Feb. 17 - 23, 2019

It is has been a whirlwind 10 days in the USA.  The first few days were spent making the arrangements for my Dads funeral and all of the family things.  Most of my children left on Sunday to return to their homes.  It was so nice being together with family even if it was only for a few days.  Monday was spent cleaning out my Dad's apartment.  So grateful to Josh and Ian for their hard work moving furniture and all the heavy things.  We were able to get it all cleaned out and cleaned in about 4 hours.  It really made things final as we looked back at the empty room and all of the things that he loved were gone.  It was good for my sister Pam and I to have this time together and sharing memories and stories together.
Tuesday was spent at the home Emily and Ian are in the process of buying.  Josh came to help in the remodel plans and he spent all day measuring and putting the plans together.  He is so talented and had some really good ideas and information for Emily.  Unfortunately it did not close as planned and he had to leave and go home.  At least they will have a plan to use and his valuable insights.
Thursday we spent visiting friends and family.  It was a wonderful day.  We were able to visit John and Denise Sivo in Salt Lake City.  It was so fun to see their new home and to catch up on the last 7 months.  We really enjoyed their hospitality and look forward to seeing them in the near future.  We visited my sister, Pam and went to lunch with her and her husband, Mike.  We took advantage of being in the States and I was able to get our taxes completed.  Emily finished hers and then I also did them for my Sister.  Somehow I got the bad deal - they are all getting a nice refund and I had to pay!  I spent several hours completing all of the details for my Dad's estate.  I was able to complete all of the required paperwork and probate even was taken care of with the Judge.  It has been a very busy week taking care of all of this. So glad for electronic transfers and Fed-Ex.
Russ and I visited the cemetery - the view and surroundings are absolutely beautiful.  A great final resting place for our family.

 We left at 5:30 AM in the morning from Emily's home.  Logan said all he wanted to do was wave good-bye from the door when we left.  He woke up and came to the door to wave good-bye.  It was so cute.  It reminded me of my parents who always stood on the porch and waved good-bye to us when we would leave.  A honk of the horn and we were on our way!

Second good-bye at the airport.  It was hard to do it a second time, but this time I knew what I was coming back to and I actually was missing our new home and the wonderful missionary work that we are doing.  It was time to return.

We were supposed to fly back Friday morning, but the flights were really full and we decided to wait until Saturday when there were more seats available and it would make for a much better flight.  We have been fighting allergies since we arrived and Russ was not feeling very good today.  He was really glad he was not flying.  It is hard to say good-bye, but we are also feeling the need to be back home in Germany and getting on with our responsibilities there.  We received 4 emails from our Mission President yesterday with assignments - it's time to return.  Zone Conference is next Friday and I have to organize the lunch.  We will hit the ground running when we return.  It has not been a vacation, but I am so glad to have been here with all of my family and especially to have been able to be a part of the funeral for my Father.  There is just a peace that comes from the process.
We had a wonderful travel experience coming to Utah.  We could not have asked for better people serving us and taking care of our needs.  We were hoping for a similar experience returning home.  It was very busy in Salt Lake and they did not make sure all of our connections were in order.  We were not worried about the flight to Dallas as it was only a 2 hour flight. 

We arrived in Dallas to find our flight was delayed.  We tried to talk to the agent and they were not accommodating at all.  She would not even answer our questions.  We were in the back of the plane and again, thought it would be better when we got to Philadelphia.  We were going to wait in eat in Philly, but decided to grab a sandwhich in Salt Lake - so glad we did.  The weather was really windy in Texas and we sat on the plane for 1 1/2 hours waiting for take-off.  Only one runway was operating due to the wind and we had to wait our turn.  So, we barely made our connection to Zurich (we still had 45 min. to spare) and when we arrived they had given our seats to another non-rev passenger and said we were not listed on the flight.  We showed her our tickets that we had received in Utah and she said, just get on the plane.  When we asked the flight attendants about where we could sit and told them the situation, they said, we have never heard of A-9 classification, that must be an American Airlines thing, we are US Air - excuse me- the merger happened over 3 years ago and it is called American Airlines.  So - it was not the trip home we expected, but we are home and we are glad to be safe and back ready to go to work.

Waiting for the train in Zurich to return to Freiburg.  The trains are really nice and a lot more relaxing than when we drive and have to fight traffic.  We get to do that on Friday when return for Zone Conference.  The train station in Zurich is huge - about 38 lines coming in with multiple levels.

 We arrived home to find this in our mailbox.  Josh sent this on Jan. 7 - Christmas cards we received at our home in Texas.  It is February 23 and we just received it.  Notice the stamp that it was sent to Jamaica by mistake and rerouted to Germany.  $14 for 4 cards to be mailed and it still took 6 weeks!  Merry Christmas - it was wonderful reading the cards from friends and feeling the Christmas Spirit all over again.

This past 10 days has been filled with memories and stories that will always be special to me.  I shared a story with Emily's family about when I was 4 years old and my family was stranded in the mountains over night.  The story was in the newspaper and I read it to them.  We had gone for a Memorial Day picnic to the South Hills in Idaho.  My 14 year old brother and his friend Tom, my 13 year old sister, Pam; my 6 year old sister, Brooke; and my 6 month old brother, Tad.  There was a snow drift over the road and my Dad thought he could go around it with his 4 wheel drive Jeep.  The road gave way and the Jeep was only being held up by a tree.  They tried until 9 pm to get the Jeep back on the road and could not.  My Dad thought it was a 10 mile hike to the nearest city of Oakley Idaho.  He sent my brother and his friend at 10:00 pm to go get help.  It turned out to be 24 miles and they arrived at a home to get help at 5:00 AM  We had food that my mother had prepared, a scout patrol kit, a tent, the seats out of the car and a baby bed for the baby to sleep in.  My Dad built a fire and we huddled together to stay warm and to sleep until help arrived the next morning.  When I finished the story Logan asked - "so, what can we learn from this?"  I really appreciated his thought process.  We talked about the importance of being prepared, having a knowledge of how to use what we have and the power of prayer in our lives.  This was one of many stories I could have shared that had an impact on my life.  So grateful to my parents who taught me so much and especially my mother who made all of the crazy experiences my Dad got us into an adventure and learning experience. 
Looking forward to a great week. 
Viel Liebe,
The Grimmett's

 

The journey to Utah Feb. 10-18

Elder Fishburn

We started the week saying goodbye to Elder Fishburn who completes his mission and will be returning home to Oklahoma.  We enjoyed serving with him and sharing Texas Oklahoma stories and our common love of Braum's ice cream.  His family was arriving on Thursday to pick him up and travel a little before returning home.  They lived in Germany for several years while his father was in the military.  He was a great linguist with the German language and helped others to learn and understand.  We look forward to meeting our new Elder.



We had a great District Meeting Monday morning in Freiburg.  It was Elder Fishburns last meeting so I asked what he wanted for lunch.  He said he would really like Chicken fried Steak.  Well, I did a little research to see if I could even get the meat and make it and found that Chicken fried steak originated with the German settlers to Texas who missed having their schnitzel and used the good beef that was available to them.  We looked at the market and decided it would be better to get really good schnitzel for the sake of time and money.  It turned out really good.  I made mashed potatoes and cream gravy and everyone loved it.  It was also my Birthday, so as I was trying to make it nice for his last day, he had planned a surprise party for me and they decorated and had a cake and it was really nice.  I was surprised.  I really appreciated their extra effort especially as we were leaving the next morning for Utah.  Russ and I ended the day going to one of our favorite Turkish restaurants.  Happy Day!

With the passing of my father, we were given permission to return to Utah for 10 days.  We had to be at the train station at 5:15 AM so we were up early and left our house at 5:00 am to walk to the train station.  It still amazes me what we do as missionaries.  Walking the streets that early with 3 suitcases reminded me of younger days and traveling.  We took the train to Zurich, Switzerland and then flew from there to Philadelphia and on to Salt Lake City.  We are so grateful for the flight benefits we have that allowed us to do this.  We were treated so good by all of the American people and we were able to fly home 1st class - the only way to enjoy International travel.  It was so nice and so much better than our trip to Germany on United Air Lines.  We had mechanical problems in Philly and it made a long day, but we arrived in Utah at midnight and were really glad to be home safe.  The past few days have been a whirlwind taking care of all of the arrangements for my Dad's funeral and taking care of his Estate as well.  Josh, Julie, Kelly, Shannon, Jamie, Jaime, Abby and Emma all arrived on Thursday and then we drove to Idaho on Friday for the funeral.

 We were worried about the Winter weather but it was a beautiful morning.  The sky and and mountains were majestic.  Very different from the mountains in Germany - the beauty of the Mountain West.  We had to take three cars to get us all there and I needed to be there early.  Just as we arrived in Twin Falls Idaho Emily got a call from Ian and the transmission in his company car had gone out.  He had stopped for gas about 30 minutes behind us and when he went to get on the freeway he had no gears.  So, Emily had to drop us off at the Church and go back to pick them up and make arrangements for

a car rental.  Our life is always an adventure.  She was a little late to the funeral but it all worked out.  Most of my family was there with their children.  A few could not arrive because of the winter weather.

 It was so nice to be back to my hometown that I grew up in and to visit with old friends who came to the funeral.  It was a nice celebration of my Dad's life.  My older brother and sister and I were the speakers.  2 granddaughters and 2 great granddaughters sang "How Great Thou Art" and then all of the great grandchildren, about 50 of the 77 living sang "Families Can Be Forever and Temple Medley" .  It was so sweet and a great remembrance of his posterity.  My Dad always wanted a handmade casket made by a craftsman in Idaho.  We were able to fulfill that desire and it was very simple and perfect for him.  I had to leave right after the funeral and meet with the attorney to take care of Estate business with me only having a few days in the USA.

  We also were warned of a severe winter storm that was hitting in the late afternoon.  We needed to get back on the road for Utah.  As soon as we hit the Utah border, we were greeted by a huge snow storm.  The roads were very bad and the trucks could not make it up the steep hills.  It was a white knuckle drive for all of those who were driving.  We had about 10 cars of family driving back and we all arrived safe.  Brian, Beth, Will and Nora flew in from Wichita Kansas and arrived in the middle of the storm.  They were about 4 hours late due to weather and mechanical in Dallas.  We were glad they were able to come.

 We had a viewing and graveside service in Salt Lake City where George E Haney, Jr. was buried at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park.  There was a different feeling than the day before in Idaho and it was really nice to be with family and friends.  There was some healing taking place between some family members and we were blessed with tender mercies.  It was really nice seeing the little cousins interact with each other, many never having met each other.

 Two of our grandchildren having a great time together.

 We were so pleased with the honors given to this World War II Veteran.  When the mortuary came to pick up my Dad when he passed away they brought this flag and draped his body to take him out of the care center.  They made a special effort to honor a veteran and to have people pause and pay respects as they wheeled him out.  It has always been touching for me to witness the military presentation at a funeral.  Taps was played and then the flag folded and presented to my brother, George.  So grateful for the patriotism of my father and all that he taught me.  He was buried next to his father who was a World War I vet.  The cemetery representative commented that this spot had been hallowed ground for a long time.  My grandparents, my parents, my brother and my son are all buried next to each other.  I know there was a glorious reunion on
February 8, 2019 when Dad joined them. 

Joshua, Emily & Brian

 Always nice to have my children together.  We took a family picture of those who were able to be here.  We were only missing Jaime's boys and husband.  The grandchildren were really excited to fly on airplanes.  Again, we are so grateful to American Airlines for providing the travel and being so accommodating to us. 

 We had a luncheon catered by Costa Vida and Chick fil-a for everyone after the service.  I put it all together and everyone helped with set-up of tables and we had a great time together with about 70 of my family.  Grandma and Grandpa would have been so happy to see the family together.

These are my kids and their cousins.  There are about 11 missing, but for those that were able to come it was a great reunion.  They spent a lot of time together growing up and now that they are married or adults, they do not see each other very often.  Great to keep families together.

Everyone is returning to their homes on Sunday.  It has been a wonderful few days.  A lot of work feeding and keeping things happening, but I would not trade it for anything. I know the next five days will go so fast.  We still have to clean out Dad's apartment and finish up some legal things.  I will also help Emily and enjoy the time with her children.  We are so blessed and so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the knowledge we have of life here and beyond the grave.  Jesus Christ made it all possible for us to return to our Father in Heaven and be together with our families. 

Love,
The Grimmett's

Feb. 3 - 9, 2019 Farewell to my Hero

Schwenningen District in Eisenbach

 Monday started with a District ZOOM Meeting at our home.  It is always nice to have the Elder's over.  We were having a ZOOM meeting because on Tuesday we were having a District P-Day.  It will be the last one for Elder Fishburn before he leaves to go home.  We wanted a super activity.  It is hard to find activities that we can all get to because we are not a normal District that is in the same city.  We are 1 1/2 to 2 hours apart.  We had planned to visit a Castle and Weapons museum but when we called to check on it we found out it was closed for Jan. and Feb.  They open for groups larger than 100.  We will plan to go in the Spring.  We organized an activity to meet in a mountain town called Eisenbach.  We were hoping for nice weather and to be able to hike in the mountains. 

 This week will go down in the memory books.  Time is going so fast and this has been a very difficult week.  There have been many late nights as our family kept a vigil watching over my father in his final days.  On Monday the papers were finally signed and he was placed in Hospice Care.  I was able to talk with him and tell him how much I love him.  So grateful for technology.  I have also been trying to take care of his estate matters so things will go easier in the coming days.  We have tried to keep focused on our missionary work, but it has been a stressful week.  So glad however to be so busy and also having a wonderful experience.  I was so glad for P-Day to be out in the forest, in the snow on a beautiful day and feeling at peace.  Tender Mercies amid the storms.

 Tuesday was an absolutely gorgeous day!  You could see for miles and miles.  Below you can see the Swiss Alps.  We had never seen so many jets in the sky over here.  We have missed seeing planes every day - it is in Russ' blood.  We loved watching them leave their trails against the deep blue sky.  We were at a recreation area for hiking, cross country skiing and snow shoeing.  The missionaries loved it.  It was good for them to be out in the wide open spaces and taking it all in.  It was the perfect place to spend the day.

 Russ along the trail.  We are so glad to have our walking poles.  They really help and especially when the snow was up to our knees in some places.  We do pretty good keeping up with the young missionaries.

 I have been wanting to make a Snow Angel since we went hiking a few weeks ago and I didn't want to get wet.  So, here we are - I convinced everyone to do it.  Hardest part was laying down.  As a child we would just free fall backwards and land in the snow.  I was not so brave to free fall backwards.  It was fun.  I felt the angels close to me this week and this was my special snow angel for the day.

 This was a beautiful scene as we were walking down the road.  I man with horses and a wagon came down the lane.  He was very friendly and stopped to talk with us.  10 Missionaries coming towards him was probably as daunting as he was to us with his horses and buggy.  Great winter scene.  It would have been really fun if he would have offered to give us a ride. 

 We had a Texas Tailgate in the parking lot.  My Mother taught me so much and putting out a nice spread of food no matter the circumstances was one of those things.  We had a feast of meats, cheese, breads, rolls, fruit, vegetables, chips and lots of chocolate.  I took hot chocolate and everyone was so glad.  It was wonderful.  The Elders took off their coats and look macho, but they were freezing by the time they finished making the snowman.  They decided to make this snowman right outside of the entrance to a restaurant.  It turned out really cute and they had so much fun.  Team building - always lessons to be learned even when having fun.
Wednesday we were off to Lahr to fulfill our cleaning assignment for the apartment building.  We did not know we had to have someone cleaning the common areas every two weeks and we don't have missionaries living there full time.  So, we went and took care of it.  There are only 3 residents so it was not hard to do.  It just took most of the morning.

  We are registered with Find a Grave and occasionally  we are able to go take pictures.  We had a cemetery that was close to us so we went on the way home.  It was a small cemetery and thought it would only take a short time to find it.  We walked down each of the isles and most of them were from 1995 to current.  We could not find the grave we were looking for and there were only about 100 graves.  There was a caretaker working on one of the plots planting flowers and we asked if he had heard of this person.  He walked us to the entrance and there was the stone.  Who would have thought it was under the name of the Cemetery.

  He then took us around the corner and in a separate section overgrown with plants was a shrine to several people and there was her grave and her husbands.  He was famous and we were told to go and look him up.  It was a neat experience and it is interesting how connected you feel to the people when you find their grave.  We had a really nice drive in the countryside in a part of town we had never been to.  So fun exploring.  We were then off to Institute.
Thursday was Apartment Inspection Day.  We drove to Bad Sackingen and took care of that apartment.  They needed a new shower head so off to the store and back to install it.  By the time you drive and do all that has to be done it is a 4 hour adventure. Highlight of the day is always going to visit Amira. We are so glad that she is reading and studying the lesson before we come and we are having some really good discussions.  She was at the store this week and a lady come up to her and said hello and asked what made her so happy.  She feels like her personal study of Jesus Christ and praying more has really blessed her life.  We left her home and took our Elders to dinner at an Italian Restaurant that serves a huge plate of spaghetti for 2.80E from 6:00-7:30 every night.  It is a local favorite.  We had a really nice dinner and then we went to their apartment for their Inspection.  I told them if they cleaned really good and had a good inspection we would take them to dinner.  It worked better in our schedules to take them to dinner first.  They came through and had the apartment in good shape.  Win Win for all of us.

Friday was a catch up day at home and lots of phone calls taking care of business for my Dad.  It is nice when you finally get someone who will help you on the phone instead of a computer or someone who says call back tomorrow after you just spent 30 minutes on the phone waiting.  I have felt an urgent need to get all of his financial affairs in order before he passes away. 
We started playing table tennis every morning for exercise.  It has really been fun and we are getting pretty good.  It is great exercise and they say the very best for brain health.  I need a lot of that.  It is a great way to start the day.  We watched a Hallmark movie and tried to have a relaxing Friday night.  The phone just kept ringing.  Lots of District things happening - Its transfer day on Saturday and Elder Fishburn is counting down his last few days.  Russ was just heading off to bed and I was working on the computer and I received a call from my Sister Pam. 

George E. Haney, Jr  1921-2019

 This giant of a man and my hero took his final breath and left his mortal body allowing his spirit to return to heaven.  The veil of Heaven and Earth was very thin the past few days.  He asked who was going to take him to Heaven.  Would it be a man or a woman.  My Sister told him Mom would come and get him.  He appeared to see angels from Heaven and said, yes, I want that beautiful lady over there to take me.  He asked if he had fought a good fight in this life.  He was an amazing example to everyone he came in contact with.  He loved life and all if its derivatives.  He loved his family and was so proud of his posterity.  6 Children, 29 grandchildren and 79 Great grandchildren with 80 and 81 on the way.  He wanted each of them to know they are a Child of God and there is a purpose to this life.  He loved God, his Family, and his Country.  He was passionate about everything he did.  Everything was bigger than life to him.  When asked to describe his family they were always the very best framer, realtor, school teacher, nurse, scouter, secretary - the story would always get bigger of how good they were.  You knew he believed in you.  I am so glad to be able to call him MY DAD. 
We will be flying to Utah on Tuesday.  I am looking forward to being with my family. It will be hard to say good-bye again at the end of the week.  His funeral will be Friday in Filer Idaho where he has lived for many years.  He will be buried in Salt Lake City Wasatch Lawn Cemetery on Saturday. 

I did not get to bed until 4:00 AM and we have had a very busy day.  We had three appointments and we are having the Young Adults for dinner on Sunday.  I hope I can get everything done before we leave and still have energy after the long flight.  Life is good.  I am at peace with all that is going on in my life.  So grateful for the great Plan of Salvation that teaches me the purpose of life.  I'm Homeward Bound!
Viel Liebe,
The Grimmett's

Jan. 27 - Feb. 2 Hello February

Sunday Dinner Guests

We had this wonderful family from Switzerland and the Elders for dinner.  The mother, Andrea was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ about 6 months ago by Elder Fishburn.  They wanted to come and visit him one last time before he returns home from his mission.  He made the arrangements with her the week before and I was happy to have them to our home for dinner.  It was a busy week with Zone Conference on Saturday, but I prepared the meat and other things on Friday so it would be ready on Sunday.  We had even gone to IKEA on Thursday and purchased additional chairs so that we would have enough.  On Sunday morning at 8:00 I received a text that the husband was very embarrassed that his wife had accepted an invitation to come to dinner and that they would not be coming.  I told Elder Grimmett that he needed to let them know that it was too late to back out and that the dinner was all prepared and we were expecting them.  Well, with a little dialogue back and forth with the missionaries they said they would come.  It was going to be a crazy day to begin with but we were looking forward to it.  We were just walking out the door to go to Lahr to visit the Branch of the Church there.  We would hurry home and have about 20 minutes to get everything on the table and last minute preparations before they were to arrive for dinner.  I had told the Elders I needed a little time after church for these final preparations on Saturday night when we dropped them off from Zone Conference.  They just kind of think the food shows up magically with not much effort.  So, we are just exiting off of the autobahn and I get a call from them and they say, "are you home yet?"  I told them we were 2 minutes according to GPS from home.  He said, we are at the church and will come, you will need to let us in to your parking area.  I thought it would take them some time to get loaded in the car - Wrong!  The whole way home I had planned what needed to be done and how we would use the 20 minutes we thought we had.  When we pulled into our parking and stopped for the gate, they pulled up right behind us.  You can imagine what I thought. OK, I took a breath and said, don't panic just have them help.  I am learning to be more flexible and to roll with the flow.  I was more nervous that they really did not want to be here and what was it going to be like.  I hurried upstairs while Russ showed them where to park and tried to stall.  They did not even know we were missionaries.  Everything went wonderful.  It only took about 3 minutes and the father, Jung, expressing his feelings of embarrassment and me putting some of them to work, that the barriers were broken and we had a wonderful day.   Jung is a professional Sushi chef at a Sushi Bar in Switzerland.  He is from Japan and he has lived in Switzerland for about 20 years.  So - no pressure for me, right?  I decided on a more Texas theme with Burrito Bowls with Pulled Pork, Lime Cilantro Rice, Beans and all the toppings of cheese, sour cream, salsa, chips and avocados, lettuce and even homemade Rio Ranch Dressing.  I had some taco soup left over from Saturday so I had some of that.  It was a nice feast and we ended with a fruit plate and chocolates.  Amazing how food can temper feelings and good conversation.  I told them that we are missionaries called to cook and entertain people in our home.  We were happy to have them with us and this is what we enjoy doing.  They have a 19 year old son who is autistic and just won the Special Olympic Taekwondo championship for Switzerland and will be competing at Nationals in Turkey next month.  If he wins he will go to the Olympics in Tokyo Japan in July.  He has an amazing story. His mother, Andrea is really excited to go with him for 6 days to Turkey.  We were able to share and relate to stories of dealing with autism and I think that made them feel more comfortable in our home.  They also have 3 wonderful daughters ages 16, 14 and 12.  They had planned to eat and then go to the Zoo for the rest of the day.  They ended up staying the whole day with us and did not leave until late afternoon.  We made friends and look forward to what the future brings for them.

Monday is District Meeting and this week it was a ZOOM call.  So glad we did not have to travel.  The Elders came to our home.  We had a really good training and meeting with the other missionaries.  I had planned to just serve hot chocolate and toast with honey butter.  We ended up starting with that and then I heated up the left overs from Sunday and served them lunch.  Good Day!

Tuesday P-Day.  We took the Elders and went to the Bern Switzerland Temple. We had a crazy drive to get there.  The missionaries were 15 min. late coming out to the car (later told us they had to get their exercise in and had not allowed enough time)  We get on the autobahn and the GPS tells us there is a 39 min. delay take alternate route.  Then it took us on another detour that said road closed ahead - the road it took us to was closed, Ugh!  We finally made it but had to wait an hour for the next session to start.  All things happen for a purpose and it turned out great.  We were going to meet about 10 other missionaries and go together but we missed them.  We had planned to go to lunch and by the time we finished the little shops close by had all closed for their afternoon break.  They close from 2:00 - 5:30 here.  My lucky day - IKEA to the rescue.  We had seen it on the way into town just off the highway and so we decided that would be the best place to go.  It was good and not too expensive as we were in Switzerland.  We had a much better drive home and a wonderful day all in all.

It was freezing cold and windy when we got home but we decided to bundle up and go for a walk to the store to pick up something for dinner and get some exercise after sitting for so long all day.  Invigorating.

Wednesday started with a teaching appointment.  The Elder's asked if they could teach a lesson at our home.  We were glad to have them and it was a good experience.  I mostly just listened but was able to share a few thoughts.  I was able to read in German as we each took a turn and it was good to participate. Nick is in his 50's and has been searching for a new church for a long time.  He was abused as a young man at his previous church and is still in therapy.  It has had a big impact on his life and he is trying to find peace.  He has a hard time trusting and having faith in anything.  I hope we can help him.
My turn to cook for Institute.  We still had soup from Saturday so I was able to use it for dinner.  I made bread, granola bars and peanut butter cookies.  The YSA loved the taco soup and salad.  They seem to really like Tex-Mex food.  They also ate a lot of bread and honey butter.  That is a new flavor for them as well.

Thursday was lunch with Katrina.  It is always an adventure and she loves having us.  We had the Elders with us today and had a wonderful lunch.  I think today was her best lunch yet.  It is always stuffed peppers, potatoes, rice, salad and soup.  I am either getting used to it or she really did good today.  After last time we visited and the smoke alarm going off, she said no more crepes.  They were actually the best part.  We were supposed to help her move furniture around today so I took cleaning supplies and was ready to work.  She said she was not ready and needs us to come back next week.  Some how one of the spray tops came off of the cleaning bottle in my sack and created a big puddle on her floor - oh well, it gave me a reason to clean her floor.  She keeps a tidy home but is not able to get down and really clean so I was hoping to help her today.  We will go back next week.  I think that was her way of getting us to come back sooner.

 We left her home and parted ways with the Elders so that we could go to our appointment with Amira.  We love the walk through the park to her apartment.  We usually see ducks but today there were these beautiful swans.  A beautiful winter day.  We have really enjoyed our lessons from Come Follow Me with Amira.  We studied Matthew 3, Mark 1 and Luke 3 today.  It was the continuation of the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist.  We talked about our own baptisms and it was a nice discussion.  The final thought from these chapters was the knowledge that the Bible teaches that the Godhead are three separate beings. At the Baptism of Jesus Christ,  God the Father spoke from heaven, and the Holy Ghost (represented by a dove) descended on the Savior as He was being baptized.  I am grateful for that additional insight as we studied this today.

We stopped at the store to pick up a few things and they had buckets of fresh tulips.  I love February and tulips.  They were so inexpensive and I bought some to brighten our apartment.  They are so beautiful and will last several days.  I am allergic to most flowers, but tulips are OK. 

We got a phone call from the Mission Office today that they would like us to look for a new apartment for the Elders.  They currently live on the 5th floor of a very old building and it is not in good condition.  We had recommended that they have them relocate.  They looked at the situation and are ready for us to move forward.  Unfortunately it is very difficult to find affordable and available places in Freiburg.  It will be almost triple the cost to what they are paying now, but it is needed.  So, it will keep us busy for the next while until we find something - and then the move - that will be a real adventure!  They do not have an elevator and it is a LOT of stairs to carry furniture and belongings down.  The story begins -

Friday was a much needed day at home catching up on sleep, cleaning, finances and laundry.  Sounds like P-Day this week.  I have always done our taxes and this year I am a little nervous about being here and getting everything right.  I spent the day gathering all of the documents and putting together all of our expenses.  Just a little stressful!

We come to the end of another week.  This week has been a roller coaster of emotion.  I am so grateful we were able to start the week in the Temple where I could go and put the outside world aside and just feel the love of Jesus Christ in instruction, pondering and prayer.  It was a great comfort to me the rest of the week.  Wednesday my Dad took a turn for the worse and is sick again.  The Doctors have recommended hospice and so the paperwork was drawn up and ready for it to be signed.  It was determined my Dad was not mentally stable enough to sign for himself.  My Brother has the Power of Attorney for his medical treatment and he will not sign the forms - so......it has been a difficult few days.  I have watched how other people have handled these situations over the years and hoped I would never have to deal with a family that was not unified in these decisions.  I continue to learn how we each see things in different ways - for good or bad.  It is hard to let our own feelings get in the way instead of looking at what is best for the person who needs our help.  I pray that this will be able to be taken care of in the coming days. 

We decided to spend the evening taking a drive to the Mountains to see the snow and lights at night.  We thought we would see some night skiing, but everything was closed.  It was absolutely beautiful.  I wish the photo was better to capture the scene.  We were high up on a mountain looking down into this little village on the hill.  It got really foggy as we got almost to the top and it was hard to see so we turned around and came back home.  It was a nice way to end the day.  We had found an American Taco Shop earlier in the day and thought we would try it out.  It was full and by reservation only.  We will go back sometime.  We decided to just go to our favorite Italian Place and get Pizza.  We had a really nice time.  You sit really close to the people next to you and we had a man sitting next to us who was eating by himself.  I finally had the courage to talk to him.  He spoke some English and between the three of us we had a great conversation.  He is a math teacher at the private school and teaches 16-18 year olds.  They were having an event at the school tonight so he was staying late and came over for dinner and was going back to the school event.  He said he only knew of the Catholic and Protestant Church and did not know of any others.  He said he knew about Christians but he was not interested in Religion.  We were not trying to talk to him about religion, but had just told him we were missionaries for our Church.  He asked us several questions about what we are doing.  He heard us talk and thought we were from England.  He told us of some great hiking places to go that are not very far from Freiburg.  We gave him our card and thanked him for the wonderful conversation.  As we were getting off of the tram a man looked at me and asked if I was an American.  I think he saw my name badge and must have known about missionaries.  I acknowledged that I was American and wished him a good evening and the door closed.  We love these little encounters and had to wonder what he saw that made him talk to us.  Great way to end the day.  Earlier in the day we had gone out to do some visiting.  We were waiting for the tram and a car was stopped at the light.  A little girl in the back seat of the car starting waving to me.  I waved back.  She just kept looking at me.  A little boy in another car saw me waving and he started waving.  When the car with the little girl started to leaved I again waved to her.  She waved and then turned around in her car seat and waved to me until the car was out of view.  The little boy across the street waved again.  There was a look in the little girls eyes that seemed like she was drawn to me.  Russ and I looked at each other and wondered, what was she seeing or thinking.  If nothing else, she brightened my day.  So, I have no doubt that The Lord is watching over us.  These little happenings today were very simple, but had a profound effect upon me.  It is hard to express the emotion of the moments. 

It is now Sunday and time for me to close.  Until next week,
Viel Liebe,
The Grimmett's