9 The Story of My Patriarchal Blessing

When our counselor in the mission presidency, Brother Walter Krause, returned from a trip to general conference in Salt Lake City and it became known that he had been called to be a patriarch for the Dresden Mission, we were all very moved and thankful. We learned about his calling while we were holding our spring conference in 1973 in Neubrandenburg. The news went from mouth to mouth even before it was officially announced.

Very few of us knew anything about the significance of a patriarchal blessing because very few had ever received one from the visiting patriarchs. But now this possibility was open to all of us, and the joy we had was great. The members talked with one another about it, and we were instructed to make arrangements for a patriarchal blessing through our branch presidents. My husband had already received his blessing on March 25, 1973, in Dresden from Brother Percy Fetzer, and since my husband was branch president in Schwerin at the time, my greatest desire was to receive my blessing also.

Just as I had the previous year, I was participating in the annual genealogical week in Dresden at which Brother Krause was also present. He announced that at the close of this genealogical work week, he would give his first blessings. I was sure there was a long list of persons desiring a blessing, and I hoped in my heart that I could be one of them. He and I were both from Mecklenburg, and he had been our district president for many years. When Walter Krause came up to me the day before and told me that I would be the first person to whom he would give a blessing, I was overcome with an indescribable feeling of gratitude, but I did not yet suspect that this day would turn out to be one that would bring a special testimony. During a short conversation, he told me that the appointed time was Saturday, June 22, at ten o’clock.

Members participating in Genealogy Week in Dresden, June 1973. It was during this week that Elfriede Pawlowski (probably second from the left on the third row) received her patriarchal blessing from Walter Krause (front row, far right). Edith Krause is on the third row, third from the left. Courtesy Edith Krause.

It was a beautiful summer morning, and I wanted to prepare myself spiritually so that I would be in harmony with the Spirit of the Lord. I had fasted and prayed, and I wanted to be alone, but since there was so much activity going on at the branch meeting place, in connection with the work week, I went into the woods across from the chapel. I thought about the Prophet Joseph Smith, who had also gone into the woods to pray for a special reason. It was very quiet, and there were no other people there. I found a suitable place to kneel and poured out my heart to the Lord. I asked him for his forgiveness and prayed for worthiness to receive the patriarchal blessing.

After my prayer, I felt very happy and I had a feeling of peace in my heart. I sat for a while on a bench and could not hold back my tears. A verse of a song came into my mind: “Thy walk today with me Has made my heart within me burn as I communed with thee” [“Abide with Me; ’Tis Eventide,” hymn no. 165]. I will never forget for as long as I live this blessed moment when I felt the peace of the Lord in my heart in such abundance. The only sound was the singing of the birds.

I still had plenty of time, but when I looked at my watch, I had the feeling that I should leave the woods and go back to the branch meeting place. I went back, but I didn’t know why. I really didn’t want to talk to anyone before I received my blessing, so I couldn’t understand why I went back, but the feeling that I should go back became stronger and stronger. When I reached the steps of the building, Sister Edith Krause, the secretary to the patriarch, came hurrying up to me and said, “I was just going out to look for you. Come with me. My husband wants to begin with your blessing right now.”

I was very surprised and wondered if that was the reason I felt I should return from the woods sooner than I had planned, but I had no time to think about it then because I had something more important to do at that moment, which made other thoughts seem trivial. When we entered the room in which Brother Krause was waiting for me, he said very quickly: “Sister, I would like to begin now.” It was not yet nine o’clock.

Then the blessed moment came, which I think back on with reverence and gratitude. I felt that a man of God was speaking, who told me things that could be said only through the Spirit of the Lord. Every one of his words is inscribed in my heart. Later, I thought about the feeling that had urged me to return to the branch house much earlier than I had planned, and I wondered if I would ever find an answer to this question. I received the answer several years later.

Much later, I was attending one of the last conferences to be held in Dresden and listening to a talk by Brother Krause. While listening, I learned why he had moved the time for his first blessing up and why I had been impressed to return from the woods. Neither Brother Krause nor I knew of one another’s experiences on that morning, but from his talk, I learned that the Spirit of the Lord had communicated to both of us.

Brother Krause told of how he had struggled on that morning to be capable of fulfilling this important calling. I learned that he, too, had felt his inadequacy and had called on the Lord many times in prayer. I learned that Brother Krause had prayed that the Lord would give him the power to give the blessings because he did not know what he should say. He was praying at the same time I was praying in the woods. Then the answer of the Lord had come to him: “Just start giving the blessings, right now.” Having received this answer from the Lord, he had sent his wife to find me, and we had met on the steps of the ward building.

While Brother Krause was giving this talk, I listened intently to his words and recognized in them the answer to my question. I was very thankful that I had gone to this conference. Four weeks earlier, I had broken my foot and had just had the cast removed. The foot was still quite painful. My first inclination was not to attend the conference, but if I had not gone, I would never have heard this answer to my question. This was a new confirmation that the Spirit of the Lord and His blessings were with me on both occasions. It was another testimony to me of how wonderfully the Lord treats his children when they obey his commandments.