I can talk about the atonement and all that good jazz but not carry a basic, basic conversation. Its ironic, oh well, I am trying my hardest each day.

My last name does make a huge difference here though. Every time I bring up my ansestory, they freak out. They are like, your serbian!!!! They truly love their own kind here. They all seem to at least listen to you whenever you mention the fact your are Serbian. Pretty cool!

Well I hope everyone had a great holiday experience. I get to spend christmas all over again :) The orthodox church has Christmas on January 7th, so good news their.

With much love from Serbian soil!!!

Elder Novakovich

Darren Arrives in Country

2010-12-28T08:10:00.000-08:00

Guess what? I am now in Slovenia. We made it successfully through the land of Europe and arrived safely in Slovenia. We were greeted by President and Sister Hill when we exited the baggage area of the airport. OK.... Slovenia is absolutely beautiful. Oh my goodness. It's exactly what you would imagine the perfect part of Europe to be. The homes and the mountains are amazing. So I only get to email you to let you know that I have arrived safely. I will include some amazing pictures as soon as I get the chance.

I can't wait to get out and do work. Tonight we are getting the rundown on how things are dealt with regarding money, travel, etc. I believe I will be the next one to interviewed by President Hill. I can't believe I am here. I don't think it will actually click in my head till I speak to my first Serbian. The AP missionaries are way cool. They definitely made me more excited for the mission.

Whoa.... I am so tired right now. This jet lag will kick my bum later tonight for sure. We go proselyting after dinner. I am way excited.

Well I got to go. I love you tons and I'm sorry I didn't call in Paris. No time :(

љубав

старешина новаковић

Срећан Божић (Merry Christmas)

2010-12-24T15:29:00.000-08:00

Christmas picture from Ljubjlana, Slovenia where the mission home is located.

MTC - Week #8 Letter

2010-12-21T12:03:00.001-08:00

Well I can hardly believe it; I will be out of the Good Ol' United States in 6 days. I hope Serbia is ready to hear from my voice! Whether they do or not, they are going to have to. haha. This week has been nuts! As you could imagine, it has been like finals week - lots of studying, practice, and praying. My teachers were telling me about how it takes the average missionary 2-3 months to understand what people are even saying. Well I plan on doing that in half of the time. I know it seems a bit arrogant, but I’m working my hardest to accomplish this. My goal is when I get back I want to sound straight up Russian. Having an accent will be sweet. When I say my name, they will be like "Your Russian!!??!?" Ha ha that will be the day.

Well I hope everyone’s Holidays are going great. Hopefully Christmas shopping is done at this point! If not, срам те било. If you’re one of those who didn't finish, Google translate that phrase!

It’s crazy to think about, but the next time I will be writing an email will from mighty Europe! Oh baby!

I have absolutely no time to write an email. Sorry this is so short. But worry not my good friends. I will have a doozy of an email next week. Mark your calendar! Oh and this is shout out to my family. Did Alex Porter send me a letter!?!? He sent me an email saying he did. If he did, forward it plzzzz :D I miss my dear Alex oh so much.

Much love!!! Have an amazing holiday season.

љубав

старешина новаковић!!

Travel Plans

2010-12-18T07:34:00.000-08:00

We learned Darren's itinerary yesterday. He leaves on a direct flight from SLC to Paris at 5 pm on Monday, December 27, arriving in Paris at 11:30 a.m. on the 28th (10 1/2 hour flight). He then gets on another plane to Ljubljana, Slovenia arriving at 3:05 p.m. that same day. We are excited for him and look forward to receiving his call from the airport.

The elders don't get to call home on Christmas day when they are in the MTC:-(

MTC Letter - Week #7

2010-12-14T20:26:00.000-08:00

Howdy ya'll!!!

How's is everyone doing! As for myself, I'm having a blast. The language is getting intense: only two more weeks and we'll get shoved into Big ol' Bad Serbia. I can't believe it's almost here. It's crazy to think I have been gone for 7 weeks now. Amazing. Even more crazy is the fact I'm starting to catch on to this language. I have figured out an insane amount this week. Now I'm not boasting of myself, because once I know once I get out to Serbia, I will not understand ANYTHING a Serbian person says to me. My teacher told our class the other day the first words we should learn in Serbia are all of the curse words! Makes sense though! If I ever hear any of those words, I know to just walk away and ignore the guy. He told of multiple stories about how his companions would say "were missionaries..." right after a person told them they would kill them if they said a single word. Ha ha.

Nothing new to report about this week. I should be receiving my travel plans sometime this week. The group before us took a straight flight from SLC to Paris. So hopefully that's what we get to do. That would save me hours sitting in a airport in DC or some other area in the USA. Layovers are the worst. I think most individuals share the same dislike of layovers. It's such a waste of time! All you do is sit in an airport for hours while waiting for your flight to arrive.

Only 12 more days.... But who's counting anyway? Oh wait, I am. I can't wait to get out of this ....wonderful place.

Just so ya know, I will not be receiving packages past the 22nd of December. For some reason, they do not give packages out during that time during the MTC. So if you have something to send me, send it now. Otherwise, I might not get it. And that makes me a sad panda.

So I don't know what else to say, so I figure I will leave you with an MTC approved joke: What do you do when a Rhino charges you? Give him your credit card! ZING ohh that just tickles the funny bone.

I hope the holiday season is great for you! Remember what's it about and why we celebrate.

љзбав

старешина новаковић

волем вас!

MTC - Week #6

2010-12-07T13:59:00.001-08:00

Well my favorite time has once again arrived - letting my faithful followers know how I am doing. And believe me, I love talking about it!

It's hard to believe, but tis' true! The Christmas holiday season is upon us. Christmas is truly one of my favorite times of the year. I can say without a doubt that Christmas in the MTC makes life here better. As I said earlier in my previous emails, I’m a man who loves color, or as my British mate would say, "colour" (odd people the British are)! And until a week ago, the only colors I saw were brown and off shades of the color Brown. Very boring. But since Christmas time is here, they have covered the main area of the MTC with colors!!! The colors are fabuuuuuulous. Ha ha oh man it’s just the simple joy of seeing greens, reds, blue, yellows, all together in one area. It just brings tears to my eyes. Yay for colour. Funny story: They had those lights up three weeks before Thanksgiving. And being the giddy missionary I was, I thought they would turn the lights on. Nay. They tormented me by putting those up. Every time I would walk by, I would hear the MTC president saying inside my head "Ha. You want those lights turned on don't you? NAY! Muwhahah" or at least something to that effect.

Well this week was just like every week thus far. Eat, sleep, classroom, teach. However, we did have the wonderful opportunity to teach the first lesson completely in Serbian. Oh boy, that was just oh so fun! Saying кроз џосиф смит, бог је обновио јеванжеље исуса христа. And forty more minutes of speaking to that effect. But it's truly amazing to be able to come this far in the language this quickly. I can confidently talk to my instructors about most things. I have learned how to correctly form sentences, using correct grammar principles and enclitic forms. They are backwards in the way they talk. They like to have the pronouns before the verb in most cases. So to say "She knew that we stole it", we would use the order "She knew it that we stole." It’s so hard to think like that when you’re creating sentences on the fly. But I have faith I will get that eventually. Ha-ha. I am just excited to get out there and feel like I have learned none of the language they are speaking. Funny story #2: My instructor was telling me a story of when he was training a new missionary who just had arrived to Serbia. One day, he and his companion were walking around talking to random individuals. They eventually came across one individual who stared at my instructor’s companion, and said blatantly "Don't say one word to me, or I will kill you." Not knowing what the man just said, the new Elder started to say "Hi, were missi..." at that exact moment, my instructor grabbed his companion by the neck of stole him away. HAHAHA I can't wait for that to happen to me. Oh boy, Serbia is going to be an adventure.

I love you all!!! Till next week!

старешина новаковиђ!!

Novakovich looks so cool in the Cyrillic alphabet.

MTC - Week #5

2010-11-30T12:47:00.003-08:00

Hello everyone!!!!!!

I can't believe I’m here yet again. It’s only been a week since I’ve had the opportunity to send my love! I hope that my emails are entertaining as well. I try to collect all of my wit into crafting a funny and educational email. From a few responses, I think I’m doing a good job :D

So funny story of the week: I received an email from my Uncle Mike. Just a little background information on my Uncle. He is probably one of the funniest men on this planet. His face book status updates always bring me tears from laughter. He always has something funny to say. With that said, he sent me a letter last week that commented on how his Dad, my grandpa, was coming to stay with him over the Thanksgiving holiday. He mentioned he had no idea on how to entertain him due to inability to golf due to snow on the ground. His suggestion was to place a remote in his hand and stick him in front of the TV. I got a pretty good laugh out of that, but I came up with a much better solution. I wrote back to him, and in my letter I told him to collect around 30-40 golf balls. With those golf balls, he should hide them throughout the neighborhood in bushes or any other terrain that could be found on a golf course. Now you may say to yourself, "Self, that’s not funny at all. That was downright stupid" Well let me explain myself. My grandpa will spend more time looking for golf balls while golfing, than actually playing golf. He will easily spend an hour to find golf balls off the fairway on hillsides. Think about it for a second: If you tell him to look for 30 or so Titleist Pro-V1's, imagine how long that would keep him entertained!! I also mentioned to my Uncle how they have to be Pro-V1's. Having played enough golf with my Grandpa, I know he only uses Pro-V1's. I always inherit the other golf balls he finds :) Long story short: I’m funny.

So I hope everyone had a great holiday! Mine was great! We got to hear from Elder Holland!! That apostle can lay down a powerful devotional. We also had the opportunity to perform a service project. Our service project was to make backpacks with supplies in them for children throughout the world who can't afford such simple items we use on a daily basis. After we finished, we ended up making of 33,000 backpacks! That's a ton! It felt really rewarding to be able to do that.

Well the language continues! I’m still in the second grade I think. But it’s ok.

I’m out of time so I bid thee farewell!

љубав

старешина новоковић!

велем ваш

Elder Novakovich's Farewell Talk

2010-11-27T12:12:00.000-08:00

For those of you who weren't able to attend Darren's farewell and those who asked for a copy of his talk, here you go.

Farewell Talk

I want to thank my friends and family who are here today to support me as a I prepare to leave for a mission. Each has helped prepare me in some way to enter the mission field and serve the Lord. For those who may not know, I've been called to serve in the Slovenia / Croatia Mission which is comprised of the seven former Yugoslavian republics. Only three of those countries are open to missionary work: Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia. Each has its own primary language and I've already been told by my mission president that I'll be learning the Serbian language and serving exclusively in that country. The call is especially exciting to my family and I as my Great-Grandfather is Serbian and came to America from Yugoslavia in the early 1900's.

The Bishop asked that I speak a little about how I prepared for my mission. As I considered this topic over the past several weeks I struggled with what I could say. After extensive thought and study I've come up with a three step program. First, read your scriptures. Second, pray. Finally, attend your meetings. With my talk out of the way, I'll close with my testimony....

Just kidding, but I would like to talk for a few minutes about ant hills. An ant hill in its simplest form is a just a pile of dirt. On the surface, there doesn't seem to be much to an ant hill. But when you stop to consider what it takes to build one and the complexity of the tunneling and caverns below the surface, you begin to appreciate this wondrous creation.

An ant hill is the by-product of ants digging subterranean tunnels. It is created by carrying and piling millions of individual grains of dirt outside of the colony entrance. The effort is not done by a single ant alone, rather legions of worker ants are committed to maintaining and building the ant hill and colony. The colony is maintained and the ant hill created through sustained effort. In fact, building the colony is a life-long pursuit. The ants work hard during the summer heat to build up their food stores and provide warmth and safety for the winter months. The resulting ant hill is a monument to the ants efforts.

As I considered the process to prepare for a mission, I realized that it was a lot like building an ant hill. For the remainder of my talk I want to talk about some of the comparable elements of building an ant hill including: consistent effort, work, collaboration, building your reserves, etc.

In 2 Nephi 31: 20, Nephi talks about the plan of salvation and what we must do once we've entered onto the straight and narrow path through baptism:

"Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward feasting upon the word of Christ and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."

Nephi's reminder is that as children of a Heavenly Father our journey to return to his presence is one that requires consistent, steadfast effort. Our continued, daily efforts to follow the path the Savior has trodden result in our covering distances that amaze us when we look back on where our journey has taken us. An ant hill isn't created by a single exertion and neither is our testimony. In the book of Luke we read about the Joseph and Mary taking Jesus to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover.

After departing from Jerusalem, his parents realized that Jesus was not with them. A three day search resulting in their finding Him in the temple, "...sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions." Mary inquired why he had left them to which the future Savior of the world proclaimed, "How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" He knew as a 12 year old boy that his actions and learning were necessary to fulfill his pre-ordained calling. Luke only records one more verse between this experience and the start of the Savior's earthly ministry. "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."

I acknowledge that it has taken an entire colony to help prepare me for missionary service. I was born to goodly parents and felt love and support from them and from my siblings. Grand-Parents started righteous traditions that continue in my household. Aunts, Uncles and cousins have been examples to me. I was fortunate to be taught by caring young men leaders and Sunday school teachers. Four years and four seminary teachers taught me to love the scriptures. Supportive friends have provided encouragement and strength.

Brent H. Nielson shared this experience. While serving in Finland, I learned that my mission president’s wife, Sister Lea Mahoney, was a native of Finland. As a young girl she had grown up in the eastern portion of Finland in a city named Viipuri. As the ravages of war engulfed Finland and other countries during World War II, she and her family left their home, and Viipuri became part of the Soviet Union and was renamed Vyborg. In our zone conferences, Sister Mahoney would tell us of those left behind in Viipuri and of her desire that the gospel be taken to them. Following President Kimball’s challenge, we unitedly prayed that the hearts of the leaders of that nation would be softened so that the gospel could be taken by our missionaries into the Soviet Union.

We would go to the border between Finland and the Soviet Union and see the guard towers and the fences, and we would wonder who those brave young men and young women would be and when they would cross that border to take the gospel to the people there. I must admit, at that time it seemed like an impossible task.

Three years ago, our son Eric received a mission call to serve in the Russia St. Petersburg Mission. In his first letter home, he wrote something like this: “Dear Mom and Dad, I have been assigned to my first city in Russia. Dad, you may have heard of it before. It is called Vyborg, but it was previously a Finnish city named Viipuri.”

Tears came to my eyes as I understood that Eric was in the very city we had prayed about 32 years earlier. Eric found a chapel there and a branch of faithful Saints. He was living and serving in a place that to me as a young man had seemed impossible to enter.

I did not realize those many years ago, as we prayed for the borders to open and the missionaries to go in, that I was praying for our son. Most importantly for you of the rising generation, our son Eric did not realize that he and his companions were the answer to the prayers that had been offered by thousands of faithful Saints so many years ago. You of the rising generation are the fulfillment of prophecy that in our day “the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done” .

I ask for your prayers on behalf of me and the other missionaries serving throughout the world that this great gospel might be heard by those seeking is peaceful message.

Just like the ant doesn't remove a single large stone and place it on its hill, evidencing completion of the colony, there wasn't one overriding thing I did to help prepare myself for my mission. Some of the things that helped me included:

· Attending four years of Seminary. My parents taught me from an early age that graduation from seminary was as important as graduation from high school.

· Taking my school studies seriously.

· Accepting and fulfilling priesthood callings.

· Performing service to others. Just last Saturday, I joined my father and Tyson on a priesthood service assignment. The two hours together in service of others was rewarding and helps remind me of my many blessings and responsibility to help our Heavenly Fathers children.

· Honoring my parents.

· Learning to work.

· Reading the scriptures and in particular the Book of Mormon. I first completed the Book of Mormon when I accepted President Hinckley's challenge to read it cover to cover before the end of the year.

· Developing a habit of personal prayer.

· Regular exercise and physical health.

· Selecting friends who have helped me hold to the iron rod, not stray from it.

For all of us, there are many demands on our time and energy. We often must choose between something good and something better. Do our choices during the day allow us to set aside those few precious moments required to study the scriptures or perform an act of service.

Bishop H. David Burton shared this analogy. One of the defining differences between the good and the great is what sports psychologists call “focus.” Competitors who have the ability to set aside the unimportant and be completely attentive to that which is critical are able to improve their performance. Focus is a critical success factor.

I overheard a conversation between golfing great Arnold Palmer and a young caddie he was using for the first time. The young caddie, while handing Mr. Palmer his club, told him the distance to the flag was 165 yards, there was an unseen stream on the left, and a long and treacherous rough on the right. In a very kind but firm way, Mr. Palmer reminded the young man that the only information he required was the distance to the hole. He further suggested he didn’t want to lose focus by worrying about what was on the right or left.

It is easy to lose sight of the really important objectives of life. There is much to distract us. Some are floundering in the water hazards on the left, and others are finding the long, treacherous rough on the right insurmountable. Safety and success come when focus is maintained on the important opportunities found by driving the ball straight down the middle—priesthood advancement, temple worthiness, and missionary service. And that’s the way it is.

Recently, my parents and I discussed Section 4 of the Doctrine and Covenants which reads:

"Now behold a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men. Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day. Therefore if ye have desires to serve God, ye are called to the work; ...and faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work. Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence."

This scripture contains a long list of attributes that we should strive for as we prepare for and serve as missionaries. Perhaps most important is serving the Lord with all your heart.
President Hinckley described what happens to the heart of every missionary who commits his or her life and work to the Lord when he talked about his own missionary experiences. It was early in his mission, and he was discouraged. The work was hard, and the people were not receptive. However, there came a time when discouragement turned to commitment. For him, the beginning was a letter from his father in which he read: “Dear Gordon, I have your letter. … I have only one suggestion: Forget yourself and go to work.” In describing what happened next, he said: “I got on my knees in that little bedroom … and made a pledge that I would try to give myself unto the Lord.

“The whole world changed. The fog lifted. The sun began to shine in my life. I had a new interest. I saw the beauty of this land. I saw the greatness of the people. … Everything that has happened to me since that’s been good I can trace to that decision made in that little house.
President Hinckley continued by saying: “You want to be happy? Forget yourself and get lost in this great cause, and bend your efforts to helping people”.

Continuing with a quote from Elder David Evans. To every young man I would say, do you want to be happy? If so, come and join with us, 52,000 strong and counting, and serve your fellow man as a missionary for the Lord. Make the commitment to give two years of your life to the Lord. It will change everything. You will be happy. The fog will lift. You will come to love the culture and the people you are called to serve. The work will be difficult, but there will also be great satisfaction and joy as you serve. If you are faithful during your mission and thereafter, you will look back on your life and say with President Hinckley, “Everything that has happened to me since that’s been good I can trace to that decision to serve a mission and give my life to the Lord.”

In a recent conference talk Elder Ron Rasband shared a revelation to the Whitmer brothers, who had a profound role in the early days of the Restoration. They were witnesses to the gold plates, and their signed testimonies are included at the front of every copy of the Book of Mormon. They were among the first band of missionaries called by a prophet of God in 1829 to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the preface to section 14 of the Doctrine and Covenants, it states, “Three of the Whitmer sons, each having received a testimony as to the genuineness of the work, became deeply concerned over the matter of their individual duty.”

To John and Peter Whitmer Jr. the Lord said this: “For many times you have desired of me to know that which would be of the most worth unto you.” I suppose many of you young men have asked yourselves that same question. Here is the Lord’s answer: “And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father.”

To the young men of the ward who are considering missionary service, I share with you a quote from our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, “The missionary opportunity of a lifetime is yours. The blessings of eternity await you. Yours is the privilege to be not spectators but participants on the stage of priesthood service.” I'm grateful the Lord has entrusted me with my call to serve and pray that my service will be worthy of his trust and calling.

More Pictures from the MTC

2010-11-26T14:20:00.000-08:00

MTC - Week #4

2010-11-23T12:12:00.001-08:00

¿Hola, Como Estas?

So pretty much everyone here in the MTC is learning Spanish (big shocker, right?). I think on a daily basis I get some kid who asks if he can bear his testimony and such to us in Espanol... It's really getting on my nerves. Believe it or not, when you say you’re in a hurry to get to class, they start getting angry with you.. I hate to break their hearts, but it’s not my responsibility to listen to them speak Spanish to me... Sorry this has just been on my chest these past few weeks and I needed to get it off my chest... I feel so much better now! :D

Now you may be wondering why I titled this: Tragedy Strikes. Well let me tell you why. About two weeks ago one of the Elders going to Serbia injured his knee really bad while we were playing basketball. At first, we figured it was just a simple injury. But as he visited the doctor on campus, we found out that he actually tore his ACL. After consulting with the District President and Orthopedic Surgeon, he will have to go into surgery, where he will out of commission for three weeks, plus the addition of three or so months to rehab his knee. So needless to say, he will not be joining us on our trek to Serbia. It’s really hard to hear that too because we had grown tight as a friendship. Our whole district is feeling it because of the unity that exists between us. Not good.

Besides that I guess, everything is going solid here in the Concentration Camp.... I mean MTC. This week seem to fly by so fast!!!!! It’s amazing that is possible considering I sit in a classroom for 10 + hours a day. GOOD NEWS: I graduated from the first grade this week! I am now a second grader! I wish I had my graduation gown so I could go through a graduation ceremony. That would be pretty swell. BAD NEWS: our teacher flat out told us this week that we were the worst singing class he has ever had. I felt so heartbroken. Anyone who has heard me sing knows that I am the best ever. How dare he say I’m a bad singer? My mommy and daddy tell me every time I bust out in a song that I am a natural. I guess my teacher has no idea on what true singing talent is. So what if he sings in the BYU men’s choir? What does that prove anyway. I could get into the BYU men’s choir blindfolded. That’s right, blindfolded. Who else could sing that well with the handicap of having one's eyes closed?

Thank you computer terminal. It just told me he will kick me off in five minutes. How nice of him. Well anyways, I love life. I’m laughing and having a smashing good time. That last sentence for my British mate going to Slovenia: D

This is a shout out for my Padres.. Sorry I don’t have your email in my weekly email report. Oops. I can’t believe I forgot: p Will you still love me? hahah funny thing is that this message will have to get forwarded to them. HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA I crack myself up. I will be sure to you add you next time.

MUCH LOVE!!!!!!!

Elder Novakovich

Ps.. Spanish is stupid

Some Interesting Facts

2010-11-21T09:23:00.000-08:00

Darren has been learning more about what his actual mission will be like. Some interesting facts:

In his district there are three missionaries who will be serving in Serbia.
There are currently only eight missionaries in the entire country. He and his two companions in the MTC will replace three of the eight who are going home.
There are only three branches with about three hundred members in the branches.
Missionary work is currently being done in only three cities (he hasn't said which cities).
The Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on January 7. Darren was excited to celebrate Christmas twice.

Week #3 Letter

2010-11-16T10:18:00.000-08:00

здраво!!!!!!!

Well yet another week in the bag. Days seem to fly by here. It just seems like yesterday I was the scared kid thrown into the belly of the beast. Now with a certain sense of confidence, I feel like I get what's expected of me as a missionary.

If I seem to repeat the same thing every single email, I am sorry. I never remember what I have said. I get so excited to spend a mere 30 minutes of my life on this computer terminal to express what's going on my life. I truly love expressing myself via email. Its a shame I don't have more time.

I can't think of anything exciting to say. And for the first time since I have arrived, I can't think of any witty to say. I guess that makes sense though. My schedule is the same every single day. Wake up. Shower. Get Dressed. Eat Breakfast. Go to class. Eat. Go to Class. Gym. Shower. Eat. Class. Clean. Read letters. Sleep. In the matter of 14 poorly written sentences, I have summed up what I do every single day. Sundays are different of course: You take out the gym time and substitute 3 or so leadership meetings pertaining to being a Zone Leader. Epic.

Despite the lack of variety, I truly am loving my experience so far. My district is awesome. The international kids just make me cry every time they speak. Their accents and use of the English vocab is quite the experience. If i could start my Video Blog, I would insert some pretty awesome clips of us. For example: On Sunday we had the chance to walk on the temple grounds of the Provo Temple. While we as a district were walking around, we found this tall white wall. We thought it would be HILARIOUS if our comrade from Finland would stand on top of it and act like Samuel the Lamanite. So he got on top of the wall and started to raise his hands and proclaim with a firm voice "Repent, Repent. Repent or be smitten by God" While he was chastening us to repentance, we were acting as if we were throwing rocks or shooting arrows at him. We're so cool. But i don't think I have laughed that hard since I have been here in the MTC.

The Serbian language is coming along great. In fact, I have figured out how to type in Serbian on a computer. Ја сам одлићна. ја разумем србски. баш лако! ја волим нјиха. у шеш примите, ја чу да битем у србији. Sweetness. Now lets hope that Google translate works :p I know I made some errors, but as I said in the last email (if I remember correctly) I am as a 1st grade Serbian child.

Well I hope everything is going well for everyone in the real world. Its hard to relate because they force us into this confined reality. I overheard someone a few days ago that made me laugh. He was talking to his companion about the MTC and how its like a prison of sorts. The companion turned to him and said that "At least in prison, you get to watch Television." HA HA that made laugh pretty hard.

I just want to thank everyone who has sent me letters of encouragement and support. They really do mean a lot.

I bid thee farewell to when shall meet digitally via the email world in exactly one week. By that time, I will be 1 more week closer to being in Serbia! Until then: May the Force be With you. Always :D

до виженјо!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finished with a minute to spare. Woot

MTC Week #2 Letter

2010-11-09T12:39:00.000-08:00

Well I have some good news and some bad news: The bad news: the food is starting to repeat its cycle. It’s only been two weeks, but I have already recognized what food they serve in rotations! Variety is the spice of life, and I knowing what you will be eating ruins it. The good news however: two weeks in the bag! Only 102 more weeks till I finish my mission :p!

Well the language is coming along just fine. I have learned how to communicate as well as a first grade Serbian child. (BOO YA!!!!) But trust me; I have mad props to first grade Serbian children. This language is ridiculous. All who I have written thus far has seen the complexity of the language. The cyrlic alphabet is no easy task to learn. "P"s make the "R" sound. "C" makes the "S" sounds. And so many other things are backwards. On top of that, the characters are all alien. Reading along at a normal pace seems like a long ways away. Besides all the difficulties I am experiences with the language, I absolutely love it. Speaking it makes my tongue tingle. Not in the way of speaking profanities, rather in the way as if you just popped a handful of pop rocks into your mouth :D. The words seem to crack and pop with every word. Oh and were also learning Croatian. According to my instructor, by the time I’m finished with my mission, I will be able to Speak Serbian, Croatian, and Bulgarian. That's cool

One thing I have grown to love so much thus far is the devotionals and firesides on Sunday and Tuesday evenings. The talks and thoughts given during the meeting strengthen my testimony so much! I have a binder that I just recently bought FULL of thoughts and messages given that have meant something personal to me. I thank the Lord so much for letting me serve him. I have no doubt in my mind that what I am doing is what the Lord wants to do. His comforting spirit testifies that to me every single day. Without that comfort, this task would be impossible.

Oh and for those who have yet to write me...Shame on you :p just kidding, but I do appreciate the letters sooooo much. Every single night I read the letters my family sends to me before I go to sleep. Knowing that someone out there loves me brings me closer to my Heavenly Father more than any lesson given. It truly makes the experience a lot easier knowing that my family and other individuals care for me. So don't be shy in writing me. I plan on keeping EVERY SINGLE letter I receive on my mission. If things go well, I can just leave my missionary clothes in the field and I can just use my suitcases for hauling all of the letters I receive home from Serbia. That would be sweet, huh? A suitcase full of letters. Make the dream happen folks!

Huh... I have 5 minutes left before the MTC boots me off... I don't understand why they are so controlling over email time, but what can I do?

I just want everyone to know how much I care for you! Getting to know you over the years have truly made me into the man I am today. I know without a doubt that me being a Zone leader in the matter of 5 days is the direct cause of the amazing examples in my life. The leadership I have received from others have rubbed off on me, and because of that I have the joy and privilege to be over 40 missionaries serving in Serbia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Guam, Marshall Islands, Slovenia, etc.

Much love from Elder Novakovich in the MTC!!!!

Pictures from the MTC

2010-11-03T21:45:00.001-07:00

First Letter from the MTC

2010-11-02T17:25:00.000-07:00

So I'm sorry if you receive two emails from me. I couldn't figure out how to import contacts.. So I started to just do it manually and then half way through I figured it out. Of Course. Well everything is going amazing so far. I have finally reached my first P day, and I must say it rocks! Unfortunately, the computer limits me to 25 minutes per session so this email will be poorly thought out and have a few typos. I guess you will have to deal with it.

I figured I would start with the good news: I was made zone leader! ha ha in the matter of 4 days, I was placed in charge of over 36 elders, many of them going to different countries: Serbia, Croatia, Orlando, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Poland, etc. It's humbling to think that the Lord has put me into such an important leadership position in the matter of days. Actually, the day following my arrival, I was made district leader. If this were the Military, I would be a general by Thanksgiving. Boo ya!

I am also lucky to have such awesome district members! In our district of 9, we have elders from England, Germany, and Netherlands. Aah the best is at night when we all get together and just blow off the stress of learning our languages. They all speak English and its awesome to get to know more about members from other countries. My companion is also a really cool guy. He went to Timpview for high school and actually has a signed scholarship to Utah State University for playing the Quarterback position. He's 6"5 and quite the studly guy. We are getting along great and I'm happy that we have the opportunity to get to know each other.

AHHH I keep messing up while typing. I'm trying to bust out 110 Words per minute but it just is not happening.

Everything is so bland here. No color whatsoever. Every building looks exactly the same and is the same brown brick. Could it hurt them to just throw in a pink building or something of that sort here and there? I think it would go a long way to keep this place looking and feeling fresh. Also, the food wrecked me the first few days. I won't go into much detail, but I was having some serious digestive issues. It was no bueno. But I'm over it now.

Apparently I just hot keyed something and now my typing in all messed up. Forgive me if its hard to read this. It won't even let me go back and changed some previous mistakes. Stupid MTC computers.

All is well here in Provo and I must say I miss everyone dearly. I greatly appreciate all the love and support you have shown to me as I have prepared for this great task. Letters will be greatly appreciated if you have not sent one already :D I read letters every night as a way to unwind from the day. I love receiving letters, so don't be shy in visiting Dearelder.com.