Dear Family,
Yes, I am doing a combined email today because last week was pretty busy, and I just didn't get my weekly letter off. So, I'll try to give what we have been doing the last couple of weeks.
On Monday, March 18, we flew to Berlin where we met with our AAA there. He speaks hardly any English, but fortunately his wife has pretty good English. They were so kind to pick us up at the airport, then we went to their home where we did training and answered questions that he had through her translating. It was going great until she had to answer the phone and talk to the hospital about her mother who was there and they were working out the details to bring her to their home the next day. Anyway, we certainly wanted her to talk to them, but for the ten minutes she was on the phone, we were basically having quite a time trying to figure out what the other was trying to say. Again, why did the Tower of Babel have to happen??? Hah! Anyway, we felt very good about our time with him and his wife. They are such wonderful people! We always love to hear conversion stories and then see how strong these people are in the faith. Everywhere we go, we meet people who put in so much time for the church and help others strengthen their testimonies, as well.
A Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel in Berlin.
After our meeting, we went to lunch and they showed us around Berlin a little on the way to taking us to our hotel. They are proud of their city, which has been almost totally re-built after the war. Therefore, it doesn't have the charm of the small, old towns that are so prevalent in other German areas. In fact, it kind of reminded us of Russia in some places--with the buildings very blockish and not much in the way of architecture. They did spend time, however, in redoing their churches and parliament building.
We stayed in the Berlin Marriott because Kevin got us a great rate there.
That evening, Kevin, Angie, Lauren, and Hannah arrived in Berlin from Amsterdam. Oh, what a joyful reunion we had! We absolutely LOVE having visitors!
On Tuesday, March 19, we took a hop on-hop off bus and toured the city, getting off at important places that we wanted to see like the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, a little outdoor museum telling about the wall, which also, had portions of the wall there.
The hotel Adlon, where Michael Jackson infamously dangled his 9-month-old son from a fourth-floor balcony in 2002.
The Brandenburg Gate, an 18th Century neoclassical monument in Berlin.
We, also, visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe--this turned out to be a place where you experienced an amazing feeling of hopelessness and despair, trying to simulate in a very small way what the Jews must have been feeling,. Anyway, all in all, we had a very enlightening day!
Wednesday, March 20 - we all flew back to Frankfurt where we took them to downtown Frankfurt to the Old Town Square, crossed the Locks of Love Bridge over the Main River, went up in the Main Tower to look out over the entire city, and then ate at the only Five Guys Restaurant we have in Frankfurt! We all loved it!
Afterwards, we were able to take them to see where we attend church right by the Area Building. We then traveled to Bad Hamburg where we had the joy of introducing Kevin's family to our co-workers.
It was such fun to have them meet the wonderful people in our finance area. Kevin was able to speak Portuguese to Kiever from Brazil and Sergio from Portugal. They were absolutely amazed at how good his language was! We then got settled in our apartment where Hannah and Lauren stayed with us and Kevin and Angie stayed across the street at the hotel there. That night, we played Crown Five, and of course, George beat us all--AGAIN!!! Such fun!
Thursday, March 21 - We all took off for Heidelberg after a breakfast of Lola's pancakes and eggs. I really wish I had a griddle here, but I did my best in a frying pan! Afterwards, we had to stop at the grocery store for Gpa George to show the girls how we feed the bottle crusher machine. We all got such a kick out of watching them do it--get our money reward, and then buy treats for the day. Yes, it doesn't take much for us to have an adventure! Heidelberg was such a beautiful day--so much better weather than when we were there just a couple of weeks ago! Gpa George and I had climbed the 315 steps on a prior visit to the castle and thought we didn't need to do that again, but as luck would have it, the funicular was broken, so we ended up doing the climb again--definitely not as quickly as Kevin, Angie, Lauren, and Hannah, but we did it! After lunch, we walked the streets in the old town area, ate ice cream, and then it was time for them to go. Sooo sad! They left on their way to Munich for that night, planning to go to Neuschwanstein Castle the next day and Dauchau Concentration Camp, then to Austria for the Sound of Music tour, and back to Munich to fly out on Sunday for home. What a joy it was having them here!
Friday, March 22 - Gpa George and I got to the office at 9:00 a.m. and left at 6:00 p.m.--very long day to catch up on all we needed to do, but it was so worth it. The beauty of the jobs we have is that as long as we get our work done, that is what is important!
Oh, but I'm not done yet!!! On Saturday, March 23 - My brother, Jerry, SIL Shelly, and nephew, Jace, arrived in the Frankfurt Airport. They got to our apartment about 9:00 a.m. Oh how good it was to see them, too! We felt so honored that they would take the time to come and visit us! Again, I made Lola's pancakes and eggs. Afterwards, they were such good sports even with the little sleep they had, and toured around our little Friedrichsdorf town, showed them the Frankfurt Temple, which sadly won't be finished until September and of course, we will be leaving July 29th, so we will miss the re-dedication and being able to do temple work, even though it is literally four minutes away from our home! Then, we received a text that my BIL Mark, sister, Natalie, and niece, Kelsey, texted that they had arrived in the Frankfurt Airport. We all decided to meet downtown Frankfurt at the Old Town Square. Sadly, we hadn't read the State Department's warning to stay away from there because there was going to be a huge demonstration over freedom of the internet, I believe, where they expected 10,000 people. After two hours of just trying to get to the hotel in downtown Frankfurt with so many blockaded roads, policemen, and police cars whizzing by, we just gave up and decided to leave. Mark and Natalie never even made it to downtown! We all decided to meet at a restaurant to have lunch out near where we live. Again, such tears of happiness to see more family! After lunch, we traveled over to Taunus, where we explored that cute little town and an old abandoned 12th century castle!
Then everyone came back to our apartment and we had such fun talking like old times. Finally, at 10:00 p.m., Mark was notified that the barriers were taken down in downtown Frankfurt near the hotel, and they could now get in. They had to be tired because none of them had slept much on the night plane coming over. What great travelers they all were! They headed off to Cologne the next day. We will be meeting up with them again on Tuesday to spend the day with them--again in Heidelberg! We are going to have that town memorized, for sure! That's okay! Every time we go, we have new adventures with new people!
Today, we are back at work, making sure have all our work caught up. I have to teach the Book of Mormon Class to the senior couples on Wednesday, and then on Friday, Jeff, Amy, Garrett, Isaac, and Lola come in! Wow! It is going to be so much fun to see them, too. We are planning to go to Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands over the weekend where there are literally millions of tulips! It should be fantastic!
Well, that has been the itinerary for the past couple of weeks! With experiencing the pure joy we have had with having family here, I am reminded about the quote from Pres. Kimball: "Family life is the best method for achieving happiness in this world, and it is a clear pattern given to us from the Lord about what is to be in the next world.” I believe this so strongly! Thank you for everyone giving of your time to visit! It means everything to us!
Love, Gma Laura
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