23 uli 2010 Trip to Temple

Everyorning at work, someone gives the opening prayer and the spiritual thought. Today was Elder Walters turn. He brought up a very interesting point, I will paraphrase his thoughts, "We have always heard that God chastens those that he loves." In other words, he is always challenging us to do better. Does he also chasten his Prophets? Yes he does. All through the Old Testament the Prophets were chastened and he also chastened Joseph Smith on a few occasions. First when he was young for his frivolities of life, when he lost the 116 pages of the manuscript and when he was not getting along with his wife Emma. In D&C 93:4 is says that he does chasteneth those he loves even the Prophets. Elder Walters made a good point, it just proves that Joseph Smith was a Prophet just like those of old. It really helps us to start out each day this way. Sometimes you get to feeling like you are just doing a job, but when you think about it, everything is spiritual to the Lord. We are helping the work go foreward.

This week has been a bummer for me as my back is starting to catch up with me. I come home exhausted each day but amazingly I am able to go forward to another day. Tonight we go to the temple (so grateful for that). We both need that extra spirituality. We get a chance to relax and meditate on things other than this world. Then we will be socializing with the other Missionary couples. That always puts us on a high. It will be steak and fish tonight.

Before going to the temple we had a little time to see parts of Bad Vilbel that we weren't aware of before today. We saw the cutest little houses that actually had back yards. In every yard was a garden. Germans love flowers, hanging and in pots, in their windows, by their doors. It is delightful to see. The houses that had farms attached to them are used completely. No land is left fallow. They grow their own wheat which are hanging low because of all the kernels in them. They grow all kinds of vegetables. If you do not know what asparagus looks like, you need to find some growing. The plant looks like a fairy plant. The Germans grow a white asparagus that is more tender than the green variety and is served with white sauce, YUMMY!

Saw a field of sun flowers, they grow them for the seeds. I thought Dawn would like it because she loves sunflowers and unique looking doors. All my adventure pictures are for my Daughter Kim, she loves nature and hiking. Of course I include fashions because my daughter Rachel is majoring in that, and all the castles and war articles are for all of my boys. I'm sure they all feel they were misplaced when they were put in this century.

We were asked to be the witness couple at the temple, for those of you who go to the temple, you know what that means. My back was hurting before we went so I said a prayer that I would be able to do what was required of me and the Lord blessed me. My back didn't hurt until we got home that night. The Lord sure watches out for us. After the temple all the couple missionaries met at the Stadt Berlin for supper. We went there once before but this time I took a few pictures of the group so you can see our friends now. You do get to know them well since we go lots of places together. It makes it easier to be away from our family and friends. All went well, everyone was served their food except you know who? The big Kahuna, Gene. He waited for a long time and they never brought it. We just got it to go and to make up for it, they gave him two steaks and a huge patio, so it worked out okay. I have to say, I don't know if I would have been so patient. It rained like crazy which was a relief from 2 days of extreme heat, but it will really be humid once it starts getting hot again. They say July and August are the hot months and then it is great again for the Autumn. Winter is pretty long here. It starts getting cold in Nov and stays cold until March and into April. Well we shall see. A new couple came today, the new doctor, we got to know them pretty well, I guess we know who will be their best friends. Back in bed at 11:30, looking forward to blessed rest.

19 Juli 2010 Mazz leaves- Trip to Heidleberg

After taking Maz and Jenna to the airport and a huggy good bye we had the rest of the day to find something to do. HEIDLEBERG. We were not able to go with the girls but I took lots of pictures so they could see it. Before we even got to the castle we saw a very unique metal statue. Germany is known for its industrial looking pieces of art in every town. This one takes the cake. Back to the castle. It is built on the Neckar River and is the second most visited place in Germany. It dates back to the 1300's when it was built as a fortress. Oh here is where I tell you that today's blog is going to be a History lesson, so if you don't like history, oh well.

In the 1500's Heidleberg was the seat of Government for the German Empire. The elector Ottheinrich was second only to the Emperor. Between 1574-1610 Elector Frederick IV restored the castle in the Renaissance style. The statues of his 16 ancestors line a wall that can be seen in the plaza. Two had the first name of Otto, the same as our Grandson. There is a love story told about his son Frederick V and his bride Elizabeth Stuart the daughter of King James I of England. They married at 14 and 15 yrs. old. She brought with her many ladies in waiting as well as her lovable monkey's. She had one sitting on her shoulder or on her lap wherever she went. On her 20th birthday Fredrick built over night, an Arch de Triumph that he named Elizabeth Gate and presented it to her.

As you enter the castle there is a strong door with a huge ring on it. Legend attached to it says, "Anyone who can bite through the thick ring on the tower gate shall own the castle." I wonder how many men broke their teeth off trying to accomplish the task? About 1600 the first large wine barrel was built which held 132,000 liters. An even larger barrel was built in 1664 that held 222,000 liters and it took 130 Oak trees to get the job done. It was large enough to have a dance floor on the top.

In 1764 the castle was struck by lightning and a great fire cracked a lot of the 7 meter thick walls causing it to crumble. It lay in ruins until 1810 when an artist curator named Count Charles Graimberg, a French immigrant, visited Heidleberg and was facinated by it. He made it his life's ambition to save it from further destruction. He preserved everything associated with the castle and the town. By 1815 his engravings of Heidleberg were widely distributed. He is known as the Father of the Industry of pictorial views of the castle and life along the Neckar River. He petitioned the authorities to prevent the farmers and builders from turning it into a quarry. All of his antiquities relating to the Palatinate are housed in the Kurpfalzisches Museum in Heidleberg.

We took a one hour tour of the castle and saw the ornate door casings leading from one room to the other. A few pieces of 17th century furniture were on display. Of course I took pictures of them all. My blog must take the prize for the most pictures posted. We saw a tree in the middle of the castle grounds that really intrigued us. We had to touch it. Question, "Does anyone know the name of this tree and do you think it was downy soft or hard and prickly?" Any takers on that question? Anyway, we walked down into the town which has a beautiful plaza with a statue of Hercules, the son of Zeus and one of the Grain Goddess. Right in the middle of town is the Church of the Spirit, which had a beautiful pipe organ. We went in at just the right time, a man was practicing for his recital. Dawn, you have to play a pipe organ some day. It must be exhilarating. The only tragic thing about the church was that its outer wall, had souvenir shops all around it. Looked a little bit like what Christ spoke about in the bible as money changers around the temple. We ate at a place called Schmidts, who had the greatest burgers (American style) and we were told to be sure and walk across the bridge, which we did. The History of the bridge is another great story.

The first bridge was built of wood in 1248. It was rebuilt in the 16th century by the Elector Charles Theodore who is presented as a statue on the bridge. In 1945 the bridge was blown up but a year later it was retrieved from the river and rebuilt stone by stone. It was an enjoyable walk and a super day. Tschuss