A QUICK TRIP HOME

In many parts of Europe, Easter is celebrated with Good Friday and Easter Monday as a four-day weekend.  And while many in Europe are no longer religious in their belief in God, they are religious in observing (taking off work) those religious holidays.  With our office closed for those days and General Conference being .this weekend (no regular Sunday services in Frankfurt), we decided to take a short trip to Belgium and the Netherlands.

Our first stop was to see Pierre Pouken and his wife.  We have known each other since 1999, when I (Russell) hired him as our head of internal audit at Huntsman International.  Since I retired in 2012, Pierre has kept in touch with me and friendship has grown even though we have been far apart during the last 14 years.  Pierre now lives not far from our prior home just southeast of Brussels.  He has a very nice home that he bought and restored just a few years ago.  He has also purchased two adjacent fields of land so that he now has a number of acres on which he is going to build a vineyard.  When I commented that Huntsman must be treating him good, he said Russell, “I sold at $30.”  Pierre’s children and four young grandchildren live close to him and will enjoy the property with him.  As I left, I thought how fortunate I was to have made some good friends during our years in Belgium.

Just up the road, a couple of miles closer to the ring road around Brussels, we stopped in Overijse for a few minutes to take a few pictures of our home there.  We loved our time living in Belgium (1999-2001) It was the time, when as a family, we were the closest.  I miss those days.

On Saturday morning we were able to attend the temple in The Hague, Netherlands.  The first session of General Conference doesn’t start until 6:00 PM local time, so the temple was open in the morning.  Since the current temple president was/is Buddy Gout, I asked to see him and explained that I had served as a missionary in Indonesia when his father Hendrik Gout was mission president.  I  served in the mission office for the last nine months of my mission and worked with him on financial matters.  Hendrick Gout was the first president of the Indonesia Jakarta Mission, which was created on July 1, 1975.  I was in Cebu at that time waiting for a visa.  For the five years prior to then, the elders serving in Indonesia were part of the Singapore Southeast Asia Mission, the mission to which I was originally called.  Eileen and I enjoyed the time which President Gout took to talk with us. 

Last evening and today we have enjoyed the opportunity to listen to General Conference from the comfort of our hotel room.  We both feel privileged to have been able to raise our arms in sustaining Dallin H. Oaks as president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and along with the other apostles, as prophets, seers, and revelators.  We appreciate their messages and counsel to us.

During the first session, I was particularly touched by Elder Bednar’s message on enduring valiantly to the end.  He taught that it was not enough for us to just hang on and suffer until our life is done, nor was it enough to just do good deeds until life was over.  Elder Bednar said, “In a spiritual context, enduring is far more than merely persevering tenaciously to complete demanding duties or challenges.”   He went on to say, “As we align our character, desires, actions and what we truly love more closely with God’s will, the Savior can bring about a comprehensive and complete change in us.”  Of the many spiritual gifts that can come from aligning our lives with God, Elder Bednar focused on charity, the pure love of Christ as how we should endure to the end.

In 1st Corinthians chapter 13, Paul talks about charity and our need to possess it.  He recites several great deeds and says even if we do all these things that if we “have not charity, it profiteth [us] nothing.”  At times Paul’s words have bothered me, appropriately so, as I have struggled to always do the right thing for the right reason.  All too often I find myself, while managing to keep my words and actions doing what is right, having my thoughts and feelings not being completely there yet. My hope is that with time I can align my character enough with God’s that I can enjoy that “comprehensive and complete change” Elder Bednar spoke of in me."          

We are so grateful for the beautiful gift of the atonement and resurrection.  It has been a blessing to listen to the Church conference messages and hear our leaders talk of forgiveness, love and hope.                                                      

This was our house when we lived in Belgium for two years. We have many fond memories of our time there. 

                                         

We visited the Hague temple and had a personal visit with the temple president, President Gout.

                                         

                               

Russell, Eileen Pierre and Michalene.  In the background you can see the property where a castle used to be.  The castle was bombed out in the war and now there is a large mansion in its place. 

We saw tulip and hyacinth fields along the road.

It was a cold day at the beach. There were an abundance of European Razor Clams shells on the beach. They crunched under our feet when we walked. 

Russell threw several star fish back into the ocean.   

                                                          

We were delighted and proud  or our grandson Connor (who is only 8 years old), when he spoke last week in Sacrament meeting.  He seemed so young to speak in church, yet did a great job.  

PALM SUNDAY

Even as full-time missionaries it is easy to get so caught up in our daily activities that we lose sight of what is truly most important.  The last two weeks have definitely had their challenges for us, but those issues shrink to insignificant when I ponder the events that took place almost two millennia ago on this upcoming Easter week.  The opportunity for us to be forgiven of our sins and be able to return to live with our Father in Heaven (should we live worthy), and for all men and women to be resurrected, was all made possible because of the atoning sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ.  

This week, Eileen and I will be focusing our scripture study on the events that took place each day of what many refer to as Holy Week:

Palm Sunday – Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:9, Matthew 21:1-11, Luke 19:37-44)

Monday – Christ cleanses the Temple (Matthew 21:12-16)

Tuesday – Christ teaches parables (Matthew 25:1-13 & 35-40)

Wednesday – The anointing at Bethany (Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:6-8, John 12:1-8)

Thursday – The Last Supper & Garden of Gethsemane (Isaiah 53:4, Matthew 26:36-39, Luke 22:19-20 & 39-46)

Good Friday – The Crucifixion (Psalm 22:16&18, Isaiah 53:7,9&12, Matthew 27:35&57-60, Mark 14:60-61 & 15:27-28, Luke 23:32-46, John 19:16-30 & 20:25-27)

Saturday – Christ ministers to the dead (1 Peter 3:18-20, D&C 138:29-34)

Easter Sunday – Christ is Risen (Isaiah 25:8, Daniel 12:2, Matthew 27:52-53 & 28:1-10, Mark 16:1-6, Luke 24:1-6, John 20:1-18, Corinthians 15:20-22)

We are very grateful for the opportunity to be missionaries representing Jesus Christ and are humbled to be counted among His many disciples.  He is the promised Messiah, our Savior and King!

       One of our senior missionaries purchased some prints of this painting. We will put it in our apartment once we receive it.  It is a good reminder of the miracle of the resurrection. 

Sister Johnson gave the area devotional on Monday.  I love this statement by Elder Maxwell, along with the photo of the beautiful spring flowers. 

We had a very nice visit with the Scallobrinian NGO ASCS.  They focus on helping refugees around the world. Our church has partnered with this organization for several projects caring for refugees. From left to right-Coraline (our manager), Russell, Eileen, Marianna (director of fundraising), Erik (manager over humanitarian), and Father Antonio (Director of the NGO).

We had a farewell party for Elder and Sister Denny. He has been our area mental health advisor.  She is outgoing and loves to have fun. She is the assistant mental health advisor. The Dennys took us out to eat when we first arrived. Sister Denny has  introduced me (Eileen) to a wonderful swim complex in Bad Homburg.

Elder Sutterfield and Russell, keeping their ties clean at the farewell party.

I (Eileen) have been going to play pickleball a few days/week at 6:15 am.  I think these missionaries from the Frankfurt mission were sort of bummed out that we already were using the gym. Several of them quietly studied their scriptures while we were playing. 

AN OTHERWISE UNEVENTFUL WEEK

On Friday as Eileen and I were discussing our past week, we both thought that there was nothing to really write about.  Our projects were slow in developing, our interactions with some individuals around us were challenging, and nothing out of the ordinary really occurred.  Life as a missionary is often like this, you can go long periods of laboring with occasional successes that are truly extraordinary and memorable.  In that way, life here is much like life at home, but as a missionary your work activities and interactions with others are just far more focused than they are at home.  But the more I thought about this past week, I realized that there were three things that were meaningful to me and reminders that God was aware of us.

The first involved my personal reading in the scriptures.  I have been for some time now concerned about a few things which I have been unable to find a solution to.  My desire when confronting an issue is to try and fix it.  Unfortunately, I find that my ability to do so is lacking. Early this week I had to stop my scripture reading mid chapter, something I don’t like to do.  The next day as I finished my morning prayers, during which I asked God about the problems that I was concerned about my inability to fix things, I returned to my reading of the scriptures.  There in the first two verses after where I had stopped reading the prior day was an answer to my prayer.  While it didn’t solve my problems, it did let me know that God was listening and wanted to give me comfort.  This incident reminded me of a saying I have heard often at church, that we speak to God through prayer and He speaks to us through the scriptures.

By Friday afternoon Eileen needed a break from our week’s activities.  We had not planned on going anywhere on Saturday.  Many of the other couples who have not lived in Europe before are anxious to go sightseeing and visit other cities almost every weekend.  We decided to invite one of the single senior elders to go with us to see the castle near us.  Unfortunately, that did not work out so we set off to go on our own.  While in the garage we just happened to meet another couple who was leaving at the same time.  After a brief conversation with them we changed our plans and went with them to catch a train into Frankfurt and see the town center area.  It so happened that the sister’s father was the mission president in Independence, Missouri when she was a child.  That connection was the subject of much of our conversation. The afternoon was a good break for all of us. I feel that it was not a coincidence that we both went into the garage at yesterday at the same time.  Sometimes God blesses us by putting others in our path who can help us.

Last night we learned that one of our grandsons received his mission call.  We are still waiting to learn where he is going because he wants to wait and open it with his older siblings later tonight.  We are pleased by his decision to serve God and grateful for the efforts of his parents and all those who have helped teach him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is rewarding to see your posterity living faithful to God’s commands.

The past several weeks Eileen has been having text conversations with a sister who is/was serving in Abu Dhabi.  We have been on several vacations with the couple and they started serving as volunteers, not missionaries, in the UAE last Fall.  On Friday, they got word that their calls had been changed and that they would be evacuated the next day.  They are now back in SLC and serving with President Craven and Elder and Sister Moulton in the Church Headquarters Mission.

                               

The Romerburg in Frankfurt is in the heart of the city.  It has been in use since the 15th century. Although heavily damaged in WWII it has been reconstructed to look as it originally did in Medieval times

St Nicholai church-a protestant church built in the mid 15th century.

Light a candle and pray for those in need

Elder and Sister Boud are serving as the Area Medical Advisor and assistant.  Sister Boud grew up living in the same location that our office was in Missouri. Our office used to be her house.

This violinist was so good that I gave him a donation, plus bought his CD.  Now I just wish I had a way to transfer his music to my phone to listen to it. 

   

Photos from the visit of the apostles  with the General Authorities to Frankfurt a month ago.

Elder Palmer, Elder Causse, Elder Girard, Elder Alliaud, Elder McKonkie, Elder Renlund and the Area Ex Secretary, and DTA Paul Hansen

Russell and Elder Renlund

Eileen and Russell with Elder Causse

A WEEK WITH HERWAYS IN ITALY

 Almost 27 years ago we met Tom and Anita Herway in Belgium.  Tom was the bishop of the international ward and Anita was the seminary teacher for our teenage children.  Nine years ago, we met again at the temple in the Netherlands.  That meeting led to Elder and Sister Herway serving as humanitarian missionaries with us in Europe.  Unknown to us at the time, they started serving again in Italy last Fall.  

This week we had the wonderful experience of traveling to Milan and with them visiting half-a-dozen NGOs and units of the municipal government who serve the poor and needy in Milan.  Both Eileen and I were very impressed with the professionalism and dedication of the individuals we met with.  Those managing the organizations we met with were 80-90% women and aged between 20 and 40 years old.  Only two of the individuals we met with were over the age of 50. While immigrants and refugees are more accepted in Italy than in some other countries, those working with the poor and needy need to be motivated by a strong feeling that what they are doing is not only the right thing to do but of great importance, as public praise and the pay level are certainly not motivating factors.

After working in Milan during the week, it was fun to see where Elder and Sister Herway live in Como and then to spend Saturday with them traveling on a train to St Moritz, Switzerland.  I (Russell) have been impressed at how well Eileen has been doing given the amount of fast walking we have been doing, 15,000 to 19,000 steps per day (Eileen keeps track).  And we have both been healthy during our two months here.  I do believe we are being blessed with good health as we serve as missionaries.  This week’s entry is short as we didn’t get home until 8:30 pm tonight and we are both tired.  Our “work hard play hard” mantra was easier when we were younger! 

                                              

Sister Bluth who is one of our senior missionaries, gave a FHE on Monday night about her experiences in decorating the inside of the temples. She gave a very informative, interesting and spiritual presentation.

Sister Bluth was the project manager decorating the interior of the Draper, Utah Temple. 

This is a photo of a preliminary sketch of a smaller temple President Hinkley drew on a napkin while traveling home after visiting Colonia Juarez in Mexico. He had been reflecting on the need for Saints in rural areas to receive the blessing of temple ordinances.

Our visit to La Rotunda included seeing a sewing room where lower income individuals including refugees can learn sewing skills.  Shown below are some of the baby onesies which have been sewn by beneficiaries.

Beneficiaries' can take bike repair classes which could be a very beneficial skill

Colorful murals are painted on the side of the walls near the TDH headquarters to give the neighborhood a more cheerful vibe

Psychological services are offered at TDH in addition to having a store which operates on a point system based on the size of their family.  Refugees can "shop" in the store free of charge to provide goods for their family members. This photo shows two volunteers, previously refugees, organizing the goods for the store. 

The municipality of Milan operates a Welcome Center for migrants and refugees. They offer services for 1000-1500 people/month.  They have a number of translators available so services can be offered in the refugee's native language. One of our humanitarian projects will fund a garden area with tables and chairs so the refugees can enjoy the outdoors without threat of violence.

This painting was done by one of the refugees who came to the Welcome Center.  Even in the midst of bad weather, beauty can still come forth. 

Center for Unaccompanied Migrant Minors

 Unaccompanied minors are from other countries without adult supervision. Here they are offered psychological services, educational support, language tutoring.  Below is a photo of the professionals involved in their care.

At the Ronald Macdonald House Sister Herway joined me in getting in the snuggly chair which can offer comfort to family members who are stressed while their child is in the hospital. 

We saw this statue in a store window the night we visited the Ronald Macdonald House.  Who would ever buy this?

Due to scheduling challenges, we were only able to see  9 minutes of the Italy vs Japan paralympic hockey game.

We didn't go see this castle, just took a quick photo op on the way to the Metro. Sforza Castle was near our  hotel and was built in the 1300-1400s. 

Quick photo stop in the Galleria

We would have loved to go in the Duomo, another quick photo stop.  Some kind of demonstration was taking place outside. 

Italian gelato is delicious with a variety of flavors.

Healys and Herways on the train to Como. 

We took the Bernina Train to St Moritz Switzerland. We ended up in a blizzard on the way home. 

St Moritz is not inexpensive, but we splurged on lunch over the lake. 

Snow man weather

Hotel in St Mortiz.  There were extremely expensive cars in St Moritz including some in front of this hotel

Gratefully I wasn't decapitated while taking this photo.

We had very long days. Russell used the toilet as a desk to catch up on his work. I told him he better make sure there was a towel underneath the computer. YUCK!

Leaving Switzerland. It was a beautiful drive from Milan to St Moritz, but a long day getting home.