Audits in Serbia

We left Varazdin Tuesday, August 1st, 7am and were making good time on the freeway until we hit the border crossing from Croatia into Serbia.  It was four lanes trying to merge into two and then once you get to the guard house and they check you OUT of Croatia, you again try to merge from the booths into three lanes with everyone pulling in ahead of you if they can, while we wait again for the Serbia guard to check you through. There were buses of people and large trucks but I felt so bad for the car ahead of us, full of children....we were 2 1/2 hours getting through the border.  We have heard of 4 hours from other missionaries.  You never know.  

Our first stop was Sremska, Serbia.  A very small town, very old and has a feel of a town struggling to survive.  

They did have a historic site of Roman ruins and a beautiful river running through the town. 

The Senior couple there are doing great though and loving it.  The senior elder is a former high school football coach and he has joined the coaching staff at the MLF in town.  He is thoroughly enjoying it.  They also live in an apartment which has a grape arbor across the backyard, which gives it a European flavor and is beautiful with large green and purple grapes hanging down.  

The Sremska Branch was in an older historic building, but had plenty of room and personality inside. Sister Decker senior missionary posing in front of it. 

However, the audit took nearly 4 hours there and we were late heading out for our next appointment, so had to call and postpone for another day.  

We then drove an hour and half to Beograd, which is the largest city in the Balkans.  It does give the appearance of New York, with it's mini skyscrapers and lots of traffic and pedestrian activity.  

We found a hotel "Hotel Rex" a block away from the church which advertised free parking...which is a big deal.  

The hotel wasn't that great but it was close and seemed not too far from the center of town.  It was actually about a 25 minute walk but lots to see along the way.  If it hadn't been so hot...over 100 and the middle of the day, we would have enjoyed it a lot more. 

We took lots of pictures of the fortress which is an old 1500's military compound overlooking the joining of two rivers, the Danube & the Sava.  

These iron doors were original made in the late 1500's.  Enormously heavey and solid.  Nothing was getting through them!

On the way back to the hotel, something funny happened.  In the distance I saw two older men dressed in dark dress pants, white shirts and ties, waiting for the traffic light to cross. Coming up from the back of them, I thought how impressive they looked amid all us other tourists.  As we got closer I looked around to see what office they might have come out of...nothing seemed to connect to them.  Coming up behind, I peeked around one of them and sure enough there was the missionary name tag!!! They were visiting the city for training from Frankfurt Germany.  What a great surprise and I can now say I know how non members feel and think whenever they see the missionaries walking about and don't know who they are....They WERE very impressive!

The audit that night went well.  The branch president there is a native Serbian but speaks very good American and his clerk is a man who works for the American Embassy.  His name is Moody, from Bountiful!!!  Our next door neighbors in Bountiful are Vicki & Larry Moody.  Although this man didn't know them, I am pretty sure they are related somehow.  

Next morning off we go this time for Novi Sad.  It was another 1 1/2 hours away but this time through beautiful fields of harvested wheat fields, corn and sunflowers. 

Acres and acres of sunflowers. I guess this is where you get your sunflower seeds from!  It was beautiful country and didn't feel quite so hot just because of the fields of green.  This part of Serbia seems more productive and there were manufacturing buildings where Brand name products with familiar names are being made...Bosch, Nike, etc.

The branch there is housed in a beautiful homelike building with a shaded backyard, lawn and Serbian outdoor cooking stove, where the members I'm sure have parties and activities.  It felt very home-like and comfortable.  The inside of the church was an home remodeled for church use, with beautiful with crown molding and wood floors.  Very nice.  

Can anyone read this cyrillic "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints?"

After the two hour audit (which is normal if everything is going well), we went to the senior apartment and appreciated their "setup".  Their windows overlook the Danube and the city fortress (every town along the river seems to have a military fortress).  

We walked across the bridge, watched the local military practice water-boat maneuvers and had lunch at a restaurant along the river.  

Although here again it was so hot that it wasn't a pleasant as could have been.  No one seems to appreciate air conditioning like us Americans and of course you have to ask special for "ice" or "leda".  

It was nearly 5 pm when we decided it was time to head for home...5 hours away. We went through the border crossing on a smaller road and didn't have to wait very long, so thankfully we were home by 10 pm.  It was very interesting and we loved visiting with the young Elder's and the senior missionaries about their experiences and the members in their areas.