Getting acquainted with our new city

Elder and Sister Newton left us on Tuesday morning so we are really on our own now.  I have had a cold all week so we stayed pretty close to home.  We did venture out to Penny Plus to pick up a few items for the apartment.  Penny Plus is kind of like Home Depot but also has a section similar to K-Mart or maybe a dollar store quality where we bought a trash can and some baskets/bins to keep things in the kitchen and bathroom.  We have learned that the tenants are responsible for repairs and upkeep in an apartment.  John wanted to buy a pair of pliers at Penny Plus but couldn't find any that weren't tin snips or needle nose or vice grips.  He finally ended up with an offset pair that seem to do what he needs.  He has the faucets cleaned and running properly now and the shower drain unclogged.

The front of our apartment building

We live on the second floor (or first if you are European and number the ground floor as 0).  We have a similar balcony on the back side as well.  There is only one apartment per floor.  The third floor is still under construction so no one is above us yet.  The landlord lives in Switzerland; the manager lives on the ground floor with his brother.  He speaks a little English and is very nice.  He brought us some baklava and another pastry I don't know the name of but it was delicious.  He said he made them - we want to remain on good terms so he brings us more!

Another view of the building and our mission car

There are several embassy employee homes around us.  I believe the one next door is Turkish.  I don't know who is behind us but they appear to have a play group or maybe daycare.  We see several children and moms in the yard and we hear them teaching the children English sometimes.

The mission car is a nice Hyundai sedan.  We have to share with the elders and sisters if they plan exchanges in a different city and at transfer times.  The elders live about two blocks from the chapel.  The sisters are a little further out but they are right on the tram route.  We like the traffic light system here - if a light is green, it flashes four times as a warning, then turns orange, then red.  If a light is red, it turns orange before turning green.  Drivers are fairly courteous for the most part, although they love to use their horns.  We are slowly leaning to find our way around with the help of Google Maps.  We have a GPS but it's no help in Bosnia.  We only use it when we're in Croatia.

Our lovely red kitchen

The small fridge is on the right of the oven.  If we turn it up high enough to keep the food cold, it will freeze the food at the back.  The freezer is below the fridge.  The sink is a shallow basin that splashes when you turn the water on.  We do have a dishwasher that works well.  I would trade it for a disposal but those aren't allowed here.  The stove top is next to the sink.  Virtually no counter space.

The living room with yellow leather furniture

We are very comfortable here, even if we miss all the comforts of home we are used to.  The washer will hold only 4-5 white shirts at a time so we are doing laundry frequently.  The machine is a combination washer/dryer but the dryer doesn't really dry anything.  I had two towels in it for four hours and they still weren't dry.  So we hang everything on drying racks in the extra bedroom.

Saturday we explored a little and found some addresses where we have appointments next week.  Then we did the grocery shopping.  We take our list and the phone with google translate so we can sort of know what we are buying.  We thought we were buying a dry soup mix but further translating tells us we have a spicy cake of chili peppers.  Definitely not what we wanted.  I wanted some celery and ended up with the whole tree.

This is how we buy celery in Sarajevo

It is as tall as the inside of the fridge so it had to be cut up before it went in.

Wednesday was district meeting.  The zone leader and companion were down from Banja Luka for visa issues so they joined us.  We informed the missionaries that we have been instructed to start doing apartment inspections.  They haven't been taking place and we were told to make sure we do them monthly going forward.

Zone Conference was Friday.  We were happy it was held in Sarajevo so we didn't have to travel anywhere.  There are four sisters and six elders serving in Bosnia.  Only one other senior couple; they serve in Banja Luka.  Bosnia is all one zone.  President and Sister Melonakos arrived Thursday evening and we had dinner with them.  The AP's drove down from Zagreb for zone conference as well.  President Melonakos stayed the weekend to conduct Branch Conference and change the branch leadership.  Elder Cooper is now the Branch President of the Sarajevo Branch.  The first counselor is an American embassy worker, the second counselor is a young elder in Tuzla.  Same thing for Relief Society; the president and first counselor are in Sarajevo, the second counselor is in Tuzla. 

We both spoke in Sacrament meeting today.  We prepare a talk half as long as our allotted time to allow for the translation.  Today only one local member was at church and one investigator, along with the embassy families and the missionaries.  Guess they heard who was speaking.

The city is about 85% Muslim so it's a little like living in Utah and having a chapel on every corner - there is a mosque on every corner here.  We hear the call to prayer five times a day and the bells of the orthodox church four times, we think.  The bells chime at 6 am, noon, 6 pm and 10 pm.  The call to prayer times vary depending on sunrise and sunset.  We haven't quite figured out when to listen for it.  We like these reminders that we are living in a different country with a different culture.  Sarajevo is surrounded by mountains so we are also reminded of home with the frequent smog and inversions.

We know we are bring watched over by a loving Father in Heaven, who loves all of His children.  We appreciate your prayers on our behalf and for all the missionaries.

Zagreb, finally

We are at home in Sarajevo - we can hardly believe it!  Our heads are swimming with all the new information, new language and finding our way around.  We left Salt Lake City Friday morning at 8:30 am and arrived in Zagreb at 11:00 am Saturday morning.  We missed an entire night en route and are still catching up.

Two weary travelers at the Zagreb airport

One of the large bags took a very long time to come up the baggage carousel - we were a little worried, as all the other passengers were gone but it finally popped through the chute and we sailed through customs.

President and Sister Melonakos met us at the airport

We went directly to the mission office for a nice lunch the office missionaries had prepared for us.  They tried to do an orientation but we were so tired we don't remember most of it.  The two senior sisters in the office took us for a walk around Zagreb and Old Town Zagreb.  The objective was mostly to keep us awake.  We definitely have to go back and see it when we can remember what we are seeing.  We stayed three nights at the mission home in Zagreb.  President and Sister Melonakos are both delightful and are wonderful hosts.

Sunday morning we attended Zagreb Branch Conference.  Zagreb has one of the two "church" buildings in the mission.  The other building is located in Slovenia.  All the remaining branches meet in rented space.

Zagreb chapel

The missionaries and a couple of branch members preformed a beautiful musical number.  Two of the young missionaries played the violin and the senior office sister played the piano.  Sunday evening all the missionaries came to the mission home for a potluck dinner.  Elder and Sister Newton arrived later that evening.  We spent the next few days on a whirlwind drive meeting some of the partners we will work with.  Also the missionaries in Banja Luka that are part of our zone.  Banja Luka is a 4 hour drive from Sarajevo.

Elder Dennis and Sister Dionne Newton with us at the mission home.

Our apartment is roomy and comfortable but needs some repairs.  We will talk to the church attorney this week about painting and how to go about repairing things.  Nothing too major, just light switches hanging out of the walls and other things that will slowly make me crazy.  And may I just say that I'm not overly fond of European bathrooms?  Ours is pretty fancy but not very functional.

View from our front balcony

Our view out the back

Last night we drove to Tuzla, which is part of our branch but functions as a group.  It is a 2 hour drive.  We took the sister missionaries with us.  We went for a baptism and it was great!

Elder Cooper at the Tuzla baptismal font, conveniently located in a hotel by the chapel

A young woman was baptized.  Several of the branch members were in attendance.  We were very surprised to walk in and find our church attorney there with his family.  They are not members but were in Tuzla visiting their parents for the weekend.  He had some insurance papers for the Elders there and when he called, they invited him to the baptism.  He is a huge asset to the church in Bosnia; not sure how we would function without him.

In Tuzla, after the baptism

Elder Newton welcoming the new member to the church.  Emir, the church attorney, is translating for him.  Elder Snell and Elder Woodhouse are in the background

Today we attended our first meeting in the Sarajevo branch.  There were 22 in attendance until about half way through Sacrament meeting when two more arrived.  Another brother joined us some time after that for a total of 25.  We have one deacon, who passes the Sacrament by himself and did a fine job.  He also gave the closing prayer and prayed that the Coopers would feel comfortable here.  Touched my heart!  We only have a 2-hour block here (loving it already).

The front of our branch space, located in downtown Sarajevo

The foyer - I asked where the ugly flowered couch was that we see in all our chapels at home

Our chapel.  There is also a small Relief Society room, a small Primary room and an office

Our Sarajevo missionaries doing language lessons at district meeting last week.

In the Adriatic North Mission there are 5 countries, four currencies and three languages.  I think we were told there are 1700 members but the average Sunday attendance is only around 200 between all the branches and groups.  The church is still new here and it will be exciting to be part of the growth and watch as things progress.  We are grateful to be here and for all the wonderful opportunities we see coming our way.  We love being attached to those black name tags again and hope we can do what is expected of us and more.

Provo MTC - week 2

This post will be sent out a bit early, as we will arrive in Croatia Saturday morning and are unsure what our schedule will be for a few days after.

Sunday morning when we awoke, we thought we were back in Ghana.  The power was out in most of the city surrounding the MTC.  There was emergency lighting in the hallway only.  Church was to begin at 8:30 am so we decided to shower and dress.  The bathroom was a dark hole; I imagine it is what the blind must experience every day.  We didn't look our best without blow dryers and curling irons but what could we do?  The entire campus was dark and no emergency lighting in the walkways.  There is a branch just for the seniors but our meeting room had no lights or windows so they combined us with a young branch in another building.  I like hearing from the young missionaries anyway.  This was an international branch so those missionaries came from all over the world to learn English.

The power came back around 11:00 am and the buildings slowly started to warm up again.  After the block we had a mission conference for the entire MTC.  We heard from MTC District President Gordon Smith (former senator from Oregon) and his wife.  MTC presidency counselor George Rahlf (born in Townsend, Montana) and his wife.  MTC President Martino was talking; he stopped and said he was impressed to divert from his remarks and teach the missionaries what happens when a prophet dies.  It was a very good teaching moment.

President Thomas S Monson passed away January 3, 2018

President Monson's funeral will be broadcast at the MTC on Friday morning.  We feel badly that we will be on an airplane and miss watching it.

The Sunday evening devotional was given by Kenneth Cope.  It was a lovely, spiritual hour with him singing some of his own compositions and his arrangement of some of the hymns.  He also talked a little between the music and bore a strong testimony.

Early Monday morning the MTC van took us to the Front Runner station to catch the train to Salt Lake City.  We arrived around 8:00 am and were taken to Welfare Square for a tour and some training.  We ate lunch (a wonderful break from MTC food) at the Joseph Smith building and met several directors of the Church welfare department.  They conducted the afternoon training.  We were put back on the train and arrived home around 6:00 pm.  We went to dinner at Outback with the Whiteheads (another nice break from the cafeteria).

One of our favorite sculptures on the MTC campus

Tuesday it rained most of the day.  We were in training all day for our humanitarian assignment.  There are six other couples in class with us.  Here are the countries we will serve in:  Bosnia, Middle East (Iraq), Vietnam, Albania, Ghana, Vanuatu, and Senegal.  We learned today that the Elder going to Albania taught the missionary lessons to the Elder going to Ghana.  It was in Ohio and they had not seen each other for nearly 40 years.  They have had quite a tender reunion this week.

Tuesday morning the MTC President and his wife sat by us at breakfast.  While chatting, I had mentioned how much we enjoyed the Sunday devotional.  Sister Martino said if we liked that one, Tuesday evening would be 100% better.  So we kind of figured it would be a general authority but we were treated to more than one.  Elder and Sister Bednar; Elder and Sister Joseph Sitati, Elder and Sister Gifford Nielsen, Elder and Sister Brent H Nielson, Elder and Sister Claudio R M Costa, Elder and Sister Weatherford Clayton, Elder and Sister K Brett Nattress and Elder and Sister Gregory A Schwitzer.  The meeting was an all-MTC broadcast for the 15 MTC locations.  Only the Bednars spoke so not sure why all the others were there but it was a wonderful meeting.  Elder Bednar said that President Monson had received a transfer to a new field of labor.

Sister Bednar gave a good talk - I'll try to recap.  She spoke about when they were in Rexburg and Elder Bednar was BYU-I President.  It was common to have a general authority visit campus and they were often in Bednar's home.  They decided that they would ask each one of them a question when they visited: if they (the visiting authority) could teach their (Bednar) children just one thing, what would it be?  She told us several of the responses, then applied it to the missionaries.  Boyd K Packer: come to know who you are; Elder Hales: return with honor; President Nelson: pray with gratitude; Richard G Scott: let someone else have the credit.  Elder Scott had been with Elder Perry and they were walking across campus.  Someone had stopped Elder Perry to talk so Elder Scott stepped a few feet away.  While he was waiting, some excited students approached Elder Scott, pointed to Elder Perry and asked if he was a member of the quorum of the twelve.  Elder Scott said, "Yes, he is.  Be sure you shake his hand and tell him you love him."

Elder Bednar gave one of the best talks I have heard.  He took considerable time teaching us about the apostolic interregnum (word I honestly don't recall hearing before - I had to look it up).  I think I knew how the succession of the prophet works but have never been taught with such clarity.  He took us step by step, starting in the sacred grove up to what will happen in the Salt Lake Temple Thursday morning when the remaining 13 apostles meet.  He said there would be only one item of business - whether they should organize the first presidency now or wait.  Each will offer an opinion, starting with the youngest in seniority.  If it is unanimous, the second in seniority will be the voice as they set the new prophet apart.  At that point it is done; President Nelson is the prophet and will select his counselors.

He said people have questioned President Nelson because he is 93.  He said if he were a betting man, he would give all he had to see anyone keep up with President Nelson, including the buffest 18-year old missionary in the MTC.  He said President Nelson would have him worn out by lunchtime!  He also said there was a question about the 1,000 new mission calls issued last week.  Do they send them out with President Monson's name?  Or hold them until a new prophet is set apart?  The letters went out on Quorum of Twelve stationery under the signature of the presiding authority - President Nelson.

Elder David A Bednar spoke at the MTC devotional January 9, 2018

I am writing this Wednesday evening while we wait for a wheelchair specialist to come talk to us about a possible project in Bosnia.  This is our last night at the MTC.  We will finish classes at noon Thursday, then head to Salt Lake for hair and dental appointments.  We fly out Friday morning and the fun begins.  We are excited to see what awaits us in the Adriatic north Mission!

Provo MTC - week 1

We arrived at the Provo MTC January 1, 2018

It was a cold, crisp winter day when we checked into the MTC.  We arrived around 9:30 a.m. and waited for the other couples to check in.  There are 120 senior missionaries in our new group.  We had an orientation with the MTC presidency; each couple or sister stood to introduce themselves, say where they are from and where their mission assignment is.  There are 12 single senior sisters in our group; two sets of siblings going out together to serve.  The assignments are varied and reach across the world.  Several of the single sister are called as Women's Auxiliary Support Service (WASS).  We have not heard of that previously and when we questioned some the sisters, they did not know what the assignment would involve.  It will be interesting to learn what they end up doing.

After lunch we met again as a large group for a lesson or discussion on our missionary purpose.  It was mostly a Sunday School type lesson on the doctrines of Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, etc.).  In every classroom and hallway are posters telling us our purpose:

YOUR PURPOSE

Invite others to come unto Christ

by

helping them to 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.

We were organized into districts, which would be our classroom group for the week.  We had a few minutes to return to our rooms to unpack before dinner.  We were a little disappointed to be in the older section of senior housing this time.  We were kind of hoping we would be housed at the Marriott a few blocks away, as we have a car with us.  No such luck - our tiny room is like a bad Motel 6.  Not to complain or anything but it sure could use a make over.

Here we are at the infamous world map pointing to our assigned area

We received 12 name tags in our packet (6 each). 
We're not sure which of the ones on the right are Elder and which are Sister

These are our
ministerial certificates that go into our missionary handbooks.  We hope no one ever asks us what they say!  

Monday evening concluded with Family Home Evening.  We watched Elder Bednar's MTC talk from a few years on the difference between having a testimony and being converted.

Sister Bonnie Oscarson and her husband Paul were the speakers at the Tuesday evening devotional.  Her talk was very different from what we usually hear from her.  It was very casual and she made it more personal for the missionaries.  She told stories about the missions they had served together, then several from her children's and their spouses mission experiences.

The rest of the week was filled with classroom time, teaching experiences and study.  The days seemed rather long each day but the week has gone by quickly.  One of the best parts of the MTC is all the wonderful people you meet and quickly grow to love.  We were partnered with a couple from Burley, ID for our teaching exercises.  We already love them and know we will be friends for life!

John & Karen with Becky & Todd Whitehead by the Sons of Mosiah mural

We love wearing our missionary name tags again and are so grateful for the opportunity to serve.  We testify of Jesus Christ and His Atonement.  We know we are children of a loving Heavenly Father who knows us and loves us.