Our Trip to Bucharesti, Romania

Here is the Palace of the former communist dictator. Both He and his wife were executed when the government was overthrown in 1989.

We Arrived at the Airport about 5:15pm on Oct 12th. We were picked up by Elder Randy and Sister Vicky Wolsey. We went immediately to the home of Mission president for dinner. President Hill and his wife were from the Salt Lake area. President Hill and John had served in the central German Mission at about the same time. They had also Grown up in Bountiful attending the same High school The two of them had a great time exchanging stories. President Hill told us story that I would like to remember. while serving in the mission home during his missionary service in Germany, a women and her husband came into the mission home seeking a blessing. The president was gone so the women asked if he and his companion could give her a blessing. she was gravely ill. The doctors felt she would not live long. She had serious heart problems. This women had such faith. She knew that she could be healed. She had 8 children she was the only member of the church she needed to raise her children. So the two missionaries went into the other room an prayed for help. President Hill gave the blessing trying to say only what the Lord would have him say. He did not remember what he said but at the conclusion of the blessing. This woman was healed. The color had come back into her face and the warmth had returned to her limbs. Years later the President and wife and son were in Frankfurt at the temple were he desire to spend the night in the hostel. It was full but they suggested they go to a ladies home close by where they could spend the night. A bed and breakfast. It was the home of this woman he had given the blessing to so many years Ago. I thought this a great story

Thursday morning we were up early and on the road at 6:45am.
We traveled up into the mountains to the city of Brasov for a wheelchair distribution ceremony. The missionaries were there to help and we saw Elder Newey again we had his help in Moldova at the NRT project. The organization Motivation Romania was distributing the wheel chairs. What a great job. Each chair was fitted properly to each recipient and they began the training process to teach each of the recipients how to use the chairs on stairs and ramps.We loved visiting with the recepients. This young women became disabled because of a fall. This man was given a live Polio vaccine and contracted the disease. He was my favorite because he looks like Brian and he acted like him. They could be brothers. He had a family. He played Basketball and danced with a team. He was employed as well.
Here is a 26 year old learning to use her wheel chair.


We had lunch at McDonalds and then back to Bucharest to meet Cristian Ispas who is the head of Motivation Romania. We had a tour of his facilities where some wheelchairs are modified for special needs and then a tour of several of the homes for children who have severe disabilities. This man does great work.
Then on Friday we were off at 7:00 for a 3.5 hour drive to the town of Braila to meet with Lina the head of Associatia Speranta. She had an autistic child and could find no help for him. so she studied out the problem and began her own school and organization for these children. The school is in an old building with only two rooms and a small kitchen and bath room. In the spring the couple in Romania had arranged to turn the yard into a great play ground for the children. It was great.What a loving person she was and what a great need she was filling for the city. There are at a least 150 children with autism in this city. We saw pictures of the opening ceremony and was told that the minister of the department of health was going to model a new facility after hers. We meet some of. The children and were impressed with the progress that was reported to us. It was great to see such caring people.
We then drove to the Leper Colony out of Tichlesti The colony was established the 1920. There were 180 residents but now there are only 21. Mainly elderly persons whose lepercy is no longer but they are laving with the scars both physical and emotional. In Romania the people will not allow these idividuals back into society. The colony is located in a beautiful. Remote area. The housing is poor and they are in great need of a better water systm. This was the focus of the visit after greeting the residents. We met an 82 year old lady who was left at the colony by her family at the age of 18
She said she followed the doctors instructions and reports that Jesus cured her of her Lepercy and her broken heart. She has an amazing attitude. She is loving and very productive. She crochets doilies and embroiders. She gave me a beautiful Dollie she had made. It was wonderful to meet her. I have a picture to share another time. We returned to Bucharest in the evening and had dinner with the Wolsey's. They are wonderful people.

Then on Saturday we drove to Slobozia to meet another great lady who has spent her days caring for the disabled children of Romania. She has about 300 children she looks after. She took us to a number of places so we could see some of the needs. We saw a mother who had just brought a new born baby home to a tiny one room home. The house was falling apart and only one room remains. Her husband is legally blind and they have a 2 year old as well. Noreen is working to get the family to come into the shelter for the winter or she feels the baby will sure die.


We saw a home constructed out of homemade bricks of mud, straw and cow dung. It was amazing. People who are really trying to help themselves.
Then we traveled to Constanta. A seaport city on the black sea. It was rather late in the afternoon when we got there so we did not get to do all that was planned for here.
We had dinner at Marco Polo restaurant and got back to Bucharest after 10 pm. We were tired.


This morning we attended the District Conference at the Panduri chapel.
Half way through the conference Dad was asked to speak on the Humanitarian work we do. He did a wonderful job. Here are the Wolseys with us in front of the Chapel.
It was wonderful to feel the spirit of these great people.To see the missionary work go forward and the gospel being spread. What a blessing it is to serve the lord in this capacity.
We love all of you. We have so enjoyed your emails And seeing you via Skype.
We are flying home and will be landing soon. We love each of you very much.
Love
Oma and Opa

Helping in Moldova

Dear All, 3 Oct., 2011

We’re sorry that we have not written for a while, we have either been out of town and internet access is difficult, or we have had trouble with our internet connection.

While we spent the first part of September in Hungary, we spent the last part in Moldova. Moldova is a small country nestled between Rumania and the Ukraine. We were in the capitol of Chisinau and the 2^nd largest city Balti. To see the effect of almost 50 years of Communism rule on the people of Moldova was very interesting to say the least. Their whole system is based on dishonesty and distrust. There is little robbery, but stealing is as common as sneezing. Stealing is only bad if you get caught, and if you can get away with it, then they think it is a good thing. This makes it very hard for members of the church who are trying to be honest because their whole system takes advantage of their honesty. The people all know that the government from the lowest to the highest level is dishonest, but they accept it because that is just the way things are. Employees cheat their bosses and the bosses aren’t honest with the employees. For example, one young sister is trying to earn and save enough money to go on a mission, but it is very hard because her employers only gives her 10-15% of her salary. The rest they keep and tell her that the company had some losses so they can’t pay her the full salary. If she complains they tell her if she doesn’t like it to quit. They know she won’t because the unemployment rate is so high that getting another job will be very difficult.

We were in Moldova to cover for the humanitarian couple that returned home about a week before a Neonatal Resuscitation Training team came in to conduct 3 two day courses. The team consisted of a nurse trainer from the Univ. of Utah hospital, and administrator also from SLC, a nurse who is head of the nursing dept. at the national university in Jordan, and a neonatologist from Minneapolis. All came for 1-2 weeks donating their time to administer the course and bring about $25,000 worth of equipment which they used to teach the course and then left in the country for the local doctors to use in teaching others. The church pays for the equipment and their expenses while there, but that is all, so the church can afford to conduct many such courses throughout the world. In the 18 years that we have been keeping track of the donated humanitarian services in Moldova the church has donated over $2.7 million. Those who are receiving the training are very grateful especially when the can use that training to save the life of a new born baby. For us it was wonderful to be a part of that service, to share and to give. We took care of the local arrangement responsibilities and saw that all went smoothly. We provided for lunch and 2 snacks breaks each day. Susan’s relief society service made our jobs a snap, very busy each day, but we knew how to handle every situation. When we got back to the office our everyday responsibilities had just piled up and we had a mountain of work to do, which took a good week of 12 hour days for 5 days. This last week we reviewed and authorized almost $200,000 in humanitarian projects.

This week we also picked up our German driver’s licenses which are good for life, and we were permitted to also keep our WY. License. Normally stateside licenses have to be given to the German Government while living in Germany. Then when you return to the states you can get back your stateside license back if you render your German license back to the government. We were able to keep ours because Susan’s license gives her permission to operate a motorcycle (you didn’t know I was married to a biker chick), and mine allows me to drive up to a 11 ton truck (no I don’t have a tattoo).

Sunday night 1 week later and I’m going to include some pictures and post this blog.

Picture 1 is a statue of King Stephen who founded the Balkan empire, which at one time included 17 countries which included Hungary, Rumania Moldova, Czech etc.

Picture 2 is a picture of one of the classes learning to intubate a newborn, Dr. Rob Payne is the instructor

Picture 3 is a picture of some of the missionaries, the NRT team, and us

Picture 4 is a Picture of a beautiful fountain found in the middle of Chisinau the capital of Moldova

Germany as it once was

Hello All,
This week was a busy one in the office trying to get all the administrative work done before we leave for Hungary this Friday. We find even when we don't travel there is much to do. So we try to accomplish as much as we can before we go any where. In September we will be gone over half of the month, which means this week in crammed full of things that have to be done. Sometimes we can postpone some task for a couple of days ,but this week with us leaving nothing can be postponed. Tomorrow we will go into the offic a little early and try to get a lot done before others start to arrive at 7:30.
Let me tell you a little about this village, this is an open air museum about 20-25 minutes from Frankfurt. We drove there on Sat. to see if it would be worthwhile to take the other missionaries there in middle Sept. The little house above was built about 1600 and was used by a black smith as his home, and then used later as his shop. All the homes you will see are from the 15-18 hundreds. They were all carefully dismantled and then reassembled here in the museum so they are the real thing not a reproduction. These houses were made of big supporting timbers, with a lath work of small branches stuck in between these timbers, and then mud mixed with straw and manure was pushed into the lattice work formed by the branches. These house were built in the 1800s
were inhabited by wealthy people. They were successful merchants and professional people. The walls were made of a low grade type of stucco and painted white. The roofs were slate instead of thatch and had numerous rooms as you can see. These homes were still occupied until they were moved her in the late 1990s. The arch is typical of an arch leading into a courtyard. These homes would have been built most probably on the town or village square. I have also taken a picture of houses on the other side of the town square. The town square was also the town market place or square. The farmers would then on Sat. morning bring in their produce and sale it to the villagers.
The other 2 sides of the square were lined with shops and the merchants lived above their shop, made for a short walk to work, just down the stairs.













This house got out of sequence some how, and I don't know how to get it back without messing every thing else up. What I wanted to show was the lattice made by the branches. If you zoom in on the holes you can easily see the lattice work. The roof is a thin thatched roof. Great for rat and mice nest,but the did keep the rain out. However when it was dry they easily caught on fire. When people learned how to use slate and tile roofs the incident of fires caused by a spark from the chimney went down significantly. I don't know the history of this house.
Next week if we have WiFi in the hotel we will write from either Vienna or Budapest.
We love you all, be good and remember who you are,
Oma und Opa

Another Great Week in the Office

Hi my dears,

Hope you all had a good week. We were busy with projects, finances, a Zone Conference and a few trips out to get our drivers license processed and an after work trip to the Romer Platz and shopping strasses and a stop off at Christine's Eis Palace for a treat.
Here is the building that we live in. Our final apartment will be on the 10th floor. You can see our balcony in this picture. From the top left of the building, it is the second row of balconies , the second balcony from the left. We are told that they are working on the remodel, so hopefully we will be moved in soon.
We thought that you might like to see where we work. This is our office. The windows look out to see our Apartment building, We have great people to work with and we will spotlight some of our coworkers next week. The Carl Block picture on the wall is the logo for the Welfare/Humanitarian department of the Church here in Europe.



This is the wall behind my desk. These are photos of projects that have been done throughout Europe. We will be adding our own pictures to this Gallery as time permits.
Each week goes by so fast. We will be home before you know it. This week we had a great Zone conference. The theme was feeling joy through the loving service we give at the Office. We had a number of couples talk about their assignments. It was interesting and inspiring to hear what they do and the spiritual experiences they are having. We were the last ones on the program and when our turn came we were 11/2 hours behind the schedule. So we shortened ours as much as we could. We showed a video clip of a news spotlight shown in Croatia about a wheelchair project done by one of our couples. It was really good. WE will email the link if you would like to see it along with the script in English. We had Mexican food for Lunch that day and so enjoyed it. It was quite good. It was wonderful day.
We had a couple invite us for dinner for today. She told us their missionary story. It was very inspiring and sacred. This is just a piece of the story. A few months before their call, they went 4 wheeling with their son and his family. As they were loading the 4 Wheelers on the trailer the husbands 4 wheeler flipped off the trailer and landed upside down with the husband pinned underneath. The son heard a distinct voice say "What will be will be, you can't do anything about it" Then another voice said "You can help, get over there" He raced to the scene and with his left hand flipped the 800 pound vehicle off his Dad. The husband had only a badly broken leg. What a miracle. The son was not active in the church but is now eagerly engaged in the church. The leg healed well and he was up on it in 6 weeks. When we get home we would love to tell you the whole story. If you would like to hear it you can ask us.
Yesterday was our P-Day. We slept in for the first time since I can't remember. 7:30am We cleaned, went shopping and then went for a bike ride to Bad Vibel, a little village close by. It was fun. I am a little slow on the bike but I so enjoy it. I will get faster. I hope. Downhill is great but uphill it is faster for me to walk the bike. I will get better. We love you all and think of you all so often. Brian's Birthday is tomorrow and we are thinking of Him. Hope School is going well for Adam and Matt and Kaya and the Sorensen's. Have a great week.
We love you all
Oma and Opa

Back in Wuerzburg

Hey who is that good looking couple?

We drove back to Wuerzburg on Sat. with 20 other senior missionaries. We had a great time and enjoyed seeing the Residence and the Fortress. I don't know what the computer is doing, but I'm going to try and finish this blog, poor tho it may be. I wanted to wrap the text around the pictures, but the computer won't cooperate. so I'll just do things how the computer wants. This is the side garden of the residence which is still beautiful this far into the summer. The next two picture are of the same garden but from a different perspective.
The next picture is of the Rose garden in the back of the palace. I was amazed at how nice the roses still were. Their normal blooming time is in June, but there is still a nice numbers of flowers left to enjoy.If you look at the back wall you will see where on the next pictures was taken. The palace (Residnce) was built in the 1400 when the prince bishop decided he wanted a more beautiful place to live in and in which to receive royal visitors. The Prince Bishop had all the power; He was the secular leader as a prince, and as the bishop he was the ecclesiastical leader. The residence has 320 rooms and for a period of time also housed the governmental offices. The insides have been restored costing millions of Euros, and they are beautiful. The center portion of the building withstood the bombs of WWII, but the north and south side wings had wood roofs and were pretty badly destroyed, but oh how nicely they are now. The ceiling in the center portion are all fresco's, and a fresco's is painted while the plaster is still wet so that the color goes deep into the plaster. The colors and painting are still very bright and vivid today 5-600 years later. If you make it to Germany while we are here and desire to see what I can't adequately discribe we will try and bring you to Wuerzburg.

The next series of picture were taken of the Fortress, which was built in the early 1300, and was never conquered except by the Swedes in the 1600's. The fortress was built in stages which was typical of most fortresses in those days. Each succeeding ruler wanted to make his fortress even more secure so he kept expanding and adding another protective wall and moot. Most fortresses have 2 or 3 protective wall and 1 or 2 moots. The moots were not filled with water, but it made breaching the walls very difficult and costly in life's. The first picture shows the oldest gate of the fortress.In the inner court you see this tall tower with 3 meters thick walls. The height of the tower was 42.5 meters high. From the top of the tower you can see for miles in all direction. In addition positioned on top of hill added to the visibility and security of the structure. The big challenge to life in a fortress like this was water. Without water the livestock and food scources could not be maintained. These people dug a well 2.5 times deeper that the height of the tower, which is quite an engineering feat.Because the prince like to travel he was gone most of the time, while in Italy he enjoyed the gardens and the sea. So when he came back he had a garden put on the top of some of the building (much like the conference center in SLC). If you look you can see the form of a ship. This picture was taken from the stern looking toward the bow of a ship.

There is one more picture I want to show the kids. In the next picture find the residence on the left center of the picture. Take you gaze up the picture in about a 1 o'clock direction. You will see a beige building with a red roof. Right behind that building you will see the hopsital where I worked, and if you can look up and a little to the right and you will see Leighten Barracks where we lived. From the Fortress seeing this all is quite easy (I hope you can enlarge the picture enough so you can see it also). This blog turned out completely different that I planned, but atleast there was something. From now on I want to write more about the spiritual things that we are experiencing.
We love you all, and always pray for you,
Oma und Opa









and the Forttress again

Another Great Week in Germany

A week in the Office. Busy but Good

The picture on the Left was taken in Slovakia. We could not get over how beautiful the fields of sunflowers were. So we stopped the car. Hopped over the ditch to get these pictures. Dad Loves the picture below, he has titled it..."Mom with a bee in her bonnet to get a picture among the flowers." I was really determined to get close enough so you could get perspective. However, Dad did and we will send that picture another time. It is really a good one of him.

This week has been busy. The learning curve is getting more manageable. We are trying to Go to lunch each day. Sister Windley invited us to go to lunch two days this week. It was great to get to know her and to get out of the office. Dad tried to go on tuesday but was called back to the office to take care of some business. Dad's computer skills are growing. He can now attach pictures to emails and can get around the Humanitarian software. This week Monday, Elder Dearing and Dad put the kick stand on my new bike and then we went Blackberry picking. The dearings had found a great spot and we picked alot of berries. I made Alexis's berry cobbler to take into the office. Tuesday evening we cleaned the old apartment and made calls to SLC in the late evening to get clearance for a Water Project in Romania for the last Leper Colony in Europe. Wednesday we took the U Bahn to find the office to get our Visa's. We were successful. We can now legally stay here in Germany until May 2013. Thursday we took of the more part of the day so we could go to Wiesbaden to get my last Heppititis A shot and get registered on the base. We made a run to the commissary and to Linda's Clock shop. A fun stop. Thursday evening we went to dinner with E/S Dearing. We went to a Mongolian restaurant in Bad Vilbel that was excellent. Had fun visiting and going for a wild ride with Elder Dearing. Friday, we worked until 3:00. This week has been one of lots of problem solving. But with each problem I tackle I learn more. So they are blessings to help me learn my job. When we left work on Friday we finished cleaning up the old apartment and getting it ready for the new couple, the Wells, who we picked up on Saturday. We cleaned up our new apartment and went to bed. We spent Saturday with the Wells. Getting them settled and keeping them up so they can
make the time adjustment easier. We took them shopping for groceries and then to lunch and then down to the Am Zeil strasses which is the main shopping street in the city. On the Left is a couple of pictures of an indoor mall on the street. This picture is taken from the street. What you are seeing is an actual glas hole in the building that extends from the exterior of the building through the mall and down to the center of the floor of the mall. Amazing!!!

The second picture was take from inside the mall on the top floor. This escalator goes from the main floor to the 6th floor which is the top floor.
The third picture is at the top of the escalator looking toward the street.
The next picture was taken on Romer Platz with all the tents and decorations for the festival. The last picture is of the four of us taken on one of the bridges over the Main river. We happened onto the main Festival. So there was food, Music and lots of vendors and carnival rides. I think we all enjoyed the afternoon. We had dinner in our apartment.

We have had some lovely experiences this week. When we were on the Base we had to register so we could get on. The young women who helped us is a member of the church who we invited to come back. she gave us her information and we hope the missionaries or ward members will contact her and her family. The Lord has blessed us in so many ways. We enjoy serving the Lord, it is such a privilege to be here and associate with these wonderful missionaries. We hope all is well with all of you. We are missing you all as we think of you at snowbird enjoying the beauty, each other and all the family. We look forward to skyping on Monday at 7 pm our time. We love you all
















Romer Platz in Frankfurt

Hi all,

We have had a great week in Slovakia. On Wednesday we flew to Kosice in the eastern part of Slovakia for a Wheelchair closing ceremony. We stayed in a lovely Hotel on the main square of Kosice which was established in the 12^th century. It is a beautiful city which was not destroyed at all in the war so the beautiful architecture has been preserved. The main square is approximately 2 kilometers long with several parks including one with a beautiful water fountain orchestrated to music. On the square is found the most eastern Catholic Cathedral in Europe. It is in Romanesque style architecture, and it is beautiful. There are several other beautiful churches as well in the City.

This cathedral is on the main street of Kosice, a beautiful 2 Km pedestrian street

Thursday, we drove two hours to the eastern border of Slovakia to the city of Bezovce. The Ceremony was in the School Gym. It was attended by the Mayor and the Slovakian minister of Social work, both acknowledged how much humanitarian aid the church has given to help the Slovakian People. It was also attended by the Mission President and his wife, 12 missionaries’ and 20 recipients and their families. 500 Wheelchairs will be distributed to people who are mobile challenged. The wheelchairs will enable these people to get out of their homes and interact in society. The Program was orchestrated by a special lady who heads up a nongovernmental organization dedicated to helping people with handicaps. Her organization assembled all the names of the recipients and distributed the chairs the church provided. Those who received chairs and their families were very appreciative. Several of the officials spoke and the missionaries sang I am a child of God accompanied by the senior missionary couple on the Guitar.

Look at the lovily countenance of this sweet little girl

This little guy could only walk aided by someone or very slowly with a walker

Look at that smile! Life has just become much better for him

The lady who organized the program to distribute the wheelchairs and conducted the ceremony was in a lot of back pain and was scheduled for back surgery on the 2nd of Aug. I asked if she had been offered a priesthood blessing, which she had not. I had one of the young elders ask her if should like a blessing and she said yes. We went into a room with her daughter, and one of the young elders who spoke Slovakian anointed her, and another sealed the anointing and gave her a blessing. The next day this lady called one of our interpreters who is also a member of the church, and told her that the blessing had been an amazing experience for her. She said a peaceful calm feeling came over her,and she wasn't worried any more about the operation. The next morning when she awoke the pain was gone. She doesn't understand how the blessing did this, but she knows that what happened is real and not just in her mind. Sunday in church was a wonderful spiritual experience as well, there is a lot of love among the members in this small branch. There were 5 nonmembers in attendance, and they could feel that loving feeling as well.

Sat. we had the opportunity to do a little sightseeing and drove to an old fortress that was started in 1269 by the Celts. Over the course of 500 hundred years it was enlarged and beautified. The view from the top of the watchman's tower was amazing, we could see for miles in all directions,and in each direction there were 3 or 4 small villages one behind the other. I'll send of picture of the fortress with this blog.

This is Spiss Casltle and Fortress with an awesome view from the top of the tower

Traveling is one of the blessing of this calling, which so far has required 11 to 13 hour days 5 days a week and work on Sat.and Sun. as well. But I figure on Sun. it's OK to work because we're doing the Lord's work (no we don't skip church to work ). In Sept. we will drive to Hungary via Vienna, and return to Frankfurt via Berchtesgaden. In Budapest we will be organizing another wheelchair project to distribute 500 wheelchairs plus walkers and crutches, we will also check on a food and nutrition project that is about 2 years old now.

We have been having trouble with the blogging, and so our blogs a been sparse, but we think we have the bugs worked out and can blog much easier now and therfore we'll be able to blog more consistently. We love you and wish God's blessings for you. Oma and Opa