President and Sister Hammon in the Germany Frankfurt Mission

  March 2021 I realize that it has been a long time since I gave an update on the Frankfurt mission.    Many are asking about the Covid situation in Germany.    I will give you an update.   Germany went into lockdown 3 months ago, just before Christmas.  Everything closed down and only grocery stores and gas stations were open.  You were not supposed to go into work unless it was essential.  You were not supposed to travel more than 15 km unless it was business-related and considered urgent and necessary.  Restaurants, bars, most hotels, museums, tourist sites, etc., were all closed.  When we first arrived in September, we went to the Frankfurt downtown shopping district.  It is as wide as state street in Salt Lake City, but it is for pedestrians only and goes on for many blocks.  It is an enormous area.  In September, it was packed with thousands of individuals.  We went back a few weeks ago in early March, and it was empty.  Every store was closed, and you might see 10 – 20 individua

  I created this for the  mission newsletter and thought you might find it interesting.  Unfortunately the vaccine rollout here continues to be very slow.  Germany’s case numbers are on the rise again and health experts are predicting a third wave.  But our mission and the missionaries will make the best of it, just as they have done this past year.   They have found creative ways to share the message of the restored gospel with others. Nothing will stop this work from rolling forward.   March 2020-March 2021 – Corona Virus Timeline for the Germany Frankfurt Mission One year ago Germany and the Western world were turned upside down by the COVID-19 Pandemic.    March 18 marks the one-year anniversary of the date missionaries of the Germany Frankfurt Mission were asked to go into quarantine. Here is a summary of the many events that occurred in the mission during this past year.   March 13 - Missionaries scheduled to return home April 9 were sent home early.   March 15 - Fifteen senior c

 It is hard to believe it has been 6 months since we arrived in Germany on August 27.  So much has happened. Of course the biggest blessing and challenge was receiving over 90 missionaries from the United States in two short months.  They arrived on different flights on different days and were placed in housing for quarantine all over the mission.  Fortunately they are now all in their mission companionships.  Many are in threesomes due to the lack of enough experienced missionaries to be training, but during the next transfer in mid March they will go into regular twosomes which means we can reopen many cities in the mission that were closed when the numbers of missionaries went down last year. Most of our missionaries are thriving.  These arriving missionaries brought new enthusiasm that has spread throughout the mission.  Many of them are fearless in approaching people on the street. Even though they have difficulty communicating in German, they give it their best which is all that

  January 25, 2021 Update   I wanted to share with my family and close friends a few things about our missionaries that have inspired me.  As I have mentioned, we have received 81 missionaries in Germany in just the past 5 weeks.  We were supposed to receive 91 and I wanted to tell you about the other 10.   24 missionaries arrived in England on December 16 th , some directly from the online MTC at home experience and some who had been reassigned to other missions in the US.  Of the 10 missionaries, 8 are sisters and 5 of them were already serving in the US.  Most of them have been serving for 6 months now and therefore only have 12 months left to serve.  One of the 2 elders has also been serving in the US.   Those missionaries serving in the US had finally become comfortable with being a missionary in their reassigned missions in the US.  They were then received notification that they would be leaving for England in just a few days.  They also knew that 67 missionaries have preceded th

Christmas in the Germany Frankfurt Mission Christmas book compiled by Carolyn Letters and photos from family and friends. Background showing multiple screen shots from our zone conferences. Our 89 New Missionaries! On December 31 we traveled to Spangdahlem Air Force Base for a baptismal interview. While there an F-16 pilot and his daughter gave us a tour. On the way home from Spangdahlem we stopped at the picturesque village of Bernkastel-Kues. This building has pictures of all the Disney princesses painted in the windows. Worms Cathedral where Martin Luther was excommunicated. Martin Luther Monument On Sunday January 3 we visited the Worms Branch for church.  Worms is an historic location.  It was here in 1521 that Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Catholic Church. Martin Luther "In 1521, the pope excommunicated him, and he was called to appear before the emperor at the Diet of Worms to defend his beliefs. Refusing to recant or rescind his positions, Luther was declared a

Thursday, January 7, 2021 I know it has been awhile since I sent an update.  It has been a crazy time filled with everything missions are made of including interviews, transfers, Mission Leadership Council, Zone Conferences, missionaries who are struggling, etc.  One week we drove 1,000 km in 5 days to interview all the missionaries and the following week we also drove another 1,000 km (621 miles).  We have put over 10,000 miles on our car in 4 months.  And that is miles and not kilometers.  One week we had 6 Zone Conferences in 6 days.  At these zone conferences, we had a portion of them in the evening and invited the youth in the stakes to attend.  That was a special time.  I have received numerous messages from youth who were touched by the missionary spirit at these meetings.  Two of the younger brothers of missionaries serving in our mission who are from Germany or Switzerland also participated.  One of the youth invited a friend and she has asked to meet with the missionaries.