Christmas was wonderful for us this year. There was so much more focus on Christ. The beautiful music depicting our Savior's birth, the stories shared of lives changed or touched by the love and kindness of others, Sister van Hoff and I reaching out to others who are struggling or alone. What a difference that makes during a holiday celebration.
Christmas eve we went downtown to listen to the church bells in Frankfurt.
We were blessed with the ability to video chat with almost all of our family members. That's not easy considering the time zone difference and their busy schedules. Family is truly a treasured possession. We love each family member and were grateful to have a few moments to spend with each one.
The highlight of this season was attending a baptism of young couple from China. They have two young boys - 2 and 4 years old. For weeks now they have been excitedly waiting for that day so that they could step into the waters of baptism and acknowledge to Heavenly Father their desire to covenant with Him. The Spirit bore witness of how special this family is. I have attended quite a number of baptisms and felt the Spirit strongly, but when they entered the water and as the ordinance of baptism was performed for each of them, the Spirit was so powerfully felt. I heard that others in the room felt the same way.
We are so blessed to have a wonderful relationship with Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. It is edifying and so uplifting to see others start on their journey to develop their relationship with them. Still our hearts and prayers always have and always will go out to those we know who do not have that special relationship. It is by hope through the very tender mercies of the Lord that we feel strengthened to continue to pray for those we love.
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Sunday, December 24, 2017
The Week Before Christmas, And All Through Our Lives...
At work this past week some things seemed to have slowed down which was great, because outside of work, we did so much more than usual.
Tuesday afternoon for our German Culture class, we met at Sister Enger’s apartment. This sister lives 55 stairs up and there is no elevator. She is close to our age, but in the next 10 to 20 years from now, I wonder how hard it might be for her.
About 13 of us senior missionaries attended. All were Sisters, except two of us. Near the beginning of the meeting, as per Sister Enger's request, Diane and I played our recorders. Diane did one German Christmas song, "Morgen, Kinder, wird's was geben" ("Tomorrow, Children, You Will Receive Something") with a lead into another which you would be familiar with, "O Tannenbaum" (“Oh, Christmas Tree”). We were no more than 15 minutes into the class when the doorbell rang. It was der Weihnachtsmann. He came in with a large but thin book and a sack. In German he read each of our names and told a little something about us. He then asked us to do something and gave us a small gift. For me he talked about how I make great chocolate zucchini bread and share it with others. He asked Sister van Hoff and I to play a song with the recorders. We redid the “Oh Christmas Tree” song. For Sister van Hoff, he said how well she speaks German and knows computers. Because she played the recorder with me she didn’t have to do anything else special.
It was so cool hearing him describe the different things about each of us. The other people were asked to recite poems or sing songs. We all helped with all of those. He surprised Sister Enger by presenting her with a gift, also. What a wonderful evening.
Wednesday afternoon we left work early. We had invited the sister missionaries over to our place to teach a man from Ghana. It turns out that he was not able to come, but we still were able to meet with him and teach him--using FaceTime. What was notably interesting to me were the impressions I felt during our meeting.
When we first connected, we could hear a lot of noise in the background; talking, clattering. It was hard for him to hear. The sisters and Diane and I were in the same room, each couple with their own IPad monitor. The impression I felt was like we were in a peaceful, spiritual atmosphere projecting out to Daniel, but much of it was being lost. It was when he decided to put on earbuds that everything changed. I could feel that suddenly he was within our
circle of protection and able to feel the peace and comfort of the Spirit, bringing all of us into one large extended room. It was as if the world was shut out. He was more focused and engaged. Quite an unusual experience.
That night after seminary, we helped the Young Women deliver secret Santa gifts to each of the missionary couples in the apartment complex. As they prepared their deliveries, I went over to the apartment complex to mark the doors of the missionaries. Diane accompanied the leaders and helped the girls make their anonymous deliveries. I was home baking when the doorbell rang. I opened the door to find a small gift basket of cookies and candy and the door covered from top to bottom with paper hearts taped to it.
The next day one of the missionaries said, “We were heart attacked last night.”
There was a wonderful baptism today--a family from China. They were so excited to be baptized. I’ve been to many baptisms, but the Spirit that was there while they were being baptized was so strong. What a wonderful addition to the ward they will be. During the baptism the member of the bishopric who was conducting told the father to write down how it felt today. After the baptism Diane and I were talking to him and he told us how the Mission President called him last night. The Mission President told the father that he should not be baptized because of his relationship with the missionaries. He assured the Mission President that he was solely doing it for himself and his family. I told him that he should write that down, also. I told him his kids would want to read that. I told him that his grandkids would also want to read it. He looked as if he went into a deep thought and then said, “Yea, I never would have thought of that.” His kids are still very young--2 and 4.
We bought a Schwibbogen. It was made in the Erzgebirge region of eastern Germany. When we went to the temple (in this region) the other week, we saw that nearly every window had one. The first Schwibbogen was made in the mid 1700s by miners. It was made for Christmas. The original Schwibbogen had 11 lights as does ours. (It varies nowadays.) The lights signify what the miners missed during this time of year. Working underground during the day, and with extremely short days, they almost never saw sunlight. Typically it was made out of one solid piece of ore or wood.
Tuesday afternoon for our German Culture class, we met at Sister Enger’s apartment. This sister lives 55 stairs up and there is no elevator. She is close to our age, but in the next 10 to 20 years from now, I wonder how hard it might be for her.
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| Weihnachtmann |
It was so cool hearing him describe the different things about each of us. The other people were asked to recite poems or sing songs. We all helped with all of those. He surprised Sister Enger by presenting her with a gift, also. What a wonderful evening.
Wednesday afternoon we left work early. We had invited the sister missionaries over to our place to teach a man from Ghana. It turns out that he was not able to come, but we still were able to meet with him and teach him--using FaceTime. What was notably interesting to me were the impressions I felt during our meeting.
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| Heart Attack (ours is the right door.) |
That night after seminary, we helped the Young Women deliver secret Santa gifts to each of the missionary couples in the apartment complex. As they prepared their deliveries, I went over to the apartment complex to mark the doors of the missionaries. Diane accompanied the leaders and helped the girls make their anonymous deliveries. I was home baking when the doorbell rang. I opened the door to find a small gift basket of cookies and candy and the door covered from top to bottom with paper hearts taped to it.
The next day one of the missionaries said, “We were heart attacked last night.”
There was a wonderful baptism today--a family from China. They were so excited to be baptized. I’ve been to many baptisms, but the Spirit that was there while they were being baptized was so strong. What a wonderful addition to the ward they will be. During the baptism the member of the bishopric who was conducting told the father to write down how it felt today. After the baptism Diane and I were talking to him and he told us how the Mission President called him last night. The Mission President told the father that he should not be baptized because of his relationship with the missionaries. He assured the Mission President that he was solely doing it for himself and his family. I told him that he should write that down, also. I told him his kids would want to read that. I told him that his grandkids would also want to read it. He looked as if he went into a deep thought and then said, “Yea, I never would have thought of that.” His kids are still very young--2 and 4.
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| Our Schwibbogen |
We bought a Schwibbogen. It was made in the Erzgebirge region of eastern Germany. When we went to the temple (in this region) the other week, we saw that nearly every window had one. The first Schwibbogen was made in the mid 1700s by miners. It was made for Christmas. The original Schwibbogen had 11 lights as does ours. (It varies nowadays.) The lights signify what the miners missed during this time of year. Working underground during the day, and with extremely short days, they almost never saw sunlight. Typically it was made out of one solid piece of ore or wood.
Friday, December 15, 2017
Christmas on the Zeil and in France
We are a little behind getting this blog out this week. It has been a pretty full week.
Sunday was our first snow here in Germany. We invited Jan over for more After-Baptism-Discussions with the sister missionaries and then he stayed for lunch. It was an enjoyable relaxful afternoon. We didn’t learn until later in the week that he slipped on the snow the next morning and tore a ligament and is now laid up for six weeks. On Thursday we went over to help him out. His wife went on a trip to Rome and he was worried about cleaning up his place. Sister van Hoff and I had his apartment done in less than an hour. It felt good to give service to someone.
Wednesday evening we had a great time going with the youth, ward members, and young missionaries to sing English Christmas hymns on the Zeil in Frankfurt -- an annual event for our ward. We arranged ourselves on some steps around a fountain in the middle of town and sang for about 30 minutes. here were thousands of people there. Many would stop to listen, some took pictures, some took videos, and some sang along. The young missionaries talked to a lot of them while we sang.
After we finished, one young sister, a church employee, originally from Spain, took us around the corner to see the Christmas market. As we understand, Europe is famous for their Christmas markets. It is where you can buy local items and all sorts of food. The decoration of Christmas lights is spectacular.
Another missionary couple we have really grown to like, Elder and Sister Skoubye, invited us to go to Strasbourg, France, with them on Saturday. We haven’t done much traveling outside of the immediate area like most of the couples have, so we decided to take them up on it. Also, we had heard that Strasbourg was the Christmas capital of Europe.
Strasbourg is 2-1/2 hours away by car. When we crossed over the Rhein and entered into France, a sudden change came over me. I felt relaxed and comfortable. Living in Germany is a bit stressful for me. Customs, rules, and language are so different from that in America. We have been in Germany long enough now to feel more at home. Now, here we enter a different country where I would expect to find more more differences and totally don’t know the language, but instead I feel these liberating feelings. The other sister in the car exclaimed that she felt the same way.
When we finally arrived in Strasbourg and started getting out among the people, those feelings increased. It was so different from Germany. People actually made eye contact with each other. You often see couples holding hands in Germany, but here they passionately hug each other and kiss. So many more people have smiles on their faces. Then I was struck by the language. It sounded so smooth and full of wonder and emotion.
Along with the beauty of this French city and the spectacular Christmas lighting, it was a day of wonder and beauty. In the evening it was even more wonderful. I think we would have stayed longer into the evening had we not been so cold.
We saw the Christmas market, the huge cathedral, and some shops we patronized just to get out of the cold. It was quite an enjoyable day. The only thing that seemed out of place were the soldiers. As we walked down the street we saw some who were carrying semi-automatics patrolling the streets or positioned at specific places.
With all that said, I believe we finally feel settled here in Frankfurt. You see, when we got back in town, we all thought, it is good to be back home. We hope some day we might be able to say that after this life is over and we have been resurrected and judged, “It is good to be back home.”
We love you all and hope and pray that you, too, will be able to say the same.
An added note, last Sunday evening our doorbell rang. I opened the door, but didn't see anyone; however, there was some commotion going on down the hall near the elevator doors. There stood a gathering of young missionaries. They started to sing hymns. Other senior missionary couples came out of their doors to listen. These missionaries are wonderful.
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| View from our balcony |
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| Caroling on the Zeil |
After we finished, one young sister, a church employee, originally from Spain, took us around the corner to see the Christmas market. As we understand, Europe is famous for their Christmas markets. It is where you can buy local items and all sorts of food. The decoration of Christmas lights is spectacular.
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| In Strasbourg with the Skoubyes |
Strasbourg is 2-1/2 hours away by car. When we crossed over the Rhein and entered into France, a sudden change came over me. I felt relaxed and comfortable. Living in Germany is a bit stressful for me. Customs, rules, and language are so different from that in America. We have been in Germany long enough now to feel more at home. Now, here we enter a different country where I would expect to find more more differences and totally don’t know the language, but instead I feel these liberating feelings. The other sister in the car exclaimed that she felt the same way.
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| At the Strasbourg Christmas market |
Along with the beauty of this French city and the spectacular Christmas lighting, it was a day of wonder and beauty. In the evening it was even more wonderful. I think we would have stayed longer into the evening had we not been so cold.
We saw the Christmas market, the huge cathedral, and some shops we patronized just to get out of the cold. It was quite an enjoyable day. The only thing that seemed out of place were the soldiers. As we walked down the street we saw some who were carrying semi-automatics patrolling the streets or positioned at specific places.
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| Inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg |
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| Outside amidst the Christmas shoppers and lights |
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| Enjoying being "caroled" by the young missionaries |
We love you all and hope and pray that you, too, will be able to say the same.
An added note, last Sunday evening our doorbell rang. I opened the door, but didn't see anyone; however, there was some commotion going on down the hall near the elevator doors. There stood a gathering of young missionaries. They started to sing hymns. Other senior missionary couples came out of their doors to listen. These missionaries are wonderful.
Saturday, December 2, 2017
The Advent of Advent
Last Saturday evening the senior missionaries were asked to sing at the adult session of stake conference. Sister van Hoff played the piano for our song. I was one of the singers and not part of the audience, but from my perspective, I think the choir sounded pretty good.
I guess we actually did, because on Monday we all received an email asking us to sing at the Europe Area Christmas Devotional broadcast to all employees in Europe. Maybe we should go on tour.
Last week we experienced a mold problem. Upon arriving on our mission, we were instructed to open our windows at least twice a day for ten minutes each. Until the cold weather came, we had our windows open all day.
It is very humid here - most days 80-90%! Sometimes when you get in bed, it feels slightly damp under the covers.
We discovered the mold early one morning. I guess it could have been there for a couple of days unnoticed. It seemed like it just suddenly was there--up one corner of the wall and spreading out onto the ceiling and along the wall behind the headboard. The maintenance guys at work gave us some chlorine spray. I took it home to clean the wall. In the process, we found mold starting to develop in each of our four rooms. The smell of chlorine was so bad I had to do one section of the apartment at a time. We slept for five nights with our mattresses on the living room floor. As we cleaned the bed frame and under the box springs before bringing the mattresses back in, we discovered wonderful storage areas under each side of the bed. We put a bunch of rarely used things in there and now have more closet space.
Last weekend we went out and bought a dehumidifier. It isn’t large, but it seems to be doing the job. We no longer see condensation on our windows.
Since that incident, we have heard of other missionaries having mold problems. Some just leave their windows open all the time with their radiator heater running.
December is full of holiday celebrations here in Germany. Advent starts on the 3rd of December this year. Advent begins on the 4th Sunday before Christmas. An evergreen wreath (Adventskranz) is placed on the table with four candles. Each Sunday a candle is lit while a song and/or a prayer is offered. The wreath symbolizes the Crown of Christ and also the fulfillment of time when Christ returns. The candles represent the prophets who prepared the way for Christ.
A more recent development in the celebration for Advent is the Adventskalendar (Advent calendar). It is typically a sheet of cardboard or a card with little window doors numbered from 1 to 24. Each day, beginning on December 1st, a door is opened. Inside there are words or pictures symbolizing the coming of Christmas. We've seen some very elaborate and large Advent calendars with candies or gifts behind the doors. We also saw some that were postcards that could be mailed.
Earlier this week we visited Sister Enger, our German Culture teacher, at her home. We helped her with some family history work she was involved with. She is truly a German pioneer. She and her husband worked very hard and sacrificed a lot for the Church here in Germany. About two years ago she lost her husband to cancer. We knew her to be very humble and dedicated to her Savior, but until we visited her apartment, we didn't realize the magnitude of that spiritual strength. You know how when you walk into a home
you can feel the power or weakness of peace and comfort that abides there? I think the feelings we felt while in her home were the feelings one would feel in the temple. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with her.
Before we left, she gave us an Adventskalendar she personally made for us. She gathered fir branches and attached small slips of paper with beautiful quotes tied with a red ribbon. Each quote is numbered from 1 to 24. I will be sharing those each day on Facebook.
We love Christmas season here in Germany, especially while on a mission. We are more focused and involved with the recognition and worship of Christ this year than in years past. With December being filled with the Advent, Christmas markets, beautiful lights, and two days of Christmas (25th and 26th), the whole month is full of reminders of Christ and His love for us.
We love you all and pray that you will be surrounded by family and friends and enjoy the peace and beauty of this special time of year.
We deeply love the Savior and are so happy to be here serving Heavenly Father in what ever way we can..
I guess we actually did, because on Monday we all received an email asking us to sing at the Europe Area Christmas Devotional broadcast to all employees in Europe. Maybe we should go on tour.
Last week we experienced a mold problem. Upon arriving on our mission, we were instructed to open our windows at least twice a day for ten minutes each. Until the cold weather came, we had our windows open all day.
It is very humid here - most days 80-90%! Sometimes when you get in bed, it feels slightly damp under the covers.
We discovered the mold early one morning. I guess it could have been there for a couple of days unnoticed. It seemed like it just suddenly was there--up one corner of the wall and spreading out onto the ceiling and along the wall behind the headboard. The maintenance guys at work gave us some chlorine spray. I took it home to clean the wall. In the process, we found mold starting to develop in each of our four rooms. The smell of chlorine was so bad I had to do one section of the apartment at a time. We slept for five nights with our mattresses on the living room floor. As we cleaned the bed frame and under the box springs before bringing the mattresses back in, we discovered wonderful storage areas under each side of the bed. We put a bunch of rarely used things in there and now have more closet space.
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| It even went behind our bed. |
Last weekend we went out and bought a dehumidifier. It isn’t large, but it seems to be doing the job. We no longer see condensation on our windows.
Since that incident, we have heard of other missionaries having mold problems. Some just leave their windows open all the time with their radiator heater running.
December is full of holiday celebrations here in Germany. Advent starts on the 3rd of December this year. Advent begins on the 4th Sunday before Christmas. An evergreen wreath (Adventskranz) is placed on the table with four candles. Each Sunday a candle is lit while a song and/or a prayer is offered. The wreath symbolizes the Crown of Christ and also the fulfillment of time when Christ returns. The candles represent the prophets who prepared the way for Christ.
A more recent development in the celebration for Advent is the Adventskalendar (Advent calendar). It is typically a sheet of cardboard or a card with little window doors numbered from 1 to 24. Each day, beginning on December 1st, a door is opened. Inside there are words or pictures symbolizing the coming of Christmas. We've seen some very elaborate and large Advent calendars with candies or gifts behind the doors. We also saw some that were postcards that could be mailed.
Earlier this week we visited Sister Enger, our German Culture teacher, at her home. We helped her with some family history work she was involved with. She is truly a German pioneer. She and her husband worked very hard and sacrificed a lot for the Church here in Germany. About two years ago she lost her husband to cancer. We knew her to be very humble and dedicated to her Savior, but until we visited her apartment, we didn't realize the magnitude of that spiritual strength. You know how when you walk into a home
you can feel the power or weakness of peace and comfort that abides there? I think the feelings we felt while in her home were the feelings one would feel in the temple. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with her. Before we left, she gave us an Adventskalendar she personally made for us. She gathered fir branches and attached small slips of paper with beautiful quotes tied with a red ribbon. Each quote is numbered from 1 to 24. I will be sharing those each day on Facebook.
We love Christmas season here in Germany, especially while on a mission. We are more focused and involved with the recognition and worship of Christ this year than in years past. With December being filled with the Advent, Christmas markets, beautiful lights, and two days of Christmas (25th and 26th), the whole month is full of reminders of Christ and His love for us.
We love you all and pray that you will be surrounded by family and friends and enjoy the peace and beauty of this special time of year.
We deeply love the Savior and are so happy to be here serving Heavenly Father in what ever way we can..
Saturday, November 25, 2017
A Time To Be Thankful
Last week we had to say goodbye to Sister Schulz. She and her companion, Sister Hodges, were the ones who taught Jan the Gospel of Jesus Christ and about the restoration of His church. What a blessing they were to him. What a blessing it was for us to be involved in the process.
It is impossible to say goodbye without remembering the fun times.
We had so much fun with our Wednesday evening seminary class. Each Wednesday our seminary students and students from another seminary class get together for a gospel subject discussion. We had about 14 youth there that night. The topic we were assigned was priesthood and priesthood keys.
We started off talking about the difference between the priesthood and priesthood keys. We were amazed that some of them knew that.
Then the fun started. We had all the offices in the priesthood represented by an actual representative standing in line from lesser priesthood to highest: Deacon, Teacher, Priest, Bishop, Elder, High Priest, Patriarch, Seventy, Apostle. We were going to have a Seventy there, but he had to go out of town. So we took his picture and a picture of an Apostle to represent those offices. (The office of Deacon can be held at age 12; Teacher, at age 14; and Priest, at age 16.)
Next, the kids were given individual pieces of paper which had duties specific to a priesthood office. They taped each duty on the person it belonged to. It was interesting to see the ones they got right and the ones they didn’t.
Then we gave them other pieces of paper with duplicate duties to tape to these men and boys. This was to show them that as you advance in the priesthood, you retain the duties of the lower priesthood. Some of the men were just covered with pieces of paper.
Then we gave them pictures of keys and the students were asked to distribute them to the correct priesthood holder. Of course we had to explain that keys would only be given to a Deacon or Teacher or Elder if they were the president of that quorum.
After class a lot of the youth came up to us to thank us for that lesson. It was just as much fun for us and the priesthood holders who helped us.
Thursday was Thanksgiving for us as it was for ya’ll. However, it was a regular workday for us. For dinner, the 50 some senior missionaries, having fixed their assigned traditional Thanksgiving dish, met at the church to have a wonderful dinner together. Other Americans were invited and the local young missionaries. Also, Elder De Feo, counselor to the Area Presidency, and his family and Mission President Boyer and his family. We probably had close to 80 people there.
Not eating sugar, it was especially hard for me to walk past that dessert table but, poor Diane. There wasn’t anything there, dinner or dessert, that she could eat. She was prepared, though, and had brought her own food.
Last night we group Messenger’ed with my siblings. It was wonderful to see them all together and be able to talk to each other. Having a loving family is such a great blessing.
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| Sis. Hodges, Sis. Schulz, Diane, and me |
It is impossible to say goodbye without remembering the fun times.
We had so much fun with our Wednesday evening seminary class. Each Wednesday our seminary students and students from another seminary class get together for a gospel subject discussion. We had about 14 youth there that night. The topic we were assigned was priesthood and priesthood keys.
We started off talking about the difference between the priesthood and priesthood keys. We were amazed that some of them knew that.
Then the fun started. We had all the offices in the priesthood represented by an actual representative standing in line from lesser priesthood to highest: Deacon, Teacher, Priest, Bishop, Elder, High Priest, Patriarch, Seventy, Apostle. We were going to have a Seventy there, but he had to go out of town. So we took his picture and a picture of an Apostle to represent those offices. (The office of Deacon can be held at age 12; Teacher, at age 14; and Priest, at age 16.)
Next, the kids were given individual pieces of paper which had duties specific to a priesthood office. They taped each duty on the person it belonged to. It was interesting to see the ones they got right and the ones they didn’t.
Then we gave them other pieces of paper with duplicate duties to tape to these men and boys. This was to show them that as you advance in the priesthood, you retain the duties of the lower priesthood. Some of the men were just covered with pieces of paper.
Then we gave them pictures of keys and the students were asked to distribute them to the correct priesthood holder. Of course we had to explain that keys would only be given to a Deacon or Teacher or Elder if they were the president of that quorum.
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| Elder De Feo |
After class a lot of the youth came up to us to thank us for that lesson. It was just as much fun for us and the priesthood holders who helped us.
Thursday was Thanksgiving for us as it was for ya’ll. However, it was a regular workday for us. For dinner, the 50 some senior missionaries, having fixed their assigned traditional Thanksgiving dish, met at the church to have a wonderful dinner together. Other Americans were invited and the local young missionaries. Also, Elder De Feo, counselor to the Area Presidency, and his family and Mission President Boyer and his family. We probably had close to 80 people there.
Last night we group Messenger’ed with my siblings. It was wonderful to see them all together and be able to talk to each other. Having a loving family is such a great blessing.
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Power of Prayer
Each week the senior missionaries gather together to discuss a few chapters in the Book of Mormon. There are typically 16 to 24 missionaries, many of them having been bishops, stake presidents, mission presidents, Relief Society presidents and other important positions in church. It makes the discussion very interesting to listen to. With such spiritual giants we feel a little intimidated being among them.
This past week, at the end of our discussion, we were informed about an incident involving one of the new couples. They had just arrived a few weeks ago and had an assignment to travel to another country. At one point, the sister left her husband sitting on a bench to look at something nearby. She left her purse with him. She hadn’t been gone more than a few minutes and upon returning her purse had been stolen. All her important papers were in there: driver’s license, credit cards, insurance card, and both their passports. Most of those can be replaced without a whole lot of trouble except the passports. Upon reporting the missing passport, they were told that they had to provide their original birth certificates, marriage license and some other documentation they didn’t have. They weren’t even sure they had some of those things and, if they did, they didn’t know where in their storage unit back in Australia they could be found.
At our Zone Leaders’ request, all the senior couples knelt down and, one sister being the spokesperson, said a prayer asking for Heavenly Father’s help. Oh my! The strength of the Spirit that was in that room was incredibly overwhelming. Long after the prayer other senior couples were still talking about what the Spirit felt like in that room.
That next morning we heard from the sister whose purse was taken. The government officials had emailed her. According to the time stamp it was emailed only a few minutes after our prayer. She didn’t actually read the email until the next morning. They told her that they decided to make an exception with her case and not require her to provide all that other information.
What a wonderful thing to be a part of that amazing experience. Another testimony that the Lord watches over his missionaries.
We heard the other day that when a senior missionary returns home, they will feel a large empty hole in themselves. One that needs to be filled. Many will choose to go on another mission, but if that is not possible or not practical, service of some kind is the best way to fill that gap.
We are loving our experience here, but miss you all. Feel free to Messenger us any time. We are usually up no later that 6:00 AM Central European Time during the week and 8:00 on the weekends. We typically go to bed at 8:30 PM because many mornings we are up at 5 for seminary. (Those times are our times in Frankfurt.)
This past week, at the end of our discussion, we were informed about an incident involving one of the new couples. They had just arrived a few weeks ago and had an assignment to travel to another country. At one point, the sister left her husband sitting on a bench to look at something nearby. She left her purse with him. She hadn’t been gone more than a few minutes and upon returning her purse had been stolen. All her important papers were in there: driver’s license, credit cards, insurance card, and both their passports. Most of those can be replaced without a whole lot of trouble except the passports. Upon reporting the missing passport, they were told that they had to provide their original birth certificates, marriage license and some other documentation they didn’t have. They weren’t even sure they had some of those things and, if they did, they didn’t know where in their storage unit back in Australia they could be found.
At our Zone Leaders’ request, all the senior couples knelt down and, one sister being the spokesperson, said a prayer asking for Heavenly Father’s help. Oh my! The strength of the Spirit that was in that room was incredibly overwhelming. Long after the prayer other senior couples were still talking about what the Spirit felt like in that room.
That next morning we heard from the sister whose purse was taken. The government officials had emailed her. According to the time stamp it was emailed only a few minutes after our prayer. She didn’t actually read the email until the next morning. They told her that they decided to make an exception with her case and not require her to provide all that other information.
What a wonderful thing to be a part of that amazing experience. Another testimony that the Lord watches over his missionaries.
We heard the other day that when a senior missionary returns home, they will feel a large empty hole in themselves. One that needs to be filled. Many will choose to go on another mission, but if that is not possible or not practical, service of some kind is the best way to fill that gap.
We are loving our experience here, but miss you all. Feel free to Messenger us any time. We are usually up no later that 6:00 AM Central European Time during the week and 8:00 on the weekends. We typically go to bed at 8:30 PM because many mornings we are up at 5 for seminary. (Those times are our times in Frankfurt.)
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Catching Up With News
This is a little late, but is still big news for us - WE PASSED THE DRIVER'S LICENSE TEST! We took it on the 3rd of November. For the past three months we've dropped everything we could to study to pass the German driving test. I did not study German (Diane still did), we didn't go to some missionary activities, we didn't people over to socialize and other things. We studied during every meal and, during the last few days before the test, we used every free moment we had to study.
There are over 1,000 possible questions. We had bought an online driver's course which consisted of each of the questions with the correct answers that are on the official test. You'd think that it would be easy having all the answers. Well, it isn't. The English translation didn't always make sense. I'll give you an example. If they ask for the "braking distance" in one question and "stopping distance" in another, there were two totally different answers. We did finally come to realized that the stopping distance was the reaction distance plus the braking distance -- all of which had formulas to calculate. We still don't know what the difference between a "registration certificate" and a "registration book" or exactly what they meant by a "clearway."
I'll tell you how nervous I was. I asked for a priesthood blessing from our missionary Home Teacher. What a wonderful blessing he gave. Come the day of the test, I went in feeling somewhat calm and remained that way through the test. Diane, however, felt okay until the 2nd question on the test. She was unsure of it. She became nervous and when she ran into another difficult question, her heart began to pound. I came out of the test, feeling like I aced it. She came out not knowing if she passed. As it turned out, she only missed one question and I missed three, just barely passing.
However, the bottom line is: We now have our German Driver's License. WhaaHoo! Photo proof below!
Today we had a 2nd missionary discussion in our apartment with Chiru. He is from India. The missionary elders are teaching him. He is really well versed in the scriptures. He has a strong Catholic background. What is so interesting and unique about him is that he listens very intently on everything that is said. Also, he commented last week as to why he likes our church so well. He is surrounded by people who are positive. He is not bombarded with any negativism. That makes him comfortable.
Diane went back to the eye doctor this past week. He doesn't feel it is anything urgent, so he has asked that we get him more information by contacting her eye doctors back home to provide a history. Before we left his office, I tried to pin him down to tell us what he was thinking it might be. He refused to convey any thoughts until he gets that information.
This morning we helped out with members and senior couples at the church. Starting at 8:00 AM we helped set up for a boxing up of baby supply kits for refugees in Germany. It consisted of clothes, diapers, wipes, and other supplies. Putting together the kits was scheduled later in the morning and was supposed to take about an hour. So many people turned out, everything was done in 30 minutes.
I have to admit, it was a lot of fun. We manned boxes of baby clothes and handed the prescribed number to each person coming through with a box. Each box got three newborn, three 3-month, three 6-month, and three 1-year outfits from our station.
We tried a unique fruit the other day. It is called cherimoya. When you cut it open, it appears milky. It is the sweetest fruit I think I have ever eaten. It is nearly impossible to take a full bite without taking in seeds. Kind of like how it is when you bite into a seedy watermelon, only less meat. Diane is not crazy about it, but I had some on a peanut butter rice cake and it was fantastic. We never would have tried it, but the proprietor of our favorite fruit and vegetable stand suggested it.
I forgot to mention, last Saturday we went out of town for some seminary trai
ning. While out we decided to visit Wiesbaden. There we saw the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Elizabeth. Actually it is a memorial built by a member of Russian royalty whose wife died at 19 giving birth to a daughter who also died. This church became his wife's resting place. He also purchased a large plot of forest next to the church.
Thanks for all of your prayers and thoughts. We truly miss you all, our relatives and friends. God bless you in your lives with good health and the blessings of love.
There are over 1,000 possible questions. We had bought an online driver's course which consisted of each of the questions with the correct answers that are on the official test. You'd think that it would be easy having all the answers. Well, it isn't. The English translation didn't always make sense. I'll give you an example. If they ask for the "braking distance" in one question and "stopping distance" in another, there were two totally different answers. We did finally come to realized that the stopping distance was the reaction distance plus the braking distance -- all of which had formulas to calculate. We still don't know what the difference between a "registration certificate" and a "registration book" or exactly what they meant by a "clearway."
I'll tell you how nervous I was. I asked for a priesthood blessing from our missionary Home Teacher. What a wonderful blessing he gave. Come the day of the test, I went in feeling somewhat calm and remained that way through the test. Diane, however, felt okay until the 2nd question on the test. She was unsure of it. She became nervous and when she ran into another difficult question, her heart began to pound. I came out of the test, feeling like I aced it. She came out not knowing if she passed. As it turned out, she only missed one question and I missed three, just barely passing.
However, the bottom line is: We now have our German Driver's License. WhaaHoo! Photo proof below!
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| Gabi (center) was our translator and helped us through the process. |
Diane went back to the eye doctor this past week. He doesn't feel it is anything urgent, so he has asked that we get him more information by contacting her eye doctors back home to provide a history. Before we left his office, I tried to pin him down to tell us what he was thinking it might be. He refused to convey any thoughts until he gets that information.
I have to admit, it was a lot of fun. We manned boxes of baby clothes and handed the prescribed number to each person coming through with a box. Each box got three newborn, three 3-month, three 6-month, and three 1-year outfits from our station.
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| Group picture after the work was done |
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| Everything packaged for shipment. |
We tried a unique fruit the other day. It is called cherimoya. When you cut it open, it appears milky. It is the sweetest fruit I think I have ever eaten. It is nearly impossible to take a full bite without taking in seeds. Kind of like how it is when you bite into a seedy watermelon, only less meat. Diane is not crazy about it, but I had some on a peanut butter rice cake and it was fantastic. We never would have tried it, but the proprietor of our favorite fruit and vegetable stand suggested it.
I forgot to mention, last Saturday we went out of town for some seminary trai
ning. While out we decided to visit Wiesbaden. There we saw the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Elizabeth. Actually it is a memorial built by a member of Russian royalty whose wife died at 19 giving birth to a daughter who also died. This church became his wife's resting place. He also purchased a large plot of forest next to the church.Thanks for all of your prayers and thoughts. We truly miss you all, our relatives and friends. God bless you in your lives with good health and the blessings of love.
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Tender Mercies
Tuesday, a week ago, was another German national holiday. This one, unlike all other national holidays, is only celebrated every 500 years. Try to put that on your calendar. (It is an annual holiday for 5 states in Germany.) It was in recognition of the early Christian reformers such as Martin Luther.
Germans take their holidays seriously. All the stores and other public places are closed. They even prohibit trucks from driving between midnight and 10:00 PM. Needless to say, the Europe Area Office where we work was closed.
We are so excited to watch Jan grow in spirit and in the gospel. Two Sundays ago, he was sustained and ordained as a Priest in the Aaronic priesthood. A tender mercy occurred for that ordination. Right after sacrament we approached the bishop in the hall and asked when Jan was to be ordained. Suddenly Elder Gary Sabin, 1st Counselor to the Europe Area Presidency, walked up to Jan to congratulate him on being sustained in sacrament service.
Unbeknownst to me, Jan had met Elder Sabin one evening when Jan was visiting President Johnson, the Europe Area President. Jan told me privately later that he really admired Elder Sabin and from the first time they met, Jan felt a connection and an admiration.
We soon learned that Elder Sabin had only 15 minutes before he had to leave. Jan wanted him present during the ordination. Quickly, the bishop and I rounded up all those who Jan wanted present at hiss ordination. Gathered in the bishop's office, Jan asked if Elder Sabin would ordain him. What a beautiful blessing he received.
Afterwards, Jan privately asked me in his humble way if he did the right thing. He felt he should have given the honor to the bishop to perform the ordination. I told him that in my mind, the Lord had placed the order of things to allow Elder Sabin to be there and to ordain him - a tender mercy.
Last Sunday, Jan was asked to bless the sacrament. He was so excited, but so nervous. With the help of a priest we went over all the steps on knowing how to bless the bread. Half way through Jan exclaimed that there was a lot to know. I told him he only needed to know one thing and that was to follow the lead of the other priest who was blessing the water.
During sacrament, Jan blessed the bread. It was incredible. He read the prayer slowly and with so much emotion. I have heard from others that they, too, felt as I felt when they heard him bless the bread. The prayer became so personal and sincere.
Let me tell you about Sis. Reus. My sister, Jill, asked me about her. I told my sister that I had received a text from Sis. Reus. She informed me that her Catholic friend talked to her about our church and now she is requesting that we no longer have contact. My sister recommended that I still let Sis. Reus know that we would still like to be her friend.
Normally, I would just respect Sis. Reus's request and not contact her, but I decided to follow my sister's advise. I texted her and let her know that we understand she did not want any more contact with our church, but would still like to be her friend and if there is anything we can do for her to let her know.
The tender mercy here is that she actually responded with a short text, "Thanks." Even the other day, we saw her from a distance leaving the corner store where we live and I shouted hello. She turned and waved and said hello back.
Yesterday afternoon, Sis. van Hoff and I were invited out for lunch by Sis. Enger, our German Culture teacher. Lunch was wonderful and it was great to practice our conversational German with her. She is so patient and speaks slowly and clearly for us. Midway through our lunch we reverted back to speaking only English. The conversation moved to Family History. She told us of a book she obtained that is a wealth of information on her family. She wanted to share some of the pictures and information with a friend of hers. Supposedly, they have a common ancestor. Her friend now lives in New Zealand and Sis. Enger didn't know how she could get all this information to her. On top of that she wanted to put some of the pictures of her ancestors in FamilySearch.
Well, for IT people like us, those are not problems. The tender mercy here is that she confided in the right couple to help her out. Our tender mercy is the opportunity to repay her for all that she has done for us.
One more tender mercy. In our conversation, Sis. Enger asked if, whenever we go to the temple, we could take some of her family names with us. We told her that we hoped to go to the temple this mid-December.
After our lunch we came back to the office. I hadn't been there long when one of our department team members came up to me and asked, "Do you do much Family History?" I told him that I do. He then asked if I had any names that he could take to the temple this weekend. His ward was going and they needed names.
Amazing! What are the chances of me being approached asking for names to take to the temple and only an hour before, being asked by someone else to take their family names to the temple. Our German culture class was immediately after work. When I told Sis. Enger about the brother's request, she was so excited.
Truly a tender mercy.
Germans take their holidays seriously. All the stores and other public places are closed. They even prohibit trucks from driving between midnight and 10:00 PM. Needless to say, the Europe Area Office where we work was closed.
We are so excited to watch Jan grow in spirit and in the gospel. Two Sundays ago, he was sustained and ordained as a Priest in the Aaronic priesthood. A tender mercy occurred for that ordination. Right after sacrament we approached the bishop in the hall and asked when Jan was to be ordained. Suddenly Elder Gary Sabin, 1st Counselor to the Europe Area Presidency, walked up to Jan to congratulate him on being sustained in sacrament service.
Unbeknownst to me, Jan had met Elder Sabin one evening when Jan was visiting President Johnson, the Europe Area President. Jan told me privately later that he really admired Elder Sabin and from the first time they met, Jan felt a connection and an admiration.
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| Bro. Dicataldo, Bishop Calabrese, Jan, and Elder Sabin |
We soon learned that Elder Sabin had only 15 minutes before he had to leave. Jan wanted him present during the ordination. Quickly, the bishop and I rounded up all those who Jan wanted present at hiss ordination. Gathered in the bishop's office, Jan asked if Elder Sabin would ordain him. What a beautiful blessing he received.
Afterwards, Jan privately asked me in his humble way if he did the right thing. He felt he should have given the honor to the bishop to perform the ordination. I told him that in my mind, the Lord had placed the order of things to allow Elder Sabin to be there and to ordain him - a tender mercy.
Last Sunday, Jan was asked to bless the sacrament. He was so excited, but so nervous. With the help of a priest we went over all the steps on knowing how to bless the bread. Half way through Jan exclaimed that there was a lot to know. I told him he only needed to know one thing and that was to follow the lead of the other priest who was blessing the water.
During sacrament, Jan blessed the bread. It was incredible. He read the prayer slowly and with so much emotion. I have heard from others that they, too, felt as I felt when they heard him bless the bread. The prayer became so personal and sincere.
Let me tell you about Sis. Reus. My sister, Jill, asked me about her. I told my sister that I had received a text from Sis. Reus. She informed me that her Catholic friend talked to her about our church and now she is requesting that we no longer have contact. My sister recommended that I still let Sis. Reus know that we would still like to be her friend.
Normally, I would just respect Sis. Reus's request and not contact her, but I decided to follow my sister's advise. I texted her and let her know that we understand she did not want any more contact with our church, but would still like to be her friend and if there is anything we can do for her to let her know.
The tender mercy here is that she actually responded with a short text, "Thanks." Even the other day, we saw her from a distance leaving the corner store where we live and I shouted hello. She turned and waved and said hello back.
Yesterday afternoon, Sis. van Hoff and I were invited out for lunch by Sis. Enger, our German Culture teacher. Lunch was wonderful and it was great to practice our conversational German with her. She is so patient and speaks slowly and clearly for us. Midway through our lunch we reverted back to speaking only English. The conversation moved to Family History. She told us of a book she obtained that is a wealth of information on her family. She wanted to share some of the pictures and information with a friend of hers. Supposedly, they have a common ancestor. Her friend now lives in New Zealand and Sis. Enger didn't know how she could get all this information to her. On top of that she wanted to put some of the pictures of her ancestors in FamilySearch.
Well, for IT people like us, those are not problems. The tender mercy here is that she confided in the right couple to help her out. Our tender mercy is the opportunity to repay her for all that she has done for us.
One more tender mercy. In our conversation, Sis. Enger asked if, whenever we go to the temple, we could take some of her family names with us. We told her that we hoped to go to the temple this mid-December.
After our lunch we came back to the office. I hadn't been there long when one of our department team members came up to me and asked, "Do you do much Family History?" I told him that I do. He then asked if I had any names that he could take to the temple this weekend. His ward was going and they needed names.
Amazing! What are the chances of me being approached asking for names to take to the temple and only an hour before, being asked by someone else to take their family names to the temple. Our German culture class was immediately after work. When I told Sis. Enger about the brother's request, she was so excited.
Truly a tender mercy.
Saturday, October 28, 2017
Learning Can Be Fun!
We can't believe we are at the end of October. Unlike the first couple of months, our mission is flying by.
This week we had seminary each morning except Friday. There were no Wednesday evening activities at the church, so we had seminary in the morning, We decided to make it fun for the kids and us. On Tuesday we spent most of the time learning Doctrinal Mastery. We did this by taking the scripture's key phrases and projecting them up on a screen. Only, they weren't written out. For those who remember the TV game, Concentration, that is how we set it up.
The last two days of seminary, we acted out the Allegory of the Olive Tree from the Book of Mormon. Along with this we had them watch a short film where some teens acted the allegory out in costumes. To really make things pleasant, I brought cinnamon biscuits with icing on the last day.
We had an interesting visit with an unusual missionary couple. They were missionaries, but without badges. They arrived at the end of the week. We trained them in using Windows 10. They were proficient in Apple computers and lost with Windows. We also covered so other things to make it easier to use some of the software.
We spent part of two days with them. Diane treated them as though they were dignitaries. Their assignment is to attend United Nations meetings and associated functions. They will be stationed in Geneva and will report to the Church's legal council and the First Presidency.
They were so appreciative of our spending time with them, the sister asked to take our picture and commented that we were a tender mercy to them. She also told us we were a "cute couple."
Nice close for a long week.
We want you to know we love you all and we are loving our mission.
On a sad note, the sister we were hoping to bring to church last week, didn't come. We're still hopeful for this Sunday.
The answer: "Adam fell that men might be."
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| Answer is at the end of this blog. Hint 2 Nephi 2:22-25. |
The last two days of seminary, we acted out the Allegory of the Olive Tree from the Book of Mormon. Along with this we had them watch a short film where some teens acted the allegory out in costumes. To really make things pleasant, I brought cinnamon biscuits with icing on the last day.
We had an interesting visit with an unusual missionary couple. They were missionaries, but without badges. They arrived at the end of the week. We trained them in using Windows 10. They were proficient in Apple computers and lost with Windows. We also covered so other things to make it easier to use some of the software.
We spent part of two days with them. Diane treated them as though they were dignitaries. Their assignment is to attend United Nations meetings and associated functions. They will be stationed in Geneva and will report to the Church's legal council and the First Presidency.
They were so appreciative of our spending time with them, the sister asked to take our picture and commented that we were a tender mercy to them. She also told us we were a "cute couple."
Nice close for a long week.
We want you to know we love you all and we are loving our mission.
On a sad note, the sister we were hoping to bring to church last week, didn't come. We're still hopeful for this Sunday.
The answer: "Adam fell that men might be."
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Busy Week
So, it has been an interesting week.
Friday, I made arrangements to have one of the three German sister missionaries, Diane, and I visit her. Most of our meeting consisted of her again complaining about her apartment and other things. Before we had to leave, I was able to teach her about Pre-earth life - part of the Plan of Salvation. She listened intently. We also made arrangements to come by Sunday and walk her to church at the German Ward. Again, I hope things go well for her. I'm hopeful that once she learns of Christ's love for us that she will find more peace and joy in her life.
At work we were involved in
determining the cause of interruption and loss of signal while streaming Elder
Ballard’s broadcast last Sunday evening.
A number of stakes in Europe experienced problems. Most of the week was spent talking to STSs in various parts of Europe, sending out a survey,
and receiving email responses. From our communication we learned that too many people streamed the meeting rather than watching it by way of satellite. Streaming over the Internet was
supposed to be a secondary source should satellite reception not be available or the satellite reception failed.
Not only did we find that a number of stakes that could have received the transmission by satellite used Internet streaming, but a link to stream was
given out through unapproved sources: Facebook and Google. As a result, the servers were
overloaded and those wards, in parts of
Europe where Internet service is weak, but is the only means of hearing Elder Ballard,
had a difficult time viewing it or could not view it at all. So sad.
We were very fortunate here. The senior missionaries had the opportunity to travel 20 minutes away to listen to Elder Ballard in person. The next day he came to Frankfurt to talk to the missionaries and employees at the Europe Area Office where we work. He spoke to all of us for about 1/2 an hour.
For those reading this blog and might not know, Elder Ballard is one of 12 Apostles of the Lord. He is so amazing, I heard of his schedule for the 2 weeks he is in Europe. I, myself, would have a difficult time keeping up with him and he is 89.
I'm going to share a neat experience I had this week. I hope it develops into something good for her.
Wednesday evening Diane and I stopped into the Mein Markt to pick up a couple of food items. This is a small store right at the entrance
to our apartment building. I decided at the last
minute to pick up an extra item in the store. That section is where I met Martina. She is wheelchair bound; both legs are gone.
She started to talk to me in German and asked if I was from a church. As she spoke she looked at my badge. I knew what she said because I
recognized the word "Kirche" (church). She realized I couldn't speak German very well, so she spoke English. It was poor, but good enough for me to understand.
She told me about a young man from our church who helped her one rainy day. Her bags of groceries were on the handles
of her wheelchair. They fell off and the groceries came out. The young man came
over to help her.
We must have talked for
over 5 minutes. She spent most of the time
complaining about her apartment conditions; however, by the time we ended the conversation, she accepted an invitation to come to
church and gave me her name, address, and phone number.
Friday, I made arrangements to have one of the three German sister missionaries, Diane, and I visit her. Most of our meeting consisted of her again complaining about her apartment and other things. Before we had to leave, I was able to teach her about Pre-earth life - part of the Plan of Salvation. She listened intently. We also made arrangements to come by Sunday and walk her to church at the German Ward. Again, I hope things go well for her. I'm hopeful that once she learns of Christ's love for us that she will find more peace and joy in her life.
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Roman Dining Area with pieces of
original artwork on the walls.
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This morning we went with some other senior couples and visited a fully reconstructed 3rd century Roman army base in Saalburg. The tour was in English. The information was absolutely fascinating. The archeologists have had a lot of "evidence" to work with. After wells ran dry, the people used the holes as garbage dumps, filling in the top with dirt. The dirt blocked out the oxygen, so very little decay took place.
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| Moss on tree roots. |
Afterwards, while the others went to a nearby restaurant for lunch, Sister van Hoff and I took a walk in the woods nearby. Oh, it was just like being back in the mountains of North Carolina. However, the forests are so young here, the smaller vegetation was not overgrown around the base of the trees. I took a picture of some moss on the roots of the trees. The picture makes it look greener than it was but it was greener than I've every seen before.
I visited Jan today. He and I walked around in his
neighborhood and talked. I am continually impressed by him. With all the struggles and conflicts in his life he is truly putting his trust in the Lord. At one point of our conversation he told me that he wants
to be “more active." I asked him if he
meant physically or in the church. He
told me he meant looking for a job. He
explained that he is doing what he can looking locally, but has been reluctant
to look at other countries. Actually he would probably be more successful in other countries with his skills. He said he was reluctant, because for the first time in a long
time he feels happy and at home here. Then he told me that this was because of the church and his new life.
Of course, I informed him
that he would find a home in church wherever he moved to. He seemed to know all this already, but was just letting me know why he felt the way he felt.
Overall, it's been another great week. We want you to know that we pray for all of you; our family and friends. We really miss you and look forward to seeing you again. Until then, God bless you.
Saturday, October 7, 2017
Jan
Today Jan was baptized. What a beautiful service. What a beautiful Spirit there was during the service.
Jan was very nervous, but everything went
smoothly and wonderfully. You can see how nervous he was in the picture. Diane and I
got there before 11:30. Jan wanted to
meet me early so that he and I could practice how the baptism was be done. We had already done it last Sunday, but he was
nervous about it.
I called Jan this evening
to see how things are going and to ask him to prepare for who he wants to
bestow the Gift of the Holy Ghost on him tomorrow. He told me he would be honored if I would do
that. I would really like a member to do
it but I didn’t tell him that. I just
politely agreed and told him I would love to.
You see, I know he is close to me, but I won't be here as long as the members will.
He told me something else that I don’t want ever to forget. I know that he has faced and still is facing several burdens. No fault of his own. He told me when he got home things became very tense and stressful, but he said that today amid the turmoil he is surrounded with, for the first time in his life he feels “at peace." How beautiful those words were to hear. He thanked me again, reminding me that I had told him he would feel different after he was baptized. He told me that, though he doesn’t expect his trials to end soon, he now has the strength and conviction to know that they will get better because the Lord has blessed him.
It was 10 minutes before 12
noon before we saw him. He was walking
with a woman. It turns out that
it was his friend who came from Bremen.
Let me break here and tell you how things developed to this point. His friend, mentioned above, originally introduced Jan to the church. He moved to England were he was taught. He would have been baptized there, but he needed to get back to Germany to fulfill family obligations. That is how the sister missionaries here got involved.
When Diane and I arrived in Germany, we told ourselves that even though we were assigned to an office job in IT, we wanted to get intimately involved in working with the missionaries. When we heard about Jan, we immediately invited him over and had discussions with him. Jan and I hit it off. Jan and I became very close and we have taken a personal interest in helping him along the way.
So, now, let's get back to today. It was a tender mercy that he was walking to church with his friend. We learned late yesterday afternoon that she planned to get to Jan's baptism by train. There was a violent storm in northern Germany. It knocked out the train system there. She lives 4 hours away. Not trusting the train system to be back in operation, she booked a flight to
come. The tender mercy is that they happened
to come on the same U-bahn (subway/streetcar). He saw her as
he debarked at the station and they were able to walk together to the church.
Once inside, we changed and
took pictures. Before going into the service we FaceTimed with a wonderful senior missionary couple in England. They had grown very close to Jan, also.
Like I said earlier, the
service was wonderful. Bro. Dicataldo (Italian) talked on Baptism.
He is always smiling and so happy.
You just can’t help smile back when he is talking.
Then came the baptism. Jan was so nervous about the ordinance. His health has gone downhill over the past 3 weeks. He learned he has thrombosis. (When he learned of that, he told me that he wanted to go through with the baptism. He didn't want to leave this earth without being baptized.)
He expressed his nervousness even as we were entering the water. He told me
to be careful with his back and his neck. They were feeling weak. However, after the baptism and before we returned to the service, he thanked me for doing
such a great job and how smoothly it went.
He was so happy and relieved.
We changed and when we got back to the service, a senior missionary sister shared her conversion story and they were just beginning to sing a
hymn. This was followed by a young missionary who has never taken piano lessons playing “I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus” on the piano. The rendition was so beautiful, that the Spirit touched everyone in the room.
Then Jan's friend spoke. The words she said were perfect for Jan. It has to be one of the best talks I’ve heard
given about the Gift of the Holy Ghost at a baptism. I spoke to her later about it and she told me
that she got a lot of the information from a talk from an Apostle. It wasn't quoted, so I still say she did a good job.
Soon, it was the end of the
service. I didn’t mention, but many of
the attendees were Senior Missionaries.
We tried to put out the word, but it was last minute and the Senior
Missionaries came out for support. I
think each one brought a dessert. The table
was covered and way too much for everyone.
There happened to be
another baptism for the other ward, so we left most of the food for them.
We FaceTimed with the senior couple from England again before we had to leave. This couple will go home
in about a month and a half. What a beautiful way to depart from a mission.
You know, someone asked me
after the service if this was going to be the highlight of my mission here in
Germany. I told them that it was my
dream to come to Germany to see someone’s life change. I told them that I have seen a change come
over Jan. I told them that his baptism
was special, but when he gets the Gift of the Holy Ghost, I will be able to
witness the greatest of change as he grows and matures in the gospel. That is what I came here to see.
He told me something else that I don’t want ever to forget. I know that he has faced and still is facing several burdens. No fault of his own. He told me when he got home things became very tense and stressful, but he said that today amid the turmoil he is surrounded with, for the first time in his life he feels “at peace." How beautiful those words were to hear. He thanked me again, reminding me that I had told him he would feel different after he was baptized. He told me that, though he doesn’t expect his trials to end soon, he now has the strength and conviction to know that they will get better because the Lord has blessed him.
I told Jan that he is very
special and I feel blessed just to know him. Actually, I feel doubly blessed. My wife is such a great support and not only that, but she has given me so much advice in helping me to help Jan to come unto Christ.
Sunday, October 1, 2017
Evidence Of God In Our Lives
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| Filling Luther's shoes |
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| Place where Martin Luther stood. |
There we
re some beautiful churches in the area that were open for the public. In one part of town there was a guy who appeared to be standing in air. I'm sure he was standing on a piece of metal that was under his clothes and shoes. Here is a link to a video of him: https://youtu.be/_GdwkDR_uOI
re some beautiful churches in the area that were open for the public. In one part of town there was a guy who appeared to be standing in air. I'm sure he was standing on a piece of metal that was under his clothes and shoes. Here is a link to a video of him: https://youtu.be/_GdwkDR_uOI |
| Inside c |
There is a small box that goes between the camera and the box that transmits audio and visual to the internet. That box is called the signal converter. The original one was not functioning. It was totally broken. We used several other signal converters, having success for only a few moments, about 15% of the time.
It wasn't until later that we learned that there were two other problems. One was that there is a switch on the side of the converter that we didn't think was important. It actually was. When we made sure that the switch was in the right position, we began to have success about 50% of the time.
The final resolution was the web browser we were using to transmit through. We were using Firefox. My favorite. As it turns out, Google Chrome worked better and quicker.
We left work exhausted, but renewed and even excited about what we had learned. Though the entire week was filled with challenges and frustrations, the information we have will be invaluable to others. It was well worth the effort.
As I contemplate what we had experienced, I feel that it relates very well to life itself. Life is full of challenges and struggles. Along with the enjoyable times, we seem to receive more than our share of frustrations and disappointments. After this life, however, I believe each of us will be able to look back and say it was worth it.
This week was emotional, also. The investigator I've been talking about for the last several blogs experienced more turmoil in his life. I told you that he already had a lot on his shoulders and if that wasn't enough, he just discovered he has thrombosis. For those who don't know, if not treated, it is life threatening.
In a conversation with him earlier this week, he told me how much he wanted to get baptized. He said, "I don't want to leave this world without getting baptized."
Tonight he visited us and while we ate dinner, we watched Saturday morning conference live. At the end of the conference, he told us that he had two things to say to us. He started out by telling us that he felt the Spirit. Referring to the conference talks given, he has decided that he needs to be baptized as soon as he can. He would rather not wait for this coming Saturday,. but he will because he knows that the sisters still have more to teach him. Second of all, he has a new resolve. He is not a going to allow himself to be dragged down. He is will be the person God meant him to be.
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