We spent most of this last week in Rome visiting NGO partners. We were closing out several projects and doing long-term evaluations many others. Meeting with project partners and seeing the good they are doing with beneficiaries is by far the most rewarding part of this work. Contrary to the hate and cruelty we see in the news each day, there are many good people striving to relieve the suffering of their fellowmen.
Of the ten visits we made, only one made us think, “Well I wouldn’t do that again.” Sometimes rich people have their ideas of how best to help poor people. They assume that because they are rich, that proves they know more and are always right. The most beneficial NGOs seem to be those who can put themselves in the position of those they are trying to help.
Perhaps that is why it was necessary for our Savior, Jesus Christ to suffer for all our sins, to experience all our hurt and pain, so that he can know how to help us, no matter what we are going through. Regardless of what circumstances we find ourselves experiencing, it is comforting to know that we can turn to Jesus Christ to help us get through it. As Elder Henry B. Eyring told us in General Conference recently, “The Savior not only understands and has felt grief, but He has (quoting Isaiah), ‘borne [your] griefs, and carried [your] sorrows.’ He knows you perfectly. He knows your heart.”
I (Russell) am going to miss working with our projects in Italy. Most of all I am going to miss working with our senior missionary couples serving there (Herway, Moore & Vardeu). We have served with Tom and Anita Herway on our previous mission in Europe and when we lived in Belgium 27 years ago. They are dear friends and expect this will not be the last time our paths cross.
I (Eileen) love to walk the 2.25 miles to work when I can, both for exercise and to enjoy the peace of the morning. This is an untouched photo of what the morning sky looked like last Monday.
These women were directors of the Ronald Macdonald House in Rome. The home provides housing for families whose children are hospitalized with an illness at the nearby pediatric hospital. The location is right by sea which provides a peaceful place for families to find respite from the challenges of being with their sick children.
Humanitarian funds paid for a new kitchen for the Ronald Macdonald house. There is space for 30 people to stay there and they now have a lovely new kitchen.
This soup kitchen by ASCS or the Scallabrinis offers meals made by volunteers each day. Our church paid for the renovation of the kitchen and two large refrigerators.
The idea of long term evaluations is to make sure the funds were spent on the correct items and if they weren't consumables, to make sure they were still in use. Here we are visiting the Red Cross who distributes food to refugees and poor families.
We saw several women coming to pick up sacks food for their families, We do not ever take photos of the beneficiaries unless they specifically say it is ok. We do not want the beneficiaries to feel they are on display. This food distribution center reminded me of the Bishops Warehouse in our church. There was even an iPad displaying what food items were going to be picked up with each food order.
The warehouse of the Red Cross. Each of the individuals who volunteer with the Red Cross have other professions. The women who is next to me (Eileen) is a veterinarian who helps cows with lactation. We had a good laugh together when I told her I had been a labor and delivery nurse who helped new moms with their breast feeding.
This kitchen was renovated with humanitarian funds. This was a visit to the NGO Integrata. They help women who have been victims of violence get back on their feet in a safe environment.
This kitchen at Integra overlooked a beautiful courtyard. We saw several women studying and also getting food out of the kitchen.
The Vardeaus in the courtyard outside of the "safe house".
Another project with the NGO Integra. This facility housed unaccompanied minor refugees, boys 16-18 who arrived in Italy without an adult with them.
I love how each NGO tries to make their facilities a place of beauty. These flowers were planted at the home for unaccompanied minors. They were bulbs taken from the Rome temple site.
Russell and Maryanna from ASCS discussing several of the projects we have partnered with them on.
This statue depicts young refugee children accompanied by a priest making their way to a new land.
Photos of some of the artwork done at the JRS facility which houses migrants from various parts of the world. The painting above is of migrants packed into a raft crossing the ocean and says by the Grace of God. The painting below was also done by a refugee. The humanitarian donation here was of a huge heater to heat a three floor building of significant size.
My favorite NGO this trip was -Banco Alimentare. They take donations of food from many different sources-then distribute the food to different NGO's who then will give the food out to the needy. This was an organization that seeing it written up on a computer is not the same as seeing it in person. Here the leader of the NGO (who is a university professor) is showing us some of the huge amounts of food which has been donated to them. There were 2 extremely large warehouses full of pallets of food. The place was immaculately clean with no food items distributed which were expired. We saw perfectly ripe bananas being loaded into vans for distribution. It is good to know that someone will be able to benefit from these food items which are not being used.
Our one meal out with the Vardeus in between visits on Thursday. We were gone for 13 hours straight and then went back to the hotel and did 3 more hours of work.
Our final visit in Rome was to this hospital which provides a variety of services for the poor.
We took a one day trip to Pompeii and Sorrento
Mount Vesuvius in the background
A mummified person in the museum of Pompeii
This was definitely a quick version of sightseeing. We took photos of the coliseum as we tried to catch a cab.
Book of Mormon display at the Rome visitor center
One quick visit to the Rome temple before our flight home.
Several good things happened this week. On Tuesday we had an Area-wide devotional that was attended by all three members of the Area Presidency. Elder Michael Cziela and his wife Margret spoke. Elder Cziela is the newest member of the presidency and a former stake president in Frankfurt.
In his first address in General Conference from October 2025, Elder Cziela related the story of how his grandmother and great grandmother joined the Church in East Prussia during 1926. Elder Cziela told about his grandmother’s challenge of being unable to meet with other members of the Church for decades, about the family’s move to northern West Germany following WWII, and his father’s running across a branch of the Church in 1955, at the age of 17, while away from home at trade school.
Elder Cziela’s 88 years-old father was with us at the devotional. Now the stake patriarch, he was asked by Elder Cziela to bear his testimony. As I (Russell) listened to Brother Cziela tell us about finding the Church and helping his mother reunite with the saints, I could feel some of the joy his mother experienced after having been separated for so many years from the Church and of being home again with her fellow believers in the restored church of Jesus Christ. For a few brief moments, I wondered if going home to my Father in Heaven might feel similar. A return home to a very familiar comforting place after struggling for decades in this temporal world. It lasted for just a short time but was a poignant reminder to me of where home really is and the importance of focusing on what I need to do to return there someday.
On Friday afternoon I got by email a proposal from the municipality of Milan and their NGO partner ARCA for the Church to participate in a large project refurbishing a children’s wing of a homeless shelter known as Casa Jannacci. The shelter is the largest homeless shelter in Italy. We have been working with this group to develop the project since last March. Management of this facility do a wonderful job helping the residents prepare to return into regular society. After renovation, the facility will serve as a preschool for over a hundred full-time students and a hundred more attending part-time while their mothers work or go to school preparing to find work. I’m sure the project has become personal for me/us due both to the challenges we have had to face developing the project, and our anticipated turning the project over to other missionaries following its formal approval in the next few weeks (as we give up responsibility for Italy).
On Saturday we attended an activity with the other members of our zone. We went to a pumpkin festival in Ludwigsburg, a city just north of Stuttgart. It rained most of the day and after being outside for several hours we were a bit on the damp side. While making our way to the restaurant where all the missionaries were meeting for dinner, we ran across a shoe store. In the window was a sign noting a sale going on. By the time we reached the restaurant, both Sister Sackley and Eileen had new pairs of shoes.
Left to right-DTA, Pres. Gerard, Elder McConkie, Elder and Sister Cziela
Brother Armin Cziela (father of Elder Michael Cziela) was the former Frankfurt Temple President in 2001-20004
We had an early departure time for our zone outing. It was fun to get together with so many other missionaries. We had 50 total with about 4 guests on this outing.
Inside the castle
Tasting pumpkin fries, we decided that regular fries were a bit tastier
The individual who carved the pumpkins was very creative
These displays were made out of different kinds and sizes of pumpkins
It is so difficult for me (Eileen) to find shoes that fit, it was great to find both a pair of boots and shoes that fit on the same day.
We had a beautiful sunset tp enjoy on the way home after a very rainy day
On Monday we learned that another couple would be taking responsibility for Italy, and that we would be taking on France, Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg effective the end of October. Elder and Sister Kershisnik will be going home at the end of the month, and no one has been called to replace them in France. While I am sure there will some cleaning up of open projects between now and the end of the month, right now that means we would be giving up 19 projects and taking on 45 new ones. Life is going to get busier.
Monday evening, we were able to watch the Sunday afternoon session of general conference. Call me (Russell) a wimp, but I just don’t get much out of a meeting that starts at 10:00 PM. I am glad for easily accessed recordings of conference.
My favorite talk was Elder Bednar’s Sealed by the Holy Spirt of Promise. In it, he quotes Elder Boyd K. Packer saying, “No matter what citizenship or race, whether male or female, no matter what occupation, no matter your education, regardless of the generation in which one lives, life is a homeward journey for all of us, back to the presence of God.”
“Ordinances and covenants become our credentials for admission into His presence. To worthily receive them is the quest of a lifetime; to keep them thereafter is the challenge of mortality.”
Elder Bednar said, “Ultimately, all gospel ordinances and covenants must be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise. As the Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith, ‘All covenants … not made and entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise ... are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead.’” (D&C 132:7)
Continuing he said, “Receiving this ratifying sealing by the Holy Ghost typically is not a one-time event; rather it comes over time as we repent sincerely and consistently, honor our covenants, and yield our hearts unto God.”
I appreciate the additional clarification by a living prophet to the general direction found in 2 Nephi 31 of needing to “endure to the end” following baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost to have eternal life.
Midweek I was approached by our zone vehicle coordinator. She asked if I wanted the use of a car that would need to be returned for sale the next Monday. As it was not our week for the car we share, I jumped at the chance. Her request was simply that I run almost all the gas out of it, as they turn the cars in for sale with a nearly empty tank. It was a tough assignment, but someone had to do it! After seeing how many kilometers the car was estimated to go on the remaining tank of gas, I calculated somewhere to visit on Saturday. Factoring our Sunday commute to church in Wiesbaden, Strasbourg, just over the border in France seemed a good choice. Our new IFR couple, Elder and Sister Sakley went with us. This their sixth mission together. They were the Area Humanitarian couple in Hong Kong just before we got to Indonesia and Elder Sakley was the IFR in Manilla when we were evacuated for the Covid pandemic. They also served as mission leaders in India.
This was where Russell had to get in to the on the lower bunk. The cement pad on top is where our normal vehicle is parked. There was not much room above or on the driver's side to get in.
We invited Elder and Sister Sackley for dinner
In Strasbourg with the Sackleys.
European Parliament Building.
We met Christian at church today. He was baptized about a month ago. He is from Kenya and is studying nursing.
The schedule for watching General Conference while living in Europe is a Saturday and Sunday evening activity. With the eight-hour time difference, the sessions start at 6:00 and 10:00 PM. And perhaps because we are old and usually in bed by 10:00 PM, the second sessions are usually Sunday morning and Monday evening. Technology today is a wonderful gift that I (Russell) take for granted too often. To be able to watch a meeting live, half-way around the world or choose to watch it the next day at my convenience is wonderful. Quite a change from when I was serving my first mission in Indonesia and written copies of conference took weeks before they got to us.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson’s talk, “O be wise” was the last talk we heard Saturday evening. I told Eileen that by morning the internet would be buzzing with comments regarding his warnings to the world about the dangers of gambling, particularly the recent growth in on-line betting. Lotteries, sports betting, and more recently “prediction market” betting have become accepted by many normal recreation, some even comparing them to investing in the stock market (an intellectually flawed argument).
By morning, my guess was correct and many were criticizing Elder Christofferson’s words. My thoughts went to D&C 1:38, “What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.” The Lord inspires His apostles to tell us what we need to hear, often an unpopular message for those of us who need that direction. We will address General Conference more next week after we have had a chance to hear all of it.
This last week we had a change in management of the Area Welfare Department. Christian Ottiker has been replaced by Matthew Robertson as the manager n charge of the department. The department is a bit larger than when we were here 10 years ago. Back then we had four employees and nineteen senior missionary couples. Today we have about twenty employees and nearly forty senior missionary couples. The growth has been primarily in the self-reliance related areas.
Saturday, October 3rd was the National Day of Germany (aka Reunification Day), commemorating the day in 1990 when the German Democratic Republic ceased to exist and joined the Federal Republic of Germany. Since everything was going to be closed (stores, restaurants, etc.), we and most of the other senior missionaries decided to visit the neighboring countries. I wonder if this is how non-Christian foreigners feel being in the U.S. on Christmas? While we were out-of-town, Eileen racked up her busiest day yet with nursing: 11 calls, with one going to the hospital!
Sister Zander is a single sister serving in Church History. Here she was listening to her fellow colleague in Church History Elder Gatherum give his farewell testimony. Elder Gatherum is a widower and was one of the first single senior elders serving for the Church. He is an excellent cook and poet. He said he learned how to cook when he was taking care of his wife for so many years and did the cooking for the family.
Christian Ottiker with his two boys. Daniella, his wife, is due with a 3rd boy in December.
Sister Jorgensen teaching Isaiah for our weekly Come Follow Me class
We were sightseeing when Russell overheard this family speaking Indonesian. He started speaking back to them in their language. They were not the only ones surprised. I (Eileen) was surprised that he remembered Indonesian so well considering it has been 13 years since we served there. The little girl in the family takes swimming lessons right next to where our apartment was located.
John Lennon wall in Prague which promotes freedom and energy of ideas.
Many of the senior missionaries left town this past week to enjoy one last weekend of nice weather. The office was pretty much empty. We did a last minute trip to Prague. You can take me out of the office, but you can't keep me from working. Most of the drive there and during tours, I was on the phone doing medical calls.
Yep, another medical call while overlooking the town of Prague from the castle.
Prague at night
We visited the area of Tisa where there are huge sandstone formations.
Some of the winter scenes from Chronicles of Narnia were filmed here.
We had to walk some pretty steep steps to get up to this interesting rock formation.
One quick visit to the Rome temple before our flight home.
