Monday evening we went with the Sisters to Zoran and Ranka's home for dinner. She is an excellent cook. I didn't get the sarma I was hoping for but she did make homemade burek and a nice chicken soup for us. Burek is very popular in the Balkans and is sold in every bakery in the city. It is similar to Greek boureki or bougatsa, if you are more familiar with those foods. Burek is a baked, filled pastry made of a thin flaky dough known as yufka (phyllo). It is usually filled with a meat mixture, potatoes, kaymak (similar to clotted cream but quite sour) or spinach and kaymak. Not all those ingrediants together, just one ingredient per pastry.
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| Bosnian rolled burek |
Ranka served yogurt with the burek; the plain drinkable yogurt is supposed to aid in digestion. I like yogurt drinks but prefer mine a little less sour and with some fruit or honey. We had a lovely evening with Zoran and Ranka. Both of his daughters live in Salt Lake City and we hope to be able to meet them when we return home.
John is finally getting his dental work completed. He had to wait 3 months after the implant posts were inserted before finishing the work. He went twice last week for impressions, x-rays and fittings. He has another appointment tomorrow. He won't know how to act with a mouthful of new teeth!
On Wednesday we went with our Red Cross Partner to Kalesija to close a water project that has been underway for almost 5 years. It was funded and started but the contractor and others involved stole the money and disappeared after declaring bankruptcy. In 2014 devastating floods in the area destroyed the well and what had been done up to that point. LDS Charities agreed to re-fund the project in 2017 and start again on a different piece of property donated by a local farmer. We worked hard to get the municipality to push their contractors and workers to complete the work in a timely fashion. It was mostly completed in October, but for a few minor details. We should have had the closing before Christmas but the city waited until last week for the grand "opening" of the well.
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| Pump House with Bosnian flag |
The Bosnians love the media and always have them in attendance when we sign a contract or close a project. We aren't too fond of all the attention but have learned to expect it. The first thing they always ask us is how much money we donated. We gathered at the school for a few photo ops, then we all trekked up the hill to the pump house for more TV interviews. It was quite the production.
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| Walking from the skola to the pump house |
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| Controls inside the pump house |
We did several photos with the mayor turning the handle to open the pipes to allow the water flow from the reservoir into the homes. It serves 160 homes in the rural community of Hrasno, or about 800 people. This community has not had water since 2014. They are a happy group now.
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| Us with the mayor of Kalesija |
The mayor had two signs put on the building; one on the entrance wall and one above the door.
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| Partners sign recognizing contributors |
It looks like the printer slipped "Municipality of Kalesija" into the wrong spot on the sign. Oh well.
After the ceremony, we returned to the school for lunch. They fed us roast lamb, burek and baklava. I asked if the lamb was roasted on the spit and they proudly said it was. I don't mind lamb but it has to be cooked right so it's tender and moist. This was like chewing the insides of a baseball - stringy and soooo tough. It was a long lunch for me but we made it through. They all seemed to be enjoying the lamb; maybe I got the one bad piece on the platter. They presented us with an appreciation certificate and a very nice door knocker that we will bring home with us.
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| Presentation from the mayors |
Can you tell we are in an elementary school classroom? Here are some links to read more about our event.
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| Meeting with Sarajevo Red Cross (Davor on left, Namik on right) |
The Sarajevo Red Cross is one of our best partners. They really have the vision of humanitarian work and of encouraging self-reliance. Davor has become one of our good friends in the city and helps us with things other than our work. He likes to play in the Krešimir Ćosić basketball tournament every year in Zagreb. Namik is the president of the Red Cross.
I've mentioned before that receiving mail here is impossible. I have figured out why. The trash bins around the city look somewhat similar to the blue post boxes at home.
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| Sarajevo trash bins |
I think people are putting the mail into the trash bins, thinking it's a mail box. Probably not, but it's a good theory.
We ended the week with a baptism. There have been 5 baptisms in the Sarajevo Branch since we arrived. We think that is extraordinary! Sara was baptized yesterday and confirmed in Sacrament meeting today.
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| Elder Lee and Sara before her baptism |
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| Baptismal service for Sara |
Sara requested that the service be in English. While they were changing clothes after the baptism we sang a few hymns in English. It is the first time the English language hymnals have been off the shelf since we arrived. As we were singing I was surprised to be thinking "oh no, I don't remember the English words anymore."
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| Sarajevo District missionaries with Sara |
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| Sara with her parents. Sweet family. |
Sara bore a beautiful testimony in Sacrament meeting today. I hope that she will journal her conversion story and one day share it with others. We are so happy that she chose to be baptized while we are here!
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