Thursday,
May 12, 2011
Dear
Family,
Sorry
this is going to be another group letter.
The time is going quickly and it seems before I know it, it is Thursday
night and I need to get a letter into the mail tomorrow at work. As you have probably heard we are getting
quite warm over here. I think it was in
the 90’s today, at least that is what someone said. Right now at 8:00 p.m. it is 69 and I am so
grateful for a little breeze. That is
one thing I really haven’t noticed in the past is any real wind. It is a very beautiful day but a little hot
in our offices so it is nice to be home with the windows open and a breeze
blowing.
By the
time you get this you will probably already have heard but today we got some
good news. We have been wondering what
we should do about our apartment in that whether or not we should move to a
less expensive place because they raised our rent and it appeared to be costing
us about 300 US dollars more than some of the other less nice places. We had just decided to wait a little longer
to see if paying the extra was going to be a real problem. Well today we were called into Brother
Worthlin’s Office, son of Elder Worthlin, who is the DTA for the Europe Area. Brad Barlow the Church’s controller over
Finances in the Europe Area was also there.
We had a great visit and then he told us they were making all the rents
the same no matter where people lived.
So he said our rent would be 1037.50 Eur which included the car
cost. We were ecstatic because that
will save us almost 200 US dollars a month just on the cost of the apartment
and we don’t need to move and we have one of the nicest apartments in the area,
we are told. Everyone no matter if they
are in a one or two bedroom apartment will pay the same. Those that are paying less now will continue
to pay less until they are done with their missions and those that are paying
more will start paying less. It is
great for us. Those that are coming
into the mission will pay the 925 Eur for their apartment and if they are allowed
a car they will pay an additional 112 Eur for their cars.
I think
we were truly blessed. I look at it as
one of the little tender mercies of the Lord again to us. He just seems to be taking care of us and so
I hope that we can do what he expects us to do.
At least now I don’t have to worry about the expenses and if and when
anyone comes, we will have a hideaway bed and a twin bed for people to sleep in
or even floor space.
Last
night I was so hot that I had turned on the fan we have in our apartment to
help cool things down and then Marv turned it off when we went to bed. I got really hot last night and thought
there is no way I am going to handle the summer heat. I walked into the livingroom to open a
window and the heater was on and it was really hot, the heaters were on in
every room so I turned them off – no wonder it was HOT! Our heaters haven’t worked very good and
last night we didn’t have any hot water but they must have fixed that problem
and when they fixed it, it must have fixed the heaters too. Needless to say, I have turned the heaters
totally off.
We had
our first Zone Conference yesterday and so we didn’t go to work (well we did go
afterwards and pick up some work to bring home). It was really good. We had one of the Area Presidency and his
wife talk and a few of the missionaries also talked. Sister Teixera (Area Presidencies wife)
talked about our setting apart to be a missionary and what that meant. I really needed to be reminded of that and
she reminded us that we were here at this precise time doing our unique
callings at this exact time because Heavenly Father needed and wanted each of
us to do this. She reminded us that just
because we have office jobs does not mean we aren’t on a mission that will
further the Lord’s work. She taught us
a formula that is said is (worthiness + prayer)*authority = special power. She taught us we need to learn to love the
people we work with. (Good advice)
Elder
Teixera (spelling is wrong I am sure)
Taught us that we need to first convert ourselves and to remember that
there is a purpose behind every calling we receive. We create a desire in others to follow Christ
by what we do. He reminded us that
people are watching us. He tried to
teach us that
1. We
must prepare spiritually because he said the Lord is mindful of the things
ahead of us. What we do and how we do it
is vital. We need to study the
scriptures to help us get the spiritual strength we need.
2. Participate in councils. Be spiritually prepared when going to this
council because the Lord can help give us answers and solutions. I set up some appointments with Christian so
we will start counseling together on the financial issues.
3. Administer unto others. He told us to find people we can administer
to. He said it might just be our husband
or wife or another missionary or an employee we work with but there is someone
that needs us to show love and caring toward them. He reminded us that it is the small things we
can do that will make a difference. He
said our leadership has the power to transform the entire organization that we
work with.
He also
told us that Leadership is about telling ourselves what we need to do to become
like Christ not telling others what to do.
I am trying hard to put this into practice.
It seems that we have been really
busy lately. I can’t believe how fast
the weather is changing because now the breeze is getting cold and it feels
like it is going to rain. My plants I
planted are doing really good. I don’t
think my petunias back home ever look as good as they look here. It usually takes until fall to get them
looking so good. Here are some pictures
of my flowers.
I don’t
know what we are going to do this weekend.
Maybe we will find some place to go.
We haven’t done any tripping around in the past couple of weeks.
Marv is
getting really busy with his finances now.
He needs to start working on the budgets for the CFYA. He just got a payment request from one of the
trainers that had a stack of pages and his expenses were around 5000 Euros and
Marv is realizing that there needs to be some training and instructions on what
they can charge because this guy has had a great time spending the money but
how do you not reimburse him? I told
him that he needs to get with Brad and find out what the Church’s policy is
regarding travel and meals. I know what
S&I policies are and I see a lot of people who abuse that policy too.
Well,
I’m sorry this is a short letter this time but I don’t know what I should write
and I am really tired. + I guess
tomorrow after work we will go to the store to pick up some groceries. That seems to be our big out. Boring but that’s what we seem to do the
best. I have noticed since we came over
that I didn’t bring very many things that are cool to wear in the spring and
summer. I just might have to break down
and try to find some new clothes for the spring and summer. Maybe I can talk Marv into taking me this
weekend. We all know how much he loves
shopping but he is usually fairly patient with me.
Well,
take care and know that we love all of you and miss doing things with you but
that the Lord has helped us enjoy being here together and we haven’t had to
time to get homesick yet thanks to SKYPE and the phone, e-mail and letters. We truly are blessed. May you all be happy and continue praying
for us and each other. We can feel your
prayers and we are always praying for all of you too.
Love ya,
Mom and
Dad, Grandpa and Grandma Vickie, Marv and Vickie
No comments:
Post a Comment