The Best Christmas Ever

This has been a very different December for us. No gift buying or exchanging of presents, no family gatherings, no birthday celebration, no anniversary celebration, and yet, we can truthfully say that it has been the Best Christmas Season Ever! We have been able to totally focus on the greatest gift the world has ever received; the birth and life of the Savior and we have been able to celebrate this in the most wonderful of ways. One of my favorite ways was to go caroling several times. The first time Michael and I and six of the most wonderful young missionaries we have ever had the privilege of knowing went caroling to some members. Two of them reside in rest homes. This rest home was beautiful and bright and festively decorated.The rooms were very lovely but the inhabitants were alone and lonely. As we sang we saw their faces light up, especially as we sang Silent Night in very sweet four part harmony. After we left them, the missionaries told us that that was the happiest they had ever seen them. We were asked at one point by another resident there to come downstairs to a commons area and sing for more people that were gathered there. We experienced the same result. All this while walking down old cobble stoned streets lined with beautiful old buildings, crossing a beautiful river over an quaint little bridge and passing huge towering cathedrals and churches. It was like walking through a picture postcard.We then walked over to some other members' apartments and sang for them. At one we sang in a little alcove on the street and attracted several passers-by that stopped to enjoy the beautiful carols. To me, this felt like the essence of Christmas- singing beautiful songs that proclaim the love our Heavenly Father has for all of His children that He manifested by sending His Son to the earth to bring us all light and truth and the way back home. Two nights ago we went caroling again in the Christkindlesmarkt. Many people stopped to listen and we were able to hand out lots of "Er ist das Geschenk" or "He is the Gift" cards, some Joy to the World DVDs and invitations to come to our ward Christmas Devotional on December 24. One lady that said she would come, actually did. The only problem was that she got the wrong time. The devotional was at 3 PM and she showed up at 5 PM. Unfortunately for her, Michael and I were the only ones in the building at that time. Everyone else had already gone home. Our building here is three stories. The administrative offices are on the top floor, the chapel and main street entrance are on the main floor and the Institute rooms and our office are on the bottom level.So we were downstairs calling home and catching up on our blog and emails when the bell to the front door rang. We looked at each other and tried to decide what to do. We speak very little German and were here all alone. I was all for ignoring it but Elder Hart rushed upstairs to answer the door. After a few minutes he came running back to our little office and asked me to quick come upstairs as he needs me to translate for him. What??? Me???? Really??? Reluctantly I headed upstairs to find this sweet little German lady standing in the entry. She spoke NO English so we had to try and communicate in German. All I could really understand was that she had come to attend a church service at 5 pm. I tried to tell her that it had been held at 3 pm and that it was all over. It was like she didn't believe me. Maybe it was my atrocious German that she really couldn't believe. I don't know. I was able to tell her that there would be another church service here on Sunday at 9:30 AM that we would love to have her attend. She just sat there looking at me. I didn't know what else to say.  Eventually I was able to ask her to write down her name and number and promised her (I think) that we would have a German speaking missionary contact her. She finally seemed satisfied with that. We got her info and bid her a fond farewell. It is SO frustrating to not be able to speak German so we have made plans to spend much more time studying it.

This is a picture of half of our caroling group. I think Michael and three other elders were off speaking with some church members that we saw at the Markt.
Many have asked for pictures so I will just randomly post some that I think you all might enjoy.

The famous Gold Tower. Legend goes that if you spin the brass ring attached to the front of it your wish will come true. These are all taken in the old city of Nurnberg where the Christkindlesmarkt is held. Most of it was destroyed during WWII and rebuilt afterwards to look like it used to.

Christkindlesmarkt. The Gold Tower in the background.

Eating my favorite food there. Bratwurst and Nurnbergers.

What to choose...... I'll take two of the gingerbread ponies, please.

Me at the Gold Tower, channeling Sister Sarah (from Guys and Dolls, if you missed the reference). This was our meeting place for an evening of caroling with the young elders and sisters.

Lots of beautiful Christmas decorations to buy. I didn't buy any as we won't have any way to get them home:-( Notice the cobble stone streets. Very charming to look at but murder on your feet after about 45 minutes of walking on them.

Some more of our caroling group. The elders just met one of their trainers/companions that had returned home from his mission, but just happened to be back visiting at the exact same time we were at the Christkindlesmarkt. They were in 7th Heaven. Can you guess which one is the "returnee"?

For our Zone Meeting a couple of days ago we acted out the Nativity. Some of the costumes were a little um...sketchy.

Our Christmas Eve celebration....PB&J for me, fried egg sandwich for Elder Hart. Just so you don't feel too sorry for us, we did get invited to a member's home but declined as we wanted to spend our evening calling our children from the church.

The day after Christmas we prepared a breakfast at the church for the JAEs in our ward.

A lovely river we cross every time we go into the Old City,

Last night we went out to dinner with our missionaries and an investigator who is scheduled to be baptized January 7. We went to an Indian Restaurant where we were able to introduce a whole new generation to the delights of Indian food. They all loved it!

Flat Stanley accompanied us everywhere we went. This is a famous cathedral in the Old City.

We cross over this beautiful little river every time we go into the Old City. Picture Postcard perfect.

It snowed today for the first time since we have been in Germany. This is the garden right outside our living room window.

A beautiful Nurnberg sunset.

Just singin' and dancin' in the rain.

So many Brots, so little time......

Sorry everything is so jumbled up, but that's kind of how we roll these days. I've been trying for days to update this blog but things just seem to conspire against me doing it. It's late but we're alone at the church so I just went for it. We love you all♥
Elder and Sister Hart

Feeling so blessed

We just finished our week and a half at the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo, Utah and words cannot describe how wonderful it was to be there. We were there with 1300 other missionaries, "Junior" and "Senior", as we are called:-) At one of our devotionals we took a minute to look out into the audience from the bottom floor up into the bleachers filled with missionaries going into every corner of the world and then contemplated the fact that every single one of us was filled with the same desire; to invite others to come unto Christ. We all deeply love Him and desire to share that love with everyone. His gospel is for all.
To say that our trip to Germany was stressful would be an understatement. There were so many hurdles. We needed to be at the entrance of the MTC to be picked up at 5:30 AM with our suitcases all packed and weighed and dropped off the night before. I think we got about four hours of sleep that night. But... We made it. We were shuttled up to the SLC Airport and arrived with plenty of time to spare. Our suitcases all passed muster. Thst was a big stresser. Our flight to Doetroit was fine, only 3 1/2 hours with a three hour layover. The flight to Germany was another thing entirely. I now know why several people suggested taking a Valium or some other kind of relaxer to cut down the stress level. We should have taken their advice. It was an eight hour flight due to arrive at 1:00 AM our time. Our Delta airplane was configured with two seats on the left, three in the middle and two on the right. We were in the two seats on the left. There was about one inch of legroom between our knees and the seats in front of us.We knew we needed to get some sleep as we were going to be picked up at airport by our mission president and his wife at 9:30 AM German time (1:00 AM our time!) and driven to the mission home in Frankfurt to receive our assignment and orientations of all kinds. All this on about four hours of sleep in the last two days😳 Anyway, I think one of the flight attendants noticed that I was about ready to crawl out of my skin and invited me to go to the back of the plane where there was an empty two seater. I gladly took her up on it. As I walked down the aisle I saw all these people stretched out on the three seater sections sound asleep. I must admit I was a bit envious. Unfortunately neither of us was able to sleep.
We finally landed and were able to be reunited with all of our suitcases intact. We figured out how to procure a luggage tote (no easy feat) for our four 50 pound suitcases, two packed to capacity carry-ons, one giant purse and one very heavy man purse. We cleared Customs with no sweat and made it out to the main terminal where we to be picked up by Presdent and Sister Stoddard.  Our drive to the mission home gave us great heart palpitations! The city is huge and the streets are like mazes. We were so happy to be passengers instead of drivers.
Upon our arrival we got got our mission assignment. We will be in Nürnberg working with the Young Single Adults and Institute support in all eight of the cities in our district, probably a Stake assignment for Michael, and anything the Bishop would like us to help out with in his ward. Looks like I will be doing quite a bit of cooking. I cook a dinner for the Nürnberg Institute once a week and take dinner twice a month to two other Institutes that we visit. We will also attend and support the singles FHE group here in Nürnberg. 
After our meeting and orientation with Pres. Stoddard we were given the keys to our mission car where we were to drive to Mainz for two days of a Senior Couples Conference. Yikes😳 Remember I mentioned the maze like streets? Unbelievable. We did receive a portable GPS for our car and don't know how we would get around without it. Even Michael, with his built in navigational sense, cannot figure out where N,  S, E and W are😁 We arrived at the B & B Hotel the afternoon before the Conference began and we're finally able to take about a two hour nap. No bed has ever felt better. There were two other couples that arrived early and the called and asked if we wanted to go to the Mainz Christmas Market. But of course! I don't even have enough words to describe how wonderful these are. Let's just say that if you love Christmas decorations you would be in hig heaven. Plus they have marvelous food. I had my first famed Bratwurst. To say it was delicious would be an understatement. It was one of the best foods I have ever had in my life😋It was on a delicious roll with a delicious mustard.
I'm going to post this even though I haven't caught up with where we are because we have to leave the church, the only place we have Internet access so far. We want to get wifi in our apartment but apparently it's quite a lengthy process😕
We love being here and the people we have met here so far are marvelous! We love the gospel.

Rollin', rollin', rollin'

Rollin', rollin', rollin'.........

Ach, du meine Gute! What a process packing turned out to be; selecting what goes and what stays, weighing... and weighing... and then taking things out to meet the 50 pound limit per suitcase, and weighing again. We were weighing the up to the morning we left. I thought Michael was going to develop a hernia from all the lifting and putting down of these gigantic suitcases on and off the scale. 
 

Then there were the pills. It was quite eye opening to see all the pills we had to bring along.These are just some of Michael's. I kept trying to convince myself that it really wasn't  that bad because we did, after all, need to bring enough to last for the entire 18 months of our mission, right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

Mission accomplished! Here Michael is with all of our luggage just before we loaded it into the car. It's like traveling with six children; 260 pounds worth! At least they're all on wheels and we can roll them along instead of carry them:-) Michael attached some handy little straps to the large suitcases that allowed us to attach the carry-ons onto the backs of two of them, so then we looked like a family of turtles rolling through the airport. We got a quite a few amused stares and comments.

We flew out of Fresno the day before Thanksgiving and were able to spend it with our daughter Heather and family and daughter Elizabeth and her family. It was so wonderful to be able to spend a few days with them. Today we went to church with the Millers and were able to hear Heather give a beautiful talk in their Sacrament Meeting. After dinner we drove to the MTC in Provo, Utah and moved into the student family apartment where we will stay for a week and a half until we leave for Germany. It's a little weird here right now. We are not actually staying on the MTC campus but a few miles west of it in some married student family apartments, and we are the only people here. Our car is the only one in the parking lot. I hope some more folks will arrive here tomorrow after the regular check in time of 10:00 am.

Auf Wiedersehen. Love you all, Elder and Sister Hart

Lastminute-itis

Well, we're getting down to the wire, close to D-Day, in the final throes, in the bottom of the ninth and almost to the end of our ropes, mine at least. Six days and counting, but who's counting? We've got piles and stacks of clothing, under and outer wear, medications, vitamins, personal hygiene products, prescriptions, German language study aids, mission related papers, coats, hats, gloves and shoes in all our bedrooms. Now, the final and biggest task ahead of us is getting it all organized and packed into the correct pieces of luggage. We have our carry-ons to pack with the stuff we will need to tide us over for the four days we will be spending at our daughter Heather's house until we enter the MTC on December 1, with the rest of our stuff going into the two 50 pound suitcases we will each be toting to get us through our 9 day stay there and in Germany for the next 18 months. It is very difficult to decide what will be very needful and what will not. Germany has all four seasons with four different climate changes. We in Fresno have basically two; really, really hot and cool. We are not equipped for the additional really, really cold climate. What will it take to keep us warm? I have no clue. Having not been really, really cold since my undergraduate years at BYU in Provo, Utah many years ago makes it difficult to even imagine being in such a state.
Some of our friends that are planning on serving senior missions in the near future have asked us what they need to do to prepare. Start the application process way early. I would start a good nine months before you want to go It takes a LONG time, at least it did for us. The application can remain active for as long as you need it too. Seriously, our biggest challenges have been in the health care arena. Start seeing your docs regularly and establishing a good relationship with them. Get all your health issues discovered now. Don't wait until you have to fill out the endless pages of your health history and medications and ailments to start considering these things. Be up to date on your shots and recommended "procedures" that may need to be done. If you would like to go abroad the hepatitis shot series you may need takes 6 months to complete!
This whole process has been such a learning and growing experience for us, to say the least. To say there have been obstacles put in our path would be an understatement. My husband, who is one of the healthiest and strongest people I have ever known, suddenly developed the strangest ailments that have proved difficult to diagnose and treat, but through the prayers and fasting and priesthood blessings of many friends and family he is pretty much back to normal. I had a fall that resulted in some knee surgery that put me back just a bit but am doing fine now. I think we have just about seen it all. It was funny, a couple of days ago Michael came in to show me something that had fallen out of his mouth. It was a crown. We just stated laughing. Really, you think a TOOTH can set us back? Luckily, our good dentist got him right in and glued in back on. He just advised him to not chew anything really sticky on that side until we can get back home and get it taken care of properly.
We are so excited to get everything packed and just be off already. Thank you for all your care and concern. We feel so grateful to have so many wonderful supportive friends and family. We will miss you all but luckily it is very easy these days to keep in touch. 

I have decided to create a blog while we're on our mission so that we can share our experiences with our family and friends in "one fell swoop". So off we go!
About 3 years ago Michael and I decided to send in our mission papers. We had been looking forward for years to be able to serve a mission for our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Michael was already retired and so I retired from my job. Soon after starting the long and arduous process of filling out our applications, SURPRISE!, Michael received a three year calling to serve as an assistant recorder in the Fresno Temple......followed by a call to serve as the Young Men's President in our ward! Of course he accepted and to fast forward three years, we resumed preparing our mission applications in June and submitted them on July 4th of this year. On August 16 we received our call to the Frankfurt, Germany Mission, to serve in the Stake Young Single Adult Program. Our original start date was October 27, 2014. Due to a little surgery on my knee and some health issues for Michael, or start date was postponed to December 1.And so, here we are, babes in the woods, preparing to leave our home to live and serve in Germany for 18 months. Decisions about what to take, what to leave, what to do with our home in our absence, how to pay our bills from abroad, arranging our financial affairs, procuring our prescriptions and the list goes on. As many of my nearest and dearest family members know, I am a ditherer. Give me one assignment or project and I can accomplish it with the greatest of ease, but faced with a myriad of them I seem to run around like a chicken with my head cut off. We are gradually getting everything on our to do lists checked off- this blog being one of them. We fly to Salt Lake City on Wednesday, November 26 so that we can spend Thanksgiving with at least two of our children's families. We actually enter the Provo MTC on Monday, December 1. We have a week of training there with Preach My Gospel and then a couple of days of Institute Training the following week. We will fly to Frankfurt, Germany on Wednesday, December 10. YIKES! I can't believe it is finally in our sights. We are so grateful for the prayers, fasting and blessings of so many that have enabled us to reach this point. It was looking rather doubtful there for a while. We know our Father has a plan for us and has cleared our path.
The rest of today's agenda includes finishing my mormon.org profile, purchasing all our vitamins we need to take with us, buying baptism cards and gifts for six grandchildren that will be baptized next year, a few more birthday gifts for family with birthdays in December and studying German.