Overdue Phots

So, here are some of the early photos I wanted to send concerning our departure from Salt Lake until shortly after we arrived. They are in random order but include arrival at the SLC airport with our designated driver and "Nephew" Brett Nielson, in front of our new Boeing 777 waiting to board in London, a rather full luggage cart at the Warsaw airport, a photo with the Mission President, Nielson, and a photo at the Mission home shortly after arriving Sunday, two weeks ago. Also, a picture of us and our 'carry-ons' in our apartment, an attempt at a Friday night pizza joint, one of the near to the office shopping malls where inside we joined some of the other senior couples for a going away lunch for the couple, (the Thuesons) who we are replacing, (also pictured). And finally, our new clothes dryer which is used because none of the apartments have clothes dryers. It only takes a day and a half to get things "crusty" dry, but hey, who needs soft, warm and nicely scented undergarments???

Just think how we are doing our part to save energy............SURE!

The Warsaw Branch

Finally getting back to the Blog. Will have more photos and information on the next posting. This is a picture of the only Church owned Branch in Poland and the one we attend which is Polish speaking. The picture next to it shows the adjoining property which is, as you can see is a beautiful park and walkway which leads to one of the seemingly hundreds of Catholic cemeterys in the country. I'll have more to say about this after we actually visit the cemetery tommorrow which is a national Polish holiday celebrating the Day of the Dead. The Branch is small, but a very acceptable facility and the meetings are just as you would expect to find at any Ward or Branch anywhere, except for the language. The active people, while few in numbers are just, for the most part as you would expect. The Missionaries are outstanding and are very dedicated. It is really one big family with about 70 young Elders and Sisters and 8 senior couples and/or senior sisters in-country. For those of you in the greater Las Vegas area, Paul and Nola Harber will be here to serve beginning next Friday the 5th of Nov. So we are all looking forward to having them here. While we may be thousands of miles from 'home' the Church and it's members and the people of this country are the same and in many ways you wouldn't even know that you are living in a place called Warsaw. Of interest, the Church has about 1200 people on the rolls, but the latest figures show only about 400 are on an active status for the entire country. That's sad, but I guess that is why we are here. Also of interest, is the number of JW folks in Poland. Possibly as many as 300,000,+/-. Yet, it's the Catholics who have taken issue the most with our Church. Maybe it's because the Jehovah W. have been here since the 1920's. Our love to you all.

FIRST WEEK IMPRESSIONS (Photos to follow)

Not unlike most of us, I have have formed some initial impressions of our new home after serving in-country for just 5 days.
(These are rather ramdom, so excuse my organization) Everyone seems to live in an apartment (saw some in our development, somewhat bigger and newer than ours for $ 3K US/mo.) where the entrance doors seem to be made of prison steel. One good dead bolt lock and not even the biggest Nazi commando would have gotten in. The toliets all flush by way of a button, (either pull up or push down) and when flushed you had better not be too close or the baby may be going down with the bathwater, so to speak. (no plungers needed in this country) Most walls are totally soundproof and why shouldn't they be when made with about 10" of concrete. The water is instantly hot, (very hot) when you first turn it on so you need to keep this in mind and they don't seem to believe in ice, (not ice cream, fortunately) as everything which we know as cold comes in at room tempature. Clothes dryers also are not on the list of standard household lists and all washed clothes must be placed on one those dryer racks much like our grandmothers used to use. People drive every type of car you can imagine, most of which I've never seen or heard of and in a manner that I seriously doubt that I will ever get used to. They move very fast, ride your bumber, honk and flash their lights no matter which lane you are in if they want you to move and
believe it or not seem to have few accidents. (unlike the Las Vegas 'spagetti bowl') And on top of this, the roads are nearly completly inadequate to handel the massive amount of vehicles. We are currently only about 9 miles from the Mission office and it takes us about an hour and a half. Parking is next to non-existant so they park on the curbs, sidewalks, in the street and about everywhere else which turns many two-lane streets into one. This being said, everyone signals their intentions, (unlike any other American city I have ever driven in) and if they need to get in front of you (and they do so whether you let them in or not) they most always hit the flasher button as a way of saying 'thanks.' The October weather, so far reminds us of the Seattle-Tacome climate with light rain, damp & humid, grey skies with light winds, in the 40's and just basically depressing. (Thank goodness for Vitamin B3) What little food we have eaten has been mostly very good, fresh vegitables, yougrt, and the breads and pastries, ummm good! We even had our first Friday night pizza last night which was not the best, but we liked it. We shopped at the local Walmart which is called Tesco here, not near as complete, but a decent food selection nonetheless. The people we have worked with so far and of course the Church members have been extra nice and the missionaries, both young and older are great. I'll report an 'impression' update after a month or two.

ARRIVAL (Photos coming later)

After stops in Chicago and London and about 18 hours total travel time we arrived at Fredrick Chopin Intl' airport to be met by Pres. Nielson and one of his AP's Elder Stohel and a very small car which was to haul 4 people and 10 bags. Elder Stohel not only had to sit on one of the bags but was forced to put a 50 pounder on his lap for the 15 mile ride to the Mission home. Upon our arrival we sat in on the final half hour of a senior adult fireside and had an opportunity afterwards to meet most of the guests and other senior couples. Sister Nielson gave us a brief tour of the Mission home, fed us some of her famous apple crisp and we were off to bed where we slept like a small child. The next day, (Monday) we took occupancy of our apartment, (very nice, with one BR and 1 1/2 baths) and with underground parking and then started the pleasant task of unpacking. Tuesday, and we are off to the old Mission office, (where will be for the first two weeks) to begin our training with the office couple, (Elder & sister Thueson) who we will ber replacing as of the 29th of Oct. The new office will be open by around the firs of Nov., which is nice for us as we currently have to drive about an hour and a half each way, not because of the distance but due to the enormus amount of trafice trvelling on some very restrictive roads. The amount we need to learn, along with all of the procedures, etc to run a Mission for the entire country is nothing short of overwhelming so we are going to need a good deal of help from a higher authority. We have also been called to work with the Young Single Adults, (18-30 yrs) which we will do on Monday & Thursday evenings and on some weekends as well. The mission will have enjoyed 4 baptisms by the time our first weekend is over so the work, while seemingly very difficult is moving forward nonetheless. Pres. Stan and Judy are doing great work here as you would expect.

Dinner with two of the best!

Our language tutor Brat Bean and his sweetheart Jane at our 'last supper' in a resturant, Brick Oven in Provo which we hadn't been back to in over twenty years. It was just as good, if not better than we remember it and made even better by having the opportunity to share a great meal with two wonderful people. We will be sure to stay in touch with them and follow the many events and experiences that are in their future. We count them among our new young friends and wish them all the good things that life can offer.

Starszy Bean, Our Language Tutor

Our wonderful, (and long suffering) Polish language tutor assigned to our 2-hour, after dinner training session was nothing short of wonderful. He spoke the Polish tongue beautifully and we so appreciated his encouragement and patience as we struggled our way through this difficult (for us) language. Thanks Bean!

POLAND------Here We Come!

Pictured are the eight young men and women who are in their final 3 weeks of language training and will be the next group of missionaries to arrive in Poland around the end of October. Shown from left to right, Starszy Siebert, Sorn, Siostra Stay, (Richards), Steadman, Marshall, & Starszy Krzyminski, Berry and Hannamann. What an absolutely wonderful group who are so ready to arrive in-country and begin teaching the Polish people in their own language. Siostra Eyring, a granddaughter of Pres. Eyring took this photo of us.

Our District

This is the group, (District) we met with in the break-out classes each day. Just the nicest people you could find; people you would readily share your home with if asked to. Starting next to Jean is Bryan & Melanie Elkins, Military in Virginia, Brat Sillitoe, (our great instructor and returned missionary from Denver and who has ambitions to be a full time Church Seminary instructor), Shauna & Ronny Hyde, MLS in Fresno, Ca., and Pamela & Larry Gay, CES in Russia. Because of these good people and their wide experience in the Church we enjoyed some wonderful classes and fellowshipping.

Lady in Waiting-----for the teacher

After an hour of opening exercises and discussion of what the day is going to be like we broke into our four couple 'Districts' to be taught by returned missionaries on the subjects found in the Preach My Gospel manual. Jean is applying either her hand sanitizer, which we seemed to use about every hour or her hand lotion as she 'gears up' for the next lesson. She was no doubt the prettiest lady in the class, in fact in the entire 30 couple group which started on the 04th of Oct. I heard many a comment about how stylish and classy she looked.

MTC--Day #1

After nearly 4 months of waiting we finally arrived on 04 Oct. at the Missionary Training Center in Provo Utah where we will be for the next two weeks. We will be instructed in preaching the Gospel, office administration and language training. There are some 35 senior couples here each Monday to begin this training and we look forward to our association with many of them as they prepare to depart for their missions throughout the continent. We are looking forward to our experience here and even more so to our assignment in Poland.

CONFERENCE WEEKEND WITH FRIENDS

Pictured with Jean and I are our long time (38 years) friends, David and Judith Nielson, (no relation to Stan & Judi) who were responsible for bringing us into the church in Cincinnati Ohio in 1974. They invited us to spend the weekend with them at their home on the avenues in Salt Lake the weekend before entering the MTC. We couldn't have chosen a better weekend to spend with our dear friends than to sit with them as the Church leaders counseled us. You know the kind of love and trust we have for them if we were willing to store our two motorcycles, truck and trailer on their property for 18 months. (Actually, we were the ones who initiated the storage request) Anyway, we thank them for doing this and want them to know we love them. It was a perfect send off. See you on SKYP!

SEE YA!

Early Thursday morning, the 30th, we said our goodbyes to our son and house sitter, Kent and to his two roommates who wondered why we were leaving with so much baggage, when before we had always travelled much lighter when on the motorcycle. They seemed to know! We will miss our family and friends, (not to mention the dogs) as well as the many comforts we seem to take for granted and which we have enjoyed for the past 10 years living in Las Vegas. In the same breath, it has been comforting for us during our months of preparation to know that what we are doing is right. It won't be necessarily easy, convenient or or anything less than a challenge, but for us, it is right! Take good care of each other.

IT'S OFFICIAL!

On Wednesday evening, the 29th of Sept., President Teshima, (the Lakes Stake President) laid his hands on our heads and set us apart to serve for a period of 18 months in the Warsaw Poland mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The blessings which accompanied the setting's apart were inspiring, beautiful and overwhelming for us both. President Teshima, who prior to our meeting reflected on how he had been thinking about our deceased son Colin and had felt his spirit as he prepared to bless us. We love President Teshima for his compassion, understanding and the warm love he displays for all of us.