OCTOBER 2014 - Wilhelmshaven, Germany
Steady - steady - do not faint! We are doing Sep & Oct in the same week - (Feb to March 2015) - just a little behind now. Only 4 months to go to get all caught up. So much to do - so little time:-)
Got a quick snap of Elder Wilde (our DL) while we stopped off for lunch at one of our favorite places near the Bahnhof in Rastede, just outside OL toward WHV.
Yes - this is a beer mug (Beck's), but this i what is a fine missionary drink called Spetzi.
On 3rd Oct, there was a 2d annual District OL Table Tennis Tournament in Osnabrück (OS). It is about 1.5 hours drive from WHV and we had a young man (25) in our branch who was baptized last November, but who is not very active in church attendance. As he teaches Table Tennis to help support himself, I offered to take him to OS to compete. He thought it would be fun. It was:-)On the left of the picture is Hartmut Lehman - the District Executive Secretary. On the right is Br Jahnel (Nelson). It was fun to see some of the older guys (not me) who could really play quite well.
And the winners are: I don't know them all, so will have to forego the names.
In the front row L-R is an unknown young sister, Br Nelson Jahnel, Br Rudolph Münzer (who was recently released as Branch Pres OL and became our Pub Affairs Rep for the District), Br Lehmann as above, and others I don't know.
Brother Jahnel took the winner trophy. This is him with his certificate, medal and trophy. We will keep the trophy at our Branch Bldg for a year until Oct or Nov 2015 when the next tournament takes place.
The next FUN thing was to get a birthday box from Texas. This box contained goodies and presents for both Sister (Brigitte) Porter and me (Elder :-))
I think the BLACK was intentional and did not choose to ask in order to confirm our suspicions!
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YES!!! I do miss Chips Ahoy cookies.
The Altoids were nothing personal, just can't get them in Germany - at least not where we are.
The confetti was a nice touch and we felt touched by the thought. We carefully swept all the pieces up and sent them back to origin in the next letter/card we sent:-)
What goes around comes around does come to mind.
The slippers were for Gigi and she was very happy as the pair similar (handmade) were already very worn. Favorite things seem to go fast:-) Incidentally, the old ones are definitely on their last threads.
BIG THANK YOU FROM GIGI!!
However, I too have some bragging rights - this tie and card are from Elders Wilde and Williams for my birthday.
This is a great opportunity to point out to those who have started the rumor I am tough on missionaries - simply are WRONG!!
(Don't anybody say bribery schemes don't work)
May I have the card please??!!
On 18Oct the District RS put on a Sisters' Day. Many of the Branches got assignments to do a presentation table and be available to talk about it.
WHV RS did a table on being prepared:-)
The table:-)
The SISTERS:-)
L-R: Margaret Langer, Brigitte Porter, Amy Woolcott, Maria Langer, Marion Sandmann
Great job ladies:-) They did us proud.
Our next pleasant adventure was when Brigitte's cousin came to visit us from Göttingen.
Wolfgang Schwigon is her cousin, son of Werner and Ruth who lived most of their lives in OL.
On the right are: Christiana Schwigon, Gigi and LKP.
I got a poor picture of Christiana, Wolfgang and Gitti on the seawall of the North Sea coast in WHV known as Südstrand - or the south beach. Nope - not Miami:-)
Wolfgang also took a pic of Gitti and me standing in front of the Kaiser Wilhelmbrücke. He did a much better job, but then the sun was also in the right place as opposed to getting a shot as above:-(
We also went to OL on a trip to visit Uncle Werner and Aunt Ruth Schwigon's grave site.
Br Lehmann cared for Aunt Ruth for a long time as a faithful home teacher. He told Gitti a lot about this period of time and also was kind enough to come show us where they are buried.
Just wanted to get this pic of Gigi at Südstrand during an October fall day. The wind was blowing and it was definitely brisk!!
We also attended our weekly District Training Meeting in OL. When we have ZTMs, then that replaces a DTM - got it? :-)
Here is Elder Wilde leading the meeting.
Below L-R: Sister Porter, Elder Schaal, Elder Rasband, Elder Wilde, Elder Williams, Elders Smith & Rich, Elder and Sister Benson.
These sticky notes are not to help Elder Wilde's memory - it was part of the lesson and messages.
I simply don't recall what it was about.... Perhaps I need the sticky notes myself:-)
We also had been holding a "Home Evening" for branch members who wished to attend at our apartment. Here are Elders Wilde & Williams, Sisters Margrit Schmidt and Maria Langer.
Elder Williams "beanie" was knitted by a member who is hindered and does knitting as a means of supporting himself thru the German social system. Note German flag colors:-)
The next exciting thing was in our own neighborhood, right across the street from us. The following pics were taken from our living room window.The trees produce chestnuts, which crunch A LOT under one's feet, is really messy and we are glad they are on the other side of the street:-)
And the leaves remained for weeks - but the tree trunk pieces and branches were all cleaned away the same day. Good work, but less shade for Heinz and Margaret who live across the street. We wave at each other when we go out and they are there. If you look closely, you can see Heinz "supervising" from their balcony seat:-)
To close this issue, here are a couple of pictures of the walkway along our branch building. Autumn leaves indeed .... a BUNCH of them. This will continue thru November and will take a lot of efforts to rake/sweep them all up, but them in large, heavy plastic bags and take them away to dump them in a special spot - not NOT the mayor's front lawn:-)
See you later - be well and allow yourself to be happy too:-)
