Bittersweet, Birthdays, and Treasures

Teaching Seminary is bitter/sweet. The bitter part is that it absorbs so much of our time we don't have much left to do other things. For me, at least, it is difficult to motivate myself to sit down and prepare my lesson. The sweet part, however, is ever so sweet. When I do prepare a lesson, inevitably I learn something interesting, but what is truly sweet is that the majority of the time, I literally feel inspiration come to me, helping me to prepare these lessons. What a wonderful feeling that is. And then there is the teaching part. How wonderful it is when the kids understand a concept or enthusiastically participate in the class. Both happen consistently.

I guess I could liken this bitter/sweet to repentance. To confront yourself to want to repent is not a path you would like to go down, but once you embark on that path and you begin to feel the joy of being forgiven and feel the cleansing spirit, a joy of indescribable magnitude fills within you and you look back an ask yourself, "Why did I postpone going through with this earlier?"

This week at work we were able to accomplish some great things. A few weeks back, President Nelson and Elder Holland spoke to the saints in the United Kingdom and Ireland.  It was broadcast by satellite to all the wards and branches using an encrypted signal. In one little meetinghouse the members gathered to watch and hear the words of our prophet, but (as we found out later) due to human error, they were not able to connect until the last 30 minutes and that was with sound only. 

Sister van Hoff and I investigated the situation thoroughly and we were able to pinpoint what mistakes were made. Though our hearts go out to the members who were not able to hear the whole meeting, it was very satisfying to solve the problem and resolve it for future events.

Another accomplishment, thanks to Sister van Hoff, evolved around an urgent situation. There is a stake in Europe  preparing to webcast their stake conference. One critical piece of hardware gave up the ghost. I've been struggling on how best to help them. If they order a new piece of hardware, it could take too long to deliver. If we send them the needed piece of equipment, it is questionable if they would have enough time to run a test and verify that the piece of equipment was the only thing wrong.

Sister van Hoff came up with the perfect solution. Ask an adjoining stake to let them borrow the hardware. It could be done more quickly, easily, and would also develop a relationship between stakes so that they become more self-reliant. What a wonderful idea. This story is not finished yet. We should know the results next week.

Diane is taking the picture and one other employee is missing.

It was my birthday on Thursday. It was probably the most recognized and well wished birthday I've had in quite a long time. Most of the family birthday wishes came via Messenger. The unusual part was the recognition I received here in Germany. Everyone in our department and some of the senior couples personally recognized my birthday. As a group, the senior couples sang Happy Birthday. In our department, those who were German extended a handshake when they wished me a happy birthday (Alles Gute zum Geburtstag). There are a couple of Italians and they gave me hugs.

It is customary in Germany for the person having the birthday to plan the celebration, instead others planning it for the one having the birthday.  So Diane helped me and we prepared an lunch for our department. Not everyone was able to come, but we wound up with ten of us enjoying food and conversation in our conference room.

What a treasure we found Saturday. We didn't have a lot of time, but decided to visit a small town close by -- Idstein. Like I said, "What a treasure."  The Altstadt (old town) section of Idstein has buildings from the 1500s to the 1600s. There is a church, Unionskirche, that is white and looks a little plain on the outside, but is absolutely beautiful inside.

Not far away is the Hexenturm or Witches Tower. We don't know why it is called that. It has nothing to do with witches, but it is a tower. We were able to climb up inside. Pretty cool. And now ... pictures of Idstein!

Unioinskirche

Inside Unionskirche

Ceiling.  These are canvas paintings.

Altstadt.  Notice the unevenness of the horizontal beams.

Information center.  This was a home until 1991.

Beautiful.  And the flowers are also.

Handsome, if I do say myself.

Hexenturm (Witches Tower)

View from Hexenturm (Witches Tower)
Notice the fields of yellow rapeseed (canola) in the background. 

Rathaus (Government House)

We love you and pray for you.  You are in our hearts and in our minds.

Reflections

About a week ago, we reached the halfway mark for our mission.  Looking back at what we've accomplished, we feel we have done some good.  Our assignment, of course, is supporting and training the Technology Specialists (TS) in each of the Stakes and Districts in the Europe area.

Among all the things we have done, we believe we have helped to strengthen and encourage the technology specialists to be more involved in their callings.  We've done this by:

1. enlisting their help.  We've reached out to them by sending surveys and requests to gather information from them.
2. providing them with good, clear instruction to successfully perform various responsibilities like webcasting and video conferencing. These can be difficult to do. We designed an instructional format that enabled even the least skilled specialist could do it. I remember talking to a specialist in Italy who described that he was "just a librarian" and had no technical skills.
3. developing personal relationships with the TSs. When we write the monthly newsletter, we try to add some personal story or experience. Also when someone new has been called as a TS, I call them up and try to get to know them and see how we can help them. When we answer email, we answer their questions and concerns but in a personal way. We thank them for what they do  Where appropriate we express sympathy or gratitude for their comments.

Looking into this next year, we have a lot we want to accomplish. Besides continuing on with our past efforts, we have an new program which we are scheduled to present to the Area Presidency in a couple of weeks. We are excited about this program and believe that it is inspired and of the Lord.  The question remains if it is the right time for it.  Many of the TSs feel alone and isolated in their callings. This program will bring them closer together to support each other. Right now, we are their only support. Should we not get replaced at the end of our mission, these brothers and sisters need to have something in place to help them in their work.

I'm personally looking at what I have accomplished and what I personally would like to accomplish. Though we thoroughly enjoy teaching seminary, it consumes all of our free time. I had dreams of learning the language and being heavily involved with the younger missionaries. I'm hoping that once seminary is over, I can do this. I want to be able to return home and feel like I did all I could to make my Heavenly Father proud of me.

One other area that I feel we need to do is genealogical work on Diane's family. Ever since we have arrived here, I felt the Lord called us to this particular country for that one reason.  of her family history comes from here. Unlike other missions, we have the time and ability to travel on our own. But again, once seminary is over.

Let us end with an observation we have noticed when reflecting over our mission so far. We have had some amazing experiences, most of which were spiritual in nature. The memories of these experiences increase our testimonies which were already strong. And we were surprised how much closer we have grown to the Lord and to each other. We came out here feeling that our relationship with Him and with each other were as strong as they could be, but, the reality is, they are even stronger. What a marvelous blessing that is.

We love the Lord. We are grateful to have this opportunity in our lives to serve Him and our fellow brothers and sisters. We love you and miss you and pray for you always. 

At Home In the Castle, but Where Is My Queen?

Last Saturday I took my queen, Diane, to the airport for her trip back to the States. She left here to join her parents and sisters for their annual family reunion. During the week there was not a lot of communication between us. I know that she was busy with her family and I was tied up with preparing seminary lessons and work. You see, she does a lot of work back here, so with her gone, I needed to do my best to fill in.

So, here I wait back in the castle, awaiting the arrival of my queen in a couple days. I will be so excited to see her again.

Speaking of castles, after I dropped Diane off at the airport, I no sooner stepped into the apartment door than I received a call from Elder and Sister Mellor. They were going to go to the Burg Eltz castle. Naturally I tagged along. We took an English speaking tour. We were told that we were not allowed to take pictures inside except for the museum, so I'll share what I can in pictures.

 

We walked down a path to the castle site. This is the first castle I've seen that is not perched up on a high hill. We were told that this castle, was occupied by three separate families. It had never been stormed though it was well protected. It was used as a place to collect taxes for the use of the Rhein River, not far from it. In addition, we were told that if there was a threat that the castle would be attacked, the families negotiated rather than fought.

The inner court yard was a combination of rock walls and beautifully decorated architecture.  

Inner Court Yard

Though the trees are barely starting to bud, flowers have been planted for spring.

Spring at Burg Eltz

Inside each of the adult bedrooms there is a small room extending out from the outside wall. The room is like a tiny altar, just enough room to kneel and pray. According to the guide, the room was for prayer and worship. It was extended out in the belief that as little as possible should be between man and God when praying.

In the museum there were some interesting items.  Here are just a couple.

On the way home we saw another castle, Allceer Burgberg. There are so many castles along the Rhein.  This one will have to wait for another day.

Allceer Burgberg

Most of our department members were in England this past week to provide technical support for a special broadcast. President Nelson and Elder Holland went to England and spoke to just those members there. Back here in the Frankfurt office, we provided assistance to missionaries and members alike to view the meetings. 

The evening of the last meeting, I had a couple of phone calls come in at the last minute needing help to view the meeting by way of streaming. Even though I was at home, I was able to help them. In both cases, I was told that there are a lot of appreciable people for the assistance I rendered.,  

I recognize that it really wasn't my efforts, rather it was the wonderful technology that the Lord has blessed us with. And what makes that technology special is how it can bless the lives of so many people at once. 

The Treasure of Family

It has been a busy two weeks at work. We had been given tele-training a few months ago on installing the new firewalls that will replace all the existing firewalls throughout the Church meetinghouses in Europe. Last week we had the opportunity for some on-site training at a local meetinghouse. We have been getting responses back from all over Europe from a request we sent out a month ago. The information we are receiving will help us as we evaluate the conditions of internet speed for all meetinghouses. We have been assisting in helping some of the senior missionaries that have had trouble logging on to Outlook after a major Windows update caused problems. In a simultaneous change with email in Salt Lake, we struggled to get our own shared email address restored. Sister van Hoff worked hard on our presentation we hope will soon be given to the Area Presidency for a new development that will help technology specialists all over Europe. All this and much more kept us extremely busy.

Marksburg Castle

In the midst of all of this, two of my sons came to Europe for a visit. They arrived in Amsterdam and a few days later we met them at the train station in Frankfurt late Thursday evening. We took some day trips on Friday and Saturday and then to the airport on Sunday to send them off for Italy.

On Friday we took them to the Marksburg Castle in Baubach, Germany. The tour in English was pretty interesting. It is the only castle along that section of the Rhein that has never been damaged by approaching armies or from bombing during the World Wars.

One interesting story was about the bathroom just off of the dining hall. The door to the bathroom was not far from the dining hall table.  Guests would leave the door open and walk back to the toilet seat, about 10-15 feet.  The door would remain open, so that they would not miss out on the table conversation. I guess back then they understood the importance of talking around the dinner table. Something today's world is drifting away from. (Note from Sister van Hoff: I think they left the door open to make sure no one would talk about them while they were gone!)

The dining table.  The infamous door behind Brian.

Looking into the toilet room from the dining table.

We walked the side streets of that small town and even found a non-touristy authentic German restaurant. Sister van Hoff impressed us all by her near fluent German. Had it not been for her, we might not have been able to order anything.

Town of Baubach

German Restaurant, Bauernschanke Restaurant

Restaurant built in 1597

Saturday we dropped the boys off at Grand Prix race track in Nürburg, Germany. It was an all day race around a track that goes out into the country side and back into a huge stadium. They loved it and had a great time.

Sister van Hoff and I weren't interested in going, so we visited a castle ruin in a nearby town and then the castle in Nürburg, that is now under restoration. The view from the main tower (see picture below) was impressive. Follow this link - https://youtu.be/W4AZ-EF4VDM - to view the video I took going up.

Castle ruins.  Most of the other walls are no longer standing.

Lunch inside the castle ruins.

Nürburg Castle (we climbed the main tower)

Diane standing on the upper main section of the castle

The boys left for Italy and France the next day. We took them to the airport via the local Frankfurt train system.

Waiting for the train to take us to the airport.

This past Friday we traveled to Amsterdam to pick up Brian and Chad and spent the day with them before they went back to the States on Saturday.

We took them to Madurodam in The Hague. It is made up of detailed miniature replicas of famous buildings and sites in Netherlands.  I thought they would enjoy it as I did when I first saw it many years ago. I didn't realize how much it had turned into a kid's interactive site. Still I was able to show them some of the places I had personally seen many years ago.

This is a replica of St. Johns Cathedral in s'Hertogenbosch which I visited while on my junior mission in 1978.

Then we went to a semi-active windmill, Molen de Adriaan in Haarlem, Netherlands. That was quite interesting. One of the things the mill ground in it's day was chocolate for the Droste chocolate company - maker of the chocolate apples which come apart into slices -- one of Sister van Hoff's favorite chocolate memories from childhood.

All in all, it was wonderful having my sons there even if it was just for a short visit and meant a lot to me to see them again. It was like having a part of home in a foreign place. 

The Hague Temple

I suspect that the feelings I had will be very similar to when we re-unite in the next life. I believe we will recognize the value of family in a much stronger sense than we now do.

I've often said that I treasure my testimony of  the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I now declare that I treasure my family just as much.

Speaking of family, after we dropped off the boys at the airport we went to The Hague Netherlands Temple. I took a family name of a man who was born and died in Netherlands, Martinus Roozenboom.  I was able to do the endowment completely in Dutch.  I understood over 95% of what was said. After the session, it occurred to me that Martinus may have appreciated having his work done in his native earthly language.