News and Reviews

 Well, there has been some activity towards resolving our visa situation - I'm not sure that it is a positive move.  Sister Hartvigsen called this morning with a message from Anna, the lady who is in charge of visas for UK.  Anna is concerned about the amount of time that has elapsed since we submitted our papers, and since our visas expired, felt that we ought to reach out to the visa office.

SK and I discussed it, and I forwarded to Anna the last communication with the visa office, which said, "We have your application, don't call us, we'll call you." - kind of.  I asked if she wanted us to check anyway.  Within an hour of that happening, we both got an email from the visa office saying they needed one more document.  

We forwarded that on to Anna, who obtained the document and sent it to us, which we sent on to the visa office.  And now we wait.  Again.


These are just a couple of Facebook posts from our snow day.


We also heard from the medical clinic.  They have accepted us as patients - and we think and hope that means we are a part of the National Health Care System (that seems suspiciously fast for any government transaction), and will now be in the queue for a vaccination.

We had a conference call with Germany...(So sorry - that is the way they say it here, as well as all over Europe.  We said it when we served in Denmark.  All of the administrative offices are in Germany, including the couple who are in charge of all of the senior couples serving the YSAs.)  There were about 25 couples in the call.  We each introduced ourselves, where we were from and where we are serving.  

There were four couples - including us - serving in UK, and then all over Europe.  They were in Sweden, Poland, Latvia, Italy, Finland and Hungary.  I have written about how impressed I have been with the young missionaries.  Yesterday's call with "older" people was impressive.  Many of the couples have been at their mission stations throughout the pandemic, including several in eastern Europe.  They are mostly in their sixties and seventies and are seeking to find ways to bolster the young adults and the church.

They all expressed a strong desire to serve the Lord and I don't think anyone even mentioned the pandemic.  Isn't that odd?  Perhaps they have all come to terms with it one way or another.  There were two couples waiting in the states to come to Europe to serve.  Isn't that amazing?  People in my age range with no fear of this virus, but only faith to be where the Lord wants them to be.





I attended a Zoom Relief Society supplementary meeting in the evening.  This isn't a formal meeting, just one organized for women who are interested.  It is loosely a book/movie/podcast kind of discussion group.  This one was our second.  There were a dozen of us, all in our own little window on the screen, each unmuted on our microphones so we could pipe in with a comment whenever we wished.

This discussion was on a personality test we took beforehand.  It is called the HEXACO test, and I guess it is quite popular right now, based on the idea that everyone on earth has varying degrees of six personality factors.  You are given 100 questions and based upon the answers it tells you who you are.  The test takes about 15 minutes and is free.

The young woman who led the discussion has several small children and her husband is a student.  The face that she is still sane during this lockdown is evidence enough that she is a terrific individual.  But she was before the lockdown.  But she is several decades younger than I, and while the test and the discussion were interesting, I don't think it enlightened me much about my personality.  But it was so lovely to be with other women and just talk.

Next month we'll talk about a podcast that one of the younger women has been listening to.  She is young and energetic and concerned about women's rights.  I love her passion and youth.  I'll be interested to see where that discussion takes us.

Our bishop and his wife, Amy will be moving by summer, back to the U.S.  They are incredible people, and Amy spends as much time serving the ward as does her husband.  She (much like Erin) reaches out to every single person checking on them, worrying about them etc.  They will be missed.



Comments

melissa said…
I think you are the most amazing missionary companionship out there!! 😊
January 29, 2021 at 8:37 AM
Elder and Sister Madsen said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
January 29, 2021 at 11:26 PM
Elder and Sister Madsen said…
Melissa, your confidence in us is always a lift.
January 30, 2021 at 5:30 AM
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