Saturday is a Special Day!

October 21, 2014

     The weekend is always very welcomed after long, busy hours in the office. We love our daily work and it is very fulfilling and diversified, but when Saturday comes, we try to get out and exercise while out on a day trip somewhere in this beautiful country. Lowell has been working primarily this week on missionary residency and visa challenges in several of our Area countries. The laws and regulations in these post-communistic governments can be extremely difficult to work with when you have a revolving door of missionaries coming in and out of cities and countries so often. We just had no idea of the complexity of issues and the tender balance of public and government relations that the Church has deal with to get our missionaries into the countries and then keep them there legally for two years. The learning curve has been steep and it all is very different than it was in Asia. Lowell finds it fascinating and very difficult as well.

     I am fully up and running as the mission nurse and I am VERY busy. With 256 missionaries all over Germany, at any given time there are several calls coming in each day, afternoon or night. I am on call 24/7 and I have gotten calls on walks, in the car, at home, in the office and at church. Luckily I have not gotten called in the middle of the night yet. I keep in frequent touch with the Mission President so he knows what's happening. There are also 2 Area doctors right next to my office which are wonderful back-ups for more serious problems. It's a wonderful team. with every call, I triage the situation, give advice and direction for prevention and self-care situations (most calls are of this type), arrange for appointments and get insurance coverage for doctor's office, Urgent Care or ER visits. do computer charting, follow-up and monthly reports on all cases. I'm excited that I also get to teach at three different zone conferences each quarter in different parts of Germany, the first set in December.It's great work and I really enjoy working with these amazing young missionaries.

     Last Saturday morning we were so fortunate to be taken on a walking tour of downtown Frankfurt by one of the wonderful German employees we work with in the office, William Blascoe. He's an avid historian and made every minute so interesting and sobering too as this city was a significant Holocaust site during WWII.

     Here you see William looking distinguished as he leads his band of Senior Missionaries around to the grand city sites. Notice the building behind him with the arched doorways. This site was destroyed during the war and as so many other wonderfully designed edifices here, was meticulously rebuilt in better years.

     Above is a picture of Anne Frank, her sister and her mother in front of the very same building before the war. Frankfurt is where Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazis in an attic hideout not far from this main city square. She penned her famous diaries there and gave us all a poignant insight into a young and profoundly sensitive heart. As we all know they were eventually discovered and sent to a concentration camp where they died. That little apartment is a very popular site to visit here although we didn't have time while we were near.

This statue was erected post war to make a statement that Germany wanted to showcase Frankfurt as a place where education, wisdom and progress were encouraged and sought.

This is the oldest and still one of the most grand hotels in Frankfurt. One of it's prime rooms goes for $4,000  a night and only the rich and famous are allowed to stay. Although I cut it out of the picture, there was a $200,000 Bentley car parked out front.
     





    This church was built in the 1300's and was one of the very few buildings standing after all the bombing and carnage of the war. Although it has been restored several times on the outside, much of the inside structure remains intact. Many of the pure gold artifacts, however, were taken by the Nazi's.

       Before more than 23,000 Jews were forced or taken out of Frankfurt, their beautiful synagogues were burned to the ground and their businesses destroyed or confiscated. They were not allowed to shop at most stores or eat in restaurants. Post war, very careful research was done and it was determined that over 11,000 of this group died in the concentration camps. Several projects have been enacted to remember each victim throughout Frankfurt. One of these projects is the Remembrance Wall in the old Jewish section of the city. It's very impressive. A small metal square has been forged and implanted in this wall that surrounds the Jewish cemetery, each with an individual name engraved on it. There is a stone walkway along its borders. You're to pick up a rock and put in on any square without one to signify that person will always be remembered.

      Here you see me placing a rock on that didn't have on. a name

            Here you see the little box with Anne Frank's name on it. Seeing things like this up close and personal gives you such pause for thought and a deep gratitude that these people who lived here and loved this city and their families will never be forgotten. Another remembrance throughout the city are engraved discs embedded in the cobblestone walkways throughout the city with individuals' names and dates as well.

      Because the night is getting late, I will include these picturesque shots I took during our afternoon drive through 2 small towns about an hour outside of Frankfurt but without a lot of explanation, if you don't mind. We went with the Riggs who work with us in the law offices. We had such a delightful time exploring, eating and being thoroughly amazed at how fairytale-esque this country is. These towns were certainly not big tourist traps, but rather quiet yet vibrantly alive little communities with the locals gathered in the town squares, sitting in quaint outside cafes, listening to live music of some sort, checking out the shopping kiosks of flowers, food and wares. Yes, I do indeed think I could live here and get sucked in by it all.
     Huge, ornate churches and old, wonderful castles are a common attraction to many small towns here and you will see samples in these pictures.

       The narrow, cobble stoned streets and the beautiful architecture are other common and beautiful sights. Again, I think I'm in heaven.

      This little church is actually within the castle. As you can see, these stained glass windows are                                                               quite stunning!

      These homes you'll see next are outside the castle walls and surrounding them. The descendants                           of the original owners of the castle actually still live its the upper stories.

      As if the castle wasn't beautiful enough, the glorious fall leaves just added the crowning touch to                                            the incredible scenery. Hope you've enjoyed it!!