Baptism

This picture was taken December 16, at the baptism of Werner Funke by Elder Frank. Bruder Frunke's 11 year old daughter is also pictured. About 3 1/2 weeks ago Bruder Funke came into the Center one Thursday evening as we were preparing for the meal after Institute. We assumed that he was the father of one of the Stake youths who were having a rehearsal for the production of the musical "Saturday's Warrior". In our conversation with him we realized that this was his first time ever in our church. About 13 years ago he had been visited by missionaries and given a Book of Mormon. He had read it and believed it to be true and wanted to learn more so we called the young elders and he has been attending church and other functions with his daughter, has had the lessons and committed to baptism. He commented to us last week that he wasn't used to so much goodness. The service today was a very spiritual experience.

Christmas Decorations in our Apartment

You can see how we've decorated our apartment for Christmas. We have a Nativity that Mike and Kate sent us, an Advent Wreath that Janet made at Relief Society, a tree, and a few other things.

Dortmund Weihnachtsmarkt

Lübeck

These pictures are from an outing to Lübeck on December 6th where we took the train from Hamburg and back. Pictured are all the Hamburg mission couples and our member guide and husband. We had a walking tour of a few parts of the city, visited the famous Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market) at the Heiligen Geist Hospital where you see a wood cutter who reminded us of Geppeto. We had a lovely dinner together in an old famous restaurant where the sea captains gathered during the Hansa period.

Our Neighborhood Fresh Market

All these pictures are taken at our neighborhood fresh market which is open every Wednesday and Saturday morning year round. It's fun to shop for fresh produce, flowers, etc. We bought our pumpkin for our Thanksgiving pies there. We will miss this market when our morning walks go back to Timpview Drive. (Click each picture to see it larger.)

Thanksgiving in Germany

For Thanksgiving this year we invited all 8 missionaries in our District and Andrea, a young single adult who has been here for several months visiting her sister. Andrea is from Mexico and Sister Gomez is from Spain. They had a great time speaking Spanish and after dinner we talked about favorite Thanksgivings and Christmases from the past and sang some Thanksgiving hymns and even some Spanish songs together. It was a GREAT day!

District Outing to Dortmund Zoo

This was a District outing to the Dortmund Zoo. It was a beautiful day and after seeing LOTS of interesting animals, we came back to our apt. for a taco party!