Lessons Learned in Serbia

On Sunday I was asked to speak in church and to give an update on my parents mission.  Below is the basics of the talk.

For those of you that don't know, Anna and I recently were  blessed to have the opportunity to visit my parents in Serbia and tour Croatia, and Slovenia which are both a part of their mission as well.  In reflecting on this trip I realized that I learned three valuable and eternal lessons while I was there.  

 Lesson #1:  This one happened right out of the gate as I saw my parents and they saw us and we embraced at the airport.  In that moment I was amazed at how familiar this felt and throughout the remainder of our trip this feeling kept coming back to me.  I never thought that I would have an “aha” moment in an airport in Belgrade Serbia of all places but that is exactly what happened.  It was then that I understood  what the Lord meant by Eternal Families and how familiar it will feel one day as we cross through the veil and embrace our Heavenly Mother and Heavenly Father.

As we traveled into the countryside of Serbia, which looks very much like Idaho Falls area (very flat with a lot of farm land and rivers), we began to understand a little more about what the people of Serbia face on a daily basis.  As my parents introduced us to various members or friends in the community we saw the truth of the situation in Serbia and I learned Lesson #2.

Lesson #2:  Let me start by relating a quote I try and keep close to my heart which states “Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle”.  In Serbia this was reconfirmed and I learned that everyone has trials in their life some more visible than others but the Lord has not left us alone to fight them.  In fact the Savior himself in some of his last comforting words to his disciples in his mortal life stated “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.  In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).  We witnessed this in Serbia and my parents have had front row seats as they have seen people’s lives changed as they have accepted the gospel and let Christ into their lives.  

One man we met named Giovanni showed up on the steps of the church one Sunday morning.  He told my dad that he was from a town 9 miles away…well my dad looked around for a car or a bike of some sort as surely he had to have some way of getting there only to learn that this man had set out in the predawn morning and walked to their church because he had heard of the good this church had done through humanitarian work and through the example of the Branch President who lived in his town.  Now think about that…9 miles…if you were to set out and walk nine miles from our church steps south on 400 west you would keep going until you reached Beck Street in Salt Lake… and he walked it.  After the meeting my dad asked what he thought and he said “I want to be baptized…it is so peaceful here I want that peace”.  Well I’m happy to say that the week after we left my parents in Serbia he got his wish and was baptized.  My mom said she had never witnessed “Such JOY” and others commented that his smile was too big for his face.  He now has a bike but still travels 9 miles without fail each Sunday for his meetings and was recently made a Priest.

My parents have also had a unique experience in the fact that their mission covers 5 countries and in Serbia where there are only 64 members of the church they are seen as mini Mission Presidents and deal with all that entails.  Their days are spent firming up Visas for missionaries and shuttling sick missionaries to doctors across the country and organizing youth groups to visit temples.  One thing that has been both a challenge and a blessing is helping young men prepare to go on missions.  They have sent out one Elder now serving in Ukraine and are working with two more to prepare them.  The difficulty is that although the Church provides a Missionary Fund to help pay for their mission there is no funds to help set these missionaries up with suits, white shirts, scriptures and everything else it takes to get ready to serve including doctor’s visits and where the unemployment rate is at 45% and annual incomes range between 2 to 5,000 dollars annually this can be a barrier that keeps many from the field.  But again, the Lord provides his own ways and in some cases missionaries who go home leave behind their used gear for these young men and women to use on their mission or in the case of the Elder serving in Ukraine the missionaries  families back home in America are willing to help and outfit these good young men and women.

Lesson #3:  This all leads me to the third lesson that I learned in Serbia and I shouldn’t be surprised being raised by these two great people.   The third lesson is the power of unconditional love.  My parents have always believed in this principal and have showed it in so many ways to us as their children and to anyone they come in contact with causing many to adopt them as “parents” in some form or another.   As my parents prepared to leave we were blessed as sons to be able to give them blessings and in one blessing my mom was blessed that the people of Serbia needed my parents simply because they needed to know what unconditional love was and the power that it held.  

When my parents arrived they were assigned an area that hadn’t had missionaries in years because of wars and before that the Iron Curtain.  They entered a town where people wouldn’t look you in the eyes let alone let you into their hearts.  Slowly my parents have reached out and are serving these good people and have seen the ice beginning to melt.  In one instance they visited a family with grown children who wanted their names removed from the Church’s records.  Upon being greeted at the door the father told them to leave and take the names off the list.  My parents agreed but said “we just need to do a little paperwork can we visit with you so we make sure we have everything right.”  The mother let them in and they were introduced to Alexander who was 23 years old and their youngest child who again confirmed that they wanted their names removed from the records.  My parents agreed and left and invitation to come to church on Sunday and that they were missed, not thinking much about it.  To their astonishment on Sunday Alexander showed up for church and told my parents that after they left he felt something and it made him remember what Christ had said about searching for the lost sheep and how he was a lost sheep and my parents had searched him out.  Alexander is now one of those two young men my parents are helping prepare to serve a mission and doesn’t go a week that he doesn’t pay his tithing.  He is now working with the Elders to teach his older brother and sister.  

Serbia is very Orthodox and our church isn’t very respected in Serbia, in fact many see it as a cult.  My parents in an effort to help change the image of the Church put together, with their small branch, Humanitarian Kits for a school in the area with the basics because many children don’t have the things we take for granted everyday like toothbrushes and soap.  They presented these to the school along with some used desks the Church arranged for them to donate.  They said they have seen a difference almost immediately as people, recognizing the white shirt and badge, will now look my parents in the eyes and tell them hello or to have a good day.  It may not seem like much but to a defeated people this simple gift of love to their children is melting down walls.

My parents are much too humble and feel that they aren’t doing enough to make a difference but in visiting them and their branch you see the love the people have for these two senior missionaries and you see the love my parents have in return.  They have now been asked to visit with other senior couples in their mission to teach them how to make a difference in the area you serve this in addition to serving in a branch presidency and as Branch president in another Branch an hour away.  Of course they feel unprepared and unqualified to do this but after spending two weeks with them on this vacation I can say that I can’t think of better people for the job.