Back in the office

Dear All,
We flew all night on Monday and got into the Frankfurt airport about 1 P.M. From the airport we took the train and the street car back to the office. It is a irrelatively easy proceedure and very cost effective. We stopped in the office just to let them know we were back, and didn't get our of there until 7:00. In the office we learned that we needed to move which we did Weds. night only to learn that there is a lot of uncertainty about the apartment situation. It seem that the church is going to end there lease on 3 apartments, and which 3 apartments to give up is constantly in flux. So we were asked to move again on Thurs. night, then on Fri. we were invited to move again, but that can move can wait until we get back from Slovakia. At this moment we see just 2 more moves in our future, one next week and then the final move (we hope) in about a month. So that will be 4 moves in 2 months. We started on the 9th floor, then to the 5th, then to the 7th, and we hope the move to the 10th floor will be our final move. We are still working 60-70 hours a week, but tonight Susan left the office at 6:00 and I follow shortly thereafter at 6:15 That reduced our day in the office by about 1 1/2 hours. We are beginning to see progress in learning our job. The stressful part is that there are 9 other couples that have to rely on us to do our job so we can get them the money they need to live and do their jobs. They are wonderful dedicated couples who really do some good for the people of the country in which they live. For example we are working with the couple in Moldova who are helping the victims of a flood with food and trying to get these families bedding. Because there is so much corruption in in their village this couple are trying desperately to get the beds constructed so they can distribute them before they return home in 6 weeks. That way the beds will get to the intended families and not be diverted into the black market. Our trip to Slovakia is to participate in the distribution of wheelchairs, some of the recipients have been waiting for several years to get a wheelchair. Until the have a means of getting around they are relegated to their apartments. Once mobile they can start to interact in society, see friends and families, see the city, have a much fuller life. Being able to be envolved in helping others in such a significant way is very rewarding, and also makes one grateful for many things we just take for granted. We get up in the morning and walk to wherever and don't think twice about it, unless we grumble about having to walk. These people get up and either lay or sit there that's it, and the routine is the same day after day. I think we need to count our blessings more.
We don't have a car so we walk a lot when we go someplace, but everything is so compact here that distances seem smaller. Walked to the bank today which is 1 1/2 miles each way and didn't think twice about it. Back home I wouldn't even considered walking to the bank although it is about the same distance. Interesting how our enviroment has such an influence on us, which we don't even realize. We have been so busy that we didn't take the intended pictures of the office to show you, so no pictures this week ,but next week we'll have some interesting picture to put on the blog. Remember gratitude is a virtue we all should strive to develop. We love you all and pray for you daily, Oma and Opa Leonard

Experiences in the Cape Verde Island of St Vicente

Dear All,

This week we have been on the Cape Verde Island of St Vicente in the city of Mindelo. This is the 2^nd largest city (about 70,000) in this small group of 10 islands off the Atlantic coast of Africa. The islands are midway between Lisbon, Portugal and Brazil, with flying time to Portugal or Brazil being about 4 hours. The islands are only 16 degrees north of the equator and were formed by volcanic action. The islands were uninhabited until the 15^th century when they became a holding location for the Portuguese slave industry. The island of St Vicente wasn’t inhabited until approximately the middle 1800’s and the people are a mixture of Portuguese and African descent.(See video at the end of the Blog)

We have spent five days with Elder and Sister Dennis and Janet Broderick, the Welfare Humanitarian Missionaries assigned. Together we have visited project sites were the church will provide water to homes that have no running water.

These people are very poor and can’t afford to have water piped into their homes, and must walk to a central water point to purchase water and then carry it back to their home.

The homes are generally very small 2 to 3 room dwelling, and consist of a small living room, 1bedroom for the family and a kitchen with a dirt floor.

The church will pay the cost of the pipe and hookup fee for a line with a faucet to the house. These people were so grateful to think that someone would pay so they could have running water to their home. The church plans to initially provide a water line to 550 homes.

We also visited a neighborhood health clinic and spoke with the young Doctor who is trying desperately to educate the people on basic health and hygiene principles. The clinic’s goal is to prevent the spread of disease and treat minor injuries and provide Pre and Post natal care for mothers and their infants. They also provide free medications for illnesses. There is a high incidence of Diabetes and cardiovascular disease here that they treat.

Friday night and Saturday we were with church members. They are a very loving people and portray a strong feeling of caring and love for each other. As they learn and apply gospel principles you can see their lives change for the better, the peace and happiness reflected in their faces is wonderful to see. Today in church we could not understand what they said but you could feel the spirit and see it reflected in many faces. It is a wonderful thing to witness the teachings of Jesus Christ changing lives and making people happier and more content.

We went to the fish market Friday morning to get fish for our dinner. We got 4 pounds of fresh Tuna for 8 dollars. This was fun. and the the Tuna steaks were wonderful.