Week 52: Mostar, Conference, Yellow Jackets, and Burdocks

Greetings from Sarajevo! In case you all didn't know (and I don't really know why you would), the Sarajevo Film Festival is currently happening here. That means that there's an unusual amount of people here that are from outside of Bosnia. It's pretty cool. Also, the weather has finally cooled off the last two or three days. Huzzah.

The elders that were wearing shorts had to cover up to enter the dervish.

The sisters had to cover their heads to enter the dervish.

So, recap from last Monday, we loaded up the whole zone into 3 small cars and went on a road trip. We went to a dervish (Islamic monestary) first. While there, I first got stung by a yellow jacket or something, and then later discovered there were some Mexican tourists, and spoke some extremely rusty Spanish with them for a bit. Then we went to the giant bridge in Mostar ("most" means bridge in Bosnian, btw).

In Mostar with the popular bridge in the background.

While there, we tried to find and visit an inactive member. We did manage to find her apartment building, but then there were about 12 doors per floor and 5 or so floors. We asked someone on the first floor if they knew who she was by name, and they pointed two doors down. A second neighbor confirmed. She wasn't there, though, so we just left a copy of the new Croatian translation of the Book of Mormon, and our info. We don't have a working phone number for her, so hopefully she calls. Further on the road to Zone Conference, we stopped at Jajce, where there's a big waterfall, an underground church, and a big fort on top of the hill. Pretty cool.

The waterfalls at Jajce.

A boat ride into a small cave.

Then we eventually made it to Banja Luka and set up the church a bit for conference the next day. That night, all the (6) elders from the zone again slept in one apartment.

On Tuesday, we had an extremely enjoyable conference, all about Jesus Christ and his Atonement and what he can do for us, and such things. It was very good. We also got to hear the departing testimonies of some missionaries that are going home very soon, at the end of this transfer, including Sisters Beus and Turner who are here in Sarajevo. We'll miss them. So, do you remember from over a month ago when my wallet got stolen? Well we had to cancel my cards, you know. I finally got a replacement MSF card at Zone Conference. Now I can buy my own food! Haha. We also got a few copies of The Book of Mormon in Arabic to give to some investigators. In the car on the way back, I used the page numbers and verse markings to learn the Arabic numerals. I have no idea how to pronounce them though, haha.

Beautiful Bosnian Mountains.

On Wednesday, we got some burek for lunch, had district meeting, had and passed apartment inspection, made some flyers, etc. At the end of the day we went with the sisters over to dinner at the embassy family's house. They're so great. We played some more music with them. On the way back from their place, we passed a place with a bunch of young-adult guys playing Monopoly really intensely...probably using real money.

Thursday, we went out of town a bit to go visit a long-time investigator. When we found his house with the GPS, we called him to say we were there, and he told us he was down at the market, because he didn't expect us to be able to find his house. So we went down there to meet him. He's hoping to move into Sarajevo soon, and that'd mean he could some to church a lot more regularly, so we're hoping for it too. When we got back to town, we quickly set up a surprise for the sisters, since it was Sister Beus and Sister Turner's 18-month mark. It was a scripture scavenger hunt, and at the end was of course a big chocolate cake hidden in the tithing drawer. When they found it in such an unexpected spot, they just started cracking up, and couldn't even really say anything. They really liked it. Then of course we had ECG, and one of our participants brought some plant things that are apparently called burdocks. They're little balls that are basically just the scratchy part of velcro. So, you throw them at people and it sticks to their clothes. Anyway, after ECG the sisters shared some of their cake with us.

Sister Beaus (left) and Sister Turner (right) are heading home next week. Mission accomplished!

On Saturday we made some calls and printed some flyers, and then in the evening we ended up running into a couple from Austria who are members of the church. He had served here about 3 years ago, and knew a fair number of the members that are still around. They were really cool.

The Bosnian Zone: all the young missionaries currently serving in Bosnia

On Saturday we went up to the barn to do service again, but this time there was a lot more to do. It was great. During a little break in the middle, we and the sisters were just sitting at a picnic table waiting, and there were some yellow jackets bothering us. No one got stung, but we accidentally made a few of them mad, so I ended up killing two so they wouldn't sting us. After service, the Newtons took us all to lunch over at SCC, a big mall. Sister Turner ordered enchiladas, and they ended up being covered in Ajvar, not enchilada sauce. Ajvar is a local specialty. It's a sauce made mostly out of red bell peppers, but also eggplant and some stuff like that. So, not really good for enchiladas, haha. That evening we went to visit our member friend that's in that center across town, and he's still doing a lot better than before.

Yesterday morning started off in a pretty interesting way. We got to the church to find one of our members and her husband standing outside the church with a neighbor of the church, looking at the side door that was wide open. Apparently it was like that when they got there. That's the door that no one ever uses. So, their suspicion was that someone had broken in during the night, so they promptly called the cops and had us all wait outside until the cops showed up to go in. Turns out nothing was missing or even messed up, so we're pretty sure that the door just malfunctioned (that one is an automatic sliding door that we just never unlock). Anyway, Sisters Turner and Beus gave their farewell talks, and it was really good. That evening while we were in the church, a random member from New York walked in. Apparently he's been traveling the world visiting his international friends, and decided to just stop in to the church here and see what it's like. Apparently he'd served in Texas, Spanish speaking, and then lived in China for a while. This guy has been all over the place.

Also, in case any of you are wondering, we find out on Thursday what is happening with transfers. And no, I don't really have any guesses as to what country I'll be in.

Now, for your homework, I want you to find a talk about Christ and his Atonement and what that means for us. My favorite one is called "His Grace is Sufficient" by Brad Wilcox (it's a BYU Devotional that you've probably read before if you actually do your homework that I give, haha). The video is below for you to watch.

"His Grace is Sufficient" by Brad Wilcox - video

Another good one is "None Were With Him" by Elder Holland. But those are just suggestions; you pick. Try to learn something new.

Enjoy the pictures from the Dervish and Mostar. Have a great week!

--

Elder Ryan Echols
Adriatic North Mission
Svačićev Trg 3/1
HR-10000 Zagreb
Croatia