Jan

Today Jan was baptized.  What a beautiful service.  What a beautiful Spirit there was during the service.

Jan was very nervous, but everything went smoothly and wonderfully.  You can see how nervous he was in the picture.  Diane and I got there before 11:30.  Jan wanted to meet me early so that he and I could practice how the baptism was be done.  We had already done it last Sunday, but he was nervous about it.

It was 10 minutes before 12 noon before we saw him.  He was walking with a woman.  It turns out that it was his friend who came from Bremen. 

Let me break here and tell you how things developed to this point.  His friend, mentioned above, originally introduced Jan to the church.  He moved to England were he was taught.  He would have been baptized there, but he needed to get back to Germany to fulfill family obligations.  That is how the sister missionaries here got involved.  

When Diane and I arrived in Germany, we told ourselves that even though we were assigned to an office job in IT, we wanted to get intimately involved in working with the missionaries.  When we heard about Jan, we immediately invited him over and had discussions with him.  Jan and I hit it off.  Jan and I became very close and we have taken a personal interest in helping him along the way.  

So, now, let's get back to today.  It was a tender mercy that he was walking to church with his friend.  We learned late yesterday afternoon that she planned to get to Jan's baptism by train.  There was a violent storm in northern Germany.  It knocked out the train system there.  She lives 4 hours away.  Not trusting the train system to be back in operation, she booked a flight to come.  The tender mercy is that they happened to come on the same U-bahn (subway/streetcar).  He saw her as he debarked at the station and they were able to walk together to the church.

Once inside, we changed and took pictures.  Before going into the service we FaceTimed with a wonderful senior missionary couple in England.  They had grown very close to Jan, also.

Like I said earlier, the service was wonderful.  Bro. Dicataldo (Italian) talked on Baptism.  He is always smiling and so happy.  You just can’t help smile back when he is talking.

Then came the baptism.  Jan was so nervous about the ordinance.  His health has gone downhill over the past 3 weeks.  He learned he has thrombosis.  (When he learned of that, he told me that he wanted to go through with the baptism.  He didn't want to leave this earth without being baptized.)

He expressed his nervousness even as we were entering the water.  He told me to be careful with his back and his neck.  They were feeling weak.  However, after the baptism and before we returned to the service, he thanked me for doing such a great job and how smoothly it went.  He was so happy and relieved.

We changed and when we got back to the service, a senior missionary sister shared her conversion story and they were just beginning to sing a hymn.  This was followed by a young missionary who has never taken piano lessons playing “I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus” on the piano.  The rendition was so beautiful, that the Spirit touched everyone in the room. 

Then Jan's friend spoke.  The words she said were perfect for Jan.  It has to be one of the best talks I’ve heard given about the Gift of the Holy Ghost at a baptism.  I spoke to her later about it and she told me that she got a lot of the information from a talk from an Apostle.  It wasn't quoted, so I still say she did a good job.

Soon, it was the end of the service.  I didn’t mention, but many of the attendees were Senior Missionaries.  We tried to put out the word, but it was last minute and the Senior Missionaries came out for support.  I think each one brought a dessert.  The table was covered and way too much for everyone. 

There happened to be another baptism for the other ward, so we left most of the food for them.

We FaceTimed with the senior couple from England again before we had to leave.  This couple will go home in about a month and a half.  What a beautiful way to depart from a mission.

You know, someone asked me after the service if this was going to be the highlight of my mission here in Germany.  I told them that it was my dream to come to Germany to see someone’s life change.  I told them that I have seen a change come over Jan.  I told them that his baptism was special, but when he gets the Gift of the Holy Ghost, I will be able to witness the greatest of change as he grows and matures in the gospel.  That is what I came here to see. 

I called Jan this evening to see how things are going and to ask him to prepare for who he wants to bestow the Gift of the Holy Ghost on him tomorrow.  He told me he would be honored if I would do that.  I would really like a member to do it but I didn’t tell him that.  I just politely agreed and told him I would love to.  You see, I know he is close to me, but I won't be here as long as the members will.
He told me something else that I don’t want ever to forget.  I know that he has faced and still is facing several burdens.  No fault of his own.  He told me when he got home things became very tense and stressful, but he said that today amid the turmoil he is surrounded with, for the first time in his life he feels “at peace."  How beautiful those words were to hear.  He thanked me again, reminding me that I had told him he would feel different after he was baptized.  He told me that, though he doesn’t expect his trials to end soon, he now has the strength and conviction to know that they will get better because the Lord has blessed him.

I told Jan that he is very special and I feel blessed just to know him.  Actually, I feel doubly blessed.  My wife is such a great support and not only that, but she has given me so much advice in helping me to help Jan to come unto Christ.

Evidence Of God In Our Lives

Filling Luther's shoes

Place where Martin Luther stood.

Last weekend, we had an enjoyable Saturday.  We went to Worms, Germany.  This year, Germany is celebrating the 500 year anniversary of Martin Luther, the reformer.  Worms is the city where Martin Luther went to on three different occasions.  On his last trip, under a letter of agreement to travel to and from the city with safe conduct, he appeared before the emperor.  He had been excommunicated from the church and it was hoped that his appearance before the emperor would pressure him to recant his teachings.  Instead, he not only didn't recant, but said the following words:  "Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason, I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other.  My conscience is captive to the Word of God.  I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe.  God help me. Amen."  When he said this it was in a church which no longer stands.  However, there is a memorial of the place he must have stood when he made those remarks.  Martin Luther was one of many to pave the way for the restoration of God's church.

There were some beautiful churches in the area that were open for the public.  In one part of town there was a guy who appeared to be standing in air.  I'm sure he was standing on a piece of metal that was under his clothes and shoes. Here is a link to a video of him: https://youtu.be/_GdwkDR_uOI

Inside c

Do you remember, from our last blog, the difficulties we had in transmitting and receiving a webcast?  Well, it took all week long but we finally had a successful webcast.  Woohoo!  Nearly every day we would set up the equipment and put it away at the end of the day.  Halfway through the week, we got assistance from our department team members.  It wasn't until the last few minutes of the last day at work, Friday, that we finally understood what the problems were.  I say "problems" because there were more than one issue.

There is a small box that goes between the camera and the box that transmits audio and visual to the internet.  That box is called the signal converter.  The original one was not functioning.  It was totally broken.  We used several other signal converters, having success for only a few moments, about 15% of the time. 

It wasn't until later that we learned that there were two other problems.  One was that there is a switch on the side of the converter that we didn't think was important.  It actually was.  When we made sure that the switch was in the right position, we began to have success about 50% of the time.

The final resolution was the web browser we were using to transmit through.  We were using Firefox.  My favorite.  As it turns out, Google Chrome worked better and quicker.

We left work exhausted, but renewed and even excited about what we had learned.  Though the entire week was filled with challenges and frustrations, the information we have will be invaluable to others.  It was well worth the effort. 

As I contemplate what we had experienced, I feel that it relates very well to life itself.  Life is full of challenges and struggles.  Along with the enjoyable times, we seem to receive more than our share of frustrations and disappointments. After this life, however, I believe each of us will be able to look back and say it was worth it.

This week was emotional, also.  The investigator I've been talking about for the last several blogs experienced more turmoil in his life.  I told you that he already had a lot on his shoulders and if that wasn't enough, he just discovered he has thrombosis.  For those who don't know, if not treated, it is life threatening.

In a conversation with him earlier this week, he told me how much he wanted to get baptized.  He said, "I don't want to leave this world without getting baptized."

Tonight he visited us and while we ate dinner, we watched Saturday morning conference live.  At the end of the conference, he told us that he had two things to say to us.  He started out by telling us that he felt the Spirit.  Referring to the conference talks given, he has decided that he needs to be baptized as soon as he can.  He would rather not wait for this coming Saturday,. but he will because he knows that the sisters still have more to teach him.  Second of all, he has a new resolve.  He is not a going to allow himself to be dragged down.  He is will be the person God meant him to be.

The Book of Jon

It has been an interesting week.  Sister van Hoff and I have been learning how to webcast.  We wanted to do it on our own, so that we get the full effect of how it must be for other Technology Specialists to set things up and begin webcasting for the first time.  For those unfamiliar with webcasting, it is the technology used to broadcast Stake Conference or other events to other Ward or branch buildings.

Our 1st attempt

Well, the first time setting up the equipment it took us nearly an hour.  We unpacked the equipment and had set it up just fine.  Then we realized it would not work with the camera only five rows back into the pews.  Nearly all the equipment had to be taken down and moved. But, that provided us with great practice is setting it up again.

2nd attempt

Success.  The equipment worked great; sound and camera.  However, trying to connect to the web portal did not work. The web portal allows others connecting to a designated web page with the right code number to view the webcast.

2nd attempt as viewed from the pulpit

Sister van Hoff and I experienced the frustration that many others might have experienced.  Through the rest of the week we tried a few more times to see if we could figure out what went wrong.  Next week we will get some help from more experienced people. We still haven't been able to do a successful test broadcast.
It was a good learning experience and through our failures we will be able to help others who find themselves struggling.  "And thus we see" the Lord allows us to go through trials that we might be there to help make the paths of others easier to travel. (The Book of Jon 1:1)

This week we both had the opportunity to talk and help people from different countries.  There were brothers from Hungary, Italy, Germany, Norway, and a Sister from Serbia.  Some calls were initiated and others came to us.  In each case we were able to help them or, if nothing else, let them know that they were not alone; that they were individually thought about and that someone cared about them.  "Now I say unto you" the Lord uses His servants to do those things He would do if He were walking on the earth. (The Book of Jon 2:8)

Snowman and bunny

Sister Enger's class was fun this week.  With fall around the corner, she talked about chestnuts and the different parts of the tree in German.  At the end of the class she gave us the supplies to create something using chestnuts and wooden matchsticks. For those who can't figure out our chestnut characters, I labeled them.  "And it came to past" that we found enjoyment with the simple things of nature which God has graciously provided. (The Book of Jon 3:10)

For those reading this blog, we love you.  Many of you are in our prayers daily.  It is so wonderful to be on a mission and to serve the Lord the best way we know how; and to meet people and do things we never would have been able to do back home.  The Lord has truly blessed us in our lives and we pray that he blesses you in yours.  Until next time...

Busy

Time on our mission seems to be moving more rapidly.  This past couple of weeks have been very busy, let alone what is going on in the world.

From the world's perspective, the forest fires on the west coast of the US continue to rage.  The southern part of US has been bombarded with one hurricane after another.  Now Jose poses a threat.  India experienced heavy flooding which resulted in a lot of people dying. Pres. Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-in are verbally battling out threats against each other.  Both are capable of sending off nuclear missiles.

For us, it is not so catastrophic, just busy.

Our Cones

Sis. Enger teaching us.

Over a week ago in our German Culture class, Sis. Enger taught us what Germans do for the first day of school.  This is for all children attending their very first day of school.  They receive a decorated cone.  The whole family walks to school together, with the child carrying the cone. Once in the classroom and at a specific time, all the children open their cones.  They can be filled with school supplies, treats, small toys, etc.  She told us that some stores are selling these cones that are over 3 feet high.  I can just imagine a small child dragging theirs into the classroom.  The stores also sell much smaller cones for the younger siblings who also accompany the family on the trek to the first day of school. As you can see, we all got one. Then she proceeded to pretend like we were in school with a normal 1st year schedule of classes. We had to guess what the subjects were. Then she gave us a quiz on matching words in German.

With regard to missionary work, I am continuing to stay in contact with the gentleman the sisters are teaching.  This past couple of weeks he has become quite sick with a cold.  Last week I talked to him on the phone and he sounded terribly congested.  However, I talked to him yesterday and he told me how much he wants to get baptized.  

You know, for someone who is struggling with a lot on his shoulders and knowing that joining God's church may make things much more difficult for him, he knows in his heart it is the right thing to do.  He wants to show the Lord how serious he is in his commitment.  

Let me tell you what has really kept us busy.  It is seminary.  Last Monday was our first day.  Preparing the lessons have been hard, because we don't fully know what will work for these youth, but I suspect it will get easier as we learn more about them.

One thing we did learn.  They are much more spiritual and better versed in the doctrine and scriptures than other youth we've taught before.  Something else different is the number of kids we have.  It is a large class of 11 youth.

Foolishly, I have agreed to continue to teach Gospel Essentials class until they get a teacher.  I find myself continuing to prepare lessons and that has cut down on my ability to study driving.  As for studying German, that is temporarily stopped.

At work, we have noticed how the Lord is waiting for us to learn things so that we can help others.  After the first month of being here, Diane and I delved into Personal Video Conferencing (PVC).  It took about a month to really develop a good understanding of the features in the program.  To be honest we are still learning more about it, like trouble shooting problems and such.  After we had the basic understanding, we suddenly got emails from stakes in Europe needing our help in using PVC.  We even had requests for help within our own building.

One of 5 persons.

5 Persons or 992 lbs.

Just a week ago we started to learn how to do webcasting.  Last Tuesday Diane and I, by ourselves, set up the equipment for a webcast in the church chapel.  A couple of days later I received a phone request from Hungary to help someone to set up their webcasting equipment.

Before we learned these things, we received no such requests, yet no sooner do we learn about them, then our help is needed.  I can't believe that the Lord isn't involved.  He is just waiting for us to do our part so that we can bless others.

Starting tomorrow I'm going to start on a sugar-free diet.  The only sweeteners I will be taking in are from natural fruit.  Since coming on this mission, I went gluten-free.  I lost 5 lbs.  So I'm wondering what will happen when I exclude sugar from my food intake.  Maybe I'll be able to be the 5th person in our apartment elevator.  It is so small.  It is barely able to hold four people without touching the other person.  Yet it is supposed to be able to hold 5 persons. It looks much bigger in the picture than it actually is.   

Well, I gotta go.  Diane and I have to prepare for seminary next week.

Life in Frankfurt

Earlier this week Sister van Hoff spent hours in front of her computer.  She noticed that the lines in the Excel spreadsheet she was using looked a little strange.  When it came time to go to lunch, she noticed that vertical lines such as edges of door frames looked odd.  They were not straight lines.

We made an appointment to see an eye doctor.  The appointment was arranged for a couple of days later.  The morning of the appointment, Sister van Hoff asked for a blessing.  In the blessing the Lord conveyed that the doctor would be able to diagnose the problem as best he could and that Sister van Hoff would feel comfortable and at peace with what she heard.

When we got in to see the doctor, our initial reaction was, how can this blessing be fulfilled?  The doctor appeared to be much older than we are.  He looked frail.  His voice was soft and raspy.  He asked a lot of questions, often repeating himself.  I was wondering if he understood what the problem was, let alone remember what Sister van Hoff was telling him. He did write down everything she said, though.

I noticed that his equipment looked not as modern and extensive as we see in the States.

He didn't say much as he checked her eyes.  He performed several tests on her eyes, using all four of the machines in the room.  Finally after being there for nearly an hour, he straightened up in his chair, which transformed him into a different individual.  He informed us that he used to be an eye surgeon.  He believed to the best of his knowledge and with the equipment he had that what Sister van Hoff has is dry macular degeneration. He also said there is a possibility that the distortion is due to a small bleed in the eye.  He requested that we go to a hospital to have them verify the diagnosis, since their equipment is much more sophisticated.

Though we don't have comfort in the fact that the diagnosis could be correct, we did leave knowing that he is very professional and wise to request us to get a confirmation.

Thursday we got registered to get our driver licenses.  No, we don't have German licenses yet.  We are only registered to be able to take the driver's test.  Here in Germany, it seems you have to register for everything you do.

Thursday we got word that a bomb was found in the middle of Frankfurt.  It was a World War II British Allied bomb.  We heard that another one was found in another town close by last week.  We also heard that they are often found as digging occurs for new construction sites.

The map here shows the northern part of the evacuation area.  It is outlined in red.  We live next to the church -- labeled Porthstrasse Chapel.

Supposedly, this is the biggest evacuation of people since WWII  in Germany.  Today, Sunday, they have evacuated the part of the city within a 1.5 Km radius of the bomb location, so that the 2-man disarmament team can disarm the bomb.  The evacuation included 70,000 people, which included 2 hospitals and 20 nursing homes.  Can you imagine?  We live on the outer perimeter of the evacuated area.  Our sister missionaries live within, so another senior couple is opening their place for the sisters to go for the day.  Our stake center which is a half a block away is being used for evacuees.

Ritz Hotel

We just returned from a walk and the police barricades are still up.  This is less than a block away.  It is 6:00 PM.  They started at 1:00 PM.

On a happier note, Saturday was a great day.  We started out by joining 14 other senior missionaries for a Frankfurt tour given by a church employee who works in our office building.  He is Irish, but has lived here for many years.  The tour lasted for about 2-1/2 hours and was full of interesting information about Frankfurt.  Just to share a couple of things: one of the first hotels built by Cesar Ritz is in Frankfurt.  That's right, it was one of the first Ritz hotels.  This is also where many of the people stayed the night before boarding the fatal flight of the Hindenburg.  This hotel is now owned by a different company as you can see from the picture.

Our group in the distance.  Names on the cemetery wall.

Anne Frank

Another interesting fact.  There is a Jewish cemetery in town.  During the Nazi regime they tore down the headstones and put them in a pile.  Today the cemetery is still there, surrounded by a brick wall.  There are bricks facing outward and on the end of each brick there is the name, date of birth and death of all the know Jews who died during the holocaust.  Anne Frank and her family are listed there, among 11,146 other names.  Notice the stones on top of the brick.  People place them on top and say mentally, "[name of person], I remember you."

Later that day we had another appointment with the investigator we talked about last week.  It was in a park closer to where he lives.  What a great discussion we had with the sister missionaries.  Interestingly enough, unbeknownst to him, I have learned probably more from him than he has from me.

It is now 7:30 PM and we just got word that the bomb was successfully disarmed.  There is honking and sirens heard from all around us.

The bomb and the 2 guys who disarmed it.

Teaching the Gospel

It was Thursday and I said to Sis. van Hoff, "There is nothing to write about in the blog this week.  I might skip it until next weekend."  It had been a fairly routine week with nothing special happening.

Well, Thursday evening things changed.  Unbeknownst to me, Sis. van Hoff had prayed to have experiences using her German in conversation.  After work we were walking to the dry cleaners to pick up a pair of pants.  As we walked down the street, I saw a woman on the opposite side step off the curb to cross the street.  We had passed her, when suddenly I heard her call out.  I understood enough that she wanted to speak to us and turned around to ask her what she needed.

She began to tell us about the character and make up of God.  That she reads the scriptures and has studied them for 40 years.  I understood about 15% of what she said.  Sis. van Hoff, however, understood nearly all.  In fact, she was responding back to her questions and comments.  I heard the woman say that God and Jesus were spirits and began to respond by saying that "We believe that God..."   She cut me off, signaling that she didn't want to know what I believed.

We think she was a bit crazy.  After about 15 minutes of talking to us, two women came across the street, called out to her, and then came over.  As they smiled at us, one put her arm around the woman we were talking to and lovingly guided her away.  

We can't really say that this was a true missionary opportunity, but we can definitely said it was a excellent German speaking opportunity and Sis. van Hoff shined.

Friday we had another unique experience.  We mentioned in last week's blog about an investigator that our sister missionaries have been teaching.  Over the past several weeks I have grown close to him.  My involvement has been more to help him and support him through the trials and tribulations he is experiencing.  Anyway, Friday afternoon he called me and wanted to meet.  I asked if he would also see the sister missionaries.  He agreed, but sounded reluctant to meet at our place or at the church.  We agreed to meet at a park.

Answers are in green.

Right after work, we picked up the sister missionaries and scurried over to the park.  It was a beautiful day.  We met him and found a place where we could have a little privacy.  I thought it a little unusual place for a missionary discussion, so I took this picture.  The lesson went very well. 

As he was being taught, the sky began to darken.  By the time we got back and parked the car, heavy drops of rain came pouring down.  Sure glad the Lord saw fit to hold off the rain until then.

On a different note, we are taking every free moment to study for our written driver's license test.  We bought a program that has the test questions on it.  There are over 1,000 questions and each question is worth 2-5 points.  On the real test, there are 30 questions and you can only miss 9 points and still pass.  Most of the questions have a picture or just a question. For the multiple choice questions, either one, two, or all three answers are correct -- and you get no hint about how many. There are some questions that have a video.  You can watch the videos up to 5 times before answering the question.  The question is not visible until you have finished watching the video.  Here is an example video.  Watch driving test video.

We had one question this morning where it showed a winter street with snow falling and snow built up along the side of the road.  We watched the video a few times and then viewed the question, assuming it was going to be about driving carefully because you might skid.  It asked about the green car.  We never saw the green car until we looked more closely at the final picture of the video.  It was on a side street mostly hidden behind a bush covered in snow.  It's going to be a hard test to pass.

We love you all.  You are in our prayers.

Bringing Others Closer to Christ

This week we have done a lot of filming for the Oma and Opa Show.  This is an hour long show we make each year for the grandkids for Christmas.  Last night we had the sister missionaries over for dinner and included them in our show.  During the course of the evening we did several video clips.  Here they are watching themselves on the video camera.

Work this week was extremely fulfilling.  Before I tell you what happened, it is necessary to tell you what our missionary assignment really entails.  We are responsible for encouraging each Stake or District in Europe (over 100) to call a Melchizedek priesthood member to be the Stake or District Technology Specialist (STS or DTs) for their area.  Many of those STSs who are called already have technical skills.  At that point, it is our job to train them with the equipment and software the Church provides them. 

These individuals are so important.  This is not only because technology is becoming so imperative to communicate and function quickly in this fast-paced world, but, here in Europe, there are so many areas where members live extremely distant from one another.  In order for leaders to meet together and discuss sensitive and important issues or for training, or for people to travel to conferences to hear the word of God and be uplifted, it becomes quite a sacrifice on members--monetarily, let alone time away from home.  Webcasting and Personal Video Conferencing (PVC) turn out to be wonderful blessing for those areas of Europe.

Currently 85% of the Stakes and Districts in Europe have an STS or DTS to oversee the technology issues in their area.  We sent letters out to those Stakes and Districts who do not have any STS or DTS.  We have learned that many struggle with who to call to such a position.  There just are not enough men to call from.  We were successful in telling them that there is another alternative.  They could call an Assistant Technology Specialist (aTS).  An aTS can be any youth from age 12 and older or an adult sister.  We have received several responses back thanking us for that information and that there was hope now in finding someone to oversee the technology in their area.  This was especially helpful to a District in Slovakia, another in Moldova, and another in Portugal.

As mentioned earlier, it is our assignment to help train and to be a technical resource for the STSs.  We received an email from an STS in England.  He told a sad story of a woman who signed for her deaf husband.   During General Conferences, she would sign for him during each 2-hour session.  Her arms would ache with pain.  She also had to sign for him during church, even when video clips were shown.  The STS said he did some research and could not find Closed Captioning on many of the church's films or on conferences.

We were able to research this and found out that this is true on mobile devices, but not so true with PCs.  When General Conference is broadcast from Salt Lake City, a special channel is set up for American Sign Language (ASL) during the broadcast.  This is only through satellite broadcasting and not webcasting.  We believe that this information will be invaluable to the sister.

What made this week especially great for us was not only successfully helping to make a difference for members in other areas of Europe, but also helping the one member as well.

It is wonderful to have the opportunity to serve the Lord and our brothers and sisters here in Europe.  We pray every day for our families and for many of you, our friends.

By the way, Sister Griffen is transferring in a couple of days.  We will really miss her and her accent.  She is originally from Scotland and moved with her parents to New Zealand.

Sister Griffen, Sister Schulz, and us!