We had a special opportunity to attend the Croatia District Conference with Elder Helmut Wondra, an Area Seventy in the Europe Area from Austria, whose parents had served in Croatia. We drove to Zagreb on Saturday afternoon and enjoyed the leadership meeting and the adult session. It was really nice to hear from our local church leaders and President and Sister Melonakos.
Sister Melonakos loves seeing sheep grazing in fields when they're driving through the 5 countries here and she had us discuss with her how the Good Shepherd cares for his sheep. She asked for ideas of what He does to bring back the one lost sheep and what He doesn't do too. The Savior goes looking for the sheep and doesn't stop looking for his sheep until He finds him. He doesn't just yell "sheep come back."
In our mission many of the Branches are very tiny and as missionaries we could get discouraged about the growth of the Church here. Elder Wondra shared that the Lord doesn't care about numbers he's only concerned with the individual. Elder Wondra counseled us "please exercise your faith and never focus on what you are lacking. Focus on what the Lord has blessed you with. Whatever we give to the Lord He can multiply it. The same principle works in the family. Focus on the good things and bring it to the Lord and ask Him to bless it and multiply it. It is not only our sacrifice that brings the harvest. As we increase our faith, live the gospel with joy and follow the prophet with exactness the Lord will make up the difference. His message really touched me.
We were really happy that 6 members and an investigator from our branch attended the conference. Our District President put lots of time and effort into making sleeping and transportation plans for many of the members coming to the conference from outlying cities.
