A White Christmas in Sarajevo

On Sunday, December 22nd, after the worship service, the congregation members worked together to assemble 18 food boxes for families in the village of Nikšič. There were speakers of Russian, English and Montenegrin, but working together, we got the job done. 

On Monday, we were honored to be able to go with Elder and Sister Allan (Humanitarian) and the young Sisters and Elders and deliver them to to the NGO, whose goal is support families of children who are potential targets of human trafficking, exploitation and poverty. Our meager offering is just "a drop in the bucket", but "every drop" counts. We had a fun morning, in spite of the cold heavy rain. 

Cold rain in Podgorica meant snow in the mountains. As we left the lower elevation, we chose to head west towards the coast and a longer, lower route home to Sarajevo. 

We did encounter some snow on shoulders, but the roads were clear as we crossed the mountains. The drive was so beautiful and the roads, in general were much better. 

Once we crossed over the mountains towards the coast, we saw beautiful orchards and vineyards. We traveled up to Mostar and then join a route we knew back to Sarajevo. 

The snow could be seen as the elevation rose from the river, but we didn't have snow on the roads until we arrive in the city. 

Sarajevo had received 14-16 inches in the past few days and so when we arrived home on Christmas Eve, we had some work to do when we arrived home - LOL

The evening of Christmas Eve we had Elder and Sister Stafford, Sisters McKinnon & Gunson and Elders Liddle and Hulse to our home/apartment. I made "GrannyMom rolls" and Tolman's beef stew for dinner and we watched the First Presidency's Devotional. We felt much joy to share our Christmas Eve with such fine human beings. 

On Christmas morning we went the Elder and Sister Stafford's home(apartment. We ate brunch, decorated gingerbread, visited and worked on a puzzle. 

In the afternoon and evening, we enjoyed calls and greetings from all our children and other family in the states. 

As I reflect on our Christmas season I am so grateful for the many kindnesses we have received - true gifts of the season. The young missionaries have helped us with language, navigation and helping to prepare our home. Elder and Sister Stafford have become our dear friends. They have been gentle and gracious as we strive to learn our calling. They have helped us find our way in this experience that has stretched us - physically, culturally, emotionally and spiritually. We will be forever grateful! 

Sisters Gunson & McKinnon, Lot and I, Elder and Sister Stafford, Elders Liddle & Hulse. 

An Adventurous Week of Travel

 Sorry this week's post is late. When we arrived in Montenegro we realized we both forgot our computers so we had to wait until we got back to Sarajevo to make this post 

This week we spent a couple of days getting our visa application submitted. Here in Bosnia you are required to get a blood draw to make sure your blood is clean along with a mental examination ( I was very worried about that test - lol). I was sure they were going to determine I was crazy. But we passed and they accepted our applications. Because of the blood draw we are told we won't be able to donate blood back in the US for 10 years. After 10 years I'll probably be donating organs instead of blood.

Once we submitted our visa applications we could leave the country, so we decided to go to Montenegro to visit the other Branch with whom we are assigned to work. Bosnia and Montenegro are quite different from each other in many ways; culture, economy, ethnicity and terrain. 

Whenever we asked people the best way to get to Montenegro, they just laughed, which wasn't real consoling to us. Once we started on our journey, or I guess adventure would be better stated, we understood way they laughed at us. What we thought was an international highway between the two capital cities turned out to resemble a goat trail. We went over two tall mountain ranges and crossed the 3rd deepest canyon in the world, all over a one lane narrow goat trail, which came fully stocked with goats.

Border crossings are usually pretty established facilities. This one left some room for expansion. This is the bridge we crossed to enter Montenegro.

Once in Montenegro the road got better because they have EU money to help with road construction. But that comes with it's own problems. We were enjoying the better road until we encountered this sign. Which was followed by the machine blocking our way. The sign says road closed for 2 hour intervals and just our luck we got to sit for 1 1/2 hours waiting for it to open again.

Once we made it to Podgorica, Montenegro we couldn't find the church where we were supposed to meet the other senior couple, as you have to buy a new SIM card for each country. We were able to find our hotel and check in and then we had Wi-Fi. The next day we met up with Elder and Sister Allan, who are serving as Humanitarian couple. They were gracious and gave us a tour of the city before going to the church to set up for the Branch Christmas party to be held that night. They showed us some Roman ruins from the first century. That is amazing when you think that is the time that the Apostles were still on the Earth.

Branch dinner 

Helen will tell about our trip back to Sarajevo next week so stay tuned.

The Christmas season on a mission is.....

When we left for our mission we wondered about what our Christmas season would look like. Especially because we knew we would be in Sarajevo, which is predominantly Muslim. Well, although we miss our family at home, we have been richly blessed with some wonderful experiences that have help us enjoy the season and celebrate Christmas in new ways. 

On Monday, we drove to Belgrade, Serbia for a two-day Missionary Zone Conference. It was a 5.5 hour drive and the route we took was very wintery and winding through the Dinaric mountains. 

The conference included the 60 missionaries (both young and senior) serving from Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro. The conference included instruction/training from our mission leaders, service, sharing meals, friendship with other missionaries and a little Christmas fun. (Don't we all look so festive? We are in the back row, L. Elder Hlaky is a very tall man 😀)

We enjoyed the training from Sister and President Cordray, as well as from the young mission leaders. 

Sister and Elder Sarager (Humanitarian Missionaries) organized and directed the assembling of hygiene kits to be distributed in Belgrade to those in need. In less than an hour we assembled the 1,000 kits and then we had to get them down the 5 floors to the basement (where they would be loaded for delivery). 

Those that were packed in bags/boxes were carried by young missionaries with strong arms and legs. 

However, there were not enough containers (bags/boxes) to carton all the kits, so we created a "fire brigade” and handed each kit down hand-over-hand down the staircases, as we sang.

On the second day, along with instruction; there were some Christmas skits, 

a White Elephant gift exchange,

Christmas card making, 

and a delicious holiday meal. 

We finished the conference with a video of Christmas music, created and produced by the young elders and sisters.  

https://www.facebook.com/792053557/videos/1212095496551957/

On Wednesday evening, we got back into Sarajevo in time to take a breathe and make preparations for the branch/ congregation Christmas party on Friday. Our contribution - 2 cakes. 

It was attended by local members, missionaries and friends, a lovely evening filled with fellowship, music and food. Together we celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ, the "Light of the World" and considered ways we each can reflect that light by doing good. All in all, it has been a wonderful Christmas season.  

Travelling around Bosnia

This week we spent a few days getting to know Bosnia. The Stafford's are helping us to get introduced to many people here.

On Tuesday we drove in two cars to Mostar. It is a city in southern Bosnia that is populated heavily with Muslims. We have one elderly women there that is a member of the Church. She is the only member for 150 miles around. She has a great story, in fact it was published in the March 2025 edition of the Liahona. She always feed the missionaries when they come to visit her. She made us some traditional Bosnian food that was fantastic.

We took some time to drive up to a large cross that is above the city, it is called the Millennium Cross. It is 100 feet tall. It was built on Hum Hill by the Croats after the Bosnian War in the 1990s  . It was built as a symbol of peace but it is offensive to the Muslim faith.

On Saturday, all eight of us missionaries and President Casbeer, our Branch President drove 3 1/2 hours north to a city called Banja Luka. It is the second largest city in Bosnia. Since it is at the opposite end of Bosnia from Mostar this city's main population are Serbs, who are Christian Orthodox. These are the two main groups that fought each other during the war. Our missionaries were removed out of this city about 1 1/2 years ago. We still have some faithful members there, so we go up once a month to visit them. It was so nice to see a beautiful sunny day.( first sun we have seen since we have been here) It was a nice drive, it opens up to a large valley with lots of farms. It reminded me of home.

We were pretty late getting home last night, but it was a great day. We are enjoying being here as we get to know our way around and getting to know the people.

A Whirlwind of a Week

 Just a warning – This week’s post may be longer than future posts. 

This week has been a whirlwind of experiences. After our Monday-Friday at the MTC, we spent the weekend with our daughter and her family in Heber City, UT. On Sunday, we attended church with them and Charlotte and I prepared a delicious Thanksgiving dinner (as we didn’t know if we would have a traditional celebration on Thanksgiving Day in Bosnia). We played games and spent time together. It was wonderful.

Early Monday morning, Charlotte took us and our 6 suitcases and 2 personal items to the SLC airport and we began our journey towards Sarajevo. At the airport we met up with Elder and Sister Nielson, who are also headed to serve in the Adriatic North Mission and will be living in Slovenia. It was an overnight flight and so on Tuesday, about noon, we and the Neilson’s arrived in Zagreb, Croatia. 

We and Elder and Sister Nielson were met by our mission leaders, Brian and Angelika Cordray. We gathered and loaded all our suitcases and ourselves. 

All I can say, is, “It’s a good thing they brought the van!” LOL

After a delicious late lunch, we were dropped at a hotel and were able to have a good nights sleep. In the morning we met back at the church and after a little instruction, they gave us a car and a map with the address to our apartment and said, “off you go to Sarajevo.” And so, we went. 

It was about a 5-hour drive from Zagreb to Sarajevo. We saw some beautiful countryside as we drove along the Bosna River. I saw rural houses with greenhouses or small gardens, still with un-harvest cabbages. We saw cities with tall apartment buildings. We also saw beautiful mosques, with domes and minarets. 

It was dark when we arrived in Sarajevo. As we arrived on the surface streets, traffic was bad and were moving slowly. In a way, that might have been a blessing, as we had a little longer to get in the correct lane or to react. We followed the directions on the map, but when we arrive at the destination, we were pretty sure we were not at the correct address. We called Elder and Sister Stafford (who are serving here in Bosnia on a Humanitarian assignment). Our suspicions were correct – we were at the wrong place. Correct street, wrong house – LOL. 

They instructed us to drive back a couple blocks. We felt very grateful to see Elder Stafford, waving from the curb and directing us into our parking place. 

The Stafford’s and Elder and Sister Wilkerson’s (a couple serving as mission housing coordinators) had prepared our apartment for our arrival. The mission has provided us a lovely, safe apartment and there was even homemade soup and rolls from the bakery, for that first night’s dinner. The Stafford’s helped us unload the car and gave us brief instructions about the apartment. They then they left us to settle and to fall into bed. 

When we woke up on Thursday, we were curious to get a peak at our neighborhood. We were surprised to see so many hills. We have a lovely view. So much for which to be thankful! 

We and the other missionaries (both young and senior) were invited to have dinner with the Casbeer family that evening. We gathered and brought our contributions. It was a wonderful evening of fellowship and food. 

Friday and Saturday were filled with trying to settle in, some shopping and starting the paperwork process for legally living here. In helping us get a “lay of the land”, Elder and Sister Stafford’s picked us up Friday about noon and drove us downtown. We parked and walked to the rented building where we gather for church (so we would know where to park and could more easily find it on Sunday morning). 

We walked into old town and down the pedestrian shopping streets – jewelry, leather goods, souvenirs. There were outdoor coffee shops, restaurants, and glass storefronts filled with baklava and Turkish delight. We also saw many mosques, where men were studying and a beautiful Catholic church. We walked along the Bosna River and stopped near the Latin Bridge, where Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were assassinated on 

June 28th, 1914

This week has been very full. Full of things that have been challenging – a long flight, jet lag, settling in a new home, a language that is foreign to our ears and groceries goods whose labels we cannot read (good thing for the pictures - LOL). 

Yet, it has also been full of things that have been a blessing – new friends, the kind efforts of those who help prepare our way, the helpful man at the gas station and the support of each other. We are grateful to be here and look forward, “feeling excited and ready”.