02 Oct 2010 Revisitiing Rothenbug

I guess we just haven't gotten enough of Rothenburg because this is the third time we have visited this city. Elder Walters and I just love this place. It has so many unusual places to shop at. Antique stores, authentic clothing, good places to eat and yummy desserts, (I'll tell you about that later.) I just found so many more things to take pictures of and I wanted to share them with you. First of all we went to the Criminal museum. We missed that the first few times we came but everyone says you have to do this tour, so we did. They had 5 floors of torture gadgets. I won't go into detail but one deserves special mention. The Iron Maiden. I thought that was a Heavy Metal band in the 80's but I guess it started here in Europe in Medieval times. I took a picture of the original Iron Maiden and also a more recent one. Also they gave us a run down on what a girl had to go through before she was married. Every girl had to have some sort of crown to wear on her head. If you were rich you wore one made of jewels (see picture) if you were poor you had to wear a braided straw hat (see pic) If you couldn't afford a straw hat they shaved your head and you went in the back way to the church. Also, if you were a wife who talked too much you had to wear the mask with the tongue hanging out whenever you went into town to by things. The masks were a big deal then. If a man acted like a pig he wore a pig mask and if you acted like a fool you wore the Jesters mask. They really went in for the mask business. I took a few pictures of Gene and I in the stocks, and a painting of two women having to wear the masks. I guess they talked too much.

When we walked around town I saw some beautiful houses, doors and gardens that I had missed before, so I took pictures of those too. I just can't begin to tell you how beautiful people keep there places here in Germany. They are so very clean too. You always see people sweeping the door steps to their businesses and houses. Now for the eating places here. They are marvelous. We found the best Brat place. They have the really thin ones and they put them on good german rolls that were also long and thin. I have learned to love mustard. Dad, he will have none of the mustard. For dessert I had to try these very unique fried balls. Well just look at the picture you will wonder how they are made. They look like lace. They have an iron ball that opens up and they put the dough into the center. Close it up and put it in a deep fryer. Sounds fattening already hugh? Then they dip them into chocolate, carmel, cinnamon or powdered sugar. They make them small or big. I bought a couple of small ones and ate them before Gene came back. They just melted in my mouth and oh so crunchy. I guess I am selfish but he wouldn't have liked them anyway.

I suppose you are wondering why the picture of Kentucky Fried Chicken? Well one of my girls asked us to take a picture of Dad at Kentucky's so we did. What you don't know is that this place is hopping in Germany. I took a picture of the crowd that was waiting to order food but you wouldn't believe how many people are waiting outside to get in . There parking area is as big as our church's. I guess German people like something different too. So don't put down the Colonel. We go whenever we can. The day we went, a bunch of Turkish men were having a feast day and one guy was the designated go get it man. I guess they all decided they wanted bread so he comes back with a tray of hamburger buns (about 40 pieces) and starts slinging them across the table to everyone like frisbies. They were all talking so loud it was so hilarious. Young men and old men alike were there but no women allowed. It must have been a bonding thing.

We had to hurry home because they are airing the Saturday session tonight at the church. Hope you enjoy Conference this Sunday. Love to all in Vista, The Walters

28 Sep 2010 Spiritual thought Misc. Pictures

Sister at church with baby girl.






















Today at work we had a very good spiritual thought that I think deserves repeating. Your children may have already heard the story because it was taken from the March 1997 Friend. It was written by Elder Russell M. Nelson (our favorite apostle at this time).

In June of '72 he and his wife decided to take their family of 9 daughters on a trip down the Colorado River. They were told that the water level was low, so they felt it would be a very safe trip, however, as they started to go over what was called the Horn Creek rapids, they suddenly had a drop in depth of a several story building. By instinct he let go of the rope in the raft and protectively put one arm around his wife and the other around their youngest daughter who was not quite 7 yrs. old.

He was sitting in the back of the boat and was hit by the rapids being thrown into the air and landing in the water. He tried to reach the surface but each time he found himself trapped underneath the raft. His family couldn't see him, but he could hear them shouting, "Daddy! Daddy! Where's Daddy?" He finally came to the surface and his family had to drag him exhausted out of the water.

He said he wanted to go home right then but there was no way to turn back so they had to continue the trip. The next few days were a little calmer until the end of the trip when they approached rapids that were worse than the first that they had encountered. Before they set out they had a family council. They knew they had to have a plan if they were going to live through this experience. He told his family that the only way they could make it was to understand that the raft would make it through no matter what, because it would float, so if they would hold on to the rope on the raft with all their strength, they would make it through the rapids. Even if the raft flipped over, they would make it. He turned to his littlest daughter and told her to hold on to him as tight as she could and not let go. They made it through but they found out later that people had lost their lives in the past on that particular rapid.

He went on to say that the lesson to learn from his experience was that we need to learn as much as we can before we begin any new experiences. If they are dangerous, even life threatening, we should avoid them, if possible, if not possible, we can be sure that we are prepared. The second lesson he learned was that there is a right way and a wrong way to go through the dangerous rapids of life. The wrong way is to react by instinct and do what immediately comes to mind. The right way is for the parents in the home to cling to the iron rod of the gospel, and for the children to cling to their parents and their leadership. Then they'll all make it through the rough water safely.

His last statement was "Cling to the iron rod of the gospel and teach your children to cling to you as parents as they too, learn to hold on to the iron rod. If you will hang on to the gospel and to the counsel of your righteous parents, you will make it through any trouble in life."

I thought that was good counsel for these troubled times. Teach your children to hold on to the iron rod. I have a few pictures that I took in Trier for Rachel so you will have to suffer through if you are not interested in fashion in Germany. Looking forward to General Conference this Sunday. Auf Wiedersehan.