Nevertheless, the family remained faithful and worshipped as circumstances would permit. Years later, when Elder Kopischke's father entered the East German military, he promised a beautiful young lady that if she joined the Church, they would marry upon his return. With that, he left the teaching of the Gospel to his future bride in the hands of his mother.
Still, the family participated in the limited Church activities available to them under the red regime Elder Kopischke was yet to be born when, in , his parents concluded that life in Communist East Germany would never allow them to raise their children in the full measure of their faith. They figured they had to somehow go over the border to West Germany. With Elder Kopischke's mother seven months pregnant with him, they summoned their courage, and despite lacking proper permits to leave the country, boarded a train bound for West Germany.
Their only hope of escape hung on the Lord. When the train stopped at the West German border they heard bloodcurdling cries for help as guards arrested those lacking authorization.
They watched horrified as an armed guard strode to their compartment. Just as he was about to open the door, the guard looked away as if distracted, then left.
Compartments on either side of their compartment were checked, but they went unnoticed and were permitted to escape. Thus Erich was born in the freedoms of West Germany and nurtured in the dynamic growing Church that flourished there.
There, Elder Kopischke was born on 20 October A refugee, his father performed common labor. The family lived in humble circumstances but was rich in the things of faith.
In the years to come, all the boys served missions and each of the children married in the temple. The near miracle of the family's escape and other events in his life helped Erich gain a testimony of the Lord's love for the individual and that the Lord knows what is best for individuals. He recalls being a little disappointed when called to serve a full-time mission in his native Germany.
But he soon came to love teaching his own people. And when he was assigned to the mission office for nine months as a secretary, he had to learn English. She was smitten by first impressions, but it wasn't until a few months later, while he was completing his requirement in the West German military, and simultaneously was called as a counselor in the bishopric, that she sensed his commitment to the Lord. They became better acquainted in young single adult activities, and were married 10 December , in the Bern Switzerland Temple.
Kopischke has served in many callings in the LDS Church. He was president of Nuremberg Germany Stake from to During this time, the English-speaking stake, composed primarily of United States military personnel, and the German-speaking Nuremberg District were combined.
Since Kopischke had learned English while working in the mission office on his mission, he was able manage matters of the stake in both languages used by its members. Kopischke spent most of the s and early s working in the insurance industry. From to , he served as president of the Germany Berlin Mission.
After returning from this assignment, he became an area seventy and served as second counselor in the presidency of the church's Europe Central Area. He was called as a general authority and member of the First Quorum of the Seventy in
0コメント