Stephen and Elaine Biddulph: 8

VALENTINE'S DAY 14 FEBRUAR

Senior Missionary Group

Very busy week this week. We went with 12 couples back down to Hassmerheim, Germany and stayed overnight Friday and returned Saturday. Weather wasn't great, but we had an enjoyable outing. We went to Hassmerheim in March 2015 and thoroughly enjoyed the German culture of the little restaurant and hotel. This time many new couples came and we all had a lot of fun eating German cuisine and listening to German musicians.
Hassmerheim is a small town on the Neckar River southeast of Heidelberg. The Edmunds rode down with us and we stayed at the Ritter Hotel right on the Neckar River and a short walk to the restaurant. We ate supper there at 6 p.m. and then had a program of musical entertainment at 7 to after 9 p.m. These are not professional entertainers, but more local celebrities who play accordion, guitar, and sing.
We drove across the river and up to an old castle called Berg Hornberg. A nice restaurant was

Berg Hornberg Neckar Fluss

located there with a beautiful panoramic view of the Neckar River and Hassmerheim below. To top it off there was a fluffy yellow cat to snuffle. I got a call from President Pack of the Spain Madrid mission while in the restaurant asking me to contact an elder who was laboring in the Canary Islands and was discouraged and depressed. I spent until about 11 p.m. on the phone with him, but was heartened that my call boosted him and helped answer some important questions for him that had been causing some of the emotional challenges he had. On Saturday morning we drove north through the German

Accordion Player - real character

countryside (away from the major highways) and visited again the little town of Miltenburg. Then, we drove on up to Asschaffenburg and over to Johannesberg to Tony Sauer's woodcarving shop to show Edmunds the beautiful wood carvings. Elaine and I had been there before and wanted to return to purchase and have shipped home a nativity carving of Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus. We also bought a small Angel Moroni with golden plates.
Saturday afternoon and evening I spent talking with three missionaries, and finished up at 9:30 p.m., just in time to jump into bed. We arose at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday and left for church in Offenbach by 7:45. We got the chapel and sacrament all prepared, Elaine got her music prepared, and at 8:30 a.m. two other senior sisters arrived to practice with Elaine singing "I Have a Testimony," which they performed in our sacrament meeting.
After meetings we drove out to Hans and Nora Gehrig's home with the Galbraiths for lunch and to do home and visiting teaching. We had an enjoyable meal and get together with them and their daughter, Rebecca, who is soon to be married, and Lukas, who recently returned from his mission in Korea. We arrived home at 5 p.m. and were ready for some down time.
Tomorrow evening I have been asked to give the senior devotional talk on a Valentine theme.

old house in Hassmerheim

There is only one theme appropriate for Valentine's Day and that is love. So I'm going to tell them my Vietnamese Love Story - excerpts from "No Greater Love," the story of my experiences in Vietnam where I truly came to understand godlike love.