August 5, 2018

Psalm 104:4

Well, I think the scripture for this week should be Psalms 104:4 for surely we experienced heat this week like never before. It was only the mid to high 80’s but with high humidity and no rain things have really been tough. I guess it all started last Sunday, a week ago when we noted that the entire branch presidency seated on the stand were not wearing their suit coats. We have known but not severely suffered from the fact that our chapel is not equipped with air conditioning. Until last week, at any rate. I guess we could survive that for a few hours on Sunday, but it is also a fact that neither is there air conditioning in the apartments of any of the missionaries. There are three floors in our building, counting the ground floor which is really in the basement. Apartments are on both the east and the west sides and we, of course, are blessed with an apartment that faces west. That makes for beautiful sunsets but also makes for the sun shining in our windows every afternoon and evening and the temperature really goes up. As we leave every day to walk to the temple, we go through a tunnel in the basement that connects our hostel to the temple and it is always heavenly. A few have commented that they’re tempted to place a few sleeping bags in the temple and sleep there😊. We have a large fan that we brought down from our attic storage and quite some time ago bought a small desk-top fan to handle the other side of our apartment where we work on our computers. So this week both were actively in use, even at night, with no blankets required as we slept.

We are greatly blessed that the temple is by and large air conditioned, but it was not always so. One of our long-term temple workers told us that when the temple was first built, back in the days of the DDR, there was considerable concern over whether the government would respect the sacredness of the building and so the church elected not to spend a great deal of money in that regard, should the temple eventually be desecrated. As a result, it was reported to us this week that one summer they had a total of over 500 temple attendees who fainted during their temple service. So we do feel extremely blessed that air conditioning was added as the temple was remodeled and expanded. I think we mentioned that we are currently coordinators for the initiatory ordinances of the temple and we have discovered that the small compartments where these ordinances are performed are not particularly well ventilated. So we refer you back to Psalms 104:4.

Otherwise it was a fairly quiet week with no big groups visiting. We’re looking forward to next week when Vienna will once again be present. Sister Dospil, about whom we talked a few weeks ago and who had to leave because of health problems, is returning along with her grandson, whom we knew. We also noticed that Brother Jankowsky will be among the Viennese temple workers.  He was on the high council and was assigned to take care of the physical facilities of the church. He often helped us with issues that came up in our young adult center as far as lighting, electronics, plumbing etc. So it will be good to associate with him again. We have only seen the assigned temple workers’ names and haven’t yet been told who else might be coming along.

Last Monday, for our P-day activities, we drove over to Meissen again to go through the world famous porcelain factory. We quickly decided that everything there offered, exquisitely beautiful, was way beyond our price range. We took a tour through which they described exactly how the various pieces of art are made and it was obvious that nothing was mass-produced.  Individual items were all hand made and the designs drafted and painted by trained, artistic craftsmen(women). Here, for example, the first woman is demonstrating how various colors are applied with examples behind her on the shelves.

The second woman is demonstrating how a metal pattern can be place on a dish and then the disk fired at 900 degrees centigrade, transferring the pattern to the plate. It is then further covered with a porcelain glaze which, though painted on, disappears with a second firing and becomes part of the finished product. They didn’t just do plates and other dishes but many other wonderful things.

For those of you familiar with our kitchen, you’ll appreciate why Grammy loved the rooster. I liked the eagle, for all of you scouters. Both of those items started around 4-6000 Euros apiece and there were works like that on the right that went as high as 60,000. That’s over twice as much as our first house cost!

After enjoying the factory and the many items on display, we left and drove over to the Albrechts castle, which had originally contained the Meissen porcelain factory. It was not a fortress like the other castles we have visited but was built as the seat of government for the entire state of Saxony, Germany. In fact on the date that West and East Germany were reunified, they had a special ceremony at the castle to reinstall it as the renewed head of Saxony. It was truly a beautiful building and one of the High points of the things we have visited here so far.  

Above you see a couple of the rooms, one of the heating stoves, the exterior of the castle and an intricate stone staircase that went from bottom to top and probably even beats the staircase in the Manti Temple!

We loved the package we received this week with all of the wonderful goodies and clothes therein. We were especially grateful for all the cards and good wishes that were sent along. We even received one that got mixed up and was intended for Kyle. So Kyle, if you read this know you are loved and appreciated for all the good work you’re doing. Today was fast day and we ended our fast by being invited for dinner to President and Sister Erlachers along with the Thornocks. It was a delightful meal and wonderful conversation with everyone. Less than three months more and they’ll be heading back to Austria. The first counselor, Pres. Wadosch and his wife, left today to return home for three months prior to taking on the assignment of being the new president. That leaves us one counselor short for three months and the Thornocks have been designated to fill in as day leaders twice a week in their place. They have previously served a temple mission in Boston, Massachusetts and call Hawaii their home where they also served in the temple.

Mom: This really was a beautiful castle, especially the interior architecture even comparable to Neuschwanstein. The windows and alcoves were delightful and medieval looking along with many murals of royal life. I was especially intrigued by the lavatories on every floor and a bench seat that went along most of the walls, always a place to sit, even if it was made out of stone. We didn’t have much time to really look at all things, as our group needed to catch a bus, so we feel the need to go back and walk through it again. Anyone want to come along, we welcome all who want to visit. The porcelain factory was also interesting, but far too expensive to be of practical use. Objects of beauty for kings and queens.

   We had 3 birthdays this week to celebrate, Becky, Lizzy, and Bryson’s. We wish them all a great and blessed new year. It was also exciting to have Bryson’s baptism, even though, we couldn’t see it we got to see the shiny, bright look he had on his face afterwards, clean and pure to begin his new life. We are very happy and pleased that he chose to take on the name of Jesus and to follow him. Grateful for the blessings of the temple and the beautiful spirit that we have the privilege to work in 5 days a week.

  Love all of you and enjoyed visiting with the ones we could see after Bryson’s baptism.

Hugs and prayers,

Grammy, Grampa, Mom, Dad, Elder and Sister Parker