Week 29: The Cat at the Top of the Telephone Pole

Pozdrav prijateljima i porodici! (Hello Friends and Family!)

This week had a fair number of surprises, most of which were good. Thankfully the weather has stayed pretty good this week too.

One of the most interesting things that happened this week was on Tuesday while we were contacting during the morning. I started talking to a guy that happened to be Muslim, and he very much took over the conversation very quickly. While I was trying to get a word in, Elder Perry was standing there quietly, and a Jehovah's Witness lady came over and contacted him. #respect. So, there were 2 side-by-side conversations with all 4 people teaching their religion. That was pretty fun. Anyway, during that one whole block of contacting, we got 3 new investigators, which was a lot very quickly for us.

One evening this past week, we came upon a snowboarding freestyle event right on the streets of Sarajevo! Here's a video clip:

After lunch that day, we had a lesson with a young man that's very devout and knowledgeable about his Islam faith. The longer I'm here in Bosnia the more I learn about Islam! It's great to be learning about their faith. Anyway, at the end of the lesson Elder Perry gave him a copy of The Book of Mormon that was on the table that we'd been reading out of. Once he left, I realized that it was my personal copy of The Book of Mormon that I've been working on marking favorite passages. Oops. But don't worry, we had another lesson later in the week with him, and I traded him for a blank copy.

After that, we had a lesson at some mystery address in Baščaršija, the old market section of town. We spent a good time wandering around in circles and asking people for help finding it. That place is a maze XD We eventually got it, though.

Baščaršija, or the old market, is very easy to get lost in!

That evening, ECG was the same super-crowded as before. I'm surprised at how well we're retaining these students. After that while we were at McDonald's for language study, our pen-selling friend came around like always (this guy is literally everywhere, all the time. Selling pens nonstop. We run into him all over the city) but this time he had new upgraded pens! I guess his business is expanding ;)

On Wednesday we had a lesson that dropped on us, and then we got the surprise from President Grant that we'd be taking a plane flight to Zagreb in about 4 hours to come visit with him. Shortly after that our phone kinda broke. We could still receive calls and such, but the screen was doing absolutely nothing. Once in Zagreb we got to meet the new office couple, the Randalls, and they're super cool. Apparently this is their 5th mission. They're pros by now. We had some good meetings and stuff, I got to play some piano, and before we left on Thursday, we got a new phone! What timing.

A fun photo I took of myself and Elder Perry while we were in Zagreb

After we got back to our apartment on Thursday to unpack a bit, I looked out the window and saw a cat stuck at the top of a telephone pole. Shortly thereafter, a guy walking by on the street below noticed the cat too. In not too much time, there was a fair crowd of the local residents at the base of the pole, and long story short, they had two guys hold out a towel or something like a safety net, and had a third guy climb a ladder, peel the cat off the telephone pole, and then drop it onto the towel thing. The towel didn't seem to do much to slow the cat's fall, but the cat got up and ran off pretty quickly, so I think it was fine.

It's hard to see in this picture how high up the cat was, but you can see he was stuck!

On Friday we had a lot of lessons scheduled, as well as some maintenance people coming to fix some stuff at the church, and district meeting. So, we spent a lot of time at the church. For lunch, Elder Perry and I had burgers in the park again, but this time from a different place on the same street. That street has some really good burgers.

Saturday we did a lot more contacting, mostly from people ditching for lessons. The contacting went pretty well though, and we ended up with 3 new investigators. One man we talked to had his mentally disabled sister with him, and she insisted on kissing me and Elder Perry on each cheek. I think I also saw out of the corner of my eye as I was talking to the man that she was feeling Elder Perry's hair. That was a pretty unique experience.

Yesterday we had church, of course, and we had 2 investigators there! Normally we can't ever get anyone to come. These 2 were ones we haven't even had lessons with yet. But, they both seemed to like it and really feel that it was right. One of them is a younger guy who apparently is a rapper, and we have a lesson with him set up for tomorrow. The other one was a lady, and we passed her over to the Sisters to teach.

Later on in the night we had a lesson with an older lady that apparently speaks French and Italian and English, and she was super cool. While she was telling some stories form her past, she'd slide in a bunch of jokes everywhere and we'd just start cracking up. After that lesson, it was dumping rain, and we went with the Sisters to the Branch President's house to have pancakes with him and his family again. That's always the best (meaning, feed the missionaries that live near you, haha).

Beautiful and interesting Sarajevo

So far today we've done our proselyting, looked around a bookstore, and wandered around Baščaršija some. Man, Baščaršija has some really cool stuff. It's just a totally different world than anywhere else I've been. So many cool little stores everywhere.

More books in Bosnian from a cute little bookstore

Your homework for this week is to read 2 Nephi 2, which talks a lot about how we have to choose to follow Christ, and it's through him that we can become the best that we can be.

That's all for now. Have an awesome week, and remember that you can do hard things in the Strength of The Lord!

--

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

Week 28: A Jumprope, and Attack of the ECG

Hello Dear Audience,

As always, I hope you've all been doing well. This week was fairly regular, but there definitely were a few peculiar things. Good peculiar things. Like, our English Conversation Group attendance spontaneously tripling in number. But I'll get to that later ;)

On Monday after email last time, Elder Perry and I got dinner and then went to BBI, the mall of sorts here in the center of town. Our intent was to buy a jump rope for morning exercise, as well as to buy groceries, but we ended up buying some ice cream and using the massage chairs on our way to the sports store. That was pretty relaxing.

On Tuesday we did more contacting, of course, and we did find a guy that seemed really interested in The Book of Mormon and how we're different from other Christians. Also, for lunch we made proper tacos, and that was pretty great. We also had a lesson with our recent convert.

Now, on the ECG. The 48 hours or so preceding this session of conversation group, we had been getting absurd quantities of phone calls of people asking about it, confirming when it was, etc. When people started filing in on Tuesday night, they hardly stopped coming. Typically we have about 12 participants come in total, but like I said earlier, it pretty much tripled, and we ended up with a whole 38 that time. I have no idea where that came from, but it was great. We had to separate into more than just our typical beginner and advanced groups. Really quite fun.

After ECG, we had a lesson, then headed home. For dinner we tried ordering pizza, but as Elder Perry asked over the phone what kind of pizzas they had, the guy taking the order must've said something like "ok no problem we'll be there in 20 minutes" and then hung up, because we didn't actually know what kind of pizza we had ordered. But, 20 minutes later we had a pizza, so we were fine with the situation =P

On Wednesday morning we had a big video call with all the district leaders (and their companions like me) from across the mission. That was pretty fun. After lunch we had a lesson with a Bible-scholar type guy that's a Catholic. He even brought a Greek copy of the New Testament with him, and that was super cool. Usually that kind of meeting would end up just in pointless arguing from both sides I think, but we set some ground rules at the very start, and I think the outcome was positive. At the very least, I understand Catholics better, and I think he also understands the LDS faith better now.

Thursday was plenty of contacting. For lunch we found this hidden little "fast food" place in a secret little courtyard, and ate it in the park nearby since the weather was nice. That was a pretty darn good burger, btw. Secret food places are the best. Later on we also had district meeting, and ECG again. This time the attendance was only 24, not 38, but that's still double from what we usually have, so I'm not complaining. Having a lot of people is pretty fun. For dinner, Elder Perry and I tried making French Toast, but it didn't really work terribly well. I blame it on how different the bread is ;) It still tasted pretty ok though.

Friday was just a lot of contacting, and two lessons that dropped on us (meaning even more contacting). This week we met a Baptist whose parents are Muslim and Orthodox, a guy that was stuck here in Sarajevo (a train ride away from home), a guy with an earring depicting a leaf of Weed, a Jehovah's Witness that invited us to come to their church (#reverseContacted, #props), a Catholic or two, and plenty of atheists and Muslims (those two seem to be quite the majority around here). For lunch we got pizza from Montana's and ate it by the river, since it hadn't started raining yet. Btw, it rained just a very small amount later in the evening.

Montana's Pizza Poster. Their pizza is pretty good!

Speaking of the weather, when we woke up on Saturday there was more snow dumped all over the city. The weather just keeps flopping back and forth between sunny and warm, then cloudy and snowy. As we left the apartment for the day, our cat friend was waiting outside the door to say hello to us. We did some contacting like always, but we also had a second lesson. This guy is pretty cool, and seems to clearly recognize that we have something special that he should make time for.

Our cat friend waiting for us in the snow.

At the end of the day, we had a lesson set up (but we didn't manage to get a confirmation out of him, so we didn't know if it was going to work out) and set out to the address he gave us. It was kinda hard to find his particular house number, though, and there were some kinda sketchy-looking alleys involved, but we eventually found the right apartment door. Though, we didn't know which buzzer to push. But, by some miracle, we got let into the building on the second buzzer we tried. By another miracle, we didn't get kicked out. As we tracted the building, we eventually found his Mom, who told us that he had already gone out for the night, but we of course arranged to come back soon.

Sunday we had CHURCH! Church is always great. Later in the day we had some lessons scheduled, but nothing came through. We tracted another sketchy apartment building, and we did some planning. The end.

Me playing the piano for church

Today, Monday, we got haircuts and did our emails and everything and the weather is back to being really awesome. I don't think the weather around here ever knows what it's doing with itself, but that's ok.

Your homework for this week is to read Hebrews 12, which talks about how hard times help us improve. Sometimes we need to be chastened in order to grow.

Have an awesome week! Keep up whatever hard work it is that you're doing.

--

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

Week 27: Sushi, 25%, and This Weather

Hello my physically distant friends and family!

This week was a little bit rough, but it definitely had its good patches, and things seem to be back on their way upward.

Tuesday, as many of you know, was Valentine's Day. There were a lot of young couples out and about in the city and in the park enjoying the sun that was out. As for us, we of course did some finding, and we found some very talkative but also very uninterested people, haha. We had a few lessons fall through like normal, but we did have another lesson with our recent convert. He's doing really well.

Wednesday was more contacting, but for lunch we tried a place called "Sushi San". Honestly, that's a pretty good pun, since "san"is the Bosnian word for "dream", and it's also a title of sorts in Japanese (if I understand correctly, Daniel San). That sushi was really good, and the employees were super nice. I think we're going to get to be their friends.

Who knew you could find great sushi in Bosnia?

We also had District Meeting on Wednesday, so I got to meet Sister Martineau, our new addition to the district. Later that night, Elder Perry and I did some tracting and got kicked out of a few apartment buildings. Pretty fun.

Thursday we did some contacting and got some people who were interested in meeting up, so that was nice. We also had two lessons, but one was only 10 minutes before he had to go, and we simply got to know him a bit, so I don't know how much that should really count as a lesson. But, the other lesson was really solid! He was really open and really seemed to get what we were saying and agreed with us. Just after that, President Grant and his wife and some other of the awesome people from the mission office came through, and we had interviews with President Grant. He's a pretty great guy, btw.

Friday was my 6-month mark! So, that means I'm 25% through this whole thing. It really doesn't feel like I've been out here that long. The passage of time is very strange as a missionary.

We started off Saturday by going for a run through the streets of Sarajevo for our morning exercise. That definitely woke me up, haha. Through the rest of the day, the weather was awesome. Sun shining and everything, and it felt like a chilly summer day, or something. We did some good contacting. With one young guy we stopped, we asked him what brings him happiness. He said "weed". So, that was pretty funny. We also had a few lessons that were pretty good, one being again with that recent member.

A beautiful day in Sarajevo

On our way back home for the night, a college-age guy called out to us "My Brothers!"and then came over and started talking to us. Apparently he's known previous missionaries, and wanted to meet up with us again to get some questions answered. He also spoke English pretty well. So, we have a lesson scheduled with him for this next week.

Remember how I said the weather was awesome on Friday? Almost felt like Summer? Well on Saturday it snowed literally all day. It seemed to come out of nowhere. But it is still February, so I guess the warm weather should be what is weird to me. It's harder to get people to listen to us when the weather is bad, though.

On Sunday we had church, of course, which included me and Elder Perry translating into Bosnian. I really enjoy translating, but it's pretty hard. This time around, the word "box" was pretty essential, but I had no idea how to say that in Bosnian. Always a party. The rest of the day, we planned and such. Also, as part of my language study I've been reading The Blue Book (our grammar textbook) cover to cover, and I finally finished it all the way through! So, hypothetically, I now know all the grammar of these languages, haha. But you know how that goes. Time to read it again =P

Today, Monday, we started off the day with contacting, and it was pretty impressive how few people wanted to stop and listen to us. Just one of those days, I guess. After that, we looked around a bookstore a bit, and I discovered some things such as Shakespeare plays, Dante's Divine Comedy, Les Misérables, The Hunger Games, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, etc., all of them in Bosnian/Croatian, of course. Pretty cool to see that kind of thing.

Popular Books in Bosnian

The Hunger Games books in Bosnian

Your homework for this week is to read/watch Where Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet, a General Conference talk by Elder Holland about Christ and his Atonement for us. The Atonement really is one of the greatest gifts from God that we have been given. I implore you to use it in your life, and I know that you will find more peace and joy as you do so.

Have an awesome week! Don't forget who you are, and take time to slow down every now and then too.

--

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

Week 26: A lot of Visa Stuff, and Some Moves

Hello once again, friends and family. I hope you've all been doing well recently. This week we found out about transfers! The news is that I'll be staying in Sarajevo with Elder Perry. One of the two sisters in the city, Sister Locey, is getting moved out, though. So, our city will not be entirely without change.

Sister Locey was transferred to Zadar, Croatia. She will be missed in Sarajevo!

Tuesday started off with us doing some visa work, again. Visa work takes up a lot of our time, really. Later in the day we had a second lesson with the guy from last Thursday. It doesn't seem like our message is quite clicking with him in one way or another. We're trying our best though, and maybe something will hit a light bulb soon. Our other lesson fell through. The rest of the day was mostly just regular stuff, including English Conversation Group. After that, for dinner, we went to this cool Palačinke place for dinner. It has a whole bunch of awesome old stuff everywhere, with old music playing. Quite an interesting atmosphere, with really good food too.

Wednesday we did more visa work, and a notable amount of contacting. We also got stood up for 2 lessons, one of which was supposed to be with our golden investigator from Monday. So, that's sad. It's ok, though.

Thursday we did more visa stuff (don't worry, it's pretty much done now), and found out about transfers. We also helped the Ostergaards meet one of the recent converts here, and it was decided that we'd be starting an institute class here! First one ever in Sarajevo, if I understood correctly. So, we'll be teaching that soon.

On Friday we finished up doing my visa stuff, so that's good to have done. We also had district meeting, of course. Later in the day, after language study, we went back to the church and discovered that Sisters Locey and Rougeau had set up a scavenger hunt for us (for Elder Perry's year mark). At the end was a big chocolate cake that they had made. Happy year mark to Elder Perry! Later that night we had a lesson with a recent convert, and he really liked the cake too.

Elder Perry with his cake to mark one year in the mission field!

Sisters Rougeau and Locey made the cake for Elder Perry and put together a scavenger hunt.

On Saturday we had a lesson with someone we'd met on the street a few days before, and he talked a lot. It was definitely good, though, haha. Later on, we got to go with the Newtons to do some service, helping with therapeutic horseback riding, and that was pretty cool. While still in our service clothes, we also went to help someone move, in a way. First time helping someone move while on the mission! I'd call that a solid Elders' Quorum activity.

Elder Echols and Elder Perry helping out at Riders of Hope

On Saturday night we had Sister Locey's farewell dinner. (Whenever a missionary gets moved out, the Newtons treat the district to a dinner at the choice of the departing missionary). We had dinner at a rotating restaurant at the top of a really tall building. It was super fancy, and generally awesome. In case you haven't heard, Bosnia is really inexpensive, so our meals were something like $15 each, despite it being one of the nicest restaurants in Sarajevo. 

Sister Locey at her farewell dinner. That's a giant creme brulee in front of her!

"American Pie" is on the menu!!

On Sunday, we of course had church like we do every Sunday, but this time I had a talk. I feel like it went pretty well. Also, Sister Rougeau had a special musical number, and it was splendid. After church, since Sister Locey is getting transferred, we got a bunch of photos of her and the branch together. For the rest of the evening, Elder Perry and I did a whole lot of phone calls to set up some lessons and such. A lot of phone calls.

Elders Echols and Perry, Sisters Newton, Locey and Rougeau, and Brother Newton.

Your homework for this week is to listen to (or read) Come Unto Christ, a speech given by Henry B. Eyring at BYU back in the day. I don't know really what to say about it, except that it's really good. It's fairly self explanatory. It talks about how we can be better disciples of Christ.

Here are some pics of the city from a huge tower. Sarajevo is pretty cool.

The view from the top of the Avaz Tower in Sarajevo

Selfie 35 floors up!!

I hope you all are doing well, and that you have a great week!

--

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