What's up with the Whites in Zadar? Aug. 8-24

We were heartbroken to hear of the tragic loss of two police officers who were shot and killed in our small town of Tremonton, Utah. Another officer and a police K-9 were also injured. It was difficult to believe the reports as the news unfolded. In the midst of the sorrow, it has been heartening to see the outpouring of love and support from our community and surrounding areas.

Sending some calm, prayers and love from Croatia to our friends in Tremonton! 

🙏

Since our last post, our granddaughter Madison was married to Jared. This is a picture of us talking with her on FaceTime as they walked out of the temple. It was about 11 p.m. for us here in Zadar, and my sweet sister stood in my place to hug her and celebrate with them.

To be honest, I still don’t know if we made the right decision. We could have made the long trip home from Croatia if we had chosen to. A few others who have done that told us how hard it was to return to the mission afterward. Since we are still fairly new here, we felt it might be best to experience the wedding from afar.

It didn’t truly hit me until they called again around 4:30 a.m. our time. That’s when Madison danced with her father, our son Jared. The tears started then and didn’t stop for nearly an hour. I knew they were fine without us—but at that moment, I wasn’t fine without them.

Thankfully, our kids carried us around on FaceTime the whole evening, letting us share in the joy of the celebrations. It was such a beautiful day for Madison and Jared—so much love, so much support, and such a wonderful party!

Taking the wedding plunge! Their wedding reception party was at my daughter Krista's backyard. This was the final leap before they ended the party. I love the way hesitant people just couldn't take the peer pressure! It looks so fun!

These are some of my cute grandkids at the temple. 

Zone conference with Elder Gerard from the Area Presidency over central Europe. He spoke to us and was with us for the day. A very kind  man. 

Always people to feed, luckily I'm not in charge but just helping a little.

I love getting to run into the Elders and Sisters I know when we come to zone conference. Sister Porter, Sister Unsworth (her Dad plays the organ for the tabernacle choir), Sister Sundell, Elder Wagner. 

This is Sister Anna Louise Matoluvić-Mahoney. She is the service missionary we work with that lives about 5 hours away from Zadar on the island of Korcula. 

And finally I got to meet up with my cousin (Kathy Bates from Washington State) who serves in both Turkey and Croatia. We rarely see each other, but got a minute to connect. They are coming to Zadar in September so we are excited to show them The Old City! Their calling has changed and it is too complicated for me to explain, but they will bless the lives of so many in Turkey as they open up a new mission there. 

We took Elder Schreiner out for his "last supper" as he was about to leave to head home after serving for 2 years. He was with us for almost 6 months, and this was a so hard for me. Elder Wagner is also leaving us to become the AP (Assistant to the President) in Zagreb. So this is called in missionary terms...a "white wash". Both Elders leaving and two new ones coming. Sister Porter is also leaving us for Belgrade Serbia. (I just cry when they leave) 

This is the last game night for 3 of our missionaries.  This is a great bonding time for members and missionaries and to welcome in friends of the church. (a lot of Croatian spoken here). Russell is getting good at it, so I just smile and go along with it. The missionaries tell me what I need to know! 

This is district council at our house. We have both the Elders and Sisters over for dinner first, then we have a combined district right now with Split, Croatia so we do it over zoom. Two Elders are visiting on exchange, the one in the middle is going to end up being in Zadar with us in one week from this picture! Elder Warner, he is only 10 weeks out, we love  getting to know him. 

This is all of us, giving Elder Schreiner our last heart pictures to take home with him. 

All of our departing missionaries spoke in Sacrament meeting and sang. So beautiful!

Sister Porter tries out our new translation kit. It's wonderful! We really needed a good one with all of our visitors in summer. 

So many amazing visiting families, That is the best part of being in a tourist location, we get to meet so many people, who give up a lot of time from their vacation to come to church and take the sacrament with us. This warms our hearts to learn about them. This one from Germany, 

This family is from Finland, where our son Jared served his mission. They are all such incredible people. 

Another couple from Germany. 

This is Sister Johnson and Sister Draper two sisters that are serving together now in the mission office of the Adriatic North mission. There was an article about them in the church news. We just love them!

Then come the hard times; saying goodbye to missionaries you have grown to love and know so well. Travel well and we hope you always know we love you and thank you for being such amazing young missionaries. Elder Schreiner returns home, Elder Wagner to Zagreb.

Goodbye Sister Porter, she is heading to Belgrade, Serbia

Hello to Sister Kay, (from Kaysville) our new missionary who has been in Slovenia speaking Slovene the past year. She now has to start her Croatian. 

Our new Elder's Elder Warncke from Germany, and Elder Wagner from South Jordan. 

Our grandson Elder Teige White was also transferred to Slovenia, so he will be a long way from us. He's excited, this will be his 3rd language, Croatian, Serbian, and Slovene. 

We went to visit one of our members, Katarina. 

We went on a p-day to visit Paklenica National park near Zadar and tried a little hiking. (It was hot!) 

We are amazed sometimes at the large cruise ships that come right up to our harbor. It's like a little city just arrived. 

And the quiet, serene beaches turn into a lot of people having a good time. 

I love the view from our window as we watch some of the cruise ships slowly meander in to port. Sometimes we have 3. Zadar has been discovered!

Two sweet senior Sisters: Sister Somer from Germany, and Sister Hladky from Austria

Our mission President Brian Cordray and Sister Angie Cordray from Germany and New Mexico. They were able to visit the Frankfurt temple with some of our mission. 

Wow, I always think I will wait a month before I post, but we have a big week ahead and there will be too much coming. I am trying to keep my photo journal going! 

Thought: "Each of us is a representative of one side or the other, one fold or the other. There is no time-out. Every moment we are radiating the energy of whatever mind we have chosen. Knowing this, we can deliberately and authentically radiate that which is nourishing for ourself and others." 

 M. Catherine Thomas 

Until next time. Doviðenja (Goodbye)