A Visit from Flat Coco

On Wednesday, April 17th,  Flat Coco (The girl version of Flat Stanley) arrived in Germany.  The note that came with her saying she was a friend of Coco (our granddaughter).  She used to be normal girl until a bulletin board fell on top of her and left her flat.  One good thing about being flat; she can travel inexpensively.  She can fit easily inside an envelope and travel through the regular postal service.  That is why she decided to come and visit us.

Flat Coco arrived the day before we were to depart for Easter weekend.  The Europe Area Office, where we serve was closed on Good Friday, Saturday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Monday.  Lucky for Coco, she was able to travel with us on our temple trip to Switzerland.  We left Thursday and returned Monday night. Flat Coco then went back to her Sandy, Utah school class in the mail.  We hope her class enjoyed all the pictures and postcards we sent home with her.  We had a great weekend.  The next few posts will be of our adventure.

Flat Coco helping Papa with the Bulletin Board.  (She told him to be careful)

Flat Coco helping Grandma with the Finances

Flat Coco helping Papa make an Easter Chick in German Culture Class

Grandma made Flat Coco a bed

Flat Coco and Papa at Heidelberg Castle Park

Crepes for breakfast in France

The Hansel and Gretel Shop

She had to have her picture taken by this shirt

Flat Coco at the Strasbourg Cathedral on Good Friday

Flat Coco with Grandma and Papa at the Bern Switzerland Temple

Flat Coco being silly in the alpenhorn in Interlaken, Switzerland

Flat Coco going on a funicular railway to Harder Kulm-Interlaken 

Flat Coco at the Top

Flat Coco and Papa in Grindelwald (reminds of us of home)

Papa sharing his ice cream with Flat Coco

Flat Coco and Grandma outside the Opera House in Baden Baden, Germany

Flat Coco at the top of Mount Merkur

Climb the Mountain so you can see the world, not so the world can see you.

A Weekend with Matthias and Petra Leben - Hessenpark

After our adventures at the Roman Fort, Petra directed us down the road to the "Hessenpark" open air museum and village.  Here we learned about everyday life from the 1600's to the 1950's in Hessian villages.  "Hessen" is an area of Germany much like a "state" in the USA.  In some ways, this village reminded us of Gardner Village in Midvale, UT - only much bigger.  There were lots of old houses and buildings with original artifacts.  Many buildings were reconstructed and some were actually moved to Hessenpark from other locations in Hessen.  Some of the items we saw brought back childhood memories.

Petra says the trees are pruned like this to make it easier to pick and get more sunlight

All the apostles were shown as well as Christ birth, baptism, death, resurrection, and ascension

This one is for Jordan - look at the texturing and designs

When we completed our tour of Hessenpark we drove to downtown Frankfurt and had lunch.  Petra and Matthias has been to this particular restaurant before with their daughter.  Again we had authentic German food. The setting was beautiful and the food was delicious.  We only got a picture of the desserts.

After a late lunch we drove back to our apartment, set up our computer and watched the opening session of General Conference (10:00 am SLC time - our 6:00 pm).  After conference Matthias and Petra went back to their hotel.  We made plans to eat breakfast in the morning and watch the Saturday afternoon session of conference on Sunday morning.  Their son, Aaron joined us about noon.  We had lunch and watched the Priesthood Session.  Petra, Matthias, and Aaron left for home after the Priesthood Session.  At 6:00pm we watched the live 10 am Sunday morning session.  We enjoyed watching the Sunday afternoon session during the week,  one speaker at a time.

On Saturday, the 13th we went back to Hessenpark with the Davis' for an Ostermarkt (Easter Market).  We enjoyed ourselves again.  One of our favorite stores was the Brush Maker Shop and the old Lutheran Church.

Off we go - shopping

The eggs were something else!

Notice the apostles above us.

"Unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives.  Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lost their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish - and in effect save their lives." Thomas S. Monson "What Have I Done for Someone Today?" Ensign, November 2009

A Weekend with Matthias and Petra Leben

Our responsibility when serving our mission in Auckland, New Zealand (2014-2016) was to train and support humanitarian missionary couples in the islands.  Petra and Matthias Leben who were from Germany, were called to serve in the island nation of Vanuatu.  The Lebens came to Auckland and we spent several days training and preparing them for their mission in Vanuatu.  They flew out on Monday afternoon and that Friday a category 5 cyclone (hurricane) hit Vanuatu.  All those wonderful ideas and plans we had together were thrown out the window and Petra and Matthias spent their entire mission helping people rebuild their homes.  They had a wonderful and important mission.  Gary and I made several trips to Vanuatu and became good friends with the Lebens.

Upon arriving in Germany we phoned them and agreed that we would get together.  While in Montenegro the end of March they called and told us that they would be coming to Frankfurt for conference weekend as Matthias had the weekend off (he is the bishop of their ward).
They arrived Friday evening and we went out to dinner at a lovely restaurant with authentic Germany cuisine.

Saturday morning we drove about 30 minutes north to Bad Homburg.  Petra, a former teacher took us on a field trip to the Saalburg Roman Fort.  We had a lovely time.  It was wonderful to have someone to translate all the signs and explain the Roman outposts in our part of Germany.  An amazing thing about the fort and living conditions then was how advanced the Romans were.  They had trenches in the building

floors with warm water heating.  Another interesting fact was a map showing the Roman built roads and the current Autobahn roads.  The routes were very similar indicating that the Romans designed and constructed some of the best routes and roads over 2000 years ago.

We wrapped up our adventures here and drove down the road a bit to visit another site.  See "Hessen Park".

"Do you want to be happy . . . Work to life and serve His sons and daughters.  You will come to know a happiness that you have never known before . . . Let's get the cankering, selfish attitude out of our lives . . . and stand a little taller . . . in the service of others."  Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley

A New Car

About a week ago we got a new car.  When a car reaches a certain millage/kilometre reading the motor pool turns the car in and replaces it with a new car.  Our car is a 2019 Hyundai 4 door i30 hatchback.  This is the European version of the Elantra hatchback in the USA.  Gary wanted a BMW 5 series M-Class, but he'll be happy with what we've been given.

We couldn't get a picture of the car when we received it because it was raining.  When sun was shining again, we got this picture.  We are enjoying the car.  We share it with another couple at this point in our seniority.  Eventually one of us will be given another car.  It has all the things we need - a good navigation system, apple car play, heated seats, and even a heated steering wheel.  Parking is scarce in Frankfurt and this car is great for small parking places when you can find one.

Their Story is Our Story: Giving Refugees a Voice

On Monday, April 2, 2019 we attended the senior missionaries Family Home Evening.  The couple in charge had invited Melissa Bradford.  Melissa is part of a group called TSOS (Their Story is Our Story).  She shared with us the work that is being done locally (Germany) in refugee camps.

Our friends and fellow missionary couple in our office (Elder and Sister Davis) work with refugees.  It was a wonderful meeting and really made us think about the blessings and comforts we have and usually take for granted.  These refugee's lives have been turned upside down through no fault of their own.   Each one has a story.

As Gary and I talked with Melissa after the program, we discovered we had many mutual acquaintances.  It was a wonderful night.

"Being a refugee may be a defining moment in the lives of those who are refugees, but being a refugee does not define them.  Like countless thousands before them, this will be a period - we hope a short period - in their lives.  Some of them will go on to be Nobel laureates, public servants, physicians, scientists, musicians, artists, religious leaders, and contributors in other fields.  Indeed, many of them were these things before they lost everything.  This moment does not define them, but our response will help define us."  Elder Patrick Kearon, Refuge from the Storm, April 2016 Conference