We started by driving to Tuzla, Bosnia where we spent the night. On the way to Tuzla we dove past this Orthodox church which was just off the highway, so as we often do, we stopped to take a picture. The "onion" dome is an amazing architectural detail we both like.
We did some walking around in Tuzla and came across this artistic graffiti. If you are going to be a graffiti artist it certainly helps if you can demonstrate some creativity and skill which can make people smile.
This is the town square, complete with a cool fountain, in Tuzla. We met up with the Elders in Tuzla to pick up some ties for Elder Rosenvall at the Kotton store. They were a great price and nice looking so Merritt bought four. No more old fashion wide "grandpa" ties for him!
The next day we drove from Tuzla to Sarajevo. The countryside was beautiful. The hotel that we stayed at was very nice, being with the other senior missionaries was even better.
Each of the couples shared something about themselves and their vision for their mission. We put together a power point presentation to share our "vision" which you can see here.
As part of our conference we had some time to explore Sarajevo, following are some photos we liked. This is the National Library which was bombed during the war. We both read the book "The Cellist of Sarajevo" before our mission which centers on a musician who played his music in bombed out buildings as a way to show the power of art over the war.
Below is a photo of the National Library with him playing. You can read more about him here
While we were walking around we happened upon some of our young missionaries. Elder Daines (second from the right) is from Aloha, Oregon which is very close to Hillsboro. In fact, his wrestling coach (who he loves) was in our ward. It was a nice "small world" moment. These missionaries are fantastic young men.
Nikola Tesla is very famous in Bosnia, Serbia, and Croatia. He is the father of Alternating Current (you could say he put the AC in AC/DC). Here he is memorialized again, so Merritt stopped to have a chat.
We stopped at what we thought was a museum but actually turned out to be an art school. Either way, the building was beautiful.
They were hanging a student art show and Merritt lent them a hand.
If you are like most people when you hear the word "Sarajevo" you think of the Bosnian/Serbian war, the 1984 Winter Olympics, and the assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand which resulted in starting WW I. Below is the bridge that the Arch Duke was crossing in his car when he was shot by the anarchist (some would say Freedom Fighter) Gavroli Princip.
After touring the city we had a nice dinner at our hotel's rotating restaurant. All three of the couples at our table happened to have served in Osijek. It was fun that we could each share our experiences with each other. If you look in the background you can see several large condo towers. Sarajevo has made an amazing recovery in the twenty-three years since the war came to an end. The signing of the Dayton Agreement in 1995 put an end to 3 long years of death and destruction.
After the conference, we took an extra day to go see Mostar. It is an amazing ancient city famous for its bridge which spans the Neretva River.
Here is a photo of the bridge which is creatively named "Old Bridge". It was built in the 1500's when this region was under the control of the Ottoman empire. The bridge was completely destroyed in the war but has since been restored to its original condition.
Merritt climbed up in the minaret of the local mosque which is no longer used for religious services. This photo of beautiful Mostar was his reward.
On our way back to Serbia we saw a sign indicating a monastery was nearby. We took a short detour and we were glad we did.
This is the Lovnica monastery. A sign at the entrance said we couldn't take photos but we helped the groundskeeper carry a lawnmower down a flight of steps and he indicated we could take all the photos we liked. Here is a picture of the back of the chapel.
Here is a photo of the interior of the chapel. Can you say "gilded"? It was extremely detailed and very beautiful.
One of the best things about this monastery is that someone built an amazing restaurant just across the stream that flows by the chapel. It has its own fish hatchery as well, so after fumbling with the Bosnian menu a bit we just ordered fish. Two Fishes, to be exact. Here is what we got. It was one of the best meals we have had in the past year. We will definitely look for an opportunity to go back.
Lastly, we have been enjoying keeping up with our wonderful grandchildren, via Marco Polo, so here they are: left to right, Holland-Mary-Lucy.
and Emma!
Vidimo Se! (see you later!)
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