Lessons learned in London

Sister Rueckert In front of Westminster Abbey, while a double decker bus went by with the banner I Love Mormon.  How fitting to summarize our wonderful few days in London

We just finished a wonderful few days in London, England with our Self-Reliance Managers and Full-time missionaries that are serving in the British Isles.  I want you to know that I have learned to be politically correct with my description above.  The following is how we appropriately describe the different geographic identities in the British Isles:

England is a Country

England plus Wales = Britain

Britain plus Scotland = Great Britain

Great Britain plus Northern Ireland = United Kingdom

United Kingdom plus Republic of Ireland = British Isles

I hope all that read this blog will know how to appropriately identify the different geographic identities in this part of the world.  It can keep you out of hot water in your conversations with those who really understand.  The people in our seminar were from all different parts of these geographies.

The occasion of our visit was to participate in a seminar put on by our SRS managers for all of the full-time missionary couples in the British Isles.  We arrived on Monday, the seminar was held on Tuesday and Wednesday and we came back home to Frankfurt, Germany, today, Thursday.

We stayed in a hotel about one mile from the Hyde Park Chapel, where the seminar was held.  We had the opportunity to walk back and forth each day through the streets of London., which included going through a district of amazing museums.   The following are some of our views during that walk each day:   

Elder and Sister Rueckert on the North End of the Museum of Natural History

Debbie in front of the Museum of Natural History

Across the street from the museum, with double decker buses and one of the many taxis.

Much of the walk was along Cromwell Road.  Very Royal!

In the evening we were privileged to see a full moon with the planet Venus in full view.  I have added the fun photo that we were able to get of this beautiful sight:

We spent two days with our mangers and missionaries.  We were able to learn from each other and most importantly to get to know each other better.  It is a great privilege to serve with such wonderful and inspiring missionaries.  Each have their own challenges and have met them with faith.  In just the past month that has included a death of a grandchild and for another the loss of sight in one eye (hopefully temporary).  However, they don't let any of that interfere with their missionary service.  Three of these couples have recently started their service, but already are moving forward with faith.  The following photo was taken outside of the Hyde Park Chapel in London during one of our lunch breaks:

Self-Reliance Missionary couples currently serving in London, Birmingham and Manchester, England  and in Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.  Also included are Elder & Sister Rueckert and our two SRS managers.

In the evening of the last day of the seminar we were privileged to receive a tour inside the Palace of Westminster, which houses the Parliament of the United Kingdom.  This included going into the House of Commons, House of Lords, Westminster Hall and the Cathedral of St. Mary's.  We couldn't take pictures of much that we were able to see inside, but it was a wonderful experience and one that helped us to have much more respect for the great history and current roles of the British Parliament.   The following photos were taken outside and inside, where allowed:

One end of Westminster is the buildings above the House of the Lords

This portion is over the Westminster Hall, which connects the House of the Lords with the House of the Commons

Big Ben rises above the Hall of the Commons below

Underneath, in the Westminster Hall, first built in the 1100s.

Many Kings, Queens  and Prime Ministers have laid in state in the Westminster Hall

 

In front of the Westminster Palace and Big Ben with the  London Eye lit up in the colors of Belgium, due to the terrorist attack that occurred during our visit

The end of our seminar with the entire group under Big Ben, in the grounds of the Westminster Palace

Besides all of this wonderful experience, Sister Rueckert was also able to remain healthy, much different than our last trip to London last year.  In fact, her health has continued to be excellent since we began our official time as missionaries.

Feeding and Being Fed, Temporally and Spiritually

A week in Frankfurt with some special moments.  We seemed to be spending a lot of time feeding or being fed.  We fed three Sister missionaries on Wednesday evening and a senior Elder whose wife was away on Thursday.   Besides being able to share a meal, we are always rewarded in getting to know others better.  We love the missionaries, be they younger or senior, they are all wonderful.  On Friday, we were able to eat dinner at the home of Constanza and her husband Kiever. Constanza is from Spain and her husband is from Brazil. They met and married in Utah and have lived in many different locations.  She is our new administrative assistant for Welfare and Self-Reliance.  He works for the finance department and has been helping us to develop some reporting templates to send to priesthood leaders.  Besides spending a wonderful evening with them, we were also able to fine tune some of the reports.  They are a blessing to the Self-Reliance efforts in Europe!

No special P Day activities this week, just laundry, cleaning, shopping, haircut, etc.  However, on Thursday we had the opportunity to volunteer at a refugee camp.  Sister Rueckert, Sister Sharpe and Sister Bausman organized activities for the children of the refugees for two hours.  Elder Sharpe came along as a music specialist and I just came along to offer any help I could.

The refugees stay in camps for several months while they are waiting to get processed into more permanent settlements.  While in these camps, they have a lot of free time to work on learning a language (German in this case) and other basic skills.  They go to a recreation center each day.  The Senior Sister missionaries have been going to supervise activities for the children a couple of days a week. This was the first time that we had time and an opportunity to help.

Because another local German volunteer also chose to go at the same time, the number of children to help was less, creating a more orderly and positive experience.  Overall we were very pleased with the experience.  These are families from very difficult circumstances, however they are wonderful children of our Father in Heaven.  It was rewarding for us to be in their presence.  The following photos show some of the activities from that day:

Sister Rueckert with a small group of children

I was very impressed with this young man from Iraq and this girl from Syria.

Blowing bubbles outside

Do as I'm doing

Teaching them to string beads

Successful Bead necklace

Teaching to make fortune tellers

Doing the Hokie Pokie

Blowing up balloons

More ballons

Father and daughter with their balloon

Pruning and the love of the Lord

We had a few beautiful spring days this week with blue sky.  These are rare in Frankfurt, se we love the ones that we get.  As we have driven through Frankfurt in the past few months, we have enjoyed seeing the pruned trees.  The look a little strange, but we assume that they will produce beautiful trees in the later spring and summer.  We will report back on this particular tree later in the year.

Pruned tree at the Area Office, our apartment building in the back.  You can also see unpruned trees in the background.

As part of our study together this week, we have been studying Jacob chapter 5, the allegory of the Olive Tree.  In that study we have come across several interesting insights. We would like to share a few of them below:

• A key phrase in the allegory is "it grieveth me that i should lose this tree," repeated eight times . . . The frequent repetition of the line describes the quality of that divine love - it is unfailing, persistent, tenacious.
• What are the different ways the Lord tries to save the tree which is a representation of the house of Israel? "Digging about suggest the divine structuring of one's environment for individual tutorials.  Dunging suggest spiritual nourishing.  As to pruning, we might understand those painful experiences in which we feel stymied as the divine will operates against our own.

We thought that the above photo was a good representation of what pruning looks like, to help the tree flourish in the summer.  Certainly, the pruning that is done by our Heavenly Father, although painful at the time, is so that we can flourish for eternity.  It is certainly a sign of the incredible love that the Lord has for each and every one of us.  I pray that we can be grateful for the pruning in our lives, even when we don't understand why.

Sabbath thoughts on the Savior and the power of His Atonement:

As part of our Sabbath Day worship today, we read chapter 20 of the Infinite Atonement (by Elder Tad Callister), The Blessing of Motivation.  This touched my very deeply as I better understood the love of our Savior and the correspondent blessings in my life.  If any reading this blog has access to this book, please read this chapter while you have some private time and ponder the words, they are so powerful.  I will try to just highlight a few of the comments:

• The powers of the Atonement do not lie dormant until one sins and then suddenly spring forth to satisfy the needs of the repentant person.  Rather, like the forces of gravity, they are everywhere present, exerting their unseen but powerful influence.
• These motivational powers are always extending themselves, reaching out, penetrating every open heart.  It is these powers that help fire the desire to repent.  It is these powers that can inspire our course of conduct before sin is ever committed. . . Suffice it to say, the Atonement is much more than a divine remedy to correct our sins after they are committed.  The Atonement is, in fact the most powerful motivational force in the world to be good from day to day and when necessary, to repent when we have fallen short.
• "Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them (Alma 5:33).  One need not have a vivid imagination to picture a father with outstretched arms welcoming the wayward child back to his home of security and love.  There is a certain compelling magnetism to that setting.  What child can resist such an invitation?  Of course, that is the point: if we are childlike, we will not resist, we will not delay - rather we will run to the open arms that draw us in.
• Suffering in behalf of another seems to have its major impact for good when at least four elements are present.
• First, the sufferer is pure and worthy.
• Second, the case for which he suffers is just.
• Third, the recipient knows and loves the sufferer.
• Fourth, the recipient appreciates the cause for which the suffering occurs.

The entire chapter is an incredible explanation of the power of innocent suffering to change the lives of others.  This of course, is exactly what our Savior did for us.

I love my Savior and I know that he loves me and each one of the children of Our Heavenly Father.  Knowing of his suffering on my behalf makes me love him even more and makes me want to do good and follow his example.

Miracle on Magdeburger Alles (not 34th Street)

What a wonderful week with lots of memories, especially of our German heritage!  The highlight of the week was our trip to Erfurt, Germany, where Sister Rueckert's father was born.  The prize of our trip was finding the house where he lived before his parents and their family moved to the U.S. in 1927.  More about the miracle of finding this home in the blog below.  For now, this is the photo of Elder and Sister Rueckert in front of the door of the building where her father lived.

In front of door where Debbie's father lived

We had decided a few weeks ago that we would spend our 18th wedding anniversary in Erfurt, Germany, trying to rediscover as much as we could from Sister Rueckert's ancestors.  At this point, I want to share the highlights of this experience in Sister Rueckert's words from her journal:

"Ever since we received our mission call to Germany I had a burning desire to go and walk where my ancestors had walked.  One of my greatest hopes was that I could find the house my father lived in when he was a very little boy.  We were unsuccessful in this quest sixteen years ago.  Tom and I did everything we knew how to do in preparation for the trip to Erfurt.  We fasted and prayed fervently that we would be successful in doing what God wanted us to do.  We were hoping our desires and God's desires would match up.

It didn't take us long to realize God's plan for our trip was much better than ours.  We were literally led step by step to places and people we never expected.  In my mind we had two major miracles during our trip to Gispersleben and Erfurt.   The entire day was sprinkled with small miracles.  One of the big miracles was finding the house my father lived in when he was a small boy.  This discovery began with a small miracle.  We were eating breakfast at the hotel.  We followed the prompting of talking to the lady in charge.  She was from Gispersleben!  We asked her about Sickels (the name of an ancestor).  She had a school friend by that last name.  We started talking about Karl Marx Strasse in Erfurt.  She told us the name of that street had been changed to Magdeburger Alles.  

Later that day after deciding that the place we thought Dad's house was located, wasn't it,  we drove using our GPS to Magdeburger Alles.  We were looking for a three story red brick apartment building on a corner.  It was located by some railroad tracks that my grandfather used to cross to go to work at a nearby steel mill.  The tracks we found on the street didn't seem very old.  As we kept driving one of the young missionaries suggested that farther down the road were tracks going east to west instead of north to south.  The east/west tracks went under an overpass which had the north to south tracks that we had been following.

We decided to get closer to the east-west tracks.  As we did so a very clear picture came into view.  Across the tracks on a corner was a three story red brick apartment building!  As we stood on the steps we could see across the tracks a large factory which ninety years ago could have very well been the site of a steel mill.  Tears came to my eyes and a feeling in my heart told me that this is where my father lived.  He probably sat on those steps waiting for his father to come home from work.  I wondered where he played and which direction he went from his house to go to school.  I felt sad because this house was abandoned and covered with all kinds of graffiti.  When Tom and I returned later I tried to block out what I was seeing and imagine my dad as a 5 year old boy playing ball.  The picture I have of him and his dad and Aunt Ruth standing on the steps to their house, has my dad holding a ball in one hand.  My heart was full of thanksgiving and gratitude for the Lord answering my prayers.

Walking across the tracks to the "home"

German three story building (three plus the ground floor).  Debbie on the steps.

View of the tracks and the commercial area from the apartment building.

Better view of the existing commercial location, across the railroad tracks

The other big miracle was being led to a pastor who had some books that were hundreds of years old. In two of the books we found my Grandpa's mothers' birth record, Wilhelmine Auguste Friederike Sickel.  We also found the marriage record of Johann Friedrich Christoph Sickel and Marie Friederike Bauersfelt, her grandparents.  It was unbelievable to actually touch and read these handwritten records of events that took place over 100 years ago.  We never in our wildest imagination thought we would have this amazing experience.

Birth record of Debbie's great grandmother

Marriage record of great grandmother's grandparents

Our plan was to find a live relative and my dad's house.  The Lord's plan was to lead us to several places where records of my ancestors are kept.  We made several contacts with pastors and others that will help us to extend our family lines back and also fill in the gaps.  We were led from one place to another in an amazing way.  Sometimes it was talking to a pastor.  We got one lead  from an older man who was recycling his old bottles into some trash bins on the street.  Every person we talked to led us to something that we can use as we do further research on these family lines.  

We have so many leads to follow up on.  We weren't even thinking of research.  We just wanted to find a living relative.  We didn't find one on this trip but we are confident that we will find someone on our next visit.  We know where to look for lots of Sickels!"

As Debbie mentioned, our preparations included copies of many maps and locations of cities, family group sheets, genealogy fan charts, arrangements with the local family history consultant, identification of the local Bishop Möller in the Erfurt ward, involvement of our family history missionaries in Frankfurt, conversation with "Aunt Ruth", etc.  We wanted to do our part.  But then we went with a prayer in our heart determined to follow the Lord's guidance.

Some of the small miracles included communicating (kind of) with many people that didn't speak English, making contact with young missionaries who were available to help translate on Friday, identifying locations with actual records, making contacts and contact information with pastors and others, finding some names in the cemetery,  finding great people on the streets that helped us, even entering into the home of a Sickel family, who were extra cautious about talking to us.  Not all of our efforts resulted in immediate solutions, but we left our names and contact information with many and have contact information to follow-up with others that are willing to help.

This past few weeks I have been studying Ether 12:27 which states, "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

I have pondered this and other scriptures over and over.  The scriptures are clear that we must recognize our weaknesses and trust that the Lord will do better than we can do with our own power.  One states (D&C 123:16) "do all things that lie in our power: and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed." 

This experience has been a confirmation that when we do all that we can, in our weakness, the Lord can and will provide answers in his own way, far superior to our thoughts and plans.  I testify of this principle, not only did we see it in our experiences, but it has been confirmed to us by the Holy Ghost.  I have learned that the Lord's way is so much better than my way!

Other experiences of the week, with photos as available:

We received our official missionary visa this week.  Once again, the government officials noted that our name is German.  In fact the receipt for our payment for the visa includes our name with the German umlaut:

On our trip, we made our hotel reservations at the Müller Hotel in Erfurt (close to the Moeller name).

The hotel turned out to be very German and wonderful.  A few of the photos follow:

Hotel Müller

Great Restaurant and reception for hotel check-in

Nice room with German down feather beds

Beautiful German embroidery

We headed out to Erfurt on Thursday afternoon.  It is about a two and a half hour drive, using Autobahn speeds.  With no speed limit, the Germans really drive fast.  We were often driving from 80 to 90 miles per hour and we would be passed as if we were standing still.  

In general there was a lack of English speakers in the Erfurt Area.  We struggled with the family history consultant, the hotel check-in and many people on the streets.  Since Erfurt was part of East Germany, there was no English taught in the schools for 40 years, only Russian.  So the English abilities on this side of Germany are much more limited.  Thank goodness for young missionaries.

A few other photos from our family history efforts:

Church in Kiliani, Gispersleben, where many of Debbie's relatives were christened and married 

Possible relative in Tiefthal, Cemetary

Possible relative (Sickel)

Missionaries that helped us, Elders Boullion and Bakly

In front of Erfurt, Germany LDS chapel

Saturday, we took time to see other sites in Erfurt, especially the monastery where Martin Luther first became a monk.  This monastery dates back into the 1300's.  We are so inspired by Martin Luther, the life he led and the impact that he had on the reformation and eventually the restoration of the Gospel.  This gave us much more opportunity for further meditation.  The tour was in German, but we had a nice lady who did some translating for us and for a Lutheran pastor from Denmark who also took the tour with us.  We had a nice talk together after the tour.

Nice lady translating, also Lutheran pastor and wife

In the monastery

Inner court of the monastery

Library in the monastery

Room where Martin Luther did most of his studying and meidtation during the day.

Door through which Martin Luther first entered the monastery in 1505

Beautiful stain glass windows in Church by monastery.  Windows were taken down and preserved during World War II and then reinserted into building which had to be rebuilt after damage during war.

We also saw a few other sites on Saturday, including the Merchant's bridge.  This is the longest bridge in Europe that is totally covered with shops and residences.

From below the bridge, seeing the shops and residences on the bridge.

Opening to the bridge through a Church

Walking on the bridge

On the other end of the bridge

Finally we made  a quick visit to the St. Mary's Cathedral, one of the most famous landmarks in Erfurt.

Friday night we drove to Saadfeld where there is an Easter tree with thousands of eggs hanging from it.  Unfortunately it is in a public park that was closed when we got there.  However, we saw several other Easter trees during our visit and Easter bunnies: