Stephen and Elaine Biddulph: Senior Zone Conference

26 Oktober - 1 November 2015

Europe Area-Frankfurt Senior Missionaries Oktober 2015

Yesterday (Thursday 29 Oktober) we had another senior missionary zone conference for senior couples serving at the Europe Area and also Frankfurt Mission. Some were traveling and others weren't able to come for one reason or another, but it was a nice gathering. We have been happy to meet again our friends (The Greens) from Oak Hills days. They have been staying in the area for a month before being reassigned to the Vienna (Wien), Austria area to work with Young adults. The Riggs (old zone leaders) have been our zone leaders and are returning home to Tennessee this month. We are also losing the Smiths from Orem, Utah who has served as our In-Field Representative (IFR). We also enjoy having the Berkhans with us. They are German and he serves as the Area Executive Secretary. He is past president of the Frankfurt Temple, a mission president, and director of temporal affairs in Europe. Very sweet, accomplished people. Our new zone leaders are Elder and Sister Mills (standing next to us on back row middle - tallest man in red tie). They will be good.

It has been a hard week of counseling. A couple of sisters had to return home due to anxiety and stress. They tried so hard and gave it all they could for as long as they could, but had to go home in order to preserve their fragile emotional health. This week has been particularly demanding with missionaries suffering with depression, stress, and anxiety. These kinds take a lot of emotional energy out of me. I also on Tuesday evening conducted ward council as our president was unavailable to attend. Tonight, we are going with the Offenbach missionaries to visit and teach a woman from Brazil named Maria. Last night we went with the young elders to visit Maria, a Brazilian woman living in Offenbach with two children. She has investigated the Church for sometime and has been reading out of the Book of Mormon. I was able to share God's love for her and her family and bear my testimony about the truthfulness of the restoration of truth and holy scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon. We are also most interested in a young couple (Greg and Ajda) who have shown great interest in learning and being baptized. Lately, the work seems to have jumped forward a little more than it had in the past. As a branch (Zweig), we are really trying to apply our faith for the missionary work.

We have gone on walks as often as possible, as the last few days have been very nice and the fall colors have been wonderful. I've included some pictures of the colors. Today, as I write this blog, it is early Halloween morning. The leaves in our wonderful huge forest cemetery are falling quickly from the trees and carpeting the pathways with beautiful earth tones. The leaves that still remain are deep copper and brightest yellow - a last surge of glory before all turns back to dust.