March 1-7, 2020 March Madness has arrived!

Heeresgeschichtliches Museum (Military of Austria)

The best way to sum up our mission is "The People".  There is nothing that has brought us more love, joy, peace, contentment, learning, compassion, charity, concern, and caring than the people that we have been blessed to serve and to serve with.  We have met so many new people that we now consider to be "friends".  So many of the missionaries have told us they were not sure they wanted to serve in a city with a Senior Couple - they thought it would be like having their parents hovering over them.  We have received so many notes from the missionaries expressing their love for us and the difference it has made for them as they serve their missions.  As much as they don't want it to be like "home", the very thing they miss the most is "HOME".  They enjoy coming to our home for Sunday dinner and we really enjoy inviting them.  I made lasagna, egg plant parmesan, and baked celery root fries with a wonderful Chocolate mousse pie for dessert this past Sunday.  Four hungry Elder's enjoyed the meal and even tried the new vegetables - Let's just say there was nothing left.

So, back in October I shared this picture of a celery root.  It is readily available in grocery stores and is very inexpensive.  Celery stalks on the other hand are not always available and cost a little bit more.  I did not really know what to do with the celery root until last week at our English class and one of the students, Christina from Croatia shared with me a recipe.  It is worth trying.

Celery Root Baked French Fries
Very few calories and so good
1 Celery Root
olive oil
salt
Peel celery root like you would a potato
Slice into sticks like french fries
Put in a pot of salted water and bring to a boil.  Boil for 10 minutes.  Drain.
Place on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper.
Drizzle with a little oil.  Sprinkle with salt.
Bake at 400* for 10-15 min. until crisp.
Serve.  Can serve with catsup or other dips

 We have really enjoyed getting to know all of the English class students.  One student told me she feels my love for her in her soul.  She is a graduate student at the University and will not be able to attend until summer because of her full load of classes.  It was hard telling her good-bye on Thursday.  We exchanged contact information and hope to stay in touch.  She is a classy lady and has been coming to class to better her English skills.  She made many friends in the group.  So many are here alone away from family and they have found a good group to converse with for a few hours every week.

One of the nice things we get to do is spend a P-day with different missionaries.  We have a District P-day every 6 weeks and we have really enjoyed participating with the missionaries.  Every once in awhile they will invite us to join them on a regular P-day with an activity that they are doing.  This past week we mentioned we wanted to go to the Austrian Military Museum and 2 Missionaries asked if they could go with us.  They ended up bringing two others and we had a memorable afternoon together.
 

We began at the Hall of Generals.
This is a close up of Kaiser Maximilian for the benefit of our grandson, Eric Maximilian Zuis.
It is a large very hall with interesting architectural features.  The workmanship was amazing to see.

 This is a picture of the Austrian lands under the Habsburg Monarch from 1867-1918.  It is so interesting to see what has happened since WWI and WWII to this area of the world and the many new countries that are in place and continue to change.  Vienna was the center of a lot of things and continues to be an important place for the peoples in these countries.

Elders Bryant and Kroes with Sarajevo Car

 On June 28, 1914 the Austrian successor tot he throne Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Duchess Sophie von Hohenberg visited Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital after a military manoeuvre.  There was an attack from the railway station to the Town Hall.  The handgrenade ricocheted off the car hood, exploded under the following vehicle and injured two officers.  After arriving at the Town Hall the decision was made to visit one of the casualties in the hospital.  There was a fatal misunderstanding with the convoy departing from the original route.

 This gave 19 year old Bosnian Gavrilo Princip the opportunity to fire two shots at the imperial couple on the Latin Bridge.  The first bullet burrowed through the side of the car and hit the Duchess in the lower abdomen.  The second shot fatally wounded the sucessor to the throne in the neck.
These are the guns used in the attack.
This event led to changes in the Dynasty of the Habsburgs that ended in 1918.

Telegraph machine

WWI fighter plane

Dome of the Grand Hall

Ruhmeshalle - Hall of Glory
Forming the centerpiece of the museum, this hall has three halls connected by arcades, with the main hall vaulted by an impressive cupola of 26.5 meters in height.  43 tablets made from red marble adorn the walls commemorating the officers of the Imperial Army who were killed in the battlefield from 1618 until WWII. 
45 ceiling frescos adorn the cupola.  They were created between 1858-1871. 

 The Grand Hall was just that -

Ceiling of Grand Hall

GRAND.  It was beautiful and Military functions are held there even today.  I could just imagine attending a military Ball in this Grand Hall.

 This is the French war-balloon captured in the battle of Wurzburg 1796.

Elder Kroes is from Hannover, Germany. He is pointing on the

WHAT?

map his city.  His companion, Elder Bryant is in the US Air Force and attended the Air Force academy in Colorado before serving his mission - he was called to speak Persian in the Alpine German Speaking Mission and has a native German speaking companion.
They had a little fun together at the museum.  It is an interesting assignment for each of them and they are doing amazing things as they serve.  We love the time we spend with them.  I learn so much from these young people and their willingness to do hard things.

Uniforms

 I always think of my Dad who was a pilot with the Army Air Corp in WWII when I see old planes like these.  These were brave men who flew these early planes. 

 This is a bunker that was used by

USA military

 their forces in some areas.
There was a lot to see covering the wars from the 1600's until today.  We enjoyed this experience and learned a lot about things that shaped the making of this current Austria.

The Navy room.  The Austrian empire was mostly inland and only had access to water in the Baltic area.  The ships were interesting to see.






Wednesday, two of the Sister Missionaries brought me these

beautiful flowers.  It was a nice surprise.  We have really enjoyed the District we are serving with.  We learn and share our thoughts and testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ every Monday together.  We eat lunch and talk and they treat us so good.  We finished all of our Apartment Deep Clean inspections today and we are so grateful that they all did their very best in getting their apartments de-junked and cleaned.  We have hauled a lot of clothes, bedding, glass bottles, old furniture and broken appliances to the dumpsters and donation bins.  We have helped them clean and have shown them how to do some things.  Amid all of this, we have had great conversations, laughed until we cried and created lasting bonds of friendship.  Cleaning has always had more to it than the actual "cleaning" since I was a small child.  Some of my best friendships were found in the church kitchen doing the dishes together. 

We end another week with Saturday P-Day that was not really a rest day.  We have a YSA  Regional Church on Sunday with lunch afterwards that they asked me to prepare.  We are expecting 50 so I have spent many hours this week preparing food.  Saturday was busy making final preparations.  After next weeks Zone Conference that I also will do lunch, I think we are done cooking for large groups. 

 The missionaries asked me to help with the English class on Saturday night.  The theme for the lesson was food terms and words used in food preparation.  So, we made pizza and I taught them the words for the ingredients and the steps for making them.  I made the pizza dough and then we made small individual rounds for each student.  They added their desired toppings and had to go down the table and say what they were adding before they could take it.  They learned, first, then, next and last.  The hands on activity made it real for them and they also learned the names of the toppings.  Everyone had a great time and enjoyed eating their little pizza's. 

Baked Pizza

CORONAVIRUS Update:
We have already had to cancel our plans to travel to Rome and now we are afraid it will change our plans for when we return home.  We have been asked to have a two week supply of food and personal items on hand.  We are to stay in away from others if we have any cold symptoms.  We just want it to pass on and be gone.  We have family coming in the next few weeks and we really do not want it to affect our travels.  Our missionaries do not want to be home bound and we are following all guidelines that we are receiving.   For the sake of everyone in the world, we hope this will pass quickly.  The Lord has a way of humbling His people and this is certainly something that is having a ripple effect on many fronts.  I hope we can all endure and win the fight in staying healthy.

"If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear."  I understand it is too late to go to Costco - they are all sold out! Wow, sounds like a Bible story I know about 10 virgins and oil in their lamps.
So, what a way to begin March - Yes, the madness has begun.

Viel Liebe,
The Grimmett's