President Monson addresses the Saints at a special meeting in Frankfurt on October 21, 2012
He observes that speaking to the Craven's is like preaching to the choir
Elaine tells me someone read our blog last week and so we must keep it up. She is so good to me that I
must comply. Today was a spiritual feast. We were at Frankfurt’s
Centennial Hall early this morning, about 8:15am, for one last choir practice
before our special meeting with President Monson at 10am. You would have thought it was 5 minutes
before 10am as just about everyone was already there waiting for
the doors to open. Indeed by about 9am
the hall was absolutely full of excited Saints, and we could have started if our
speakers were there. President Monson
inspired us to reach out to the lonely, the forgotten and the friendless in
love and compassion – to include them in our lives and invite them back to the
faith if their step has faltered. Elaine
and I loved being in the choir, very fun to be on the stage and see the mass of
faithful members, so small a group in their respective communities but a
powerful strength when assembled to hear and honor their prophet.
After church we took a nice long walk in the beautiful fall weather, but came home to a note
on our door from the neighbors below complaining that water was running down
their kitchen and bathroom walls. We
were able to get the landlord over and she will call the plumber to figure out
what is going on. Repairs don’t seem to
happen very fast around here so we are a bit anxious about prospects of having
a torn up kitchen.
Yesterday we went with the Brandes to Rüdesheim on the Rhein
River about an hour west of here. The
weather was beautiful. We rode a 2-person tram up the mountain, strolled through a forest on top to a chair lift that took us down to
another town further down river. After
pleasant lunch of fresh trout and turkey curry schnitzle over spätzle noodles, we took
a short boat ride up the Rhein to where we started the day.
Here are our tourist pictures for the week:
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| We drove up this street. I don't know what we would have done if we had met a car coming down, |
 |
| Above the fog on the mountain top |
 |
| Our wonderful friends, Elder Jim and Carol Brande, also Public Affairs Missionaries |
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| Grapes growing straight up the steep mountain side |
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| People were shorter in the 1500's |
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| Self-portrait on the chair lift |
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| Rudesheim is a charming little berg - or is it a dorf? |
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| In the forest on the mountain top |
PS: For dinner today Elaine today made the most excellent Ratatouille Nicoise over couscous that I have ever tasted. I should have taken a picture of it in honor of Scott Jacobson!
Elaine tells me someone read our blog last week and so we must keep it up. She is so good to me that I
must comply. Today was a spiritual feast. We were at Frankfurt’s
Centennial Hall early this morning, about 8:15am, for one last choir practice
before our special meeting with President Monson at 10am. You would have thought it was 5 minutes
before 10am as just about everyone was already there waiting for
the doors to open. Indeed by about 9am
the hall was absolutely full of excited Saints, and we could have started if our
speakers were there. President Monson
inspired us to reach out to the lonely, the forgotten and the friendless in
love and compassion – to include them in our lives and invite them back to the
faith if their step has faltered. Elaine
and I loved being in the choir, very fun to be on the stage and see the mass of
faithful members, so small a group in their respective communities but a
powerful strength when assembled to hear and honor their prophet.
I read your blog! It's fun to see you two over there and get updates on how life is for you :)
ReplyDeleteLooks like a lot of fun! Inspiring to hear of the faith of the local people there.
ReplyDelete