We were in a taxi in Türkiye Sunday on our way to church,
when we heard that our dear Prophet had passed away at age 101.
We will miss him, a true man of God!
He always spoke to us so positively!
"The best is yet to come, because the Savior is coming again!
The best is yet to come because the Lord is hastening His work.
The best is yet to come as we fully turn our hearts and our lives to Jesus Christ.
Do you want to know how to live a life of joy?
Come unto Christ and “offer your whole [soul]” to Him.
(Omni 1:26)
This is the secret to a life of joy!"
Russell M. Nelson
We are witnesses of the "hastening" of His work in Europe!
We have been really "hastening" this month!
We flew to Ankara, the capital of Türkiye for leadership meetings. We had a few extra hours so we went to the tomb of a famous Turkish leader (the Turkish “George Washington”) named Atatürk. It is a special, reverent place for the Turks.
They have a “changing of the guard” which we got to see.
This is the mausoleum.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
1881-1938
The leadership meetings were really good.
After the meetings on Saturday, we took a 5 hour train ride with other members,
across Türkiye to Istanbul to attend District Conference.
We got a new District Presidency!
It was really a joy to be gathered with the Turkish saints!
This is President Kocaman, our new District President.
He is Turkish which is just wonderful!
After the Conference, we flew back to Zagreb, Croatia.
We've had lovely weather all month. We took these pictures while walking around. Zagreb.
We love the architecture. Despite graffiti, it's fairly clean
and we feel safe walking most any time, day or night.
We had Sister Sundell, Sister Price, and Sister Merrick over for dinner and cake
on Sister Merrick's birthday! Sister Merrick is from Australia.
It was alot of fun learning more about Australia from her.
Hip, hip, hooray! (which they say on birthday's in Australia)
We hiked around the ruins of Samobor castle.
This castle was built in the 1260's and was still being lived in, in 1902.
Elder Bates was able to arrange for our friend, Michael Mansfield,
to speak at a devotional for our mission.
He did so fantastic. You can learn about his life journey here:
It's an inspiring story!
which means, Happy Birthday!
We went to Plitvice Lakes to celebrate Sister Bates birthday and it was spectacular!
We started by having lunch at this lovely town just a few miles away from our destination.
It was gorgeous! We didn't think much could top it!
Then we saw this!
We hiked around the lakes and waterfalls of this gorgeous National Park!
Yes, the water really is this color!
The water is so clear the fish seem to be flying above ground.
The boardwalk we used.
You do need to watch your step now and then!
It was very pleasant, and we would love to go again.
A few days later we were invited by Medicins du Monde
to tour a Roma settlement an hour and a half away.
The children (and a dog) followed us all around the village. They seemed to really like having us there. We were invited to see if the church could provide some assistance. They have a nicely equipped elementary school, but there is still much need in the village. They are beautiful children!
Seeing these pictures of the Roma children reminded us of how much the Savior loved children!
For a little background on Roma people, they used to be called gypsies. They have settled in a variety of places across Europe. Many attempts have been made to break the cycle, including trying to integrate the children into public schools, helping with food and necessities, and giving proper medical care. In spite of the efforts, most children follow in the adults examples of alcohol, drugs, and not holding jobs. When the older teens go out of the village to find work, they are not respected. When the children try to integrate into public school, they are discriminated. It is a sad cycle that the church has been working to help mend for many years. We found the children to be bright and eager; very friendly, wanting lots of hugs, and very polite. Medicins du Monde and other NGO's across Europe have joined with the church to really do all they can and we salute them!
Above is the home of the woman on my right and below is the bucket she does laundry in. Her husband is right inside that door, sick in bed. The woman on my left is the traveling nurse who was checking on him. The woman in white on the far left is one of the school teachers, and the woman in the white vest in front of the door is an amazing woman who has worked at this village for many years. She teaches classes on health and nutrition, knows all 3,000 village members, and is beloved by all. I can't imagine having a heart as big as these women who work here every day. It is difficult, sad, very hot, dusty, and yet those children just beam with light. We loved them and we know that God loves them!
Getting ready to do the laundry.
This family has 15 children.....and a kitten! The father is in the green shirt and the mother is sitting in the shade in the background. They were very nice. This is their home.
Elder Bates quickly made friends with these teen boys. They loved talking to someone from America.
Elder Bates was a celebrity!
Only 15 minutes from the Roma Village is a thriving city called Variždin. This is their lovely center of town. We sat in that outdoor cafe and had some gelato while processing all we had experienced that day.
It was a profound experience.
Meanwhile, English Connect 2 in Türkiye has started up. Sister Bates teaches with Elder Bean, a service missionary living in Gig Harbor, Washington. Elder Bates and Sister Bates also facilitate an ARP (Addiction Recovery Program) -Healing in the Savior's Way group which is a weekly highlight. The members of this group are so humble, spiritually active, and we have learned more about the Atonement of Jesus Christ than ever before.
“I urge you to devote time each week — for the rest of your life —
to increase your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”
Russell M. Nelson
This is a picture that means so much to us!
These people are recently baptized Turkish saints who live in Podgorica, Montenegro, one of the countries in our Adriatic North Mission. We wanted to help them feel connected to their fellow saints in Türkiye. Here they are joining in by Zoom to our classes being offered in Turkish, in Türkiye.
This particular picture is of a Gospel Principles class.
It touches our hearts to see our two missions connecting!
Every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language” (D&C 90:11)
Back to Türkiye for a weekend. We do so much traveling that Elder Bates had to use duct tape to keep his suitcase alive! Mine has a broken wheel. We will both need new suitcases when we return, which is interesting since we bought brand new suitcases for our mission! Sister Gruseck, one of our Turkish missionaries, says, "Most missionaries wear out their shoes on their mission.
Türkiye-serving missionaries wear out their suitcases!"
These pictures below are from the plane window while landing in Istanbul.
We came back to Antalya for a very special weekend! 
This is some of our branch that attended church on Sept 14, 2025. Besides the 4 who received the Melchizedek Priesthood that day, we also had Shantiya, the young man in the bow tie, receive the Aaronic Priesthood. What strong Priesthood power we now have in our branch!
The four men in the middle received the Melchizedek Priesthood!
President Kocaman, Mehmet, Recep, Serdar, Kemir, Omer, Yusuf, President Bates
We LOVE these people!
Next we flew back to Croatia and drove out to the coast to the city of Zadar.
We had a great tour of Zadar by Sister Bates' cousin, Sister White and her kind husband, Elder White.
We had so much fun visiting with them while walking around,
and falling in love with this gorgeous city!
It's so fun that my cousin was called to our same mission!
This is a church built atop Roman ruins, and the city bell tower. (I love church bells!)
Zadar has a really nice old town that was very enjoyable to stroll around.
Sunset on the Adriatic Sea. So beautiful and peaceful.
We also got to hear the famous Zadar "Sea Organ."
Here is Elder Bates blocking a shot from Krešimir Ćosić.
Krešimir was from Zadar, and played basketball at BYU and in the Olympics. He was wanted by NBA teams but chose to return to his homeland.
He helped to establish the first church branch in Yugoslavia right here in Zadar! He is beloved in Croatia and there are pictures and bios of him in parks, at the Zagreb Airport and elsewhere. Even though he passed away from cancer 30 years ago, people talk about him reverently.
I recommend reading his biography here:
Then it was off on another flight to Frankfurt, Germany
for our Turkic Persian-speaking Mission Conference.
Here is the group with President and Sister Alliaud of the Europe Central Area who spoke to us.
This was the very first Mission Conference of this new mission! We were told it was historic, in fact we had a church historian with us.
It wasn't all meetings, though. The missionaries ate alot of pizza after a fun Bowling tournament. (These 3 elders are Elder Cheney, Elder Chapman, and Elder Woods) Bowling in Germany is quite different. You use a much smaller ball, and the rules are very different, and very fun. You play as a team, not one person against another. We had so much fun interacting with our "2nd mission" missionaries!
This marks the spot where the book burning took place. We felt very moved by it.
We ate at a charming German restaurant and ate traditional food. The Lamb's have been living there for a year so they knew all the delicious dishes to try, including a delicious apple drink. It was fun to have such knowledgeable tour guides.
Farewell to Germany!
........and then another flight back to Croatia.
We attended this much anticipated meeting: The Greenhouse Summit via Zoom.
People from many countries gathered to learn what the church has done in Bosnia,
and how to get the program started in their own country.
We love greenhouses now and we think there may be one in our future!
This map shows all the places The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has provided greenhouses, beehives, and pregnant heifers in the country of Bosnia. Our church is blessing lives every single day!
"It is only through our learning how to take care of each other that we develop within us the Christlike love and disposition necessary to qualify us to return to his presence.”
Marion G. Romney
This is one of the church's greenhouses provided in Bosnia.
We have visited this beautiful location and it really is as pretty as it looks!
And then it was another flight back to Türkiye!
We just stepped out of the taxi in this huge city of 2.4 million people, and who do we see? Our sister missionaries! We had no idea they would be there and they were not expecting us. I'd say this was more than a coincidence. We had a fun afternoon with them!
We love Sister Gruseck and Sister Robinson!
This is the bazaar in Antalya. We all bought a few souvenirs.
Elder Bates bought some Turkish delight to bring back for our Zagreb district to try.
We love serving with the young missionaries in Türkiye and Croatia.
And then for the best part! TWO BAPTISMS on Sunday! This is Emin and Zeynep, husband and wife. They described their baptism day this way:
"We feel clean and newly born. We are so happy, we are flying!"
"Come unto me and be baptized in my name,
that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day” (3 Nephi 27:20)
And here's just a few interesting pictures to end with!
This is President Erdogan with President Trump last week in Washington DC.
Elder Bates liked this car!
A tire store. Grab the one you want!
This is a common expression used in Türkiye.
This is our Mission President with his tallest (7' 0") and shortest elders!
No matter what size they are, they do a fantastic job serving the Lord!
The Savior has so much impact on everything around us!
It may sound cliche, but God is always the answer.
We have leaned on Him many times this month.
We hope you lean on Him too.
"Life has always been a little messy, but there is always a way through as we lean on our Savior."
Jeffrey R. Holland
We left Türkiye in 80 degree weather and came to Zagreb in 50 degree weather.
It felt like Fall arrived mid flight!
Happy Fall to all!
