Spring in Serbia

Latin Bridge

Chess game in the park

Since moving to Serbia, we have had the opportunity to visit every city that has a church unit in the entire mission, which consists of five countries.  We have enjoyed these opportunities put in our path, to experience the many different cultures, and all the extraordinary people we have met.  We just got back from visiting Sarajevo, Bosnia.  Our hotel was near the Latin Bridge, the site of the assassination of  Archduke Ferdinand in 1914, which is believed to be the start of WWI.  The city is rich in culture and history and one can walk through the many markets and see numerous mosques, including one built in the 16th century.  We met the Wood family who are members of the Branch at a local restaurant. On the way, we walked through a park and came upon a game of chess being played.  It was interesting to watch them move their 3 foot chess pieces around the board.  Upon returning to our room in the evening, we heard the call to prayer through our bedroom window.  We attended church the next day with the members of the Sarajevo Branch and I found myself sitting next to the first convert of the church in all of Bosnia.  A true pioneer.

We have traveled to Sremska Mitrovica to attend three (yes, three) baptisms!  EK was privileged to baptize a young mother whose daughter was baptized by Elder Valentine.  The third person baptized was a widower of a member whose adult daughter is also a member.  What a joy it was to see that family united in the gospel and for them to look forward to going to the temple to be sealed together for eternity.

Coming back from one of our Sremska Mitrovica visits, we stopped in to see one of our favorite families.  The Moody family is in Belgrade on a three year assignment with the US Embassy.  They have five amazing children who are kind to these two senior missionaries.  EK scheduled a time for setting apart Sister Moody as the District Primary President, and we were asked stay for dinner.  After dinner we played some fun games and they might not have realized it, but they helped us feel like we were home with family.

Andrej and David

We are happy to have been a small part of helping two young men in Belgrade prepare to go on a mission.  The phrase, it takes a village applies because there are many who have mentored and taught Andrej and David these past three years since they have joined the church.  They both have been called to England to serve in two different missions and leave in July.  They are excited to share their Missionary Training Center experience in the Preston MTC.  They are exceptional young men and will be great missionaries!

Artist with extraordinary eyesight!

We have a favorite place to walk in Belgrade, and one day we came upon an artist who paints miniatures.  It was amazing to watch as he created scenic paintings on tiny shells.  We had previously bought one of his works that depicted a scene on a local bridge.  He was kind enough to visit with us and tell us about himself.

Sister McAlpin

We attended a Relief Society (women's group) birthday celebration in Novi Sad.  The theme was about women in the scriptures who have inspired us. Since EK was our "driver", he was one of the few men invited to attend... lucky guy.  There were women from Belgrade, Čačac, Sremska Mitrovica, Novi Sad, one sister came from Bosnia, and Sister Grant came from Croatia.  It was a wonderful event and it was apparent that there was much work involved in the food preparation, the classes, and the talks that were prepared.  Sister McAlpin is the senior sister in Novi Sad, and she was instrumental in pulling it off.  She did a beautiful job.  She even greeted everyone in local dress.

It is amazing to think that we have been on our mission for 18 months and only have 3 more before we leave.  April looks to be very busy, with conferences for the young single adults, and the single adults.  The senior conference is April 11th for three days and we are looking forward to seeing all the senior missionaries, and meeting the new ones that have come in recently.

Word or phrase of the week:   Želim vam ugodan dan     Желим вам угодан дан
Serbian which means:                                      Have a nice day

Happy New Year

New Year's Eve in Belgrade

 It is that time of the year when many people make resolutions and set goals.  I have a few in mind, and am wondering what I can do differently to actually achieve these goals for 2017.  Why is it so difficult for us to accomplish those things we wish to change in ourselves?  Do we choose goals that are unrealistic?  Do we not put enough action in our goals, or not give it enough thought and prayer?  In Preach My Gospel it tells us, Goals reflect the desires of our hearts and our vision of what we can accomplish.    A quote from Elder M. Russell Ballard states, "I am so throughly convinced that if we don't set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential."  I believe it is important to prayfully select goals that will spiritually and physically strengthen us, measure and evaluate our efforts, and do everything we can to accomplish the goals we set.  Elder M. Russell Ballard finished his quote by saying, "When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life."  So, here's to all of us who have selected goals for the new year, for there is strength in numbers and in righteous desires.


Serbia celebrates Christmas on January 7th, so we were able to enjoy two Christmas's.  We went to a few Christmas parties where Santa made an appearance.  We went to Čaćac January 4th when we were invited to their Christmas party.  The surprise of the evening was when EK was handed a Santa suit and ushered into the next room to change.  Hmm, another skinny Santa., but he was jolly and the kids loved him.  He handed out their gifts and changed back into his other clothes.  One of the children Andre recognized him right away, and followed him around for most of the evening while EK tried to convince him that he was NOT Santa.

We had a house full on January 7th when we had our Christmas dinner.  Elder King and Elder Sorensen came up from Čaćac and we had the Belgrade district come over for a turkey dinner.  It was a repeat performance of our Thanksgiving dinner, and turned out well.  Sisters Johnston and Lougee brought "dirt cake" which was a huge hit. Elder Rice brought a pumpkin roll he had made, but would not reveal where the coveted pumpkin came from.  There are some things you just can't get here and canned pumpkin is one of them.  It was delicious.  We had spirited games of dominoes and Phase 10 going on simultaneously.

Wow, this was the salad!

We traveled to Sremska Mitrovica on January 8th to attend church and to visit the Ostergaards and members of the Branch.  We were pleasantly surprised to find out that we were invited to dinner at
the Vučenović home along with the Ostergaards.  It was a dinner worth remembering.  The table was set beautifully with flowers and

A chocolate lover's delight

china and Sister Vučenović's talented touch was evident everywhere, including in her cooking.  She had a salad that looked like a work of art, lemon chicken, salmon, sarma, and an amazing chocolate cake for dessert.  Their talented daughters sang songs for us, and we found it difficult

The Vučenović family

to leave this sweet and loving family.  But we realized that we still had to drive home to Belgrade, so we said our goodbyes and headed home.  There are so many beautiful people here in the Balkans, who warmly welcome the missionaries in their homes.  We are grateful to be able to spend time with them and feel like we are with family.

Word of the week:  porodica (por od itsa) which means family

Cold, but no snow for this Christmas

Since we have moved in our apartment in Belgrade, we noticed some feathered friends on the patio waiting for a handout.  Pigeons are plentiful here and when all the others gave up, there was one lone bird who waited patiently.  And when crumbs did not come, he came to the door and stared at us until one of us gave in.  I couldn't help it, so I gave him some stale bread crumbs and off he flew. See you tomorrow, little guy.

We had a Christmas party at the Belgrade church on Friday night.  After a sweet program, singing Christmas carols, enjoying some good food,  the children made gingerbread houses.  Santa Claus made an appearance and handed out goodies to all of the children.  I personally think he needs a bit more padding, but he was one jolly old St. Nick!


We had the missionaries over for dinner to celebrate EK's birthday.

Birthday dinner

He requested a pineapple upside cake, so I gave it a try.  Elder Taylor's eyes lit up when he saw it, and  it turned out quite good.  The only thing missing were the maraschino cherries, but I don't think anyone missed them.  The Čačak elders, Elder King and Elder Sorensen were in Belgrade to register their car and since they were in town, we invited them over. This is Elder Sorensen's first week in the mission. We were glad to welcome him to Serbia.

Čačak group

We travelled to Čačak on Sunday to attend church. It is a relatively new unit that was opened a few months ago and is a little over two hours away. There were six members and four missionaries in attendance.  It is always good to see the Zarič family and we also met the Lazovič family.  They are always happy to have visitors and we wish we could attend more often.  We checked out the missionary apartment while we were there, as there are some issues that need to be taken care of.  The landlord was prompt in coming over to look at an electrical problem and promised to send an electrician over soon.  Elder King and Elder Sorenson are real troopers and while the living conditions could be better,  they are always able to take it in stride with a smile on their face.

Tunnel in Zagreb

We had our Serbian Christmas Zone Conference on Dec. 22nd -23rd in Zagreb. It started out at the mission office and then we had a great time touring Zagreb amid the Christmas decorations.  We walked in a WWII tunnel under the city.  It was decorated beautifully with white lights and snowflakes. We ended up at the mission home for a talent show, games, and good food.  It was the 3rd zone conference  at the mission home for December.  Slovenia, Bosnia, and Croatia preceded ours.  The mission home is always hopping with activity and we are amazed at all the Grants do for their missionaries.  They really make it feel like our home away from home.

We attended church on Christmas in Belgrade. I gave the missionaries their stockings with goodies and slippers tucked inside.  Later, the missionaries split up for their calls home.  Missionaries are able to Skype home on Christmas and you can bet we had some anxious missionaries and families back home,
waiting to hear from their sons and daughters. We had Sister Lougee, Sister Johnston, Elder King, and Elder Sorensen here and our Skype worked perfectly. The other missionaries went to church and to another families' home to use their computer to Skype. The missionaries get 24 hours "off" to celebrate, but since Serbia, celebrates Christmas on January 7th,  they decided to do their calls home on Dec. 25th, and use the rest of the time off on January 7th.  We were able to Skype/Face time with our family and watch the grandkids open their gifts on Christmas eve.  It was so good to see everyone and we are looking forward to next Christmas when we are all together.

I decided to use a picture for the word of the week.  This was in the shower at our hotel in Zagreb.  Can you guess what it says?  It is pronounced poe-moch.

Thanksgiving Turkey and Football

Our Thanksgiving was a success!  Having a year under our belts, we were a little more experienced with our turkey hunting.  We found turkey breasts at Metro, so I bought two at 4 lbs. each.  After

making an herbal rub for them, adding some chicken broth in the pan and roasting them, they turned out moist and delicious.  We had the normal mashed potatoes and sweet potato casserole, stuffing and I even made a green bean casserole with french fried onion rings I found at Ikea.  They also had Lingonberry jam which was very similar to cranberries.  I ended up making "pumpkin" pie made from sweet potatoes.  EK's mom used to make sweet potato pie and I thought I would give it a try.  This experience has been good for me as it has forced me to cook from scratch.  There are no cake mixes or condensed soups here.  But I find that my chocolate cake from scratch is much better than any cake mix, and thanks to Mel, I don't need canned cream of mushroom soup.  This gravy is my go to for many dishes and this recipe is fabulous. Goodbye to Campbells, for now, or maybe forever...
http://www.melskitchencafe.com/smothered-chicken-with-mushroom-gravy/

We had eight missionaries over for dinner including Elder King and Elder Frandsen from Čačak. They were all excited to dig in to the feast and there was plenty of food for everyone. Before we ate, the missionaries decided to play some football and they let EK be the quarterback.  They were not allowed to tackle or touch the quarterback (those were the orders I gave them before they left)  They followed orders and everyone came back in good shape. They are such a great bunch of young men and women who are hardworking and love the Lord.  They have put their lives on hold for 18 months - 2 years to serve.  There are 60,000 of them throughout the world.  We are in awe of their dedication and are proud to be among them. We are grateful to be in Serbia, as it offers us the chance to see more countries in the mission.  It also gives us opportunities to get to know more of the members along with the local people.  The language is similar, with a few different words.  The biggest challenge is that they use the cyrillic alphabet.

We have gone to the MUP for a second time for our interview to receive a visa.  It is about a twenty minute walk from our apartment.  We are getting to know our neighborhood and have found an open fruit and vegetable market up our street,  grocery stores, and many pekaras (bakeries) along the way. We are trying out the many difference restaurants close by and have found one that offers many local dishes like sarma and stuffed peppers. We have done some exploring and have seen many beautiful buildings and  we have enjoyed seeing the many Christmas decorations throughout the city.  Every street has  different decorations, and it is fun to view them at night when the lights are on.

We flew to Podgorica on Saturday for a mission presidency visit.  We attended church on Sunday and were impressed with a display of copies of the Book of Mormon. They were in many different languages including Chinese, Armenian, Turkish, Bulgarian, and Russian.  (If only we could get Serbian & Croatian figured out)  We enjoyed meeting all of the members and were welcomed warmly.  We were also able to visit with a young man, Nenad who had served a mini mission in Karlovac several months ago.  Nenad is a fun loving person who joined the church fifteen months ago. We love his enthusiasm and he has what you could say, a big personality.  It was so good to see him.  After church, President and Sister Olson had us, the missionaries, and Nenad over for lunch.  Then the Olson's took us to the airport for our 5:00 flight which was on time, smooth, and uneventful.  We were home by 7:30 p.m.  That's what I call a perfect flight.

As I think of all the things we are grateful for, my mind is flooded with the realization of blessings that have come our way.  What stands utmost in my mind is our family at home, that loves us and supports our decision to be away from them for 21 months.  We are grateful for the opportunity to serve a mission, and will continue to tell all who will listen that senior missionaries are essential.  We have never felt more needed than we do now and have been blessed to be associated with great servants of the Lord both in the missionary ranks and in the local Church members.  We have been further blessed with our day-to-day encounters with people everywhere we go.  They are patient and kind in helping us find our way (literally) and answering our many questions.  They have shared their lives with us and their many stories testify of the love Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven has for all of His children.  I love listening to the song, One by One, the lyrics written by David A. Bednar, and the music written by Paul Cardall.  You can see the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0SVPjHc8C0
It is a sweet reminder of that love.
Which brings me to the word of the week for our unuci.
The word is ljubav (lee oo bov) which means love.  Serbian is: лјубав

Moving to Serbia

It is the beginning of November, and the weather is gorgeous in Beograd.  The parking is challenging here, so we park our car in front of the church and it stays there until we have to drive.  Our apartment is about a 15 minute walk from church, and is just long enough to get a little exercise. This was our first Sunday in Beograd and we had a beautiful walk to church.  Along the way, one can see the many buildings with sculptured figures adorning their structure. It is an amazing sight and we are looking forward to seeing the beauty of Beograd and many of it's landmarks.

No, this is not our car!

We moved here  on Tuesday with 90% of our belongings.  Elder Osbourne and Elder Taylor were waiting for us in front of our apartment.  Since there wasn't any parking and the traffic was tight, Elder Osbourne told us to pull the car up on the sidewalk and put our flashers on while we unloaded.   You might be wondering about that, but it is quite common here.  In some cities, cars actually park on the sidewalks, and many times you will see a car in the middle of the road with their flashers on while they run in a store for something or for a delivery. The elders and EK carried our things into our apartment building while I waited by the car.  We are on the 3rd floor and luckily have an elevator.  The apartment is bright and cheery.  The kitchen is modern and is open to the living room with enough couches and chairs for all of the missionaries to sit for district meetings. It also has a balcony which overlooks a courtyard below.

On Friday we felt brave and got on a bus to travel to Novi Beograd to meet with a member.  We knew we had to get on #74, but didn't know how to pay.  We were told by a local that we could pay on the bus, but the driver didn't understand us or was too preoccupied to care .  We felt bad that we didn't pay, so we made sure to find out what we needed to do for future rides.  We had lunch with the District Relief Society President and afterwards, she helped us with some things.  She took us to a VIP store and helped me get my phone working in Serbia. and she also helped us get bus passes. It's a great system where you get a card and add money to your account as you need it.  So we are set to go!   We will also have to go to the MUP  (police) to apply for a visa.  There are many legalities that have to be done when missionaries move from place to place.  The nice thing for us senior missionaries is that we don't move as often as the young missionaries.

On Saturday we drove to Čačak to meet up with Elder King and Elder Frandsen.  Čačak is a dependant Church group and we were able to see the new building that is being rented.  The Petersons, Ostergaards, and many other missionaries have worked hard to prepare it in the past several months.  There were numerous work parties that cleaned and painted the inside.  It is looking great and just needs some finishing touches like pictures, curtains, tables, etc...  The Elders live in a small apartment which is on the same property as the church.  We took them to lunch at a local restaurant.  It was a buffet type place and we were surprised to see sarma as one of the choices.  Sarma is a local dish that is usually made at home and not found in stores or restaurants.  It is made from pickled cabbage leaves and is filled with a rice/meat mixture and gravy, and is served with potatoes.  It is very good.  Another local dish they had was stuffed peppers.  After lunch we took a drive out to see the Zarić's.  They live about 15 minutes out of town and have a country home with some fruit trees, goats, a dog, chickens, and a cat.  Sister Zarić offered us juice from their quince tree.  A quince is a lumpy and misshapen fruit similar to a pear but is inedible until cooked.  Once it is cut up, and simmered with a little sugar, it turns pink and becomes a delectable and sweet treat.  We visited with this strong and amazing family who have been members of the church for three years.  We are looking forward to returning soon to visit with our new friends.

Brick pizza oven

On Monday we had to go back to Karlovac to take care of some legal

Ivana and our happy cook!

business.  We went to the MUP and started the process needed to leave Croatia.  We have mixed feelings as we have met many wonderful people here, and have loved living here.  But we also know that opportunities await us to meet and make new friends in Serbia.  While we were in Karlovac we were able to say goodbye to some people.  We took our landlady Ivana, out to lunch.  She is one of those amazing people we have met who has always been only a phone call away when we needed her.  We ended up meeting her at Tiffany's where they use a brick oven which makes spectacular pizza.  As we were leaving, EK was able to get a picture of the cook who was more than happy to pose with us.  Farewell to Croatia, it has been a wonderful experience.

Word of the week:  voće (vo che) which means fruit

Beograd

Beautiful Beograd

District meeting in Beograd

We have received a new assignment from President Grant.  We are moving to Beograd (Belgrade). We will never be able to replace the Petersons, but will do all we can to continue the work they were involved in.  We don't know who will replace us in Karlovac as of yet but I know they will love our quaint little town. We have enjoyed being in Croatia this past year and are grateful we were able to see it's beauty and meet many amazing people.  Now we are on to a new adventure in a new country. Beograd is the capital of Serbia with over one million people and is situated on the Danube River.  We were able to go there last week for a couple of days and check out our apartment.  It is very nice and comfortable.  While there we were able to squeeze in a district meeting (weekly meeting with the missionaries) with Beograd's missionaries and two visiting missionaries from Sarajevo.  We will move there permanently in another week. There are four church branches and one dependant group in Serbia that we will be visiting in the future.  They are Novi Sad, Sremska Mitrovica, Podgorica in Montenegro, Čačak, and Beograd.  We will also have to get used to using the cyrillic alphabet.  The two languages are similar but have distinctive differences.  I'm sure we will be confused for a while and use Croatian words when we mean to use Serbian ones.

We were in Zadar for a baptism and EK spoke for a few minutes.  He attempted to speak Hrvatski (Croatian) and did very well.  As what usually happens with us both, he ended up confusing words and it caused a few snickers in the audience.  An attendee behind me, leaned in and whispered in my ear, "he would make a great stand up comedian."  So, we try and many times end up entertaining the group.  EK is a great one to try and that is the only way to learn.  The people appreciate the attempts we make no matter how many mistakes are made.  We were happy to be able to visit with the Rotheys in Zadar, and to see Sisters Rusick and Elmore, along with Elders James and Palmer.  The longer we are out, the more familiar faces we meet throughout the mission.  We love seeing those smiling missionary faces and the warm welcomes we receive.

We attended a conference in Zagreb where all the missionaries gathered together to listen to General Authority church leaders Donald L. Hallstrom, and Paul V. Johnson visiting from the U.S.  There were 100 of us and we made quite an impressive group.  It was the first

time the entire mission gathered together since we arrived.  Imagine the difficulty in bringing together missionaries from all five countries in the mission.  We were attempting to take a group picture and had everyone in place awaiting our guests, but it started to rain and we had to scratch it.  I did get a quick shot before everyone went inside, which included the empty chairs for our guests.

Hot chocolate break

Banja Luka

We visited Banja Luka last week. EK had some training with Elder Bradford.  It was our first time there and we enjoyed the sights.  We stayed at a very nice hostel on the river.  The restaurant below ended up being one of our favorites.  The hotel receptionist was the sweetest and we were able to visit with her and tell her about the church.  She wasn't aware that LDS missionaries were serving in her city so we gave her a Book of Mormon and told her the missionaries would be in touch.  We have met many friendly and kind people throughout our mission.  This is a beautiful part of the world and we are grateful to be here.

Word of the week:   lijep (lee ep) which means beautiful

Lake Bohinj, Slovenia

We recently returned from our senior conference which was held at Lake Bohinj in Slovenia.  We always look forward to attending these conferences because it is a time to connect with the other senior couples that we don't often see, be instructed by our Mission President and his wife, and to hear from the mission presidency.  We also have the opportunity to listen to the other couples report on their responsibilities in the mission, as well as report on our own.  There is such a diverse number of jobs to do and when you combine the many years of experience we all have, it can only mean one thing - we are a powerful force!  I am so amazed at the things that are being done throughout the mission.

Lake Bohinj

Subjects that were covered were: public affairs, Seminary and Institute (religion class taught to youth and young adults), humanitarian projects, self-reliance, language, and reports on the various conferences that have been held for the youth (12-18), young single adults (18-30), as well as the single adults (31 and up).  In between our conference, we did have some time to see the sights. We stopped at Lake Bled on the way and took a boat ride across to the island.  Our captain who rowed us across told us that he has been doing it for 35 years.  It was a beautiful island with a majestic church overlooking the lake. We also took a boat ride on Lake Bohinj, climbed 560 steps (give or take a few) to see a waterfall.  We visited some cute goats on one of our walks, and saw the amazing Vintgar Gorge.  The water was a deep turquoise color and quite spectacular.

Vintgar Gorge

Billy (the goat)

Doug & Vicky, EK's brother and his wife visited with us for several days and are now off to explore other beautiful places in Europe.  We enjoyed having them here.  Before they left, we traveled to the Lepoglava Lace Festival that I have been looking forward to attending for months.  It is held in a tiny town that once a year comes alive with activity. Several countries were represented with lace displays and people demonstrating the art. We picked up Sisters Pratt and Davenport in Zagreb and the six of us enjoyed the day together.   We spent the morning looking at all of the beautiful and intricate lace designs. We all had lunch before we headed out to Zagreb for another event to attend.

Bobbin lace making

 On the last day of our conference, one of the senior couples received devastating news that their daughter was critically ill.  They quickly packed, checked out of the hotel, and left for Beograd where they were currently serving.  President and Sister Grant drove with them to Serbia and they flew back home to Idaho the next day where they were able to spend time with Sara before she passed on.  We will miss them and their dedication to the work. It is every parent's worst nightmare to receive such news.  Our hearts ache for the Petersons and pray that they will be comforted and strengthened in this trial. In Isaiah 25: 8 it tells us that He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces. We are grateful for God's plan and the promise that we can be forever families. God's plan is for us to be successful in this life and to return to live with Him.  The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the center of this plan.  In Matthew 16:19 it says, And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  God's plan or the Plan of Salvation gives us the lifeline of hope that we need to cope with the loss of our loved ones.  I am grateful for this plan, designed by a loving Father in Heaven.

Word of the week:  snaga which means strength