One box of Chex Cereal $2.50
Sending it to the Czech Republic $12.00!!!!
The Smile on Elder Robbins face.............
PRICELESS!!!!!
Thanks Amber, Finn, Emma and Ashley!! (mostly Amber)
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Full- circle
We have come full circle! Our first home was a one bedroom-one bath apartment on 9th East, but that is where the similarity ends.......
This is our elegant old apartment building on Varsavska
We are on the first floor and although you can't see her very well we are watched over by a beautiful lady in a cabbbage head!
(Upper left corner)
Living-dining room as you can see is set for dinner. There is room for four more at the table.
Kitchen with room for one at a time. I do the cooking and Elder Robbins does the clean-up. Pretty good deal!
The BLUE bath
Small but, very comfortable bedroom.
This week someone else decided to take up residence with us. Unfortuately he wouldn't pay the rent and tried to eat us out of house and home. Thursday night we were saying prayers and I heard something rustling in the kitchen, thinking I had left the window open in the front room I went to check it. As I passed by the kitchen even with my myopic eyesight I saw a TAIL coming out of the garbage can!!! "Mike, there's a mouse!!!" I'm scrambling to find my glasses and Mike scrambles to check him out. Unfortunately our scrambling alerts him to our presence and he flees. We survey the kitchen and find he has eaten a pear and taken some chocolates!! We put all the food away, close the door to the kitchen and try to go to bed. Mike was awake much of the night and gets a good look at the new tenant, a 6 inch Norway rat. Yes we did some fast internet check on rats. (How could something that shares my heritage be so gross!?!)
Next morning we begin a search for a rat trap. which is fine if you know how to say rat trap in Czech. So armed with our Czech dictionary we start.. first the grocery store, no, then the drugstore, no, then another drugstore that only had a mousetrap way too small for our tenant. then a houseware store. I don't know what he thought I asked for but he showed us a small luggage carrier. Perhaps he thought the rat had alot of baggage? We called the company that manages the building and our landlords in England. The managers said they would get back to us. After three phone calls to remind them we hadn't heard from them, they call us at 5:30 and tell us they are not responsible for the inside of the apartments and gave us the name of an exterminator. (Would have been nice to know that earlier in the day when we could have called them.) Anyway at 7:00 they call us back to tell us an exterminator will be there at 8:00pm. Our landlord in England convinced someone they needed to help us!!! Thank you, thank you! The exterminator brings a trap and three thick slabs of mostly fat bacon. Sets the trap and instructs us with very little English and us very little Czech to call him when the rat is in the trap. About an hour later Mike and I hear a snap and are sure he has been caught. I call the exterminator and report, "Meat is gone, rat is gone!" His response, "Is big problem." YOU'RE telling ME?!? He then said he will bring out another smaller trap on Monday at 8:00 am. Are you kidding me, this is Friday night we have to put up with him for three more days! (Unfortunately I can't say any of that in Czech.) We know the RAT likes chocolate so before we go to bed we put the last piece of chocolate in the trap hoping that he has gained weight eating all that bacon. Saturday Mike wakes me up at 5:30 with a high five........chocolate was his downfall!!!!
We had to wash everything in the drawers and under the sink; we found his droppings all over. We also found his stash: three pieces of bacon and SEVEN pieces of chocolate in various stages of consumption..... not only a rat but a greedy rat!
On to something more pleasant. The Czech Republic is in splendid bloom. Last week they broke a 228 year old record for the warmest temperature on April 11th and the warmer temps have brought out the blossoms. Tulip tree on Petrin Hill.
We had a picnic in the park for Family Home Evening and then played fotbal. (soccer)
Elder Chernov, Elder Robbins and one of our favorites, Kacie and that is Joe Norris peaking up behind them. (He tells us he is Chuck Norris' nephew!)
This is our elegant old apartment building on Varsavska
We are on the first floor and although you can't see her very well we are watched over by a beautiful lady in a cabbbage head!(Upper left corner)
Living-dining room as you can see is set for dinner. There is room for four more at the table.
Kitchen with room for one at a time. I do the cooking and Elder Robbins does the clean-up. Pretty good deal!
The BLUE bath
Small but, very comfortable bedroom.This week someone else decided to take up residence with us. Unfortuately he wouldn't pay the rent and tried to eat us out of house and home. Thursday night we were saying prayers and I heard something rustling in the kitchen, thinking I had left the window open in the front room I went to check it. As I passed by the kitchen even with my myopic eyesight I saw a TAIL coming out of the garbage can!!! "Mike, there's a mouse!!!" I'm scrambling to find my glasses and Mike scrambles to check him out. Unfortunately our scrambling alerts him to our presence and he flees. We survey the kitchen and find he has eaten a pear and taken some chocolates!! We put all the food away, close the door to the kitchen and try to go to bed. Mike was awake much of the night and gets a good look at the new tenant, a 6 inch Norway rat. Yes we did some fast internet check on rats. (How could something that shares my heritage be so gross!?!)
Next morning we begin a search for a rat trap. which is fine if you know how to say rat trap in Czech. So armed with our Czech dictionary we start.. first the grocery store, no, then the drugstore, no, then another drugstore that only had a mousetrap way too small for our tenant. then a houseware store. I don't know what he thought I asked for but he showed us a small luggage carrier. Perhaps he thought the rat had alot of baggage? We called the company that manages the building and our landlords in England. The managers said they would get back to us. After three phone calls to remind them we hadn't heard from them, they call us at 5:30 and tell us they are not responsible for the inside of the apartments and gave us the name of an exterminator. (Would have been nice to know that earlier in the day when we could have called them.) Anyway at 7:00 they call us back to tell us an exterminator will be there at 8:00pm. Our landlord in England convinced someone they needed to help us!!! Thank you, thank you! The exterminator brings a trap and three thick slabs of mostly fat bacon. Sets the trap and instructs us with very little English and us very little Czech to call him when the rat is in the trap. About an hour later Mike and I hear a snap and are sure he has been caught. I call the exterminator and report, "Meat is gone, rat is gone!" His response, "Is big problem." YOU'RE telling ME?!? He then said he will bring out another smaller trap on Monday at 8:00 am. Are you kidding me, this is Friday night we have to put up with him for three more days! (Unfortunately I can't say any of that in Czech.) We know the RAT likes chocolate so before we go to bed we put the last piece of chocolate in the trap hoping that he has gained weight eating all that bacon. Saturday Mike wakes me up at 5:30 with a high five........chocolate was his downfall!!!!
We had to wash everything in the drawers and under the sink; we found his droppings all over. We also found his stash: three pieces of bacon and SEVEN pieces of chocolate in various stages of consumption..... not only a rat but a greedy rat!
On to something more pleasant. The Czech Republic is in splendid bloom. Last week they broke a 228 year old record for the warmest temperature on April 11th and the warmer temps have brought out the blossoms. Tulip tree on Petrin Hill.
We had a picnic in the park for Family Home Evening and then played fotbal. (soccer)
Elder Chernov, Elder Robbins and one of our favorites, Kacie and that is Joe Norris peaking up behind them. (He tells us he is Chuck Norris' nephew!)Sunday, April 5, 2009
First Vylet in Six Months
On Wednesday we had an outing with the Alsops to the Czech town of Trebic. Trebic is a two hour ride southeast of Prague. It was founded in 1101 and had the largest marketplace in the country in the 13th Century. We are standing in Karlovo Namesti that center of trade and commerce.
Our first order of business (and actually the reason for the trip) was to help move Elders Chamber and Graham into their new apartment.
Now for the sights. Trebic is now famous for its perfectly preserved Jewish Town. A walk across the foot bridge over the Jihlava River
In 1975 this entire historical district was earmarked to be demolished to make way for blocks of apartment buildings! Thankfully the significance of this Zamosti Quarter was recognized and since 1990 it has undergone renovation and rejuvenation.
In 2003 it was recognized by UNESCO and is the only Jewish site outside of Israel to be afforded this honor.
It was fun to wander the narrow and crooked streets....
and sit in front of the renovated "Predni synagoga"
Our first order of business (and actually the reason for the trip) was to help move Elders Chamber and Graham into their new apartment.
Now for the sights. Trebic is now famous for its perfectly preserved Jewish Town. A walk across the foot bridge over the Jihlava River
In 1975 this entire historical district was earmarked to be demolished to make way for blocks of apartment buildings! Thankfully the significance of this Zamosti Quarter was recognized and since 1990 it has undergone renovation and rejuvenation.
In 2003 it was recognized by UNESCO and is the only Jewish site outside of Israel to be afforded this honor.
It was fun to wander the narrow and crooked streets....
and sit in front of the renovated "Predni synagoga"Then off to Telc! The guidebook says it is one of the most enchanting places in the Czech Republic.
The column behind Elder Waldo is a plague column which many cities built to remember those who died during the plague.
The square is lined with brightly colored buildings with uninterrupted arcading...
Doesn't a queen deserve a palace!?!
Okay, but it was fun to pretend!!!
Sister Alsop and I decided we don't have enough servants to keep the place up anyway. We did have dinner in a restaurant in the castle! It was a wonderful day and a very fun outing!!!
A random photo of the Sisters. Transfer week is coming up and we know some of these wonderful sisters will be leaving us. Sisters Clark, Madigson, Lee and Gapinski. Sister Gapinski has so honorably finished her mission and will leave with her family next Friday. We will miss her.
The column behind Elder Waldo is a plague column which many cities built to remember those who died during the plague.
The square is lined with brightly colored buildings with uninterrupted arcading...
No two are alike.
We told you we moved into a new home, well welcome to the new place ...
Doesn't a queen deserve a palace!?!
Okay, but it was fun to pretend!!!
Sister Alsop and I decided we don't have enough servants to keep the place up anyway. We did have dinner in a restaurant in the castle! It was a wonderful day and a very fun outing!!!
A random photo of the Sisters. Transfer week is coming up and we know some of these wonderful sisters will be leaving us. Sisters Clark, Madigson, Lee and Gapinski. Sister Gapinski has so honorably finished her mission and will leave with her family next Friday. We will miss her.Sunday, March 29, 2009
Jarnie Tancovacku
The Young Single Adults of the Prague Branch invite you to the first annual
"Spring Dance"
March 27, 2009
Sorry you were not able to be there so I'll fill you in on what you missed: learning to line dance, do the Cha-cha, a fabulous trumpet player, who played without a trumpet, a visit from
"Tom Cruise", the "Czech" dance, (I got all excited and thought we were going to learn a traditional Czech dance and then found out it was the CHICKEN dance, it was fun too) and yummy refreshments. I think what was best for the youth was to watch their Branch President and his wife, who really know how to dance. It's good for them to see you can be a good member of the church and still have lots of fun. The DJ and his wife were very impressed that people could have so much fun and not be drinking. It was his first time doing a dance in a church and he didn't know quite what to expect.
Elder Robbins cuttin' a rug with Helena..........
Sestra Robbins with Tomasi!
Elisabeth LOVES, Elder Robbins. Looks as if Elder Robbins is enjoying the attention too!I have written before about "Fat Sunday" and this is what it looks like
To bylo bajecne!That was delicious!
Yes we finally have not only good smelling clothes but clean clothes....
solved that problem!!!!!Sunday, March 22, 2009
Side Stories
Today we have been missionaries for six months! Sunday to Sunday flies by but it seems we haven't seen family and friends FOREVER! We feel quite comfortable as Praguers now and have just some random thoughts to share......
through this walkway, which is under contruction, across a boarded sidewalk........
into this torn-up court yard and up the winding staircase........ sure enough Beno Blachut had the solution. I just don't know how he stays in business!
This is Elisabeth one of our beautiful French young adults. She made us wonderful french crepes for Family Home Evening. We celebrated her birthday with cake and singing this month. We told her in our family we not only sing "Happy Birthday" in English, but Portuguese: which we did. Then it was sung to her in Czech, Slovak, Russian, Mongolian, Spanish, German and French! Are we an international family or what!?!
This is one of our regular means of transport and we can't count the number of times we've had to break out in a dead run to catch our limo. I always hope someone will cheer as we breathlessly sprint up the steps before the door closes or at least say, "Good for you, you made it!" I think I'll be waiting a long time for that.
I have learned that "gas permable" contact lens are not common in the Czech Republic. My supply of contact solution is getting low so this week I went looking for some. Oh they have many optical shops here, in fact there our three just around the corner from us and two more about a 10 minute walk, but no solution. It took a map, a 15 minute tram ride, a walk down a winding street.......
through this walkway, which is under contruction, across a boarded sidewalk........
into this torn-up court yard and up the winding staircase........ sure enough Beno Blachut had the solution. I just don't know how he stays in business! Everything we do seems to take longer. Sister Slovacek asked me to help with Auxillary Training next week. First everything has to be translated and then when I try to make some handouts that require fonts, formatting and clip art it I need an Elder's help. All the computers are in Czech!!! Thank goodness for
Elder Crane's expertise and patience with me.
I was starting to feel confident about my ability to recognize Czech products and then I realized this week I have been washing our clothes in fabric softener for the last month!?! Yes, the clothes do smell good but now I know why the collars and cuffs weren't coming out clean. Oh me!!!!
This is Elisabeth one of our beautiful French young adults. She made us wonderful french crepes for Family Home Evening. We celebrated her birthday with cake and singing this month. We told her in our family we not only sing "Happy Birthday" in English, but Portuguese: which we did. Then it was sung to her in Czech, Slovak, Russian, Mongolian, Spanish, German and French! Are we an international family or what!?!Saturday, March 7, 2009
The rest of the story.......
Okay, so I erased this photo from it's proper spot in the blog so you will have to read the whole thing to find out what this is all about...................... Just when I start to feel good about my blogging skills!
I met the doll creator... Sestra Bartasova!! I took the Sisters with me to translate and what a treat we had. Dolls, dolls, dolls... two rooms full of them! Many were dolls she has collected, but most of them are ones she has dressed in her own hand-knitted creations. Dolls from 3 inches to 3 feet. What fun. 
Her daughter, Jarka is a very talented painter. Sestra Bartasova first came in contact with the church in 1950. She showed us the Book of Mormon she received all those years ago. Her mother didn't want her to join the church. Then along came communism..... but she came in contact with the church again and she and her daughter were baptized in 1995. They are both very faithful members of the Prague Branch.
Since my last post we have had many new and wonderful experiences. We attended our first Prague District Conference. It was held in a beautiful performance hall on Namesti Miru " Peace Square" (An appropriate name) just a ten minute walk from our apartment. Who knew we would be able to walk to church in Prague? Next time I'll take my camera so I can post pictures of the hall. We also had a mission tour from Elder and Sister Neuwenschwander of the Seventy and Elder and Sister Wondra an area authority from Vienna. They attended our Missionary Zone Conference and inspired and instructed the missionaries on identifying and teaching to the needs of their investigators. It has been great to meet with our missionaries in our weekly District Meetings and see them put into practice the things they learned. Mike and I both had the opportunity to teach with Elder Chernov (our Ukranian Elder) and Elder Apple as they taught Dan. He is a diplomat from Nigeria, who is here in Prague working on his doctorate. He is a humble and teachable man who was baptized today! I was asked to speak at his baptism. It was a tender experience for me and as I said to Elder Apple, "This is why we all came!"
Who knew we would come on a mission to where, to do what?..............................................
(At the oldest Ice Hockey Stadium in the Czech Republic. I have the 2 bruised knees to prove it and thankfully, Viktor picked me up and skated me back in!!!)
Her daughter, Jarka is a very talented painter. Sestra Bartasova first came in contact with the church in 1950. She showed us the Book of Mormon she received all those years ago. Her mother didn't want her to join the church. Then along came communism..... but she came in contact with the church again and she and her daughter were baptized in 1995. They are both very faithful members of the Prague Branch.
Since my last post we have had many new and wonderful experiences. We attended our first Prague District Conference. It was held in a beautiful performance hall on Namesti Miru " Peace Square" (An appropriate name) just a ten minute walk from our apartment. Who knew we would be able to walk to church in Prague? Next time I'll take my camera so I can post pictures of the hall. We also had a mission tour from Elder and Sister Neuwenschwander of the Seventy and Elder and Sister Wondra an area authority from Vienna. They attended our Missionary Zone Conference and inspired and instructed the missionaries on identifying and teaching to the needs of their investigators. It has been great to meet with our missionaries in our weekly District Meetings and see them put into practice the things they learned. Mike and I both had the opportunity to teach with Elder Chernov (our Ukranian Elder) and Elder Apple as they taught Dan. He is a diplomat from Nigeria, who is here in Prague working on his doctorate. He is a humble and teachable man who was baptized today! I was asked to speak at his baptism. It was a tender experience for me and as I said to Elder Apple, "This is why we all came!"
Who knew we would come on a mission to where, to do what?..............................................LINE DANCE,
(Where's Waldo?)
(Where's Waldo?)ICE SKATE,
(At the oldest Ice Hockey Stadium in the Czech Republic. I have the 2 bruised knees to prove it and thankfully, Viktor picked me up and skated me back in!!!) and EAT DELICIOUS DESSERTS,
with the Alsops.
(Insert the first picture
with the Alsops.(Insert the first picture
Yum, yum!!)
Well maybe we knew we would need a Czech Class. You'll know where to find us every Tuesday at 5:00 pm
Marketa and Sister Clark are the tutors: Elder and Sister Robbins and Dema, from Ukraine are the students.
Marketa and Sister Clark are the tutors: Elder and Sister Robbins and Dema, from Ukraine are the students.With all this Czech, plus a Czech haircut and this last week a Czech filling to cure my toothache, OUCH!........we are practically natives.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
"Surprise" Sunday
Perhaps you have heard of "Fast Sunday" and here in Prague they have "Fat Sunday". It's the week before Fast Sunday when all the members bring a dish or goodies to share and they eat together after the Sunday meetings. But have you ever heard of "Surprise Sunday"? Well it all started last Christmas; the sisters in the Prague branch made or donated gifts to give to all the missionaries. Two of the sister missionaries received the cutest handmade dolls in authentic Czech costumes. I immediately asked the Relief Society President if I could pay the sister to make some for me to take home to my grand daughters. She responded by telling me she didn't think the sister who made them would make them for money and she wouldn't tell which sister made them. Oh well, I tried! Then two weeks ago she told me she had a "surprise" for me......
Isn't she adorable!?! Her skirt, blouse,vest, petticoat and boots are all beautifully hand knit. It was reinforced to me that she is made with love and not money and I do LOVE her, just wish I knew where to find five more. (She is sitting in front of my Christmas poinsettia and Grandma Carol would be so proud of me keeping it alive until Valentines, she always did!) Speaking of Valentines..... here"s mine......
He looks soooo happy because he just received a box of Wheat Chex from Allison and Matt. 
Looks like a full bowl of Chex, but there are layered desserts and layered casseroles and now layered cereal 1st layer: cornflakes 2nd layer: musli 3rd layer: chex topped with a banana! We're trying to make them last as long as possible. As I always say, "A man of few needs and even fewer wants."Wow is he ever enjoying his Chex!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
