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

Festival in Osijek

We recently visited Osijek for Branch Conference. The district presidency schedules and directs a branch conference once a year in each district.  (There are six in Croatia)  Members of the district presidency, high council, and district auxiliaries (leaders) take part in the conference as

The Strassmayer in Osijek

directed.  Our mission president, President and Sister Grant were there as well. The purpose is to strengthen faith and testimony of the members, provide gospel instruction, and conduct business.  It is always fun to reconnect with our friends in Osijek and to say hi to Elder and Sister Anderson.  We always stay at the Strassmayer which is near the square in centar.  It is a sweet little hostel that always welcomes us warmly.  We picked up KM in Zagreb and took her with us.  KM is the district relief society president.  After checking in on Saturday afternoon, EK decided to take a walk while I rested my foot...more on that later.  He called me after 10 minutes and said there was something big happening in the square.  I walked over to meet him and found that there was a dance festival going on.  It was so much fun to see all the beautiful and colorful costumes and dances being performed.  There were booths set up with delicious local treats and trinkets. We stayed and watched the different groups perform, and of course tried some of the sweets.  We ended up having dinner with the Andersons and KM at American Bar Dollar, a local hamburger bistro located in a cute little courtyard.   We attended Branch Conference on Sunday and afterwards enjoyed a lunch that was provided by the members and Sister Anderson.  Then we were off to Zagreb to drop off KM and then we went on to Karlovac.

I've been having problems with my left heel for a month or so. It is frustrating because I haven't been able to walk as much as I am used to.  After doing some online research,  I suspected my problem to be plantar fascitis.  I also talked to Sister Peterson (mission nurse), and her husband has also been struggling with the problem.  They gave me some exercises to do and told me it may take weeks (or months) before it feels better.  So, I have been diligent in my regimen and am trying to be patient.  I'm thinking positively and expect to be as good as new in due time.  (I wanted to say short time, but I have to be patient)

We had to run over to the Karlovac church to get something and we noticed some flowers on President Raic's desk.  He is our Branch President and it looked like the Primary class decided to make him a thank you bouquet.  The flowers thanked him for a number of things including being humble, for his love for them, and for his example.  It made me think of the many primary classes that have made similar bouquets for their Bishop or Branch President. Branch Presidents and Bishops throughout the world volunteer their time to serve over their branches and wards and minister to their needs. They are usually called or assigned for a period of up to five years, sometimes longer.  This is a volunteer calling (assignment) and they are not paid monetarily, but they will tell you that the spiritual blessings far outweigh the time and work involved.

The Rothes's joined us

EK with Doug and Vicky

We have special visitors with us for a couple of weeks.  EK's brother Doug and his wife Vicky have come to visit and we are having a fun time seeing the sights.  We visited Zadar and stayed in the sweetest apartment right in Old Town.  We saw the Maorske Orgulje (Sea Organ) and The Greeting to the Sun.  We even had an opportunity to meet up with the Rothey's and we took a sail to see the sunset.  It rained the entire day and I was worried the trip would be cancelled.  EK (the eternal optimist) was telling us the rain would stop and the sun would break out any minute.  He said, "The wind is ideal,  how can we pass up this opportunity"?  So we went out into the tempest.  His brother ended up getting a mouthful of saltwater when the waves crashed over the bow.  It rained the entire time, but the sun did peek out for a beautiful sunset.  EK smiled the whole time.

We meandered through Old Town the next day.  I saw this little lovely who couldn't resist playing in a puddle.  She peeked over at her parents for a reaction and they laughed.  Isn't that what puddles are for?

We took our time coming back and stopped at a roadside stand to buy some fresh figs and cantaloupe.  We drove through Rijeka and drove along the coast.  We stopped at a seaside restaurant in Senj.  We have seen many beautiful and amazing sights and are happy to share them with family.  One of the comical sights was when we came across a group of sows rooting in a yard.  As one curiously walked over by us, I grabbed my camera.  She probably wondered what the interest was, but we were amazed at the size of her and her prijatelji.

Word of the week:  barica (bar ee tsa) which means puddle

Families Are Forever

Cousin Camp 2014

We received an email last week from our daughter Kate.  She told us that one of our granddaughters Ella (7th grade), had a creative writing assignment and she sent us a copy of it.  It is entitled, My Favorite Place, and is about visiting Grandma & Grandpa's house in the woods.  Her writing was so clear that she was able to take us back to those times we shared together with family and grandchildren. She spoke of our annual cousin camp, and the Easter egg hunts amid the towering pines that the wind whistled through their leaves (her words),  and the secret tunnel we had between the laundry room and our bathroom.  The kids used to pretend to be explorers and crawl through it to the other side.  It was so much fun to read about those wonderful memories. Thank you sweet Ella!  We are grateful for our family and for the support we feel from them.  We are grateful for the wonderful plan that our Father in Heaven has designed. He has placed us in families where we can learn, be nurtured, and loved.  When we follow His plan, we are promised that we can be forever families and one day return to live with Him. Dieter F. Uchtdorf a modern day apostle has said,  "In His plan there are no true endings, only everlasting beginnings."  This plan is called The Plan of Salvation (or The Plan of Happiness as it is sometimes known as). This video explains it quite well I think.   https://youtu.be/9MiF_HKoFr4

The family minus one unici

Mission home in Zagreb

We traveled to the mission home in Zagreb on Saturday for two meetings.  The first one was training for Seminary and Institute which are religion classes for the youth and young adults.  The Ostergaards organized it and along with Marin Iachimov from Romania, taught us how we can become better teachers.  After it ended, we enjoyed a delicious lunch at the restaurant across the street and then prepared for the second meeting.  This meeting was for the mission presidency and district presidents of the mission, but the wives were invited to attend and receive instruction and counsel from Elder Charles who is an Area Seventy assigned to our mission and several surrounding missions.  As an Area Seventy, Elder Charles is our liaison to the highest church authorities in Salt Lake City. He lives in London and flew to Zagreb for the meeting.

We were successful in obtaining a Metro card this week.  Metro is comparable to Costco in the states and you have to be a member to shop there.  The mission office has a card and we have borrowed it in the past, but found out from another senior missionary couple in Zadar, that we could get our own.  We have shopped at Metro for Youth Conference, and Singles Conference for supplies in bulk and it has been most helpful.  It is a fun place to go and meander around.  When I walked over to the meat department, I noticed a case with an interesting assortment of exotic meso. Other popular meats are pig, chicken, and lamb. I thought you might like to take a look at what's available in my neck of the woods.

When we arrived in Croatia last October, one of the senior missionaries showed me a small and intricate piece of lace.  She had taken a trip to Lepoglava and purchased it in
a museum showroom.  Lepolglava is a small town in a beautiful mountain range near Varadžin which is not too far from Karlovac. The lace was introduced by the Pauline order (the white friars) as early as 1400.  It has won numerous awards in Europe.  I looked online and was informed of a yearly festival held every September.  This year's festival is September 22nd - 25th and I am excited to attend,  It will be a busy time as we will then zoom over to Zagreb for the upcoming Singles Conference that will be held on the 25th and 26th.

Our lives were once again touched by the refugee crisis when we learned from President Grant that a strong member of the Church and a displaced Syrian citizen was being held in a refugee facility in Zagreb.    President Grant had gotten wind of him from a Church leader in a neighboring country who had been helping him while he awaited the processing of his political asylum application.  As it turned out, Croatia seemed to be the place where he would need to wait out the process.  Croatia is sympathetic towards the plight of refugees because 20 years ago they were war-torn and many Croatians were refugees themselves.  President Grant was busy with Zone Conferences so he asked if EK could find someone to accompany him and pay the man a visit.  EK teamed up with a member of the Zagreb Branch of the Church who has a great understanding of the refugee situation and of the political asylum laws and off they went to find this man.  The facility was an old hotel in a commercial area of town.  After a couple of attempts they were able to locate him and had a great visit.  When he was deported he had little time to pack so pretty much came with just what he could carry.  EK was quite touched when the man first appeared in the lobby where they awaited him wearing a clean and pressed white shirt and tie.  What a wonderful man, holding two masters degrees and studying for a Doctorate.  He was humble and appreciated our visit.  EK's heart broke when he told them that he hasn't seen his wife and two young daughters who are in a different country, a son who is serving a mission for the Church in the US, and a daughter studying in the US for over a year.  He is anxious to get settled somewhere so that he can be joined by his wife and daughters.  EK was reminded once again of the blessings of political stability and feedom!!

The word of the week:  Naum Spasenja (noum - spas -enja) which means: Plan of Salvation

Croatia District Youth Conference

Swimming in the Dobra River

Take twelve youth, and add water.  Give them plenty of food,  provide a service project, play lots of games, talk about The Strength of Youth, and end it with a spiritual testimony meeting at sunset on the west balcony of a 14th century castle.  The castle once belonged to the Croatian noble family Frankopan.  It was a spectacular sight.  The conference took place on the Dobra River near Karlovac on riverfront property that Goran owns and generously offered to us to use.  He was happy to share it with us and stopped by to watch the kids play in the water and paddle around in the rubber rafts. After assigning four teams, the kids embarked on a selfie scavenger hunt. One group was lucky enough to

Dobra River and castle

have President Grant join their team. All six Croatian church units  were represented and everyone had a great time.  The senior couples were instrumental in the success of the event because they were needed for transportation of the youth. We had burek for lunch, which is a local dish made with meat or cheese. and is wrapped in a very flaky pastry dough.  We had a BBQ with shish kabobs, hot dogs, salad, cookies, and brownies.  The conference ended with a beautiful sunset and everyone said their goodbyes.  It was very clear that they cherished this opportunity to be together. They are a great group of young people!

Elder & Sister Grahovac

On Sunday, we visited Rijeka for their Church meetings.  It was good to see President and Sister Grahovac again.  They drove Ivan to Karlovac for the conference on Saturday.  President and Sister Grahovac come from Germany but were born in Croatia and are fluent in the language.  It is a blessing to the members that all of their meetings are in Hrvatski.  There were about twenty people in attendance and there were five of us in Relief Society.  Sister Koller was kind enough to translate the lesson for me.  As we headed out of town, we took a drive down by the water and ate the lunch that I had packed in a cooler.  It was a sweet view, but any water view is sweet, don't you think?

A quick hug with Sister Rusick

Last week was transfer week and EK and I helped transport missionaries to their new area.  We drove to Beograd to drop off some elders and I was able to meet Sister Rusick for a quick hug. We treated them to a King bar (scrumptious local ice cream), said our goodbyes and drove off into the sunset. I also got a group shot of the elders.  Aren't they an impressive group of young men?  We love spending time with them and helping them in whatever way we can.  They are always willing to help us with our attempt to learn the language and are patient when we ask them the same question... more than once.

Lunch with Snjezana and Štefica

I was happy to hear that Snježana was back in Karlovac, after spending time on vacation with her daughter and son-in-law.  She called and we went over to visit Štefica.  We all went to lunch at a restaurant close to Štefica's apartment.  For a mere 30 kuna ($4.30), I ordered a three course meal with soup, salad, and main dish.  I will have to tell EK about this new restaurant find.

Word of the week:  tjedan (tee ay dan) which means week.
Have a dobro tjedan!

Life in Zadar

Sphinx in Split

We are spending some time in Zadar until the new senior couple arrive on Thursday.  We will  drive to Zagreb on Friday to meet them for lunch at the mission home, and escort them partway to their new home in Zadar.  We know Elder and Sister Rothey will be amazing missionaries.  They had a cruise planned, but decided they were needed here in Croatia, so they canceled it and came out earlier than scheduled.   They, along with the members in Croatia will be blessed for their decision.  After being on our mission for 10 months  EK said that if we would have known what a senior mission was like, he would have retired 5 years earlier and put in our papers.  I don't think we ever realized how needed seniors are in the mission field.  We are rewarded with the love we feel from the young missionaries that we support, the members of branches throughout the mission,  our tireless mission president and his wife, and the people that are recipients of the humanitarian work and service done here.  We have much to be thankful for when the day ends and we kneel together in prayer.  It is an experience that we will always treasure.  I tell the young missionaries that when they go home and start dating, they should have one question to ask if things start to get serious.  They need to ask them if they are willing to go on a senior mission with them someday.   If it's an affirmative, then it's a go.

We have enjoyed spending time with the missionaries in Zadar and getting to know the members better.  We visited Jadranka and her grandson Nicola.  Nicola is learning English and loves to practice on us.  We had some exciting news while in Zadar.  A young man has decided to go on a mission and EK is working with him to get his papers submitted.  President Rothey will continue to help him when he arrives.  His faithful mother is excited to see him serve. This is her second son to serve a mission.

We were able to meet Mišo Ostarčević and his wife Ankica at church last Sunday.  Mišo is a Olympic Gold Medalist who played for the former Yugoslavia basketball team and was also a NBA scout for the Boston Celtics. He was a close friend of Krešimir Čosič who was the first member of the LDS church in Croatia. The Ostarčević's were baptized by Krešimir in 1974.  They live in St. George, Utah, but also have a home in Zadar where they come back to stay every summer.  They have a grandson in Utah who is preparing to serve a mission.  Ankica told me that he would love to serve in his grandparent's homeland of Croatia.  With Krešimir's influence and example, church members of the ANM (Adriatic North Mission) will grow to multiple generations who will serve the Lord by going on missions.  This ripple effect will continue because of one man's decision to become  a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Remarkable, isn't it?  We think so.

Beware of wild boars

We spent p-day (preparation day) with the missionaries and decided to go to Split.  Current missionaries in Zadar are Elders Bowles, Bolan, Winfield, and Palmer.  We met Božo (pronounced Bosho) who lives nearby and he showed us the sights. There is a palace in Split with a sphinx from 3500 years ago that came from Egypt.  I can't forget Froggyland (no, we didn't go in) but I had to take a picture of the advertisement.  It was hilarious.  We also hiked up to the highest point where we were able to view the entire city and the beautiful sea.  We had lunch and drove home, where we viewed an interesting sign.  I have seen them numerous times and decided it was "blog worthy".  For those of you who know EK, you know that he has two fears.  One is alligators, and the other is wild boars.  When we were thinking of buying a place in Florida, he realized that both were there, thus putting the kibosh on that option.  Here we are in Croatia and he was quite surprised to come across this sign.  No hiking in the bush for this missionary...

Word of the Week:  ljubav (lee oo bov) which means love, the noun, not the verb.

Attending Joey's Baptism

We are experiencing a hot summer in the mission.  We have had temperatures as high as 35 degrees celsius which is about 95 degrees fahrenheit. Our klima (air conditioner) in our apartment in Karlovac has not been working well.  We turn it on and after a short time, it will shut itself off.  We are on schedule to have it looked at.  We will be gone for two weeks and it should be fixed when we get back.  I'm keeping my fingers  crossed...

EK with his crop

 EK has tried his hand at gardening on the balcony.  He planted onions and tomatoes.  He waited and waited and ended up with two of the sorriest looking tomatoes I have ever seen.  He didn't have much success with his vegetables. I also planted flowers for the patio and they are looking beautiful. They are pink trailing geraniums and all the neighbors are enjoying them as they drive into the parking lot.  We have a temporary assignment away from Karlovac for two weeks and we didn't know what to do with the flowers so we asked the people below us if they would like them.  We found out that they do not have a balcony, but they said her mother would love to have them at her apartment.  They picked them up, thanked us, and we made plans to get together with them when we get back.

We went to Maribor, Slovenia with the Varaždin Elders on Monday for p-day.  We saw the beautiful Maribor Cathedral,  walked around the town's main square which dates from 1515, had some  pizza at a local restaurant, and walked down to the Drava River to see the swans. We also came upon Sister VanWagoner and her companion who are currently serving there.  She served in Karlovac with us and it was a treat to see her.  We all had ice cream together, said our goodbyes, and headed for Varaždin to drop off the elders.

When Kate & Gavin came to visit, I had them bring back a princess dress for Natalie. She is a huge fan of Frozen and Elsa.  We went over to their house and surprised her with it.  The look on her face was

Princess Natalie

priceless.  She immediately put it on and had her mom braid her hair like Elsa.  She kept going in the house and would come out twirling.  Finally, her mother explained that she was going in to look at herself in the mirror.  She would come out and smile and say, "I am beautiful".  Little girls are the same everywhere.

Zadar Branch

We went to Branch Conference in Zadar. on Sunday.  It was the Devers last Sunday on their mission and  headed for home on Tuesday. We moved into their apartment until the new senior couple arrive on August 10th.

There are four missionaries in Zadar.  We are enjoying attending district meetings with them and helping with English class. They are quite a mix and come from Australia, Canada, Alaska, and the USA. The missionaries serving in the Adriatic North Mission never fail to impress us.  They are young men and women who have put their lives on hold to serve the Lord.  Many times we are in awe of them.  Which reminds me that we miss our Karlovac missionaries.  We called them yesterday to tell them we are still around and will be back.

An interesting change serving here in Zadar is that it is a tourist area.  Every Sunday we have new visitors attend from all over the world.  This last Sunday we had 50 in attendance.  Most people are just passing through to their next adventure, but there is one family who have been here for an extended period of time.

The Butler family

Daniel and Deborah Butler have four children and are here to do family history work for Daniel’s side of the family.  His ancestors are Serbians who lived in Croatia and left in the early 1900’s. He is a professor of political science at Washington University in St. Louis and is on sabbatical.  Deborah’s parents served a mission in Croatia from 2013 - 2015

Zadar District

(we actually replaced them in Karlovac).  She  decided to visit them and while here, found some records regarding his family.  When she returned home with valuable information, they decided to make a trip back as a family for more searching.  We went over to their apartment on Saturday so I could interview them for an article I’m writing to put on the Croatia country page (much like a Facebook page).  President Grant assigned me to be a member of the Public Affairs team so I’m always looking for stories and this turned out to be a fascinating one. They are leaving for home on Tuesday, after having much success and invaluable experiences for their children. They are the sweetest family and Mark, Lizzy, Rose, and Josh made us miss our grandkids (unici) very much!  When we were leaving, Lizzy and Rose sang us I am a Child of God in Hrvatski.  They were excited to perform for us and we loved it.

We had a BIG day on Saturday! We were able to FaceTime with Adam and attend our grandson Joey's baptism.  We ended up going to the church because the internet was spotty at the apartment. We were able to visit with him beforehand.  He looked so grownup and happy.  We had front row seats so we could see everything including Lily and Joey on the piano, with Layla singing a solo.  It felt like we were there with everyone.  We love that young man and are proud of him.  It is a major step in his spiritual journey.  Unfortunately, we did miss out on the root beer floats at the end.

Word of the week: klima (klee-ma) which means air conditioner.  Much needed this time of year...