Latter-day Saints in Germany

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We attended a sacrament meeting in Langen, a ward south of Frankfurt today.  It is a beautiful chapel but the meeting space is small so they have the ward divided into three groups which take turns meeting one week at a time.  We each shared a few things in German during their testimony meeting.  Dan’s German is getting better and better.  My understanding is improving and I am learning to say quite a few things in German.  The members have given us lots of positive feedback.  I think they sincerely appreciate our efforts to speak their language.  

I expected the Germans to be somewhat reserved, but once you ask them a few things and get them talking about themselves, they open right up.  I know how to ask a few key questions in German.  Once they know I am interested they start talking German a mile a minute.  Quite often I have no idea what they are saying but I just smile, nod my head a lot, and say a few words from my limited vocabulary that suggest I understand everything they are saying.  Dan makes a point to go up to all the children and youth, give them an elbow bump, and ask them their names.  He makes them feel so important.  People tend to linger 20-30 minutes after the meeting to visit with one another.  We stay to the very end and introduce ourselves to everyone.  The people are so happy to meet us.



Yesterday we had the opportunity to attend a session at the Frankfurt temple located in Friedrichsdorf, 30 minutes north of Frankfurt.  One of our missionaries from Switzerland had not been to the temple before he left for his mission, so his parents drove here to be with him.  We attended along with several of our missionaries.  The grounds and temple are beautiful.  Afterwards we took the missionaries to an outdoor pizza restaurant and had fun visiting with them.



This afternoon we returned to Friedrichsdorf to attend the baptism of an 88 year old German man.  He has been friends with several members of the church for years, and they invited him to learn more.  After meeting with the missionaries he finally decided he wanted to be baptized.  It was a beautiful service.  He was very emotional and seemed deeply touched during his baptism and confirmation.  And following the baptismal service we once again enjoyed visiting with all the members of the church who came to support this man at his baptism.

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