I’ve been doing family history research on the Kuhns and Geerdts/Starke since the early 1970s. I recently discovered where in the Kuhns/Kunz and Starke Geerdts families came from in Falkenburg Oberpfalz Bayern and Kreis Bunzlau in what is now SW Poland.

Marnie also discovered that her mother’s ancestors came from Kanton Zurich and Thurgau in Switzerland. This blog will chronicle our trip.

Post Trip: I’ve decided to split this blog into at least three parts plus an overview (this page) :

• The Kuhns / Kunz / Mark / Härtl / Vollath families in and around Falkenberg, Kreis Tirschenreuth, Oberpfalz, Bayern, Germany (related to my Kuhns / Kunz line that came first to Milwaukee, then settling in Hartford, Wisconsin, USA, ca. 1845) (See farther down this page, below).
• The Starke / Dausel / Dehmel families in and around Nieder Schönfeld, Ober Schönfeld, Altöls, Kreis Bunzlau, Nieder Schlesien, former Germany, now Krasnik Dolny, Krasnik Gorny, Stara Oleswia, Boleslawiec, Poland (related to my father Gene Kuhns’ “Granny Geerdts”, Bertha STARKE (Geerdts), and her mother Johanna Anna DAUSEL (Dehmel, then Starke). Bertha STARKE came to Milwaukee as a teenager in the early 1890s. This will also include a Czech DNA relative of my father from about 100 km east of Prague
• Marnie’s distant Swiss and German relatives, including Wollrath’s from Stein am Rhein and Lustdorf; von Sulz from Reinau Switzerland and Tiengen, Kreis Waldshut, Baden-Würtenberg, Germany; Lavater from Zürich City and Castle Kyborg in Kanton Zürich, Stampfer from Castle Kyborg; and other information from St. Gallen and Lichtenstein.

There will also be other photos of random site-seeing trips we took, but mostly this blog will focus on Family History / Ahnenforschung.

Nerves about a German trip wie Nie!

The most surprising part of this trip is the incredible amount of nerves I have. Through a series of miracles, I’ve connected with family in Poland and Bavaria, and they have helped me take my family line back farther than ever before. Literally hundreds of years in the last 5 years. This is so important to me, to us, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But I find myself being incredibly nervous. What if I mess up? What if I miss something? What if I spend time looking at a castle when I should be in the catacombs of a church researching Church record books? What if I go somewhere and miss going somewhere else?

All these questions have been keeping me up at night. Then Marnie reminded me yesterday: “You can’t screw this up. We have angels on our side. No matter what happens, we will do good work.”

And we’ve already seen those miracles happening. Connecting with people. Connecting with places such as Castle Kyborg (Schloß Kyborg, Kanton Zürich, Switzerland) that Marnie’s ancestor used to live in. Finding places next to tourist places we were going to visit that happened to be part of her family history, the churches are ancestors preached at in the early years of the reformation, just down the street from the Swiss chocolate factory I had scheduled to visit.

The miracles just keep showing up. So why should I be nervous? Great question. Monday morning, 7 Okt. 2024 at about noon, we’re in the Chattanooga airport, getting ready to fly to Charlotte then on to Munich.

Regrets and Second Guessing Ahnenforschung

The first day/night find us recovering in Regenburg. Should I have kept going on to Falkenburg? I don’t know but it’s too late now so we’re going to enjoy that time and find some bakeries and sausage restaurants 🙂

No Regrets Prepping for Ahnenforschung

Oct. 9, 2024, Regensburg, Bavaria — About an hour south of where my KUNZ MARK HÄRTL and other ancestors came from in Falkenberg bei Tirschenreuth, all questions of “should we have gotten closer” were erased. We walked about 5 miles in Munich. By the time we were driving to Regensburg, I was falling asleep on the Autobahn. Not good. So at about 3 p.m. we got into our hotel room, took showers (LONG flights do that!), took a good 2.5 hour “nap”, and then went out into the Regensburg evening.

One of my favorite “meals” as a missionary in Germany and Switzerland was to buy some Kaiser rolls, cheese and meat coldcuts, and some soft cheese, and make a sandwich. OH, of course you HAVE to have some berry/cherry fruit juice mit Sprüdel (seltzer). AND some zwetschenkuchen (plum cake pastry), so we saw a supermarket near our hotel, bought all that, and then went into Regensburg.

I was planning on taking Marnie to the Historisches Wursthaus, the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the world (500+ years?) but it was too late, so we sat at the Cathedral in a light rain and enjoyed the Brötchen and pastries. Marnie looked VERY European (in fact, her black and white checked hat matched the coat of someone staying at our hotel. Fashionista!!!)

The pain and tiredness of the jet lag hit at about 9 p.m. But a melatonin and aspirin put me right — a GOOD night’s sleep!

What does all of this have to do with family history? A LOT! I could have gone on to Falkenberg, pushed ourselves to our limits. And we would have been grumpy, sore, and probably made a BAD first impression on the people we’re meeting. This way, we feel like we’re “in synch” with what’s going on.

OH, just a word to the wise: Get a couple hundred Euros IN THE USA. Don’t do it at the airport, and don’t expect to do it at a bank. I’ve got a ton of cash in my pocket, and can’t exchange it anywhere because the bank I was going to use (DB has an agreement with BA) is … CLOSED TODAY (Wednesday). So we still haven’t exchanged our money! AND the credit cards aren’t working like they should. Sort of weird… but we’ll work through it.

WHY THIS FAMILY HISTORY TRIP TO GERMANY AND SWITZERLAND?

The thought keeps hitting me (as I’ve said before) — “What if I don’t do “enough”?” Not going to happen. Not only will I connect (I already have), but I’m also getting a BIG feeling that I’m “preparing the way”. I’m certain that the connections I make here will help others of my family (on both sides of the Atlantic) to connect with each other. It’s like what happened in Norway, when I went there. Relatives in Norway now are connected and have visited with other relatives in Canada and the USA.

So that’s part of my “job” here. AND the connections I’ve made on Facebook, with the Ahnenforschung groups from Schlesien and Oberpfalz, are already proving to be EXTREMELY valuable!

Was Ich Über Bayrische Familiesuche Schon Vergessen Habe

Oberpfalz Bavaria Family History Names: Kuhns /Kunz, Fahrnbauer, Fischer, Kaufman, Schneider, Mark, Vollath, Peiml, Bogner, Fränkl, Tremmler / Treml, Menzl, Konz / Cuntz / Cunz, Müller, Hönig, Weiß, Härtl, Döberl, Klinger, Ziegler, Lindner, Schmid, Kellner, Ockl / Ockhel, Zintl, Buchner, Zeidler, Kern, Scharnagl, Busl, Höfler families in and around Falkenberg, Kreis Tirschenreuth, Stiftland, Oberpfalz, Bayern, Germany

Section 1: The Kuhns / Kunz / Mark / Härtl / Vollath families in and around Falkenberg, Kreis Tirschenreuth, Oberpfalz, Bayern, Germany (related to my Kuhns / Kunz line that came first to Milwaukee, then settling in Hartford, Wisconsin, USA, ca. 1845)

Day 2: Arrival in Falkenberg, meeting the Rasp Familie, Finding the Kunz and Mark Family Homes

Als wir in Falkenberg oops as we arrived at Falkenberg, I was not prepared to have to drink from a maily history fire hose! So many miracles happened, so much good happened, it was amazing. I felt soooo blessed. (although I was really REALLY happy we’d taken the first day to recover.

Following the Family History Spirit and Inspiration

As we were driving to Falkenberg, I realized I was about an hour early, so we (I) decided to drive through the town, (here is the YouTube video of our first drive into Markt Falkenberg) then look for Bodenreuth, a small “Dorf” where my father’s father’s great-grandmother Viktoria MARK was born. Earlier, I was told that there was still a “Mark” family Hof (barn, house, land) in Bodenreuth. So we went out to look. We drove through the town. There were probably 6-8 farmhouses there. We didn’t know which one it was, so we filmed the entire town, turned around, then left.

As we were leaving, we passed two Bavarian farmers standing by a big green tractor (not that type). We drove away, but as we did, I had the distinct impression “You need to go back and talk to them.” I argued with myself,. gave me all sorts of reasons why I shouldn’t, then told Marnie.
She said “Turn around. Listen to me. Turn around.”
So I did.

I could tell they weren’t too certain about why I was asking them which house was the Mark Hof, but after I expeained who I was, they loostened up and said “It’s the Hof right next to where we are standing.” Big pink house, (Wästl?), easy to find. Nobody was home, but we were able to take some photos. First example of MANY examples of “listening”.

Later on, I made another video of the photos and videos we took around the MARK Haus in Bodenreuth:

Meeting German Relatives For The First Time and Looking At Falkenberg Church Books

After we checked into our GREAT room (Unter der Burg in Falkenberg), we met with “Cousin” Gerhard RASP, born in Falkenberg but living in Kreisstadt Tirschenreuth, and his wife Doris and son Leopold, to serve as a translator for Marnie. We also went to the Catholic church in Falkenberg, and there met Herr Helmut Köstler, the local family history expert (more about him and his work later!)

He took us over to the parish offices, where he produced church books, and showed us the Mark, Vollath, Kunz, and other lines. He also handed me a bunch of other papers that had my family history that had gone to the USA (which I had most of) as well as other KUNZ lines that I didn’t know about. I was overwhemed. It was like drinking from a fire house, so I figured I’d look at those papers when I got home. There was A LOT!

Here is the video of our time with Gerhard Rasp and Herr Helmut Köstler in the Catholic Church offices, looking at the Church records:

(Post Note: Something kept nudging me to look at the papers BEFORE I left Falkenberg. Am I glad I did! Turned out that I have LIVING relatives at the Kunz ancestral home in Falkenberg. We were able to meet them and have a wonderful time together, on the last day of our stay in Falkenberg. Imagine if I hadn’t “listened” to that simple nudge to look at the papers Herr Köstler wrote up for me!)

Then, we took a walk through the town to the cemetary. As we walked up to the cemetary, Herr Köstler showed me a mound of dirt in front of a newer house and barn. “That,” he said, “is where the KUNZ Erb home (ancestral home) used to be for years”. What I didn’t hear (and what I found out later, thanks to the “nudge”) is that there was still a (born) KUNZ woman who lived near / on the property. More about THAT later!

In order to “find” these relatives, as you’ll see in the video, we wandered through the farm, then went through a barn, then knocked on a downstairs door, and met her husband, then went upstairs where she lived … but she wasn’t there. I told the man we would come back later in the afternoon (after spending one more morning with the Rasp family).

We almost didn’t. I wanted to get “on the road”, but something kept telling me “you need to keep your word that you would go back later today.” I’m VERY glad we did, not only for the additional information we received, but also for the connections we made meeting these wonderful women. (and getting to eat AMAZING German baking, including a fresh-out-of-the-oven Apfelkuchen.

Here is the video about not only seeing the KUNZ ancestral Haus, but meeting relatives who still own the property and live next to it! (Most of the video was shot on the last day in Falkenberg). It was truly a “Kuhns Family Reunion” — ok, KUNZ family reunion.

Falkenberg Cemetary Family History, Followed By Traditional German Dinner

We took some photos of graves (nothing really old; the old cemetary had been built over when they rebuilt the Church down in the village, and changed the angle of how it “sat”. But, I was able to take some fotos of the graves of Otto KUNZ, Vollath, and others related to me.

I think the most notable part of all of this is when a cherubic/angelich woman came up to us. She had heard about (as everyone had) “The visitors from America”, and wanted to meet us. As I was telling her about everything we were doing, and how we had found Gerhard Rasp and other relatives, and learned about the Kuhns ancestoral home(s), she said, her angelic face beaming: “Viellicht had den Heiligen Geist etwas damit zu tun.” (Maybe the Holy Spirit had something to do with it.)

I looked at her, and I knew she understood the Spirit of Elijah. The Spirit was so strong as I felt the truthfulness of her words, and what I said next: “‘Something’ to do with it?!? The Holy Ghost, Heavely Father and Jesus have EVERYTHING to do with it!”

She beamed and shook her head enthusiastically in agreement. It was exactly what I needed today, a day when I was wonder if I was doing enough.

Afterwards, we went out to dinner with the Rasp family. We were in a small Bavarian Gast Haus, and it was great. It was also the first time that I felt like there were people in the village who knew that we were there, without us telling them. Several people at a table in the restaurant waved and said hello to us, and said “You’re the Americans, right?”

Turns out Herr Kóstler not only knows everything, but every body! Examples kept happening throughout our stay in Falkenberg. I was needing to get some Euros, and happened to meet Herr Köstler on the street. We walked over to the bank together, where he introduced me to the manager, who was just opening up. I introduced myself and started to explain who I was. He stopped me and said: “Oh, I know who you are! My brother told me. He lives in the Haus your ancestors left so many years ago.”

Another time: On the last day, we went to a small bakery near our place, to get (of course) some more delicious baked goods. As I was leaving, I noticed two older women sitting at a table, just finishing their morning bakery and Kaffee. I felt really strongly I should say (to the bakery owner): “Oh, by the way, my ancestors used to live in that house right over there.” and I pointed to Markplatz 4. One of the older women said “Ach, SIE sind die Jenigen! Wir haben schon gehört! Wilkommen!” [Oh, YOU are the ones! We’ve already heard! Welcome!]

After dinner, in front of the Gasthof, we took our leave for the evening from the Rasp family. In Germany, it is customary to shake hands when leaving a group of people (or even another person). But this felt different, so I asked “How should we take our leave?” Gerhard threw his arms out wide and said “We are relatives!” and gave me a big hug!

Does Connection Depend on What You Wear?

Sidebar note: As Gerhard, Herr Köstler, and I were working through the Church books, Marnie and Doris were on the other side of the table, just chatting away. They seemed to really hit it off, and for that I was very grateful. Marnie has been a trouper on all this family history work, but I know sometimes she gets bored. So it was great to have someone to be bored with!

One of the most humorous moments was when Doris stood up to go into the other room. I stopped her and said, “Ok, this is really amazing. Marnie, please stand up. ” They looked at me like “What are you talking about”, but eventually I convinced them to stand together.

There, side by side, were two women from half a planet away, who’d never met each other, and they were both wearing black sweaters/tops and grey-checked slacks.

It was just hysterical.

Family History Day 3: Pleisdorf, Neustadt a.d. Waldnaab, Meeting the Vollath Family Historian

In doing family history, it’s been my experience that, in every family, in every generation, there is usually at least one person who takes it upon themselves to not only research their family tree, but also to preserve the records. This was certainly the case as Gerhard Rasp and I went to Pleisdorf, a small farming “Dorf” not far from Falkenberg.

While there, we followed information we’d received about where the VOLLATH family farm was (Viktoria MARK Kunz’ mother, Anna Marie Vollath, was probably born there). As we walked through the main yard, past the tractor, a woman answered our “Hallo!”. She was the wife of Herr Vollath, who lived on the same farm that the family had lived on since the 1600s or earlier.

We briefly saw Herr Vollath (he was busy doing farm things), but we thought we’d take photos with him later (unfortunately, we didn’t). But Frau Vollath invited us up to their newer home, still on the property. We sat down in her kitchen; she gave us something to drink, and then produced a bag of SCROLLS of family history.

It was like walking into a giant family history library! As she unrolled each hand-written scroll, she told us how she had done the research at the Archives, and then written down the connections. Each red circle on the scroll showed the people who were the heirs to the property.

Again, feeling “pushed” to do more than just take photos of the Haus got us even more information that we probably wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.

Here is a video of our trip, discussing what meeting and researching with Frau Vollath meant to Gerhard and I.

Catching Up On Family History Trips

My objective to keep a daily journal of our family history trip through Europe slipped through my fingers. Fortunately, Marnie was able to keep a daily journal and record of what we did, so I’ll use that as a basis to catch up.

The day after our return to Chattanooga / Northwest Georgia (home), I felt like I should write the people / relatives / friends we met on the trip and thank them for their help. The first person we met in Falkenberg was Herr H. Köestler, sort of the town’s historian. Here is the copy in German of the letter I wrote; it summarizes (in short outline form) everything we did on the trip:

Sehr geehrter Herr Köstler:
Wir sind Gestern spät in Chattanooga angekommen. American Airlines hat unser Gepäck verloren, und wir warten zu Hause immer noch darauf. So geht’s manchmal.
Ich / Wir (Marnie und Ich) wollen Sie wiedermals herzlichen Dank sagen, fúr alle Bemühungen, was Sie für uns gemacht haben. Sie sind ein echt Engel (oder Wunder) Gottes.

• Fast alles, was wir in Falkenberg gesehen und von meine Vorfahren gelernt haben, UND noch die Verwandten KUNZ, die ich getroffen habe, ist wegen Ihrer Arbeit. Als ich mit meine Geschwister und Vater und anderen KUNZ / MARK Verwandten darüber erzählte, konnten wir alle nicht glauben, was auf dieser Reise passiert ist. Es ist wirklich ein Wunder, und das Wunder ist wegen Ihrer Arbeit und Untersuchung. So, danke wieder vielmals!
• Ich werde über unsere Reise in den nächsten Tagen eine Blogpost schreiben. Als wir Falkenberg hinter uns verliessen, sind wir nach Polen (ehemaliger Kreis Bunzlau). Dort hatten wir auch Erfolg; eine möglicherweise weit entfernte Verwandte von mir hat uns dort getroffen, und wir haben zwei alte Friedhöfer besucht und geputzt, und Dörfer besucht, wo die Großmutter meiner Vater zu Hause war.
• Nach zwei Tagen in Polen sind wir nach Freiberg gefahren, um unseren Tempel (die Kirche Jesu Christi der Heiligen der Letzten Tage) zu besuchen.
• Dann sind wir nach Prag gegangen und haben dort zwei DNA Verwandte kennengelernt (Vater und Tochter).
• Dann sind wir nach Salzburg gefahren, um den Orten zu sehen, wo die Mutter meiner Frau 1953 besucht hat (Mozarts Geburtsort, u.a.).
• Am nachsten Tag sind wir nach Stein am Rhein (Schweiz) gefahren, um zu sehen, wo einige Vorfahren meiner Frau geboren wurden.
• Am Sonntag sind wir zuerst in Schaffhausen, Schweiz, zur Kirche gegangen. Weiter sind wir nach Tiengen (Kreis Waldshut), wo wir eine private Durchführung zum Schloß der Familie von Sulz bekommen haben. Durch Ahnenforschung meint meine Frau, sie sei von den von Sulz Familie abgestammt.  
• Dann weiter nach Reinau und den Grossmünster in Zürich, wo Marnies Vorfahren gepredigt haben, und wo ein Hans Rudolf LAVATER, Marnies ca. 12-Urgrossvater, Bürgermeister von Zürich war.
• Am Montag sind wir nach Lustdorf (Kanton Thurgau) und Schloß Kyburg (Kanton Zürich wieder), wo Herr Lavater Landvogt war. Da haben wir auch eine private Durchführung bekommen, und Marnie hat alte gemalte “Bilder” von zwei ihrer Vorfahren (Herrn Stampfen/Stampen) von 1495 und mitten in den 1500s) gesehen, und auch viel historisches über ihre Familie gelernt.
• Am Dienstag sind wir nach Lichtenstein gefahren, um zu lernen, ob es noch Sulz Information dort gab. Nichts gefunden. Dann nach St. Gallen (Schweiz), wo Marnie’s Urgroßeltern (14. Generation zurück) gelebt haben.
• Spät am Dienstag und den ganzen Mittwoch, den letzten zwei Tage unserer Reise, sind wir zum Schloß Neuschwanstein, Oberammergau und Garmisch-Partenkirchen gefahren, wo Marnies Mutter für die Hochzeitsfeier besucht hat.

WOW!  Ich bin schon müde, an alles zu erinnern! Und so ist es gegangen. Wiedermals, VIELEN DANK!, und wir werden sicherlich in Kontakt bleiben.

Summary of the Germany / Poland / Czech / Swiss Family History Trip

This is the (loose) English translation of my letter to Herr Köstler summarizing what we did after we left Falkenberg and Tirschenreuth, Bavaria:

Dear Mr. Köstler:
We arrived late in Chattanooga yesterday. American Airlines lost our luggage and we are still waiting for it at home. That’s how it goes sometimes.
I/we (Marnie and I) want to thank you again for all the efforts you made for us. You are a real angel (or miracle) of God.

• Almost everything we saw in Falkenberg and learned from my ancestors, AND the KUNZ relatives I met, is because of your work. When I told my siblings and father and other KUNZ / MARK relatives about it, none of us could believe what happened on this trip. It really is a miracle, and the miracle is because of your work and research. So, thank you very much again!
• I will write a blog post about our trip in the next few days. As we left Falkenberg behind us, we went to Poland (former Bunzlau district). We were successful there too; a possible distant relative of mine met us there; we visited and cleaned two old cemeteries and visited villages where my father’s grandmother lived. (Here is the Family History tour blog about that part of the trip.)
• After two days in Poland we went to Freiberg to visit our temple (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).
• Then we went to Prague and met two DNA relatives there (father and daughter).
• Then we went to Salzburg to see the places my wife’s mother visited in 1953 (Mozart’s birthplace, among others).
• The next day we went to Stein am Rhein (Switzerland) to see where some of my wife’s ancestors were born and lived.
• On Sunday we first went to church in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Then we went to Tiengen (Waldshut District) where we got a private tour of the von Sulz family castle. Through genealogical research my wife believes she is descended from the von Sulz family.
• Then we traveled on to Reinau and the Grossmünster in Zurich, where Marnie’s ancestors preached, and where a Hans Rudolf LAVATER, Marnie’s ca. 12-great-grandfather, was mayor of Zurich.
• On Monday we went to Lustdorf (Canton Thurgau) and Kyburg Castle (Canton Zurich again), where Mr. Lavater was governor. There we also got a private tour, and Marnie saw old painted “pictures” of two of her ancestors (Mr. Stampfen/Stampen) from 1495 and the mid-1500s, and also learned a lot of history about her family.
• On Tuesday we went to Lichtenstein to see if there was any Sulz information there. Nothing found. Then to St. Gallen (Switzerland), where Marnie’s great-grandparents (14 generations back) lived.
• Late Tuesday and all day Wednesday, the last two days of our trip, we went to Neuschwanstein Castle, Oberammergau, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where Marnie’s mother visited in the early 1950s for her honeymoon.

WOW! I’m already tired of remembering everything! And so it went. Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH! and we will certainly keep in touch.

Family History Thank You Nach Bayrischen Art / Bavarian Style

Family history trip catchup is hard to do! I keep getting the impression to create “thank you” videos and notes, so that’s what I did today (Nov. 4, a week after our return). The importance of Gerhard and Doris Rasp of Tirschenreuth, on this family history trip, can’t be underestimated. I met Gerhard (my cousin 4x removed) a few years ago, and have planned this genealogy trip with him, because of him, and through him, ever since. He was a HUGE impact on my part of the trip.

Even more important was the role his wife Doris played in making certain Marnie was connected to the experience and didn’t feel left out. Doris’ English is great, so Marnie was able to do cultural exploration not only with Doris, but with their University-student son Leopold. Marnie asked a lot of questions, and got a lot of new insights and perspectives. And the food they gave us, and the Gemütlichkeit! We didn’t have to buy food for the entire time we were in Falkenberg!

Here’s the YouTube video thank you I created with lots of photos of them, as they gave us tours of Falkenberg, Tirschenreuth, Bodenreuth, and elsewhere:

Wow. That’s a lot to unpack! Stay tuned!

Freiberg Germany Temple Experience With KUNZ Ancestor

As I bore my testimony in church today, I realized I hadn’t relayed one of the most significant events about our trip: The Freiberg Temple veil experience.

First, let’s admit that the entire trip was amazing; truly a miracle. The people we met, the records we found, the people who helped us, the records that people created without knowing we were coming — all were miracles. It’s clear that the gathering of Israel is happening at a “drinking from a firehouse” pace on both sides of the veil.

But I was reminded again of what happened at the Temple. I was privileged to take Sebastian KUNZ, the father of Johan Kuhns, (my ancestor who immigrated to Wisconsin,) through the temple. Marnie had mentioned before the trip how cool it was (amazing) that he would be able to hear the endowment in his native language of German. Even more, for me, was the miracle of the Freiberg temple, built in East Germany, less than 2 hours away from where Sebastian KUNZ, Johan’s father, was born, raised his family, and died in Falkenberg, Tirschenreuth, Bavaria, Germany.

During the Temple ceremony, I think I was focusing so much on UNDERSTANDING the German, that I really failed to FEEL my ancestor’s presence. In fact, I remember at one point being disappointed, because usually I can feel their presence, their love, their acceptance of what is going on, and how grateful they are for me doing their work. There was a little bit of that, but not like what I expected.

Then the end of the Endowment session happened. Although I’d done the ceremony hundreds of times before, it was always in English. So I had to have a prompt card. 

The ceremony is too sacred to repeat , and I am very cautious about what I want to say. But let’s say this: As I spoke the words, I could barely speak. I felt like Sebastian was there, approving of what was going on. The emotion was so strong, at one point the assistant asked if I wanted to do it in English. I said, “Ich kann das auf Deutsch” (I can do it in German). because I felt very strongly that I needed to continue in English.

Easily the most powerful part was when Priesthood blessings are involved, and we think about our posterity. I’ve always gone through that part of the Temple thinking about my descendants, and the blessings for them. But this time, as I was going through, for my ancestor, I realized that he was invoking those blessings on ME, his posterity! I’d never heard or felt it like that before, and I cried so hard I could barely breathe.

Amazing, amazing experience. — Dave KUHNS, great great x5 or 6 grandson of Sebastian KUNZ.