Christmas has come and gone with decorations, Christmas markets, parties, delicious food and wonderful music - but of course the best of all is a celebration of our Savior's birth. A most fitting time to remember his birth and life as we are in the midst of the darkness of the short winter days and recognize that He brought light into the world through His gospel, His atonement and His love. How grateful we are to be serving a mission in His name.
These past weeks and days have been busy for us with activities, dinners, programs, the YSA Christmas Social and a couple's conference in Dresden. Here are some picture highlights from our busy month of December.
Weihnachtsfeier - Ward Christmas Party
The Spanish speaking members of the ward presented the nativity complete with costumes and narration from Luke in German and Spanish.
The ward committee had worked hard on decorations and the menu was potluck which meant we had foods from Germany, Africa, The Philippines, Spain, Brazil and American foods as well.
The children made and decorated Christmas Trees/hats from Christmas paper and then placed them on the stage - the curtains were drawn... and then opened for the children to find bags of goodies left under their tree by Weihnactsmann (Santa)!
The ward presented Christmas gifts to the missionaries - ties for the Elders and winter scarves for the Sisters!
YSA Christmas Social
The menu was finger foods:
Chicken wings, cheese filled potato pieces, bratwurst, chips and salsa, pickles and olives, fresh fruit, cookies and candy. Hot chocolate and hot spiced punch (and yes! spiced not spiked!) to drink.
The wings, bratwurst and stuffed potato fingers disappeared quickly!
Most everything was eaten and the YSA lingered to socialize (our goal) so we felt that the evening was successful.
Weihnachtsmann (Santa) helped with all the preparations!
We received a thumbs up from one of our YSA and that is always nice!
Senior Couple's Conference in Dresden
President and Sister Kosak spoke to us and we were favored with a beautiful Christmas song from the Dresden missionaries : El Shaddai. This photo shows President Kosak thanking the elders and sisters for coming to our conference and singing for us.
The Senior Missionaries of the Germany Berlin Mission
That evening we went to a most interesting German restaurant in the cellar of what was an old church. We ate sausage from Saxony, parsnip soup, roast duck, pork, chicken, potato dumplings, rotkohl and many other dishes from this part of Germany.
The next morning our group bundled up (it was cold and windy) and traveled to a hill overlooking Dresden, Meissen and the Elbe River. It was here that President Monson (then Elder Monson) dedicated and re-dedicated Germany for the preaching of the gospel on
April 27, 1975.
You can see glimpses of Meissen and Dresden in the background.
We gathered together as the dedicatory prayer was read. It was a sacred experience and we felt that we are a part of the great work that goes on today in fulfillment of the blessings and prophecies that were pronounced so many years ago.
We visited the Dresden's Weihnachtsmarkt before returning to Berlin. This Christmas market is the best market we visited.
Weihnachten - Christmas Eve
We were invited to the mission home to join with President and Sister Kosak, Sister Kosak's parents and the other couples serving in Berlin.
We enjoyed a delicious meal of Racletts (melted cheese on vegetables with grilled meats). This was served with tasty pickled onions, dried tomatoes, stuffed mini peppers and lots of other yummy things. We shared Christmas memories from our childhood and sang Christmas Carols in English and German. It was a special evening shared with wonderful people.
President Kosak and Hal
Christmas Day - Dinner at a member's home
Along with 6 of the young elders and sisters, we were invited to a member's home for a Christmas dinner adventure!
"The goose is done, the goose is done" and dinner is served!
We ate roast goose (a traditional German Christmas dinner) for the first time. It was surprisingly good (in small quantities). The goose was served with potato and stuffing dumplings, gravy, rotkohl and good German bread.
Our host is seen here with Elder Wiesner and Sister Mumford. He shared lots of stories and we enjoyed a pleasant afternoon.
An array of desserts included German pastries and traditional German Stollen and Baklava....YUMMY!
When we thought we were finished with the meal.. our hostess brought out ice cream for the final course! We all ate way too much!
Musical Events
We attended Johann Sebastian Bach's Weihnachts Oratorium - Christmas Oratorio presented by Humbodt University Choir and Orchestra - This beautiful music was performed in the historic Gethsemane Church in what used to be East Berlin.
Here we are with our friend Susan at The Nutcracker Ballet. Susan was kind enough to organize the tickets for all of the musical events we attended. She also served us a lovely and healthy dinner before the ballet. This production of The Nutcracker was beautiful - the sets and costuming were the best I have ever seen. The dancers were skilled and the whole ballet was lovely!
On New Year's Day we attended a wonderful presentation of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. This was Hal's favorite of any of the cultural events we have attended since coming to Berlin. It was awesome (in the true sense of the word) to hear the orchestra, choir and soloists perform this beautiful symphony. The director was astounding as he directed the entire symphony without music - he had the whole thing memorized!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
2014 will be a great year in Berlin!
