Bamburg and Dettelbach

We had a busy and enjoyable couple of weeks! Bob is feeling better after his bad cold. We have been attending two sets of Church meetings for the past three Sunday to help Monika get used to her German Branch, as she had been attending the International Ward with us. We had three families over for dinner and were happy to be invited to a new couples' apartment.for a delicious dinner. She had drawn my name from the basket at Relief Society for our July "Not-So-Secret-Sister" activity. President Kapischke and his wife gave sweet parting messages at our devotional, as they are moving to Utah. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I taught at the Kindergarten, which will now be off for three weeks. Thursday evening we said goodbye to our dear friends, the Asplunds, who are returning home to Utah. On Friday evening we went out for Vietnamese food with the Dearings, and on Saturday, we took our P day to Bamburg. Our first stop was at the local flohmarkt--a great way to start a Saturday morning!

 

Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany located on the Regnitz River, founded in the 10^th century. For a short time, Bamberg was the center of the Holy Roman Empire. Parts of the old stone wall are still standing.

We walked along this little river into town.

As in many European cities, the doorways are very short, as people many years ago were not as tall as we are today.

Bamberg has many colorful, winding streets.

St. Elisabeth Church

Saint Michael's Church

We went on a tour of the Neue Residenz that was built between 1698-1704. It was initially occupied by the prince bishops and from 1864-1867 by the deposed King Otto of Greece.

 

 This is a huge bedroom with a very small bed.

The ceilings were beautifully painted and ornately framed. This ceiling was done in Tromp-l'oeil, which is an art technique involving realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion of three dimensions. You can see the painted second story "balcony" and then the "open ceiling" that takes the eye to look into the Heavens. This technique was often used to make rooms look larger and grander.

All of the ceilings were spectacular with their framed paintings and chandeliers.

Me in the mirror.

The hallway had a series of doors that opened up into each room.

The inlay on the wood floors was exquisite.

Even a porta-potty. I told Bob he'd better wait.

A view of St. Michael's church from the top.

The Rose Garden below.

There is almost always a wedding everywhere we go!

We walked through the city streets to see colorfully painted buildings.

We came upon this darling shop that I didn't even dare go into.

Cute socks!

An over-sized and off-center wall sculpture.

We walked back along the peaceful river and left another darling city behind.

Grapevines along the way to Dettelbach and what a glorious sky!

Coming into Dettelbach, we discovered another charming little city with surviving stone walls and a cylindrical guard tower and an entry tunnel.

And very narrow, winding streets.

Houses are built right into the old rock walls that surrounded the original city.

A beautiful little canal ran through the city. They had built housing right on top. Can you imagine how wonderful to sleep to the sound or running water?

An arched tunnel had a tribute to Jesus inside.

As we travel through different areas of Germany, we see  unique styles of architecture. They must have had a lot of flat rocks available here, because many of the homes were made of stacked stone. 

This house is painted to look like a half-timbered house.

We climbed the stairs to this little church.

And sat on a bench, enjoying the peacefulness of this quaint city as we enjoyed double-decker ice cream cones of chocolate and nougat for our lunch.

We saw this old grape press and a cool window with a  fountain, and then headed back home.

July 19, 2012 Our One Year Mission Anniversary!

It was one year ago today that we left for our mission to Frankfurt, Germany. I will never forget that day as I never went to sleep that night. I had spend the day playing with our grandchildren, and I spent the night packing, cleaning, and getting ready to leave.

Two blessings happened on our way over to Germany. First, when I got off the plane, I noticed that I no longer had the dizziness that had been troubling me for months since our last cruise. Secondly, I was blessed to not feel the deep sadness I had been experiencing about leaving our grandchildren. These were small tender mercies that helped me to be ready to serve in Germany.

 It has been a long year but also a year rich in spiritual experiences and feelings of deep gratitude for the spectacular world in which we live. We have never before traveled and seen so many wonders of the world.

 We have met dear new friends from around the world whose friendships we will treasure forever. We are so grateful to be here and to have this mission experience. We are also grateful to our family for their support.

It’s amazing that this very week, Monika Lippert invited Bob to baptize her. What a heartfelt experience. On Saturday we arrived at the Offenbach Chapel at 4:00 for Monika Lippert's baptism. We have been bringing her to church for several months and have become good friends with her. Monika was so excited about learning about the gospel that she invited another couple, Dragica and Redjo Dolovac, to join her in hearing the missionary discussions. They too were baptized on Saturday along with another man, Christian Brody, into the Offenbach  Branch. It was such a special day to have four people baptized. The Offenbach Branch is very small, maybe 50 members, so you can imagine the turn out and the joy that these baptisms brought. 

What made these baptism so special is that Monika and her friends are all in wheel chairs. Brother Dolovac had one leg amputated up to his thigh, and recently his other foot, due to complications with Diabetes. He had to wear a protective boot to keep his leg dry during the baptism. Sister Dolovac had recently suffered a stroke and is partially paralyzed on one side. Monica is in a wheel chair, as she fell and shattered bones in her leg. So during the baptism, I was back on the stairs helping these sisters get in and out of the font. Just watching the courage of these dear people as they struggled to get in and out was touching. Bob baptized Monika first, and then he stayed in the font with two other Priesthood holders to help baptize the others. Two had to be baptized twice as a hand or toe would pop up. So Bob had quite the experience in the font. 

But what joy shone on their faces as they came out of the water. I helped Monika get changed in her wheelchair, and then we came back into the chapel. Three wheel chairs lined up in the front of the chapel, and one handsome man with dark hair-- all washed clean and so happy. Each were warmly welcomed with kisses on both cheeks by members of the Branch. It was so tender and sweet. Then we went into the cultural hall where the tables were covered with colorful cloths with plates of cookies, doughnuts, and chips. Two other tables offered finger foods and drinks brought by the members. A fresh bouquet of flowers graced the podium in the chapel. Needless to say, this little branch warmly welcomed in these four new members.

The next morning we picked up Monika to bring her back to the Offenbach Branch to receive their confirmations. Again the three wheelchairs parked up front. Bob stood in the circle for Monika. Again tears flowed at this joyous ordinance and seeing their beautiful and grateful faces. And oh, how these German Saints can sing. Every time a hymn rang out in German (and I still cannot understand the language). I started to cry and couldn't stop. So I cried all through Sacrament Meeting and then all through Relief Society. I had been asked to give the closing prayer in Relief Society, and I cried through that too. The spirit was so great, I just couldn't stop crying! Monika handed me a cough drop and asked if I had a cold. I said, "No. I just have the Spirit."

Limburg and Runkel

We explored Limburg, a well-preserved medieval city on the Lahn River. The Limburg Basin stands as one of Hesse’s richest agricultural regions and with the nearby Lahn River, it has been of great importance to transport since the Middle Ages. 





The half-timbered houses dating back from the 13^th century are now leaning at all different angles. We actually had to take a look inside a tavern to see how the slanted walls looked inside. 

We visited the St. George Dom. 



Then we headed toward Runkel and discovered St. Lubentien Church, that was most certainly built on a strong foundation--rock!  It was lovely to enter a church that was made of stone, local materials, that was simply decorated and not made opulent. The first chapel of the church was built in 1000 A.D. 


The grounds were lovely with old headstones dotting the grass in the front yard and the flower beds. 





Because there was an Iron Man Race that day, roads were closed and even open roads were blocked with traffic. So we took the country roads home, and it was a beautiful drive back to Frankfurt.