Living In Frankfurt, but Involved With International People

The other night we had four missionary elders over for dinner. They were just getting ready to leave when the sister missionaries called. The sisters had an urgent need to help with a discussion they had with a young man. We invited them over to our place.  

The young man was from Iran. He spoke some German and very little English. His main language was Persian.

Here's how the discussion went. The sister missionaries used their tablet to contact an elder from Berlin for a video chat. When the sisters taught, they would say it in English. The elder would translate to Persian. The young man would comment or ask a question and that would be translated back to English.

A few days after the appointment we learned that the Church is now training some missionaries at the MTC to speak two languages. Evidently, this young elder learned German (because he is serving here in Germany) and Persian. That is absolutely amazing. This allows the missionaries to teach people that are from countries where it is prohibited to send missionaries. We're wondering where he was from in the United States, because "y'all" was part of his English vocabulary. 

It was wonderful to see the interest the young man took in the discussion. He commented several times that he felt the Spirit as things were discussed. This is truly one of the more interesting missionary appointments we have experienced.

Elder Skoubye, our good friend and fellow senior missionary, offered me a bicycle. He had purchased a couple of bikes from a missionary couple who have left the field. In the process, he also inherited a third bike. I've been wanting to ride one, but was not sure my back would handle it well. So, now I'm able to try riding and see if I can handle it.  

I've gone riding twice now with Elder Skoubye. I think he is used to riding fast and long. The two things I can't do yet. Riding long ways is not a good way to test this out on my back. As for fast, the bike has 7 gear speeds compared with his about 15 gear speeds. But that is not the only reason for not being able to go fast. Of the 7 gear speeds I have, only one works, and, you guessed it, the only working gear speed is one of the lower gears.

Yesterday, Elder Skoubye and I biked to a local bakery. Now that I'm back to a non-restrictive diet, I thought I'd taste some of this country's cuisine. From the picture you can see that I chomped down on this pastry before I even thought of taking the picture. It was filled in the middle with fig filling.  

The move through the window

You know what this means?  I'm going to have to go bike riding more often with Elder Skoubye.
After returning I went to help out with a member move. I didn't stay until the end, but did stay for close to five hours. It was so enjoyable working side by side with the local members.  

I've done a lot of moves before, but none quite like this.  The windows here in Germany don't typically have screens. Many of the windows are large. So was the case here. Because the land sloped up the side of the apartment house and with having large windows in their living room and being on the 2nd floor, we simply handed down boxes and furniture through the window to those outside.  In this picture, President Dicataldo (Italian), Elder's Quorum President is on the ground and Bro. Allen (UK), Executive Secretary to the Bishop is in the window.

.

It looks like I actually worked

While I was gone Diane attended a baptism in the German Ward. It was a Chinese brother who had been friendshipped by the Fu family.  The Fu family are Chinese also and having been baptized not long ago are actively involved in missionary efforts. They are so excited about the gospel and now there is another Chinese brother who is equally as excited.

We want you to know that we love all of you.  The Lord is blessing us in so many ways and we hope that by sharing some of our experiences, you, too, can partake of the joys of those blessings we have received.

Brother Fu on left and Brother Liming Zhao on right