Dec. 1-7, 2019 Light the World and Transfer Week

This has been an amazing week for so many reasons.  I can't believe it is already December and the first week is even in the books. It has definitely been a #Light the World Week.

We attended church in two different Wards on Sunday and really enjoyed being with so many people.  We love the International Ward and they are all so friendly to us.  We said good-bye to the BYU study abroad students and we will really miss them.  So glad to have met so many students from all walks of life. Jordan and Jackson were the Student TA's for the semester and they brought a life to the group and Institute that was remarkable.  We really enjoyed their leadership and contribution to all of our activities.

 Monday was District Council and the final meeting for 9 of our

South District

missionaries.  We are loosing half of our group to transfers and 2 going home.  It is a tradition in the Districts to take these pictures at that last council showing how many transfers you have served.  They did not think it would be a good idea for us to have our own stack of chairs, so Elder Grimmett is standing next to the stack indicating how long we have been out.  In our District, we are the senior chair with Sis. Griffith.  She goes home on January 2.  That is when we were scheduled to go home, but with our extension, we will not return until April.  As you can see, our District is a much younger one than the other one in our Zone.  Elder Kuttler from College Station Texas and Sis. Daynes from Utah returned home on Wednesday.  They were great leaders and we loved serving with them.  We attended our meeting first and fixed them homemade chicken noodle soup with bread and then we took the leftovers and visited the South District to share and to take pictures.  It was a very busy day.  We left these meetings and were off to the Institute to get ready for Family Home Evening.

YSA girls

sign by Leoni

We had a great time with the missionaries putting up the tree.  They were a great help getting things ready before the YSA arrived.  Everyone found their niche in decorating and just went to work.  They transformed the Institute into a very festive place.

Wilson dreaming with mistletoe

The Christmas tree

I spent most of the time in the kitchen making waffles, fruit and hot punch.  We had about 10 helping and
it was a nice evening.  We did not leave until 10:30 and the 4 girls were still doing their decorating.  We called it a night.

I found this glass Nativity at a free giveaway day and it is just perfect for the Institute.  It lights up and looks great when you come in the door.

We have had so many people stop and come in just to ask what this place is and what we do inside.  There is a lot of activity here and people notice.

 Tuesday started with an austelung with the South District.  We participated with our District last Tuesday for a little while and had such a good time we decided we would join this group on Tuesday.  It was very cold, but they stayed warm by walking up and down the street talking to people.  Elder Kuttler had 1 Book of Mormon with his testimony in it left to give out with about 5 minutes left before packing up.  This would be his very last act as a missionary before he left the mission on Wednesday and he really wanted to find someone to give it to.  I really wanted him to be able to find someone who would talk to him and who would accept the gift.  He was successful within minutes of walking away.  He came back so excited!  I thought it would be so neat if I could have the courage to talk to someone and share the Book of Mormon. 

Elder Kuttler sharing the love

As they were packing up the bike, I turned around and noticed a man watching what was going on.  I approached him and asked him how he was doing.  He started talking to me in another language - not German and seemed very interested.  I motioned for Elder Grimmett to come and help.  He came over with Elder Olsen and in broken German and English we found out he was from Romania and could speak French as well.  He accepted a Book of Mormon - we had one in Romanian - and we gave him our card.  I knew that the silent prayer I had in my heart was answered.  It was wonderful to be a small part of that group and to truly feel the love of Jesus Christ as we served.  It was a busy day of packing, emailing, eating, and good-byes as many of the missionaries were leaving.

We said our first good-bye's to Sis. Daynes on Tuesday night.

Zone Leaders and STL's

 She had to leave a day early to go to Salzburg and unregister in the country.  The immigration laws are getting very difficult.  It is getting harder and more costly for us to have missionaries in these European countries.
We add a lot of excitement to the train station on transfer days.

Wednesday morning we were back at the train station for the remaining 8 missionaries to leave.  That is a lot of missionaries to say good-bye to.  We will only be receiving 7 new ones this transfer. We could not say good-bye to Elder Kuttler - it was just too hard.  We served a short time in Freiburg with him and it was so good to be with him in Vienna.

Elder Kuttler

Elder Hull

Elder Garlick

Elder Duce

Sisters Hepworth and Mendenhall

Elder Vargas

This was a dedicated group of missionaries that we have served with for the past few months.  We have grown to love them and they are mission family.  They are from all walks of life and from England, Spain and the United Sates.  They each bring their own talents and personalities and with the Lord's help, they do a mighty work of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  As we say good-bye, we look forward to meeting the new missionaries and loving them as well.

On Thursday we started a free English Conversation Class and so I made some cookies and finished preparations for our Institute class on Wednesday evening.  Our Institute Director, Esther, has her mother visiting from Anchorage Alaska and she came and fixed the dinner for Wednesday night.  We became fast friends and it was so fun visiting with her and helping a little in the kitchen. I loved her hair cut and told her I had been trying to get a cut like that since I had been on my mission.  She said she comes to Vienna every few months and always gets her hair cut at a great cheap place.  So on Thursday she called and asked if I would like to go with her and get our hair cut.  We arranged for Friday and was it ever and adventure.  I wanted to take pictures, but I could not for privacy reasons.  It was only about 20 minutes from our apartment in the Turkish section of Vienna.  I love the market in the neighborhood.  After Russ rode with me on the S-bahn and walked me to the door of their apartment, we parted ways.  He would return home and I was sure I could find my way home.  So, I could not even find the right apartment number, but I finally found it.  We then set out to find the salon.  So you have two foreign "old" ladies walking the streets looking for the shop.  I her defence, it had been two months since she had been there and most of the shops look the same.  We finally found the right one.  There was a whole wedding party getting their hair done for an afternoon wedding.  They were all beautiful Turkish woman with long beautiful hair.  It was amazing watching them transform their hair into different styles.  The matriarch of the group was elegant with the hair to match.  Everyone had a specific job.  They had the hairwashers, the blow dryers, the assistants to the hair stylists and the make-up artists - everyone busy doing their jobs.  I had a wonderful time and got the best haircut I have had in a very long time and only $25.  We then went to a - you guessed it - Turkish restaurant and had a delicious lunch.  It was getting late and I needed to get home to get ready to go to the Institute for the day.  I said good-bye to my new friend and headed to the S-bahn.  I knew Russ would be wondering where I was.  I had the phone with me and so I sent him an email that I was on my way - no response.  I got to our building and thought, I will just use the buzzer and have him buzz me in instead of getting my keys out.  Well, someone else was going in at the same time and let me in.  So I went up the elevator and got off and went to use my key to get in and a man sitting on the stairs says, "I am sure glad you are home."  I look up and it is Russ.  He had forgotten his keys when we left home and could not get back in the apartment.  I had the only phone so he could not call and find out where I was to come and get my keys.  It was really cold outside, but he went to a mall and walked around and tried to kill time.  It was a crazy morning to say the least.  Oh, the joys of being a Senior Missionary.

We had 30 people respond to our ads for the English Class.  We were not sure how many would actually come.  We made all of the preparations with handouts and lesson plans and of course good cookies and hot punch.  We had three attend.  They were from the countries of Georgia and Afghanistan.  It was a delightful evening and I think they all enjoyed it.  They said they would return next week.  They each had their own story to tell.  So many people give so much to have a better life.  They are all well educated, but want to learn better English to get better jobs.  We think the class will grow each week and we look forward to helping them learn English.

Friday night we were sitting at the Institute - just the two of us.  It was nice to have a quiet evening.  Russ wanted to go home early.  I said we needed to stay a little longer so I could study.  He fell asleep in the chair while I was studying for next weeks Institute class.  I had just put away the hot punch and cookies I had set out for those who came earlier in the evening.  A nice man and woman came in the door and said they were walking by and wanted to know what this building was and who were we. Russ quickly awakened and we told them who we were and what we were doing.  We gave them a tour of the facility and got to know them a little.  They asked a lot of questions and said they live just down the street and pass by every day and just wanted to know more about us.  They asked if we had a card or information about what we believe.  Yes!  I picked up a Book of Mormon and shared a few thoughts about the book and invited them to read it.  Russ gave them our card with our contact information and a few other pamphlets.  They said they would like to come back and talk with us.  We told them we would love to have them come and visit and talk or even play pool or games.

On December 1 we started the #Light The World Service Project.  It has already been a great week of service and we look forward continuing to give service, gratitude, and help to others as we prepare for Christmas day.  So we are walking through this Market today and a man walked past us and then noticed our name badges and came and asked if we were with The Church of Jesus Christ.  We said, yes.  He said he was from Romania and was working in Germany.  He said he was a member of the Church in Romania.  We thought we were just having a nice visit and then he gave us the line that we hear so many times.  He said, "I am traveling home and spent the night in the train station and everything I had with me was stolen.  He said the police gave him a new ID.  He wanted to know if we would help him.  He said he was hungry and he needed help with a bus ticket.  We told him there was a Free Dinner at the Church for the Christmas party and that he was welcome to come and get a good hot meal.  We gave him our card and also gave him the address of the church.  We told him he could talk to the Bishop at the Church.  We gave him enough money for the bus fare to the church and said good-bye.  We gave him an opportunity to receive help and it was up to him to act upon it.  Unfortunately he did not show up at the Church tonight, but  we did our part to help him today.

 We started our afternoon at the Museum Quarter and heard these musicians playing.  It was so cute to see the little child so intense listening to them play.  They had on animal heads and it was intriguing .  Just as they finished this song the police came and asked for their permits and made them stop playing.  I felt bad for them - they were good, the people were enjoying them and they added to the festivities on the square.

Vienna Snow Globes

 Did you know the Snow Globe was originated in Vienna?  These are from the original show globe company.  They are very plain, but special none the less.

Candle lights

This is one of my favorite shops at the market.  These lights are so vibrant with beautiful scenes on them.  They are nice to look at.

 For all of my cat friends.  This booth had the cutest cats.

Horseless Carriage

Light on Street

The city streets are amazing.  These giant chandeliers line one of the streets and it is so beautiful.

 This was a fun window decoration in a very nice hotel and restaurant.  I love the upside down tree all decorated.  This is the restaurant you get the famous Sacher Torte (chocolate cake).

We spend a lot of time at this main train station.  Today was a 

Russ at the train station

nice time of day to take a picture.  We found a new way home from the Institute and it is working out well.  Russ has found his favorite place to wait for the S-bahn (street car)

 It was the International Wards Christmas dinner tonight.  We were invited to attend and it was a real experience with people from all over the world.  Over half of the people in the Ward are from the Philippines and many from Africa.  The children enjoyed Santa - a little laid back, but fun none the less.  

 These two little girls were so cute as they admired the Christmas Tree.  The magic of the ornaments!

 The Primary went all out and had cute costumes for the kids.  It is so fun to see the Nativity acted out the same all over the world in our Churches. 

 The Sisters from the Philippines performed some Christmas songs.  They really bring a great spirit to the Ward.  The theme tonight was about the different traditions of Christmas around the world.  We learned some fun facts about some of the other countries.  They ended with the custom from Sweden of St. Lucia.  They sang a traditional Swedish song and were all dressed in white carrying candles.

International food

It was an international buffet for dinner.  Lots of rice and noodles.  There were lots of salads as well.  This casserole was like a whole dish of deviled eggs and was really good.  I loved the decoration on the top.  We enjoyed being there and participating with the wonderful people in that Ward.  It is starting to feel like Christmas.
This party was a great way to end the week.
Viel Liebe,
The Grimmett's