We're not in Kansas anymore! #5

Yesterday we stopped in the store after church and as we walked in we were greeted by a man in a funny hat and red suit. He is called Saint Nicholas.

In Croatia they don't have the American Santa Claus, but rather around the first week of December Saint Nicholas shows up to give out candy to the little children.

Usually he has a side kick with him called Krampus. Krampus is the devil and he gives out switches to all the bad children.

Many times Krampus will take the children and Saint Nicholas must come and rescue them from him. This makes Saint Nicholas some kind of Savior instead of Jesus!

This is just another reminder to me that we must get busy and tell people of the true and living Savior who defeated death, the grave and the devil!

We're not in Kansas anymore! #4

Last night Cody and I went to visit Brother Alen in the hospital. He is there for therapy due to recent back surgery. He's been there a weak and has two more to go; Cody and I wanted to encourage him. Together we took the short drive through some beautiful country. We had a great time with Brother Alen. He was able to walk with us so he showed us a little of the town. It sets up in the mountains and it is known for its hot springs.

As we were walking back to the hospital, Brother Alen decided to show us one of the hot springs. As we entered the little park area I was amazed at what I saw. There were 2,000 year old Roman ruins everywhere. Apparently it was an excavation sight and it was amazing to see. I've seen a lot since being here, but this place was pretty amazing. I knew that I wasn't in Kansas anymore. How many times do we make a hospital call in the States and then find ourselves in a 2,000 year old museum. What a joy it is to serve God!

I hope you enjoy the pictures. They don't do the place justice, but they'll give you and ideal of what it was like there!


This is what it used to look like or so they think?


This is the main spring. The water is 136.4 degrees at it's main source. I was able to put my finger in here and it was hot!



These are two soul-winners enjoying the day! In case you don't know Cody is on the left, he's my son, Brother Alen is on the right.







The roof over it was built recently to protect everything. In case Christy , my sister, sees this; the Romans did not build the roof!



We are standing in what would have been one of the main temples.

We're not in Kansas anymore! #3

Yesterday I spent my morning at the dentist office. She told me I had a few teeth to fix, and my insurance here covers it, so I said why not. Big mistake! I go in, sit in the chair, and brace for the worse. Then I begin to here the drill, and she says open wide. Wait a minute, I think she forgot a step. Wasn't she suppose to give me a shot or something to deaden my mouth? I don't have a lot of practice at this. But I do remember 18 years ago going to the dentist and he gave me a shot before he drilled. For a minute I thought maybe she was communist and hated Americans. Maybe this was her way of getting a little revenge for the Berlin wall thing.

Well I embraced for the worse. At first not much pain, but then I think she was hitting something that she was not supposed to. As a natural reflex I tried to stop the drill with my tongue. After all it was my only defense. The dentist just said don't do that sir. My response was, It hurts. She said, just a little longer. I think what she meant was buck up and be a man.

She finally finished, and honestly it wasn't that bad. I might even go back and have my other tooth fixed.

We're not in Kansas anymore! #2

I've been in Europe for 9 years and I've seen many strange things! But this even shocked me! Not too long ago the family was on a little trip back from Budapest, Hungary. Like most families bathroom stops become a routine when you've got kids. It can be difficult just finding a place. Luckily enough on the highway you can find gas stations about every 100km or so. We'll we're driving and one of the kids let's me know that it's time to stop somewhere. We've not been in the car that long, so like the good dad that I am , I tell them just a little longer. This goes on a while until I know that if I don't stop I'm going to be sorry. I began the task of trying to find a clean place to stop. So I drive, and drive and then drive some more. Before I saw gas stations everywhere, but now it's like we were in the wilderness! Then like an oasis in the desert the sign began to appear out of the dark. We began to think is it real? Are we dreaming? As we got closer we realized that our oasis was real. A brand new gas station with bathrooms! Hallelujah! I think angels were singing or maybe it was the kids. I slide into the parking lot, OK not really I'm embellishing the story now. We do get out rather quickly and hurry a long to the restrooms.

This is when I learn I'm not in Kansas any more! The bathroom is locked down and the only way to get through is to pay!!! Most places in Europe you have to pay for the bathroom, but this place was to the extreme! Never have I seen a barricade blocking the entrance. You can see this in the picture above. You put money in the little slot and then it opens for you. One at a time!

I learned two valuable lessons from this experience: First, always keep plenty of money from the country your traveling in on you at all times. Second, drink less coke and water when your traveling. With any luck you wont have to stop at all!

We're not in Kansas anymore!

After being on the mission field for 9 years, one forgets how different his surroundings are. When we first came to Croatia everything was different. Every where we turned we saw something that was different than what we were used to.

Now that we have been here for sometime everything seems to be normal, even the 800 year old castle in the park. Now it just looks like another building. Because things have become normal, I thought I'd slow down a bit and start looking at things like I did when I first came to Croatia. I remember thinking when we got off the plane, Toto we're not in Kansas anymore. So from time to time I'd like to share with you a post called, We're not in Kansas Anymore!

Here goes, and I hope you enjoy the differences as much as we do now!

Just the other day my lovely wife and I were out getting coffee as we try to do every Monday. As we looked down on the table there was an advertisement for hot chocolate. That seems pretty normal doesn't it. Well it is until you order it, then you realize how different it is.

I remember the first time we ordered hot chocolate in Croatia. It was close to Christmas and we took the kids out to get coffee (for us) and hot chocolate for them. At that time we couldn't speak the language so well, but we gave it our best shot. We all sat down excited about sharing the evening together at a little European coffee shop. The waiter took our order, and we patiently waited for our coffee and hot Chocolate. Well it arrived in a timely manner, and it was presented very professionally as it usually is in Europe. They care a lot about how things look. Presentation is very important to them. The coffee was typically European, if you don't know what that is, let me just say a little dab will keep you going all day! Then Hannah takes a taste of her hot chocolate, and says this is not hot chocolate! We take a better look at it, and then quickly realize that it is a melted candy bar in a glass! I guess they took hot chocolate literally. Before you think it was good, just know it was some of the riches chocolate you could find. We quickly learned what European hot chocolate was.

Now back to my wife and I. The place where we were this past Monday added a twist to the hot chocolate. They added chili peppers to theirs! It is called Aztec Hot Chocolate! Was it good? I have no idea, because i didn't try it. But I did realize that I was not in Kansas any more!