Family Letter August 26, 2011

Friday, August 26, 2011

Dear Family,

I am trying to write a  quick note so I can get this in the mail.  Where does the time go?   It seems like it is flying by.  We have just passed our 6 month mark and that means we only have a year left.   There is so much to do and see I hope we will get some things accomplished.  

Last Sunday, I invited over three couples for dinner at our house.  We had Diane and Allen Asplund, the Leonards from Cheyenne, Wyoming.  He was a child’s dentist after he got out of the military where he was dentist.  The Davies, who are the Executive Secretary to the Area President and who picked us up at the airport when we first arrived and had us stay in the apartment in their building for a few days until we moved over here to Bad Vilbel.   We all had a great visit and it was fun getting to know people a little better.  I fixed cordon bleu, which you buy in the store frozen for 4 of them and it only costs at 2.59 Eur, which is really reasonable and easy because you just pop them in the oven for 25 minutes and they are done.   I tried to make scalloped potatoes in the crockpot and everyone seemed to like them.  We had sliced Baguettes (like French bread, just smaller around), frozen vegetables, a tossed salad that Sister Asplund bought and ice cream for dessert.   We didn’t visit real long because we had a fireside with a member of the Area Presidency at 7:00 and one of the sisters had to go put together the refreshments at 5:30 p.m. but it was still very nice.

I am planning on having two couples and a single senior missionary sister, who is leaving in a couple of weeks over this Sunday for dinner after church and  then we will go for a walk by the river and park if the weather permits.  The two couples are new. One are the Wells from Provo, was an Psychology professor and originally from St. George and he still has a lot of family in St. George.  The other couple are the Bradley’s and they are from Holiday (how do you spell that?  I am brain dead.)   He is a lawyer and they are not missionaries but service representatives.  They are invited to all our activities and meetings though.   It will be interesting to find out what that means and I don’t know how long they are here except I know they signed some kind of a contract.  His wife doesn’t have an assignment so she is making quilts and cooking and finding things to do.  

We had Zone Conference a week ago and that was really good.   It is always nice to get together with the other couples and be uplifted and laugh also.  We learned about a lot of them and their assignments here which was really interesting.  Marv and I had to tell about our assignments and how we give service.  That was really hard for me.   Marv did a great job and I am glad I really had to think about what benefit I am giving.   It was interesting to understand what Humanitarian projects there are throughout Europe and what the Public Affairs people have worked on.  They can’t tell you what they are working on now only after it is done.

Last Saturday, the Asplund’s came over and we met up with the Peterson’s from Lehi and walked around our town and park.  It was the start of a Festival here and they were getting their booths set up in the park.   I bought a tablecloth and some small square tablecloths for the table also.   We ate a hamburger at the Down Under Australian Restaurant and it actually was very good.  Marv and I ordered the kids meal and it was plenty.   It was a hamburger and fries.  The hamburger was the normal size hamburger but we saw the other hamburgers and they were HUGE.   We of course had our Cola Light and it was hot for once outside and I could have had two of them easily.   

Afterwards we walked around a little more and then we watched a parade.   It was fun.   I have now seen my first German parade.   There were about three bands and they weren’t kids bands but adults dressed in costumes.   There were huge tractors pulling big wagons (I’m guessing like hay wagons) with people inside most of the time having a good time and drinking beer.   During the parade, they gave away flowers, apples, apple juice and we think beer, (we didn’t take any – in case you are wondering), cookies, key chains, and of course candy.  We really did enjoy watching it.   The floats have a long ways to be like the floats back home even the small town floats at home are much better but it was still fun to see.   I was clapping for the floats and realized that the Germans don’t clap.   Oh well, maybe I can start something new.   We hurried and got home and had to leave for our Ward party. 

I had made peanut butter brownies with my precious chocolate chips in them and they failed.  They were getting too done on top and not done enough in the middle.   I have to hurry and find something else I could take so I took some packaged fancy looking cookies with chocolate on them.   I felt so dumb but what do you do when you are trying to learn how to cook.   I think part of the problem is they don’t have real brown sugar over here either.   Oh well, it was still fun.   They had over 100 people show up for the ward party.   It was mainly different salads and dessert but it was fine.  It was pretty noisy in the gym because everyone was talking and they had it set up so that you moved around trying to get to know all the new families that have moved into the ward.   We got home about 8:30 p.m. and I had to finish putting the finishing touches on my Relief Society lesson.

On Sunday, I taught President Utchdorf’s talk On the Road to Damascus.   It was a really good talk and I was glad I got to teach it because I learned so much and it was exactly what I needed to learn at this stage.   The sisters were wonderful with sharing some of their experiences that really added to the lesson.   I think it went well and I felt the Lord was really helping me.   I am glad that they ask us to teach once in a while because I need that spiritual uplift in my life even more.   We do have a devotional in my office every day and that is really good.

Well I guess I had best get this in the mail.   I love all of you and hope that life is treating you good.   We are doing good and I am happy to be here serving at this time.  Marv is awesome and he is the best companion anyone would or could ask for.   We think about you and love you. 

 

Love ya,

Mom and Dad, Grandpa and Grandma (Vickie for MaKayla), Marv and Vickie for the rest of you

Brother and Sister Pearle, May 5, 2011

Visit to Perle's to get computer and records for the Center for Young Adults Program, May 5, 2011

(Elder and Sister Perle with Marv and Vickie Paxton in the Perle's livingroom in Nutingen, Germany)

Sister Pearle and Vickie Paxton by their apartment

(This is taken from a letter sent to our family on May 5, 2011)

Today Marv and I along with Asplund’s (Diane and Allan),who are the CFYA Leaders, and who we have become good friends with got to travel to the town, called Nutingen, that is about 2 ½ hours away from here to pick up a computer, filing cabinet and files for Marv’s job from Brother Perle.   It was a very nice drive and I did notice a couple of castles on the hills on our drive but of course we couldn’t stop. 

Sister Perle fixed us lunch and it was very good.  She had chicken pieces in a sauce over rice, sliced tomatoes with sliced round mozarrela cheese and rolls.   Her table was beautifully set and her home was very lovely.   It is in an apartment building where they have lived for the past 36 years.   They pretty much raised their children there.  As I looked around, she had decorated it very lovely and she shared stories about a lot of the things she had.   There were stories about a lot of the figurines she had.  Some were given to them from people they served on their missions and held special meanings for her. 

Sister Asplund and I loved visiting with this sister.   She gave us a book to look at that was all about Dresden and what happened there during World War II.   I should have borrowed it because she had two of them.  One was in English and the other one was in German.  I found it very interesting and the pictures were so good to look at. 

I was amazed that she raised her children in this small of a place.  There is a small kitchen, a 1/2 bath, small diningroom, a livingroom which has door out to a very nice balcony and then some steep stairs to an upper part that has an office which used to be a big bedroom and I believe maybe two other bedrooms up there.  We are truly blessed to have such large homes with yards in America.  Their apartment building has 6 apartments in it, I think.  

Brother and Sister Perle shared with us their story of how they met.  She is a convert and Brother Perle baptized her.   She saw the name of the church on the outside of a church and decided to attend a meeting and check it out.  She then got interested in going to the dances and activities there on weekends.   During that time in Stuttgard there were a lot of soldiers here and so a lot of the girls married the American soldiers but she didn’t.   Brother Perle when he was 23 and a newlywed was made a Branch President.   Then he was a Bishop, Counselor in Stake Presidency 2 times, Bishop again and I think they have been on 6 missions.  They have served in the temple a couple of times, in Dresden proselyting,  and Trainer for the CFYA.   He is around 75 years of age. 

<>     <> Sister Perle told us a very touching story about how she had had a  sickness that paralyzed her from the waist down when they were on one of their missions so they had to be released.  Brother Perle gave her a priesthood blessing after she had suffered some time with this and the doctors didn’t know what was wrong with her.  She was healed enough that she can walk around now.  After this healing and getting better they went back and finished their mission but they feel they can never pay back the Lord enough for healing her.   Her legs are still kind of weak but she said she can get around and she is not complaining.  

This is a picture of Elder Perle and his brother and sisters when they were little and then when they were older.  We thought this was a cute way to see the changes in life.

They shared some beautiful stories with us.  She told us we need to go to Dresden and see all the history that is there.   This is where the wall was put up and divided the East from the West.   She remembers this time very well.   She is actually from Czech Republic and she remembers the night that Dresden was bombed by us.  She was close to the border and they could see the glow of the fires from the bombing.   She was kicked out of Czech Republic but was sent to Stuttgart,
Germany, to live with a relative, which was a blessing in disguise because  she did not have to stay behind the iron wall.   She and Brother Perle met in Stuttgart.   Anyway we learned so much from them and the Spirit was so strong.   If only we could have experiences like today every day. 

We had a prayer before we left for guidance and safety and for a nice time of getting to know and love the Perle’s.  We were able to travel up there with no problems and traffic was even decent.   I had been a little concerned because Marv was having to drive a big van and I know how hard it is to get around in the little car we have – I hoped he would not have any problems.   We didn’t get lost and the ride went smooth.  Coming home we couldn’t get the car to start because we could get the key to turn so Brother Perle tried to help us and finally after reading the manual, he got the car started.   It was kind of funny but then we left after they gave us some sweet rolls from the bakery for our trip home.   The Perle’s are the most wonderful and faithful people I have ever met.   They are loved by Heavenly Father and you can feel that they know that and how much they want to serve the Lord.   Our trip home took us an extra hour because of traffic.  We left around 8:15 a.m. and got home at 7:00 p.m.   I felt the Lord did bless us totally today.  

Marv shared his story of why he is on a mission today with the Perle’s.  Brother Asplund asked him to do that.   He has told his story many times.   I always want to add what I felt and saw but I let him tell it his way and don’t interject anything.   He always gets choked up and he says he knows the Lord saved his life and this is a small thing he can do to give back a little to the Lord.   I am so proud on him.   He is truly doing a great job here.  

I love all of you.   I want you to know that I love the Lord and I am glad that I too have listened to the Spirit and made choices in my life that have given me this opportunity to serve here.  I have come to know that the Lord knows the end from the beginning and he knows what we are capable of doing.  I know that he loves each of us.   I know that he wants us to obey the commandments and as we do, he blesses us beyond measure.   He never breaks his promises to us.   It is us that break our promises to him.   I love my Savior, I love each of you with all my heart.   I miss you but I know this is where we are suppose to be right now at this particular time.  I believe as time goes on we will even learn more on how we can serve him even better and why he wants us here.   Even if it is for us to be stronger, to love each other and our family even more, even if it is to make some new and dear friends, even if it is to touch the heart of someone somewhere, there is a purpose and we need to do our part.   What a wonderful opportunity to learn to serve and to serve with all our heart.   May the Lord bless all of you with the blessings that you need and desire.   May you feel his love for you and that his love will fill in for us while we are gone.   May all of you feel that we are where Heavenly Father wants us and that you will feel our love for you is my prayer.   The gospel is true and if we follow the commandments we will find happiness in all our lives.   Keep up the good work.  Remember to smile and be grateful for the little tender mercies that happen in each of our lives each day.

July 1, 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

The time is flying by.  I can’t believe it is already July.   We hope this finds all of you doing well and enjoying the summer doing some fun things.   We are keeping really busy and for some reason I just don’t seem to get everything done that I want to do.   Sounds like life, doesn’t it?  

Marv is doing an excellent job with the Centers for Young Adults.   He has been busy building new forms and spreadsheets to track the information they need and getting the Finances organized.  It is a lot of work but when he is done, it will be done right and will be easy for the next people to follow.   Because of his association with the CFYA we had the privilege of going to Budapest, Hungary, for three days last week, June 22-24.   When I told my boss we were going he asked that I do a review on the Coordinator out there and so we had to work that into the plan also.  

Our flight from Frankfurt was delayed a half hour but when we got to Budapest we were met by two awesome young Elders from Washington State.  They are from the same town, same ward, received their calls the same day to Budapest, entered the MTC together, flew to Hungary together and after 18 months of serving, they are now serving together in the mission office.   We really enjoyed getting to know them and feel of their love for their mission.   They even called us on Friday and asked if we needed a ride back to the airport so that saved us a taxi ride.   Their names are Elder Murray and Elder Miller.   (Even their names start with the same letter of the alphabet).   They also helped us during our training which was held in the mission home/office/CFYA building.  

It was very nice and there was a little air conditioning in the room, which was like a small living room that we gave our presentation to the Mission President and his wife, two sister missionaries (senior) serving right there in Budapest and a senior couple, the Harwell’s serving in a town about two hours away.   One of the sisters, Sister Smith, was in the MTC with us and so it was great to renew acquaintances.  She also made a lot of the arrangements for us for the training.   She made homemade cinnamon rolls and they were so good.  

We spent over two hours in training and then we had sat in on a council meeting with the Council Chairmen of the CFYA.  What a wonderful young man he is and how devoted he is to finding the lost sheep.   It was exciting to hear about the things he is doing with the other young people to search for those that could be coming to the Center and taking Institute classes.  They have an average of 16 people attend Institute and on Mondays for Family Home Evening, they have 25 to 30 and on Friday night activities they have sometimes as much as 50 young people come.  Some of these are not members and so this is a great place for them to feel the spirit.  Sister Smith and Sister Chase are doing a great job because they are having the Center open five nights a week from 3 or 4 p.m. on.   They have FHE on Mondays, Institute class on Tuesday and Wednesday, English classes on Thursday, and an activity on Fridays.   A lot of the Centers are only open two days a week but the Church would like them to be open 5 nights a week and as you can see they are definitely doing that.   Sister Chase is there until the end of July when Sister Smith’s new companion will come and Sister Chase will return to Germany to a CFYA she was working in before Sister Smith’s companion, who was her aunt had to go home because the work was too hard.   I think she might have actually been assigned to a new mission in the States that would not be as hard for her to do.  She was in her late 70’s and I believe this was her 5^th mission.

When we got done with the meetings, Marv took them out to lunch but it was almost 2:00 p.m. and I needed to meet with the Coordinator of S&I so I told them to go without me.   I met with the Coordinator and was so grateful to have this opportunity to look at his records, which he did a really good job at organizing his papers.  I was able to teach him some things about how to use and record his Visa charges and the program that is used for that.  I loved that part because I was teaching him something he wanted to know. 

He then after about two hours took Marv and I in his car to see some of Budapest.   Budapest is split in the middle by the River Danube.  On the flat side it is called Pest (peshh) and on the hilly side of the river it is called Budda.   He used to be a history teacher so he was so wonderful at telling us the history of Hungary and Budapest.   He showed us Castle hill that looks over the city and has a huge Castle on it.   (We didn’t have time to actually go in but we walked around a little bit.)   It was so hot too.  

Then he took us to the hill that Elder Nelson dedicated the land to preaching of the gospel.  This is the story I downloaded from the lds site.   But to actually stand where he stood was quite amazing and the funny part is we were pretty much alone there even though before there seemed to be people everywhere.  It was so peaceful and beautiful.  It was a by a huge statute that they call their Statue of Liberty, which was put up after World War II.   Here is the story:

Hungary, Budapest

The desire shown by many Hungarians to learn about the Church and the improvement in relations between the U.S. and eastern European countries presaged the visit to Hungary of Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve in April 1987. On Mt. Gellert, situated in a Budapest park, he offered a prayer to dedicate Hungary for missionary labor. In his words, “It was Easter Sunday. There had been a lot of people, a lot of traffic in the park. But all of a sudden, the people had gone home, and I had a sweet, peaceful feeling this [was] the spot.” ²⁵

Because the Church had not as yet received legal recognition, Elder Nelson immediately informed the government about the dedicatory prayer. He explained its significance to Dr. Imre Miklos, state secretary and president of the State Office for Religious Affairs. Dr. Miklos was moved and expressed his appreciation for the desire of the Church to bless the people of his country.

On 1 June 1988, the document granting legal recognition to the Church was signed in Budapest by Dr. Miklos, representing the government of Hungary. On June 24, Elder Nelson received the official declaration in Budapest on behalf of the Church. He was accompanied by Elder Hans B. Ringger of the First Quorum of the Seventy and President Dennis B. Neuenschwander, president of the Austria Vienna East Mission—the Church leader who would have immediate jurisdiction over missionary efforts in Hungary. Also present were two Hungarian members of the Church, Dr. Gedeon Kereszti, serving then as the president of the Hungarian District, and his counselor, Dr. Peter Paul Varga.

He then took us to see the Parliament Building.  It is huge with a lot of Roman architecture.  We didn’t have time to go in but it was still nice to see the outside and have him share more history with us.   The buildings in this town have a lot of detail on the outside with statutes and figures everywhere, on the face of the buildings, on the top of buildings, etc.  The town is dirtier than in Germany and there seem to be more poor walking around.

Marv and I walked around on Friday morning before our flight and walked in the park across from where we were staying.  We were approached by a gypsy (I’m sure that is what she was) and she was begging us for money for her bambinos – we are told not to give out money.   She followed us and I was really nervous.   I’m sure she figured we were American because we told her we didn’t speak Hungarian so she tried German and then French but she didn’t know English.   It was very strange.   I wanted to get out of there and I had to practically drag Marv along.   I didn’t feel safe and he thought we were fine because he saw a woman with a baby.   I don’t care – I didn’t feel safe and I was really glad to get away from there.  We were looking at a statue of a Hungarian Soldier and German Soldier shaking hands, the date was in 1914 so the end of World War I.

The currency if HUF and it is large amounts and so when you spent 1800 HUF you panic but that is about 7 EUR or 11 US Dollars.   I was ready to come home on Friday.   I thought I would be better about the travel but it is actually kind of scary to me when I can’t speak the language and I don’t know where to go and some of the streets we were walking on didn’t seem safe.   I know you have to careful about pick pockets there and Marv was so frustrated with me for making him put his wallet in his front pocket.   It really was an interesting city but without Brother Jozsef Kucskar we really wouldn’t have seen much or known what we were looking at.  

One of the most interesting parts of the time was hearing his conversion story and hearing how he came to be a Coordinator for S&I.   He and his wife are the only members on both sides.   He joined because of his wife.   He was raised staunch Catholic and practiced his religion and didn’t see a need for any other one.   But he joined and developed his testimony and even though he always wanted to be a lawyer (I think he would have made a good lawyer), he agreed to work for S&I because of his wife again.   Women look at the influence you can have on the men around you.   He is a wonderful man and he has had many challenges but I believe that has made him even better.  He was traveling that night to a town and then staying overnight so that he can meet with the Elders and Priesthood leaders to see about starting an Institute class there.   The area was just opened to missionary work.   He loves what he does and we were told he is a great teacher.   I know he was a great teacher for Marv and I.   Isn’t it interesting all the people the Lord just puts in our path so that we can learn and grow?  

By the way, Budapest had McDonald’s, which we ate at 2 times because we could point at the picture, a KFC and a Burger King all in the same block.  They are everywhere.   We did eat breakfast in the motel because it came with our room and we ate dinner on Thursday night there.   It was really good.   I had perch and Marv had some bacon wrapped meat.   Our room was very hot and our little refrigerator did not work but other than the heat issue, we survived and learned a lot from our experience.   We are suppose to go to Warsaw, Poland, to do some training in July.   We have an S&I couple there so we will probably do double duty again.   I just hope we get to go to some other places too even if it is scary.

On Saturday, we went to Mainz, Germany about 45 minutes away to meet up the Asplund’s and the new Mental Health Couple, the Dearings.  She is the doctor and they are from West Jordan.   She is the same age as me, 57, and she was able to take a leave of absence from BYU to serve this mission because her husband wanted to serve before his health was bad.  He is around 65.   She has a medical degree and worked for the state as a clinical psychologist, retired from there and is now teaching at BYU.   I really like her and it was fun to get to know the two of them.   We ate in a Mexican food place.   It was interesting and sort of okay.   They all loved it but I don’t know if I will drive 45 minutes to eat there again.  You never know.    We didn’t do much here but do in a Catholic Church which was huge.   We found an ice cream stand because Brother Asplund always likes to get an ice cream when we are touring and ate it and then pretty much came home.   We got home by at 6 and we left around 12 that day.

I have really had my struggles while being here but this week after a few bad days, I feel I have passed through some of the tough times and I am on the road that is better.   I guess I expected this to be easy because it is like a job but it has been the hardest job I think I have ever done.   I have trying to learn all the different personalities and trying to get people to make changes that have been their traditions for well over 30 years.   I think I was trying to be someone I am not and now I have come to realize that the Lord expects me to be me and that he will help ME.   I look forward to better days ahead.   Thank heavens for my awesome husband.  He has been my strength and support.  It is funny that I was the one that felt we needed to do this and I am the one that has struggled the most.   He has just jumped in with both feet and he is doing great.   I know I couldn’t be here without him so I am grateful his life was spared.   We are loving our time together.   This is a wonderful place to be and this really is a wonderful experience.   I have decided without the challenges I get to face, I wouldn’t grow and the Lord expects me to grow so hopefully I will learn to do what will be the best for those here in Europe and make lots of new friends and come home with a great love for them and be able to share all I have learned.  Every day is a day for learning and I am trying to open my eyes and see what is around me and how I can learn for everything that happens.   I love it and I am in a good place inside myself, which allows me to reach out to those around me.  

I want you to know I love my Savior.   I know he lives.  I know he loves me, he knows me, he know the end from the beginning and everything between.   I know that we are here at this precise moment in this precise place for a precise reason and I know the Lord doesn’t want any of us to fail and he is there to help us.   I feel his presence and the presence of others that sent to help me.   We are so blessed to be surrounded by great people.   I love all of you and I miss you but I know this is right.   I know that President Monson is the prophet and he has extended this call to us.  

May you all be happy and enjoy your journeys where ever they take you.  Stop and smell the roses along the way because I am finding that is what brings the peace and happiness to our lives.   Well I had best stop and get this ready to mail.  

We love you,  Elder and Sister Paxton, Mom and Dad, Marv and Vickie (did I miss any titles?)

We love to hear from you – Write or e-mail let us know how you are doing.   I can’t believe how much we look forward to a word from home.   By the time you get this you will have had the 4^th of July.   I hope all of you were safe and had a great day.  

Family letter June 2, 2011

June 2, 2011

Dear Family,

How are you?  We are doing good and so far we have not fallen victim to the food poisoning e-coli breakout here in Germany.   That is really good.  Knock on wood that we will stay okay.  

We had today off because it is Ascension Day, which is tied to their Easter Celebration and my understanding is that it is also their Father’s Day.   We have ended up staying home and not sightseeing because Marv hasn’t felt very good.  He thinks he is coming down with a cold but I am wondering if possibly it is more allergy related because there is a lot of different pollen in the air.   It is now after 4 p.m. and he has slept all afternoon.  I sure hope he will sleep tonight but I am assuming he really doesn’t feel too good. 

It is really nice just to stay home.  The weather is nice and sunny today with a nice breeze.   The temperature says it is 72°.   I have spent the day cleaning, doing wash which for some reason is taking all day today.  It must be the humidity because I am having a hard time getting the clothes to dry so I have clothes that are washed waiting for the dryer.  We have a condensation dryer, which means it does not vent outside and you have this container that holds the water from the clothes.   I have had to empty that a lot today.   I finally just took out some of the clothes and hung them up to dry and put the pants on drying racks.

Tomorrow I will be the only one in my office because everyone else is making it a long vacation.  I guess they are glad they have a missionary so they don’t have to decide who has to be in the office.   I have a feeling that the only ones that are going to be in the offices will be the missionaries tomorrow and we will see how many of those are actually there.   The kid we take into work that is doing his internship might be the only one on his floor, the executive secretary and his wife, for the Area Presidency on my floor and I will probably be the only ones on our floor.   I don’t know about the Doctors but I assume someone will be there as there are always people that are sick or needing their help somehow will be on the 3rd floor and Marv will be on the fourth floor until the Asplund’s get back in town and they might come over to the office in the afternoon.   It will be interesting to see who really is there.   There are about 5 more missionaries on Marv’s floor that could be there but all the employees seem to have scheduled the time off.  I can’t say I blame them.  

They get 28 days of vacation plus all their holidays off and unlimited sick leave.   Wouldn’t you like that?   I sure would have.   Plus the people in my area say they have a lot of comp time.  I’m not sure how they figure that because in Germany there is no such thing as comp time.   Oh well, I’m not here to figure out their working hours and tracking of it.  I just can’t figure out how you can arrive on Monday after 9 a.m. and stay to maybe 6 or possibly 7 occasionally and leave on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. and get your full 40 hours in for the week.   I guess I don’t know how to count or something.  (There’s one that does that and they eat at their desk and count that as their work time too so maybe it all adds up.)

I am starting in the process of budget preparation but it is not going well because the guy I am suppose to work with is not letting me know what he has already.   He is just planning on entering it and I’m not sure how much I am going to get to put input on because he says it should be about what it was last year but in reality it should be a lot less because they have more budget than they spend and let me tell you they spend plenty but we need to get it down to what they actually spend or at least somewhat closer.  S&I likes the budgets to be spent between 90 and 102% and I think they have typically spent around 84%.   Plus looking at their budgets they have a lot more than they should have for various accounts so I am not going to be liked very well if I do try to pull it into alignment.   I just hope that I get to have some input, if not, then why am I even here.  

This is a picture of a cemetery.   I may have already sent it but what I learned something this past week about their cemeteries  that was interesting to me.   When someone dies they lease the area for 25 to 30 years and the family has to take care of it.  Notice they plant flowers or ground cover all over the top of it.  Then after 25 or 30 years they are dug up and someone else is put there.   The headstones are ground up or something like that so apparently there are very few graves that are very old with headstones.   I’m so glad they don’t do that in the States. 

This next Wednesday for  the sister’s night out we are going to visit this huge cemetery, which is close to our office and they say it is old and so I will take some pictures.  I will notice if I see any really old headstones.   I was looking forward to seeing some. 

I was hoping to go to Flensburg probably at the end of our mission and see if any of our relatives graves were there.  They are on my Grandma Hayes’s side and I don’t have very much information going back on them but I do show a few generations in that city.   This was called Prussia at one time but is now part of Germany.   It is close to the Denmark border.   But it appears I’m not going to see any old headstones. Emiliya showed me some pictures of old headstones from her country so they must not do the same over there.

 

We went to a going away dinner for six couples last night at a Chinese or Thai restaurant in Friedburg about 30 minutes away.   It was pretty good but we aren’t sure we are going back.  It cost Marv and I about $50 US dollars just for the buffet and a drink.   Neither one of us ate that much at the buffet to make it worth the cost.  Oh well, it was another experience.

I received my general conference issue finally this week but it was the Liahona instead of the Ensign.   I e-mailed and asked that they make sure I get the Ensign from here on.   It is nice to reread the talks and be reminded of all that I heard during conference.  It will take me a while to get through it.

We have been invited for a real German meal on Sunday after church to one of the guys that I work with.   They are a couple that have never been able to have children and they have tried adoption and foster care but nothing is working out for them.  He is 41 years old and I think his wife is a couple of years younger than him.   I think he would have made a great dad because he is really kind.   He is very tall and quite big.  He has to duck to get through the doors. 

He wants to take us to a town that is known for their flowers (actually we would be taking him because they don’t have a car) and I am worried how he is going to fit in our little car for a couple hour trip.  We took him to the grocery store in our car once and the seat had to be clear back and he still was pretty cramped.   I don’t know if it will be me or his wife that needs to sit behind him because I don’t think there will be room for either one of us behind him.    It should be interesting.   He has been really kind to me and to Marv.   He is a secretary in my office but has put in an application to be on  the computer support team.   I hope he gets it because it will be a raise for him and he is really pretty good with the computer.  I would miss him in the office but we aren’t going to be here forever and he needs to do what is best for he and his family.

Marv is working on making arrangements for us to visit a Center for Young Adults and do some training with the people in Budapest, Hungary and so we will probably be going there in a few weeks over a weekend.   I understand the town is wonderful and a must see but I don’t know how much time we are going to have to see things.  Hopefully a little bit of time so we could take a tour or something.   It is a little scary to go there but I guess we will figure it out.  It appears any traveling we do will be with Marv’s assignment.  We are suppose to go with the Asplund’s the first week in August to a YSA Conference in Munich.   I think that will be a fun thing to do because we won’t be alone and we will be able to see the young people and mingle with them.  Sometimes I am envious of those couples that get to work in the Centers with the young people.  I know they have their challenges but I think you would see good things happen and could really make a difference in lives.  They typically go to the Centers two days a week and I don’t know what they do the rest of the week.  We work 5 days a week and get Saturdays off unless we travel to do some training and then that is usually on a weekend when they want us to go so then we get no time off.  But visiting the Centers would be a fun thing to do.

The church bells are ringing.  We hear them every day and I think it is kind of cool.  There are lots of things I like about being here.   It really is a great experience and a learning one for us.

These are some markers in our town as a memorial to the Jews. 

The next two are in the sidewalks and they are probably about 5X5.  You kind of have to be looking for them.  There is one that says,

“Here lived Karoline Schiff born 1874, Deported 1942, to Theresienstadt

Murdered March 10, 1943.

Amother one says:  Here lived Simon Changer Born 1858, Victim of the pogrom, TOT Dec 2, 1938. 

The second one says, Here lived Betty Charger of building Nachmann, Born 1862, Deported 1942, Theresienstadt, TOT Sept. 15, 1942

HISTORY OF THERESIENSTADT

On June 10, 1940, the Gestapo took control of Terezín and set up the prison in the Small Fortress (kleine Festung), see below. By November 24, 1941, the Main Fortress (große Festung, i.e. the walled town of Theresienstadt) was turned into a ghetto.^[1] To outsiders, it was presented by the Nazis as a model Jewish settlement, but in reality it was a concentration camp 'where over 33 000 inmates died as a result of hunger, sickness, or the sadistic treatment meted out by their captors'.^[2] Theresienstadt was also used as a transit camp for European Jews en route to Auschwitz. 'Although some survivors claim the population reached 75,000, official records place the highest figure on September 18, 1942, at 58,491 in Kasernes (barracks) designed to accommodate 7000 combat troups.'^[3]

Dr. Siegfried Seidl, an SS-Hauptsturmführer,^[4] served as the first camp commandant in 1941. Seidl oversaw the labor of 342 Jewish artisans and carpenters, known as the Aufbaukommando, who converted the fortress into a concentration camp. Although the Aufbaukommando were promised that they and their families would be spared transport, eventually all were transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in September 1944^[5] for Sonderbehandlung, or "special treatment", i.e. immediate gassing of all upon arrival. Seidl himself was hanged for his crimes by a post-war tribunal in Vienna in 1946.^[6]

As in other European ghettos, a Jewish Council nominally governed the ghetto. In Theresienstadt this was known as the "Cultural Council" and eventually known by the residents as the "Jewish self-government of Theresienstadt".^[7] The first of the Jewish Elders of Theresienstadt was Jakob Edelstein, a Polish-born Zionist and former head of the Prague Jewish community. In 1943, he was deported to Auschwitz, where he was shot to death after watching his wife and son being shot to death also.^[8] The second was Paul Eppstein, a sociologist originally from Mannheim, Germany. Earlier, Eppstein was the speaker of the Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland, the central organization of Jews in Nazi Germany. In the course of the liquidation transports in autumn 1944, when some two thirds of the ghetto population were deported to Auschwitz, Eppstein was allegedly shot in the Small Fortress.^{[citation needed]} He died on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Hebrew calendar, after he informed the deported people of what was awaiting them in the "East". Benjamin Murmelstein, a Lvov-born Vienna Rabbi, succeeded Eppstein. In the last days of the ghetto's existence, eminent and much-loved Rabbi Leo Baeck served as the Elder. In 1943 to 1945, he was the speaker of the Council of Elders of Theresienstadt, after being deported from Berlin, where he had served as the head of the Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland. He was to survive Theresienstadt and emigrated to London after the war. ^[9]

Many of the 80,000 Czech Jews who died in the Holocaust died in Theresienstadt, where the conditions were extremely difficult. In a space previously inhabited by 7,000 Czechs, now over 50,000 Jews were gathered. Food was scarce and in 1942 almost 16,000 people died, including Esther Adolphine (a sister of Sigmund Freud), who died on September 29, 1942; Friedrich Münzer (a German classicist), who died on October 20, 1942. Medicine and tobacco were strictly prohibited; possession could be punished by hard labor or death. Single men and women were officially forbidden to meet, or to communicate with a Gentile without German permission, however married couple often remained together and were able to sleep in the same quarters.^[7]

It soon became the "home" for a great number of Jews from occupied Czechoslovakia. The 7,000 non-Jewish Czechs living in Terezín were expelled by the Nazis in the spring of 1942. As a consequence, the Jewish community became a closed environment.

Theresienstadt supplied the German war effort with a source of Jewish slave labor. Their major contribution was the splitting of mica mined from local Czechoslovakia. Blind prisoners were often spared deportation by assignment to this task. Others manufactured boxes or coffins. Others sprayed military uniforms with a white dye to provide camouflage for German soldiers on the Russian front. According to ex-prisoners, Theresienstadt was also a sorting and re-distribution centre for underwear and clothing confiscated from Jews.. "from all parts of Germany, the baggage taken away from the Jews was sent to Theresienstadt, and there it was packaged, sorted-out in order to be sent out all over the country, to various cities, for the people who were bombed-out and suffered a shortage of underwear and clothing."^[7]

456 Jews from Denmark were sent to Theresienstadt in 1943. These were Jews who had not escaped to Sweden before the arrival of the Nazis. Included also in the transports were some of the European Jewish children whom Danish organizations had been attempting to conceal in foster homes. The arrival of the Danes is of great significance, as the Danes insisted on the Red Cross's having access to the ghetto. This was a rare move, given that most European governments did not insist on their fellow Jewish citizens being treated according to some fundamental principles. The Danish king, Christian X, later secured the release of the Danish internees on April 15, 1945. The White Buses, in cooperation with the Danish Red Cross, collected the 413 who had survived.

Approximately 144,000 Jews were sent to Theresienstadt. Most inmates were Czech Jews. Some 40,000 originated from Germany, 15,000 from Austria, 5,000 from the Netherlands and 300 from Luxembourg. In addition to the group of approx. 500 Jews from Denmark, also Slovak and Hungarian Jews were deported to the ghetto. Some 1,600 Jewish children from Białystok, Poland, were deported to Auschwitz from Theresienstadt; none survived. About a quarter of the inmates (33,000) died in Theresienstadt, mostly because of the deadly conditions (hunger, stress, and disease, especially the typhus epidemic at the very end of war). About 88,000 were deported to Auschwitz and other extermination camps. At the end of the war, there were a mere 17,247 survivors. 15,000 children lived in the camp's children's home; only 93 survived.

Well, I guess this was your history lesson for the week.  

Well, that is about all the news I have for this week.  Just more of the same.   Hope this finds everyone doing great.  We love you.

Love,

Elder and Sister Paxton

Journal entries from May 24, 2011 to May 26, 2011

Tuesday, May 24, 2011:  Bryan e-mailed me at work to ask if I had heard if Uncle Bob wasyaMsurvivors.  I told him that Sylvia, Bob’s daughter lived there.  So he called Bob and left a message to see if everyone was okay.   I got an email from Bryan on Wednesday morning that she was okay.  She lived about two blocks from where the tornado touched down.  Very lucky she didn’t get hurt.

Marv had meetings at work all day for Centers for Young Adults.  They had a committee meeting where they approved some more centers.   He met with Heinz Kanobby about the funding for the centers in the afternoon.  They had a lunch of Doner’s brought in and invited me to eat with them.  Diane Asplund and I shared a wrap which was plenty big. 

 

I worked on paymentnet charges and in the afternoon we had training on how to run some reports in CFIS.  It was really beneficial and I hope to use it soon.  

Wednesday, May 25, 2011:   I literally spent all day pulling up the paymentnet charges and reviewing the transaction notes and writing up questions on things I was seeing.  I made some coding changes.   We left at 5 pm and took Blake’s with us and dropped them off at Woolworth’s while we continued home to change our clothes for cleaning our chapel.   We picked them back up and proceeded to the chapel.  President and Sister Ninow and one of their sons, Brother and Sister Blake, Sister Simonet, and Marv and I cleaned the church house.   I cleaned the kitchen, Marv cleaned some of the bathrooms and then mopped the kitchen, hall and entry way.  President Ninow washed the windows, Sister Ninow vacuumed, Brother Blake vacuumed, Sister Blake shined the drinking fountains and worked on the bathrooms, Sister Simonet helped clean bathrooms and some other vacuuming, the Ninow’s son emptied the garbage’s and cleaned some of the windows.   I think it looked pretty good when we were done and it probably only took about an hour to do it.   It is amazing how much you can get done when there are lots of help.  

Then we stopped at Kentucky Fried Chicken and order two meals.  We were able to get three chicken breasts each with coleslaw and mashed potatoes and gravy (Marv) and I had French fries with mine.  It cost us 16€ and the guy gave us a VIP discount.   We ended up with 4 chicken breasts left over so I got a box and brought them home.  Now we will have lunch and dinner for tomorrow.

We took the Blake’s home and then we came home.  We got home around 9 p.m.   We got to talk to Bryan for about 20 minutes at 10 p.m. our time and 2 p.m. his time.   It is always good to talk to him.  We are really getting used to talking to him almost every day.   He is a great guy.   I hope he can find the right house for them to buy.  I’m sure they will.

Christie e-mailed that Scott got a summer job with the forest service but it doesn’t start until June 20^th and he will only be able to work about 6 weeks.  They feel blessed that they  got this job because the week before they had been told they were not hiring this year.   I fasted and prayed for them on Sunday so maybe that helped too.  

Thursday, May 26, 2011:   Today was pretty much just a normal day at work.  I worked on reminding people to do their paymentnet charges by reviewing them, putting transaction notes, and making account codes are correct.   Heidi did the devotional this morning on being cheerful and it was a great reminder.  Those in the office were Heidi, Jens, Erik (kind of) he was with a guy they are considering hiring for Albania.  He is  a convert but he is from Albania, served his mission in Seattle, went to Ricks College and has been married for 10 years.  He has two children.  He seemed really nice.   I guess one of the hang ups is the fact that he has a school loan that needs to be paid and if they hire him, it won’t be enough to make his payment.  

This morning I noticed that Scott was on SKYPE and so I started a chat to see if he could talk.   We chatted back and forth (wrote to each other).   He has hired two people.  One for the RPA  “May” from the Phillipines and one from San Diego for their SEO business.  This guy will go out and contact people who want their presence on the web.  I really think this will be a great move for him and John.  I think they can do some wonderful things with this and actually make a good living so that Kristin can quit work.   He is working really hard.   He works during the day tending the kids and then trying to train the people he has hired.   Apollo is doing great and he works at night for Scott.   I hope May will work out really good for him too.   I really feel the Lord is starting to really bless him.   I am so proud of him.  

I am proud of Bryan and who he is and what he has done with his life.   He is great father and husband and is so good to us too.

  

Christie is an awesome daughter and we feel so blessed to have her in our life.  She is very talented with writing and she is a great mom. 

 

When we got home, I hemmed Marv’s temple pants and then went to the store to buy something for Sister Windley’s birthday tomorrow.   I ended up buying her a little box of mini chocolate bars that said Celebration on the top.  I thought that is appropriate.   I also bought myself some yellow roses.  I think there were a dozen and they only cost 1.99 €.  That’s the best price of everything. 

We made us cheese sandwiches for dinner.  It was getting late and I was tired.   We had left over Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch today.   It was been warm and then it rain for a few minutes and then it got humid.   It is 10:15 p.m. and it is 66 degrees.   I am so tired.  I need to go to bed.