I was also at each event that my friend and collegue, Sister Eileen Healy, wrote about in her blog this week. So, here is her blog post, with my comments added. The Healys are serving in our old positions, training and coordinating all the Humanitarian work in the Europe Area. They were a country couple in Indonesia, so they are better qualified than we were !
This past week has been an eventful one.
Monday and Tuesday, we trained a young Swiss couple who are serving as special service missionaries doing Refugee Aid in Greece for 3 months! Cool idea, huh? The Prohaskas' have time off from grad school and were looking to fill it this summer. They received a shipment of hygiene kit stuff the day they got there and are off to their first camp tomorrow.
On Monday evening we celebrated Independence Day by having a picnic with the other senior missionaries. The weather was beautiful, the food was delicious, and we enjoyed the company.
Delicious food: Sloppy Joes! Lays potato chips! Lemonade and root beer floats. And incredible brown sugar nut cake that Sharee Lee Swenson made. I introduced Elias to the joys of sparklers. He and his friends live in an apartment in the same building as the senior missionaries, up the street from the temple (which is closed, which is why the apartment is available).
Every Tuesday evening for one hour Sister Engers who is a native German teaches a German class for the senior missionaries. She always is creative in her approach, and it isn’t threatening for those who have challenges with learning a language.
This past Tuesday we went to Sister Enger’s garden. In Germany there are large garden plots in a community area where families can rent a spot for a year for a nominal cost.
These are no ordinary gardens. I believe just the Enger’s garden is 300 square meters. It is large enough that there is a little house/large shed complete with a cot inside, and there were 10 chairs outside for us to rest on while we visited.
It was obvious that Sister Enger finds great joy in her garden. She has about 7 different kinds of fruit trees, 6 kinds of berries, lots of vegetables and a multitude of blooming flowers.
We took a tour of the garden looking at the German labels, which she had placed throughout, identifying each thing in her garden.
It was quiet and peaceful as it is against the law to have any kind of electronic items in the garden area. It was a beautiful place to relax and enjoy the marvelous creations God has given us for our enjoyment.
Kleinegartens are one of the traditions of Europe that I wish I could transport to the US. Plus the rainfall which makes them so beautiful and verdant! Three of us were wearing blue and white striped shirts: I got mine in France since it's a French thing, but it appears to be in style at the moment. Who knew!
After our visit to the garden Sister Engers took us on a short walk to visit her husband’s gravesite. Brother Enger passed away last fall at the age of 61 after a short battle with cancer. She misses him terribly and told us how much they used to enjoy their garden together. I (Eileen) appreciated her willingness to share a very personal part of her life with me.
Erika asked if I wanted to see Joachim's grave: I am the only one of the senior missionaries who knew him. He was just awesome. He taught Gospel Doctrine in the German ward and we'd compare ideas. He had an amazing library, especially for a German: you have to 1. read English really well and 2. import all those books from the US! She sold them at the Stake Women's conference I spoke at and we ended up buying about 20 books.
Everyone else came to the gravesite as well. I think Randy and I will plan to go visit her there on our own sometime
Thursday Eileen and some other senior missionaries visited a refugee camp to celebrate the end of Ramadan. There were many Germans from the community who came. We all brought treats of some kind or another.
Much to our surprise some of the women who lived in the camp brought out food that they had cooked themselves. They were very proud of being able to share some dishes from their respective countries.
Despite the language barrier it was fun to see a celebration that spanned several different cultures. I wished that I could speak Farsi, Arabic, Turkish and German so I could communicate better with the families. The best I could do was to use their children to translate. I would find a person that spoke English, who would then translate to the children in German. The children would then translate to their parents in their native language.
At the end of the party one of the sisters from our ward sang in German to the visitors at the party. Melissa’s brother is visiting Germany as a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They both sang “God be with you till we meet again” in German. A man from the camp introduced Melissa and her brother in Farsi and explained the significance of the song. I always love to hear this song. In our church we frequently sing this song at the conclusion of a conference or other important event.
It was Eid at the end of Ramadan, so time to celebrate with food. This is at the new camp where the residents all live in campers/motorhomes. It's not perfect, but they have their own cooking space which is great!
Saturday morning, Randy and I took the bus into town, met his niece, Dorothy Brown Larson, and 3 of her friends in the Choir and took them on a tour of the city. My favorite moment was when a young man from France saw my nametag and stopped and asked how to get baptized! He was [obviously] Mormon and had driven with his parents 16 hours from the south of France to hear the MoTab! I took photos for everyone, but didn't get one myself. Maybe Dorothy can send me one when she gets a minutes (like next month!).
Saturday evening we had the opportunity to attend a concert presented by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is composed of 360 volunteer singers ages 25-60. They practice and perform weekly and were accompanied while in Frankfurt by the Orchestra at Temple Square. We have known individuals who have been a part of the choir. The time commitment is very demanding and some travel long distances to attend the practices and performances.
We met so many people on the patio outside the Jahrhunderthalle where the concert was. All our refugee members : Vahid, Samuel, Elias, and Mohammed. A photographer who came from Austrailia and has been following the Choir at all the concerts. Tons of senior missionaries. Ward members meeting up with family from other countries. It was wonderful.
Frankfurt was one of the many stops during a three week trip for the Tabernacle Choir. This is the first time they have performed in Frankfurt for 25 years. In his greeting to the audience, Brother Newell noted that the choir and orchestra members are all volunteers and that they trace their roots through Europe. To demonstrate, he asked all the performers to stand who had family connections or roots in Germany; it appeared that there was about two-thirds!! that stood. He then asked how many had roots or family connections in Europe; all of the performers stood.
The choir did a tremendous job. The acoustics in the performance hall were excellent, but either there was no air conditioning or it wasn’t working. It was extremely warm. We empathized with the choir members as they stood during their whole performance. The first half of the concert was music which was very intricate and difficult. They performed pieces from Handel, Bach and other composers. Most was sung in another language, perhaps German or Latin.
They did some great Handel, Holst, Rossini, and Gounod, followed by a medly of Requiem Aeternam from Wilberg's own Requiem, Agnus Dei from Albright's Chichester Mass, and Alleluia by Ginastera. All of which was NON STOP, segue-ing from one piece to the next. This part ended with Bach and Wilberg's Hymn of Praise. Really amazing.
The second half of the concert seemed lighter. There was a Nigerian folksong complete with a variety of percussionists [Betelehemu]. Also included were some American folk songs [I really liked Battle of Jericho and Deep River.] My favorites were the arrangements of LDS hymns; Come Thou Font of Every Blessing and Come Come ye Saints.
Their rendition of The Spirit of God took me right back to Kirland. . . .
The choir received a standing ovation. In closing they sang God Be with You till We meet again. This was sung in German and is entitled Auf Wiedersehn. It was a lovely ending to the evening. I saw several among the audience wiping tears from their eyes. I have posted a video of the choir singing the song as the last picture below. I can't get the video to work: I will try to get a link and post it later.
This past week has been an eventful one.
Monday and Tuesday, we trained a young Swiss couple who are serving as special service missionaries doing Refugee Aid in Greece for 3 months! Cool idea, huh? The Prohaskas' have time off from grad school and were looking to fill it this summer. They received a shipment of hygiene kit stuff the day they got there and are off to their first camp tomorrow.
On Monday evening we celebrated Independence Day by having a picnic with the other senior missionaries. The weather was beautiful, the food was delicious, and we enjoyed the company.
Delicious food: Sloppy Joes! Lays potato chips! Lemonade and root beer floats. And incredible brown sugar nut cake that Sharee Lee Swenson made. I introduced Elias to the joys of sparklers. He and his friends live in an apartment in the same building as the senior missionaries, up the street from the temple (which is closed, which is why the apartment is available).
 |
Missionary sisters at the garden. Sister Enger is in the middle with the blue stripes on white without a purse.  |
 |
| Sister Caracena with an overly friendly neighboring gardener. |
This past Tuesday we went to Sister Enger’s garden. In Germany there are large garden plots in a community area where families can rent a spot for a year for a nominal cost.
These are no ordinary gardens. I believe just the Enger’s garden is 300 square meters. It is large enough that there is a little house/large shed complete with a cot inside, and there were 10 chairs outside for us to rest on while we visited.
It was obvious that Sister Enger finds great joy in her garden. She has about 7 different kinds of fruit trees, 6 kinds of berries, lots of vegetables and a multitude of blooming flowers.
We took a tour of the garden looking at the German labels, which she had placed throughout, identifying each thing in her garden.
It was quiet and peaceful as it is against the law to have any kind of electronic items in the garden area. It was a beautiful place to relax and enjoy the marvelous creations God has given us for our enjoyment.
Kleinegartens are one of the traditions of Europe that I wish I could transport to the US. Plus the rainfall which makes them so beautiful and verdant! Three of us were wearing blue and white striped shirts: I got mine in France since it's a French thing, but it appears to be in style at the moment. Who knew!
After our visit to the garden Sister Engers took us on a short walk to visit her husband’s gravesite. Brother Enger passed away last fall at the age of 61 after a short battle with cancer. She misses him terribly and told us how much they used to enjoy their garden together. I (Eileen) appreciated her willingness to share a very personal part of her life with me.
Erika asked if I wanted to see Joachim's grave: I am the only one of the senior missionaries who knew him. He was just awesome. He taught Gospel Doctrine in the German ward and we'd compare ideas. He had an amazing library, especially for a German: you have to 1. read English really well and 2. import all those books from the US! She sold them at the Stake Women's conference I spoke at and we ended up buying about 20 books.
Everyone else came to the gravesite as well. I think Randy and I will plan to go visit her there on our own sometime
Thursday Eileen and some other senior missionaries visited a refugee camp to celebrate the end of Ramadan. There were many Germans from the community who came. We all brought treats of some kind or another.
Much to our surprise some of the women who lived in the camp brought out food that they had cooked themselves. They were very proud of being able to share some dishes from their respective countries.
 |
| Mother and son from Afghanistan |
 |
| Melissa Dalton-Bradford and brother, Aaron Dalton, sing for the party |
It was Eid at the end of Ramadan, so time to celebrate with food. This is at the new camp where the residents all live in campers/motorhomes. It's not perfect, but they have their own cooking space which is great!
Saturday morning, Randy and I took the bus into town, met his niece, Dorothy Brown Larson, and 3 of her friends in the Choir and took them on a tour of the city. My favorite moment was when a young man from France saw my nametag and stopped and asked how to get baptized! He was [obviously] Mormon and had driven with his parents 16 hours from the south of France to hear the MoTab! I took photos for everyone, but didn't get one myself. Maybe Dorothy can send me one when she gets a minutes (like next month!).
 |
| Elder and Sister Healy. Thanks for writing about my week! |
 |
| This is Constanza (our dept. executive assitant) with the Reina family. We arranged for her to get free tickets so she and her husband could take his mom, who is here visiting from Brazil and has never heard the MoTab in person before. Thanks to E&S Jensen who left town and couldn't use their tickets! |
Frankfurt was one of the many stops during a three week trip for the Tabernacle Choir. This is the first time they have performed in Frankfurt for 25 years. In his greeting to the audience, Brother Newell noted that the choir and orchestra members are all volunteers and that they trace their roots through Europe. To demonstrate, he asked all the performers to stand who had family connections or roots in Germany; it appeared that there was about two-thirds!! that stood. He then asked how many had roots or family connections in Europe; all of the performers stood.
The choir did a tremendous job. The acoustics in the performance hall were excellent, but either there was no air conditioning or it wasn’t working. It was extremely warm. We empathized with the choir members as they stood during their whole performance. The first half of the concert was music which was very intricate and difficult. They performed pieces from Handel, Bach and other composers. Most was sung in another language, perhaps German or Latin.
They did some great Handel, Holst, Rossini, and Gounod, followed by a medly of Requiem Aeternam from Wilberg's own Requiem, Agnus Dei from Albright's Chichester Mass, and Alleluia by Ginastera. All of which was NON STOP, segue-ing from one piece to the next. This part ended with Bach and Wilberg's Hymn of Praise. Really amazing.
 |
| French friends: missionary companion marries sister, meet friends from 20 years ago |
During the intermission I met up with French boy! It turned out that his sister married his old missionary companion and they live in our ward! Then I met and had a lovely chat with Frank Brenda, director of ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency) in German. We spent a day with Frank in Greece at the Petra Olympou camp on Mt Olympus. We had arranged for him to get VIP tickets to concert so I hoped to see him there: he LOVED it.
The second half of the concert seemed lighter. There was a Nigerian folksong complete with a variety of percussionists [Betelehemu]. Also included were some American folk songs [I really liked Battle of Jericho and Deep River.] My favorites were the arrangements of LDS hymns; Come Thou Font of Every Blessing and Come Come ye Saints.
Their rendition of The Spirit of God took me right back to Kirland. . . .
The choir received a standing ovation. In closing they sang God Be with You till We meet again. This was sung in German and is entitled Auf Wiedersehn. It was a lovely ending to the evening. I saw several among the audience wiping tears from their eyes. I have posted a video of the choir singing the song as the last picture below. I can't get the video to work: I will try to get a link and post it later.
Thank you for your wonderful examples to us.
ReplyDelete