New Missionaries!

 

Monday we drove to Karlovac, Croatia. Once we cross the border into Croatia the roads are very nice. They have a 4 lane toll road. To get to Karlovac you drive like you are going to Zagreb and then turn southwest just before you get to Zagreb. When we left our house at 6:45am the temperature was 14.5C and the weather was clear. The closer we got to Zagreb and Karlovac the temperature dropped to 3C and the weather changed to fog and rain. When we were about 30 minutes from our destination everything stopped. After about 45 minutes we inched our way off the toll road. The GPS tried to reroute us on the toll road again, but the entrance was closed. Finally it gave us another way. Thank goodness we arrived in time for our 1:00 pm meeting. Our meeting was with a group of parents who are trying to develop a program for children with autism. (Sounds like we need our son, Jesse, to come help get this program off the ground.)  What they want to do is get a building and furnish it so that the children can have physical therapy. Once they get a building and a therapist we might be able to help with some equipment. After meeting with the parents we met with the new branch president  in Karlovac to discuss the branch garden project which is beginning it's third year. (We visited this garden when we first came to Croatia in June.)

Karlovac garden June 2012

 

Once our meetings were over we drove to Zagreb (about 60 minutes) and checked into our hotel. Here we were able to watch the Presidential Inauguration live since we are 8 hours ahead of Utah time or ahead of 6 EST.

Tuesday morning we had meetings with the Croatian Red Cross where we discussed a potential wheelchair project as well as reviewed the Well Cleaning Project which is also in its third year of operation. We had previously visited this project in June.

Well cleaning in Croatia

Normally we would have returned to Tuzla after our meetings, but we made the decision to stay till Wednesday so that we could take home our new elder (Merl) and Elder Kroff.   If we had not stayed, they would have had to stay Wednesday night and then catch a bus (5 1/2 hr. ride) to Bosnia early Thursday morning.  The memory of our first days with that "deer in the headlights" look sealed our decision.  Our new missonary is Elder Merl from Austria.  Nine new missionaries (8 elders and 1 sister) arrived on Tuesday Jan 22nd and an orientation was held for them and their companions on Wednesday the 23rd.  The meeting finished about 4:30pm.  We departed shortly thereafter and arrived back home about 9:00pm. 

Gary, Susan, Elder Merl, Elder Kroff

At 4:15am (Zagreb time) Wednesday morning our Magic Jack phone rang. It was Andrew and Reachel telling us that they were at the hospital and the arrival of our 8th grandson (9th grandchild) was finally going to happen. Andrew felt bad when he found out what time is was here, as in Arizona it was 8:15pm. We went back to sleep for awhile and they called back after he was born. Oscar Andrew Bagley is everything we could have asked for.  It is going to be a difficult 10 months till we can hold him.  Reachel's sisters are going to fill in for us.  Lizzy and Sara will go to Mesa next weekend and Rebecca and her family will visit the 15th of February.  We feel truly blessed to have this new grandson and appreciate the support our children give to us while we are here.  We do not have to worry about our house or any of the every day problems that come up. It is a great blessing and we are very thankful for everything our children do for us.

   Oscar Andrew Bagley

Oscar Andrew Bagley

Oscar Andrew Bagley

On January 22, 2013, at 9:18 pm MST our ninth grandchild was born.  Our daughter, Reachel, and her husband Andrew are his parents. He was 6 lbs 8 oz. and 19.5 inches long. He has an older sister, Coco, who is 3 and an older brother, Levi, who is 2. This has been a hard time for Grandma as she has always had the opportunity to be at the birth or meet the newest member of our family shortly thereafter. We have seen him on Skype, but it will be 10 more months before we can snuggle and cuddle this little guy. We are delighted that he is here and that everyone is doing well. Grandma and Papa look forward to many more Skype sessions and expect lots of videos and pictures from Mom and Dad.



 Catching a few winks

Coco and Baby Oscar

Levi has a kiss for Oscar

Mom getting lots of help.

Just a normal week

We were going to go to Serbia on Tuesday for a Fireside Tuesday evening and a Zone Conference all day Wednesday with Elder Patrick Kearon, First Counselor in the Europe Area Presidency..  Unfortunately Zagreb received close to 30 inches of snow on Sunday and more was expected on Monday.  Elder Kearon could not get into Zagreb much less travel from Zagreb to Belgrade.  The conference was cancelled to a later date.  That left us with not much to do since we had arranged our schedule to be out of town.  We might mention that the weather in Tuzla has been mild.  We have sometimes received a few flurries and some rain, but not that much snow.

Tuesday and Wednesday we spent our days taking care of odds and ends.  We were able to get a file cabinet which we had made to match our desk.  This has really helped since the new printer is twice as big as the old one.  We need more desk space just for the printer, not to mention a place to put our project files. 

On Friday and Saturday we helped the Elders with their last English classes for this session.  The Elders put English words on the board and told their students to write the words on their blank "Bingo" paper.  The Elders would read the word in Bosnian and they would put their marker on the English word.  The students love these games and it is a good learning experience.   Each student was presented a certificate stating their completion of the English class that they were in.  We will have more English classes in two to three weeks. 
.        

 

 

 

  

We received word that Elder Genther will be transferred to Zagreb and we will be getting a brand new Elder.  Brand new in that eight Elders and one Sister will be winging their way to Croatia on Monday.  They will arrive in Zagreb on Tuesday about noon.  They will spend the night at the Mission Home.  Wednesday they will have some training at the |Mission Office with their assigned trainer.  The training is expected to end about 4:30pm.  After the training they will be sent to their various destinations.  We are excited to have these new Elders and Sister and look forward to more new missionaries coming soon.

Tomorrow morning we will go to Karlovac, Croatia and then spend the night in Zagreb.  We have a busy week planned this coming week.  We wonder how much snow they have in Zagreb this week.  Guess we will find out soon enough.

The Road to Mostar

On Monday morning we drove to Mostar. Mostar is the 5th largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and one of the most important cities in the Herzegovina region. To get to Mostar you drive to Sarajevo and continue on south and east toward the Dalmatian Coast. We visited with the Red Cross there.  We are working on closing some wheelchair projects that are still open. It is necessary to do some follow up after a wheelchair distribution.  Recipients are interviewed. We have about 4 open wheelchair projects so we are working on getting them closed.

On the way to Mostar we drove through a town called Konjic.  This is a town which relies heavily on tourism.  There is a artificial lake called Jablaničko Lake.  It has been formed by a dam on the river Neretva.  What was unique about the lake and river was the emerald green water.  There is rafting, swimming, and fishing in the summer.  The water really is beautiful.  

Mostar is a quaint town. The term "Stari Gard" means "Old Bridge"  The bridge and town was built in the 1500's.  The bridge was totally destroyed during the war in the 1990's.  But it has since been rebuiltout of the original stones.  The stones were taken out of the river Neretva.  We might also mention that the stones are very "slick".

Alen, Susan, and Nermin

The Old Bridge

Gary and Susan on the Bridge

After spending the afternoon in Mostar we traveled back to Sarajevo where we spent the night.  In the morning we visited with the Smartts and took care of some church business, and then returned to Tuzla in the afternoon. 

Wednesday we drove halfway to Sarajevo where we met the Smartts with the elders from Sarajevo.  We exchanged one of our elders for one of theirs and turned around and came back to Tuzla. 

Thursday we drove to Osijek, Croatia (2 1/2 hours).  Here we visited with Elder (Jim) and Sister (Kay) Ivins from Bountiful, Utah.  They are on an auditing mission. We walked around the town and visited their church building.  In the evening we met their branch president and visited with him about potential projects. We spent the night in Osijek and in the morning the 5 of us met with the local Red Cross.  We began discussions on a wheelchair distribution.  We returned home on Friday afternoon.  There are not many street lights on the roads in Bosnia as well as it gets very foggy so we don't like to travel at night. We try to be home before dark.  

Lately each day when we come home we find a package notice in our mailbox.  Not all our letters and packages made it to us before Christmas.  We go down to the main post office and pay the customs on the packages and come home to enjoy our goodies.  We are most thankful for all of you who remembered us at Christmas with cards, letters and packages. Thank you.

We close this weeks post with thoughts and prayers for with my brother, my nephew and all who mourn the loss of Aaron James Wakefield.  

"For friends that don't know our beloved son Aaron, so affectionately known as "A.J." passed away on Monday January the 7, 2013. Aaron was only 26 and the loss our family is feeling is staggering. The rain has not stopped in Dallas since his passing nor the tears of sorrow we are shedding. Godspeed my precious angel! I cherish the memories and time God lent me with you!!! You will never be forgotten and I can feel you looking down on us... I Love You A.J.!!!!! Aaron James Wakefield leaves behind his 4 year old son and the family is requesting in lieu of flowers donations to be made in his name. Born 7-11-1986 Died 1-7-2013"

       

Remember to let those you love know that you love them and give hugs freely.  We never know when it may be our last.  Our thoughts and prayers are with them.  XOX

Happy New Year!

We want to wish you each a Happy New Year.  This year will truly be a different one for us.  We have already learned the importance of family and what things are of the greatest value to us.  Our goals have been set, no they are not on the refrigerator yet, but they have been set.  May this new year bring joy and happiness to you and yours.

Saturdays are usually our "P" (preparation) days as we always seem to have meetings on Monday mornings.  This week we used Monday as our "P" day since we spent Friday, Saturday and part of Sunday in the car.  Remember we took Elder West to Zagreb and picked up Elder Genther.  Saturday we went to Sarajevo and picked up the new car and then on Sunday night we delivered our "old" car to the Croatian border where President and Sister Rowe met us and took the car so that another couple who lives in Croatia could use it.  Our new car is licensed in Bosnia.  The drive to the border was interesting as it was dark and there are no street lights.  It was also very foggy, you could see about 50 feet in front of you.   So on Monday we were to the church building where we mopped the floors, straighten out our storage closet, and cleaned the bathrooms.  For some reason, dust accumulates very quickly here.  We also had to do grocery shopping as the stores were closing early on Monday and would be closed all day on Tuesday. 

From what we understand, there is the usual party and celebrating just the same as at home for New Years Eve.  Then on New Years Day people go visit their relatives.  Gifts are also given on New Years Day.  We spent a very quiet evening at home and went to bed about 10pm.  However we knew when it was midnight as there was lots of noise outside.  When we went to bed we could hear music coming from somewhere in the center of town.  At 2:30am they were still going strong.  Wednesday we spent the day setting up a new printer that had been sent to us from Germany.  It is now all set up, but just one problem, it is in German.  Luckily when we inserted the CD Rom to set it up there was an option for English.  We have not figured out how to change the language on the printer, but we can copy, scan, and print.  We can read the pictures and eventually we will learn what those other words mean.  Thank goodness for Google Translate! We had the Elders over for dinner on New Years.  No traditional fondue this year, we had home-made Chinese instead.  

Thursday we drove 3 hours to Banja Luka to visit the Safe House as the kitchen cabinets previously purchased had been installed.  They look very nice and it seems that they make a difference.

The old cabinets

 

The new cabinets

 

Staff, Winters and Goodsells

We also talked with some people about the need for water filters in some villages close to the Croatia border where the chemicals used for agriculture have contaminated the soil and drinking water.  We spent the night at another senior couples' (Goodsells) home.  Friday we visited a Children's Home (orphanage) and discussed the possibility of doing a project with them.

 

Children on playground at Children's Home



We returned to Tuzla about 4:30 PM just as it was getting dark. 

Saturday was spent as it always is; getting ready for Sunday. Our Fast Sundays are  difficult.  Fasting is a principle we are still trying to teach our members.  We have to take it in "baby steps", but the people are coming along just fine.  We usually have a practice song between Sacrament Meeting and Sunday School.  Today we did Sunday School first.  Elder Genther gave an excellent lesson on the Plan of Salvation and the Atonement.  Our practice song was learning a new Sacrament song.  The song we had chosen was "I Stand All Amazed".  Guess we were listening to the spirit because it was perfect after Elder Genther's lesson.  The spirit was strong as we began learning the song. 

That does it for our week.  We have had usually warm weather as opposed to the weather in Utah.  Our temperature has been in the 40's where in Utah it has been in the 20's & 30's.  That is okay with us as our landlord forgot to sign up for central heating so we heat our apartment with the heat pump in the air conditioner.  We feel we are being watched over and blessed.  Till next week . .