May 4, 2010 ZoCo in Kaeiserslautern

On our way to Kaiserslautern


What a day we had today. We drove with two of the Elders to Zone Conference which is about 2 hours away in a town called Kaiserslautern is south of Frankfurt. It was nice to get out of the city and see some of the open country. We saw small villages here and they are called Dorf's. Each Dorf has its own little church with a tall steeple roof. All the houses are white concrete with red tile roofs. There are fields and fields of yellow flax. So beautiful. I am taking a picture of it but it is so rainy that it will not do the scene justice. their are vineyards everywhere. This country is very flat so you can see forever. We crossed the Rhine and the Mein River which is pretty wide.

Our conference was a lot of work but we got everything done on time. I took a few pictures to include. The two Missionaries are the ones training us. Elder Davies and Elder Tippetts. President and Sister Ninow gave wonderful talks and we had workshops on getting the members to help us get referrals. I just had to tell them how successful our Stake Mission program has been. How the members feed the Elder's every night for 1 hour and then send them out to do the Lord;s work. I told them that the members were more inclined to give the Elder's names if they know the Elder's. The Pres came to me after wards and said they had a problem with some of the members thinking if they fed the missionaries they had done their duty. I said that's too bad. It really works in our Stake. He said there was one member who wanted to feed the Missionaries every night but she insisted they stay 2-3 hours each time. So that had to stop. I guess my suggestion was a little after the fact.

Our Conference was 8 hours long and I was ready to hit the sack when we got home at 9:00.

May 3, 2010 Getting ready for ZoCo

We have been getting ready for the ZoCo (Zone Conference). It's part of my job to get all the mission reports for the President ready. This job would be a breeze for Dawn. They want me to learn how to present a slide show on all the new baptisms. It is a night mare. The ZoCo has kept the two missionaries so busy that they have not had time to train me, so I am left to watch over their shoulders. I automatically go into sleep mode. Each missionary e-mails the mission office and they put in their wish list. We have to gather all that stuff together and make it happen. It took Gene and I a full day to finish that project.

We have B's of M in every language. I guess Frankfurt is a melting pot for Europe. More jobs here than any where else in Europe. I can't believe the amount of mail some of these missionaries get, while others get nothing. At least the parent's should write. The office staff got a pizza delivered today and was it ever strange. Not nearly as good as we get in the States. When you want pepperoni you ask for salami and almost everything has spinish on it. The bakeries are great here. I have to watch that I don't eat too much of it however.

Gene was helping the Elders clean out the Hellars (basements) down under the floor in our apartment. The Mission stores all the stuff after closing missionary apartments and then uses it to open other apartments up. This goes on monthly. We have a second bedroom in our apartment but it is full of more stuff, linens and tools. Wish I could put it all down stairs but that is Gene's job so it stays. I can see this job is going to be a big one for Gene especially when he doesn't have help from the Elder's. Mission Pres. wants them back proselyting.

My job is just as hard only mentally. I love organizing things as you know. I am however, a little apprehensive about my ability to do it. I guess I am forgetting that I am capable, it's just new. Good news for Dad, he now knows how to e-mail. I am so proud of him. The High Priest group will be glad to know that too. Well off to bed it's 10:00. We have to get up by 5:30 to get ready for Zone Conference.

30-04-2010 Went Shopping.

Today after work, Sister Lykins, Elder Walters and myself went to an outdoor mall to buy some work pants, shirts and shoes for Dad. He loves not having to wear a suit. There is a Holiday tomorrow but we do not get it off. It's May Day. The German people love holidays, any reason to party. The whole street was lined with vendors selling all kinds of food and playing American music. We all ate Brötz and it was good.

It started raining but it didn't dampen our spirits. Some of the buildings in down town Frankfurt are old, but most have been rebuilt. The war did some terrible things to German's beautiful old towne. I attempted to do the wash today. It's hard to figure out the German appliances. I saw a word that meant fire, so I figured it meant really hot so I put the dial in middle. We don't have a dryer, so we hang them out in the sun when their is some. Everything is on a 220 system so all of our plugs have to be converted from 110.

We are still waiting for our internet to be installed. Things run slow here. The only time I have to write on our blog is before I go to work in the morning. We cleaned the apartment today and had bacon and eggs. The eggs are so fresh here. You can tell they come from free range chickens because the yolks are so orange. I have to do more cooking at home because there are only small markets around us and we have no car to just take off when we want to. Actually we are so tired when we get home that we just drop into bed, it's really hard work on a mission, it's not a vacation. The Lord expects a lot from his Missionaries.

The weather has turned cold for a while, raining on and off. It's still beautiful. Water means green and there's lots of it. I can't wait to get out of the city and see some of these beautiful places. A few days ago Gene went to Manheim on a service call. I think it's where the Manheim Steamroller group is from. It is called City of men.

Tomorrow is church. We will be going to a German speaking ward. We hardly have time to study our German, but we have to if we want to speak it. They speak so fast around here. The Turkish population are numerous but the kids are friendly. All are Muslims but I see very few Burka's worn here. I guess they are more modern here.

After church tomorrow we are going for a walk (German past time). Fast Sunday tomorrow, remember to fast and pray for us to learn the language and that our health stays good. Love you all, until tomorrow.

29-04-2010 Outside The Misson Office in Frankfurt

(These are pictures taken from the window of our office. Fantastic buildings)

This is the first time since we got here that I have been able to update this blog. It's been hard getting on the internet since we are only allowed to use the office internet before we start work. As you can see our apartment is quite bearable and the view is spectacular. Dad has been driving with two Elders to do repairs. He is learning the routine and how to navigate the German towns. Whenever an Elder or Sister call for help with anything pertaining to their apartments, he has to drive to wherever that is.

In July the Mission boundaries change to take in more of Germany. Our Western boundary lies on Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemborg. The Southern border is on part of France and our Eastern border is on Czeckoslovakia. He drives up to 5 hours one way to get to the outermost regions. The president says if he has to work on a Saturday he can take me with him and see places along the way. Can' wait for that.

I have my job in the office which will replace 2 Elders. I'm a little apprehensive but I just have to have faith. The Lord put us here the Lord will make it work. We are getting the hang of the transit system. They have buses and trains each day to the Mission Home office which takes about 20 min. We are up on the top floor and under us is the Bosnian Embassy. The men from their office go outside to smoke every day and it wafts up into the office. Pres. Ninow said he would be looking for another office soon. The office is so busy, keeping up with transfers, closing and opening apartments and the finances for the whole mission. There are about 80 missionaries now, but with the merge we will have twice that many.

The couple missionaries do things together. We will be taking a cruise down the Rhine soon. I'll be sure and take pictures to put on the blog wherever we go. Every fourth Friday we go to the Temple and then some place to eat after wards. It sounds like a fun group.

We opened a new German bank account and we have to do all of our banking through them. That was quite an ordeal. Things are going nicely here. It is wonderful working for the Lord. It's not an easy job but the blessings are enormous.

Arrived at Frankfurt Airport

We arrived at the Frankfurt airport safe and sound, but what a most uncomfortable ride we had. We sat in the middle of 4 seats. I felt claustrophobic. After 9 hours we were greeted by Pres. and Sister Ninow our Mission Pres. and wife. What wonderful people. They are so young, probably in their 40's. They have 4 children, 2 young ones, one at the "Y" and one just left on his mission.
They said they greet all the new missionaries. They took us to their house which is 150 yrs. old, very beautiful. Sister Ninow made us breakfast of tiny quiches, fresh fruit, and fresh squeezed orange juice on her best plates. All around her apartment were hand carved German scenes. I think you can get them at their Christmas festivals. I'll be looking for them.

President Ninow then had a talk with Gene and I. He asked me if I would like to be his Missionary secretary and of course I said yes. Then he asked Gene if he would be willing to be the handyman for the mission. That would entail driving all over the mission and repairing anything that the Elder's tear up. He will also be in charge of opening new apartments, making sure the Elders have everything they need and likewise closing apartments. Painting, putting in flooring etc. so the church can get their money back. Sounded great to Gene. They will be giving him a service truck and he may have to drive one way five hours. That means he doesn't have to set in an office all day.

Our new area boundaries, which will go into effect in Jul. include as far north as the city of Nordwald. Our western boundaries lie on the borders of Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and part of France. On the East is Czeckoslavakia. The President said I can go sometimes with Elder Walters and make a week-end outing of it. When Mazzy comes, maybe she can go with her Grandpa and see the town while GPA does his job.

We've met all the people in the office. Most speak German. There is one German Sister here that speaks German so we are not required to speak it, but she is leaving in October so they expect me to speak German by then.

Last night I went to Relief Society and it was all in German. They gave a history of the Cemetery here in Frankfurt. It is beautiful with lots of marble statues and large grave stones. We are going to take a walk there on Sunday if we are not rained out.

What a surprise when we walked into our apartment. All decorated with IKEA furniture. All the floors are a light colored wood and a huge cast iron tub. Big open windows with white flowing curtains. Their are two bedrooms but one is a storage room for all of Gene's work tools. The best surprise of all was the view out of our balcony. We are up on the 11th floor and we can see all of Frankfurt. The Mountains on the right, The High rises of downtown Frankfurt and on the left forests and quaint apartments. Gene likes to go out on the balcony and watch the airplanes go out and come in. He says it is the hub for Europe air traffic. We will start to work on Thursday the 29th.