3 - 8 November 2015

Paris saints where here in the temple this week.  The two temples in Germany, Frankfurt and Freiburg, are closed for renovation.  We were kept busy each day with their attendance and it was nice to have so many periodic workers on hand to take care of them.  By Friday, though, they were beginning to return home and the temple grew quiet.

The week was filled with the regular tasks of cleaning, laundry, doctor appointments, and shopping.  We through in hair cuts and I was busy with music each day as events approach.

We called Danny for his birthday and they were on their way to the San Diego temple for their day of service.  We had a great conversation.  They are doing well and stay busy.

Friday, the 6th, was a memorial service for those who died in war.  It was held at the Visitors' Centre, and like last year, was well done.

The event was filled with music, poetry, and stories as we listened to solos sung of "Danny Boy," and "The Lord's Prayer," and "In Flanders Fields," recited with feeling and emotion by an aged man.  As a congregation we sang "Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory," a favorite hymn of Winston Churchill and it was sung at his funeral.

A most impressive story told was that of the four chaplains.

On 23 January 1943, the SS Dorchester, laden with troops and crew of 900, left New York, headed to Greenland and then on to Europe to join in the war.  The journey was proceeding well in spite of going through what was known as torpedo alley, where German U-boats were monitoring sea lanes.  The captain had the crew on high alert and to sleep in their clothes and to keep their life jacket on at all times.  Some of the crew did not heed the warning because the life jackets made them too hot for sleeping or were uncomfortable.

On 3 February 1943, a submarine was detected and the ship was hit with a torpedo, sinking the ship.  As it was going down crew scrambled to the top deck in an effort to get into one of the life boats.  Four chaplains were on board the SS Dorchester, George L Fox, Methodist Minister; Rabbi Alexander D Goode; Clark V Poling, Reformed Church in America;  and Catholic church priest John P Washington.  As the panicked crew frantically made their way to safety, the chaplains gathered on the top deck and began calming the crew and helping each one get a life jacket on and then load into a life boat.  They continued to help the crew until the life jackets ran out.  They removed their own life jackets and put them on soldiers.  As the ship continued to sink and the few life boats drift away that made it, the passengers saw the four chaplains standing united on the bow as the ship sunk below the water.  One survivor recounted:

"As I swam away from the ship, I looked back. The flares had lighted everything. The bow came up high and she slid under. The last thing I saw, the Four Chaplains were up there praying for the safety of the men. They had done everything they could. I did not see them again. They themselves did not have a chance without their life jackets."  Grady Clark

We had a Hi & Bye on Sunday.  We said hello to:

 The Jensen's from Utah,

The Kirk's from Australia,

 And the Matthew's from England.

We said Bye to Brad and Marie Parkinson.  They came with us when we arrived here at the temple.  All of these couples are on the other shift so we do not have a lot of interaction with them, other than van trips and various other missionary activities.