This evening after a full day working with the VIP Open House, we had a fun and relaxing evening with friends and fellow missionaries. Sister Enger, our German teacher invited our class and spouses to her home for an evening of caroling to her neighbors.
Sister Enger had 4 carols printed for us to practice in German: Far, Far Away on Judea’s Planes, Oh Tannenbaum, O Come All Ye Faithful, and Leise Rieselt der Schnee (softly falls the snow). We actually sounded pretty good!
Then we bundled up to go outside to visit Sister Enger’s friends and neighbors. She prepared a list with several stops, letting her friends know we’d be stopping by to sing to them.
We had a wonderful evening, warm to the heart on this cold winter night.
We sang in the stairwell to one elderly man, and the home-bound neighbor above him opened her door as well to hear us sing. The sounds of the carols resonated here in this place.
We had a small gift for each of the neighbors, prepared by Sister Enger and the Sister missionaries.
After being out for about 30-40 minutes, we came back around the block to find a big surprise waiting for Sister Enger–all of her neighbors and friends had gathered for a Christmas party in the street to thank her for her kindness to them!
They had prepared tables with hot drinks, Christmas treats and soup, enough for all. Several neighbor families joined us. They’d quickly hung lights, set up recorded Christmas music, and had a standing space heater to welcome us. It was lovely!
This was in the garage of one of the neighbors–where we found hot bean and frankfurter soup and drinks.
We visited with our new friends and enjoyed sharing Christmas cheer, so grateful for their warmth and kindness to all of us.
After we returned to Sister Enger’s home to enjoy the treats she’d prepared for us. We all had room in our warm tummies to enjoy a bit more!
We love being in Sister Enger’s home. We love her. She is a bright light in our lives.
These are little gifts we each received–a little Nativity made from cookies and gummi bears, and an Advent candle.
Here is the recipe for the delicious little star cookies made by one of the neighbors:
Our Frankfurt Germany Mission 
Dear Ann, Erika sent me your blog. Great work you are doing and I envy you a bit for the fun you have together. smile
I only got to know ERika myself a few weeks ago through our family tree search. She is the 5th great-grandniece of the great-uncle’s wife. But she’s so sweet and nice that I think she must be a very close relative. I really like the fact that she shows you a lot about German customs and she tells me in many emails about you and how proud she is of you.
I wish you a wonderful time and a Merry Christmas!
Many greetings from Berlin Simone
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