Thursday, September 18, 2008 ~ Krefeld

This morning we got up, ate, got ready and left Leiwen about 9:00. This was to be an exciting day for Seth since we were going to visit some of his mission districts and see some of his contacts. We had a beautiful drive to Krefeld where we stopped by the Church house. We met Mr. (Brueder) Krahn. The Elders called him Brother even though he is not a member of the Church. He is responsible for the genealogy work in Krefeld. Seth said that he is as faithful as anyone, but that his wife is anti-Mormon so he has not been baptized. The missionaries teach him, although he already has a pretty good understanding of the gospel. He is on Seth's left. He was a very kind man and you could tell he enjoyed having Seth come back for a visit. The other gentleman was in the Krefeld Ward Bishopric and was at the church doing some clerical work that day.

Then we went downtown Krefeld and did some site-seeing and shopping. We stopped at a Doner shop that is just around the corner from Seth’s old apartment. This is where he had bought many a doner. We had a good lunch and headed out shopping again. We visited a toy store and saw lots of wooden baby toys. Alisha found a hat that she was fond of.
Back in the car, we headed for Moenchen-Gladeach. Seth was looking forward to visiting with Elizabeth, whom he and Elder Klitgaard taught and baptized. Her son came to live with her while Seth was in the area so they began teaching him too. Seth had tried several times to return to see her before he left but for one reason or another it had never worked. He was really hoping that this time it would. But not so. When we got to her apartment Prince, her son, was there but not Elizabeth. He said she wouldn’t be home until around 9:00 that night. Seth left his email address for her and we headed back to Leiwen.
Seth drove us through some absolutely beautiful areas. It felt very much like we were going through the Oregon passes again. It was a small, two lane road going up hills and around bends and down hills. I couldn’t take my eyes off the scenery. We went into on little town and I immediately saw the ruins of a castle on the hill above the town. We took several pictures of the quaint town and the castle, used a bathroom and went on up the hill. There were lots of green fields in the openings between the trees and you could tell that there were many family farms in the area. It was an amazing ride as we went through or by one little village after another until we return to Leiwen. That night, Seth fixed us one of his favorite meals. He browned some hamburger, sautéed some peppers and onions, boiled some noodles and mixed us a sauce. Then he combined it all and served us a wonderful meal. Thanks, Seth!!
We were all pretty tired that night and soon everyone was in asleep in bed. We had another big day tomorrow.