Week #58 of our 78-week humanitarian mission to Slovakia and Poland is in the books.

"Charity brings to life again those who are spiritually dead." - Thomas Aquinas.

Slovakia fact of the week . . . The history of mines in the town of Kremnica dates back to at least 1285. In the past, Kremnica ranked among the richest towns of the Kingdom of Hungary and its reputation and wealth came from the gold mining in its surrounding areas and its reputation as the world's oldest and finest minters of coins.

We had the opportunity to what we call "close a project" this week. When we close a project we visit the project site to see the final product, we meet with the organization's director and staff, meet with the beneficiaries if possible, which is always the highlight for us, and express how much we appreciate the wonderful work they do in serving those most in need.

We visited the village of Bezovce to see the renovated Roma community workshop. Wow, it is beautiful and looks like a brand new building. We met Mayor Luděk Hamšík and our partner Maria Andricikova to walk through the workshop. The project was completed on budget and on time by the Bezovce community. We can take no credit for the perfect execution of this project.

We asked the mayor how he thought the project went. His response . . .

We need to recognize and give a huge thank you to Elder Ken and Sister Merilee Otto, another senior couple in our mission. They took a project with the city of Zilina from start to finish and the results were fantastic. Ken and Merilee will be taking the lead on a project with the Red Cross in the near future.

Spojená škola in Zilina is a special elementary school with two components, five classes with students with special needs and a medical facility where sick and disabled children who need greater care are also educated. Approximately 300 children are educated at Skola or at the medical facility each school year.

To better educate and care for their special needs students Skola was in need of a sensory classroom. We funded a complete renovation of the room and provided the associated materials and equipment.

When you close a project in Slovakia one thing is certain, you will not leave hungry. After Ken and Merilee toured the sensory room and met with the staff, it was party time.

Our church has a worldwide membership of 17,000,000 in over 31,000 congregations. Kelly and I attend a congregation in Colorado with more than 200 people attending Sunday services. The church is small In Slovakia with only four congregations and 300 members. Our congregation is located in Kosice has about 20 people attending each Sunday. We have grown to love our local members and are so humbled by their dedication and the way in which they welcomed us to Slovakia.

Our congregation recently moved to a new location and we held an open house. If you are curious what it looks like where we attend church, here you go . . . . .

We continue to take better advantage of our P-days before winter arrives by hiking in the High Tatra mountains. This week we were joined by the Ottos, another senior couple, our mission president, Darren Skousen, and eight missionaries. The scenery was beautiful as we hiked to 'Zelene Pleso' or Green Lake.

We pray you are well and that you will have a wonderful week.