BUSY DAYS IN THE FREIBERG TEMPLE

Poland, Russia, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Angola (speaking Portuguese), Czech Republic, Slovakia,  Austria, USA, and of course Germany ..... Freiberg Temple is a place which brings people together from many lands to worship and serve their Heavenly Father and create eternal families.  With the problems in Ukraine and Kiev, our temple saw more Russian Saints two weeks ago than usual.  Many of them speak English as a second language which helps the missionaries quite a bit. Consequently, as we have mentioned in previous posts, there are 4 or 5 languages being spoken quite often.  It is so fun! We love it!

We have not been able to go anywhere very far these past couple of weeks because I have been unable to ride for very long in the car.  My back and neck haven't been too good but I am feeling quite a bit better today.  I hope we can start "touring" again and we will try tomorrow by going to a Castle about 20 minutes from here.  Hopefully we can get some pictures and have some fun experiences.  We went there a few weeks ago but the Castle was already closed for the day.  

Dale does still try to get out even when I can't so he takes bike rides and walks through the city. I also try to walk every day for at least 20 minutes or so. It is always good to get the fresh air. It has really cooled down this past week and we even need a jacket in the evenings. It is beautiful here.

I have to say that I actually have enjoyed cooking again – because I have time to cook! It is also a kind of adventure to cook “American Food with German Ingredients”. We decided to have tacos the other day so Dale was looking for “Salsa” at the store. He couldn't find any so we ended up getting a bottle of “Zigeuner” sauce or “Gypsy” sauce as I found out when I “googled” it. Anyway, it is delicious and has just the right amount of zip to it. It has the texture of tomato sauce/ketchup but smells and tastes awesome. We ended up not having tacos – but sloppy joes!  Another night I made chicken enchiladas with it and some “cream cheese” and it was yummy as well. It appears you can't get it in America – but we shall see. I did find a recipe for it.

I think I will finish this post with pictures and captions.  We enjoy sharing our experiences and pictures with our family and friends!

View from the Top of St. Petri Bell Tower

Balcony on the St. Petri Bell Tower

Dale climbed to the top of this tower in Freiberg and then took a few pictures from the balcony pictured below.  The steps were circular and somewhat like climbing to the top of the Statue of Liberty in New York.  There was only a rope to hold and the wood was very old.   St. Petri Kirche is also next to this tower and I spent time in there while Dale climbed to the top.  We enjoy exploring! 

Inside the Bell Tower

The Jakobus Kirche in Freiberg.  Almost all of the Churches in this area are Lutheran.  They are very old and spectacular.  Most have been destroyed or damaged from fire or war and have been restored.  The statues were removed in the past by those who occupied this area and not taken care of properly.  Many of them are missing hands, ends of feet, and other parts. It is sad but it is also good that they have been returned to their proper places.

A Cemetery by the Church.  There were old and new areas.  This is a picture of some of the headstones in the very old part.  Most of them you can't even read anymore but we saw grave sites from the 1500's.  There was also a memorial from World War I.  It was fascinating to walk through after a rainstorm and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Today after church we were able to finally get our picture taken with President and Sister Husz. They are from Venice, Austria and they will be released on October 31.   It is an extra special picture because she is dressed in her “Dirndl”.  They are so good to us and we will miss them when they leave.

A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING
FROM FREIBERG!

It has been quite a while since our last post.  We were having some problems with our Laptop - but thanks to our David and Skype - we seem to have "all the bugs" eliminated now.  We are so grateful to our family at home for all their help and support!

This will be a bit random with some pictures and thoughts about several subjects.  But, that is exactly how life is for us here.  We go from the Temple and the sweet serenity we find there (although it can also feel pretty hectic) to the beautiful Deutschland and the culture which so fascinates us each and every day.

We feel so blessed each day to serve in Freiberg where so many members from many countries come to be in the Temple.  I have tears in my eyes at this very moment as I think about the dedication of these precious Saints from Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and coming this week Poland, Russia, and Italy.  Not to mention the precious German Saints who serve and come to this beautiful Temple.  Most of the visitors stay in a "Hostel" of sorts right here on the Temple Grounds and adjacent to our apartment building.They are usually here during their "vacation time" and some stay for two weeks.  

It is not unusual for these patrons to do 2-3 Endowment sessions a day, their youth will do baptisms every day, and they do all of the other ordinances associated with the Temple. They will bring their family cards from home which means they have been there doing Family History as well.  Each country usually has at least one or two couples who are Ordinance Workers and this is such a great help to us as missionaries and helps with the language "problems".  Some sessions have more than half of the patrons using "headsets" for translation including the workers leading the session.  It is very interesting and we love it!

The Doru Family from Romania

The Radu and the Geambasu Families from Romania and others

I am so blessed to know these new friends.  I only hope I will be able to see them again before we return home to Utah. Sister Geambasu (Izabela) also has a beautiful singing voice and I was able to accompany her three times this week – at a Romanian Fireside, Temple Prayer Meeting, and just today in Sacrament Meeting.  She sang “Each Life that Touches Ours for Good” in a very unique way.  She sang the first verse with the normal melody, the second singing the Alto part, the third as a descant singing the Tenor part, and the last first the normal melody.  It was amazing!

The Young Elders

On July 24 we had a great time at our “celebration” for the Pioneer Day.  The decision to have a party started the Sunday before when the young Elders here mentioned that Thursday was July 24.  We decided to invite them to eat with us and we would have a BBQ complete with Hamburgers, Potato Salad, and Watermelon.  Then we decided to invite all of the temple missionaries as well - and it blossomed into about 20 people.

 Pictures say it all – we even had some root beer one of the couples had been saving!  The hamburgers turned out great!  It did rain so we had to eat inside – but Dale still cooked outside in a shed place we have here.  

                        

The 24th of July BBQ

One Sunday afternoon all of the missionaries traveled about an hour from here to the site where President Monson dedicated the German Democratic Republic for Missionary work on April 27, 1975.  It was a beautiful experience for all of us  where President Husz told about the dedication and had Dale read the prayer...  at least as far as he could.... because it touched him so deeply that someone else had to finish.  It was a very spiritual experience for all of us.

This picture is left to right:  President Husz, The Cankovi from the Prague, Czech Republic, Sister Husz and Brother and Sister Dittli who are from Mapleton, Utah who will be returning home in three weeks.

The next Sunday, I gave the Sunday School lesson for the English Class.  It was about Elijah the Prophet and his story as found in 1 Kings.  It was a very "International" where most actually understand English and included the temple missionaries including our Czech couple, an American, 5 Romanians, and a member of Stake Presidency who is of course German.  Quite a challenge!

The Pipes of the Organ in the Cathedral

One Monday we decided to be “tourists in Freiberg” and went to the Tourist Information place and got a few more pamphlets and bought a card we can use for a year and go to all of the Castles and a few museums that are in this area which includes more than 40 castles – less than two hours away.

We decided to take the self guided tour that is in a booklet we got...  and started off.  It was a great day and we were able to tour the Cathedral.  The organ is amazing and they actually have concerts very often and a major Organ competition here – which is during our break in September – and I might just have to arrange to watch some of that.

Hour glasses for Sermons  :)

Baptismal Font