March 3-9, 2019

 FASCHING & FASNACHT CELEBRATION!  What does it mean?  Well, no one really can tell you.  It depends on where you are or where you are from.  It has roots to Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.  It begins in January and culminates on the Tuesday night before Ash Wednesday.  In our area of the Black Forest it is more about the change from the cold winter months to the warm and fertile summer months.  Winter had been trying to evict by disguising oneself as ghosts, goblins, and eerie creatures from nature, hitting wildly with wooden sticks or making noise with a rattle or ratchet.  The symbolization of the struggle between light and darkness, between good and evil, between spring and winter.  Craft guilds make up the groups of people who march in the parades.  Hopefully this will help as you look at some of the pictures from the parade on Monday.

 You can see there is good and evil.  There were lots of witch groups.  The masks are made out of wood and are very detailed.  They are amazing.

 One of my favorites.

 These are the creatures from the forest.  There were lots of animal masks, but I could not get good pictures of them.  There were deer, squirrels, bear, etc.

Look at the detail of the face.  Again, these are carved out of wood to fit the persons face.  They are not one size and you hope it fits.  Each one fits the persons face.

 This group were the pinecone people from the forest.  I wish I had a better picture.  It was hard with the crowds.  Not like the parades in Arlington where you go early and set up your chairs and have a nice seat.  You stand the whole time - we stayed almost 2 hours and it was still going. 

This was a woman's group with children.  They all had on masks so you did not see who they really were.
There were lots of food vendors and some drinking.  Mostly families.  It was a lot calmer than I was expecting.  Some gave out candy and lots of them threw confetti.  It is there version of Halloween with the costumes.  People just enjoy dressing up and going to parties for 4 days.  Stores and schools are closed and it is just a vacation for most people.  We enjoyed the costumes in the parade and the culture of this area.

This week has been a little slower and a catch up for us.  Finally did laundry and cleaned the house after being away and so busy last week we couldn't think about it.  I planted two new planter boxes on my balcony with fresh herbs.  They really look nice and I hope they do really good.  The Nursery said to plant vegetables and other flower in April.  Spring is in the air and it will be beautiful here.  Can't wait for all of the cherry and apple trees to bloom. 

Wednesday we went with the Elders to visit Oskar Maier, (he would be famous in America) a man who comes to Church and needs a friend.  He is very quiet and does not know very many people.  He lives in a trailer and asked us to meet him at a local backeri.  He did not say much, but we broke the ice and he has new friends to talk to when he comes to Church.  

Thursday we had Nadja, one of our Young Adults over to help her with Family Search.  She is going to the Temple on Saturday for the first time and wanted to take some family names to do baptisms.  We were finally able to get her signed in after about an hour on the phone with Salt Lake and she was able to find 5 names to take.  She is the first member of the Church in her family and she is really excited to continue the research on her family.  She stayed for dinner and we had a wonderful evening. 

 Friday we drove the Elders to Offenburg (about an hour away) to meet with a new member of the Church who just moved here.  He is a refugee from Iran and we had a wonderful visit.  He was so humble.  We offered to get him a ride to Church on Sunday and he said, no - I will ride my bike.  The Church is a 20 minute car ride and a 1 1/2 hour bike ride.  He said, no problem, I will leave at 8:00 AM to arrive in time.  We hope after he comes for the first time he will meet people and be willing to ride with them in the coming weeks.  It is heartwarming to see the dedication of so many people.  He speaks Persian, some German and a little English.  He wants to learn more English.  It was freezing cold outside, but our hearts were warmed as we talked with him and got to know him.  I wish he was not so far away.  We then had to go and clean the Lahr apartment and building.  It went really fast with the Elder's helping.  It is vacant and we have to clean every two weeks the common areas of the building as part of the lease agreement.  We hope that will change soon.  We then took the Elder's out to dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant - they are getting spoiled on these outings!  We really enjoy being with them and they are working really hard.  Great way to spend a Friday evening. 
Saturday we were up very early and off to Bern Switzerland to attend the Temple.  We rode with several members and it was pleasant.  It is a beautiful Temple and I really enjoy being there.  So many languages.  I did the work for a lady from France and also one from Italy.  I love the culture and the wonderful Spirit that is there.  It was a very long day and we really enjoyed it. 
Some of you will not know that this is a historic weekend in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The Rome Italy Temple will be Dedicated on Sunday with additional sessions on Monday and Tuesday for more people to participate.  For the first time since 1888 the First Presidency and The Twelve Apostles are out of the United States together and attending the Rome Temple Dedication.   Our Prophet, President Nelson, met with  Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday - the first time these two Religious Leaders have ever met together.  If you are interested in more information on the Temple Dedication, Click on the following link:
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/virtual-tour-rome-italy-temple

I have not stopped since I got home.  We have the Young Adults coming for dinner on Sunday so I have been cooking all evening.  I am finally done and it really looks good.  Roasted Leek Potato soup with meatballs, homemade bread and brownies.  I also had to get ready for a dinner guest on Monday and District meeting.  Another busy week ahead.  So grateful for this slower week to catch up. 

Viel Liebe,
The Grimmett's