January 27, 2019

The missionaries have returned to their apartments, the dishes are in the dishwasher and the kitchen is clean; life is good on a Sunday evening in Sarajevo.  Our branch made history again today - we have a trio of "young men" now, not just one "young man".  We had the two deacons pass the Sacrament today.  Two aren't really necessary but it gives them both the opportunity to participate.  One of those deacons was ordained a teacher today and his brother was ordained a deacon.

Preston (deacon), Gunnar (teacher), Kent (deacon)

I love these 3 boys and it makes me so happy to see them ordained and growing up obedient and faithful.

Preston, Rhett Rhees, Elder Cooper, Gunnar

I don't think I've ever posted a picture of the entire Rhees family together.  Their embassy assignment ends a month after our mission and they will return to the U.S., probably to the Washington DC area.  They have been our good friends here and I'm glad I won't have to be here without them!

Paige, Preston, Kaiya, Camie, Sommer, Janie, Rhett, Gunnar

On Monday we spent part of the day with the Sisters, doing P-day stuff.  We introduced them to Mala Kuhina, one of our favorite places to eat here.  It is Asian fusion (sorry, not Bosnian food) and so, so good.  They don't have a menu anymore but we always order the same thing anyway - chicken wok and beef with mushrooms in mustard sauce.  After lunch we all went to the Olympic Museum.  I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I had the thought that I was glad it was free; I would have felt cheated if I'd had to pay to get in.

Elder and Sister Cooper with Sister Fritch and Sister Landon

We were trying to get the Olympic sign in the photo but didn't quite manage that.

Us in front of one of the display cabinets with skiing memorabilia

1984 Olympic Museum

We watched a little documentary about the 1984 Olympics and walked around the displays.  And that was it.

We are starting our round of visits to partners again in search of good projects we can sponsor.  We need to spend at least half of our annual budget before we go home so the new couple has projects underway when they arrive.  It took us about five months to really understand what to do but they won't have that long or the year will be over and the budget given away to another country.

The branch presidency decided that the theme for Sacrament meeting talks this year will be focused on the 13 Articles of Faith.  January was the first - "We believe in God, the eternal Father, and in His son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost."  Elder Christiansen gave a great talk last week about faith in God the Father and Jesus Christ.  Elder Thygerson spoke today about the Holy Ghost.  Both had a unique approach to their topics and did a super job.  When I heard the topic I thought, goodness it's so short and simple.  What more do you really need to say about it?  But they both said just what I needed to hear.

Yes, it is still snowing.  The Sisters came Saturday morning to help shovel us out.  We made pancakes for them and then they went to the Garvin's to help them shovel.  It is supposed to rain tomorrow, so maybe it will all melt.

January 20, 2019

Enough already!  It has snowed every day for 3 weeks and I've had enough winter, shoveling and cold.  Last winter here was such a mild winter that we weren't expecting all this weather, but we understand this is normal for Sarajevo.

Our parking area gets smaller each time we shovel

This is how parking lots/areas are maintained - they aren't.  People just drive through the snow and it results in icy ruts that don't melt.  Don't even think about walking on a sidewalk without snowshoes.  Or maybe ice skates.

Parking lot by our insurance agent's office

The senior couple in Banja Luka came to Sarajevo this week to train the missionaries on the new self-reliance courses being offered.  Bosnia is one of 6 European countries trialing the revised course with young missionaries facilitating the classes.  We find it rather ironic that we're asking 19-year olds who cannot manage their monthly subsistence well enough to get to the end of a month with money for food, to teach the classes.  Perhaps they are hoping the missionaries will learn something also.

The Brewers came a day early so we could spend some time together.  They are able to buy pork in Srpska land and had made some Italian sausage for us.  It was pretty tasty and a nice treat.  We tried a new restaurant while they were in town.  Vapianos is a pasta restaurant, kind of self service.  They give you a card when you arrive, then you go to each station and order what you want to eat.  They scan the card each time you select an item and you pay as you leave.  They had soups, salads, pizza and pasta.  At the pasta stations, you select the type of pasta and which topping or sauce.  They prepare it while you watch, so it's all freshly made.  We really liked the food and would go back again.

We had some appointments cancel so we took an afternoon off to tour the old city hall and library.  The building is called Vijećnica and is the most extravagant building constructed during the Austro-Hungarian occupation.  It serves as a symbol of the meeting of world civilizations.

It was built in 1896 and has become one of the most important symbols of Sarajevo.  It is often featured in photographs of the city.  After World War II, Vijećnica became home of the National and University Library of BiH.

Renovated Sarajevo City Hall

On the nights of August 25-26, 1992 Vijećnica was hit by flammable artillery missiles.  The fire destroyed city hall, along with the huge library fund of the National-University Library and nearly 2 million books.  I love to read and the image of 2 million books being destroyed makes my heart sad.  It also housed the national archives but fortunately someone had the foresight to remove most of the treasured artifacts a few weeks prior to the fire.

Plaque outside the entrance of City Hall

Vijećnica's reconstruction got underway in 1996 with the help of USAID and other donors.  It officially reopened May 9, 2014, the same day that Europe Day and the Day of Victory over Fascism are observed.  Today it is used for festive and cultural events, art exhibits and regular sessions of the city council.

Photo taken in the atrium on ground level

Beautiful architectural details

Grand staircase - it continues on both sides to the upper level

On Saturday we went with the Sisters to find some branch members.  We visited with the mother of a member and found out she has moved into the city; we got her new address and phone number.  The Sisters have an appointment to visit with her next week.  We also visited a member whose wife does not know he is a member, just thinks they are friends of the church.  He has not been to church for a year and when the Elders contact him, he always is busy or away somewhere.  So we just dropped in and surprised him today.  The wife didn't seem too pleased but he let us in for a few minutes.

We pray each day for protection and safety as we do our work in a foreign land.  We can testify that prayers are heard and answered - ours and all of the daily prayers for missionaries around the world.  Yesterday while we were out with the Sisters we had a very close encounter with a vehicle that was about to broadside our car.  It came barreling through an intersection and there is no way it should have avoided us, directly in its path.  John swerved onto the sidewalk and I never did see where the other car went.  Thinking back on it, and talking with the Sisters this morning, it seems to all of us that the car was plucked out of our path and placed somewhere else.  When you are on the Lord's errand, amazing blessings come your way.

January 13, 2019

Another slow week without much happening.  Our car has been in the shop all week getting repaired from the encounter with the fence post awhile ago.  We picked it up Friday morning and it looks as good as new again.  One companionship of Elders borrowed the car on Saturday to meet with a referral in Visoko, about 40 minutes away from Sarajevo.  They left the city about 12:15.  They were gone a very long time and I was getting a feeling that something wasn't right.  They finally called around 4:00 pm to report they had gotten lost on the way to their second appointment and were now stuck in a snow bank off the road.  They had attempted to resolve the situation on their own without any luck and walked to a house down the road.  The people called the police to come and help the missionaries.  At home that wouldn't give me any pause, but here the police aren't always helpful.  All we could do is wait for them to call again.  The police did help them out of the snow bank and sent them on their way.  They stopped at a car wash to clean the car but it was dark by then.  This morning we found muddy hand prints on the car; even the steering wheel had dried mud on it.  They had been digging in the snow and mud with bare hands to get unstuck.

They finally arrived at our house around 6:30 and were visibly shaken from the experience.  They were wet and muddy but okay and no damage was done to the car.  We gave them dry socks and slippers to wear and fed them grilled cheese sandwiches while they talked through it.  They both said they didn't think they wanted to drive again for awhile.  We told them it will be a story in their journals that they will look back on and laugh about.  They said it would be one of those stories that you don't tell your parents about until after you return home.  They were even chuckling a little about it this afternoon, so I guess they will survive.  They did, however, decide to cancel their P-Day road trip to Mostar tomorrow!

We now have two deacons in the branch.  Kent isn't quite 12 but with the new age rules, he was ordained last Sunday.  This morning before Sacrament meeting his dad was walking him through the routine of passing the Sacrament.  It was very sweet to watch as dad taught him what to do.  He walked with him and held his arm from behind to help him know where to stop and where to hold the tray so everyone could reach it, when to stand and when to sit.  It was quite a beautiful thing to watch the father-son teaching moment.  And it worked - Kent did a great job his first time.

Kent Garvin, our newest deacon

This afternoon we and the Elders went to visit Suada, a member who lives 30 minutes outside the city.  We try to visit her at least once a month, as she is no longer coming to church.  She is a wonderful lady, who is always so kind to us.  Her son is the only missionary ever to serve from Bosnia and is now at BYU pursuing a masters degree.  He served in the England Manchester mission and knows our grandson Josh, who also served there.

On the way home from Suada's we pass through a toll booth.  When the attendant passed the card and receipt back to John, he stuck his head out the booth window and asked if we were Americans.  We said yes and he said "thank you so much, we are respecting Americans.  Thank you to come and all the help you give us." His English wasn't great (better than our Bosnian) but his comments were genuine and heartfelt.  People are generally nice to us but not to that extent.  It was one of those moments that make you feel like maybe what we're doing is noticed and appreciated.

We asked the Sisters to come to our house while we were gone and put the lasagna in the oven for us.  They arranged their afternoon so they could do their personal study and planning time while they manned the oven.  I made two 9x13 pans of lasagna to feed everyone and there would not have been enough time to bake both in time for dinner (the oven is big enough for only one pan at a time).

Sister Fritch and Sister Landon

We learned awhile ago that the senior missionaries are the branch historians unless you are part of a district and have enough members to call someone to that position.  So I spent Friday and Saturday going back through the calendar and journals to remember what happened in 2018.  Now that I know we should be doing it, I should start now so the next couple coming here will know and can continue with the last half of the year.  Hard to believe we will be home in six months!

January 6, 2019

New Year's Eve in Sarajevo was probably one of the strangest we have experienced.  We went to a matinee at 1:00 pm.  We saw Mary Poppins Returns - it was delightful.  The original is still my favorite but this one was very good.  John thought it was a little bit too long but it kept him entertained; I even noticed a little toe tapping from his direction!  When the movie was over, the theater was shut down.  No movies on New Year's Eve, can you imagine?  We thought we might go to dinner but most of the restaurants were also closed by then.  We went home, thinking we would order Chinese or pizza delivery but no such luck, they were also closed for the day.  So no movies and no eating out on New Year's Eve here.  Christmas Day was a normal business day with stores, offices and restaurants open as usual.  So I guess we know what the priority is here - New Year's is a big deal.  We heard fireworks for 3 days prior to New Year's but never really saw any until that eve.  They started at dark and didn't stop until after midnight.  I looked out the window at midnight and could not believe what I was seeing - the entire cityscape was exploding with fireworks.  I don't think there was a foot of space in any direction that wasn't lit up.  I could be wrong, but I don't believe there were planned or organized firework displays.  It seems that you are allowed to purchase and set off fireworks as you wish.  Now that I think about it, I guess maybe there were some organized displays, perhaps at the soccer stadiums.

Tomorrow is the Orthodox Christmas observance.  I don't think we will notice much difference here for that day.

It was a slow week for us, with many of our partners on holidays.  I didn't even take any photos.  We have had snow all week, probably 6-7 inches total.  It doesn't seem like so much but the 2-lane roads can be treacherous, especially traveling through the mountains (and pretty much everything is through a mountain from Sarajevo).  President and Sister Melonakos were scheduled to arrive Friday for interviews and attend church in our branch today but they turned back to Zagreb on Friday.  The plan was to travel though northwest Bosnia after church to the Croatian coast for interviews there on Monday.  I think they made the right decision.

This is short, but nothing to write about!  And it's time to finish dinner preparations for the missionaries arriving in 2 hours.