When In Rome!

Yes, we were able to go to Rome. What an adventure. We began February by attending a 5 day Conference for all the Missionary Couples serving in the Central Eastern Europe Area, doing what we do in many different countries.

It was wonderful. Our first highlight was the opportunity to visit with a friend from Pryor who has been living in Rome since College. We stayed with Michael Wright and his husband Antonio for the first evening. Italian hospitality was wonderful , memories were shared, love and friendships were strengthened. Thank you Michael and Antonio!

Michael spent the day with us walking the steps of the Apostle Paul and Peter. We visited St Paul's outside the Wall, a beautiful tribute to faithful teacher Paul. We read from the bible as we discussed the teachings, examples, and magnitude of Jesus Christ our Savior and two of His Apostles. We are so grateful to have Prophets and Apostles on the earth today to guide and help us navigate this crazy world. Life was not easy for Paul or the Apostle Peter. Paul taught for years from prison. Peter held the keys after Christ's resurrection and died a martyrs death. They were real, they really lived, and they live again through our Savior Jesus Christ. Michael took us on a special tour of the excavations under St Peter's Basilica. We could not take photos down there, but there were beautiful tombs and ancient ruins demonstrating faith and hope in a life with our Savior.

St Peters Square St Peters Basilica St Peters Basilica

St Paul's outside the Wall St Paul's St Paul's

Next we attended a great conference learning programs, details and new resources for our Humanitarian work. Associations with the other missionaries is always a joy, and the food was Fantastic!

After all that food we walked the streets of Rome, listening to the history of the Roman Empire, it's rise and fall. So much effort to demonstrate power and dominion. The skill to build with stone buildings so large was amazing.

We finished off the conference with a visit to the Rome Italy Temple for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A beautiful blessing to be within the walls of a Temple again. The Lord loves his people and has a great desire to bless us. The covenants we make in the Temple and the sealing ordinances are some of our greatest promised blessings. This was wonderful.

Then it was back to work. February has been spent building relationships with many great organizations in Hungary that are serving the underprivileged and downtrodden. We continue to work on our existing projects with The school for the Bind, Special needs schools and Shelters. We added a Project of funding equipment and supplies for Tatabanya, working with the Mayors office to help with needs to serve the disabled, elderly, schools, and day centers of the whole county. We also began a 30 day food assistance to some villages. We added a project for urgently needed breathing equipment for children, as RSV virus works it's way around Europe. We also were able to assist in a unique mini horse therapy program at the children's hospital. This horse visits the hospital 3 times a week, going into the children's room, to be with them, to help them focus and heal. Critically ill children show improved vital signs by having the horse brings it's calm and peaceful presences.

Blankets for the Blind School Mini Horse Therapy Visits to the Burn unit

We continue to meet the most amazing foundations. The mentors, directors and volunteers serve help and lift others. It is a blessing to see such good happening in the world. Our faith in humanity is strengthened with each visit. We enjoy associating with the young missionaries serving in our area. They share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all who are ready to have "ears to hear, and eyes to see". We see the change that knowing our Savior can bring into our lives. It is a beautiful thing. The weather has been cold, (not as cold as Oklahoma), we have enjoyed more sunshine and longer days. We really missed the sunshine. We continue to walk the Danube river and beautiful street of Budapest during our breaks from the computer. We are enjoying the transportation busses, trains and villa-mushes. They take us just about anywhere we want to go. We are getting very good at hoping on and off. Clark is navigating without google maps most of the times.

All of our projects are sent to our Area offices in Frankfurt Germany. They are our managers and our Area General Authorities. They organize this work in over 17 countries. We are very grateful for all they do. They also are responsible for the Turkey and Syria area where the devastating earthquake has cost so many lives. Our prayers have been with all those affected in the region and those assisting the rescue efforts. Miracles have occurred every day. Our Area leaders and managers have been busy sending relief, gathering resources and helping any place we have been asked to help.

We love our calls from our family and the video's sent of our extremally smart and FUNNY grandchildren and grand-dogs. We are so proud of our children as they tread through this thing called life. We are excited to see what March will bring. We send Love to all!