WHO"S GOOD IDEA WAS THAT?

 For most of our time here we have been very busy.  Rare have been the times when for a few minutes I (Russell) have been looking for things to do.  But on Wednesday I had such a morning.  Thinking we were caught up with what we could do on our various projects, I spent some time cleaning up my electronic and paper files.  Only after that, bored, did I turned to two potential projects, each of which was “on hold” after our having met with them just once.  Knowing that both of potential projects had advocates among the employees, I read through their files again.  One with a large municipality would have had us partnering with an NGO representative of the municipality.  Government units in this country cannot legally take donations, as a precautionary measure against corruption.  I decided to learn what I could about the NGO, a group I was unfamiliar with.  The internet is a great resource of information but the quality of which is sometimes questionable.  My search found an article from 2024, it gave a brief history of the group, including its fast growth rate in recent years, and its rumored possible past ties to organized crime. An email to a fellow senior missionary, who prior to retirement from law enforcement from the country, was within a few hours returned with a warning to not be associated with that NGO.  

Both Eileen and I were very grateful that we had learned so early in the process not to proceed further.  It would have been very embarrassing for all if we had helped develop the project with the municipality only to have to back out at the last minute.  Reflecting on it that evening, we both realized that we had not only been blessed to find out about the problem so early in the process, but we were both aware that the way we found the issue was not due to our own diligence.  Rather, it was one of these “minor miracles,” one where you know it was not your own good idea.  Interestingly, on Thursday and Friday we were swamped with work again.

                   

                                Another rapeseed photo-it really makes the area look beautiful. 

                                               

I    I (Eileen) received these flowers from Sister Johnson  who knew it had been a difficult week.

We went to a garden show at a castle. Basically it was an outdoor market. This is as close as we could get to the castle. 

This plaque was on the outside wall of the castle.  Built in 1475. 

On the way home we stopped to get some flowers to plant on our outdoor balcony.  We don't know if there will be enough sun for them to grow, but they look nice for today. 

Russell thought the best part of the outdoor market was the bratwurst. 

Watching Saturday night conference over zoom. We couldn't get the translation to work through             the earphones, so we had to read the translation.

We had written translation of conference on our phone.  Russell and I both were laughing at the particular translation with the sustaining of officers. See translation circled in yellow.