Summer Social with the Young Single Adults

Another month is history. It has been more than 4 month since we embarked on this venture. With the energy needed to keep up with the young singles, we remarked several times during the past weeks:" we should have gone on this mission five or ten years ago.
Yesterday (Saturday, 30 Aug. 2008) we drove to the city of Essen. We met at the Grugapark for activities and some good food. The turn out was not as good as we expected, but we enjoyed ourselves. The park is huge park with many relaxing and educational and beautiful features. Just as we thought that we have seen the most beautiful parks, this one tops them all. It is accessible to just about anyone, by car, by bus or the subway. If we were to walk all day long, one could not see all there is to see. The rose gardens, the other flower gardens, the vegetable gardens, the aviary, the play grounds, the restaurants, the water features, the museums, the animal park, large swimming pools, the many statues, large trees and large lawns all make for a wonderful experience. The parks are full with people , both young and old. The Germans love their parks and there are many of them.
The missionary success, when compared to other parts of the world is going very slow and it is a constant challenge for Mission Presidents to keep the Missionaries motivated and focused on the work. I am amazed at the demanding pace of our Mission President. Every three weeks we have Zone Meetings or Zone Conference and he conducts personal interviews with every missionary every six weeks. This past week we had our Zone meeting here in Dortmund. By the time he makes the rounds to all of the six zones, it is time to start all over again. then there are the meetings with the Area Presidency and the Stake presidents within the mission. There is a lot of traveling involved.
We enjoy our work even if we feel too old for the job. We are able to keep up with what we are ask to do. Our health is good. The weather has been very nice these past few days. We are finding out that there are really days in northern Germany when it does not rain.

A baptism to remember...

This past week President Thompson (our mission President) asked us to drive to Muelheim and interview an investigator for baptism. It was an interview he would normally conduct, but was not able to take the time. I tried to prepare for the interview, but was surprised with the great experience it was. To see the Atonement take effect in her life and the willingness to accept and commit to keep the commandments was a real spiritual experience for me. It is not easy to change from a worldly life where you can do anything you want, to a life centered on gospel principles and commandments. As part of the interview I asked her to read an article from the April 2007 Ensign or Liahona Magazine called "He Will Give You Rest". (You may want to read this article and it will give you some idea of the kind of experience it was for me. - it is only a short one page story.) I was happy that I was able to sign the baptism recommend. This experience took place on Friday afternoon.

Today is Sunday, August 17th, 2008. It is almost 9:00 pm and we just returned home after leaving at 8:30 this morning. We attended our regular church meetings this morning. Anina had to play the piano in our priesthood meeting before she went to Relief Society. We both had an invitation to have an early dinner with an older couple by the name of Nabrotzky. We had a wonderful time visiting and the food was very good. They have been members for over 30 years and are very faithful members. He has been bishop a couple of times and also served in the Stake Presidency in the past. They wanted to visit with us a little longer, but understood when we told them that we had to attend a baptism in Essen.

The baptism was in the ward house in Essen because they do not have a baptism font in the Muelheim ward house. When we arrived at the ward house, Sister Bisong greeted me and thanked me for the Ensign Article I gave her to read. She told me that it made her realize that she was not the only person that had difficulties to overcome and that she hopes to feel the same way as the young sister in the article. once she comes forth from the waters of baptism.

When we congratulated her after the baptism I felt that her wish had come to pass. It was sure nice to see the support each pair brought at least one investigator to the service. I think we could get used to a baptism each week. It is what missionary work is all about.

Zone Conference

This past week we had our Zone Conference in Bielefeld with two other zones (half of the hamburg Mission). It is always great to see the dedication of thse missionaries and the conviction of the work in which they are engaged. The every six week transfer calls were also recieved. To our great surprise the sister missionaries have been called to another area and no new sisters will take their place for a season. The elders that are serving now in Dortmund will stay. We are grateful that we keep our companionship and area. We will have to help out by taking some of their contacts.

I feel that the members of the Dortmund Ward are warming up a little to us. We (all six of us missionaries) just returned from the home of our Relief Society President where we enjoyed a wonderful Sunday meal. It is a wonderful family with two small girls and they are expecting a third daughter sometime this week. It was a real sacrifice to prepare such a wonderful meal for all of us. I know that the Lord will bless them for it.

Will write soon.

A long but fulfilling Sunday (17 August 2008)

This past week President Thompson (our mission president) ask us to drive to Muelheim and interview an investigator for baptism. It was an interview he would normally conduct, but was was not able to take the time. I tried to prepare for the interview, but was surprised with the great experience it was. To see the Atonement take effect in her life and the willingness accept and commit to keep the commandments was a real spiritual experience for me. It is not easy to change from a worldly life where you can do anything you want, to a life centered on Gospel principles and commandments. As part of the interview I ask her to read an article from the April 2007 Ensign or the April 2007 Liahona Magazine called "He Will Give You Rest". (You may want to read this article and it will give you some idea of the kind of experience it was for me. - It is only a short one page story.) I was happy that I was able to sign the baptism recommend. This experience took place on Friday afternoon.

Today is Sunday, August 17,2008. It is almost 9:00 PM and we just returned home after leaving at 8:30 this morning. We attended our regular church meetings this morning. Anina had to play the piano in our priesthood meeting before she went to Relief Society. We both had an invitation to have an early dinner with an older couple by the name of Nabrotzky. We had a wonderful time visiting and the food was very good. They have been members for over 30 years and are very faithful members. He has been Bishop a couple of times and also served in the Stake presidency in the past. They wanted to visit with us a little longer, but understood when we told them that we had to attend a baptism in Essen.

The Baptism was in the Ward House in Essen because they do not have a baptism font in the Muelheim Ward House. When we arrived at the Ward House, Sister Bisong greeted me and thanked me for the Ensign Article I gave her to read. She told me that it made her realize that she was not the only person that had difficulties to overcome and that she hopes to feel the same way as the this young sister in the article, once she comes forth from the waters of baptism.
When we congratulated her after the baptism I felt that her wish came to pass.
It was sure nice to see the support the Ward members showed by attending the Baptism and the food for the short social afterward.
We had five sets of Missionaries and each pair brought at least one investigator to the service. I think we could get used to a baptism each week. It is what missionary work all about.

Another week to remember...

We enjoyed this past week. We helped in the clean up after the torrential cloudbursts of last week. Things are back to normal. We took a stroll this past week through the botanical garden near our home that was flooded with more than a meter of water. The workers were very busy cleaning up the mud and debris. It is surprising how quickly this huge park returned to the beautiful place it is. The parks and open spaces are treasured and are well taken care of. At the one end of the park is located the Dortmund Zoo. They have trees from all over the world in that park. You can even find some of the tropical trees and plants that are protected in the winter time by large greenhouses.

The past Thursday was our main activity evening with an institute class and a very nice meal. We had 18 young adults in attendance. The lesson at institute was on the Ewige Ene (Eternal Marriage). The instructor was a former Stake President and his wife. They gave a great message. We keep hoping that somehow the young single adults will be motivated to seriously look for a mate. They seem to enjoy themselves, but to get something going romantically seems to be far from their mind. School and work and accumulating wealth seem to be a priority. We keep telling them that if they wait till they can afford to get married, it may be too late.

There is a report that we fill out every month which measures the activity and effectiveness of the Outreach Initiative program at the Center. There are only 12 statistical questions that are asked. There are the usual questions such as average attendance, how many mission calls were extended and questions about missionary activities. The last and one of the major ones is the question: "How many YSA coming to the Center were married in the Temple during the month?" I looked back at the older reports of the past few months and find that a '0' appears for a long time.

This past weekend we took some time from our normal activities and visited one of our extended family some 220 km from Dortmund. We left Friday morning and returned late Sunday night. The home town (Vockerode/Meissner) and birthplace of my mother was a beautiful and inviting as ever. This is a view from above Vockerode.My cousin and family welcomed us with open arms. We attended a Medieval Festival at an old castle. For the first time we visited a beautiful old town where the Fulda River and the Werra River "kiss" each other (or come together) and which is the place where a new river, the Weser River has its beginning. Karl-Heins, Brigitte, Anina and I even enjoyed a boat ride up and down part of the Fulda, the Werra, and the Weser. We were told many of the historical aspects of the area. Walking through the village was a delight viewing the old beautiful buildings. I think that this city of Hann.Muenden is as charming as any of the more famous cities in Southern Germany. With a similar history such as Passau. By the way the three rivers I just mentioned are the only major rivers in Germany that start and end in Germany. The Weser River that runs north through Bremen and on into the North Sea.

A main street of the town on a Saturday.