Starting with Sunday, we went to visit a family we were assigned to minister to. He is German, she is from the Ukraine, and they have little children who speak, Russian, German, and English. We were told that English is used for everyone to understand what is being said. What a wonderful family they are and, guess what? They live within walking distance for us. You can't beat that.
Monday morning being Zone Leaders became a reality. We had a 2-hour orientation from the previous Zone Leaders that took 3 hours. It would have lasted longer and covered more, but after 3 hours we felt overwhelmed with all we need to do.
That afternoon, a senior elder approached us and informed us that there was something posted in the apartment elevators and it had to do with water. It turned out to be a notification that Legionella bacteria was detected at moderate levels when a routine analysis of the water was performed.
Doing some research and informing our Area Medical Advisor (senior missionary) we scurried to inform all those who should know. Not all of the senior couples live in our apartment building and then there are senior couples and young missionaries in the building that are not in our zone. Our Medial Advisor did a great job in not only informing us what the risk factors were but also advised what precautions we needed to take. Evidently the bacteria thrives in warm water and if moisture is breathed in it can cause respiratory illnesses like Legionnaires Disease.
All week, we had to inform others as more information became available. In short, the building owners treated the water later in the week by raising the temperature to extremely hot levels (158 degrees F). Another test was done but the bacteria was still found on the 12th (top) floor. We are sure that we will be still involved with this for a little longer.
Wednesday evening, I got involved with a member service project. A member moving here from Italy needed his rental home painted. Most of the painting was done on previous days. When I got there, only the member and I painted for about an hour until one other person showed. Obviously there weren't enough people to do much talking and it didn't help when the other member showed and they spoke Italian to each other. Still it felt great to be of service and have a change of the normal routine.
Friday evening we held a cottage meeting at our apartment for an investigator. Again, language was a small barrier. He speaks fluent French and Arabic, some German, and less English. However, he seemed to enjoy himself. In fact, I invited him out to the ward cookout that next day.
Originally he said he couldn't make it because he had another appointment, but he wound up coming out. The appointment was changed.
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We are the International Ward. Just in this
picture I see members born in America, China, England, Portugal, and Spain
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| Master Grillers |
We really enjoyed the cookout. Maybe me more than Sister van Hoff. With her eating restrictions it is difficult to find something to eat. I enjoyed the food, but more than that, I enjoyed talking to the members. Having taught seminary and being involved with other members because of missionary work, we have gotten to know a lot of the members of this ward.
We are truly blessed to be here. By the way, I wrote an article for our senior missionary newsletter. It was a message from the Zone Leaders. In essence, I encouraged the missionaries to extend themselves beyond their missionary assignment and create their own missionary experiences. In other words, "Make your own mission."
We have been doing just that and loving it.
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