A Trip Into Authentic German Culture

 The Locals Know Best Where To Go

One of the employees we work with suggested we get a group together and take a little over night trip to a small German town, Hassmersheim, known for it's quaint but lively restaurant/ hotel Kapuziner for a unique German experience. The rooms were fresh and cozy and the restaurant itself was quite small, only six long oak tables, two of which we filled with our group of senior missionaries. The walls were stone, the ceilings had big wood beams evenly spaced and the atmosphere was homey and welcoming. Shortly after we were seated the place filled to capacity with mostly the townsfolk who were friendly and very upbeat. The food was wonderful, lots of brats and schnitzel, soups and delicious breads. The local musicians arrived while we were eating and soon the whole place was alive with wonderful, traditional German music, mostly accordions and great vocalists. It's like a big sing-a-long with everyone joining arms and swaying back and forth to the energetic songs.

This is a great place to be Friday after work and only an hour and a half away, yet you feel like you're in another fascinating world as Germany offers so well at every turn.

This 19 year old young man was the star of the evening and has been playing the accordian since he was three years old. He told us he also has his own German band in which he plays frequently as well. He was a charmer and could triple-time the older players.

  The gentleman on the right was a bit "looped"which added interesting gyrations and moves to his performances.

The morning was crisp and cold and as we passed an open hallway door on the way to the same dining room for breakfast, we noticed they had their own chicken coop right in their backyard.

Here are our early risers sitting at our beautifully set table complete with bone china from England and live tulip as a centerpiece. You would never think this was a very reasonably priced place to stay with breakfast included.

There's nothing like hot cocoa and a backyard fresh egg delivered right to the table.

Interesting handmade pottery collection right by our table.

After breakfast and lingering conversation, we piled back into our cars and headed to another little out-of-the-way town, Bad Wimpfen, before heading back home. Here you see our car partners, the Biddulph"s from Utah who are one of the Mental Health Specialists and Assistant for the missionaries.

It was soooooo cold but we still enjoyed our stroll through the streets of the Altstadt. The architecture is something that never fails to allure and is truly one of our favorite things about this country.

Fun little shops along the way. We couldn't understand how the flowers survive such cold weather,

This metal marker indicates this house was one of many "safe houses" for the Jews during the war.

What a wonderful and beautiful little outing with dear friends.

Another Round of Zone Conferences in March

May I add just a note to begin with. I am so far behind in this blog that I will be brief in explanations but generous with pictures. There has been so much happening and so many places visited and I want you to get a sense of it all. I will be making several entries this time to keep events and dates more organized. This particular entry is all about one of our favorite parts of our mission: the zone conferences. The longer I am here, the more of these wonderful young and senior missionaries I get to know and work with. When we gather together quarterly, it's like a reunion of sorts and a chance to put names with faces since most of my work is over the phone

First day was in beautiful Dusseldorf.

President Stoddard wanted  my 30 min. Power Point presentation to be on the two most prevalent problems we've had in the last three months, upper and lower respiratory infections and orthopedic injuries. We had fun with it using interactive review and testing. Such a great group.

These bright pamphlets go into their journals or scriptures as a ready reference on how to prevent and treat these two problems. It also has the "My Plate" healthy eating guide, various over the counter German medications, and  a list of the "Essential Components of Staying Physically and Mentally Healthy".

Repeat, repeat, repeat........that's what I do.....with the ever revolving missionary force here. It's encouraging to see many of them catching on better when it comes to taking care of themselves

The Dusseldorf Church House has two long hallways filled with  beautiful pictures of reverent hands.

After the meeting we took a little while to enjoy a few picturesque locations near the river front. It was truly one of the first sunny days of the season and the townspeople were out in droves to soak it up even though it was still very chilly.

There were hundreds of winter-weary folks bundled up and sipping their beverages along the river's edge. I have to confess that we came within 10 minutes of having our car towed for illegal parking. Whoops! The policeman had already called the tow truck and we had to pay him a slight fee when he arrived. If he would have towed us, it would have cost us a few hundred Euros! That would be in addition to the ticket! Parking is truly our nemesis in this country.

Our second day was in Offenbach, not too far from Frankfurt.

I got outside just as the missionaries were breaking up after their picture.

Here we are on day three in Nuremberg and it's sunny again

Our wonderful President and Sister Stoddard who have stewardship over 260 missionaries, a huge responsibility. It amazes me how well he knows even personal details about each one of them and their lives. 

This is an inspiring senior missionary couple, the Hegewalds. They're both originally from Germany but became refugees to America many years ago. They married in a refugee camp after fleeing from Germany as members of the church right before the wall went up between East and West. They were poor as church mice but through new acquaintances of some very kind and generous members, they were given passage to New York City where they worked hard for money to buy their way eventually to Salt Lake City. Their home is still there. They've raised an wonderful family who are all faithful in the church. Elder Hegewald started out at Kennecott Copper Co. as a "pencil pusher" and worked himself up to a well paying position from which he retired. Sister Hegewald started at Primary Children's Hospital at the bottom of the totem pole. She eventually retired as a Medical Technologist in the lab. She's had cancer twice, the second time being told she would not recover, Miraculously her "inoperable" brain tumor was cured by chemotherapy. That was right before this mission, their fourth one. They are both in their mid eighties!! They're so thrilled to be here and feel strongly that this mission is why her life was spared.

This is the celebration song for all last quarter birthdays, including Elder Castleton's!

Nuremberg's a beautiful and very historical German City. Again, we took a little time to explore the city sqaure and enjoy the sights and smells of an open market there.

Heading home after a wonderful three days