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! 

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