Happy Mother's Day to all of the women in my life. You are all daughters of a Heavenly Father who loves you. You have been given a divine nature and destiny. Every women has been given the gift to nurture others. I appreciate each one of you for who you are. You each shine in your own different and colorful way. Isn't it wonderful that we are all different? We each have so much to offer others in our own ways. Glory in who YOU are. You Are Enough. You be You! Continue to let your light shine so that others may see. Tell another woman how much you love and admire her today.
We started the week at District Council and a surprise for Elder Grimmett.
Russ turned 69 this week and the missionaries were so excited to celebrate with him. They planned a surprise and the Sister's baked him a chocolate cake. You don't just buy a cake mix here and whip up a cake. It was a huge effort for them to get it made. They did a great job - it tasted wonderful. The Elder's came by on his birthday and delivered his favorite mint chocolates and carrot juice - we are still trying to figure out if the carrot juice is a joke or if they really like it and wanted to share their healthy snack!
This week was transfer week.
It was a very sad Wednesday as we said goodbye at the train station to Elder Robertson. He is from Declo, Idaho and we loved serving with him. He has been assigned to serve in Salzburg as the Zone Leader. We will always have a special place in our hearts for him.
This was at 7:00 AM - It was worth the sacrifice.
The Black Forest Mall is having a special Lego Display this month. It is really awesome to see.
These are famous buildings from around the world. There was a very large Dutch windmill and many other structures. I know my grandsons would love seeing this. There was a great Star Wars Display.
The paintings were some of my favorites. These pictures are all made out of Lego pieces. The original painting is in the corner and then how the artist made it out of Lego. Amazing!
We welcomed our new Elder Letort on Wednesday evening. He only has two transfers left and then will return home to France. His grandparents only live about an hour away and he is a little worried they will come and try to visit him. He is happy to be in Freiburg and we are looking forward to getting to know him. We cooked on Wednesday night for Institute so he got a warm food welcome. I made chicken tortellini soup and he said it was the best soup he had ever had. I think we will get along just fine!
I have had two ribs locked up in my back for the past two weeks. I have had one adjustment and 3 physical therapy sessions. It is getting better, but I am not yet 100%. It is better when I am moving than sitting, so the work goes on.
We volunteer every Friday at the Robert Bosch College garden. We planted 150 potato seeds
- Russ dug the trenches and I planted. I am not sure how good it was for my back, but it was a great afternoon in the dirt. They are amazed at how hard and quick we work. They keep telling us to slow down and enjoy. A great way for Russ to spend his Birthday and to show how young and healthy he is!
This is the completed potato patch. We dug, set out the potatoes and then went back and covered each potato individually making little mounds. I sure hope the Idaho in us helps these grow good! The big plants next to the potatoes are artichokes. They are huge. The garden is wonderful and full of some many different plants. We removed spinach and lambs lettuce and weeded in the onion patch. We end with everyone gathering for herb tea and snacks from the garden. We are getting to know the other local volunteers and look forward to more days at the garden.
This is in a little building in the garden that is the water house. They actually generate electricity with hydro power. There is a river that runs through the property and this power house sits next to it and pumps the water and then generates electricity. The man who runs it is 85 years old and is limited in the number of days he comes. I loved the power line and lineman inside the building. It was built in the late 1800's.
This is a very self sustaining property.
We tried to get reservations for dinner and called about 5 places and they were all booked with weddings. We knew Saturday would even be busier and most places are closed on Mondays.
We decided to go on another adventure and called a place about 30 minutes North of us in the Black Forest. The little burg was getting ready for a big festival on Saturday and Sunday. It was very quaint. Yes, Elder Grimmett is saying, "what are you doing taking pictures, we are late for our reservation!" I loved the fun buildings and had to have a few pictures.
We arrived, so he could relax and smile. The restaurant did not disappoint. We use Yelp to help us find good places in cities we have not been in. This was listed as the best in the area for Schnitzel. It was wonderful and a very nice little gasthaus (restaurant) with wonderful service. It was a beautiful drive to get there and we loved that it was not a packed busy place that we could just enjoy celebrating.
This week was more of a regroup week after being gone and getting ready for the days ahead. Planning, shopping and cooking seemed to be the main things this week. We will have a group for Sunday dinner so I spent most of Saturday cooking and preparing. I am grateful to be here and to be able to serve others. I have thought about my mother a lot today and I am so grateful for her love and example throughout my life. I know she is near and continues to help and bless me as I face each day of challenges and learning. She is my example of true beauty - knowing that she was a daughter of God, always serving others, full of charity, hard working, letting the light within her shine even amid the darkness of pain and suffering, loving and compassionate. She saw the good in others and helped them see it in themselves through her love.
May is proving to be a crazy weather month. We have had warm, cold, sunny, rainy, snowy, and windy - sometimes all in the same day. We know that many of you have also had a lot of weather to deal with. We hope for sunny days ahead.
Viel Liebe!
The Grimmett's
Russ and Linda...So sad to hear about your back, Linda, yet somehow the therapy of planting must have been therapeutic and later on your potatoes will, no doubt, be devoured with as much enjoyment. So, maybe doing two things soothes - just like Benjamin Franklyn once said, "...chopping wood warms one two times."
ReplyDeleteToday, Saturday, Kay and I took Sharon out for a pre-Mother's Day lunch. Tomorrow she is going to be with other Chinese mothers for a celebration. BTW, yesterday, Friday, Sharon turned in her very last major research paper for the semester so now she has only some minor classwork to complete before returning home for the summer. She tells us her professors are very pleased with her work and goodness knows, as we do, just how hard she has worked this semester. Next year she will start on the beginnings of the final chapter in which she will focus on designing and developing her Doctoral Dissertation. She says that when the time comes her parents intend to come to Arlington - and all hope Sharon's husband will be able to attend graduation (three years to go) at that time.
Kay and I are driving to Arkansas next Friday so we may attend Kay's granddaughter's graduation from high school. It'll be a quick up-back trip but we wouldn't miss this graduation for the world. Then on June the 9th Kay and I are flying to Philadelphia so that this time Kay can meet my last remaining family member, 95 year-old cousin and her husband who is 96 going on 97 - yet both are so very, very active.
If you can believe it, we had 2.5" of rain from last Wednesday to when the sun finally came out this afternoon. We've had some fierce electrical storms but no real damage - fortunately.
We too wish you, Linda, a happy and blessed Mother's Day.
Your soggy neighbors - Kay and Scott