plzen!

We are finally in Venice! Yes, we made it. The last few days have been very crazy and very WET!... and not because it has rained...it hasn't! If you get my drift.

On Tuesday morning we were up and about to catch a train to Plzen. We got there about noon and Sister Bubenickova and Sister Komancova met us at the train station. It was wonderful to see them again. Sister Komancova was as animated as ever and took us back to her house to put down our things and have some lunch.

One thing we knew was that Plzen=FOOD! and lots of it. It all started with the traditional cake that Sister Bubenickova and Sister Komancova call "misonar" or "missionary" because they have probably baked hundreds of them over the last few years for the missionaries. Then it was soup to start and then pototoes and pork. It was really good food. Andi was surpised because this was the first time anyone had also included "real" vegtables in the meal. Curtis let her eat his tomatoes as he usually does.

After lunch we headed in to see the "Thank You America" monument and to the town square. Plzen was the last stop of the American troops 11 months after D-Day. There stands a monument on the main street to the troops who saved their city which reads, "Nikdy Nezapomeneme", translated "We'll never forget." I think of all of the places I've been in Europe it is these people who understand the price that was paid for their freedom, and though the years to follow after the communists took control were difficult, they have never forgotten those who fought for them. Still as you talk to people on the street they will smile and sometimes cry when you tell them you are American and they make sure that you know, that they know, what was done.

We then headed back for dinner and bed. Of course Sister Komancova had made fruit dumplings for us and even though I had requested she not make a lot she managed to make 29! Well, we ate over half of them before we felt like exploding. She told us she'd save them for us for breakfast. Even though it was a lot our stomachs were full and we were happy and headed to bed.

On Wednesday we were up early to visit a few other members including Sister Markova, who has been a member of the church since the 1940s when she was baptized as a young girl. She was interogatted during communism and labeled as an American spy because she was a Mormon. Her travel privileges were taken away and she was watched closely by the police. She conitinued to live the Gospel and stayed in contact with other members of the Church in the Czech Republic. We visited with her as well as two other senior sister missionaries, one of which is the daughter of a former mission president from before WWII, President Toronto. She lived here as a little girl with her family and Sister Markova knew her at the age of 9. Now 55 years later she is here as a missionary herself. It was fun to sit an talk with them.

From there we headed over to Sister Bubenickova's for lunch before we were off to the train station to head back to Prague. It was great to see and talk with old friends and for Andi to see one of my favorite parts of my mission. It was a great little side trip that we really enjoyed.

We made it back to Prague early as the train was actually on time and checked back into the place we had stayed the two previous nights before Plzen. We thought we'd better go get some shopping done before meeting Curtis's mission companion, Jake Frahm, and his dad for dinner at the Czech Kitchen. We met up with them to eat and then went over to the old town square to see the Astronomical clock and then over the bridge (the third time for us!) It is always a beautiful walk and we had a fun time visiting with Jake and Dave. They were glad to see some familiar faces as they had quite the day trying to find their place and then crashed from the jet lag.

We headed to the internet cafe to clear the memory cards and burn pictures on CDs so we had room for Venice pictures and then it was off to bed!

We will hopefully get some more pictures posted today and we'll tell you all about our trip to Venice. We are glad to be here and have a few days to relax before going home. There are lots of canals, streets, and things to see here. We will see you all next week!

C&A