29 September, 2012

Here is a photo of the missionary couples serving in the Alpine German-Speaking Mission.  It was taken, obviously, in front of the Swiss Temple while we were there attending our semi-annual seniors' conference.  Can't wait until the next conference in Munich in March.  We met some mighty powerful and enthusiastic couples there and got some wonderful information and suggestions for improving our work here in this mission.  As you can tell from the photo, it was a sunshiny day in Zollikofen, Switzerland.  And the session we attended was one of the most spiritual temple experiences I can remember having.  The Gospel is true, and there are millions on the earth who would join this Church if only they knew where to find the truth.  It's your job and ours to bring it to them.

Our love to you all.

Dad & Mom



Dear family and friends,
We still don't have Internet in our apartment so we only have a few minutes to use it when we are at the institute building. The JAE(Junge Alleinstehende Erwachsene)'s (Young Single Adults) here are quite amazing.Tuesday evening was the opening social for the institute here.  There were probably 30-35 JAEs in attendance. Very few of them have cars. They usually take public transportation and sometimes from quite a distance. Friday night was a party here and one of the boys rode his bicycle for two hours so he could attend. He said if he had known exactly how to get here he could have made it in 1 1/2 hrs.  His legs were spattered with mud and he didn't arrive until 8:00, but he didn't seem to mind.  There are quite a few returned missionaries(including sisters) and several more who already have their calls. They are warm and very friendly,  greeting each other with hugs when they arrive. Many of them bring non-member friends to the activities. Elder Benson was able to give a Priesthood blessing ( at her request) to a young non-member woman on Monday night.  They seem to rally around each other.  In fact it almost seems like a big family.  They are wonderful!  They speak in English for me when I ask,  but for the most part I have to guess at what is going on. I really need to study my German so I can be more a part of things.  Last night was our first night sleeping on our new IKEA bedding......new pillows and a new duvet.   Happy Birthday Elder Benson!  It was almost as good as our Bedding at home.   We are on our way to a baptism in a few minutes.  Thank goodness for our GPS!  We would be lost without it.  

Love to you all, 
Elder and Sister Benson

27 September 2012

Dear family, 

Thanks to you all for your love and prayers.  And a big thank you to Aunt Kathy for organizing putting our names on the prayer rolls in so many temples. I was so overcome when I was reading the email to Dad that I just had to stop until I could get my emotions under control.  We feel your prayers helping us each day. 

We still don't have Internet in our apartment but it should be hooked up sometime tomorrow.  That means that we will have to stay home all afternoon or at least until they come.  Today we were able to find the bank the Blodgetts used and get a local account set up.    Yesterday we went somewhere to register. You have to register when you move to a new town and unregister when you leave.  We are starting to be able to find our way from our apartment to the Institute.

Monday afternoon I found some great treasures on the curb put there for the trash pick up.  We needed a full length mirror and found one on an old door they were throwing away. I wish I could bring it home with me.  That would have been OK but then I found three other doors with arches on them to make a room divider,  two wooden drawers to use for something(I haven't figured out what),and various other treasures.

We had a few little tender mercies on Monday. A neighbor kept appearing during the day every time we were frustrated and didn't know what to do. We couldn't get a patio door to close and he showed up at our door and showed us how.  Then we couldn't remember where our storage locker was. We looked for 15 min or so. We went to every floor we could and tried our key in 8 or so doors.  Just then the elevator door opened and there was the neighbor again. He took us to the right floor and through the right door and there it was.

We were on our way to get some dinner and I suggested we go by the Institute to see if some of the Young Adults had shown up for FHE. We were told on Sunday that it had been canceled but as we drove up there were three JAE's standing in the parking lot waiting for us to get there. One had spaghetti makings so we went in , had dinner and then a quick activity. As we were finishing,  Ruben asked Dad if he would give him a blessing which he did.  The spirit was really strong. Then a non-member girl asked for a Priesthood blessing.  What a night!  We didn't get home until 11:00. 

Tuesday was the Institute opening social and another late night.  It's a good thing we don't have to keep the same time schedule as the young missionaries.  Today we drove out to IKEA and got some new bedding and pillows.  Then we had a discussion with a young man who is scheduled for baptism the week after conference.  Please keep Stefan in your prayers. He is trying to stop smoking. 

Dad is anxious to get home so I need to close.  We love you.  Thanks for your emails and updates. 

Love,  Mom

25 September 2012

Dear family and friends,  

We haven't had Internet access for a few days so we just read your recent emails.  Things have been really busy since we got back from Switzerland on Saturday evening.  We bought a little food in the train station because we hadn't had a chance to do any grocery shopping.  The Blodgetts accidentally took our phone chargers with them and our battery was dead, so we were pretty much on our oun. 

We took the bus from the train station up a huge hill to the institute where the car was left while we were in Switzerland. With the GPS we were able to find our apartment and after driving around the block a few times, we found the entrance to the parking garage.  Then we looked at each other because neither one of us could remember where the assigned parking place was. The Blodgetts took us every place one time only and we didn't write anything down. We have had guardian angels watching over us, helping us find our way on more than one occasion.  After numerous trials we finally found the right key and the right door that got us in the building and took the elevator up to our apartment. 

We decided that we should just stay put for the evening instead of trying to navigate the area in the dark without knowing where anything was. So we ate some of the chicken we had purchased in the train station and some yummy pastries we had bought there also and that was our dinner.  We then proceeded to try to unpack a little.  But there are no closets in their apartments. You have to purchase a wardrobe closet which the Blodgetts did for us,  but it took 2 or 3 weeks to have it delivered And we still don't have one yet. We hung a few things on a coat tree and finally got to bed about midnight. 

Church was at 9 on Sunday morning. A dear sister translated in Relief Society for me but SS was all in German.  At least I could look up the scriptures and read along in English.  Sacrament meeting was last.  We were asked to sit on the stand and bear our testimonies at the first of the program. I'm glad I could sing the hymns in German since we were sitting on the stand. I had a few minutes to jot down some of my testimony in German and I was able to bear a short and simple one all by myself.  Thank you Sister Jensen at the MTC for working on that with me for about 4 months!  Church was over at noon but Andrew and Miriam's meeting started at 1:00. They attend the International Ward which is in English. Their oldest son Jamison just turned 14 and was ordained a teacher. Elder Benson got to stand in the circle. It was great to be there.  

We left a little early after the ordination because we needed to get home and eat before going to a members house for cheese cake. Unfortunately the car wouldn't start. After Andrew was able to find jumper cables, they couldn't get the car in gear to push it out of the parking place so they could get his car close enough to jump it. After numerous tries, someone else got in the drivers seat and was fiddling around and voila!  the car started. It must not have been in the right gear.  We drove to Christophe and Anna Marie's house in a quaint town half an hour away.  He served a mission in SLC and has great English.  They have 2 beautiful little boys about 1 1/2 and 4.  Monday, Miriam took us on base to shop, etc.  She has been wonderful!  I'll have to tell you the rest later.  

Love, Mom



This week has been great!  And what great young singles we are blessed to work with!  We feel such a love for all of them as we meet them.  We feel the same about the missionaries.  This is truly a work of love.  Our love for our family grows each day too.  We miss you all.  Last evening I was asked by one of the young single men for a priesthood blessing.  Following his blessing, a young  non-member woman who was present for the first blessing asked if it would be possible for her to have a blessing too.  She had some terrific pain in her abdomen that the doctors at the hospital could not identify and could only suggest antibiotics as a hopeful cure.  I felt a powerful spirit during both blessings, and both young folks gave me a big hug afterward.  So much for the "arms length" policy!  The Love of Christ was truly there, and Mom said it was a spirituall hug resulting from that type of love.  Mom will likely explain that we stopped at the Institute last night on her "feeling" that we should drive up there.  There we met three young singles who missed the news that family home evening had been cancelled for last night.

Well, gotta run!

Dad

20 September 2012

Greetings from Switzerland! We have had a whirlwind of a time since we left SLC on Monday morning. Thanks again to Margo and Ray for taking us to the airport and helping with all of our luggage. We had four 50 lbs suitcases and 2 roller carry on bags plus Dad's briefcase and a heavy tote for me that had my purse, iPad and everything that we couldn't fit anywhere else.  On top of that I was carrying my heavy winter coat so I didn't have to pack it. We left shortly after 11:00 and had a short trip to Seattle, Wash.  We had about a 15:00 min. walk to the next gate.  Dad's suitcases he was pulling tipped over on one of the moving sidewalks and he almost went down.  He was afraid we were going to miss our connecting flight so we half ran the whole way. It wasn't a marathon,Natalie but it sure felt like it.  We got to the next gate with 10 or 15 min to spare.  We paid extra to upgrade so we could sit by each other( the church doesn't get seat assignments for you when they purchase your tickets).  I thought the extra room would make a lot  of difference for us but not so.  A fairly large Irish mother with a 3 month old baby was sitting next to me. Behind me was a little girl who spent half the flight sticking her feet in my back and jiggling everything around.  I also forgot to take my pill to help me sleep until it was too late to take it.  I was afraid I would still be groggy when we got to Amsterdam.

Change of story.  The marathon was in Amsterdam running to catch our plane to Munich.  By the way, our connection was so tight that our luggage didn't make it on our plane and we had to wait for 2 hours at the airport in Munich for our luggage. Pres. Miles. requested the route through Seattle for his missionaries because it is a convent time for them to arrive in Munich.  But by now, too many of the missionaries are not getting their luggage because the transfer time is just too tight. I really hope he changes the itinerary.  Anyway, we got to Munich, had lunch with the mission president and his wife and they drove us to the banhof( train station).  They helped us get our luggage on the train and we were very grateful.  I slept most of the way to Stuttgart and when we arrived Miriam and Andrew and there two youngest children were there to pick us up.  Again, it was an adventure getting all the bags off of the train.  You have to get them all to an open area by the door so when the train stops and the door opens you can get everything off before the doors close and the train takes off again. 

Miriam and Andrew have been great!  They have quite a large home by German standards. They came to Germany about 5 months ago because Andrew had a 6 month deployment here. The military didn't authorize the family to come so they have been on there own as far as housing and school are concerned. They will be going back to Colorado in about 3 1/2 weeks. Andrew will be teaching at the Air Force Academy and I think he will retire as a Major after his assignment in Colorado Springs. 

This is getting too long. Actually, typing is quite easy for me on my iPad. 

Today we came to Switzerland for a senior missionary conference.  It was another adventure taking the train.  The Blodgetts( who we are replacing in Stuttgart) had quite a morning trying to get to the institute to meet us so Andrew could take us to the train.  Our train left at 9:58. They didn't get to the institute until about 9:45.  We raced to the station, Andrew dropped us off and we ran about a block with all of our luggage to the station. The Blodgetts are leaving directly from Switzerland to tour and then go home. So they each have a large suitcase and laptop,etc. I'm sure we were a sight in our dresses, suits dragging all these suitcases down the hill and through the banhof. The train was literally starting to roll by the time we all got on. Dad almost lost his arm when he stuck it in one of the doors to keep it open. The rest of the train experience was all down hill from there. Missed connections, sitting in first class when we had second class tickets,having to move all our luggage, running through at least one more train station, Dad trying to flush the potty on the train.....and then finally getting to Zollikoffen  and having a wonderful session at the temple, a raclette dinner with all the missionaries and now time to go to bed. 

We'll be up early to get to our meetings.  Actually we hope we get up early.  There is no clock in the room, we have no cell phones which we usually use as an alarm, and Dad says his new watch doesn't have an alarm. I'll try to figure out how to do it on my iPad, but I'm not sure the battery will last and we don't have another converter so I can plug it in. C'est la vie.   Love to you all. 

Willkommen in Stuttgart!

Well, it looks like they made it safely.  A big "Thank You" to Andrew and Miriam for meeting my parents in Stuttgart at the train station.  It's always nice to see a familiar face (or two) when you are so far from home.

up, Up and AWAY...

Well, the time finally came and Elder and Sister Benson are on their way to Stuttgart, Germany.  With all the bags they had to take I wasn't sure they would  make it.  But my mom called me from Seattle and said that they did actually get on the flight:)

I will post more about their MTC experiences and their arrival in Germany once they have settled in. 

auf wiedersehn

First Week @ MTC

We had a great time visiting with my parents this weekend.  They spent the week at the MTC doing "Preach My Gospel" training.  We received some texts last week while they were gone.  They said that they were loving the Spirit at the MTC. 

We did a practice web chat yesterday with many members of our immediate family so we could all chat with my parents while they were in Germany.  It was a little crazy with so many people trying to talk all at once.  We probably won't do such a big chat very often.  But it was fun to hear about some of their experiences at the MTC.  One thing they learned was K.I.S.S...whick means Keep It Simple...Seniors;)  That's probably a good lesson for all of us when sharing the Gospel.  We don't have to get into all the really deep doctrine.  Just share the simple truths and let the Spirit do the teaching.

Well, they are back at the MTC today for their CES training for the next few days.  Looking forward to hearing all about it. 
Just 7 more days to go until they leave for Germany.  But who's counting:)

Grandma & Grandpa are going away on a mission...

Well, the time has finally come.  They are really going.  Tonight, Ralph & Louise Benson became Elder and Sister Benson when they were set apart as full-time missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Tomorrow they leave for the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo, Utah.  Then they are off to Stuttgart.  We will miss them a lot, but we are very excited for them and can't wait to hear about all the amazing experiences they will have.

Here are a few photos from tonight.