Senior Missionary and District Conferances

We spent an unforgettable week with some of the most amazing people, our fellow senior missionaries from the Adriatic North Mission. 

 

Our Senior Missionary Conference was held on the beautiful Dalmatian coast in the charming town of Biograd na Moru (which means White City on the Sea) we loved every moment spent learning, laughing, and connecting with these incredible souls and new friends. 

These two are our amazing mission leaders, President and Sister Cordray! They’ve been making miracles happen (or as they humbly say, simply being part of the miracles the Lord is making happen). We feel so blessed to be serving alongside them during this special time in the Adriatic North Mission.

Love them both so much!

We had a variety of workshops and inspiring speakers throughout the week. One of the highlights was hearing from the Eastern European Area Patriarch, Mišo Oštarčević, and his wonderful wife, Ankisa. Charles first met them more than 40 years ago while serving his first mission in Yugoslavia. These two remarkable people are true pioneers of the Church in that part of the world, the first couple ever baptized in Yugoslavia. Because of our decades-long friendship, we had the special privilege of introducing them to the conference. 

They shared powerful stories about the early days of the Church in Yugoslavia and the many miracles that helped it grow. They spoke for 1 1/2 hours. I know everyone would have loved for them to speak longer. So much love for these two!

 

After a week of checking the forecast and preparing for rain, we ended up with the most perfect weather! The sea and the air were the same temperature warm and impossible to resist. 

Love my cute companion. He makes mission life fun!

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I even dusted off my old photography skills and took a few couple photos for anyone who wanted one. It made me happy to see a few used them for their facebook profile picture. The date palm in the back ground was showing off it's fall colors. 

   

And the food… oh, the food! Let’s just say the “all this good eating” problem is very real. Between the fresh seafood, pastries, and endless buffets, self-control didn’t stand a chance. 

We squeezed in some sightseeing too, a city tour of Zadar with my favorite tour guide Jasmina, who always makes history come alive with her stories and humor.                  Everyone loved her as much as I do. 

She really is the best! If you ever Find yourself in Zadar be sure to look her up or follow her on instagram at @jasminasogoljglumica

That weekend, we continued our adventure to Zagreb, the beautiful capital city of Croatia. Even though we’ve been serving our mission in Bosnia for eight months, this was our very first trip there.

 

Every day at noon, Zagreb keeps up a long-standing tradition: firing a cannon from the tower. We decided to climb up and witness it for ourselves. The man lighting the cannon wore ear protection, which probably should have been our first clue of just how loud it was going to be!

We absolutely loved exploring Zagreb’s old town again, with its charming cobblestone streets, colorful buildings, and outdoor markets. And here’s a fun fact, did you know Croatia invented the necktie? I’m not sure Charles is particularly grateful for that invention!

We also visited the old Church office building, which once housed the very first chapel and baptismal font in all of Croatia. Sadly, it was damaged in the earthquake that struck during our last mission. The repairs turned out to be too extensive, so the Church moved to a new office building but it was still special to see our Church sign still on the building.  

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We went to Zagreb that weekend to attend District Conference, and it was such a wonderful experience! They were ready for translation for 4 different languages!

On Saturday, we had two meetings, leadership training in the morning (for Charles as branch president and for me as Primary president) and an adult session that evening. The leadership meeting included a great Q&A where everyone shared ideas and talked about what’s working in their branches. President Cordray was the facilitator. His smile says it all!

This District Conferance was so amazing. I am happy someone snuck this photo during our rest hymn. I am looking forward to the day when our District will become a Stake... in the very near future!

Elder Gerald from the Area Seventy was also there and gave excellent counsel.

One of the best parts of the weekend was reconnecting with friends from our last mission! We were so happy to see the Hachi family and our dear friend Marino (still kicking myself for not getting a photo with him!).

I  also have to mention these three incredible women in the photos:

The first is our District Young Women President, who just recently graduated from the YW program herself, so inspiring!

The middle photo is of a sweet friend from Slovenia who served with us on the communications team during our last mission. We only knew each other from Zoom, so meeting her in person was such a treat.

The third photo is of a new convert from Serbia, baptized only three months ago and she’s already serving as her branch Relief Society President! What an example of faith and commitment.

It was such a joy to see so many other familiar faces too. Sister Unsworth who served with in the MTC. Lovre Kolega our Branch President from our last mission when we served in Split Croatia. I even got to introduce one enthusiastic fan to Mišo Ostarčević...one basketball player to another!

On our way home, we drove through the stunning Bosnian countryside, painted in all the rich colors of fall. We stopped for the night in Bihać to visit one of the members of our Bosnian Branch.

Since Bihać is about a five-hour drive from Sarajevo, he usually attends church via Zoom, so it was extra special to visit him in person and share the sacrament together.