WEEK 12, 13 and 14 Whew! How time flies!

The Slovakian District Relief Society conference was held in Kosiče at the end of April.  Marilyn enjoyed meeting sisters from all over Slovakia.  For 2 days there were speakers, delicious food, crafts, lots of laughter and a few tears.  The young missionary sisters sang a beautiful song.  There are only 8 missionary sisters in the whole country and they are the best of the best!  

  

We had an interesting visit to a Roma village in Laškovce.  This village works well with the local community, which is rare, and we like it because it means that the community leaders (both Roma and white) are willing and interested in making important changes for the Roma.  We met the mayor of the village and he is actually Roma. He is an interesting man, he worked in construction in England for a number of years.  We hope to assist them in building a community center where a kindergarten could be held, classes for the parents, additional office space for employees and activities for the youth.  He has made a lot of positive changes in the village.  He has employed many of the Roma citizens to do various jobs such as police patrols, and the community leaders provide classes to teach Roma women how to take care of their children, pre and post-natal care, personal hygiene and health care.  It is truly encouraging to see the two races working together in harmony. The highlight of the day was watching the Roma children celebrate May Day. We thought a lot about Lindsey that day because her birthday was the very next day and we knew our family would be getting together at the cemetery.  We do have times when we wish that we could be home for special occasions but we love our service here in Slovakia.

Part of our mission is to introduce and encourage the four small branches of the Church in Slovakia to start teaching the 6 self-reliance courses offered by the Church.  It has been a challenge because the small branches are so spread out. Most people in Slovakia do not own cars and rely on public transportation, which makes it a challenge to get to the Church for the classes.  Marilyn and I facilitate the weekly meeting in Košice, which has been very rewarding for us. We have been talking about Emotional Resiliance, we have learned a lot and it seems like everyone could use this course.

We reached a milestone in Prešov last week.  The branch we attend in Košice is about 30 km from Prešov, and some of the members live even further away--up to 100 km, so the branch leadership has organized a group to meet once a month in our little one-room chapel. This is exciting news and a pioneering experience for us.  We wish you could hear how beautifully the members in Slovakia sing the hymns.  It was one of our favorite things to hear on Sunday.   They may be few in number, but they sing with such conviction. Marilyn was asked to be one of the speakers at this inaugural meeting and because it was Mothers Day, she spoke about womanhood. She did an amazing job.

On Tuesday we had a meeting with Darina Barančiková, the official representative from the Slovak government, who is responsible for 60 Roma villages in our area.  We met in the Roma village of Šarišska Poruba, just outside Prešov, to discuss a project to clean and safely cover three wells in the community.  Again, we met with the mayor of the village and discussed the contamination of the drinking water in this Roma community.  We are so pleased to contribute to the wellbeing of this small village by providing them with safe and clean water.  We always leave our visits to these communities feeling a bit down, not for the adults as they can look after themselves.  We feel sorry for the children of these communities who suffer the most from a lifetime of poverty and discrimination.  However, we notice that these kids always have a smile on their face and are happy just to be kicking a ball around or chasing each other in the grass.

In May 2006, President Dieter Uchtdorf of the First Presidency came to Trenčin and, on a beautiful spring day in a grove of trees on a hillside just outside the town, dedicated the land of Slovakia for the preaching of the gospel.  Every year many members of the church come to Trenčin to celebrate.  They do a wonderful job of organizing a program, having a delicious meal and then play games.  We were blessed to be able to attend and appreciate all the sacrifices these faithful members make to keep the four small branches in the country going and The Church growing.  One year ago on the very day we were at this celebration we were in the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, NY--this spot reminded us of that sacred place.

We think of you often and love and miss you all!