Charlottenburg Schloss

Schloss Charlottenburg is one of finest examples of baroque architecture in Germany. It was built by Sophie Charlotte.  She was a beautiful, intelligent women who loved the arts and philosophy.  She was also the wife of Friedrich III, elector of Brandenburg, who on January 18, 1701, crowned himself, Friedrich I, "King in Prussia".  He nearly bankrupted the state with his extravagant ways.  The residence was begun as a summer palace but got out of hand.  Sophie Charlotte never saw the palace completely furnished, she died at age 37.  The large formal garden look much as they did in the 18th century.  A grove of cypress trees leads to a lake with swans and other water fowl.  Much of the 2nd story of the castle was destroyed during WWII.  It has been rebuilt, but isn't decorated quite the same.  Much of the furnishings were also destroyed, so replicas of the era are used.  However, there is quite a lot of Sophie's porcelain collection still on display.  Some of the dishes, tea sets, and pottery are exquisite.  Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed inside the Schloss.  We went on a self guided radio tour of the Schloss.  It was very interesting.  The pictures are from the gardens. 

We've been busy....

Hi friends,
We have been busy the past couple of weeks.  I will try to fill you in.  On Saturday July 14th, we went to Eisenhuttenstadt to do a service project.  we were assigned to pull weeds in a field of small plants.   The field was full of plants and weeds, but we were to pull the weeds in the immediate area of each small plant.  We worked with the other missionaries, about 20  of us, for 3 1/2 hours pulling weeds.  we then had to walk about 1 km back to the train station.  The rain held off until the last 1/2 km and then it poured!   There was thunder, lightning, and hail.  We got soaked.  Twenty minutes later, the sun was shinning and it was beautiful again.  that is how it is in Northern Germany. 

Our next service project involved a family in our ward.  the Mathias family was moving to another apartment.  They had to paint the new apartment, and the old apartment.  went spent 4 days helping them paint and clean the new apartment.  On Saturday, July 21st we helped them move.  It was hard work but a lot of fun.  We had about 25 people show up to help.  You see, we needed a lot of people.  They moved from the 1st floor (2 flights of stairs down) to next door on the 4th floor (90 steps up, no elevator).  We formed a human chain, each person carrying their box of stuff to the next landing and handing it off to be carried up by someone else to the next hand off.  The Mathias family had about 350 12x12x3 inch foil packs  of wheat food storage.  We formed our human chain and began throwing each pack to the next person; down the stairs, out the door, down the sidewalk, in the door and up the 8 flights of stairs.  It was a strange sight.  People outside walking by stopped to stare.  We were having a lot of fun throwing the wheat around.  With so much help, we moved about 100 boxes of stuff and all the furniture by 1pm.  We were tired, but happy.  The next week, we again went to their old apartment to prep and clean so it could be painted.  In Germany, you have to leave the old apartment the way it was when you moved in, although the new apartment was not left that way.  It was dirty and needed to be painted.  We spent a total of 7 days helping the Mathias family move.  It was fun to get to know them better. 

We went to the Resistance Museum on Monday afternoon with the Elders and Sisters.  Tom Cruise starred in a movie based of the story of the resistance.  It was called Valkyrie.  It is interesting to note that a lot of the resistance wasn't against what was being done to the Jewish people, but the German's could see they were loosing the war and wanted to compromise with the opposition.  It occurred in late 1944-1945 before the war ended.  Many of those rounded up in the resistance were executed by firing squad or hung with piano wire in March of 1945, shortly before the war ended.

Summer in Berlin!?!

Hi everyone,
  It is Summer in Berlin!  The temperatures are a little warmer,(mid 70's), the humidity is high, (80-90%) and the sun comes out occasionally.  We had our best day a week ago when it was sunny all day.  We were stoked!  Most days start off with a little sun early, about 6:00am.  The clouds come in by mid morning most days, getting  cloudier and black.  By 5 pm  it starts to rain and then the thunder and lightning start.  A couple of days, the thunder and lightning has lasted30-45 minutes.  After the storm cell passes through, the skies clear to blue and the sun shines until 9 pm when the sun sets.  It gets dark about 10:30 pm.  We have had this weather pattern with slight variations in time, for the past 2 weeks.   Tonight, Dan and I went for a walk.  We had to wait for the thunder storm to pass.  We went out about 5:30 pm.  It was cloudy, gray, and misting.  By the time we got back to our apartment, at 6:30 pm, the sun was out, the jackets were off, and I was wishing for my sunglasses.

The pictures are of the hydrangeas in our courtyard.  They grow in abundance here.  If you go back and look at pictures from January of February, you can see quite a difference in the way the courtyard looks.

Things here have quieted down for the summer.  The BYU kids are gone, and many of our YSA's are on holiday.  We have barbecued twice for institute.  It has rained on us both times.  Hopefully the next time it won't rain.  I am not saying when that is because I don't want the rains Gods to know!