YOUNG SINGLE ADULT CONFERENCE and Such
In the middle of May 2013 we had the opportunity of hosting
Stuttgart Stake’s “All-Star” Young
Single Adult Conference, a Young Single
Adult (YSA) gathering of 130+ YSA’s from the Stuttgart Stake and the
surrounding stakes. Our faithful YSA’s
had spent months preparing the details for this all-important gathering lasting
four days. Such conferences play a
vital role in getting these great young people acquainted with each other. Without such events, it would be nearly
impossible to get worthy YSA’s together so that they can marry in the temple. As a result of such gatherings, at least five,
possibly more, couples either have already gone to the temple while we have
been here, or will go in the next year.
We have been blessed so far to accompany two such couples to the Frankfurt Temple Bountiful
on that date for Louise’s mother’s funeral.
We shout for joy when these wonderful young people find their eternal
partners. Our mission president has
cleared the way for us to participate in these temple weddings, even though
there is no temple within our mission here in Germany . We go to the Frankfurt Temple Freiberg
Temple Swiss Temple Frankfurt
that the temple marriages are the crowning event for senior missionaries who
serve with YSA’s marrying in the temple.
Why deny them (us) the fruits of their (our) labor? To get permission to attend, we simply call
Pres. Miles or email him so that he is aware when the senior missionaries leave
the mission for this purpose. We have a
great mission president!
Now a bit more about the YSA Tagung (Conference) in May.
Sigi Lieven, the Stuttgart Institute director, was supposed to supervise the
food for the four-day event. Then she
got word that her six-week rehab at a spa for her back issues had been approved
by the insurance company. She would not
be available to help at the Tagung. That
meant that the major responsibility for the food would have to be assumed by
Sister Benson. And who is better
prepared for such an assignment than Sister Benson? Why no one
-- of course! And Elder Benson, by marriage, received the
major responsibility for translating the fine print on the German food
packaging and transporting the food from the stores. This would be an appropriate place to explain
that a lot of Sister Benson’s favorite food ingredients simply are not
available in Germany ,
unless one has access to U.S. Military commissaries. Unfortunately, we do not have such access,
although some of the American Military Saints help us out occasionally. But for this activity we scoured the major
food suppliers, including Metro, Lidl, Real, and other super markets to find
the specifics we would need for the quantity these 130+ famished young people
would devour in four days. It did not
take me long after arriving here in Germany to notice that these great
young people simply adore Sister Benson and love her cooking. We provide a Family Home Evening meal every
Monday eve for a bunch of cool folks who do not have FHE at home. She instantly achieved “Heroin” status among
YSA’s and missionaries alike for her culinary delights. On Monday, Nov. 25 (P-day) we will provide
our second annual Thanksgiving feast for our zone of nearly 40 Elders and
Sisters at the Institute
Building
Back to the food for the Tagung. The coup
de gras was the Monday a.m. brunch prior to the final dance event. We had three dances in four days --
they love to dance! We chose to
serve an American Breakfast with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and of course,
Louise’s legendary griddle cakes with her homemade raspberry freezer jam. We also served cut up melons and fruit. The kids (ages 18-30) went wild over the breakfast! They kept coming, and coming, and coming back
for more. We prepared a ton of food, and
they grazed all morning until the afternoon when things came to an end. To express their appreciation for our help we
received chef’s aprons with a large group photo that had been transferred to
the apron. And we got hugs all
around. Hugging is a big thing here in Germany . At first it was a bit of a surprise, but we
caught on quickly. Because we are senior
missionaries, it is legal, so long as we do not hug young Elder and Sister
missionaries of the opposite gender.
That way the young missionaries can keep their mission rules about
“arm’s length.” But the YSA’s expect to
give and receive hugs, and we think the practice is endearing. And very natural.
Since I am a member of the Stake High Council, with
responsibility for the Young Men, we often have the opportunity to help the
Young Women and Young Men, as well as the younger YSA’s, prepare for
missions. In May and July we helped with
a Mini-MTC for all the youth of the Stake, which included workshops on
scripture study, ironing shirts, sewing on buttons, contacting non-members, and
other typical missionary activities. We
were quite amazed to discover that for the most part the German youth in the
Church are well-versed in the scriptures and gospel doctrine. Their parents are doing a great job teaching
them the principles of the Gospel. We
were also amazed by the number of returned missionaries we meet in the various
wards/branches of the Stake. As I served
in Austria
nearly 50 years ago, I met only a handful of returned missionaries in Austrian
branches. There were no wards or a stake
in Austria
at that time. Now Austria has two or three stakes, and Germany has
many more.
For one of the youth activities, Sister Benson made cinnamon
twists, also legendary. We borrowed a
crank ice cream freezer from members in the Military Ward and also made
homemade strawberry ice cream for everyone.
Wow! It seemed no one had seen
ice cream made in that way. Everyone
stood around totally fascinated, and each wanted to take a turn cranking the
freezer. Some were worried that the salt
that we added to the ice was actually going into the ice cream canister. We made at least a dozen batches of ice
cream this past summer.
This past Fourth of July, we hosted a zone P-day, where we
served American hamburgers with all the trimmings, incl. oven fried potatoes, a
ginormous spinach salad, and Louise’s delectable white sheet cake with cream
cheese/whipped cream icing, with a fresh strawberry/raspberry topping. Quite frankly, I would not want to be a
senior couple following Sister Benson in the kitchen. She has set such a high standard of quality
and quantity, she will be a tough act to follow. The high standard applies not only to her
cooking, but also to her caring for the individual. She is everyone’s best friend, and it is
amazing to observe her in action. I
might add she gets frequent calls from missionary and
member alike for one or more of her impressive recipes. If she would just start up a cooking show for
TV here, we might be able to stay longer.
Elder Benson
