All the missionaries in Slovenia

 We have been spending a lot of time on the road of late - or maybe it just seems like it because for many months we rarely had an excuse to get on the road at all.  In any case, we have been driving back and forth between Maribor and Celje, and between Maribor and Ljubljana.  Tuesday, we went with the Maribor sisters to Ljubljana for Zone Conference - a meeting in person with all the Slovenia missionaries, and  via Zoom with the Mission President and wife and the missionaries in Bosnia and Herzogovina, and the APs.  It was great to be all together, although I couldn't help thinking about the eleven missionaries with COVID who got it at a similar meeting during the last transfers.  Thank goodness, none of them had severe symptoms, except the senior sister who seems to be recovering, but is still quite ill.  

There is a tree that reminds me of this.  I grows beside the road we take into the downtown Celje.

This is a live tree, growing beside (and over) a section of fence made out of concrete with wire reinforcement.

This tree looks almost like it has stuck out an elbow to lean on the fence.  I am amazed it hasn't crushed the fence, but the tree is probably still growing up slightly each year.  I think it is like the missionary work we are doing.  We meet obstructions, but we keep pressing on.

Here are some selected photos from the Zone Conference, and the lunch we shared afterward:

Admiring Liz's new ring

Our Zone Leaders

Sister Williams pretending to be shy

And then jumping into my shot

The Zoom attendees

The Zone Conference is a regular meeting where we receive instruction - mostly encouragement to continue working.  We also share success stories with each other.

Sister Ashurst and I have had a bit of success ourselves.  There is a family in Celje that I'll call the Z's.  They were rocks in the branch for a long time, but have been absent for the last few years.  When I was asked to serve as first councilor in the expanded branch presidency that includes Celje, my first assignment was to find out what caused the "cancer" that is eating the members in Celje and led to people going absent.  We made an appointment with the Z's and had the elders take us over to the Z's house to introduce us.  Liz and I hit it off with them right away.  At one point I had a feeling that we should just ask them straight up why they haven't been attending church.  At about that point, I realized Liz was asking Sister Z exactly that question.  They told us all about it, the incident that offended them, how it grew, and how they regret letting it affect them so much.  We let them talk it all out.  We had a great visit and we feel like we've made some long-term friends.

The next Sunday, they came in to church and stayed.  And the Sunday after.  We are so very pleased that we were able to be the fulcrum to turn them back to the church.  Of course, it was their choice, and they seem very happy to have made it.

A week ago Sunday, we were down in Celje for church and afterwards, in spite of the fact that I was still feeling the affects of our COVID injection, we decided to turn off the road and drive through some rural towns.  It was a lovely afternoon and we had a great time doing it.

We love the little farms on the hillsides.

I am fascinated how they ventilate their barn attics with interesting patterns of bricks with air passages between them.

There are shrines in every village, and most are religious.  This one appears to be new - and empty.  They usually have statues, flowers, etc. inside.

I liked this church.  Notice how the church and steeple have bricks at the corners?  They are actually just painted onto the stucco.  This is very common in Slovene architecture.

Storks commonly build their nests on chimney tops.  In this village, they solved that problem by erecting a special nesting place.  Notice the chick in the nest.

Another pastoral scene, with dandelions and little white flowers in the grass.

Liz had me take a photo of this path into the woods.  It's like a path into a fairy tale.

These fruit trees are being trained onto support poles.  I assume so they can be mechanically picked?

Helitours?  This place is miles away from the freeway.  However, there are castles and churches on every hilltop, so maybe it is a good place for it.

This beehive is in a schoolyard.  I wonder if they teach beekeeping in school?  They probably do.  I didn't see any bees flying, though.

And this is another path into the woods.  Another adventure in the making.