We spent 6 days in Frankfurt and we had an amazing experience. We have never spent a whole week at the temple before. The spirit of the temple is strong and we all felt strengthened and lifted.
Germany is so beautiful. I loved it so much. I'm so thrilled I got to see another country in Europe beside Romania. In planning our trip we thought about driving, taking the train which most people do and flying. Since the train ride was over 30 hours long one way and wasn't much cheaper than flying we decided to fly. It was a very good decision--besides being so fast the rains came and it rained and rained and flooded the Danube river and the trains could not get through. We would never have made it if we were on the train. Several people coming to the temple from Austria had to cancel their trip because of the floods.
Our experience was extraordinary !! He is faithful and loves the church and has been a member for 3 years. The joy was visible on his countenance, the way he smiled, and looked and stood. He was so grateful for this experience.
It was a thrill to spend all week in the temple with him. I've never done this before. Truly one of the highlights of our mission. I could tell it was a little difficult for him to speak English for a whole week and not be able to speak his own language but he did fantastic.
I have come up with the top 10 list for you. Hope you like it.
10. Cooking all our own breakfast, lunch and everyday in the kitchen at temple housing.(Thankfully we went out for dinner in the evening). It was challenging to buy food that you would want to eat all week and then prepare it. My German is not good at all.
9. Going 200 km./hour in the Taxi from Frankfurt to the airport. When I asked him about the speed he said "there is no speed limit, it is the Freedom of Germany" Dan was in his glory, he loved every minute of it. Especially seeing all the nice German cars.
8. Eating really good Chinese food. Never did get a Bratwurst.
7. No Dogs!! and hardly anyone smokes there. Meeting other wonderful people at the temple from around Europe. The beauty of Germany. So very pretty.
6. Doing 4 Endowment Sessions in one day. Never done that before. I was exhausted but it was a good exhausted.
5. Doing Initiatory work- did 10 names. Beautiful Spirit !!
4. Dan spent two hours with the Temple President when our friend went through on the first day. Pres. Berkhahn was a mission President in Calgary in 1994-1997. It's a small world. He speaks excellent English, he is German.
3. We did sealings and it was so special. We asked if we could do all the sealings in English, they said Yes. But they were all in German, oh well, we read the prayers in English from a card they gave us. It was so nice.
2. Baptisms-Dan performed 150 baptisms alone. I did 30 and our friend did 30 and there were others helping.
1. The great joy of being in the temple with this great man. The joy, love and amazement we all felt.
The week flew by and it was time to go home. Sadly we packed our bags. Our weather was sunny and beautiful the whole week while most of the country was suffering with rains and flooding. We were so blessed.
We waited as our taxi came for the ride of our lives. Little did we know how fast you can actually get to an airport.
Then we hopped on the plane for a sweet ride home.
We got our practice flying and we are all set for July 5th, we remembered how!!
Can't wait til we see you all,
Love,
Heningers
I was so excited to read this post! My family is German. I am only the second generation from my German Grandfather who was born here. I don't speak a word of German, though..... sadly. I truly hope to go and see Germany someday. {I have never been on a plane, train or ship.} I especially would love to see the Frankfurt temple! My family has a connection to that temple. Remind me to tell you the story when you return.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your experiences there in Germany! Loved this!