Maybe you will realize that my use of the word Adventure indicates experiencing a problem. I like to try to keep a good attitude and look on problems as only another experience to learn from. A addendum to the last problem. We learned that since our key is a 'general' key and opens the outside doors to the building, if we had lost it all of the keys in the whole building would have needed replacement and could have cost over $2000. We were so blessed!
Yesterday when we tried to get some more money our card would not work at the ATM. We tried several different banks with the same result. Our debit card from our home credit union is our only access to money since we have not opened an account here. We wondered is there might be some problem at home since we knew we had money in the account because we check it online everyday. Today our card still did not work so we sent an email to our credit union at about 3 our time (which was 6 a.m. in Idaho). We heard back from Melissa Cook at KCCU about 7 p..m. (10 at home) which means as soon as she got to work she addressed our problem and it sounds like this took a while. As soon as we heard we took another walk in the snow and the dark into town to see if perhaps we could find an accessible ATM. Luckily the banks have their machines in the lobby so people can access them outside of banking hours and it worked! She solved our dilemma. Thank you KCCU and Melissa. I love being from a small town where people care.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Key adventures
Every single time we leave the apartment one of us asks the other, "Do you have the key?". This is because European doors LOCK and do not open without a key. I guess that is a good thing for a heavily populated area. It certainly isn't like Idaho where no one locks doors - at least we don't often. Here we always leave the key in the door when we are home so that it is visible.
Thursday, when we went shopping, Dave had the key. When we got home with all our packages he didn't. We checked all our pockets and bags and car and could not find it. Finally we had to go over the Merkels' home to get the extra key. Since 'key adventures' are a common thing here with missionaries the mission policy is to have a second key with someone in the ward. We took the extra key and returned home. I proceeded to prepare the meal for the institute students at Zwickau and Dave returned to the place we had been to check if they had found our key. As he was leaving the second store he felt something in his coat but not in the pocket. The key had fallen through a hole in his pocket and was in the lining. We felt prayers were answered and I fixed the hole. Now we have two keys in our possession to lose. We will leave one with the hausmeister (maintenance man) who has a secure storage place on site.
We finally have winter here. We drove to Zwickau in the snow and saw a truck overturned which closed the autobahn on the other side. We were glad the roadway was cleared for traffic coming home. Today it has been snowing all day so we finally have about 6 inches of soft powder. I am glad we don't have to go door to door.
Thursday, when we went shopping, Dave had the key. When we got home with all our packages he didn't. We checked all our pockets and bags and car and could not find it. Finally we had to go over the Merkels' home to get the extra key. Since 'key adventures' are a common thing here with missionaries the mission policy is to have a second key with someone in the ward. We took the extra key and returned home. I proceeded to prepare the meal for the institute students at Zwickau and Dave returned to the place we had been to check if they had found our key. As he was leaving the second store he felt something in his coat but not in the pocket. The key had fallen through a hole in his pocket and was in the lining. We felt prayers were answered and I fixed the hole. Now we have two keys in our possession to lose. We will leave one with the hausmeister (maintenance man) who has a secure storage place on site.
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| The outside of the door has no knob that turns, only a keyhole. |
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| We keep the key in the door and it is on a long strap so we can't lose it, yeah.... right! |
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| Looking at our car in the apartment lot. It is the middle one on the right. |
Sunday, February 17, 2013
A Polterabend
No, not a Poltergeist...a Polterabend. The two words might be related but I don't know the background. A Polterabend is a regional German tradition celebrating a marriage. Sort of like a bachelor party and a shower combined. Guests bring gifts and old dishes. The tradition is to break the dishes (pottery or ceramics) to bring luck. Broken glass brings bad luck. After seeing how much luck was wished for the couple, I can understand why Germany has so many porcelain factories. We have visited the Rosenthal outlet in Selb this time and last time in Germany we visited the Meissin factory. The gentleman in the light coat was the grandfather of the bride. He must have been cleaning house for months to find so many old dishes. Maybe he collected from the neighbors also.
Relatives and friends are invited but anyone who hears by word of mouth is also welcome. Many of the groom's school friends came and brought 'challenges'. The first was very cute. A little planter with flowers and the bride and groom were told to dig for gold. The pile of coins are 50 cent pieces so this would be perhaps about $30 dollars or so. You can see that some children were glad to participate.
The second challenge was more creative. They had hidden a 'treasure' inside a chunk of cement and the groom had to chisel it out. After he had worked for about 1/2 hour with a hammer and chisel they provided a jack hammer (which I am sure enamored the church with the neighbors).
The rest of the evening was more like what we do in America. They had a live band, made up of ward members with the bride's father as backup vocalist. There was dancing and eating and visiting.
Our best visit of the evening was with Gary Hoezel and his family. He was baptized shortly before we got to Chemnitz and was so enthusiastic. He worked with the missionaries and prepared to go on his mission while we were there. He and his wife, who is the bride's sister, now have two children. The church is growing in Germany and in our old ward in Chemnitz, but not so much through convert baptisms. The Institute Center we opened in Chemnitz is now closed but the ward has about 10 young couples and Sister Hammer told me they have 12 children in the nursery class. Brother Hammer was the bishop in Chemnitz when we first got there.
Relatives and friends are invited but anyone who hears by word of mouth is also welcome. Many of the groom's school friends came and brought 'challenges'. The first was very cute. A little planter with flowers and the bride and groom were told to dig for gold. The pile of coins are 50 cent pieces so this would be perhaps about $30 dollars or so. You can see that some children were glad to participate.
The second challenge was more creative. They had hidden a 'treasure' inside a chunk of cement and the groom had to chisel it out. After he had worked for about 1/2 hour with a hammer and chisel they provided a jack hammer (which I am sure enamored the church with the neighbors).
The rest of the evening was more like what we do in America. They had a live band, made up of ward members with the bride's father as backup vocalist. There was dancing and eating and visiting.
Our best visit of the evening was with Gary Hoezel and his family. He was baptized shortly before we got to Chemnitz and was so enthusiastic. He worked with the missionaries and prepared to go on his mission while we were there. He and his wife, who is the bride's sister, now have two children. The church is growing in Germany and in our old ward in Chemnitz, but not so much through convert baptisms. The Institute Center we opened in Chemnitz is now closed but the ward has about 10 young couples and Sister Hammer told me they have 12 children in the nursery class. Brother Hammer was the bishop in Chemnitz when we first got there.
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| Elder Montgomery, Gary Hoezel and Selina, Francheska and Finn, and Sister Montgomery |
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| As we were leaving we noted that someone?? had included beer bottle caps with the pottery shards. Bet that goes over big. I wonder what kind of luck that brings? |
Saturday, February 9, 2013
A week's work
We had the privilege of going to the Freiberg temple with some of the young people from Zwickau and their families. Even better, our friends, the Jentzsch's, from Chemnitz were also there. Two young women from our institute group were getting their endowments; one to get ready for her mission and the other to get married. They are lovely young women. Also, I was able to listen to the whole session in German and understand it. YEAH
I love the temple..no matter where you are the love is felt!
Friday we had meeting with two families. Sister Ernst's brother is always there for our meetings with her but usually leaves before the lesson. This time, in a very teasing fashion, he said he would be baptized in 6 months if Elder Montgomery would stay for two years. We wrote the date in our planners. Then we met with a former branch president who is no longer active. None of his family are members so he feels it is too hard to come. His wife is leaving for New Zealand for 5 weeks to visit family so maybe we can get him to come while she is gone. She is very pleasant and welcoming to us. We had a lovely visit.
Earlier in the week we got a note from the PTB (Powers that be) in Frankfurt asking about parking places in the area where we hope to get a permanent location for the branch in the downtown area so we went around taking pictures of parking places. Two of the big lots which are close are closed on Sunday but we think there should be several street places free on a Sunday morning. We will check it out in the morning before we got o church.
This reminds me of a joke. An American couldn't find her car and asked a German to help her find it. She showed him the note she had written telling the street where she had parked naming "Einbahnstrasse" which means One Way Street. Given that most of these downtown streets are very narrow, not having originally been made for cars, they are often now one way.
On our walks we pass many of the 'Hofer Wärschtlamo'. These are basically street hot dog sellers. They are only found in Hof and sell famous wursts from Hof. They have a specially shaped brass steaming pot to heat the wursts and they dress in a particular way. One fellow we chatted with had been on the same street location for 23 years. They take their calling very seriously and know they are famous.
Thursday we drove to Zwickau again to teach and to feed the YSA. I made a great big pot of potato soup because last week we had 14 there. This week there were 5! I sent massive amounts home with three YSA. Dave made cornbread to go with it and everyone loved that. We sent some of that home as well and then shared the recipe. Sister Müller, the bishop's mother, made a special treat called 'krapfen' which is made for Fasching which is next Tuesday. They reminded me of donut holes. I need to find more information on what fasching is. So far all I know is there are a lot of Halloween type costumes for sale in the stores. Tuesday is also transfer day so we will have Elder Stuve with us while Elder Hess travels for 10 hours on the train to the other side of Germany to a town called Leer (which in German means empty).
Friday we had meeting with two families. Sister Ernst's brother is always there for our meetings with her but usually leaves before the lesson. This time, in a very teasing fashion, he said he would be baptized in 6 months if Elder Montgomery would stay for two years. We wrote the date in our planners. Then we met with a former branch president who is no longer active. None of his family are members so he feels it is too hard to come. His wife is leaving for New Zealand for 5 weeks to visit family so maybe we can get him to come while she is gone. She is very pleasant and welcoming to us. We had a lovely visit.
Earlier in the week we got a note from the PTB (Powers that be) in Frankfurt asking about parking places in the area where we hope to get a permanent location for the branch in the downtown area so we went around taking pictures of parking places. Two of the big lots which are close are closed on Sunday but we think there should be several street places free on a Sunday morning. We will check it out in the morning before we got o church.
This reminds me of a joke. An American couldn't find her car and asked a German to help her find it. She showed him the note she had written telling the street where she had parked naming "Einbahnstrasse" which means One Way Street. Given that most of these downtown streets are very narrow, not having originally been made for cars, they are often now one way.
On our walks we pass many of the 'Hofer Wärschtlamo'. These are basically street hot dog sellers. They are only found in Hof and sell famous wursts from Hof. They have a specially shaped brass steaming pot to heat the wursts and they dress in a particular way. One fellow we chatted with had been on the same street location for 23 years. They take their calling very seriously and know they are famous.
Thursday we drove to Zwickau again to teach and to feed the YSA. I made a great big pot of potato soup because last week we had 14 there. This week there were 5! I sent massive amounts home with three YSA. Dave made cornbread to go with it and everyone loved that. We sent some of that home as well and then shared the recipe. Sister Müller, the bishop's mother, made a special treat called 'krapfen' which is made for Fasching which is next Tuesday. They reminded me of donut holes. I need to find more information on what fasching is. So far all I know is there are a lot of Halloween type costumes for sale in the stores. Tuesday is also transfer day so we will have Elder Stuve with us while Elder Hess travels for 10 hours on the train to the other side of Germany to a town called Leer (which in German means empty).
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Branch President
Today Dave was set apart as the Branch President in Hof. The Stake President, Thomas Hengst, was finally able to come and do the job. The former branch President and his family were very happy to have this take place. He has served for 6 1/2 years as branch President but has been in a leadership calling for over 15 years so he is happy to be able to sit with his family in church. He mentioned that in his testimony today.
So that you will have an idea of what the Sunday in Hof is like: We will have to get to the Hotel where the church rents rooms early in order to get the place ready. The missionaries walk there early also in order to help. They put the piano together and set out the song books and put up the song list and prepare the announcement board.
Only two weeks ago Brother Merkel rented space in the Hotel to store the keyboard and large box containing the sacrament things and the books. Before that he had to bring it home and back every week. He knew we would not have storage room in our little apartment to do that.
The members begin arriving about 9:50 and it is normal for all to go around shaking everyone's hands. Most have cars but several families walk to church. We usually have about 20 people there counting the missionaries. One week we had two extra families who drove in from Plauen because when they got to church, the police were there investigating a break in and church was canceled. We only meet for two hours not having Sunday School. We have Sacrament meeting first and then split into three groups: Primary - all three kids, YW and RS combined and Priesthood. Dave is teaching the one young deacon so he no longer must meet with the 'old' guys.
All of the members stayed for the setting apart ordinances and as far as I know know, no one refused to sustain Elder Montgomery. I was afraid to look.
Back row: Elder Hess, Mr. Forberig, Joseph Ernst, Elder Struve, Elder M, Br. Merkel, Br. Lange, Br. Hermann, Br. Grunbichler
Next Row: Sister M., Robert Hemmann, Rosa Merkel, Sophie Merkel, Gloria Merkel, Sis. Grunbichler, Clara Hemmann, Celina Grunbichler.
Sitting row: Sis. Forberig with Tia, Sis Ernst, Sis. Merkel, Sis. Lange, Caroline Jakobs
Front row: JonasForberig, Valentin Grunbichler, Vincent Grunbichler, Helene Hemmann, Sis. Hemmann.
So that you will have an idea of what the Sunday in Hof is like: We will have to get to the Hotel where the church rents rooms early in order to get the place ready. The missionaries walk there early also in order to help. They put the piano together and set out the song books and put up the song list and prepare the announcement board.
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| Elder Struve assembling the keyboard. |
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| Elder Hess unpacking the sacrament things and preparing for the ordinance. |
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| former President Merkel, New President Montgomery and Stake President Hengst. |
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| The former with the two new counselors, Br. Grunbichler and Br. Hermann. |
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| Here is the whole branch on Feb 7, 2013 |
Next Row: Sister M., Robert Hemmann, Rosa Merkel, Sophie Merkel, Gloria Merkel, Sis. Grunbichler, Clara Hemmann, Celina Grunbichler.
Sitting row: Sis. Forberig with Tia, Sis Ernst, Sis. Merkel, Sis. Lange, Caroline Jakobs
Front row: JonasForberig, Valentin Grunbichler, Vincent Grunbichler, Helene Hemmann, Sis. Hemmann.
Friday, February 1, 2013
A normal week
Most weeks so far consist of trying to contact inactives and visit with them, which usually isn't too effective. On Wednesdays we take the two Hof elders to Plauen and join the district conference. Last week the Zone leaders were also there. They are in Chemnitz in our old (big) apartment. After the meeting we all went into the city of Plauen to eat. The Elders chose to eat at Subway because it gives free refills. Dave and one elder who is going home shortly chose to have a "Durner" which is a Turkish fast food sandwich.
On Thursday evenings we drive to Zwickau and play with another group of young people. This week the Stake President was there to teach and also to have two interviews. Sabrina is going on a mission and Christina is getting married so they both needed temple interviews. After the lesson I serve a meal and then they go upstairs and play for about an hour before we drive home in the dark and the rain. Actually it is rather fun to be with them and they are both good groups of young people.
On Thursday evenings we drive to Zwickau and play with another group of young people. This week the Stake President was there to teach and also to have two interviews. Sabrina is going on a mission and Christina is getting married so they both needed temple interviews. After the lesson I serve a meal and then they go upstairs and play for about an hour before we drive home in the dark and the rain. Actually it is rather fun to be with them and they are both good groups of young people.
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| Plauen chapel |
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| Elders leaving the chapel to walk into town for lunch. |
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| Elder Reeves, our district leader. |
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| Eating at Subway |
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| Christina Mueller and Dirk Brokatsky will be married this month |
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| Sabrina Schulz is getting ready for her mission. |
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