A Letter From Elder G

It's a bit slow here in the office this afternoon so I thought I would send a quick update on how our mission is progressing.  We "work" in the Area Office here in Frankfurt wherein President Kearon (of our home stake and ward in Midway and newly called as Area President this September) presides over the Europe Area. It's fun to bump into him on occasion.   

Some of the projects we're currently working on are the following:  Dixie is in the process of ordering 8,000 Christmas cards (to be printed in Rome) and then shipped to us. The message and scriptures have been translated into the 21 different languages
 here in the Europe Area. 

 Once she receives the bulk shipment, she will then ship the thousands of cards as well as hundreds of MoTab Christmas CDs to the NDPAs (National Director of Public Affairs) in over 25 countries.  They will, in turn, ship them out to their various stake and district presidents.  Then all these cards will either be mailed or hand delivered to local political and religious leaders with whom they've been striving to build relationships. It may sound "easy," but it's been quite a task...coordinating everything with SLC, 28 NDPAs, and Rome.

We have been (primarily me) also working with the NDPA in Norway (a former stake president) on a memorial for Apostle John A. Widtsoe who was born in Froya, Norway, in 1871. There's already a school there in the area called the John A. Widtsoe Academy; however, a memorial of some type is also desired.  Not only the Church members, but also the local leaders, have all been working together; and now, both groups have agreed that next summer would simply be too soon to honor Apostle Widtsoe appropriately.  

So for now this project is on hold until the summer of 2017; Dixie and I lamented that we would not be extending long enough to see the fruition of this project (ha).

Our entire office of three full-time Church employees, two PA senior missionary couples, and a BYU intern has also been busily engaged in the volatile refugee situation currently engulfing Europe right now; Germany alone has agreed to accept 800,000 refugees just this year.  And the Church has pledged 5 million dollars to the cause with additional funds to be made available as well.  Many Church units throughout Europe have been collecting supplies
 to be shipped to the refugees.

One of the local wards received funds to purchase German/Syrian dictionaries for some of the refugee camps here in the Frankfurt area.  Our Associate Director of Public Affairs, Ralf Grünke, is also the Bishop of the Hanau ward and presented the dictionaries to the town.

Addressing the needs of the hundreds of thousands of refugees will be be an ongoing project extending far beyond the time we'll be spending here.

Another immediate project we're involved in is going to the small village of Neratov Bartosovice v Orlickych horach--Yes, that's really the name--in the Czech Republic near the Polish border next month to take both photos and videos of the town.  

Of the 150 residents, 65 or so are handicapped, and it's they who essentially "run" the town.  They manage various small industries: i.e., a pension and cafe (frequented by those who come to visit the famously restored cathedral with the glass roof), a crafts workshop, a gift shop, a summer-camp, a rope tow for winter skiing, a vegetable garden, a small lumber mill, and more. 

The humanitarian missionary couple who is working with the townspeople has asked us to take some videos/photos and conduct some interviews (with the help of a translator) so that LDSCharities might demonstrate what, with some financial assistance, can be accomplished not only in small villages but also with the handicapped.  One desire of the town as well as the missionaries is to create a bakery above the workshop, thus adding one more opportunity for self-sufficiency among the residents.  We'll drive the eight hours to Neratov, meet the other Church couple there, probably spending two days on site with photos, videos, and interviews.

Other projects with heavy involvement from our three leaders here in Public Affairs, but with which we have played a supporting role, were the following: The announcement of the 2016 European tour of the Tabernacle Choir, Elder Holland's visit to the United Kingdom, the deaths of three apostles and the calling of three new ones--Elders Rasband, Stevenson, and Renlund--

General Conference and innumerable related online articles to translate and post, and just this past week was the visit to Brussells and Paris by General Authorities,
Bonnie L. Oscarson and Linda K. Burton.

I think that most of you probably know that we have also been called (along with two other senior missionary couples) to serve in a small German branch about 20 minutes away. 

Dixie is in the nursery and has only one child (the branch president's 2-year-old son below)
who doesn't want to be in there with her!  The branch president's four other children
make up 50% of the Primary!

  And I am a counselor in the YM, and we have two active teachers in that program.  Dixie listens to translations during Sacrament meeting, offers prayers and gives talks in English, and I "try my best" in German.  We love the forty to fifty members who come weekly, most of whom speak at least some English!  We have discussed many times with the other couple with whom we work here in Public Affairs (and who are also assigned to the branch) that, when we complete our
missions, etc., perhaps our greatest contribution might just have been
 the service we rendered to the branch.     

I could probably write and write and write, but then I might have nothing to discuss in our next letter.  We love the Gospel and are appreciative that, at least in some small way, we are contributing to building up His Church here in Europe.

Saturdays and Castles

Before viewing the following beautiful castles and quaint little villages, don't forget that
every week we do put in a full 40 hours at the office before venturing out somewhere exciting
on Saturdays.  In other words, we've earned the break!

Our Zone Leaders, Elder and Sister Riggs from Tennessee, invited us to go with them for a
full day's "castle hunt."  They have a great atlas that highlights cities or castles
as "good," "better," and "best."  They invited us one Saturday to head out with them
for a super five-stop adventure.

Here is our first view from the roadside of the Lindenfels castle originating in the 1100s.

Here is what was eventually constructed by the 1300s,

and this is what was left after almost one thousand years!

 

 The view of the village below shows the typical clusters of 

white walls and red tile roofs seen everywhere in Germany!

We got a kick out of this one vine whose growth covered an entire wall!

We took one last look at Lindenfels before moving on to our second stop.

 The quaint village of Erbach was next on our list.

The benches reminded us of what Derek might be working on in Alaska.  

Besides this little display of "woodwork," there was a shop, Drechselstube, that went on for blocks, containing thousands of typical German woodcarvings:  Everything from nutcrackers to Christmas pyramids and arches to "smoking men/incense burners" to bread boxes and
music boxes!  It would definitely be worth a return visit!

 Beautiful Erbach Palace was built into a princely residence in the style of the times in the 18th century.  Only the middle wing of the planned three-winged building was ever built. The facade is not the normal sandstone, but rather wood sheeting colored to look like it!

Its castle was not the typical kind, but it was still unique.

But its town center was certainly typical of all that we've seen so far!

Our third stop was the Fürstenau castle at Michelstadt.  We'll never forget this stop because this was where a "good Samaritan" went out of his way to lead us there by car since road blocks 

prevented our navigation system from doing the job.

This castle, begun in the 13th century, seemed more Italian to me, not at all the typical
medieval type.  It was refreshingly different!  It is currently a private residence, but tourists
are allowed  to wander around the courtyards.

The magnificent ornamental arch between two of the structures was added in 1588.

We were amazed once again at how one single vine could attempt to cover an entire wall.

Next we headed to another old castle, Burg Breuberg im Odenwald.  With its more than 850-year history, it is one of the largest and best preserved castles in southern Germany.

I love the big heavy defense walls where perhaps moats used to be!

More awesome castle walls!

And although a lot had fallen into disrepair, a lot had not.

In fact, what is unique about this castle is that it is currently used as a hostel!  Prior to that it had housed various princely families, a camp for foreign workers in WWII, and a toy factory!

  

 The restored part of the castle below houses the cafeteria.  I should have taken a picture of
the dungeon, where I was surprised to discover a fussball game and a ping pong table!

View from the top looking out over the valley

Our last stop of the day was Gross Umstadt, another quaint little town.  

The churches in these old towns are so big and beautiful...and so OLD!!!  How could they possibly build things like that centuries ago?!!!  Although the city is largely Protestant since the Reformation, this Catholic church of St. Gallus serves many of the Portuguese 

and Russian citizens of Gross Umstadt.

The Rathaus, or town hall, built in 1596

 

Another favorite town square! 

This old, old home currently under repair reminds me of what the medieval houses probably looked like in their time.  I doubt they were as freshly painted and appealing as they are made to appear today for the benefit of all us tourists!

And, lastly, I couldn't resist posting this charming, crooked little house seen down a narrow alley!

 

All in all, it was a great castle-hunting day!!!