8Dec13

Hello/Hallo again - see how close the languages are??? :-)

Last MOnday (P-Day) we took the Elders and visited the WHV Marine Museum. The staffer a the cashier had pitty on the young men as she charged them as 'students' - so saved a couple of Euros. It was cold and windy, but the sun was out and we enjoyed being out and about and NOT being in rain:-)
Some of the WWII German ships - the one on the far right is the famous Bismarck, but I didn't quite get it all with my panorama shot. I'm still working on technology every day - mostly with good websites to see what we can do to reach out or learn to be more effective in what we are here for - spread the great news of the Savior's personal restoration of His church in this Dispensation of time. There are so may etceteras on that one, that whole websites and blogs are now up and reunning :-) But I digress:-)


This was interesting in the museum - this is a special edition of the Hamburg Zeitung (newspaper 1May1945) announcing that Der Fuerher (Hitler) has fallen. The story line is that he died, bravely fighting the Bolsheviks and at the helm in the Reich's Chancellery.
Not exactly the way I was taught history or the historical reports and special programs that have been  shown.











This is a bell from one of the ships, but I don't know which one. Not the Bismarck, as that one was sunk and I don't think the bell was recovered, but I'm only guessing on that one.







U-Boats played a large role in WWII, but also were being used a great deal in WWI.
This pic is of a WWII vintage U-Boot (German spelling) for Underwater Boat.  The Germans did not have a mega U-Boot as has been located recently in the Pacific that the Japanese made during that period of WWII.
Nevertheless - the propeller is much taller than I am and was driven by about 3 engines - or two with one for other things. Again, I don't know - haven't done any homework on it and have other things to search for on my steep learning curve over here:-)






The "Con" - conning tower.




















Care to DRIVE?













Here is a Destroyer that was commission in the German Navy in the mid-1960's. It was deployed in the Mediterranean Sea during the Iraq/Iran War as a part of NATO activities in the Middle East.

It served for many years, but I don't have the date it was decommissioned or put on display as part of the museum here in WHV. It was likely in the late 90's or even early 2000-x. 

It also had a guided missle capability as you can see from other pics below.










NOPE - This is not the guided missle.
Close - but this one goes with intent and focus that is not remotely computer guided.


















THIS IS THE GUIDED MISSLE :-)










The BRIDGE!

The Captain's quarters are right nearby and they were very nice as opposed to other areas of the ship.

The alleyway to the Captain's quarters and bridge area was labeled: Koennigsalle" or King's Alley.



















One of the many rooms in the shjip.











The Inspector General is making her inspection below deck :-)














Close quarters for the sailors, but there was a section that I felt it would take midgets to be able to get into and beds were -high in that section.

This is the Noncommissioned section.














This is one of the 'break' areas for the sailors and Non-Coms.

It would take a special person who doesn't mind close living conditions to be able to go to sea for weeks/months at a time and not go nuts.

The submarine was much worse for space. 








BUT - EVERYBODY has be aware of hygiene. Here is the washing machine. It is quite large, but I would have anticipated more than one would have been necessary to handle the volume that would be created on a ship such as this.  I also suppose that sea water would have to be used for much of the action in order to conserve drinking water - again, I'm just guessing, as I don't know what kind of technology would have been available to the ship when new, or with subsequent updates and refurbishings.

Dry cleaning was likely not available, but again ?????????

 

            STORMY WEATHER over the week and weekend.
We had a very windy week end here in WHV. Will put in a couple of pics we took up on the North Sea Coast.




The WIND was really blowing and the rain was a little icy - it really stung when it hit us in the face.
That put us in a position to only point the cameras in one basic direction - with our backs to the wind!!!

Winds were going about 120-160 Km/hr or about 70-100 mi/hr.

This is NOT high tide - that came later and Hamburg had some flooding, but WHV only had trees blown down and power outages.

























Sorry - don't know how to put in a video of this, or at least you could hear and appreciate the roar of the wind.....



























Kind of boring isn't it - Ok I'll move on.





























Crazy locals getting good an close of he ocean spray - many of them got their feet wet and in was entertaining to see them throw their arms in the air and high step in a  hurry back up the beach on the lawn :-)










You can rent a room cheap right now. This little place will be humming with people as June rolls around.  We will get some pics then for contrast - they will be the ones who have sense enough to avoid the bad weather.

OH - that's me on the right - I kept my new hat on!!!! BUT IT WAS TIGHT DOWN ON MY HEAD.



Let's get out of here and go back for some hot chocolate. They do have that here and the Struedel with Ice Cream is very good if you nuke the Struedel first:-)

Some of the other squals and storms that come up in the Branch have also been cooled and smoothed. We are back in business today at church - no closing of the services due to ice or snow - there isn't any. We are WARMER than Argyle, TX by a long shot.  Strange state of affairs.  Assumptions can be SO MISLEADING :-)

 

W

 In short- P-Days can be verrrry interesting ----

 

 

 Tschus until next installment - stay in touch....
lkporter30@gmail.com
gigiprt@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            3 December 2013
We have some catching up to do - so here we go.
Mom is down a bit with the Flu - but still going strong.... no surprise, she's awesome:-)
We have already told you a little about the bad strom at the end of October - well, we finally got all out of the old apartment for the Elders and they are in a new one. IKEA is happy to have the business

Elder Meeks likes his new clothes closet with extra drawers :-)





Elder Brindley is busy with his new desk. Busy, Busy, Busy












The fridge looks really small - BUT - it is much larger than the one they had. We miss our refrigerator at home. American home refrigerators are hard to beat - they just don't have that much space available in the apartments and homes in Germany.

The new Microwelle (Microwave) is also a very nice item for missionaries to have - few are gourmet cooks..... I don't think i know a gourmet cook around here :-)  I'm sure there are some, and we will continue to hunt for them while we are in the area:-)


The new kitchen is really nice - and yes, small.
There is not dishwasher except the Elders. They can cook then wash dishes, etc. etc. They can arragne whatever works for them - but after having cleaned up so much in the old apartment that has been occupied by missionaries for about a decade, we warned them that Sister Porter is going to inspect each month and they had better be CLEAN!!! We do much in good humor here and the Elders are great.  Finding is a constant opportunity and challenge. They are very excited to be a new area of town and a whole new field of potential harvest :-)  



As you can see -  there is still much to do and they will work on this elephant a bite at a time:-)
We started an office pool as to when they would have all in place and ready for prime time :-)
We all won as we said before December - and they DID IT!!!  We bought dinner at a local restaurant.
I find that Elders are not that much different since when I was in Austria in the 60's - they have their favorite foods that are affordable and a LOT of food. We didn't go there as we don't feel our stomachs are up to the challenges:-)  It was a fine meal and we know they enjoy going 'off budget' sometimes - when we buy, they are always 'off budget' as it is not on them :-)  We are happy we can do it.  They like Turkish Doernner which is a type of wrap of meat cut off a turning spit, then a ton of sliced cabbage - green, red - then some fine Turkish spicey sauces. Certainly makes one feel full and WARM!


We also were invited to Sunday dinner at Brother and Sister Lechner's farm. It is about a 40 minute drive along the North Sea dike line, and then backroads to their boondock location.  We plan to go back when the weather is better and get more pics - will limit these to a few.

Note the sign/tablet on the barn/building. This was quite something, made of brick in 1775, then repaired 1778. It is also of note, that another family owned the famr in 1913, which was just before WWI, which ran from 1914-1918.
The cows, horses, etc. were all in the barn, with the living quarters built into the building, but on the other end. A lot of interesting things to find as they are pretty well self sufficient for water (cisterns under ground and pumps in the cellar to keep the water going for watering the gardens, etc.)


Mom liked the wooly socks Sister Lechner loaned her. You can see that the fireplace helped a lot too. It was drizzly and cold in late November before Thanksgiving.  We walked around the farm and saw the two ducks that Brother Leschner 'talks' to in duck talk :-) They come running when he calls as they know it's time for chow.

I wonder - is it talking in tongues when you talk to ducks, s they really don't have a tongue?  Just wondering:-)

We all had a really good time - especially with all the great stuff Sister Leschner prepared.  WOW - there goes the diet.





L-R: Sister Porter, Elder Meeks, Elder Brindley, Brother Leschner and Sister Leschner - Willi and Alisse.  They are getting close to 80 now and are thinking that it may be time to sell and get into something more manageable for them. - realities of getting older aren't always welcome. We look forward to enjoying each other;s company while we can.


Speaking of Thanksgiving, This is ours:-) We spent Thanksgiving with Brother and Sister Schulz in WHV.  She is Amy Woolcott from Chicago area, and her husband Juergen grew up on the North Sea coastal area. He lived in USA for awhile, and when they decided on marriage, she moved back to Germany with him. She doesn't speak German and is very happy to have the Church tie-ins with fellow Americans - altho I really don't know if her citizenship is one or the other - or both:-)

Her forefathers had one who signed the Declaration of Independence - so she is very happy about that.  Juergen took the first picture and Elder Meeks this one with Elder Brindley looking intently on.








 Juergen Shulz and Amy Woolcott - host and hostess for turkey day - we all shared happily and she did a great job cooking.
I want to point out that Sister Porters stuffing went very fast - and we wished we would have had more of it....something to think about for Christmas????  Have to admit, the bread was different than what we are used to, but HEY - stuffing is stuffing!!

       Happy Thanksgiving to ALL.
There is much to be grateful for, and one really appreciates much of it when he/she is away from home turf:-)
Tschus until later - US in WHV :-)

1 December 2013 - WHAT A MONTH IN NOVEMBER!!!! 
At the end of October, we had a very big wind storm come thru and it took the roof off the Elders' apartment. We have spent a great deal of our time since then, making arrangements for a new apartment for them - theirs was not habitable due to all the water leaking and damage to pretty much everything.  We also worked with the Mission Home to ensure their old apartment was properly secured, and all the administrative handling to get them into a Hotel during the interim was accomplished.
    Actually, this was just going thru the steps to touch all the bases that needed to be touched to keep everyone informed and the action moving forward with all the relocating, shutting down, turning in keys, getting new keys, and a lot of etceteras.....
   Everyone worked hard and the four of us felt pretty well used up. The Elders, however, worked double as they were putting together their new apartment, furniture, etc. at the same time we had not move out of their old one.  Some of the brethren from the Branch were very helpful - especially Juergen Schulz who speaks very good English and what a difference it made for all of us.
   Here are a couple of pictures that give you a hint, but you had to be here to appreciate it:-)

 
I hope my new antenna can get me in touch with Scotty.
I need to beamed up.














Elder Brindley on the street where he LIVED! A very interesting place indeed.  The storm sure motivated us to get out and find a new place to live for them.  It took some doing to get all this - PLUS - out on the street from teh 5th floor (YES - 5th).  The City was coming by the next morning between 8am and 12-noon to trash it all into their big haul away truck. Some of this was aerialized out the back window and carried to the front vs. down all those stairs with so many loads.  It was a site to see Sister Porter waving the OK for all clear to launch another piece of furniture on to the back lawn. 



The picture on the right
is of the living room ceiling. That's ceiling
hanging down all over. Water collected
between the wall board ceiling and the 
covering and large bubbles formed.
When they broke, the rivers ran----
Ceiling at top, walls running down.
Water is long gone, but it was a mess.
Bedding, mattresses were soaked.
We took President Monson's admonition to
go to the RESCUE quite literally in this case.

Tried to load a video, but didn't work for me - one more thing to learn :-)

Below is my Happy Birthday card from our grandkids.
It will remain up on the wall in our office for the duration:-)

We also have weekly meetings in Oldenburg - sometimes District and sometimes Zone.

On the road again - Lots of clouds and lack of sunlight for good pics - we hope to do better in Spring and Summer.



















Many farmers here get a better income from wind power generators than they do farming. These things are all over the place.
Every time I see them I am reminded of ALIENS ARE HERE!!!!











Everybody wants to get a picture that is timed to let all be in the picture.
Elder College is the smiley one on the right side with the large smile. He is our District Leader. He and his compaion work in Leer, which is a fairly large Gemeinde (Branch). We meet in OL (Oldenburg) based on the buliding and the location,
Elder Meeks is the one with the very nice hat on the left - he works with Elder Brindley in WHV.








BUT - as you can see - all's well that ends well.  Oh WELL --- We hope to get some Sister Missionaries in our District, in fact in WHV if we can swing it.  Lots to do with Primary in the home, Young Women, and a lot of etc. etc. etc'as...











Elder Wolfgang Paul and his wife.
They are in charge of the Institute and YSA (JAE) program. They live hear Oldenburg and are at our meetings. Their home town, however, is Frankfurt.
He was released as a 70 recently and we feel very lucky to have him and his good wife in our midst.
They were in Russia for a few years to get the work going there. It was not easy and they are happy to be working with all of us now.
The work goes forward no matter where you are - just not fast enough:-)





       SPEAKING OF HATS!!!!
Elder Meeks is the one on the left:-)
We commend ourselves on our excellent taste in clothes :-)

He does think it's a long way from California, however.






Nevertheless - the work goes forward.
Elders Brindley and Meeks had a baptism in November - also at Oldenburg as our building doesn't have a baptismal font.


From left to right - Elder Meeks (California), Brother Nelson Jahnel (Taufling) and Elder Brindley (Utah).
Br Jahnel plays semi-pro table tennis, coaches the game, and goes to school. He is 25, born in Germany, but his mother is from Thailand. Both parents are dead and Nelson only has a grandmother left.
He jumped on Genealogy (Now Family Research? Familienvorschung) when we introduced him to it at our FHE at our home a couple of weeks ago.
He also wants to do the lesson for our FHE this coming week. It was very nice to see his excitement of discovery and his enthusiasm pick up as he begins to get to know the gospel potential and the members of the branch.

Gotta love these experiences:-)




Left ot right, Brother Crnoglavac (don't worry, it takes practice) and his son David who is 21. Did someone say YSA/JAE?
We think his father will be the Institute instructor for our Branch as we start the new year with some new programs - new to his area anyway:-)





Elder Meeks baptised Brother Jahnel.
16Nov13.
Elder Brindley confirmed him at Sacrament meeting the following week.













THEY LOOK GREAT DON'T THEY?
District Oldenburg November 2013









We were happy to be part of it .
AND - we are happy to be here.

As Edward R. Murrow used to say, 
"So Long Until Tomorrow"

(I know most of you have no idea who Mr. Murrow was, but you may find him interesting by seeing if Wikipedia has a write-up about him).  I used to listen to him on the radio whne I was MUCH younger.

Gotta get some beauty sleep - you can understand just how long that may take:-)
Gigi does it with naps only and looks great:-)  
I'm thinking that sleep isn't enough and I may have to consider  Extreme Makeover :-)  
I'm sure they would like a good challenge - I can ask them what they know about the Mormons:-)