We are in Germany!

Sorry folks...we're still getting the hang of how to insert into this blog...first few photos and comments are out of order.

We were delayed getting to Germany because of severe storms and cancelled flights. We felt like our new home was going to be Chicago!
We were able to get a hotel for that night but there wasn't another scheduled flight for 24 hours. The one compensation (for Gary) was that there was the last half of a BYU game on the hotel TV. Go Cougars! It was a really long trip! But as the billboard says, "Push forth fair lady!"

(Backing up in sequence...)

Shortly before we left for California we had a chance to spend some time with Elder Oaks and his wife at Clint and Nadine's. Elder Oaks was the Area Authority in Europe until recently and gave us a good heads up about what to expect. Basically, he said you will work long hours but have the best experience of your lives. He is very excited about the work in Europe which has seen a 20% increase in converts recently. Most of this has come from the young adult sector. The next day we set off in our RV for California. Great chance to see some of our California kids before boarding a plane for Germany. Elder and Sister Dye met us at the airport and here we are (above) with our large amount of lugguage in front of our new apartment building. It's probably significant that Elder Dye (an MD) was on the phone a good part of the time we were at the airport. He was speaking with an ill missionary. It was a problem that he was more than happy to refer on to us. Mel made a follow up call to a missionary on Christmas Day to set an appointment for her with Gary the following morning.

They already have our name on the door. This is outside our office in Frankfurt. No pictures of the inside yet.

We were treated to a traditional German Christmas meal on our first night in Germany (Christmas Eve). The lady on the right is 80 year old, Elfie Herrmann. She was born in East Germany and had interesting stories of life under Hitler. The other two are fellow medical missionaries. Robert & Raija Maddock. A small world experience - Robert is the uncle of Gary's South Jordan Doctor:) Raija is from Finland. Fantastic food and a great evening.

Our hosts on our first night gave us some candles to brighten our apartment and German chocolate. (One was White chocolate with cocobut) How did they know? We also found that our pantry and fridge had been filled with food for a week. We kept asking who to thank and wanting to pay whoever back - but everyone claimed it was someone else. This is all a great blessing since stores are closed for 5 days over the holidays and we won't be able to set up our German bank account, etc. until Jan 4.

Living room all set up when we arrived. Two TV channels in English (CNN and BBC).

Eating area. Three chairs in the apartment. Definitely won't entertain large groups but plenty of room for guests. Usually people bring their own chair and everyone shares what they have--so come on over!

The bathroom is like the rest of the apartment. Everything necessary. Nice and clean, but small by US standards. (Everything but the size of the rent anyway.)

A pair of Senior Humanitarian Missionaries, Blaine & Chris Colton, invited us to go with them on a trip to Heidleberg (about an 1 1/2 hours from Frankfurt) on Saturday, our second day in Germany.

Here we have Elders Colton and Taylor in front of part of the Heidleberg castle. I expect we will see several more castles before our 18 months is up. Beautiful and interesting.

The shops are fun too. Just need to keep the Sister missionaries moving along. Lots to see (and buy). Bread store in Heidleberg. (gotta love that hat!) Don't think we will go hungry in Germany.

This morning was our first Sabbath in our new German ward. Great people and a great Spirit. We had a headset and listened to an English translation. At the end of Sacrament meeting everyone stood to sing the closing song (in German of course). After the first verse, Gary started to feel dizzy and had to sit down. The feeling didn't go away and pretty soon he found himself lying on the bench with his legs being held up. Gary totally passed out--a new experience. Happily, there were two great physicians in the row behind us (part of the missionary medical staff) who were a great help. Paramedics were called but when they got there Gary had recovered and is fine. (However,Melody is still shook up!) Apparently medication for high blood pressure works better in Germany and Gary had such low blood pressure that he'd blacked out. The paramedics were great and didn't charge for their service. We both received priesthood blessings.

Interesting way to start off in our new ward! In general, our experience so far is like what living in the Celestial Kingdom must be like, except lousy TV and we miss our family. There are great people here who look out for everyone else.

Tomorrow we start in the office, but it may be a light load for awhile since the country is still on holiday status and we haven't connected with Mission Presidents yet. Good time to get settled.

Love from Melody and Gary

MTC Experience

Dec. 7th 2009 we entered the MTC. Here's what we learned-It's a good idea to wear a heavy coat in 4 degree weather!

We should be pointing to Frankfurt. It's pretty much in the middle of the Europe area where we will be serving. Others from our group of Senior Missionaries were posted all over the world. It's truly a world-wide Church.

Gary was sought for counseling even while in the MTC. Young Sister Grover is considering Psychology as a profession. We learned a lot about teaching with the spirit from these young returned missionaries!

Training took place in groups large and small. This is our "district"
with returned missionary Elder Kime as our instructor. We were humbled by his knowledge, experience and ability to access the spirit.

This is part of the larger group with which we trained. There was a sweet spirit working with so many folks who'd left home & family to serve the Lord full time.

Wish there was room to post photos of the total experience! The staff of returned missionaries waited on us like a cruise ship - offering cushions for our seats or a footstool. One day, in the cafeteria, a young outgoing missionary stepped forward to take our tray to be washed. They directed us "seniors" to the front of every line. We felt such love and service towards us. Photos or dialogue cannot convey the powerful spirit we felt being among such wonderful people who are all committed to the same cause. It's really a miracle to see so many young people recently just ordinary kids turn into a powerful force for good.

We bear testimony that this is the Lord's work to offer his gospel to all who will listen.

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas, remembering He whose birth we celebrate. Frohiche Weihnacten, Gary & Melody

Thanksgiving 2009

We had a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving Day--including the rare opportunity to be together with all of our ten children, spouses, and most of our grandchildren. What is more important than family and friends? Nothing except the gospel which makes it possible for these relationships to be forever. Above we have a sub-group of us in the kitchen of the church in Walnut Creek getting things ready for our Thanksgiving celebration. Looks like the fun has already begun.

This is part of our family at dinner. Seems like there is always an adult table and a kid table. Kids are at other tables--or more accurately--running all over the church. Playing hide and seek and running around in a Church building seemed to be more fun for some than eating a great Thanksgiving meal.

Here are Mom and Dad and the 10 kids in all their glory. Pretty great group and we love them all and are proud of them!

It was Kerry's 40th birthday and as part of the weekend festivities, a group went to San Francisco to see Wicked. Their costumes made an impression and they had a great time.

No. We aren't in Germany, but the adventure has begun. We left our home in the very capable hands of Neil and Sarah Peterson on November 11. You see our new home above. We left in our RV hoping for a little time to decompress after the somewhat--actually to be honest--very stressful process of cleaning out closets and getting rid of the truly amazing amount of stuff accumulated in just 7 years in Utah.

Our first stop was the Calico Ghost Town just outside of Barstow. No ghosts but an interesting place to stop.

Next up, we left our RV at the dock in LA and took a cruise to Mexico for seven days. Two reasons for the cruise: (1) we got a last minute killer deal and (2) we thought the tiny mini-room on board would help us prepare for a small apartment and tight quarters in Frankfurt.

Here we have Elder Taylor catching up on Preach My Gospel before the MTC. He is convinced this kind of meditation is spiritually uplifting.

Still don't look or act much like missionaries. On a tour of Mazatlan. Temp in the 80's--high 40's that day in Frankfurt.

This weekend we are in El Dorado Hills with two of our daughters, Jenn (Smith) and Heidi (Balderee) and their families. John and Heidi moved into their new home (recent move from Utah) one day before our arrival. Now we have two kids in El Dorado Hills both in the same ward. Thursday is Thanksgiving and a rare treat for us. All 10 kids, their spouses and the majority of our 22 and 2/3 grandkids will be celebrating Thanksgiving in Walnut Creek. Great times.

"The envelope -please..." Gary kept the "envelope" until I got back from the Japan trip with Heidi on Sept 26th! I was pretty jet lagged that night- but very happy to have that official letter with the notification that we are going to serve in Germany.

This is our first attempt at setting up a blog. We hope our friends and family will be interested in our experiences in Europe. We will be serving a mission for our church in Frankfurt Germany. We will be there for 18 months-starting in Dec. 2009 and complete our assignment in the summer of 2011.The older photo above is a test of this system and how it will look...It's been 4 years since we've been to Europe! Here we are along the Amalfi coast of Italy in 2005 just before Rachael "Royce's" wedding in Sicily.

We hope to be able to travel from Frankfurt on weekends. There are a lot of countries within a few hours of that central location.