Sunday

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Sunday is usually a family day for us, so we are really missing them today! We attended Church at 9:30 AM on a rainy, overcast morning.

A group of YSA's from the Netherlands was there visiting at Church, having come to attend the Temple in Friedrichsdorf. (I later learned that my cousins, Melissa & Mark Daams, who just moved from the Netherlands to Mesa, Arizona, were talking to a friend of theirs who was there with this group!)

When it was time for testimonies, there was a huge stream of people walking to the front (I almost thought it was for a special musical number). Among the testimonies: man from Ethiopia, Sister from Scotland recently started Face Book because Church leaders want us to spread the Gospel on the internet. She has gotten in touch with a cousin in Scotland who communicates with the dead but not in the way she should, so they were fasting for her today. A young elementary age girl said she is the only Church member in her school but it is good because she can set her standards higher because others know she is a member. 

A comment that I liked: We restrict what Heavenly Father can do by what we don't do (because of our fears).

A Senior Missionary and his wife were just transferred here to the Frankfurt Temple (in Friedrichsdorf) from the Freiburg Temple where they use 13 different languages. People attend there from as far as 20 hours away, many being very poor. Most had been athiests but the Gospel has transformed them. The Elder has relearned the German language from when he was a young missionary 50 years ago, but it has been a struggle for his wife, so they decided to attend Church in English so she could understand it.

We met the Palmers, an American couple about our same age (called expatriats, because they are citizens of one country who make their home in another country, which there are a lot of here). They originally came to Germany for a three year work assignment, now have lived here for 37 years, having raised their family here (their children have moved to the USA). They live about an hour away and, after years of attending their local German Ward, have decided to start attending the International Ward so they can get more out of Church in English. They don't want to move from their home because it is just right for them. They have never learned to speak German. They are self-employed, working together selling insurance. They join with us in all of the activities for the Senior Missionaries. They have requested that their Church memberships be transferred here to Frankfurt, from one Ward/Stake too another, but haven't yet received word about the decision. It is getting to be of great concern to them because their Temple recommends have just expired.

(About a month later, they got the ok to become members of the Frankfurt 2nd Ward and got their Temple Recommends. I could see from the happiness on their faces what had happened before they even told me.)

Several missionaries were sustained as Primary teachers, including Ken & me (which actually didn't last more than a few weeks because we are away so much). The Bishop's counselor from Portugal who works in Public Relations in the Area Office, extended the calling to us on Friday. This was definitely a surprise. It will be Ken's first time ever to work in the Primary! We were asked to come to Primary today, and observe Sharing Time and sit in the class. 

We are to take over the CTR 4 class from John Mulligan's wife, Luz, from the Philippines. (He, as the Area Welfare Manager, is our boss, has lived in 4 different countries, has an English accent.) The children: Marisa (USA), Noah (  ), Helena (Germany), Guillaume (mother is Russian & father is French), and Torin whose mother is terminally ill. The Primary President is from France and one counselor is Scottish.

The chorister was teaching about "Adam & Eva." The multi-cultural mixture is fascinating!