Anne Frank & German Friend

Two weeks seem to fly by now, that when I blink it seems like another two weeks has come and gone. June 19th was a day of remembrance for Chris and I. We woke up and started our day with a bbq with friends from our ward and friends from Idaho, the Gugglemans had come to Germany to teach a photography group. Travis Guggleman had served his mission in Germany and with how small this world is he served in the Bremen Ward that we go to. It was so nice to see a familiar face and be able to talk with them what was even cooler was that he asked if Chris and I would come and model for them as he taught the group!!!! I was so excited. So after the bbq we were heading to Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp we had the missionaries with us and they came along with us for p day. A little history of Bergen Belsen was that this camp wasnt an extermenation camp, it was just a holding camp. but one of the worse holding camps there was they said still around 30,000 people were killed here from starvation, and disease. Also this camp is were Anne Frank was sent to, and died in this camp. Anne Frank was an amazing girl who died at the age of 15 they figured she died four or five days before the camp was liberated. To read her words and how she really looked at the world at a whole different level, was amazing. To think if she would of survived what potential she would of had. What she could of been and done. Bergen Belsen was burned by the English soldiers and now what is there is mass graves. It has a building of pictures and a movie that just litteraly takes the words from your mouth and makes you bow your head in sorrow to see how the bodies and the conditions were. Outside like I said mass graves cover the outside area. They have a tombstone for Anne Frank and her sister Margo but its just for remembrance they are buried in one of the mass graves. They also had a Russian POW cemetary which thousands of russians died to. In each mass grave contained from 1000 to 5000 bodies. This day was a very eye opening day and in the words of Anne Frank, "Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!"




So I thought I would introduce all my blogging friends to my German friends. Lena, Marlene and Stephan. These guys are truly have been my best friends since chris and I have been here. We have done so much together and I will seriously have a hard time saying goodbye this is us at Pizza Hut here Marlene is the bleach blonde and Lena is in the ponytail both there boyfriends are named Stephan. but Marlene's boyfriend is going to school so he wasnt able to come. We also went to a world cup party and watched Germany defeat Ghana. Wow what a crazy thing all the people are dressed up and the come and watch it projected live. It was so much fun we got there and in less then two minutes we had german flags on our face and a German Hula necklace around my neck. Here are our German Friends......






My computer is taking to long to bring up pictures of this last weekend so I will update last weekend later. Everyday we cant believe how lucky we are to be here and to be able to experience this. We are so grateful for were we are and what we have done and the people that have helped us along the way. Until next time.....

The Hague Netherland Temple & Denmark/North Sea

So Im about a two weeks behind on my blogging and I thought I would catch up before the weekend hit and I would have even more to write about. Its crazy to think we have less then two months left, so these last weekends will be crammed with things to see before we get home. So to catch up June 5th Chris and I got up early and left to do a session in The Hague Netherland Temple, I had called about a month in advance to see when was the best time to come and if they rented clothes. They did not rent clothes, but after talking to the sweet worker she said that they did have a few extra clothes and they would hold them for us. So Chris and I woke up to hit the afternoon session. We got there and we couldnt find the parking lot for the temple, but what we learned was that cause of cost reasons of land there, the parking lot was actually built underneath the temple. So you drive to the first gate and you hit a button, there is a camera there so I figure if your in a suit and tie they will open it for you. You then drive down this tunnel where then a garage door opens into a secure parking lot very James Bond let me add, I thought it was super cool. We walked upstairs got all are stuff and attended a session in Dutch. The spirit that fills you even though in a different language is undescribable. Its amazing the peaceful feeling that you get from just being in that building, Im so grateful that Chris and I got to go it was an amazing day.....


On June 12th Chris and I headed to Denmark it was all together about a four hour trip. We were headed to a town called Tonder, the moment we got into that town I feel in love completely this town was beautiful. The building were so old but so well kept that it was just beautiful. We walked the streets of the quiet city and looked for souvenirs. We found a way cool store where everything inside is antiqued, its beautiful if I could I would of bought that whole store, it was so my style. What we found though for our souvenir for Denmark was two old European cars that I LOVE!!!! I cant wait to put these in my house I dont have a pic of them but they are awesome!!! Here are pics of Tonder......




After Tonder we drove to Romo. Romo is on a Danish Island right next to Denmark and to get across there is a land bridge from Denmark to the Island. There in Romo we went to the beach of the North Sea. This beach was very different for one of the facts that you can drive right on it. The sand is so compact with the shells which makes that possible. For another reason that its different is that its very windy there, which brings the kite boarders. So you look out into the water and there are kites everywhere its beautiful. We went out and played in the water and surprisingly it was warm. We took tons of pictures then headed home and watched some World Cup! It was an awesome day! With all that we have done and seen I still miss my family and friends so much and cant wait to get home and share our adventures, until next time...........

Poland- May 29th

While we are here I have wanted to try and see as much as we can while we have free travel. So Chris asked what I wanted to do for the weekend and I told him I wanted to go to Poland. and the first thing that came out of his mouth was, "Why?" I wanted some hand made pollish pottery and to be able to experience I place that once went through communisim. Chris was hesitant but agreed. We woke up really early got ready and left for Poland at 6:30 in the morning. Poland is a little over five hours for where we lived so we stocked up on treats and were headed. And I'll admit I had no idea what to expect and this trip will probably made me realize how lucky I am to live in a place of dreams and freedoms. We hit the German/Poland border and it was night and day difference the roads were not maintained and there was nothing to be seen for miles. I had no idea what to think because for a good half hour there was nothing but thick forest until all of a sudden I spotted this......

This is a Soviet Union watch tower, and I cant even imagine what all took place here in this spot. What was seen who was betrayed and who was lucky enough to sneak through. Now its in the backyard of an elderly mans home,and if I could only speak his language, I bet he has some amazing stories. To Thinks of a place and a time that was so cold and as we kept driving the feeling didnt really change. We got to Bolsaweic where we were going to get the pottery, and I understand why Chris asked me why I wanted to go there. I have never been to a place that had so little hope, the people even the buildings. Everything was old grey stone and cold. It seemed like a dream was never possible for any of the people there, until we say this.....

The one sign of hope and a dream of starting new. Chris and I went and looked at the pottery and I came home with a haul. I got eight plates, a fruit bowl and a teapot. and while we were in the shops we came out and three boys, I would say around 16/17 years old were around are car and the wiper blades were up. It scared me so I just stood still but Chris on the other hand started talking in very forcefull Russian. I wish I could of gotten a picture of their faces, cause I know they were not expecting that. They started rambling stuttering in Pollish and kept pointing to the car. and I guess what they do there is they wash your car and windsheild and then wait for you to pay them. The sad thing is, is that Ive worked in to many peoples mouths that I know how to spot meth mouth and I couldnt contribute to that habbit. They left and we headed back home. and as we left I looked around and through all the gray you could see where the people were breaking boundries. The apartment building were all gray but the balconies would be painted and not just with any colors but the brightest colors they could find. It made me smile I hope they keep breaking out and reaching for there dreams. I am so proud to be an American and know that any dream of mine is possible I hope one day the people of Poland can one day feel that too. Until next time......