Happy Birthday!!!!!!!

As everyone knows, this past week was Anina's Birthday. We received a lot of cards and e-mails and phone calls from home. We thank you all for the nice things and well wishes that we received.

Her birthday was a very busy day for us. We left early in the morning to drive to the city of Bielefeld where we attended a Zone Conference (a 2 1/2 hour drive from Dortmund). We left the Zone Conference a few minutes early to be back in Dortmund to complete preparations for the Institute and evening meal. The attendance was good and Anina managed to feed some 30 young adults. They enjoyed a nice Salad, Hot Dogs and a Desert and of course some Drinks. During all of those activities we did manage to remember that it was Anina's birthday. During the few minutes at the Zone Conference lunch time the Missionaries (42 of them) sang Happy Birthday to Anina. After the Institute Class and just before the meal the Young adults gathered around Anina and gave her 69 beautiful long stem roses and sang the birthday song again. A lot of hugs were exchanged. It was a very emotional time for Anina and a lot of tears. So, before you ask :"Dad what did you do?", let me quickly say that we did go out the night before and had a wonderful German type meal at a nice restaurant close to our apartment.

Right now, Anina is in the kitchen preparing a meal for 7 Missionaries that she invited to come to our home for Dinner. They will be here in a few minutes. I should probably go into the kitchen and be "good to her", by helping in the kitchen - if she will let me.

Both of us are well and look forward to a very busy week. We are scheduled to go to the Frankfurt Temple twice this week (Tuesday and Saturday). One of our Young Adults is going thru the temple for the first time on Tuesday. He ask the Mission President if we could go with him and his request was granted. The Young Adults of our Stake are having a Temple Outing on Saturday and the Stake President asked for and received permission for us to accompany them.
Thank you for being there for us.

Hard Work and Pain

We certainly hope that all of you had a wonderful 4Th of July weekend. We did not hear one single firecracker or see any fireworks on the 4Th of July. The closest thing to a fourth of July get-together came from the missionaries in our Zone. They all got together for a barbecue. We did not even go to that, because of a ward outing that the Elders Quorum sponsored. It was a bike tour, and then we finished with a picnic at the church.

They insisted that I go on that bike tour. They arranged for me to have a helmet and probably the best Bike in the whole group. They kept telling me that the bike would go by itself, it is such a good bike. I will send a picture of part of the group, as we started at the ward. A couple of the older brethren joined us later on the tour. I was by far the oldest in the group. To go on a 46 kilometer (30Miles) ride was not a big deal for most of the young guys, but for one that has not ridden a bike for many years it was a major task. I fell down only three times during the event. It was when we stopped to cross a street or stopped just to rest a minute. I don't know what caused my legs to totally collapse. It was embarrassing. It took a little time to get some life back into those legs and then we were off again. On our way back some of the guys felt sorry for me and offered me a free train ticket to get me back home. We actually passed by a couple train stops as we were traveling. I kept telling them that with such a support group I would achieve the goal and make it back all the way. We traveled on a very nice bike trail (-There are many very beautiful bike trails in this country-). We rode trough tunnels, under bridges, over bridges and mostly under tree lined trails. The scenery was so beautiful and peaceful that there were many times that I forgot the pains in my legs and knees.

There are probably some real good lessons from that experience.
Like;

Many things worth doing takes some real effort and often some pain or sacrifice.
With a good support group we can accomplish many things that seem to be impossible to do.
The reward and joy of accomplishment comes to those that finish, in spite of obstacles.

I am doing well today, especially after some kind and tender care from my Missionary Companion (Anina).

We enjoyed a wonderful fast and testimony meeting in Dortmund today. Anina fixed a very nice dinner for just the two of us. We are in good health and are enjoying our work with the people. We continue to pray that we will find some more wonderful people who are willing to listen to the message of the Restored Gospel.

We are glad that the Stake has called someone to help with meals each week. It should make things a lot easier for us. We have been without any help for the past three months.

May the Lord's choicest blessings be with you all.
Thanks for just being there and being the great support group in our lives.

Joy To See The Fruits of Missionary Work; June 28, 2009

We thought that we wet the appetites of three of our Grandchildren that will visit us just about a month from now. So; Heber, Hunter and Spencer get ready to visit a few of the Historical sights as the Bentheim Castle. The first mention of this largest hilltop castle in Northwest Germany dates back to 1050. We toured the ground of this castle last Saturday. We hope to see it again when Heidi and the three boys come.

This afternoon (Sunday, 28 June2009) we returned from a visit to the Herne Ward. It was great to visit with the Saints and especially to be with the Young Adults. We were surprised to see that Christian Wiezoreck gave the lesson in the Young Adult Sunday School Class. It was the first time that he gave a gospel type lesson. Christian is a convert to the church and was baptized only two weeks ago. The subject was on Belief and Faith. He used scriptures to make his point and he gave his testimony. The class was also attended by a young lady that is investigating the church. In fact the Missionaries told us that she has a baptism date set. Both told us that they would come to the Center for Young Adults this coming Thursday. A couple of others said that they would come if Anina would make the Tacos this Thursday. So, we guess that it will be Tacos for the meal on Institute night this coming week.

We are now in our Summer Institute Schedule. The attendance has been quite good during the last two weeks and we hope that it will continue. Our next challenge will be to increase the participation at our Family Home Evening night.

Next week will be the 4th of July weekend for you in States. For us it will be just another weekend. Our Ward in Dortmund is taking a bicycle tour this Saturday and there are several who insist that I come along. They are trying to find a bicycle for me. I am a little apprehensive about the whole idea. So, wish me well. I will need all the help I can get since I have not ridden a bike for many, many years.

Father's Day June 21, 2009

It has been a very hectic week. There has been an activity or event that we enjoyed every day this past week. The most enjoyable event was the wedding of a couple from our Young Adults (Madelein Wahle and Matthias Hiemer). Here in Germany the couple getting married had to have a civil ceremony first: before they could be sealed in the temple. We gathered at an old, but very beautiful palace, about an hour drive from here for the "Standesamtliche Trauung" (the official state wedding). The place is called "Schloss Nordkirchen". We will try to send some pictures of the grounds and palace. Both of the couple come from a fairly large family, so there were quite a few people that witnessed the wedding ceremony. After the ceremony we had a picnic type of a meal as we were gathered in the court yard. I explored some of the ground and found a group that was visiting the palace ground. As I talked to them and asked some questions, I found out that they were a singing group (chorus) from the Northern part of Germany. It was not long until I had a conversation with the conductor of the group. I just mentioned that it would be nice if the group could sing to the wedding party. The reply was instant with: "we would be happy to do that". They quickly assembled on the Stairs in front of us and serenaded the young married couple and us guests. It was cool!

The couple had a lot of pictures taken and then they were of for the 2 1/2 hour drive to the Frankfurt Temple for the Sealing. We did not go to the Temple for we had to be back for the Institute night and the meal for the Young Adults.
The celebration continued the next day with a "Hochzeitsandacht" at 6:00 PM. It was held in the Chapel with the Bride and Groom sitting under an arch of flowers. The Bishop conducted this service. The mother of the bride gave a wonderful talk about the bride and gave some timely advice. The Father of the groom did the same as he talked about his son.

The bishop concluded the service with some remarks. There even was an opening and closing song and prayer. It was a gathering that was mostly spiritual and lasted for about 50 minutes.

Next the wedding party of some 200 guests sat down to a very nice sit-down meal. Many family and ward members were asked to bring some items of food. Anina, for instance was asked to bring a large desert dish. All of this was served buffet style. Right after the meal they showed some pictures on a large screen of the bride and groom. They played some games and even had a dance as part of the festivities. It was a wonderful event. For a few it was a long night to clean up the decorated hall and do all of the dishes. (Everything had to be cleared out, for the Stake needed the hall for a young man and young women event the next day.

Earlier of the week we were asked to help in closing down an Elders apartment in the city of Meschede. Not only did we have to remove all of the furniture, but even had to paint and fix everything that needed to be repaired before we turned the keys over to the landlord. We only had two days to get all of this done. Walking up and down the stairs, to from the 3rd story apartment with all of the stuff dozens of time each day was more than I should have done and I paid for it with some very painful leg cramps most of the night. (I promise to be more careful next time). By the way there was a small Branch of the church in that town and the Branch was dissolved and the few remaining members were added to the Una Ward.
Today, Sunday, we said goodbye to a wonderful family (Roark) that is moving to Budapest. This Ward will miss them very much. She was our Relief Society President and he was on the High Council. In a Ward like we have here in Dortmund it will leave a real void.

In the USA it is Fathers-day today. I am glad that some of the family called today, or we would have missed it since it not celebrated here in Germany.

When you hear of a special weekend, you may guess that it must have been a baptizing weekend. You are right! We had a baptism this Saturday afternoon. Today (Sunday) at our Fast and Testimony Sacrament meeting Matthias Ilske was confirmed a member of the Church. We felt great to have a couple of investigators to the meeting. We certainly hope that they could feel of the Spirit that was present during the meeting. It is always a boost to our spirits as missionaries to see someone except the Gospel. It gives us hope that there are others out there that the Lord has prepared.

This past Thursday we started our Summer Institute Class. We had some 22 Young Adults (plus 6 Missionaries) attend the class.. Anina was able to make the Food stretch so all were able to have something to eat. We did not expect that many, but hope that we will have this many and more during the upcoming weeks.

Our Mission President encourages the young missionaries to see and experience some of the culture and beauties of Germany, by visiting special places. The Missionaries in our district received permission to visit some of the places that have significant interest to us. So, the eight of us drove in two cars to the small Village where my Mother was born and where I remember some very wonderful childhood years with my Grandparents. We were were able to meet with some family that still lives in that beautiful village of Meissner-Vockerode. We took a stroll in the garden and were able to pick some of the best tasting strawberries on earth. My cousin, Brigitte even had a Strawberry Torte (pie) prepared for us that was out of this world. (My taste-buds are acting up as I write about it.) The highlight was our visit to the very small village church (Karl-Heinz had a key to let us in). One of the Sister Missionaries (Sister Moline) played for us the old pipe organ in that church. It was more than music to our ears, it was an Erlebniss (experience). We visited the Border Museum only a view kilometers away. It was an eye opening experience for the young missionaries to see the "Fence" that separated the DDR (East Germany) from the West. To some of us who remember the "Cold War" between East and West, it brought back memories. To the young people it is only a time in History a long time ago that they understand a little better now.

Before we drove back to our field of labor we were able to visit a couple more beautiful old towns along the way. It was a great way to spend a missionary P-Day.
We are doing great and are still enjoying good health. We do tire easily, but that is to be expected for our "young" age.

The old Pipe Organ in the small Village Church of Meissner-Vockerode. (From left to right, Elder Questereit, Sister Fowkes, Karl-Heinz Bartnig, Sister Moline, Elder Hastings, Elder Wecker, Elder Lawler.

Elders and Sisters (Missionaries) getting ready to enjoy the Strawberry "Torte" (Pie). We (Anina and Hugo) were lucky to a taste of that pie.

We just thought that we show you a tractor that you don't have. Eat your heart out!