Archive for the 'Mission Stories' Category

I can’t remember how old I was when I got my first telescope, but I remember how much I enjoyed it. It was a small red telescope that was mostly plastic. It was the spyglass style that you always see in the pirate movies. It didn’t have great magnification, but it was a fun toy, and it worked. I have only ever owned three telescopes in my life. The first was the red toy spyglass. The second one was a gift from my grandparents, and it was a lot nicer.

Shortly after receiving a telescope with a tripod and everything for Christmas my Grandfather and I took it out to the mountains that are home to the Palomar observatory. We didn’t drive all the way up to the observatory, but we stopped on the side of the road about halfway up. There we set up the telescope and did our best to find interesting things I’d never seen except in books or on TV. I was able to spot Venus and could even see that it had phases like the Moon. Those are memories I will cherish forever.

The third one I bought while I was a missionary in Germany. I don’t know what it was that drew me to it. It was another spyglass, but it looked nicer that my first one. It had an all-metal case and much greater magnification, too. We were riding our bikes around the rural area between Mühldorf and Altötting trying to find a bike path since we missed the train. The road was extremely narrow and dangerous to ride a bicycle on. We eventually got somewhat lost, and would have wasting a good amount of time had it not been for my spyglass. I was able to spot the important roadsigns from over a kilometer away and avoid traveling in the wrong direction. I became so known for my spyglass that the Sisters in our district gave me a little Kermit the Frog figure holding a yellow spyglass. They had drawn on my hairstyle and written my name on the base of the plastic toy stand.

Telescopes and binoculars make great gifts (Free UPS shipping on orders of $29.99 or more). People don’t often think of them until they could really use them and then forget about the after the time of need has passed. Do your friends and family a favor and get them a telescope and help them create memories, too.

When I was in Germany on a mission I had the opportunity to take a VIP tour of the Audi factory in Ingolstadt. That was one of the best factory tours I have ever been on. I would have to say it was even better than the Jelly Belly factory tour because we got to walk right on the manufacturing floor. We got to lift some of the equipment used to assemble the cars. There were some spots where we had to wait for sparks to stop showering down onto the path in front of us so we could proceed. My two favorite parts were the slow-motion demonstration of how the seats are placed through the car door opening through a series of robotic arm movements that makes it just barely clear the edges. Then the robot replays the move at full-speed and it takes less than a second to get it in, even though I don’t then I could get it in on my own if given the chance. My second-favorite part was watching the final adjustments to the door alignment. A buff guy with tattoos and a measuring device would quickly but calmly measure how far off the door was from where it was supposed to be when closed, then he would open the door and hammer on it with the heel of his hand, close the door, and measure the adjustments he had made until he got it right. It just seemed so low-tech that it seemed out of place.

The adjoining museum showcased vintage as well as new luxury cars. They told the history of Audi in auto racing. You could see people showing up to literally drive their new cars right off the end of the production line. It made me really want one of their cars someday when I am rich and powerful.

The missionaries were invited to a JAE Tagung (Young Single Adult Activity Day) in the Nürnberg Stake. We had a missionary activity where we drove to different areas and had the young adults for our companions. It was a lot of fun, and we had an opportunity to proselyte where missionaries rarely get a chance to go because no missionaries live in the area.

After the areas had all been visited, we were brought back to the place where the activity day was being held. We couldn’t really do very much because were were in the middle of nowhere with no public transportation, so we had to wait for someone to give us a ride back to civilization. During this downtime some Elders played volleyball or did other activities. Elder Adams and I decided to give the giant chess board a go. There’s something very satisfying about throwing the opponent’s captured pieces off the board.

Elder Brenders (right) from Lyon, generic France decided to do this. In Heilbronn the chapel is designed in such a way that bees can somehow find their way into the building, order but cannot get back out again. They congregate near the windows frantically flying around until they lose all strength, give up, and die.

In the springtime this is especially troubling because the number of bees that get stuck rises from about 2 per day to somewhere near two thousand! People have to swat them away all during Sacrament Meeting, and the missionaries volunteer to come and sweep up the piles of dead bees before Sunday comes every week.

The choice of the phrase “I Love Bees” is pretty funny considering how much we all hated them after having to clean them up week after week.

One of my favorite rip-offs was this unassuming little fast food grill restaurant in Ludwigsburg. The entire name is “Fried Chicken from Kentucky Land.” Although KFC franchises do exists in Germany, malady the closest one is over two hours away from this place. It is doubtful that most people that eat here even know what Kentucky Fried Chicken is. Maybe the owner just has a sense of humor.

This was on the side of the a buiding on the walk from the S-Bahn to the Stake Center in Stuttgart. CTR is a well known LDS abbreviation for “Choose The Right.” October 2002.