We spent another busy week in the office. We finished the country strategy council meetings for Switzerland and Luxembourg, closed projects, worked on the area emergency plan, and planned our January trip to Türkiye.
We baked and delivered Christmas cookies.
The senior sister missionaries were invited to Sister Alliaud’s home for a Christmas luncheon with the wives of the Area Presidency, Sister Alliaud, Sister Gerard, and Sister McConkie. We exchanged gifts, got to know one another, and sang Christmas carols. It was lovely.
We were invited to several Christmas gatherings this week. Our Welfare & Self-Reliance Manager, Eric Rottermann invited our team to his home for raclette. It is a delicious traditional Swiss dish. Raclette grills are placed on the table. Each person melts their own cheese and scrapes it onto boiled potatoes and various charcuteries.
It was wonderful to be with our colleagues and Erics’ family in a relaxed atmosphere.
We enjoyed a Christmas devotional with our Area Presidency followed by lunch. We work in the Central European Area office in Frankfurt with about 300 employees including about 60 missionary volunteers.
St Nicholas made an appearance at our ward Christmas pot- luck dinner.
We sang Christmas carols and read Christmas stories at Sister Enger’s German class.
We visited several Christmas Markets. We had our own small Christmas Market in our office parking lot.
Our Welfare & Self-reliance team met at the Frankfurt Christmas Market after work one evening.
We found Zwetschgenmannla -traditional handcrafted figures from Nuremberg made with dried plums, nuts, and figs. These charming characters, like chimney sweeps and farmers, symbolize good luck.
On Saturday we visited three markets:
Michelstadt Weihnachtsmarkt
Miltenberg Weihnachtsmarkt
Wertheim Weihnachtsmarkt
Here we met Johann Zimmerman, a fourth-generation woodcarver, and purchased one of his wonderful creations.
We found a little German restaurant right down the street from our apartment that serves several types of traditional schnitzel.
We are counting the days until our children and grandchildren arrive to celebrate Christmas with us here in Germany!
We send our love across the miles and wish you a wonderful holiday season. We wish you joy in your celebrations. In our faith tradition we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. He is the central focus of our lives. We know He lives.
With love, Elder & Sister Lamb (aka Ed & Debbie, Mom & Dad, Pop Pop & Tu Tu)
Lambs in Central Europe 