Moss Temple Mission: JULY 9 - AUGUST 7, 2018

July has been a very busy month. We have been involved in many activities. On July 9th, all of the temple presidency, and the temple missionary couples decided to take a cruise down the Elbe River.

LEIPZIG FERRY BOAT ON ELBE RIVER AT DRESDEN DOCK

We were unsure if the cruise could take place because the river was so low . It has been such a dry summer in Germany, and the depth of the river has shrunk so much that they were afraid to take the boats out. We found out the day before our departure that the Ferry Boats were running, but on a shortened version. We boarded the Leipzig Ferry Boat at the Dresden Dock and began our cruise. Our goal had been to float down the river to the Pillnitz Palace and Park. Pillnitz Palace was once the Saxon Royal Court's summer residence. Because of the depth of the river, we were unable to float as far as the palace, much to our disappointment.

US WITH THE WADOSCH'S ON THE FERRY BOAT

We did enjoy seeing the many stately homes along the river bank, and, also, three other castles along the way. It was interesting to learn that many years ago the Elbe River was used as a place to swim. The girls swam in a different area of the river. than the boys. As we cruised down the river we passed kayaks and canoes with rowing teams manning the oars. We also passed families sun bathing, and swimming in the river altogether.

Following the cruise we gathered at a restaurant in the Dresden Town Square, close to the Frauenkirche, and had a delicious Italian meal.

WITH TODD AND DREW OUTSIDE TEMPLE DOORS

A special treat for us was a visit from Todd and Drew on July 9th. Todd had to come to Germany to teach classes at Vilsek U S. Military Base. He brought Drew along to experience a foreign country, and to visit with us before he leaves on his mission to Chile on August 28th. Drew stayed here in Freiberg with us while Todd went to Vilsek. We had a wonderful time with Drew in the temple. He was able to participate in all of the temple ordinances during the four days that he was here. Todd was also able to join us for the last two days. Visiting Dresden, and its' beautiful sites, as well as a quick visit to Koenigstein Fortress, and the President Monson Dedication Site, filled up our evening hours. We concluded our Dresden visit by dining at the Pulver Turm Restaurant ( one of our favorites.) We also showed them a bit of the city of Freiberg. It was hard to say good-bye.

AT KOENIGSTEIN FORTRESS

While Drew was here, we had the opportunity to go to our Gemeindehaus (that is our church building) to hear a concert by the Utah Baroque Ensemble. This group was composed of about 30 church members from Utah who were touring Europe giving concerts in Leipzig, Dresden, and several other cities in Germany. An organist with the group also performed on some of the famous organs in Germany. They performed wonderfully, and even provided some cello and violin accompaniment from members of the group on several of their songs. Following one of our evening excursions we went to the SchwanSchloss Restaurant, and met this whole groups having dinner there.

UTAH BAROQUE ENSEMBLE CONCERT

We were able to have a short visit with a couple of people in the group.

Peter and Heike Schoenherr, our temple recorder, and his wife, hosted a grill party in their backyard for all of the temple presidency and temple missionaries. A wonderful meal of kebabs, chicken breasts and bratwurst, plus several salads and fruits was served. It was nice to get to learn more about their family and to see their lovely home. I work with Heike in the

SCHOENHERR GRILL PARTY- PETER TO MY RIGHT

Branch Primary, and we work with Peter everyday. He has been the temple recorder for about 20 years.

Visiting Castles has been a frequent activity for us this month. On July 23rd, we drove to Eisenach, Germany. We visited Eisenach in March, but it was very cold, and we didn't get out of our car. After promising ourselves a return visit, we just drove home. This time we wanted to go inside the Bachhaus and visit Wartburg Castle.

ORGAN LIKE BACH PLAYED ON

The Bachhaus is thought to be the birthplace of Johann Sebastian Bach. Inside we had a short live music performance played on several different musical instruments that Bach composed music for, as well as played himself. Bach was born into a very musical family. His father played very well, as did one of his uncles. Inside this museum about Bach, there is a listening room with headphones, comfortable chairs, and a chance to listen to as many of the pieces composed by Bach as you wish.

Wartburg Castle is perched over the town of Eisenach. When Martin Luther spoke out against Catholic Church corruption he made enemies of the pope and emperor, and put his life in jeopardy. Luther was given refuge, in Wartburg Castle by a sympathetic prince, and, hidden away in a small room, he diligently translated the New Testament from original Greek sources. Luther's bible

BACHHAUS LISTENING LAB

was so widely circulated that it helped shape the development of standard written German -- making Wartburg, in a sense, the birthplace of the modern German language.

As we toured this castle, we found that it had some very beautiful rooms. The last room we visited was the setting for part of the composer Wagner,s musical" Tannhauser." The vast banquet hall is still used today as the setting for the high school graduation of the students of Eisenach

WARTBURG CASTLE - LUTHER TRANSLATION ROOM

Dining in the home of President and Sister Erlacher was a special treat for us. After church on the 29th of July, we joined Gordon and Kathleen Lindsay at the Erlacher's apartment for dinner. They have a much larger apartment than we missionaries have, and it is nicely furnished. The Erlacher's are such lovely people. They speak some English, and have very pleasant personalities. It is easy to love them, and to serve in the temple with them is a privilege. They have been gone from their home serving the Lord in different capacities for the past seven

WARTBURG CASTLE

years. They will be released as the temple president on October 31st, the same day and Bill and I are released from our 18 month mission.

July 30th found us driving to Meissen, Germany. Meissen is about a 45 minute drive from Freiberg. We have wanted to visit Meissen because it is the home of the famous, expensive Meissen Porcelain. In the late 17th and into the 18th century, Saxon Princes had a desire to find the formula for making porcelain. They had been shipping it in from the Orient, and it was very expensive. Chemists were assigned to study this porcelain and find out how it was made so they could make it here in Germany.

We visited Meissen's Albrechtsburg Castle. In the 17th century, one of the floors of this castle, was set up as a laboratory to discover the porcelain formula, and then used to make porcelain objects.

DINNER WITH PRES. & SIS. ERLAACHER

Now days there is a beautiful museum in downtown Meissen, displaying porcelain objects made here throughout several centuries. On our tour we saw a video about how porcelain is made, and then a demonstration of how the design is painted on. It was very well presented, but we didn't buy any of it because of the expense. Albrechtsburg Castle was restored somewhat in the 18th century, and I think it is one of the most beautiful ones that we have seen.

ALBRECHTSBURG CASTLE & CATHEDRAL - MEISSEN

On August 6th, we visited our last castle -- Colditz Castle. This castle is located in Colditz, Germany, and is famous as a prison used for housing high ranking soldiers and officers who were captured as prisoners of war from 1939 - 1945 during World War II. It is famous because over 300 attempts were made to escape from this prison. At least thirty of these attempts were successful. One attempt to escape was in a glider built to fly from one of the roofs of the castle. Sixteen men helped to build the glider but only two people would be able to escape in it.. Two days before they planned to fly it,
and escape, the American Army liberated the town and the castle on 16 April 1945.

This castle imprisoned approximately 600 opponents of the Nazis. Allied officers from Great Britain, France, Belgium, Holland and Poland were kept here. It was claimed that the castle was escape-proof because of the rocky crags on which the castle stands, the barbed-wire fences, the numerous guards and searchlights.

MEISSEN PORCELAIN ON DISPLAY

These prisoners were generally well treated according to the terms of the Geneva Convention. When not busy planning their next escape attempts, the prisoners largely spent their days engaged in sports, playing music, rehearsing and performing in plays, and learning foreign languages.

In the early morning hours of late July, all of us temple missionaries, and the temple presidency, gathered on the front steps of the temple for a picture. With the sun shining in our eyes, we tried to make a good smile. We wanted this picture taken before Viktor and Karin Wadosch, first counselor in the temple presidency, left to return to their home in Austria. Viktor has been called to be the new temple president starting November 1st. The church wanted him to have three months off to prepare, and to come to Salt Lake for training. We will miss them very much.