We had our first Zone Conference. All the missionaries in our "area" is considered a zone. We had good-bye talks from the couples who are leaving us soon. The Hackings, Proctors, Healys', Swensen's and Burt's. In such a short time, we have grown close to these couples and will be saddened to say good bye to them as they head back to the United States. We also had a most inspiring talk from Elder De Feo of the Quorum of the Seventy.
He extended a blessing to us as couples that our "families will be blessed" while we are gone. Our children and our children's children will be blessed because of our service here in Germany. He said our families will be protected. This does not mean all will not go wrong but eternally, the Lord will take care of them. He also spoke of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the simplicity of the Lords gospel. He said the work of the Lord is simple. "Satan is the master of complexity"
This is Dr. Burt, the area/mission medical Doctor. He takes care of all of us. What a great man. He offices on our floor and he and Margie are a wonderful, fun couple. We will miss them! He told us stories of one missionary that was ill and Dr. Burt did not know what was wrong. He had gotten a call from the missionaries mother asking why her son was so "tan." The boy was complaining of fatigue. Dr. Burt looked further and said this young man had a disease that could have later in life killed him had he not ran certain tests on him. He said he felt guided which tests to run and was guided to know what the disease was that this young man had. I can't remember the disease but apparently this could have been life threatening later in life had it not been taken care of now. They caught it, got him on the medication he needed to be on and probably saved his life. Dr. Burt said he could not have done this without prayer and the guidance he felt from the Lord.
This is a picture of the catered lunch that was given to us after we heard the talks and had a zone picture taken.
The picture below is Jay Steineckert and his wife, Leanna in the grey talking to Anita Canfield. Jay is the mission psychiatrist. He's a very gentle kind man. We went to dinner with them to get to know them. They are a really great couple. Anita Canfield got her just a month ago from San Clemente California.
After we had our zone picture, everyone visited with each other before lunch. This is Gary Sabin and his wife Valerie. He is a general authority (70), in the church and also serves as the 1st counselor in the area presidency. They are wonderful people. We met them both, briefly at Lake Kora (Mark and Jacqui's place in upstate NY). Valerie stopped in at our office yesterday and we had a nice talk about our children and home.
This is our next door neighbor Paula Thomas on the left (with her husband, BYU law professor, David. Ruth Rich is looking at Paula and laughing. I love these two ladies and they've quickly become great friends!
This picture below is a picture of Elder De Feo (General Authority of the Seventy) speaking with Sister Lindsey and her husband who just arrived last Saturday. She and her husband are originally from Michigan and now reside in American Fork Utah. We had them for dinner the other night and had a lovely time with them. This is their fourth mission. They have served in the Egypt, the Philippines, Salt Lake City and now Frankfurt! They work for the welfare dept.
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