Arriving in Germany

This is a long story. Jamar wanted to cut half of this out and Christi wanted to add more. We certainly enjoyed reliving it more than we did living it. We hope you can get through it. If not, just look at the pictures.

After weighing our bags many times and struggling with what to leave we finally got them each to the exact 50 lb limit by deciding to add another bag and PAY for it. (This decision came back to haunt us later.) We breezed through security in Salt Lake, had a nice flight to New York, with a short lay over and then our all night flight to Berlin. We slept very little....in fact Jamar walked that plane all the way to Berlin.

We had no problems getting through customs and even found carts to put our seven bags on. As we pushed our loaded carts toward the door we saw the familiar suit and badge we were looking for on a short, slender, senior Elder. No young, strong Elders in sight. Elder Rich looked at all our bags and apologized that he did not have the mission van because he had put regular gas in the diesel tank. and it was dead. He also commented that he was alone because the young Elders were away at a Zone Conference in Dresden. We headed for the parking lot and he directed us to the smallest car there. We stood there in amazement as he assured us that he would make it fit and he did. He huffed and puffed and arranged and rearranged and we actually got in the car too. I was in the back with suitcases all around me including on my lap. Jamar had the assignment to hold the GPS. It slid to the floor three times as she kept falling asleep. Elder Rich, being fairly new in the area, was struggling to see it to find our way to the Mission Office.

Sister Rich was there to greet us with water, food and an orientation that we can't remember because we had not slept for 30 hours. Much to our amazement we were told that the mission president wanted us to get on the train and go on to Dresden. He and his wife were in Dresden for the conference with his assistants and hoped to see us there. We got back into the car to head for the train station.....but first, it was the mission tradition that all new missionaries were to visit the place where the Berlin wall had been to find a quiet spot in the wooded area to pray and dedicate themselves to do the Lord's work. We hiked across three fields to get there. This unique experience humbled us as we contemplated where we were and what had happened in this area. ..

We hiked back to the car and wedged ourselves in among all the bags with Jamar holding the GPS again. Elder Rich had never been to the train station so Jamar tried very hard to stay awake this time. It took longer than anticipated to get there and then he found that there was no parking close. We were running out of time so he dropped us off with our bags and said go on in while he parked the car. We tried to figure out how to move the bags but we were out numbered and out weighed. Finally it came to us to tandem them together...we had the straps somewhere. By the time we got in the station we had 10 minutes before the train arrived. Elder Rich finally showed up and tried to purchase our tickets in the machine that kept spitting his money out. He pointed the elevator and said go on up to platform #4. We pulled our suitcases into this very narrow elevator and were so relieved that the door opened up in front of us so we could pull our luggage out. We now had less than 5 minutes and the sign pointed us back down to our platform. We hurriedly squeezed ourselves into another elevator and the door closed as we saw Elder Rich coming with the tickets. When the door opened again we realized this elevator had only one door and we would have to push our bags out. A young lady could see our dilemma, came to our rescue and pulled the tandem suitcases out so we could exit. Elder Rich finally caught up with us. He handed us the tickets, jumped on the train and started pulling our suitcases in that were still tied together. We tried to unhook them and he said no time for that. So we pushed and he pulled and we got on and he got off just as the doors closed. As the train pulled out we saw a look of distress on his face which he later explained was due to a sign on the train that said Prague.(which is not in Germany)

When we looked around, we became aware we were in a very small entry way and our bags blocked the bathroom door. As Jamar was trying to get to the bathroom, Christi went down the hall to find a place for the luggage. An old man came out of his compartment and headed for the bathroom. He saw the situation and began to push and shove the bags. Between he and Jamar they finally got to the door and he went in. Meanwhile Christi came back with a plan. The suitcases would have to rest in the hallway. There was no luggage compartment. We struggled with the 7 heavy suitcases lining them up in the hallway. By this time the people settled in their compartments began to close their curtains. As Christi stood in the hall waiting for Jamar to come out of the bathroom the suitcases began to roll and fall over with every turn of the train so she turned them on their side. We did not see a place in a compartment for us anywhere when same young lady appeared and directed us to her compartment where there were two places left. As we settled in we noticed the lady with the food cart fighting her way past all the bags. Christi went back out to help her maneuver them so she could get by. As we looked around us we saw that that the poor man who couldn't get to the bathroom was sitting across from us with his wife. Thanks to the angel who rescued us we had a pleasant trip and conversation with the others as she interpreted for us. Again she came to our rescue as she looked at our tickets and saved us from getting off at the wrong stop in Dresden or going on to Prague. She was one of Heavenly Father's tender mercies in our lives. We were so stressed and tired we did not get her name but hope to find her again. As we pulled into Dresden the people began to line up to get off the train and between them and our suitcases there was no room for us. The old couple stayed behind us to help. By this time they had great compassion for us. They pushed as we pulled to get our suitcases out of the hallway. As we looked out the window and saw the familiar badges it was obvious that Elder Rich had called ahead to prepare them for our arrival. There stood a senior couple, 3 young elders and one of our YSA's. They had 2 cars. It took all of us to get the luggage off the train and to the cars. We had arrived.


The suitcases lined up in the hallway of the train.


After about 40 hours of no sleep Jamar gave in. Our Angel in the background.