We Found Hamburgers!

As the holidays approached, our Mission President was very concerned that all the missionaries have a place to go eat for the holidays including us. We communicated that although we were grateful for the member's concern for us, we were fine and in fact we were happy to take care of the young missionaries if they did not have any invitations. 

So, on Christmas Eve Day we drove over to Bielefeld to take the two missionaries serving there to lunch as they had no appointments or invites for the day. We told them to choose any place they would like to go. They jokingly asked if that include an outing to McDonald's. We quickly responded, "Anywhere but McDonald's."

The weather was a little cloudy but nice so I took the opportunity to take a few photos along the way. We make the drive every Sunday to get to our meetings, but I usually do not have time to take a photo so today was a good day to do it. 

Here is a photo of the church we pass each week. It is at a busy intersection in a small city called Helpup so I pulled into a parking lot across the street and walked over to take some photos. I love the subtle decorations. Many German people decorate with just a single large star like the one in this photo. It is a wonderful reminder of the Light of Christ.

On the other corner of this same intersection is a building in the half timbered style although I'm not sure this is an old construction. I look forward to next spring when the window boxes on the upper windows will be filled with colorful flowers. 

We made the drive (50 min.) and picked them up at the church building about 1:00pm. 

We went inside to pick up the missionaries and I took a couple of photos of the Christmas decorations in the foyer and the chapel. It is a small building, but each week it is filled with sweet people from all walks of life who come to worship Jesus Christ.

Each week as we enter the chapel to find a seat, we make sure we have a German hymnal so we can sing along in German. We may not be able to understand the words, but we have studied enough to be able to read the lyrics and sing the melodies we are so familiar with. It is a wonderful treat. I try and sit next to one of my new German friends who is also an alto and I sing but listen to her as she sings the words correctly. It is helping me a lot with the language. It is also helpful because I know the English words so I know what is being said. 

By this time of day on Christmas Eve, many places were closed so they had to find a place that would be opened which they did. Neither of them had been to the place called Beef 'n Bun which isn't too far from their apartment or the church. 

We found free parking for the day and walked over to the restaurant.

There were only two other customers in the place. We looked at the menu and everything looked good so we were excited to be trying it out. We found a place along the decorated back wall and I had to get a photo.

Once the food came, I absolutely had to get a few more photos!

Have I been away from America so long that I thought this was the best burger I have had in years?? Well it is sooo good. In fact, one of the missionaries had a second burger right on the spot!

 (We offered and he accepted.😊)

We left the proprietor of Beef 'n Bun with the promise that we would return, which we did on New Year's Day. He told us he would be opened and true to his word, we enjoyed some of the different offerings which are just as good as the hamburger.

We have to drive through the city of Bielefeld (Bee-la-felled) to get home every Sunday so on this trip I was able to get a photo of our favorite church so far, St. Mary's Church which is largest church in the city and dates back to the 1200's. 

I took this photo from the car while waiting at a red light.  These twin towers have been my directors each week while I learned the way to our own church building. 

One day we will make a trip to go inside and see the treasures housed here. I found this description on the internet:

"'... a Gothic hall church dating back to 1293, completed 1512. Historically speaking, this building is considered to be the most precious possession of the town. It was the starting point of the Protestant Reformation in Bielefeld in 1553. 

The baroque spires were destroyed in World War II and later replaced by two unusually-shaped 'Gothic' clocktowers. The altarpiece of the Bielefeld church Neustädter Marienkirche from around 1400 is among the most prominent masterpieces of artwork of the German Middle Ages. Two of the altarpieces, The Flagellation and The Crucifixion are now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York."

Even if large communities of people may be separating themselves from religious worship, places of worship seem to be the heart and soul of many comunities still. Every small village we have driven through so far has housed a church. 

I love that.