Croatia/norther Bosnia, and Emergency Relief in the Balkans

This is E/S Erickson They have been humanitarian missionaries for Croatia and northern Bosnia for almost 18 months and have done much to help the people of these 2 countries. We visited with them from the 16th -20th of Feb. and were able to meet many of the people they have worked with. They are a wonderful couple and have touched many lives. They were featured in a national news spot featuring people that have helped and made a difference in Croatia. They have been on TV several times and people on the streets are beginning to recognize them. They have left their mark on Croatia, and this humanitarian mission and Croatia and Bosnia have left a mark on them. You can not serve a humanitarian mission without being changed, we have seen it in every couple that we've met in these various countries.

This is a symbol of the city of Varazdin, Croatia which is found in many of the the streest of the city and is the city where the Erickson's live. It is a beautiful town of maybe 200,000.

This is Dr. Golubovic, She is the national Secretary general or head of all the the Red Cross in northern Bosnia. I presented her with a certificate of appreciation from the Church for all the time we have worked together to help the people of Bosnia. This was at a ceremony were together we presented newborn kits to new mothers, and hygiene kits to others in the community with needs, and also wheelchairs. The event was covered by 2 TV stations, newspapers and 2 radio talk show host. One of the tlak show host has the largest audience in Croatia, so it was quite a big deal for the local couple and the red Cross.

These two ovens were purchased to help to help a Catholic Charity running a soup kitchen. They feed over 430 people daily who need help. It was very touching to see the response of the volunteer staff when the Erickson's walked into the kitchen, they were greeted with a lot of hugs and kisses and broad smiles. The people receiving the daily soup meal are unaware of good this great couple do, but they are very grateful for the meal. For many it is the only meal of the day. Unemployment is high and the pay for the jobs that are there is low. That is why these people are so used to black market dealing, it has meant survival.

One of the projects that was done in by the Erickson's in Croatia this years was to help fund this play/therapy room for disabled children in a rehabilitation hospital (primarily the only one) in northern Croatia. It is now a bright cherry room with a lot of toys and games for the children where before it was just a grey cement floored room. This little girl is unable to walk and spends most of her day on the floor leaning against something. She can't sit up by herself so life has some definite challenges, but look at that smile anyway. I couldn't read the Croatian words so I read the pictures to her. She didn't seem to mind my inabilities and was appreciative and sweet anyway.

This Picture does not mean much until you realize in was taken from a 3rd story window. Once you know this it gives you a greater appreciation for the depth of the snow. For many communities there was no school for 2 weeks because of the snow, which sent 5 countries into a state of emergency.

Consequently we have been very busy these past two weeks with emergency projects in the Balkan countries. Winter storms with severe cold temperatures hit the Balkans the beginning of Feb. dropping record amounts of snow in the mountain villages. In Romania for example some villages reported between 12-15 feet of snow. All roads and rail lines were closed the only way to access these villages was with snow cats and snowmobiles, where these could not go the military took food in with helicopters. Many villages were stranded with inadequate amounts of food and firewood for heating. The Church combined with the Red Cross in 4 countries to bring emergency food, blankets, and firewood to thousands of trapped villagers. Thousands of dollars were sent to help these people, and because of the Church's organization we were able to respond immediately to the urgent calls for help. During the course of years the Church has developed a very good working relationship with many local and national relief organizations in the Balkan countries and has quietly done a significant amount of good. In 2011 over a $100,000 in aid and services were provided to Croatia and northern Bosnia alone, but you'll never hear about it. All this money is donated by members throughout the world to help others, none comes from the tithes of the Church.

This blog I've written about the good of this couple and the Church have done in helping other, and I haven't even touched on the spiritual blessing of being a member of the Church. These blessing are the greatest of all because they don't as a rule deal with "things", but with happiness and relationships and with peace.
We hope you have a good week, we love you all Oma and Opa

A week of Many Emergencies

Saturday, the 11th, a group of couple missionaries who serve in the the Frankfurt area went to the Tutankhamen Exhibit in Frankfurt. There were 27 of us. We had a great time. The Exhibit was well organized. It began with a History of Egypt and how the interest in Egyptian antiquities was initiated in the the early 1900's. We learned about Howard Carter, the man who spent his whole life looking for King Tut's tomb. He was the first one to open this tomb. We viewed two video presentations and then entered the exhibit which showed the exact replica of the four chambers found. Then we were able to examine the numerous items with detailed explanations . Here is a picture of the containers that the Sarcophagus was put in. These were amazing. There was so much we saw and learned. We had a lovely time which culminated in Dinner at a Chinese Restaurant directly across from the Bahnhof.

Now here is a brief accounting of Monday thru Friday of February 6-10,2012

• Monday: We began with continued cold temperatures. We worked steady as many calls poured in to the office concerning the emergency conditions in Bosnia. At lunch time a walk (We are trying to walk 30 minutes everyday) to PennyMart to purchase a few items we needed then back to work until about 7pm. We got home and fixed Left overs.
• Tuesday: We worked until 10:30AM. Checked out a car from the churches motor pool and drove to Wiesbaden to the Military Facility to go to the post office, pick up a prescription and get a dental exam. We waited over 2 hours to be seen. Dad had a better report than I. I have a cavity under one of my crowns and the military dental doesn't provide treatment for crowns to anyone but the enlisted personnel. So that means I must go to a German Dentist. I am praying that the Lord will intervene before I must make an appointment. We then drove to the commissary. It is always great fun to go to the commissary. We purchased our treasures that we cannot get anywhere else as quickly as we could so we could get back to Frankfurt to drive to a dinner appointment. By this time in the late afternoon it had begun to snow. The drive to the Francois's took us two hours. We were late but brother Francois got home just 30 minutes ahead of us so we were not the only ones late. They were so lovely and gracious. Brother Francois is from France. He met his lovely wife Larissa at BYU who was studying for an advanced degree. She is Russian. They have three darling boys. We had Raucklett for dinner. We melted cheese under a little broiler at the table and put it over potatoes, ham, chicken and corn. It was served with coleslaw. It was fun and we enjoyed it. We had a great Apple crisp for dessert. The family home evening lesson was given by us. I downloaded a story from the friends website-lds.org. The boys loved the Ipads animated story about Heber J Grant. What a great evening!!!!!!
• Wednesday: We worked in the morning until about 10:30. We then drove to the airport to pick up the Smiths. They are wheelchair specialists from the Vancouver area who had been helping the Stiles in Slovakia and the Pages in the Czech Republic with identifying a Good NGO and training them on the new procedures for Wheelchair distributions. We took them to lunch where they spent a good portion of the afternoon explaining the New Wheelchair distribution program to us. We enjoyed them very much and learned a lot. We took them to their hotel and headed for home. We got home after 5:30 because we made a stop at the Media Mart for a TV cable and then on to the Car wash so we could turn the car back into the Motor pool. So we stayed home and prepared Banana Bread to take into the Office for Dad"s Birthday.
• Thursday: HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR DAD. Those working on our floor sang Happy Birthday and we passed out the treat to all who wanted a piece. This is the tradition in the office. We were taken to lunch by Elfie Herrman, an 83 yr old lady in our building who we have befriended. She took us to a very nice German restaurant in the Taunus Montains. It was very beautiful and the food was good. We returned to the office as we were working diligently to get the Emergency relief projects up and going. Getting the money to them is not any easy process. So we worked until almost dark. Went for a walk, which we really enjoyed together. Upon our return home we felt to full to eat a big meal so we had left overs to include some Jewish Apple Cake I had made for John on Saturday. We worked some more and went to bed.
• Friday: We worked like crazy on the Emergency Relief projects which now included, Northern and Southern Bosnia, Kosovo, Romania, possibly Serbia and Montenegro. The snow is 9 feet deep in most areas. We took our walk at lunch and when we finally finished work at about 6:00pm. we invited our friends the Wells for a dinner of Left overs. Dinner was great and we had a great visit. We watched a movie "Lost In Austin" as in Jane Austin. Very interesting.
• As Dad would say,"There you have it sports fans, a brief review of a week in the life of Elder and Sister Leonard" Have a wonderful week. We love you.
  

Visit to Eisenach Castle

The couple in the center wanted to come to this castle and so we brought them and the Wells. The middle couple (VorWallers) are here on a special 4 month assignment. She is 80 and he is in his late 70's. They stared the Family Services program and wrote the manual for the church years ago when they were in Germany on a mission.
Elder Wells and I standing at the entrance to the castle. He just retired as the dept.chairman of psychology at BYU. We are associating with some amazingly accomplished people.
This is looking out a window at another section of the castle. It is in this section that the Martin Luther room is located. As you can see the day we were there it was cloudy and cold with some snow.

This is the room and the desk where Martin Luther translated much of the Old Testament. At this time the Catholic church was trying to find him and execute him for translating the original Greek text into German for the common man to read (those that could read). The ceramic green thing is the heater that was stoked in the back from another room. Common form of heating in those days.
This is the Great Hall of the castle, here great balls and concerts were held. The famed pianist Franz Josef Liszt designed the the shape of the ceiling which has excellent acoustics. The flag you see was one of the first flags of Germany. In the early 1800's a group of university students met her to try and form a country form the more that 3000 little kingdoms that comprised Germany and that time. The flag had the German colors of Red Yellow and black (still used today). The colors represented: royalty,the protestants and the catholics.
This is a picture of the woman's hall. The upper walls and the ceiling portray the life of St. Elizabeth who lived here until her husband died in Italy on his way to the Holy Land. This whole room is done in mosaic tiles.
This mosaic shows St. Elizabeth engaged at age 4, her espoused was 6. Marriage in those days among the nobility were political or economically based. St. Elizabeth was married at 14, had 3 children, and widow at 21. After she was widowed she took her children to a convent to be raised and when to serve the poor. She died at age 24 of exhaustion and was cannonized shortly thereafter.
This picture shows her husband (the king) going off to fight in the crusades at the age of 23. He died in Italy of Typhoid on the march to the Holy Land. Again this picture is done all in small mosaic tiles
In the castle were displayed many precious items to include this ornate, festive suit of armor. Such a fancy suit would never be worn into battle. However it gives you an idea of the armor that was worn and how cumbersome it must have been. This suit would weigh about 150 lbs.

This week has been busy as usual, but we are learning and feeling like we know our duty much better, so although we are still very busy we are not as stressed. Tomorrow we will be dealing with an emergency project to aid the people of Bosnia. The national head of the Red Cross contacted our couple who oversees projects in southern Bosnia today with an emergency request for food and water. They called us for help, we talked with our boss, and authorized the missionary couple to proceed an immediate expenditure of $15,000 with more to follow once we see that the food and water acutally get to the intended stranded villagers. You will probably never hear about any of this, and if you do it will be a very scaled down version. The church goes about doing good all over the world in a very quiet way
We love you all,
Oma and Opa

The new Year of 2012

Dear all

It is hard to believe that is the end of January. The days and weeks go by all to fast. The past two weeks have been so busy. We have been writing the yearly history, And just getting organized for the new Year. We have had a Wheelchair closing in Bratislava, Slovakia, We have trained a new couple going into Montenegro, and we had my sister Vickie come for five days. I will share with you a few highlights of the past few week

Here is Elder Stiles and Elder and Sister Page helping to set up Wheelchairs for the Closing in Bratislava. It was a lovely event. WE drove through Czech Republic and picked up the Pages on our way to Bratislava. We hope it was good training for them. We spent stwo nights in Prague.
Here are Elder and Sister Brown whom we enjoyed getting to know as we trained with them for 4 days in Frankfurt. They are now in Montenegro. The first missionaries to go into this country. A great couple from Richland, Washington. They came on a Sunday the 15th and flew out on the 19th of January.









Vickie made this lovely quilt for me before she cam. I just love it. I wrap up in it and I can just feel the love she put into it as she made this for me.
What a great Sister













Sunday Afternoon we went to the Schloss Friedrichshof Now the Kronburg Schloss Hotel. Built in the late 1890 by Empress Victoria widow of the German Emporer Frederick III and daughter of Queen Victoria of England. We were able to have a free tour of the Now Hotel.










Vickie and John Waiting for the tour at kronberg Schloss Hotel. We saw the rooom where queen Victoria stayed. Sat in her throne chair when she visited. We saw the room where Eisenhauer lived for 7 years after the war. This hotel was his headquaters during the reconstruction.
When we returned home we watched the movie, the YOung Victoria. It made the history much more real









Saturday we visted the Braunfels with our neightbor Elfie Harmonn. John truely was the man of the hour with all of these women to take care of. Here we are walking form the Burg to the little village for some hot chocolate and a yummy pastry. The tour was even in English. Next week John will tell you all about this interesting place.

Here we are eating lunch at the gasthaus on the Rommer Platz. Vickie said it was her most favorite meal. Nurenburger wurst and sauerkraut. It was really great. John was with us everyday but Monday. He was a great sport. We had a great time the three of us.









We attended the Temple on Friday evening with our Missionary Couples. We had a lovely session. We went to Dinner at the Stadt Berlin. The food was good and the company great. It was so wonderful to have this special time with Vickie. Vickie arrived on Thursday morning January 19th . We went to lunch she and I as John had to work. Then friday was our day in Frankfurt and our evening in Friedkicksdorf at the Temple.





We Took a walking tour of downtown Frankfurt. We visited the old Jewish cemetary that was begun in the 1200's. The nazis desecrated the place during the war years. Following the war, the stones have been cleaned up and arranged. Here Vickie stands in the small entrance to the cemetary. the small blocks imbeded in the walls are plaques with the names of the jews who died in the concentration camps. It includes the name and the camp they died in. We located Anne Franks and her sister Marget.

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