Jan 26-Feb. 2, 2020 Zone Conference

We have had a wonderful week of serving, traveling and being a part of the great work in Vienna.
It is always a busy week when we have a Zone Conference.  Cooking for 50 is a lot of work with our limited resources and then traveling to Salzburg with the food.  It is always a tender mercy when we are finished to see how well it turns out and everyone is fed.

 No pictures of food - too busy serving that I forgot to take pictures, but it was just chili. 
We had really good training and it is such a blessing to hear and see the young missionaries in action, we learn so much from them.
These pictures are of an object lesson on teaching.  The two Sister missionaries were asked to come prepared to teach a non-member a lesson about God the Father.  A missionary was selected from the audience to play the person they were teaching.  The other two missionaries had a 10 oz. cup over his head and as they taught him and asked him Questions, they would fill the cup with water.

Elder Sandelin in the wet seat

 We have so much information we want to share with people that sometimes in a teaching moment we try to tell them everything we know without listening to their questions or looking at their reactions and we just keep talking.  As this was happening, the cup filled with water to overflowing.  They continued teaching him, not really worrying about him getting all wet or pulling funny faces.  The next Elder (who was waiting in another room and did not know what was going on) was brought in and two new missionaries were asked to teach.  They did not know the purpose or what would happen, but were just told to teach a lesson like they would on a normal day of teaching.  This time the missionary only had a sacrament cup size over his head.  As they taught him and asked questions the cup was filled with water.  It did not take very long for it to fill up and spill over.  This time however, the Sisters teaching slowed down and asked more questions.  It was a great visual to see how important it is to listen and only share a little bit at a time as people are ready to hear the message. 

 We went to the Salzburg area on Tuesday and stayed in another AirBnB that was so nice.  It has been fun staying at different places and getting a real feel for the different areas.  It is hard to stay in the same places because of availability.  We found this one that was only 10 min. from our Conference.  It is in a little village in the foothills of Salzburg and sits overlooking the area with the mountains in the background.  It was so quiet and peaceful.  It was a new development with beautiful new homes.  They built this apartment on the bottom floor and they live upstairs.  With it being on the hill, you go down a long stairway to a beautiful landing in

the back yard.  The apartment is on that level with lots of windows and light looking out over the area.  A lot of people build the extra rooms on and rent out with AirBnB to afford  living in stand alone houses.  It was really nice to again have a kitchen to finish the food prep for Wednesday.  It is really nice to be close and to get a good nights rest before we serve the food, attend the meeting and then drive the 3 hours back home. 



Sunday continues to be one of our favorite days with the Missionaries.

 We had Elders Cooper (our District leader), Kroes, Bryant and Bennett for dinner.  We had a really nice time with them and got to know them a little better.  It is nice learning about their experiences and what they enjoy in life.  Elder Bryant was at the Air Force Academy in Colorado before coming on his mission.  He is trained in the Persian language instead of German and is an amazing young man.  He has had many opportunities to speak here in Vienna and he self taught himself German as well.  Elder Kroes is from England and has his own challenges in life with Cystic Fibrosis.  He is truly a miracle and is so glad to be serving a mission.  One Elder is afraid of heights and airplanes and is learning to overcome those fears.  His first airplane ride was coming to Europe for his mission.  He said now that he has done it he realized it was OK.  It is so interesting how each of us comes into this world with different interests, trials, challenges, etc. that help us grow and develop into who we are and become.  We see that everyday with all of the missionaries we work with and it is so good to learn from each one of them.

I tried a new recipe for sweet and sour chicken.  It turned out so good - just like in restaurants.  The picture is before the sauce was added to it.  We had fried rice and egg rolls and then we ended with a German Chocolate topped pie.  I will make this recipe again.
The Zone Leaders locked themselves out of their apartment so they came by to get their extra key.  It is always an adventure with this group.  Great way to end Sunday.



The English class continues to be a great success.  We had 28 on Thursday and they are loving the experience.  It has been one of the highlights of our mission as we have talked with these people from all over the world.  Each one of them has a story to tell.  We started a Saturday class this week because they wanted to get together more than once a week.  It was a great class on Saturday night.  We had 21 attend and that is amazing.  I made hummus with bagel chips and banana and chocolate zucchini bread.  They could not believe it was homemade.  That was a new concept for many of them.  It gives them time to visit and socialize and that is the best part.  We have seen progress in their english speaking in the 8 weeks we have had the class. 

Friday we had some extra time between assignments and so we went to the National Treasury Museum. 

This is the museum that houses the crown jewels and artifacts from the Habsburg Empire.  These were worn only for coronations.  

Mantle of the Austrian Emperor

The sword to be worn with the Austrian Imperial robes.  Made 1600-1610 in Southern Germany
The robes were from 1830 made of velvet, gumped embroidery in gold, paillettes, gold brain, ermine and silk

 At the peak of his power Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) established the French Empire and crowned himself Emperor of the French with a laurel wreath in the presence of the pope on 2 Dec. 1804.  The desire to secure continuation of the dynasty drove Napoleon to have his first, childless marriage annulled and marry Archduchess Marie Louise, the daughter of the Austrian Emperor Francis I.  The longed for heir to the throne, Napoleon Francois Charles, was born in 1811.  When Napoleon was forced to abdicate in 1814, Marie Louise returned to Vienna and assumed the title of Duchess of Parma.  Her son was given the dignity of Duke of Reichstadt.
At the birth of their son the city of Paris presented the imperial couple with an opulent cradle.  The object is fashioned of approximately 280 kilogrammes of silver. 

Christening Gown and Baptismal blanket

 There is a lot of symbolism on the cradle such as the eaglet symbolizing the emperor's son perches on the edge of the cradle and appears about to fly towards the laurel wreath bearing the Napoleon star (N)  It was only used for public display of the infant and not for everyday use.

Ewer and basin used for Imperial baptisms.  Spanish master, 1571 made of gold and partly enamelled.
Small ewer used for baptisms:  Prague 1600-1605, gold, partly enamelled, rubies.

World's largest Emerald 

 This is the world's largest Emerald with 2680 carat and enamelled gold.  It is from Prague, 1641.

On the right are Opals and the "hyacinth La Bella" that is a large garnet with gold, silver and enamel. 1687

 Jewelry from Budapest

 This is the "ainkhurn" or Unicorn Horn
Ferdinand I received this as a gift from King Sigismund II of Poland in 1540.  during this age the mythical unicorn was held to be an actual animal, which might only be captured in a virgin's lap.  The unicorn was thus regarded as an allegory of Christ, and its horn a symbol of divine power from which secular dominion was derived.  The horn which was also thought to be an antidote to poison was traded in Europe at tremendous prices.  Only in the 17th century was it recognized that what had been believed to be a unicorn's horn was in fact the twisting tusk of the narwhal.
It was laid down that this piece would henceforth remain in the possession of the eldest male member of the family in perpetuity as "inalienable heirlooms" and could not be sold or given as gifts.

This piece of gold and precious and semi-precious gems is to display what is believed to be one of the nails that was used to nail Jesus Christ to the cross.  The cherubs are holding onto the palm trees that hold the glass enclosed case.

There were a lot of religious statues and artifacts in the collection because in the earlier centuries the religious leaders were also the political leaders and the relics were held by the throne.  Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy established the Order of the Golden Fleece as a secular order of chivalry on 10 January 1430.  Thirty noblemen who pledged to further and protect Christianity were knights of the order.  It rose as one of Europe's most eminent aristocratic societies.  By their acquisition of Burgundy the Habsburgs also became sovereigns of the order, which exists to this day.  There are 51 knights of the order.  The regalia were worn in public for the last time in 1830 at celebrations in Vienna commemorating the order's 400th anniversary.

February has arrived and it is already booked full.  We are truly on a collision course for the next few months.  We started February with a 60 degree day.  It had been in the low 30's and so it is a welcome warm up.  A great way to start the month. 

Viel Liebe,
The Grimmett's