La Gran Aventura Day 96: The Frankfurt Temple

Saturday, March 16, 2024

This morning I woke up and had one of those moments where it becomes very clear that I need to plan out the next stage of this journey. It’s weird because days will go by in which I have no idea what we are going to do next, and then I reach a point where I know I have got to get moving. Today was one of those days. I figured out that we can take the train to the Swiss temple, hopefully stay in temple housing, and then move on to Vicenza, Italy and then to Rome. And from Rome we can FLY to Barcelona. I found airline tickets for just about $50 per person, so we are in business. It is a huge relief.

Today we visited the Frankfurt temple, which is not actually in Frankfurt, but outside of town -- not far from Sami and Cinthia’s house. It’s a beautiful temple. They all are. Sami and the kids and I went in and did baptisms. Cinthia was working the baptistry, so we got to see her there. Betty stayed outside with River.

When we were done, Betty wanted to go inside the temple -- as she has done in other places -- just to see the baptistry and to feel the spirit of the temple. The problem was that the people working the desk did not speak English and we don’t speak German. So we took Sami with us to try to explain, but they just weren’t understanding what we wanted to do. At first they thought that Betty was a non-member (she had forgotten her recommend). Then they thought she wanted to bring River into the temple. Finally, they got a member of the temple presidency to come out. We explained the situation, and he graciously offered to take us down himself. By this time the baptistry was empty. Betty was able to take some time alone, and I chatted with the president about our trip. The he said: “Do you want to see the oxen?” Of course we did, so he took us down an elevator and through a maintenance hall and then opened a door and we were there at the base of the font -- eye level with the oxen. It was awesome. I’ve always wanted to come down and see them up close, and here in Frankfurt I was able to do it. It was totally unforgettable, and I’m so grateful we had the opportunity.

Back at the house we had some delicious lunch, and then it was time to say goodbye. It was such a great stay with Sami and Cinthia and their kids. We would love to come back and spend more time.

On the way home the kids and I had a great discussion about what it means for something to be beautiful. I thought they were really insightful as they touched on what to me are the main elements of beauty.

1. Beautiful things strike or stir or move us on an emotional level. It’s very often difficult to put into words specifically why something is beautiful, but we know beauty when we see it because we feel it in our heart, chest, throat, or stomach.

1. Beautiful things point us towards higher or heavenly things. They help us orient towards the divine. In this way the beautiful is different from the attractive, or the pretty, or the desirable. It doesn't mean that all beautiful things are churchy or even spiritual, but they elevate our minds.

1. Beauty depends on an interaction between an object and a viewer. It’s not that the object alone is beautiful. Nor is it the case that beauty is solely in the eye of the beholder. Beauty is a relationship between a beautiful object and a person capable of sensing that beauty -- both of feeling the stirring and of being oriented towards the divine by it.
   I feel like the older I get the more capable I am getting and recognizing the stirring feelings caused by beautiful things, and also the more capable I am of being pointed to God by them.
   It was a good chat.
   In the evening we got back with Dasha and the kids, and we had a really nice evening. Betty and Dasha and I had another great conversation about this trip, about living in Europe, about living the military lifestyle, and about raising kids. We talked about how each person’s experience is unique, and how God will help us to take advantage of our circumstances to raise our kids. Everyone’s situations are so totally unique, but if we are focused on raising our kids well, we will find the opportunities to help them grow, regardless of our circumstances.
   We also had a good talk about being led. I think it’s such a blessing and a challenge to just allow ourselves to be led -- one step at a time. As I was going to bed tonight, I had the words of Lead Kindly Light in my head.

Lead kindly light, amid the encircling gloom.

Lead thou me on.

The night is dark, and I am far from home.

Lead thou me on.

Keep thou my feet, I do not ask to see the distant scene.

One step enough for me.

That’s my theme song for this trip.

La Gran Aventura Day 95: Sami and Cinthia

Friday, March 15, 2024

Ian is really struggling with his allergies right now. Veroniek had two cats, and Dasha and Andrew have a dog. He had a tough night last night. His breathing is just not good. I hope we can help him get a bit sorted today.

Around lunchtime we drove up (in Andrew and Dasha’s van) to a town just outside of Frankfurt where our friends Sami López and Cinthia Peñarrubia live. I served with both of them in Spain when I was a missionary there. They are from the same part of Spain, and married just after their missions ended. Sami served as a very young stake president in Alicante, and now he works for the church here in Frankfurt -- which is headquarters for the church in Central Europe. They have two older teenage boys and a darling little girl.

When we got there we had lunch. It was a hodgepodge of German foods that they like. Potato pancake thingies and bratwurst and salad and apple soda.

After that we drove over to the town of Bad Homburg, which has a couple of beautiful churches a an old town with houses that date back to at least the 1500s. It was just a perfect little town.

After that, we drove over to the stake center (next to the temple) where there was a stake youth dance going on. Our kids were a little nervous and a little excited, and and ended up being more than a little disappointed. The attendance was not great, and the atmosphere wasn’t quite right. But I’m proud of them for giving it a shot.

In the night we had dinner and then the kids went upstairs to watch a movie while the adults just sat around the table and visited. We remembered time in the mission together, and we shared stories of some of the things we’ve been up to since then. I was so happy for Betty to get to know these dear friends and for them to get to know her. She and Cinthia really seem to have clicked. I’m so happy. It wasn’t til around 1am that we decided to call it quits for the night.

The whole day brought to mind the scripture that describes when Alma and the sons of Mosiah meet up after so many years apart:

Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord (Alma 17:2).

La Gran Aventura Day 94: Vianen, ND to Kaiserslautern, Germany

Thursday, March 14, 2024

I think I’ve learned my lesson about early morning trains. Today’s didn’t leave until 11:04am, and because we are now back in the EU, we didn’t have to go through a bunch of security. So the morning was pretty chill, and the kids are getting great at packing up their stuff.

We’ve been on the train for about an hour now, and I’ve been doing some reading. I’m working my way through Bashō’s great essay The Narrow Road to the Far North. I feel really connected to him. So much of it reads like: We went to this shrine, we saw this old sword or piece of armor. We prayed with these people. This is the place where some battle took place. I was too busy to write poetry today, or too tired, or too distracted. But occasionally, there are moments of brilliance.

That’s what this trip is like for us. We get on a train, we visit a place. We might feel tired or annoyed about something. I might not have time to read or write or edit photos like I wish. But as I look back, the highlights stand out so brightly.

One of those highlights was seeing Dasha and her kids today. To find family here, in the middle of Europe. It’s amazing. Dasha is so kind and warm. It’s exactly what we needed at this stage of the trip.

We are now in Kaiserslautern on military base with them, and we will be here for a few days. I’m looking forward to it.

La Gran Aventura Day 93: The Hague Temple

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Today we took a little trip out to see The Hague, Holland temple. It’s just a bus ride and a 35min train ride from Veroniek’s place in Vianen. As has been our usual custom, we slept in a bit and got out of the house around 11am.

While I was on the train, I read from Elder Cook’s most recent general conference talk in which he reminded us that when the pioneers were preparing to cross the plains, Brigham Young received a revelation in which the Lord told the saints that they needed to look out for those in need, keep the commandments, fill their hearts with gratitude, and pray that their hearts would be full of joy. I think those are great guidelines for anyone going on a journey and for any family, frankly.

Here is a link to his talk: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2023/10/44cook?lang=eng

It was kind of a gray day. Not really raining and not super cold, but not totally dry and certainly not warm. It’s sad that this temple is currently closed, but there is just no helping that. We were grateful to be able to see it and to take some pictures. It’s a beautiful temple. Not too big, but with a unique style of architecture. My favorite element is a little bridge with fountains on the side that take you up to the front doors.

Not far from the temple there is also a beautiful old windmill. We walked right past it on our way up there. I’m glad we got to see it.

The evening was really relaxed. We had delicious fried Dutch foods for dinner. Cheesy snacks, croquettes, chicken nuggets and fries. And we washed it all down with our favorite Dutch treat: a black current soda called Cassis.

Then we just watched Ultimate Beastmaster on Netflix until bedtime.

Oh, and I should mention we listened to the BYU basketball game on the radio. They won in the first round of the BIG 12 tournament against UCF. It’s been such an awesome season. These guys are so fun to watch.

La Gran Aventura Day 92: Amsterdam and the Rijksmuseum

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

This morning we slept in quite a bit. Everyone is tired. It was kind of a restless night. Ian woke up with terrible asthma. Betty had a nightmare and isn’t feeling well. I was going to take just the bigger kids to see Amsterdam and the Rijksmuseum so Betty could rest, but then Betty decided to come. Veroniek made a delicious lunch for us. Sandwiches and veggies. She has been a wonderful host.

The trip to Amsterdam includes about a half mile walk to the bus station, a 20 min bus to Utrecht Centraal train station, and 45 min train to Amsterdam. Fortunately for us, the ticket machine on the bus was broken, so we got a free ride.

At the train station we were in a big hurry to catch our train. Alicia told me it was a bad idea to rush, but I didn’t listen to her. Turns out she was right because instead of getting us on the train to Amsterdam, I got us on the train to Amersfoort. That was dumb and lost us just about a half hour or 45 min.

Thankfully there was another direct train from Amersfoort to Amsterdam. From there it was a tram ride to the Rijksmuseum.

This museum is not overly huge, but it has some real gems. In particular, it’s got a ton of Rembrandt, who is probably my favorite artist that I know almost nothing about. It was great to get to know him better here. Of course the piece de resistance is The Night Watch, but there were so many other good ones. I love his self-portraits. This museum also has three Vermeer’s and a famous self-portrait of Van Gogh.

Unfortunately, the kids and Betty were totally wiped out. I had figured that with a total day of rest Monday and pretty light day of travel Tuesday they would have more energy, but they were just sacked. After the Rembrandt and Vermeer stuff we knew it was time to get home, but before that we wanted to see the Van Gogh. Betty was asking me why Van Gogh is such a big deal, so I showed her and the kids this clip, which describes it better than I ever could.

After that the museum was ready to close, so we headed back it was a beautiful walk through the city. It’s definitely got a unique personality. I loved it. Our final stop was the Anne Frank house. Alicia read her diary this past year in school, so it was cool for her to see the house.

Walking from there to the train station we had a good chat about sacred space. What makes a place sacred? I taught the kids a bit about what Mircea Eliade writes in The Sacred and the Profane.

The regular old everyday world is what he calls profane space. It’s like a sheet that spreads out in all directions. But every once in a while, something divine pokes through that sheet and opens up a door to the spiritual. Where that tear in the fabric takes place, that’s what we call sacred space. Very often we build a church or monument there. And often the divine is manifest in the midst of tragedy. That’s why places like the beaches of Normandy or the Anne Frank house are sacred today.

At least, that’s one way to think of it.

This was a good day.

La Gran Aventura Day 91: London to Vianen, Holland

Monday, March 11, 2024

This morning we woke up early, packed up our bags, and said goodbye to our new friends Grant and Emma. Our stay in London has been so amazing, but it’s time to move on. We are so grateful for Grant and Emma for letting us stay here.

We took the train from London to Utrecht, Holland, where we will be staying with a friend of my brother Spencer. Her name is Veroniek, and Spencer helped teach her the gospel when he was a missionary here. Veroniek actually spent quite some time in the States, and she and I met when I was in high school. Since then she’s been a good friend of our family. She and her two sons are really great, and we already love them.

Our train to Utrecht Centraal got us here a bit late, but we made it.

It was good to just have the afternoon free to just hang out at the house and relax. Betty and I also went to the grocery store with Veroniek. Betty loved just looking around at all of the things. You can learn a lot about a place by looking at their grocery stores. It’s interesting to me because in many ways every European grocery store looks the same, but they are all also unique to their countries. For example, the Dutch store had a million different things to make a sandwich with. Cheeses, sauces, meats, breads. They are very creative. They also have a bunch of candy -- and a bunch of it is black licorice flavored :( Betty loved that they had lots of fresh foods. The packaging of everything was also really small.

For dinner we had a traditional Dutch meal, where they put a grill on the table and each person grills up their own little pieces of meat to eat. There was a variety of dipping sauces and some little individual pans in which we could make our own little pancakes or omelettes. Apparently it’s a common dinner at Christmas time.

Our plan is to visit Amsterdam tomorrow.

La Gran Aventura Day 90: Time to take a break

Sunday, March 10, 2024

Today we woke up, had some breakfast, and went to church at the East Grinstead ward. The members here were so kind and warm to us. River was happy to be in a church where all the kids speak like Peppa Pig. She did great with them, and they have an awesome primary here. The leaders all seem to be having so much fun. And they have a lot of leaders dedicated to the primary.

We also had a total miracle happen in church. Back when we were in Paris, Betty and her new friend Dinah had long conversations every night. On the last night, as they were discussing our trip to London, Dinah told Betty that she had a friend who lives in London, but that they had lost contact over 20 years ago. All Dinah knew was her name and that at one point she had worked in the London temple.

So when we were at the temple, we asked if anyone knew this sister. Nobody did. Then later that day we asked Grant and Emma, and they said “Oh yeah, she’s in our ward.” So yesterday we went to church, and she wasn’t there, but her husband was. His name is Tom, and he is so very kind and warm. He speaks with a thick Scottish accent that Betty can somehow understand better than she can the Londoners. Tom and I spent a while in the hallway just chatting. he had amazing stories about his first visit to Utah back in 1989 which included a temple recommend interview with David B Haight, receiving special general conference tickets, and meeting the wee old man who allegedly had the record for the most endowments performed. It was quite a conversation.

After church we came home, and we’ve just been resting since then. Betty is getting her pack ready for us to leave tomorrow. The kids have been playing ping pong and writing to their friends. River has been playing with a doll house.

We are so grateful for Grant and Emma and all that they have done for us.

I spent a bunch of time today just going over finances and working through some church stuff and just generally getting organized. I’ve worked out our itinerary for the next couple of weeks, and that gives me some peace. It’s tough to get down to Italy on the trains, but we’ll find a way to make it happen. This whole thing is harder than I had anticipated, but it’s been pretty amazing so far as well.

Thanks for all your prayers.

La Gran Aventura Day 89: A Long London Stroll

Saturday, March 9, 2024

This morning I woke up early and I was able to do some work with my email and my journal and my photos. I’m really pleased with how some of them have turned out. While I worked, I looked out the window in this amazing view. Maybe tomorrow I can get some better photos of it.

Everyone else woke up about 8am.

Around 9am, Grant and Emma took us to the station, and we went in to London. We got off at London Bridge, and from there we walked along the Thames towards Tower Bridge. From there we walked over the Tower Bridge and past the Tower of London. After a quick pit stop, we walked to St Dunstan, which is a church that was bombed during WWII. Carlos Macia gave me the tip about that place, and I’m so grateful for tip. The sun was pretty harsh, it’s really the kind of place that would have looked better with more moody light, but I did my best.

From there we walked down to St Paul’s cathedral. It’s beautiful and majestic, but they charge an arm and a leg to go in -- so we skipped it. England is weird like that. It’s the only place I’ve been that charges to go in a church.

By that point the kids were really hungry, so we hunted about for a place to eat. We were hoping for fish and chips because we’d promised our fried Chris Condon that we would eat them. I figured the cheapest place would be in a pub, so we popped into one but after sitting down and looking at the menu we realized that it wasn’t going to fit into our budget. So we sleepily excused ourselves and had a quick meal at a coffee shop. About five minutes later we walked by a display of donuts at a shop called Donut Time, and we all simultaneously stopped dead in our tracks. They were the most delicious looking donuts we’d ever seen. So we hopped in there and grabbed some donuts. They were amazing!

All of that happened right around St Paul’s, and from there we walked to the British Museum. It’s free and pretty amazing. They have the Rosetta Stone and a giant head of Ramses II, who lived around 1200 BC and was likely the Pharaoh when Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt. We could have spent a bunch more time in that museum, but today was just about sampling in the city.

On this trip in which we are seeking out the sacred, it’s interesting to me that some of the most sacred experiences we’ve had have been in museums. The great churches have all been so prohibitively expensive that we haven’t been into them. I’m sure that will change as the trip goes on, but so far we’ve loved the museum/visitor’s center at Omaha Beach, the Louvre and the British Museum.

From the British Museum we walked down towards Westminster. On our way we paused at Leicester Square, right in the heart of the theater district. It’s got these beautiful statues of Harry Potter, Mary Poppins, Paddington Bear, Gene Kelly from Singin’ in the Rain, and Bugs Bunny. Those last two are weird choices because they aren’t British, but oh well.

After even more walking we made it to Westminster Abbey. Betty was really looking forward to seeing it because she’s a fan of Princess Kate, and that’s where she and William were married.

After that and some pictures of Big Ben, we made our way to the Victoria Station. It was a ton of walking (around 8 miles), but it was a good day. I loved seeing so many things that I’ve only seen in the movies. One day is certainly not enough to see London, but I feel like we gave the kids a good taste.

After so many days of intense travel, I think we are all looking forward to the opportunity to rest on the Sabbath tomorrow.