As a 4th grader, Jason Kap had a memorable impression about the future of East Germany. Although raised a member of the Church, through various conflicts he became agnostic toward God as a teenager. Through the influence of college friends and his own personal desire to know if God were real, he grew to gain a testimony of God and the need to serve a mission.  As one of the first to receive an original mission call to the German Democratic Republic Dresden Mission, the youthful spiritual impressions he had of the future of East Germany came to life.

You can seen photos Jason has shared here:

If you wish to be interviewed for this project, please contact me at Dresden Mission Connect and Reflect Podcast on Facebook.

Update your contact information, find old friends and companions, and much more on the Dresden/Leipzig mission alumni page at Treffpunkt Deutschland Mission Dresden/Leipzig

Returned Dresden missionaries, click here for more information about the Church History Library and information about sharing your documents, photos, or oral histories from your service in the Dresden Mission. The Church’s policy on public access to donated personal history items can be read here. To communicate to someone directly about donating your mission materials, contact James Miller: [email protected].

Doug Neal grew up in a Catholic family that joined the church when he was 5 years old.  His parents divorced when he was 13. He went out on his own at age 16, drifted away from the Church and established a successful career in the computer industry by his early twenties.  After renewed conversion and a period of spiritual struggle, he acted on the prompting to serve a mission.

You can see photos Doug has shared from his mission here:

If you wish to be interviewed for this project, please contact me at Dresden Mission Connect and Reflect Podcast on Facebook.

Update your contact information, find old friends and companions, and much more on the Dresden/Leipzig mission alumni page at Treffpunkt Deutschland Mission Dresden/Leipzig

Returned Dresden missionaries, click here for more information about the Church History Library and information about sharing your documents, photos, or oral histories from your service in the Dresden Mission. The Church’s policy on public access to donated personal history items can be read here. To communicate to someone directly about donating your mission materials, contact James Miller: [email protected].

Katie Berghammer was raised in Wisconsin as the first member of her German-heritage family to be born in the United States. She grew up in the Methodist Church, but found herself with more questions than they had answers.  Her search for answers led her to discover an ad for the Book of Mormon in a most unexpected place. The rest is history.

She the many photos she has shared here: 

If you wish to be interviewed for this project, please contact me at Dresden Mission Connect and Reflect Podcast on Facebook.

Update your contact information, find old friends and companions, and much more on the Dresden/Leipzig mission alumni page at Treffpunkt Deutschland Mission Dresden/Leipzig

Returned Dresden missionaries, click here for more information about the Church History Library and information about sharing your documents, photos, or oral histories from your service in the Dresden Mission. The Church’s policy on public access to donated personal history items can be read here. To communicate to someone directly about donating your mission materials, contact James Miller: [email protected].

Rich Haglund first visited the inner German border as a 5th grader while living with his family for a year in West Germany. He arrived in the mission in July 1991 in the first  MTC missionary group to arrive in the recently split Dresden mission under newly called President Meiser.

See the many great photos Rich has shared from his mission here

If you wish to be interviewed for this project, please contact me at Dresden Mission Connect and Reflect Podcast on Facebook.

Update your contact information, find old friends and companions, and much more on the Dresden/Leipzig mission alumni page at Treffpunkt Deutschland Mission Dresden/Leipzig

Returned Dresden missionaries, click here for more information about the Church History Library and information about sharing your documents, photos, or oral histories from your service in the Dresden Mission. The Church’s policy on public access to donated personal history items can be read here. To communicate to someone directly about donating your mission materials, contact James Miller: [email protected].

Lisa Slade grew up in Utah, longing and praying for the gospel to be taught in East Germany. After completing college and beginning her career, she felt drawn to serve a mission. Little did she know she would be one of the last to receive a mission call to the GDR Dresden Mission before unification. 

Lisa has shared many great photos from her service that you will want to see here

If you wish to be interviewed for this project, please contact me at Dresden Mission Connect and Reflect Podcast on Facebook.

Update your contact information, find old friends and companions, and much more on the Dresden/Leipzig mission alumni page at Treffpunkt Deutschland Mission Dresden/Leipzig

Returned Dresden missionaries, click here for more information about the Church History Library and information about sharing your documents, photos, or oral histories from your service in the Dresden Mission. The Church’s policy on public access to donated personal history items can be read here. To communicate to someone directly about donating your mission materials, contact James Miller: [email protected].

Today we finish our conversation with Dale Moss. Listen as he shares observations of East Germany before and after the fall of the Wall, navigating the streets of Leipzig from the Church to the Bahnhof during a Monday Demonstration in October, 1989, and other fun and interesting stories. Dale also shares with us his feelings about the mission and the happenings in his life after returning home.

If you haven't yet, check out Dale's mission photos here.

If you wish to be interviewed for this project, please contact me at Dresden Mission Connect and Reflect Podcast on Facebook.

Update your contact information, find old friends and companions, and much more on the Dresden/Leipzig mission alumni page at Treffpunkt Deutschland Mission Dresden/Leipzig

Returned Dresden missionaries, click here for more information about the Church History Library and information about sharing your documents, photos, or oral histories from your service in the Dresden Mission. The Church’s policy on public access to donated personal history items can be read here. To communicate to someone directly about donating your mission materials, contact James Miller: [email protected].

Kelly grew up with a background in classical music, including knowledge of much of the German culture and experience with the German language. He received his call to the Dresden Mission on the day of German unification, October 3, 1990.

See photos Kelly has shared from his missionary service here.

You can read about Kelly's work and contributions to the field of classical music here.

If you wish to be interviewed for this project, please contact me at Dresden Mission Connect and Reflect Podcast on Facebook.

Update your contact information, find old friends and companions, and much more on the Dresden/Leipzig mission alumni page at Treffpunkt Deutschland Mission Dresden/Leipzig

Returned Dresden missionaries, click here for more information about the Church History Library and information about sharing your documents, photos, or oral histories from your service in the Dresden Mission. The Church’s policy on public access to donated personal history items can be read here. To communicate to someone directly about donating your mission materials, contact James Miller: [email protected].

Ken Brady grew up in a bilingual, Spanish-English household. He also grew up with a fascination with East Germany and a desire to serve a mission there. His mission call to Zurich Switzerland, Spanish-speaking threw him and his family for a loop. More unexpected calls awaited, starting soon after arriving in the MTC.

See photos Ken has shared with us here.

Hear the interview Ken gave at the Cold War Conversations podcast about his mission here.

If you wish to be interviewed for this project, please contact me at Dresden Mission Connect and Reflect Podcast on Facebook.

Update your contact information, find old friends and companions, and much more on the Dresden/Leipzig mission alumni page at Treffpunkt Deutschland Mission Dresden/Leipzig

Returned Dresden missionaries, click here for more information about the Church History Library and information about sharing your documents, photos, or oral histories from your service in the Dresden Mission. The Church’s policy on public access to donated personal history items can be read here. To communicate to someone directly about donating your mission materials, contact James Miller: [email protected].

Dale has many great stories, in fact he has more than we could fit into one session. So check back in a few weeks for part II of Dale's interview.

After one year of studies and football at BYU, Dale Moss was called to the Germany Munich Mission. After 5 months of service there, and feeling a little like something was missing from his service,  he was notified of a pending transfer to the new GDR mission. After over 3 months of waiting and wondering, he was transferred into the mission in May of 1989 to become one of the first two Western missionaries to return to Annaberg-Buchholz after 50 years.

See photos Dale has shared here: 

If you wish to be interviewed for this project, please contact me at Dresden Mission Connect and Reflect Podcast on Facebook.

Update your contact information, find old friends and companions, and much more on the Dresden/Leipzig mission alumni page at Treffpunkt Deutschland Mission Dresden/Leipzig

Returned Dresden missionaries, click here for more information about the Church History Library and information about sharing your documents, photos, or oral histories from your service in the Dresden Mission. The Church’s policy on public access to donated personal history items can be read here. To communicate to someone directly about donating your mission materials, contact James Miller: [email protected].

Laura Sumsion grew up with an interest in Germany and the German language.  In 1987 she was a college student living in West Germany on a summer internship. While there she had the opportunity to travel across the border into the GDR and visit  East Berlin with her student group. Later that summer she was able to visit other GDR cities with her host family, including Dresden. Two and a half years after that, she returned to the GDR as one of the first sister missionaries to serve in the Dresden and East Berlin wards.

See photos Laura has shared here.

Returned Dresden missionaries, click here for more information about the Church History Library and information about sharing your documents, photos, or oral histories from your service in the Dresden Mission. The Church’s policy on public access to donated personal history items can be read here. To communicate to someone directly about donating your mission materials, contact James Miller: [email protected].

The book, Behind the Iron Curtain: Recollections of Latter-Day Saints in East Germany 1945-1989, published by Elder and Sister Davis can be found here.

If you wish to be interviewed for this project, please contact me at Dresden Mission Connect and Reflect Podcast on Facebook.

Update your contact information, find old friends and companions, and much more on the Dresden/Leipzig mission alumni page at Treffpunkt Deutschland Mission Dresden/Leipzig

Returned Dresden missionaries, click here for more information about the Church History Library and information about sharing your documents, photos, or oral histories from your service in the Dresden Mission. The Church’s policy on public access to donated personal history items can be read here. To communicate to someone directly about donating your mission materials, contact James Miller: [email protected].