# Leopard



## Leopard

Hello from Germany,

My Name is Jan Laurisch and i was born in East Germany in 1976.
Yes, the past was deep-red but now the present is blue. :2:
I live close to Collogne.
Married Soldier, patchwork family, two boys age 14 and 16.
Hobbys: geocaching, volleyball, badminton.
Interests: sci-fi, history, science, home improvement and a lot more.
Passion: Lantern-Collector, non-electric stuff like railroad lanterns.

I am member of following Lodges:
"Zum Leoparden" i.O. Luckau (where i started my freemasonry journey in 2000 and giver of my sername)
"Friedrich Wilhelm zu den drei KrÃ¤nzen" i.O. Torgau (adopted)
"Henning von Treskow" i.o. Potsdam. (1st and only german military Lodge after WW2, founding member)
All Grandlodge 3WK.
Mastermason since 2003.

I am here because in don't know much about American Freemasonry.
In june i will be in El Paso for two weeks.
I am a MIM 104 Patriot-maintenance-guy and there is a course in Fort Bliss to teach me a little bit more.
It will be my first time in USA and i am extremly curious about EVERYTHING.

brotherly greetings


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## Michael Hatley

Hallo, ich habe einen Freund, der in KÃ¶ln lebt!  

My German is even worse than my Spanish though so forgive me.  I was in Europe last year and met a German fellow in Strausbourg who guided me around France and Switzerland, really nice fellow and he lives in KÃ¶ln now.

I am sure that some El Paso Brothers will stop by, but if not send me a message and I'll guide you to a local lodge.  And if you make it to Houston we will have to get together!

Welcome to the forum!


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## Leopard

Hi Michael,

thanks for your reply.
Your German was absolutly correct and i hope that i am able to answer in the same quality.
As long we communicate in Englisch it will be ok ;-)
Mostly i take part of work in Bonn, the former capital of West Germany, but maybe i've met im in the past.

brotherly greetings


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## ahyen

Hey was geht? wielange hast du ein freemason sein? Mein bruder im bergisch gladbaech lebst. und ich auch habe freundinn beim mulheim an der ruh. Naja ich mag vielen deutschsprechen, wenn du willst PM mir  ich bin kein mason gerade, aber nicht zu lang, wie ich hoffe.

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## Leopard

Hello,

today i recieved my certificate to show that i am a Master Mason.
I am in good standing. :beer:
I will be in El Paso from 18.06.-27.06. 

Greetings Jan


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## ahyen

Leopard said:


> Hello,
> 
> today i recieved my certificate to show that i am a Master Mason.
> I am in good standing. :beer:
> I will be in El Paso from 18.06.-27.06.
> 
> Greetings Jan



great! i hope you have a great time! 

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## cog41

A hearty Greetings from East Texas!


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## Leopard

Thank you!
Creo que tengo que aprender espaÃ±ol.


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## Leopard

Hi all,

i think there is a problem with my Inbox and Send Items.
There is only 1 message an i answered it twice but ther is nothing in my Send Item box...
Did i something wrong?

I hope also that somebody contact me in El Paso.
I want to learn how people ther live.
All the easy thing if you understand.
I am interested in everything.
Many things are so different to Germany and i dont want to be only a surface visitor.

greetings Jan


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## Bro. Stewart P.M.

Welcome to the community!


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## crono782

There is an option on the site that you must enable to save message copies stored in your sent items. By default it is off. 


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## DJGurkins

Welcome Brother. I hope you enjoy your visit in this vast and wonderful country. If you find yourself in San Antonio TX. PM me and we can get together for a cup of coffee or see the Alamo.


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## byjaguargd

Celeb...


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## Leopard

@ *crono782* This very helpfull, thx!

@ *DJGurkins* Thank you! I try but i think it is a little bit too far ;-)

@ *byjaguargd* Celeb... ? Celebration? I'm afraid I can not do much with this expression.

Greetings Jan


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## Leopard

Hello,

it seems that there are no Freemasons in El Paso which want to give a helping hand if i need one in the foreign.
I'm a little worry that I might be doing something wrong in the foreign country whose laws I do not know all of them.
I would have felt a little more comfortable if I had someone more familiar with the country.
There are so many differences to Germany and I do not want to do something wrong unintentionally.
I started a request to the United Grandlodges of Germany for contact.
They contacted the Grandlodge of Texas but didnt recieved an answer.
Please PN me somebody what my mistake was.

Greetings Jan


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## dfreybur

Leopard said:


> it seems that there are no Freemasons in El Paso which want to give a helping hand if i need one in the foreign.
> I'm a little worry that I might be doing something wrong in the foreign country whose laws I do not know all of them.
> I would have felt a little more comfortable if I had someone more familiar with the country.
> There are so many differences to Germany and I do not want to do something wrong unintentionally.
> I started a request to the United Grandlodges of Germany for contact.
> They contacted the Grandlodge of Texas but didnt recieved an answer.
> Please PN me somebody what my mistake was.



American jurisdictions are less formal for visitation.  Show up in person and show them your credentials.  We use a document issued by the GL that shows our membership is current.  In the US it's called a dues card.  I take it other countries use a document issued by the GL that shows your membership is current but it is called by some other name.

The formal introduction method GL to GL does work buts it is extremely slow.  It's intended for moving residence not for temporary assignments like a military TDY.

http://grandlodgeoftexas.org/lodgelocator

I see ten lodges near there.  Anyone on the forum a local to one of them?  I'm in San Antonio 2-3 hours away.


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## Leopard

Thank you Doug Freyburger,

i have this dues card.
I will follow your advice when i am in El Paso next week.
Maybe i get contact.
I am curious and I just want to learn as much as possible about this county.
Nothing replaces the personal impressions and experiences.

Greetings, Jan


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## Dow Mathis

Welcome, Leopard, and good luck with your search.  I think that you'll find El Paso about as different from Germany as imaginable.  Sorry that I can't help you out with lodges there, but I used to live in that general part of the state.  There's some beautiful country out there.  Harsh, but beautiful in its own way.  If you end up in or around Boerne, TX let me know.  Our lodge has stated meetings the third Monday of the month, and floor practice most other Mondays.



dfreybur said:


> I see ten lodges near there.  Anyone on the forum a local to one of them?  I'm in San Antonio 2-3 hours away.



Brother Doug, check your mileage again,  By my best recollection, the trip from SA to El Paso is around eight hours, not two-three (of course, it might be quicker with that black helicopter of yours... :laugh:).


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## Roy Vance

dfreybur said:


> Anyone on the forum a local to one of them? I'm in San Antonio 2-3 hours away.



LMBO! Brother Freyburger, depending on what part of San Antonio you live in, you are about 525 miles from El Paso. I would estimate a good 7 1/2 to 8 hours. Unless, of course, you were refering to flying over there.  (Aww shucks, I didn't read far enough. Just like me to put my foot in my mouth. LOL! I'm gonna leave the post anyway, maybe y'all can laugh at me for a while. It won't hurt too much.)


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## robert leachman

Stay out if Mexico!

Use the Texas GL locator and follow up with a phone call when you get here to make sure the information on meeting nights is correct.

Many Lodges have have practice days that may not be listed on the Internet.  You might just call around and try to find if something unscheduled (a called meeting) might be going on.


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## Leopard

Puhhh I am now in El Paso... Hot


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## Leopard

Hi folks, I'm back in Germany.
Unfortunately, the lodge had no opening hours when I was there.


Fortunately, everything went smoothly and I have no help needed.
An experience I had one scare though.
We were in a canyon in the Franklin Mountains where we were looking for a geocache when our car locked automatically.
Everything was in the car, also the keys.
Luckily I had my cell phone in my pocket and we could get help.

Unfortunately I had forgotten my password meantime.
The note with the password was safe in Germany.
I wrote to the administrator and asked for help, but never answered.
By an administrator, I expect more, especially when it is a brother.
Ultimately, I am to blame, since I was the one who had forgotten his password.

I visited the White Sands Missile Range and other things, but the White Sands National Monument was the greatest.

It was very nice there and I had a good time.

I'm a lantern collectors.
Unfortunately I only found a single lantern which was for sale.

The owner thought that it is made of gold and was a very high price for it.
Since I have not won the lottery, this great piece had to stay in the country.
So I had no lantern, which reminds me of my visit to the U.S..

I am grateful that I was able to visit this great country.

Regards, Jan Leopard.


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## JTM

What a great thread to read.  I'm so glad you've had a great time in our country.  The pictures are awesome!  You've gotten to experience a part of my own country that I have yet to go to.  Please continue to update us on your travels


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## Leopard

Hello.

Thanks for the praise.
Since I am now back in Germany, I can only post some pictures and tell some of my impressions.

In Alamogordo, we had a typical American breakfast.
So far, I knew that's only on TV.

So I sat there and hoped that some police officers come in and eat donuts.
But that did not happen unfortunately.

The breakfast was really delicious.
In Germany we have a saying:
"Love goes through the stomach."
This was the beginning of a great love ...


In El Paso I then did something that most Americans would probably never do.
I was several times in one day in Mexico.
How is that possible, you can see in the images below.

Right on the border stands a monument.
Where the border of Mexico meets with the Rio Grande.

The Border Patrol is everywhere and watching.
With their permission, I was on the other side and took this picture.
Since I raced around the monument, I can not tell you how many times I was in Mexico!

Greetings, Jan


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## JTM

Hah.  I didn't know that was even there.  If I ever pass by I'll definitely stop so I can run back and forth between the US and Mexico a few times.


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## Leopard

Well, you should not do it without permission ...

Freemasons are not bulletproof!


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## byjaguargd

Today is my birthday...


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## byjaguargd

America the world's greatest power. Next you will or will not or


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