Mission President's Seminar 2012

This has been a difficult week.......Richard received word that his oldest daughter, who has suffered from cancer for 6 years, had taken a turn for the worst. After 3 days he decided to go home. It indeed was the right thing to do as he had several hours with her before she passed away. I will write of the details when I get them.

In the meantime......we were both scheduled to go to the Mission President's Seminar in Frankfurt this week. So......he went to SLC and I went to Frankfurt.

Funny story: My instructions were to take a taxi to the neighboring town where the seminar was being held. I was told it would cost about 60 Euro. I got thinking about that outrageous expense and since I had plenty of time I decided I would go it on my own. After all, I have always liked adventure!

Any of you who have been to Frankfurt know what that airport is like -- more like a city -- big, busy, confusing and German speaking but I made my way to an info booth and they directed me to the subway.......somehow I managed to get in the ticket line and purchase a ticket to Bad Homburg. I was told to go to platform 1 and take the train that was to arrive in 4 minutes.

As I stood waiting for the train I noticed a man with a uniform that said POLICE! So I asked if this was the train to Bad Homburg. He nodded his head up and down and I jumped on. We sped away and I began to study the German written info they had given me and look around for any clues that might tell me where I was and where I was going. NOTHING! They kept scrolling the names of the towns coming up and no Bad Homburg! The train was virtually empty and there was no one to ask until a woman (basically an angel) got on and sat right across from me. She saw me looking at these German instructions and asked if she could help. Her English was music to my ears. I explained that I was going to Bad Homburg and she said, "Oh you must get off at this stop, go up the stairs, turn left, go down the stairs, look for platform 5 and wait for train E6. Honestly, just a little detail that everyone else had failed to mention!!

Sure enuf, in 9 minutes the train came rolling into the station and I got on! And after many many minutes it pulled into the Bad Homburg station. Wow! I'm home free (I thought). From there I would take a cab. I had the name and address of the hotel I was trying to find so I thot it would be a piece of cake. But when I got off the train I found myself in the middle of nowhere with not a soul around -- no people, no taxis, no nothing. Hmmmmmm. What now. I contemplated walking but had no idea what direction to go. Then I noticed a bus station with several busses pulling in. I walked over, boarded a bus and showed the driver the name of the hotel. He began hollering at me and honking his horn. He then called out to another bus and shooed me with his hands in the direction of bus #6. Honestly, whatever! So I, and my suitcase on wheels (best invention since chocolate cake) started running and jumped on bus 6! I showed the driver the name of the hotel and held out a hand ful of change. He took some coins and pointed to the front seat.

I felt a bit like Alice who had just fallen into Wonderland and I wondered when the Mad Hatter would show up!!! This driver must have taken the scenic route through every residential area in this small town and 20 minutes later he turned to me and said "tourist?!". "Meetings" I replied. "Off here!" And so it was that 2.5 hours and 6 Euro later I walked into the lobby of this lovely hotel. I just couldn't help but pat myself on the back and say in an almost audible voice, "I DID IT!"

So much for adventure. I then had time to walk the streets and see a bit of this beautiful little city before the meetings began the next day.

The Seminar was wonderful. Elder Kopischke, Elder Causse and Elder Teixeira, the area presidency here did a wonderful job and we received a lot of instruction that filled our wells. The 2nd day Elder Christoffersen was with us and he spent over an hour answering questions. I loved it and the side bonus is that my brother (Clark and Kathleen) were there from Barcelona, and several other couples that are dear friends and that we have known for many years. I arrived home last night filled with a spiritual richness that comes from such meetings.

The only thing that would have made it better would have been to have Richard with me but I am grateful that he was home with family during this most tender time....
Life is an adventure!