April 22, 2018

A Lutheran Confirmation

After last weeks run at our Hungarian brothers and sisters, I apparently got the reputation for being willing to at least attempt to read the various cards we have in different languages. I admit that I have had two native Hungarians sit down with me to provide schooling on pronouncing the language, but it must be admitted that that hasn’t been really enough to learn it even rudimentarily.  Nonetheless a reputation is exactly that and before I knew what was happening I found myself working in the endowment sessions with Hungarian brothers and sisters. I have figured out that they must have been able to interpret whatever I was trying to say but it was far from the real thing. About the only other brother who can pronounce Hungarian is our temple recorder and he just isn’t available enough to cover the need, so I was called upon a lot last week to help out. It definitely keeps one humble. I mentioned last week about asking the other couples how many would like copies of several expressions that the temple has provided in a small notebook at the recommend desk. Simple things like “Good Morning”,  “Have a good day”, “Thanks for your help” and “Have a safe trip home”.  Up until now we haven’t had to deal with Rumanian or Bulgarian yet. On the other hand, we did have a couple of Russian speakers and even a sister who spoke Greek.  Nobody here can even read their alphabets so that’s still a challenge though a couple of  members of the presidency seem to be able to help in those areas.

We did have a very sweet experience that I was involved with on both ends of the whole process. A sister came to the temple ready to take out her own endowments, but she also had the names of her two deceased parents. Now that our primary responsibility is to coordinate baptisms, we met her early in the week wanting to be baptized for her mother. Another brother offered to be baptized for her father and then both were confirmed. She then proceeded to get her own initiatory ordinances performed and went through for her own endowment. The next day she returned to have the initiatories performed for both of her parents, taking care of her mother personally. These were all promptly recorded in the office.  She then went through a session for her mother while a friend did the same for her father. At the conclusion of the session, a member of the temple presidency agreed to perform the sealing of her parents and she again represented her mother. Then two other proxies represented her parents as she was personally sealed to them and I was privileged to serve as one of the witnesses. There was a very special spirit present as she united her immediate family together for eternity and it brought the whole work we do here into marvelous focus.

Our next interesting event was to deal with the latest transfer within the Berlin Mission. We may have mentioned this in the past but when missionaries first arrive in the field, even if still suffering from jet lag, their first stop is at the temple where all perform baptisms for the dead. At the end of their missions they conclude with an endowment session in the temple, followed by a testimony meeting in the neighboring chapel. We have found it a very interesting and rewarding routine that has been a hallmark of President Fingerle who is due to be released at the end of June.  He will be replaced by a brother who is now an area seventy in Frankfurt and it will be interesting to see if he continues this tradition or starts off on his own pathway. 

I was serving in the small booth prior to the start of the session where one of our responsibilities is to determine which language the patron would like to use at the veil. I think I took all of the elders through and was happy that every one of them wanted to proceed in German. At any rate, this week represented the end of the missions for about 12 elders and 2 sisters. One of the latter we had invited, with her companion, to our apartment for dinner and we found out she had some health problems that could not be readily addressed here in Germany, so she was being released after about 10-11 months in the field. So, we made the decision to attend the testimony meeting at the end of the day and wish her a fond farewell. All gave their testimonies in German and several were quite moved, as one can imagine. We have included a picture of Sister Sorenson here with Sisters Parker and Moss as we bid her farewell.

The next big event occurred on Wednesday with birthday #73 for the old man here. I received many messages and Facebook congratulations as well as a delightful package from home containing lots of fun games and goodies. Many thanks to one and all. It was very special, and I even received an acknowledgment in our morning prayer meeting along with a birthday card signed by the temple presidency, matrons and the other missionary couples as well as the office secretary and our temple recorder. At least I’m finally as old as my companion so I can hold my own again without having to defer to her superior insight and wisdom😊. We did go out to dinner that night, but no photos were taken this time.

The last big event took place today with the confirmation ceremony of Markus Wiese’s youngest son, Heinrich in Leipzig.  Most of you will remember Markus as our foreign exchange student when he was 16, living in former East Germany and then a member of the church. He has visited us a few times in the states as well as once when we were serving in Vienna. We had been invited a couple of months ago and decided it would be very lovely to attend, even though it would be in a Lutheran worship service. There were about 16 young people being confirmed, 10 young men and 6 young women. All were apparently 14 and apparently this is an event associated with their baptisms as children. The church was packed including two choirs, one in the balcony at the front left and the other at the back in the balcony by the organ. There were several hymns sung during the service and three of them had similar hymns to those in our hymn book though the words were slightly different. Most of us had only a printed program with the words of the hymns on it and one was close enough in German that I wondered if it would be the same song I recognized and was pleased that it was. There were also musical instruments involved with trumpets and woodwinds up by the organ and several strings and a flute that came in front of the congregation. Markus’ wife, Cathleen, was one of the violin players.

  

The confirmation candidates were introduced two and three at a time and came before the priest who initially made his comments to them, calling each by name, and then they knelt and he laid his hands upon their heads, two at a time, or with three, moving his two hands alternately to the left, right or to both sides. None received both hands upon their heads simultaneously. At the conclusion of their confirmations each received a small booklet and perhaps a certificate, we weren’t sure exactly what they consisted of, but these were passed out by two fathers of the participants, one of whom was Markus. They then proceeded to the sacrament with the confirmations receiving it first after which all of the congregation that wished to proceed filed to the front in a long line where a small wafer was given for the bread, administered by one of the women, and then each was offered a chalice from which they drank a small sip of wine.  Markus was involved in delivering the chalice to the patrons. He later stated that they have introduced apple juice for those who would prefer it. We were interested to note that many drank from the same chalice but there are apparently two or three such and it was rotated slightly between each receiver.  After it had been turned 365 degrees it was retired and a sister wiped the rim clean before it made its next round. We did note that several dipped their wafers into the wine instead of sipping from the chalice. I still wonder how likely it would be to catch something contagious in the process. The priest delivered his message prior to the ceremonies and seemed to be quite a warm individual. Apparently, he has never married though that is not a requirement of the Lutheran church and was present outside the door of the church as we all filed out. 

Then it was back to Markus’ house for the further commemoration of the event. He expected as many as 50 people would be attending though I never counted more than about 35 at any one time. He and his brother built houses next to each other and their back yards combined are probably bigger than our back yard. He had erected a large tent to be out of the sun and inside he had placed two long rows of table and benches wonderfully decorated with flowers.  Markus is a printer by trade but recently has also taken up the calling of a chef. He owns a café known as Grill Wiese where he provides all manner of delicious meat foods. His partner in this effort was present to help with the food preparation and we had all been asked to bring a dessert of some kind. The spread was magnificent and Markus, his wife Cathleen, and their three children all sat at a head table along with the girl friend of Ferdinand, their oldest son. See all of the accompanying pictures. The meal was delicious, consisting of grilled meat of pork and venison from animals that Markus had personally shot while hunting; potatoes, dumplings and forty bottles of various drinks from mineral water to various fruit drinks and sodas. I had been previously asked by Heinrich to offer the blessing on the food, which I considered a great honor.

We spent all of the entire afternoon there visiting with the various friends and family members.  All of Markus’s brothers were there, Stephan (his next-door neighbor), Thomas, Simon, and Georg with their families. Markus’s father was there whom we had visited back while we were picking up Matt from his mission and Markus was living at our house. All of the kids were then at home and much younger so it was fun to see them all again. Cathleen’s family was also well represented with her father, who is our temple engineer in Freiberg, and Markus’ grandmother, Sister Richter. We had visited her in Chemnitz, previously known as Karl Marx Stadt, back during Christmas of 2014. Her husband had been a counselor to the essential president of the church in the DDR, Henry Burkhardt, though Bro. Burkhardt was officially a counselor to the mission president in West Berlin. They were very instrumental in leading the church during the communist years and had worked with President Monson in getting approval for the Freiberg Temple.  Sister Richter was the one who had mentioned to us that she received a birthday card from President Monson each year. Unfortunately, no more. 

Along with the lovely meal there was a fun program which Markus described as “table talks” provided by a couple who were designated as Heinrich’s godfather and godmother as well as from Heinrich’s great grandmother, Sister Richter. All lauded him for his many accomplishments and personal warm-hearted characteristics.  Following the meal and allowing a little time for the ample food to digest they then proceeded to provide a wonderful sampling of dessert offerings which were delicious. We were impressed that Markus sat down with the two of us and spent over an hour discussing his life and that of his family. There was much left-over food and he was prepared to feed everyone an evening meal as well (German Abendbrot) but we finally excused ourselves for the long drive home. He did provide us with several bags of wrapped-up meat, dumplings and delicious German red-cabbage, Rotkohl, one of our favorites. The day was lovely, the weather was great, and it was a memorable event.

            Mom: yes, it was a great day and lovely to be with Markus’ family and extended family. We were treated like family and felt their goodness and love. A few women who are still members said they would look for me in the temple. We also enjoyed the road trip to Leipzig through beautiful little villages and green fields. Winter has been a long time in leaving, but spring in the last week has burst upon us with blossoms and leaves everywhere. I love it. Strange isn’t it, that as missionaries we notice every bit of change to the weather and the changing of the seasons.

           Being with Markus reminded me of how much we love and miss all of you and your activities, but we enjoy seeing all the pictures you post. So, if you haven’t posted any lately, please try to send some more. 

Love, Hugs, Prayers, 

Grammie, Grampa, 

Mom, Dad, 

Elder and Sister Parker