Author: Ann Laemmlen Lewis

We had a great Sabbath day, meeting at the hotel for our last trainings and then Sacrament Meeting.  Today we heard from Clark Hirschi, visiting from Salt Lake City.  He talked to us about opinion leader outreach, then Elder Garber and Thierry Hirtz, also from Utah talked to us about placing General Conference and the Tabernacle Choir in media outlets here.  Then Daniel Kopischke gave great instruction about building relationships and using channels.  He compared media channels to water channels and Hezekiah’s Tunnel and the Pool of Siloam.  I really enjoyed that, having just been there a few months ago.

These are our friends and the NCDs (National Communication Directors), starting with Rebecca Doney, our intern:

After the instruction, we had a snack break, followed by a Sacrament Meeting.

A simple and beautiful sight!

By early afternoon, we wrapped things up.  It was a great weekend.  Best of all, we got to meet the NCDs we’ll be working with.  They are bright, talented and good.  It will be a pleasure to work with them.

This afternoon we had some interfaith activities, starting with a panel discussion.  One of the panelists was a professor of comparative studies on religions, one was a 7th Day Adventist pastor, one was a Muslim journalist and writer, and one represented the European Union and International Affairs Office of our church.

They spoke about building relationships, religious tolerance and the state of religion in Europe today and how we can each help others come to Christ.

After the panel discussion, we boarded a bus and drove about an hour to Hofheim and the only Baha’i Temple in Europe.  There we were instructed about the Baha’i religion by 2 of their guides.

Then we entered their temple.  No talking.  The only voices allowed inside the temple are people reading prayers from certain approved texts.

There are 9 doors, and we were all quietly led to the one they wanted us to enter.

The temple is designed as a place to go a meditate.

There was a small book of prayers that could be read out loud there.  Each of the guides offered a prayer from the book.

Here’s a bit about this religious group:

It was a very interesting contrast to our LDS temple worship last night.  I came away feeling very grateful for the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for doctrines and ordinances and a path that leads us Home.

Interestingly the man who started this religion,  lived at the same time as Joseph Smith.  The Baha’i consider Jesus Christ one of many prophets who did good in the world.  They believe their leader, or Bab, was the last of the great prophets until the Messiah comes.

Next we took the bus to a famous restaurant in nearby called the Waldheim, where they served “XXXL Burgers.”

We had 2 choices for dinner.  One was a very delicious and famous Frankfurt dish: Frankfurt Green Sauce is served cold over hard-boiled eggs and boiled potatoes. It is made of seven different kinds of herbs: borage, chervil, cress, parsley, salad burnet, sorrel and chives.

The other option was a monster XXXL Burger.  We were warned ahead of time that 2-4 people could eat 1 burger, so we shared them.

The food was great and we had plenty to eat!

We had a full and fun day!  After a good breakfast at the hotel, we drove everyone down to the Friedrichsdorf Stake Center where we spent the morning in our meetings.

These are our new favorite friends:

Topics of training today started with a recorded video message from Elder Gerard, the 2nd Counselor in the Europe Central Area Presidency.  He clarified our job to bring the Church out of obscurity and darkness.  (D&C 1:30), obscurity meaning those who don’t know of us yet, and darkness meaning those who may have mis-perceptions about the Church.

I loved when he said, “We’re not here to boil the ocean,” but to focus on what matters most, centering all things on Jesus Christ.  He said we need to feel the joy of serving and feel the power of Jesus Christ.  He continued,
“You have been prepared all your life for this time, for this assignment.
Use your great life experiences. The Lord has put you through things to prepare you for this time. He will hasten His work. Now is the time.
We are taking the most important thing–the Gospel of Jesus Christ–to the world.  I promise you as you work, the Lord will always make up the difference. Our faith, our conduct our actions produce miracles as you center on Jesus Christ.”

Other training seminars today included the topics of focusing on goals by our director, Dinis Adriano, and building relationships and pitching news stories by Ralf Grünke.

Then John & I led a “Best Practice” presentation.  Each NCD sent to us a photo and some bullet points describing one of their favorite recent activities in their country.  It was really fun to hear from each NCD and learn about things they’ve been doing.  We had some Q&A  as we went along.  It was great.

After the morning sessions, we drove everyone down to the temple grounds for a group photo, then we walked to the nearby restaurant Klatsch for lunch.

There was lots of visiting and getting better acquainted.

Then we walked over to the Stake Center for a panel discussion there with some interfaith leaders.

Our job as communication specialists is to support the national directors in each of the countries in the Central Europe Area.   Once a year we meet together for a 3 day seminar.  We’ve been preparing for this since we arrived.  Today our friends arrived by train, plane and car.  They stayed at the Taunus Tagungs Hotel in Friedrichsdorf.

Our first evening together we enjoyed an endowment session at the temple, just a 20 minute walk down the hill from the hotel.  After the session, we had a meal prepared for everyone at the Stake Center by the temple.  We served soups, rolls and apple cake.

Here we are a the stake center and enjoying our first meal together:

Seminar participants represented Church congregations from Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, France, Germany, Hungary, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland.

I stayed home today to prepare food for our international guests coming to the seminar.  It was a cozy sort of day, with 2 big pots of soup simmering on the stove.  I made chicken vegetable soup and Hearty Hodgepodge, two of my favorites, enough for 30 people, and also one small pot of vegetarian.  This was my kind of day.

I also prepared a batch of my kind of breakfast cereal.  These are the different kinds of muesli I mix together for just the right blend:

Tomorrow the seminar fun begins!

This post is for my friends who have lived here and loved this little market right by our apartment building.  The doors are closing at the end of the month.  Everyone is sad.  Really sad.  It’s been the go-to shopping destination for missionaries and for our neighborhood for many years.

Shopping in Germany is different than where we come from.  Here you buy small quantities of food, enough for a few days or a week.  You bring and fill  your own shopping bags.  You usually are on foot or a bike, so you have to be able to carry what you buy.  Older people have little roller grocery carts and you see them coming and going.

This little market has employed refugees who need work.  It serves our little neighborhood.  They say the refrigerators and freezers need to be updated and it’s too expensive.  So at the end of the month, the doors are closing.  We will be sad to see it go.

Our apartment is on the 6th floor in the corner above this little store.  I wonder what will happen there next.

This is the parking lot by our apartment building and by the little store.  With some seniority, you get to park underground.