Dresden, Germany

This last week we spent in Dresden for a Mission President's seminar with the 16 other mission presidents from the Central Europe Area. It was a great week and we were privileged to learn from Elder Ballard, Elder Tingey, Elder Huntsman, Elder Hafen, Elder Paul and Elder Wondra. The spirit was wonderful and we learned many things and came home determined to love and help our missionaries even more and to also rededicate our efforts in furthering the Lord's work in this wonderful country.

While there we had the opportunity to attend the Freiburg Temple. After a year of not being to the temple that was a real treat!

On Monday we had the opportunity to tour the City of Dresden, take a boat ride down the Elbe river and also learn about the Saints who lived behind the iron curtain. Their stories of faith and courage from the days before the Berlin wall was torn down, were very inspiring. There have truly been many Pioneers when it comes to the Lord's work. Dresden was Germany's cultural center before World War II and just before the war ended the British bombed it so badly the city was destroyed and some 300,000 people died within a few days. However, even with all this devastation, the Lord protected and helped His people. I loved learning about them!

It is amazing to see how the German people have restored and brought back the beautiful buildings and culture to this once devastated place. We really enjoyed our visit and time here. We have new idea's for teaching our missionaries and as much as we loved our trip we were very glad to get back to the mission and our work.

 

Farewell Bucharest!

Cobi, Zoey and Hannah stand in front of the "People's Palace" and give us a last farewell!

"We won't miss the drivers in this city!" they said. "But we will miss the people, the fountains, the missionaries, the gypsy wagons and all the castles! Wish we could have found Dracula!"

It was a trip of a lifetime and a treat for us to have them. Their last night here they went with Elders Andrus and Shuey and taught a lesson to Sora Gorzo. They taught her about faith, the five points of the Plan of Salvation and testimonies. We were very proud of them. And of course, grateful to our elders who so patiently taught and helped them!

Well, its back to the serious stuff for us! 

Exploring

I had to add just a couple more photos of the kids. Here they visit a fortress in Oradea. They explored, hiked, played and learned about things they had only read in books before this trip.


As a final farewell to the city of Oradea, Zoey holds up the scriptures, and like Samuel the Lamanite, preaches to the citizens of Oradea!