Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Misionarii

It has been another whirlwind week in Romania and we have 'girded our loins' to accomplish all we can in every waking moment. We are currently juggling 8 projects which I will list for those of you who think we're on vacation.

1) Rebuilding showers and bathrooms in a retirement home.
2) Rebuilding showers and bathrooms and providing bedding in a family shelter for abused woman and children.
3) Providing mattresses and bedding for a retirement home for homeless elderly.
4) Providing tables for a daycare center and repairing a van used by children with severe disabilities.
5) Awaiting a container from the Humanitarian Center filled with hygiene kits, school kits, quilts. We expect it sometime in October.
6) Awaiting a container of 370 wheelchairs to arrive in October.
7) Organizing an Neonatal Resuscitation Training in two cities in November.
8) Providing educational supplies for impoverished youth in Constanta.

After our mission, we will write books. We think of new titles every day:
"Multi-tasking...it's in your genes and I'm not talking Levis"
"Sticky Notes Can Be Man's Best Friend"
"The 'To Do' List Can Be Liberating"
"Imagine Twenty-four/Seven!"
"Living Without Football"
"Bad Haircuts"

As you can see, we've mastered the art of list-making! We do it every few days and it keeps us on task.

As mentioned, one of our projects involves buying 24 mattresses for a home for the elderly. Anyone who knows Denny also knows that he is the absolute authority on mattress virtues (his motto: "You're not buying a mattress, you're buying a good night's sleep.") When it came time to put the money on the table, he couldn't stand not knowing exactly what we were buying so we jumped on a train and took a quick 4-hour ride to the Danube Delta city of Galati.



Here we are posing in front of the picture window of another senior missionary couple's apartment. They are fortunate to have this view every morning (of course, not of us, the water of the Danube!)


The Van Wagoner's are from southern Utah. They live in this great apartment and are dynamos as they fulfill their missionary duties. They are also tons of fun!


Every hour of the day brings a different view. Here, a barge is getting a push up the Danube. If I lived here, I would have to put ghetto tin foil in my windows so I could get something done!

On to the mattress shopping....
Denny tries out a bed. I think he likes it! We bought 24 of these.


The sample was a little small but a tad larger than our current bed!



Back in Bucharest... It was transfer week where we said good-bye to 4 out of the 8 in our district. They will serve in other locations in the mission. It's always hard to say good-bye.
The District!


Elder Bateman gets a farewell kiss from Sora Gorzo. She is a favorite of all the missionaries and they put up with her kisses. After he endured this, the mission president opted to leave him in Bucharest for another 6 weeks. There will be more Sora Gozo kisses!


If you are reading this and you are a mother of one of these fine missionaries, know that they are well and happy and "...As the Army of Helaman"! We're on our way to Ruby Tuesday for a real American hamburger!

5 comments:

  1. At first I thought that "sample" mattress was the one in your apartment--guess not. I loved your excuse to get to the Danube, though. Way to think it through! Wow, it sounds like you have enough projects to extend your mission for at least six more months! You are real troopers!! Love ya.

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  2. Mattress shopping never looked so fun!

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  3. Thank you so much for sharing your blog!

    As one of the "Moms", I can't tell you how much your blog adds to our ability to "experience" our son's mission. He is a fantastic writer, and we've truly come to love the wonderful people he serves through his letters and the love he has for them. But your experiences, perspective, humor and view of life in Romania have helped to broaden our understanding of these dear people, and it also helps to increase our love for them....as well as those who serve them so diligently.

    I love all the pictures! When I saw Elder Suppes, I shouted out "Come look! Jeff made the Linerud's blog!!" It was a very happy and fun moment in our home. Thank you for that!

    I appreciate how you watch over and care for these missionaries, and know Jeff does as well (he's told me!).

    You guys are awesome~~

    Much love~ Valerie Suppes

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  4. Alright, what's with the serious lack of blogging that's been taking place? I mean, I realize I haven't wrote to you (which I will repent of... maybe even later today!), but I am wondering what's going on in Romania?! Love you!

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