Caldwells in Belgium and The Netherlands: Piepschaum (Styrofoam) is gone, Senior Activity

Hurray! President van der Put, the first counselor in the Mission Presidency and fixer of all things in missionary apartments came to install a blind, add a bookcase and hang pictures. As an added benefit, he also removed our tower of piepschaum (styrofoam). This had been building up over two months and it looked like we would have to wait for another week or two before our identity cards came and we could visit the container park to get rid of the stuff. Sister C is ecstatic.

Before. For those who missed the picture last week.

President van der Put and helper putting the bookcase together.

Hanging pictures. They must be just right.

He looks happy with the result. We certainly are!

The piepschaum on its way to the Netherlands.

We also put our little Opel Corsa in the shop to get the ventilation system fixed. About a month ago, the system quit working on all fan speed except for the highest. We felt blessed to have air conditioning available at all, but it was noisy and uncomfortable most of the time. Because of the vacation season, we had to make service appointments about two weeks in advance. They discovered that the wiring harness and fan switch was corroded and needed to be replaced. The bill came to Euro 225. It also took two days to fix since the parts had to come from Antwerpen. It is nice to have more control over the heating and air conditioning system again. I suspect we were on the verge of losing everything.

On my first mission, we had a Volkswagen squareback (for those of you with ancient memories). It had suffered a fire in the heating system before I arrived in the mission home. It had no heating or defrost function at all. It made for quite an adventure in seeing out of the windows in the wet or cold weather. Compared to that, our little Opel was not bad.

On Thursday evening (August 6) we had dinner with Bishop Dixon and his wife. Their boys are with their grandparents until tomorrow, so it was just the two couples. Bishop Dixon courageously served mussels, even though he had never had them before. He even ate his full share. I suspect he had the same reaction as Sister C meaning that they were not nearly as bad as she thought they would be. I actually like the little critters! It was a lovely evening with wonderful company.

Bishop Dixon bravely tackling his first mussel. Sister C is ready to dig in.

Sister Dixon and the Bishop

The first taste of Zeeuwse mussels. Not as bad as he thought.

On our Friday morning bike ride, the fishermen were out along the banks of the canal, many of them having slept in tents overnight. I was surprised to see a rig with two poles, each connected to a radio. I guess that's the modern equivalent of fishing with a string tied to your toe. A bit more expensive and probably less reliable.

Friday evening, we were invited by President and Sister Bunnell and President and Sister van der Put to a senior couples' activity at the mission home. This was our first trip to the home of the mission president in Leidschendam. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to drive there because of a few traffic slowdowns around Antwerpen and Rotterdam. This mission home is in a beautiful location on a side canal and has a lovely back yard for entertaining. Unfortunately, only three of the five remaining couples in the mission were able to attend: Elder and Sister Robison who are the office couple; Elder and Sister Butler who work with the Jovos (Young Single Adults) in Eindhoven and us. We were missing the Romigs from Den Haag (The Hague). Sister Romig broke her foot last week. The Kleyns work with the Jovos in Deventer who had a young adult activity.

Despite having spent the day doing mission leader training, President and Sister Bunnell and the Robisons showed a great deal of energy and it was a lovely evening. When we hold joint zone conferences and they combine two zones, we share cooking duties with the Butlers. They return home in less than a month and we will really miss them. You get very close to these senior missionaries as you labor together in a common cause and share so many experiences. Of course, we are also sad to hear of recently returned missionary, Elder Brent Romig's bicycle accident and wish him well. It seems a bit lonely without the Van Dams, the Johnsons and the Romigs. President Van Dam was recently made the President of the Den Haag temple, so at least they are still in the area.

Pres. & Sister Bunnell, Pres. & Sister van der Put, Elder & Sister Robison
Us, Elder and Sister Butler

We had a lovely overnight stay at the mission home. We slept on the third floor in a hide-a-bed, but had a private bath with shower and cool night air. In the morning, we took an early morning walk along the canals of Leidschendam; first to a windmill (this was and industrial mill used for sawing lumber) and then through neighborhoods. The Bunnells graciously slowed their normal pace for those of us a bit slower and older.

Sisters Caldwell and Bunnell

President Bunnell, Elder Butler, Sister C and Sister Bunnell

Elders Butler and Caldwell, Sister C and President Bunnell

The windmill up close. So beautifully restored.
It is called The Salamander

The windmill at sunrise.

A beautiful small church

Saturday, we had to rush to return to Mechelen to pick up our food for the Leuven Ward BBQ and change into missionary attire. We arrived at the BBQ at about 2:15 PM and enjoyed watching some of the more senior members of the ward prepare the delicious BBQ. We really love and admire the members of this ward and feel blessed to be serving here.

Brothers van Es and de Man prepping the BBQ

Brothers Mesotten and Verhaegen getting the bounce house ready

Elder Walker showing his prowess

Some serious chess

The kids are happy the bounce house is ready.

Sister and Brother Pushnoy with two of their three cute sons

The master chefs at work.

Brother Pushnoy getting some help

Three lovely ladies

Chess gets more intense

A little silliness never hurts

The Bishop schlepping some of the drinks

Great friends

Elders Walker and Clukey with two of their three investigators there.

Sisters Mistoyen and Pushna with the (stokbrood) bread.

Almost ready to eat

Blessing on the food

When we hit the dessert stage, we were served an amazing home-baked cake by Sister Vibeka Bracke and the Bishop began dissecting the 22 lb watermelon brought by Brother de Man.