Return from Macedonia,Kosovo,Serbia, and Bosnia

Dear All,
The Saturday before we left for a week, we spent at the Chritmas Market in Nurenberg. We are standing near the Albrecht Duerer house. He may be Nurenberg's most famous painter, he painted the famous "praying Hands". We had a wonderful day in Nurenberg, but the most special time for us was the time we spent with 2 humanitarian mission couples working in Macedonia, Kosovo; and Serbia, Bosnia. The good they do, and the love the receive from the people they help is amazing. They are having experiences money can not buy.




While in Nurenberg we thought we would have our picture taken with Santa


















This church is in the Market square and everyday at 12;00 the bells toll and the music plays and the figures go around the king sitting on his throne. The church is not ornate on the inside, but the outside is very beautiful. This is a Luthern church.










Here is Susan with Sister Juncker ( the Junckers serve in Macedonia and Kosovo), they volunteer every Monday morning in this soup Kitchen run by the Sister's of Charity. This is the same order of nuns to which Mother Theresa belonged. These nuns are kind and very loving people and really do a lot of good for the local poor. When the soup is completed this kettle will be completely full. For some who come here this bowl of soup and bread will be the only meal of the day. The nuns really love and appreciate the Junckers, and the church has a great relationship with the nuns.


This picture shows Susan with Br. and Sister Juncker and Sister Angela, she is the nun in charge. When she was young she work directly with Mother Theresa. She has run this soup kitchen aand a shelter for abused woman and their children for some years now. Every day except Thursday and Sunday the nuns provide soup and bread to the poor and hungry. When we were done this whole kettle on the stove was full of potato soup. About 150 people are feed each day. Not all can fit into the small room so many bring containers and take the soup home to their families.




In this picture Susan is in a village up on a hill in Bosnia where the church is funding a "clean water project" Because of an inadequate water line some of these people in the summer may go 2-3 days without running water to their home. Others have no running water in their home at all. The church is funding a project to lay an additional water line from a spring to 2 holding tanks. With full tanks the people will have water every day during the summer. This project will also bring water into home that haven't had running water, and the inhabitants had to carry water every day to their home. The Lady with her hand on Susan's arm and her husband are the missionary couple in Bosnia and Serbia, they have directed this project and oversaw that the work was done. The village people here have a tremendous appreciation and love for this couple as you can imagine. The local TV station and newspaper covered the symbolic event of turning on the water. The ceremony was MC ed by the local Muslim cleric. A representative of the regional vice premier spoke and well as the mayor's representative. The national director of the Red Cross was there and spoke extremely highly of the church and all the different projects the church has funded to help the people of Bosnia. Bosnia is 95% Muslim, and the church is reaching across religious borders to improve the quality of life for these people. An amazing amount of good is being done by the missionaries and the church, and the people all know it and appreciate it. This was a tiring but very rewarding week.
As Christmas quickly approaches we want to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy new year. Our wish is for more of the world to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, and that you may feel the comfort of His love in your life.
We love you all,
Oma und Opa

The First Week of Advent

Dear Ones,
The last two weeks have been so very busy. We have been training new missionary couples, So I have included a few pictures of places we have taken them. This is the Romer Platz were the Christmas market is being set up. Here we are for a Christmas card Shoot. We thought this might be a good remembrance. This is front of the Christmas store around the corner from the Romer Platz.




Here is the Christmas Market being assembled two days before it opens. Tuesday, November 22, The Mcgoverns had flown in that morning and we were trying to keep them up so they would sleep well that night. They are another great couple we will enjoy getting to know and working with. They are from Texas. There is a Picture of them near the bottom of the page.
Wednesday we trained and tried to catch a little of the Zone Conference. I hear it was excellent. The area President and his wife spoke all day and it was very powerful Centered on Inviting others to Christ and encouraging the answer to questions through out the meeting through the Spirit. Thursday was Thanksgiving. We trained in the morning then had dinner with the Senior Missionaries. At about 4pm we drove to Rudeshiem to take the McGoverns to the Christmas Market there. We really had a good time. Friday morning we put them on the plane to Romania to meet their mission President. Then on to Moldova. They are getting settled in and doing well. Friday, Evening we went to the Temple. Saturday morning we cleaned and got ready for the next week. Then we picked up our Couple coming from England. We spent the Afternoon with them, dropped them off at the Hotel and drove to The Blacoes for a dinner with the Ruth and her family. They are doing so well. I should have taken a picture. I am not doing so well in that department.

Sunday, we spent with our couple. WE had them and the Asplunds for dinner We had a nice time together. We trained Monday through Thursday. On Wednesday Evening we went to the

Christmas market with a group of the senior missionaries and our couple. Here is a picture of the same scene but lit up at night. We heard the brass band play christmas carols from the top of one of the buildings. I took a video of it but it was so dark it did not come out to well. It was beautful at the market with all the lights, the smell of bratwurst and roasted nuts and all the vendors. They even had a Kate Wolfarhts. We had a great time.




Here is the group of us. A kind gentleman took the picture for us. These sure are a great group of missionaries.
The lady to my right is Sister Willis and Elder Willis is be hind her. In this picture we have the Dearings, the Paxtons, the Jarretts, the Peterson's the Bradleys. and the Asplunds

Friday, we took the Willis to airport and then in the afternoon we had a Christmas devotional by the Area Presidency and a lovely dinner in the cultural hall.
We came home early went grocery shopping in the evening because we had a car.
Saturday we cleaned and prepared for the week. Then went to Blacoes for an evening at the Rodenbach Christmas market. It was fun but I did not take any pictures.


Here is a picture of the McGoverns. this Accordion player really wanted to be helpful . This was taken on the bridge by the Rommer Platz.







Here is the Zumm KocKKock We enjoy the food here and usually take our couples here. It is not far from our apartment.


We hope you are all doing well and having a good week

Love,
Oma and Opa

Nov. 14-20, 2011 This week in the office

Dear All, 20 Nov. 2011

This week has been spent in the office catching up on our normal responsibilities that piled up last week while we were in England. We always travel with our laptop, but sometimes we can’t get on line, and then there are certain functions that we seem to be able to do only with our computers in the office. That is the hard part about traveling knowing that we will have a mountain of work waiting for us when we get back to the office. The good part is that we meet some wonderful people and get a better understanding and appreciation for what they are doing and some of the challenges they contend with. This is certainly not a 40 hr. / week calling.

Last week we were working in England to package the 20 computers set the church is donating and sending to the Cape Verde Islands. This week we were busy making sure the paper work for this shipment got to the appropriate hands so the shipment could be sent. On Friday we got word that the computers were all on a pallet and had been picked up by the shippers. The next step is to get them onto the ship and on their way. Even when the computers are on the ship we won’t be through with this project until we have them into port, unloaded, and to the distributing organization. Then we must have verification that they have been distributed to the intended recipients. This will take several more months before we have this project with its’ accompanying paper work completed and off our plate.

We have also been busy preparing some project books showing what the church has been doing over the years for the people of Macedonia and Kosovo. These then will be given to visiting government official from each of these countries so that they can see that having the church in their country is good and beneficial for their people. This all sounds straight forward and simple, but the corruption and politics in some of the governments make this a very difficult process requiring years of work. Then when a new government takes over we have to convince them that we can help their people. If the government really cares about their people then the process moves forward, if they don’t then it slows the process way down. As bad as you may think our government might be, it is not as blatantly corrupt as many in these eastern countries, and a dishonest government makes the people ( in order to survive ) dishonest.

On Tuesday a humanitarian couple assigned to Moldova flies into Frankfurt. We will have them with us for only 3 days of training, one of which will be Thanksgiving. So actually it is more like 2 ½ days. We have their days pretty full with what we want to teach them, while still trying to be sensitive to the Jet lag (they fly in from the MTC) they will have. They fly on Friday noon to Romania to meet the mission president before they carry on to Moldova. Saturday noon another couple will arrive from England where they live in route to Albania, we will have them with us for a week. However they will have received no training in the church Humanitarian system and so there is much more that we need to teach them and help them learn and understand. To really learn and understand the system takes months to accomplish. So with this couple we don’t have jet lag as a factor, but being realistic about what we can accomplish is a factor. We will follow up with a visit to each couple after they have been in country for about a month. This will give them a chance to see what they understand and what their questions are. Of course each time we do something like this it becomes a learning experience for us also.

We thought we would include a photo of the calendar for 2011 to give you an idea of what our schedule looks like.

We wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving day, remember it is relationships you share with others that counts, not who wins the football game.
We love you all,
Oma and Opa

Solihull, England…Training and Computers

Dear Ones,

Well, even with a busy week, we are sure thinking of all of you. As the Holidays draw closer I feel such longing to see each of you. So Let me give you brief history of our week. On Monday and much of the previous week, I spent the majority of my day looking at pictures of Apartments in Montenegro. We have a young couple there who works for the Enbassy. They are helping us find an apartment for a new Humanitarian Couple who are coming in January to open up this country with humanitarian aid. We found an apartment and rented it so that it would be ready.

Tuesday, we had our Area Welfare meeting. It is this meeting that we (Dad, Myself and Brother Mulligan the Welfare director)discuss the project proposed by the couples in the various countries. When the projects are approved the couples may then get started on them. We are nearing the end of the fiscal year so all our counting pennies to keep within their budgets. We approved 3 Wheelchair projects for a total of about 1000 wheelchairs in the countries of Serbia and Bosnia. We had six other area initiatives in countries to include Romania, Slovakia, Macedonia, Cape Verde and Kosovo. There will be wheelchair ramps built and computers for schools and adult education facilities to name a few. We also finalized two emergency relief projects to help victims of a flood in Northern Italy. We went to German class and then back to the office until about 7pm

On Wednesday, we got to the Wiesbaden Airbase and mailed the St Nicholas packages to each of our children and their families. I hope they enjoy our little offering. It was such a busy day, when we finally got home about 6:30pm

On Thursday morning, we flew to Solihull England to meet with the Finance people for training. We got to the Office about 9am. We had a full day working with various individuals in finance. It is great now to put a face to the name and voice. What lovely people we work with. I feel it was very beneficial. We had fish and Chips for dinner at a Kings’ fish and chips. It was great……The calories were worth it.

On Friday, we were at the Office at 8am to pack up 20 used computers to be sent to Cape Verde. It took most of the day. We enjoyed a moment of silence for all those who died for our freedon. It was 11/11/2011 at 11AM. We left about 4:30pm and did a little shopping. Lovely stores and a great High street. The weather was overcast and rainy but the fall is so beautiful You can see from the color of the leaves what visual treat. We ate at Jimmy Spice. Had a great meal. Buffet style for Indian, Italian, Chinese and Thai. I had a Nan made just like it would have been made in India. The food was very good.

On Saturday, We took our preparation day and went by train and Bus to Stratford upon Avon and Warwick Castle. A great day. We ate dinner in an Irish Pub and had Club Orange and Club Lemon in honor of Holly.

Here is Dad in front of the home where Shakespear was born. in Stratford upon Avon. We had a very interesting tour of the home and the history of this man.
Here is the back of Anne Hathaways cottage. The wife of Shakespear
This building was built in the 1600's It is amazing it is still standing. The garden plots are as they were in their prime.
Street in Stratford upon Avon. These are Celtic words meaning the crossing at the River.

Here is Opa, My Knight in shining armor. The Armor is on the horse and the dumbie sitting on the horse. This was taken in the great hall. Warwick Castle was begun on this spot in about 900AD. This castle was inhabited up until the 1950's. It is like a Disney Amusement Park. Wax figures representing people from many ages.

This was taken from the castle window. What a beautiful fall day. It was cold and crisp and we enjoyed the beauty of the day. It is so nice for us to get out side on Saturday because we go to work in the Dark and come home in the dark.












We Left Warwich castle about 5:00pm. We took this as we were leaving. What an interesting place. So many generations lived in this castle.

Today, We went to Church and enjoyed the lovely people here. This week has been a week of Remebrance of all those who died in World War I and II as well as the recent conflicts. My thought keep going back to my mother and the experience I had with her at the Cemetary in Margarten, As we visited the grave of her Fiance John Robertson who was shot down over France during world war II. He was stationed in Britian at the time. I felt I had a connection here. That man might have been my Dad. How might my life have been different? Well, my dears I hope that all of you have had a good week and will have a good week coming up. We fly home this evening and will be at work Monday morning preparing to train our new couples coming to Moldova and Albania.

Our love to all of you.

Oma and Opa

This Week in the Office

Dear All, Nov.6, 2011

We have spent this week in the office again, which is good since there has been so much to do. We have been reviewing the budget and the spending of each country to make sure that all has been recorded properly. This has taken a lot of work to review all the spending for each country and to correlate our records of the couples spending in these countries with the church accounts. Some countries were right on the money, others we had to spend quite a bit of time to find were the differences were and to correct them. Next year we will make an excel spreadsheet and tract each country monthly and immediately correct any discrepancies. Then at the end of the year there won’t be any discrepancy and if so they will be small and easy to rectify.

We have also been busy preparing for 2 new couple that will be coming this month as Humanitarian missionaries. One couple is coming from the states and the other from England both are wonderful and interesting couples. One of the men spent many years working in security and has provided security for many US presidents and their families, as well as for visiting dignitaries of state. He also spent years training security agents as they were coming into the country’s security agency. This couple will get some humanitarian training at the MTC in Provo before they fly into Germany. We then will have them for 3 days to build on what they learn at the MTC before they fly to their assigned country. The couple from England will be coming to us without any training in the church humanitarian system at all, and will be with us for about a week for some intensive one-on-one training. She was a nurse and a midwife; he has been man of many trades and come to us with a wide range of talents . As you can see the Lord takes us from many backgrounds and molds us into what He needs us to be to serve His children. Both couples will serve the Lord and the people of their assigned countries well.

We have also started to prepare for a 4 day humanitarian conference in March for our couples in these 10 countries. We will bring them to Frankfurt for this conference. Each couple will arrange their own transportation and Susan and I do all the rest from meals and lodging to the courses and material used to teach and train them. This will be a lot of work to organize and conduct, but hopefully very rewarding and worthwhile for everybody.

We have also been working with our couple in Serbia and the church welfare headquarters establishing an emergency response effort for some repatriated citizens back into Serbia. These people were refugees from the war 10-15 years ago, and they have now been told by the country where they were living to go back to Serbia. Many wanted to stay in the new country because there is such high unemployment in Serbia, but were forced to leave any way. With winter coming on these people are in desperate need of fuel and clothing to survive the winter. Our couple in the country will work with the red cross to try and handle the immediate needs and we have been coordinating with SLC to have winter clothing, boots, wool blankets, hygiene kits, etc. shipped to Serbia. This will require a lot of work for a number a people to get all this stuff packaged and into a container and shipped to a port probably in Montenegro and then transported across that country and into Serbia. This is a lot of work requiring many man hours by a lot of volunteers starting in SLC and all along the way through to distributing the relief items. All the items have been donated by members or purchased with funds donated to the church for humanitarian purposes.

We thought we would include some pictures from our neighborhood that we think are interesting.




This building is on the same street as Anne Frank's birth place, and we use to wonder at this strange looking building. Last week we learned that it was a bomb shelter, and was so well built that it is too costly to destroy. Notice the windows are narrow slits with a hole in the center which would allow air into the shelter. Today somebody uses it as a warehouse.









Less than a kilometer from our apt. is the house that Anne Frank was born in and lived the first 2-3 years of her life. Here is Susan standing next to a plague showing her older sister Margot, a friend and her. We walk by this house all the time as we go to various place we have to go. Frrom this house they moved toanother house not much further away. A few years after that they moved to Amsterdam Holland trying to flee the Nazi hatred.

The Frank family lived on the 2nd floor. As a young child she would have played a lot on the balcony you see here. Her father saw early on the danger for them as Jews and applied for a visa to New York, but was denied. He then applied for a visa to Cuba and 12 days before they were to leave Germany declared war on The USA and Cuba and they weren't allowed to leave, and you know the rest of the story.





Last night there was a fireside with President Uchtdorf in our chapel. The church was packed to hear him. . After the meeting he went into the congregation many of which he had know and work with while he lived here in Germany. Both Susan and I got to shake his hand as he was leaving.






He bore a very strong testimony of the divinity of Jesus Christ and that He leads the church today. He stress the importance of the Gospel and living the best we can unto the end of this life. He made the interesting remark that if we so live then death is our friend. For me it was very interesting to listen to him in German. His wife also spoke and she was so excited to be speaking German that she spoke 90 miles an hour, but her German was clear and easy to understand.

We love you and hope you have a good week.

Oma und Opa