From Dad 5/25

Good morning men,

What an awesome responsibility we all carry as priesthood holders. Those very serious and very important moments when what has been given to us to bless the lives of others is called upon as well as our faith and preparedness to exercise this faith to give blessings in the name of our Father in Heaven. Each time such a blessing is given, mom and I both have felt the strength of the Spirit in our presence witnessing from whom the blessing came. Over the years mighty miracles have been realized. More than once people committed to serious surgery or medical procedures have been pronounced after such a blessing whole and in no need of any further medical treatment. Such blessings are not intended for abuse of the services of the medical community, but in the Lord’s wisdom can come when such medical procedures would not be in the best interest of the one receiving the blessing. There is a difference.

Sister Frank who worked in the German courts for over 30 years suffered alcoholism only in her later years. You may remember her telling us she could not even exercise sufficient self control to enter a grocery store or to take a walk outside their home without her husband for several weeks before her level of self control was strong enough to just say “no” when the temptation to drink would come. Even today those temptations remain very strong. She knows this challenge will be a part of her life as long as she lives. So it is with addictions. Today she is still uncertain whether she has a Father in Heaven. She is starting from the beginning when we talk about prayer. She mentioned this week she has been able to say the “Lord’s Prayer” daily for several weeks. We talked a lot about how important her personal feelings are to her Father in Heaven. She said the closing prayer and it was from the heart. This is a hard fought battle for her to bring the Spirit back into her life and to feel His guidance from day to day. This is what our hope is for her.

Anne Berner said the closing prayer in our meeting this week. She asked the Lord to help us all find and stay on a good way. We want nothing more. Much of the time was spent in the Bible. She loves the Bible having been a religion teacher in the schools most of her life. She is in the middle of working through can we know or only believe something is true. She is sincere and in time this too will become clear to her. We talked about how the Book of Mormon was not given to us to replace the Bible but as a second witness that Jesus is the Christ. She does not challenge us on the truth only seeks to be sure all truth she currently holds in her heart is not being given up. She has in her heart a clearer picture of what the Lord intended with the restoration. Her grandson will be baptized tomorrow. This too will have a great impact. When he too has the gift of the Holy Ghost and can do some joint teaches with us where he bears his own testimony, this will bring a feeling she can understand in no other way. When mom bore her testimony to Anne this week the Spirit was strong and we could feel she was spiritually moved by this experience. Testimony from the heart is the most important thing we have to give when we are with other people.

Sunday it is my responsibility to talk with a father and husband to a family who love him dearly as to whether he is prepared to give all of them up without a struggle. The way to help him understand is through the example of our own family. I would be committing the unpardonable to tell mom we not have or see our family again after this life. A mission is hard and the separation is long but not as long as eternity. The struggle that lies before him is to come to know in his heart that God lives and he will stand in front of him and at that moment he will know whether he has prepared himself to be with or without his family after giving that report of his life at that time. Then change is too late. If change is to come it must begin now. Tomorrow never comes.

Have a great week. To the one in the MTC we say “soon you will know the rest of the story”, stay close to your Father in Heaven and you will understand each step of the way. To those who live to the east we say daily we understand better how life with family to the west has its challenges as well as its blessings. To those who will be in California next week we say, “wish we were there”. Being family is the greatest and the miles only make the ties stronger, not weaker because we won’t permit it to be any other way.

Love always,

Dad and Grandpa

From Mom 5/24

Dear Family,

Thank you for your letters. You have been so good about writing and keeping us up on what’s going on at home. It’s hard to believe that this is the last day of school. I guess because this is the first year in a lot of years that I haven’t been involved some way in the school year, it just doesn’t seem like it should be over already. School goes here until the end of July and they have just six weeks before it starts again in September. But they have LOTS of vacations during the year and long ones too. They have three weeks off for Christmas and two weeks off at Easter and sometime during February they are out for a week for some religious holiday. It also seems like school is out for every state and national holiday that comes along. I think I would just as soon have a longer vacation during the summer!

We have gone from cold to very warm this week. And it seems so good to have the sun shining every day. I don’t do well on cold, dark, rainy days. We have been thankful to have air conditioning in our car. Believe it or not, I’m the one who is usually turning it down. Dad about freezes me out sometimes. That’s a switch, huh.

This morning we went out to the Clements. This is the family who are moving to Utah where Brother Clement will teach German at BYU. He teaches school here so won’t be out until the end of July but his wife and 5 children are leaving on the 30th. He will fly out with them and then come back to finish his school year. Sister Clement has her hands full with a 3 year old and 6 month old twins. The other two are in school. We told her we would come and tend the children so she could pack. The babies went down for a nap at about 10 o’clock and Dad and I took the 3 year old for a LONG walk up to a playground. We were gone nearly 2 hours and she was able to get a lot of packing done. It was a nice change of pace for us and counted as our service hours for the week. They will take just clothes for now and Brother Clement will organize things for the movers to come in and pack things to be shipped later on. She will stay with her parents and try to find a place to live. They are a nice family. He was baptized last September but there was no follow through afterwards so we have been meeting regularly with them to give the new-member discussions. He recently received the Melchizedek priesthood and has appreciated Dad’s help with understanding how to do things with that priesthood. We will miss them. Their kids call us Opa and Oma, which is grandpa and grandma. They speak German most of the time but also do pretty well with English. The Mama is a bit concerned about how they will adjust to and all English speaking school. They go to a German school here.

Missionary wise we’ve had a busy week. We’ve met with a lot of people. Monday we had a meeting scheduled with Petra at 8:30. When we pulled into the parking lot, she was there in her car and asked us to follow her. She wanted to go out “into the nature” and have our discussion. We drove about 10 miles out of town, parked the car and walked up a dirt road to where there was a bench. There were birds chirping, frogs croaking, geese arguing and lots of butterflies and other little flying critters. We were definitely out in “the nature”. But it was very peaceful and a beautiful morning and we had a good discussion on some scriptures she wanted to understand more clearly. She called yesterday and wants us to come tomorrow to explain some more things to her. She is quite the gospel scholar. What a blessing she has been to us on this mission. Her baptism may be the only one we have and if that’s so, that’s okay. She is a jewel.

We had an interesting meeting with the 18 year old we met at the hospital. After we talked for awhile, he said he didn’t think he could join our church because it was too restrictive. He said he loves to party and to drink and smoke and is just not ready to give those things up. He is hoping someday to be a professional athlete (I can’t remember what sport) and if he was a Mormon he couldn’t do that. We told him there are professional sports people in the church but didn’t make a big deal of it. He somehow gets the idea that if he belonged to the church he just couldn’t have fun anymore. If he only knew what real fun was, huh? He is the typical rich, spoiled kid. His father owns three companies; one here in German, one in Japan and one in Detroit. His mother is a designer. They are loaded with money but spend very little time together. He and his two brothers just pretty much do anything they want to do. At the end of our meeting we had a prayer and when we finished he said something like, “I don’t know what it is, but I feel a special spirit when I am with you.” We told him to keep us in mind and when he wanted a change in his lifestyle to look up the church. He asked if we would keep in touch with him through E-mail. Very interesting.

Stephanie is back in the hospital. She called and asked us to come and visit her. She is so confused. She told us about her plans and about her concerns and was quite surprised when we told her that she needed to include her husband in her plans now and that she needs to share her concerns with him too. This is something brand new to her but I think she is willing to try. She doesn’t know for sure when she will be getting out of the hospital for good. Meanwhile, he is living in his “flat” (apartment) and she is at the hospital. Some way to begin married life, huh? They are hoping to find a flat in Wurzburg. To be honest, I was hoping they would stay in his flat away from Wurzburg! Now that isn’t very nice, is it? I just think they are so “labeled” here and it would be easier for them to start out where not everyone knows their problems. But then that’s none of my business so I best keep my opinions to myself.

It is so fun to see how happy and excited Alex is about his baptism. I hope we can catch some of that on some pictures. His father will not come to his baptism. His mother is coming but isn’t very happy about it. I hope she can feel the love the people in the ward have for her son and that she can feel the spirit of this special occasion. He is such an awesome young man and he loves the gospel. He loves singing the hymns. He usually picks them out at FHE. He is a bit more quiet and reserved than Thomas but every bit as committed to the gospel. I just think it is so great that Thomas will be baptizing him. That friendship will be an eternal friendship.

This has been another week of dinner appointments. We tried Spargle for the first time. That is white asparagus and it is delicious. The season for it lasts for just two months. It grows under the ground and when the tips poke up out of the ground, they harvest it by digging it out. The stems are a bit bigger around that the asparagus we are used to and it is much more mellow and tender. We were at a member’s home and she served a Hollandaise sauce over it and it was so delicious. We only have another month to eat it so we’ve planning on having it regularly while we can. The other appointment was a bar-b-que and it was good too. They do at least three different kinds of meat. Of course, they have some kind of sausage and they had some kind of steak, and fish. We were stuffed!!! Tomorrow night there is another bar-b-que. A family of nine children in the ward were sealed in the temple last week-end and this is a get together to celebrate that wonderful occasion. Then Saturday night is Alex’s baptism and they have called and asked everyone to bring food for that. And Sunday, we have been invited to dinner at the home of our Relief Society president. The only food we’ve had to buy this week has been milk, bananas and apples for breakfast. It’s a good thing every week is not like this or we’d have to buy all new clothes! But it’s fun while it lasts.

I’m excited about your upcoming trip. That will be so much fun for everyone and will be a memory builder for all of you. We wish we could be there with you but are so thankful that you enjoy being together and doing things together. It doesn’t seem possible that it will be a year next month that we were all together at Lagoon and then at home for a wonderful reunion. Hopefully we can do something similar next year.

Know that you are loved. We are so thankful for each one of you. You are what makes our lives happy and worthwhile. Thank you for the good things you are doing for each other and for the training you are giving your children. There isn’t a more important thing that you could be doing. The gospel is true. “I Am a Child of God” is very true for each one of us.

Much love always,
Mom

from Dad 5/18

Hi everyone,

We have had a good week in spite of 4 sick days. We were just glad they were spread out at the beginning and the end of the week and not every day. It is nice we took turns. The weather is looking better and hope is in the air.

Tim Palmer is preparing to walk through a non divorce separation from the mother of his children with whom he never has been married. It doesn’t leave him with a lot of options. It has humbled him to now have to start over again. He is unsure whether God lives but remembers he has always had good feelings when he has been around LDS people. He is also committed to meet with the bishop and come to Church again as he looks at how he wants to rebuild his life. We were able to have prayer over the phone. We hope soon to be able to visit him in person again. He plans to bring his 9 year old son, who still has faith there is a God, to Church with him when he comes.

Ron Peterson is still working to get the hang of what is the spirit of the law V.S. the letter of the law. When the letter of the law is not kept in their home he loses it. The good part is he feels bad about it. We talked more about when someone is not keeping the rules it is an excellent time to discover how they feel about a whole lot of things. He seems OK with that approach and in exchange to give up becoming angry. Small steps are what we hope for and that Ron will continue to share his feelings with us and eventually will have a desire to come to Church again and the understanding of how activity in the Church will bring him and his family the greatest blessings in how they feel and care for each other in the home.

Brother Vollrath, our tennis star, has asked for the name of someone in the ward to whom he can go with his questions about the gospel after our time in Wuerzburg is past. We hope he and brother Meyer can become good friends. We hope sister Meyer will continue to progress toward baptism. The only thing she still needs to do is to begin praying to know what she is being taught is true. Their daughter visiting with them and who lives in South Carolina came to Church last Sunday for the first time in maybe 16 years. We hope things will continue to progress.

Alex will be 18 next Thursday and will be baptized a week from tomorrow. His mom has told him she will come. We are teaching his grandmother and she asked us for a reading assignment in the Book of Mormon when we were together this week. We hope she too will come to his baptism. When she goes home from the hospital next week we will only have Weinhold as an investigator in the hospital and he thinks he will be released in about two weeks. He too is 18 and has begun reading in the Book of Mormon.

We delivered our revised 19 page epistle to sister Masch for her son in England. Even though he cannot see how the adversary has somehow convinced him he is being more honest not going to Church until he somehow all by himself without accepting any help from anyone regains a strong testimony that God lives and that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and has been restored, his mother’s unconditional love will be like a light on a hill helping him find his way through the dark.
It is interesting. Sister Masch’s husband pays “their” tithing and other offerings every single month and in full. His love for his wife is obvious. We are looking for a favorable opportunity, hopefully the next time we are together in June, to ask him if he really wants to leave to uncertainty his being with his wife when this life is behind and he finds himself somewhere still going strong after someone has said a few kind words in his behalf. All he needs to do is to pray and feel a testimony in his heart and the Church in this area will be blessed and in good hands for another generation. Mom’s reputation for being a no nonsense, keep movin driver continues to grow. Manfred Masch when he was just leaving the Church Sunday after dropping off his wife saw us with mom driving in her “not about to be late” mode. He smiled and mom acknowledged as he explained tonight the details of turning his head to see who was in that red car last Sunday!

Zach is “one of us” now. We already love hearing about his mission from his family. His short size will distinguish him right away. The food he will love. Sunday night at the devotional as he hears or participates in the 400 missionary voice choir and then hears 2000 missionaries sing “Called to Serve” in 36 or so languages simultaneously he will truly grasp the power in the work of which he is now a part!

Have a great week. Keep the home fires burning bright.

Love always,

Dad

From Mom 5/17

Dear Family,

It was so good to talk to you on Sunday! It just amazes me how clear the reception in clear across the ocean and country. It doesn’t seem like we are quite so far apart when we can talk on the phone once in awhile. I still have to think twice when people here tell me they are going to Italy or Holland or Spain for a few days. I guess this must seem pretty much like home because when I hear them talk about their trips, I envision thousands of miles and lots of hours on a plane. They are talking of 3, 4 or 6 hours of driving by car. Our bishop found out just this week that he will be out of the Army the end of August. He has about a month of leave saved up so they are going to travel most of the month of August and go to Spain, Greece, Holland and I don’t know where else then they will be moving back to the states----to Twin Falls. They are really excited about the temple being built there. They have never lived close to a temple. They are a great family. I’m glad they will be just a few hours away. Maybe we can keep in touch with them.

Today is P-day and unlike most of our P-days, we only have one appointment. I should say “had”. Dad is feeling under the weather so he called and cancelled. I think our standing out in the rain watching Bro. Vollrath playing tennis last week took its toll on both of us. We had an umbrella but we still got a bit wet. Thursday night I started coughing and couldn’t stop and Friday I was not feeling well at all. Not getting much sleep the night before, I pretty much spent a good part of the day in or on the bed. I’m feeling much better now but have been going at about half speed most of the week. I could tell Dad was not feeling well yesterday but we didn’t stop all day and when we got home last night, he sat on the couch and went right to sleep. He was running a fever too and I finally did convince him that it was okay for him to go to bed early when he doesn’t feel well. He gets up about 5:30 every morning and doesn’t go to bed until 11 or 12. Yes, that’s breaking mission rules. He’s always got a “project” he’s working on. He actually went back to bed this morning and has laid pretty low today. The heat was turned off in our building when it was so warm last month. Now it is cold and rainy and the heat is still off. As you know, Dad requires lots of warmth and I think between being worn out, getting wet and not “cooking” all the time, it has caught up to him. I’m glad it is P-day. We won’t miss much work and we have a full day tomorrow. I think getting used to all the humidity here is a bit difficult. And the extremes in the weather hasn’t helped. We were all ready for summer then it turned cold again.

I guess I’d have to say the highlight of the week has been Stephanie’s wedding. Yes, they did it. I have no idea where they are going to live or how they are going to live. Neither one of them has a job but they both probably qualify for some kind of government assistance because of their health conditions. The ward has been very supportive. They were married at the Rathause, which is comparable to a court house there. Neither one of them invited their parents to come. There were 7 people from the ward, including us, a couple of their friends and Stephanie’s guardian. Sister Rosel had asked a few sisters from the ward to bring finger food so we could have a little luncheon for them at the church after the wedding and I think they really appreciated it. Sunday after church we are having a “linger longer” luncheon in their honor. Everyone signed up to bring something so it will be a nice lunch and an opportunity for everyone to wish them well. I’ll e-mail you a couple of pictures of them. They don’t look like the typical couple getting married but they’ve had so much unhappiness in their lives that I don’t think they know how to be really happy. They hardly touched each other. The wedding was very different from what we’re used to seeing. Whoever was officiating talked to them for quite awhile then they each went up to the table and signed some papers then he shook their hands and congratulated them. No kissing, no hugging, no exchanging rings. That was it. When the sister from the ward who was taking pictures told them she wanted a picture of them kissing, Stephanie said, “Not in front of everyone.” But we finally talked her into it when we were at the church and I think she kind of liked it. Sister Rosel, our Relief Society president, had made her a beautiful bouquet which I think really pleased her. We boxed up all the leftover food for them to take with them. One of the strangest things about this wedding was that Christian changed his last name and they will use Stephanie’s last name for their married name. He said he hates his family and doesn’t want that name anymore. Isn’t that going to be nice when they want to do some family history? Everyone is just kind of shaking their heads and hoping for the best for them. I really hope they will be happy. Both of their lives have been so full of challenges and unhappiness. The one thing they do have in common is the church and both are very knowledgeable about the gospel.

Our favorite Elder Penrod was transferred this week. He has been here for 3 months and it seems like he just got here. This was his first assignment since coming to the mission and I was just sure he would be here another month or two. We had such a great district meeting on Monday and I thought while we were together how much I have come to love and respect the Elders in our district and was so hoping that there wouldn’t be any changes this time, but no such luck. We drove the Elders to the train early Wednesday morning and then picked up Elder Blackburn and his new companion in the afternoon. Elder Penrod is just an outstanding young man----so full of enthusiasm and love for everyone. I had to blink hard to hold the tears back when we got to the train. He is so concerned about anyone of the opposite sex even getting near him but I told him I was old enough to be his grandmother and gave him a hug before he left. He is from Farr West Utah so maybe we’ll get to see him sometime when he finishes his mission. Another Elder from our district was also transferred. I didn’t know him as well because he works in a different city but he too is a great young man. I’ll send a picture of our district along with pictures of Stephanie.

The sisters in the ward have been more than generous about feeding the missionaries lately. We had two dinner appointments last week and have three this coming week. The members here are so good to us and we appreciate their kindness very much.

We still meet with Petra once a week. She is studying the parables in the Bible right now. She had a hard time understanding them so we talked about how Christ related his teachings to things that were common to the people of that time and that helped her. She read the parable of the Prodigal Son after we had talked and she understood it completely. She asked if we would talk about the Ten Virgins next time. She wants so badly to understand the gospel so she can explain things to people who ask her about her new church. She told us that someone she works with told her that her life must really be boring now that she doesn’t go out and party and doesn’t get all involved with all the problems in the world by not watching a lot of TV. Her reply was, “I have my Heavenly Father who loves me and has provided a way for me to know where I am going. I have my scriptures, I have my church. I don’t need anything else.” She also told us that another person commented on how happy she always looks and how peaceful she seems and wondered why. Petra gave her a similar answer. She asked us one time if she looked different to us and we told her she did and that it was the light of the gospel shining in her eyes and on her face. She is so great and loves to share the gospel with others.

This has been a bit of a slow week. We’ve met with quite a few people but they are people who are at square one as far as understanding the gospel even though most of them are members. But they seem interested in learning so we go back. It takes lots of patience working with these people. If we didn’t know we had an important message for them it would be very difficult to keep going. The more I read and study the more important Christ becomes in my life and our hope is that we can help others understand how important He is in their lives too.

Thank you for all the Mother’s Day greetings. I feel it a privilege to be the mother of such a great family. And that includes all the in-laws too. I couldn’t have picked better companions for my kids. How I love all of you.

Have a good week. I’m sure the excitement is building for the upcoming trip. That along with the excitement of another school year ending has got to be a pretty fun time.

Know that you are loved and prayed for each and every day.

Much love,
Mom

Pictures of Germany May 2007

Mom & Dad & Petra Kempe in Rothenburg.

It is so beautiful - it's the stuff of fairy tales!

Also, a picture of their District ...

Mom is the treat-maker... imagine that!

From Dad 5/10

Good morning!

What a great week! We are thankful for two from the heart letters from men in our family. Having life’s experiences shared is the glue that holds families together. There will always be challenges. The question we answer over and over again almost daily is will we succeed? As Paul Harvey defines it: “When I fall down, I get up again”.

So now there are three! Welcome to the mission field Zach. Some of the choicest days of your life lie straight ahead. How do you like the food? It is so nice how the elders are courteous to the sister and senior missionaries at meal time. Then of course there is the reward. No one ever asks or questions how many times an elder comes back for more food or what he puts on his plate! 750 people sharing a meal in one room rotating with another 750 two more times moves a lot of people and a lot of food through the mill. Mom talked with Chris for a few minutes and was happy to hear Zach was very excited to get started this week.

Tomorrow will be a fun and interesting work day for most of you. Some of us will enjoy your “work day” on Brent’s home from a distance. Please take lots of pictures and share. It is great how the family is becoming good at making lemonade out of our lemons in life. What a fun and exciting day for you Brent when all is in place and you are back in a “new” environment. We have loved hearing about some of the changes planned and look forward to seeing how it will look in the end.

We have spent most of our time this week with less active members. Mom mentioned our tennis friend, brother Vollrath. We have discussed Brother Peterson and the challenge he faces with his wife’s interest with the Jehovah Witnesses. We have a third man from England who has been a member for about 20 years. He and the mother of their three children have never married. He has been without work for several weeks now due to his weak understanding of the language and that he is 52. The mother, a school teacher, has found another “friend” and Tim is facing having to move to somewhere and to figure out what he will do for income and how often he can be with his three sons (13, 9, & 5). Brother Vollrath and Tim in the past week were amazed to learn we lived with our Father in Heaven before we were born. King Benjamin (Mosiah 1J taught his sons an interesting principle. He said, “Were it not for these (scriptures) that we might read and understand and always have before our eyes, even our fathers (Lehi and Nephi) would have dwindled in unbelief, knowing nothing of these things”. At one time both of these men had a strong understanding and witness of the truth of where we were before we were born.

Ron Peterson and I have been talking on the phone each week. This week we were able to pray together. Before our time came to a close this week he said, “I can feel and see a difference in how I am treating the other members in my family. The contention is decreasing. It is more pleasant being around home. The influence of the gospel has made me a lot happier and I feel more at peace with my life.” He too has some financial challenges ahead and how he will handle them. We hope enough of a base for living the gospel can be rebuilt in his life that none of these challenges will become too much for their family. He is within a few years of retirement and out of work at present. We hope he will continue to work toward allowing the Lord to help him find answers. For Tim it is losing his family. For brother Vollrath it was facing the loss of a leg to a serious bout with infection. Windows come into our lives when we can see further than before. Our hope and prayer is these three men will allow the window to remain open when life settles back down again for them.

Weinhold is 18. He has some heavy addiction issues. He accepted a Book of Mormon on Sunday and seemed interested in reading it. He has many difficult challenges ahead. As long as the door remains open we will work with him and hope to bring the Spirit into his life often enough that he will begin to recognize it and want it to remain with him. He is very intelligent. He has a good command of the English language and our discussions are in English. We saw so much improvement in his attitude and interest in what we talked about between the first and second meeting we are hopeful that good can come from meeting with him. It is not certain how long he will remain in the hospital in Wuerzburg. He does not seem strong enough to handle everything on his own when released. We don’t know what his family situation is yet but hope to know more soon.

Mom’s humor keeps us going and especially on rainy, slow days. She is so spontaneous it is just fun being around her. Sorry you have to wait a while longer to have her fun little quips be a more regular part of your every day lives. She is doing an awesome job as a missionary. You will never have to wonder about her holding up her end. Many times it is a miracle to me how much mom understands when she is listening and responding to what is going on in another language. There have been many examples of how the gift of tongues has worked for her in our mission here. May you all have such an enjoyable experience yet ahead of you in your lives as well.

Have a fun week end and a great week!

Love always,

Dad and Grandpa

From Mom 5/10

Dear Family,

It’s early afternoon. We have one non-member to visit before a dinner appointment. I thought it would be nice to write this letter while it is still daytime and I’m not quite so worn out.

We have had most of a week of rain and that is good. Everything was looking very dry. April was an unusually hot month and the spring flowers that should still be around are long gone because of the heat and no rain. Everything is greening up again and is so beautiful. Saturday was the first day of rain. That was the day we had permission to go with Petra to Rotenberg, the old city that is such a tourist attraction. It’s very interesting. When you drive into the city you don’t see that it is much different than any other German town but then you drive up to the top of the town where the historic part of the city is and it’s a different story. You park in the parking lot and then walk on cobblestone streets into what looks like the entrance to a castle and you step back in time about 500 years. On the wall of one of the buildings is 1482. That was 10 years before Columbus discovered America. Nothing has been changed except probably some of the buildings have been painted and the houses and shops kept up. The streets are all cobblestone and very narrow. It’s too bad there even has to be any cars there but some people still live in the city and there has to be a way for all the shops to receive their merchandise. There are lots of gift shops and bakeries. One of the stores is called the Christmas store. We were told it had the biggest assortment of Christmas decorations in the world and after going in, I believe it. It seemed like it never ended. You were either going up a few steps to something new or going around a corner where a whole new area opened up to you. It was incredible but it made me tired seeing all that stuff. It’s pretty spendy too but I imagine it does a great business just because it is such a famous tourist attraction. It was interesting to see the tall buildings with a loft door at the very top. We were told that the people were required to store a two years supply of wheat in the attic of their homes. And here I thought our church was the one that started the two year supply thing! Through the history there have always been wars and this older part of the city is surrounded with a thick, high wall that was used for protection. It’s kind of fun seeing a place where Knights of the Roundtables and castles and drawbridges, etc. once existed. It was a fun day, in spite of the rain. Every store we came to Petra would say, “Oh you’ve got to see in here. This is my favorite store!” I’m not sure how much Dad enjoyed that part of it but he was a good sport and we did see a lot of things. We took some pictures and will send some on another E-mail soon.

I forgot to tell you about the Saturday before last. We helped another family move. This time we didn’t have to paint before hand but I don’t think both Dad and I have ever been so tired and almost crippled as we were when we finished with the move. This was an inactive family we have been trying to work with. They’ve come to church a couple of times lately and they came the day after the move but someone in the ward said the only time they come to church is when they need help to move. We hope that’s not the case. They didn’t ask for help. When we were talking to them they mentioned that they were going to have to move in the next couple of weeks. The young Elders had been asking us to help them find some service to do so we told this couple that we (the missionaries) would help them move. Unlike last time, there weren’t very many people from the ward available to help that day. There was a big all day youth activity that took all the bishopric and everyone who works with the youth----which is nearly all the active people. But we did find one member who offered to help and these people said they had two or three friends that were going to come and help. We didn’t know for sure where they lived and when we finally found their place and got out of the car, we heard, “Good Morning” and looked up to the top floor where this lady we were going to help was leaning out of the window. That’s four floors up. They told us that their new apartment was on the 1st floor. Unlike the houses there, the first floor is not the floor you first go to. That’s the “Erde” (earth) floor. There are stairs up to the first floor. The building was an old building with high ceilings and it was 21 steps up to the 1st floor. I counted them to be sure. And their friends that were supposed to be there didn’t show up so there were the Elders, Brother Thomas, us and this couple. We started at 9 o’clock and we left to come home at 4:30. We needed to stop at the store but were too dirty to stop before coming home and cleaning up. We looked like a couple of crippled, old people walking into the store. We didn’t do anything after we got home but sit and moan and groan. The calves of our legs hurt for about three days. Going up and down stairs was wickedly painful! By the next day our backs were so that we could stand up straight but we were glad that we only had one appointment that Sunday afternoon. It was the next Tuesday that we walked up to the castle with Thomas and Elana Beck but by then we were doing pretty good.

We got a real taste of missionary work the other morning. We have met with a lady who lives in this apartment building about three times and have enjoyed our visit with her. She is from Russia but speaks pretty good German and she is just so nice. She was happy when we told her we had a Russian Book of Mormon for her but when we gave it to her, she couldn’t read it so we took her a German one. A sister who lives close by went with us one day and we had such a good meeting with her and she and Sister Wenzel seemed to really hit it off well. Then Dad and I went to see her and made an appointment with her and told her Sister Wenzel would be coming with us again. She seemed happy about that. So the day came for the appointment and when we rang her doorbell, she opened the door but her son, who was very large, was standing behind her told us in no uncertain terms that they were Catholic and didn’t want to hear about any other religion. So that was the end of that. We’ve seen her a couple of times since then and are friendly to her and she is to us but I don’t think we’ll be talking about the church anymore to her-------unless she asks us too. It gives you a funny feeling when people talk to you like that. I’m sure the young Elders and Sister have that kind of experience on a regular basis but it was a new experience for us on this mission.

One of the inactive members we are working with is Gundo Vollrath. He is 74 years old. He hasn’t been active at all in the church for about 20 years but we meet with him once a week and he is reading in the Book of Mormon. We realized last week that he knows very little about anything religious. He is even wondering about the reality of there being a God. I think he’s getting beyond that though but with no church activity at all, it’s easy to forget about ever learning or knowing about those important things. He is such a nice person----such a gentleman. When we go there, he always shakes hands with me first, even if Dad is in front of me and when we leave, I’m always the first to go out the door. He is very active. He is on a tennis team and last week he told us he had a match this week (yesterday) and invited us to come and watch him. When we went there Tuesday for our appointment, he had a detailed map drawn for us so we could find where he would be playing. It was raining off and on but we took our umbrella and watched him for about an hour. As I said, he’s 74 but you would not know that watching him play tennis. I couldn’t help but think that he’s not a whole lot older than we are and wondered if we would be up to doing something like that in another 6 or 7 years. I hope so.

Sunday at church we had a very spiritual experience during our Sunday School class. The Elders have been teaching a man who is about 45 years old. He had come to church with them the week before and during Sunday School it seemed like all he wanted to do was argue with everything that was said. I couldn’t understand much what was going on but didn’t like the feeling I had just being there. He came again this week and as we walked from the chapel to where we have Sunday School, he told Dad that he didn’t think he could stay because he wasn’t feeling well. He has a heart condition and has been concerned about that. When Dad told me about it, I suggested that he ask him if he would like a blessing. At our Zone conference last month President Rakow had told us that Priesthood blessings were not reserved for just members of the church. When Dad asked him and then told him what it was, he thought it would be okay to have one. They explained a little bit more to him what all was involved, the oil and who would be giving the blessing, etc. and then Dad anointed this man and Elder Penrod gave him a beautiful blessing. The spirit was so strong. After the blessing, the Elders and Dad and I bore our testimony to him of the reality of the Priesthood being the power of God here on earth and that the things Elder Penrod said in his blessing were what the Lord would want said to him. He had tears running down his face and all of us had tears in our eyes. Petra was there and was especially touched by the whole thing. After this man left to go home, Petra said she was sorry that she couldn’t say anything but was just too overcome with the spirit to be able to speak. But then she said that she knew that those young Elders had the authority of God with them and that she would always feel safe in the church knowing there was that authority and those kinds of people in it. She talks about what it will be like when we leave and has been concerned about it but after that experience on Sunday, she said she knew she would be okay. We never did get to the Sunday School lesson. We just sat and shared feelings about what had taken place. It was an unforgettable experience.

It quite an experience being in a ward attached to a military base. Last week the man who was the former bishop of this ward was here on a two week leave from Iraq. His wife had a baby in middle of January and they have waited until he got home to bless the baby. Because it was the 5th Sunday, they had him speak in the joint Priesthood/Relief Society meeting. He didn’t tell about a lot of his experiences in Iraq but he talked a lot about the church there. They meet in one of Sadam Hussein’s old castles. All the different churches meet there so they have only an hour and a half to meet but he said it is really something they all look forward to each week. Not just soldiers come. There are a lot of contract workers there who meet with them. They have had several baptisms. They are not allowed to proselyte but people come and hear the teachings of the church and ask what it takes to become a member. He said one of the members who comes is a high councilman of the United Arab Emirates Stake. Isn’t it interesting to know there is an actual stake in that area of the world? He felt like a lot of good was being done but the United States being over there. It’s sad that so many lives have been lost but think how many more would be lost without our involvement. These dear wives who are here while their husbands are serving over there have just got to have extra blessings coming to them. One of the men from this ward is in Special Services so he is out where all the action is. Brother Merkely is an audiologist so his wife feels that he is not quite in so much danger. Most of the men in the military in this ward are involved in some sort of medical work. It gave us a funny feeling the other day when we were supposed to go to our regular meeting of the Council of Religious Affairs on the base and got an e-mail saying the meeting would be rescheduled due to a memorial service that was going to be held in the chapel that day. This war is real and being here knowing and talking to people that are involved with it every week has made us realize just how real it is.

I’ve gone on long enough. Know that we are with you in our thoughts and prayers. This week was a bit difficult thinking about Zach leaving. I remember how hard it was going to the MTC with Boyd and Cindy and leaving them to start their missions. My heart goes out to Chris. I’m so thankful Boyd and Cindy had the experiences a mission brings and I’m thankful for the experiences Zach has ahead of him. And I’m thankful for the experiences we are having even though there are times that we both wonder what we’re doing here and if we are doing any good at all. Progress is so slow but we do see progress with some of the people we are working with. Yesterday Petra asked if I wish I had gone to an English speaking mission and right off, I said yes but then I told her no because if we had gone somewhere else, we wouldn’t have met her. She will always be the shining star of our mission.

We’ll send another e-mail with some pictures probably later today.

Much love,

Mom

From Dad 5/4

Hi everyone,

There is a lot of rain in the forecast for the coming week. The corn and other crops are about 6 inches out of the ground and the rain will be a welcome change for the farmers. We have seen some signs of sprinkler pipes but they are few and far between. They planted new lawn all around the front of the Church two weeks ago. The seed still sits on the ground waiting for moisture. A lot of faith goes into how things are cared for in Germany.

We have a lot of peace of mind today about how things are at home. It is amazing to see how the Lord’s hand moves in our family. I will be eternally grateful for the sacrifice mom made to want to come on a mission in the first place and then to say she would be willing to learn a language and go wherever we would be called. We have been given such good assignments here in Germany. It is so fun to see how the gospel of Jesus Christ literally changes people’s lives.

Ron Peterson’s wife is serious about joining the Jehovah Witness organization. At present we are not able to meet in his home and he does not have sufficient strength in the gospel to come to Church yet. So thanks to the telephone we meet over the phone. We talked for about half an hour this week. At one point he said, “Martina are you listening?” She said, “Do you have something to hide?” I suggested to Ron it is good to encourage Martina to listen. No more was said about that subject. We talked about how of all the churches in the world today no other church has adopted more of the teachings of the restored Church of Jesus Christ than have the Jehovah Witnesses. The only thing we would hope is that in time many if not all will accept the rest of the teachings. We talked about the anger and fear in their home. We read from the D & C 64: how those who are unable to forgive (translated means not becoming angry in return) carry the greater sin. He listened and thought about that. We hope his heart will be able to accept it fully.

Maybe next week we will get our first letter from Zach in the MTC. How exciting! We hope this is a great weekend for all of you who are able to be together. We hope it will be a great weekend for everyone! Mom checks the blog as well as email daily. When we open the mail box and see a letter from home (usually from grandchildren) it is a highlight of our day. There was a receipt for a package in our box yesterday and mom can hardly wait for Monday!

Christian Dorsch, the one Stefani Hoerndlein hopes to marry, had not been in his own ward or spoken to anyone there for over a year and a half. He called last weekend and wanted assistance to get reconnected with his own ward. His bishop was very nice and looked forward to meeting with Christian again. Next Christian called someone he knew and they met and after a long conversation parted friends as though nothing had ever come between them. Then Sunday after meeting with his bishop and feeling much peace there he visited another friend and they had dinner together and it was well after dark before he left to go home. This is a young man who has been deeply depressed and would always sit on the back row alone in Church at Wuerzburg. It is so good to see him taking the initiative and rebuilding friendships again.

Last Saturday Petra Kempa called convinced she had found scriptural support for her involvement with astrology and her horoscope. When we met Tuesday for 3 ½ hours (a little out of range of the recommended 45 min. discussion meeting time suggested) she said, “I am a black/white person. There is no middle ground.” (We had talked the week earlier about the 10 commandments emphasizing how we use the Lord’s name. Petra had no problem with making the changes that would require [they were minor and more of the traditional way God’s name is used in southern Germany]. We then asked her to read the first commandment to have no others Gods. This upset her. She was amazed to think we even would consider this was something needing to be discussed. That was the end of the discussion on that item that day.) She wanted to know if I felt she was breaking the first commandment by her involvement with astrology. When only a week ago we couldn’t even discuss the subject it was amazing to me she had come so far in her faith and strength to want such an answer. Last week she had no intention of giving up her lottery playing. We read a couple of excerpts from President Hinckley’s talk in conference two years ago on gambling. She then volunteered this week to close her lottery account and not open any new ones. I hedged. I said if I tracked my horoscope I would be breaking the first commandment. That was not good enough. She gave us an out. She said, “Tell me what you think. It doesn’t have to be what the Church says.” I said yes. Then she was happy. She said had I not given her a direct answer she would have lost much o her respect and confidence in what she had been taught so far. She also said for the present she has no plans to change but did not rule out in the future no longer needing or wanting to follow her horoscope. What she did say which is what we have been hoping and working toward was, “I will turn away from anything that will lead me away from following after Jesus Christ.” We left happy campers that day.

Have a great week. What a privilege it is to be a member of this family.

Love always,

Dad and Grandpa

From Mom 5/3

Dear Family,

Tonight after our English class we walked down to the bus stop with Sister Wenzel who is determined to learn English and as we were walking back to the church where our car was, I thought to myself, “We wouldn’t be doing things like this if we hadn’t come on this mission.” It was a beautiful spring night and we had just spent an hour and a half with such a lovely sister. She looks out for everyone in the ward and quietly goes about doing good things for anyone who needs a helping hand. In our discussion in our English class, I was asking her questions in German------very short questions, I might add----and she was answering them in English. I asked her about her family----her father and mother, etc. and she related such an interesting story. She was born in Berlin and lived there when the war broke out. Her father was in the war. When they started bombing Berlin, her mother and her younger brother and sister went to live with their grandmother. Her grandmother had a home but had given her home to a son and his wife and three children and had moved into a two room apartment. Now there were 4 more people to share that little space. The grandmother gave up her bedroom and nice bed to her daughter and her children and she slept in an unfinished room with no heat. There was no bathroom and it was a cold trip to the outhouse in the wintertime. Sister Wenzel was 8, her brother was 5 and her sister was 3. They lived there for a year. Can you imagine walking through the snow and cold to take a child to the bathroom? When Sister Wenzel was 14, her mother died. Her father had been a prisoner of war. She took care of her brother and sister. She only went to 6 years of school. I want to get the rest of the story sometime. Maybe next week at our English class we can learn more. I have to give a talk on gaining strength through adversity and as I listened to Sister Wenzel, I couldn’t help but think that it was through these things she had to go through that she is such a strong person. She told us that many times during those years she felt as though there was someone holding her hand and leading and guiding her. That’s what adversity does. It helps us realize where we have to turn for help and strength to get through the challenges that life brings. I think we got much more from her than she did from us tonight but she is looking forward to class next week. Where else would we be having these kinds of experiences and meeting so many wonderful people? We are very grateful.

I’ll bring you up to date on our “cupid” experience. Petra and Brother Roth had a “fine” time together last Friday. They went for a 2 hour walk and then found a nice restaurant and ate and talked for 3 hours. They have a lot in common. As they were talking about the church, Bro. Roth told Petra there were a few negative things about the church that she should know about. When Petra asked him what he meant, he brought up polygamy and she told him that she knows all about that and it was necessary for the full restoration of the gospel and it was not a negative thing. He told her that he was amazed that she was teaching him when she had only been a member a short time. We don’t know what’s going to happen. She said she got an e-mail from him but didn’t tell us what he said. They have talked on the phone a couple of times so at least they’re staying in touch. He is very busy with his job and travels quite a bit with his work and he might just be being cautious. He’s waited 45 years. What’s the hurry? It’s been a fun thing. Petra is like a daughter calling us nearly every day and telling us what’s going on-----sharing her frustrations when she doesn’t hear from him and her excitement when she does hear from him. It will be a sad day for us when we leave Wurzburg and don’t have regular contact with her. We have permission from President Rakow to go with her Saturday to Rotenberg which is a very famous tourist attraction in Germany. It is about a half hour from here but is out of our area so we had to get permission to be able to go. The story goes that during the war when all the bombing was going on that the commander of a bombing squadron gave orders not to bomb this city. He had been a missionary in that city a few years earlier and loved the city and just passed over it. It is called a Medieval city and there is a wall all around it----the original wall when the city was built. So many people have talked about it to us and we’re anxious to see it.

Today we had our interviews with President Rakow. This happens every six weeks. We also have training from our zone leaders for a couple of hours. After the meeting, we were visiting with Elder and Sister Holzer and President Rakow came and asked Elder Holzer and Dad to come with him for a minute. Sister Holzer and I were having a good time visiting about just everything. They are such wonderful people. On the way back to Wurzburg, I asked Dad what President Rakow wanted and he said he would tell me later. The Elders were with us and I could tell he didn’t want to talk just then. When we dropped the Elders off Dad told me that President Rakow had told him and Elder Holzer that we didn’t need to go to the training meetings and that he wanted us to plan something fun to do together while the Elders are having their training meetings. I guess Sister Holzer is really struggling on this mission and President Rakow felt like it would be good for them to just go have some fun with another couple. How is that for a perk for being a Senior Missionary? Elder Holzer said he already has a good plan for the next time we are there. Nurnburg was pretty badly destroyed during the war but there is an old part of the city that still stands. It has a wall all around it and is an interesting place to see and Elder Holzer wants to give us a personal tour. That won’t be for another six weeks but it’s worth looking forward too.

Alex, the other young man who has just been waiting for his 18th birthday so he can be baptized, is going to be baptized on the 26th of May. His parents aren’t very happy about it but they told him when he was 18 he could decide for himself. He will be 18 on the 24th. He said he knows the gospel is true and one of the things that is most important to him about the gospel is the priesthood authority. He has a strong testimony of that and is anxious to be able to receive the priesthood. He and Thomas constantly talk about “when I go on my mission.” Thomas is going to baptize Alex. It will be an experience that they will never forget. Neither will we. What a privilege it has been to know and associate with these two young men. We are meeting with Alex’ grandmother a couple of times a week. She comes from a Catholic background and I don’t know if she will ever change but she has wanted to know about this church that her grandson is so excited about. She is such a sweet person. She has read all of Brother Ballard’s book, “Our Search for Happiness” and really enjoyed it. Each time we see her she has lots of questions. We have read a few chapters in the Book of Mormon with her. She wants to know how she can know for sure it’s true and Dad asked her if she felt like prayers were answered and she said she did then he asked her if she would pray and ask if what she was reading and studying was true. She said she would so we’ll go from there.

We were waiting at the elevator at the hospital the other day when a young man asked us what we do. He had seen our missionary badges and asked us what we were doing. We told him we were from America and that we were here as missionaries for the church. He said he doesn’t believe in organized religion and right now Buddha satisfies his religious needs. But he kept asking us questions and finally Dad told him that we would like to come and tell him more about the church and asked if he would have time for us. We have an appointment with him Sunday evening. You never know when teaching opportunities will come.

Do you remember the picture I sent of the castle on the hill across from the river? Tuesday was Labor Day in Germany. It’s always on the 1st of May regardless of what day of the week it is. Thomas and Elena Beck, the young couple we have been meeting with regularly asked us if we would go up to the castle with them that day as neither one of them had to work. We had an appointment at 4 but they said just to call them when we were done. We rode the tram to the bottom of the hill and walked up to the castle. The grounds going up were beautiful and it was fun being in the courtyard and seeing the view of the city from there. We couldn’t go inside yet except for the church where they were holding some kind of service. We heard the music and the doors were open so we just stepped in long enough to take a quick look. I hope while we’re still here that we have the opportunity to go inside the castle. I guess it is quite the tourist attraction too. The wall around the castle had the date 1657 engraved in it. There is a lot of history here.

It’s late and this has been a long day. We hurried and did our laundry and cleaning before we had to leave for our interviews. It takes about an hour and a half to drive to Nurnburg. When we got back, we had just a few minutes before it was time to leave for our English class. But it has been a good day. No two days are the same. We’re so thankful to be senior missionaries. We have a lot more variety in our work than the younger missionaries. Everything from going to mental hospitals to visit people to playing cupid. Some days it just seems like a lot of work for nothing but most of the time it is very rewarding work. I think we’re realizing that everything we do must be done in very small steps. Patience is so important in this work. I’ve never had a lot of that but I think I’m starting to learn how important it is.

We’re thrilled to hear that another grandSON is on the way and we’re living this last week before going into the MTC with Zach. There are a lot of good, exciting things going on in the family and we are grateful. We love you all. You’re in our thoughts and prayers every day.



Much love,

Mom