OUR FIRST TRANSFER AND WE'RE STILL COMPANIONS

This week was our first transfer.  We've come from out in the country-side to Frankfurt-proper and best news is we are still companions.  Our new home is the large apartment building next to the Area Office - home to most area office senior missionaries which allows less use of cars and easier sharing of the cars that are available.

This week we fixed mistakes in photos (changed TIF files to JPG) we had previously uploaded to the church’s computer and sent out to the county directors.  Aso turns out Lisbon, and a few other towns aren’t really in Spain after all, causing us to have to resort picture files and reburn disks for Spain and Portugal.  We are pretty provincial, I am afraid. We also attended our first budget review, pleading for money requests for the 2013 public affairs projects of our assigned countries (we have the Scandinavians).  Had to tighten  belts and few countries got all the money they requested. France didn't submit a budget so Martin got assigned the tedious job getting approval for every single request they will have to submit to him. (Gabi has discovered Martin's financial skills.)  We also ran into a snag with the printing of our media book which will not be delivered on time. (Printers fault, not ours).  Elaine's been assigned as editor of a monthly newsletter with several feature articles which will go out to all the public affairs directors in Europe once a month.   

It has been colder and snowy here, but temperatures up to 50 degrees are forecast for next week. Could an early spring be coming? Probably not, but will be good to de-ice for a while. Next week our ward will have its third baptism in three months and it will be the third person in their 20’s and the third not from Germany.  Lee Funxin (sp?) is from China and the Church will be required to inform the Chinese government of his baptism, which makes you wonder what life has in store for him when he returns home. Our last two new members are young people from Africa and from Peru.

Firm mattress is a nice upgrade

The washer also is the dryer!
The bathroom is also the laundry room!

No Elaine is not in a closet and yes you are seeing the entire kitchen

Ok so the halls are a little scary and the smells are, shall we say, foreign? 

HASTENING THE WORK

Frankfurt and the Main River at night

Winter flowers

Missionary friends on P-day

Winter flower box

Our sacrament meeting speaker today was President Swartz of the Frankfurt Mission.  He challenged us to pray for missionary opportunities and gave examples of people who come into the church as a result of small things – a pass along card, a brief word to the person waiting for the light to change.  The Frankfurt Mission has 178 missionaries and he is expecting that number to climb to 270+ by year-end.  He said we have now 58,000 missionaries serving world-wide, which is expected to grow to 100,000 this year.  He, and the high councilor who also spoke, told of when President Kimball was in Germany in 1976 and prophesied that one day the German speaking countries would have “hundreds of stakes” within their borders. We may be on the threshold of that day as the Lord hastens his work.

WHATEVER INTELLIGENCE WE GAIN

Work in the public affairs office is picking up - got paid overtime last week (ha).  Elaine has been given the assignment of publishing a monthly newsletter to be distributed to the directors of public affairs in our 30 countries.  She asks “can you image me with so little computer experience being editor of a newsletter?”  Her ward calling is a similar idea as it’s the weekly Relief Society newsletter which also gives her an opportunity to learn all sorts of technical skills in MS Publisher and Outlook .  She is really growing in learning how to use these programs and perfecting her already fine writing skills. 

We continue madly working on the 2012 media book which will be a sampling of all the attention the Church has received this past year in Europe.  Interest has come as a result of the US presidential campaign, progress of the Paris and Rome Temples, celebration of the 175th anniversary of the Church in England and the recent missionary age announcement. Tomorrow we will spend the day carefully proof-reading each page before it goes to the printer.  We have spent weeks collecting the articles and writing a short narrative about each one.  This entails translating the first paragraph of an article from one of 26 different languages or translating the caption from online video files of TV and radio interviews.  In the absence of a Urim and Thumim, we use Google Translate, our foreign language skills and prayer but it still can be a challenge figuring out the message. Google Translate is pretty literal and doesn’t mind just skipping the hard words. We will be glad to see the book go to print this week.

One of the blessings we enjoy here is associating with the dedicated and experienced senior missionary couples here from all over the US. They have already served in so many capacities, have wonderful stories to share and still have so much to give.  Yesterday our group took a tour of the city of Koblenz and on the hour ride there the Woods from Price told us the story of an Islamic leader in Egypt who converted to the Church, was disowned by his family, falsely accused by them of drug trafficking and sent to prison for 15 years.  Yet the Cairo branch visited him the whole time and helped him when he got out to get safely to Ghana where he now lives and serves in the Ghana Temple. We were inspired but also are reminded that, though the US has many problems, it is still a blessed place to call home.


Some Koblenz highlights:

Outside the modern art museum.

This fountain sculpture of a little boy spitting water is a depiction of a "Schangel" or the illegitimate child of a French occupying soldier and a local German mother.  It is now the symbol of Koblenz.  If you are a native of Koblenz you are a Schangel which is a title of prestige.

Koblenz from the Mosel River

Here you can see where the Mosel joins the Rhein and the city of Koblenz which means "Confluence" or the joining of two rivers

HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2013!

Happy New Year to all our loved ones and if you are reading this then this means you!  Well if you haven’t been in Germany at midnight on New Year’s Eve, you do not know what a fireworks celebration is and I am including the celebration at the mall in Wash. DC.  Here it is all private and apparently anything goes, up to small sticks of dynamite and absolutely everyone for 360 degrees around you and for as far across town as you can see from a fifth floor balcony are shooting off the real-deal sky flying, exploding fireworks that, if they are not individually as big as a commercial demonstration, far exceed any city show by the sheer number of fireworks going off across the city and the duration.  We left our missionary party after about 40 minutes of straight sky and street chaos all around us, only to feel like we were driving through a battle scene on the street and the noise continued until at least 1am.  Can you tell I was impressed?

In the office we are working on a big book that will illustrate all the media attention given to the church in Europe last year. Sister Sirtl is anxious to show it to the brethren when she goes to SLC in February for an annual seminar for all the area directors around the world.  We have also kicked off a project to video members in Italy, France, Germany and Spain answering questions about the church.  We will post these videos on the Church Websites in each country to give journalists and other seekers of truth a visual source to answer questions in their native language and by a local member.  Then we are also working on goal setting with each country director and are preparing to submit their budgets for review and approval by the area presidency.

These pictures are from our Saturday outing for a forest walk and a castle ruin exploration.

Koenigsberg ruins. Several sets of stairs allow you to reach the top of the tower.

These are some of the things I love about Germany:

The architecture. (Listening to 40 church bells with 10,000 of our closest friends.)

Discovering new places with Martin.  (The Palmergarten in Frankfurt.)

I can grow anything without it dying. (My new hyacinths which we had to move outside because they were too fragrant.)

Walking paths within minutes - miles and miles of them. (In the Taunus  hills.)

The fact that Germans can put the nativity in every public square during Christmas without anyone complaining.

The artistry of their window boxes even in the middle of winter.

How charming all the little towns are.

CHRISTMAS IN GERMANY

Christmas Eve dinner table.  Elaine is a master at recreating home.

 Looks like we are going to make it through the season and  into a new year.  We still have our Christmas tree up, but Mutti admits she is glad to have it behind her as she was a bit teary at times.  We enjoyed some beautiful sunshine yesterday that is a great lift to spirits and have again enjoyed some nice walks in the country.  We are jealous of the Utah snow, but not the cold as the temperature usually climbs into the mid-40s during the day. Our country pretty much shuts down between Christmas and January 7^th, when the 3 wise men finally make to Bethlehem.  We were about the only senior missionaries in the Area Office last week and this week we get Monday and Tuesday off for the New Year’s holiday.  We are invited to the Brandes to welcome in the New Year with other Seniors on Monday.  We had better take a nap first. To my surprise, fireworks are allowed but Chinese brands are considered unsafe so Germany makes its own with fun English-sounding names on the packages like “Sky-Banger” and "Hero of the Night"!

AND THE WINNER IS..........

Well in my book you are all winners and we enjoyed your answers to last week's quiz.
Submissions were:
"Archery range ahead (with human targets!) - Bryce Craven
"Hunger Games Here" - Natalie Busath
"Trail Head" - Rich Busath
"Gathering Place" JB  Watsabaugh
"Pedestrian Crossing or Hey I'm Walking Here" - Ali Thackery

And the Prize goes to our good friend JB Watsabaugh for coming closest to the idea of the thing.  Apparently, if the nearby building has a fire or other catastrophe, the area around the sign is where people are supposed to go to meet up and be accounted for.  We have now noticed these in many areas and become more convinced there is a sign  for most everything here, we love it.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

That's $8.00 US  for you Betty Crocker fans!

We are here snug in our little apartment on a dark and windy Sunday night  listening to Frank Sinatra singing “White Christmas” and thinking it’s not going to happen in Frankfurt this year.  Plenty of water from heaven, but just generally too warm for anything to stick for very long.  We’re not complaining though, given we still have a commute into the office every day.  We took a walk out into the country side this morning with our umbrellas against the wind and sideways rain.  The little river that runs past our town was high and fast and reminded us that when we drove past the Rhein yesterday, it looked at flood stage – right up to the road in some places.  I don’t know if Germany ever has a dry season but it’s not the fall or early winter.  We celebrated the winter solstice yesterday though and enjoyed the longer day today with ever better to come.  The ward choir put on the Christmas sacrament meeting today.  Elaine and I got to be readers as well as in the choir.  Lovely meeting with carols from France, Germany, and America.  Did you know that in Germany it is kosher only to sing Silent Night on Christmas Eve or very close to it.  The chorister in our German teacher’s ward scheduled it in sacrament meeting a couple weeks ago and shocked the congregation!

Our humble Christmas Tree

Authentic German Decorations!!

Look soo good, but filled with various liquorsss

Singing for the office Christmas Social

Candid shot of Mom checking on messages from home

2-story carousel at the Christmas Market

This week, in addition to working hard every day at the Public Affairs office, we enjoyed a fine German meal in Bad Homburg and the Russian ballet performing the Nutcracker on Thursday evening and Saturday went with three other missionary couples to Rudesheim to people watch , have a fun lunch and enjoy the Christmas decorations.

Enjoying our mission for sure, but wouldn’t mind dropping in at good friends and children’s homes this next week, oh well, we'll take a rain check until 2014.  Merry Christmas all!

YOU CAN'T WIN IF YOU DON'T ENTER

This week we are sponsoring a fabulous contest!! Correctly guess the meaning of the sign shown above and we will prominently display your name on our website along with the all the myriads of incorrect guesses.  No fair cheating by googling "goofy German traffic signs".




If the sign above just seems too baffling, you are invited to enter a guess in the consolation prize contest:

We bid farewell to our friends, the Bradleys, Monday night as they had us to dinner one last time before heading back to Holladay.  They have been a wonderful example of missionaries who have created their own mission and done much good.  One of their stories will appear in the Ensign sometime in the future and involves the conversion of a woman here in Germany due to a Book of Mormon containing Jack Ashton’s testimony.  Lonnie introduced us at dinner to another cute family they have been fellowshipping which she has turned over to us.

Starting next term Elaine will be taking over for Lonnie Bradley teaching English in a neighborhood elementary school one afternoon a week.  One of the mom’s will assist and it is her family we will continue to fellowship.

We’ve been told that the Church is good at inviting others into our circle.  We invite to Church, to Ward parties, to hear the missionaries.  But we fall short when it comes to joining others’ circles in the community.  So Elaine is  excited our  boss is allowing her to spend one afternoon a week out in a community circle.

Friday was official “clean out the office” day for the entire Europe Area Office.  The employees on all four floors came in dress down clothing and started making room for the new year by dumping old files and shredding old documents.  In the Public Affairs Office we pulled out about five years of old Christmas cards ( hundreds of leftover cards) and offered them to missionaries, employees, bishops and other departments.  Only a few made it to the dumpster.  We also shared cases of old Tab Choir Christmas CDs after convincing our boss that Angela Landsbury wasn’t doing any good sitting in the basement.  The kids in the ward and the missionaries passed out about 75 CDs as they caroled downtown for their mutual activity.

The highlight of the week was…drum roll….Elaine gave away her first Book of Mormon!  Friday afternoon we drove to Nürnberg where Reinhold and Connie Fetzer live.  Nürnberg hosts the largest Christmas market in Germany.  Booths, carnival rides, food vendors and musicians filled the streets and town square.  In this mob of people we met Reinhold and Connie and it was hugs all around as we felt an instant bond.  We visited over hot chocolate, arranging to meet the next morning for breakfast in their home.  After breakfast we talked genealogy and gave them a copy of the Book of Mormon along with some Tabernacle Choir CDs (they had never heard of the choir), a calendar of Utah and some Fetzer shirts and ball caps.  They are a darling couple who speak very good English, are interested in genealogy and are very friendly.  This relationship will continue as they have invited us back to Rothenburg where his parents live on their farm and we have invited them to learn to water ski in Utah.

Saturday afternoon we visited a museum at Hitler’s old rally grounds that told the story of the rise of the Nazi Party to power and ended with the Nurnberg trials in 1945.  Hitler had a big following in Nurnberg early in his rise.  We learned he seized power by violently crushing any opposition or opposing political party and the people were glad to let him do it as he was bringing respectability, self esteem and pride back to the German people after their embarrassing and crushing defeat in WW1.  He tricked them until they had given up all their freedoms or ability to oppose.  Good history lesson for those that just studied accounting in college.

THE FIRST ADVENT OF CHRISTMAS

With Taylor in Petite France, Strasbourg city center

 This past week it turned cold in Frankfurt, we had a good little snow storm Friday that left us with a light layer of snow and temperatures that stay below freezing.  They must use salt on the roads though as we haven’t slipped around much.  We spent last week in the office helping compile a Media Year Book to show Salt Lake how busy our countries have been in handling all the media attention this year, apparently no area has received as much interest as western Europe.  Our intern went home yesterday so we had a nice Christmas goose luncheon for her at a traditional German restaurant last Tuesday (mom said don't pass up any opportunities while we were here, so we are lenient with our diet from time to time).  Our director has a tender constitution and has been out sick all week. Last Friday was the employee/missionary Christmas devotional/luncheon and Elaine’s double quartet was the featured number for the devotional. Then we sang some hymnal carols for the lunch party afterward.  The little group gets to sing the same devotional song "Away in a Manger" in our ward today and in the Freidrichsdorf Ward next week.

We learned that our niece, Laurel McConkie and her husband, James, will be arriving in Prague this coming July to preside over the Czech/Slovak Mission.  So excited to have family only a couple hours away. They are recruiting office help if any of you are ready to serve as senior missionaries.

Christmas spirits!

We had a fun and different Saturday this week.  Taylor Anderson (married to our niece, Teresa) is in Germany on business, so we drove south a couple hours with the Brandes and picked him up at the train station in Karlsruhe, west of Stuttgart, then the 5 of us headed south another hour to Strasbourg, a French town just over the border.  

What a difference it made to Martin to be able to read the French signage and understand the people. (I learned compassion for Martin here in Germany as I suddenly couldn't understand a word. Martin's French came back, ordering French waffles and handling purchases for us all.)

The real deal - magnifique!

It was a sunny cold day and we spent some money in the open air Christmas markets set up in the town center areas (bought some fun French poster art), visited the ubiquitous old Catholic cathedral and then had a most fabulous French gourmet lunch with a price that confirmed how good the food was. We wanted to stick around till dark to see the lights and wandered into a Protestant cathedral that was just starting a public sing-along. That was a highlight of the day as we sang Christmas carols in French with the locals and tourists in the big high ceiling cathedral. We brought Taylor back to

Frankfurt last night as he is working here this week and we will pick him up for church and have him over for dinner afterward.

We are doing fine.  Maybe feeling a bit homesick due to the Christmas season, but I remind Elaine how she Is not stressed with the pressures of all her traditional Christmas preparations – don’t think it’s too much  consolation however.  We will do a 12 days of Christmas and go hometeaching this week, that should help.

This is the choir at the church sing-a-long - there to help us along.

THERE AND BACK AGAIN by Bilbo Baggins

On Tuesday November 21^st we jumped on the plane from Frankfurt and Spencer jumped on the plane from Rochester and we raced to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving and a wedding at long last.  We cannot say how good it was to see our family again if only for a little bit to celebrate this momentous event in our son’s life.  

We are thrilled for them and for their good lives that brought them together at the right time in the right place.  The Lord loves them and He loves their parents.

We are planning our annual National Public Affairs Director Seminar for Brussels next April and did some filming in Frankfurt before the trip home.  Here are Sister Brande, Elaine and I making a commercial tip for how to reach out to opinion leaders to develop a relationship with them.  First decide WHAT the objectives of your Public Affairs Counsel are, then ask WHO is in a position to influence the outcome of your objectives, and finally determine HOW to develop the relationship with that opinion leader.

For the rest of the year it looks like we are going to be busy creating a Europe Area Public Affairs Year Book to chronicle the huge quantity of media coverage the Church has received.

PS Got our first snow fall this morning:)  We say goodbye to the Bradleys who head home next week:(