President Uchtdorf's visit to Berlin was wonderful. Jay and I want to share some of the highlights with you.
February 19, Friday morning, Jay and I picked up Sister Barbara Thompson, 2nd Counselor in the Relief Society (General Board) at the airport. She came for the Europe Area Conference. Elder and Sister Schültze, (Q. of 70), Sister Thompson and I (Colleen) spent the day with various activities and meetings with the Relief Society sisters of the Berlin Stake.
February 20, Saturday Meeting with President Uchtdorf, Europe Area Presidency and the Berlin Germany Missionaries. What a choice, sweet experience. We gathered in the chapel and took a photo of the whole mission. When President Uchtdorf, Elder and Sister Kopischke and Elder and Sister Teixeira arrived in the foyer, Jay went to greet them and all of the missionaries rose to their feet. Boy did they look good! They had nice haircuts, their hair was smoothed down and they were smiling. After greetings, President Uchtdorf motioned for all of the missionaries to file by him. He looked at each name tag, called each missionary by name and shook each missionary’s hand, as did Elder Kopischke and Elder Teixeira. It was quite a moving and very sweet experience to watch.
February 21, Sunday Jay and I were invited to attend an early morning meeting with President Uchtdorf and about 20 or so other Church leaders. It was for the dedication of the country of Germany to missionary work. The following is a summary that Jay wrote for the missionaries:
We continue to be excited about President Uchtdorf’s dedication of Germany on 21 Feb. 2010. He mentioned the dedicatory prayer later on the same day in his talk during the satellite broadcast. Sister Pimentel and I had the privilege of being present as President Uchtdorf gave the dedicatory prayer. It was in a small meeting at sunrise on the 21st of Feb. 2010. The meeting was held in the Tiergarten building in the meeting room of the Institute Center. In attendance were President Uchtdorf, his wife and two children, Elder Kopischke, his wife, Elder Teixeira, his wife, all Area Seventies in Europe, all mission presidents in Germany, the stake presidency of the Berlin Stake, their wives, and former stake presidents of the Berlin Stake and their wives. President Uchtdorf gave a talk in the meeting and said that the Church History Department had determined that there had been no recorded dedicatory prayer for Germany and President Uchtdorf explained how historic the occasion is and how he had prepared himself. President Uchtdorf said that President Monson had specifically commissioned him to give this dedicatory prayer. After his talk, he pronounced the dedicatory prayer in English. In short, the dedicatory prayer dedicated the entire land of Germany for the preaching of the gospel and for establishing of the Church. The dedicatory prayer was recorded and will be written out and translated into German. We expect to have it available to us when it is completed. I look forward to receiving a copy and I will, of course, share it with you. We look forward to the miracles that will certainly follow. I know that God lives and that Jesus is the Christ. I know that the true church is again on the earth and that this true church is led by the Prophet Thomas S. Monson. I also know that President Uchtdorf is an apostle, prophet, seer and revelator and that Germany was dedicated on the 21st of Feb. 2010 by revelation and the power of God. Now we go forth to do that – to preach the gospel in Germany and to establish the Church in Germany. It is our purpose and we now have both an apostolic blessing on us and a dedicatory prayer on Germany. With God, all things are possible. I know it. I so testify, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Sunday European Area Conference was held in the Tiergarten chapel in Berlin and broadcast to stake centers throughout Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The general theme was on unity and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It couldn’t have been more perfect. What a truly historic, inspirational, wonderful weekend!
February 19, Friday morning, Jay and I picked up Sister Barbara Thompson, 2nd Counselor in the Relief Society (General Board) at the airport. She came for the Europe Area Conference. Elder and Sister Schültze, (Q. of 70), Sister Thompson and I (Colleen) spent the day with various activities and meetings with the Relief Society sisters of the Berlin Stake.
February 20, Saturday Meeting with President Uchtdorf, Europe Area Presidency and the Berlin Germany Missionaries. What a choice, sweet experience. We gathered in the chapel and took a photo of the whole mission. When President Uchtdorf, Elder and Sister Kopischke and Elder and Sister Teixeira arrived in the foyer, Jay went to greet them and all of the missionaries rose to their feet. Boy did they look good! They had nice haircuts, their hair was smoothed down and they were smiling. After greetings, President Uchtdorf motioned for all of the missionaries to file by him. He looked at each name tag, called each missionary by name and shook each missionary’s hand, as did Elder Kopischke and Elder Teixeira. It was quite a moving and very sweet experience to watch.
February 21, Sunday Jay and I were invited to attend an early morning meeting with President Uchtdorf and about 20 or so other Church leaders. It was for the dedication of the country of Germany to missionary work. The following is a summary that Jay wrote for the missionaries:
We continue to be excited about President Uchtdorf’s dedication of Germany on 21 Feb. 2010. He mentioned the dedicatory prayer later on the same day in his talk during the satellite broadcast. Sister Pimentel and I had the privilege of being present as President Uchtdorf gave the dedicatory prayer. It was in a small meeting at sunrise on the 21st of Feb. 2010. The meeting was held in the Tiergarten building in the meeting room of the Institute Center. In attendance were President Uchtdorf, his wife and two children, Elder Kopischke, his wife, Elder Teixeira, his wife, all Area Seventies in Europe, all mission presidents in Germany, the stake presidency of the Berlin Stake, their wives, and former stake presidents of the Berlin Stake and their wives. President Uchtdorf gave a talk in the meeting and said that the Church History Department had determined that there had been no recorded dedicatory prayer for Germany and President Uchtdorf explained how historic the occasion is and how he had prepared himself. President Uchtdorf said that President Monson had specifically commissioned him to give this dedicatory prayer. After his talk, he pronounced the dedicatory prayer in English. In short, the dedicatory prayer dedicated the entire land of Germany for the preaching of the gospel and for establishing of the Church. The dedicatory prayer was recorded and will be written out and translated into German. We expect to have it available to us when it is completed. I look forward to receiving a copy and I will, of course, share it with you. We look forward to the miracles that will certainly follow. I know that God lives and that Jesus is the Christ. I know that the true church is again on the earth and that this true church is led by the Prophet Thomas S. Monson. I also know that President Uchtdorf is an apostle, prophet, seer and revelator and that Germany was dedicated on the 21st of Feb. 2010 by revelation and the power of God. Now we go forth to do that – to preach the gospel in Germany and to establish the Church in Germany. It is our purpose and we now have both an apostolic blessing on us and a dedicatory prayer on Germany. With God, all things are possible. I know it. I so testify, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Sunday European Area Conference was held in the Tiergarten chapel in Berlin and broadcast to stake centers throughout Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The general theme was on unity and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It couldn’t have been more perfect. What a truly historic, inspirational, wonderful weekend!
