Saturday October 22-Day 9

     Today was a bit more driving as we are basically just making our way home now. We actually went into Poland to take some pictures and talk some more about the saints that lived there. I can officially say I have walked on Polish soil. I even took a picture of some a Polish sign to prove I was there.

Me in Poland!

            Then we swung back over into Deutschland to a very special town called Görlitz. President Monson visited this place several years ago and made an amazing prophecy that came to pass in Germany! This is what he said about the trip:

“In Görlitz the building in which we met was shell-pocked from the war, but the interior reflected the tender care of our leaders in bringing brightness and cleanliness to an otherwise shabby and grimy structure. The Church had survived both a world war and the cold war which followed. The singing of the Saints brightened every soul.

…I was touched by their sincerity. I was humbled by their poverty. They had so little. My heart filled with sorrow because they had no patriarch. They had no wards or stakes-just branches. They could not receive temple blessings-neither endowment nor sealing. No official visitor had come from Church headquarters in a long time. The members were forbidden to leave the country. Yet they trusted in the Lord with all their hearts, and they leaned not to their own understanding. In all their ways they acknowledged Him, and He directed their paths. I stood at the pulpit, and with tear-filled eyes and a voice choked with emotion, I made a promise to the people: “If you will remain true and faithful to the commandments of God, every blessing any member of the Church enjoys in any other country will be yours.”

That night as I realized what I had promised, I dropped to my knees and prayed: “Heavenly Father, I’m on Thy errand; this is Thy Church. I have spoken words that came not from me, but from Thee and Thy Son. Wilt Thou, therefore, fulfill the promise in the lives of this noble people.” There coursed through my mind the words from the psalm, “Be still, and know that I am God.” The heavenly virtue of patience was required.

Little by little the promise was fulfilled. First, patriarchs were ordained, then lesson manuals produced. Wards were formed and stakes created. Chapels and stake centers were begun, completed, and dedicated. Then, miracle of miracles, a holy temple of God was permitted, designed, constructed, and dedicated. Finally, after an absence of 50 years, approval was granted for full-time missionaries to enter the nation and for local youth to serve elsewhere in the world. Then, like the wall of Jericho, the Berlin Wall crumbled, and freedom, with its attendant responsibilities, returned.”

We went to the building where he made this amazing prophecy, which now houses a business since the church members got their own chapel. The now building owners were kind enough (or lazy enough) to leave the pulpit in tact. So we got to stand (and take pictures) right where President Monson stood. It was an amazing experience to see that and it was definitely one of the highlights of this whole trip. I love knowing that we have real modern day revelation from real messengers of God. I can’t imagine how amazing it must have been to be one of the Germans who heard President Monson make this promise to them. And not only did they get to hear the prophecy, but a few years later they got to witness it come to pass! No they have their own chapel, a bunch of missionaries, and a temple! A temple in East Germany where, for a time, no one ever imagined they could have one. What a miracle that was.

The guy (Branch President I believe?) showing us the sites. He had the most wonderful German I've ever heard.

After that super fun adventure we got to go see the current meeting house of the members in this area. It was a cute little building and we went inside and sang some hymns. Then we continued our journey home. Into the Czech Republic we went and stopped in a little town called Brno. We didn’t get to see much of it as we just stayed at the hotel because it was pretty late.