A Temple Behind the Iron Curtain, Page 3
How the Impossible Happened in Freiberg
A Photo Essay
Text: Maurine Jensen Proctor
Photography: Scot Facer Proctor

Divine Help

The promise President Monson had given the Saints in Goerlitz would gradually and steadily be fulfilled. He wrote, “On Sunday morning, April 27, 1975, I stood on an outcropping of rock situated between the cities of Dresden and Meissen, high above the Elbe River, in the German Democratic Republic. I responded to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and offered a prayer of dedication on that land and its people. That prayer noted the faith of the members. It emphasized the tender feelings of many hearts filled with an overwhelming desire to obtain temple blessings. A plea for peace was expressed. Divine help was requested. I voiced the words: ‘Dear Father, let this be the beginning of a new day for the members of Thy church in this land.’

“Suddenly, from far below in the valley, a bell in a church steeple began to chime and the shrill crow of a rooster broke the morning silence, each heralding the commencement of a new day. Though my eyes were closed, I felt a warmth from the sun's rays reaching my face, my hands, my arms. How could this be? An incessant rain had been falling all morning. At the conclusion of the prayer, I gazed heavenward. I noted a ray of sunshine that penetrated an opening in the heavy clouds, a ray that engulfed the spot where our small group stood. From that moment I knew divine help was at hand.”

He wasn’t the only one who knew. Lothar Ebisch, a branch and district president said, “Informers not only watched our moves secretly. We were called into the police and asked about what we were doing. I was always afraid when they grilled me, but I knew I wasn’t alone.”

President Monson visited Jiri and Olga Snederfler in Czechoslovakia during that dark period before freedom and saw displayed on their walls picture after picture of the temple. President Monson said he had never seen so many temple pictures in one home.

As they sat together over a bowl of soup, he noted how Brother Snederfler had been willing to put everything on the line for the gospel. “When the opportunity came that we would seek recognition for the Church in that country, the government leaders, then Communist, said, "Don't send an American. Don't send a German. Don't send a Swiss. Send a citizen of Czechoslovakia."

This call came to Brother Snederfler, which was heavy since to go before the government and state forthrightly that you were the leader of The Church of Jesus Christ in all of Czechoslovakia was to put your freedom on the line. President Monson said, “He later told me that he had been somewhat frightened and had asked for the prayers of his brothers and sisters in the Prague Branch. He went to his sweet wife, Olga, and said to her, ‘I love you. I don't know when, or if, I'll be back; but I love the gospel, and I must follow my Savior. Pray for me.’

They lived quietly and valiantly. The members considered each other family. Some had been members of the Church through all the turbulent events of World War II and had weathered a firestorm of events. Still they clung to the rod. Gunter Schulze who would become the bishop of the Dresden Ward, remembered the whistle of dropping bombs during World War II, the wreckage of buildings, the fires which blazed through his city, the loss of his home which he left with only the clothes on his back and a little wagon he pulled behind him.

He was baptized during the war, and since neither missionaries nor other priesthood leaders were around, Elder Karl Woehe walked 40 kilometers [about 25 miles] to baptize him, and then walked back.

An Unusual Patriarchal Blessing

The first patriarch called to the area was Percy Fetzer who made occasional visits to the area to give blessings. Elder Monson noted in his journal in May 1980, “One day he was giving patriarchal blessings to a family by the name of Konietz in Selbongen, which was then part of Poland. The borders of the country were closed.

As he placed his hands upon the head of each member, he pronounced some very unusual blessings. He promised a young son that he would serve a mission in another country. He promised a young daughter in the family that she would marry in the house of God. In the patriarchal blessings to the mother and father, he promised them they and the entire family would be together in a holy temple. None of these blessings appeared in the most remote way to be possible.

“Brother Fetzer came into my office when he returned to the United States, and as he sat with me, he wept. He said, ‘Brother Monson, I have pronounced blessings which cannot be fulfilled, but I was persuaded by the Holy Spirit to say what I did. What shall I do?’
“I said, ‘Brother Fetzer, you gave the blessings through the inspiration of our Heavenly Father, and with Him, all things are possible. Let's you and I kneel right now by the side of my desk and supplicate His help.’ As we arose from our knees, we knew that somehow the blessings would be fulfilled.’

The question was how?

Part II, with story and photo essay will follow.

Note: Excerpts of President Thomas S. Monson’s journal and story are taken from the book Faith Rewarded, A Personal Account of Prophetic Promises to the East German Saints. Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1996.

Click here to go back to page 1 of this Photo Essay>>>>>>>>>>