I'M SO GLAD YOU WERE BORN

The biggest event in the mission this week was Elaine’s birthday today.  Thank you all for your nice cards, letters and emails.  We spent this past week working on the Country Fact Sheet project, continuing to organize our department’s master records file on the computer, and preparing to brief Elder Christopher Charles, the Area Seventy for all the eastern countries in our area, plus Greece and Cyprus.  We spent a delightful couple of hours with him on Friday, sharing what Public Affairs does in Europe and what his responsibilities are as advisor to the Directors in his countries.  We treated him to dinner afterward at a nearby Biergarten so he could have a German cuisine experience, as he is from England.  All the new area seventies are here this weekend to be trained by the Area Presidency, but only Elder Charles asked to get some Public Affairs training as he is brand new.  We were fascinated by his stories of Greece where he was most recently Mission President.  

Christian Terreaux and the Cravens at the Huggenotten Garten

Midweek this week, we went to dinner with our wonderful French friend Christian Terreaux who was here for French week at the temple.  

Then on Thursday night our missionary friends the Swifts, invited us to the Palmgarten for an outdoor blues music concert staring several legendary American blues player/singers who we had never heard of but who were really good.  It was fun to see the conservative German crowd loosen up and dance in the aisles.  A little lager helped raise their spirits.

Saturday we enjoyed a lovely walk in the forest with our friends the Livingstones and our friend Gabi Harth who takes care of the missionaries registrations and drivers licenses. The Livingstones go home in a couple of weeks we will will feel the loss tremendously.  They have been such a perfect example of the Savior's love shown by service.

Gabi and Robbie on the left, Martin middle, Elder Livingstone right

Sister Livingstone, Gabi and Elaine