Monday, July 20, 2009

Payday, It does not get any better than that!!!!!!

We came home quite exhausted last night and did not have the strength to write as we usually do on Sunday evening. The two trips to the Frankfurt Temple were very special. It was the first time that we went to a Temple in over a year. We attended the Temple on Tuesday as one of our Young Adults that was baptized only a year ago took out his own endowments. It was a great experience for us and for him. We came home that evening and he stayed the whole week. During the week he spent every day, the whole day in the temple doing as much proxy work as possible. On Saturday we drove back to the Temple with many of our Young Adults from the Out-Reach Center. Some of the Young People went on sessions and others performed baptisms. It was a joy to see the young men who went thru the Temple last Tuesday for the first time, doing the baptizing.
It was fun to see a number of young missionaries from the Frankfurt Mission on the Temple Grounds and in the Temple. They get to go to the Temple once a transfer on their P-Day. We told our Mission President about that experience with the Missionaries and he told us that he wishes that our Missionaries could have that experience, but that is not the program since there is not a Temple in our Mission.
Yesterday, Sunday, was a red-letter day in our area. We don't get to see very many people come to the waters of baptism. To have two on the same day is a real treat. In the city of Hamm lives a widowed lady (Monika Della Corte) with three children. The oldest son (Dennis) is about 24 years old. He joined the church some 4 years ago and already served on a mission. His two sister (Davina and Deborah) who are 19 and 20 years old also joined the church. The mother has been very supportive over the years, but efforts by many missionaries and members of the ward seemed to go nowhere. Special fasts and many prayers finally worked a miracle, she was baptized. The Saints in the Ward, the Missionaries from area all showed their support. There were many tears of joy and many embraces. The Spirit of love and true happiness was very evident. She told us that the Temple was her next goal.
We were not able to stay very long in Hamm, for we wanted to drive to the city of Herne. Most of our Student Council and other Young Adults joined us by witnessing another Baptism. It was the Baptism of a very special Young Adult. She had been coming to the Center for the last three months. Daniela Krieger was introduced to the church by her boy friend (Christian), who joined the Church only three months ago. We wish we could show you graphically the influence and difference the Gospel makes in peoples lives. It was a very beautiful service.
The above is the good news. The sad news is, others that we thought who were making good progress decided not to have the Missionaries continue to teach them. So, the finding process continues.
This week is transfer day. The good news is that we are staying in Dortmund. We have mixed feelings about the transfer of both of the Elders. They are being replaced by another set of Elders. One of the Sisters will be leaving us and another Sister will coming to Dortmund.
Tonight, during our Home-Evening we will say "good-by" to one of the students from America that has completed a year of study here at the University. After a short spiritual thought we will have a party for her tonight. We are fixing a lot of fun things to eat and hope the kids will like it. We will miss her, but hope to see her again when we will get home. Stephanie lives in Salt Lake and will finish her studies at the University of Utah.

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