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Monday, November 2, 2015

A Fruitful Trip to Dubrovnik

We just returned to Karlovac from the remarkable city of Dubrovnik, Croatia.  There we participated in a very inspiring Adriatic North Mission Senior Couples Conference held in a beautiful and historic setting.  We left our apartment with 6 other couples at around 10:00 am on Monday the 26th and
traveled to the southern end of Croatia along the beautiful Adriatic Sea to the Neptun Hotel in Dubrovnik. We arrived around 5:30 pm, got checked in and boarded a bus to the Old Town.
The bus ride to Old Town.
Walking the wall.
Standing guard on the wall!

The conference was to start on Tuesday at 1:00 pm so we took advantage of the free time to see the sights.  Old Town is properly named.  It was largely built in the 12 century although within the walls are some ancient Roman ruins which date back much before that.  One popular activity is to “walk the wall”.  That is just what it sounds like.  There is a high wall around the perimeter of the city which, for 100 Kuna each, you can walk and enjoy the view of the inside of the city and the beautiful Adriatic Sea and the rest of the city on the outside.

Lots of steps
Really clean water.
Pretty Roman Columns
The purpose of the trip wasn't just to tour around and see the sights.  We assembled for two days of training and planning.  There were a total of 20 couples.  Our Mission President had made assignments to each of the couples,  things like organizing temple trips,  working with the youth, working with single adults, humanitarian projects, recording mission history, public affairs, self-reliance, employment and the list goes on.  It was quite inspiring to see all of those mature couples acting like a bunch of  energetic youngsters as they accepted assignments and reported on their progress.  The sum of the life experience of this group is nothing short of amazing.  Mary and I feel privileged to be a part of this great force.  As I looked at the big picture, I once again saw the Savior's hand in this work.  And "he went about doing good" (Acts 10:38).  His real purpose in all that He did was to invite all to come unto Him (Matthew 11:28-30).  He nurtured, healed, taught, and invited with love and tenderness.  He helped people change and put them on the path to real joy and happiness.  The conference reminded us of the real reason why we are here, a third of the globe from home.  We love this work and feel fulfilled by it.
Beautiful lady with nice produce
On the way back we stopped at a roadside fruit stand to pick up some Mandarin Oranges in the Dalmatian lowlands.  It is a very fertile valley with good soil and fresh water and beautiful produce.

Lunch stop in Bosnia
Then we stopped in Bosnia for lunch.  When the coastline was divided up after the breakup of Yugoslavia, Bosnia got a little piece of it; perhaps 10 kilometers or so.  Just enough so they could have some resorts of their own.  You have to pass through this area of Bosnia to get to southern Croatia.  So we made sure we all had our passports readily available and pulled into a very nice resort and had a great buffet of Bosnian food.  Yummy!!

Lijepa i stretna žena!
(Beautiful and happy woman/wife is the translation)

Then we went home.  To Karolvac, that is.  It was a nice break, but it was great to be back in our little place with renewed vigor and enthusiasm.

Stay tuned for another exciting chapter as we report on "Trouble with the Corsa!"  Until then, thank you for following our blog.  As always, we would love to hear your comments.  Vidimo se!

Since I am on blog duty this week I was informed I need to have a "word of the week" for the unuci!

The word is: skol (Pronounced skole)  It means school.  Have a great time at skol!!

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