Getting caught up at the end of the year...

Well, as you can probably guess, we have been busy at home getting adjusted and caught up with things.

Of course, jet lag, along with some sickness, made it hard to get adjusted, but we are doing OK now. Both Shauna and I have been to all our doctors and are doing OK. It has been two years since we have been checked, so that was a good reason to see doctors and dentist, but we also pushed through mission papers and now have submitted everything, including the doctor reports.

We have had a wonderful time with family. The family served us a belated Thanksgiving dinner on the Sunday following our return. Also, we have had a number of family activities and are loving it. Jon and his family came from Oregon the day after Christmas and have been staying with us most of the time before they return home at the end of this week.

Shauna and I received an assignment to visit some members of the ward as special representatives of him and we have enjoyed being back in service.

Also, shortly after arriving home, a young lady we met in Germany came to the US to see the marriage of her friend. She stayed with us a couple of days and was present at our homecoming Sacrament Meeting on the 14th.

I thought this picture of us arriving at the airport on the 2nd was good to see.

Here is Elisa as she visited us.

It was wonderful to see our mountains again. They are not the alps, but they are home.

Home again

I thought I should write something to let you all know we are home and getting adjusted to things after our mission. It has been a bit difficult getting up to speed, though we are quickly getting things done.

Here are a few farewell pictures we got just before leaving.

We arrived in the evening on Tuesday (Dec 2), very tired. I developed a bad cold just as we were leaving Ravensburg, so it was a bit harder to adjust, but nonetheless, we were very happy to see family as we were greeted at the airport in Salt Lake.

Since arriving, we tried to get some rest. The Jet lag really took its toll on us, especially me with my cold. Still, we were able to get our needed tasks accomplished, including Credit Union, getting new phones (send me email to get new phone numbers), replaced drivers licenses (Ravensburg made us surrender our US licenses in order to receive the German licenses), Car insurance, family visits, etc.
Actually, she was not able to get hers quite yet, but it is coming. Also, the insurance ran into a hiccup as well. Our sons worked to get us a new (2011) car, and it is very nice.

We were released as missionaries on Wednesday. That was difficult. We are no longer Elder and Sister B.

We are really missing our friends and loved ones in Ravensburg. Sister B. (she is still Sister B.) said yesterday that she really missed the German and did a run on DuoLingo. We have been able to do a little communicating with some of our people over email and Skype.

We have had two wonderful family activities so far. Our granddaughter was baptized on Saturday and many of the family were there.

Our youngest granddaughter still is not sure about us. She only saw us briefly in August, so we are just learning to know each other better.

Our wonderful granddaughter and her father - after the baptism.

We had a "Thanksgiving" dinner together with family on Sunday evening and all the family that live here were with us. It was a wonderful evening.

Thanks to everyone who has prayed for us and supported us through this transition. Next Sunday we have our mission report in our ward. I hope you all can be there to see us. We are meeting at our home afterwards.

Food and Farewells

Well, it has been a crazy week. Our replacement couple, Elder and Sister Hicks arrived on Tuesday evening. Before and after, we have been trying to see some people we may not be able to see again before we go home. It has been fun helping the Hicks' get acquainted with some of our good friends. On Wednesday we had a Thanksgiving dinner for our district meeting. That night we had a good Institute class. Thursday, we visited one of our most interesting "less-active" member. That night we needed to the run the genealogy center. Friday, we did a number of long distance visits. Today, we held a Thanksgiving dinner for the branch and friends. We cooked two turkeys and had many pies, rolls, mashed potatoes, stuffing and many more things, Sister B doing most of the cooking and preparation. We had 40 people there, more than we ever have had at church meetings before.

It has been hard knowing that we will not see many of these people again.

A couple of the people were not expected to come and we were overwhelmed with joy when we saw them.

We had some to dinner with us on Sunday. Every week we have someone for dinner.

District meeting Thanksgiving.

Working today in the kitchen.

food served in the hallway

and eaten in the chapel area (many were still in the hallway).

Mission meetings, local market, sunset, etc.

So, this is a collection of other pictures summarizing more of our activities in the past week or so.

We had stake conference on the 8th and 9th and then a zone training meeting on the 11th, so that accounted for 3 more trips to Switzerland. Also, I have a few pictures of us taking Sister Pabel to the local market. It runs pretty much year round and we have become friends with a number of the farmers and merchants.

It is always fun having three elders in the back of our little Opel Corsa. Elder Wulff on the left is now in America. He was here waiting for his Visa to be completed and is going to the New York New York North Mission.

 Riding the ferry on one of our trips to conference.

After conference, the Wijsbeek family invited us to lunch. Here is Elder Smith drawing a pig with his eyes closed (a requirement at the Wijsbeek house).

A beautiful family.

Some pictures of missionaries at Zone Training meeting in St. Gallen, Switzerland

Elder and Sister Schwabe

All of us.

A nice sunset on the Bodensee (Lake Constance) near Bregenz, Austria.

Taking Sister Pabel to the marketplace.

Didenhover Visit, Appenzell

Here is a quick blog to cover our visit from Elder and Sister Didenhover. She is from Ravensburg and was baptized here as a young lady. They are now serving as a couple in Linz, Austria. They came by for a few days to visit us and some of her family. One day, they directed us on a visit to the Appenzell region of Switzerland. It is a very traditional part of Switzerland.

Trip to Freiburg

Here are the promised photos. The first four are scenes along the way, pictures taken from the train.

Elder Smith visited parts of the Black Forest when he was serving in Ludwigsburg. He said that it reminded him of the hight Uinta mountains in Utah. I can see the resemblance.

This is looking past a church to the wooded hills behind Freiburg.

This is the monastery that they have here in the middle of Freiburg. There are two musicians at the bottom of the picture, playing for money. They played the oboe and bassoon and were marvelous. This is a big university city, so even those asking for money on the streets are of a higher intellectual class.

We ate in the "hole-in-the-wall" restaurant on the right. Below is a picture of some of the inside decor. The building in the middle has the date: 1320.

It was late and cold, but we were able to get this picture as we were waiting for the train back to Freiburg and on to Singen. Here are the Lees who are serving in Singen.

And Trusting in His Tender Care

"I've had many troubles in my life, most of which never happened." - Mark Twain

Through all the ups and downs and frustrations and worries (yes, I am a registered, certified worrier - just ask my wife), One thing I have learned is the power of trusting in the Lord. It is still a work in progress, I must admit, but the blessings are wonderful.

In High School seminary, thanks to my wonderful teacher, Keith Perkins,  I learned and memorized a scripture that has become my favorite:

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart,
  and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him,
  and He shall direct thy paths.
Be not wise in thine own eyes,
  fear the Lord; depart from evil."

Proverbs 3:5-7

Trusting is not an easy matter. Life's lessons often teach us that we must look out for ourselves. We get hardened by this "hard knocks" education (and resulting career path) and learn to not expect any help from anyone else, mortal or divine. I know the real answers to these life dilemmas - that we are not alone and indeed can rely on and need the help of the Lord - but nonetheless worry about so much, especially that which is out of my control.

Our experiences here in Germany have strengthened my ability to trust in the Lord. Even though I still fight the tendency to worry about so much everyday, it is amazing to see the hand of the Lord as I start to let go and let Him work in my life.

Yesterday was a good example. We had planned on making a trip to Freiburg with Elder and Sister Lee, leaving from their city of Singen, traveling on the "Black Forest" train. We discovered a few of these "hard knocks" along the way. The train we wanted (listed on the main schedule on the board at the train station) did not run on Fridays for a few weeks (of course, how could we have not known!). We ended up getting a train about an hour later than our originally planned departure. We had one transfer to another train and then a transfer to a bus, because something was not in order in the train line, and then another train before we arrived at Freiburg. We had a wonderful time visiting with each other and seeing the vistas of the Black Forest passing by. After wandering the city center and buying lunch and a few little items (and taking a few pictures), we took yet another train to find the university clinic campus. One of our members has been in a difficult situation with a rare infectious disease and is in one of the clinic facilities. The great blessing is that we found her and had a wonderful visit with her. As we entered, she was laying in bed reading her French Book of Mormon. She brightened up and had tears as we saw her. The many difficulties getting to see her were quickly forgotten. The Lees also had someone from their branch who needed a visit. We still had to wait nearly an hour in the cold for the return train, but we enjoyed visiting with each other again.

Besides this wonderful day, I have had other numerous times when I was worried about issues in the branch and in our activities and responsibilities, but over and over again, I received peace in my heart and found many of the problems of my "vain imagination" melt away.

Trusting in the Lord is the key.

(I will show the pictures in the next blog entry.)

The Outrageous Addiction

OK, I admit it. I have an addiction. I see it a lot around me as well, but that doesn't make it any better for me.

As we came to our building, where we hold our church meetings, I discovered that, once again, the elevator was our of order. With indignant fervor, I stomped those metal steps, my frustration echoing in the whole chamber.

So? What good did it accomplish? It was not right. They should have fixed that elevator, once and for all. So many people using this building deserve better.

Deserve? Right?

I have struggled my whole life trying to keep from losing the Spirit, and I know that it is I, myself, who am most to blame - not the unfair and unjust conditions around me.

We really see this a lot here in Germany as well, but it is not a national or cultural thing either. We get outraged at injustices around us. Not only that, it is essentially an addiction in many people to seek out, find and sound the alarm at the injustices around us. They are not hard to find.
With the advent of social media, it is even more pronounced. Sometimes I check my Facebook™ account and see much evidence of the unjust nature of the world around me. We even "like" those posts proclaiming the wrongs we see. Movies are full of vengeance - righting the wrongs of the world.

Is wanting to right wrongs "wrong?" Well, not really. The problem is that we enjoy that feeing of indignation. "That should never have happened." "What was he thinking?" "Can you believe what I just saw?" It really isn't that we are fixing these problems, we are exhilarated by the feeling of the sensational nature of these expressions. Making them known does not usually right the wrongs. If we can truly, personally, do something to correct a situation, that is laudable, however, most of the time it is much the same as the hen sending out her cry when something upsets her. It makes a lot of noise and is hard to ignore, but it doesn't solve any problems.

Don't get me wrong. There is much good we can do to right the wrongs of society. That is our duty. However, when we come to relish the feelings we get,  we try to find wrongs and spend many hours looking for them. We are feeding an addiction of what we call "righteous Indignation" in our hearts.
When the hero in a movie finally wins, we rejoice - we do the fist pump and yell"yes!". That is wonderful! But it is also not a real accomplishment. When we yell at that idiot driver in the car who just cut us off, we feel that feeling in our hearts, but what sort of feeling is it?

That is what I struggle with.

I read Nephi's words a few years ago and saw his lament. Considering his serious difficulties he had with his brothers, including real dangers of losing his life, you would think that he had valid reason to complain and be angry and upset, but his words give us a true understanding of how damaging vengeful feelings can be:

27 And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy?
28 Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.  (2 Nephi 4:27-28)

The real reason for caution when we are in our "fight for justice" is that we bring the wrong spirit into our souls in our outrage. As the Book of Mormon plainly states in numerous places, the spirit of contention is never productive to the welfare of our souls, or even to society.

How then can we work to right the wrongs we see so much around us? There is already too much anger in the world. This anger and the resulting influence of the "enemy of my soul" is the cause of the great suffering in the world. The work we do to improve our world comes not from outrage, or even what we call "righteous indignation." It comes through the working of the Holy Spirit. This spirit works in us, but usually not in the way of punishing or correcting injustices around us, but in bringing change within us, so that through us, we may have an effect for good in those around us. The key is that the change needs to be personal and internal.

In the last general conference, President Uchtdorf spoke to the priesthood (those of us who need the most help) helping us to see that it is ourselves that we need to examine. The talk is called "Is it I, Lord?" We should not be so quick to see failings in others, but look first to ourselves. He gives some great examples in stories. One of his statements is: "I’m not sure why we are able to diagnose and recommend remedies for other people’s ills so well, while we often have difficulty seeing our own." - President Uchtdorf, Priesthood session, October 2014.

True, there are just and good "causes" that we can support, but the greatest cause we can find is our own improvement, our own purity, our own love and patience towards others.

As we look around us; as we "share" messages of outrage in our timeline; as we raise our fists to the heavens demanding our rights and justice, we usually then allow the enemy to enter our souls rather than change these conditions. In the process, we change ourselves for the worse and destroy our own inner peace.

Let us be more of the mind to be patient, loving and "share" or "like" what is uplifting.
"If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." - Article of Faith 13

I still find myself reacting to frustrations and getting upset over the wrongs I see. It is an ongoing process, but I hope I am doing better at finding the positive and keeping the spirit and building my own inner spiritual strength. One great blessing I have is my beautiful companion. As I find myself at the point of reacting and getting frustrated, just thinking of her stabilizing influence helps me to better see the proper perspective in life. (Sometimes it is more directly as a spoken reminder, when I am particularly dense.) I am glad for the help I receive - from her, and from the Lord.

May the Lord give us the power to rise above the tendency to be critical and judgmental. His is the power of Love.

Trip to Zollikofen

On Friday we traveled to the Swiss temple with branch members and missionaries. It was a wonderful experience. It was dark as we left (6:00 AM) and dark as we returned (10:30 PM) and we were in the temple all day, so  I really do not have any pictures of the trip or the people. We had eight of us, total and were able to do work in the temple all day accomplishing a lot of work, including the sealing of couples who are the grandparents of two of our people. We were able to do Initiatory, Endowments and Sealings.

The trip took us three hours to arrive and four and a half to come home (congestion near Bern and near Zurich). We have found that one way goes well and the other has traffic problems.

I rented a van, specifying a 9-passenger, but we received one that was absolutely huge. One of the couples said that they could dance in it as we traveled (they didn't).

It was a wonderful experience. We will miss these experiences with members and missionaries at the temple here.

Here a two pictures of the van we rented:

A chair in Friedrichshafen, and the Lake in Meersburg

Here is one shot from Friedrichshafen, near a shopping mall. I appears that someone left a chair out there in the parking lot.

 The rest of these are from a walk we took in Meersburg, Germany, along the shores of Lake Constance (Bodensee).

Yes, they have some palm trees on the shore.

The castle of Meersburg

No, Not Liechtenstein, again...

Sorry, but yes. We had to go one last time. We had our district meeting in Dornbirn, Austria and Sister B wanted to send out another postcard from Liechtenstein. Also, the elders had not been there before.

So here are some pictures.

These mountains are actually in Switzerland, but the view in Liechtenstein is beautiful.

getting in to a good position to take pictures...

Elders Wulff, Zepp and Smith

hills of Liechtenstein.

The road over the bridge (the Rhein river) on the way into Switzerland.