Quiet Week

This was a pretty quiet week.  Most of the people we work were still on vacation till the 15th of August.  We spent the week preparing for our water specialists who we will be meeting in Sarajevo Monday evening.  The Petersens are from Gilbert, Arizona.  They were here in April.  At that time we visited some potential projects in Eastern Bosnia and Croatia.  This next week we will be visiting possible projects in Western Bosnia. 

We also picked up picked up supplies for our ongoing vision screening project which will be introduced to the rest of the canton (country) the end of the month.  The rest of the canton (county) consists of 65 schools.

In addition to the preparation for the vision screening project we gathered the necessary materials for a wheelchair training that will take place in Banja Luka the first week of September. 

On Thursday we drove to Sarajevo to meet the Montenegro humanitarian couple, Russ and Marge Westwood.  The country of Montenegro was added as part of the Adriatic North Mission the end of July.  Montenegro was previously in the Adriatic South Mission.  President Rowe had asked us to meet with the Westwoods as they have a similar situation and assignment to ours.  They are a group (not a branch) like we are.  It is just them and and two young elders.  One of the missionaries is Elder Compton who served with us Tuzla.  We had a Zone Conference scheduled for Friday.  We met the Westwoods a day early to discuss the challenges and what works for us.  The Westwoods have additional challenges as they are unable to do much with water projects.

On Friday we had Zone Conference.  It was a great meeting.  The Assistants introduced a new format that will be used to teach English.  The objective is to have a great class which in turn helps the missionaries to get to know the students.  It was nice to see Elder Compton again.

Last Sunday was the last day of Bajram (the celebration following Ramadan).  On Saturday we were able to go to a friend's home and have some traditional dishes.  They were delicious.  One dish which I had never tried was Bey's Soup.  It consists of chicken, veal, carrots, and okra,  We have learned that there quite a few similarities which Muslims and Latter Day Saints share.  They fast as we do to gain self control and become closer to God.  Family is very important them.  They believe in prayer and give to the poor and needy.

We do not have photos from this week, but will share with you some of our favorite pictures which tell of things that we are enjoying.