Our German Missionary Experiences: Frohe Weihnachten, Ya'll

We have been extremely busy at work. We have been pushing hard to get the Technology Groups up and running; often holding meetings until 10:00 at night. Our stress levels have been overwhelming as we worry about accomplishing everything we want to get done before we leave our missionary assignment. To make things worse, we just got our 90 day departure letter. NINETY DAYS????? That is hardly enough time to finish.

However, we have done our best to enjoy our final German Christmas. Let us fill you in on some of the things we have participated in.

The rain dampened (sorry for the pun) the attendance this year.

Early in the month of December, our International Ward went down to the Zeil (middle of Frankfurt) and sang English hymns. It was rainy. So instead of positioning ourselves at the fountain like last year, we got under the overhang of a nearby store. The crowd was not as full as it was last year but we sure had great fun in singing to the people.

After singing, some of us took the advantage of being downtown and walked through parts of the Christmas market nearby.

Notice the high rise buildings of Frankfurt in the background.

Fancy booths. This place had shingles and all.

Most Christmas Markets are not so fancy.

A week later, Sister van Hoff went to Texas to be with her family. It was her mother's birthday. The family felt it would be best that they be together this year.

While she was away, our ICS Department(Information and Communication Services) went out for a Christmas dinner. I now can say that I've tasted roasted goose. All the spouses were invited. That made a total of about 20 of us. There are three others in our department that work from other countries and were flown in. Our department is so international, we have American (me), German (east and west), French, Spanish, British, Scandinavian, Italian, and Portuguese. Guess what one of the topics at the table was? That's right, languages.

Bro. Santos our department head is on the right. What a great

example he is of leadership. He never has an office meeting

without opening the scriptures.

The brother with the glasses is our immediate supervisor.

This man is so knowledgeable when it comes to technology.

The brother on the left is our newest member. He is from France.

Last Tuesday, we attended our German Culture class at the teacher's apartment. Sister Enger had everything prepared. She had stories. One was about the Nutcracker and the Mouse King. Sister van Hoff and I played some German music with our recorders followed by a friend of hers, Frau Steinkamp, who took the place of St. Nikolaus. She read from a book which told something personal about each person in the room. Then Sister Enger presented each with a gift. Sister van Hoff was told about how well she does speaking German and how good she is with music. I was told what a good baker I was and how I was able to make delicious chocolate cakes out of zucchini.

Sister Johnson, the wife of the Europe Area President, is reading

the story of the Nutcracker and the Mouse King.

Sister Enger lit this tree. Those are real candles.

Frau Steinkamp is reading St. Nikolaus's notes

about one of the missionaries

Sister van Hoff is conversing in German.

She learned a lot about Frau Steinkamp

Finally, just yesterday we went to a Christmas market in Michelstadt -- a town about an hour away. What a quaint little town. It was daytime so it probably wasn't as busy as when it gets dark and they turn on the lights. It was great seeing the eyes of the people coming to the market. Especially the young children. There were little rides for them to go on. The smell of food and other fragrances was wonderful. They had beautiful Christmas music being played from speakers all over town. Here are some of the sights we saw.