Transfer Week

We love you, Elder Poore!

Elders Mangeris and Pantelakis

This week was transfer week, which means missionaries sometimes move to new areas.   Our two sisters went home this week, after  serving for 18 months.  We said farewell to Sister Washburn and Sister Peterson and wished them well.  They will be forever blessed for their service and this mission will be better for the work they have done.  We also had to say goodbye to Elder Poore who is being transferred to Podgorica which is in Montenegro.  He is excited at the opportunity to train a new missionary and be a District Leader.  He is our Minnesota Elder and we plan on seeing him again after our mission.  We are blessed to meet many amazing people both young and not so young on this mission.  He was replaced by Elder Pantelakis, an experienced missionary who had been serving in Beograd, Serbia.

Proud Papa

Dušan and EK

We went to the hospital last week, to meet the newest member of our Branch.  President and Sister Raić had their baby and he is beautiful!  His name is Luka and his parents are very happy!  We took dinner over to them tonight (and to get another look at the precious bundle).  They have waited a long time for this little blessing.

We travelled to Zadar last weekend and stopped to see Dušan in Koranica, which is about half way between Karlovac and Zadar.  He always gives us a warm welcome and his sweet wife provides us with refreshments.  Many times when you visit people in Croatia, you are served sok (juice) and sweets.  Sometimes they will serve a meal.  They are gracious hosts and sharing their food with you is a must.  Since Dušan only speaks a little English, we were able to practice our limited Hrvatski with him.  It was good for us, as it forces us to concentrate on the language.  I was on the sidelines hurriedly looking up words in my dictionary.  It worked out quite well and the time went all too quickly before we had to leave.  We said our goodbyes and hopefully we can see him again in July, maybe with Kate and Gavin.

Mario and EK

Catch of the day

In Zadar, we stayed at our favorite hotel and was greeted by our favorite desk clerk Mario.  He always makes us feel like we are excelling in our language skills and we know he is just being kind.  We love being near the water, and we walked around Old Town and saw the Roman ruins, the Sea Organ, and walked across the bridge to the marina so EK could take a look at the sailboats.  It was a lovely walk and as we were near a park we heard accordian music and cheering.  A wedding party was making their way through the park and walking towards the marina.  I got a few pictures of the happy group, and the bride even gave me a wave.  We had dinner with the Dever's (senior couple serving in Zadar), and took a ride along the beautiful coast.  We attended church the next day with the Zadar Branch.  We taught a combined adult class.  There are always challenges when you are trying to teach and it has to be interpreted into another language.  You may have a thought that comes to mind and as you are expressing it, you have to remember to pause and give the interpreter a chance to speak.  It doesn't flow as you would like it to. Sometimes you will forget and keep going, and then you look over and see a panicked look on your interpreter's face.  Then you know you need to slow down.

English class

We taught English class alone on Tuesday because the sister missionaries were in Zagreb , and the Elders were busy teaching a Bosnian family on Skype who are living in Switzerland.  The family lives in a French speaking part of Switzerland, and since they do not know French, the missionaries there cannot teach them, so they requested missionaries from here to teach them in their native language, Bosnian.  Our Croatian missionaries were able to teach them because the two languages are very similar.  Isn't technology amazing?

Word of the week is:  riba (ree ba) which means fish

Spring in Karlovac

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the trees are leafing, and the weather is gorgeous.. It is interesting because we hear from the locals that they think it's too hot for this time of year.  We think it is a perfect 23 C which is about 70 degrees back home.  We are also told to be prepared as the

Croatian riding lawn mower.

summers here are hot and humid.  We have air conditioning in our living room, but not in the bedroom.  Good thing we have two comfortable couches right under the air conditioner!  As we walk around Karlovac, we see the magnolia's blooming, and flowers everywhere.  EK planted some onion sets last week and I planted my flower boxes.  Last summer I saw beautiful trailing geraniums throughout the city in window boxes.   We found some flower plants at  Pevec and Ivana had some planters on the deck that we were able to use.  I also have a poinsettia from Christmas that is flourishing outside on the patio.  I have a green thumb in Croatia!

General Conference was this last weekend, and we watched most of it at the church.  We brought our tablets with earphones so we could listen to it in English. We stayed up Sunday night to watch the Sunday afternoon session at home. (several time zones away) We love General Conference weekend, as it is a time that we can listen to inspiring counsel and instruction from our church leaders.  When we prepare ourselves, we undoubtedly hear messages that seem to be just for us.  We are looking forward to our Liahona (Ensign) magazine next month, which includes all of the talks given at Conference.
https://www.lds.org/?lang=eng

Fresh eggs for our omelet

 One of EK's friends from English class told him about some back stretching exercises he should try. As I watched him demonstrate a few I told him to be careful as he was pulling himself up from a lying position.  It looked like he could strain his back.  I asked him where Toma had found these exercises and EK said, "Well, he thought of them on his own".   I reminded him that Toma is NOT a doctor and I am NOT his mother.  What can I do with this companion of mine?  If you have any suggestions, please comment below...

We are heading to Zadar this weekend, and will be able to see Elder and Sister Dever. They are the senior couple serving there and will be going home in July.  Sister Dever is an excellent cook, and I've tried out some of her recipes.  I started a mission cookbook, and I'm adding recipes from some of the senior couples.  There are quite a few good cooks here in the mission, including the Mission President's wife.  I have quite a collection of recipes and it continues to grow, thanks to their willingness to share.

Transfer announcements are tomorrow, and the actual transfers will take place next week.  We know that we will lose one of our Elders.  We love them both, so it will be hard either way.  Sister Higgens has arrived in Karlovac.  We have two sisters going home next week, so for now they are a threesome.  We all went bowling on P-day at a new bowling alley in Old Centar.  Bowling is different here.  The pins are on strings, so when the ball hits, they tend to flop over rather that fly around.  After your ball is thrown,  it's funny to see the pins being picked up and dangling on strings in the air, until the ones that were left are set back down.

We went to visit Anto Antolovič last week.  The Elders gave a lesson and then he showed us his fruit trees and garden.  He lives about 20 kilometers from Karlovac, and does not have a car.  The bus does not

Fields of flowers.

run on Sundays, so he is unable to come to church.  We are working on some creative solutions that may allow him to get in to Karlovac on Saturday, stay the night and go to church the next day before getting a ride home on Sunday afternoon.  That will have to be addressed in Branch Council.  He would be a great asset to our Branch!

The word of the week is:  proljeće (pro lee eh tsay) which means spring.  Don't forget to roll your "r".

Stretan Uskrs!

Intricate detail 

Our current district

It was a beautiful Easter weekend.  We had Zone Conference on Saturday in Zagreb and were able to see other senior couples that are serving
throughout Croatia.  We also met a new senior couple who have been assigned to  serve in Rijeka,  Elder and Sister Grahovac.  They are originally from Croatia, raised their family in Germany and are back to serve a mission here.  It is exciting to see new senior missionaries come out, as they fulfill such a useful purpose.  We never before realized how powerful an asset senior couples can be to a mission.  We are so happy that we have the health, strength, and means to serve.

Branch egg decorating

We decorated eggs at church with some of the members.  We colored them much like at home, and added some shrink wrap type bands to them.  The kids loved doing it.  I know there are many different ways to do them.  We saw some beautiful eggs at a restaurant, and I asked where they were done.  The waitress said that her mother does them every year and it is a tradition.  I would love to see a demonstration someday.  They are incredible.

We traveled to Rijeka on Sunday, attended church, and had a

Locks of Love in Rijeka

lovely Easter lunch that Sister Peterson prepared for everyone.  Before we left, we rode down to the waterfront.  It was a beautiful day, and as we crossed a bridge, I noticed love locks on it.  I have heard of other bridges where they do the same thing, Paris for one.  There was also a lone sailboat out on the water, and GK got a little envious of the sailor on board.  I reminded him that it was Sunday, and that the poor guy was motoring around because there wasn't any wind.  That brought him back to his senses.

Sailboat in Rijecka

Rijeka Branch Priesthood

We took Sister Peterson and Sister Washburn to Plivička National Park which is the waterfall park.  They are leaving for home in a couple of weeks and we wanted to make sure they had a chance to see it.  We checked with President Grant to see if they could go on P-day.  We got the o.k. and off we went (in the Opel, of course) We saw some beautiful sights, and had a bonus of seeing some other senior missionaries.
                                                       

Plivička

Spring in Plivička

We stopped in Slunj on the way home for pizza.  This sweet little town is nestled on top and amid smaller waterfalls and is right out of a fairytale book.  A river runs through it and while we were there, people were setting up for a kayak race the following weekend.  We stopped in a restaurant for pizza (the best I have had so far).  Then off we went to Karlovac, to have Easter dinner at our apartment.  We met together with the Elders and Sisters for a ham dinner.  Our Easter weekend was complete.

With all the many things that keep our

Slunj

lives busy, it is important that we remember what this weekend represents.  We are grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ.  We are grateful for His atoning sacrifice, and that because of Him, we will all receive the blessing of resurrection after this life.  He lives! We love Him, we love our mission!  It is a decision we made for which we will forever be grateful.

Word of the week:  Stretan Uskrs (stre tan ooskers)  which means Happy Easter!

Baptism in Osijek

On the road again, this time to Osijek which is east of Zagreb.  It is about three and a half hours away from Karlovac, so we stayed overnight at the Strassmayer, our favorite Hostel in town.  There was a

Jovan and Radojka 

Sister Rhodes and Sister Allred

baptism scheduled for Jovan and Radojka Gojković, a sweet couple who were introduced to the church by their daughter who lives in Canada.  President and Sister Grant (Mission President) were there, along with President and Sister Anderson (Branch President), and other members and investigators.  Sister Rhodes and Sister Allred (sister missionaries from Zagreb) were also there, so I was able to get a shot with them.  Sister Allred will be going home soon and I asked her, "what will we do without you?"  She replied, "I think I'll lose my passport."  Funny girl...we love them both. While in Osijek we were able to see the Cathedral and stop for lunch.  I ordered a pizza, and I had to take a picture of it for our grandson Josh.  He loves bacon, and would have liked to try this!  On Sunday, EK and I both spoke in Sacrament meeting.  Danaja interpreted the first part of my talk (she was awesome) and the last part was in Hrvatski, which I attempted myself.  Don't be too impressed as Elder Mangeris translated what I wrote, and I read it.  Hopefully, I didn't murder the pronunciation too badly. But those sweet people smiled and nodded, all the while probably thinking, what in the world is this woman saying?

Josh's dream pizza

I went to an awesome bookstore last week in Zagreb. While I was there, I couldn't resist, The Very Hungry Caterpillar which the store clerk said had recently been translated into Hrvatski. I also found my favorite Croatian children's book author.  In November I bought Ne, ne, da, da for Oliver before Christmas.  I had it on the sofa table and Elder Poore found it and read it.  It is his favorite book and reads it to all the new missionaries coming to Karlovac.  Well, I found another one by the same author which is just as good called Moja tuta.  It's about potty training, and it will be perfect for Cora.  Elder Mangeris picked out a book called Ja, about a bear who loves life and read it to all of us. Everyday we see these missionaries working, serving, leading, learning and becoming men. Yet at times it is sweet to see the boy in them.

special dinner guests

We had some special guests over for dinner last week.  We invited the members who had attended the Singles Conference, to come over and see the pictures I took.  Snježana, Šmilka, Stefića, and Daniel showed up at exactly 6:00 p. m. and we had a great time eating and visiting, and viewing the pictures. While we were visiting, Kate Skyped us and she was able to meet our prijatelji.

On Saturday we went to visit Onto Ontolović with the Elders.  He lives about 15 kilometers outside of town and is unable to make it to church on  Sundays.  He does not have a car and the bus does not run on Sundays.  He used to live in town and served as Branch President for 9 years.  We see the problem of getting to church with a few of our members.  Owning a car here is very expensive, with the gas being 8.6 kuna per liter (about $4.80 a gallon).  You do not see many young people driving because getting your drivers license is extremely expensive, around a thousand dollars.

One morning last week the Elders came over told me an alarming tale.  I calmly went into the bathroom where EK was in the shower, told him what the Elders said, whereas he said, "What?  The car is missing?" Yes, they lost the car.  They used it for exchanges and parked it at their apartment

Pre-fine paying expression

for the night.  They got up the next morning, and it was gone.  It was locked and they had the keys so we knew it wasn't stolen.   So after some phone calls, they found out it had been towed away and they ended up having to go to the impound yard to pick it up.  Unfortunately, there was a fine involved.  Lesson learned:
Always return the car to it's designated parking spot in the senior missionaries parking lot...

We had District Conference on March 13th in Zagreb.  We took Sister Peterson, Sister Washburn, and Zarko Sikirića with us.  The attendance was around 80, but it was sent out via webcast, to the outlying areas.  We had 21 Karlovac members attend which was exciting.  We have an amazing Branch!  After the conference, there was a luncheon, time to visit, and then back to Karlovac.

We got our tickets for the Paul Cardall - David Archuleta concert in Ljubljana in May.  Well, we think we have our tickets.  It was difficult getting on the correct site, but after being moved around a bit, we were able to get on a site where we could choose seats and purchase tickets.  We will be staying overnight and will carpool with the Porters from Varaždin.  We are also excited for the Fireside with David.  It will be an amazing missionary opportunity for many, to meet this young man who put his career on hold to serve a two year mission in Chile.

The word of the week  for our unuci is:  krštenje (krsh ten yay) which means baptism 

Where There is Unity, There is Strength

Fun time at the dance!

A committee was formed to plan the first Singles Conference for the Adriatic North Mission.  People from five countries, and who spoke three languages participated.  Thanks to our amazing President and Sister Lotrič, we were able to translate all the necessary materials for the event.  The Lotrič's are from Slovenia and are a blessing to the mission.  President Loctrič  is First Counselor in the Mission Presidency. They work tirelessly for the mission and cheerfully participate wherever they are needed. They are an example to us all, especially to Church members in the ANM.

Our conference was last

The whole group

weekend from Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon.  It was a huge success.  We had 30 people attend, and many activities were planned for the two days.  We had spiritual firesides, devotionals, and a beautiful testimony meeting to close the conference.  We also had a dance on Friday night.

There were singles from the ages of 31 to 71 attending and they were all out on the floor.  We had a sister who showed us Bosnian Folk dances.

Those who came from a distance, stayed at the mission home Friday night, and the rest of us stayed up the road at the Vila Tina Hotel.

Our Karlovac members

We had amazing workshops on Saturday including team building activities, social networking, mountain climbing (yes, really), and a workshop on identifying body language. There were many involved in the planning and we were all blessed by the success of it.  Everyone was so appreciative, and we are planning another one in September.  I think the word may get around and we will have an even larger group attend.

We went to the MUP (again) last week, and we finally got our visa cards.  We are legal!  It only took five months.  It looks like a driver's license and when we leave we have to give it back.  I'd like to keep it as a souvenir but I don't think they will let me.

We had our monthly testimony meeting today at church.  The three sisters who attended the conference got up and spoke about it, and then I was surprised (and thrilled) when T got up to bear his testimony.  I think it was his first time.  I noticed that he seemed tired and he later told EK that he had gotten up in the middle of the night to write down some things because he knew he had to get up to speak on Sunday.  What a special young man he is, we really love him.  The time was coming to a close but people kept getting up to speak, and we actually went over.

Will we ever learn?

We were locked out of our apartment...again.  This time EK left his keys in the door as we left and shut the door.  I had my keys, but the problem was my key wouldn't go in with his keys in on the other side.  Elder Hillock came to the rescue, and with a credit card, was able to open the door.  Luckily it is usually not that easy to break in, as we have numerous dead bolts when we lock up for the night.

Local mailmen

We have gone to the Posta numerous times to mail things.  There is usually one person in the bunch who can understand English.  I make sure to say "avionska pošta" so it goes by plane and not on a slow boat to China, or in my case Wisconsin or Utah. We have never seen mailmen on the street until recently.  We wondered how they got around and we found a couple on duty riding their bikes with their pack of mail on the back.

EK had a meeting in Zagreb, so he dropped me off at the Avenue Mall and picked me up afterwards.  I found a few things for summer and then he picked me up to go a movie with some Zagreb Branch members.  We saw The Gods of Egypt and we thought it was pretty good.  It as our first movie in Croatia.  The movies are all in English with Croatian subtitles.   The theatre had plush seats and since it was Wednesday, it was only $3.50.  What a deal for our date night.

Word of the week:  avionska pošta which means:  airmail

A concert in Ljubljana!

We are excited at the news of Paul Cardall and David Archuleta performing in Slovenia on May 13th.    Paul Cardall visited the Adriatic North Mission last year in September of 2015, to share music, and raise awareness of congenital heart disease.  He had a heart transplant in 2009, and has performed numerous benefit concerts.  We are also fortunate to have David come and perform with him.  Everyone knows him from American Idol fame, but more importantly, the decision to put his career on hold to serve a mission for two years.  He served in Chile from 2012-2014.  We were happy to find out that he is willing to do a fireside in Zagreb. Which brings me to our "14 hour day".  This is not a common thing for us, but I know that other missionaries (senior and young) have many days such as these.  I will refer to EK's journal which is much more detailed than mine.  Last Thursday, we left the apartment early, to attend a planning meeting for "An Evening with David Archuleta Fireside" in Zagreb. The Grants were there along with two sister missionaries (media sisters), a recently returned missionary, the Bobić's, and us. The meeting was a success, and many ideas were shared.  President Grant conducted the meeting and afterwards turned the committee over to EK and said, "make it happen."  A little something else to keep us busy.  As I said before, the days are flying by.

Beautiful sky as we returned home

We then hopped in the Opel and drove to Varaždin for another meeting that EK had. Meanwhile Sister Porter and I went over to Metro (mini Costco) to price food for the upcoming Singles Conference in March.  We have met weekly to plan for it and the committee has worked very hard in providing interesting workshops and awesome speakers for the event.  This is the first one ever in the mission, and this one is the "kickoff".  Think of it... planning an event where people are coming from five different countries and speaking three different languages. It's a little different than planning an activity back home.  There are challenges, but we have amazing people on the committee.

We left Varaždin for home, and met the Ostergaards at church to talk about seminary.  We are trying to get one of the young men to join an online seminary class. We weren't able to meet with him, so Sister Ostergaard showed me the online presentation and hopefully I can show it to him another time.
Then it was time for English Class - full house again!  And at 7:30 it was time for Institute Class.  We got back to the apartment at 9:30 p.m. It was a full and productive day!

Sister Washburn, Sister Rusick and I did our weekly service for the Jak Kao Jakov Foundation.  We go on Wednesday nights for two hours and do a variety of things.  We make craft items for them to sell at bazaars with the proceeds benefiting families who have children with cancer.  The people are so nice and appreciative of us coming. We ended up going out to dinner beforehand at the restaurant down by the river.  Good food and good company.  It is another place where they make "big" hamburgers.  Sister Washburn ordered a sandwich that filled half of her plate.

My new slow cooker!

We had Branch Conference on Sunday, and later on went over to the Reich's house.  As we sat in the living room visiting, Julie said that someone gave her a SLOW COOKER (whaaat?) several years ago and she never used it. I spied it on top of her kitchen cupboard and tried to contain my excitement.   She wanted to give it to me, but I didn't want to take it, so after some haggling, we made a deal.  I will borrow it for a while, and then give it back to her.  She doesn't want it back, but I know some future senior missionaries will be thrilled to use it. I have looked all over this country for one.  I have no idea where this one came from, but it looks sweet on my kitchen counter!  Ahh, it's the little things
that make life good...

I have seen many street cleaners in the different cities.  I've never been quick enough to catch a shot of one until last week.  It has been rainy the last few days and on our way to church, we came across a diligent Karlovac street cleaner, being sheltered by his kišobran.  

 Street cleaner in the rain

The word of the week is: umoran (oo mor on) which means tired.  You can be sure that 14 hour days leave us umoran!

Tip in case you didn't know... click on any picture to enlarge...

A New District

Karlovac District

The announcement for transfers was this week and Sister Yardley has been transferred to Tuzla, Bosnia.  She will be training a new missionary, and we know she will be awesome.  Sister Washburn replaced Sister Hertz, and Sister Rusick replaces Sister Yardley.  Elder Poore and Elder Mangeris will stay in Karlovac.  It is a strong district and we are excited to serve with them.

We went to Zagreb last week.  EK had a Leadership Training Meeting and a bunch of us ladies went to IKEA. We didn't have much time, but were able to find some frames for our upcoming Singles Conference.  We buzzed through the store in 45 minutes, which is probably a record.

We took the hygiene kits we put together a few months ago, to the Red Cross on Thursday.  It took two trips in our little Opel, to deliver a total of 450 kits.  They were very happy to receive them.
They included kits for men, women, and children.

Helping hands

Elder Mangeris and Elder Poore taught grammar at English Class on Thursday evening.  It was a full house, and their lessons are always good.  It's amazing how we take the English language for granted. We use these rules everyday,  but we tend to forget why.  After English, we taught Institute Class and our regular two students attended.  The lessons center on Jesus Christ and this week it was entitled, "Come Follow Me".  It was a good lesson, and we had participation from both students.  One of our students, T, is normally quiet, but through the weeks has opened up.  When the question was asked, "When are we disciples of Christ?",  he took a moment to think about it and then replied, "When we take upon us His name and live as He lived."  A profoundly simple statement from a humble young man.  I felt the Spirit so strongly, and knew in my heart that T was loved by not only us, but by our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ, as we all are.  I love teaching these lessons that confirm that to me time and time again.

We had three baptisms to go to on Saturday!  One was in Varaždin, and the other two were in Zagreb.

Zoran's special day

President Grant told us that there were four baptisms in the mission that day.  There were three in Croatia, and one in Serbia.  It was a Spirit filled day!

Zoran, with Elders Osborne and Burnett

Serving a mission allows us to concentrate on things that matter most. We are privileged to serve with other remarkable missionaries, young and not so young, who are united in the same purpose,  "to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. " (Preach My Gospel)  We are to invite, teach, and serve.  It is a mission of love, and we love this mission.

The word of the week is:  vjera (vee-ye-ra) which means faith.   A tip for our unuci:  when pronouncing the r, let the tip of your tongue, touch the roof of your mouth.  Good job!