Bosnia the beautiful

We are so totally in love with the beauty of Bosnia!  We have been driving quite a bit the past two weeks and everywhere we go, we are awed by the gorgeous scenery.  Most of it is postcard perfect.  Today we drove to Tuzla to attend church there and check on the Elders.  The road is much better without snow and ice on it.  Sorry the second picture is blurry through the dirty windshield.

On the road to Tuzla, April 2018

On the road to Tuzla through the windshield

Only one member was at church in Tuzla today.  Elder Lee is being transferred so he spoke, then we watched two conference talks.  The Elders had made potato soup for us so that was the second hour activity instead of a lesson with four missionaries and one member.

We left home at 5:45 am last Monday to pick up the Sisters and drive to Zagreb.  They were going for return and report (don't ask, we're not really sure, but all new missionaries do it when they have been in the field about 6 weeks) and we were asked to come along and cook meals for them.  We stayed at the mission home with the missionaries.  We did dinner Monday night; breakfast and lunch on Tuesday, then headed back home to Sarajevo.  We were told to plan for 16 but there were 19 and there was barely enough food.  We forgot how much 19 year old boys can eat.  Everyone was fed but several would have eaten much more if it had been available.  8 dozen cookies disappeared in five minutes.  We'll do better next time.  Or maybe they won't ask us again - even better!

Wednesday we spent 12 hours with the greenhouse specialists and our supervisor from Frankfurt visiting project recipients.  The specialists are from Australia and come twice a year to follow up on past recipients and to find new ones.  We visited 10 greenhouses that were erected a year ago.  They visit with the people to find out how successful they have been, what they are growing, how many in the family the produce will feed, where they are able to sell the produce, etc.  They also look to see if the greenhouses are well maintained and cared for, and being used properly.  LDS Charities partners with the municipality and they provide education on how to plant at what time of year.  We are just at the end of the winter crops so many of the greenhouses were empty and the soil was being prepared for summer crops.

Visoko greenhouse being prepared for summer crops

We visited greenhouses in two areas - Visoko is about 45 minutes from Sarajevo; Zenica about an hour and 20 minutes.

Visoko greenhouse - the women are planting tomatoes

Zenica greenhouse ready for seedlings

The gentleman in this greenhouse had started several different plants in the greenhouse.  The starters are now big enough to be planted in the soil.  And below is another pretty picture of a hillside in Visoko. 

Hillside in rural Visoko

The last greenhouse we visited in Zenica was immaculate.  The yard looked like it came out of a landscaping magazine.  It was amazing, never mind the greenhouse!

Beautiful yard outside Zenica

I want this yard (and the gardener that comes with it)

Transfer announcements came on Friday.  They were all nervous and had created their own transfer boards, guessing where everyone would be assigned.

Transfer anticipation: Sisters Icke and Heder, Elders Leach and Corona

Elder Evans was in Banja Luka on an exchange so we had Elder Leach with us.  They all look happy now....

Transfer shock

As you can see, no one had guessed anything correctly and they were all a bit stunned.  We are losing our sisters and will have four elders in Sarajevo after transfers.  The only one staying here is Elder Evans.  I think we're going to miss having sisters here.  One exciting development is that Podgorica, Montenegro will now have a set of sisters.  They have had four elders and the country was considered too unstable for sisters until now.  Our missionaries were a little distressed with all the changes but they are getting used to it and will press forward.

John helped our building manager mow and trim the yard yesterday.  He said it felt good to be outside doing some manual labor.  And the yard looks much better now.  Life is good; the sun is shining and our world is green and full of spring flowers and blossoms.  We love being here and are starting to feel like we know a little about what we're doing.  We feel so blessed to be serving a mission here.