We were able to spend our last night in the USofA with our daughter Madison, in her new home in Holladay, Utah. It was hard leaving our four granddaughters but it was nice that they came out to send us off with a "Dutch Goodbye". Heather took this photo as we drove past them as we left. We flew to Denver then Munich then landed in Zagreb 20 hours after take off.
We were picked up by the Randalls who work in the office and the Mayberrys whose place we have taken in Osijek. After about 3 hours of orientation (and trying to stay awake) the office staff took us on a tour of Zagreb. (this was to help us stay awake as long as possible so we could better get over jet lag..which worked to some degree). We had a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant (Nocternal) then stayed at the Garden Hotel. Oh, and the gelato after the meal was delicious!
Here is Merritt sitting with one of Zagreb's creative sculptures on our first day in Zagreb. The next day we picked up our assigned car (a nice little Hyundai) and using the GPS drove 3 hours to Osijek where we are assigned for the next several months or longer. We met the younger missionaries (Elder Valentine and Elder Lee) who helped us get into the apartment and showed us how things worked. (like lowering the window shutters etc). We attended church the next day where we both spoke briefly with Elder Valentine translating. The members in Osijek are few but they are dedicated.
On Monday we drove with the young missionaries back to Zagreb for the Croatia summer zone conference which covers two days. We had a chance to meet about 20 of the best young missionaries you could ask for. Each one was impressive. We also got to meet 4 of the other senior couples who were also great. Some of them will be heading home soon and we only regret we won't be able to work with them longer. On Tuesday we drove back to Osijek arriving just in time to teach English. We will teach English each Tuesday and Thursday night when we are in town.
We spent many hours of last week getting in contact with the young single adults. We were able to FaceBook video with a couple of them and they are also very impressive. It's very hard to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ here and so they have to be pretty strong to join and remain active.
This morning (June 25th) we got a chance to go for our first "exercise" walk. It took us about 15 minutes to walk into the center of Osijek. There is a stunning cathedral right on the square and some nice shops. The square is a pedestrian area with tram lines running through it. Today is also Croatian National Independence day. It was in 1991 that they declared their independence from Yugoslavia. See Battle of Osijek in wikipedia for more details.
Not far from the town center are several other churches. We particularly like this one.
On a sporting note: Since we have arrived, Croatia has been doing very well in their World Cup group having handily beaten both Nigeria and Argentina. It looks very likely that they will win their group. Also two Croatian tennis players each won grass court tournaments this past week. Borna Coric beat Roger Federer in a huge upset and Marin Cilic beat Novak Djokovic after saving a championship point.
We visited the local market and Merritt purchased the requisite Croatian football jersey. We also bought a 220 to 110 transformer so we could plug in our RoboCut. We are each sporting shorter haircuts as a result.
We joined 110 other senior missionaries for our one week training. We were grouped with 3 other incredible couples and taught by two recently returned younger missionaries. They taught us about our mission purpose with emphasis to use Christ in our teachings along with the Book of Mormon. We gained new skills for inviting others to have a desire to make changes in their lives which can bring them more happiness and joy.
The Thompsons will be serving in Korea. We were paired with them for our practice sessions. We learned how to understand the needs of others and follow the Spirit in helping to resolve those needs. They did the same for us and it was amazing how quickly we became good friends after establishing the required level of trust.
The artwork in the center is amazing. There is a large mural depicting the Savior giving sight to a blind man. Jesus taught that through faith and a willingness to change our hearts that we can be healed of not only our physical afflictions but spiritual afflictions as well. We can live an abundant life by understanding the purpose of this life and showing forgiveness, service and love to others.
Over the weekend we were able to visit with Madison, Evan and their four girls. Here we are on a hike up to Donut Falls. It's a pretty short hike but we were not aware there was a one mile hike from the parking lot to the trail head. After walking for 35 minutes to reach the trail head the girls only lasted about 200 yards before we decided we better head back. Even so, the scenery was fantastic and the girls were all great little hikers.
Especially little Emma who just went along for the ride with no complaints.
They live close to the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon so there will be many more successful hikes in the future.
On Sunday evening we were able to meet with Elder and Sister Draxler, whom we are going to replace. They have come home early due to a health issue with a family member so we met them here in SLC instead of Zagreb. They helped us come up to speed on our responsibilities. Now that the baton is passed we hope to continue their progress.
It finally happened!
Today the plans we made 35 years ago finally came to fruition. We returned to full time missionary service. This time with the best companion in the world!
Flashback to Merritt's mission in Bangkok, Thailand where he served from 1978 to 1980.
Flashback to Heather's mission in Adelaide, Australia where she served from 1981 to 1983.
We had great experiences in Thailand and Australia in our younger years. We are looking forward to bringing the benefits of the teachings of Jesus Christ to the people of Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Slovenia.
We were able to spend our last night in the USofA with our daughter Madison, in her new home in Holladay, Utah. It was hard leaving our four granddaughters but it was nice that they came out to send us off with a "Dutch Goodbye". Heather took this photo as we drove past them as we left. We flew to Denver then Munich then landed in Zagreb 20 hours after take off.
