Visits to Rijeka, Pula & Karlovac

We headed out Friday for Rijeka to visit with the Manleys who were moved here one week ago from Osijek. We met them at their apartment which is on the 8th floor of the apartment building and has a beautiful view of the bay. Rijeka is on the Adriatic Sea but in a bay. It is very hilly here and lots of rock. We first went to the Church where we met with Dragana our institute teacher. She is from Serbia and served a mini mission is Rijeka where she met her husband who joined the church. Great family. His two sisters are also members. We then went with the Sister missionaries, Sis. Hillem and Fitsimmons to visit Igo and less active young man.

First we waited at the bus stop for the Elders to come, they did not and so we finally left and said we would meet them. Then up the hill we went in the bus, it was a very humid day. We got off and then walked on up this steep hill and up some stairs to his apartment, which was very small. I was so hot and wet. I really appreicate these wonderful missionaries for all they do. It is not easy. We had a nice visit with Igo. He had his Book of Mormon out and Paul had a nice discussion with him. The Elders arrived and we left and met the Manleys. They took us on a drive around the island and we found a nice place for dinner. We sat right on the edge of the sea.

A view of Rijeka from across the bay.

We had a great visit with them that evening and spent the night in their apartment. They have a wonderful story which I hope I don't forget. Great people. He was pilot and they now live in Eden, Utah up by Huntsville in a beautiful valley.

Sunday morning we got up early and headed for Pula which is about an hour away if you go through the tunnel right thru the mountain. We were headed for the Church and ended up at the colliseum which is right next to it. This was built by the Romans, many many years ago. They now hold concerts and things there. It is very authentic.

We met the Petterssens here in Pula. They were wonderful hosts. We spent the day and night with them. Their little group is small but full of the spirit. At Church we had 12 people and six were missionaries. The Petterssens are going home on Tuesday so we wanted to get down there before they left. We met Bojan who has been a member for 8 years and served a mission in DC and Miro, a new convert since November. He and his wife joined, she joined first. She was sick that day. We also had the Summerlands, a couple from Germany who have a home in Pula and come six months of the year and then an investigator, an older gentlemen who is a musician. The Elders did a great job. We also had Marko from Zadar who stayed until after the Sacrament and bore his testimony. He is also a new convert of 3 months. He had come up to say goodbye to the Petterssens. He is so neat. He is a lawyer and works for a law firm but they do not pay him. Very strange here. People work and no one pays them. I guess there are others to take their place and they just hope they will get paid.

Monday we took a drive to Rovinj which is right on the Adriatic Sea. It is very old and has an old part of town which was built back in the 16th century. This is the Church of St. Eupkemior rebuilt in 1840 and took 11 years to build. That's the Church in the background.

Look at these wonderful streets, cobblestone, narrow. No one has dryers here and you hang the clothes out on racks or you might have a clothes line.

We got the car registered and licensed while we were in Pula. Bojan's brother does it so it was much easier than it would have been in Zagreb. We left that afternoon with four snow tires to take the the Schmoes in Karlovac. They will be getting the Petterssens car next week but they did not have room for their luggage and the tires. It was a great opportunity for us to visit Karlovac. They do not have an institute class there but they were having FHE so we stayed for that and met our first young family in the Church. The Branch President's daughter and her husband and their 3 year old boy. They are converts of less than a year and are going to the Freiburg Temple in August.

Vlaiko Sarapa, Milena and Mihael

We stayed for the lesson and then picked the Elders up from the grocery store and gave them a ride home before stopping at Elder and Sister Schmoe, who are humanitarian missionaries and travel to Bosnia and Kosovo. Elder Schmoe gave Paul a much needed massage on his back and neck. We got home about 11 pm.

Tuesday we spent our day trying to get to the train station to meet Ivana and find out about our transportation to the Czech Republic conference. We dropped the car off to be serviced and were going to catch the tram. The trams were not running because of an electrical problem so we went back to get the car which they were not going to be able to work on until afternoon and found it on the rack. We went home and said lets try again at 1 which we did. We were very late for District meeting. Wednesday and Thursday we spent working on the computer here at home. We got through the rest of the papers we needed to sort through and got a lot of work done. We need to finish up some certificates for the different institutes.

Tomorrow morning we take off for Osijek, Beograd Serbia and will go to Church Sunday in Sremska Serbia where we will meet Elder Gubler. He is the grandson of the Karl and Ramona Jones who we served with in Palmyra.

The Church is true, wonderful and warm wherever you are. Help the missionaries, find someone for them to teach.

Slovenia/Croatia Mission May 18, 2009--November 2010

Saying Goodbye to the Stirlings. Pres. Hill picked them up to take them to Ljubljana.

Mar Jean moving from the studio apartment to the Stirlings apt. on the tram

Our bathroom in the studio apartment. It was pretty nice.

A view of the car from our 4th floor apartment in eastern Zagreb

We followed along on apartment checks with the Thompsons. Sisters Carlson, Woodbury & Loveless. They passed.

Lunch at Asia with the Elders Giberson and Davey. They also passed.

Elder Giberson and Davey's apt.

Daniel and Lubitca in Zagreb. He is the only seminary student.

We are in front of the train station at the Trg

Sisters at Zone Conference in June. 2nd Sister from left, Ivana, has submitted her papers to leave for a mission.

New chapel in Zagreb. Dedicated by Elder Christofferson in May

Zone Conference



Senior Couples in Croatia

Petterssens, Lewis' Schmoes, Thompsons, Manleys, Willfords, Stirlings, Browns

Paul & Bro. Vladimir Plavic. He was baptised in 2002.

FHE in Zagreb. Bro. Veins teaching a cooking class, granola mix & peanut butter balls.

Taking the bus up the hill to our apartment

Paul moving the last of our things to the new apartment.

Our first Sunday in Zagreb. All these people got off the tram with us.

The church meeting house in Zadar.

In Osijek at Ivana's baptism. Sister Manley, Ivana, MJ, Sis. Herd and Sis. Schmoe.

Rijeka on the Adriatic Sea

Paul and Elder Manley at Ivan's baptism

Lunch at McDonalds in Karlovac. Notice the play station

Ivana and President & Sister Hill at her baptism

Church at Karlovac. It is on the 2nd floor down the hall from a bar caffe

The Stirlings with Tiana in Varazdin. She makes lace. She learned it from her grandmother

Our first view of Slovenia.

Arrived in Ljubljana airport about 3:05 pm and were met by Pres. David Hill and his wife, Dana, Elder Lindorf, McKee and Grahovac (AP). We put all our luggage into 3 cars and drove back to the mission home about 20 min. away. They pointed out the hill with the Church on the top, the mission home which was on the other side at the base of the hill. Pres. Hill runs up it in 20 min.
President Hill took us on a walk up the hill just a little way and told us this was our sacred grove in Slovenia and spoke to us about this land.

We received instruction from Elder & Sister Lindorf then had an interview with Pres. Hill. Slovenia/Croatia is like a bud and we need to nurture it along but not try to open it before it is ready, patience, love the people. Sis. Hill and Mark prepared a delicious meal for us. Spaghetti, roasted vegetables, carrots, bread and brownies and ice cream. We went to the Lindorfs with the Sister missionaries and spent the night. We were able to get on the internet and send some e-mails.

Elder & Sister Stirling met us at the new chapel in Zagreb. We also met Lydia and her girls and Pres. Sambunjak, District Pres. of Zagreb. We went with the Stirlings shopping for groceries and then to our studio apartment. You could spend all day there trying to figure out what to buy. We got some bread, milk, cereal, fruit and cheese.

We are about ½ hour from the Stirlings in a student apartment. It is a studio and not bad. Paul is trying to figure out the washing machine.

Thursday morning we slept in until 11 and the Stirlings picked us up about 1 pm and we headed out for Rijeka to visit an Institute there. We stopped in Karlovac and met Elder and Sister Schmoe. They are Humanitarian missionaries and go into Bosnia and Kosovo. They are from Missouri. We left them and went on to Rijeka. We were early so took a drive into the scenic resort of Opatia. Rijeka is on the bay of the Adriatic Sea.

Church in Karlovac

Rijeka Institute with teacher Dragana Haci, her husband, Marija and Emma and Julie


In Rijeka we met Elder & Sister Brown from Utah. Elder Rhodes and Sister Fitsimmons, Sister Hillem were there. They go home in two weeks with the Stirlings. We met the teacher Dragana Haci and her husband Ivan. She did a mini mission to Croatia where she met her husband and he was baptized and his two sisters, Julie and Emma. We met Marjia a new convert of six months. An older sister who is blind and runs a blind school. We left there and went back to Zagreb stopping at Karlovc at McDonalds for something to eat and then got home about 11 pm.

Elder & Sister Brown, Elder Rhodes, Sis Hillem, Fitzsimmons, Dragana and Ivan


Friday morning June12 Elder Stirling picked us up and took us to the Police Department where we had to register. Every time you enter a city you have to register and when you leave you have to deregister. Elder Giberson and Davey met us to help us through the process since they speak the language. We were finished by 10:30 which we understand was a great success because it could take all day. We then went to the Stirlings apartment where we had lunch and got ready to leave for Osijek.

We met Elder & Sister Manley in Osijek and several of the YSA who were at the church. Ivana Korajoc was there with her son. She is getting baptized on Saturday, June 20th and we would like to attend. Her brother has been a member for a couple of years and now she is joining. She has a great testimony and will be a wonderful asset to the Branch.

We left there about 9 pm and went to dinner with the Manleys and Stirlings at a little European restaurant in old town. The dinner was very good and they had a mariachi (or something similar) playing while we ate. Very fun. Again it was about 10:30 pm when we finished.

We stayed at the Krokodile Motel. A really cute place. We were able to get internet and talked to Kimberly on Skype. Courtney told us all about trek and sounded like she had a great time and some good spiritual experiences. We left the computer on and Kelly called about 4 am. It was great seeing them all. We will hope to have our internet up soon.

Our stay at the Krokodile Inn in Osijek

Got up in the morning and had a nice continental breakfast and then took off for Serbia. It is now Saturday morning. We had some time because institute didn’t start until 6 pm so we drove through some of the towns outside of Osijek. Borovo, where we stopped to get some food for Sunday and Vinkovci. Very beautiful country, small farms, lots of small fields of corn and wheat. Fairly green. We didn’t have any trouble getting across the border and checked into Hotel Rex. After getting settled we walked up the street and found a bakery. At one of the corners they had a little open market with some beautiful apricots. I finally talked Paul into going back and buying some. We found small bakery also and bought a roll with cheese in it, very tasty hot. We then picked up the Stirlings and walked to the Church. Parking is at a premium wherever you are so we left the car at the hotel. The church is only about three blocks away. We met Nevena Beric (YSA and Primary president) as we were walking up. They had had an activity day at the lake and she had two boys with her.

We met Elder & Sister Densley who are Humanitarian missionaries but are willing to do CES as they can. They are from St. George and have been out three months. They go into Bosnia and distribute wheelchairs. They have had some amazing experiences. They go in with the Red Cross. We had a great institute class taught by Terry Wright, a missionary from two years ago who was back on an intern grant for the summer. The Branch President Nikola Kovic is also a YSA and he was there. We had class, sat around and visited and got back to the hotel about 10 pm. Sunday morning at 8 am we met with Brother Iachimov. He is the CES area coordinator for Serbia. He is young man, joined the church in 1998, served a mission, met his wife who had also served a mission and they have two children 2 and 4. He drove 8 hours from Romania to come and meet us and take care of a little business about the Czech Republic YSA conference in July.

They have a wonderful Branch. We had some visitors besides us. A family of six from Thailand were visiting and doing family history. They have a primary, RS, Priesthood and a regular 3 hour block. Pres. Kovic asked Paul and I to bear our testimonies. We are in Serbia now and no nothing about the Cyrillic language and alphabet so we had interpreters for us. We had a short meeting afterwards with the Branch President and then drove back to Zagreb. We had a fairly long wait at the border waiting to get across but no problems. We got home about 8 pm tonight.
We got settled in and took short walk around the neighborhood and now need to get to bed.
Tomorrow Monday we go shopping with the Stirlings for Zone conference on Tuesday and then we will go to dinner with the senior missionaries who come in early and spend the night before zone conference.

Storkes build their nests on top of the houses all over in this town.

June 16, 2009
Our first Zone conference. Eight couples came Monday night and we went to dinner at the Hotel Villa Tina which is just up the street from the Stirlings. We had grilled meat platter. The Browns said we could not go wrong ordering that because it is served by everyone in Croatia. We ordered two platters for 12 people and had food left over.

Paul and I took the tram today to the new chapel. We had to change twice and had some nice ladies help us to know where to get off. It was pretty easy and the Church is right across the street from the tram stop.

After Zone Conference we took tram 17 and went to 4 which took us to the train station. We were finally able to purchase tickets to Osijek for a baptism on Saturday. The Stirlings are taking some students and parents to Venice for seminary graduation so we will need to take a train to get there. It is about 4 hours we understand. We stopped at the Konsum when we got off the tram and bought a few groceries. We came home and had some ice cream and watermelon and then had a grilled cheese sandwich. None of this is like at home.

Wednesday 17

Got up at 6:30 and studied and got ready for the day. About 9 we left to walk to T-Mobil. We actually found our way around and knew where we were going. Elder Stirling forgot to pick us up at 1:45 so after waiting awhile we borrowed a phone in the corner store and called. He was on his way to pick us up. He has so much going on I don’t know how he is keeping it all straight. They are leaving Saturday morning for Venice and found out one of their drivers was not going to be able to go. The Lord works in mysterious ways because the teacher in Ljubljana called and said she would drive her car. We attended District meeting with Elder Giberson conducting. They discussed all the investigators, plans they had and asked us to come prepared for goals for district next week. We meet every Tuesday at 2 pm. We left a little early to get on our way to Varazdin for institute.

I don’t know how we will ever figure out how to get around. Amy does not always take us the best ways and the Stirlings have learned when to listen and when not. We arrived about 5:30 and were met by the Willfords. A wonderful couple from outside of Rexburg in a little town I hadn’t heard of. Sis. Mariya Lukacek, the Branch President’s wife, teaches the class and does an excellent job. They are all studying the New Testament. We met Bozidar Habek, a man in his 40’s, a musician and preparing to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. He joined the church in 2001 and has come back to church since November. He leads the music in Sacrament meeting, pass and bless the sacrament. Mariya Kolenko has been a member for about 7 months. A sister in her 40’s. Tihana Rendec—she is why the Willfords were sent to Varazdin. They met her in a shop where she works. She makes lace (famous Lepoglava lace). She learned the art from her Grandmother who has made beautiful lace. She is about 21 and said she had been looking for the truth but thought she would have to die before finding it. They have been teaching her. She is planning to be baptized on her birthday August 15 in the river. She speaks really good English and translated for us during institute class. Sister Lukacek does not speak any English. Sister Stirling bought three pieces of lace from her for 1400, kuna which is about $275. I asked her to do some for me to bring home. This was actually a great blessing for Tihana because she has been working for three months without being paid. I guess it is not unusual here. She said she was going to have to look for another job. Micorad Behim also came. He is one of the twins Sister Jill Cassinat told us about and Tihana’s boyfriend, Jamal Baddad, also came. It was a great class.

Sister Lukacek comes about 1 hour away with her husband to teach the class. CES pays her gas which is about 100 ku per month.

On our way home the Stirlings drove us pass the building where we will have the car inspected, insured and relicensed, so we arrived home about 10:40 pm (22:40). Tomorrow they will pick us up at 1:30 to go to Zadar for institute. We will stay overnight and hopefully will get to get on the internet and catch up on everyone. Friday we will get back to Zagreb just in time to catch the train (4 hrs) to Osijek for the baptism on Saturday.

June 20, 2009
The Stirlings picked us up at 2:00 pm to go to Zadar which took about three hours. We went through many tunnels and one was really long. They have dug them through the mountains. We were on our way to the Sea. We got in about 5 and went right to our hotel Hotel Mediteran. It was nice and you could see the Adriatic Sea from our room. We are also able to get internet if we went downstairs and so later that night we did and were able to Skype Kelly and Kimberly.
It cost 601 kuna for this hotel and they always give you breakfast.

We left and went to the Church in Zadar for Institute. Sister Ranka Paunovic, the teacher met us along with the missionaries Elders Matson (who came out with us) and Freeman (who is the Branch President) and Sisters Whitaker (who came out with us) and Sammon. Ranka is about 52 and is a doctor at a psychiatric hospital. She has the title of doctor but I think she is more of a physician’s assistant from her explanation. She did a very good job in teaching us Acts 15-18 & Romans 1&2. Those attending the class were Anka Grzan, a member of six months, she is about 70 and her husband who was seaman all his life (47 years) is not a member. Marko Butorac, a new convert of 2 months. He is in his 30’s and is a lawyer. He is very powerful in his testimony. He trained to be a priest but could not find the answers to his questions. He brought his mother who is investigating (Ljubica Butorac). Doris Duka has been a member since 1972. She lives in Italy part of the year. She has two teenage daughters but they do not come to church. She gave us two chocolate rice crispi bars.

Paul hands out our cards which Gary Yeates made up for us and I take pictures of everyone one and have them write their names so we can learn to recognize them.

After institute and visiting the Stirlings took us down to the pier. We found a place to park and walked out to hear the sea organ. It is an amazing thing. The water slushes up under some concrete walks and it actually sounds like an organ playing. Depending on the tide it makes different sounds. There were lots of people out walking and it was about 11 pm. They also have a light show in the ground that you can walk out on and it changes colors. Lots of children were out playing on it. We then went down to the City center where they have an old cathedral and lots of souvenir shops and Sister Stirling showed us where we can get porcelain dolls in native costume. We will have to remember and go back and get one before coming home. We got an ice cream and Paul got a piece of pizza as we watched some young college students doing break dancing on the sidewalk.

Friday morning we drove around Zadar in the daylight and saw the ocean again. July and August and big months for everyone to go to the sea and vacation. Many have family homes from generations gone by and always go to the sea for holiday. They say it is a time to stay away and in Zagreb it is great because everyone leaves.

On our way home we stopped in Karlovac. We stopped and had McDonalds for lunch. We spent some time driving around the city, it was the first time Sister Stirling had seen it in the daytime. Nice park by a bird refuge and a lake or river inlet and then some very interesting old homes. Many of the buildings still have shrapnel holes in them from the way in 1991-95.

We got back to Zagreb in time to take our first train ride. They dropped us off at Center where we caught the train. We had purchased our tickets earlier in the week so we had a reservation which meant that we had a compartment. It was pretty full going. We found out it was a holiday on Monday so everyone was leaving the city and going home. We found a compartment with a mother and son. Joseph was about 5 and autistic. Later we were joined by Hruoje Potnar and young man of 32 who works with electricity and then a student joined us, Boris. The two of them spoke English and were very friendly with us. Paul talked to them about the church and gave away a pass along card. They asked several questions.

When we arrived in Osijek Elder Manley picked us up and took us to our hotel, Hotel Waldinger which was downtown. The Schmoes were staying there also. We paid 454 kuna for this one. Last time we were in Osijek we stayed at the Crocodile Hotel but without a car it is too far away. In the morning we walked with the Schmoes to the Church which wasn’t a long walk. There we helped prepare food for the baptism. We met Ivana Korajac again. Elders Champion (the new Branch President), Elder Larson and Elder Pasche (who came out with us and is from NY). Elder Manley had been shuttling everyone around. The Herds came in with Pres. & Sister Hill. They will be staying in Osijek which the Manleys will be moving to Rijeka replacing the Browns who are going home in a week.

The baptism was wonderful and what a delight to be a part of it. She is a wonderful woman. She is 25 and has a son 5. Her brother joined the church in June 18, 2005 and now she has joined in 20, June 2009. A very bright and has a strong testimony of the gospel. We also met another sister Rajka Planojevic. Her records were found in Karlovac and she is in a rest home in Osijek so the Manleys picked her up and brought her. She has been a member for about six years but had no way to get to church and got lost in the shuffle. She was happy to be there. The Schmoes are doing a humanitarian project at her rest home providing beds.

Notes from the baptism talks

Sister Manley: many choices, you have chosen the best. Angels are rejoicing. Repent quickly!! Can’t carry it around. He gives us strength and courage. You gave up many things and thought it would be hard but you had the strengthen found it was easy because it is the way I show God I love Him. Romans 8:31 If God is with us who can be against us?

Elder Champion gave his talk in Croatian. Ivana then spoke. Matthew 11:28 God does not give us more than we can handle. Always felt like this. Elder Manley helped her feel a father’s love again. Her father has been gone for 10 years. Sister Manley a true friend. I know God loves me. He has always sent someone to help me. This time He sent the church.

Pres. Hill: I’m the bad guy, I move people (the Manleys are moving to Rijeka). Jesus came to America and they felt the same way. He said “I must go and they asked him to stay. He stayed a little longer and then had to leave them. They still feel His love even when He is not here, His love will only get bigger. In his interview with Ivana she said I get my answers in the scriptures. Pores. Hill said I do too. Every week we take the sacrament and are member what He did for us. So what do we do now? Jesus has a good answer. 1) be like me 2) Help others 3) love others as He loves 4) serve others 5) share His word. “hold up your light to the world”. We want people who know us to see the Savior in our faces.
We then had a wonderful luncheon which Sister Manley provided for us and had a wonderful visit the rest of the afternoon. At 3:30 Elder Manley took us to pick up our luggage from the Hotel and dropped us off at the bus station for our return ride home. We had a compartment to ourselves and had a nice 4 hour ride back to Zagreb. We caught a tram home and stopped at a bakery which was still open for some bread for Sunday and a piece of pizza and are now back in our apartment. The Stirlings left this morning for Venice for the seminary graduation and will be back tomorrow night. Sunday we will take the tram to church and hope to meet with the Thompsons and get some training on the outreach program which they handle here in Zagreb.

June 21, 2009 Father’s Day

Took the tram to Church this morning. As we got off to change trams we were met by Christian, a member of the Branch and then another member, Anaka Stochec got on and then the sister missionaries and elders and by the time we got off we had half the branch on the tram with us.

We were asked to take 5 minutes in sacrament meeting. It is a lovely branch, in the new building. The chapel is on the 2nd floor. I thought there were a lot of people there. Three brethren passed the sacrament. The District President Sambunjak, his counselor and the Predsjednik Bzik and his counselors were on the stand. Sister Kristina Mestrov translated for us. She is from Split and was up in Zagreb doing some translation for the Church. She is retranslating the Book of Mormon. Paul met a brother who is working on the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. There is very little in their language and it is difficult. Brother Lee Viens who works at the Embassy was our SS teacher.

I told a little about us and then shared some thoughts from the baptism. After baptism now what? Pres. Hill said the answer is in the scriptures. Jesus said 1) be like me 2) help others 3) love others as he loves us 4) serve others and 5) share His word. Hold up your light to the world. We want people who know us to see the Savior. Then I bore my simple testimony in Croatian. Paul spoke of his conversion and the gift of the Holy Ghost and also bore his testimony in Croatian. A new convert, Vlasta Asodi spoke for the first time in church. She gave a great talk on families. Her husband is not a member and she has a child. Ivan Valek, the institute teacher, had his family here. His wife has been in the states for the last two years. They have five children and their 16 year old son wanted to return to play ice hockey so she went with him. Bro. Valek stayed here. He is Croatian. There son is being considered for the draft but will probably take a full scholarship at Harvard. Sis. Valek and their children have lived in Croatia for about 15 years. Bro. Vladimir Plavic was baptized in 2002 and is older, probably in his early 70’s. He said his family is Roman Catholic and will not listen but he will never return to their teachings. He helped pass the sacrament to us. Lydia Sambunjek gave the RS lesson from the Joseph Smith book. The Thompsons invited us over to their apartment to visit about the outreach program and dinner. They have a lovely apartment and she fixed a wonderful meal. Meat balls, pasta and fruit salad with ice cream and cookie for dessert. I guess I can learn to cook here. She said it takes awhile to get use to the oven and the metric system. Very lovely people from Ontario Oregon. They served in the Boise Temple and came out in March. He had just retired from teaching chemistry in a high school. They have five children.

About six we took the tram home and had a woman help us. She spoke no English but pulled out one of the missionary advertisements on learning English which they will begin in a couple of weeks. She was very friendly.

June 22, 2009
Today we studied a lot and then went and had our first pizza. The night before we took a long around the neighborhood and found a street that took us down to The Four Seasons by Sheratan and found a pizza place called The Dream Team. They had lots of pictures of Larry Bird and other basketball players.

About 3:30 we started off for the Stirlings with two large suitcases. We decided to get moving our stuff over there. We went out the door and found it was raining slightly. We got to the tram and found our way to the bus that goes up their hill. After about 30 minutes a bus came by and we found them. We visited with them for about 1 ½ hrs. getting information on the reports we will have to do. CES reports, S&I reports and Outreach reports.

Elder Stirling took us to the tram and we made our way to FHE. We got there 30 minutes late. Lee Viens did a demonstration on granola, which was excellent and I want to make some and then he did peanut butter balls which we quickly ate. A really fun evening. I spent some time talking with Vladimir Plavic.

June 23, 2009 Tuesday

Got up and studied. Paul got up at 5:30 to go over to the open market to see how they set up. He said there were only about ten people there setting up at that time. Every evening they take down all the tables, sweep and get them ready for the next day. We walked to the tram around noon and it was raining slightly. Thank goodness Elder Demitropoulos gave us his umbrella last night at FHE. It came in handy. We tried out the Mexican Restaurant called Mex Cantina. I had fajitas and they were very good, Paul tried an enchilada and thought they were too hard. We have enough for dinner left over. From there we took the tram on to the church where we had District meeting. We were selected by Elder Freeman as player of the week and got a little treat, cookies, which we shared with everyone and also this good little kid candy called Hippo. It’s like with hazelnut filling in it. We were picked because we gave good testimonies Sunday. Next week we bring a treat and pick someone.

District Goals:
6 people to baptize and 3 to find (we all work and help each other and encourage)
Pray/fast for each person individually
Introduce yourself to everyone, greeters arrive at church ½ hour early to greet
Contact someone during your first 5 minutes out the door—sacrifice—leave 15 minutes early
SYL
Share our purpose in 1st lesson
Use members to teach
Short frequent visits with members (2 per week)
Leave object lesson

We then went with Elder Stirling to VIP to switch the phone over. We ended up buying a new one because his is over two years old and also got a Bluetooth to use in the car. That took at least 2 hours. He then took us to the shed at the old Church where we could see what needed to be moved to the new building for CES. We took the tram home.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

The trams were very sparse this morning. When we got their a man had died and was lying on the sidewalk covered with black tarp. The police were there and the coroner came while we were waiting. Took the tram up to the Stirlings where we were picked up and driven to Slovenia. It was a beautiful drive, little villages off in the hills and mountains. Very green and we had a little rain on and off all day. Our first stop was Marivor which is in the North end of Slovania. We drove by the church there and walked down the street. It is a national holiday so nothing is open. All the grocery stores and all stores except for a few bakeries. It also the law that stores cannot be open on Sunday. There were some nice stores there it would have been fun to go into. Some dress shops that had nice window displays, things I hadn’t seen in Zagreb.

From their we drove back to Celje where we found the church and drove down by the river and then on to Krang where the church has a small building for institute. We then went back to Ljubljuana where we met with Elder & Sister Peterson, the outreach couple who are going home in two weeks. Sis Peterson, Sisters Kram & Hillock put on the dinner for us. We had potatoes, cherry tomatoes cute in half with basil, peas & mushrooms, salmon and an apple salad. For the dressing she used mayonnaise and sour cream equal amounts, a little sugar and orange juice to taste. It was very good and for dessert we had chocolate pudding with whipped cream. They were honoring the three institute teachers who have done such a great job all year and the one seminary teachers Sister Boza Lotric and her husband Albin. He was the first Yugoslavian to join the church. He found the missionaries in Norway and then came back. They have four children and Sister Lotric teaches seminary to three of them. The other teachers are Stanka Pouse. She is a professional teacher teaching elementary English. She has been a member for 9 years. She was taking English classes at the church and then took the lessons. Sasa Pupnik who is a new convert of 1 year come July 4th and she will be our teacher this coming year in Krang. The missionaries stopped her on the street and talked to her in Slovanian and she said yes she would like to know more. Elvi Rwankuba was the teacher in Krang until being called to the Branch Presidency. He has been a member 2 years and the missionaries knocked at his door but he couldn’t invite them in because his parents were there so they talked for 2 hours.

Some other people we met were Sister Knudsen a full time missionary who is in a threesome with the two older sister missionaries. Maja Hegedic and Maja Sekoranja. She was baptized in May and was at institute.

We are staying in Zbilje and a pension but I am disappointed because I can not get the internet to hook up. It has been too long since we have been able to talk to family. Sunday we will be in our new apartment and we better have internet and vonage etc.

I have lots of pictures and will insert more soon. I finally got them in but not in order.

Flying out Today

We are leaving for the airport as we speak. We fly out on Delta at 4:40 pm and go to Paris where we change planes and fly into Ljubljana, Slovenia where we will be picked up by Pres. and Sister Hill.

We will be flying with five Elders and 3 Sisters also going to Slovenia and Croatia. We went to the MTC last night for the Farewell Fireside. They actually had all the Senior Couples separated from the young missionaries because of the flu. Don't want any of us getting sick.

Thanks to so many of you have helped prepare us for this day. We love and appreciate each and every one of you. A special thanks to our family, children, grandchildren, brothers and sisters. You are such an inspiration to us and we love you all. We will be sending more information as we get settled.

President Hill said to bring our faith, diligence and flexibility with us and we suggest each of us carry that along with us wherever we go.

Our First Call for Help

We are going to be participating in a YSA Conference in July and have been asked to facilitate a workshop on "Fun and Inexpensive Dating Activities". We need your help. Please send me some of the fun and interesting experiences you have had dating. You can email it to paulmarjean@yahoo.com or just reply on the blog. Thanks so much. Pictures would be fun too.

Also do you have any fun mixer games. We have over 150 youth signed up to come and need some ways to get them to interact.

We leave Monday at 4:40 pm and arrive in Ljubljana, Slovenia Tuesday at 3:05 pm. We fly straight to Paris and make a change there. That will be a challenge for Elder Lewis to be on the plane for 10 hours straight.

Preparing to say Good-bye

City Creek Park, Salt Lake City

The weekend of May 10th, Mother's Day, all our children and grandchildren gathered together for one last party. We took the grandchildren to Salt Lake where we played at City Creek Park. They were having a great time and Paul said "why move them on to something else when they are having such a great time." He was right. Eventually someone had to use the bathroom so we made our way over to the Joseph Smith Memorial, Church office bldg. and then back home. We did get a family picture taken and when we get it we will post it.

Here we have three generations, Paul, Rob, Robbie and Riley

Brigham Young Park

Saturday morning Courtney and I went to the Jordan River Temple to do some baptisms. I am also very proud of her because she finished reading this Book of Mormon for the first time today. I must say Kaylee has finished the Book of Mormon, D & C and is working on the Pearl of Great Price. Way to go!! When we came out of the temple we ran into our dear friends the Amsdens from Palmyra New York who were here for a wedding of a granddaughter. What a wonderful surprise. They were so good to us in Palmyra, Dee taught us in the temple office and this is the family Paul mowed the back 20 for.

Monday morning Paul and I left for California. We went through Blanding, Utah to visit an old friend from Agoura. She was my mentor those many years ago, Glenalee Casper. Oh the good visit we had reminiscing and catching up on what all our children are doing. They have a beautiful new home in Blanding and she is an incredible gardener. She gave us a grand tour of Blanding.

We left Blanding Tuesday morning and drove through Monument Valley, stopped to see the Goose Neck Canyons. It seems pretty desolate but absolutely beautiful rock formations. We had hoped to see our good friends, Jack and Sally Woldberg, in Kingman but they were in Camarillo.

We stayed that night in Upland at my brother Gary and Diane's home and had a good visit with them. From there we drove to Hemet for a visit with Edwina. All of these and those to come have had immense impact on our lives. We love you all dearly.

In Camarillo we were able to visit with many more people who have touched our lives. These are just a few of the ones we were able to spend a little time with. Shirley Porter lived with us for a few years.

We met Bill and Carolyn Skinner when Paul was Bishop. They are an inspiration and joy in our lives. They have taught us so much.

Bishop Roy and Nancy Hales have encouraged us to get going. He always keeps track of us and continually gives us guidance and counsel.

The Laurie and Steve Sullivan family we have known and loved for years. Laurie and I go way back to YW leaders day. What a great family.

There are so many more of you that we had an opportunity to visit with at the LA temple chapel session and Stake Conference. We cannot adequately express our love and appreciation for the influence for good you have had on our family. President Blickenstaff set us apart as missionaries on Thursday May 14th and Paul was able to bear his testimony in Sunday Stake Conference when Elder Maynes invited him to do so. It was an inspiring conference.


Monday morning 10:30 am we checked ourselves into the MTC. We started a whirlwind week of training in "Preach My Gospel". We were one of 19 couples and 1 sister going all over the world. Many were CES, but some were leadership, Military Relations, and PEF. We did a lot of hands on teaching and learning. Everyday we taught a lesson to an investigator. That was an experience of being bold and coming out of our comfort zone, at least for me.

The young returned missionaries who worked with us are incredible.

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Jill Cassinat was our language tutor. We have been working with her for over a month on the language. She served in Croatia and has been home a year. She was such a great help. We also got to meet the young Elders and Sisters who will be going over with us. Volim Te (I love you) Hvala (thank you). We had tutoring Wed, Thur and Fri evenings this last week in the evenings. Friday night we all came together and had a testimony meeting where we were able to share our testimonies in the language of the mission we were going to. We had Poland, Croatia, Mexico, Switzerland, and Russian.

Paul has born his testimony in Croatian at least three times now, at Stake Conference in California, at the MTC and today in our talks in the RiverRidge 9th Ward. I will leave mine with you.


Braco i Sestre, Znam da je crkva istinita. Znam da ye Krist zivi. Znam da je Isus nas Spasitelj. Znam da je Bog nas Otac. Znam da ye Thomas S. Monson prorok danas. Znam da ye Joseph Smith prorok. Znam da ja sam dijete Bezje. Znam da je Mormonova Knjiga istinita. Volim svog Nebeddkog Oca, znam da onzivi te nas voli. U ime Isusa Krista Amen

Pray for us, we will do our best. MTC Missionary group week of May 18, 2009

Elder & Sister Buchanan were in charge of us and did a great job.

Trip to California

We left early this morning for Blanding. We arrived around noon and Glenalee was working away in her beautiful garden. Her home is gorgious and in such a lovely spot. She took us on tour. We started at the Museum then drove up to the mountain for a picnic lunch. Sat next to a stream in the shade of the trees.

Mission Update

Time for an update. Time is flying by too quickly. They changed the visa rules in Croatia and so asked us to move our MTC and departure times up. We enter the MTC on May 18th and fly out on June 8 along with six other Elders and Sisters. What fun.

The couple we are replacing, The Stirlings, leave Croatia on June 30th and they want time to train us and we certainly want all the training we can get. We have been going to language tutoring twice a week for about three weeks now. We are trying to learn prayers, testimony and general terms. It's coming. Jill is our tutor and she served there a year and a half ago. Robbie is about as good as we are at the language. We come home and practice on him.

We are spending time with the grandchildren. Last night we were at Kory's for a sleep over while they went to see "Wicked". We have been to Kimberly and Gary's about three times baby sitting for them and we play with Robbie and Riley every day.

Kelly is going to have a baby in November. We will miss that of course but are going to have Skype and a webcam so at least we can talk and see the new baby.

Our new phone # is 801-208-9450. Our cell # will be out of commission when we leave. we will have our blog going and of course email. Keep in touch.

I'm going to come back and edit this and add a few pictures.