Author: Ann Laemmlen Lewis

We stayed in Frankfurt today to take a look around downtown where all the excitement for the European Soccer Championship matches is happening.  We walked along the Main River and looked at the Fan Zone before it filled with fans.  This evening Turkey and Portugal will play.  Tomorrow Germany plays Switzerland right here in Frankfurt.  Everyone is getting ready for that exciting match.

This is the fine art museum we still need to visit:

There are big screen TVs everywhere!

We walked over to the Three Kings Church, but it was closed.

 

Then back to the Romer Platz for some lunch.

This is a very typical German meal (not ours).

While we were eating, a huge parade of Turkish fans came by, singing and shouting.  There were 100s of them on their way to the Fan Zone.  There is so much excitement in the air!

We went inside the St Paul’s Church that is more of an assembly hall for important meetings.  JFK spoke here shortly before his death.

We stopped by the Strewwelpeter Museum.  This was one of the first illustrated children’s books ever, printed, here in Frankfurt in 1844.  It sold more than 30 million copies.  The tales are pretty violent and gruesome to scare kids into being obedient.

Departures are sweet and sad at the same time.  It’s fun to imagine these departing couples rushing into the arms of their children and grandchildren, but it’s hard to see them leave this place and all of us.

We will miss the Edgingtons, who served as our Assistant Zone Leaders and the Simpsons who are now on their way home.  God be with you, until we meet again on the other side, dear friends.

We had another special workforce event today at the Phoenix Haus.  Sis Sharon Eubank (humanitarian) and Beth Whisamore (HR) are visiting Europe for some special projects and events.  This morning we had an hour-long meeting with them to discuss leadership principles and ways we can improve in our work lives.  It was really good with some solid practical tips and ideas.

Elder Massimo De Feo has been serving here in the Europe Central Area for 7 years.  He’s been reassigned to the United States and will be leaving soon with his wife.  Today we had a special farewell devotional and we got to hear from them one last time.  They are good people who have done a good work here.

Sister Sharon Eubank is visiting this week.  She oversees worldwide humanitarian work.

Our weekly German class with Sis Enger has moved back to the garden for the summer months.  This is a little bit like a trip to heaven every week.  These community garden plots are rented by families who live in the area but have no yards of their own.  We are surrounded here by blocks and blocks of apartments.  This is such a wonderful gift for those who want to be closer to nature.

This community garden has about 60 rented garden plots.  Each has its own personality.

Here is the plot Sis Enger shares with her son.

Our lesson today was about different kinds of berries and we learned about some of the songbirds around us.

What a heavenly place to be!

This evening for our Senior Missionary Activity, we met at the Frankfurt Temple grounds.  We had tours of the Family History learning center in the annex and then a tour around the temple grounds by the couple named Wiborny, who now oversee the center.

We divided into 3 groups, then rotated through the FamilySearch Learning Center a film about the temple and a walk around the grounds.

This is the FamilySearch Learning Center.

This is the home where the Temple Presidency live.

These buildings house patrons and temple workers.

The most interesting thing I learned this evening was about the door of the Temple Presidency’s old mansion home that once belonged to the owner of the noodle factory that stood on the land where the temple is. The rich factory owner had the home built and in metalwork on the original door are the initials H for the family name “Haller,” a T for the husband’s name, “Theodor,” and an L for the wife’s name, “Liesel.” They are artistically fashioned into a monogram of sorts: HLT, which is the German spelling of LDS, or Heiligen Letzen Tage. How fun is that??

You can read more about the history of this now-sacred place here.

I love watching the lawn-mowing robot, quietly doing its work!

After our visit to Tempelplatz, we all walked across the street to an ice cream shop for some treats.  In the plaza by the shop is this memorial to Philipp Reis, who’s home town of Gelnhausen we visited Saturday.  He is credited as the inventor of the telephone here in Europe.

We had a really fun evening.  We are loving the long summer days.  It doesn’t feel hot like summer yet, but it stays light until almost 10:00 p.m.