Our German Missionary Experiences: 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!