Ever since he was a young boy growing up in Yugoslavia, Zeljko Stjepan Krizanac knew he wanted to devote his life to serving the Lord. It was while he was in final stages of training to become a member of the professional clergy that he met LDS missionaries. It was a meeting that dramatically changed the course of his life.

      He gave up his long-planned career and was left with neither employment nor a place to live when he was baptized into the Church Aug. 15, 1988. About a year later, he accepted a call to serve in the England Leeds Mission."I can see the hand of the Lord in my life," Brother Krizanac said. "On April 1, 1988, I arrived in Belgrade, where I was completing my training to become a priest. On April 3, I met the LDS missionaries."

      The missionaries included a pair of young elders and a missionary couple, Alexander and Mildred Rakasits, who now reside in Santa Clara, Utah, and were then serving their fourth of five full-time missions

      "An older priest and I were doing some manual labor on our church building when the missionaries came over and introduced themselves and offered to help," Brother Krizanac said. "When they said they were Mormons, I had a warm feeling, although I had heard many bad things about Mormons. They had a building across the street from our church. They had a chapel on the ground floor, Elder and Sister Rakasits lived on the second floor, and the elders lived on the third floor.

      "On Sundays, I would hurry out of my church, run around to the garden and hide to listen at the window to what the Mormons were doing. I felt it was my duty to report them to the police if they were breaking any laws. When I didn't discover anything bad about them, I thought perhaps I could find out more if I went inside. The first time I went into the building, I had a great feeling of love and kindness. It was a peaceful feeling. I kept going back.

      "I like music, so I volunteered to play the little organ they had. I became interested in what they believed. I had not had a proper discussion about the Church, not the way I was able to teach later when I served as a missionary. (At that time, the law prohibited missionaries from proselyting in Yugoslavia; missionaries could, however, teach people who asked to be taught.)

      "My colleague and I visited with the missionaries back and forth, as neighbors. Elder and Sister Rakasits invited us to dinner, and we had interesting conversations. I became more and more interested in what they had to say, but I still did not believe the Mormons had the truth. I had studied the Bible all my life. I thought up particularly hard questions to destroy their confidence, to shake them and show them how wrong they were, but I was surprised because they easily answered my questions. My professors in theology weren't able to answer a lot of those questions. I asked the missionaries how long they had studied theology, and was surprised to learn they had no formal training.

      "One day, they gave me a copy of the Book of Mormon. I started reading, and completed it in three days. I could see verses that went hand in hand with the Bible. I didn't have any desire to eat or to sleep. I just wanted to read. I was overpowered by the Spirit.

      "When I finished reading the book, I wanted to have that experience again. I started reading it over, but nothing happened. I started to pray. I had a desire to find out whether this Church was true, whether Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. Although I wanted to know the truth, I had a lot of skepticism. I was like Doubting Thomas.

      "I remember clearly when I knew I wanted to be baptized. I was on a bus. At one stop, the elders got on the bus, which was nearly empty. My English was poor, but I wanted to say hello. When I opened my mouth to speak to them, however, what I said was, `I want to be baptized.' Like a flash of light, the thought passed through my mind, `You idiot! You're going to ruin everything. You've worked so long and so hard, and now you're throwing away your career.' Then, like a small voice, another thought came: `Don't worry. The Lord is still in charge.' "

      Brother Krizanac said he went to visit some friends, foreign diplomats living in Belgrade, and told them of his decision to join the LDS Church. "They spoke strongly against it," he reflected. "What they said shook me really well. I became concerned whether I was doing a good thing. I went from their home to the LDS chapel to tell the missionaries that I had made a mistake, that I didn't want to become a member. But as soon as I stepped on the grounds of the chapel and the missionaries opened the door, a tremendous feeling of peace came over me. I knew then I had not made a wrong step. It was the best thing I had done in my life."

      After he was baptized, Brother Krizanac moved to Zagreb and attended a branch of the Church there. After he had been a member about a year, he received a call to serve as a missionary in England.

      A highlight of his mission, he said, was baptizing his sister, Ivanka. "She had been working in Germany and came to England for a holiday," he said. "She came to see me. I taught her the gospel and baptized her. She is now preparing to go to the temple.

      "When I filled out my papers to serve as a missionary, I was asked if I had a preference for where I wanted to serve. I said I didn't care where I served, as long as it wasn't Great Britain," he recalled. "I didn't want to come to England because I had seen movies that showed London in a heavy fog, and the place as being cold, wet and dark. To my surprise, when I arrived in London, there was a tremendous feeling of warmth and love. As I traveled from Heathrow Airport to the Gatwick area, I recognized that my mission was going to be an extremely great experience for me. I felt like I had come home."

      England really has become home to Brother Krizanac. After he completed his mission, he married Jill Constable in the Frankfurt Germany Temple. (The London Temple was closed for renovation.) They reside in the East Grinstead Ward; he is stake mission president in the Crawley England Stake.

      When he learned there was a position open as supervisor of housekeeping in the London Temple, he quickly applied for the job.

      "It is a privilege, an honor for me to serve in the temple to keep it clean," he said. "It's hard work, but it is work I do with love. As the time came near to reopen the temple, my heart was full of joy. I wanted to be in the temple. There are so many things that need to be polished, cleaned and perfected, but I love doing this work. I am happy to clean every corner, to take every bit and piece of dust out of the house of the Lord with my own hands."