23 Apr 2011-Frankfurt-Pealing of the Bells

This was a special day in Frankfurt as the Pealing of the Bells only occurs 4 times a year. On the Saturday before the first advent, on Christmas Eve, Saturday before Pentecost and the Saturday before Easter which was why we were in Frankfurt. All the Senior Missionaries met on the bridge over the Main river but after it started we walked to the Romerplatz where it was suppose to be a better spot to hear all of the bells at once. There are 50 bells total in ten churches that are all wrung at the same time for 30 minutes. It is fantastic to hear. It makes your heart feel joyful, but some people say it is deafening. It is an experience you should all have once in your life.

The first Great Peal of the Bells happened in 1347 in honor of the deceased Louis IV of Bavaria, Holy Roman Emperor. Besides the dates above it was also rung during the coronations of kings and even on Goethes 100th birthday in 1849. The Lutheran church is the established church in Frankfurt and is maintained by the city of Frankfurt. They are in charge of the bell ringing. The city also pays the people who ring the bells. The only time the bells remained silent was on 26 Nov 2005 when the Catholic church boycotted the event because the town allowed the shops to open on Sunday first Advent and they considered this to be a clear breach of contract.

During a fire in 1867 all the Dom bells were destroyed. They were rebuilt 10 years later. The largest of all the bells is the Gloriosa weighing in at 11.85 tons making it the largest bell in Germany. All the bells are tuned so as to be harmonious with each other. The churches are within .6 miles of each other so you can hear them all no matter where you stand. Most people walk from church to church so as to hear them all up close.

Elder Walters and I got there early in the morning and walked the Zeil to do some shopping. We saw lots of musicians playing. They were from Russia and we enjoyed them all. We always give them a dollar when we stop to listen. There are musicians out on Saturdays, but this day was special so we got to hear them all. We ate at my favorite fish sandwich place and drank a Johanisberry juice. I asked Elder Walters to talk about the rest of the day, thought you could use a different perspective on it.

As we were sitting on an outdoor table eating our lunch, a couple our age, sat down beside us. The lady asked Sister Walters a question but she responded slowly trying to figure out what she had said. "Es tut mir lied, ich sprechen English?" Sister Walters replied. The lady said, I can speak that too and she began asking where we were from. San Diego we told her. "Really she said, I live in Morgan Hill just south of San Francisco, what are you doing in Germany?" Sister Walters told her and she immediately told us that she had a friend who was LDS at home who had given her a Book of Mormon, but she told her that she was happy with her religion and wouldn't be interested in changing". I took that as a don't try to convert me, so I asked what she was doing in Germany. She was born here and met an American, fell in love and moved to America with him. He died recently and she met her now companion who lives in Germany and she was here to visit with him. His family came and needed a seat so we graciously excused ourselves and left. We didn't give them a B of M or bear our testimony but I learned from that how easy it is to start a conversation on religion.

The Lord was training us for the next encounter it seems. While walking down the long broad Zeil there were some young people singing and playing the guitar so we stopped to listen. We were approached by three people, a man and two young girls. They spoke perfect English. The first question they asked was, "Had we accepted Christ as our personal Savior?" Of course we said yes and told them who we were and why we were in Germany. Sister Walters talked to the young man but the young ladies started talking to me and so I bore my testimony of the Book of Mormon as being another testament of Jesus Christ and of Joseph Smith being a Prophet called to translate this book by revelation. One of them must have felt the spirit bearing witness to her and she said she had never heard of the Book of Mormon but she would be interested in reading it. She asked where the book came from and I told her the story of Joseph Smith and his first vision. The other girl said we did not need any more scripture, that Christ had given us all we needed as our map to return to him. I realized that she was becoming more argumentative and she left, but the other girl promised to read it. I am sure she felt the spirit when I bore witness to her of its truthfulness. I told Sister Walters after wards that I was surprised at myself for baring my testimony so strongly in such a noisy busy place. It was a revelation to me that if you open your mouth, the Holy Ghost will then take over from there. It was a wonderful feeling, a memorable experience.







Church on the Romerplatz