Sunday May 26, 2019

We are in Banja Luka with the Brewers tonight.  We attended church in Zagreb this morning then drove to Banja Luka.  We will visit the women's safe house in the morning to check the progress on the replacement of the doors and frames.  If the weather cooperates we'll spend some time sightseeing with Brewers before heading home to Sarajevo.

Zagreb Branch President Domagoj Kobešćak

It has been a busy week for us.  We drove to Bihać Monday morning and arrived at the soup kitchen to find the media waiting for us.  So before we even saw the new kitchen equipment, we were interviewed by local TV and radio.  We don't understand the language well enough to know what is being said about us or the projects.

Sidik being interviewed by media

We donated a large commercial cooking pot/unit for the kitchen.  They finally have the electrical issues resolved and started using the unit about 3 weeks ago.

New cooking unit in the soup kitchen

This kitchen provides about 360 meals each day to the unemployed, home-bound, disabled, and homeless in the community.  They have recently partnered with the local Red Cross to provide some meals for the refugee camp nearby.

Beans and sausage in the new cooker

They told us the new equipment has cut their meal prep/cooking time from 5 hours to one hour.  This additional time will allow them time to do the Red Cross meals, plus additional meals for the community.

Wednesday was our only day at home.  We managed to plant our "deck garden": 2 pots for tomatoes and four flower pots.  We left on Thursday and hope they have survived in our absence.

We have been working on another kitchen project at the refugee family center outside of Zagreb.  It was a nasty, dirty room when we were approached and now it is so pretty to look at.

The kitchen was gutted and we replaced the window, all the floor-to-ceiling wall tiles, the cupboards and counter top, and all new appliances.  IKEA needs to return and fix a couple things they did wrong and Red Cross will replace the ceiling lights, then it will be finished.  This kitchen will be a blessing for the mothers in the center to prepare baby formula or to cook a traditional meal once in awhile.  The women also like to gather there to socialize while they cook and feed the babies.

We thought we had an appointment on Friday in the city but it fell through so we did some shopping and wandering around the city.

Euro(pee)an culture in the park across from the mission office

Saturday was the annual mission sponsored Krešimir Ćosić basketball tournament.  Teams from each country in the mission are invited to participate.  Our Bosnian team fell apart a couple weeks before the tournament - our one remaining player was loaned to Serbia so he could participate.

Teams getting pre-game instructions

Jasmin (our Bosnian member) in action

After the tournament we ate dinner at a Croatian restaurant close to our hotel.  We stay at this hotel frequently and wish we had discovered this little place sooner.  I had sarma, one of my favorite Balkan dishes.

Beetroot salad and sarma with mashed potatoes, my favorite Balkan meal

John had roast veal with mashed potatoes and vegetables

Life is good in the Adriatic North Mission.  We love serving here and all the wonderful things we get to do!

Sunday May 19, 2019

We have been traveling all week but I'll have to post a separate travelogue.  There is just too much for one blog.  We returned to Sarajevo on Friday afternoon, unpacked and did some laundry.  Our newest NGO partner had invited us to Iftar Friday evening.

If you aren't aware, we are about midway through Ramadan.  Iftar (Arabic for "break fast") is the evening meal with which Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset.  They break their fast at the time of the evening call to prayer.  Call to prayer is based on the times of sunrise and sunset; during Ramadan they fast during those hours.  Here in Sarajevo, we hear a loud cannon boom at sunset and we know it is the end of the daily fast.

Iftar is one of the religious observances of Ramadan and is often done as a community, with Muslim people gathering to break their fast together.  This NGO had invited their members and other friends to join them at a restaurant Friday.  We were at a table for 6 and shared the meal family style.  Traditionally, dates are eaten first to break the fast, in emulation of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who broke his fast in this manner.

Dates are the first bite taken to break fast at Iftar

Iftar feast

You can see that the table was covered with food - meat platter with chicken, beef, lamb, ćevapi, salads, raw onions, flat bread and lemonade.  We were with the young Elders and they made a pretty good dent in the food.  We were about two-thirds through the meat platter when they came and dumped another huge portion of meats on the platter.  There is no way 6 people could eat that much food, although the Elders tried.  We hope that they feed the poor and needy with the leftovers.

We had to get the Elders back home before curfew so left before the celebration ended.  We aren't sure if anything more happens after the eating.  We asked another partner we were with on Saturday if this much food is normal every evening - definitely not.  When families gather for Iftar it is much simpler and less food is served.

On Saturday we drove to Sapna, in northeast Bosnia, with another partner and one of her volunteers.  LDS Charities is helping them refurbish their mobile library.  We are doing some vehicle repairs and replacing the tires.  The inside will have the flooring replaced and new shelves for the new books and media equipment.  This rural area is very poor and the schools do not have libraries or enough text books.  The mobile library stocks all the required curriculum books and materials for the teachers to access and use for lesson planning.

Mobile library project banner

Our partner Ines and her volunteer (whose name I cannot remember) taught a workshop to 15 elementary school children.  The topic was developing good study habits.  They seemed to be doing a good job, but not knowing much of what they were saying, it's hard to say.  We were very impressed with the students good behavior and participation.

Volunteer (left) and Ines (right) conducting the workshop

In the classroom

During the break, we wandered the school halls a bit.  It is a colorful school, with large murals on the walls and a variety of student art work.

Apparently there are bullies everywhere

There were two large posters outside the English Club door.  The one about bullying and another to stop violence.

Stop violence in the schools

Sapna is a 3-hour drive.  We arrived back in Sarajevo around 4:00 pm and went to the store for groceries so we could feed the missionaries today.  We are leaving first thing tomorrow morning for Bihać to wrap up a refugee project there.  It is a 5-hour drive.  Thank goodness for books on tape while we drive.  I love to travel but will admit I'm exhausted from all the driving.  And the week ahead is more of the same.

Mother's Day 2019

Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful women who have influenced my life for good.  Thank you for your example and for sticking with me through it all!

We had Branch Conference in Sarajevo today.  President and Sister Melonakos and Elder and Sister Swendsen attended the conference.  In anticipation of our leaving, John was released as Branch President today and Hyrum Garvin was sustained as the new Branch President.  John will be the first counselor until our replacements arrive.  Swendsens go home to Calgary in two weeks and there will not be another opportunity for a member of the mission presidency to travel to Sarajevo to make the changes later.  So John and Hyrum basically switched places.  Hyrum leaves for the U.S. May 20 for the birth of their 5th child and returns June 24.  We love the Garvin family and know that Hyrum will be a good Branch President.

We had a branch activity Saturday afternoon - Pizza in the Park - in conjunction with Branch Conference.  We had an excellent turn out.  The missionaries did a great job of inviting members of their English Conversation Groups.  We ate lots of good pizza, played soccer and volleyball and enjoyed chatting with everyone.

We also served lunch after the block meetings today.  John and I did all the preparations so the women in the branch could have the day off.  We all lingered longer than usual and felt like it was a success.  We wish we knew the secret of convincing the local members the importance of attending church each week.  We have great admiration for those who do understand and faithfully come each week.

A young missionary who served in Sarajevo for 7 months before we arrived here, returned last week for a visit with his parents.  They treated us to dinner one night at the rotating restaurant atop the Radon Plaza.  They are a lovely family and we enjoyed getting acquainted with them.

Ryan, Rachel and Kyle Echols at the Radon restaurant

Ryan and another former ANM missionary room together at BYU and will be doing an internship in Osijek, Croatia this summer.

On our walk one day this week, we saw the stairway to...

Stairway to nowhere

The stairs were sitting in the middle of a grassy field.  It is strange to look at but we imagine there is a sad and perhaps tragic story that we'll never know.  We suspect it is all that remains of a happy home that once stood there.

Our calendar is full and we have much to do before our time is finished here.  We feel like we won't be able to accomplish all we should be doing, but also realize that we could serve for years and still not get it all done.  We feel very blessed to have been given 18 months here.

Sunday May 5, 2019

I should have saved some of our travel adventures to post this week.  It has been a rather boring week after all our recent excitement.

Last Sunday after church we drove an hour and a half to Travnik to attend a function with a partner.  It was the final outing for a project we are wrapping up.  Sorry, no photos due to privacy for the severely disabled children and their families.  The NGO took the families on a bus to a historical site, then had a meal together where we met them.

We spent much of the week catching up on paperwork and other things we neglected while we traveled.  Barbara and Dennis returned from Greece on Wednesday and we had one more evening with them before the flew home to Utah.  We had such a good time, we were sad to see them go.

Made from fresh lettuce leaves

The day we visited the National Museum the agriculture department from the university was there and had several displays in the courtyard area between the buildings.  We don't know what PPF represents but we thought it clever to use real lettuce.

Garden display

I thought I might try this one at home - the 2 gum boots or wellies or whatever they are called these days are the planters.

Event tickets

We really did go a lot of places and see a lot of things while we traveled.  We are home this week, then take off again for a week in Montenegro.

Our last official day in the Adriatic North Mission is July 2.  We plan to visit the Rome Temple and train through Austria into Germany before flying home.  We will arrive home on July 12.  More details to come.

Here's my bus station wall wisdom for today: "Putovanje je bolje mjeriti u prijatel jima" or The journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.