Stephens Berlin Germany Mission Blog

  We met President and Sister Henry Kosak at the Stake Center on 29 November 2025.  They were our son, Jimmy's, Mission Leaders from 2012 to 2014 when Jimmy served in the Germany Berlin Mission. This is the same mission we are serving in.   I also met Brother Marc Schultz  who also knew Jimmy on his mission.   I learned how to make "Rouladen" this week.   (Rinderroulade) This is a German meat dish usually consisting of bacon, onions, mustard, and pickles wrapped in thinly sliced beef which is  then seared and cooked.   Sister Manu Stanke and Monica were in charge and  directed the three senior sister missionaries how to  make this dish.  We had 140 slabs of thin sliced meat that we prepared.  It was.....awesome? After they were cooked, we vacuum packed them and froze them because this meat dish is for next week's Zone Conference.  This is one of  the most traditional and loved meat dishes in German...

  We went to the Freiberg Temple for the first time on 21 November 25.  This temple is in Dresden which is south of Berlin where we live.   Gary and Louise in front of the Freiberg Temple The story of the Freiberg Germany Temple is a unique one, as it was the first temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints built in a communist state (East Germany). When government officials suggested the Church build a temple in the DDR rather than trying to get East Germans to the Bern Switzerland Temple, it became a "miracle" of faithfulness and government cooperation that allowed construction to proceed in 1985.  For decades, East German members were unable to travel to the Bern Switzerland Temple for ordinances because of government travel restrictions. In 1978, government officials unexpectedly asked the Church why it didn't simply build a temple in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) instead of continuing to deny visa applications to members. Thi...