F. Enzio Busche - Yearning for the Living God

Names in select chapters have been changed to protectprivacy.

All images come fromF. Enzio Busches private collection.

Busche, F. Enzio. Yearningfor the living God : reflections from the life of F. Enzio Busche /compiled by Tracie A. Lamb p. cm. Includesindex. ISBN 978-1-57008-984-8 (hardcover : alk.paper)

eISBN 1-60641-646-4 (eletronic)

1. Busche, F. Enzio. 2. Mormon convertsGermanyBiography. I. Lamb, Tracie A. II. Title.

BX8695.B865A3 2004 289.3'092dc22 2003027595

Printed in the United States of America

Edwards Brothers Inc., Ann Arbor, MI

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

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My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

Psalm 42:2

Introduction

I was born inGermany in 1930, just three years before Hitler became the elected chancellorof the Reichstag in Berlin. When World War II began, I was a child protected bythe love of my parents. I was the only son, with one older and two youngersistersand one more to come a year later. The shock of the war and itsterrible consequences for all people, not only those in Europe, created in me asharp awareness of the need for understanding. Questions such as Who is man? Isthere a God? What is the purpose of our mortal experience? What happens afterdeath? were questions that, while unanswered, generated in me a mood ofself-defeating melancholy.

I finally came to a state of awakeningwhen, in my search of various religions and philosophies, I was approached bytwo young men who presented themselves as missionaries of The Church of JesusChrist of Latter-day Saints. Being somewhat skeptical and possessinga strong commitment to never again fall victim to nice-sounding wordsand utopian ideas, I spent the better part of two years investigating andstudying. When I began learning how to pray and started understanding that realpraying means to communicate with the Living God, I suddenly awakened, as if Iwas coming out of a deep sleep. I recognized that God had, over and over again,tried to touch me in many ways earlier in my life. I began to understand thatagency is what brings true dignity to the life of a human being. I learned thatbecause of agency, we are responsible for what we do with our lives; also,without help and constant influence from divine sources, we would never be ableto find purpose, success, or lasting joy. I could see that there was no otherpurpose in life than to develop in our souls the presence of divine lovethrough which alone we will be able to build a true society of righteousnessand peacea society that we are in need of preparing for because that isthe place which every human being throughout the history of mankind hasdreamed. I understood completely that worldly or religious societies cansucceed only when the Lord Himself and the Father of all truth stands at thehelm. The knowledge of this Father of truth and His Only Begotten Son in theflesh does not come by our intellectual reasoning; but as we learn to educateourselves to become humble and to accept Jesus Christ and His inspired servantsas our only guides, this world will finally begin to blossom. The wounds ofmankind will become healed and the Masters visionpeace on earthwillbe fulfilled.

My wife, Jutta, and I were baptized inThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints two andone-half years into our marriage. The Church was, at the time, in theinfant stages of existence in places other than the western part of the UnitedStates.

Shortly after we joined The Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we learned about the customarypractice for church members to serve according to their capabilities, to answerthe needs of the congregationscalled wards when they are fully organizedand branches when they are in the infant stagesas heads of congregations(called bishops or branch presidents), youth leaders, teachers, and so on.

My wife and I were, soon after ourbaptism, called to serve in various capacities. Giving service brought agrowing joy with enduring dimensions. I learned very soon that when we servethe Lord with all our hearts and learn to be so close to His voice that we arenever without hearing, He will help us to master all the battles of our livesso that we finally will be so filled with His love that we will overcome allfear.

After nearly twenty years of service inmy hometown of Dortmund, I was suddenly and unexpectedly called to serve as aGeneral Authority in the Churchs First Quorum of the Seventy. Members of thisquorum are responsible for the development of faith and the other fruits of theSpirit in the sons and daughters of Heavenly Father in all the areas of theworld. As I traveled through many congregations in the world and saw howrapidly some were growing, I began to understand my tremendous responsibilityto listen, to teach, to understand, to love, and to serve. It was not difficultfor me to see the goodness, or the potential for goodness, in all of thechildren of our Heavenly Father. I realized that only through the love of Godand the righteous service of humble leaders who have a knowledge of this God,can the world overcome the consequences of mediocre, or even cruel, leadershipof lifeless ideas and traditions. I was seventy years old when I received, asis customary in the Church, the status of emeritus General Authority, and myofficial duties with the Church were completed. My enthusiasm for building thekingdom of God, however, has not slowed down. The following book, written byme, with the assistance of Tracie A. Lamb, should be considered as mytestimony of the love that God has for all of His children.

Early Learning in War and Pain

When I was about ten years old, in the beginning yearsof World War II, the first air attacks began on my hometown of Dortmund. Myfather arranged for my mother, sisters, and me to move to Bad Kissingen inNorthern Bavaria, where my mother and sisters stayed for the duration of thewar. We were in a kind of sanitarium run by Catholic nuns.

We lived in very humble circumstances intwo small rooms, but we were protected from the air raids and lived in relativepeace. The main rooms of the sanitarium, where people gathered to eat, wereavailable to us. The only real inconvenience was sharing the bathroom with sixother families.

This environment was very strange to me,coming from a protected suburb in a large town in the northwestern part of thecountry. The scent of incense and holy water permeated the air. Our bedroom wasdirectly above the room used by the nuns for their services, so, often in thelate evening, I could hear the organ and their singing. Because we were Protestant,we did not go to their services, but I felt reverence and respect for theirreligious motives and in some way admired their way of life.

While we were there, I had an experienceI have never forgottenone that had a deep effect upon my life. One nightas I was laying in my bed thinking about something I had heard on the news, Iwas confronted with the word