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.        

 



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.  

 

Not much - Just Making Preparations

Monday we visited the University Klinical Center Hospital (UKC) to see how the next round of vision screening training was going.  The doctors at the hospital are now training teams from each school who will be doing the vision screening in the other 62 schools in Tuzla Kanton (county).  That is 16 groups with 15 people in each group.  Needless to say, we think the staff at UKC Ophthalmology Clinic are the best!  As we spoke with the doctors, they expressed to us the difference this project has made in the lives of the children here in Tuzla.  We learned that they have seen and treated over 100 cases of amblyopia (lazy eye).  If amblyopia isn't caught and treated early in a child's life, blindness in that eye will result.  We have been so thankful that we had the opportunity to be part of this project.

 

The rest of the week was spent getting several projects ready to submit for closure.  Most of our area projects are completed and we want to have them closed before our replacements arrive.  We did receive word that the two new water projects which we submitted have been approved.  Since we have had an unreasonably warm fall (temperatures in the mid to high 70's) the crews are hopefully to be able to start working on the projects before the snow flies.  We still have to get contracts approved and signed.

We drove to Orasje (near the Bosnia/Croatia border) on Wednesday.  We met with the Red Cross officials there regarding how many and what types of wheelchairs will be needed for an upcoming wheelchair project.

Thursday we received some large exhaust fans for a school restroom remodel.  Most of the work had been completed, however we ran into a problem securing large exhaust fans.  With the fans purchased, we will be able to finish and close that project.  An interesting side note: Gary was talking with two of the people we use on a contractual basis and one of them said:  "You (people - Mormons) don't smoke or drink do you?"  The other said, "No they don't, they are better Muslims than we are." 

We did receive word this week that we will be able to meet with the Ministry of Education in Banja Luka in regards to doing a vision screening project similar to the one which has been done here in Tuzla.

As we were trying to find the other pictures (which are lost in cyberspace) we discovered some pictures which we left out from previous posts.  We will include them here.

Our last visit to Sarajevo to meet with partners for vision screening

Kiwi Vines

 

Pomegranates 

 

That does it for the week.  We look forward to our vision screening specialists coming next weekend.  Hopefully we will be able to visit with partners both in Sarajevo and Banja Luka with hopes of furthering the vision screening in both those cities.

 

On a final note one of our young men was able to receive the Aaronic Priesthood today.  It is truly a wonderful feeling to see our members grow in the gospel.  We had the opportunity to have Elder and Sister Goodsell come to our church today and speak.  Elder Goodsell is a counselor in the Mission Presidency. 

 

 

 

Speaking of young men growing in the gospel - this evening (morning in Utah) we had FaceTime with our family - our oldest grandson came on after getting ready for church - doesn't he look like a future deacon?  He is now 10.  They are growing up on us.  We are truly blessed and thank our Father in heaven daily for our family and their support. 

 



Visa Extension and Another Baptism

Monday we drove to Sarajevo with our translator to meet with the Federal Ministry of Health to talk about the potential vision screening project we would like to do there.  Sarajevo is a larger city than Tuzla so we will tweak the project a little to make it work.  All in all, it was a very positive meeting. 

Tuesday we met with the doctor at the University Clinical Center who has been doing all the training for the vision screeners in Tuzla.  The plan is to continue the screening throughout the rest of Tuzla Canton.  This requires training three people each from 65 more schools.  This is a big job for our doctor, but she is a "believer" in the project.  She is excited about the difference it has made in the lives of the children who have been referred to their clinic to help improve their vision.

Wednesday was district meeting with our missionaries and also making the necessary preparations to go out of town on Thursday.

On Thursday we had to leave town as our visa expired on October 10th.  We went to meet with the Maughans (humanitarian couple) in Novi Sad, Serbia.  The Maughans came with us across the pond last June and they will go home about the same time as we do.  Upon arriving in Novi Sad the Maughan's told us about a challenge that has arisen in one of their projects. We listened and discussed with them regarding the problem and hopefully it is getting resolved.
 

 

We returned to Tuzla on Saturday getting a new passport entry stamp so that we will be able to obtain an extension for our visa.  It was a peaceful and relaxing drive.  The leaves are beginning to change.

 

Saturday night we had another baptism.  This young lady is the daughter of one of the members who was baptized earlier this summer. It was truly a spiritual event.  She was confirmed today at church by Elder Winters, bringing our membership to 10. 

This is a bitter sweet time for us.  We are excited about going home, but we are going to have a hard time leaving.  We have made so many friends, both the missionaries and the local people. The members have become like family to us.  We will look forward to a reunion with many of our Tuzla returned missonaries at some future date and hope that it will be like Alma and the Sons of Mosiah when they met in Alma 17. 

Till next week . . .  Doviđenja (Goodbye)     

Media Interview

This was a full week!

Monday we went to Kalesija municipality to attend a closing ceremony for our water project in the village of Hrasno.  Actually we will be closing Phase One of the Hrasno project.  We are in the process of submitting Phase Two of this water project.  We went to the Mayor's office where we visited for a short time and then drove to the project site itself.  This has been a great project.  The local people did all the labor.  The Church helped to supply the materials - pipe, cement, connections, etc.  The local people located an underground spring and built a cement box to capture the spring water and laid pipe to bring the water to those in need.  

 

 

 

Tuesday we stopped by the visa immigration office here in Tuzla to inquire about our visas which will expire October 10th.  We received instructions on what to do, which means we will be able to stay through the end of November.  Check that off the list of "to do's''.

 

Early Wednesday morning we drove with our translator the 2 1/2 hours to Sarajevo for a meeting with the Canton Sarajevo Minister for Education, Science and Youth.  We would like to do a vision screening project in Sarajevo next year.  Hence we will need to meet with the same partners we worked with in Tuzla in order to begin a project in Sarajevo.  The Minister liked our proposal.  Now we will need to meet with the hospital, Institute of Public Health, outpatient clinic, and the Red Cross.

 

Thursday we had the opportunity to go the  Tuzla UKC Hospital where we had a media interview.  The sister missionaries were invited to go with us.  The Church provided some basic vision equipment to the hospital.  Much of their equipment was over 40 years old and in need of repair.  The staff at the hospital trained all the volunteers who did the vision screening in the schools.  This training was provided free of charge.  The UKC Department of Pediatric Ophthalmology has been an outstanding partner to work with.

 

 

Friday was our district meeting.  We have some wonderful missionaries serving in Tuzla at this time.  They are doing wonderful work with the members and investigators.  They have suggested that each member have a calling to help them feel a part of our group.  We are thankful to have these outstanding young people to serve with.

 

One final note.  We received a call from President Rowe asking if we would delay our travel home plans until November 26th.  Of course we said yes.  Therefore that is our departure date/arrival date - we even have an email confirmation of our flight plans.  It really does not seem real yet, but I guess we better start getting use to it.    

 

 

Another Baptism and Wheelchair Training Specialists

On Tuesday we had another baptism.  That brings our membership to 9.  Sanja is a wonderful young woman and a terrific asset to our group. 

 

Her baptism was early Tuesday morning.  After the baptism our district returned to our apartment where we had district meeting with President Rowe.  After our meetings the young missionaries had interviews.        

On Wednesday we were invited to a meeting with the directors of the 65 other schools in Tuzla Canton (county).  The meeting was called by the Minister of Education.  The school directors were told about the success of the vision screening program in Tuzla Municipality.  They were then told that they would be selecting a team of 3 from their schools who would receive training from the doctors at the University Klinical Center.  They were given the vision screening sets and all appeared excited about the potential good this will be for their students - 31,000 students!

Thursday morning we departed for Zagreb bright and early.  After a quick stop at the mission office to pick up a care package from home we went to the Zagreb airport to meet out wheelchair training specialists.  Andy and Roylene Schnebly are from Bountiful, Utah.  They will be conducting  wheelchair training in Banja Luka on September 2nd through 4th.  The Schnebly's arrived about 1:00 pm, but their bags did not.  Their route to Croatia was Salt Lake to New York, New York to Paris, and Paris to Zagreb.  The flight to New York was late arriving due to weather so they missed the connection to Paris.  The bags were put on a later flight to Paris.  This flight got them to Paris in time to make their original flight to Zagreb.  We returned to Tuzla with only their carry-on bags.  When they reported their missing bags it was discovered that the bags were still in New York.  The bags were put on a flight to Paris, then to Zagreb, and then to Sarajevo.  They were then driven from Sarajevo to their hotel in Tuzla.  Thankfully the bags arrived Friday evening and the Schnebly's could change clothes. 

Friday morning we went to the Red Cross.  The Red Cross had scheduled some visits with wheelchair recipients.  The recipients were interviewed and pictures were taken.  Each recipient expressed their appreciation for the chair and told us the difference the chair has made in their life.

  

We spent Saturday getting ready for Sunday.  We will make the 2 1/2 hour drive to Banja Luka Sunday afternoon as our training will begin early Monday morning. --- More next week.