Trunky? You Bet!

Today it became official. We are going to fly home from London on 11 January, 2014! We already have our airline confirmations! We received them via email today from the Mission Travel Office in Utah. Very excited and sad at the same time!

We leave Cyprus for Israel on 28 December, 2013 where we will stay for eleven days (two of those days are travel time). After we are finished there we will fly to London for a five day stay, with a stop in Leeds to visit our missionary, Sister Zhang Wu. (AKA Sister Cute!)

All our travel plans to London have been finalized and we are just waiting for our hotel confirmation via our travel group to Israel. We are excited to be included on the Daniel Rona Travel Tour to Israel. Daniel Rona was born in Israel and he and his son Steven are the only LDS tour guides certified to lead tours there.

We searched diligently to find an LDS group we could travel with and were so fortunate to sign up for this tour, because it was in the exact time frame we needed. The next tour isn't until February, which is long after we were scheduled to leave Cyprus. Plus - the tour that Rona Travel provides is exactly what we want to see, since it is highly doubtful we will ever return to the Middle East. We are very pleased with all this and the way it has turned out. (Daniel Rona - right)

Most of you know we were scheduled to leave the mission on 6 January, 2014, but we were given permission by our mission president to leave two weeks early in order to meet our tour group in Israel and because we were called to serve our mission a month earlier than we had planned. We are also not being replaced by a CES missionary couple, so that makes a huge difference as well.

We are happy the new YSA couple will be able to take over our new flat that we have been enjoying for several months now. It is truly a find for the price and they will be very comfortable living in it. We also just got our new mission car about a month ago - a brand new Opal Corsa. It isn't even broken in yet, it runs well and after having a seven passenger van for so long we are grateful for the ability to park almost anywhere - which is SO difficult on the Island of Cyprus!

I will probably only make a few more posts here and then I will preserve and close this blog, since we will no longer be serving as missionaries, thus closing a most important chapter in our lives. Thanks in advance to all of you who have followed our blog and been supportive of our endeavors to serve the Lord.

Our Mission is Winding Down Now

Here it is the end of October 2013 and our mission is winding down. We have done everything and more than we were sent here to do. The blessings have been unbelievable, and our cup runneth o'er! It will be strange not to have the blessings of being full-time missionaries any longer. I hope our health and stamina will continue so we will be able to enjoy our time at home with family and friends. We hope to be able to attend more social functions that we had to miss while we were gone. Re-connecting with our children and grandchildren will be delightful. And we will be traveling quite a bit as well. We have several places we need to visit such as Utah and Arizona, middle California and some other exotic places, such as Oklahoma! Ha!

We have made our plans for traveling in Israel and England and just about have everything set for that. Of course visiting Michelle in Leeds England is a priority, and we may visit a couple of other places as well, we do not know just yet.

In June after Ewa-Solange graduates from high school we will be taking her on a long church history tour as her graduation present. Our present will be to have her all to ourselves to spoil and fawn over. We will never have the chance to have her alone with us for a period of time again, so we really can't wait for this to happen. She may not appreciate it as much now as she will when we have passed on, but we know she will like being with us at least.

I began this draft around the end of October, since then there have been some major changes in our life. We received an urgent text from Greg one evening (early morning for him) in which he told us Miguel had been admitted to the hospital for chest pains and wasn't doing very well. We waited several hours to hear back from him because it took his doctors quite awhile to complete the necessary tests and to admit him to CCU. It was still several days before we actually knew what happened, and even now, four weeks later he finally has enough information to understand what occurred.

We know now he actually did have a heart attack, but a major contributing factor to his chest pains was a genetic syndrome called, "Myocardial Bridging". He was put on several major heart medications and after nearly a week was sent home to begin recuperation and to wait for therapy to help overcome the damage to his heart. Now, four weeks later he has obtained a new heart specialist who says he was on all the wrong medications and is not being treated correctly. He has told Miguel he will have now live the rest of his life on a Vegan diet and change his sedentary lifestyle. He has already begun walking the dog (Gus) again. He has returned to work, but his employer is making certain he doesn't have any work overload because of the stress involved.

We are so sorry to see such a mega change in Miguel's life, I mean, whoever dreamed our son would have a heart attack at age 42! And we are so glad his new doctor feels he can help him completely recover and just learn to deal with the "Bridging".

We are also sorry because Miguel and Greg cannot come to Cyprus to join us on our trek homeward. We had such plans to share this Island with them. But Miguel cannot fly just yet because of the stress that it would cause his heart, so he has asked us to go on without them and enjoy our trip to the max and share it with them via pictures and descriptions. So we are going on to Israel.

We will be in Israel for eleven days and then we will travel to England to meet with Michelle (Sister Wu)and visit London for a few days. Then we will go on home to the USA to meet our family and friends once again - which will make us so happy!

We will also be able to spend some time with Miguel and to give him lots of hugs and kisses!!

We leave for Israel on 28 December, 2013 and expect to arrive back in Los Angeles around 9 January, 2014. Viva Israel!

CES Conference in Romania September 2013

This conference was very special as there will never be another one. So we are grateful to have had this last experience with our counterparts from many other countries. The church is heading in a different direction for CES and YSA and many of us will be the last of our breed. As for Greece and Cyprus we will not be replaced with CES couples, this has been a source of disappointment for us because of all the great work the Lord has allowed us to do. Both with our YSAs in southern Cyprus and with the others in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. We have been coordinators of the CES effort here on an Island that is divided into two separate nations, and as you know the church is not recognized, nor sanctioned by the TRNC. We have had to go there without wearing our missionary badges and have had to perform our duties quietly and have been made to sorrow for the YSAs there without any connection to the church except though us. It has been one of THE most remarkable experiences of our lives together.

I will not attempt to identify those in the picture because they will have no meaning to anyone but us - but you can see us clearly. Our time spent together was remarkably spiritual, and the bonds we've made as missionaries in the great CES program of the church has been phenomenal. We shall never forget one another, we are linked together forever now.

None of us will be replaced, and that in itself is sad to me. But when the Lord's leaders take us in a different direction it is always better, we just have to wait and see what will come.

The Long, Hot Summer!

We are finally saying goodbye to our last long, hot summer in Cyprus. The early mornings and evenings are cooler, but it is still very hot during the day time. We are grateful for the bit of rest from the heat. Today was spent sitting at home waiting for the the car rental agency mechanic to come and check out our car - this time it is very serious, the brakes have gone. We have had to have two new alternators put in the car, four new tires and countless other mendings. Apparently Avis Car Rentals finally felt we have a lemon and gave us another car to use permanently, a KIA. However, we will be receiving a brand new car (not from Avis - rather, Church owned) sometime this month. It will be CES issue, so it is a micro-mini car - an Opal Corsa. But it will be useful for the next few months we are still here.

In fact - we leave our mission here on January 9, 2014 - less than four months from now. Unbelievable!! My how it has flown! We are happy to have been here, and we will be happy to be reunited with our family and friends, and to sleep in our own bedroom, and use our own things again. But I'm certain we will leave here with very mixed emotions. We love the Island and all the people, but being out of the USA this long has been taxing on our wallet and our emotions. We long for familiarity and the modern life-style we live there. Here, in Cyprus, life is very slow and very behind the times. I always compare it to about the 1980's in America. Except the bathrooms are late 1920's! Ha!

The water on the Island is very salty and hard to deal with, it pits all the chrome fixtures in our flat and doesn't taste all that great. The water is safe to drink out of the tap here, but we still use bottled water for drinking purposes, as it is much more palatable.

People here are having such a hard time economically that they rarely smile, and their heads are always down in thought. With the banks crashing this past year almost every small business has folded, and many have left the Island to find work elsewhere, as there is none here. Many city folk have left the larger cities and gone back to their home villages just to survive. There they can fish, grow gardens and live without electricity. The cost of living in Cyprus is very high, and what you get in return is very small.

We will leave Cyprus soon, but Cyprus will never leave us! We are inseparably intertwined with this lovely country, the people, the customs, the language and the food. We shall never forget our time here and the great opportunity we have had to serve the Lord's children in this area of His Kingdom on Earth.

So Much Going On

There is so very much going on in our lives that I find it difficult to journal it all.  I don't feel inspired to share everything about our mission, and we both post a lot of pictures on Facebook because it is easier than doing it on our blog.

We have now entered the long hot Cypriot summer season, so we will complain vehemently about it.  Summer in Cyprus is nearly unbearable.  We stay indoors and avoid the heat as much as possible.  At the end of each day I feel like I have taken a bath in Kool-Aid.  (You remember spilling it n the floor as a kid and it stayed sticky for a week even though you washed the floor thoroughly?)

Our work takes us to the north most days, and we travel so much in doing this.  We have students/members who are very isolated from the church because they cannot cross the border and enter the south to attend with us.  For them our visits are crucial, since they have no other contact with the church.

We are friends with them on Facebook and we have Skype sessions with them as well.  But it's not the same as participating in church meetings and activities.  We all long for the day when an agreement is arranged to allow the missionaries to freely proselyte in the north.  We are fairly certain this will not happen in our time here, and now we only have six months left of our mission, so we aren't certain if we are making an impact - just to leave abruptly.  This is the hard part.  We love all our members of the church, and we are particularly drawn to those in the north because of their inability to fellowship with all the saints here on the Island.

There is the dilemma - the fact of the short time we have here.  We'd need to stay a lifetime to really finish the work, but we are only called for a very short period of time.

Below are pictures of camels that we visited as a Zone activity a couple of weeks ago.  Interesting.

The camels were shedding their warm winter fur, and their coats looked like when sheep are sheared.

These are dromedary camels, so they only have one hump.  I was not adventurous enough to ride them, although other senior couples did.

I trust all is well at home.  We are excited that our grandson Josh left today for the Provo MTC (Missionary Training Center), where he will live for the next nine weeks as he is trained to speak Mandarin Chinese. He will be serving in Calgary, Canada among the Chinese people, we are very pleased he has accepted this call, and we know he will excel in the work.

Our daughter Ramona made this wonderful missionary shirt and tie cake for Josh's farewell.  He is pictured here with seven of his siblings who are very pleased for his example to them.  He certainly has a large cheering section at home.

We know God will bless him in his work in teaching and preaching the Gospel in Calgary among our Chinese brothers and sisters.

Easter in Cyprus

I have not had time to blog about our mission lately, and I apologize, but I am going to make some time right now to share with you all how Easter is celebrated on this lovely Island. Byzantium reigns here, especially during Easter season. The world celebrates Easter on a different day/month than do the Orthodox. It is THE highest Holy Day in the Orthodox faith, far more prominent than Christmas. It is begun with a 40 day fast from meat. Even fast food places such as McDonald's serve veggie burgers and fish during the 40 days of Lent. Here is the timeline for the celebration, which lasts the whole month of May this year.



Easter Celebration in Cyprus

Easter is the most sacred of all holidays in Cyprus. According to the Greek Orthodox tradition, this year we are celebrating it in May. During this Holy Week, Cypriots will come together to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ with religious rituals, sumptuous feasts, singing and dancing.

The Easter celebrations begin on the Saturday of Lazarus (the day before Palm Sunday) when children go from door to door, singing the ‘Lazaros’ and collecting eggs and money.

On the morning of Palm Sunday, churchgoers are given crosses made of palm fronds, which they take home and keep on their icon-stands for the rest of the year.

From the Monday onwards, fasting and reflection in the day lead up to the Passion of Christ in the evening.

Tuesday is devoted to scripture reading and on the Wednesday, the faithful are anointed with holy oil or a spring of oregano – a herb which is believed to have healing powers.

On Easter Thursday there is the grand ceremony of the dying of the eggs. This custom dates back to Byzantine times when a ring-bread was baked with a red egg in the middle. The red eggs symbolise the resurrection of Christ: the egg stands for the birth of new life and the colour red represents the blood of Jesus. The eggs are then put on display until Easter Sunday.

Good Friday is a day of mourning for the death of Christ. This is the time to serve special soup, made from lettuce or lentils, and sesame paste and vinegar (in memory of the vinegar Christ was given to drink on the cross). Sweet foods are avoided and it is considered a sin to work with a hammer or nails or to sew on this day.

On the evening of Good Friday the procession of the Epitafios takes place. The Epitafios represents Christ’s funeral and a decorated bier is carried around the streets, followed by a band or choir, cantors and clergy, women carrying myrrh, scouts and guides and the local people. It is a wonderful sight to behold as all along the route flowers and perfumes are thrown onto the Epitafios.

On Holy Saturday the food for Easter Sunday is taken to the church and blessed by the priest. At midnight, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated. This is considered one of the most important rituals of the year. Bells are rung and candles are lit from the Holy Light inside and outside of the churches.

In the evening, the traditional supper is served which includes traditional Easter bread and a special lemony lamb soup called Magiritsa, followed by Flaounes – special cakes made of local cheese, semolina, sultanas, mint and yeast wrapped in pastry.

The big focus of the holiday is Easter Sunday, when families make their way to church for the service. The Lenten fast is finally broken after the Easter Sunday service. Families gather together to crack the red-dyed eggs before eating them and to wish each other with the words ‘Jesus has risen’ to which the traditional reply is ‘Yes he has’. It’s said that the person with the last remaining uncracked egg will enjoy good luck throughout the year.

On Saturday 4th May, firewood will be gathered in the chapel courtyard ready for the evening, when the effigy of Judas will be burned on the lambradja (bonfire) to symbolize his punishment for the betrayal of Christ.

The evening will climax dramatically when the church lights are put out and then relit to the ringing of the bells, to symbolize Christ’s resurrection.

Life Is Full of Change!

We are now in our seventh month as missionaries on the Island of Cyprus in the Middle East in the Mediterranean Sea! Our lives are very busy, as you know. However, last Sunday before we began the Nicosia Branch Conference President Freestone called Elder Vargas to be the new Nicosia Branch President. The previous president unfortunately lost his job here and has to return to the states by the end of this month. We are sorry for their loss and all the upheaval of moving internationally, certain the Lord will direct their lives for good and plant them where they are needed now. Due to this new calling our lives become just a bit more complicated. We already have enough work to do, and our workload was due to increase as we are implementing another Institute class in Limmasol on the 23rd of this month. We will have to teach it once-a-month until the Limmasol branch president can call and sustain another teacher for the branch. Our YSA group has grown tremendously in the past few weeks because the Limmasol YSAs have been attending our Friday night activities. Two weeks ago we had 26 in attendance with nine of them being investigators. We know the Lord will strengthen us to carry this burden and mainly it is a matter of time-management. We will have to carefully arrange our schedule in order to accomplish everything necessary. This call will last only until Elder Vargas can train another priesthood bearer to assume the responsibility - we are hopeful it will happen quickly.

Our dear friend and YSA, Michelle Wu is currently in the process of preparing to receive a mission call. We have given her all the Temple preparation classes and will begin teaching her the Missionary preparation lessons next week. We are excited to be part of this phase of her life and love her very much. The Lord has blessed her tremendously since she has come here, especially in finding the church and being baptized. Her progress has been nothing short of spectacular!

We continue ever faithful to the Lord and His commandments, and feel the many blessings we have received are because of our firm commitment in the faith.

If you have not already pledged your time, talents and all you are blessed with to the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ then I implore you to do so. You will never be disappointed.

With much love - until the next time.