January 5-12, 2020 Off to a great start

Justice - Melk Abby

We were invited to spend P-Day Tuesday with our District for a return visit to the MELK ABBY.  We had the most wonderful day with the missionaries.  We all took the train from Vienna to Melk.  It is an hour train ride and was so nice to sit back and just enjoy the scenery and the company of missionaries.  We toured the Abby in November with some friends and encouraged the other missionaries to plan a visit.  We saw and heard things we did not see on the first visit.  We had a really good tour guide and they also had some new items on display for the Christmas season.  They had several Nativities and also pointed out ones in the display that we did not know about earlier.  I shared a lot of pictures in November, so I will only show a few highlights of this trip. 
So we arrived at the train station and then it is a short walk straight up the mountain - that is where they like to build castles and monasteries.  I told the others to go ahead and I would catch up, but when our District Leader, Elder Cooper saw that I was huffing and puffing he fell to the ground and played hurt until I quickly caught up.  He is an awesome leader.  When  you enter the courtyard of the buildings, on each of the four buildings is a painting depicting a virtue.  The original paintings were destroyed and when they found they could not restore them they decided to have them repainted in a more modern art but depicting the same virtues.  They represent Justice - is Blind, no rich or poor judgement of people; Fortitude - strength; Wisdom - picture a reflection from a mirror showing light from Heaven; and Temperance - fire and water. 

 The high point of the baroque monastery is the church.  The left side altar contains the skeleton of St. Coloman in a sarcophagus.  The altar to the right is dedicated to St. Benedict but the sarcophagus is empty.  Young Benedict left Rome, repulsed by the immorality of the city, and lived int he mountains of Subiaco as a hermit.  He found his way to an experience of God step by step.  At each level he had to learn through experience to recognize the will of his God.  He went from a strict ascetic to a wise father of monks.  In 529 AD the foundation of Monte Cassino.  He died in the middle of the 6th century.  He continued to write his monastic rules until the end of his life.  In his monastery Benedict founded a school to serve the Lord.  For Benedict the most important criterium for a good monk is that he truly seek God. 

Peter and Paul farewell

In the order of importance of the rooms in a Benedictine monastery, the library comes second only to the church.  The globe is from the 1600's.  It was interesting to see that California is depicted as being an island off the mainland of America.
The library consists of a total of twelve rooms containing approximately 100,000 volumes in total.  About 16,000 are contained in this library room pictured.  They are organized by topics beginning with editions of the Bible in row 1, theology, jurisprudence, geography and astronomy, history and ending with the baroque lexica.
The statues, like the one of Peter and Paul saying farewell, are all made of wood with a gold paint and gold leafing only on the front side of the statue. 

We all enjoyed our time there and learned a lot of history.  We then took a walk through the little quaint town of Melk.  In the city center is this monument dedicated to the Jews who were in the local concentration camp.  The camp existed from 21 April 1944 until 15 April 1945.  The camp was located on the grounds of the "Freiherr von Birago" barracks.  After 1945 it served as a Garrison for the Soviet Army.  Since 1956 the Birago barracks are being used again by the Austrian Federal Army.  The Memorial was established in 1963. There is a museum at the crematorium where more than 3,500 corpses were cremated from 1944-1945.

We had our District Council and Interviews with Pres. Brown on Wednesday.  It was a wonderful day.  It is always so good to be taught and instructed by Pres. Brown.  I volunteered to prepare lunch for the Zone.  There were 24 of us for lunch.  I had so much food left over from Zone Conference that I had frozen, I just added a few fresh vegetables and fruit and we had a wonderful Donner lunch with rice and stuffed grape leaves.  I added apple slices with caramel dip and mint brownies.  I think it was actually better than the lunch I served at Zone Conference.  The Hummus, salsa and caramel dip have become favorites of the missionaries. 
It was a busy day as we finished there and then were off to the Institute for our assignment there.  I had 6 students in our class and we had a great discussion.  They are starting to trust each other and open up and share their thoughts and feelings.  It has taken 3 months, but it is nice to see the change happening and the students learning from the scriptures.

We have had a lot of missionary apartment needs the past few weeks.  Every day we are taking care of something somewhere.  This week we did more inspections - more clogged drains and washing machine repairs.  We have been trying to purchase a new washing machine for one of the apartments, but it has been a bigger project than expected.  We have been to several stores and on-line and hope to have it ordered by Monday.  Purchasing things in Austria is very different than we are used to and it is not as simple as just going to the store and finding what you need.
It is always a good day when we go to IKEA for more missionary needs.  We spent a few hours on Thursday there and got new bedding, pillows and kitchen items for a few apartments.  It is a never ending process.

Our two Danish Missionaries.  They are like twins.  They are not companions, but they always seem to dress alike and they are hard to tell apart from the back.  It is always a great time when they are at the Institute. 
We have our English class on Thursday evenings and they are doing really well.  We had 8 returning students and they really like coming and learning, especially because it is FREE.  We are enjoying getting to know them better.  We have several from countries that they left because of the dangers and they say they continue to be in harms way if they associate with Christian believers, but they want to learn English so they will come in spite of the danger.  I continue to be amazed a people and their will and determination for a better life. 

The time is going so fast and we have already started receiving mail from Salt Lake with forms to be filled out and arrangements to be made for returning home.  It is becoming real and coming way too fast.  We are in our last two transfers and that is crazy.  Saturday was transfer calls and next week will be the start of a new transfer period.  We only had a few changes in assignments and will be getting a few new missionaries in our area.  We will be welcoming Elder Janousek from The Czech Republic.  We spent the first 10 months of our mission and his mission together in the Freiburg District.  We will be ending our mission with him here in our area.  It will be wonderful to serve with him again, and we look forward to a great reunion this next week with him. 
It was also announced this week who the new mission president will be on July 1, 2020.  Scott and Jody Naatjes from Minnesota will be coming to serve as Mission President and companion.  They are in our daughter, Jaime's Ward and he was their Stake President until last year.  Pres. and Sister Brown did a fun video to make the announcement - it is always bitter sweet when a Mission President changes. 

We ended our week with P-Day on Saturday.  It was a nice cold day to spend the afternoon in a museum.  We went to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. 

 Housed in its festive palatial building, it is crowned with an octagonal dome.  It is the largest art museum in the country and one of the most important museums worldwide.  It was opened around 1891 at the same time as the Natural History Museum across Maria-Theresien-Platz from each other, by Emperor Franz Joseph 1.  The two museums were commissioned by the emperor in order to find a suitable shelter for the Habsburgs' large art collection and to make it accessible to the public.  We have a season pass and can go back and see it many times.  It is too large to take in in one day. 

 This is a picture of the outside of the inner courtyard with fresco's painted on the walls.

Coin collection

 These are rings from the time of Jesus Christ.  They are still very colorful and very detailed in workmanship.

Buste Einer Frau

 These are marble statues dating to the time of Christ and later. 
The ivory sculpture on the right is the Angel Michael overcoming Satan (depicted in black).
It is a beautiful statue and very intricately detailed. 

 This is part of the dome that is very ornate with carvings and statues.  A nice lounge and restaurant are on the main floor of this room. 
We spent about 2 hours looking and will return to see what we missed - with an annual pass it is nice to be able to come and go and not worry about not seeing everything.  It really is overwhelming to see so much and take it all in.

We ended our day at a top rated Indian restaurant.  What an experience.  We started with this dish called Tiki Potato and Naan bread with cheese.  It was a potato on the inside with a dough around it drizzled with a yogurt lime sauce with a light gravy.  It is one of their specialty items.  The Naan bread was so good, the best I have ever had.  We then shared a Curry Chicken with rice dish.  It had a little kick to it that gave it a wonderful flavor and taste sensation.  It is always an adventure to try new places and foods and this one did not disappoint.  Enjoying the many cultures of Vienna.

We started the 2020 Come Follow Me Study at Church this week.  We ended our study of The New Testament and will now study the Book of Mormon.  I am really looking forward to this concentrated study and the many helps that have been given to us on www.churchofjesuschrist.org
The Book of Mormon was written by way of commandment by the spirit of prophecy and revelation.  The Purpose of the Book is:
1.  To show the House of Israel what great things the Lord has done for their fathers.
2.  To know the covenants of the Lord
3.  Convincing the Jew and Gentiles that JESUS IS THE CHRIST the Eternal God, manifesting himself to all Nations.

We studied this week about Nephi, who recorded the "Things of God."  He showed us that the word of God is "of Great Worth".  We have seen over the centuries so many people who have given their lives to preserve the "word of God."  We learn the Nature of God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost from The Book of Mormon. 
Nephi said in 1 Nephi 3:7 to his father, "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."  As I studied and pondered on this scripture, I have also committed to "Go and Do" as we serve our mission.  It was not easy to leave a home and clothes and things too numerous to name and take only what was necessary and would fit in two suitcases and go to a far away place for 22 months.  In 1 Nephi 3:5 Nephi's brothers murmur and say it is a "hard thing" they were being asked to do.  I too have learned about "hard things" that have become blessings as we have willingly served the Lord.  It is the hardest assignment I have ever done, but one of the most rewarding as I have drawn closer to my Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ.  I too have learned when I murmur I do not progress.  I have learned new skills, new foods, new languages, new driving rules, new money values, and have met so many friends.  We continue to be so blessed in our service.  I am grateful for the teachings and lessons learned from Nephi that help me on this journey we call life.  It makes all the difference.
We continue to pray for the leaders of the countries throughout the World, especially for those at home in America.  2020 will be an eventful year - get ready for the ride.
Viel Liebe,
The Grimmett's