Nov. 10 - 16, 2019

After last weeks picture bomb and adventures, this has been a quiet week.

Monday Family Home Evening continues to be Waffles and gathering and sometimes a game.  Russ is trying to brush up on his pool game so he can play when the YSA want to play.

With so much dental work the past two weeks and mostly a liquid diet, my body decided it needed some rest and so we stayed home from the Institute on Tuesday and tried to get some rest so that I would be able to do all that was needed to be done the rest of the week.  I cut up and cooked 6 lbs. of Chicken Breasts and onions for the soup we will be serving on Monday for Zone Conference.  That is about all I was up to doing.

A good nights rest and a day off made a big difference and Wednesday was a good day.  I went to the Dentist again and had the permanent crown installed.  They did a really good job on the crown and my mouth is feeling so much better.  When your mouth hurts, it affects your whole body.  I hope I do not have any further problems while we are here.  After I paid the Dentist - literally handed the Dentist the money - he thanked us for coming to him and handed us back $300 Euro.  He has been so generous and accommodating to us.  We are so blessed that he wants to do something good for his soul.

I asked Russ to team teach with me on Wednesday at the Institute class.  We were teaching about the Birth and Baptism of Jesus Christ.  I chose to teach about the Birth and had Russ teach about the Baptism.  It worked out really good.  The timing was so good to be talking about the parentage of Jesus Christ.  I totally forgot to take a picture, but I took the opportunity to buy me some Poinsettias and set up a nice display of the flowers and a nativity set.  The Christmas season officially starts on Nov. 15 in Vienna and so it was perfect timing.
Elder Robert W. Wells of the Seventy spoke in 1995 about Jesus Christ fulfilling His role in the Father's plan: "The divine Sonship of Jesus Christ . . . is central to understanding the entire plan of salvation.  He is the First Begotten Son of the Father in the premortal existence and the Only Begotten Son of the Father on earth.  God the Eternal Father is the literal parent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and of His other spirit children. . . .
The divine Sonship also refers to the designation Only Begotten Son in the flesh. . . .This title signifies that Jesus' physical body was the offspring of a mortal mother and of an immortal Eternal Father, which verity is crucial to the Atonement, a supreme act that could not have been accomplished by an ordinary man.  Christ had power to lay down His life and power to take it again because He had inherited immortality from His Heavenly Father.  From Mary, His mother, Christ inherited mortality, or the power to die.  This infinite atonement of Christ and Christ's divine Sonship go together hand in hand to form the single most important doctrine of all Christianity."

The Christmas story is so much more than a baby born in a manger.  I enjoy so much learning and helping others learn more about the purpose and symbolism of Jesus Christ.  I love this time of year and the next 50 days as we prepare for Christmas Day.

If you are in Texas, plan to visit the Nativity Display in Granbury Texas with my wonderful friend, Faye Landham.  She will once again be displaying her collection of over 1,200 nativities.  I will truly miss being a part of that event.  It is the best way to start the Christmas Season - go spend a fun day in Granbury.





We received a phone call on Thursday from Pres. Brown, our Mission President, asking us to help with a new program coming to the mission.  He said the mission film crew were in the car and driving to Vienna from Munich.  They were coming to film some footage for some Instagram spots that would be highlighting Vienna.  So, our Friday plans were changed and we spent the day helping the film crew - mostly just watching and enjoying the missionaries being filmed.  We are really excited about what the next few weeks will bring.  We needed to do some shopping for our Zone Conference on Monday, so we took care of that and then returned to the Institute.  I knew they would all be hungry after a day shooting film around Vienna so I made caramel dip with apples, chips and homemade salsa and then we made individual homemade pizzas.  They had fun building their own pizzas.  We ended up feeding about 12 missionaries and a few others who came into the Institute.
Today was supposed to be a cooking and prep day for Monday, but Saturday just got a whole lot busier.  We have to get the fresh vegetables and then pack as we will be leaving for Salzburg right after Church on Sunday.  It will be a lot of work - I hope all of the prep now will help it go better on Monday - but we are really looking forward to getting away for a few days.  We will have pictures next week.

Thursday was a really difficult day for our family.  Our daughter Emily and her husband, Ian had to take their 10 year old son, Logan to the University of Utah neurophysiological Institute because of some severe behavior threats.  He will be there for 2 weeks and then will continue in the program on an out patient basis depending on his progress.  There were many tender mercies that made it possible for him to be admitted and to be able to get the care he needs.  It was a very hard day for them and also for us being so far away.  The very best thing we can do for them is to pray and we ask for your prayers in their behalf as well.  He survived the first day and he is making the best of the situation.  It is only the second time in his life he has been away from his Mom and that was hard for both of them.  They get to visit him every day for lunch and that is good.  We are grateful he is getting good care and that he can get the help he needs while he is still young with a bright future ahead.

I am grateful for my family and for each one of them supporting and enduring all that life is.  Each one of us has been placed on earth at this time to fulfill our divine purpose of the Lord.  The covenant daughters and sons of God all share one important and joyful calling in this life - it is to serve others for Him.  Pres. Russel M. Nelson said, "To help another human being reach one's  celestial potential is part of the divine mission of woman.  As mother, teacher, or nurturing Saint, she molds living clay to the shape of her hopes.  In partnership with God, her divine mission is to help spirits live and souls be lifted.  This is the measure of her creation.  It is ennobling, edifying and exalting."  
 
I am so grateful for divine help as we navigate through this life.  I am grateful to be a mother, even in the hard times as I see the process of becoming in myself and those I serve, nurture, mother and love. 

J - Joy
     is about
O - Others,
       not
Y - Yourself

"Jesus Christ is joy" Pres. Russell M. Nelson, Oct. 2016

 Saturday started early at the store getting the final food for Monday.  We then went to the open air market to get some fresh produce. AWESOME Experience!  This was our first visit to this market and it was so much fun.  It is close to our apartment and not the big market downtown that caters to the tourists.  It was packed with people as you can see.  It was loud and crowded.  The vendors were chanting about their goods and trying to lure you to their stand.  It was a lot less expensive than the stores and the other markets.

 I needed 6 heads of lettuce and they had the best lettuce for .39 or 3 for 1 Euro.  They are at least 1 Euro or more at the store for one.  So for 2 Euro I got all of my lettuce.  I got 6 bunches of Cilantro for 1 Euro each.  I needed 6 cups and thought I would need 1 bunch to make 1 cup.  They were huge bunches and it only took 2 bunches to give me my 6 cups.  Crazy - I have tons of Cilantro.  You can't find it in most of the stores, so this was a real find.  I found leeks so I could come home and make some fresh leek soup to take with us for Sunday dinner.  It turned out so good, can't wait to serve it on

Sunday.  I found black beans, spices and eggs.  I look forward to our next outing to the market in the coming weeks.
I have chopped so many onions, celery, garlic, leeks, and potatoes, I don't want to see any more for a few days.  Cooking for 60 is a lot of food and work. 

 We also attended a Baptism for a man named, Christophs.  It was
a really nice service and 2 of our missionaries sang, I Need Thee Every Hour ending the program with a beautiful spirit. 

The car is partly loaded, the food is prepared and my bags are now packed - so it is time to call it a day. 
Do something kind for a Veteran this week.  There are reminders every day in Vienna of WWII and those who served and also those who died.  It is very real here.  I have learned so much and I am so grateful for those who came before me and made it possible for the freedoms we enjoy today.
Viel Liebe,
The Grimmett's