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Show Lesueur returns to site of missionary service ?" . f i I l ' v ' I; g t r 1 George and Lynn Lesueur recently returned to Vienna, Austria where Lesueur served as a LDS missionary in 1959. They also visited Switzerland and a small town called Basel located on the Rhine River on the France-German border. By BRENDA WADMAN BAUMGARTNER All of us have experiences in our past that are so memorable we would love to relive them and share them with the ones we love. George Lesueur was fortunate in being able to do just that. This September George, along with his wife Lynn, traveled to Switzerland and Austria to visit the people and places where he lived 28 years ago. On Thanksgiving Day in 1959, Lesueur left Salt Lake City for Vienna, Austria where he began his calling as an LDS missionary. He worked in Vienna for eight months and then was transferred to Switzerland to a town called Basel, which is located on the Rhine River, by the French and German border. He stayed in Basel for about a year, then was transferred to Weil, Germany, and later to Burgdorf, Switzerland. He was made a traveling travel-ing elder and traveled throughout the different cities within the mission. mis-sion. During the last two months of Lesueur' s mission he was the director direc-tor of the Swiss temple bureau, in which he conducted tours and explained ex-plained the beliefs of the LDS Church. 'There was no language training center like there is today. When you had to learn a foreign languageand I had to learn German they gave you an extra six months. So instead of a two-year mission, you went for two and a half years. That first six months was just to get your feet wet. You had to learn the language and it was mainly between you, your companion, and the man upstairs," said Lesueur. While on his mission, he became acquainted and then baptized a family from Switzerland. Manfred and Rosemarie Klingler have stayed in touch with the Lesueurs and have visited the United States several times. Manfred has been serving on the high council in the Swiss Stake. The Klinglers took a week off and toured with George and Lynn all over Switzerland. "They took us to places that normal Americans don't go. They took us to a little village called Abelboden, and I commented that in all the time I had been there on my mission I had never heard of it. They told us that most Americans don't know about itjust the Swiss do," said Lesueur. The Lesueurs were impressed with the significant historical attractions. attrac-tions. "Here recently we celebrated 200 years of freedom in the United States. Switzerland next year is celebrating 700 years. They are the oldest democracy in the history of the world," stated Lesueur. While in Switzerland, the Lesueurs attended a church meeting with the Klinglers, "There were two or three people that remembered re-membered me from my mission. You've got to remember that most have passed away, but there were two or three I saw, and I was ex-' ex-' cited to see them. ' ' Lynn has heard stories and seen pictures about George's experiences experi-ences on his mission. She enjoyed the special treatment they received while staying with the Klinglers, "Now I know how to treat people who come to our home. They were the perfect host and hostess," said Lynn. Since their marriage, Lynn has heard stories about the beauty of Switzerland and Austria, "It was such a unique experience for me to go and see exactly what he has been talking about. And I was not disappointed disap-pointed in any way," stated Lynn. One of the most fascinating experiences expe-riences on their trip was a journey that begins with a tram ride up the Swiss Alps from a city called Grindelwald to a train that then goes through the entire Eiger mountain moun-tain through a tunnel that was dug in the early 1900s. This mountain was the location of the film, "The Eiger Sanction" with Clint Eastwood. The train ride takes about a half an hour and ends upon the yoke of the Jungfrau over 1 1 ,000 feet above sea level. The Lesueurs had dinner in the same restaurant where Brahms, Schubert and Mozart used to dine together. Anther restaurant had served Napoleon while he was on his way through Switzerland to conquer Austria. It was a trip they have been planning for over two years. Lynn has spent hours putting together large scrapbooks filled with photos and other memorabilia so they can always savor those 11 days. Both George and Lynn agree ' that it was a wonderful visit, and both would love to return someday. But George concluded, "Even after the two weeks we spent in Europe, and even after the two and a half years I spent on my mission, there is nothing like America. It's always good to come back home. ' |