October 21, 2018

Missionary Opportunities Abound

What an incredibly interesting week we have had. We had no particular group that was being represented but the sessions were very large and busy. Actually, there were a number of sisters who came toward the end of the week from the Berlin Relief Society, but in general, we felt it a probable response to President Nelson’s admonition that we prioritize our schedules in order to be able to spend more time attending the temple. While there was good activity in the baptistry, initiatories and sealings it seemed like the emphasis was being placed on completing endowments. It was quite noteworthy that almost all week the brethren were outnumbering the sisters, but Friday night and Saturday all that changed as Berlin arrived and the brethren’s numbers were totally overwhelmed. Our single biggest session that we have experienced in the 9 months we’ve been here took place on Saturday’s 10:30 session with 24 sisters and 23 brethren. Our rooms are normally able to handle 19 of both so we had to set up 5 extra chairs in the aisles and in spots normally reserved for wheel chairs and 4 extra for the brethren. As a general rule, the sessions leaders handle all of the ordinances where we typically have two workers in each session in the states. But this gave us the opportunity to assign a second brother and sister temple worker to help move things along more efficiently. It was actually very heartwarming to participate in such great work for so many people.

One of the things that has been impressed upon us by many of the local members, is the relative drought we are experiencing here in Germany. Although everything to us seems nice and lovely and green, apparently the water supply is dwindling. We were told today that our nearest river, the Elbe, is so low that a person could walk across it without going underwater. It is really having an effect on river traffic, so we’ll see if this is one of the signs of the times. Speaking of droughts, we had the opportunity to go with several of our fellow missionaries to hear Mendelssohn’s Elijah Oratorio performed by an orchestra based down the road in Chemnitz but a chorus  that originates around here. It was all sung in German, but they had a great program with all of the words printed out, reviewing in detail the whole story of Elijah and the drought brought about for three years, his interesting confrontation with the priests of Baal and his being taken care of by the widow, whose son he raised from the dead. When it came to the part where the prophecy is made that he will return to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers lest the whole earth be wasted with a curse, it was all I could do to refrain from telling the lady sitting next to me that that prophecy has been fulfilled! The concert was performed in an old church that was heavily damaged during the war but has since been restored but never used again as a church. Here is a picture taken as the chorus was beginning to file in.

The next picture was just an interesting shot of the temple one night when, despite the drought, everything was very misty and foggy, and I thought the lights were quite pretty.

Today, President and Sister Erlacher gave their departing talks in sacrament meeting as they will be released a week from Wednesday. It was wonderful to hear their reports and I especially enjoyed President Erlacher’s remarks as he did a beautiful summary of the significance of the temple ordinances as they pertain to our individual lives and the principles of the Gospel.

 

The other great event of the week was the arrival of Scott and Cathy Smith and Mike and Jesse Schoenfeld from our home ward. They came in late Saturday night to the train station here in Freiberg, coming from Munich and had less than 36 hours to stay with us before leaving on Monday morning for Leipzig and other destinations. We got the help of Bro. Moss to pick them up at the train station as our car only holds a max of 4 people and is pretty limited as to luggage carrying as well. They were supposed to come in about 11PM but had apparently a number of changes, moving from train to bus and back to train again. The final result, however, was to arrive thirty minutes sooner which we all appreciated. We set them up with rooms in our temple hostel and they were able to participate in our Sunday meetings. It was fun to be able to translate for them in Sacrament Meeting and I even provided them a little translation help in Priesthood meeting. Whereas I usually attend the German Sunday School class while Rusty goes to the English-speaking class (she has the responsibility of selecting the weekly teachers), I elected to join them all in the English class . Then we invited the Lindsays to join us for our Sunday dinner as they had connections to both families, some of which were only discovered as the conversations went on. I never knew that Scott had received a master’s degree in public health and that was an area Gordon Lindsay had worked in. They knew many of the same people who had helped train them or had worked with them.

We decided that the best activity for our Sunday afternoon would be to make a visit to the site where Elder Monson, in 1975, had rededicated East Germany. I took along a copy of his dedication prayer and the Lindsays accompanied us. It was our fourth visit there and previously we have always been the only ones present so we anticipated a time of peace and reverence as we reviewed the prayer that had been given. But when we arrived there turned out to be a fair number of young adults who were enjoying the view and looked to be a bit of a rowdy group. We noticed that the sign previously posted commemorating the event had been removed since our last visit, we’re not sure by whom. So, we went ahead and took a picture near the entry gate to the area and then decided that it would probably be OK if we asked the others if they wouldn’t mind moving aside for a bit while we took a picture in front of the area with a view overlooking the city.

They turned out to be very gracious and even offered to take the pictures for us, so all of the group could be included. From that point on everyone became very friendly and we got into three or four little discussion groups. Mike and I started talking to a very nice young man who came from New Zealand and had actually been on a few missions for his church. His girlfriend, who was German but spoke excellent English, was in a separate discussion with Scott and Rusty. The Lindsays were carrying on another discussion and we all really got into missionary work in a big way. I talked to our fellow and asked him how he had met his girl friend and he indicated that he had met her in Thailand while he was serving there. She was coming out of a restroom just as a very poisonous snake slithered across her path. He called it a “cowkiller,” but he warned her to be careful and they got into a conversation that became very extended as they developed a friendship. Both were very warm and friendly but upon my questioning, apparently not yet married. It gave us the opportunity to talk about our mission, the purpose of temples, and the opportunity to be married eternally!

That was pretty easy as it all took place in English. The next fellow I talked with, though, was definitely German and claimed he was an atheist. I was impressed, and he emphasized that he thought he was living a good life but felt no need for the concept of God. I explained to him how many evidences and witnesses there were that God does exist and how much more he could do with his life once he found that out. I talked a little bit about the Book of Mormon, how it was written by a young man about his age with no formal education and could be a great evidence for him that God existed and was interested in him. The Lindsays were organized enough to get a few names and email addresses so they could follow up while the rest of us just encouraged them to look for young men or ladies wearing name tags like mine. All in all, it turned out to be a delightful Sunday experience and perhaps the best we’ve ever had at that location.

The fellow on the right in the lighter blue shirt was the one from New Zealand and his girl friend is behind the glass on the left. The atheist is wearing the white shirt in the middle. The sun was directly behind us and washed out the back row a bit!

Mom: Sometimes its strange how experiences change and turn out. As we approached the Dedication site these young adults were drinking and acting a bit crazy, as young university students sometimes do. The spirit about them, and their music wasn’t conducive to us reading a spiritual dedication and having a spiritual moment, so we moved through a little archway around the wall and read the dedication prayer. However, after we moved back around the archway we felt like we should move to the overlook and take some pictures. Immediately the rowdy atmosphere changed, their music changed to American Oldies, and the students became helpful and wanted to talk with some Americans. They were mostly engineering students with some studying teaching and psychology. We found out that when they have a school break they go out hiking and stop to drink alcohol with mineral water at certain points along the way. They were actually very nice and friendly and enjoyed talking with us about what we were doing in Germany and about the Freiberg Temple. I’m sure we were there for someone in that group that needed to be touched by religion.

It was fun and challenging handling such big endowments groups, but there is such joy and love in all who come to participate. It really is a holy work and we’re glad that we are able to participate. While there were many times where the brothers outnumbered the sisters this week, on one session we had 39 sisters and 5 brothers, just making things able to come together from all procedures. Loved it. Hopefully, the weather will remain somewhat nice and people will still be able to travel long distances to come to the temple.

Come to the temple is ever our call.

Love, prayers and hugs,

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