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.

What are we accomplishing?

Over the past week or so, it has been for me a time of assessment. I wonder about the work here and whether we have been able to make a difference. I feel that some good has come of our serving here, though there are still times of deep disappointment. It is hard to see our dear people struggle so much and see some going the wrong way, yet, we know that the Lord is watching over us all and has deep patience with each of us. I hope He continues to have patience with me in my weaknesses. When it is all done, we can really only admit that the Lord's hand has been at work and we are merely tools and cannot really give ourselves credit for the good or take blame for the problems, we hope.

I noticed recently that the German word for "creation" and "creator" have an interesting other meaning. The word for creation also can be used to mean "scooping" or the creator, a scooper. I can visualize the process of shaping or scooping the materials there to form a world and it better shows the hand of the Lord making it happen. To me, it makes it more personal, an act of careful, loving, scooping to make the beautiful world that we have to live on. We really cannot understand what it took to create the world and all that is part of it, but to know that God's loving hands made it happen gives me a different view of it all. We in our feeble attempts to accomplish our work, can then be compared to the great scooping that the Lord does and still does, by using His hands to mould us into something better, scooped out of the dust of the earth.

In this post, I will show some pictures as usual, but we usually also pick out some beauties of the earth that we see here.

Here is a view over the Salem Valley from the town (and castle) of Heiligenberg (literally: Saints mountain)

Yes, I was really there.

These are part of the castle.

Driving from Heiligenberg towards Deggenhausertal.

A view of Deggenhausertal.

In another area, we sometimes pass this transmission tower near Waldburg. I always think about the "Return of the Jedi" scenes on the moon of Endor when I see it.

And there was a zeppelin there as well.

This is the Waldburg (Forest fortress)

Then, this evening, Sister B was helping one of our members with family history. It happens to be in a McDonalds, using the wireless available there.

District Meeting with the Nine

It is interesting having nine now in our district (counting us, of course). With our three and the four elders in Dornbirn, we have a nice group of nine in the work of the Lord in our little corner or Europe (touching four countries!). We take turns meeting either in the Dornbirn, Austria church building (Dornbirn Ward) and in our apartment in Ravensburg Germany. The Dornbirn elders also cover a piece of Switzerland and the Feldkirch pair have an area that touches Liechtenstein (though no work is allowed in that country).

We had our meeting yesterday in our apartment. We are very thankful that we have a large living/dining area. Sister B taught a lesson on obediance and prayer in which she had a "role-play" for the elders to experience the concept of following the right voice and learning obedience. One elder was blind-folded and there were three "voices of the world" around him and two special voices, one good and the other not, trying to direct him to the goal. I was the voice of the prophet, giving general counsel and encouragement. A last elder was hidden away on our balcony (wrapped in a blanket because it was fairly cold out there. In the allotted time, the blindfolded elder was to find the hidden elder, as directed or distracted by the many voices. Elder Smith was successful! He determined which of the special voices was leading him astray and followed the correct voice, with the encouragement of the "prophet."

I am amazed at the spiritual maturity of the missionaries here, mostly still in their teens. They are marvelous to work with!

(L to R) Elders Christensen, Smith, Sister B, Elders Wulff, Zepp and Curtis.

Sister B (moving away) Elders Curtis, Johnson and Albrecht.

Yes, and we would be having a wonderful lunch afterwards (after the table was straightened around again).

More Wangen pictures, etc. around and about

Here are a few more pictures. No special events. We visited the city of Wangen im Allgäu and took some pictures again.

This is a beverage from Turkey. It is quite popular among the missionaries. It is a kind of lemonade with a distinctive fruity taste.

More autumn leaves on a wall

Here is a statue of a friar caring for pigs. A boy was climbing on the statue.

One of the city gates in Wangen.

Another city gate at the end of a pedestrian area.

One of many little gardens found at entrances and back doors in the city.

A street sign. Now say that one quickly 5 times.

Another unusual statue. A woman pouring water (or something else) into the mouth of a man.

very thick walls on the buildings

a mossy tree and a broken lamp

Senior Conference Fall 2014

We spent a few days in Munich last week attending our last (sob) Senior conference. We travelled there on a bus and had tickets on a train for the return. However, there was a country-wide train strike that weekend so we had to make other arrangements to get home (riding with the Lees).

We had a wonderful time meeting with the other missionary couples. It is good to see so much Gospel maturity and people who love the Lord and their fellow man. We were the longest serving of the missionaries there (except for one couple back for their 3rd time), but still almost the youngest in age. The only ones younger than Sister B were the Kohler family - Mission President.

We had some great discussions on how to do the work and work the missionaries and the members, and also a very inspiring testimony meeting Friday evening. Earlier on Friday, we had a tour of Munich. I will include some of those pictures as well.

We were in the upper level of a double-decker bus. It swayed a bit on the road.

Elder Nielsen was there. It was good to see him again.

We were all missionaries who served in the Central German (Düsseldorf) mission under President Walter Kindt (around 1969-1972).

Here is one of our group meals, very wonderfully provided by local members.

The Foxes played their Alp horns

The fountain showing the conquering of evil. This commemorated the saving of the city after the 30-years war and the Black Plague.

Up high on a tower overseeing the city.

A view of the city from the tower.

President Kohler and some of us.

The tomb of king Ludwig (crazy Ludwig), who built the Neuschwanstein Castle.

President Kohler and his family

A lot of visitors at the mission home.