Berlin

With permission and encouragement from our mission supervisors, we (Winters and Davis) boarded a train on August 15th and went to Berlin.  We spent 4 days there visiting many of the places we had heard about in our youth.  No sooner did we arrive in Berlin than Gary and Elder Davis purchased tickets for the "Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus and Boat" tours.  With that task accomplished, we walked from the train station to our hotel.

After checking into our hotel we decided to explore our surroundings to get our bearings.  After a 15 minute walk, we were at Brandenburg Gate.  From that point it was only a short distance to the Reichstag where we inquired about tickets to tour the building.  We were told to come early in the morning two days before the time we wanted to visit.  We walked another short distance and came across the "Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe" - the holocaust memorial - very impressive.  After that we went in search of a place for dinner.

On Friday morning we were joined by another couple, the Wilsons, Public Affairs Missionaries from Minnesota.  We all rode the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus and learned about the city and the history of Berlin.  After the bus tour we went to lunch and then began the "Rick Steves Berlin Walking Tour".

We saw more things than we can describe, but we will share a few pictures so you can see some of the things that we were able to see and experience.  Berlin is a great experience.

After the lunch we went again to the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe and went downstairs under the cement caskets.  The underground museum was a fascinating and sobering memorial and testimonial.

Each night at dusk they show a parliamentary history from the Reichstag to the Bundestag. You can sit on the river bank and watch this presentation. 

We were able to go to church on Sunday. We left our hotel and rode a train and then a bus to the church.   It was windy and raining as we boarded the bus.  We looked at each other and hoped that we had gotten on the right bus and were headed in the right direction.  Just then I looked across the bus and noticed a gentlemen with a white shirt and tie on and he smiled at me - I said to him "Are we on the right bus?"  He nodded in a positive way.  When we got to church we talked with him and discovered that he was from Indonesia.  Upon further inquiry, we learned that he knew Elder Subandriyo, our friend from our days living in Jakarta.   This kind Indonesian brother was in Germany working with a film crew.  We also discovered that he was good friends with Ari Winato.  Ari was our driver when we lived in Indonesia after the Tsunami in 2005. It truly is a small world.

We had purchased museum passes on Saturday, so Sunday afternoon we visited the museums - we thoroughly enjoyed them.  Our favourite exhibits was the Gates of Babylon and Nefretti.  

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On Monday, with the tickets we picked up on Saturday we were able to go through the Reichstag.  We loved the Reichstag tour.  Berlin was a great experience, but all good experience have to end and when we concluded our Reichstag tour we boarded our train and went back to Frankfurt and back to work. We were very grateful for the opportunity we had to visit Berlin.  

“The word of God, as found in the scriptures, in the words of living prophets, and in personal revelation, has the power to fortify the Saints and arm them with the Spirit so they can resist evil, hold fast to the good, and find joy in this life.”    Ezra Taft Benson