Spending our first weekend in Tuzla

We stayed Monday in Croatia as Gary had a doctor's appointment Tuesday morning in Zagreb.  They ran some blood tests to make sure nothing was wrong as Gary lost 15 lbs the first two weeks after we got here.  The tests came back normal so we guess it was just stress.  Anyway after the appointment on Tuesday we packed up the little car and headed out for Tuzla and the 5 hour drive one way. 
Wednesday was a real trial.  In the morning we went to the police station and started our registration process again.  This time for Bosnia.  In the afternoon we went to Posta (Post Office) to see about our Internet.  Which we did not get. On the way Gary had a 3/4 gold crown come off his tooth.  We spent the rest of the afternoon looking for a dentist.  No dentist was found that could correct the problem.  After the dentist we went to get some groceries.  At the checkout the girl told us our credit card did not work.  What else could go wrong?  Now you can see why he has lost weight.  Here we are in a country that we can not understand what they are saying, no Internet, and a crown that needs to be re-cemented.  As it turns out our landlord came by later that day and told us that he had ordered the Internet and then gave us the password to use his internet until we get ours.  The next day we went to get some gas and the credit card worked fine so it was just that store.   On Friday we drove to a Zone Conference in Saravego and we were able to visit a dentist who fixed Gary's tooth.  So your prayers in our behalf are working. 
I said that we have access to the Internet, that term is used very loosely.  We can only use one piece of equipment and the best signal is in the entryway of our apartment.

Sara sent us an email the other day reminding us of the counsel we received when we were set apart.  She also reminded us 'that the Lord trusts us and will not let us fail.  He is just helping us learn.  We can't really be grateful for his assistance if we didn't know what we were missing to begin with'.  Good thing we have people to remind us and help us to not become discouraged.

Today we held church in the Elders apartment downstairs.  We were hoping for two young men who once lived in Salt Lake City would come, but they did not show.  It was just us and the Elders.
Our missionaries are Elder Chandler from Meridian, Idaho and Elder West from Connecticut.  We hold the modified meeting here.  Sacrament meeting followed by Sunday School.  The Elders live in an apartment just below us so we do not have a big commute.  This afternoon we had the Elders to our apartment for dinner.

Last week as we read the Relief Society Newsletter it made us think of a garden project that they have in Karlovac, Croatia.  This is a project which involved the members of the Karlovac Branch.  The church has helped lease some land, erect a building and help with a pump so they can water their crops as well as help in purchasing the seeds.  There are about 10 families of the branch involved. Each family plants what they want  Gardening is done a little different here.  Notice how they stake their tomatoes. They cut up the plastic bags from the stores and use them to tie up the tomatoes. They also do companion gardening to make better use of the land.  (see the corn and beans)

Thus ends our first weekend in Tuzla.  If we had not had the limited access we have to the Internet, we would have had a pretty tough week, so we are truly thankful for what we have.  You should be thankful as well, or you would not be reading this.  Hopefully we have enough strength to publish this.  We shall see.  Next week we will return to Varaždin for another load.  The way it looks we think we can make it in two more trips.  Till next week doviđenja (goodbye).           

Couples Conference

This week we made our usual trip to from Varaždin, Croatia to Tuzla, Bosnia but still no Internet.  We did get our Elders.  Two great young men who got up and caught a bus in Sarajevo at 5AM Wednesday morning so they would be in Tuzla by 8:30am.  We picked them up at the bus station and took them back to the apartments.  We fed them breakfast then they got cleaned up.  Then Gary took them across the street to get a cell phone.  After securing their phone we departed  back to Varazdin.  We were scheduled to attend a couples conference with the rest of the senior couples in Zagreb on Thursday afternoon.  When we arrived at our apartment all our electronics starting pinging as we stood outside the door trying to open it.  We got on the Internet and found out details about the conference, did some laundry and started preparing for the conference the next day.

The location of the conference was  a hotel in the mountains above Zagreb.  It was a 10 km drive up a one way winding road.  The drive was worth it.  We were on the top of the mountain.  We stayed in a hotel called "Snow King".  As we went through the lobby to our room this picture was on the wall.

There were pictures all over the wall from the 2002 Olympics.  They had a picture of a young lady who won 4 different medals in skiing from Zagreb.  The hotel is located close to a ski resort.  It was a wonderful change with beautiful scenery. 

The conference was just what we needed.  It was filled with talks from the Misson Presidency and various couples who had assignments as well. We shared about the Humantarian work in general and talked about several projects that are ongoing in Croatia and Bosnia.  Friday night we visited downtown Zagreb.  The town centar was much bigger than most with large billboards like you would in Times Square.  We went on a walking tour of Old Town Zagreb and learned various folklore.

Josif Jelačič

Children performing folk dancing in Centar

St. George Kills the Dragon

St. Marks

Croatian Parliament Palace

What we got from the conference was that we need to have the faith "to jump out of the boat".  Peter had the faith to jump out of the boat and walk on the water to the Savior.  We need to replace fear with faith.  We need to exercise faith that we will be able to get the Internet and do our work in Tuzla.  Satan does not want us to succeed.  We know that is because he knows the difference the gospel can make to the people of Tuzla, which is why we have so many challenges.  But we "Can Do It". We have renewed determination to make it work.  We have discovered that we can get a wireless router which will at least get us the Internet.  We will press on in getting a secure connection so that we can do our humantarian work.  One other thing we gained from the conference was a renewed desire to become Preach My Gospel Missionaries http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/61112/Elder-David-A-Bednar-Becoming-a-Preach-My-Gospel-missionary.html#.  

Thus ends our week.  We request you to pray for us in our challenge to get the Internet so we can move the office and open the area of Tuzla to the gospel.  An added note, today is our wedding anniversary-44 years.       

Getting Settled in Tuzla

Early Monday morning the 9th (our one month anniversary of being in Croatia) we packed up our "egg" car and started out for Tuzla.  The trip is a 5 hour drive, one way.  It's about 2 1/2 hours of freeway and once we hit Bosnia it is another 2 1/2 hours on a two lane road.  The countryside is beautiful with fields of corn, hay, pumpkins, and sunflowers.  Nearly everyone has a garden as well.  We are not sure how they water their crops or if they even do, but the landscape is nice to look at.  Once we get into Bosnia we might get stuck behind a tractor carrying hay or someone riding in a horse and cart.  Life is definitely different here.  There are haystack all along the sides of the road.  They roll the hay into bales as well, but we find the haystacks quite quaint.

We arrived in Tuzla and unpacked.  Then we went shopping and bought some dishes, glasses, silverware, and cleaning supplies.  Came home ate lunch and started cleaning the apartment.  By bedtime we had finished our apartment and we spent our first night in Tuzla. On Tuesday it was more of the same.   We went out and bought more of the same for the Elders apartment and spent the afternoon cleaning their place.  We also purchased washer/dryers to be installed in the apartments. These machines take 3 hours+ to do a small load of laundry.
Wednesday we had planned to come back to Varazdin, but felt we were suppose to stay.  We visited the town centar and didn't really do much of anything.  In the afternoon we talked with our landlord and verified that the washers would be installed on Thursday as well as work would begin on getting the internet set up so we could have a secure connection to do our work.

Tuzla Town Centar

We returned to Croatia on Thursday.  We went to the police station to cancel our request for a visa here in Varazdin so we can register in Tuzla.  Each country makes you apply for your visa in country and each country does it differently.  And of course none of the forms are in English.  At least some of them have a little English which helps.

Friday we drove to Ljubljana, Slovenia to register the car.  It was such a change in scenery.  You can tell that the war did not affect the country of Slovenia.

Aerial view of Slovenia

 
Saturday and Sunday were spent like we always spend them and tomorrow we will pack up the car and make another trip to Tuzla.  Cross your fingers that the internet is connected so we can make our final move next week after a couples conference in Zagreb. 

We know that the Lord wants us in Tuzla.  We find it all very challenging and sometimes we feel that maybe this won't work.  That is when we have to remind ourselves that with God nothing is impossible.  We just have to put our hand in his and let him show us how to do it.  Satan likes to put doubt in our thoughts, and that is when the words to the Primay Song "Nephi's Courage"  helps.

           "I will go; I will do the thing the Lord commands.  I know the Lord provides a way;
             he wants me to obey. " 

We know that Heavenly Father is watching over us and that if we are patient and trust in him everything will work out.  Thank you for your prayers in our behalf. 

This is the place . . .



Living Room

So we have found an apartment in Tuzla, Bosnia. The apartment is brand new, that means there not any extras. When you rent an apartments or homes here they come furnished with lots of extras like dishes, towels and sheets. The place is basically set up so you can just move in and start living without having to get those extra things.  Bottom line,  we will have to start up our apartment and another one downstairs for the young missionaries.  There are a few challenges, but we will do it.

Kitchen

There is just one other problem. Varazdin is 5 hours one way from Tuzla. Oh and did we mention that we have an "egg" car that we need to pack all our suitcases and the Humanitarian office into. We figure it will take us at least three trips to get it all moved.

Dining Area

Tomorrow July 9th we will make our second trip. We plan to spend the night there and probably not come back to Varazdin till Wednesday.   Hopefully while we are there we will be able to get the Internet set up, buy a washing machine for both apartments and get all those extras for both apartments.

On a different note. We had a baptism in Varazdin last night. It was great! They have portable fonts which they move around the mission as needed.

Mladen, his wife, and Elder Wade