Today we had the wonderful opportunity to hear a fireside from the Freiberg Temple President,. He was only called at the beginning of this month, so he is fairly new at this calling. He has, however, been a member of the Church his entire life, a characteristic that is quite uncommon in Europe.
Die erste Gemeinde im Freiberg war in Jahre 1896 und Präsident Apel war in 1940 geboren. He has been able to watch the Church grow from only a few members to an international temple in Freiberg. In 1972, a patriarch came and gave all members Patriarchal blessings one by one. In 1982, President Monson, then of the First Presidency, called him to be the Pfahlpräsident (stake president). When he found out that Brother Apel had never been to the temple, President Monson arranged for he and his wife to attend General Conference in Salt Lake City. This was an even bigger deal than it sounds, because Freiberg is a town in East Germany and at that time, no one was allowed to go out. The Apels had to leave their children in Freiberg so their return would be assured. Whenever they would see a body of water out the airplane window, they would ask the woman seated next to them if that was the Great Salt Lake. He and his wife shed tears of joy when they finally saw the actual body of water and they were surprised when their aisle-mate cried too. They were touched by this and overwhelmed with love for the Heavenly Father and for the American people.
The Freiberg temple had its Offene Haus in 1985 and 90,000 visitors came for the walk through. It opened for temple work later that year. The Freiberg temple is the temple for members from Hungary, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Slovenia and eastern Germany and they must travel many, many hours to reach it. Because there are so many people who frequent the temple, it was expanded and re-modeled in 2002.
It was so interesting to learn about the Freiberg temple from a man who loves both that town and the Gospel. He was just beaming as he told us of his life. In closing, he told us to always have a temple picture in your room, no matter where you’re living. As you kneel down to pray or sit and meditate, you will see the picture and be reminded of the reality of eternity and the blessings we can have if we remain worthy to enter its holy walls.
3 comments:
What a great fireside! I love that the gospel is spreading throughout the world! This post makes me happy.
love.
Even though I grew up without a temple nearby, I forget when I'm in Utah what a blessing it is to have one near.
It is always so touching to hear how much the members elsewhere appreciate their temple.
love you, dear.
What an amazing story... I believe President Monson mentioned that temple in a recent talk. I also remember hearing about how that temple was placed where it was when it was because of the it being in Eastern Europe. What a great experience for you to be there and hear the story "from the horse's mouth," so to speak.
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