Graduation Trip Day 2: Freiberg, Germany

July 26, 2013

The next morning we were supposed to head for the Freiberg Temple in Germany. I still had tests to take, though. The Internet hadn't been working well enough to let me do that, but Jeff figured out that we could get Internet downstairs. I finished what I needed to and we left on the 3 hour drive from Prague to the temple in Germany.

            On the way down there a guy kept flashing us so Jeff pulled over, thinking he was some kind of cop or was trying to warn us about something. No. It was some Indian guy asking us to “help me, boss.” (We've heard that phrase a few times since). He wanted petrol for his car but couldn’t get it…? He just put a business card and his gold ring into Jeff’s hands and told us he would pay us back later. I took the ring and gave it back to him and said “we’re late, we have to go.” (We really did.) and he shrugged and left us alone. A few minutes back on the road another guy was flashing for us to pull over, but we didn’t.

Once we crossed the border into Germany, the freeway turned into the autobahn. We were in a hurry and so I followed the Merzedes, Audis, BMW's, and Volkswagons into the left lane and took off. We were in a hurry (even in Germany it seems that we are always in a hurry on our way to the temple) and without the autobahn we wouldn't have made the session in time.

We finally got to the Temple—I was feeling so nervous and sad that we wouldn’t make it. Right when we walked in, I was ready to rush past after they gave me back my recommend so I could get dressed in time. No, the Temple workers were so calm and quiet and friendly asking us questions and things. They finally got me into the right spirit. When I walked over to the room, I saw Bro. and Sis. Szabadkai (Zuh-bahd-kye) at the doorway. That was an awesome feeling. She hugged me and they were both so glad we made it. I sat down and cried. I love the Temple so much.

We didn't bring our temple clothes with us from America and so we had to rent them. I also had to rent a white shirt because in the hustle and bustle I forgot to wash mine before we left. 

While the senior sister missionary was helping us rent clothes, I looked down and saw the price chart and realized that I didn't have enough money. It was 10 EURO ($13) for Josie and 12.50 EURO (+/- $16) for me. I knew that I only had 20 EUR in my wallet and I told the sister, "We don't have enough money." I showed her the 20 EUR and she said, "Oh that's close enough, I'll rent the white shirt for free so the total will be 20 EUR." I was surprised at how expensive it was, but grateful that we had "enough" and that she was nice enough to help us out.

We had headphones for the session with the english translation and it was beat for beat with the Hungarian audio.

Freiberg, Germany LDS Temple

Afterward, the Szabadkai’s invited us to eat with them. The Hungarian meals were a little different, but it was fun to try new things. Adrienne kept telling us, “If you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it.” We talked and ate chocolate, and she felt so bad about almost giving away the surprise earlier. At church the week before, I asked if she was excited to go on their yearly Temple trip. She said, “Oh, my husband said you and Jeff were going to be there on Friday.” Did that phase me or make me question anything? Not at all. I figured she was talking about our first trip—we had meant to go to the Temple then. So I asked Jeff, “Do you know why she would think we were going to the Temple?” He said, “I have no idea. I wish we could!” She kept saying, “Oh. I wonder why my husband said that.” It never crossed my mind a second time. She kept laughing over that, she felt so bad! Jeff said he just felt bad he had to lie to her face:) He emailed her later and told her sorry, then Bro. Szabadkai emailed back and apologized for not telling his wife that it was a secret.

Different groups come and go every week or so to work in the church. In order to make it more convenient for everyone, the grounds have a building with rooms and kitchens for the families to live in as they work at the Temple. A tunnel connects it to the Temple. These guys had been there a week. They usually do it once a year because it's a 10 hour drive from where they live.

Brother and Sister Szabadkai walking with me--they're awesome. Such a good couple.
They met missionaries 20 years ago. Brother Szabadkai was our Branch President when we first got here,
and translated for the Dome company for awhile.

After we ate, we walked around a little square and park in Freiberg.

Lutza is in the red--the Szabadkai's 21 year old daughter.

That is Leah, their 11 year old daughter

We talked about Hungarian things we could buy for our family, what our dad’s and families did, how pretty Germany was, etc.

Jeff loves these spinny candle things--wants to make one

At the park Jeff started throwing rocks in the pond--of course--and Leah started to do that, too. When Leah threw the rock, her bracelet went with it! We were all laughing so hard and she was laughing and crying at the same time. Probably because it was so funny, but still sad and I’m sure she was a little embarrassed:) She’s so cute—about Kallie’s age. I hope we remember to buy her a bracelet before we leave. We also Skyped the Ryan’s in front of the Temple.

The cornerstone of the Temple, Jeff's white shirt was dirty

We got back to the hotel and I still couldn’t get the Internet to work well enough to send anything. I just had to get this stuff done so it was off my chest and could have fun on the trip without worrying. Jeff fell asleep while I worked. I finally woke Jeff up at 2 or 3 a.m. and asked him to help me because the Internet always seems to work for him when it won’t for me. Once he was up, I kind of broke down and just started crying, saying that I wasn’t going to get an A even though I had all the stuff done and I had worked so hard at it. He told me to not worry--that he would fix it. So he went downstairs, and did. He stayed up with me while I did a few more little things. Gotta love smart, helpful, reassuring husbands that sit up all night with you as you finish your classes to make sure everything works for you. We finally got to bed around 3:30-4 a.m. I went to bed assured that I was a hardworking "A" student.

Here is Josie at 3:45 AM after just turning in her last college assignment.