Welcome March Feb. 25-March 2

February was a short month in more ways than just being 28 days.  I can't believe we are already in March.  It started with a beautiful day - already hoping for a little more cold before the heat hits.  There was no rest from the trip back home as we had appointments on Monday with the Elder's.  We went to visit a lady who lives about and hour and a half away up in the Black Forest.  It is always a beautiful drive once you get off the highway and onto the village roads.  We visited Maria, a single mother of a 5 year old boy.  She is a nurse and takes care of elderly and cancer patients.  She is from Kenya and came to Germany about 5 years ago, learned the language and received her Nursing degree.  She is recently divorced and it has been really hard on her.  She is seeking a better way and answers to her questions and wants peace in her life.  We had a wonderful visit and shared the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with her.  She lives in a little village in a big old Farmhouse.  It was the most amazing complex that they have turned into different homes.  The antiques were beautiful.  She rents a room and the landlord lives upstairs and then they share a really big kitchen.  We met the lady of the house and she was cooking wonderful food.  This was authentic Germany!
We hope to visit again soon.  She called the Elder's last night and said she had been reading The Book of Mormon since we left and was looking forward to us visiting again.

 We had another Find a Grave assignment and it was about 30 minutes from where Maria lives so we decided to drive and try to fulfill the request.  It was in a little village nestled high in the hills in this little valley.  There were only about 100 graves and we walked through and could not find it.  All of the graves were from 1905 to present.  We were looking for a grave from 1600.  We have learned that they do not keep the graves that long.  After 100 years they collect the bones and make room for others.  We found a lot of graves with the same last name - just many generations apart.

We had fun with the Elder's and learned a little history.  We found a quaint restaurant and took them to lunch.  It was a great day!

Tuesday was a much needed P-Day and day of rest.  We were both trying to recover from the trip and head colds.  We also needed to go food shopping if we wanted anything to eat.  I also had to plan menus for the rest of the week.  I decided to serve on Wednesday night what I was going to serve on Friday for Zone Conference.  I could try it out and figure out portions as well.  It worked out really well.

We had Hawaiian Haystacks.  That is a favorite of my family over the years.  You can't just buy a can of cream of chicken soup and add chicken like the recipe.  I have to make homemade cream of chicken soup and I have to say it is way better, just takes a lot more time.  Now for toppings.  Water chestnuts do not exist in Germany - nor do chow mein noodles.  They are not Chinese or any other country - they are American.  So, I had to buy dry noodles, boil them in water, drain and then fry them.  I have to say, once again I liked them better that the canned noodles, but a lot more work than opening a can or a sack.  I made a green salad with cranberries and cashews with an oriental dressing.  Our YSA had never had anything like this and they really enjoyed it.  They were not real sure about all of the toppings, but they really liked the rice, noodles and Chicken sauce.  So on Thursday we finished shopping and I cooked all day long.  I cooked 6 Kilo of Chicken, made 8 recipes of cream of chicken soup, cooked 5 Kilo of rice and chopped green peppers.  We are ready to feed about 70 missionaries on Friday.
We had a new member lesson with Nadja at our home and it is always good having people here with the Elder's.  We talked about the blessings of the Temple.  We will be going with her next Saturday and we wanted her to understand and answer any questions.  I invited them to stay for a light dinner - just ham and cheese sandwiches with chips, fruit and drinks.  We have a new missionary, Elder Richardson from Declo Idaho - just down the road from Twin Falls.  We already love him and especially when he said, "this sure is nice for you just saying we were having sandwiches.  You really know how to serve food."  He is welcome to my home anytime! We are becoming well known for our Mineral Water drink bar.  We love all of the drink syrups and mixing them with the Mineral Water.  It makes it fun.

 Fasching 2019 started on Thursday.  This is a new experience for us.  We took a walk and tram ride to town and saw the after effects of the earlier celebration.  Many people in costumes and lots of confetti.  The big parade is Monday afternoon and it is a holiday with all the stores closed and school is out.  We have been asked to not be out at evening celebrations or parades, but daytime activities are OK to observe.  Every store is filled with costumes - much like our Halloween, but many more and more elaborate.

 Saturday activities in town on the main street.  Mostly food vendors and music with lots of drinking. 

Groups of people participate together.  It will be interesting to see the parade with all of the costumes.






Friday - Zone Conference.  It rained the whole way to Zurich.  It was a tense drive for me as I navigated the traffic and the rain.  I was really glad to arrive safe and sound.  We were really organized and I had really good help.  It is so good when everything comes together.  We decided to also make a snack pack for them to take home with them at the end of the day.  We eat at noon and then the meetings get over at 4:30.  By the time you clean up and say good-byes to everyone it is usually 5:30 before you get on the road or to the train station.  Many have 1-2 hour rides and are hungry.  I had the Elder's help assemble them today and it worked really well.  They seemed to be happy to get them.  Zone Conference is always a good day of learning and fellowshipping.  We love being with the other Senior Couples and sharing our joys and challenges.  We had some great teaching today and I especially liked Sister Browns discussion on The Great Apostasy.  She gave an hour discussion on the history of Christianity and what led from the Church of Jesus Christ while He was on the earth to the current Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
We had the best drive home so far from Zone Conference.  It only took 2 hours instead of the normal 3 hours on a Friday night.  So blessed.  I was so glad to be home and just wanted to crash.  We unloaded the car - where are the Elder's when you need them -and started for the elevator and realized Russ had left his briefcase at the Church that had our I-Pads and all things important in it.  UGH!  That is not how I wanted to end a wonderful day.  I have to admit I was not very kind and did not have a very good spirit about me.  He called the Zone Leaders in Zurich and sure enough they had found it and taken it home with them.  SOOO, we get to drive back to Zurich in the morning and pick it up!  Not what I had planned for Saturday - I think Russ will do the driving this time.  On our way home the Elder's also informed us that they had accepted a luncheon appointment for us with Katrina and that they would not be joining us on Saturday.  It is going to be a busy day and I also have to fix the meal for Sunday before the day is over.  I am already looking forward to next Tuesday's P-day.
We had a nice drive on Saturday back to Zurich.  It was a nice day with no rain and it really made a difference.  We decided to take a back road and not the highway home and it was a beautiful drive.  Lunch with Katrina is always an experience.  She is always so glad to see us and cooks her very best.  Her sauce with the stuffed peppers was the very best today - my stomach just has a hard time with the peppers the rest of the day.  We were so full we went for a walk in town to work a little of it off.
The Internet has been down all day and that has been frustrating.  Interesting how you feel so isolated when there is no communication.  It was a good time to cook.

bike stroller - love their style

It is nice to be back in Germany.  It was a good week and we are so blessed as we continue in the work of serving and inviting others to Come Unto Christ.  We had a lady ask us why we were in Germany when so many people here do not even belief in God.  We said, that is exactly why we are here.  We want to help people understand who they are, why they are here and that there is life beyond the grave.  We bring the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thank you to everyone for your kind words, thoughts and prayers in our behalf.
Viel Liebe,
The Grimmett's