We have now been on our mission for one full year. We have been so busy we forgot to celebrate, but we are feeling a continued need to work hard and fast, and do our best to finish strong.
We started August by finishing up a few things in Türkiye.
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| We had Azad, Sister Robinson, Sister Gruseck, and Benjamin over for dinner. Azad has been in my English Connect class and it was really fun to meet him in person! Benjamin is the head chef in a popular restaurant. I was a little nervous to cook for him but he enjoyed the food and says he wants to feature it in his restaurant. (Ok, I know he was just being nice, but I will run with it!) He is from Nigeria. |
We had a wonderful baptism day for Ugur!
The next day we saw Ugur again. This time in a very different setting.......
Ugur plays bass in a band. He has been sharing the gospel with all of his bandmates and so far one has come with him to church. We went to his concert and had so much fun! We loved the music!
Ugur visiting with us and Elder and Sister Sheffield before the performance.
Elder Sheffield and Elder Bates were pulled in to dance with the other Turkish men. It was awesome!
We don't follow much news, but one day I looked at the Antalya news and all of this had happened:
1. There's been terrible fires around the country.
2. A lion escaped from the Antalya zoo! It bit off a man's ear who was sleeping!
3. JLo spent her 56th birthday in Antalya with much fanfare.
4. The mayor and the mayor's son have both been arrested. So has Istanbul's mayor and other mayors around the country.
We have had several meetings now with our new Turkic mission.
Our new Mission President, President and Sister Peter and Carla Huber,
shared these amazing quotes with us about the future of Türkiye and Europe!
It is a wonderful time to be serving a mission in Europe!
Then it was time to fly back to Zagreb, Croatia for 10 days.
Elder Bates walking through the beautiful Istanbul airport with his
very heavy backpack full of laptops and iPads.
You see every kind of person in every kind of cultural clothing in this airport.
I could people watch here all day!
Baggage claim at the Antalya airport has this lovely Turkish flag that I notice every trip.
On our first day back in Zagreb, we were asked to be "extras" in a training video they were making for the MTC. Everyone in this picture is a missionary in our mission. With the exception of the 3 "stars" of the video in the center, the rest of us were supposed to dress like a typical person in Croatia. We have seen the finished product and we are in the background of several scenes. Any future missionaries headed to the MTC, watch for us!
The next day we went straight to the US Embassy. Our passport books are full! We have 95 stamps and there is no more room for any more. We are waiting for our new passport books to arrive.
I have to say, when we were driving along and Reid turned down a road and I saw the American flag flying I felt like it was a sacred moment. I miss my country deeply, even with its faults;
It is an honor to be a United States citizen!
We may be back in Zagreb, but we stay in touch constantly with our Turkish branch members.
Here we are holding a Book of Mormon study group over zoom.
We went to a unique restaurant to celebrate 44 years since the day we met. It had beautiful vegetation all around and good food. I snapped this picture of Elder Bates on a rare hour when we truly just relaxed.
Yes, we are in this picture somewhere!
"Enduring to the end means becoming spiritually self reliant." Elder Gerard
The missionaries need to eat and I was asked to make 7 dozen cookies.
Sister Thompson, Sister Bates, Sister Goodrich, Sister Ballou, and Sister White.
It's not often that I get to see my cousin, GayLyn White,
even though we serve in the same mission!
This was a happy reunion!
This is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints church building in Zagreb, Croatia.
There is lots of room next door for expansion!
We love being part of a district with these missionaries.
Two of these elders actually went home this week. It's so hard to say good-bye!
We joined the transfer call where the elders and sisters find out who is leaving an area and who is staying. They also learn who will be training. It's all very exciting!
When it is transfer day, we have the honor of driving elders and sisters to the bus, or pick them up from an arriving bus, and take them to their new apartment, with a new companion. It's always lots of fun. Luckily, my companion hasn't asked to have me transferred yet!
After these busy 10 days, we went back to Türkiye for this exciting day:
Dinner with 16 amazing people!
Followed the next day with this:
Baptism day for Sheymah and Shantiya, brother and sister!
And then followed by this:
The first youth Sunday School class in our branch!
August 10th, 2025 was a wonderful day in the Antalya Branch!
Shima and Shahin, mother and grandmother of our two newly baptized members.
Shima and her husband (below) just started taking the lessons.
Me with Shima, and Ashkan, her husband looking on. Ashkan read the entire Book of Mormon in 2 days! He couldn't put it down and loved how it goes so well with the Bible!
His favorite part? "It teaches that families are important."
Elder Woods and Elder Nelson who taught Shantiya
(They are the AP's in our new mission.)
Sister Knapp and Sister Pincock, who taught Sheymah.
The young missionaries are so amazing and the members just love them!
So do we!
After a few short days in Türkiye, it was back to Zagreb and our Humanitarian projects!
This is one of the refugee centers the church installed a new kitchen in, and a remodeled health center.
Elder Bates hanging the sign that states that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints collaborated with Medecins du Monde to provide this remodeled office and examination space.
They have the nicest office staff!
Next, Elder Bates hung a similar sign in the kitchen.
Everyone we work with is so kind!
This is a fairly typical schedule for us.
We attend 2 devotionals a week, multiple zoom meetings, District Meeting, teach English Connect, lead a ARP-Healing in the Savior's Way group, do apartment inspections, teach employment workshops, hold Active Job Seeker (AJS) Groups, coach 13 (current number) people in the Europe Central Area looking for a job, and lead a Book of Mormon study group. This is our week. Plus, Elder Bates is a Branch President, and we do Humanitarian work. We fly back and forth between countries regularly.
When we got here they told us, "You can be as busy as you want to be."
There's so much to be done. We need more Senior couples.
Now for some bonus pictures just for fun!
A stack of Turkish lire! It may look like alot of cash if it was American dollars,
but it's not that much in Türkiye. That bill on top that says "100" is worth about $2.50.
Washing machines are always in the kitchen in Türkiye!
In America I'm used to seeing store clerks clearing out the bad fruit. In Croatia, it's all for sale!
This man is Turkish who was baptized in Croatia!
A little verse from the Turkish Book of Mormon!
Alma 11: 32-34
All over Türkiye they have separate prayer rooms for the Muslim men and women.
This was at 11:30 PM one night when we were driving home in Antalya.
It had been such a hot day and everyone was outside trying to cool off.
There were many families with small children everywhere.
We love how often we see families playing together; even late at night!
Why was the chicken crossing the road?
We tried Turkish cotton candy, surrounded by chocolate, with a layer of pistachio cream.
The funny thing is that this "Turkish" candy bar was being sold in Croatia.
We've never seen anything like it in Türkiye!
We thought this sign was humorous, especially with the dent in the person's head!
Instead of a lamp post, Zagreb often has lights hung by wires.
Showing the narrow roads we drive on in Zagreb.
The cars on the left are parked on the side walk which we've done many times.
Reid says the driving in Zagreb is much easier and safer than Antalya.
There are parking garages around the city since parking spaces are hard to find.
We use parking garages all the time.
This is what's playing in the local cinema!
A beautiful park in Zagreb.
This is Elder Bates in the car we use in Zagreb.
We end this month with these words from Elder Bates:
"Looking back on our first year of missionary service, we can't help but marvel at the many ways the Lord's hand has guided this work. We've seen it in the quiet power of His humanitarian efforts in Croatia, in the steady growth of His little branch in Antalya, Türkiye, in the compassion that shines through employment support across the Europe Central Area, in the healing that comes through the Savior in the Addiction Recovery Program, and in the connections built through English Connect. Each experience has reminded us that the Lord is eager to bless His children both spiritually and temporally.
One passage from the Book of Mormon feels like the perfect summary of these past twelve months:
"And it came to pass that the work of the Lord did prosper unto the baptizing and uniting to the church of God, many souls, yea even tens of thousands. Thus we may see that the Lord is merciful unto all who will, in the sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name. Yea, thus we see that the gate of heaven is open unto all, even to those who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God...
And in this year there was continual rejoicing in the land."
Helaman 3:26-28, 31
