October 26, 2011
Dear Family:
I guess it is time to write a letter and let you know what
we have been up to. I guess where we
get to talk to most of you on SKYPE you, you probably won’t don’t need this
letter but I decided it has been quite a while since I have sent a letter maybe
I should write one.
When you get this it
will be November and you will have just gone through the Halloween stuff. I suppose you all had great parties, trick
or treating with lots of goodies and candies and probably gave away a lot of
candies to all those trick or treaters.
We are getting together with 4 other couples for a Family Home Evening
on Halloween so we won’t be around for the trick or treaters if they have
any. There are some Halloween things in
the store and so costumes. Our ward is
having a trunk or treat on Friday, October 28, with a dinner afterwards. We are going to the temple that night with
the missionary couples because it is our scheduled time so I am sure the Bishop
will not be happy when none of the missionaries show up for the party.
Things
have been really busy for me lately. I
moved my office closer to where Marv’s office is. I am in the office with the Asplund’s across
the hall from him so that is nice. I
had to help print and put together packets for an Area Convention in Vienna and
because my boss wasn’t organized with what he wanted, I had to stay until 8
p.m. on the night before he left to help get the binders completed. I had spent the previous couple of days late
getting things prepared. I thought I
was past that stage but apparently not.
Oh well it is done and he was off to his meetings with the Coordinators
in Europe and Richard Hawks and Mike Kaminske from Salt Lake. The Asplunds were invited to attend. I have to admit at first I was a little
envious but then when it got closer I really didn’t care anymore.
Last Thursday October 20, 2011, Marv and I were invited by
President Nielsen to attend a Mission Conference in the Poland Warsaw Mission
in Warsaw. We were asked to train the couples
for a couple of hours. We were supposed
to train our CfYA couples so it worked out pretty good. We learned so much from his training and
hopefully the training we gave to the couples was uplifting and motivating to
help them want to continue their work.
We tried to talk about how blessed we are to be missionaries and the
great blessings the Lord gives us even when the work is hard or not what we
might expect. We tried to encourage them
to follow the counsel of their Mission President.
President
Nielsen and Sister Nielsen were absolutely awesome. They made you feel so special and it was
like you had known them all your life.
They got us a hotel in downtown Warsaw for the first night at the Novell
Hotel. It was very nice. We walked to a museum called the Rising
Museum. It was chilly and it was a lot
further than we expected but we found it.
It was museum telling about all the resistance against the Germans during
World War II. It was very
interesting. By the time we were done it
was dark and so we had to make our way back to the hotel. We ate in the hotel restaurant because we
weren’t sure if it was safe to be out much at night and it was probably around
8 p.m. by the time we got back. The
food was pretty good and we were tired after all our walking. I had my pedometer on and we had walked 8.66
miles that day and that was after I had even done my exercising that morning
before we left. So I think we did
okay.
One funny or good little tender mercy started when we needed
to go to the airport. First the guy
that was going to take us to the airport forgot and so he was a little late
getting us but that was okay because we planned for plenty of time. We actually got through the security without
any major problems for once. I didn’t
have to do the spread eagle stance for the first time I think. We found our gate and settled in. I was reading my Kindle and it got past the
time we thought we should board but no plane.
Then it got past the time to board and we heard something about going to
Vienna. I said we had best go see what
is happening because we were supposed to go to Warsaw. Marv went up and asked and they said they
moved the flight to another terminal.
Thank heavens it was only two gates away. We took off running and were afraid we had
missed our flight but lucky for us, that flight was late and we were among the
last ones to get on.
Coming back almost the same thing happened. This time we were sitting where we were
supposed to be with another guy was down there.
After awhile he asked if we were going to Frankfurt and we said we
were. He said it is very strange
because there are only the three of us.
I said we just barely got our boarding passes and this is where it said
to be. He said that was the same with
him. After a little while he said I am
going to go see what is going on. He
went quite aways away and came back in a hurry and told us they had moved the
departure gate from 41 to 26 so off we headed again. This time we didn’t need to run. What did we learn from this adventure? Never trust the gate listed on the boarding
pass – always check the board and recheck it often. I know I checked it when we got there and it
said what our boarding pass said. We
got home about 9:30 p.m. on Saturday.
On
Friday morning of the day we went to the Mission Conference we ate breakfast at
the hotel that cost us more than our dinner in the hotel the night before. I thought that was strange because it was a
pretty basic buffet breakfast. We walked
around for a little bit but came back to the Hotel and worked on our
presentation before we called a cab and headed to the mission office for the
meetings. After our presentations
talking about the Centers and working together to find the young people, the
mission president took us all out to dinner at an Italian restaurant. It was really good. We were able to walk there. I had a cucumber soup and a pasta dish. Both were really good. We had a list to choose one soup or salad
and then the main course. We walked
back to the mission office and had some more training and then we were able to
socialize a little with everyone. Then
we went with one of the couples to a motel that was really close by. The motel was pretty old but it was
clean. We had twin beds and the bathroom
apparently had been remodeled because it was fairly nice. We did check for bed bugs. It seemed to be okay. We were so tired by the time we got there
that we just wanted to go to bed. We had
to be over to the Mission office at 8 a.m. the next morning for breakfast and
fix lunch for our excursion they were going on.
We
left around 10:30 and went on a rented
bus and one of the Young Single Adults from Poland was our tour guide. We went on a walking tour in Old town of
Warsaw. One of my favorite spots was
going to the most sacred spot in all of Poland, which was the tomb of the
unknown soldier. We were privileged to
see the honor guard do a walk around.
The President said in all the times he had been there he had never seen
them do that. The soldiers were so
straight and precise. How they can look
like them do and not even blink and stand so still. It was awesome.
But
in this same area is really the most sacred of all sacred spots and that is
where President Spencer W. Kimball was visiting the people and government
officials and dedicated Poland and the people to the teaching of the gospel on
24 August 1977. We had our pictures
taken in this beautiful spot. This is
the picture of our YSA tour guide, Dominick with President Nielsen standing in
front of the spot where Poland was dedicated.
The
Poland Warsaw Mission has 44 Elders, 4 sister missionaries and I believe 7
senior missionary couples and 2 senior sister missionaries. They are so busy working trying to do all
the work that needs to be done. They
used to have 120 missionaries so they are working with a small group of people. On Saturday before we left we were able to
see the 50th person baptized in Poland this year. She was a single mother with two little
kids. She was approached 7 years ago
and not ready but about a month ago she walked into the church and said she
wanted to learn about the gospel and be baptized so she could raise her
children correctly. There were four
other investigators there. One was from
India. I don’t remember where the others
were from. We met a guy that has lived
here for 10 years that is from the Congo and has been a member for 20
years. He is still trying to save money
for his wife and 4 children to come to Poland and live with him. He seemed really positive. I loved being there even if I couldn’t
understand the language.
One of the
talks was in English and was translated into Polish so that was great. Our
little tour guide had to end up giving the Baptismal talk on the spot because
the girl that was supposed to do it showed up really late. I heard he did a great job. Whatever he said really touched the gal that
was being baptized and he actually talked for quite awhile. He is getting ready to go on a mission
soon. His story was very touching
also. The mission president’s wife was
telling me about him. He grew up in an
abusive family. His mother has lived
with lots of different guys. He has
pretty much had to raise himself and often times checked into a hostile because
life was so bad. He was baptized about
two years ago. The mission president
and his wife have worked with him a lot to help him understand what he needs to
learn what not to say, etc. I asked him
how long he has been a member and he said “long enough” and I said that’s
great. He asked how long we had been a
member and I told him all my life that I was born into a family that were
members. He said, "You are so
lucky.” You know he is right. Things are really tough for these converts
especially when there aren’t a lot of other members.
Most of the senior missionary couples are Branch Presidents
plus they run the Center for Young Adults.
They are all very busy. As I got to meet each of them and visit with
them, I realized that the Lord is really in charge. He has called all of these people to serve
where they are because of who they are what they have to offer. They were all wonderful. I realized I was glad for my calling and I am
sure they are glad for theirs.
On
our tour we saw a monument of a little boy.
He has his father’s helmet on, a scarf with the colors of the country
around his neck, big soldier boots on and a gun in his arms. This symbolized that when the resistance was
going on all had to fight. What a sad
thing to realize that the war was so terrible to these people.
When we were on our tour the Mission President noticed an
older guy looking at a map by himself so he approached him and asked if he
could help. This guy was very
distinguished looking and he was from Moscow.
He joined our group and he was given a pass along card.
We walked on the street where Marie Curie was born and
raised. Because Warsaw was pretty much
destroyed, they don’t know exactly where her house was. She was really amazing to have won two Noble
Peace Prizes and being a woman. He did
talk about her accomplishments and was very informative about her.
We were given special
privileges to go into a chapel of a convent.
A nun of the order of the Holy Sisters let us in because this young man
talked with her and she agreed to it.
This never really is allowed.
This particular convent was destroyed in the war. When it was destroyed there were 1000 injured
people they were hiding and taking care of who were killed along with a lot of
the nuns and some children. They were
not supposed to allow anyone inside there because it was against their
religious rites but they felt they had to help. So I guess they broke some of their
covenants. There are only 25 of them in
Warsaw and I think only 300 in the whole world that belong to this particular
convent or group of nuns. They have to
pray for 6 hours straight every day.
They have done a lot of good.
Their convent was very bright white which is refreshing compared to most
of the cathedrals. The mission
president told us to all take off our missionary badges when we went inside to
show respect to them and of course only whisper. We couldn’t take any pictures inside either.
Dominick, our tour guide’s family on his father’s side was
part of the resistance and on his mother’s side her father is a communist. His grandfather still is and is actually
very wealthy but I don’t think he gives him much money. I understand that Dominick sells communist
memorabilia from WWII on the internet for his grandfather. The mission president’s wife said his
grandfather is softening but she doesn’t think that he will join the church but
hopefully not be as antagonist toward him.
This week I have been working with the auditors from Church
headquarters. I don’t know if I have
been able to help as much as I would have liked but I am sure when this is all
said and done at least some things are going to be addressed. We will see how much longer I will be in this
position. I think I have definitely
become a thorn in their side. If they
are told they need to cut back on the amount of money they spend on their
meetings, I will definitely not be liked and they will not be happy. Their meetings are just big parties. Next Wednesday, Trent will be here from Salt
Lake for 12 days and we will be working on what they have found on budgets and
he is hoping to do some training. I
hope he will be able to do that too.
We have a new couple that has moved in next door to us for
the next couple of months. They will be
going out as a Center for Young Adults couple the end of December somewhere in
this mission. They are the Baker’s and
they are working in the Mission Office for now. Sister Baker does all the driving. That is pretty unique out here. They seem really nice. We have been so busy that we haven’t been
very good neighbors. Tomorrow night I
have a two hour practice for choir and then Friday we have temple night and
Saturday we have stake conference and Sunday we have conference and Monday
(Halloween) we have FHE so the next little while is going to be really
busy. Then on Wednesday, November 2nd,
Trent from Salt Lake will be here for 12 days.
We love you and hope you are all doing well.
Love,
Mom and Dad, Grandpa and Grandma, Marv and Vickie, Elder and
Sister Paxton (whatever you want to call us)
