Strassen Predigt

We have returned to post some new stuff. We are working in the mission office and replacing Elder Hanzal and Schwester Gessner who are returning home at the end of September. They have been a tremendous help to us. We get to meet the new missionaries as they come to the mission. We get to see the missionaries as they leave to return home after two years. What a difference a couple of years can make. We do a lot of other office type things that have to be handled in the everyday course of mission activity.

During the last two weeks, we've been to Heidelberg for a couples conference. Hopefully a picture of the Heidelberg Castle will appear somewhere close to this. I always like it when a picture appears. The couples we met with run the outreach programs in various cities in the mission. They are really busy working with the youth from 18 - 30 in lots of ways. Their evenings often run late as young folks can't tell time.

This week we've been involved with zone conferences so we've gone to different cities. No sight seeing time at zone conferences but a good chance to meet with the missionaries and feel of their strength and spirit. We had a chance at the end of the zone conference in Frankfurt to go on a "strassen predigt". That's a street preach. All of the missionaries in the zone went to a pedestrian traffice only area of downtown Frankfurt, gathered together and started singing church hymns. Each district then took turns going out and speaking with the people as they gathered to watch this event. It is really a good way to have a chance to talk with people. We had a chance to go out and talk and it was a lot of fun. Hopefully a picture of the missionaries practicing for the strassen predigt will appear here.









Fall is here and the weather is on the cool side. Ginny thinks it is on the cold side and she is already wearing her gloves. It will be interesting to see what she does when it really gets cold. Everyday is a new adventure and this is a civilized country. Here's a few more pictures just for fun.

The Mission Office

The pictures you see are looking out the windows of the mission office here in Frankfurt. We are in a very nice neighborhood not too far from the center of the "altstadt". We ride here on the subway and then walk a little way to the office. The Bosnian Embassy is under our office. The good part is they have pretty good security here in the
neighborhood because there are a couple of other embassies very close. The sidewalks are made of bricks and have the feel of cobblestones. Part of the sidewalk is dedicated to bicycles and you better be out of the way when they come by. We've had a couple of close calls. Below is a picture of Ginny hanging out our wash on our clothesline. When the wash is on the line it fills the empty space in our apartment multiuse room. We just got a washing machine but they haven't invented dryers for the poor people (that's us). It takes the washing machine two hours to do the wash and then all day to dry the stuff.

(comment below written by Ginny, added by Amy ...to funny to leave out)

The washing machine is another story. We just got it hooked up and when it came to the spinning cycle it about jumped across the bathroom. We had to sit on it to keep it down. Man oh man we died laughing. Every day is a new adventure.

We have arrived in Germany. The keyboard for germany is different from the one we're used to, so watch out for misspelled words and funny things appearing. We have a temporary apartment to live in that is about the size of our living room at home. That includes a front entry area, bathroom (with pink tile, no less), a living room that triples as a bedroom, kitchen and a living room. When we stand behind one another in the kitchen we are wall to kitchen cabinets. Not a bad place if you don't mind having a lot of contact in all of your doings.

We had a nice flight over and all went well other than it seemed really long. We've flown to Europe a number of times but this time it took about 11 hours from Dallas. We got in late and the mission president and his wife along with the assisstants still came and met us at the airport. The Ninow's are wonderful people and the missionaries are out anxiously doing the work. We spent the first couple of nights in a hotel because the apartment wasn't ready. In Germany when you rent an apartment it comes with just the sinks, tub and toilet in the bathroom and nothing else in the apartment. There is an area for a kitchen but no cupboards, no sink, no refrigerator, no stove, etc. It is truly Old Mother Hubbard style.

When we got in the apartment, we got a card for the subway, called the U-bahn, and we set out to get lost. Thank heaven there are two sister missionaries that live in the same apartment building that work in the mission office and they have led us here everyday. I'm going to try and put a couple of pictures of what you see out the window of the mission office here so you get a feel for our view of the world.