November Marks One Year!!

The last week of October found us in Dubrovnik, Croatia at the Adriatic North Missionary Senior's Conference.  It was good to see a few familiar faces and meet all the new comers.  What a beautiful setting for a conference!  We had a wonderful time being spiritually fed by President and Sister Grant and President and Sister Lotric.      
                                                         
                               



Every morning we were able to enjoy breakfast out on the terrace by the Adriatic Sea with our good friends.  What more could we ask for?                                                                                

                                                                                 

 After our conference meetings, we were able to visit Old Town Dubrovnik and enjoy looking at all the fun displays and shops.     

The drive from Dubrovnik back to Podgorica was very enjoyable with the beautiful clear blue sky and the bright colored leaves among all the rocks.

We arrived back in Podgorica just in time to join with the elders, members and guests for a Halloween party at the Branch building.  Everyone had fun playing games, visiting, and of course, eating refreshments.

As hard as it seems to believe, we have been in Podgorica, Montenegro for one year!  We have traveled this street many times.  The tall skinny tree was always a landmark for us as we tried to find our way around Podgorica as new missionaries.

                                                                                                     


 Bright and early one morning, we were on our way to Pluzine to meet with school officials concerning a potential project.  What a beautiful surprise we had as we rounded a corner.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           The town of Pluzine is located high in the mountains near the Bosnian border.  It sits on the hillside by Pivsko Lake.

We were able to travel to Niksic during the month to close a project that LDS Charities has completed with the Paraplegic Association.  It was fun to visit with all of our friends in the Association and see them busy and having a great time working together.  

        One of our special friends in the Association, busy at the loom that was donated by LDS Charities.

During the month of November, we celebrated three birthday within a ten day period - Nenad, Elder Larson, and Elder Harris.  We decided to celebrate with a pizza and birthday cake lunch.

                                                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                We traveled to the southeast part of Montenegro to the town of Plav to visit the new Senior Citizen's Center.  LDS Charities had partnered with the Red Cross to provide furnishings and supplies for the elderly people to enjoy - notice the two elderly people in the back.

                                                                                                                                                                While in Plav, we were treated to lunch by the Red Cross at a rustic Montenegrin restaurant by Lake Plav.  It was a beautiful place with many antiques and unique furnishings.  The kind doctor sitting next to Elder Taylor donates his time at the Senior Center.

The rainy, cold day before Thanksgiving, we received a call the the long-awaited wheelchair shipment had arrived at the Red Cross warehouse.  Our wonderful elders were called into service to help unload the shipping container.  

Elder Taylor had the job of placing the empty pallets into the container.  The wheelchair cartons were stacked on the pallet and then transported by a forklift into the warehouse.

           Job completed - 375 wheelchairs inside of the warehouse and ready to be used to bless lives!

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Thanksgiving Day 2015 in Podgorica, Montenegro!  Four special elders and one special Nenad (who never smiles) helped Elder and Sister Taylor enjoy a wonderful day.

As per Taylor tradition on the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas decorations went up.  Of course, we had so many that it took us about ten minutes.  Now we're looking forward to a wonderful December in Podgorica as we celbrate the Christmas season.

The busy month of October

The first day of October we were invited to join in a celebration for senior citizens at Dom Stari Elderly Care Center in Risan.  Many of the residents had been invited to take part with singing, poetry, story telling or anything they wanted to share.  It was an interesting experience for the two of us.

October 3 was a special day for the Podgorica Branch.  Dragoljuba Pejovica was baptized by Elder Harris and confirmed the next day by Elder Larsen.  Drago walks one hour to church and one hour home again every Sunday to attend meetings.

         

                                                                                The second week of October brought transfers, and we were blessed with two new elders from the MTC.  Elder Eddington (left) is from Cleveland, Ohio, and Elder Geertsen (right) is from Logan, Utah.  They have a lot of energy and many talents to share.

What a great bunch of missionaries in the Podgorica District - especially the two oldie goldies on the end!






On October 14 we were able to travel to Belgrade for a special zone conferenced with the Belgrade/Montenegro zone and the Bosnia zone combined.  Our special visitors were Elder and Sister Charles from London, England.  Elder Charles is a member of the Seventy.  We had wonderful, spiritual meetings as we were trained by both Elder and Sister Charles.

We were blessed during the month of October to have two projects approved and hope to have approval on a third project in the coming week.  This spot will soon be home to a small greenhouse for a center for adults with disabilities.  Some residents will learn how to grow vegetables and be able to provide fresh produce for the center.

Another project that we are excited about is helping with a learning center and toy library for young children of low income families.  We were impressed with this NGO "Parents" and their efforts to help families who struggle financially.  LDS Charities will be providing heating and air conditioning plus furniture for work areas for the children and teachers.

We were able to meet with the director of a clinic in Tivat with our special translator, Rada (on the right).  We hope to be able to help this clinic with some badly needed medical equipment.

One beautiful Saturday, we took a walk down by the River Moraca.   We visited one of the remaining parts of "old town" Podgorica.  This little bridge and some walls are about all that's left of the old town.  Podgorica was about destroyed during the bombings of WWII.

We recently had the privlidge of meeting Brother Nielsen, the Church Historian, and Elder Humala, of the Seventy and Sister Humala in Tivat, Montenegro.  We had been asked, along with Elder and Sister Dever, to deliver a mission vehicle for their use in touring Montengro and Bosnia.  We and the Devers then drove on to Sarajevo, Bosnia, to prepare for a meeting and luncheon to be held with investigators, members, missionaries and the General Authorities.

On our trip to Sarajevo, we were finally able to see signs of Autumn in the colored leaves.

While in Sarajevo, we were able to see the site where a tunnel was dug to help people escape during the war of 1998-99.  This is called "the tunnel of life".  The bullet holes in the walls tell quite the story.

The city of Sarajevo as seen from the top of a thirty-seven story building - amazing sight!

Another view of the city as seen from high above.  Many of the high rise buildings are apartments.

The leaves are turning colors in Sarajevo.  We about froze on our visit - it's definately colder than Podgorica.

On our return trip to Podgorica, we traveled from Sarajevo to Mostar.  As you can see, Bosnia also has many rugged mountains.

The famous Mostar Bridge! This bridge is famously know as "the diving bridge".  Men dive from the highest point into the river - of course, you are charged to watch this fete.

We had fun walking through the cobblestone streets of "old town" and looking at all the interesting shops and vendors.

We were so happy to finally arrive back at our apartment after six hours of driving about three hundred km.  We were here for the weekend, then we're off to Dubrovnik, Croatia for senior couple's conference.

The Month of September....

It was good to see September come and be able to get back to work again.  We have enjoyed working on projects, meeting potential partners and traveling.  It's been fun getting to know our new member, Nenad, and being able to spend time with such an awesome young man.

During September we were able to travel to Igalo, which is near Herceg Novi, and spend some time with our friends at the Dnevni Day Care Center.  As we represent LDS Charities, we are happy to have finished a project with these good people who work with children with disabilities.

A small outside shelter was provided for the children and staff.  This gives them the opportunity to spend more time outdoors in a shaded area and provides extra teaching space.  A special swing designed for children with disabilities was also provided.

Crossing on the ferry on our return trip to Podgorica, this "little" yacht came cruising into the Bay or Kotor.  It rivaled the size of the ferry which hauls around thirty vehicles.

As we neared Podgorica, we decided to take a side trip onto a narrow road that wound down the mountain and into a small fishing village on the Rijeka Crnojevica.  This beautiful setting contained a few cottages, a hotel, and several samll street cafes.  An old triple arched stone bridge was built in 1853 and crosses the river that empties into Lake Skadar.  The Stari Most restaurant serves smoked carp and grilled eel from Lake Skadar.

Podgorica as seen from the mountains north west of the city.

We were able to spend a Saturday morning with our special friends, "Give Us A Chance" outside of the Delta City Mall.  They were celebrating a children's event called "Day of the Sun".  They have a display of their crafts for donation purchase.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) a new Pekara has opened about a block from our apartment which offers the most delicious pastries.  After a few added pounds, we have decided to limit our purchases.

A fun day trip during September was a visiting old town Budva.  It's interesting the way it was build right on the water's edge.  The area in old town has been completely renovated.  It's fun to wander the many narrow cobblestone passages and see all the interesting shops and restaurants.

One of the many outdoor cafes on the harbor in Budva

Boats of all sizes are anchored in the Budva harbor.
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The tiny island village of Sveti Stefan is located not far from Bar and was built in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.  In the 1950's, it was renovated and has become a tourist destination.  Many famous people have spent time at this resort.

Old town, or Stari Bar as it is called, is built right on the mountain side above the current municipality of Bar.  Most of the ruins were destroyed during a large earthquake in 1979.

An old olive press sits just inside the entrance to Stari Bar.  Can you image making olive oil with an piece of equipment like this?

The municipality of Bar has plans to gradually restore Stari Bar to it's original state.  As can be seen, it will take a great amount of work.

One of many beautiful sunsets in Podgorica.  Each day passes so quickly on this wonderful adventure that we are sharing here in Montenegro.

Long hot days of August in Montenegro

August has been a very, very long and very, very hot month with not much rain!  Many people have the month off and travel to the coast or the mountains to escape the heat.  It's been hard to make contact with any of our project people, so the month has seemed to crawl by.  We are definately looking forward to September.

The Moraca River, which runs from north to south through the city of Podgorica has dropped significantly through the dry summer months.  The River is a pretty popular spot during the summer.  To try to cool off, people swim and play in the water.  Every evening, the kayaking club members paddle up and down the river.

One of two walking bridges that we use to cross the Moraca River almost daily.  Alan calls this the "earthquake" bridge because it bounces when anyone walks across it.  We enjoy spending time on the bridge watching the kayakers during the evenings when it's a little cooler.  We also catch pretty sunsets.

This pretty fountain is found in center and runs all year long.  During the evening hours in the summer, center fills up with families out for fresh air and together time. Children have fun driving around little battery operated cars that are available to rent.

Podgorica doesn't have McDonalds, Burger King or KFC, but we do have Hard Rock Cafe - the only one in our mission.  The elders love to eat burgers here.  Elder and Sister Taylor were not too impressed.

We would much rather sit in front of Hard Rock Cafe and watch the beautiful fountain.  It's especially nice on a hot evening when the wind is blowing the spray your way.

Because the month has been so slow and hot, we decided to take our first P-Day trip and get away from the heat.  We traveled to Durmitor National Park, which is north of Podgorica about in the center of Montenegro.  The mountains were spectacular!

Black Lake, a popular tourist spot, is located in the park.  Hiking, boating, swimming and rock climbing are all part of the drawing features of the park.  A very nice shady, paved walkway through the pine forest leads from the parking to the Lake.




During the month of August, we had a special "District" conference here in Podgorica with President and Sister Grant.  We were able to visit the ruins where Elder (now President) Nielsen dedicated the land of Montenegro to missionary work.  President Grant reviewed parts of the dedicatory prayer as we stood in that sacred place.  The rest of the day was filled with instruction and good food.  It was a wonderful, memorable and spiritual day.

During the last long week of August, we were able to take another P-Day trip to Lovcen National Park, which is northwest of Podgorica.  The Park mainly consists of a tomb of a famous poet which is on top of a very high mountain.  A parking lot is just above the trees, then 460 steps - partly though a tunnel - gets you to the top.

These statues made from black granite guard the entrance to the tomb.  The square in front is actually a well with water - unbelievable on this high mountain.

It was a long, slow climb for these old folks, but it was worth it to see the views from the top.  We felt like we were on top of the world.  In the distance behind us is Kotor Bay.  The trip down the 460 steps was a lot easier than going up.

After visiting the tomb, we drove on through the park and down the mountain to the coast.  What a road!!!  It is described as maybe the most dramatic road in Europe.  It was a very narrow road with at least twenty-four sharp haripin turns from the top to the bottom.  We were so very glad to finally get to the bottom and drive on a two-lane road with a line down the middle

The most exciting event in the month of August in the Podgorica Branch was preparing for a baptism.  It was great to be able to use the portable font instead of finding a place in the Moraca River.  The only water is cold, so we helped Elder Larsen, Elder Prososki, Elder Sprague, and Elder Harris assemble and fill the font four days before the actual baptism.  The method of filling the font consisted of attaching three small hoses with duct tape and clamps to three water taps, one in the kitchen and one from each of two bathrooms.

Our awesome soon-to-be newest member, Nenad, with Elder Sprague and Elder Prososki just before his baptism.

Now our new member, Nenad, with a happy Elder and Sister Taylor!  We are so thankful that we have been privileged to know this special young man.  Nenad is only eighteen years old, but is so smart and mature for his age.  We love him already.  He will be such an asset to the church in Montenegro.

We can tell that the summer is almost over and it's time to go back to school.  Here in Montenegro, all children have to buy their own school books.  Every day the walking street is full of  people who are trying to sell their children's old books so they can buy new books for the year.

Yeah, we're almost through with August!!!