WEEKS 23, 24, 25 AND 26

Spojena Skola Internatna

We closed a project in which the Church provided much needed trade gear and uniforms to Spojena Skola Internatna, a vocational technical school, with schools in Prešov and Poprad.  Uniforms and protective gear was provided to 123 marginalized youth in order for them to function in their training and subsequent employment placement.

Sobrance Slovakia

Our managers from Frankfurt, Helmut Wondra and Florian Titze came and spent three days with us in Slovakia.  It was a great time to introduce  them to some of the wonderful people we are blessed to work with.  We picked them up at the Košice airport and departed for Sobrance to meet with the hospital administrators and Mayor Ján Sklár and Deputy Mayor Peter Čurpakavič.  Our project of 120 hospital beds placed in 29 facilities in southeastern Slovakia has been completed and we had the opportunity to visit some of these facilities.  The mayor hosted a beautiful dinner for us and we enjoyed the time we spent with them.  The hospital beds are truly a blessing not only for the patients, but also for the many

 nurses and staff who care for them.

Stropkov, Slovakia 

In June we reported on two fires that occurred in the Roma village outside of Stropkov.  We had the opportunity to help relocate some of the families who were burned out of their homes.  We were able to provide them with the needed emergency supplies and medicine they needed.  This week, as they were being moved into the individual housing containers, we were able to deliver additional supplies to the village.  Once again, we are very grateful for the support of the municipality of Stropkov, who worked tirelessly to relocate these destitute Roma families and gave us the opportunity to help them.

Svidník Slovakia

We then traveled to a small Roma Village outside of Svidník, unlike any we had we had ever visited before.  This was a great little village with a group of people who had risen above the depths of poverty and destitution.  They had permanent well maintained homes that were neat and tidy.  The yards were well manicured and orderly.  It was refreshing to visit such a contrast from all the other villages we have been visiting.

Emotional Resilience Course Completed

Our group of senior missionaries were some of the first called to serve as Welfare and Self Reliance Missionaries.  In addition to our Humanitarian responsibilities, we are called to promote the Self Reliance Program of the Church.  And so as part of that responsibility, we have been facilitating the Emotional Resilience course in our Branch.  This has been a great blessing to us.  Not only have we learned so much about our own self resilience, but had the great opportunity to get to know the branch members so much better.  If you ever get the chance to participate in this great program-don't ever turn it down.  Great course to attend.

Borscht...

"a sour soup, made with meat stock, vegetables and seasonings."  Borscht is most often associated with the soup's variant of Ukrainian origin, made with beetroots as one of the main ingredients.  The missionary's Ukrainian friend Tymur made us this amazing soup.  When he started making the soup, he asked for the biggest pot we had...needless to say we ate borscht for three days, but enjoyed every last bite.  In fact we're wishing we had a bowl right now.  We love Tymur.  He's a delightful young man.  We have kind of taken him in as one of our own.  He's smart, well-read, hard-working and always has a hug for you.  It's a little difficult to hug him though...he's 6'7".  Great young man and we love having him in our home.

AutistiPrešov Škola

Our first -on our own - project closed this week.  We love this school.  It is a school for autistic children.  We fell in love with it the first time we visited.  It is so warm and inviting.  It has small classes the staff  loves what they do and it shows in the way they treat these students.  We attended a talent show that the students presented and it was amazing how each student participated.  As difficult as this must be for some of the students, it was obvious that they are well taught and loved by the teachers.  We had the great privilege of helping them develop the school library and even though they are limited on space, they designed a location in the school that turned out exceptionally well.  We were also able to help soundproof their quiet room and provide a ball pit for the students - all important elements when teaching autistic students.  We were also able to provide some much needed chairs for their after school program.  This is a wonderful school and we loved helping them.

Another Zone Conference in the Books

We have always had to travel to the west for Zone Conferences (Žilina, Trenčin, Bratislava), however since the Košice building has air conditioning, we were able to stay in the east and have July's Zone Conference here.  It was a great conference!  They are all good, however there was something about this one that made it special.  Maybe it was that we didn't have to travel, or maybe the amazing presentation President Skousen gave on FAITH, ACTION and OPPOSITION, or maybe it was the hike the day before in the Tatra's with all the missionaries.  We are not sure what made this one special, but it was a good one!  These missionaries are blessed to have some amazing mission leaders who love them and support them with all their heart!

                                                 Elder Meek and Sister Dahlen made all the missionary matching Kroj ties

Our first set of missionaries in Prešov

and saying saying our goodbyes to Elder Waisath..."we'll see you in Utah!"

This wonderful district!

We don't know how we're going to handle when this district is split up.  We can't believe how amazingly they have worked together.  Three of the four elders have been District Leaders (this is Elder Jone's first area), and it has been a strong district.  Elder Theodosis was our first District Leader.  We've grown to love him and admire his leadership skills--he's a natural!

We can't imagine being or doing anything else in our lives right now.  This mission has not been easy for us, but we feel the love of our  Savior and recognize the tremendous blessings that come our way.  We love helping those in need and are grateful to be a part of this amazing work.

Thank you for your love and support!