Meet the Elders of our great district!!

We've only had three district meetings thus far (held weekly), but they have been some of the most spiritual and uplifting experiences of our mission. These young men are so outstanding. They have truly measured up to the raising of the bar. We either meet in Schweinfurt or Bamberg for our meetings, and we have a song, prayer, a "Deutsch tip" (a helpful hint on a German topic), a spiritual thought, then a lesson from our district leader. This last week was on pride, and it was one of the most well-thought-out lessons I've ever heard, helping us realize how pride can affect our relationships with companions, members, etc. I won't even try to repeat it; just take my word that it was to the point, yet extremely loving and spiritual. We then had a testimony meeting in which all of those young men expressed their very deep desires to serve, improve, and some of the struggles they had encountered with pride. I just sat there in awe. How we have learned to love them already!

These two young men are our Wurzburg compatriots. We share the ward with them, and they are incredible and dedicated. The tall one, Elder Wilson, is only about 4 weeks out, and he's doing great with his German--makes me green with envy!!
Now, lest you think this is a weekly occurrence, let me tell you how surprised we were to reach the chapel in Bamberg this last week and have scrumptious aromas floating through the building! We usually have a little bag of candy out for treats, and some of the elders bring their sandwiches for lunch, as they have to travel as much as an hour or so to get to district meeting, but the two Bamberg elders decided to provide LUNCH! And what a lunch it was! It reminded me of you, Jim, and something you would have done with your skills!

We gathered to the kitchen, and this gorgeous goose was produced from the oven! It was stuffed with homemade stuffing, and they had cooked potatoes alongside the goose (and the spuds were done to a tee--soft, yet not mushy!). I was just shocked! Neither elder had ever done such a thing before--they just got it in their heads and decided to do it! Here's the result!

Another set of elders made a yummy tomato and mozzarella salad, and we dined like kings! Elder Gabbott (Mabel Jones Gabbott's grandson--maybe great-grandson) took on the job of carving the bird, and you'd think he'd been carving the Thanksgiving turkey for years, although he'd never done such a thing before.

Here he is again enjoying the drumstick!

I won't do this to you often, as these faces and names won't mean much to you, but I will introduce our group: Left to right: Elder Riesen from Switzerland, a warm, fuzzy kind of guy; Elder Richardson, Elder Erekson, our current district leader (originally from SLC, then Philadelphia).

Elder Wilson from the Ogden area, Elder Leiss from Hamburg, Germany. His older brother also served in this mission.

Elder Walker and Elder Hobbs. Elder Hobbs is from New Mexico, came from a messed up home and is very concerned about the young people having security in the gospel. He's very tender.

And, here are our two chefs together, Elder Walker and Elder Richardson. I'm sorry I don't know more about them, but their testimonies are amazing, and that's been touching to me. They all come from such different backgrounds, stable familes, messed up families, converts, lifetime members, etc. And they've fought to be strong and it shows.

Thus the saga of the goose ends! Next week will be back to normal, but I had to show off the talents of our two chefs--they were so fun and funny! It scared me, though--I hope they don't expect a Thanksgiving dinner from me--it will never equal theirs!