BUSY TIME

We have been super busy this last little while.  We have ten missionaries serving in our district now, four sister missionaries, four elder missionaries and of course the senior (old, us) couple.

Below is a picture of the lunch break taken at our last zone conference in Bucharest.  It is a great time for instruction from the mission president and his wife as well as a chance to see many we have served with in the past.  We love these conferences.

Here we are with all the missionaries in Constanta at a work night at our apartment.  On Sunday evenings when we have some free time we gather at our apartment and have a correlation meeting, where we discuss the activities of the week and plan for the following week.  We also have a really fun Scripture study time where we discuss and study scripture questions we have.  These discussions are really helpful and are a lot of fun.  It is amazing how well these young people know their scriptures, and the depth of the questions and discussions are impressive. 

During the evening Sora Alston makes her famous hot chocolate.  I couldn't resist this picture during preparations for her much anticipated treat.  This is a huge pot.  She doubles or triples the recipe and it is always gone by the end of the evening no matter the volume.

Here the sister missionaries are with our only young woman in the Branch (far left) and three young women who are investigating our church.  They are fantastic and our one young woman is thrilled.  They add so much to our meetings.  Sister Alston is the young women's adviser and teacher so she interacts with all of them on a regular basis.  Its amazing to watch, they all just adore sister Alston and neither can speak the others language.  The missionaries are great translators.

Here is Sora Alston with two other young women who attend the free english classes we offer.  Like a magnet there is Ginny

Well, work, work, work might be overstating it just a little.  Here we are posing for one of our great ping pong moments.  I get skunked on a regular basis but it is great fun.

Valentines day in Constanta Romania.  Here we are purchasing flowers at a roadside flower stand we have dubbed it Mayfields of the East.  Way east. Very typical of the lifestyle here.  Notice the Blocks (large apartment complexes) in the background.  Most Romanians in the cities live in this type of housing

Picture taken off the balcony at the church showing the beautiful tulips so thoughtfully purchased by a loving and caring missionary companion.

I had Ginny stop and pose for this picture specifically so I could get a picture we see all day long here.  Notice the wonderful Romanian woman walking home after shopping at one of the local markets.  Typical scene, everyday.

Again, I had Ginny pose so I could get a picture of the gentleman in the background.  He is beating his rug on the street in front of his house.  Notice his clothing, hat and rug beater.  Also notice the sidewalk shown in the picture.  We walk on sidewalks like this everyday.

March is the month of the women.  On the first day of march everyone gives the women in their lives these necklaces and pins.  Here ginny shows a few of her gifts of the day.  Not shown is a bracelet on her left wrist.  It is a really big deal here and everyone, and I mean everyone celebrates it this way.

I had my sixty something birthday recently and the missionaries gave me this european basketball, which they all signed.  It is really cool.  Perfect gift

Elder Allphin also had a birthday.  All he got was a brownie birthday cake.  We shared, I let him bounce my basketball and he gave me a brownie.  Seems fair to me.

I love my basketball. You know boys and their toys

Melting Away in Romania

One of the many things we are really enjoying here in Romania is the definite seasons we experience.  The winter was cold to us but mild according to most Romanians we talk to.  But for Arizona folk it was a most pleasant experience, perhaps not one we would enjoy as much if we lived it every year.    

Here is a nice calm but very cold day on the Black Sea.  Just a dusting of snow on the sand.  Nice because it is not unusual to have 20 to 30 mile an hour winds on our daily walks along this beach.

While walking on the Black Sea Beach on New Years day I saw this group of Marines, from the local  U.S. military base here in Constanta,  preparing for their annual polar bear dive.  They all strip down to their swim suits and on command run into the sea and dive under the water.  It was fun to watch, they charged into the water yelling at the top of their lungs until they hit about waist high and then,  I'm sure I heard the sound change a full octave.  They darted out and I have never seen any human being get dressed that fast. Actually it strengthened my sense of security,  If they can operate that fast and efficiently in combat we are safe.

We thought you might like to see the change in the lake behind our Apartment as the season begins to change.  Here is a picture of the lake completely frozen after an overnight snow.  Way cool to us.

We were both fascinated with the circling effect seen here as the lake starts to melt.  The lake is still completely frozen but changing daily

This is the picture of the lake taken just today off our balcony. All the ice is gone.  The day is still and fairly clear with no wind so you see the lake as a lake of glass.  Unusual because the high winds make it rough most of the time.  I caught my beautiful missionary companion (lucky me) taking in the beautiful sight.  We are fortunate indeed.

In this district of the mission we have four elder missionaries, two sister missionaries and one senior couple, you got it - nice talk for us old dudes.  Well the elders decided they were going to cook dinner for the sisters and the seniors.  We thought you might enjoy a glimpse into the always fun time you have when you are around these wonderful young people.  They worked very hard and the meal was wonderful.  Here is one of the elders whipping up the main course "Fajitas".

Here are two elders SERIOUSLY engaged in the art of fresh pineapple slicing.

Snap shot of the process

Here we are ready to reap the reward of their kind labors.  It was a fun evening and the food was fantastic.

Now for a quick glimpse at the heart of real missionary work as so many see it.  Here we are with two members of our little congregation walking to an appointment to teach the Gospel to a relative of one of the ladies showing us the way.  We had a great time, this is what the young missionaries do all day long most every day.  It is a treat for us because we get this chance much less frequently. These ladies are troopers.  Its a good thing we are in reasonable shape because this walk turned out to be a 3 to 4 mile jaunt.

Without a doubt one of the most rewarding things on a mission is the people you meet along the way. We met this wonderful little family in one of the smaller villages outside Constanta.  The photo is taken in front of their two room home.  We were able to talk to them about our church and what it has to offer to families just like theirs.  They were humble, kind and gracious as we have found most of the people we have met here.

This is a picture taken from the front door.  The other room is behind the wooden door straight ahead.

The great reward of missionary work, and what we are really all about, is when someone accepts the message we have to offer and accepts Jesus Christ and His Restored Gospel.  Here is a photo of the newest member of our church and the missionaries who taught him.

Here we are again right after the Baptism with fellow missionaries and some friends.

When transfers occur, every six weeks, we take all the new missionaries out to dinner.  Its our way of welcoming the new missionaries who join us, and gives us an opportunity to get to know them.  It is always such a fun time, and everyone enjoys a special night out.  Here we are with our new group.

And now as we bid you goodbye for a while we thought we would share with you a glimpse of this beautiful country in which the Lord has called us to serve .  We feel truly blessed to have such a wonderful opportunity to serve Him here.  Below are four sunsets.  These pictures were taken off the balcony of our apartment.  We live on the second floor of our apartment building.  Our balcony faces west and overlooks the lake you see in so many of our pictures. These sunsets are unique, at least to us, in that the sun is setting over a frozen lake and so the sunsets are reflected perfectly in the Lake below.  We have beautiful sunsets in Arizona but rarely do we get to see their mirror image in the ice below.  We hope you can get a feel for what we have grown to love so much.  Enjoy with us please our beautiful Romania

Know that we are healthy and happy.

Sights of the Season

SOME SIGHTS OF THE CITY AND THE CHANGING OF THE SEASON IN CONSTANTA!!!!

The view of the city from the top of our three story church building

Same place different view 

This is a picture of the old town of Constanta or Centru. This is the location of the original old city center that predates the birth of Christ.

One of the newer buildings on our tour of centru

Though Orthodox is by far and away the primary religion in this country there are other religions represented.  Here we see a Muslim Mosque in the center of the old city.  The dome and tall pointed tower are both part of the Mosque

Here we are at the top of the tower, with the huge speaker that is used to call the faithful to prayer.

We often have to travel long distances to attend Zone Conferences that are held in various parts of the country.  Here we are on our way to our last Zone Conference in Galati.  The fog was so thick that you could only see a few yards in front of you.  This is typical of the weather here, fog is the norm instead of the exception.

Here we are at the Zone Conference, (note the fog out the windows, zero visibility)  

The training at these all day sessions of conference is fantastic.  The young  missionaries always like to get together with other missionaries in the mission.

ITS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS NOW HAS 88,000 OF THESE REMARKABLE YOUNG PEOPLE SERVING AROUND THE WORLD.  WHAT A PLEASURE IT IS TO BE A PART OF THIS MOVEMENT.  ITS NO WONDER THE CHURCH IS GROWING SO RAPIDLY.

These next two pictures are of a Christmas piata (indoor marketplace where people sell their goods) anything from clothes to food.  This is a picture of a meat market.  Very popular with the Romanian people. Its kind of like a huge farmers market in the U.S.

Here is Ginny purchasing Christmas presents,  painted eggs, at the market.  The couple here don't speak a word of english and our Romanian is almost not existent.  This is an example of how people can communicate without language.  She was delightful and was great at pantomime, thats how it works. She was so full of personality and funny.  Her husband on the other hand never changed positions or expressions.  He did wave when we left.

Missionaries participating in our Christmas play at the church.  The classic reenactment of Luke two in the Bible.  They really enjoyed doing it and the members were thrilled.

Some pictures of some of our church members enjoying the meal provided at the Christmas Party

We decided as missionaries of Jesus Christ, to hand out Christmas stockings this season.  We all went shopping for stockings and all the fun stuff that we chose to go in them, and added a little message about the Savior. Here we are preparing the stockings to be handed out.  We prepared 120 stockings and worked really hard at giving them out.

It was a great project and the people we gave them to seemed to appreciate our Christmas spirit.

Here we are at our apartment on Christmas Eve.  Sora Alston and I gave the missionaries stockings and these really great hats.  We really had a good evening.

Here we are relaxing and watching the movie Frozen.  It is a real treat to be able to watch a movie.  The missionaries are not allowed to watch movies of any kind while on their missions unless given  permission by the mission president on special occasions.  Christmas Eve is one of those special occasions. Relaxed and content.

The highlight for all of us was a baptism during the Christmas holidays.  Here we all are enjoying the moment with our friend.

Celebrate, Celebrate, Celebrate.  Here we are on new years eve.  All prepared with our sparkling cider. Always a huge hit on such occasions.

Preparing the floating lanterns for launch on new years night.

Lighting the lantern for launch

The lantern in flight.

AND NOW SOME SIGHTS FROM THE SEASONS WEATHER CHANGE.

IT IS COLD AND VERY WINDY.  USUALLY WINDS ARE BETWEEN 10 AND 30 mph.

CREATING WIND CHILL TEMPERATURES FROM MINUS 6 DEGREES TO SOMEWHERE IN THE LOW TEENS. 

The high winds across the lake caused a spray on the shore creating these beautiful ice sculptures

This is a picture taken off our balcony of the lake we live on.  As you can see it is frozen from shore to shore

Who needs a snow board.  This is a picture of me goofing off on the dock outside our apartment a couple of days before the lake froze.  You can see the ice forming at the base of the dock.  The lake is completely frozen today and the temperatures are still below freezing.

Every day I try to get out and take a walk for a couple of miles.  This is a "selfie" taken while I was on my walk on an exceptionally cold day.  The background is of the Black Sea which is only about 150 yards from our front door.  We live on a small strip of land with a lake on one side and the Black Sea on the other.  I am sure thats why the winds blow so hard here.

WHAT A WONDERFUL ADVENTURE