Missionary Work

This week we have done more missionary work than we have done since we arrived.  How wonderful that has been.

Jan came over to the apartment for dinner and a discussion Thursday evening.  He arrived early so that he and I could talk.  He has been under stress and difficulties.  I think he just wanted someone to talk to and to listen to him.

After dinner, the missionaries, knowing some of the things he is having to deal with, talked about the Gift of the Holy Ghost and how that gift might benefit Jan as he endures these difficulties.  They were smart to tell him that joining the church may not resolve all of his worries but the Spirit would help him cope better.  The missionaries even offered to up his baptismal date if Jan felt that would benefit him.  He said that he would think about it.

I got a text from him today telling me how grateful he was for inviting him over the other night and that he is looking forward to being at church tomorrow.

Yesterday evening the sister missionaries took us over to Dave’s place to teach him.  We’ve had Dave over at our place before.  It was a great experience to go to someone’s own place and teach.  I told the sisters that they were fulfilling my dreams.  I told them how much I wanted to meet the people here in Germany and have the opportunity to go to their homes to teach them.  Dave is not German.  He is from Nigeria, but, still the same, it was a great experience.

Missionary work did not stop there.  Today we visited Elfrieda Herrmann.  She is in the hospital and has been there almost 2 weeks.  Not completely sure why she was taken in, but we heard that she lost a lot of blood.  She is 88 years old and they are evaluating what kind of care she will require once she goes back home.

Elfie

She lives in our apartment complex.  She is not a member and isn’t interested in being a member yet. Elder and Sister Stay, one of the missionary couples, have been friend-shipping her.  I believe other missionaries know her, too, and she enjoys their company.

She is fascinating.  Diane and I let her into the church one day so she could practice the piano.  She insisted we listen to her play.  She would mention a classical composer and then begin playing.  Then she would ask, do you want to hear some Bach?  Then she would play a difficult piece from his work.  Then she would ask, do you want to hear some Mozart or Beethoven and then she would play pieces from their works.  We learned today that she started piano lesson when she was 3-1/2 years old and when she was 5 she played the piano with a full orchestra.  She is extremely talented.

We also learned something else that is interesting.  Supposedly there was a sister of Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Evelyn Moody,  who served a mission here.  Elfie (Elfrieda) got to know her.  It was through Evelyn that she met Elder Oaks and even has a picture of herself and Elder Oaks together when he visited Germany.  Elfie has asked us to contact Evelyn to let her know what is going on.  I believe it was the Spirit that prompted her to ask us.  Of all the people in the world we know the grandson of Elder Oaks, Jake Oaks.  He married the daughter of some good friends of our from Weaverville Ward.  We contacted them and they will notify Evelyn to let her know.

It has been wonderful to be involved in missionary work.  Monday evening, Dave is supposed to come here to be taught.  We are looking forward to that.

A couple of days ago we made two phone calls to two new Stake Technology Specialists.  One was from England.  He has extensive background in computers and technology.  He told us that the furthest unit out from the stake center is about an hour away.  They don’t feel they need to webcast Stake Conference because the travel time is not long.  The same with Video Conferencing with the High Council.  There was very little information that we could share with him.

The other call we made to Italy.  This young man, about 21 years old, has had almost no background in computers or technology.  He is from Portugal and, of course, speaks Portuguese, but is learning to speak Italian.  He doesn’t know any English.  Diego from our ICS group had to translate for us. This poor young man is struggling.  He lives about an hour away from the Stake Center.  He has a mentor from another stake who is trying to train him, but the mentor lives four hours away, so training is very infrequent.  There is a strong desire to use webcasting and Video Conferencing but the Internet bandwith is not very reliable.

What a drastic difference there is between those two phone calls.  Our hearts go out to that young man in Italy.

Is There a Doctor in the House?

I failed to mention in the last blog that a crown on my tooth just came off.  I had just popped a piece of candy into my mouth and suddenly I felt two pieces.  One had no flavor.  You can probably guess what that was. 

That happened a week ago last Monday afternoon at lunch.  I felt fortunate to find a dentist to glue it back on that same day.  I really felt fortunate to know he was Scottish and, obviously, spoke English.  I was happy with the experience.  That is until last Sunday.  We got out of church and were having lunch.  Again, the crown just came off again.

Monday morning I was on the phone calling the dentist, hoping he would fix it for free since it didn't seem to have been properly glued.  Well, this is vacation time in Europe.  That means that most people leave for 2-4 weeks and travel.  Yep, you guessed it.  The dentist office is closed for the next two weeks.

We talked to some other missionary couples and found a name of another dentist.  He took me in and, as of yesterday, everything seems fine.  The dentist told me that he used the strongest glue he had.  This dentist is German, but he spoke fairly good English.

Last Thursday we visited a chiropractor.  It is a little scary not knowing who is good and who isn't.  I've been to some chiropractors who did more harm than good.  Well, the Lord was really looking after us.  This guy was not only good, he was very thorough.  Most chiropractors focus only on the back. He checked my arms and legs, also.  Diane is now scheduled to see him in a couple of days. Oh, by the way, he is from California.

We've been working as closely with the young missionaries as we can and inviting investigators to be taught in our apartment.  We were even fortunate to have one guy, who was born in the Ukraine, come to dinner with the Elders.  He has talked with the missionaries in the past and is being taught by these elders.

Beginning of the 5-K

Coming up to the finish line.                   Two seconds later.

Saturday morning was the annual senior missionary 5-K.  Some of the church employees joined us.  It was called a 5-K run, but most of us walked.  Diane and I stayed in the rear the entire way until the last 10 feet.  Then a couple of Elders stopped to let us through so they could take the glory of being the last.  ("But many that are first shall be last and the last shall be first" - Matthew 19:30.  I don't think this applies here.) 

Just before stepping over the finish line, I acted like I was gasping for breath after a hard run.

5-K participants

Between October and November about seven missionary couples will be leaving back home and seven new couples will be coming in.  This will happen again in May of next year.  Diane and I have learned that most senior missionary couples only come for 18 months, instead of the 23 months we are serving.  There are couples coming in now who will be leaving before we do.

A Garden Story

Sis. Enger cutting up a Kohlrabi

This past week we had a couple of memorable events.  We had our German class in Sis. Enger’s Kleingarten (small garden).  Here in Germany, especially in the city areas, people rent a small plot of land in a gated garden area.  Until now we’ve only been able to see inside of a garden area by looking through the gate entrance or through exposed sections in the fences surrounding them.

Garden areas can be several acres, but each plot is maybe about 1/5 to 1/10 of an acre.  Each garden plot is maintained differently.  Some grow vegetables only, some just flowers and others combine both, as Sis. Enger did with hers.  She has fruit trees, vegetables, herbs, and even a small beautiful grassy area where she can sit amidst her garden.

Small building

Some use all their space for gardening.  Many have constructed

Inside small building

small sheds to store tools and gardening supplies. 

Some even have small buildings where they can spend the night.  Actually we’ve heard that some people spend their weekends there.  Mind you there is no electricity and no plumbing, but there is running water.  I believe most garden areas have a port-a-john.

Sis. Enger has a beautiful living area.  It is just large enough to fit her small bed, table, chair, and a couple of other things.  It is about 10’ x 10’.  She even has a small patio outside the door of the living area which has an awning.  She told us that she spends a lot of time there on her little plot.  I can see why.  It is beautiful.

This week's class

Our lesson that day centered around a story from a town called Hameln, Germany.  Can you guess what the story was?  Yep, the Grimm brothers took this folklore story and wrote it as a tale.  It was what we know as “The Pied Piper of Hamlin”.  Supposedly there is some validity to the story which tells of most of the children disappearing from the village during a time that there was a rat infestation.

Giant Zucchini

Sis. Enger read about the story in German, then we translated some phrases associated with what she read. We understood bits and pieces of what she read.  Then she re-read it to us.  It is amazing how well we understood it the second time through.

That week she gave as one huge zucchini.  I baked her a zucchini bread and gave it to her when we returned this week.   She was so grateful, I think she thanked me 3 to 4 times.

The other memorable event was being invited to a work colleague's house.  His wife fixed a terrific dinner.  Their home was small, but so beautifully decorated.  The dinner was 3-course.  The first course was served on a beautifully decorated back deck.  I know that it was decorated especially for us, because I heard Diego mention to his wife how he noticed that she had hung the Chinese lanterns from the deck’s overhang.

The entire meal was made from scratch, even the salad dressing. She made everything to fit Diane’s special paleo diet.  We started eating our salad, smoked raw salmon, tomatoes stuffed with humus, and rolls made of almond and flax seed flour.  When we finished we were surprised to learn that this was only the 1^st of 3 courses.  By this time, a heavy wind sent us inside to finish eating.

She had made zucchini noodles smothered with a tomato based beef sauce.  There was more meat than sauce.  I had brought the desert to make the 3^rd course.

We spent the entire evening talking around that table.  Little did we know how late it was.  Every time I looked at their clock it said 8:30.  We kept talking.  When we finally got into the car we realized that it was about 11:00 PM.  The conversation was so wonderful.  We learned a lot about them.  She is German, and, of course, we knew he was Italian.  We learned about how they met and their conversion stories and many other things.

This night I have fulfilled my dream of being in a German home getting to know a German family.  It was absolutely wonderful.

A Fun and Spiritual Week

Tuesday evening we had an outdoor cookout at a senior missionary’s residence near the temple in Friedrichsdorf.  It was in recognition of the 4^th of July.  The weather was perfect and the evening enjoyable.  After eating, President Gary B. Sabin from the Europe Area Presidency spoke to us. Then we sang American songs finishing off with the Star Spangled Banner.  Great company, great food, great evening.

The rest of the week was pretty normal until Friday evening.  For Friday night Diane and I had invited an investigator and his wife over for dinner to be followed by  a relaxing evening of games and refreshments with two missionary couples. Unfortunately, at the last minute, we found out the couple would be unable to make it;  however, we were able to round up a third missionary couple and had a fun evening.  There was a lot of laughter and I was especially happy to see Diane laughing so hard.  She is always happy, but it’s been a while that she could hardly contain herself from laughing so hard. For those of you who know the game, we were playing "The Great Dalmuti."

1st view of the castle

Saturday morning we went to Braunfels, Germany.  It was our first visit to a real castle.  From the main area of the castle we walked down some stairs and it opened up to a small village.  The houses and buildings were the kind you imagine Germany to look like.  It was absolutely beautiful.  We walked all over town and around the castle.

Base of the castle

Inner court of castle

View of town from castle wall

Exiting castle and entering town

Town square

Walking the streets of the town

A quiet street

Sisters Griffen, McCrary, and Harouny

When we returned, we were exhausted and just wanted to put our feet up ... until Diane remembered that there was a baptism for the German Ward.  I almost told her I was too tired to go, but we changed clothes and  went anyway.  As it turned out, it was a fantastic experience.  The sister being baptized spoke Spanish.  She had been attending the International Ward, so that means she also knew English.  Since this was a German ward’s baptism, the main language was German.

The first talk was given by an English speaker.  She had a German translator by her side.  Next, two of the sister missionaries sang "Teach Me to Walk" in German while the third played the piano to accompany them.  It was so beautiful.  It was like listening to angels. (The sister on the left is from New Zealand.  The other 2 are from America. These 2 on the right are in a church film.  Here is the link: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org.uk/article/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-mormon-missionary

Next was the baptism.  I was privileged to be asked to be one of the witnesses.

After the baptism there was another talk.  This sister spoke Spanish and she had a translator who spoke German.  I was amazed at how much more I understood Spanish than I did German.

The brother who welcomed her to the ward did so in German, and then bore his testimony in Spanish at the end. The whole meeting was a spiritual feast.  I am so glad we went.

Today in church I gave a talk. I spoke about challenges we have in life and how we can learn Christ-like attributes from them.  I gave specific examples from my life and from Brian’s life and Andrew’s.  If it is worth anything, when I started the talk there were a some droopy eyes.  (It was, however, pretty hot and there isn’t any air conditioning.)  At the end of the talk I noticed that all were alert.  Afterwards, a lot of people came up to tell me how wonderful it was.  Of course, as wonderful as it is to hear their compliments, I realized that congratulating someone on their talk is a common courtesy, so I didn’t think much of it.  That is, until Diane told me that during Relief Society a sister mentioned that she really felt touched by the last speaker (me) and learned how when we face challenges we can learn from them to become more spiritually self-reliant.

Sunday School was fun.  For the past four weeks, I’ve been teaching the Gospel Principles class.  I’ve been told that they will be calling a teacher for the class, but it hasn’t happened yet.  Today the Albanian guy who speaks Italian (he learned it from watching TV) came. He speaks enough English to get a taste of what I’m saying, but an Italian brother translates for him.  The Elders have been trying to teach the Albanian guy for the past month, but it has not worked out. Also in the class was a young woman who was baptized a year ago.  Her understanding of the church doctrine and the scriptures is very weak.

So, picture this.  The tables in the classroom are “U” shaped.  The Elder missionaries, the Albanian guy, and his translator are on one side.  Diane is smack in the middle.  The young new member, the three Sister missionaries are on the other side and the new Mission President (just arrived last week) is sitting on that side, but at the end closest to me.  Got the picture?

I had prepared to teach the chapter on prophets from the manual, but before class started the Elders asked if I could teach the first discussion, the Restoration of the Church.  I agreed, since I’ve taught it many times before.

So, as I’m teaching the lesson, I say a few sentences and wait for the translator to convey it into Italian for the Albanian guy.  Then we go a little further.  At one point, I realize that the young woman really doesn’t know a whole lot.  Mind you, the Albanian guy is well versed in the scriptures.  So we are working with translation on one side of the room and explaining things in more detail--in German, at times--on the other side of the room.  At one point the sisters were answering a question the one young woman had, so I sat on the edge of the table next to the Albanian guy and discussed a detail of the lesson with him.  As that was being interpreted, I moved over to the other side of the room and sat on the edge of the table and asked if the young woman was understanding everything correctly.

This was not a normal teacher-students classroom situation.  What was funny is that later Diane told me that the new Mission President looked a little amazed and amused about what all was going on at the same time.  Welcome to the International Ward, President Boyer.

Dresden

Procession of the Princes

Frauenkirche

What a wonderful week we had. We were invited to attend a work seminar with the ICS team.  Those are the people we work with in the Europe Area Office.  The seminar was held in Dresden, Germany.  We stayed at a beautiful hotel in Altstadt Centre (translated: Old town central).  During WWII a large part of Dresden was destroyed.  This section of the city has been restored with its original buildings.  The building on the left has a mural called  Fürstenzug, the Procession of the Princes.  It was originally painted in 1876.  In 1907 the picture was covered with 23,000 individual tiles over a 335 feet in length and 34 feet height to weatherproof it.  Each tile is 8 x 8".  During the bombing raid in WWII there was minimal damage.  To see a video of some of the sights we saw go to https://youtu.be/89pPe4AUXi4.

Steigenberger Hotel de Saxe

The hotel we stayed at was originally a smaller hotel built in the latter 1700s.  It was demolished about 100 years later.  It is believed to have been torn down to make room for progress during the industrial revolution.  A post office was erected at the site.  On February 13, 1945, bombing raids destroyed the post office.  This new building, Steigenberger Hotel de Saxe, was completed in 2004.

Later that evening our team went on a river boat cruise.  The hillsides with the beautiful architecture of restored older churches and historic buildings was amazing.  However, what was really great was to have the time to talk to some of our co-workers.  Something we don’t always have time for.

The Seminar was fantastic.  It wasn’t focused so much on technical education as it was on the spiritual side of what we do.  Every presentation was uplifting and helped the attendees to feel renewed.

Looking back on the entire Seminar it was obvious that all the presenters were led by the Spirit.  Just like at General Conference when each of the speakers plan their own talks and do not coordinate with other speakers, yet each conference tends to have only one theme, that was how this seminar went.  Diane and I offered to do a brief presentation.  Not knowing anything of what the others had planned to speak about, I wrote a 15-minute skit which had some comedy, but mostly conveyed how we need to involve God in all that we do.  Before our performance, the topics in the seminar turned out to be a great segue into our portion and our skit turned out to be a great segue to the rest of the topics.  What demonstrated to us that the Spirit was involved is that I was able to write up the skit in less than 2 hours.  It just came together in my mind as I was writing it.

Breakfast

The first morning the hotel provided a continental breakfast.  The quality of the food was like eating at a 5-star restaurant.  On top of that, the morning so beautiful and warm we decided to eat out on the balcony.

Freiberg Temple

To end the conference, on Thursday we drove to Freiberg where we all went through an endowment session together at the Freiberg Temple.  Freiberg is not a large city but it seems to have a clean, quiet, atmosphere.  I don’t know if that is because the temple is there or if the temple was built there because the atmosphere was already there.

Neumarkt Platz in Freiberg

What a marvelous seminar it was and the people we work with are so wonderful.  This time we’ve had together has allowed us to become much closer.  Each had unique stories to tell us about their conversions and the trials many of them have.

Entering Frankenstein

On the way back home we passed through the town of Frankenstein.  All I have to say is that we didn't see one monster.

We’ve remained in close contact with the younger missionaries, talking to them frequently, communicating with the some of the people they are teaching.  These missionaries continually thank us for being so involved.  Little do they understand that we are not doing anything different than what we normally do.  Besides, wanting to sharing the Gospel with others is the main reason we came on a mission.

We appreciate all those who are following our blog and love to read your comments.  We sincerely love you and miss you.  May the Lord bless you and your families as you serve others within your reach.