FROHLICHE WEIHNACHTEN Dec. 16-22

This is our Christmas Card for this year.  We are grateful for electronic communication that keeps us in touch with family and friends.  I know what it is like waiting for communication to come in any form - there is something about "home" that brings comfort when you are so far away.

We started the week with MISSION CHRISTMAS CONFERENCE!  This is the best time of the whole year - for those who have served missions you can relate.  For all of the young missionaries, this is the day they receive all of their packages from home.

  We had a wonderful day of Christmas musical performances from different missionaries, Christmas messages and video clips, and gift exchange among the missionaries and a wonderful Swiss German Christmas lunch.  It is always good to be with all of the other missionaries and President and Sister Brown, our Mission President.  It was also the one day the Sisters can wear their Dirndl's and the Elders can wear lederhosen.  It was very festive and so filled with the Spirit of Christmas.  There were so many packages for the missionaries to pick up.  I also saw how sad it was for those who did not receive any packages from home.  Some received them at our last meeting 2 weeks ago.  It made me stop and think about when my Sons were on missions and how it was for them.  I don't remember knowing I had to have it to them by a certain date to have it for the mission conference delivery.  Joshua was in Brazil and never received packages and a regular basis.  I think in two years he only received 2 packages that finally arrived.  For Brian, ten years later and in Italy things were a little different.  We were able to use Fed Ex and it was a little more reliable.  Our two missionaries did not come home with any packages. We will help fill in the gap with a little present.

 At the conference, Pres. Brown talked about our time as missionaries not being about gifts and packages but that this time in our lives is about giving and serving others.  As he talked, I thought how things are not so different for me here as I have done many of the things I would do at home sharing the Christmas Spirit with others.  Saturday will be the day we make and deliver Salsa to our neighbors.  Many will be leaving for the three day holiday here so we want to give it before they leave.  Here they celebrate Christmas on Dec. 24, 25 and 26 with all of the stores closed.  It is nice walking through the markets just to feel the ambiance of the season and not to buy or worry about gifts.  So, Monday was an awesome day as we celebrated together.  Our Elders did not want to leave and we had a long drive ahead.  We finally got them to get in the car and had just started down the street when one of them got a phone call from a member in Zurich that wanted to come and see him before he left.   He said, Sis. Grimmett can we please go back to the church so she can meet us there - it will only take 5 min.  She was a Sister he had baptized last year and he means a lot to her and her four teenage children.  She brought Dunkin Doughnuts so the Elder's were happy.  We were the last to leave and as I have said before, Zurich traffic at 6:00 is terrible.  Another 3 hour drive home - I told them they could not sleep and leave me alone to drive - that lasted about 2 hours and then the wonderful day and good food hit all of them.  I was glad to be home at the end of the day.

 Elder Fishburn and Elder Falkena performing Savior Redeemer of my Soul.  It was beautiful.  They were companions until last week when Elder Falkena was transferred.  We miss him and it was wonderful to see him again.

 Elder Odro sang Silent Night in English and Dutch (his native tongue)  It is the 200th Anniversary this year of the writing of Silent Night in Germany.  Sis. Brown played the piano for him and he did wonderful.  They had not practiced together - two great talents that came together and made it happen.  We were really proud of him.  He is doing really well right now.

Our dear Sis. Griffith serving in Singen.  It is always good to be with her.
I am so grateful for these young women and men who are 18-25 years old serving as missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  They are away from home, family and friends and are going out every day sharing their love of Jesus Christ and inviting others to come and to know Him.  They have an excitement, love, joy, desire to be their best.  They have a message to share and in their crazy ways they get it done.  They are from many countries and backgrounds, but they are united in their love of Jesus Christ and their desire to serve Him.  We are so blessed to be among them and feel their excitement and willingness to serve.

 P-DAY!  Off to Titisee.  The train has been closed all summer for repairs and on Dec. 1 it finally started back in operation.  Russ could not wait to ride the train over the mountain and back to Titisee.  This is us on the train.  It was an awesome trip.  We rode on the upper deck and it was so nice not driving and getting to see the beauty of the mountain.  The train goes places a car will never go.  Straight up the mountain with no switchbacks. 

 This is the lake in Winter.  It was so beautiful - I wish the camera would pick up the contrasts better.  Unfortunately, we have had a very mild, rainy winter so far.  NO SNOW or frozen lake.  They usually have a lot of snow and the lake freezes for ice skating and other winter sports.  It is really hurting the tourism in this area.  Some shops were even closed until after Christmas due to slow business.  We enjoyed no crowds and just walking through the little streets and shops. 

This is our favorite Christmas store.  It is fun to just look at everything and enjoy.  It is open all year and they have some really fun things - I especially like their Santa collection - maybe next year I will need to get one to bring home.
We did not stay long but we really enjoyed the train ride and visiting one of our favorite places in this area.  We stopped in a said hello to the owner of one of the shops that we met this summer - the one who owns the Shelby Mustang from Texas.  He was not having a very good day (probably because it was a slow day) and at first he thought Russ was just a customer with a problem until he looked up and recognized who he was.  He was very nice and was glad to say hello.

We arrived home and were off again on our next adventure.   We signed up to help with Find a Grave here in our area.  Most of the requests we get are for France since we are so close, but we are not allowed to go to France.  We had a request for a city that we were planning to visit anyway so we accepted the request.  These are for cemeteries that do not have registries and family members want photos to document the grave as they do family history.  We thought it would be a little cemetery and that it would not be difficult to find the headstone.  We arrived and it was a huge cemetery with about 15 different areas.  We looked at it and said, we have about 30 minutes of daylight left what are we going to do.  We said a prayer before we got out of the car.  We each took an area and walked down each row.  We discovered that each area was for a certain time period - so we moved quickly looking for the year span of 1986.  They bury in family plots, so some are not exactly in the time frame.  It was now dusk and we were going to be late to a dinner appointment.  I did not want to leave without finding it and taking a picture.  I kept praying that we would find it.  We decided we needed to leave and would go to the information office and see if they could help us.  Just as we got to the entrance on the opposite side that we had entered on, I said, just a minute - let me walk down this row.  Larger than life was this headstone.  We had been looking on the ground and walked and walked and then we were guided to this beautiful spot.  Mission accomplished.  I don't know this person, but I felt a warm sense of peace as we were able to take photos and document it and know that we were helping someone connect with a relative.

We had been invited to Gegenbach to see the World's largest Advent Calendar.  This is the Rathaus (city building) in the center of the city.  It has 25 windows in the front of the building.  They turn it into an advent calendar starting on the 30th of November.  Every night they light a new window.  This year they used the art of Andy Warhol (an American artist)
They have a little musical performance to tell the story of the Advent Calendar and then they light the new window.  This is the window that was lit, the vase with flowers. 

 They turn off all of the lights and then light the new window and then turn on the previous days lights.  It was fun to see.  We also walked around the market and enjoyed the sights, smells and sounds.








I loved the unique local art that was at this market.  Because it is deep in the black forest, there was a lot of pine wood art.  I loved these slices of pine carved with designs.  Great front porch decorations. 

 This is the same picture that is in our Christmas Card.  This is a life size wood carved Nativity scene.  It was beautiful.  I really like the German Shepherd. I also really like the animals in the background.  It was very unique and so real for this location in Germany. 

The Elder's met up with us to join us for dinner at Elli's home.  We were really grateful to be invited to dinner with Elli and her parents.  Elli was baptized in October and her parents were not really happy about it.  They are Greek Orthodox but attend the Catholic Church most of the time because there is not a Greek congregation in their little town.  We had met her mother back in November and that was the start to a friendship and better relations for Elli.  She cooked an amazing Greek dinner with chicken and potatoes and lots of garlic.  Loved it. They have a very nice home and it was so good to be there.  I don't think Elli has many friends come to her home and they seemed to really enjoy having the young missionaries there.  They could see how well Elli gets along with them.  They have agreed to let her go to BYU-I in the Fall.  That is a really big change of heart and we are happy for Elli.  She has friends that go to school there and she will do great.  Her mother is even trying to brush up on her English so she can feel comfortable going and visiting her while she is there.  We couldn't get the missionaries to leave and finally we had to leave as we were past their curfew.  It is good they were in good company and had a good driver to get them home safe!

Wednesday was our turn to cook for Institute.  Shopping day and cooking.  I made bread and rolls and then I was feeling a little home sick and missing my mother and her wonderful holiday baking and decided to make some of her favorites.  I made chocolate almond balls and English dainties (both recipes are in Linda's cookbook).  It was working - the taste and smells of holiday baking were giving me peace and  the feeling that "I can do hard things" (thanks William).
We served pork schnitzel, roasted potatoes, glazed carrots, green salad with the bread and rolls.
I made up trays of dessert and placed them on the tables for all to enjoy.  It turned out wonderful. 

My Dad is 97 1/2 years old.  This week brought a new chapter in his life.  He drove his car for the last time.  For the past 28 years he has had a car paid by Melaleuca.  The license plate even said: MelaCar.  He loved cars and especially his Toyota Highlander.  It was no longer safe for him to drive and it was too nice of a car to be sitting in the parking lot of a care center collecting dust.  So, the time had come to sell the car.  My sister and her son took him over to the local high school and let him drive on the driving range one last time.  They said he had a ball and really enjoyed his last drive.  It is hard for me some days to not be with him and helping in his care.  Every day is a new challenge and I am so appreciate of my sister, Pam for all of her love and energy in taking care of him.  I have wonderful memories of having him in Texas last year for Christmas.

We were able to pick up our new Drivers licenses for Germany on Thursday.  We are finally legal in all of the necessary things.  We are set for the next year.  Today was a catch up day on administrative things and around the house.  We finally found jars to be able to give Salsa to our neighbors.  We visited Amira and invited her to spend Christmas Eve with us.  We hope she is feeling well enough to come.  Russ spent the evening with some of the men from church delivering bags of cookies to families.  They were planning to sing Christmas songs and deliver the cookies.  His group opted out on the singing and visited instead.  He had a great time and it was good for him to be with them.
We met a new neighbor today.  He just separated from his wife and moved into our complex.  He was very interested in learning about what we are doing in Germany.  He said, they must pay you a lot of money to be able to live here in this building.  I told him we don't get paid, we actually pay the Church to be here to cover our rent and car.  He said, did you win the lottery to be able to come?  We look forward to getting to know him better.  He is a biologist for a pharmaceutical company here.  Delivered Salsa to him on Saturday and had a nice visit getting to know him better. 

I made 2 big batches of Salsa to deliver to neighbors and Church friends.  We found that 3 of our neighbors moved out this week, 2 today.  Must be the time of year leases run out and people get job changes as well.  We look forward to meeting new neighbors.  We were only able to deliver to 4 of our neighbors the Salsa.  Many people have gone away for the Christmas Week.
We will deliver more tomorrow as well as Cinnamon Rolls that I made tonight.

Advent Wreath with 3 candles lit

 We attended the final Organ Concert of the year at the Munster on Saturday. It was really nice.  This is the last concert until the Spring series starts in April.  We will miss the Saturday morning events.  We are hoping to attend their Christmas program on Christmas Eve.  It will be at 9:30 PM and we will have to do this instead of go look at lights around the city like we do at home.
We were told they do not do the traditional midnight mass at very many places anymore because the Priest does not just have one

 congregation anymore.  He travels to up to 6 services on a given Sunday.  The little towns no longer have their own Priest.  So, their services have had to change.
This picture is a Nativity inside of the Church.  It was really nice.  I especially liked the camel with the young boy riding on it.  I have never seen a large Nativity with the beautiful camel and rider like this one.  It was very dark in the Church and this is the best picture I could get.  Baby Jesus will be added on Christmas Eve. They had 4 huge 25-30 feet trees inside that were beautiful.

It has been really nice traveling around to different places and seeing all of the Nativity scenes in each city.  I love the diversity of each one.  It has truly been a great experience being a part of a new culture and being a part of a German Christmas.

We were invited to have dinner on Friday with the family that we have helped haul dirt and landscape their new home.  It was a delightful evening.  This is their Christmas Tree.  I love it.  Their new home is very nice, but not with large rooms.  Lots of rooms, just smaller to suit each purpose.  They do not waste space.  The Tree was decorated really cute.  The live outside of Freiburg on the edge of the forest, so they can look out their window and see lots of trees.  They don't need one inside when they have this wall space to have such a cute tree.

Christmas Miracles happen every day.  I am grateful for all of the blessings my family has received and that my Dad has also been so blessed.  So grateful to Melaleuca for taking such good care of him financially and for keeping him healthy.

People keep asking me if I am homesick for Texas.  I am not sure how to answer.  Christmas has always been a time of giving and sharing at our house.  We have a very long list of people we deliver Salsa and treats to every year.  It is one of the highlights of Christmas to spend Dec. 24 out delivering to people and ending the night at Max and Sally Johnson's for a picture with Santa.  We have about 30 years of pictures from that tradition.  I will miss that.  We have filled the last few days with the same activities of making Salsa and delivering as well as other treats.  So, some things are the same just new location and people.  It still is one of the best parts of Christmas.  There are some days that are hard, so I just try not to think about being away.  I actually like the slower pace and a simpler life for this year.  I try to stay focused on missionary work and serving where I have been called to serve.  It has been rainy, cold and windy this past week.  We have walked and walked and tried to visit several people to give them a Christmas message and treat.  We have either not found them home or they no longer live where we have the address.  We were asked to visit a man in the prison here who requested a Book of Mormon.  We went on Thursday and they gave us a piece of paper and said to follow the instructions and come back.  Russ thought it just said the time and days we could visit.  He asked some men at church about it and they were not very helpful.  So, in the rain and cold we went back on Friday during the hours on the note.  The man at the gate said, did you not understand what I told you yesterday?  He was actually yelling at us.  I don't understand what he says, but I sure do understand how he felt about us.  Apparently you have to call and make an appointment to visit during those times.  We will try again.  We are not well versed on the process at a Prison.  We will go back.  These are times I get frustrated that I don't understand and neither does Russ.  That is when you know you are in a foreign country and you pray that it will all work out.  We continue to learn something new every day.

Yes, the big news of the week was the change in dress code for Sister Missionaries.  We have been required to wear dresses or skirts every day.  That has been my wardrobe for the past 23 years working for the Church so I was good with that attire.  Sisters can now were dress slacks.  I guess I will get a few new Christmas presents after the holidays.  New Pants - I am not as excited about it as the young sisters, but it will be nice during the Winter cold months.  I especially will like it on P-Day.

Jesus said, "Blessed are ye because of your faith.  And now behold, my joy is full.  And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them....Behold your little ones.  And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.  And the multitude did see and hear and bear record; and they know that their record is true for they all of them did see and hear, and they were in number about two thousand and five hundred souls..." 3 Nephi 17:21-25  I know that Jesus Christ appeared as a Resurrected being after his death just as surely as he was born in a manger and the angels descended out of heaven to announce his birth to the shepherds.  I am so grateful for Jesus Christ - his birth, life, teachings, death and atonement for all mankind.  I am grateful for the angels round about me every day.  May this knowledge of Him bring you peace, joy, happiness and a desire to serve him this Christmas Season and every day.  We appreciate your love and prayers in our behalf.

Merry Christmas!
The Grimmett's