JUNE 26 - JULY 5, 2017 FREIBERG, GERMANY

WE ARE FINALLY LEGAL IN GERMANY!  It has taken us this long to get our Visa's.  It is a little plastic card that looks like a credit card, or driver's license, and has our picture on it.  It expires April 14, 2019, and cost us a $120 each.  We are thankful to have that task behind us.

     It was hair cut time again, and I thought I would add a picture of our hairdresser.  Her name is Angela Froebel, and her shop is in the basement of her home.  She has a beautiful shop, which she furnished from IKEA.

ANGELA AT WORK!

 She is, also, our Relief Society President.  She does a great job on me, and this time she even got Bill's crew cut haircut done the way he likes it.    She said that she had never done a haircut like his before, but she is learning.  We really appreciate her!

     On June 24th, we went downtown to shop at a store called ROSSMAN.  When we got downtown, the store was closed because the town was celebrating the 32 FREIBERGER BERGSTADTFEST.  The whole street was filled with thousands of visitors and many little booths, all with people selling things to buy and eat.


 AND I MUST SAY, THE BEER WAS FLOWING ABUNDANTLY!    We mingled with the masses for a few minutes, and then decided to try buying something at one of the shops.  We stopped at Dresdner Hardbrot and bought a ham and cheese sandwich to share.

 It was topped it with sour cream and parsley.  The homemade brot was good, but I'd rate the filling inside at about a 50%.  It was fun to try something new, however.  It was amazing to me that so many people attended the event.












     Becoming a little more acquainted with the town of Freiberg is always fun.  We learned of an Abendmusik Organ concert being presented in a church downtown.  The church is called the Dom St. Marien zu Freiberg, or Domgemeinde Freiberg..  It is famous for the Silbermann organ that was built inside the church in the 1700's.

THE ORGANIST!

The organist was a young man who looked to be in his late 30's or early 40's.  He was very talented, and played seven organ numbers, showing the capabilities and various sounds that this famous organ can make.  We went to the concert with our friends, Ed and Judy Fillmore.

THE ORGAN!

 It lasted about and hour, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  These churches we visit are always so old and ornate.  As I walk through them, I am always thankful that I don't have to clean the building, like we do as we take turns cleaning our church buildings at home.


     A special pair of Elders serve in Freiberg, as well as a pair of Sisters.  We have become acquainted with these Elders, and wanted to get to know them better.  So, on their last P-Day we invited them to go to McDonalds with us.

ELDER DRAKE & ELDER COLMERE

 They are Elder Drake, from Logan, Utah, and Elder Colmere, from Sandy, Utah.  The young missionaries really do bring life and added joy to our mission.  They serve sprecifically the Freiberg Ward, and the Sisters serve in the Freiberg Branch boundaries.  We have invited the Sisters to dinner in our apartment several times, but this is the first time that we have had a good visit with the Elders.  These young people are great to associate with, and they really are an asset to the Church.


     By the pictures I post, you would think that all we do it eat!  However, I must tell about the Italian Lasagna Dinner Party, the missionary couples held on July 3rd.  Sister Spizzirri, from Italy, is a single sister temple worker who serves with us in the temple.

SISTER SPIZZIRRI!

 She wanted to cook an authentic Italian lasagna and serve it to the temple workers.  She, and several other Sisters, made the lasagna, and some of us brought salad, some drinks, and others dessert.  We all met in the missionary room for our dinner.  It was served, and Bill and I ate, and enjoyed it immensly.  As I was almost finished eating my piece of lasagna, someone asked Sister Spizzirri what the little pieces of white were in the lasagna,  We thought they might be little chunks of mozarella cheese.  She told us that they were chunks of chopped egg.  Well, right then and there I wanted to throw up.  You know I can't stand eggs, and the thought that I had just eaten some egg, made me sick.  It's funny, but I was ok until I found out that it was egg!  Needless to say, I pulled the rest of the pieces of egg out of my lasagna!  My son, David, told me that it just goes to show that my dislike is all in my head!  He could be right!  For dessert we ate a delicious strawberry, pudding and cookie concoction!  

DESSERT!

  After dinner we all watched a church movie entitled "One Good Man."  It was about the life of a Bishop in the church.  Bill and I had never seen it before, but it was a great movie!  President Wagner, of the Temple Presidency, is displaying the movie cover!

PRESIDENT WAGNER - ONE GOOD MAN!

          This past week the baptistry has been full of Hungarian Saints.  They come in each morning and do baptisms, then spend the rest of the day doing the other ordinances for their ancestors.  Some of the people from Hungary have been trained to serve in the temple, and help us with their members, especially in using the Hungarian language as we perform the ordinances.  We have met many of them one other time, and by the time our 18 month mission is up, we will probably see them several more times, and get to know them even better.  We are so blessed to get to know these faithful people. We count our blessings every day.

VIEW OF APPROACH TO TEMPLE GROUNDS!

     I learned a new sentence in German this week.  It is "Ich gehe essen!"  In case you didn't know, that means "I am going to eat."  All people need to know how to say that in the country they are living in!!!   RIGHT!!!!!