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 individuals as you looked around. There is a famous plaza by City Hall called Der Römer. Our first time in the plaza you could barely move because of the crowds--I would estimate 1,000 individuals. We took our missionaries who were going home there to take a picture and we were the only individuals at Der Römer.
The Covid restrictions only allowed 1 individual to go into any home and therefore, our missionaries (a companionship of 2) could not visit the homes of members nor could they visit the homes of those whom they were teaching. They could teach virtually, or they could in many cases, teach in the church. My missionaries and I had not had a haircut for 3 months and we were all looking a little shaggy. On March 8th, they opened hair salons, and on the 15th, they opened some stores but that was by appointment only. Restaurants and bars are still closed. When we travel, we must have an official letter explaining that our travel is business- related and essential. The hotel might have 4 or 5 individuals staying there and most of the hotels are still closed. Staying in hotels allows me to interview in person which is better for the missionaries. Finding something to eat, however, is another story. Most restaurants are closed, and we often just go to the grocery store and buy some bread and lunch meat and go back to the hotel to eat. One hotel had removed the refrigerator, so we opened the window and set things outside to stay cold.
One night, we had just finished our meetings and we were so hungry. We were in Dortmund, which is a large city, so we knew something had to be open for take-out. We went to 3 different restaurants that we had looked up on Google maps and were supposed to be open, but they were all closed. We asked for a recommendation from someone on the street for something that was open, and we drove to a 4th restaurant they recommended. It had just closed 15 minutes earlier at 8pm. We were standing in front of the restaurant and I asked a man if he knew where we could get some food. He asked what kind and I told him that it didn’t matter, we would eat anything. He asked if Italian food was alright and I told him, yes. He asked what we wanted, and we asked what they had. He answered, “Italian food”. We told him Lasagna. He told us to walk about a block down a side street and stand in front of the hotel and someone would bring our food in 40 minutes. As we stood in front of a closed hotel in the dark, I wondered if we were crazy. Sure enough, in 40 minutes a car pulls up and he has our food. I asked him if he took a credit card and he shook his head, “no”. I asked him for a receipt, and he look at me as if I were crazy and said in German, “I don’t do receipts”. I paid him in cash and took the food. He got in his car and drove away. I looked at Debbie and said, “Well, I wonder if the church will believe this story when we ask for reimbursement?”
The rules regarding religious worshipping in church are more lax but also vague and end up being interpreted many different ways by members of our church. Our mission has 7 stakes and the stakes up north were only meeting virtually, while the stakes in and around Frankfurt were having in person meetings as well as a broadcast for those who chose to attend virtually. The southernmost stake has been very restrictive and one of the wards has not met in person for over a year. They do a virtual broadcast every other week. Other wards have met every Sunday in person during the same period except for a 4-week period when the government closed down all meetings.
We had virtual Zone Conferences and interviews in January, but we felt the missionaries needed in person meetings in February. This has been really difficult for them not to be able to meet and socialize with anyone. We were able to have Zone Conferences in groups of 30 but we had to register with the government and notify them of the location, time, and purpose of the meeting as well as who would be attending. Fortunately, they never turned us down.
I spoke with the Mission President of the Alpine Mission, and one week ago, they were having a farewell meeting with 10 sister missionaries who were going home. They were in the church in the cultural hall and he was interviewing one of the sisters when a police officer knocked on his window. Several police officers entered the building because neighbors had seen the missionaries through the windows standing together and talking and they were not “abstand halten” which means, “social distancing”. They called the police, and they came to check it out because it was not a Sunday and therefore, they did not feel it was a worship service. President Naatjes tried to explain that these sisters were from America who had been here for 18 months and this was the last time they would see each other. The police did not agree with his assessment and he thought they were going to be in trouble. He said that they only thing that saved them was that these sisters were all as sweet and cute as could be and they spoke excellent German and they charmed these young male police officers. They were all scolded and threatened but nothing else happened.
We were scheduled to have a Mission Leadership Council with around 28 individuals at a chapel by the temple in Friedrichsdorf on Wednesday, but apparently the city has complained to the church about such meetings, so we are going to have to try to find another place or hold the meeting virtually. Our missionaries are done with virtual meetings.
The Covid numbers seem to be rising and Italy has just gone into its 3rd lockdown and Germany is talking about doing the same. We hope it doesn’t because we have literally only been starting to open for the past 2 weeks.
Amazingly, despite all of this, our missionaries are still moving the work forward. We continue to find using Facebook and Instagram, members (virtually), and street contacting. We have been encouraging our missionaries to get back out and talk to people on the streets and buses and trains. This has been effective in helping us find more individuals to teach. Two weeks ago, our 152 missionaries spoke to 5,989 individuals in one week. This compares with around 900 just 2 months ago. We have doubled the number of new investigators we are finding per companionship since September, but our finding is still well below what it was before Covid.
Germany is still only vaccinating those who are over 70. They are well behind the US. The reasons for this are well described in the article that I will include. (Actually Debbie is sending it as a separate email.)
I will close with 2 stories about finding people to teach.
Two of our elders had just returned from an exchange with other missionaries. It was evening and they were at the church and had not had companionship study, language study and they had to prepare a lesson for the young men for Sunday. One of the elders had an impression that they should go outside and contact. He immediately had a second thought, “but it is cold outside, stay in the warm church.” He had the prompting again followed by the thought, “stay here and prepare the lesson for the young men.” He realized that he was getting the “second voice” and told him companion that the adversary did not want them outside and therefore it was time to go outside and contact. Just 5 minutes from the church, he saw a woman pushing a baby carriage. They went up to her and greeted her in German. She asked if they spoke English and was so relieved, they did. She is from China and had been in Germany for 6 weeks and the only person she had talked to was her husband, because she didn’t speak German. She was so excited to talk with someone else. She asked if they were “Mormon Missionaries” and she told them the following story. She was an exchange student in Australia and lived with a family who were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She went to church with them every week. She had always enjoyed their church. The missionaries told her that the church was just 5 minutes away and they offered her a tour. She visited the church with them and promised to come to church on Sunday with her husband. As she left, she told them that when she first arrived in Australia, she didn’t speak English and she was lost and didn’t know how to find her host family. She met two missionaries from our church who, to her amazement, spoke her language and they helped her find the host family. She said, “Every time I am lost or need help, God sends someone from your church to help me.” Miracles still happen every day, especially when you follow those first promptings like those good Elders did.
One of our missionaries felt like they should bring an Arabic Book of Mormon with him as he left the apartment. Our mission has copies of the Book of Mormon in 28 different languages. In Frankfurt, 25% of the those who live here are not originally from Germany, so the population is very diverse. The last person they talked to on the street that night was a man who had just finished his tests at the university and was celebrating by eating a “Doner”, which is a common kebab found here. He spoke English, but his main language was . . . you guessed it, Arabic. They gave him the Arabic copy of the Book of Mormon and discussed it on the street. They did a video call with him the next day, and he had already read the first 20 pages and wanted to meet again.
Covid, quarantine, naysayers, etc., nothing can stop the work of the Lord. It has slowed down, but it continues to move forward.
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