Searching for Moroni

One of the things that I wanted to be sure to do while in Europe was to visit as many of the LDS Temples as I can. The Freiberg Germany Temple is located in Northeast Germany, near Dresden and on my way to Berlin. Therefore, I decided that I would make a stop in Freiberg Thursday whilst journeying to Berlin from Stuttgart.

The day started early. I caught the tram from Carolin’s apartment to the Stuttgart main train station at about 5:30 am. I had a 6:05 train to Nürnburg. All went well; I grabbed a bit to eat, boarded the train, and contemplated a short nap for the two hours to follow. I was scheduled to arrive in Nürnburg at 8:20ish, and my connection to Freiburg left at 8:42. About 20 minutes outside of Stuttgart, we came to a stop. We sat, and sat, and sat on the tracks; nearly 30 minutes later, we were off. I was doing some math in my sleep deprived brain, figuring out the possibility of catching my train still. I had hope. I could make it. No problem. I might have to run, but I could still make the train. However, my hope was to no avail; the train pulled into Nürnburg at precisely 8:43. One minute after my connection departed. With no internet connection, I began searching the departure boards. There was a train to Leipzig departing shortly; if I took that train, hopefully there would be a connection there to Freiberg.

The ride to Leipzig was uneventful. I arrived on time and once again began to comb through the departure boards. Not a single train going through Freiberg. By this time, I had planned to be in Freiberg. I decided to hop a train to Dresden (thank goodness for my unlimited rail pass), knowing that I could go from there to Freiberg. The rest of the journey went to “plan c” and I arrived in Freiberg at the time when I was planning on leaving there.

Next challenge? Where is the temple? In Utah, the temples are difficult to miss; tall, white, large spire with the statue Moroni, and often on a hill. In my mind, this temple should be the same. Not so. In Europe, all of the buildings are tall, and white buildings are not uncommon either. I thought that my only hope would be to look for the Angel Moroni. I looked at a map of the city, however, it had no annotation of where the temple was. I had looked it up beforehand and knew that it was west of the city, and a short distance away from the center. I started walking west…..or so I thought. After about 15 minutes, I found another map-just to be sure I was going in the right direction. Nope. I was actually traveling north now. After a quick prayer, followed by some backtracking, I found a westbound road that sounded familiar. And so I went. I was about to turn back and find someone to help me after walking up this street for several blocks, when, in the distance, I saw some nicely groomed landscaping, a black metal fence, and the corner of a white building. Maybe this was it? Just maybe? I started walking faster. I went around a small bend and low, there was the temple. The whole time I had been looking for the angel Moroni, when really, it was the pure white and the exterior that caught my eye. I am sure that the locals thought I was a complete psycho as I approached the temple with a huge smile on my face.

I enjoyed the grounds, took some pictures, visited with the Senior Sister missionaries, and enjoyed the spirit. There truly is nothing like the spirit of the temple. If I had more time, I probably would have taken the time to do some baptisms, but with the short notice and no cell phone to call to make an appointment, I loved the Freiberg temple anyhow.

This temple has an interesting history. During the cold war, it was very difficult for church members to travel form East Germany to Switzerland to visit the temple. The church worked endlessly to get travel permits, visas, and other documents in order for temple trips. In the 1970s, the leaders of the church and the East German government worked together and agreed to put a temple in East Germany. The Freiberg Temple was dedicated in 1985 and open to all East German Saints. The temple was open only for those in East Germany, however. After the Reunification of Germany in 1990, the church reorganized temple boundaries and had to completely remodel the Freiberg temple to make it bigger. They also added Moroni at this time.

Anyhow, back to my day. I enjoyed my time at the temple then hurried back to the train station to catch a train back to Dresden so that I could catch the once-every-two-hours train from Dresden to Berlin. I made it. Nearly 3hours after planned, I arrived safely in Berlin. After 17 hours of traveling and then the overly long check in wait at the hostel, I crashed in my bed.

I think that my day was a metaphor for life. There were many instances where I could have given up and gone straight through to Berlin. I kept going, however, and found the temple. I found the spirit in the rush of the day, the stress of life, the fast paced world around me. There are so many things in the way, but by persevering, there will always be a way.