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.

View from our balcony

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.

Caroling on the Zeil

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.

In Strasbourg with the Skoubyes

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.

At the Strasbourg Christmas market

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.

Inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg

Outside amidst the Christmas shoppers and lights

Enjoying being "caroled" by the young missionaries

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.