Settling in

After five weeks in Bosnian, it finally felt like a normal week—no rushing around, just time to settle in and get things done.

On Tuesday, we got a surprise call from the local police station: turns out we had four speeding tickets. They gave us until the end of the day to pay them before the fines jumped from 25 marks to 500 marks each. (One mark is about 50 cents.) At the station, we found out the tickets were from June to August 2023, almost 2 years before we arrived. They were all from the same traffic light camera at one intersection, for going just 8 to 11 miles over the speed limit. Apparently, it can take two years for those tickets to show up! Because the car is owned by the church, we had to pay. So I guess somebody else will be paying for our speeding tickets

I snapped a photo of Charles holding all four tickets in front of the police station. He was a good sport, even though he was pretty sure that wasn’t allowed.

 That afternoon, we finally got some much-needed haircuts. We went to a great hairdresser who owns her own salon. It was only $50 for my cut and color, and $15 for Charles’ hair cut. I felt a little guilty it was so inexpensive, so we left her a nice tip. 

On Thursday, we got word that our background checks had arrived to apply for our one-year visa! We met with our amazing lawyer Emir, who put together all our paper work and took us to get ID photos, and pay for Bosnian health insurance. 
The new passport photos makes you put your hair behind your ears, and you cannot smile. Not a very good look for me

 

We had to get physicals with bloodwork to rule out hepatitis and HIV. After all that we were granted a temporary 60-day visa and should get the permanent one soon. We have the best lawyer in Bosnia!  Rain or shine😁 This

It also happened to be our 43rd anniversary! We celebrated with dinner in Old Town Sarajevo called Besame Mucho. The place was charming, and the food was incredible. We’ll definitely be back. 

On Friday, we visited a Red Cross facility in Mostar where we recently donated items for a new kitchen. Part of our role is to check in on our humanitarian projects to ensure everything is progressing as planned. This is one of 3,Red Cross kitchens we’ve helped renovate in Bosnia. 

    We will have to come back after it gets installed 

This Red Cross location prepares 300 meals a day for those in need within their community. 

They are lined up on the other side of the door 

They bring their own containers or buckets to take the soup home. 

One of the perk and maybe the curses of these visits is that we’re often treated to an amazing meal ourselves. I’m starting to worry I might come home heavier than when I left, the food is so good!

The Red Cross office is just around the corner from the iconic Mostar Bridge. During the 1990s war, the bridge was destroyed, but the original stones were recovered from the river and was rebuilt. During the tourist season, bridge jumpers collect tips to jump off. 

A few weeks before we left our mission, our family rented a cabin in Big Bear. It’s become a tradition to complete a puzzle together. This year, my daughter Rachel chose a puzzle of the famous Mostar Star Bridge. It was so fun to see the bridge in person again. 

The second half of the day, we visited a member from our local branch, a sweet lady named Ljubica Blažević

Mostar is approximately a two-hour drive from Sarajevo, so she usually zooms in for all her meetings. Missionaries try to visit her at least once a month to bring her the sacrament. 

It was such a pleasure to meet her in person. In true Balkin style she treated us to a wonderful meal of soup, burek, and baklava for dessert.  (Our 2nd feast for the day)  Burek is a delicious, flaky pastry, stuff with cheese and spinach or meat 

Our friends, the Smiths—a missionary couple who split their time between Montenegro and Bosnia—also joined us for the visit.

On our drive home from Mostar, we saw this beautiful rainbow in Sarajevo 

After a few beautiful spring days, winter decided to show up again. We woke up Sunday morning to it snowing! I know most were not happy, but this California girl loved it! 

It was General conference weekend! (When church is broadcasted from Salt Lake City, 3 sessions on Saturday and 2 on Sunday) We watched it in the Bosnian language with English sub-titles  

We served lunch of soups and salads between conferences. 

A few of our missionaries mentioned that a family tradition was to have cinnamon rolls for breakfast for General Conference. So I did some baking to help keep their traditions alive ❤️