In the movie The Wizard of Oz, there is a scene near the end of the film where Dorothy takes a peek behind a curtain and sees a man pulling levers and running the special effects. A voice then commands her: Pay no attention to the man behind the screen.
In the Wizard of Oz, the man is the Wizard himself.
In the Germany Frankfurt Mission, the man is Elder Lynn Bangerter, mission secretary; and the person standing next to him helping him pull all the levers is Sister Eileen Bangerter.
You know when you got that first e-mail from the mission welcoming you to Germany and telling what to do when you got here? That letter came from the Bangerters.
You know that grey “Geistlicher Ausweis,” your instructions on getting your visa, information on what to pack etc.; you know where that came from? Again, it came from the Bangerters.
For nearly 18 months, whenever a missionary came stumbling off an airplane or whenever a missionary packed up and went home, chances are the Bangerters sweated bullets to make sure the servants of the Lord arrived and returned exactly when and where they were supposed to.
And now, they’re going home, back to Tempe, Arizona, to be exact, to return to their roles as Mom and Dad, Grandpa and Grandma and brother and sister. Fifty years ago, Elder Bangerter served here when the Germany Frankfurt Mission was known as the West German Mission.
Or as we said then, Die Bestdeutsche Mission.
It still is, thanks to the service of missionaries like Elder Lynn and Sister Eileen Bangerter.
Vielen Dank für Ihren selbstlosen Dienst und alles wofür Sie uns getan haben!
Thanks for making it such a great ride for all of us!
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| Sister Eileen Bangerter and Elder Lynn Bangerter on a P-Day in Heidelberg |
