John & Leesa Dupree--Alpine German-speaking Mission

       Leesa and I had been anticipating this opportunity for weeks, ever since exchanging emails with an Elder in the mission office before we'd left home. David Tew (along with his wife Judy) had been a huge help to us in getting prepared. I had spoken with David over the phone (working around a 9-hour time difference) when I asked him to be on the lookout for a package from Seidensticker Shirts.     Back in the 70s, Seidensticker shirts were much coveted by the Elders. They're an expensive shirt, but the collars stay sharp and clean, the material crisp, and they wear like iron. I'd ordered a number of them, to be delivered to the office, and David said he'd keep an eye peeled. We got to talking about other subjects, and he advised us to get a Charles Schwab checking account.      You can use a Schwab debit card all over the world, and they handle currency exchange rates and eliminate international ATM and purchase fees. Now, I don't want t...

      A long time ago, I took up cooking as a hobby, gradually acquiring recipes and technical expertise, and I began sharing meals with the missionaries and with friends. The joy of this kind of social entertainment came into sharp and clear focus rather gradually, and received a big boost in October of 1977, whilst I was a young and single missionary in Switzerland. I had just spent 17 months in the Germany Frankfurt mission, the one to which I was originally called. However, circumstances played out such that I was transferred, with nine other Frankfurt elders, to the Switzerland Zürich mission.     Less than two weeks in the Land of the Swiss, my companion and I were invited for dinner to the home of Werner and Nelly Riesen. At the time, he was the young Elders Quorum president in the Winterthur ward. He and Nelly had just welcomed their first child, Claudia, into their home barely two months previously. Usually, if you are invited to a Fondue dinner in a Sw...

      One of the fun aspects (and there are many of those) of our mission is our new responsibility to feed about 15 Junge Erwachsenen (Young Adults) who take part in weekly Church Institute classes on Wednesday evenings. Last week I chronicled their first experience with Chicago-style Stuffed Pizza, and this week, we came up with an all-American dinnertime standard, Sloppy Joes, with (KFC knockoff recipe) cole slaw. These college-age German youth come to the Church building on Wednesday evenings, receive instruction for about 75 minutes, then thunder down to the kitchen/game room for some eats. We really enjoy the opportunity to feed these kids, and at this early stage, it's a bit of a challenge to find the proper ingredients to essentially American dishes.     Tonight was something of a going-away party for Ashley Alves (girl in back hoisting a Sloppy Joe, with glasses and cornrows), who will soon be going off to University. She has been a terrific leader for ...

 It's been a big first week in Germany! To recap, we flew into Munich last Tuesday afternoon, had a terrific interview and dinner with President Naatjes, slept in a wonderful bed-and-breakfast, went to our first zone conference, drove from Munich to Freiburg, our new city, got introduced at the Institute, moved into our new home for the year, went to our first Ward Council (where every single soul is committed to blessing lives), went to a Youth Game Night activity, and went to our first Sunday at Church (at which there was a convert baptism), attended our first Missionary District Council.      Then, almost (it felt to us) like an afterthought, our District Leader said, "Would you like to go with us to the Temple tomorrow?"      "Are you kidding? YEAH!!" Both Leesa and I have a history of close misses with the Swiss Temple in the suburb of Bern called Zollikofen. My last zone conference as a missionary was at the chapel right next door (Joseph P. Wirt...

      We spent an intense two weeks in Provo, getting lectured and trained on a lot of different subjects, in and around visiting relatives and friends. We finished our classes on Friday, March 10th, and had the entire weekend to hang around Provo, wrapping up laundry and other mundane activities before flying out Monday afternoon.      For those who have never been to the Salt Lake airport, it is HUGE. You walk a LOT. It's like Bugs Bunny popping up in the desert, thinking he's at Miami Beach. It's just a long, long way to the water. It has moving sidewalks to help out, but it is a very long hike to get to your terminal. Our flight at 4:30 p.m. took us to San Francisco, where we had a few hours to cool our heels before our 9:30 flight direct to Munich.     From the point of view of an older couple, I should add at this point that paying the extra for business class definitely has its advantages. We got to wait in United's Polaris Lounge (they hav...

 It's been a big weekend. Friday night we were given an open house by Kirsten and Carl Henderson, and Earle and Valerie Anderson. A bunch of ward members came out to wish us well, and we had a wonderful time.      Next night we had dinner at the Andersons' with our dinner group, followed by our ward's White Elephant Gift Exchange, which as always, was a hoot. I wound up with a porcelain statue of a Chinese man with a long ponytail. My gift was a Torta Nera (black pie), an Italian chocolate pie and a gift certificate. A little history is in order here. Most years at this event I have donated a special dinner certificate entitling the bearer to a nice meal at our house. Thing is, Clay Jackson (shown here with bride Nancy) always seemed to wind up with it. What can I say; Clay and Nancy like my cooking. So with this year's certificate, something needed to be done. It read: This certificate entitles the bearer to a dinner for six at Ruth's Chris Steak House. Dinner to b...

     When I was on my first mission in Germany (during the 70s), the U.S. had a pretty strong military presence there, and military personnel had an 18-month European Enlistment option. Soldiers whose time in Europe was coming to a close were referred to as "short timers," and those with less than 10 days remaining briefly carried the title of "one-digit midgets." Only with us, we are counting the days until we can go over there.      Well, it's Saturday, the 18th of February, and we fly out in eight days, right after boring people to death in Sacrament meeting. And it'll be a full weekend this coming week:     --Friday, Open House at the Andersons, 5117 Butterwood Circle in Orangevale, from 7 to 9 p.m. Come one, come all. Let it be clear that Kirsten Henderson is IN CHARGE.     --Saturday, Dinner Group (homemade pizza(!) by invitation only) at the Andersons again, and directly afterward we'll have the White Elephant Gift Exchange at the...