“God Is with You,” Elder Uchtdorf Tells Latter-day Saint Youth in Germany on Eve of Temple Rededication

Contributed By Scott Taylor, Church News Managing Editor

• 23 October 2019

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Harriet Uchtdorf, greet attendees after a youth devotional in Friedrichsdorf, Germany, on Saturday, October 19, 2019, the eve of the Frankfurt Germany Temple rededication. Photo by Scott Taylor.

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FRIEDRICHSDORF, Germany

Eleven-year-old Dieter Uchtdorf found himself tasked with picking up and delivering laundry for the small business his parents ran after the family fled war-torn East Germany in 1952 for a new life in West Germany.

Young Dieter had wanted a sleek, sparkling-red sports bike to do his after-school rounds, but money was tight. And although preferring to spend time with friends rather than make his deliveries and pickups, he huffed and puffed his way for several years on a heavy, black workhorse of a bike, pulling behind him a clunky trailer along the streets of Bergen-Enkheim, near Frankfurt.

When faced with military obligations years later as a young man, Dieter volunteered for the air force, hoping to be a fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe. Doctors conducted pre-enlistment medical tests; surprised with the results, they tested again. Extensive scarring on his lungs indicated he had suffered from lung disease, and the doctors wanted to know what treatment he had undergone to heal so thoroughly.

It was the first time that Dieter—now Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles—learned he had suffered a lung disease. He realized his regular exercise in the fresh air as a laundry boy pedaling the heavy bike contributed to the cure of the disease and to his pursuit as a future fighter pilot and airline captain.

Elder Uchtdorf shared that personal story at a youth devotional in Friedrichsdorf, Germany, on Saturday night, October 19, the eve of the rededication of the Frankfurt Germany Temple. A standing-room-only crowd packed the Friedrichsdorf stake center built next to the temple during the latter’s four-year closure for renovation, and most youth were hearing for the first time the anecdote Elder Uchtdorf shared in general conference nearly a decade and a half ago.

Acknowledging to the youth that challenges, disappointments, and worries may be part of their futures, Elder Uchtdorf said fear and discouragement need not be—if the youth continue with confidence in God and faith in His promise of spiritual accompaniment. 

“God is with you; who can be against you?” he asked.

The visiting Apostle said his wish is for youth to know that God is real, that Jesus Christ lives, and that He is real as well. “And the principles taught in this Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are principles that will change our lives here for the better and help us to be united as families here on this earth and in the life to come.

“So I hope they have the desire and the feeling to establish this firm foundation, this firm personal testimony in their hearts and minds, that they are willing to work on it, to give the discipline and efforts needed to grasp the gospel and its message in their lives.”

From his pocket, he took out a small multifold For the Strength of Youth card in one hand and then pulled out his own temple recommend in the other, explaining how living true to the listed topics of the former can help the youth prepare to answer faithfully and worthily when seeking to receive the latter. He pointed out that the card features a photo of the temple and emphasized their relationship by holding them together as if a singular, combined item.

The answers to the temple recommend questions reflect one’s attitude, goals, and behaviors, which in turn affect one’s future, he said.

The evening devotional served as a precursor to Sunday’s temple rededication—the second time at the Frankfurt temple complex that youth enjoyed a head start of sorts. The night before last month’s temple open house, youth from surrounding stakes were invited to get the first official tours of the renovated sacred edifice.

Of course, those tours were a final test run for open house organizers. “But being on the temple grounds that night with hundreds of youth, getting little glimpses of how they felt when being led through the temple, was incredible,” said President Manuel Metzner, president of the Frankfurt Germany Stake. “There was a very special feeling there that night.”

Just as there was Saturday evening, as the youth listened to Elder Uchtdorf. Sister Harriet Uchtdorf, his wife, and Elder Erich W. Kopischke, a German-born General Authority Seventy and member of the Europe Area Presidency, were also featured speakers at the 90-minute devotional.

Joining the Uchtdorfs for the weekend temple rededication assignment were Elder Patrick Kearon of the Presidency of the Seventy and his wife, Sister Jennifer Kearon, and the three General Authority Seventies who comprise the Europe Area Presidency and their wives: Elder Gary B. Sabin, Area President; Sister Valerie Sabin; Elder Massimo De Feo, First Counselor in the Area Presidency; Sister Loredana De Feo; Elder Kopischke, the Second Counselor; and Sister Christiane Kopischke.

The Europe Area Presidency is based in Frankfurt, and Elder Kearon served five years—first as a counselor and later as Area President—in Europe prior to his 2017 call to the Presidency of the Seventy. As such, the assignment to return to Friedrichsdorf—a municipality 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Frankfurt—proved to be a homecoming of sorts for the Kearons, who were both visibly moved to be among the German youths for prayer, song, and sermon during the devotional.

Earlier in the afternoon, Elder and Sister Uchtdorf met with a select group of 18 youth, asking questions and fielding those asked of them.

“I had never met an Apostle before,” said Jakob Keil, 14, of Hannover, Germany, and a grandson of Elder and Sister Kopischke. “I felt a confirmation that he really is an Apostle, and so my testimony is stronger now than before.”

Added his sister, Mia Keil, age 13, of listening to Elder and Sister Uchtdorf, “I learned that they really are inspired by God and that they tell us exactly what we need to hear.”

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Sister Harriet Uchtdorf engage a group of youth in a meeting prior to a devotional on Saturday, October 19, 2019, in Friedrichsdorf, Germany. Photo by Scott Taylor.

Saturday’s events started with the visiting leaders and spouses arriving on the 5.2-acre complex, which includes an annex and small visitors’ area, patron housing, temple missionary housing, and a villa for the temple president and matron. After greeting friends and family outside, the group walked through the Frankfurt temple, with its four-year renovation having removed all but the granite exterior walls and copper roof and having included relocating an enlarged baptistry to a newly created subterranean level.

After touring the temple, Elder Uchtdorf took his son, Guido Uchtdorf, with him to re-create a walk the two had shared 32 years earlier with a trio of Apostles. Elders Neal A. Maxwell, Russell M. Nelson and Joseph B. Wirthlin had joined President Ezra Taft Benson for the 3-day, 11-session original dedication of the Frankfurt Germany Temple, August 28-30, 1987.

Wanting to stretch their legs between sessions one day, the three Apostles invited the local stake president doubling as chairman of the temple dedication and open house committee—Dieter Uchtdorf—to go on a walk. He in turn grabbed then-17-year-old Guido, who was helping usher during the dedication.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his son, Guido, re-create a walk past the Frankfurt Germany Temple on October 19, 2019, in honor of a similar walk they took with three Apostles at the temple’s 1987 dedication. Photo by Scott Taylor.

“It was just an overwhelming feeling of gratitude that the Lord had sent these Apostles to Germany to help create a center of spirituality,” recalled Elder Uchtdorf of the day when they walked about 450 meters to the center of Friedrichsdorf, the town that resulted from the asylum and land Count Friedrich II afforded the Huguenots who were fleeing religious persecution in France in the late 17th century.

The three Apostles and two Uchtdorfs paused there for a photo in 1987. Elder Nelson has since become President Nelson, the Church’s 17th President, with Elders Maxwell and Wirthlin now deceased.

On the overcast Saturday afternoon, as a local church bell tolled three o'clock, the two Uchtdorfs covered the same six-minute walk from the temple to the monument and bust honoring Count Friedrich II and his tolerant actions. This time the father was the Apostle and the son about the same age his father had been in 1987, as the pair paused for another photo to commemorate the occasion and the memory.

“It was exciting to be part of this temple’s dedication,” recalled Guido Uchtdorf, now living near Zurich, Switzerland, with his wife, Carolyn, and their three children.

He admits he remembers more about his ushering experiences than the walk to the city center—from his usher’s position, he had watched members of the temple-dedication choir too overcome to continue singing, but he had heard unseen voices carry the hymn all the same.

“It was special to be here at this spot and to meet those General Authorities and to walk with them,” he said, thinking back to his hesitancy to be part of the historic photo. “You can see them all standing close to each other, and there’s like this ‘apostolic gap’ in between. . . . I was a little undecided, but my father says, ‘No, come in the picture.’ It was a happy moment.”

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his son, Guido, re-create a walk past the Frankfurt Germany Temple on October 19, 2019, in honor of a similar walk they took with three Apostles at the temple’s 1987 dedication. Photo by Scott Taylor.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Sister Harriet Uchtdorf greet youth on Saturday, October 19, 2019, in Friedrichsdorf, Germany. Photo by Scott Taylor.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Sister Harriet Uchtdorf engage a group of youth in a meeting prior to a devotional on Saturday, October 19, 2019, in Friedrichsdorf, Germany. Photo by Scott Taylor.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Sister Harriet Uchtdorf engage a group of youth in a meeting prior to a devotional Saturday, October 19, 2019, in Friedrichsdorf, Germany. Photo by Scott Taylor.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles greets visitors to the Frankfurt Germany Temple grounds on Saturday, October 19, 2019. Photo by Scott Taylor.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Harriet Uchtdorf, greet attendees at a youth devotional in Friedrichsdorf, Germany, on Saturday, October 19, 2019, the eve of the Frankfurt Germany Temple rededication. Photo by Scott Taylor.

Attendees join a small orchestral group and the choir in singing “Families Can Be Together Forever” at the youth devotional in Friedrichsdorf, Germany, on October 19, 2019, the eve of the rededication of the Frankfurt Germany Temple. Photo by Scott Taylor.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Harriet Uchtdorf, greet attendees after a youth devotional in Friedrichsdorf, Germany, on Saturday, October 19, 2019, the eve of the Frankfurt Germany Temple rededication. Photo by Scott Taylor.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Sister Harriet Uchtdorf lead an arriving group of Church leaders and spouses at the Frankfurt Germany Temple on Saturday, October 19, 2019. Photo by Scott Taylor.

(From left to right) Elder Erich W. Kopischke, Sister Christiane Kopischke, Sister Jennifer Kearon, Elder Patrick Kearon, Sister Harriet Uchtdorf, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Elder Gary B. Sabin, Sister Valerie Sabin, Sister Loredana De Feo, and Elder Massimo De Feo at the Frankfurt Germany Temple on Saturday, October 19, 2019. Photo by Scott Taylor.

At the Frankfurt Germany Temple Visitors’ Center in Friedrichsdorf, Germany, James Burton, left, and his son, Gavin, look with Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf at the first-edition Book of Mormon in German donated by the late Elder Theodore M. Burton. Elder Burton had presided over the West German Mission and had encouraged a young Dieter Uchtdorf to remain and raise a family in Germany rather than relocate to the United States.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Sister Harriet Uchtdorf, center, pause for a photo with their son’s family—from left, Jasmin, Guido, Carolyn, Niklas Ivan, and Robin Uchtdorf—Saturday, October 19, 2019, outside the Frankfurt Germany Temple. Photo by Scott Taylor.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, who was serving as the Frankfurt temple committee chair, and his son, Guido, stand with Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Elder Russell M. Nelson, and Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin during the Frankfurt Germany Temple open house in 1987. Photo courtesy of Dieter F. Uchtdorf.

• Church Leaders, Temples, Youth