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!