Things we have learned this week

It's been a good week.  The area welfare specialists from Frankfurt had planned to be with us all week for training but he was ill so they postponed until next week.  So we still don't know much about our Humanitarian responsibilities and are bumbling through.  I am feeling better but now John has a bad cold.  Elder King and Brother Rhees gave him a blessing Saturday night.  We stopped at an apoteca (pharmacy) for some cold medicine - we can't read the instructions of course.

I'll start with the highlight of the week - another baptism!  This man has been trying to be baptized for some time.  He was scheduled before Christmas but he lost a good friend in a car accident and had to be away for that.  Two days ago he slipped on the ice and thought he broke his leg.  Fortunately, his ankle is only badly sprained and no broken bones so the baptism proceeded.  Elder Leach came from Banja Luka to do the baptism, as he was the first missionary to teach him.  He's been through a few; there were 8 elders and 2 sisters at the baptism.  It is great that the mission president gives them permission to travel to the baptisms and share in the success.

Sister Heder, Zlatko and Sister Russell

Elder Leach and Zlatko made quite a big splash in the small font.  When he came up out of the water, Zlatko started to laugh such a sweet, warm laugh then hugged and hugged Elder Leach.  It was very evident that he was touched by the spirit.

The portable font in Sarajevo

The Elders have to "build" the font and fill it with a hose from the sink.  It takes most of the day to fill it.  It almost fills the entire Primary room with just enough room for people to stand against the walls to view the baptism.

Emptying the font after a baptism

There is a pump attached to the end of the hose.  They drop it into the font to empty it.  It takes almost as long to drain it as to fill it.  Then it has to be taken apart and stored so the room is ready to use on Sunday.

Draining the water into the street outside the chapel

The hose goes from the Primary room, through the foyer and out into the street.  We forget how spoiled we are with our large chapels and fonts.  What a privilege it is to witness a baptism here in Sarajevo.  The joy of the gospel and being touched by the spirit are the same regardless of the circumstances.

Last week we had a "physical" for our visa.  They took a blood sample to test for HIV and three other transmittable diseases that I can't read on the results.  No surprise that we tested negative on all four.  Then they took our blood pressure, weighed us and measured our height.  That cost 135km (about $86) for each of us.  But you don't pay anyone directly.  Everything is paid at a bank or the Post Office first and you take your receipt with you to prove the fees have been paid.  Then we had to have passport photos taken because they don't like the ones we use in the U.S.  We had a file about an inch thick when we were ready to actually file the visa paperwork.  On Monday the church attorney took us to immigration to file our visa requests.  Now we wait 8 weeks to see if we will be granted a visa.

On Tuesday we took our first tram ride.  I'll have photos and more about trams in a later blog.  It was very crowded and we probably won't be doing it often but thought we should at least give it a try.  We walk down the hill from our apartment to get on the tram.  It runs the entire length of the main street through Sarajevo.  We rode to the Institute of Fine Art building to pick up some iPads that had been ordered for one of the education projects.

Before district meeting on Wednesday, John got his first haircut in Bosnia.  The Elders showed us where they get their hair cut, which is close to their apartment and the church.  It cost 10km (convertible mark) or $6.30 USD.

John getting his first haircut in Bosnia

Now for the interesting things we learned this week:

1.  Not all milk is created equal - or learn the local language better.  I'm not a milk drinker so this is all on John.  He was quite proud of himself for finding skim milk (our milk choice at home).  He commented several times the milk didn't taste like it normally does; it was almost like evaporated milk.  So we translated the label "Bez laktoze" or without lactose.  No wonder.

2.  Having trash collection is a luxury.  We bag our trash and walk it down the hill to the bins.  You may use any bins you want, anywhere in the city.  It is about a half mile round-trip so it won't kill us.

Attractive dumpsters at the bottom of the hill

3.  Orange juice isn't orange.  The oranges we buy in the store taste and look the same as oranges at home, why is the juice so anemic?

Pale orange juice but it tastes good

4.  In no way does paprika flavor taste like BBQ chips.  The missionaries tried to convince us they were BBQ (my personal favorite), they look like BBQ and may even smell a bit like BBQ.  Not even close.

Paprika chips are very popular in Sarajevo

5.  I bought Peanut Butter to make cookies.  We were warned that it is pretty nasty, and it is.  Very grainy and oily but for cookies, we can make do.  We thought the label translation was great: maslac kikiriki sprjecava oboljenja krvnih sudova – peanut butter prevents blood vessel diseases.

6.  Ketchup is for pizza, not meat or potatoes.  We are served fries or other potatoes with meals but we would be deported if we requested ketchup.  We see people eating pizza everywhere and squirting ketchup on it.

7.  Literal translation is sometimes a blessing in disguise.  In the Croatian hymnbook page 50 is titled "I Cannot Without You."  Any guesses what familiar hymn that is?  Page 98 "I Need Thee Every Hour."  The title helped us to think a little differently about the Savior and how we are so dependent on him.  We literally cannot without him.

We love you; we'd love to hear from you once in awhile!