A Day in the life of...............

It's Monday morning about 5:30 am and Ross has just returned from a bike ride and i'm ready to go out the door and powerwalk. It's the first morning that it hasn't been pouring the rain so hopefully i can get my walk in before it starts.

After showers off we go to the Mission office where we will spend the majority of the day in front of our computers. Ross will make sure all financial affairs for the Poland Warsaw mission are in order, rents paid, utilities taken care of, and all the bills, reciepts, that have to do with the running of the misssion. I'm over at the other desk, taking care of referrals, Baptismal forms, new missionary recommendations, outgoing missionary correspondance, mission history, etc. etc.

Along with that I put a English lesson together for the week and depending on the day, we have a District meeting here and an office meeting along with various zone meetings, so this is a busy place.

Here are our 2 assistants to the President, Elder Eastman sitting in front of the computer and Elder Hillyard standing. They are an immense help to the President.

Today we are on our way to the Branch where we attend Church and where Ross is the Branch President. As usual we are loaded down with bags for the Branch, needed supplies. We will make a stop on the way to Mokatow mall
where the bank is to deposit church funds and draw out money for our YSA group heading to Romania today for YSA conference.

As we walk into the Branch, we see 3 of the YSAs waiting patiently for the bus to arrive. Ada Jarosz is the one on the left and is home for the summer, she is going to BYU. I love her, she is a sweetheart. The other 2 girls are from Lodz and I don't know them.

Kasia Gorniak and Dominik Lyzwinski are visiting with Ross in his Branch office. They are wonderful Young Single Adults and I get to work with them.

This is Jack Stroszer from Lodz. This is his first YSA conference and he is excited to be going.

Piotr, Camilla, Dorota and Marta just hanging out in the YSA center waiting for the bus. The whole big group just finished polishing off pizza and juice and cookies. They should be able to make it for at least a couple of houras before getting hungry again.

The bus is here. It's a Mercedes Benz bus and holds 22 people, seats are comfortable but not a whole lot of leg room. The bus ride will take 17 hours one way. I'm so glad I'm not on it!!!!

It took real talent on the part of the bus driver and Brat Jarosz from Warsaw I Branch to get all the many bags loaded up to go.

Brat Jarosz takes care of all the cars, apartments, repairs in either Branch. He's the MAN!!!!!
He also always has a smile on his face.

















It looks like they are ready to take off. they will come back Saturday night aftr again dricving for 17 hours!!

We went back to the office and finished up, went home and walked across the street to "Frog" ou little schlep (store) picked up some great fresh tomatoes, cukes and outstanding bread for our quick meal before taking off for the /branch and morre meetings, visits and discussions and home about 8:30pm

The end of another busy great day in the Mission field. We wouldn't trade what we are doing for anything.

Trip to Wrocclaw continued

This is the third time for this blog. The first time I had all the pictures and commentary and somehow lost the whole blog. The second time I had all the pictures and somehow it accidently published and won't let me edit. So here is the commentary for the second try. So you will have to read this commentary and figure out wwhere it goes with the pictures.
We left early Thursday morning so I did not go out with my Nortic Poles as I do every other day.
The weather was rainy with thunder and lightening. The road was a two lane with hundreds of trucks. The only rail line that I know of is for people so all commodities go by truck. So what people do on these narrow 2 lane roads is try to pass wwhenever possible. So many times the 2 lanes become three lanes with no shoulders. so you hug the edge of the road and so does the truck and let whoever is passing have all the room possible.
We arrived in Wroclaw without accident or incident, checked into the Mecure Hotel. After settling in, off we went to the Rynek (Old Town). Wroclaw wasn't destroyed during the 2nd WW so most of the buildings are the same as they were then then. On our way back from the Rynek we went to a womderful market, open on all sides with all kinds of fresh produce, fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses aand flowers. One off the best things we found was a juice stand with fresh carrot juice, of course we partook and it is the first carrot juice we've had since leaving home. OUr meal at tthe Rynek was great, we sat outside under a canopy, had greek salad, fresh pirogies filled with cheese, potatoes, cabbage and browned with a sour cream sause on the side.
Friday first thing in the morning we went about an hour away to the town of Boleslawiec, known for it's pottery. This is where the finest, whitest clay is, which produces the beautiful Polish pottery. The factory that we went to is supposed to be the makers of the finest pottery. The pottery is supposed to be so strong that it can go in the oven, microwwave, dishwasher. It is not supposed to break unless, of course, you throw it on the floor. We got to take a tour through the factory. There are 200 workers all doing different things. It was quite impressive. We couldn't take picturres in the factory itself. Many trade secrets. I told the man in charge that a friend had seen Polish Pottery in Costco back home. He was quick to reply thatwas not from their factory, even though they ship all over the world. They only sell to high end stores. After tthe Pottery place we went over to a Glass blowing factory which also ships all over the world. The building itself is over 100 years old. The glass work is beautiful.
Saturday morning early we loaded up a few purchases and headed home to Warsaw to get ready for Sunday and then the start of another busy week.

Our trip to Wroclaw and Boleslawiec

Saturday at the apartment

This is an early morning shot of the sun. This was at about 5:30am. It was foggy as we have had almost constant rain for the last 2 weeks. Also notice how high in the sky the sun is already. It usually is light by 4am and gets dark at about 9:30-10:00pm. But because we have already had the longest day (June 21st) we can notice the days alreeady getting shorter by several minutes each day. The Polish say that by the end of August we are already into short days.

All the apartments are built in a square with a park in the middle. We have just finished having a huge thunder storm and already the park, even though filled with puddles, has a couple of adventurerous souls enjoying a brief respite from the rain. People get out whenever they can, probably because of cabin fever. I think that is a dad and his little girl. He pushed her on the swing for a long tome before heading in.

Because there are no back yards and no places to put up tents, this litttle family has put a tent up on their deck for their little boy. So many times as I look out from our deck, it reminds me of a Norman Rockwell painting as I see all the different going ons on all the different decks. There wasn't too much activity this Saturday other than a great deal of thunder and lightening so life was pretty quiet in the Park.

Senior Conference and a tour through Warsaw

We are gathered with senior couples for a senior conference at the Mission Home. Once a quarter we try to get together and eenjoy one another's company as we are scattered all over Poland. It's a great time to take notes and compare. In the front row are the Simons from Macammon Idaho, the Zatylnys from Canada, us. The second row are from right to left, Sister Briggs,from Pleasant Grove UT, Sister Austin from Snowfflake AZ, Sister Sheets from Highland UT and Elder and Sister Moon from Layton UT. In the back are Elder and Sister Tarasevich from Millville NJ and President and Sister Nielson
We have a few cooks in the kitchen getting ready for the barbeque. It's the rainy month so it is a steady downpour outside, good thing the porch is covered. The very attractive blond is the Tarasevich's daughter just off her mission on Temple Square, over visiting her parents.

Our hosts, President and Sister Nielson have their work aprons on and are getting the rest of the meal ready other than the barbeque where Elder Moon and Eldder Tarasevich are grilling up chicken and hamburgers.

Sister Tarasevich and her daughter Robin.

In Poland, people are not taught and do not know how to read music. So there is a way for members of the Branches here to learn to play the piano. We have no Polish piano players in the Church here. The method is for them to learn to play a series of chords. The hymn book has in the back, chords that go with each hymn so if they can play the chords, they can accompany the singing. Below are seniors that will take that back to the Branches.

This is a Mercedes Benz bus that will take us on a tour of Warsaw that most people do not get to see.
I am standing with Kasia Gorniak, one of my YSAs. She will translaate for the tour guide. (By the way, I love Kasia!!

Despite the drizzle and windy weather, we have nothing but smiles.

This is one of the many magnificant Cathedrals in Poland. We wondered where they raised the money for all these Catholic Churches in Poland. Come to find out... Eveeryone, whether a Catholic or not pays part of his taxes to the Catholic Church. Hmm!! No wonder!

This blurred picture is important.. As we were waiting for our tour guide, keeping in mind that it was cold, windy and rainy, we noticed a man in crutches, in a thin bathrobe, aamputated leg with a bandage on the stump and no shoes. As we were all talking about this and wondering where he was trying to get to, President Nielson without any hesitation went overr tto the man and wrappeed him up in his good overcoat and led him to a place where he could sit him down. The man was highly medicated and a fresh amputee and had just walked out of the hospital in the next block with nothing on but the hospital gown and his crutches. Kasia call Warsaw's 911 and eventually the ambulance came and got him. He spoke a little english and so President was able to determine what had happened and Kasia was able to summon the ambulance. I'm not sure what would have happened if President Nielson had not gone over. Chances are he would have continued to wander and who knows what would have happened to him. The sad thing is that I'm not sure if any of us would have gone overr thinking he was probably a street person, but President Nielson did what we all should have done. He walks the wwalk!!!I think the nurse who was on duty and responsible might not have a job anymore.

Taking a break on the tour!!

We are over on the other side of the river from Warsaw in a small city of Praga. It is older than Warsaw and wasn't demolished to the extent that Warsaw was. This area has many of the original buildings. It has also become the place of the arts. We are standing with a series of bronze statutes all playing musical instruments. At certain times of the day music is actually played. We never heard it though.

This is my favorite companion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Below is a picture of a center court which you find all over Warsaw and Praga. Apartments are built in a square and in the center of each square is a, sometimes a beautiful green area with a statue of Mary. That is because during the 2nd WW, they would round up the Jews and Poles and shoot them in the center square. This is a memorial.

Another one of the beautiful Cathedrals.

In Praga is the Warsaw Zoo, which we will try to go to. It is famous and there is a great book, "The Zookeepers Wife". It is the true story of the family who owned the zoo during the 2nd WW. they were responsible for saving the lives of countless numbers of Jews by hiding them in plain sight in the zoo. It is an amazing book. You begin to realize the horrific struggles these people, Poles and Jews alike went through.

This is the oldest wooden building in Warsaw, 160 years old. Most all buildings are made from stone, brick or concrete.

After we finished touring in Praga, we passed over the Wisla river back into Warsaw and visited "The Citadel an 19th century fortress built by a Russsian Tzar to intimidate Warsaw after the 1830 uprising. It was a notorious political prison for years. The stairs that you see are the stairs that prisoners by the thousands were taken down to either be executed or put on trains for Siberia and put into concentration camps where most were never heard from again.

Below is the Wisla river.
This was the last glance the prisoners would have of the rivver.


















The phrase over the entrance gate says "The Gate of Execution", this is the gate that the prisoners were taken through.

Right inside the gate is a memorial to all those who passed through the gate. there is a flame that is constantly lit.

This was the mode of transportation used to bring prisoners to the prison.

This is the entrance to the prison. Ross and I have noticed that the Prison had the same smell as tthe contration camp that we went to outside of Lublin. It's a smell you can't describe but it smells like what it is.

This was a typical prisoner's cell. Sometimes the beds were straw and sometimes there were four to a room. Everything was made of cement. Rations were meager.

Prisoners were put into shackles in a forge at the end of the hall, the shackles were placed on their wrists and ankles. Noone ever escaped.

A Polish artist that actuaally lived to come out of siberia was so mentally scarred from all that he had endured in Siberia that the only thing he did was paint the things he had witnessed there. He was never able to paint anything else but those scenes.

When the Russians were in conttrol, they told the Poles that there were jobs for them in Russia. So they rounded up Polish peeople by the masses and put them on trains but they bypassed Russia and took them on up to Siberia. the teachers, doctors, intellects, scientists etc. were dropped at the lumber or mining camps where there was little food or shelter. they worked them to death and got a new supply every week from Poland.
After viewing all tht we did the mood was a little somber until we were once again outside the prison.

We learned a great deal aboutt the early complicated and turbulent history of Warsaw and Poland.
It was time to return to our various destinations. All in all it was a great Senior conference. we all love serving here and are grateful to be here in the wonderful country of Poland.