Haupt Bahnhof

This week has been a busy one but we need to say what has happened. Sunday night after church we drove to Heidelberg for a stake young adult fireside with the stake president and his counselors. We have 37 young single adults come. President Pilz spoke first and then President Kutchke. They spoke for about 40 minutes and then answered any questions that the young adults offered. We have 2 investigators and 1 newly baptized member there. Following the fireside Sister Glissmeyer and I had prepared a light supper for them--just finger food. They finished it off. It was a good evening and the lingered to visit with one another. We were back in Darmstadt by about 10:30 pm.

Monday the sun was shinning almost all day. Monday night was FHE and we had a smaller group than usual but we think it is because of the fireside on Sunday night. We had dinner and then the person who had the lesson was not there so Sister Hadley gave the lesson and then we played a game similar to Cranium only in German. My team did okay considering they had a handicap of me with limited language. We will win next time. Tuesday was our p-day and we did our usual laundry and cleaning and then we went shopping for food and items for the center and apartment. We got lost and discovered a small town called Eberstadt. We will go back and visit and see more of it. It reminds me of the small dorfs we used to see when we were in southern Germany.

Wednesday was the district meeting at 11:00 am. At about 10:15 am the elders from Langen called and they were at the haupt bahnhof. There was a bus and tram strike and they had notway to get to the center for the meeting without walking for a long time. Would be come to get them? Yes, and we headed to the bahnhof. We had not been there yet and they told us where to come. We followed their instructions and met them in front of the station. I continued on the street where I was and when I came a short distance to an intersection I realized there were no stop lights. What had happened? I had taken the path down the way that the bahn usually goes and it is a place where cars are not supposed to be. I noticed cars beginning to come toward me and a bicycle very close to me. I could not go through the intersection but no one was behind me so I backed up. I waited for the cars to stop in the cross traffic and then quickly went through the intersection. My heart was pounding so hard. I had the lives of 4 missionaries with me. We were really blessed to be safe and I will pay more attention to where I am supposed to be. We made it to the district meeting a few minutes late but we were safe. I gave the power scripture and the I chose II Nephi 31:19-20. It was announced that we will go to zone conference on Wednesday next week where one of the area authorities will speak and we will go to Frankfurt instead of Kaiserslautern. This is great for us because it is closer. This will be for all the missionaries except the north zone. We left the district meeting at 12:30 pm and headed to Sister Kutchke's home. She had invited us for lunch. We had a great visit with her and left a message and prayer and then returned to the center for the evening. Sister Kutchke's son is a member of the stake presidency. She served a mission in the Dresden area when she was about 22. She has raised a great family and is so generous and loving.

Thursday morning we went to a local rest home to sing for a sister who is a member of our ward. It was her birthday and she was 86. She has Ahlzheimers. The sister missionaries, 4 of the ward members and Elder Hadley were the singers. I was the piano person. It was a really great experience. Thursday night was Institiute and all the YSA that were there were treated to a lesson by Elder Manning and Elder Amandoron. We had a snack after and sat and visited. It was a good night.

Friday night was quiet at the center except for the missionaries who taught an English class. Elder Hadley and I were preparing for a fireside we will be doing in Langen on Sunday afternoon. We will be talking about missionary work and what the YM and YW can do to prepare to tell their friends about the church.

Saturday morning we went to the rest home again but this time just the sister missionaries and Elder Hadley and I. This will be a regular thing for us I think. We spent the day studying and listening to the Mormon Channel. When we got home tonight there was a package at our door. It was from Deseret Book and was some of the things that I had ordered.

We are usually tired when we get home at night but it is a good tired. We love the YSA and hope that we are doing those things we need to strengthen them. Heavenly Father continues to bless us and watch over us. We are continuing to learn the gospel and the language. We know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers and we are so blessed for that. We love our family at home and know they are happy.