On the way to the Sister's apartment last Thursday night we ran into two more gnomes. These are really cute. I bet you can't tell what kind of store they were in front of:
Also, we stopped to take the pictures of the "Anonymous Pedestrians". These represent people as they went "underground" during the middle of the night when Martial Law was initiated in Poland. And then re-emerged after it was taken away. So the statues are going down on one side of the street and coming up on the other. It is really cool.
And here they are coming up.
Wayne had a real hard time eating at the Sisters. So when he got up Friday morning, we knew something was definitely wrong with one of his teeth. We called President Cielenski to see if he knew of any dentists we could go to. He said he had a very good one, but he did not work on Fridays. He also said he would call around for us and see if we couldn't get in to one that day. We did get into one that evening (8:00 pm). The outside of the building looked pretty scary, but the inside was very clean and modern. So the dentist (a young woman about 4'8" and maybe 100 lbs) came and took Wayne back to the examining room. Pres. Cielenski came with us just in case they didn't speak English. But they did and Wayne could understand them. So they took an xray and found that his wisdom tooth was abscessed. They shot him up with Novocaine, cut his gum around the infected wisdom tooth and massaged his glands and neck to get all of the infection out. It was very painful and gross. She gave him a prescription for pain and an antibiotic. She told him that he would have to come back and get the tooth pulled. So we made an appointment for Monday. She said that the tooth was embedded a little bit in the bone, but shouldn't take very long to get it out. Friday night was a very long night, but the swelling had gone down considerably.
On Saturday, it was Elder Smith's birthday and we had planned a little surprise party. Elder Stumpf had found out that his favorite dinner was steak and potatoes and his second was hamburgers. I told Elder Stumpf I would make the hamburgers. So the elders and sisters came over for dinner and poor Wayne had to suffer through it all. Elder Smith was surprised, a little. Sis. Blake kind of blew it when she met them at the door and said she and Sis. Ellis got there before them for the party. Oh well. I had made some cupcakes and we put candles on two of them. One candle for every ten years. Sang the polish birthday song, which makes no sense at all. It goes like this:
Sto lat, Sto lat
Niech zyje, zyje nam
Sto lat, Sto lat
Niech zyje, zyje nam
Jeszcze raz, jeszcze raz
Niech zyje, zyje nam
Niech zyje nam.
Sto Lat!
It means that you hope they live for a 100 years. Anyway, we'll sing it for someone when we come home. So here is Elder Smith blowing out his two candles:
Sunday morning at church Wayne had to conduct. He did okay, but you could tell he was hurting. We had invited the Call family over for dinner, so once again, Wayne had to suffer through another dinner and try to be pleasant. He did great. We had barbecue pork sandwiches, vegetable tray and some sliced pineapple and cantaloupe. AJ Call, who is 14, had 2 1/2 sandwiches. His mom kept telling him to slow down. They all speak English so it was fun having them over. We had ice cream and cupcakes for dessert.
So finally Monday came and we walked over to the dentist's office. They came and got Wayne at 12:30 pm. At 2:30 pm, I was getting kind of worried. The main dentist, a guy, came out one time and said something to the receptionist. And in a little while, through the main door, walked in another dentist and he just walked right into the back. In about another hour, I finally saw Wayne, holding a cold compress against his cheek and they were taking him back into the xray room. He came and sat by me for a little while and then the main dentist came over and said they needed to go back in, because there was still a little bit of tooth they didn't get. They had already stitched him up, so out came a couple of stitches and some more digging. We left the facility about 4:30 pm. So, the girl dentist had to call for help from the main dentist. And the both of them couldn't get it out of the bone so they called for a specialist. When I told Jeremy about the day, this is what he wrote back:
I'm picturing a cold, wet cinder block basement room with single light bulb swinging above a dentists chair and a table full of used, scary looking, torture-like tools.
Despite it all, Wayne was very pleased with the way they cared for him and made sure he didn't feel any pain during the procedure.
To top all of this off, Tuesday was Zone conference down in Katowice and I was cooking some of the food for lunch. So, there was no way Wayne was going to be able to stay at the apartment and rest. We doped him up with pain pills Monday night and called Pres. Edgren to ask him if the Elders could ride in the car with us, just in case anything went wrong. He said we could do that. I haven't driven at all in Poland, but I learned very quickly on Tuesday. People really drive crazy here, but I did okay. We had Elder Stumpf drive home.
It was a wonderful conference. President Edgren told the missionaries that if they felt like going out at 8:00 in the morning to start contacting, they could do that. They still had to do all of their study and preparation, but now they can do it anytime during the day. Before, they could not leave their apartment until 11:00 am. They all were excited about that.
Sister Reed and I were in the kitchen most of the morning preparing the food. I took a picture of the kitchen so you could see how tiny it is. We certainly do enjoy the Reeds. They will be leaving in two weeks.
Pres. Edgren told a story about when he was Bishop and how the spirit influences us sometimes when we least expect it. He was working on the roof of his house when his phone rang. It was the mother of one of his priests in the ward. David was preparing to go on a mission shortly and his mother asked if the bishop could help her find him. He had not come home for 2 days. His girlfriend had come home from school and his best friend had killed himself a week ago. She was afraid that he may have done something wrong, because he wasn't thinking straight. Pres. Edgren said he would try, but he didn't even know where to begin to look for him. He got down from the roof and had to go to Home Depot to get some more things. He said he asked the Lord to be with David and help him make it through this trial. On the way home from the store, he passed one of his favorite ice cream shops and just knew he had to go back and get some ice cream. There was no parking in front of the store, so he pulled down a little side street. When he got out of his car, there was David in his car with his girlfriend. Pres. Edgren started to walk towards the car, and David got out, looking very surprised. He said, "Hi, Bishop, what are you doing here?" Pres. Edgren told him that the spirit lead him here and he hoped that David was okay. David told him that he was fine now and that he would be in church tomorrow. David went on his mission and served faithfully. He also told the president that he was glad he showed up when he did. Small miracles! And as David A. Bednar once said - the "tender mercy" of the Lord.
Since transfers will be in a week, Sis. Malinowska has asked us and the elders and sisters over for lunch today. Another BIG meal.
We love you all and miss you. Have a wonderful week.
Sunday morning at church Wayne had to conduct. He did okay, but you could tell he was hurting. We had invited the Call family over for dinner, so once again, Wayne had to suffer through another dinner and try to be pleasant. He did great. We had barbecue pork sandwiches, vegetable tray and some sliced pineapple and cantaloupe. AJ Call, who is 14, had 2 1/2 sandwiches. His mom kept telling him to slow down. They all speak English so it was fun having them over. We had ice cream and cupcakes for dessert.
So finally Monday came and we walked over to the dentist's office. They came and got Wayne at 12:30 pm. At 2:30 pm, I was getting kind of worried. The main dentist, a guy, came out one time and said something to the receptionist. And in a little while, through the main door, walked in another dentist and he just walked right into the back. In about another hour, I finally saw Wayne, holding a cold compress against his cheek and they were taking him back into the xray room. He came and sat by me for a little while and then the main dentist came over and said they needed to go back in, because there was still a little bit of tooth they didn't get. They had already stitched him up, so out came a couple of stitches and some more digging. We left the facility about 4:30 pm. So, the girl dentist had to call for help from the main dentist. And the both of them couldn't get it out of the bone so they called for a specialist. When I told Jeremy about the day, this is what he wrote back:
I'm picturing a cold, wet cinder block basement room with single light bulb swinging above a dentists chair and a table full of used, scary looking, torture-like tools.
Despite it all, Wayne was very pleased with the way they cared for him and made sure he didn't feel any pain during the procedure.
To top all of this off, Tuesday was Zone conference down in Katowice and I was cooking some of the food for lunch. So, there was no way Wayne was going to be able to stay at the apartment and rest. We doped him up with pain pills Monday night and called Pres. Edgren to ask him if the Elders could ride in the car with us, just in case anything went wrong. He said we could do that. I haven't driven at all in Poland, but I learned very quickly on Tuesday. People really drive crazy here, but I did okay. We had Elder Stumpf drive home.
It was a wonderful conference. President Edgren told the missionaries that if they felt like going out at 8:00 in the morning to start contacting, they could do that. They still had to do all of their study and preparation, but now they can do it anytime during the day. Before, they could not leave their apartment until 11:00 am. They all were excited about that.
Sister Reed and I were in the kitchen most of the morning preparing the food. I took a picture of the kitchen so you could see how tiny it is. We certainly do enjoy the Reeds. They will be leaving in two weeks.
We tried to get a picture of President and Sister Edgren and this is the best we could do. They just wouldn't sit long enough for us. This was during testimony bearing.
Pres. Edgren told a story about when he was Bishop and how the spirit influences us sometimes when we least expect it. He was working on the roof of his house when his phone rang. It was the mother of one of his priests in the ward. David was preparing to go on a mission shortly and his mother asked if the bishop could help her find him. He had not come home for 2 days. His girlfriend had come home from school and his best friend had killed himself a week ago. She was afraid that he may have done something wrong, because he wasn't thinking straight. Pres. Edgren said he would try, but he didn't even know where to begin to look for him. He got down from the roof and had to go to Home Depot to get some more things. He said he asked the Lord to be with David and help him make it through this trial. On the way home from the store, he passed one of his favorite ice cream shops and just knew he had to go back and get some ice cream. There was no parking in front of the store, so he pulled down a little side street. When he got out of his car, there was David in his car with his girlfriend. Pres. Edgren started to walk towards the car, and David got out, looking very surprised. He said, "Hi, Bishop, what are you doing here?" Pres. Edgren told him that the spirit lead him here and he hoped that David was okay. David told him that he was fine now and that he would be in church tomorrow. David went on his mission and served faithfully. He also told the president that he was glad he showed up when he did. Small miracles! And as David A. Bednar once said - the "tender mercy" of the Lord.
Since transfers will be in a week, Sis. Malinowska has asked us and the elders and sisters over for lunch today. Another BIG meal.
We love you all and miss you. Have a wonderful week.
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