Thanksgiving week

We enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving dinner at the Rhees home with the other embassy families and friends.  I was too busy eating the good food to take many pictures.

Rhett Rhees and Hyrum Garvin

Not a great shot - the 5 Sarajevo Elders

Elder McNeil wearing the table decorations

I had listened to a very old BYU devotional talk by Harold Hansen a few days before Thanksgiving.  It was about gratitude and he quoted a poem by Pauline Stone that I liked.

Little Things

Did I forget to thank thee, Lord

For things that may seem small:

A flower by the wayside,

A wild bird's lovely call,

For all the daily happenings

That we call commonplace -

For autumn and for sunsets

And a neighbor's smiling face?

For life is made of little things,

So let me not forget

To count my smallest blessings,

And before the sun is set,

To thank thee, Lord, for every one

That adds a note of cheer,

And our blessings will be multiplied

Before another year.

Thanksgiving is a time of remembering the gifts we receive each day and all the blessings that are ours.  We are grateful for our wonderful family and for all the joy that you bring into our lives.  Speaking of family, we can do a little bragging here.  Great grandchild #5 was born on Friday.  Nathan and Maria had another baby girl, making Anna a grandma for the second time.

Jordan Arlene Rose Lowry - look at all that hair!

That shiny new car I showed you a couple weeks ago has been broken in - broken being the key word.  The Elders took the car Friday afternoon to do their service hours and had an encounter with our gatepost going out our driveway.  No one was hurt and it is still drivable but it kind of makes us feel bad to have this mess on the car now.

Fence post meets new car

Filling out an incident report on a Church vehicle is a tedious chore.  We don't know if or when it might be repaired.  The Elder driving is very remorseful and probably worried that his driving privileges will be revoked.

Elder and Sister Swendsen were in Sarajevo overnight; we met them for dinner last night and had a nice visit.  It is nice to have other missionaries our age to talk with once in awhile.  Not that we don't enjoy the young missionaries company but they just don't relate to grown up topics very well yet.  Elder Swendsen is a counselor in the mission presidency and today changed the first counselor in our branch presidency.  Hyrum Garvin is the new counselor.

We brought the Christmas boxes up from the basement to see what we had to decorate with.  We found a tree and started to put it together.  We've never had one that is built one branch at a time.

The beginning of our Christmas tree

Christmas tree parts

It's a tree!

It was a long process but we got it put together and the lights on it.  We left the decorations for the Elders to do when they came for dinner tonight.  I think they kind of had fun doing it.  It saved us the work and looks pretty good.  

Elders McNeil, Thompson and Christiansen decorating our tree

The photo is dark but the tree looks good

Be kind to one another this week!

Haystack Heaven

I mentioned a couple blogs ago how fascinated I am with the haystacks here.  We spent a day in the country visiting project recipients - more about that later - and we saw haystack after haystack.  They all cut the grasses by hand with a scythe, gather it with wooden tined rakes and create the masterpiece.

The path to the barn was lined with haystacks on both sides

We are involved in a project where 10 people/families received a pregnant heifer.  They had to pay a small portion of the cost, have some place to shelter the animals and work with the agronomist over a two-year period to ensure the animals are fed properly and stay healthy.  If the calf is a female they will keep it to grow their "herd" and use it for milk and eventually more calves.  If it is a male, they are allowed to sell it, raise it for food or for breeding.  We visited 6 of the recipients on Tuesday.

This cute couple received one of the heifers

I think this is the happiest project we have been involved in.  Everyone was so delighted with their cows.  They were so proud to show us the cow and tell us what a good cow she is.  The couple in the picture have some health issues.  They lost their son in the war and live on very little income.  This cow will provide milk and eventually cheese and other milk products.  It will enable them to be a little more self-reliant.  The sweet lady hugged me and kissed me on both cheeks.  They told us to come to visit anytime.  I think we will!  They speak no English, so we'll need a translator with us.

This lucky man already has his new calf

This calf is about 2 weeks old.  It is a male.  It is the only calf that has arrived - the others are due in December and January.

This farmer showed us his 15-kilo pumpkins that he feeds his cow

We didn't know that cows would eat pumpkins but we did a little research and found that they are palatable and a good supplement for pregnant cows.  We knew pigs would eat pumpkins - they eat anything, right?  In our research we learned that pigs have been known to grow their own pumpkins, or poop-kins, from seeds they ate.  Just one of those fascinating facts I thought I'd share.

This young man wanted his picture taken with John

John did a little bonding with a young man, discussing the cow and their spotless barn.  We have learned how to gesture and do charades speaking English, and they do the same speaking Bosnian.  Somehow the conversation is understood and hearts are touched.

This shelter is under the house; quite common in days past

Beautiful old barn in the country

 Hadžići is the community where the project is located.  It is about 20 kilometers outside Sarajevo.  It is beautiful rolling hills dotted with picturesque farms.  It is also the location of the new refugee "reception" center.  We also toured the camp while we were in the area.  It opened October 22 and already has nearly 500 residents.  The capacity is 700 and is expected to be full by the end of the month.

Lining up for breakfast

The camp is a former military munitions installation.  One of the buildings has been remodeled for the kitchen and dining areas.  They brought in portable containers for the living quarters; each has heat and electricity.  The showers and toilets are also portables.  Several other buildings are under renovation.  The camp was clean and orderly - a huge difference from what we have experienced at other camps.  There is a large police presence and a security force 24-hours.

Camp entrance

The camp is enclosed and one cannot just come and go.  Everyone is checked at the gate and the refugees must register and wear a badge if they intend to stay.

We were part of church history-making here in the Sarajevo Branch today.  We had the first ever Primary Sacrament meeting in the branch.  Our Primary is all embassy family children; one day it will be all Bosnian children!

Sarajevo Branch Primary

The branch has not previously had any or enough children for a program.  The kids did a great job singing and with their speaking parts.  One of the older boys played I Am a Child of God on his cello, then they all sang the first verse in Bosnian.

I never know if the videos I post work.  I hope you can see this one.  The kids are singing in Bosnian.

The kids wanted a goofy picture, so here it is!

John is doing well with his dental work.  The stitches come out tomorrow; not sure when they will schedule the next step of the work.

We are looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving this week.  We have much to be thankful for!

Zone Conference Week

Happy Veteran's Day  Thank you to all who are serving or who have served in the armed forces to protect my country and the freedoms that I enjoy.

On Monday we picked up our brand new car at the dealership.  It's really nice buying a vehicle when you don't have to pay for it yourself!  The Tuzla Elders met us at the dealer to leave their old car for an appraisal.  They took the car we have been driving and we drove the new car home.  It had only 16 kilometers on it.  Our previous car was only four months old when we arrived in Bosnia but no one thought two 19-year-olds should get the new car so we traded them.  It is the same make and model, just a 2018 rather than 2017.

Our new 2018 Hyundai Elantra

The new car service isn't quite what we are used to at home.  They washed the car but the inside of the windows were covered with grimy dust and the gas tank was empty - literally.  We had to stop on the way home to fill up.

We drove to Belgrade Serbia on Tuesday morning.  Elder Sabin was doing a mission tour so the Bosnia and Serbia zones combined in Belgrade for zone conference.  The other senior couple from Bosnia and the couple from Montenegro were staying at the same hotel so we had a late dinner together after getting all our missionaries delivered.  We brought three Elders with us - what a joy!  We thought for awhile we had three 6-year olds in the back seat.  They all had to take bathroom breaks, but none at the same time.  Then they started the "he's touching me" and "he's breathing my air" routine but they were just doing that to give us a bad time.  In their defense, six hours is a long time for three big boys to be cooped up in a back seat.

Zone conference started at 9:00 am Wednesday morning.  Elder and Sister Sabin had a little reception line to shake all the missionaries hands.

Elder Gary B Sabin of the Quorum of Seventy

Elder Sabin is a counselor in the Europe Area Presidency.  He and his wife Valerie were both good speakers and gave us good counsel.  He used Elder Ballard's topic from the 2018 Mission Leadership Seminar for new mission presidents in June "Faith to find the Elect."  The counsel was to keep it simple - if you want to teach and baptize, you need to talk to more people.  He challenged the missionaries to talk to at least 10 new people every day.  As they do this, he promised they will stay mentally, emotionally and spiritually engaged in the work.

Sister Sabin made a comment that I really like, "if you want to be among the chosen, you must choose."  To me, that meant we aren't going to get where we want to be eternally by luck - we must take that leap of faith and make the decision to do what we know is right and keep on the covenant path.  We are not entitled to anything except the blessings of God when we do our part.

Elder Sabin brought the 2019 Europe Area Goals with him to zone conference:

2019 Europe Area Goals

The top area (in white) says "I will strengthen my faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ whenever I", (in blue) "Follow the prophet," (in pink) "Invite a friend to Sacrament meeting," (in green) "Prepare a family name for the temple."

At the conclusion of zone conference a local clinic came to the church and gave us all a flu shot.  We were the first in line, as we had the longest drive home.  It was almost 11:00 pm when we arrived back in the Sarajevo.

John lost a crown while we were in Paris so we went to the dentist Thursday.  He has needed some quality dental work done for some time but refuses to pay the high prices at home (even with dental insurance).  So he has decided to have four old crowns replaced and have 3 implants done, all for less than one implant would be at home.  We don't trust the medical care in Bosnia but are very impressed with the good quality dental care (at private clinics).

We finally got a picture of the father and son where we buy our fresh fruits and vegetables.  We have no idea what their names are.  The son speaks a little English.  They are so friendly and helpful each time we visit.

Owners of the vegetable market, holding our purchases of the day

Beautiful fruits and vegetables all year round

There are many stands at the market place but this one is our favorite

Our invitation this week is to see others as Christ would see them.  It is amazing what you can do when you are doing it for someone else.  Elder Neal Maxwell said "Don't fear, just live right."

Vive la France

Just a quick summary of the week we missed - not much was happening.  Transfers happened Monday through Wednesday so we were without a vehicle and stayed close to home.  Elder Shepherd arrived on Tuesday and is in a trio with Elder Daines and Elder Thompson.

Elders Thompson, Shepherd and Daines

Elder McNeil and Elder Christiansen arrived late Wednesday evening from Zagreb.  Elder Christiansen is coming from the MTC.  We're happy when they get to start their service in the best city in the mission!

Elders Christiansen and McNeil

I was excited to learn that Elder Christiansen is from Lolo, Montana.  So we have something in common and can see if we know some of the same people there.  I have been gone so long that I don't really know who is still in the area that he would know.  We had District Council with the Elders on Thursday, then we were off to Paris early Friday morning.

We were up at 4:00 am to get to the airport for our 7:00 am flight.  We're not sure how it happened, but we ended up in business class on all our flights.  We could get used to it.  It's not first class (there is no first class on Austrian Airlines) but was definitely less crowded and more comfortable than economy.  We were served meals on real dishes with real silverware.

Yummy breakfast on the Sarajevo to Vienna flight

Breakfast was the best meal we had!  They served delicious, creamy sweet Greek yogurt with fresh fruit, a hot croissant, scrambled eggs and emmental cheese.  Very typical European breakfast that I love!  We had an hour layover in Vienna and landed in Paris about 11:30 am.  We hired a shuttle to take us to our hotel.

We had dinner the first night at a restaurant a few doors down from the hotel.  As we walked to our table, a couple stopped us and asked if we were missionaries.  We had our names tags on, so it was kind of obvious... They were from Bountiful on a quick tour of Paris.  We had a nice visit with them and saw them again when we went to church on Sunday.

Dinner at Tribecca on rue Cler in Paris

Rue Cler is the name of the street where our hotel is located.  We like to stay there because it is what I always envisioned Paris would be like and it doesn't disappoint.  It is a pedestrian street with outdoor markets, patisseries, boulangeries, other shops and restaurants.

Viennoiseries Maison artisan boulangerie on rue Cler

We spent a lot of time and money at this patisserie on rue Cler.  It has the best baguettes, quiche and pastries.  They even served sausages and sauerkraut for lunch one rainy day.

Mushroom quiche and croque monsieur on rue Cler

 

If you don't recognize what "croque monsieur" is... it is a baked or fried ham and cheese sandwich.  The cheese is typically emmental and is on the outside of the bread rather than melted inside.  It is crusty and chewy and very delicious.  There is also a variation called croque madame that is topped with a fried egg on the cheese.

I've had a nagging cough for almost a month now.  Because I didn't feel 100% our Paris touring was a little different than usual - we weren't constantly on the go and walking for miles each day.  We went out for awhile, then returned to the hotel to rest and get warm before venturing out again.  Since we have been to Paris before, it worked well for us this time.  We even took a taxi to church rather than the metro.

We bought tickets in advance to climb to the top of the Arc de Triomphe.  It was spectacular - why have we never done this before?  We didn't do the climb; John opted for the elevator because of his knee replacement.  We did climb down, if that counts.

We stood in the middle of the busy street to get this photo of Arc de Triomphe

View of Champs-Elysees from top of Arc de Triomphe

Karen and John atop Arc de Triomphe

I keep pinching myself each time we are in Paris - I love this city and feel so grateful that we have been able to return every few years.  We are so blessed to be healthy and that we are able to travel and enjoy other parts of our beautiful world.

Eiffel Tower from outside the park

Eiffel Tower at night

Outside the tower

We decided to eat lunch at the Eiffel Tower this trip - another thing we wonder why we have not done before now.  Our advance purchase ticket bought our lunch and access to the top of the tower with no waiting in line for hours.  The view was awesome and the food was pretty good.  It was a delightful afternoon, even though it was cold and windy.

Lunching at the Eiffel Tower

John tried pasta with fresh haddock

Karen had beef confit with mushroom sauce

View of the beautiful Seine River from the Eiffel Tower

We strolled down the Champs-Elysees, even did a little shopping

Tuesday we moved locations to the Novotel in Versailles, where our humanitarian conference was held.  All the senior humanitarian missionaries in the Europe area met together.  It was fun meeting everyone and hearing about the work they are doing in their countries.

Europe Area Welfare missionary couples by the "Tree of Life" at the Paris Temple

One afternoon we toured the palace of Versailles.  It was raining and nasty cold and I was glad I had been there before so I wouldn't feel badly about missing parts of it.  I had to find a quiet, dry place to just sit for awhile during the long afternoon.  I should have just stayed at the hotel but didn't want to miss out on anything fun!

The temple held a special session for our group.  The temple is beautiful, as they all are, but this one in particular.

Front doors of the Paris Temple

Christus in the temple gardens - we were told it is the only one outdoors

One of the highlights of this trip was John's reunion with one of his Ockey cousins.  We learned a few months ago that a couple named Ockey was coming to Hungary.  Del is a first cousin and he and John  have not seen each other for about 46 years.  Del's father and John's mother are siblings.

Del Ockey and John Cooper

Del and Caryl Ockey, Karen and John Cooper

They had a great time reliving old times and telling stories on one another from childhood.  We hope to be able to visit them in Budapest before we come home.

Cathedral of Notre Dame in Versailles

Cute little shop we found by the cathedral in Versailles

Boutons means buttons in French.  This store was so dang cute, we had to go back when we had time to go inside.  It is a notions and yard goods shop, but had very little fabric.  I didn't purchase anything but it was fun looking.

We had promised the Elders we would bring them French chocolate bars.  We fed seven Elders today - our 5 plus the 2 from Tuzla.  We made sloppy joes and cold slaw.  John thought the almost 5 pounds of hamburger was way too much, but there was not a scrap of food left.  Dessert was the chocolate bars.

Elders and their giant candy bars from France

We made them promise they wouldn't eat the entire bar tonight - I don't want any calls about being sick during the night.  These are seven outstanding young men and we actually missed them while we were away.  They are goofy and immature but we love them anyway.

The trip was wonderful and we had a great time.  We are also glad to be home again.  We really do feel at home here and we missed our branch.  We are grateful to be serving here at this time and for all the wonderful blessings we have received.