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Major German Newspaper Looks at LDS Missionaries
FRANKFURT, HESSIA, GERMANY -- The Frankfurter Allgemeine, one of
Germany's most well-known newspapers, looked at the missionaries of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and their lives in a
long article last week. The newspaper interviewed one LDS missionary
and a local member couple, giving its readers a glimpse into
missionary work in Germany and into LDS beliefs.
The article mentions the number of missionaries around the world and
the scope of their work, and looks at missionary work in Germany's
five missions. In Frankfurt, 11
missionaries cover the entire city, which has a population of nearly
2 million. They contact some 100 people each day, estimates Elder
Brandon Aycock of Duschene, Utah, who was interviewed for the
article. He claims that about 30 of those contacted show some
interest.
Elder Aycock is one of nearly 200 missionaries in the in the Germany
Frankfurt Mission, which covers the area from Karlsruhe in the south
to Wesel (northwest of Duisburg) in the north, and from Aachen in the
west to Fulda in the east (including the German states of Hessia,
Westfalia, Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarland, and well as part of
Baden-Wurttemberg). The mission counts about 15 new converts each
month, according to Elder Aycock, but, he hastens to add, the
missionaries have no quota, "We are interested in people, not
numbers," he says.
Also interviewed for the article was Manfred Schienagel, one of the
approximately 36,300 German LDS Church members. Schienagel and his
wife joined the LDS Church 26 years ago in "almost an accident." "We
were sick and couldn't work," he says, explaining how the couple were
home when the missionaries knocked on their door. "Since we had no
reason to turn them away, we let them in." They took about a year to
join the Church, and say that joining the Church made a big
difference in their lives, "Since then, we have grown to be
especially happy people."
The Frankfurter Allgemeine article also gives an overivew of LDS
beliefs, discussing the origin of the Book of Mormon, the Mormon
trek, polygamy, the word of wisdom, the importance of family, and the
LDS belief in a living prophet. Surprisingly, the article contains
almost no factual errors, misstating only the date that polygamy was
abandoned (1890, not 1895), the date the Church's name was set (1838,
not 1938) and implying in error that Moroni wrote the entire Book of
Mormon.
Source:
Young Mormons Pack Their Suits and Faith for Missions
Frankfurt Germany Frankfurter Allgemeine 28Dec01 N2
By Anna Katarina Stechert
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