WEEK ONE

Thursday we said goodbye to our friends Ron and Brenda Jacques whom we replaced in the office, and they returned to Tremonton, Utah with three missionaries in tow who were returning early due to mental health problems. These first eleven days have been crazy--filled with learning new things and getting oriented. We've registered with the German state and also with the U.S. military base at Wiesbaden. Within six months I will get a German driver's license, but for now I can drive because Utah has a reciprocal agreement with Germany so we don't have to take the written or driving test. Elaine refuses to drive, so, I am the designated driver. The car given to us to use has a built-in GPS and we are just beginning to venture out. Soon we hope to get down to Landstuhl (south of Frankfurt about 1 hour) and get registered with the U.S. military hospital to get our medical care. We've been very busy with phone calls with missionaries. Several new ones have been referred to me by mission presidents--mostly in France, Spain, and Denmark--for depression, anxiety, addictive behaviors, and homesickness. I get great satisfaction in reaching out to a young missionary who is far from home and struggling with some emotional problem. Our days have typically been 12-hour days (7 a.m. to 7 p.m.). We return to our apartment tired but happy. We are both sleeping pretty good through the nights now, and the glassy stare in our eyes is dissipating. This week it will have been one month since we began our mission. My! how time goes by.