OUR NEW OFFICE

There are currently 38 senior missionary couples serving in the Area office in Frankfurt. They serve as support staff for the area presidency & infield services, medical & mental health advisors, records preservationists, military relations, communications specialists, family history & young single adult support, church history specialists, legal counsel, temple missionaries, family services specialists, auditors, and welfare & self-reliance specialists.

We gather on most Monday nights for Family Home Evening. This is a tradition in our church. When our children were at home, we reserved Monday evenings to be together as a family learning more about how to be better disciples of Jesus Christ and just enjoying each other. The tradition for senior missionaries here is that on the second Monday we have a potluck dinner and listen to mission experiences from one of the couples that has completed their mission. Every third Monday we watch a movie- usually centering around historical European events. This week’s movie is Boys in the Boat. On the fourth Monday we have a gospel discussion. Every Wednesday we have a scripture discussion during our lunch hour. Cougar fans also gather early on Saturday mornings to watch recorded BYU football games.

We have a lovely new office building to work in. We do have assigned desks; some employees use office hotels because they work from home for part of the week. When they are in the office, they push their cart to any empty office available.

There is a “Wellbeing Room” with massage chairs- good for a quick relaxation moment during a busy day. We hope to embrace things like this in European culture. For instance, one day during our training, the staff were concerned because we were behind schedule. They scheduled 1 ½ hours for lunch so I suggested we could continue learning and have an hour lunch break. Our manager said, “Sister Lamb, that sounds very American. In Germany we take 1 ½ hour lunch breaks.” Sounds great but the reality is that we usually eat lunch at our desks while we work.

We begin each week with a devotional. At 9am on Mondays our humanitarian field couples join us via Zoom for an uplifting thought.

The Europe Central Area includes 36 countries: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. We have been called as Welfare & Self-Reliance Specialists and will be supporting the humanitarian field couples in nine of those countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and Türkiye. If the country does not have an infield couple, then we serve in that capacity. We also have the responsibility for emergency response for the whole area.

On Sundays we attend church at the Friedrichsdorf 1^st ward, a 15-minute drive from our apartment. It is a German speaking ward with English translation available. Our organist dresses the way he plays the organ- with a flourish

Our chapel is next door to the Frankfurt Temple. We love our temple Thursdays.

And our Friday night dates

On Saturday we went with the Johnsons to visit a medieval castle nestled in the hills above the Moselle River. Eltz Castle is still owned by a branch of the Eltz family who have lived there since the 12^th century. The castle was founded in a region that was an important trade route between rich farmlands and their markets.