Thanksgiving

On Wednesday the 26th of November our daughter Reachel arrived.  She and her family drove up from Arizona for Thanksgiving.  It was great to finally meet Oscar in person.  He is 10 months old now.

On Thanksgiving Jesse and Gentry also came out and we had a wonderful time.  Not sure who enjoyed themselves more.  GramGram and Papa or the grandchildren.

Everyone made it for Thanksgiving dinner with the exception of Rebecca and her family.  They will be coming at Christmas time.

The next morning the girls and Susan went Black Friday shopping since they had their professional shopper/fashion consultant in town.  They did not get up early and make the big sales, but they did okay.  Susan especially enjoyed herself as she was ready for some new duds.

The children enjoyed playing with Papa outside.

On Tuesday, December 3rd it snowed.  It snowed all day.  The children loved it and made sure Papa took them outside to play in it.

Reachel and her family left on Wednesday.  There are so many things we could do before Christmas, but we are just going to just let them go - that way we can play and enjoy each others' company. 

We are home!

We spoke in the Tuzla group on November 24, 2013.  There was 23 in attendance.  It was a bitter sweet moment.  We have grown to love our friends in Bosnia but also look forward to seeing our family.  After church we drove to Banja Luka, Bosnia to pick up Elder and Sister Davison.  We left Banja Luka about 5:00pm and continued on our way to Zagreb, Croatia.  We arrived at the mission home about 7:30pm and had a delicious meal with President and Sister Rowe and their family.  After dinner we began the arduous task of making sure our bags were all under 50 pounds.  After moving things around and weighing the bags several time, this was accomplished by bedtime.  We went to bed knowing that we would have to wake up very early for our trip to the airport.  

November 25th bright and early Croatia time (8 hours ahead of Salt Lake time) we got up as Elder Jeppson was taking us to the Zagreb Airport at 6:30am.  Prior to leaving we took a picture of Gary cutting his tie for the mission quilt.  The cravat or the modern day tie originated in 17th century Croatia.  Sister Rowe has made a quilt, which she has now had to add to.  When the elders leave the mission they cut the small end of the tie off and she sews it on to the square that we put our names on the day we came to the mission.  The sisters cut off a skirt.

 

We then departed for the airport.  Elder Jeppson took excellent care of us making sure that we got all our bags checked in and made it through security before he left.

After we went through security we went downstairs and waited for the bus which would take us to the airplane which was the first leg of our journey.  Zagreb, Croatia to Frankfurt, Germany.

We arrived in Frankfurt and checked in for our next flight which would be from Frankfurt, Germany to Washington Dulles airport in Dulles, Virginia.  

The flight to Washington was a long one!  We arrived and headed toward the Customs area along with 3 other planes full of people.  We finally made it through security after an 1 1/2 hour wait.   Then we proceeded to the gate where our last leg of the trip would take place. Of course it was at the opposite end of the airport.  We sat down and proceeded to make sure we were at the right gate.  Out of nowhere appeared Elder and Sister (Bill and Jeanne) Howes.  Elder Howes was the Bishop of our ward when we left.  Since then he was released.  They received their call and reported to the New York, New York North Mission in February, 2013.  Elder and Sister Howes were on our same flight to Salt Lake City.  His mother had a stroke recently.  He received permission to travel to Utah to visit her.  We had a delightful visit on the plane ride home.

  

We arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah about 7:30pm.  And this is what we found waiting for us.

After waiting for our luggage we headed to the car.  Dallin helped me with my suitcase.

It had been over 24 hours since we had left Zagreb and we were very glad to be at the end of our journey.

Going Home

This last week we took Ron and Wendy (Elder and Sister) Davison around Bosnia and introduced them to our various partners. 

On Tuesday we visited the town of Kalesija to sign water contracts at the Mayor's office.  While there we were admiring the Mayor's map of Bosnia.  The next things we knew, the Mayor had removed it from the wall and had it wrapped up so that we could have it.  Once again, this is why we love Bosnia and the people who we have met here.

    
Wednesday we stopped into the Tuzla Red Cross where we introduced E/S Davison to the Red Cross staff.  The Tuzla Red Cross has been invaluable in helping us with many of our projects.  We are going to miss them.

In the afternoon we went to the University Klinical Center (UKC) to visit with the opthamology staff.  As we have stated many times the vision screening project has probably been our favorite project.  We could not have done this project without the help of the wonderful staff in the Children's Ophthalmogy Clinic.  We hope to be able to come back some day to visit them all again.  They mentioned to us that the 62 outlying primary schools who were recently trained have begun initial vision screening in their schools.  The UKC are now receiving calls from parents to schedule appointments for their children.

Thursday we drove to Banja Luka to show the Davisons the city as we do quite a lot of work with the Banja Luka Red Cross and Banja Luka Rehabilitation hospital.  We are also looking into doing a vision screening project in Banja Luka as well..  Ron and Wendy quickly noticed the beautiful countryside and have fallen in love with this countryl.  While we were there we saw Elder Graham (a former Tuzla elder) and his companion, Elder Nielsen. 

Friday was a visit to the Tuzla Children's Home to see the finished work on a project we did there which replaced pipes and fixed leaks in the home.  The children who live in the home are delighted with the their new bathrooms.  The leaking plumbing had caused major damage to the floor.  It was nice to see the improvements.

 

Friday afternoon we went to a restaurant nearby and visited with the staff of UKC.  We had a delightful time. 

 

 

On Thursday we received information from the area office in Germany notifying us of a possible airline strike at the Zagreb airport beginning at 11pm on Monday, November 25th.  We were scheduled to fly out Tuesday, November 26th at 9am.  On Friday we felt prompted to call travel in Salt Lake and receive some guidance.  We are now flying out Monday, November 25th at 9am.  Hence Saturday was spent packing and getting everything in order.  We speak in church here in Tuzla at 11am Sunday and will depart for Zagreb after.  We will spend the night at the mission home and hopefully leave Monday morning.  We are not surprised at this new development, our whole mission has been a trail of our faith. 

 

Again, may we say that it has been a privilege to be able to come to the Adriatic North Mission as humanitarian missionaries.  We have loved living in Tuzla and have made many wonderful friends.  They will always be our friends.  It was not chance that we came here.  The Lord has been good to us and we will never forget our time here. 

 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a blessing to the people here and we feel blessed to be God's servants.        

 



Our replacements

This last week we have spent making preparations for our replacements, the Davisons.  On Thursday night we packed two of our 4 big suitcases with various things we are taking home.  Friday we drove to Zagreb with the extra suitcases (we can not fit four people and all the bags in our little car).  We spent the night in Zagreb as the Davison's flight arrived Saturday morning at 11:00 am.  Their flight was a wee bit late, but not too late. 

They arrived after spending 3 weeks in Provo, Utah.  They left Salt Lake Friday morning and after 23 hours of traveling with 3 plane changes they finally got here.  We took them to the hotel, let them clean up and went for a walk around Zagreb.  We attempted to help them stay awake till bed time.  After a quick bite to eat and a nice walk through the center of Zagreb we returned to the hotel to let them have a short nap.  Nap over we drove to the mission home where we met President and Sister Rowe and their family. 

Saturday was the 9th birthday for these two girls.

    
President Rowe had spent the day with the girls (Jessica and Anna) and had us pick the Davisons up at the airport.  We had a pleasant dinner and returned to the hotel to let the Davisons go to bed. 

We began our morning early as the Davisons had an interview with President Rowe before we returned to Tuzla.  We drove to the Zagreb chapel where we met several of our former Tuzla missionaries.  We also saw one of our translators and all the other missionaries serving in Zagreb at this time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We left church after sacrament meeting so that we could return to Tuzla before it got dark.  We have done lots of talking in the car and over meals, the real training (hands on) will start tomorrow.  What have we have learned in our conversations so far; the Lord is mindful of the details of his work.  There is no doubt in our minds that the Davisons have a work to do here in Bosnia.  They have a solid understanding of gospel and humanitarian  principles and we know that the humanitarian work is being left in good hands.

     

Working on Vision Screening Projects

We traveled to Sarajevo on Monday morning to meet with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, and Project Hope regarding a potential vision screening project in Sarajevo.  We are hopeful to be able to do a vision screening project similar to the one we are doing in Tuzla.  We will probably start work in a small district and expand from there.  We plan to work with a representative from Project Hope (a small non-profit organization) who will act as a project coordinator.  We felt our meeting in Sarajevo was very successful.

Tuesday we had a press conference with most of our vision screening partners in Tuzla.  The vision screening project in Tuzla has been so successful.  We feel that it is due to the wonderful partners we have been working with.  The press conference was shown on Tuzla Cantonal (county) TV. 

 

Dom Zdralje, the public health clinic was not at the conference, but we have felt that they do a terrific work with the young children. 

 

 



Wednesday we drove to Banja Luka to meet with the Ministry of Public Health to see about the option of doing a vision screening project in Banja Luka.  While there we saw Elder Fausnaught and Elder Graham.  They are doing a super job.

 

The drive to and from Banja Luka is beautiful.  Lots of communities with churches on the hilltops.  Many homes are also set back off the road on a hill, with a charming farms in front.  This is a picture of a corn crib.  Everyone is preparing their farms for the winter. 

 

Thursday was spent putting together information so that our vision specialists can begin to organize a project proposal for Sarajevo.  The Ferguson's wanted to take the Tuzla missionaries out to lunch.  We had a great time at a local restaurant.  After lunch we walked back through center and stopped for one last ice cream before they close for winter.  We have been enjoying unseasonably pleasant weather.

 

 

Friday we drove to Zagreb.  Ike and Gloria Ferguson know one our young missionaries.  Elder Bennett is from Kaysville, Utah.  His parents took advantage of the Ferguson trip to send some of his Christmas presents. 

We also saw Elder Quinn working hard.  An office couple has been called and will arrive the end of this month.  We think Elder Quinn has done a fantastic job.  We have told him this will look great on his resume.

 

While in Zagreb we took some of the young elders out to lunch at Rocket Burger.  Rocket Burger is owned by a couple from Vancouver, Canada.  They make "huge" burgers and is a favorite of all the missionaries.  

 



 Saturday morning we dropped the Ferguson's off at the airport so they could return home.  We then returned to Tuzla.

 

Today at church the Tuzla Group Leader was changed.  Elder Shepherd will now be the group leader as we will be going home.  After church we took the usual pictures as transfers also came out on Friday.  Elder Sheridan will be going to Zagreb to be an Assistant to the President.  We will miss him as he has been here since he first arrived in the country back in April of 2013.  He will do a great job working with Elder Stuart and Elder Scirkovich.  Four elders, two sisters and two couples will go home on Tuesday, November 12, 2013.  Elder and Sister Westergard went home on last Thursday.  We will receive two sisters and four elders on Tuesday.  There are two more couples coming later this month on the 16th and the 23rd.  Of course there is one more couple who will go home on the 26th.  This is a very difficult time for us as we have very mixed feelings. 

 

We also had lunch after church at the Shepherd's apartment and took a few more pictures. 

 

 

 

       

This next week will be spent getting ready for the Davison's arrival (the couple coming to replace us) and we might attempt to start packing.  We will drive to Zagreb on Saturday, attend church there, return with the Davison's and begin their training.  

 

4th Birthday, Halloween, and The Countdown begins

 

Tuesday, October 29th, was Coco's 4th birthday.  We were able to talk on FaceTime with her to wish her a Happy Birthday.  We were able to watch her open her gift from us.  She got Lambie from the Doc McStuffin series.  She was very excited about it.  We also sent her some videos - her reply to her Mother was "them's love me cuz I'm their Coco."  Coco has brought such a sweet spirit to our family.  She is our favorite granddaughter (she is also our only granddaughter).
 

 



Wednesday we drove to Banja Luka for an appointment with the Ministry of Education.  We are considering a vision screening project there.  We also tried to meet with the doctors at the university hospital, but we were not successful. It was a good trip regardless.

 

Thursday we had district meeting and made preparations for a trip to Croatia on Friday.  In the afternoon we received some videos from our daughter, Rebecca in Canada.  James (5) was singing us some Halloween songs.  We are sure you can identify the songs by just looking at the pictures.

 

"A Mean Old Witch"

"Five Little Pumpkins"



Halloween is not celebrated in Bosnia or Croatia.  But we loved seeing pictures of our grandchildren that were posted on Facebook and Instagram.

 

Friday we drove to Zagreb, Croatia.  Our vision specialists were flying in on Saturday morning, hence we drove up a day early.  We arrived around noon and found that most of the city was on holiday.  November 1st is "All Saints Day".  People go to the cemeteries where they put flowers on the graves and light candles.  The graveyards are very impressive at night.

 

 

Saturday morning we picked up Ike and Gloria Ferguson at the airport and returned to Tuzla.  We have some meetings set up this week to meet with people in Sarajevo about the potential project there as well as in Banja Luka.  It is always a delight to have our specialists come.  They usually bring things from home and this time was no different.   This time they actually brought a tennis bag for one our friend's son who plays tennis very well.  It was a surprise - and yes he was delighted.

 

 

As the title says: "The Countdown has begun."  We have received confirmation of our tickets for our return flight.  We leave early Tuesday, November 26th and will arrive home late November 26th in Salt Lake.  The reality of our leaving has not quite sunk in.  We have known about it, but it always seemed so far off.   We are going to have to get serious about packing.  We have been preparing for our replacements, but now we are going to have to quit thinking about it and "do it!"  We have also received word that we will report our mission in church on December 8th at 1:00pm.  You are all invited.  We hope to see some of the young missionaries whom we have served with, as many of them are attending school at BYU.  --- Until next week.