Today’s sermon was given by guest pastor Mirco Franzini in Italian, live translated into Croatian. We’d discovered later that it was on Jeremiah 20:9, a passion for sharing the gospel that should never be quenched. In attendance were people from Croatia and those who came over the open EU borders. Slovenia, Bosnia, Ukraine, Germany, Switzerland and the US. God is answering the prayer to expand the church.

The service is similar to Risen Life with worship music in the beginning and end, broken by offerings and announcements. The students leave in the middle for Sunday school, and we all meet back together for fellowship over coffee. Good opinions so far on salt water taffy. We’d also brought a small picture album on Utah and Risen Life to share, and Pastor Mirco and his wife Paola actually preached in front of Temple Square a few years ago. The students all took a picture of the church’s prayer requests unprompted. How cool is that?

Pastor Milan took us out to lunch at a traditional seaside restaurant where the portion size rivals the US. Then Pastor Mirco chased that with espresso and gelato in the city. We chatted over the similarities between the countries’ religions and their love of Arches.Ivan later showed us the many castles acquired by the Francopan before execution for treason against the Hapsburg for seeking independence, along with 41 Protestant pastors for inciting riots.