April 15, 2011
Dear Family,
It looks like this
is going to be another generic letter to all.
Where does the time go? Marv and
I (Dad and I or Grandpa and I) have been gone to a secretarial training for the
secretaries in the Europe Area of Seminaries and Institutes. We were able to meet with about 30 or so
secretaries and another 7 Coordinators.
We were busy from early morning until late at night but it was a good
experience. The spirit of these people
is wonderful and it was very interesting to sit with some of them and hear
their stories. Most are first generation
converts or at the most maybe second generation converts. Many of the secretaries work only 8 hours a week
and some have 3 or 4 coordinators they work for and so they are full time
employees. There were 8 men that are
secretaries in the area. All of them are
married and 6 of them have families of their own. The one just got married last June and one
other one only spoke German so we did not speak with him.
The secretaries
were from the following countries:
Spain, United
Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, France, Finland, Portugal, Italy, Sweden (she is
actually from Utah but married a Swede and has lived in Sweden for the past 8
or 9 years), Norway, and Romania. Most
spoke pretty good English. The French
girls had the hardest time with the English and so the three of them preferred
to speak to each other instead of to us.
I did finally get to visit quite a while with two of them.
I learned that the
Book of Mormon was the thing that converted most of them in the end. Some had family members who had been
baptized before but had not wanted anything to do with the church and then one
day a missionary approached them and it started to change. This man joined the church and then was asked
by the missionaries to help teach an investigator, who ended being his
wife. Another one told of how his wife
was the one that the missionaries asked to help with him a new investigator and
they too ended marrying. Another one
had been a foreign exchange student and lived with an LDS family and it wasn’t
until many years later when we went back to live with them again that he found
a Danish Book of Mormon in a piano bench in their home and so he just started
to read it. He couldn’t put it down. He prayed and knew the church was true but
then he went through the missionary discussions and the rest is history. He just returned from being a Mission
President in Norway and then he hired on as a Coordinator for Norway and
Denmark. He and his four sons biked
across the United States from New York
to San Diego in 2004, I believe. They
did it in 28 days. They never rode on
Sundays.
We had an Easter
egg hunt in the forest with occasional rain after our meetings in the evening
the first night. It was actually pretty
cold but it was a fun experience because we got the chance to walk and talk
with others. They had the eggs hidden
in 12 different places along the trail and at each station we were to look for
a bag hidden with enough chocolate eggs for each of us. On the egg was a picture and we were to
determine how it related to the week before Christ was crucified and the three
days following. Axel had scriptures
that we read that related to the events and the pictures and so we learned and
heard the story of Easter on our walk.
When we got back to the Hotel, I found a machine where I could pay 1 Eur
for a cup of hot chocolate. Lots of us
were getting hot chocolate. It was
really good and I was really cold. Then
we all went to our rooms because it was about 9:30 p.m. by then, I think.
On Wednesday after
our training we went to the Frankfurt Temple which was just down the hill from
where we were staying and did a session.
Christie had sent me my temple clothes from Cedar on the previous
Thursday or Friday and just as Marv and I were leaving our office to go to the
meetings on Tuesday, the box was delivered with our temple clothes in it. Can you believe it arrived so quickly? The postoffice told her it would take 2 weeks
and it arrived in about 4 or 5 days.
That was a tender mercy of the Lord because then we didn’t have to rent
our temple clothing. Marv just had to
rent the pants and shoes because I hadn’t gotten his new pants hemmed thinking
that we would just have to rent everything one more time anyway. My dress was not even wrinkled when I opened
it up on Wednesday so that was good too.
Anyway we had a
good session in English except for when I got to the veil the man on the other
side spoke in German. I panicked but
the Sister said you can do this just answer in English so I did. I know I had help because I had to remember
what was being said. It was quite the
experience but now I think I can do even better the next time this might
happen.
We went to dinner at
a Chinese restaurant that we walked to and had a good visit with others on the
way and then at dinner. I thought I had
ordered the chicken breast with sweet and sour for Marv and I previously but
two other people got what I thought we had ordered and then we got something
that the waitress said was sweet and sour and what we had ordered. It was a bunch of vegetables and a little
bit of pieces of chicken in a sauce. Oh
well, I will make sure I get the right one next time. Marv and I had eaten there before with the
Church’s Financial Controller so I was pretty confident in knowing what to
order so I have no clue what happened.
Another learning experience! The
two men that got what I wanted shared and I shared with them mine so it is all
good.
We were asked to
get one of the French ladies to the Train Station after the meetings. We had a nice visit with her before we got
her to the station. Getting her to the
station is another story but the bottom line is we made it and we learned some
new streets we haven’t been on before mainly because we have never been to the
main train station before. Another new
experience! Not sure we could find it
again without the GPS. Thank heavens
for GPS.
Tonight after work
at 5:30 we are going to some castle which should take us about 45 minutes to
get to. We are doing a night watch
tour. Not exactly sure what this is but
I heard that it is something you should do while here so we will let you know
how that is. You will probably already
have heard about it before you get this letter.
We heard some
wonderful devotionals and it is amazing how you can take from the devotionals
the things that apply just to you. I
heard numerous times that we were chosen to do this work at this particular
time and that the Lord will help us. He
is in charge. I know he loves all of us
and I know that because Marv and I have been set apart for this calling he will
help us because he wants his work to be furthered in Europe and just maybe the
little thing of being stewards of the Lord’s tithing money is very important to
him and so it is an honor and privilege to be requested to take care of the
Finances here. There are so many
challenges but we will make it with the Lord’s help.
I have enclosed a story
that was shared at our meetings that I
thought was very powerful and hope that you will enjoy it too with Easter
approaching us this next week. May we
enjoy our traditions (another thing we learned about was the traditions in other countries or lack of traditions) and also to be grateful to our Savior for
his sacrifice for us. I am grateful the
Savior loved us enough to die for me and for my sins and that because of that I
can repent and I can return to live with my Heavenly Father and family
forever. I love each of you and I do
love the Lord and our Savior and pray that I will be his worthy servant. May the Lord bless each of you with the
righteous desires of your hearts and keep you safe while we are serving here in
Germany.
The sun is shining
today and it makes me so happy. A quote
we heard this week says, “Life is not just waiting for the storm to stop … it
is to learn to dance under the rain.”
May we all follow this advice and look for the happiness and peace all
around us in the small things. Have a
wonderful Easter as I have blown it to send cards. We love you!
Mom and Dad,
Grandpa and Grandma Vickie or Marv and Vickie (whatever you want to call us)
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