PERSPECTIVE

On the weeks that we are in town, we try to go to the gym.  The building we work in has a very nice facility.  We have found that it is difficult to go during lunch because we always seem to be too busy.  Going before or after work is complicated by our sharing a car with another couple. On a few days, the elder with whom we share a car has wanted to stay after and go to the gym while his wife got a ride home with other missionaries.  This week we were blessed by two other couples who were traveling and allowed us to use their cars for a few days while they were gone.  This has allowed Elder and Sister Walch, the couple we share a car with and us to each have a car to ourselves this week.  We and several other couples who are carsharing are looking into leasing our own cars during our stay here.  While the cost is at least double the amount that we would be charged by the Church for a car, it would be nice not to have to keep to a set time schedule to start and stop work each day, and to not be without a car every other weekend. 

On Friday Eileen and I both had interesting experiences in the gym.  That day Eileen tried for the first and probably last time to try going at the beginning of the day.  I figured I could cover for us in the office.  It just so happened that we had a fire alarm evacuation while she was working out.  Fortunately, she was on the treadmill at the time, an elder was actually in the shower when the alarm went off.  I should have taken a picture of us all standing in the parking lot.  Eileen was freezing, sweating without a coat.  One of the other couples who had their car keys let Eileen sit in their car until the drill was over.

That evening after work we both went to the gym.  The lockers all have combination locks that you set yourself.  I had heard of others being locked out of their lockers when the locks failed to reopen.  But my experience had always been good until that night.  By the time I realized that my locker would not open, almost everyone had gone home.  Someone had to be called back into the office to reopen my locker.  The employees told us that the locks failing to reopen happens all the time.  Good to now know.  I won’t lock my locker anymore.

Yesterday, Eileen was texting with a Sister living in the UAE.  She and her husband are volunteers there working with Family History.  Eileen started texting her a week ago when we first heard of the air strikes in Iran.  Her description of how they were under their desks, sheltering-in-place while listening to explosions and rockets passing nearby made our problems with carsharing and the gym seem quite insignificant.  I feel very blessed and fortunate to live in a clean and safe place, where my worry is what I will choose to eat and not if I will have anything to eat. Far too often I get caught up in my rather trivial problems while many others of God’s children are suffering truly serious and grave issues.  I am grateful for the opportunity to serve, to work on humanitarian and disaster relief projects.  From the office sometimes I lose site of the suffering those benefiting from the projects are experiencing

This a lego version of Neuschwanstein Castle done by Norbert in the Area Office.  It has 11,000 pieces. 

We were invited over to the Silvestors apartment for FHE and ice cream potatoes. We thought it was a typo, but it wasn't.  Ice cream shaped into a potato.  

We have quite a nice gym at the office.  The Germans are serious about having the office decked out with healthy opportunities.  We have a resting room with 4 massage chairs, a massage room with a massage therapist who comes to offer free massages. (I have yet to get in on that deal).  Fresh fruit and veggies are delivered to the office each Monday and Wednesday.  It is a nice option if you didn't have time to get a lunch

                                     

       

It seems like eating this pizza counteracts any benefit of going to the gym, but it was very good.  Russell and I shared this pizza. Most people were eating one pizza per person.  We thought it was way too big for one person to eat.  

We bought a 3 Euro vase at Woolworths, the roses were 6 Euros. Russell said he will get me fresh flowers each week. 

We saw lots of  people driving convertibles yesterday. The weather has been beautiful. 

VISIT FROM TWO PROPHETS, SEERS AND REVELATORS

This past week the Area office was host to two apostles, Dale G. Renlund and Gerald Causse. They along with S. Mark Palmer, of the Presidency of the Seventy, came to do a review of the Europe Central Area.  On Wednesday morning we had the privilege of hearing them speak to the employees and senior missionaries.  We (both Eileen and I, and The Church) sustain these two men, along with the other apostles as modern day prophets, seers and revelators.

I (Russell) would like to share one point from each of their talks that stood out to me.  Elder Renlund reminded us that although the world is in turmoil, that we need not fear because we know that ultimately God will prevail, Christ will return and usher in the millennium, and our place in His kingdom can be certain by keeping our temple covenants.  That does not mean the road between now and that certain future may not be difficult, but we can be assured that right will, in the end, prevail.  Elder Causse spoke on stiving for unity with those with whom serve, and how receiving revelation is usually dependent upon our doing so.  I believe this is true in many aspects of our lives.  Nothing leads the Spirit to depart from us as quickly as contention does.  Elder Palmer talked about the growth of the Church in Europe and how it has been accelerating in recent years.  It caused me to wonder if this was not just due to the missionaries going out and gathering God’s children into the Church, but perhaps because God’s non-member children are also coming to where the Church is and finding it.  Like in North America, many immigrants are coming to Western Europe for a variety of reasons: to escape war and political turmoil, to find religious tolerance, and to seek economic opportunity, to name just a few.  While they may come for a variety of reasons, all can benefit from finding the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His church.

Yesterday we decided to take our day off to go see the country.  We drove to Nuremberg, about 140 miles southeast of Frankfurt. While it was good to get out and do something different, my lack of preparation made it plain to me that what was once second nature to me has been neglected as of late.  It did not occur to me to check for road closures.  That cost us about two hours.  Nor did I plan out exactly what we wanted to visit and the closing times.  We arrived at the castle ticket booth at 3 pm.  The castle closes each day at 4 pm and the last admittance is at 3 pm.  We watched as the small group just in front of us in line were the last ones admitted in.  But the brats were great!

                                 

Temple night with our zone at the Frankfurt temple. We could only get part of the group in the photo because others had obligations right after the session and left quickly.

                                      

Saying goodbye to the Eddys and Ginghams with Elder Pixton playing the guitar.  We served our second mission with the Bingham's when we were in the missionary department.  He is an orthopedic surgeon who is now the Area Medical Advisor.    He and his wife have served in the missionary department, Ukraine, Nauvoo, Frankfurt and will leave for New Zealand in 2027.

                                    

Twenty eight of the senior sister missionaries had lunch at Sunflower Garden restaurant organized by Sister Denny who is a master party organizer.

                                                 

What a privilege to have two apostles visit the Europe Central Area. Elder Renlund and Elder Causse shook every individuals hand.  We actually were able to shake their hands on Tuesday when they came by our department and also at the devotional. There was a photographer taking photos of each one of us which we hope to get at some point. 

                                        

Sister Denny took me to the pools in Bad Homburg Friday morning so we could swim laps. There were at least 8 pools to swim in.  We swam outside for a while with the fog hanging over the pool it was really magical.

                                          

While the Sisters went out to eat on Friday the Elders went for brats.  It was during the Elders adventure that Russell found out that the Hills were going to Nuremberg on Saturday also. We decided to join forces and go together. Unfortunately the museum documenting the trials in Nuremberg was being renovated so there wasn't much to see there.  We ate lunch at this restaurant which first opened in 1492. Afterwards we walked to the castle, which closed to any new visitors 3 minutes prior to us getting there.  We wandered the town and ended at Albrecht Durer's home. Durer is a famous painter in Germany who lived in the house below starting in the 1490s. It is now a museum.

                             

The Durer house constructed in about 1420.

                                               

Albrecth Durer's self portrait and praying hands.

                                              

Cobblestone streets and medieval houses are plentiful in Nuremberg

Nuremberg castle built around the year 1000.

This area was used an ice skating rink, but the surface wasn't even cold.  Russell thought it might be a type of plastic that people were skating on. 

The biggest concern of the day was when we heard that bombing had started in the Middle East.  I (Eileen) spent most of the way home texting back and forth with some friends of ours who are serving in the UAE.  They have been sheltered in place since Thursday.  Our prayers go out to all the innocent people put in harm's way by this conflict.

A LONG WALK AND A LONGER RIDE

Most of what we do in a week involves office work, primarily on the computer, related to humanitarian projects that we currently have open.  As I told several Welfare couples that were in a training with us this last week, 20 percent of the humanitarian work is fun, the 10 percent on the front end when we are finding and planning new projects, and the 10 percent on the back end when we are implementing and finalizing the projects.  The field or in-country Welfare couples participate with us in those activities.  80 percent of the time spent on a project is office work: emails and time on the computer. So, rarely will we spend much time writing about the 80 percent.

 While we didn’t have any project finding or implementing type work this week, we did have a fun day yesterday.  Eileen suggested we go on a short walk.  We ended up walking over five miles to the center of Bad Homburg and back.  It was good to get out and see the neighborhoods, people, shops, church buildings and old city castle.  

Early in the afternoon we were picked up by one of our managers to go visit a member in the US military stake a couple of hours southwest of us.  Eileen and I had been invited by a member of the high council to meet with them between two of their stake conference meetings.  I had come into contact with the Brother Smith about a reimbursement from the Area office that had been messed up.  Eileen had come into contact with his wife due to her submission of a potential project for the women in their congregation.  Only by comparing their email addresses did we figure out that they were related. 

As we were not the best people for them to be in contact with regarding their interest in volunteering type projects, we invited our manger over Germany, Florian Titze and his wife, Lisa.  Lisa is in the stake relief society presidency here in Friedrichsdorf.  Friedrichsdorf is city where the temple is located.  Bad Homburg, the city where we live, is located to the north between Frankfurt and Friedrichsdorf.  We also took with us a young woman, Julie, who is working at the office and helping to coordinate volunteering projects for the Church members here.  Julie has had a very interesting but challenging life for a 21-year-old.  Born in Syria, she left alone at age 16 to move to The Czeck Republic, where she joined the Church.  Recently she moved to Germany, met her husband in the Frankfurt temple, getting married in Denmark because the paperwork in Germany would take many months to work through.  The life of a refugee is complicated, difficult in ways that are unimaginable to most of us.  We have seen that up close during our times living in Europe and at home in Utah.

Our meeting in Kaiserslautern (aka K-Town), was delightful.  K-Town is close to Ramstein air base, so there are a lot of US military and civilian personnel in the area.  It was fun to meet and serve with regular members of the Church, and not just with senior missionaries in the office.  The Area Presidency has promoting volunteerism for the members here as one of their focuses for this year.  We should all take to heart King Benjamin’s words, “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah 2:17).  While we will not be directly involved with the activities coming out of our visit, it was still fun to get out and meet people.        

I (Eileen) had a doctor's appointment in downtown Frankfurt.  When we walked into the medical office, Russell recognized it immediately, having been there 10 years ago. We both have a history of kidney stones.  I try and drink a lot, however in Europe you pay 8 dollars for .75 liter of water so it is pretty pricey to drink while not home or at the office..  You can't get tap water at restaurants. After the doctor appointment we went to a popular Doner shop.  My doner lasted several meals.  The thing was huge!

    

We had new missionary training this week.  The couples who are serving out in "the field" came to Frankfurt and we were taught about Welfare/Self Reliance skills. We had couples serving in Austria, Macedonia, Croatia present, along with a couple from Turkey viewing the training session remotely.  

                             

 The same dinner but from the other end of the table.  

                                                        

We have company for dinner every Sunday.  We have found the easiest dinner to cook is a roast in a crockpot. Usually there is a butcher who speaks English and points out the best roast to buy.  Russell bought this roast at the local market, but wasn't sure what he was purchasing as the butcher on Saturday didn't speak English.  We had others say based on the package description, that it was either lamb or pork. Russell thought it might be venison.  In the end we asked a butcher on our walk what he thought it was. He saw a photo and said it was beef.  Whew, we were worried about sharing meat of unknown origin with company.

                                                 The entrance to the Bad Homburg Castle

                            One of the buildings with ornate carvings at the Bad Homburg Castle

This is the tower which we saw on our walk. It is part of the Hamburg Castle.  It was first built in the 12th century.

          This street is for pedestrians only.  There are lots of cafes and little shops on Louisenstrasse.

Homburg has been a Protestant town since the reformation in 1527.  It was not until the end of the 18th century that a small Catholic community was formed. This church is St Mary's Church and is the principal Roman Catholic parish in Bad Homburg.

                         The Church of the Redeemer was built to serve Bad Homburg's Lutheran Christians

     

                                                    The center Square of Bad Hombug
                               

We had a wonderful time traveling to Kaiserslautern with Florian and his wife and Julie. In our other missions we haven't really gotten a chance to know the local church members.  With the 2 hour each way drive we learned about all 3 of these great members.  

ROMANS AND REFUGEES

In some ways this week reminded me (Russell) of when we served here before, in that while our apartment and office are in Germany, most of our work is elsewhere.This week my time was spent on setting up a project to provide funding for an emergency relief project for victims of the floods in Southern Spain, arranging payment for purchasing a refrigerated truck in Vienna, seeking approval to build a fence in Sicily, and a trip to Rome to look for future projects. 

Elder and Sister Vardeu, a local church service missionary couple, set up appointments for the four of us to meet with leaders of the Rome Municipality and with an NGO associated with the Catholic Church known as the  Scalabrinians.  This NGO has as its mission to care for the needs of migrants, refugees, and displaced people. They take seriously, as do we, Jesus’ parable of the sheep and goats wherein he said, “I was a stranger, and ye took me in” and “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matt. 25: 31-46). Our church has worked with this NGO on projects before and I am sure we will continue to do so in the future. 

As we were waiting in the hallway prior to our meeting with two city officials who deal with social welfare matters, a half dozen other people joined us.  While most did not know each other previously, I was surprised at how quickly they were engaged in multiple simultaneous conversations, which were joyful, fast paced, and loud.  I came away from our meetings in Rome and our time with the Elder and Sister Vardeu, impressed by the pleasure they find in associating with one another and from life in general.  I need to learn from them to do more of that.

While we did not have time in Rome to do much other than make our visits and work remotely on projects from our hotel, we did find time to attend the temple. This was our first time in the Rome temple.  Ten years ago we saw it while under construction.  It felt good to be in the temple again, away from the cares of the world outside. 

The sunset as we flew to Rome was spectacular.  The clouds were a shade of purple. We were flying on Lufthansa which of course made me think of Elder Uchdorft flying and his pilot stories. 

"Breaking bread" together seems to be an integral part of relationships in Italy.  The Vardeus introduced us to new kinds of pasta dishes.  In the photo below Elder Vardeu is eating a fried artichoke for dessert.

Our hotel had 3 olive trees out front and a lemon tree in the back

This scooter was in the foyer of our hotel. I told Russell that I wanted one for Mother's Day

There were huge trees in Rome with beautiful, yellow blossoms called Mimosa trees. When I (Eileen) commented on how beautiful the trees were, Elder Vardeu stopped the car and cut some blossoms off for both Sister Vardeu and me. 

We stopped by the Rome Temple to pick up our translator.  Elder Vardeu served in the Rome Temple Presidency and also found the land for the temple.  He seems to know everyone and everything about Italy.  Here he is explaining to us about some of the New Testament stories depicted in this beautiful stained glass mural at the Rome Visitor Center.    Apparently there are a great number of stories in this single mural. 

Salvo serves as security for the Temple, our translator and also played the piano for the Giving Machines closing event.  During our visit to the Rome Municipality there were 13 Italians and then Russell and I. It seemed that there were multiple conversations going on at a time.  The more excited individuals got, the louder and faster they spoke.  Salvo said it was pretty difficult to translate because he didn't know which conversation to follow.  However, when Russell asked a question of Elder Vardeu every single person in that room became quiet and listened to him.

We had a wonderful visit with these representatives of the NGO Scalabrini. Marianna and Father Gabriela told us about many of the services their volunteers perform. I (Eileen) enjoyed hearing about their efforts with refugees. I was surprised when Father Gabriela kissed my hand as we were leaving and told me what a pleasure it was to have met me. He seemed particularly impressed that we had adopted three children.  That is definitely something you don't see being done in American culture.

The Scalabrini NGO feeds 100-120 needy people every day, utilizing the services of 60 volunteers.

Parking is at a premium in Rome. If you can't fit in the spot I guess the solution is to park sideways.

This painting of the Rome temple is in the Visitor Center.

We attended a closing ceremony of the Giving Machines on Wednesday evening at the Visitor Center. The temple can be seen through the big glass windows facing the temple.

Russell and Eileen with Elder and Sister Vardeu in front of the Christus in the Visitor Center

There are statues representing the apostles situated behind the Christus

When we returned home we were badly in need of some groceries. We went to a Costco-like store called Metro.  It was a little tricky figuring out what kind of meat was there.  The cheese wheel pictured below was 40 pounds