Dear All,
We have been very busy trying to visit several couples and still get everything done in the office. In addition we have been trying to prepare for the couple coming to replace us, which will be in 2 weeks. We will remain in Germany for 3 more weeks 2 weeks to train our replacements and a week to rest and travel. On of the highlights we are excited about will be a Leonard Family reunion on 21 April, back in the small village were the first Leonhard is supposed to have settled. It is in the village of Klingen, and there is a rich history of Leonhards there. 1/2 the village is related one way or another.
Starting in late February we have traveled almost every other week. We first went to Bosnia to work with the Winters on a wheelchair project. The Winters are a wonderful couple and have worked very hard to help the people of Bosnia. They have been assigned by their mission president to open a city in Bosnia which had now known members. He has served as group leader in Tuzla while trying to do humanitarian work throughout Bosnia and Croatia. We had a wonderful visit with them, and spoke in their sacrament mtg., and tried to edify as we could.
We then visited Hungary and the Wiggins. They are also a wonderful couple. She has her PhD and taught at the U. of U. Br. Wiggins is an engineer and with some friends developed a company to measure tolerances in equipment to the thousands of an inch and smaller. They use a method involving quartz crystal. We work with them and our contact Julia Bernath to set up another wheelchair distribution project with training. Julia is a wonderful lady and very committed to helping the the disabled in Hungary. She is also disabled being almost blind, and most constantly battle with the government has the cut benefits to the disabled. She is a great friend of the Church and very appreciative of the help the Church has given Hungary over the years. Julia is a special person and we hope she wil respond to the Wiggins loving manner and develop an interest in the Church. We also got to see Rita Mester and her husband Gyrus. We worked with Julia and Rita before we had a couple assigned to Hungary, and love them both. Rita is a very strong member of the Church, and therefore a good contact to work with Julia. Rita helped us many times as an interpreter. We have included pictures of some of the people we have known and worked with, but it is hard to send a picture of a special feeling and relationship. We were in the city of Budapest, which we think is the prettiest city in Europe.
This past week we were in Slovakia to visit with the Coopers, and to see several of the projects we have worked on with them. One was a ICU hospital bed and monitor. The hospital services over 25,000 people in the region, and yet they did not have a bed designed for an ICU. We were received as special quest and had a wonderful day with these people. We also got to be with Maria and her family which the Church has helped mainly with the example of the humanitarian couples over the years. She is very vocal with her appreciation of what the Church has done for the people of eastern Slovakia. In fact we were so far east that we could easily see the mountains of Ukraine. Each night we would then return to the city of Kocise, which is a very beautiful small city, and has the farthest east Catholic cathedral in Europe. It the 13th and 14th centuries it was a very important city on the trade route to Asia. Below are some of the pictures we took in our travels.
We have been very busy trying to visit several couples and still get everything done in the office. In addition we have been trying to prepare for the couple coming to replace us, which will be in 2 weeks. We will remain in Germany for 3 more weeks 2 weeks to train our replacements and a week to rest and travel. On of the highlights we are excited about will be a Leonard Family reunion on 21 April, back in the small village were the first Leonhard is supposed to have settled. It is in the village of Klingen, and there is a rich history of Leonhards there. 1/2 the village is related one way or another.
Starting in late February we have traveled almost every other week. We first went to Bosnia to work with the Winters on a wheelchair project. The Winters are a wonderful couple and have worked very hard to help the people of Bosnia. They have been assigned by their mission president to open a city in Bosnia which had now known members. He has served as group leader in Tuzla while trying to do humanitarian work throughout Bosnia and Croatia. We had a wonderful visit with them, and spoke in their sacrament mtg., and tried to edify as we could.
We then visited Hungary and the Wiggins. They are also a wonderful couple. She has her PhD and taught at the U. of U. Br. Wiggins is an engineer and with some friends developed a company to measure tolerances in equipment to the thousands of an inch and smaller. They use a method involving quartz crystal. We work with them and our contact Julia Bernath to set up another wheelchair distribution project with training. Julia is a wonderful lady and very committed to helping the the disabled in Hungary. She is also disabled being almost blind, and most constantly battle with the government has the cut benefits to the disabled. She is a great friend of the Church and very appreciative of the help the Church has given Hungary over the years. Julia is a special person and we hope she wil respond to the Wiggins loving manner and develop an interest in the Church. We also got to see Rita Mester and her husband Gyrus. We worked with Julia and Rita before we had a couple assigned to Hungary, and love them both. Rita is a very strong member of the Church, and therefore a good contact to work with Julia. Rita helped us many times as an interpreter. We have included pictures of some of the people we have known and worked with, but it is hard to send a picture of a special feeling and relationship. We were in the city of Budapest, which we think is the prettiest city in Europe.
This past week we were in Slovakia to visit with the Coopers, and to see several of the projects we have worked on with them. One was a ICU hospital bed and monitor. The hospital services over 25,000 people in the region, and yet they did not have a bed designed for an ICU. We were received as special quest and had a wonderful day with these people. We also got to be with Maria and her family which the Church has helped mainly with the example of the humanitarian couples over the years. She is very vocal with her appreciation of what the Church has done for the people of eastern Slovakia. In fact we were so far east that we could easily see the mountains of Ukraine. Each night we would then return to the city of Kocise, which is a very beautiful small city, and has the farthest east Catholic cathedral in Europe. It the 13th and 14th centuries it was a very important city on the trade route to Asia. Below are some of the pictures we took in our travels.
 |
| This city of Bamberg was not bombed in the war, and so much of the old charm still can be seen. This city was first mentioned in writing in the 900's, and has had a rich an full history. You can see the beauty of the buildings and the city in general with every turn of the head. |
 |
| This is a wall hanging of the City Coat of Arms that was in the palace. There is at least 1 Pope buried in the cathedral here in Bamberg. |
 |
| While walking along the river in Bamberg we noticed the ultimate in tree houses. This is very much alive tree, and is probably at least 50 years old. The houses are several hundred years old. I hate to live here when the river rises. |
 | |||||
| This is a picture of the city hall in Bamberg. This city in the 14th and 15th centuries was a very important trade city bbecause it was at the confluence of two rivers. The city was build on both sides of a river, and so the city hall was built in the middle of the river so neither side of the city would appear more important than the other. We took a Saturday and visited this city with another couple the Livingstones. |
 |
| In Hungary we worked with E/S Wiggins on the right, who are the first Humanitarian missionaries in Hungary. They have been working with several people to do a number of projects in Hungary, on of those people is Rita Mester. She and her husband Gyrus are faithful members of the Church. Rita has dark black hair (naturally) and light blue eyes. We noticed several of the woman in Hungary with this same coloring. |
 |
| This was the view of Bosnia as we drove through the country side. We were glad to be in a warm car. |
 | ||
| Elder and Sister winters are being interviewed by several local TV stations about the Church donating wheelchairs to local Bosnians with severe mobility issues. In the Background is the head of the Red Cross who will distribute the wheelchairs. To Elder Winter's right is Nerman their translator. He is an excellent young man who stays in Bosnia to take care of his elderly parents. |
 | ||
| We are standing at a hotel resort where they NGO with whom we partnered for a Wheelchair distribution project took us to lunch after the official ceremony. We are with E/S Gary and Susan Winters. They are an amazing couple who have had some real challenges placed in front of them as they have opened the country as the first full time Humanitarian missionaries living in Bosnia. |
