Wow!  What a wonderful whirlwind we have been on!  Our week in the MTC was incredibly spiritually uplifting.  Being with 25 senior missionary couples and 1600 young missionaries was inspiring.  The energy filled our hearts and lifted our spirits.  We took the opportunity at meal times to sit with a different group of young missionaries and share where we were all from and where we were all going.  They are an amazing group of young people, each with a story as to why they are on a mission.  The following week we spent two days in Salt Lake City at Church Headquarters learning about the ecclesiastical and temporal organization of The Church.  There is so much more than we ever could have imagined.  

We had a smooth flight to Frankfurt.  Because we landed mid-day Friday, we were able to spend the weekend getting acclimated.   We have a small apartment that is a 10 minute walk from the Europe Central Area Office.  We have a car and learning to drive on German streets in the city and on the autobahn has been an adventure.  You can parallel park on both sides of the street and on the sidewalk in either direction.  Deborah has not had the courage to parallel park yet.  But she has to learn because that is basically the only type of parking there is.  

Even though Germany is a modern country, so many things are different and require us to learn.  Don’t even ask us about rules in Germany for recycling!  Germany has rules for everything and people follow them.  For example, pedestrians wait for the walk sign to cross the street, no jay walking.  There are bicycles and bike paths everywhere and cyclists have the right of way over cars and pedestrians.  So if you are not careful, they will run you over.  It makes it very tricky to make a right turn in the car.  If you have an accident with a cyclist, the pedestrian or the driver is always at fault.  One of us has to navigate while the other is driving so the navigator can read the signs and watch for cyclists.  Thank goodness for GPS! 

We work on the second floor of the area office which is occupied by the Office of General Counsel.  There are seven attorneys, five of which are senior missionaries.  The spouses have a variety of assignments.  Deborah gave herself the first assignment of shredding papers.  She has been given several opportunities to consider. One of them would be visa coordination and tracking for missionaries in the Adriatic North Mission (Croatia, Serbia, Boznia-Hersogovevnia, North Macedonia) Currently, the Mission President is not able to track them and they do not always have the proper visa to move among the countries throughout the mission boundaries, which they are doing anyway.  If Deborah accepts this assignment, we will both travel to Croatia for two days to meet with the Mission President and set up a tracking system.

We just returned from a weekend in Stockholm Sweden.  Geoff’s first assignment was to help coordinate the redundancy of employees at the Stockholm Temple which is going to close next March for three years to be renovated.  We were able to attend church at the meetinghouse adjacent to the Temple.  Afterwards we walked the Temple grounds, which are in a beautiful wooded setting.  It reminded us of the Portland Temple.  When they were building the Stockholm Temple, they found remains of a Viking burial ground.  Just outisde the Temple fence but still on the grounds, there is a pile of round and square boulders which are the headstones for those buried there.

Last Tuesday, we had the opportunity to have a welcome interview with Elder Ruben Alliaud of the Seventy who is the second counselor in the Europe Central Area Presidency.  It was delightful.  He is a very warm and engaging person.  

Elder Alliaud served on the missionary committee for two years at church headquarters.  He described the senior missionary call process and why it is different from the young missionary process.  He said senior missionaries have served all their lives through callings, community, work and families.  They have developed skills and wisdom and can be trusted to do the Lord’s work.  He told us we are exactly where the Lord needs us to be. He promised us as we serve, that we will come to know why we were called to this mission.  Elder Alliaud said miracles will happen to us and our family.  Above all, we represent the Lord Jesus Christ.  

(From Deborah) Elder Alliaud’s words and spirit were very comforting to me.  I am struggling to connect, to feel grounded, to know my role and to understand how things work.  I feel like I am standing on a ball trying to stay balanced upright.  Most of the time, I feel like I am falling and part of me wants to give up.  This morning I woke up with a desire to try again.  Still there are so many things that are enjoyable and I know that I will adjust, more joy will come.  I take strength from the words of Isaiah this week.  (Isa. 40:11) “He shall feed ‘me’ like a shepherd, he shall gather ‘me’ with his arm, and carry ‘me’ in his bosom, and shall gently lead ‘me’.  He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.”

Wow!  What a wonderful whirlwind we have been on!  Our week in the MTC was incredibly spiritually uplifting.  Being with 25 senior missionary couples and 1600 young missionaries was inspiring.  The energy filled our hearts and lifted our spirits.  We took the opportunity at meal times to sit with a different group of young missionaries and share where we were all from and where we were all going.  They are an amazing group of young people, each with a story as to why they are on a mission.  The following week we spent two days in Salt Lake City at Church Headquarters learning about the ecclesiastical and temporal organization of The Church.  There is so much more than we ever could have imagined.  

We had a smooth flight to Frankfurt.  Because we landed mid-day Friday, we were able to spend the weekend getting acclimated.   We have a small apartment that is a 10 minute walk from the Europe Central Area Office.  We have a car and learning to drive on German streets in the city and on the autobahn has been an adventure.  You can parallel park on both sides of the street and on the sidewalk in either direction.  Deborah has not had the courage to parallel park yet.  But she has to learn because that is basically the only type of parking there is.  

Even though Germany is a modern country, so many things are different and require us to learn.  Don’t even ask us about rules in Germany for recycling!  Germany has rules for everything and people follow them.  For example, pedestrians wait for the walk sign to cross the street, no jay walking.  There are bicycles and bike paths everywhere and cyclists have the right of way over cars and pedestrians.  So if you are not careful, they will run you over.  It makes it very tricky to make a right turn in the car.  If you have an accident with a cyclist, the pedestrian or the driver is always at fault.  One of us has to navigate while the other is driving so the navigator can read the signs and watch for cyclists.  Thank goodness for GPS! 

We work on the second floor of the area office which is occupied by the Office of General Counsel.  There are seven attorneys, five of which are senior missionaries.  The spouses have a variety of assignments.  Deborah gave herself the first assignment of shredding papers.  She has been given several opportunities to consider. One of them would be visa coordination and tracking for missionaries in the Adriatic North Mission (Croatia, Serbia, Boznia-Hersogovevnia, North Macedonia) Currently, the Mission President is not able to track them and they do not always have the proper visa to move among the countries throughout the mission boundaries, which they are doing anyway.  If Deborah accepts this assignment, we will both travel to Croatia for two days to meet with the Mission President and set up a tracking system.

We just returned from a weekend in Stockholm Sweden.  Geoff’s first assignment was to help coordinate the redundancy of employees at the Stockholm Temple which is going to close next March for three years to be renovated.  We were able to attend church at the meetinghouse adjacent to the Temple.  Afterwards we walked the Temple grounds, which are in a beautiful wooded setting.  It reminded us of the Portland Temple.  When they were building the Stockholm Temple, they found remains of a Viking burial ground.  Just outisde the Temple fence but still on the grounds, there is a pile of round and square boulders which are the headstones for those buried there.

Last Tuesday, we had the opportunity to have a welcome interview with Elder Ruben Alliaud of the Seventy who is the second counselor in the Europe Central Area Presidency.  It was delightful.  He is a very warm and engaging person.  

Elder Alliaud served on the missionary committee for two years at church headquarters.  He described the senior missionary call process and why it is different from the young missionary process.  He said senior missionaries have served all their lives through callings, community, work and families.  They have developed skills and wisdom and can be trusted to do the Lord’s work.  He told us we are exactly where the Lord needs us to be. He promised us as we serve, that we will come to know why we were called to this mission.  Elder Alliaud said miracles will happen to us and our family.  Above all, we represent the Lord Jesus Christ.  

(From Deborah) Elder Alliaud’s words and spirit were very comforting to me.  I am struggling to connect, to feel grounded, to know my role and to understand how things work.  I feel like I am standing on a ball trying to stay balanced upright.  Most of the time, I feel like I am falling and part of me wants to give up.  This morning I woke up with a desire to try again.  Still there are so many things that are enjoyable and I know that I will adjust, more joy will come.  I take strength from the words of Isaiah this week.  (Isa. 40:11) “He shall feed ‘me’ like a shepherd, he shall gather ‘me’ with his arm, and carry ‘me’ in his bosom, and shall gently lead ‘me’.  He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.”

PLEASE BE PATIENT AS WE TRY TO FIGURE OUT FORMATTING AND HOW TO USE THIS BLOG WITH WORDPRESS. IT IS VERY CRUDE FOR NOW.

At the SLC Marriott on the way to the airport headed for Frankfurt