Yesterday when we were starting our fast, Eileen suggested that we do so expressing to God our thanks for the wonderful week we have experienced. We are both very grateful not to just be feeling well, being over our illnesses and jet-lag, but to have been able to participate in several meetings/interactions/events.
On Tuesday evening we had the opportunity to attend the Frankfurt temple. When we lived in Belgium over 25 years ago, it was the temple we attended. When we served our prior mission to Germany 10 years ago, the temple was closed for renovation (which became a complete rebuild). Even though we had attended the temple in Frankfurt several times before, many years ago, it was the first time we had been in this buiding/temple since the rebuild. It felt good to be back in the Lord’s house again. In addition to several other senior missionaries on our session, there were half a dozen young elders who serve in the Europe Central Turkic and Persian-Speaking mission. The headquarters for that mission is here in Frankfurt and covers congregations in Germany speaking either of those two languages, in addition to Turkey and four countries to the east of it where Church humanitarian efforts are ongoing.
On Thursday morning we attended zone conference for the senior missionaries serving in the Europe Central Area office. Unlike Zone Conference for young missionaries which occur every six weeks, ours happen only a few of times a year. It was one of the most spiritual meetings I have ever attended. For me (Russell) it ranks right up there with the funeral for Elder Packer’s grandson and the meeting when we knelt as a ward and prayed for the recovery of President Wadley after his heart attack in Puerto Rico. Both Elder and Sister Gerard spoke to us in our Zone Conference, Sister Gerard’s theme was about 1 Nephi 4:6 and being led by The Spirit. She gave several examples of her and her familie's life, one of which was during WWII when her father was a naval intelligence officer serving in London. While sitting on a park bench, her father was told twice to "move" by the Spirit. He did so, only to witness from a distance a bomb which hit near the park bench, killing many around it. Elder Gerard spoke about the hastening of the work in the Area and how baptisms are up dramatically over the last two years. As I sat in the meeting, I was overwhelmed by the contrast of being surrounded by so many senior missionaries and the isolation we have felt at times in prior missions. Just after the meeting, one couple was leaving to spend the next 18 months serving in Uzbekistan. I’m sure their mission experience will be much different than mine will be, both potentially very good but theirs much harder.
Shortly after Zone Conference we had our first mission interview with Elder Gerard. As a member of the Area Presidency, he is our ecclesiastical leader during our mission. Due to both of us having worked in the petroleum & chemical industry, we knew several of the same people. His son had also served with us in Missouri where Eileen interacted with him as the mission nurse.
Late on Thursday afternoon Eileen was able to pull off a minor miracle. She was able to arrange a video call for us with two Church employees, a member in the Hamburg area, and members of the Carritas-im-Nordan office. Finding a time when all could do it was almost impossible. If it hadn’t happened this week, it would only have gotten harder in the future due to everyone’s various travel schedules.
On Friday we each received a text from our granddaughter Bree, Shefali’s daughter. She shared with us a 14-page document she had created for a community service blood drive she was organizing. We were both impressed with the detailed planning that she has gone to. I told her that what she was doing was in many ways like our work here as humanitarian missionaries.
Monday morning we woke up to a snowstorm, our first of the year. Traffic was very slow. What would normally take us 10 minutes to get to the office took 45 minutes. It is ironic that the east coast of the US is being pounded by snow, while our church leaders in Utah have asked us to pray for moisture because it has been a very dry winter.
Russell braved a rainstorm to get this photo of the Frankfurt temple during a rainstorm.
This senior missionary, Sister Margit Ezard, has been on a number of missions. We have communicated with her by email over the years but never met her in person until we arrived in Frankfurt. She just came here from the Church Headquarters mission and knows many of the same people that we do.
