Week 44

Last Sunday we began a determined effort to walk every day in order to strengthen John’s legs and I’m happy to report we have done something daily. His Nordic Walking Sticks have been a boon in helping to stabilize him so that he doesn’t always feel he is going to topple over. We think it can’t but be good for him (and me!) and with consistency bring about some good benefits to both arms and legs.

John and his "sticks"

Some of our outings have just been through the interesting neighborhoods, and others have been with a destination in mind—like Vivaldi for Indian dinner Thursday evening with the Schmidts. They like to go with us and don’t mind our slow pace. We walked down through the Tierpark (quasi zoo) in a beautiful clear, cool day, and chose to sit outside under their canopy since we figured it would be stuffy inside. 

Schmidts (from Austria, Austrailia, Canada, and Lehi) and John

The owner, from Punjab, India, waited on us and brought us wonderful lentil soup, tomato/mozzarella salad (Italian—not Indian) before we shared a curry chicken dish. It was all yummy and a fun outing. While we were eating it began to rain and poured down torrents! I love this kind of weather—as long as I am under cover but we were a little concerned about getting home! We visited and ate and then the rain cleared up and we walked home. How’s that for timing? Lots of blessings!

Yummy!

Today we walked through a close-by neighborhood and found an old DDR path overgrown with wild flowers that we followed until it led us back out onto our street. I am proud of John’s having the courage to persevere in doing whatever it takes to keep moving. I don’t doubt but what it would be much easier to give up and go to bed.

We have been busy at the temple with another project for the president to organize books with all the documentation on both sealers and temple workers, putting together a page tracking each one, with a picture, that can be reviewed when someone is coming to serve their shift that he doesn’t know—especially useful with those from out of country (the Russians are coming again next week!).  I have also made spines for all his binders so that they all look the same rather than the mishmash he inherited from his predecessors. It is always fun to work together with John. I do a lot of the work but John helps me when he can and he has the vision of design that helps a lot in making things look great.

Sometimes Saturdays can be very slow at the temple and as workers we often joke about needing to have einen Bus come so we can fill the temple! Well yesterday a real bus did come bringing saints from the Erfurt district and things were hummin'. It was exciting. I helped out in an initiatory session quickly put together to ease the numbers in the endowment room.

We have been greatly enjoying our assignment in handling the sealings for the temple. Yesterday was a particularly choice experience when a young couple came from Erfurt to attend the temple, doing the endowments for her grandparents. They asked if it would be possible to have a little sealing session after the last session so they could do the sealings for the couple and for their son—her father. John had attended the session to observe his newest trainee on his first time being the session leader so didn’t know about the extra sealing until he came off the session and got word to go directly to the sealing room so he could be the son.

We love our temple!

We had some difficulty in printing the sealing card for the couple and so were delayed for half an hour. Our sealer was Brother Beer, from Berlin, who had been very willing to stay to perform the ordinance, though it was delaying his long drive home. Nothing was working and we just couldn’t get NFS to let us print. I finally prayed that we would be able to find some way to do this important work for which the couple was so anxious. At the last minute the patron, quite new to temple service, realized she had a yellow card, but didn’t understand that that was precisely what we needed to go forward. Finally we were able to get everything together and Brother Beer spoke to the couple, who were so embarrassed for holding everything up, with tears in his eyes of the joy he felt in being able to perform this sacred ordinance, and that the grandparents had been waiting for it, and a little delay on our part was no problem. We all felt a great outpouring of the Spirit as they were proxy for her grandparents and then John stood in for her father to be sealed to his parents. It was awesome. Afterwards, everyone hugged everyone, and the young couple extended loving invitations to John and me to “Please, please come to Erfurt, and visit us there.” We won’t likely be able to make that trip, but they will return in October before we leave and we will look forward with joy to seeing them again.

Saying Goodbye from Germany to Springville. We love you, Pop!

 We have been closly following along from a distance while John’s Dad draws ever nearer to “graduating” from his mortal experience. We have been able to call and talk with him and Mom every week or more often, but in the last couple of days his systems have been shutting down and he is soon to leave us. Lorenz and Crystal have sent pictures wherein we recognize how similar he appears to my Mom when her “turn on earth” was nearly over. Today the family fasted for him that he might be released to go forward. This evening after having our prayer to conclude our fast, we called hoping to talk with Pop—he has been unresponsive for several days now, but we knew that, even so, he would be able to hear us.  John’s brother Paul was there at Becca’s and captured this sweet picture of our having this last change to tell him tell him goodbye and that we love him and to thank him for the wonderful example of love and commitment he has always been to us and our family. We are so grateful for his legacy.

It has been a wonderful week for us. Highlights have been coming home Friday to three letters shoved in our door from grandchildren and in receiving today a wonderful email from our Adam in response to Grandpa's wonderful legacy! We hope your week has been full of good things too.

Love, John & Sue