Time Flies On Wings Of Lightning

I can hardly believe that today is the halfway mark of our mission! We have been in Germany for nearly 9 months. (We were a week and a half at the Provo MTC before arriving in Germany) Time really seems to have flown by on wings of lightning. We can say that by now we feel somewhat at ease. We know how things work and how to get by in most situations. We speak semi-passable German. We can get ourselves pretty much anywhere we need to go using public transportation. We have traveled by Strassenbahn, U-Bahn, ICE train, S-Bahn, RE train, Bus, foot, and, almost by bicycles. There was a time when we needed to visit a neighboring ward on Sunday. We couldn't figure out a way to get from the last stop on the Strassenbahn to the ward meetinghouse. The Sister missionaries said they'd leave us bikes near the station so we could pedal over.  I was not in the least disappointed when a ward member volunteered to pick us up. I'm not sure how it would have gone with me and my long skirt on a bike. Since we've not been able to get German visas yet, we are unable to get drivers licenses. So, this is how we roll.

We've had many wonderful experiences since my last post. In July we participated in the baptism of a great young man. We and the sister missionaries were privileged to teach him the gospel. He was referred to us by someone else who has been attending our Church. He was very spiritually prepared for the gospel. He fully and gratefully accepted the message of the Restoration and the Plan of Happiness. He read the Book of Mormon in two weeks and was so moved by the account of the Prophet Joseph Smith in translating it that he wanted to be baptized. On July 11, Tolga was baptized. Elder Hart was privileged to be able to perform the ordinance. Tolga has progressed so quickly because of his great faith. He tells us that his life has become happier and has led him to opportunities to better his circumstances. He was asked to teach the English Gospel Doctrine class in September and he is excited and very happy to do it.

Sisters Bader and Hyatt, Tolga, Elder and Sister Hart

Elder Hart and Tolga

On July 12 we held our first Stake JAE Super Sunday. All the Young Single Adults in our Stake were invited to come to Nurnberg for the meeting block. We met for Sacrament Meeting with the Nurnberg Ward. After the Sacrament, our JAEs gave all the talks, music and prayers. It was a wonderful meeting. We hoped perhaps 10-15 might come but ended up with about 25 JAEs, in addition to the missionaries, in attendance. That may not sound like many, but for our Stake it was wunderbar!  Several of the wards are very long train rides away and our meeting time is 9:30 am. Afterwards all the JAEs met together for a separate Sunday School class. We talked about sharing our testimonies with others and how we can do it. For an activity we all went in front of the chapel and wrote messages on the sidewalk with chalk that would invite and inspire the many people who pass by to come inside our building.

Group shot

After Sunday School, we split into Relief Society and Priesthood classes, taught by the JAEs.
The sisters all met outside on the lawn under a tree and had a lesson on Temples taught by two young sisters from Coburg-a great lesson!

At the end of our meeting block we had everyone join us under the trees for some drinks and refreshments. We can't wait to do it again!

Every Monday evening we meet at the church for Single Adult Family Home Evening. The sister missionaries teach a gospel message and we talk and have refreshments afterwards. We have various people attend, but our core group consists of three marvelous German sisters. Since they were all squished into one couch it reminded me of  three very famous monkeys. I asked them if they had ever heard of them. They replied yes and agreed to pose for me. We love them♥.

Lots of bikes in Germany. Yep, that's a crocheted tire cover. Germans really like their bikes.

We always enjoy meeting with the Elders and Sisters for District Training every week. They are spiritual giants and teach and inspire us all every week. They are still young men, and can't help having fun....We stopped them after attempting to carry three on the back.

After dinner and Institute class the kids often enjoy playing games-pool, table tennis, kicker among other things. Around-the-world ping pong with required spin-move is a perennial favorite.

We are asked to do many different things on our mission. A month ago we were asked to sing for a funeral of a ward member. Eight of us sang "How Great Thou Art" in a small stone chapel. The accoustics were wonderful. Then we moved to the gravesite and sang again. I think it touched the hearts of the family who are not members of our Church. They all expressed gratitude. We were able to visit with them at a luncheon (pic below) afterward.

This would be the last time we were to see Sister Bader. This dear Sister recently arrived from Switzerland and we grew to love her immediately. On her first Preparation day, five days after her arrival, she was playing basketball and wrenched her knee terribly. She fell and could not get up. Long story short, after many visits to the doctor and valiantly hobbling everywhere with a full leg brace for a month, it was decided that she needed to return home for surgery. This courageous Sister never said a word of complaint. She is now in the process of  physical therapy, after which she will return to her mission later this year.

We ♥ our missionaries!

In previous posts I have mentioned Precious, a newly baptized member of the church and her husband and their new baby. It is a highlight of our week to visit them as we teach the new member lessons. Little Marvelous has grown so much. She especially likes Grandpa/ Elder Hart. He can always get her to smile, and she him.

Elder Hart and Marvelous

The elders drive us to the market every week to shop for Institute food. Here's why we can't do it via train. Institute kids like to eat. A lot.

They also pickup and drive us and our prepared food to the church
 and then back home with the empty pots and pans.

We sometimes treat them to lunch after shopping. This time they chose turkey legs!
Passenger must feed the driver.

We are blessed to be home teachers to the Bishop and his wife and two adorable daughters. We love our visits with them. After our last visit they drove us to see the old city in their town of Cadolzburg. It is a charming place. Like most old cities in Germany, it has its very own castle.

Me standing with Bishop and Sister Lange in front of Castle Cadolzburg

Street built alongside the castle wall.

In this garden are planted flowers, grains, fruits and vegetables
 that would have been found growing during the time this castle was in use.

One day we came home and found a package from the United States. We were so excited. We hardly ever get any mail, let alone packages. Here's what we found.Vielen Dank to Libby, Chris, Melissa, Suzanne, Linda and Kristie. These items might not look too exciting, but for us it was gold! These are all items that are not available in German markets and area all needed to make Chocolate Chip and Snickerdoodles cookies, the favorite cookies of our JAEs, missionaries, and us.

Part of Elder Hart's assignment on the high council is to visit the ward to which he has been assigned. One nice thing about having to travel on Sunday early in the morning is we have the train stops almost to ourselves. We can also choose just about wherever we want to sit on the train.

Waiting for our train at 7:30 AM

Regensburg branch meets in an old medical/dental building. That Elder Hart's name tag on the skeleton.
 Is this what he will look like when we leave????  Maybe Elder Skellie is a remnant of the old place.

Our present Zone Leaders are both very good cooks. One evening they invited us to join them for dinner. Mmmmmm. Delicious. The best salmon I have ever tasted.

The Elders are not the only good cooks in our ward. Sister Hug, our new Sister missionary from Switzerland, who replaced Sister Bader, is an amazing baker. She baked this beautiful braided bread for a District Training Meeting. Mmmmm again. No wonder I have gained 20 pounds since I've been in Germany:-(

We were able to travel to Frankfurt a week and a half ago for a Senior Couples Conference. We traveled by  train to Wurzburg where another Senior Couple lives. They picked us up and took us on to Frankfurt with them. Thanks Elder and Sister Ricks! On the way to Frankfurt we stopped at a wood carving shop in Johannesberg.  Oh my goodness, I am a sucker for wood carving. I felt like I had entered Pinocchio's father's wood carving shop, only ten times bigger and better.

Toni Sauer- Holzschnitzereien und Weihnachtskrippen

The Nightwatchman

M's favorite

The Hunter

Beautiful hand painted creche

Wonderful tiny little animals. I wanted to buy them all for our grandchildren

I felt like a kid in a candy store-  very expensive candy store. After browsing for some hours we finally settled on a beautiful nativity set. The workmanship is exquisite.We selected the figurines we wanted to put in the stable. We had it all shipped home to the US. We plan one more trip back there to buy some Christmas gifts.

We spent the night in Friedrichsdorf, a little town just outside of Frankfurt at a charming little hotel. The yard was full of whimsical hand crafted items including a chess set out on the back lawn. The furnishings were new and modern and the breakfast was to die for. Germans certainly know how to put together delicious breakfasts. The only negative was a really hard mattress. Ours felt like a slab of concrete. After the second night there we had bruises on our hipbones.

The first evening we were there, we, the Ricks and the Johnsons, (Senior Couple from Grafenwohr), walked into town looking for some dinner. We found a lovely place and ate on the patio. Elder Hart ordered Kalb (veal) Wienerschnitzel, and I ordered a hamburger (Hamburgers were originally from Hamburg). We like to eat regional foods. M said it was the best Wienerschnitzel he had ever eaten, and my hamburger was the best that I have ever eaten.

The next morning all the Senior Couples and President and Sister Stoddard were able to attend an English speaking session in the Frankfurt Temple. It was wonderful to be there with so many great friends. It was kind of a bittersweet experience though. In one week the temple will be closed for two years for extensive renovation. It's kind of strange that the Freiburg Temple is also closed for remodeling. It will reopen in May of next year. We are hoping that we might be able to go there before we leave to go home. The members in our area will probably have to go to the temple in Bern, Switzerland for the next two years.

After the temple session we all ate lunch at a nearby Chinese Restaurant and then headed back over to the temple grounds for a conference session  in the Stake Center which is on the same grounds as the temple. All the talks were centered around the temple. What a wonderful experience. We learned so much.

The next day was open for sightseeing. We drove into Frankfurt and rode an elevator up 59 stories to the top of the Main Tower. What an incredible view.

The Main Tower

One of the incredible views

Trying to look cool, calm and collected on a roof top 59 stories high.

From here we walked through a park on our way to visit some famous gardens. In the park and in front of the old Opera House, there is a fountain with little paddle-boats for children to ride around in, a climbing wall and lots of little rides.

And on to the Palmengarten. I don't know how many acres it covers, but it's immense. Had we known the extent of it we would have planned to stay longer. There are many hothouses, or climate controlled buildings with different climates and flora in them from all parts of the world. Below are some of our favorites.

See the frog atop the waterfall?

Such cute little turtles,

Schwiegermuttersitz

Translated, this means mother-in-law seat. Nice.......

We enjoyed the beautiful grounds, lakes, ponds and gardens; especially the dahlia garden. It felt like we were in the Garden of Eden.

These are all dahlias. I couldn't fit them all in the range of my camera.

My favorite

My second favorite

M's favorite

Was ist das? A duck? A turkey? A goose?

Beautiful swans and ?

One of the highlights of our mission was being able to go to the temple this week with one of our favorite JAEs- Caroline. She joined the church about three years ago and decided that she wanted to go to the temple to receive her endowment before it closed for two years. We were also able to teach her the Temple Preparation classes. What a marvelous experience!

Traveling to Frankfurt on the ICE- a rapid transit train.

After our temple session we went into the little town of Friedrichsdorf to find something to eat for dinner and ran into these two lovely young ladies. We at first thought they were sister missionaries because they certainly looked the part. It turns out they are only 14 and 18 and had traveled for many hours to go to the temple with some family members. One of them is from the Czech Republic and the other is from Slovakia. We had a great time talking to them. I'm not quite sure why I look so puzzled? It must be my natural expression now.

Last night at Family Home Evening two of our favorite sisters brought a Bavarian specialty to share with us- Bayerische Weisswurst, served with Bretzeln and Bayerische Weisswurst Senf. Everything was so delicious. They are made fresh in the morning and legend says they have to be eaten before the bells chime 12:00 noon. I guess they will go bad after that. Our sisters tell us that as long as they are eaten on the same day they are made they will be okay. Weisswurst means white sausage. They are made out of pork and are to be eaten with pretzels, not bread or rolls. Senf is mustard. This type is made especially to be eaten with Weisswurst. Most people eat them by biting off the end and sucking out the insides. They are about the consistency of soft hot dogs, so not so easy to do. Sister Hertel showed us how to do it. Elder Hart tried, as did the sister missionaries. After they were done, they said there lips were about to fall off. It takes a lot of hard sucking to get the meat out of the casing. I was laughing so hard at them that I couldn't even attempt to do it!

Success! The empty casings are the proof.

The weather this summer has been record-breaking hot here in Nurnberg, with very little rain. There is no air conditioning in homes and most buildings. It has frequently been in the high 80s and 90s, with high humidity. Libby, I carried the Chinese fan you gave me everywhere, until I lost it. I was heart broken. Luckily we found a Chinese shop in the main railway station that sold them. I was able to buy two more so I would have a back up. As I am writing this it has been raining. Hallelujah!!! As there are no irrigation or sprinkler systems, Nurnberg has been having a tough time too. Everything and everybody is stressed from the heat! The weather forecast is for cooler temperatures the rest of this week and next. Hopefully beautiful, blessed Fall is on its way.

Since my last post, lots of happy family birthdays have taken place. Congratulations and best wishes. We love you all so much♥

July 13- Happy 6th Birthday to our grandson, Micah
July 15- Happy 10th Birthday to our granddaughter, Ava
July 19- Happy ? Birthday to my sister Mimi 
July 31- Happy 6th Birthday to our grandson, Jay
August 9- Happy 8th Birthday to our grandson, Sheldon
August 10- Happy 16th Birthday to our eldest grandson, Austin
August 30- Happy 3rd Birthday to our granddaughter, Delilah

We love all of you and thank you for your support and encouragement. It means a so much to us. We think of you often and you are in our prayers always. We love what we are doing and feel so blessed to be able to show our love to our Father in Heaven and our Savior Jesus Christ by sharing the gospel  with our brothers and sisters in Nurnberg, Germany.

Love, Elder and Sister Hart
Mom and Dad
Grandma and Grandpa