March 29-April 5, 2020 Texas Homecoming

The Good Life in Kansas comes to an end.  We have decided it is time to return to our Texas home and begin the process of getting our home in order.  We have been so blessed to be in Wichita Kansas with Brian and Beth and the comfort of their home. 

I was able to teach the Institute class on Wednesday on FaceBook Live for the students in Austria.  It was a new experience for me, but I really enjoyed preparing and having two students participate.  We will try this next week to use ZOOM so that they can participate more.  Oh, you have to love technology and how connected we can stay.  The nice thing is you can go back a listen to the lesson later if you could not participate.  We are reaching more people than ever with this stay at home order all over the world.

We had a little fun the last few days sharing with them some of the things we enjoyed in Germany and Austria.  Food of course!  I have already shared these things with you over the past 20 months, but I will share again just as a reminder of the goodness.

Wiener Schnitzel

flour, eggs, bread crumbs

1/4 inch thick chicken breast

Coat in flour

Dip in butter and then bread crumbs

Fry in oil

Finished schnitzel

The Finished Meal!
To finish it off you need to serve
Apple Strudel  -
You start with a dough of whipping cream, flour and salt.  Let sit in warm pan for 30 minutes.
This makes the lightest best crust ever!  I was taught how to make this from Sister Malzl a native Austrian who shared a family favorite.

 While the dough is warming in the pan, you prepare the apples. The secret in the apples is adding vanilla to the lemon juice, cinnamon and sugar.  You let them sit until ready to use.

4-5 apples

Roll thin until you can see the lines of the towel

Divide the dough into two portions.  Roll out on a floured dish towel with lines.  Roll thin until you can see the lines through the dough.

 Spread with melted butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs.  The bread crumbs soak up the extra liquid and really make a difference in how the strudel turns out.  Then you spread with apples using a slotted spoon so that you do not get the extra juices. Leave a 2 inch edge all around. ( I took the extra juice and heated it and added corn starch to make a cinnamon sauce to serve over it.  Yum!

Apples

Add caption

 Fold in the long sides using the two inch margin.  Roll starting at the short edge and make a jelly roll.  Seal the edges and place on cookie sheet.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar

 Bake in oven, cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar. 
Layers of flaky crust with cinnamon apples for a perfect pastry.  Serve with ice cream - I took the picture before we added the ice cream and cinnamon sauce.  If you want the full recipe, you can message me and I will send to you.

It is a tradition to make Cinnamon Rolls for General Conference Weekend.  The missionaries were really looking forward to coming over and having Cinnamon Rolls with us.  My grandson, Will asked if we could make them before we left to come home. 

 He got dressed for the occasion in his Austrian

Coronavirus Rolls

outfit.  He went online and looked at different kinds of cinnamon rolls.  He found a red one made with raspberries drizzled on top and wanted to make them except he doesn't like raspberries.  So we made red frosted cinnamon rolls and decided they looked like the Coronavirus.  Sure glad we got our cinnamon roll fix on Thursday and Friday morning.




We made preparations to come home and Beth took me shopping for
groceries on Friday morning.  We stocked up with the basics and  a two week supply of basic foods.  We made it from Wichita to Arlington on 1 tank of gas and did not have to make very many stops.  It was a good trip home and we arrived about 8 PM Friday night. 
It was amazing coming into our home and finding it all in order.  The furniture was all in place and it felt like home.  Our grandsons had even come over and installed the internet for us and had it working so we were connected to the world.  All was good until we opened the cupboards and drawers and realized the rest of our existence was in the shed outside and it would take days to get it organized back in the house.  I thought, I will make a pot of chili for Saturday.  I found the crock pot and soaked the beans overnight so they would be ready the next day to make the chili.  I had left 1 set of sheets out and they were clean and on the bed ready for us to sleep.  That was a welcome relief.  We woke up on Saturday and reality hit.  We could not shower because we had no towels.  There was 1/2 roll of toilet paper and things were getting real - real fast.  I decided to start the chili.  I drained the beans and went to cook the hamburger - Oh wait, I don't have any pans- I went out in the garage and found a stock pot.  I started to cook and realized I did not have a spoon.  I found a bag of teaspoons and proceeded to cook the meat.  I then went to open the can of tomatoes and you guessed it - no can opener.  My survival instincts kicked in and I found a screw driver and a hammer.  I got the can opened and the chili continued to be put together.  I was looking really good in spite of the adventure.  I wanted to go to the store early before others were out so I left early and went to Walgreens (did not want to go to a big store)  They DID NOT have TOILET PAPER.  They said they get it in on Thursdays and it is gone within the first hour.  The lady said people are waiting in line for the store to open and when they come in , THEY ARE NOT NICE.  That was another reality for the times we are living in.  Reality check again.  I had been living in a bubble in isolation in Kansas.  I got paper towels and kleenex and was on my way to find the toilet paper.  I went across the street to Dollar General where there were NO CARS.  They had plenty of toilet paper and even had it on sale.  They limited to 4 packages and with the sale they let me have 5.  They also had a great big jar of Nutella and coming from Austria - it was a must have item!

I returned home with the intent of getting a few boxes from the storage shed before the first session of General Conference started. 

This is the shed we  built a few years ago that stored most of our belongings.  We stored the key in the bird house hanging in the tree.  (I know, I can not longer do that now that I have let the world know where I kept the key)  We went out and checked and NO KEY.  What were we going to do.  We messaged our son who has a spare key and he was at work and could not remember where the spare key chain was.  We noticed bird seed in the feeder so we figured the birds or when it was filled the key fell out.  It was now time for conference and so we decided we would not worry about it until later.


We were asked last October to prepare for the April General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  These conferences are held every 6 months.  This April conference is the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the First Vision of Joseph Smith in Palmyra, New York on a beautiful Spring morning in 1820.  We were asked to study the accounts of the First Vision and also D&C 25, 84, 110 in preparation for the conference.  I spent a lot of time not only preparing myself but also teaching what I learned to others in Austria.  It has been a wonderful experience and i knew this weekend would be memorable and unforgettable as Pres. Russell M. Nelson promised.  I knew it would be different for each one of us relative to our preparations and willingness to learn, listen and hear. 
After listening to the Saturday morning Session of Conference I had my own spiritual experience I was not expecting.  Elder Neil A Anderson spoke about how God powerfully lets us know he knows us and blesses us individually.  He said to remember spiritual experiences in our life - to record them and share them with others and draw upon them to strengthen us.

He related the story of Beatrice and a group of friends in France.  He served there as a Mission President 25 years ago.  The group had gone to the beach for the day and one of the young men decided to take one last swim.  He jumped into the water with his glasses on and when he came up they were not on his head.  He was the driver and without his glasses they would not be able to get home.  He suggested they pray.  Beatrice did not believe that prayer would help find the glasses in the vast ocean and sand.  They proceeded to pray kneeling in the shallow water of the ocean.  When Beatrice got up she scooped her hands in the ocean and when they came out of the water the glasses were in her hand. 

When the morning session was finished, I felt prompted to go outside and offer a prayer.  It was very simple and I said, "If Beatrice can find a pair of glasses in the ocean on the coast of France, You can help me find a key in the grass."

 I opened my eyes and looked down and deep in the grass I could see a dirty white tag.  I parted the grass and pulled on the white tag and a clump of dirt was attached.  The dirt was covering the key.  I immediately stopped and thanked my Heavenly Father for blessing me and confirming to me once again that He knows me and is there for me individually just as Elder Anderson had said in his talk earlier in the day.  I washed the key and it worked! (Picture is after I washed the key)
I posted the story on my FaceBook page and Luis Astorga who lived in our home while we were away replied with the following comment, "Wow, what a wonderful miracle because the bird feeder was full of food and the squirrels destroyed it, and then I rebuilt it and put it back up again and I never knew there was a key inside nor saw one.  Even when I cut the grass!  Again, what a miracle from heaven!"

I know after more than a year in the dirt, it was a miracle that I found that key.  That is just one of the tender mercies that came this weekend.  It has been a powerful two days filled with the Spirit of the Lord.  I am so grateful for a Prophet of God on the earth today to guide and direct us in the good times and the times of trouble.  It was filled with hope for better days and a bright future.  8 new Temples were announced and some in places we would have never dreamed.  Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Shanghai, People's Republic of China are two of the eight. 
We have been asked by Pres. Nelson: "I invite all, including those not of our faith, to Fast and Pray on Good Friday, April 10, that the present pandemic may be controlled, caregivers be protected, the economy strengthened, and life normalized."  I invite all of my friends to join in on this special day.  Easter will be a day of renewal, restitution, rebirth of all things good as we remember the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  He died that we may live and return to our Father in Heaven. 

I knew it was going to be a lot of work coming home. Coming home in the middle of a pandemic and a stay at home order is very humbling.  It is quiet and time to get a lot done.  It is surreal.  It is lonely - I just want to drive by my friends houses and honk and wave and let them know I am thinking of them and look forward to seeing them soon.  Amid all of this I have to be creative and fix food - might have to support local take-out next week.  This is just one more experience to write down for the memory book.  We are strong and healthy and so grateful that Russ is recovered and we are even able to be at home.  We have everything that we need and more.  We will cherish this time as we acclimate back to life in Arlington Texas.  It has been an incredible journey.

Love,
The Grimmett's