How quickly 2 months goes. It seems like we were just waiting for the BYU students to arrive and now they almost gone. We worried about the extra work they would create, and how they would fit in with our YSA's. They were great. They jumped in and helped when ever they could, were friendly, taught FHE lessons, came to activities, sponsored firesides, and cooked dinner.
The BYU students put on 3 firesides. Our YSA's were invited to attend and those that did got a treat. We first heard from Sis Brewer (BYU instructor). She shared her testimony and story about adopting 3 minority little girls after having 6 children of her own. The little girls are adorable, we loved having them in our ward.
The second fireside featured our own Bishop Bartsch as the speaker. We met on the grass at the park across from the Maur Museum. He and his wife talked about growing up in the church behind the iron curtain. Sitting on the grass with a piece of the wall behind us as he spoke about life in East Germany, you could close your eyes and picture the buildings, and places he spoke about. The spirit was strong as he bore testimony to the truthfulness of the gospel and about the faith of the saints caught behind the wall.
The third fireside was taught by our former Stake President, President Reiner. He talked about what you needed to have in order to go forward in life, that we needed to be understanding of others and try to see things from their eyes. He specifically talked about his mom; how she was a young mother trying to keep her children safe during and after the big war. When ever there was a thunder storm, President Reiner as a 6 year old boy would run out side and dance in the rain. His mother, terrified, would call him in, then turn out all the lights, close all the curtains, and locked the doors, and demand that they stay very quiet. He didn't understand until he was much older that the noise and lightning flashes brought back the horrors of war. She was hearing bombs explode and seeing fire in the sky, not hearing thunder and seeing lightning strikes and felt helpless. She was trying to protect her family in a uncontrollable situation. It made me think back on my life and acknowledge things I wish I could have done different.
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