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.