Senior Couple's Conference in Schwerin

Last week, we had a lovely trip to Schwerin - a city about 140 miles north east of Berlin in what was East Germany. We met there for a couple's conference with the 15 couples serving in our mission.  We were joined by President and Sister Kosak and our special guest speaker - Manfred Schütze and his wife. 

After we arrived and checked into out hotel, we went out for dinner together.

These pictures were taken in front of the restaurant.

Our rather long wait for dinner (a group of our size was a challenge for the restaurant ) gave us a chance to get better acquainted with the other couples and find out how missionary work is going in the cities they serve in.

Ah... food glorious food has arrived!

We were especially hungry because we left Berlin that morning at 8:00 AM and stopped in three cities (Neubrandenburg, Greifswald and Rostock) on our circuitous route to Schewrin.  We made these stops to do apartment checks of the elder's and sister's apartments in these cities.  We checked six apartments and didn't have time to stop for lunch.  We snacked on apples and granola bars on the way and we were ready for our dinners when they finally arrived!

The next morning we went together to the Scherwin Palace located on an island in the Scherwin See (the largest lake in the area).  This beautiful palace has its beginnings dating back to the 10th century and was the residence of the Dukes of Mechlenburg who ruled this part of Germany for centuries.  Today it is the seat of the Landtag State Parliament as well as the showplace for the city.  

 Parts of this huge castle are open to the public for tours.  Our group took the tour and then wandered around the beautifully landscaped grounds.

We saw some beautiful swans.

 This shows a view of one of the many turrets of the castle - this one overlooks the lake with the Orangery (a cultivated garden of exotic plants) in the background.

A view from the balcony into the Orangery.

A view of the lake

After our visit to the palace, we walked to the nearby church meetinghouse and enjoyed a picnic lunch together.  

Group picture time!

Brother Schütze and his wife are on the far left.

Our group with our German hats!

After lunch we had the opportunity to listen to Brother Schütze speak.  He served as Mission President of the Germany Berlin Mission from 1991 - 1994.  He also served as the Church Education System Director over the Europe East Area during the time we served our first mission.  He was also a Patriarch to the Russian speaking people.  He has a remarkable life story which is referenced in a conference talk given by Boyd K. Packer in the October 2001 Conference.  Here is a link to that talk: 

http://www.lds.org/ensign/2001/11/the-book-of-mormon-another-testament-of-jesus-christ?lang=eng

Our conference continued with workshops and opportunities to share ideas and questions with each other.

Then we gathered at a restaurant for dinner that evening.

The next morning we came together again at the meetinghouse for breakfast and the opportunity to hear messages from President and Sister Kosak.

They shared interesting information about growing up in former East Germany and they also gave us a spiritual uplift with their messages and counsel.

The conference was closed and we all left for our home cities.  We drove home on the back roads and we saw a lot of beautiful scenery on our way.