Linda Saar (Cincinnati, OH): "Though a native of Ohio, I married an Estonian and had the opportunity to visit Estonia a few times, both to visit relatives and to attend the Feast of Tabernacles. Through those visits and the friendships established there, I was given the opportunity to layout two UCG booklets in Swedish. This, then, has led me to the opportunity to work with Natasha and also help in the layout of the Russian booklets. As a graphic designer, I am thrilled that I have been able to use my 'talents' to help spread God's gospel of truth in any small way I can."

- Natasha Teague

Thoughts were whirling through my head. In Geilo, a beautiful ski resort in central Norway, I had visited with eight members of the same family, refugees from Burma and Thailand. Monday Doh, matriarch of the family, and her youngest daughter Anita coordinated the visit for me along with Pay Doh Htoo.

After three years of separation, Anita's husband Tarnu had finally been allowed to emigrate from Thailand. Tarnu, a school teacher in Thailand, is just learning to speak Norwegian. Because of the language requirement, Tarnu asked for us to pray for him so that he can get a good job and be able to support the family. We had spent the two previous days in prolific Bible study at Monday's house. There were many excellent questions and a lot of discussion.

I had come to Geilo from Stavanger on the west side of Norway. Surprising to me, the temperatures on the southwestern tip of Norway are relatively warm in winter. There was no snow on the ground. In Stavanger, there were friends of many years. Ben and Ingrid (Nordheim) Haworth live near Stavanger. Both families have a long history of service to Ambassador College and the Worldwide Church of God in years gone by. Ben and Lloyd Nordheim picked me up at the hotel and took me to the hospital where Ingrid was awaiting the delivery of triplets. Since it was not appropriate to stay longer, of necessity it was a short visit, but it was a very nice visit. Caleb, Evelyn, and Nathan were born on Feb. 16. All are strong and healthy. My only regret was in not being able to also see Mary Haworth who was keeping two-year-old daughter Esther at the home of Ben and Ingrid.

Leaving Geilo I would be continuously on trains and buses for almost two days before reaching Kemi, Finland, where Margaret and Klo Gay Doh live. Kemi is well to the north and quite cold in early February. It was 40 below Fahrenheit when Klo Gay met me at the bus station. Arriving at their apartment, Klo Gay immediately exited the car and proceeded to plug his car into an electrical outlet located on a pole in front of his parking place. The Dohs wanted an explanation of the vision of the sheet from Acts 10. They were not questioning clean and unclean themselves, but wanted to be able to give aggressive friends a correct explanation. I explained by putting the chapter into context beginning in Joppa with Cornelius, continuing with God giving the Holy Spirit to the gentiles, and concluding with Peter's explanation that the vision is an allegory from which Peter said that the correct explanation is that we are not to call any man unclean. This was obviously a pleasing explanation to them. From their "Cheshire Cat" smiles, I could tell they felt they were "loaded for bear" in future discussions with their friends. I bade these "old friends" a fond farewell as I climbed on the train for Helsinki.

In Helsinki, I visited a new perspective member, Mr. Jay Nanje. Jay was especially concerned about why God allows suffering. We spent some time discussing that and other subjects including the potential he has to serve in God's Family in the coming resurrection of the dead. Jay and his family are new friends.

That is a necessarily truncated report of the nine days in Scandinavia. From there, it was on to Tartu to do the mailings. I am not able to quantify my feeling, nevertheless, I am sure this was the largest number of requests we have ever had in Eastern Europe. Based on previous demand, I was confident our inventory of all the literature was more than sufficient. This is a warning that we should never be overconfident. The newly built shelves in our apartment were "picked clean". This is a tribute to the work being done in Cincinnati by both Natasha and Peter Eddington. The requests clearly were relating to advertisements in our publications. Of note, we ran out of the following booklets: The Church Jesus Built, Gospel of the Kingdom (English Language), The Middle East in Prophecy, The New Covenant, Ten Commandments, How to Understand the Bible (English), and Understanding Bible Prophecy. Inventories of quite a few other booklets were also drastically depleted. These mailings into six countries are the "meat and potatoes" of every trip. I was both humbled and thankful. And who knows how many new friends will result from these envelopes.

In Estonia and Latvia, there are many old friends. In this report, I focused on friends from Scandinavia. There are always necessary choices. It is not possible to include everything about everything in every report.

On February 25, I attended church services in Latvia. I concluded my sermon by telling the congregation I did not expect to be able to return very soon due to the condition of my back. For nine weeks there had been continuous pain and substantial loss of function. This was not intermittent. It was daily and continuous. Hazel had made me an appointment with a surgeon on the day of my return to correct what was a longstanding orthopedic problem. I felt I had to get this problem corrected. I made no requests of anyone; I just explained that I did not know when I would return. As I exited the church building, Skydrete, an elderly Latvian woman, approached me and told me through a translator that she would pray for my back. I thanked her. I had not been of the opinion that I should ask God to miraculously spare me from the parts of life that seventy-year-old people normally experience. In retrospect, I lacked the faith that this "Old Friend" had. On the next day, I had no back pain. As of this writing, it has been three weeks without pain. I don't remember going through an extended period without any pain in some years. The appointment with the surgeon was an embarrassment for me. He took X-rays, but did not find anything that needed correction. I do not think that Skydrete was the only Latvian friend who prayed for me. This is a place where there are many "Old Friends."

It is good to have "New Friends", and it is very good to have "Old Friends". And it is satisfying to know that we are all friends together.