Soccer Mania 2012

It is time for the 2012 Euro cup.  Everyone in Euorpe is watching!  The German people are especially behind their team.  It is one of the favored teams to win.  Our assignment as the Missionary couple to the young adults was to show the soccer games on the big projection screen at the institute.  The young missionaries were so jealous.  They are not allowed to watch TV and could not watch the games.  A couple of them asked for permission but were denied.  Anyway, we would have 20 or ao people show up to watch the game.  Last week, Germany played on Sunday evening.  Church and firesides were over.  Some of the kids asked if we would show the game.  We had to tell them no.   Disappointment reined.  Many scrambled to find someplace to go and watch the game.  In the park between the Brandenburg Gate and the Siegessaule Statue in Tiergarten Park there were over 500,000 people watching the soccer on big screens.  There was standing room only unless you got a grandstand seat to sit on.  There would have been more people but they closed it off.  Last night, Friday, was the same.  The German's played Greece in the quarter finals and won 4-2.  They are the only undefeated team left in the tournament.  The Semil Finals will be next Thursday.  Again the crowds will gather, and soccer mania will rein.  We will show the game at institute.  It really is too bad that the final game is on Sunday.  It would be fun to watch the game with the kids.  They get so into the game.  The cheers and groans are loud and long.  Go Deutschland!

Good Bye BYU...

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.

Zeus Dance

This week our YSA's put on another dance. The theme was Zeus, or Greek Gods.  Many of the kids came dressed in togas or as Greek mystical creatures.  The kids danced, played games, ate and hung out for 5 hours.  We had about 70 YSA's attend.  The kids from BYU also came.  I heard some of them say that they they wished they coud dance like the German kids.  The German kids do know how to dance.  They actually dance as couples instead of standing 2 feet apart and not touching.  When the dance was over at the stroke of midnight, 25 kids stayed and helped clean up.  We were done in 30 minutes and home by 1245am.  A fun time was had by all.  Pictures are from the dance.

May the spirit be with You...

Last Sunday night we attended a fireside with the other missionaries in Lankwitz.  It was a wonderful fireside, but the real story happened on the way home.  A bunch of us missionaries headed home on the
S-Bahn at 2130.  About half way home, 5 drunk young men got on the train and sat near us.  We were down to 4 Sisters and 6 Elders by then, several of the Elders having exited the train.  Of course, the skinniest, punkiest of the drunks began yelling at us.  Why is it that the little guys always get tough when they are covered by bigger friends.  One of the Elders started talking to the skinny punk.  I don't know what was said because it was in normal speed German, which is too fast for me to understand.  The skinny punk yelled some more and the cop in me came out and I started to get involved even though I don't speak normal speed German.

But then, my new hero stepped in and saved the day.  She prevented a bad situation from getting worse.  Sis Svoboda is from Switzerland.  She is a tremendous missionary.  She got up and stepped into the group of 5 young punky men and calmly handed each on a Mormon information card we call pass along cards.  She saved the little guy for last.  She handed him a card and then stood and stared at him for what seemed like an hour.  she asked if he had any questions about our church.  He quieted down, not knowing what to do as this confident Missionary calmly and peacefully explained the gospel to him.  Then she walked back to her seat and sat down.  I was as proud as proud could be.  You Rock Sister!  There were no more problems and a few stops later we got off the train without any more incidents.  President, you will be happy to know I didn't hit anyone but I sure wanted to.  Instead a fine Sister taught me lesson about faith and the spirit.

Dan in Berlin

360* Berlin

Today we went to the Berliner Fernsehturm.  It is one of the highest points in which to see Berlin.  In only 40 seconds, the lift brings you the panorama level at a height of 203m.  You can enjoy this fantastic lookout point which, on a clear day, offers a view of up to 80 km in all directions. 

In 1964, after a long series of discussions on the most appropriate location for a high powered transmitter for the GDR, Walter Ulbricht decided in favor of erecting the television tower at Alexanderplatz.  The result was a highly conspicuous building that could be seen from West Berlin, and was intended to represent the socialist part of Germany.  It opened in 1969 and was overhauled in 1995-96.  General overhaul of the tower, including renewal of the building technology, air conditioning, and fire prevention equipment.  Since then, more then a million visitors a year have enjoyed a truly breathtaking view of the city. 

In the pictures, you can see how flat Berlin is.  Also, the large green area in one of the pictures is Tiergarten Park.  We live across the street from the park.  It is nice to have it so close. 

A Boat ride down the Havel River

Saturday, we went on a boat tour down the Havel River with our friends Elder and Sister Frank.  They are from Utah.  They have been assigned to Tiergarten for a month to assist us.  They will be transferred this next week to their permanent place.  We will miss them. 

We started out by taking a train to Zalendorf to meet up with the Franks.  We then went on to Wannsee and the start of our boat tour.  The weather was warm and sunny, a perfect day for sitting on the boat and looking at the scenery.  The Glenike Bridge you see in one of the pictures is where the US and Russia exchanged spy prisoners during the Cold War.  We took the boat to Potsdam. and there we disembarked.  We walked around the Sanssouci Park for an hour and then went into town to have a snack.  The park was lovely, but a lot more crowded then when we were there before.  There was a little street fair going on in the town.  We walked up and down looking at things and just enjoying being outside.  We stopped at a outdoor ice cream store and ordered fancy ice cream treats.  Dan and I shared a "Pizza Ice".  Sis Frank had a "Hamburger Plate Ice" and Brother Frank had a "Strawberry Kuchen".  We all enjoyed our treat and then walked some more.  When it was time to get back to the boat, we grabbed a taxi and headed back to the boat dock.  We got there in time, but still almost got left behind because we weren't paying attention and didn't get on the boat.  Fortunately, we saw it leaving and ran down the dock.  The boat captain was kind enough to re-dock and let us on.  It was a lovely ride back to Wannsee.  We then went to Zalendorf for dinner at a place called The Block House.  It specialized in steaks.  We  then headed back to our apartment.  It was a lovely day.

Tiergarten Park

Tiergarten Park is a large park across the street from us.  It used to be an animal reserve for hunting for the elite of Germany.  Now it is a large park area for everyone to enjoy.  When we first got to Germany, it was barren and dead looking.  The trees were all in hibernation, as well as the grass, and shrubbery.  It really wasn't very pretty.  Now it is absolutely beautiful.  The trees are so thick that you get very little sunshine on the walking paths.  The shrubs are so big that they hang over the paths.  the flowers are beautiful.  As you can see, the rhododendrons are in full bloom.  We love to walk along the canal, or through the park enjoying the peaceful surroundings.  You can hear birds chirping and see them flying about enjoying the spring.  On a warm afternoon, there will be many people lying on the grass reading or napping, or sunbathing.  You have to be careful where you look because nude sunbathing is legal here in Germany.  As people get off work, more and more are walking through the park on their way home unwinding from their day.