Comments on: Missionary Evacuation, 1939: A First-Person Account

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:52:50 +0000

The evacuation of the missionaries at the beginning of WWII was such a dramatic story, experienced in different ways and places by so many missionaries, that lots of individual accounts have been given in one place or another. This specific one did come from a collection of letters written to JFSjr, housed at LDS Archives (which the Church would like now to be referred to as Church History Library — but old habits die hard; I may have to call it both, as I do here, for a while before I can really make the switch).

By: Brad

Brad — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 06:02:22 +0000

never mind….lol. turns out it was a different story after all.

By: Brad

Brad — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 05:56:45 +0000

Can anybody tell me where this story came from? The last comment said thanks for rescuing this from the archives…what archives was it from originally? Joseph Fielding Smith’s journal perhaps?

My companion on my mission told me this story, and I thought I remembered him saying it was from a book called “A Historia da Igreja” (Church history…or something…). I really wanted to read the book, if it exists. It might just have been a story he heard or something. Thanks so much for the help!!!

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:52:00 +0000

Thanks for rescuing this from the archives!

By: john f.

john f. — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:25:31 +0000

Great stuff. As a former missionary to Germany, I always love reading this kind of story.

These days, there is a ward building in Hamburg Altona, an old beautiful villa that has been converted for use as a ward house. I should post the history of the acquisition and use of the building, as I did a bit of research on that when my wife and I were living in Hamburg in 2002.

By: Edje

Edje — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 06:03:56 +0000

Very interesting. Thanks.

By: Ardis Parshall

Ardis Parshall — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 22:16:29 +0000

I had no idea!

By: Anne (U.K)

Anne (U.K) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 22:15:16 +0000

the ‘Meeting house in Copenhagen’ served as a meeting house until 1999 (apart from being used as a bomb shelter during the war!) when it was renovated, and reopened in 2004 as the Copenhagen Temple. The original 1931 meetinghouse building had been built to the exact measurements of Solomon’s Temple, and despite the fact it was reduced to just one wall during renovations, retains the same dimensions today. Or so I was told when visiting.

By: Bruce Crow

Bruce Crow — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:21:07 +0000

The hybrid of English and Mission language matches my experience too. We affectionately called it Chinglish (I went to Hong Kong).

I must show this to my sister, who served in Munich. She would love it.

I’m just glad we never had to evacuate.

By: Chad Too

Chad Too — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:58:05 +0000

Mark B.: It appears from my reading that he has copied from his missionary journal from when he was in-country. Thus the missionary German.

I know what you mean about missionary Japanese, or “senkyoshi-go.” I got stuck in the middle of my homecoming talk because I realized I didn’t know the English words for “dendo shunin.” I understood the concept as plain as day, but I had never had any experience with a “dendo shunin” in English.

A former companion who had been home for a few months called up “ward mission leader” from the congregation and I was able to move on.