CES Couples

Just got a copy of our group pictures from the CES conference.  Pretty good company of faithful saints...all serving somewhere in Eastern Europe as CES Missionaries.  They are serving in spite of many difficult situations - houses burning down, old parents, kids with problems.  We're proud to be associated with them!

Hidden amongst us are the area president and his wife and our area CES coordinator.  All fantastic people.

Solnichney Activity

February 23rd is Defender of the Fatherland Day - which equates to Father's Day in the US of A.  We attended an activity in Solnichney and I have some pictures of parts of a skit put on.  It was great - and full of youth and young adults!

The branch president is Armenian and a wonderful man.  We've become friends - he's one of the local leaders who have unwisely challenged me to a barbeque cook off this summer.  I asked Hannah to make some of me Soon-To-Be-Famous Dry Rub - with the shipping costs involved in mailing dy rub 12,000 miles I better WIN!

Sherry and I are starting to feel at home here.  We love the people and are getting to know more and more youth and YSA.  The other day I told Sherry that it's going to be really hard to leave in 17 months.  Kinda crazy, isn't it?
Mother's Day - called Women's Day here - is March 8th.  We're having a district-wide party.  Man, I wish I could be in a skit...but, skits don't work too well when someone has to translate.

Here is a  picture of me and Elder Bateman and McClure.  McClure is from Medford - we're home boys...Elder Bateman is our new district leader.

Things are really starting to go well.  We're starting to feel some hope...:-)!

Interesting News Story

Thought this may be interesting to some of you.  I think smoking in Russia is probably like smoking was in the US in the fifties.  Lots of public drinking, too.  Not sure if they have open container laws but if they do they are widely ignored.  Lots of young people with bottles of beer on the various modes of public transportation.

Here's the link...

< http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/world-europe-21571418 >

New Mission President

Just found out who our new mission president and spouse will be.  Here's their picture and information...looks like an awesome couple.  Can't wait to get to know them.  BYU all the way!   I'll probably get to watch all the games this fall!!! 

Michael L. and Jane L. Schwab

Michael Louis Schwab, 54, and Jane Marie Littlefield Schwab, five children, Compton Bench Ward, Farmington Utah North Stake. Brother Schwab serves as a gospel doctrine teacher and is a former high councilor, bishop, ward mission leader, branch president of a young single adult branch and missionary in the Germany Dusseldorf Mission. Attorney/partner, Schwab & Hardcastle, LLC. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Moroni Albert and Ila May Pugmire Schwab.

Sister Schwab serves as a ward Primary teacher and is a former counselor in a stake Young Women presidency, counselor in a ward Relief Society presidency, counselor in a ward Primary presidency, gospel doctrine teacher and ward Relief Society teacher. Born in Henderson, Nev., to Jack E and Joy Devene Humphreys Littlefield.

Practice Areas	Personal Injury; Professional Malpractice; Insurance Defense; Products Liability; Civil Rights Law
University	Brigham Young University - Provo, UT, B.A.
Law School	Brigham Young University - Provo, UT, J.D.

Cool Picture

Here's a pretty cool picture I got from our conference.  It was given to us by one of the CES guys - Igor - who used it in his presentation on encouraging young adults to read their scriptures.

Trip to Turkey with an excursion to Ephesus

Here's the first of MANY pictures of our conference in Turkey...two are Sherry and I on the balcony at breakfast time with the Aegean Sea in the background.  Another is of a few of the forty CES missionaries at the conference.  We just got home this morning and we're exhausted!  Combine traveling with conference meetings from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. and we're wiped out.

It was very neat to have our Area President and his wife at the conference. President and Sister Lawrence gave three firesides which were awesome

Here are pictures from our hotel balcony.

One afternoon we took an excursion to Ephesus - the home of the Ephesians as in the book in the New Testament.  Turkey has been excavating the city and here are some pictures.  The area around Ephesus is the home of the seven churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation.  Pretty incredible to be where John and Paul have been.  There is a house nerarby where Mary, the mother of Jesus, was supposed to have died. Since John was imprisoned on the Island of Patmos - just ninety miles off the coast - and the Savior while on the cross had assigned John to take care of Mary it makes sense that she would be near him.

Here's a ruin that Mom took a picture of...one with him and Elder Walker and another of him sneaking over the edge of the amphitheatre.

Elder Walker - a retired firefighter and a kid at age 53 - ran up to the top of the amphitheatre and took a picture.  I'll try to get a copy.  I was going to run up there after him but we had to leave.......

The Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion and a man can get nearer to God by abiding by it's precepts than by any other book.  A quote from Joseph Smith...here is a keystone in an arch in Ephesus.

Here is a picture of the amphitheatre in Ephesus and a couple of us conferencing lest you think we just played all week.  It was an incredible learning experience and Sherry and I will take weeks digesting all we were taught.

One beautiful shot of the Aegean Sea at twilight and another of an object lesson on repentance entitled "Why Live With The Pain?"