A Spiritual Feast in Hungary

We just finished an incredible four plus days of self-reliance in Hungary with an amazing Self-Reliance missionary couple, Elder and Sister Bradshaw.  We met strong priesthood leaders and were constantly uplifted and led by the Holy Ghost.

With Elder and Sister Bradshaw, new Self-Reliance missionaries in Hungary.  The Danube and the Parliament building behind us.

Our week started in Frankfurt where we worked on Monday and Tuesday.  On Monday, I substituted for our manager, Thomas King, in his weekly management meeting while he was in Spain.  By Tuesday morning, Thomas was back and we were able to have a workday together, our first in a while and our last for the next several weeks.  We were able to get caught up on a few things and we finalized our travel plans for the next several weeks until the middle of October.

We also received our official travel plans for the end of our mission.  We will be returning on Thursday, November 16, arriving in Salt Lake City at 7:07 pm.

On Monday evening we were able to enjoy a quiet family home evening at home.  We chose to watch a DVD of “Testaments”, a movie about the visit of the Savior to the Americas that the Church filmed several years ago.  Once again the Holy Ghost bore witness to us of the reality and power of our Savior.

On Wednesday morning we left for our first ever trip to Hungary.  We flew into Vienna, Austria and from there took a train to Gyor, Hungary, where our Self-Reliance couple is based.  This was faster and much cheaper than flying into Budapest, Hungary.

We struggled to understand the train connections at first. We were told that the train station was in the airport.  However, it was just a small station that went to the main train station in Vienna.  Finally we got on our train, an hour later than planned, but without further complications. 

We took the 74 minute train ride in a compartment for six passengers. Our compartment had only Sister Rueckert and I and one other passenger, Brian.  We had a very pleasant conversation with Brian, a single Jewish lawyer.  He was from Toronto and vacationing in Europe.  At the end of the trip he accepted some pass along cards and we exchanged business cards.  We hope that we were able to plant a few seeds.

Train to Gyor, Hungary from Vienna, Austria with our new friend, Brian

We arrived at the train station in Gyor, not sure where to find Elder and Sister Bradshaw who were meeting us.  It turned out they were on one side of the train station and we were on the other.  Once we got connected, we had a very enjoyable dinner with them and the Hungary translation manager and his wife.  We ate at a boat restaurant on the Danube River with yummy Hungarian food.  That included a cold, sweet strawberry soup to start things off.  The Hungarians have amazing soups of all kinds.  I had a Hungarian Goulash meal, but not a soup.

Where the Danube and the ? River meet near Gyor, Hungary

Dinner in Gyor, Hungary

Cold Strawberry Soup, dessert before dinner

Hungarian Goulash with Dumplings

The next morning we went to visit the translation office, getting to know the supervisor of translation for Hungary.  As we discussed our need for subtitles on the Self-Reliance videos, we authorized them to spend a small amount of budget to do the Hungarian subtitles on the My Foundation videos.  He had the first one ready for us the next day.

We then went into Budapest, nearly a two hour trip, and met with the mission president.  He is a wonderful man who had a strong understanding of the Self-Reliance initiative.  He wanted to know how he could help Self-Reliance in the two districts under his responsibility.  We discussed the importance of the District Committees and discussed doctrine.  We also shared ideas about how self-reliance can be part of missionary work, including preparing returning missionaries.  This was a totally uplifting visit and we left feeling blessed to have this great leader in Hungary.

We spent the later afternoon visiting some sites in Budapest.  We saw some beautiful views, an old Church and Castle Hill.  We were fortunate to see a film crew doing some filming and even saw some horses and riders from the filming.  As we drove to and from Budapest, we had non-stop conversation with the Bradshaws.

Matthias Church - Roman Catholic built in 1015

Overlooking the Danube and the Parliament building in Budapest, Hungary

Close up of the Parliament Building

Horses and riders at Castle Hill

By the Matthias Fountain near Buda's Castle

We have found instant friendship with Elder and Sister Bradshaw.  They are an amazing missionary couple from Beaver, Utah.  Throughout these past few days we have been impressed with their strong missionary spirit and faith.  They are making things happen in such a short time in Hungary.  I just want to share one of the tender mercies that they have already experienced.

Elder Bradshaw served the past 4 or 5 years as a bishop in the Beaver prison/jail.  He shared many miraculous experiences that he had in helping inmates to change their lives and their hearts.  In this process he has gotten to know Elder Bruce Hafen very well.  Elder Hafen is an emeritus member of the 1^st Quorum of the Seventy who supervised the work with inmates for the Church.  After receiving their mission call, Elder Hafen  shared his personal notes and experiences when creating the first stake in Hungary 12 years ago.  He also wrote a letter of introduction for Elder Bradshaw to the stake president in Hungary.  All of this has helped open doors with the stake president, which we have found very beneficial.  We continue to see how the Lord is in the details of all that we do.  He certainly has been involved in preparing Elder and Sister Bradshaw to be the right people to be our first Self-Reliance missionaries in Hungary.

One of the advantages of spending time together, even in the car, is the chance to get to know these special details.  Certainly we have taken advantage of this time with the Bradshaws to not only share thoughts about Self-Reliance but to also get to know them on a very personal basis.

The next morning we went to the apartment of Elder and Sister Bradshaw.  They had arrived in Hungary less than two weeks previous and had not yet been in their apartment for one week.  We started training from our prepared agenda..   Finally we left to participate in a district self-reliance event in the district to the south of them.  On the way we stopped in the city of Sopron and visited with a senior couple, who also recently arrived in Hungary.  They showed us around, including a visit to an old Roman wall from 200 AD that has recently been discovered.  As we started our little tour, we were hit with a thunderstorm that drenched all of us, even with umbrellas.  It made for a very memorable activity that will not be soon forgotten.

Roman wall dating back to 200 AD

Sister Allmen, our thunderstorm tour guide with a broken umbrella

Sisters Bradshaw and Rueckert drying out their shoes after the thunderstorm

After we dried out a little, we proceeded to the district self-reliance event.   This turned out to be a very uplifting experience.  In attendance was the district president and one of his counselors, two branch presidents with one counselor each, the district SR specialist, district RS president, four SR participants and two more proselyting missionaries.   We spent the first portion of the meeting reviewing SR doctrine.  As each sub group discussed D&C 104;15-17, the spirit bore strong witness of the purpose and truth of the self-reliance doctrine.  As we shared some of the next steps to better implement the initiative in this district, the District president and branch presidents were fully supportive and accepted the commitments that we suggested.

District Leaders discussing the Doctrine of Self-Reliance

Outside of the Church with the District President and District Self-Reliance Specialist

We went not knowing what to expect, but the spirit guided the meeting and we were all edified.  Already one of the branches has returned with a proposed date for a self-reliance devotional in their branch.  We finished with immense gratitude in our hearts to be able to witness the power of God in that meeting.

We then began our drive to the other end of Hungary for activities on Saturday.  We stopped in Budapest for the night after driving for almost 3 hours.  We left the next morning early to participate in a Hungarian fair in Edelény.  There we met with Elder and Sister Moser, humanitarian missionaries, and a group of Roma (gypsies) that they have been helping in a gardening initiative.  Generally, the Roma people have been severely persecuted in Hungary and throughout Europe.  However, this group is trying to be a productive part of society.  We will begin involving them in self-reliance groups at their request.  We found them to be delightful.  They prepared their food from the vegetables that they had grown in their gardens, which are part of the humanitarian project.  Last year they had won first place in the food competition of this festival.  After being fed by them this year, we believe that their chances this year are very good also.  We were also able to watch some Hungarian dancers and music as part of the festival.

Award winning Hungarian Soup cooked by the Roma

Cooking sauce for the pasta

Roma people preparing food

Eating the soup from the Romas at the Hungarian Festival 

Young Hungarian Dancers

A little older Hungarian Dancers

After the festival we drove to Miskolc where we held another Self-Reliance event in this district on the eastern part of Hungary.   In this meeting we had four separate self-reliance specialists, one branch president and six missionaries (4 junior, 2 senior).  Although the meeting went well, we did not feel the same level of commitment that came form the priesthood leaders on the previous day.  We could feel the lack of the priesthood keys.  It gave us something to discuss and problem solve with the Bradshaws.

Presenting to the District of Debrecen

After finishing this meeting, we began the 4 hour drive back to Gyor.  We decided to take an alternative route, following the Danube River on the north of the Country.  It was a beautiful drive and it gave us a chance to cross the river briefly to visit the country of Slovakia.  Along the way we found an amazing Catholic Basilica.

River Danube, with Slovakia on the other side

Elder and Sister Bradshaw with Slovakian Flag flying on monument 

In Slovakia

Estzercom Basilica, largest Church and building in Hungary

Sunday morning we went to the Gyor ward and participated in a Self-Reliance presentation during priesthood and relief society time.  We invited E/S Bradshaw to participate in part of the presentation with us.  Once again the spirit was strong.  A large group of members, almost 50, attended.  Many of them committed to bring a friend to the Self-Reliance devotional scheduled for the following Sunday.  The bishop finished our meeting with an inspiring commitment to what we were sharing.  Once again we felt extremely blessed to see individuals embracing the self-reliance doctrine and processes that we shared.

We then drove back to Budapest and participated in a meeting of the Budapest Stake Self-Reliance Committee.  This was led by the stake president that had been introduced to Elder Bradshaw.  This stake had held one SR group at the end of last year, but had been fairly inactive in Self-Reliance this year.  As we shared doctrine with the Committee, the stake president’s vision was opened and he took charge of the meeting.  He committed to share this type of doctrinal discussion with his bishops and asked the stake relief society president to do the same with the sisters.  We just sat back in awe as he used his priesthood keys to do so much more than we had ever hoped for.

Budapest Stake Self-Reliance Committee meeting, including a few participants by Zoom

As we completed our four days of meetings with both districts, the mission president and the Budapest stake, we feel that there is much hope for the future of Hungary and the Self-Reliance initiative.  They are in good hands with the watchful care of Elder and Sister Bradshaw and very capable priesthood leaders.  We couldn’t have scripted a better visit and training opportunity with Elder and Sister Bradshaw.  They are the right people to help strengthen strong priesthood leadership and implement the self-reliance initiative fully in this blessed country.

Elder and Sister Bradshaw with Sister Rueckert outside of our train back to  Vienna

After our meetings, we went to the train station and boarded a train back to Vienna.  It is while riding on this train that I am writing this blog.

A continuation of our journey will be included next week.

German Friends, New and Old

Another week based in Frankfurt. However, we made the trip down Highway 3 a couple of times, visiting new and old friends in Bavaria.  Otherwise, this was Sister Rueckert's week to teach, speak and touch individuals lives.   I (Elder Rueckert) love to see the Lord work through her.

Our new friends in Nürnberg, the Frenzel family

 This was our week for our monthly senior missionary devotional.  This month we were privileged to listen to Janet Nelson, a member of the International Young Women General Board.  Janet has been living in Frankfurt for the past year with her husband who is the Church Legal Counsel for the Europe Area.  Previously, they lived in Brooklyn, New York, where Jeff Nelson also served as the Stake President.

Sister Nelson shared with us her feelings and experiences as a member of the International Young Women General Board.  She was called while living in Brooklyn and continues to serve while here in Europe.  This Board includes sisters from around the world, so her move to Frankfurt made it fit even better.

Her presentation gave us additional insights to the roles of these sisters and the strong desire of the leadership of the Church to understand and serve young women all over the world.  All were deeply appreciative for the additional insights that we received.

Sister Nelson sharing her experiences with the Young Women General Board

This week continued to be a week of preparation for upcoming events and for the transition to the new couple that will replace us.  As we ponder the work which we have the opportunity to do,  we are trying to organize it in a meaningful way.

Sister Rueckert has taken all key materials that we feel that new missionaries should have and put them on flash drives to be shared with the 10 new missionary couples arriving in the next six months.  We have also taken time to create a standard template for training new missionary couples and have created a more complete role description of the many things that we are doing as Area Self-Reliance missionaries.  As we organize our thoughts on paper, our thinking becomes more clear and complete.  We pray that the work that we have experienced can continue to grow as we leave our missions.

We also received word of a new couple that has been called to serve in Portugal.  We will be meeting with them for the first time tomorrow.  That will bring the number of filled senior missionary complements in the Europe Area to 14.  We only have one open complement, needing to replace our couple that recently returned home from Italy.  Part of our work this week has been to make sure that all incoming missionaries have accommodations, vehicles, cell phones, etc.

We also spend our available time to plan training activities that we will take part in the next few months.  We will begin this week with a visit to Hungary to be with Elder and Sister Bradshaw who recently arrived as SR missionaries.

On Tuesday, we had our monthly Zoom conference with these wonderful missionaries.  This included E/S Bradshaw for the first time.  This meeting had 10 couples.  The numbers should increase to 14 in the coming months.

That night we continued our meetings with three recently returned missionary sisters.  We love these meetings and are always inspired by these good sisters.

One of the major events this week was Sister Rueckert's turn to teach the Senior missionary Book of Mormon Class.  She has been working on this for the past 6 weeks.  I felt like the lesson was very inspirational, as she shared specific insights that came to her during her preparation.  Of course, the comments from others always contribute greatly.

Sister Rueckert sharing her Book of Mormon lesson on 1 Nephi 8 to 12

 Sister Rueckert has summarized some of her thoughts below:

As I read 1 Nephi 11:1 in preparation for leading a discussion on 1 Nephi 9-12 in the Book of Mormon, my thoughts center on the word "pondering".  I decided to do extensive studying on pondering and meditation. The favorite quote I found on this subject is from President McKay. "I think we pay too little attention to the value of meditation, a principle of devotion . . . Meditation is the language of the soul.  It is defined as 'a form of private devotions or spiritual exercise, consisting in deep continued reflection on some religious theme.' Meditation is a form of prayer . . . Medication sone of the most secret, most sacred door through which we pass into the presence of the Lord" (McKay 'Consciousness of God," 80). I committed myself to pounder more and have found it to bee like a muscle.  The more you e exercise it the stronger it gets.  I bear testimony that this is true.  I invited all who attended Book of Mormon class to do the same.

Right after the class completed we left for a quick trip to Nürnberg, two hours away.  We wanted to make one more visit to the regional genealogical society to print out more family registers for several of the family lines that we had identified.  We had hoped to spend a few hours there and then to visit Hanna Frenzel in Nürnberg.

First of all, we arrived at the genealogical society only to find that they are on vacation this week.  I forgot to verify that they were open and now we were in Nürnberg two hours before our meeting with Hanna.

However, as always, the Lord knows better.  We decided to make the visit to Hanna Frenzel earlier than originally scheduled.  Let me give a little background before I go forward.

As we have been working with the genealogy of our friends Werner and Dorota Rückert (who we have been able to confirm are our distant cousins), we have pursued his mother's line.  Werner told us that his mother's grandmother was without a father, being raised by a single mother.  When we visited the local parish last month, we were able to find the marriage record of her daughter.  On this record the parents of the bride were both identified with some annotations that the bride had been accepted into someone else's home.  There was also an annotation with a ? if the parents had been divorced.

As I put this information into Family Search, the identified father was already registered as part of a family that had temple work completed.  The marriage record showed this girl as being born in 1915.  The father that we were able to identify in Family Search died in World War I in 1916.  This seems to clarify the situation of the girl being raised without a father.

As I looked at the entry of the father in Family Search, I saw that it had been updated in June by a Hanna Frenzel.  In the month earlier, parent information had been updated.  As I looked further, I could see that the niece of this person had temple ordinances completed while still alive.  I realized that I had linked into living members of the Church.  I was elated.

I went ahead and sent a message through Family Search to Hanna Frenzel.  She returned the message.  Finally, her nephew who speaks good English gave me a call.  We then arranged for this meeting.

So even though we were not able to visit the genealogical society, we had extra time to visit with Hanna.  Her nephew Markus came over with his parents a little later and we had a joyous meeting.  If all of our facts are correct, Hanna is a second cousin once removed to our friend, Werner Rueckert.  Hanna's parents were baptized into the Church in Nürnberg in the 1930s and their family has been faithful members ever since.  Hanna and her nephew Markus agreed to go with us on our next visit to Werner and Dorota next month.  We are delighted that we will have some German members of the Church who are relatives to work with Werner and Dorota.  We don't know where this all will go, they have accepted missionaries to visit with them.  We have since communicated with Werner and Dorota who have agreed upon this visit on September 23.

While we were visiting with this special family, we found out that Hanna's brother Helaman had been baptized in 1950 by Christian Schwemmer.  I told them that Christian Schwemmer was my home teaching companion when I was a youth.  We have since confirmed with Christian's daughter in law (who met in our MTC language training two years ago) that Christian was the branch president in Nürnberg in 1950 and moved to Utah in 1951.

In further discussion, Helaman asked us if we knew J. Peter Loscher.  Sister Rueckert and I were in shock.  I explained that J. Peter Loscher was my bishop when I was baptized and the bishop that sent me on my young mission.  He was an amazing man who served many missions for the Church, including one as a building supervisor of construction missionaries in Germany. Helaman Fenzler was one of these construction missionaries that served with the bishop of my youth over 50 years ago!

Helaman Frenzel and Elder Rueckert, two friends of J. Peter Loscher

We also discussed the Self-Reliance initiative with these good members.  Our new self-reliance missionary couple will be based in their ward when they arrive in Germany in October.  I believe that they will be well received into this ward.  It is amazing to see how the Lord can orchestrate all of this.  This day was full of tender mercies, not what we had planned, but certainly what our Heavenly Father had arranged.

As we drove home that night, we were full of amazement at the goodness of our Heavenly Father.  We drove by a field of sunflowers and saw beautiful sunsets.  In a way it was our own experience with the beauty of the sun, just two days after the U.S. experienced the Solar Eclipse.

Field of sunflowers with the setting sun

Our German solar eclipse, sun being covered by the clouds in a beautiful sunset

On Thursday night, we were able to host Elder and Sister Orlowski in our home for dinner.  The Orlowskis are Public Affairs missionaries.  They have lived in Park City and know our dear friends (Elder) Richard and Mary Cook.  Elder Orlowski shared his conversion story which occurred after many years of patience and love of his wife, while he was a top business executive.  In his words, he liked being with the lifestyle of the members of the ward much more than the lifestyle of business executives.  This was an inspiring evening for us.

Tuesday morning Sister Rueckert woke up with a bad cramp in her thigh.  It only hurt  when she walked.  We hoped that it would go away but it did not.  As the week progressed, it got worse, although the pain was inconsistent.  We feared that there was something related to her previous hip replacement issues.  Finally on Friday morning, Elder Garrett helped me to give her a blessing.  In the blessing she was promised that she would be healed and that she would be able to complete her mission without difficulty.  The blessing was totally fulfilled! God is good!

Friday night we went on our weekly date night at our local Italian restaurant.  We saw two missionary couples leaving and found three more in the restaurant.  We joined them for a delightful meal.

On Saturday, we had been invited by our dear friends Christian and Marianne, who live in the house built by my great grandfather, to come down to Bavaria for a barbecue.  We gladly came.  Marianne had been hospitalized for three months following a nervous breakdown.  She is fighting a daily battle with the devil inside of her head.  However, her love is so strong and her spirit is so tender.  We feel of their love and count them among the very best of friends that we have made in Germany.

At the barbecue with Christian and Marianne

Homemade Raspberry cake

Homemade Lemon Cake

At this time they are not ready for additional missionary lessons, but their kindness is unparalleled.  Their English is improving and our German is improving so we had a wonderful visit for over 4 hours.  As I had some individual discussion with Christian, Sister Rueckert was truly ministering to Marianne.  She certainly shared eternal principles that can be of help, coupled with love.  At the end of the visit, Marianne accepted a priesthood blessing.  In the blessing, I felt impressed to cast out the devils that have been persecuting her.

After long hugs and a few tears we shared goodbyes for the last time during our mission.  However, we made arrangements to continue our friendship with Skype calls, etc.  They even opened their home to us if we are able to come back to Germany for some family history visits next year.  Once again, we left fully edified by the goodness of our Heavenly Father.

Today, we were once again invited to be fed.  Elder and Sister Cottam invited us to come to Sunday dinner. They are so kind and treat us so well.  Last week we ate good Brazilian beans.   This week we have been fed by good friends, old and new.  They have fed us with delicious food and more importantly, love.

When the week started, Sister Rueckert received an email asking her to speak in Sacrament Meeting this Sunday (today).  So once she was able to finish the Book of Mormon lesson, Sister Rueckert went to work on this next assignment.  She spoke about Hope and did a wonderful job.

I stand amazed at the eternal companion that I have been blessed with.  What a joy to serve a mission with her as my missionary companion. As missionaries we generally serve together and she always does her share and more.  This week, I was mostly an observer as I watched her teach the Book of Mormon, talk about hope and minister to a friend in need.  She is the first to say that she is only sharing what she is prompted to share.  I am thankful that she is in tune with the Holy Ghost and has learned to listen to and obey promptings.

Popcorn, Beans and Worms

We spent an eventful week in the Frankfurt area with plenty of Brasilian Feijoada, MMMN, missionary opportunities and visiting Worms where Martin Luther was tried almost 500 years ago.

In front of the world's largest memorial to the Reformation

We had a very busy week preparing for our first Area Self-Relinace Committee meeting chaired by Elder De Feo, our new Area Presidency member.  Our initial follow-up of non-members who participate in Self-Reliance groups has identified 35 non members who were baptized.  This result has brought great interest from those who lead us.  We wanted to get the right data and the right presentation.  We also completed a study of active Self-Reliance stakes, identifying those wards that have had SR groups in the past year and those who have not.  We were able to show that those who did have SR groups have a significantly higher improvement in the number of temple recommends than those who did not.

Our Area Committee meeting on Thursday morning went very well.  Elder De Feo is an inspirational leader who is very committed to the Self-Reliance Initiative.  Our manager, Tom King, was also able to meet with him earlier in the week and found him to be so helpful and supportive.   These interactions were the high spots of an otherwise good week.  It gives us hope for continued progress in the months and years to come.

We also met with a few of our missionary couples this week, including the new couple recently called to serve in Germany and our couples in Manchester England, Sweden and Romania.  Our couple in Romania, Elder and Sister Winder, are Pathway missionaries who have helped with Self-Reliance .  They are finishing their mission in the next few weeks, so this was our farewell Zoom conference.  We have had an outstanding relationship with the Winders.  We will miss them but definitely plan on keeping in contact with them after our missions.

Our last Zoom conference with Elder and Sister Winder, serving in Romania 

On Tuesday we had perhaps the biggest thunderstorm that we have seen on our mission.  The sky was black and we could see the water coming down in sheets. The wind blew excessively and water was coming across from right to left as the trees were bent over.  The photo below was taken after the worst of the storm, but gives a little idea about the storm.

Water in the parking lot of our apartment, photo taken from our office window

Our evenings were filled with diverse and rewarding activities.  On Tuesday night we participated in our first MMMN, which stands for Mid Month Movie Night with the other senior missionaries. These have been held since the first of the year, but in every case we have been traveling.  This is the first month that we were home when the movie night was held.  It was fun to participate with other senior missionaries and enjoy salted and caramel popcorn with a good clean old movie.

Senior missionaries awaiting MMMN

This month's movie selection, starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly

Wednesday night we had our manager Tom King and his wife Raelene to dinner.  They have become dear friends as well as our boss.  We had a delightful meal and evening together.  Sister Rueckert had cooked a Brazilian Feijoada, based on Tom's request.  He had eaten feijoada with us on another occasion when his wife was out of town.

On Thursday evening we were scheduled to hold our My Plan for Returned Missionaries meeting with the 4 recently returned sister missionaries in our ward.  We had scheduled this for 7:30 pm.  We have also been trying to visit a newly assigned home teaching family, a less active sister who had joined the Church in Brazil some years ago.  She had agreed to come to the Church on Thursday at 7:00 pm to visit with us.  Our plans looked good on paper, so we proceeded to the Chapel.

Before leaving home, I had called Izabel, our HT family, to confirm that she would be there and got no answer, so I left a message.  She later responded with a text and said that she would be arriving closer to 8:00 pm.  We decided that we would need to divide and conquer.  When we arrived at the Church we heard that the Stake was holding a High Council meeting and the the recently returned missionaries would be reporting to the High Council.  We thought that there would be no problem, we would meet with them after their reports.

When the stake president arrived, he invited us to join in the chapel to listen to the reports from the sisters.  When the meeting started, soon after 7:30 pm, the first sister began her report, which was more like a mini talk.  As she was finishing, Izabel arrived.  

I left Sister Rueckert in the High Council meeting and visited with Izabel, her friend, Salvatore and her son who was visiting from Brazil.  We had a delightful visit.  The son appeared to be fairly active in Brazil and Salvatore, an Italian non member, seemed interested in learning English.  He has been a big help in providing employment to members of the ward, working with our My Job Search facilitator.  He owns an Italian bakery and has great access to the hidden job market around Frankfurt.

While talking, the son asked if we had an English Book of Mormon.  Since our stock was in our apartment I went to a little library in the Church which has many Book of Mormons in different languages.  I had difficulty finding an English book, so I invited the three of them to help me look through boxes of Books.  In the end, Salvatore took a Book of Mormon in English, Italian and German.  Isabel took one in Portuguese and German and her son took one in English.  So in one visit, I placed 6 Book of Mormons.  I invited them to come to Church and participate in my Portuguese Self-Reliance Group during Sunday School time.  They accepted! After more than a half hour with them, I said good bye and returned to the High Council meeting.

The three visitors with the six Book of Mormons 

With Isabel and Salvatore

When I returned to the High Council meeting, the last of six sister missionaries was still speaking.  They had been richly fed by these great sisters, four of which are from our ward.

Group photo of the six sisters and other stake members.  The four from our ward are on the right of the photo, with the stake president on their left.

The meeting completed after 9:00 pm with a message from the mission president.  The night didn't go as planned, but the results were better than we could imagine.  We rescheduled our next training with the sisters for this coming Tuesday evening and we all went home.

Friday was a slow day in the office.  By the afternoon all employees were on leave and the missionaries had gone on a temple trip or had other commitments.  Sister Rueckert and I and Jennifer, our admin assistant, were the only ones on our floor.  This will all change in a few weeks when the holiday (vacation) time is over.

Closed doors and empty offices

On Saturday we decided to visit Worms, Germany, which is less than an hour drive from our home.  The history of Worms goes back prior to the birth of the Savior.  It is known for a few different things:

• (From Wikipedia) A pre-Roman foundation, Worms was the capital of the Kingdom of the Burgundians in the early 5th century and hence the scene of the medieval legends referring to this period, notably the first part of the Nibelungenlied. Worms has been a Roman Catholic bishopric since at least 614, and was an important palatinate of Charlemagne. Worms Cathedral is one of the Imperial Cathedrals and among the finest examples of Romanesque architecture in Germany. Worms prospered in the High Middle Ages as an Imperial Free City. 
• Among more than a hundred Imperial Diets held at Worms, the Diet of 1521 (commonly known as the Diet of Worms) ended with the Edict of Worms in which Martin Luther was declared a heretic. 

Since this is the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, we had wanted to see as many of the Martin Luther sites as possible.  This became an easy visit to make and it was a beautiful day, weather wise.  We thought we would start our visit at the original Catholic Church, Wormser Dom.

Photo showing two of the four towers of the Worms Cathedral

We visited the inside of the Worms Cathedral and did not see much related to Martin Luther.  We then remembered that the Catholics don't focus on Martin Luther.  We then walked to the Luther Denkmal.  

"This is the World's largest memorial to the Reformation, dedicated in 1868. Luther's hymn "Ein feste Burg is unser Gott" (A Mighty Fortress is our God) is chiseled in stone, frames the bronze figures. Dr. Martin Luther towers over early "Reformers", the "pre-Reformers" surrounded by princes and scholars as well as figures representing the important cities of the Reformation and Post-Reformation eras."

Sister Rueckert in front of the entire memorial

In front of the center of the Luther Denkmal memorial

We then visited the site where the 1521 Diet of Worms was held, in the Heylshof Gardens behind the residence of the Bishop of Worms, just north of the Worms Cathedral.   We enjoyed pondering the importance of what transpired at this location as Martin Luther was asked if a collection of 25 books, including the 95 Theses, was his and if he was ready to revoke his heresies.  This occurred on April 17, 1521.  He acknowledged that the books were his and asked for a day for him to consider the answer to the second question.  After a day of prayer, the following occurred as stated in Wikipedia.

 On 18 April, Luther, stating he'd prayed for long hours, consulted with friends and mediators, presented himself before the Diet. When the counselor put the same questions to him, Luther first apologized that he lacked the etiquette of the court. Then he answered, "They are all mine, but as for the second question, they are not all of one sort." Luther went on to place the writings into three categories: (1) Works which were well received by even his enemies: those he would not reject. (2) Books which attacked the abuses, lies and desolation of the Christian world and the papacy: those, Luther believed, could not safely be rejected without encouraging abuses to continue. To retract them would be to open the door to further oppression.^[3] "If I now recant these, then, I would be doing nothing but strengthening tyranny".^[3] (3) Attacks on individuals: he apologized for the harsh tone of these writings but did not reject the substance of what he taught in them; if he could be shown from the Scriptures that he was in error, Luther continued, he would reject them. Luther concluded by saying

Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen.^[4] 

Private conferences were held to determine Luther's fate. Before a decision was reached, Luther fled. During his return to Wittenberg, he disappeared.

The Edict of Worms was a decree issued on 26 May 1521 by Emperor Charles V, declaring:

For this reason we forbid anyone from this time forward to dare, either by words or by deeds, to receive, defend, sustain, or favour the said Martin Luther. On the contrary, we want him to be apprehended and punished as a notorious heretic, as he deserves, to be brought personally before us, or to be securely guarded until those who have captured him inform us, whereupon we will order the appropriate manner of proceeding against the said Luther. Those who will help in his capture will be rewarded generously for their good work.

Outside of the ancient residence of the Bishop of Worms

Sister Rueckert in the Heylshof Garden, with the Worms Cathedral behind her.

Elder Rueckert standing in the Heylshof Gardens with the words of Martin Luther inscribed below

Wall surrounding the Heylshof Gardens and the Cathedral of Worms

We studied the history on our way to Worms, which made this visit all the more meaningful.  We are thankful for the courage of Martin Luther which led to the conversion of most of Germany to the reformation.  In the following years, Martin Luther translated the latin Bible to German for the masses to have access.  He also converted many high ranking princes who supported his position.  Eventually, the Catholic Church had minimal control or influence on the geography which is now present day Germany.

Worms is also home to the oldest surviving Jewish cemetery in Europe, dating from the 11th century. Since we were there on a Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, the cemetery was closed.  The photos below were taken from the outside of the locked gate:

Tombstones in the Jewish Cemetery of Worms

Closed gate on the Jewish Sabbath

Interesting landmark on the bridge going into Worms, made to represent the Worms Cathedral

The trip to Worms was wonderful, unfortunately somewhere in our visit I lost my coin purse with over 100 Euros in it.  I guess a trip close to home became a little more costly!

We arrived home by around 3:00 pm, allowing Sister Rueckert time to cook another Brazilian Feijoada.  We enjoyed a dinner with two other missionary couples that evening at the apartment of Elder and Sister Garrett.  Elder and Sister Rich and Elder Garrett had each served their young missions in Brazil.  We were all missionaries in Brazil in 1972.  Germany becomes an interesting place for this Brazilian missionary reunion.

Sister Rueckert, Elder Rich, Sister Rich, Sister Garrett, Elder Garrett

 After a wonderful evening we took our left over Feijoada home and had leftovers today (Sunday).  That makes 4 out of the last 5 days that we have eaten Feijoada.  We love it but have probably had enough for the rest of our mission.

For a positive Sunday update, Izabel and Salvatore did come to Church today and were the focus of our Sunday School class.  He also joined to help the other investigator, Jan, understand some work opportunities and met with the Bishop.  Salvatore also said that he had started reading the Book of Mormon in Italian.

We hope to see them again next week.  We feel like I was inspired to invite them on Thursday.   Salvatore has asked to attend an English class, which will be offered by the missionaries.  We will continue to pray for them.  We love being missionaries!