Welcome to the Mission!

Today we welcomed Elder and Sister Newman into our mission. They arrived early this morning and have been spending part of the day in the mission office being oriented in their new assignment with President and Sister Stoddard, Elder and Sister Bangerter, Elder and Sister Woolsey, and the Tech Elders, They will be serving as the Young Single Adult couple here in Frankfurt and they will also be assisting the work in the mission office. Welcome to our mission!

Visit from Elder Bednar

Today we were privileged to receive a visit from Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve. Every missionary in the Germany Frankfurt Mission was in attendance. Many missionaries woke up at early hours to arrive on time at the meeting which started at 10.00 am in the Frankfurt stake center. Missionaries were excited to hear from Elder Bednar, and many of them probably expected to hear quite a bit about the introduction of iPads into our mission. Though iPads were discussed, the main focus of the meeting highlighted the missionary purpose as stated in Preach My Gospel, which will not change with the introduction of iPads in our mission.

President Stoddard summarized the meeting with Elder Bednar as follows:

"As Elder Bednar met with us on Friday and talked plainly about Objects and Agents we realized that it really is not about iPads, or Filmstrips, or Word strips, or pens. It is about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our charge to invite and help others accept this great message. What an amazing trust the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve, and the Lord have in us to responsibly use digital technology. Two scriptures come to our minds when we think about this. First is Alma 34:32: 'For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God…..' The habits we establish on our missions with the use of digital technology really will prepare us to meet God. The second is Alma 13:28: 'But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear…...' The two biggest fears of church leaders are that iPads will cause us to forget our purpose and that they will cause us to become distracted.

"Not only did we feast upon the words of an apostle, but we were taught how we can improve our teaching. He taught us beautifully about preparing to learn, interacting to edify, and inviting to act."

Elder Bednar was accompanied by his wife, Sister Bednar. Brother Allen, the executive director of the missionary department was also in attendance, accompanied by his wife, Sister Allen. Elder Teixeira, accompanied by his wife Sister Teixeira, and Elder Dyches of the Europe Area Presidency were in attendance, as well as Elder Leimer and Elder Fingerle, Area Authority Seventies. Elder Fingerle will begin service this summer as president of the Germany Berlin Mission. The Frankfurt Germany Stake President, President Cziesla, also attended the meeting.

Thank you Elder and Sister Gubler

Today the Germany Frankfurt Mission said farewell to Elder and Sister Gubler. They have been serving with the Young Single Adult Center in Mainz, as well as serving as the office manager and financial secretary in our mission office here in Frankfurt. We are going to miss them a lot, but they return home in preparation for their next assignment to serve as mission president and wife in the England London South Mission. You will be in our thoughts and prayers!

Mainz Elders in the Newspaper!

On April 15th, 2015, the Allgemeine Zeitung published a video of a reporter, Thomas Toth, that spent the day with Elder Fitzgerald and Elder Blanchard in Mainz. The reporter followed them as they prepared for the day, visited members, and talked to people on the streets. The reporter also asked them questions about why they are serving a mission here in Germany and about basic beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You can see the video report at the following link:

Video Report

Congratulations to the Mainz Elders! You did great!

Farewell Elder and Sister Seelos

Thank you so much, Elder and Sister Seelos, for the service that you have given in our mission! Elder and Sister Seelos were serving in the Gera branch of the Erfurt District, one of the easternmost areas of our mission. After traveling around Europe a bit at the conclusion of their service, Elder and Sister Seelos made one last stop in Frankfurt before their departure for home.

Elder and Sister Seelos with President and Sister Stoddard

Abu Dhabi Youth Temple Trip

This week missionaries from around the Frankfurt area were able to support a group of youth from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. This group of youth was able to attend the temple and participate in baptisms for the dead. Because proselytizing is not legal and no full-time missionaries are stationed in the United Arab Emirates, missionaries from the Frankfurt area put together activities for these youth including a question and answer session, mock lessons, a "Mini-MTC" experience, and missionary trivia games.

Youth group with the full-time missionaries

Departing Missionaries - 9 April 2015

Today we had another great group of missionaries leave our mission. This group included Elders Moeller, Norman, Bennett, Boyd, Miller, Ishimatsu, Hobson, Hawker, Anderson, Muller, Brandner, Cassell, Allen, and Jensen, as well as Sister Burri. The leavers enjoyed a visit to the Frankfurt Temple, dinner with President and Sister Stoddard, and a final testimony meeting, at which each leaver had the chance to bear his/her testimony. Thank you so much for all of your hard work! We love you and we will miss you!

Missionary Arrivals - 8 April 2015

Wednesday, April 8th, we welcomed nine new missionaries into our mission! They arrived at the airport in the morning around 9.00 am.

 After the new missionaries arrived, they were shuttled to the mission office where we had their mission orientation, followed by interviews with President Stoddard and a street display in downtown Frankfurt.

In the evening they enjoyed dinner at President Stoddard's house with all of their trainers, though no assignments had been made yet.

They all got to go to bed a little bit early to catch up on the sleep that they missed, and then Thursday morning they were paired with their trainers and received their first assignment to an area in the mission. Everyone being transferred from all areas in the mission met up in Frankfurt and then all the missionaries headed out on trains and buses to their new areas! May the Lord bless you!

Elder McKay with his trainer, Elder DeMass

Elder Davis with his trainer, Elder Ellis

Elder Domine with his trainer, Elder James

Sister Whicker with her trainer, Sister Terry

Elder Olson with his trainer, Elder Summerhays

Elder Rowe with his trainer, Elder Awerkamp

Sister Meyer with her trainer, Sister Pettitt

Elder Lesher with his trainer, Elder Palmer

Elder Kay with his trainer, Elder Meinhardt

Welcome Elder and Sister Johnson!

We would like to warmly welcome Elder and Sister Johnson, who will be serving as the new Military Relations couple in Grafenwöhr. Herzlich willkommen in Deutschland!

Elder and Sister Johnson with President and Sister Stoddard

Thank you for your service!

We would like to thank Elder and Sister Gordon for their service here in the Germany Frankfurt Mission. They finished their service here in Germany and flew home today.

Elder and Sister Gordon with President and Sister Stoddard