Aschenffenburg, Germany

Aschenffenburg is a city in northwest Bavaria Germany. The earliest remains of settlements date from the Stone Age. The Aschaff River flows in the western part of the town into the River Main, and the countryside is spectacular.  

There is a castle, Schloss Johannisburg, built in the early 1600's. We visited the Pompejanum, a replica of a Roman town house discovered in Pompeii, commissioned by King Ludwig I and opened in 1850.

Trier, Germany 10-29-11

Trier, Germany, on the banks of the Moselle River, is the oldest city in Germany, founded around 16 BC. We were awed by the original block wall, set together without mortar. Here is the merry-go-round and a street fabric shop with beautiful displays. We ate a delicious kabap salad and found the most exquisite display of yogurt. We have been tasting every type of yogurt and are always delighted when we discover a new flavor. We also enjoy seeing the fashion trends here in Europe.

This is the cathedral with a woman singing opera for tips.

ESPECIALLY FOR KIDS


There are beautiful ducks in Trier.

Could this be an original Pinewood Derby car?

This man made all of these wire sculptures to sell on the street to tourists.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber 10-15-11

I have been remiss in keeping up our blog, so now it's catch up time. It may look like all we do is travel around, but we actually only take off on Saturdays to enjoy the beautiful country of Germany. I apologize for the glut, but here's where we've been and what has been happening.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is beautiful old walled city in Bavaria, Germany. It was built in 1070 by the Counts of Comburg-Rothenburg and is located on a plateau overlooking the Tauber River. We visited here with Nan and Brent Gudgell and our senior missionary group. We enjoyed a Night Watchman's Tour of the city.

Spooky Things!

Nan and Brent with the Night Watchman.

The Brothers Grimm House in Steinau 11-19-11

A high point was our visit with Dave and Julie Colton to the Brothers Grimm House along the Fairy Tale Road.

It was awesome to get to see the home where Jacob and Wilhelm had lived and played when their father was the magistrate. Their father died when they were 11 and 12. Because a new magistrate was moving in, the Grimm family had to move out into a smaller home shared with four other families.Things only got worse financially, so the two oldest brothers were sent off to school. The Grimm Brothers happiest times were spent here in this home in Steinau.

The Kitchen

Now the home has been turned into a kid-friendly museum. One room is devoted to dioramas of 

Grimm Tales .

The Theater

The Book Room

This trip was special because of the Grimm Brothers play that I wrote. TLS will produce it next fall. They have been so inclusive, inviting us to their productions. Here is a photo of the TLS team and their last play, Dickens by Candlelight that we attended on November 26, 2011.

Then we traveled a short distance through the enchanted forest, past spooky trees, to a wonderful restaurant at Brathahnchen Farm. We had the most delicious French Onion Soup we have ever tasted, a pork kabob, and we topped it all off with a delightful dessert.

Gold and Green Ball (11-26-11) Thanksgiving Feasts, and Zone Conference

Remember the old Gold and Green Balls? The “ball” is still hopping here in Germany. They go all out with the decorations, the food, and the gowns. When they announced the ball in Relief Society, our Bishop’s wife was so cute. She said, “We even get to wear our night gowns!” (meaning our evening gowns). Everyone, both young and old, enjoyed rocking out to the live band. The Germans love to dance and have really learned the moves. We danced a little too, but not nearly so well as the members here, who have had real dance lessons. Lots of great food, lights, and magic!

Thanksgiving Feasts

This has been a week of great Thanksgiving and celebration. What a blessed Thanksgiving we have had here in Germany. On Tuesday the Office of General Counsel had their Thanksgiving feast—a delicious Mexican fiesta with enchiladas, nachos, cornbread, refried beans, rice, cornbread, and even guacamole. Mexican food is hard to find here, so we often have to make our own. They add sugar to the salsa in the store-bought salsa, so it’s pretty bad. But this dinner was scrumptious, and it was so much fun to be together with all of our office friends. I gave a little message on the first Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Day

On Thanksgiving Day, the area mission Senior Couples combined efforts to put on a real American Thanksgiving feast with all of the fixings—5 turkeys, dressing, Jello salads (they don’t sell Jello over here), mashed potatoes and gravy, and dad made his delicious caramel bread pudding for dessert. It was a big hit with everyone. We enjoyed sharing this wonderful day with our fun and loving new friends, who made the day even all that more memorable. 

Zone Conference 11-23-11

The Senior Missionaries met with the young missionaries for Zone Conference. It was an uplifting and spiritual experience. Elder Kopishke did not stand behind the podium. He came right down with us and told us to write down some questions that we were needing answers to. He told us that we were going to receive revelation during the day. I wrote down six questions and by the end of the day, I had answers to all six. The training modeled for us new ways to teach that directly involve each person.

How grateful we are for the wonderful training that we are receiving here. We are blessed to have such inspired leaders who are 100% committed to the growth of the Church in Europe. We feel Heavenly Father’s guidance and love as we strive each day to move the work forward. We recognize His hand in support of everything we do. We are grateful for the amazing people that we have the opportunity to associate with here from all over the world. They influence our lives for the better each day.