April 6, 2008

We have enjoyed the General Conference sessions thus far. The broadcast is 8 hours behind Utah but we feel watching it "live" is a great blessing. It was great to hear Elder Christofferson sustained as a new member of the Quorum of the Twelve. Much to our surprise our former Paraguayan mission president, Eduardo Gavarret (currently in Lima, Peru) was sustained as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. I guess we didn't pick that up from Pres. Uchtdorf's pronunciation. It is a French name but must be pronounded with a Spanish accent! Also from Pam's old stake Elder William R. Walker and Elder Allan F. Packer (little "P" as he was fondly remembered) were also sustained to the First Quorum of the Seventy. We had met and shaken hands with Elder Christofferson when he visited Paraguay. We love the way the Church is organized and also follows order. We also sustain Pres. Thomas S. Monson as the Lord's annointed prophet in our day. For anyone interested you may find more about General Conference at
http://newsroom.lds.org

It is snowing here today! It makes it lighter and brighter though! We have had more snow in the Spring than we had in the Winter. However, the trees are leafing out and we know Summer must be coming. Otherwise, it is a really big joke on us.

Knowing that our schedule will change dramatically this coming week we took off on some adventures. We visited a little town on the Moselle River called Bernkastel-Kues:


It would be pretty hard to find a quainter place. There were lots of half-timbered buildings and a castle and a lazy river. Here are some more photos:



This is a major wine center in Germany and grapevines are seen on the very steep slopes of the hills on each side of the Moselle Valley (Moseltal). We didn't taste the wine but we did have a fine German lunch of Schnitzel mit Sahne, Pommes Frites, und Salat, also Flammkuchen mit Schinken und Tomata! Of course there was Italian Eis for dessert, which we ate first! Shnitzel is merely breaded pork or beef and Sahne is cream - which they eat alot of here. Pommes Frites are French fries. Flammkuchen was a kind of very cheesy pizza.

We also visited a large castle/old church/community at Burg Lichtenberg about an half hour away. This was first constructed in the 1400s and additions and other buldings have been continually added since. It was first owned by earls of Austria, then the dukes and then the French and then back to the Germans. There is a Protestant Church from the 1700s still standing. Right now a youth hostel and a restaurant are in operation. In order to reconstruct parts and maintain the place it should really bring in money. Here are some photos:




















The knaves and the peasants often had picnics and outdoor barbeques:



Sometimes for sport or fun, they threw people into wells. Watch your back!


There's a handsome knave now!


Our moving day is this coming Wednesday. We leave Baumholder with heavy hearts but feel so blessed to have worked here. We will miss the families and the deploying soldiers will be prayed for. Our new home is in Landstuhl:
Fabrikstrasse 15A
66849 Landstuhl

Hopefully the internet and phone will be up and working soon after the move. And we will be getting a new APO box number. Oh, there is a castle at Landstuhl!

Have a happy April 6th! It is our belief that this is the real Christmas, the real Easter, the day the church was restored to the earth, and possible many other great events.

Love,
Sister (and Elder) Karn