Mother's Day 2013

Last week we had a fantastic Fast and Testimony Meeting.  We had 28 in attendance.  Of course we had ourselves, the two sets of elders, the Smartts, and Ike and Gloria Ferguson.  But 18 non-missionaries is still a good number.  There was a wonderful spirit.  After the meeting we went to our translator, Mersiha's parents weekend house for lunch.  That was unbelievably good.  They cooked the meal in a peka cooker that works like a dutch oven.  Mersiha's mother used no oil.  She cooked some turkey, veal, lamb and beef along with vegetables.  It was simply delicious.  Ike and Gloria liked the cooker so much that they bought one and took it home.  It actually made it home via the airlines.  The box was opened at all the securities, but they got it home and look forward to cooking with it. 

Monday we started early.  Our first meeting was with the Minister of Public Health.  We learned that they had not received any forms from the schools to input the information regarding the vision screening.  Next we went to visit some of the schools to see how the screening was going.  Each school does the screening just a little different, but more than half of the screening in the schools is complete.  We also stopped by the Tuzla Red Cross Cantonal office.  The Red Cross has been so helpful in making this project happen. We could not of done it without their help.  In the afternoon we visited with the UKC Hospital.  The Ferguson's brought several things for the optical clinic at the hospital.  Everyone was so excited as we opened this up.  It was like Christmas morning.

 

Tuesday we met with the Ministry of Education where we discussed how we will go about doing the screening for the rest of the municipality.  We also were able to discuss how the information from the screening will be given to Public Health for recording the data.  After our meeting we went to visit some more schools.  While we were at one school the principal came in to talk with us.  She told us about a friend of hers whose son had been screened and they discovered that he had amblyopia. She called the father and he came over to the school so we could talk with him.  He told us that his son was going to be meeting at the UKC the next day and gave us permission to come meet him. In the afternoon we went to the outpatient where the UKC doctors trained the outpatient clinic staff to do the preschool vision screening.

 

 

 

Wednesday morning we met again at the Public Health Department along with the doctors from the outpatient clinic and UKC Hospital.  We were able to decide on the direction we needed to go to finish out the screening here in Tuzla and the plan for the rest of the Canton (county) in the fall. 

   

 

 

At noon we went to the UKC where we meet the Kalfic family.  We do not feel that this was just a chance meeting.  Armin is 8 years old.  Because of Taylor having the amblyopia in the same eye we were able to offer hope to Armin and his parents.  We showed him a picture of our grandson, Taylor.  We told them what his vision was when he was first diagnosed and what it is now.  We were able to let them know that doing the exercises to strengthen his eye and getting glasses will help him.  At least he will not go blind as he would have if had not gone unchecked.  The fact that the screening was able to help even one child has made it worth the effort, but while we were there others came as well.  The doctors at the UKC ophthalmology clinic have seen over 100 children that have been identified by the initial vision screening in the schools.  

Today is Mother's Day and all the elders are are calling their mothers.  We don't know who is more excited the elders or their families.  .

 

 

The elders are in the apartment downstairs making Susan a special dinner for Mother's Day.  It smells wonderful.  We have some of the finest young men in our mission and know that the Lord is mindful of the work that is happening here.  It is an honor and privilege to be a part of the beginnings of the church in Tuzla, Bosnia.

 

 

   

 

 

 

May Day

With the arrival of pleasant weather we have taken to walking in the mornings.  We live close to the local football (soccer) stadium so we usually go there for our walk.  Even at 6:30 am in the morning it is warm (60's to 70's).  Lately if we wait till later in the day it has been in the 80's to 90's with 70% to 80% humidity.  We love how everything has turned green and the trees and bushes have come alive after the long dormant winter. 

 

 

This was a pretty slow week due to May 1st being in the middle of the week.  May 1st is a big holiday here.  As we went out for our walk early Wednesday morning. we decided that it felt like the 4th of July in our little community of Granite, Utah.  Even early in the morning people were making preparations for their May Day celebration with their family.  Government offices were closed and most stores closed as well.  Tradition seems to be that it is a day you spend with family and friends having a BBQ and enjoying each other's company.  There were a few Pekaras (bakeries) open early in the day so that people could buy fresh bread but by noon everything was closed down.  We went to the weekend house of Emir (our attorney) .  He invited several of his friends, the Smartts from Sarajevo, and ourselves.  We met and followed Emir out of town about 8:45 am for a 30 minute drive to the weekend house where we cooked meat and had salads.  We actually cooked meat 3 times - maybe more after we left at 6pm.  Bosnians are wonderful hosts.  They feel their job is to make sure everyone relaxes and has enough to eat and they do a excellent job of it.   The typical fare is Cevapi.  Cevapi is little sausages.  They also have grilled chicken.  The cevapi is served in a flat bread called lepinje.  Lepinje reminds us of pita bread.  The cevapi is grilled and then you put the meat in the lepinje along with onions, kajmak, peppers and ajvar (minced red bell peppers and eggplant). 

Ema, Emir, and Dijana

 

Ajvar, Cevapi, and Onions

 

Susan, Melina, Elder and Sister Smart

 

Needless to say we had plenty to eat and totally enjoyed ourselves.  We left early to come home for a interview with a couple in Salt Lake.  They are writing the history of the Humanitarian Department of the church and wanted to talk to Gary about the beginning of the wheelchair program. As we drove up the street to our apartment there were no cars in the parking lots of all the apartment buildings as everyone was spending May Day with someone.  May Day celebration continued into Thursday and Friday.  On Thursday some of the businesses were open .  Friday was the same.  But many people had a 5 day weekend.  Hence why we had a slower work week.

 

On Monday we were able to purchase an electronic keyboard for a primary school.  All children learn music in school.  They have a "music competition" which takes place next week.  We were also able to obtain some t-shirts for the orchestra that has their school logo as well as the Latter Day Saints Charities logo.  Pictures will follow as the keyboard and the shirts will be delivered after the holidays. 

 

Friday we drove 5 hours to Karlovac, Croatia as the local Church branch has a project there.  They have rented some land and have a community garden.  We visited the garden last June when we first arrived.  This has been a 3 year project.  They are in the third year.  Hopefully they will have an abundant harvest and be able to provide for themselves.      

 

Karlovac garden June 2012

 

Karlovac is close to Zagreb so we spent the night in Zagreb.  The town has come alive with the pleasant weather.  There are many vendors along the sides of the roads and on the street corners.   There is also an abundance of outdoor seating for their restaurants. 

 

Saturday we picked up the Ferguson's at the Zagreb airport and returned to Tuzla where we will have a week of meetings and work with the various partners in our vision screening project. 

 

Today we had 28 people at church.  It was a wonderful Fast and Testimony meeting.  Our little group is growing.  It looks as if there are some baptisms on the horizon.       

 

Tying up Loose Ends

We spent most of our week tying up loose ends.  After being gone all last week we had lots of paperwork and bookkeeping that needed to be done in our office/apartment.  We also had several  little things with various projects that we have going that needed our attention.

Monday we visited with Arthur, a local ad agency that has produced a 30 second public broadcast spot for our vision screening program that will be aired on local television.  We also visited with the Red Cross about a possible meeting with the volunteers regarding the how things are going with the vision screening. Then we went to Lotosice (sheltered workshop) to make a payment for tables and chairs that they made for a school kindergarten which is another one of our projects.

Tuesday we went back to the Arthur to pay for the ad spot.  Basically the company created and donated the spot, we were only able to give them a small amount for the work they did.  We took the DVDs with the ad on it to the Red Cross so that they could get the spot run on TV.  We think it is a great spot.  Here is a link.  (the spot is in Bosnian, but you will get the idea)

 

http://druga.tv/info/14488

 

Wednesday we met with the volunteers and the medical students who have been doing the screening in the schools.  The screening is now completed in 7 schools of the 26 schools.  Next Wednesday and Thursday will be holidays here, so there will be no vision screening in the schools next week.  The Ferguson's will be coming on Saturday the 4th of May.  We made a schedule so they can visit some of the schools and see the screenings when they are here.  We also got feedback from the volunteers on how we can improve the overall screening program in the future.

Thursday we had another couple in our mission come to visit.  They came to interview the members of our group.  They are putting together the history of the beginnings of the church in Bosnia. 

Friday morning we took Elder Compton and Quinn with us to one of the local schools where we were interviewed by a local TV station about the vision screening project. 

Today Sunday we left early and drove with our four elders along with one of our members to Sarajevo for branch conference.  We had a enjoyable drive and arrived in Sarajevo in record time.  We did not get stuck behind any logging trucks.  Today was the last Sunday for the Smartts in Sarajevo. They will be returning home to Chattanooga, Tennessee.  Elder and Sister Smartt are responsible for helping to get the Church recognized as a religion in Bosnia.  There were many people in attendance who along the Smartts were instrumental in getting the Church legally recognized.  One attorney who helped in writing the necessary legal documents would not charge for her work and told Elder Smartt that she would be his missionary in Bosnia.  She again told us today that she would always be our missionary.  President Rowe, his wife and family were there as well as Mišo and Ankica Ostarčević.  Mišo and Ankica were the first couple to be baptized in Croatia by Krešimir Ćosić.  They shared their testimonies and told us about what church was like when they first started holding meetings in Croatia.  An interesting thing we learned was that they held church in their home for the first 4 years.  They only knew 3 songs, which they sang each week.  Hearing stories like that help us get through what we think are hard times. 

Till next week Vidmo Se.