JUNE 9 - JULY 5, 2018 FREIBERG, GERMANY

     One of the most interesting things about serving in the Freiberg Temple, is the diversity of countries and languages that come to this temple.  The Berlin Germany Mission now has Elders that learn, and teach, in Turkish and Persian, because people are moving into Germany from these countries as students, and as refugees.

PERSIAN POSTCARD - A GIFT TO BILL FROM PERSIAN MEMBER

     Yesterday, we had a man in the baptistry from Istanbul, Turkey.  We, also, had a missionary from America who translated from German into Turkish for him.  It is amazing to me that this missionary was called to the Berlin Mission to learn Turkish.
     On June 9th, several people came to the temple to do baptisms, who spoke Persian.  That evening a devotional was held in our Gemeinde House (church building) for them, as well as for some Persian speaking people who are investigating the church.  Bill, and our temple president, President Erlacher, were asked to be speakers at this meeting to talk about the temple.  All of their words were translated into Persian, for those Persian speakers in the audience, by our young Persian speaking Elders.  Bill was asked to speak at this devotional by Elder Parry.  He is the grandson of Rick and Judy Parry, who were in our ward in Livonia, Michigan about 40 years ago.  We knew Elder Parry's father, Scott, as a young boy.  Small world, isn't it!!  Bill did a great job, and I enjoyed sitting in the audience  just listening to their words.  Persian speaking people usually come from Iran, or Iraq, and it can be dangerous for them if it becomes known that they are Christian, and they go back to their home country.

     An area of Germany that I have wanted to visit is Sachsische Schweiz National Park, also know as Saxon Switzerland National Park.  It is located twenty miles southeast of Dresden.  The Elbe River winds a scenic path through beech forests and steep cliffs.  The highlight of the Park is the Bastei Bridge.  The bridge gives stunning views of gray standstone rock formations rising several hundred feet above forest ridges.  This same sandstone was used to build Dresden's finest buildings,

ROCK FORMATIONS IN THE PARK

as well as Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.  We could also see the scant remains of a 13th century medieval village and fort.  Hiking through these rock formations, the scenery was beautiful.  It was hard to believe that centuries ago people actually lived in these primitive, super rocky areas.


     We enjoyed taking our third trip to Seiffen, Germany on June 18th.  Seiffen is a center of the wooden toy industry.  Nutcrackers, smoking men, Christmas pyramids, and Schwibboggens are some of the many Christmas goods made in Seiffen.  We drove

HIKING AROUND THE ROCK FORMATIONS 

along with other temple missionaries to show them where the place was, and what goods could be purchased there.  Several of us, including myself, started our Christmas shopping while we were there.

     That evening, we had a pizza dinner, and game night in the missionary room.  The game was super fun.  Each person wrote something about themselves that no one else, except maybe their spouse,  knew of.  We then had the women against the men in trying to guess which person was being described.  This game helped us to learn a little more about each other.  It was a very sophisticated game, because we had buzzers to push if we knew the answer.  I felt like I was playing Jeopardy, or Name That Tune.  Needless to say, the women won the game.  Meisterpizza furnished our pizzas, and they were the best I have tasted in Germany.  Gordon and Kathleen Lindsay organized this event, and they did a great job!

PLAYING "GETTING TO KNOW YOU" GAME

     Lutz and Rosie Wagner, our temple president's counselor, and his wife, hosted a Garden Party at their home in Hohenstein, Germany on June 25th for the temple missionaries.  The Wagner's belong to the Leipzig Stake.  Her brother is the Stake President, and her son is the Bishop of their ward.  Rosie's other brother is a sealer in the temple.  They are a strong, faithful family, and we have enjoyed getting to know them.

      While our luncheon was being prepared, Lutz took all of us to the Karl May birthplace and museum.  Karl May is Hohenstein's claim to fame.

KARL MAY MUSEUM TOUR

  Karl May is the Louis La More of the German speaking people.  He wrote many western books.  He had a love for the American Indians and the American West.  Mr. May never did visit the American West, but his books were read by many of our German and Austrian temple workers, and they loved them.  Several of his books were even made into movies.  The American actor, Lex Baxter, was displayed on a poster in the museum, advertising one of his books that was made into a movie.  He, also, mentioned Mormons occasionally in his books, mostly dealing with the subject of polygamy.
     Upon leaving the museum,we drove past the Hohenstein Race Track, where motorcycle racing and sports car racing, take place.  The Wagner's son, and his wife, had some nice looking motorcycles.  They haven't raced on the race track, however, because it costs a lot of money to have an entry in the race.
     The Wagners live in a three story house.  Rosie and Lutz live on the bottom floor, their son and his wife live on the second floor,

MEXICAN MUCHACHO INSIDE MUSEUM

with the bedrooms for the son, and his family, located on the third floor.  So it is a multi generational home.
      Our luncheon was delicious, and so beautifully presented.  We appreciated all the effort that went in to doing this for us.  They were so kind and gracious.  We love them both!



     The Sister Missionaries, Sister Lewis and Sister Strong, have so kindly offered to teach a German class to anyone who would like to learn.  Five or six of us Senior Missionaries, plus one or two Persian speaking people, have been taking the class for the past couple of months.  This class has really been a help to me.  I wish I could have had it a year ago. We meet once a week, with a homework assignment usually given.  I have almost reached the limit of my capacity to keep up in my learning, because I don't spend enough time memorizing the things that just have to be memorized.  Since I only have three months left, I am not going to keep going to class,

ROSIE AND LUTZ WAGNER

because they have to go pretty fast, and it's too much to absorb at such a fast pace, and German is hard.



     Sister Marianne Dospil, a temple volunteer from Vienna, Austria, has been working with us in the temple for the past six months.  She had to return home about 10 days ago because of  a lung disease that she has.  It sometimes  flares up and she has difficulty breathing.  She struggled with this for about two weeks, and then decided that she just needed to go home to be near her own doctors.  She was a valiant temple worker, and she spoke English, so we could really enjoy communicating with her.  We miss her already.  She, also, spoke German and Hungarian.  She was a blessing to all of us.

GARDEN PARTY LUNCHEON

     To end this post, I would like to mention that Bill and I celebrated our 51st wedding anniversary on June 16th.  We enjoyed going out to dinner with the other temple missionary couples.  It's hard to believe that it was that many years ago that I made such a good decision to marry Bill.  He has been a great blessing in my life.  We appreciate so much being able to serve this mission together.  We couldn't be in a better place at this time.  LIFE IS  WUNDERBAR!  AND SO IS THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST, AND THE TEMPLE!

GERMAN CLASS WITH SISTERS LEWIS AND ARMSTRONG!

GOODBYE TO SISTER DOSPIL!   THIRD FROM LEFT!

AT THE SCHWANSCHLOSSCHEN RESTAURANT FOR OUR  51ST ANNIVERSARY