On Monday we were invited to the Gilstraps to have dinner with them, the sister missionaries and an official Luxembourger that has decided to get baptized. I'm not going to post her name until everything is official. She has an amazing story that we'll have to tell you later to protect her privacy. I'll post later with her permission. Bottom-line is that we had a great conversation with her and we were able to give her, her first blessing. It was pretty special.
However, at the meeting we learned that of the 8 missionaries that are here, only 2 will remain in a week. They can't find an apartment for a decent amount. So we'll be left with just 2 elders. That will make a huge impact on the church here. They help out a lot and we'll miss them playing soccer!
The missionaries are doing a great job. They have 3 baptisms scheduled. All of them are really great people. They have some additional folks that play soccer with us that have come to church two weeks in a row. Pretty impressive to see the fruits of their efforts.
On a positive note, we were able to pick up our car this week and turn in the rental car that was costing us $1000 a month. It was another adventure to get the money transferred, contract written up, plates made, the car registered, etc. Most people speak English, but not guaranteed, so it makes it more of an adventure.
On a negative note, the car got a rock chip within a day and as we were about to drive away with the car, the guy said that he got a call from Toyota and it needed a small bit of warranty work done. He said it was nothing and they'd give us a car if it took more than a day. We'll, the small warranty work is replacing the piston rings and changing a part that had a bad design. I guess the particulate filter causes back pressure that causes damage. Bummer, but it will be covered except for the cost for a rental car for 3 days. They didn't pay for it, of course. We thought we were avoiding a lemon and bought bigger one instead. Lovely.
Work has been pretty stressful this week. I've been working till past midnight most nights and pulled an all-nighter on Thursday. Unfortunately it has been stressful to the point that on Friday I felt like I was having a heart attack, literally. Kim and I debated and debated, but ended up going to the hospital at midnight. By the time we left at 4:00 am we'd seen about 5 drunks stitched up, I had an EKG, blood work, chest x-rays and had a $1000 lighter wallet. Good news is that my heart is fine. It ended up being a gnarly charley horse in my shoulder blade that mimicked all of the signs of a heart attack. No fun!
The $1000 was a surprise because we thought that as soon as we were registered residents we had insurance. Turns out the hospital says that is not the case. So I'll have to figure that out on Monday.
The kids had a break this week and visited a castle in Belgium. Kim was brave and drove about an hour without me! They had a great time. Emilee is going to do a blog post about it. We'll post the pics later...
Saturday we did have another rainy, wet soccer game with the ward. It was awesome and the kids had a fun time. We tried to get a haircut, but it was 20 euro and a 40 minute wait. That finally convinced Spencer to let me cut his hair, which I did today and actually got a compliment from him! Yes!
I saved the best for last! Saturday our two developers went to IKEA to buy some kitchen utensils. While they were in there, someone broke in the car and took both of their brand new development laptops. I swear either I or this company is cursed. Luckily they had great passwords and everything is backed up. No work was lost and our IP/Company is protected, but it is a huge bummer and as a startup it is not a great time to be buying new computers.
I think we at a point where we are all questioning why we wanted this great adventure! ;) It has been super rainy, we are missing family, friends, cheap food, the U.S. way of life and it feels like the world is against us. However, we are determined to push forward and make the best of it. I'm sure this is going to make us stronger, but sometimes exercise is not fun!
We are hoping for a bright spot this next week. We're going to meet Bob MacFarlane in Andermatt Switzerland and get a couple days of boarding in. Friday, Saturday and we'll be home on Sunday. Hopefully, our bad luck is behind us! I'm knocking on our wood table as I type!
Hope our luck is turning... Just found out that Visa is going to refund the money on the computers. Also, American Express refunded all but $100 of my gas in a diesel car experience! Buying things on credit cards has definitely been a good thing!
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