Welcome March Feb. 25-March 2

February was a short month in more ways than just being 28 days.  I can't believe we are already in March.  It started with a beautiful day - already hoping for a little more cold before the heat hits.  There was no rest from the trip back home as we had appointments on Monday with the Elder's.  We went to visit a lady who lives about and hour and a half away up in the Black Forest.  It is always a beautiful drive once you get off the highway and onto the village roads.  We visited Maria, a single mother of a 5 year old boy.  She is a nurse and takes care of elderly and cancer patients.  She is from Kenya and came to Germany about 5 years ago, learned the language and received her Nursing degree.  She is recently divorced and it has been really hard on her.  She is seeking a better way and answers to her questions and wants peace in her life.  We had a wonderful visit and shared the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with her.  She lives in a little village in a big old Farmhouse.  It was the most amazing complex that they have turned into different homes.  The antiques were beautiful.  She rents a room and the landlord lives upstairs and then they share a really big kitchen.  We met the lady of the house and she was cooking wonderful food.  This was authentic Germany!
We hope to visit again soon.  She called the Elder's last night and said she had been reading The Book of Mormon since we left and was looking forward to us visiting again.

 We had another Find a Grave assignment and it was about 30 minutes from where Maria lives so we decided to drive and try to fulfill the request.  It was in a little village nestled high in the hills in this little valley.  There were only about 100 graves and we walked through and could not find it.  All of the graves were from 1905 to present.  We were looking for a grave from 1600.  We have learned that they do not keep the graves that long.  After 100 years they collect the bones and make room for others.  We found a lot of graves with the same last name - just many generations apart.

We had fun with the Elder's and learned a little history.  We found a quaint restaurant and took them to lunch.  It was a great day!

Tuesday was a much needed P-Day and day of rest.  We were both trying to recover from the trip and head colds.  We also needed to go food shopping if we wanted anything to eat.  I also had to plan menus for the rest of the week.  I decided to serve on Wednesday night what I was going to serve on Friday for Zone Conference.  I could try it out and figure out portions as well.  It worked out really well.

We had Hawaiian Haystacks.  That is a favorite of my family over the years.  You can't just buy a can of cream of chicken soup and add chicken like the recipe.  I have to make homemade cream of chicken soup and I have to say it is way better, just takes a lot more time.  Now for toppings.  Water chestnuts do not exist in Germany - nor do chow mein noodles.  They are not Chinese or any other country - they are American.  So, I had to buy dry noodles, boil them in water, drain and then fry them.  I have to say, once again I liked them better that the canned noodles, but a lot more work than opening a can or a sack.  I made a green salad with cranberries and cashews with an oriental dressing.  Our YSA had never had anything like this and they really enjoyed it.  They were not real sure about all of the toppings, but they really liked the rice, noodles and Chicken sauce.  So on Thursday we finished shopping and I cooked all day long.  I cooked 6 Kilo of Chicken, made 8 recipes of cream of chicken soup, cooked 5 Kilo of rice and chopped green peppers.  We are ready to feed about 70 missionaries on Friday.
We had a new member lesson with Nadja at our home and it is always good having people here with the Elder's.  We talked about the blessings of the Temple.  We will be going with her next Saturday and we wanted her to understand and answer any questions.  I invited them to stay for a light dinner - just ham and cheese sandwiches with chips, fruit and drinks.  We have a new missionary, Elder Richardson from Declo Idaho - just down the road from Twin Falls.  We already love him and especially when he said, "this sure is nice for you just saying we were having sandwiches.  You really know how to serve food."  He is welcome to my home anytime! We are becoming well known for our Mineral Water drink bar.  We love all of the drink syrups and mixing them with the Mineral Water.  It makes it fun.

 Fasching 2019 started on Thursday.  This is a new experience for us.  We took a walk and tram ride to town and saw the after effects of the earlier celebration.  Many people in costumes and lots of confetti.  The big parade is Monday afternoon and it is a holiday with all the stores closed and school is out.  We have been asked to not be out at evening celebrations or parades, but daytime activities are OK to observe.  Every store is filled with costumes - much like our Halloween, but many more and more elaborate.

 Saturday activities in town on the main street.  Mostly food vendors and music with lots of drinking. 

Groups of people participate together.  It will be interesting to see the parade with all of the costumes.






Friday - Zone Conference.  It rained the whole way to Zurich.  It was a tense drive for me as I navigated the traffic and the rain.  I was really glad to arrive safe and sound.  We were really organized and I had really good help.  It is so good when everything comes together.  We decided to also make a snack pack for them to take home with them at the end of the day.  We eat at noon and then the meetings get over at 4:30.  By the time you clean up and say good-byes to everyone it is usually 5:30 before you get on the road or to the train station.  Many have 1-2 hour rides and are hungry.  I had the Elder's help assemble them today and it worked really well.  They seemed to be happy to get them.  Zone Conference is always a good day of learning and fellowshipping.  We love being with the other Senior Couples and sharing our joys and challenges.  We had some great teaching today and I especially liked Sister Browns discussion on The Great Apostasy.  She gave an hour discussion on the history of Christianity and what led from the Church of Jesus Christ while He was on the earth to the current Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
We had the best drive home so far from Zone Conference.  It only took 2 hours instead of the normal 3 hours on a Friday night.  So blessed.  I was so glad to be home and just wanted to crash.  We unloaded the car - where are the Elder's when you need them -and started for the elevator and realized Russ had left his briefcase at the Church that had our I-Pads and all things important in it.  UGH!  That is not how I wanted to end a wonderful day.  I have to admit I was not very kind and did not have a very good spirit about me.  He called the Zone Leaders in Zurich and sure enough they had found it and taken it home with them.  SOOO, we get to drive back to Zurich in the morning and pick it up!  Not what I had planned for Saturday - I think Russ will do the driving this time.  On our way home the Elder's also informed us that they had accepted a luncheon appointment for us with Katrina and that they would not be joining us on Saturday.  It is going to be a busy day and I also have to fix the meal for Sunday before the day is over.  I am already looking forward to next Tuesday's P-day.
We had a nice drive on Saturday back to Zurich.  It was a nice day with no rain and it really made a difference.  We decided to take a back road and not the highway home and it was a beautiful drive.  Lunch with Katrina is always an experience.  She is always so glad to see us and cooks her very best.  Her sauce with the stuffed peppers was the very best today - my stomach just has a hard time with the peppers the rest of the day.  We were so full we went for a walk in town to work a little of it off.
The Internet has been down all day and that has been frustrating.  Interesting how you feel so isolated when there is no communication.  It was a good time to cook.

bike stroller - love their style

It is nice to be back in Germany.  It was a good week and we are so blessed as we continue in the work of serving and inviting others to Come Unto Christ.  We had a lady ask us why we were in Germany when so many people here do not even belief in God.  We said, that is exactly why we are here.  We want to help people understand who they are, why they are here and that there is life beyond the grave.  We bring the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thank you to everyone for your kind words, thoughts and prayers in our behalf.
Viel Liebe,
The Grimmett's

Feb. 17 - 23, 2019

It is has been a whirlwind 10 days in the USA.  The first few days were spent making the arrangements for my Dads funeral and all of the family things.  Most of my children left on Sunday to return to their homes.  It was so nice being together with family even if it was only for a few days.  Monday was spent cleaning out my Dad's apartment.  So grateful to Josh and Ian for their hard work moving furniture and all the heavy things.  We were able to get it all cleaned out and cleaned in about 4 hours.  It really made things final as we looked back at the empty room and all of the things that he loved were gone.  It was good for my sister Pam and I to have this time together and sharing memories and stories together.
Tuesday was spent at the home Emily and Ian are in the process of buying.  Josh came to help in the remodel plans and he spent all day measuring and putting the plans together.  He is so talented and had some really good ideas and information for Emily.  Unfortunately it did not close as planned and he had to leave and go home.  At least they will have a plan to use and his valuable insights.
Thursday we spent visiting friends and family.  It was a wonderful day.  We were able to visit John and Denise Sivo in Salt Lake City.  It was so fun to see their new home and to catch up on the last 7 months.  We really enjoyed their hospitality and look forward to seeing them in the near future.  We visited my sister, Pam and went to lunch with her and her husband, Mike.  We took advantage of being in the States and I was able to get our taxes completed.  Emily finished hers and then I also did them for my Sister.  Somehow I got the bad deal - they are all getting a nice refund and I had to pay!  I spent several hours completing all of the details for my Dad's estate.  I was able to complete all of the required paperwork and probate even was taken care of with the Judge.  It has been a very busy week taking care of all of this. So glad for electronic transfers and Fed-Ex.
Russ and I visited the cemetery - the view and surroundings are absolutely beautiful.  A great final resting place for our family.

 We left at 5:30 AM in the morning from Emily's home.  Logan said all he wanted to do was wave good-bye from the door when we left.  He woke up and came to the door to wave good-bye.  It was so cute.  It reminded me of my parents who always stood on the porch and waved good-bye to us when we would leave.  A honk of the horn and we were on our way!

Second good-bye at the airport.  It was hard to do it a second time, but this time I knew what I was coming back to and I actually was missing our new home and the wonderful missionary work that we are doing.  It was time to return.

We were supposed to fly back Friday morning, but the flights were really full and we decided to wait until Saturday when there were more seats available and it would make for a much better flight.  We have been fighting allergies since we arrived and Russ was not feeling very good today.  He was really glad he was not flying.  It is hard to say good-bye, but we are also feeling the need to be back home in Germany and getting on with our responsibilities there.  We received 4 emails from our Mission President yesterday with assignments - it's time to return.  Zone Conference is next Friday and I have to organize the lunch.  We will hit the ground running when we return.  It has not been a vacation, but I am so glad to have been here with all of my family and especially to have been able to be a part of the funeral for my Father.  There is just a peace that comes from the process.
We had a wonderful travel experience coming to Utah.  We could not have asked for better people serving us and taking care of our needs.  We were hoping for a similar experience returning home.  It was very busy in Salt Lake and they did not make sure all of our connections were in order.  We were not worried about the flight to Dallas as it was only a 2 hour flight. 

We arrived in Dallas to find our flight was delayed.  We tried to talk to the agent and they were not accommodating at all.  She would not even answer our questions.  We were in the back of the plane and again, thought it would be better when we got to Philadelphia.  We were going to wait in eat in Philly, but decided to grab a sandwhich in Salt Lake - so glad we did.  The weather was really windy in Texas and we sat on the plane for 1 1/2 hours waiting for take-off.  Only one runway was operating due to the wind and we had to wait our turn.  So, we barely made our connection to Zurich (we still had 45 min. to spare) and when we arrived they had given our seats to another non-rev passenger and said we were not listed on the flight.  We showed her our tickets that we had received in Utah and she said, just get on the plane.  When we asked the flight attendants about where we could sit and told them the situation, they said, we have never heard of A-9 classification, that must be an American Airlines thing, we are US Air - excuse me- the merger happened over 3 years ago and it is called American Airlines.  So - it was not the trip home we expected, but we are home and we are glad to be safe and back ready to go to work.

Waiting for the train in Zurich to return to Freiburg.  The trains are really nice and a lot more relaxing than when we drive and have to fight traffic.  We get to do that on Friday when return for Zone Conference.  The train station in Zurich is huge - about 38 lines coming in with multiple levels.

 We arrived home to find this in our mailbox.  Josh sent this on Jan. 7 - Christmas cards we received at our home in Texas.  It is February 23 and we just received it.  Notice the stamp that it was sent to Jamaica by mistake and rerouted to Germany.  $14 for 4 cards to be mailed and it still took 6 weeks!  Merry Christmas - it was wonderful reading the cards from friends and feeling the Christmas Spirit all over again.

This past 10 days has been filled with memories and stories that will always be special to me.  I shared a story with Emily's family about when I was 4 years old and my family was stranded in the mountains over night.  The story was in the newspaper and I read it to them.  We had gone for a Memorial Day picnic to the South Hills in Idaho.  My 14 year old brother and his friend Tom, my 13 year old sister, Pam; my 6 year old sister, Brooke; and my 6 month old brother, Tad.  There was a snow drift over the road and my Dad thought he could go around it with his 4 wheel drive Jeep.  The road gave way and the Jeep was only being held up by a tree.  They tried until 9 pm to get the Jeep back on the road and could not.  My Dad thought it was a 10 mile hike to the nearest city of Oakley Idaho.  He sent my brother and his friend at 10:00 pm to go get help.  It turned out to be 24 miles and they arrived at a home to get help at 5:00 AM  We had food that my mother had prepared, a scout patrol kit, a tent, the seats out of the car and a baby bed for the baby to sleep in.  My Dad built a fire and we huddled together to stay warm and to sleep until help arrived the next morning.  When I finished the story Logan asked - "so, what can we learn from this?"  I really appreciated his thought process.  We talked about the importance of being prepared, having a knowledge of how to use what we have and the power of prayer in our lives.  This was one of many stories I could have shared that had an impact on my life.  So grateful to my parents who taught me so much and especially my mother who made all of the crazy experiences my Dad got us into an adventure and learning experience. 
Looking forward to a great week. 
Viel Liebe,
The Grimmett's

 

The journey to Utah Feb. 10-18

Elder Fishburn

We started the week saying goodbye to Elder Fishburn who completes his mission and will be returning home to Oklahoma.  We enjoyed serving with him and sharing Texas Oklahoma stories and our common love of Braum's ice cream.  His family was arriving on Thursday to pick him up and travel a little before returning home.  They lived in Germany for several years while his father was in the military.  He was a great linguist with the German language and helped others to learn and understand.  We look forward to meeting our new Elder.



We had a great District Meeting Monday morning in Freiburg.  It was Elder Fishburns last meeting so I asked what he wanted for lunch.  He said he would really like Chicken fried Steak.  Well, I did a little research to see if I could even get the meat and make it and found that Chicken fried steak originated with the German settlers to Texas who missed having their schnitzel and used the good beef that was available to them.  We looked at the market and decided it would be better to get really good schnitzel for the sake of time and money.  It turned out really good.  I made mashed potatoes and cream gravy and everyone loved it.  It was also my Birthday, so as I was trying to make it nice for his last day, he had planned a surprise party for me and they decorated and had a cake and it was really nice.  I was surprised.  I really appreciated their extra effort especially as we were leaving the next morning for Utah.  Russ and I ended the day going to one of our favorite Turkish restaurants.  Happy Day!

With the passing of my father, we were given permission to return to Utah for 10 days.  We had to be at the train station at 5:15 AM so we were up early and left our house at 5:00 am to walk to the train station.  It still amazes me what we do as missionaries.  Walking the streets that early with 3 suitcases reminded me of younger days and traveling.  We took the train to Zurich, Switzerland and then flew from there to Philadelphia and on to Salt Lake City.  We are so grateful for the flight benefits we have that allowed us to do this.  We were treated so good by all of the American people and we were able to fly home 1st class - the only way to enjoy International travel.  It was so nice and so much better than our trip to Germany on United Air Lines.  We had mechanical problems in Philly and it made a long day, but we arrived in Utah at midnight and were really glad to be home safe.  The past few days have been a whirlwind taking care of all of the arrangements for my Dad's funeral and taking care of his Estate as well.  Josh, Julie, Kelly, Shannon, Jamie, Jaime, Abby and Emma all arrived on Thursday and then we drove to Idaho on Friday for the funeral.

 We were worried about the Winter weather but it was a beautiful morning.  The sky and and mountains were majestic.  Very different from the mountains in Germany - the beauty of the Mountain West.  We had to take three cars to get us all there and I needed to be there early.  Just as we arrived in Twin Falls Idaho Emily got a call from Ian and the transmission in his company car had gone out.  He had stopped for gas about 30 minutes behind us and when he went to get on the freeway he had no gears.  So, Emily had to drop us off at the Church and go back to pick them up and make arrangements for

a car rental.  Our life is always an adventure.  She was a little late to the funeral but it all worked out.  Most of my family was there with their children.  A few could not arrive because of the winter weather.

 It was so nice to be back to my hometown that I grew up in and to visit with old friends who came to the funeral.  It was a nice celebration of my Dad's life.  My older brother and sister and I were the speakers.  2 granddaughters and 2 great granddaughters sang "How Great Thou Art" and then all of the great grandchildren, about 50 of the 77 living sang "Families Can Be Forever and Temple Medley" .  It was so sweet and a great remembrance of his posterity.  My Dad always wanted a handmade casket made by a craftsman in Idaho.  We were able to fulfill that desire and it was very simple and perfect for him.  I had to leave right after the funeral and meet with the attorney to take care of Estate business with me only having a few days in the USA.

  We also were warned of a severe winter storm that was hitting in the late afternoon.  We needed to get back on the road for Utah.  As soon as we hit the Utah border, we were greeted by a huge snow storm.  The roads were very bad and the trucks could not make it up the steep hills.  It was a white knuckle drive for all of those who were driving.  We had about 10 cars of family driving back and we all arrived safe.  Brian, Beth, Will and Nora flew in from Wichita Kansas and arrived in the middle of the storm.  They were about 4 hours late due to weather and mechanical in Dallas.  We were glad they were able to come.

 We had a viewing and graveside service in Salt Lake City where George E Haney, Jr. was buried at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park.  There was a different feeling than the day before in Idaho and it was really nice to be with family and friends.  There was some healing taking place between some family members and we were blessed with tender mercies.  It was really nice seeing the little cousins interact with each other, many never having met each other.

 Two of our grandchildren having a great time together.

 We were so pleased with the honors given to this World War II Veteran.  When the mortuary came to pick up my Dad when he passed away they brought this flag and draped his body to take him out of the care center.  They made a special effort to honor a veteran and to have people pause and pay respects as they wheeled him out.  It has always been touching for me to witness the military presentation at a funeral.  Taps was played and then the flag folded and presented to my brother, George.  So grateful for the patriotism of my father and all that he taught me.  He was buried next to his father who was a World War I vet.  The cemetery representative commented that this spot had been hallowed ground for a long time.  My grandparents, my parents, my brother and my son are all buried next to each other.  I know there was a glorious reunion on
February 8, 2019 when Dad joined them. 

Joshua, Emily & Brian

 Always nice to have my children together.  We took a family picture of those who were able to be here.  We were only missing Jaime's boys and husband.  The grandchildren were really excited to fly on airplanes.  Again, we are so grateful to American Airlines for providing the travel and being so accommodating to us. 

 We had a luncheon catered by Costa Vida and Chick fil-a for everyone after the service.  I put it all together and everyone helped with set-up of tables and we had a great time together with about 70 of my family.  Grandma and Grandpa would have been so happy to see the family together.

These are my kids and their cousins.  There are about 11 missing, but for those that were able to come it was a great reunion.  They spent a lot of time together growing up and now that they are married or adults, they do not see each other very often.  Great to keep families together.

Everyone is returning to their homes on Sunday.  It has been a wonderful few days.  A lot of work feeding and keeping things happening, but I would not trade it for anything. I know the next five days will go so fast.  We still have to clean out Dad's apartment and finish up some legal things.  I will also help Emily and enjoy the time with her children.  We are so blessed and so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the knowledge we have of life here and beyond the grave.  Jesus Christ made it all possible for us to return to our Father in Heaven and be together with our families. 

Love,
The Grimmett's

Feb. 3 - 9, 2019 Farewell to my Hero

Schwenningen District in Eisenbach

 Monday started with a District ZOOM Meeting at our home.  It is always nice to have the Elder's over.  We were having a ZOOM meeting because on Tuesday we were having a District P-Day.  It will be the last one for Elder Fishburn before he leaves to go home.  We wanted a super activity.  It is hard to find activities that we can all get to because we are not a normal District that is in the same city.  We are 1 1/2 to 2 hours apart.  We had planned to visit a Castle and Weapons museum but when we called to check on it we found out it was closed for Jan. and Feb.  They open for groups larger than 100.  We will plan to go in the Spring.  We organized an activity to meet in a mountain town called Eisenbach.  We were hoping for nice weather and to be able to hike in the mountains. 

 This week will go down in the memory books.  Time is going so fast and this has been a very difficult week.  There have been many late nights as our family kept a vigil watching over my father in his final days.  On Monday the papers were finally signed and he was placed in Hospice Care.  I was able to talk with him and tell him how much I love him.  So grateful for technology.  I have also been trying to take care of his estate matters so things will go easier in the coming days.  We have tried to keep focused on our missionary work, but it has been a stressful week.  So glad however to be so busy and also having a wonderful experience.  I was so glad for P-Day to be out in the forest, in the snow on a beautiful day and feeling at peace.  Tender Mercies amid the storms.

 Tuesday was an absolutely gorgeous day!  You could see for miles and miles.  Below you can see the Swiss Alps.  We had never seen so many jets in the sky over here.  We have missed seeing planes every day - it is in Russ' blood.  We loved watching them leave their trails against the deep blue sky.  We were at a recreation area for hiking, cross country skiing and snow shoeing.  The missionaries loved it.  It was good for them to be out in the wide open spaces and taking it all in.  It was the perfect place to spend the day.

 Russ along the trail.  We are so glad to have our walking poles.  They really help and especially when the snow was up to our knees in some places.  We do pretty good keeping up with the young missionaries.

 I have been wanting to make a Snow Angel since we went hiking a few weeks ago and I didn't want to get wet.  So, here we are - I convinced everyone to do it.  Hardest part was laying down.  As a child we would just free fall backwards and land in the snow.  I was not so brave to free fall backwards.  It was fun.  I felt the angels close to me this week and this was my special snow angel for the day.

 This was a beautiful scene as we were walking down the road.  I man with horses and a wagon came down the lane.  He was very friendly and stopped to talk with us.  10 Missionaries coming towards him was probably as daunting as he was to us with his horses and buggy.  Great winter scene.  It would have been really fun if he would have offered to give us a ride. 

 We had a Texas Tailgate in the parking lot.  My Mother taught me so much and putting out a nice spread of food no matter the circumstances was one of those things.  We had a feast of meats, cheese, breads, rolls, fruit, vegetables, chips and lots of chocolate.  I took hot chocolate and everyone was so glad.  It was wonderful.  The Elders took off their coats and look macho, but they were freezing by the time they finished making the snowman.  They decided to make this snowman right outside of the entrance to a restaurant.  It turned out really cute and they had so much fun.  Team building - always lessons to be learned even when having fun.
Wednesday we were off to Lahr to fulfill our cleaning assignment for the apartment building.  We did not know we had to have someone cleaning the common areas every two weeks and we don't have missionaries living there full time.  So, we went and took care of it.  There are only 3 residents so it was not hard to do.  It just took most of the morning.

  We are registered with Find a Grave and occasionally  we are able to go take pictures.  We had a cemetery that was close to us so we went on the way home.  It was a small cemetery and thought it would only take a short time to find it.  We walked down each of the isles and most of them were from 1995 to current.  We could not find the grave we were looking for and there were only about 100 graves.  There was a caretaker working on one of the plots planting flowers and we asked if he had heard of this person.  He walked us to the entrance and there was the stone.  Who would have thought it was under the name of the Cemetery.

  He then took us around the corner and in a separate section overgrown with plants was a shrine to several people and there was her grave and her husbands.  He was famous and we were told to go and look him up.  It was a neat experience and it is interesting how connected you feel to the people when you find their grave.  We had a really nice drive in the countryside in a part of town we had never been to.  So fun exploring.  We were then off to Institute.
Thursday was Apartment Inspection Day.  We drove to Bad Sackingen and took care of that apartment.  They needed a new shower head so off to the store and back to install it.  By the time you drive and do all that has to be done it is a 4 hour adventure. Highlight of the day is always going to visit Amira. We are so glad that she is reading and studying the lesson before we come and we are having some really good discussions.  She was at the store this week and a lady come up to her and said hello and asked what made her so happy.  She feels like her personal study of Jesus Christ and praying more has really blessed her life.  We left her home and took our Elders to dinner at an Italian Restaurant that serves a huge plate of spaghetti for 2.80E from 6:00-7:30 every night.  It is a local favorite.  We had a really nice dinner and then we went to their apartment for their Inspection.  I told them if they cleaned really good and had a good inspection we would take them to dinner.  It worked better in our schedules to take them to dinner first.  They came through and had the apartment in good shape.  Win Win for all of us.

Friday was a catch up day at home and lots of phone calls taking care of business for my Dad.  It is nice when you finally get someone who will help you on the phone instead of a computer or someone who says call back tomorrow after you just spent 30 minutes on the phone waiting.  I have felt an urgent need to get all of his financial affairs in order before he passes away. 
We started playing table tennis every morning for exercise.  It has really been fun and we are getting pretty good.  It is great exercise and they say the very best for brain health.  I need a lot of that.  It is a great way to start the day.  We watched a Hallmark movie and tried to have a relaxing Friday night.  The phone just kept ringing.  Lots of District things happening - Its transfer day on Saturday and Elder Fishburn is counting down his last few days.  Russ was just heading off to bed and I was working on the computer and I received a call from my Sister Pam. 

George E. Haney, Jr  1921-2019

 This giant of a man and my hero took his final breath and left his mortal body allowing his spirit to return to heaven.  The veil of Heaven and Earth was very thin the past few days.  He asked who was going to take him to Heaven.  Would it be a man or a woman.  My Sister told him Mom would come and get him.  He appeared to see angels from Heaven and said, yes, I want that beautiful lady over there to take me.  He asked if he had fought a good fight in this life.  He was an amazing example to everyone he came in contact with.  He loved life and all if its derivatives.  He loved his family and was so proud of his posterity.  6 Children, 29 grandchildren and 79 Great grandchildren with 80 and 81 on the way.  He wanted each of them to know they are a Child of God and there is a purpose to this life.  He loved God, his Family, and his Country.  He was passionate about everything he did.  Everything was bigger than life to him.  When asked to describe his family they were always the very best framer, realtor, school teacher, nurse, scouter, secretary - the story would always get bigger of how good they were.  You knew he believed in you.  I am so glad to be able to call him MY DAD. 
We will be flying to Utah on Tuesday.  I am looking forward to being with my family. It will be hard to say good-bye again at the end of the week.  His funeral will be Friday in Filer Idaho where he has lived for many years.  He will be buried in Salt Lake City Wasatch Lawn Cemetery on Saturday. 

I did not get to bed until 4:00 AM and we have had a very busy day.  We had three appointments and we are having the Young Adults for dinner on Sunday.  I hope I can get everything done before we leave and still have energy after the long flight.  Life is good.  I am at peace with all that is going on in my life.  So grateful for the great Plan of Salvation that teaches me the purpose of life.  I'm Homeward Bound!
Viel Liebe,
The Grimmett's

Jan. 27 - Feb. 2 Hello February

Sunday Dinner Guests

We had this wonderful family from Switzerland and the Elders for dinner.  The mother, Andrea was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ about 6 months ago by Elder Fishburn.  They wanted to come and visit him one last time before he returns home from his mission.  He made the arrangements with her the week before and I was happy to have them to our home for dinner.  It was a busy week with Zone Conference on Saturday, but I prepared the meat and other things on Friday so it would be ready on Sunday.  We had even gone to IKEA on Thursday and purchased additional chairs so that we would have enough.  On Sunday morning at 8:00 I received a text that the husband was very embarrassed that his wife had accepted an invitation to come to dinner and that they would not be coming.  I told Elder Grimmett that he needed to let them know that it was too late to back out and that the dinner was all prepared and we were expecting them.  Well, with a little dialogue back and forth with the missionaries they said they would come.  It was going to be a crazy day to begin with but we were looking forward to it.  We were just walking out the door to go to Lahr to visit the Branch of the Church there.  We would hurry home and have about 20 minutes to get everything on the table and last minute preparations before they were to arrive for dinner.  I had told the Elders I needed a little time after church for these final preparations on Saturday night when we dropped them off from Zone Conference.  They just kind of think the food shows up magically with not much effort.  So, we are just exiting off of the autobahn and I get a call from them and they say, "are you home yet?"  I told them we were 2 minutes according to GPS from home.  He said, we are at the church and will come, you will need to let us in to your parking area.  I thought it would take them some time to get loaded in the car - Wrong!  The whole way home I had planned what needed to be done and how we would use the 20 minutes we thought we had.  When we pulled into our parking and stopped for the gate, they pulled up right behind us.  You can imagine what I thought. OK, I took a breath and said, don't panic just have them help.  I am learning to be more flexible and to roll with the flow.  I was more nervous that they really did not want to be here and what was it going to be like.  I hurried upstairs while Russ showed them where to park and tried to stall.  They did not even know we were missionaries.  Everything went wonderful.  It only took about 3 minutes and the father, Jung, expressing his feelings of embarrassment and me putting some of them to work, that the barriers were broken and we had a wonderful day.   Jung is a professional Sushi chef at a Sushi Bar in Switzerland.  He is from Japan and he has lived in Switzerland for about 20 years.  So - no pressure for me, right?  I decided on a more Texas theme with Burrito Bowls with Pulled Pork, Lime Cilantro Rice, Beans and all the toppings of cheese, sour cream, salsa, chips and avocados, lettuce and even homemade Rio Ranch Dressing.  I had some taco soup left over from Saturday so I had some of that.  It was a nice feast and we ended with a fruit plate and chocolates.  Amazing how food can temper feelings and good conversation.  I told them that we are missionaries called to cook and entertain people in our home.  We were happy to have them with us and this is what we enjoy doing.  They have a 19 year old son who is autistic and just won the Special Olympic Taekwondo championship for Switzerland and will be competing at Nationals in Turkey next month.  If he wins he will go to the Olympics in Tokyo Japan in July.  He has an amazing story. His mother, Andrea is really excited to go with him for 6 days to Turkey.  We were able to share and relate to stories of dealing with autism and I think that made them feel more comfortable in our home.  They also have 3 wonderful daughters ages 16, 14 and 12.  They had planned to eat and then go to the Zoo for the rest of the day.  They ended up staying the whole day with us and did not leave until late afternoon.  We made friends and look forward to what the future brings for them.

Monday is District Meeting and this week it was a ZOOM call.  So glad we did not have to travel.  The Elders came to our home.  We had a really good training and meeting with the other missionaries.  I had planned to just serve hot chocolate and toast with honey butter.  We ended up starting with that and then I heated up the left overs from Sunday and served them lunch.  Good Day!

Tuesday P-Day.  We took the Elders and went to the Bern Switzerland Temple. We had a crazy drive to get there.  The missionaries were 15 min. late coming out to the car (later told us they had to get their exercise in and had not allowed enough time)  We get on the autobahn and the GPS tells us there is a 39 min. delay take alternate route.  Then it took us on another detour that said road closed ahead - the road it took us to was closed, Ugh!  We finally made it but had to wait an hour for the next session to start.  All things happen for a purpose and it turned out great.  We were going to meet about 10 other missionaries and go together but we missed them.  We had planned to go to lunch and by the time we finished the little shops close by had all closed for their afternoon break.  They close from 2:00 - 5:30 here.  My lucky day - IKEA to the rescue.  We had seen it on the way into town just off the highway and so we decided that would be the best place to go.  It was good and not too expensive as we were in Switzerland.  We had a much better drive home and a wonderful day all in all.

It was freezing cold and windy when we got home but we decided to bundle up and go for a walk to the store to pick up something for dinner and get some exercise after sitting for so long all day.  Invigorating.

Wednesday started with a teaching appointment.  The Elder's asked if they could teach a lesson at our home.  We were glad to have them and it was a good experience.  I mostly just listened but was able to share a few thoughts.  I was able to read in German as we each took a turn and it was good to participate. Nick is in his 50's and has been searching for a new church for a long time.  He was abused as a young man at his previous church and is still in therapy.  It has had a big impact on his life and he is trying to find peace.  He has a hard time trusting and having faith in anything.  I hope we can help him.
My turn to cook for Institute.  We still had soup from Saturday so I was able to use it for dinner.  I made bread, granola bars and peanut butter cookies.  The YSA loved the taco soup and salad.  They seem to really like Tex-Mex food.  They also ate a lot of bread and honey butter.  That is a new flavor for them as well.

Thursday was lunch with Katrina.  It is always an adventure and she loves having us.  We had the Elders with us today and had a wonderful lunch.  I think today was her best lunch yet.  It is always stuffed peppers, potatoes, rice, salad and soup.  I am either getting used to it or she really did good today.  After last time we visited and the smoke alarm going off, she said no more crepes.  They were actually the best part.  We were supposed to help her move furniture around today so I took cleaning supplies and was ready to work.  She said she was not ready and needs us to come back next week.  Some how one of the spray tops came off of the cleaning bottle in my sack and created a big puddle on her floor - oh well, it gave me a reason to clean her floor.  She keeps a tidy home but is not able to get down and really clean so I was hoping to help her today.  We will go back next week.  I think that was her way of getting us to come back sooner.

 We left her home and parted ways with the Elders so that we could go to our appointment with Amira.  We love the walk through the park to her apartment.  We usually see ducks but today there were these beautiful swans.  A beautiful winter day.  We have really enjoyed our lessons from Come Follow Me with Amira.  We studied Matthew 3, Mark 1 and Luke 3 today.  It was the continuation of the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist.  We talked about our own baptisms and it was a nice discussion.  The final thought from these chapters was the knowledge that the Bible teaches that the Godhead are three separate beings. At the Baptism of Jesus Christ,  God the Father spoke from heaven, and the Holy Ghost (represented by a dove) descended on the Savior as He was being baptized.  I am grateful for that additional insight as we studied this today.

We stopped at the store to pick up a few things and they had buckets of fresh tulips.  I love February and tulips.  They were so inexpensive and I bought some to brighten our apartment.  They are so beautiful and will last several days.  I am allergic to most flowers, but tulips are OK. 

We got a phone call from the Mission Office today that they would like us to look for a new apartment for the Elders.  They currently live on the 5th floor of a very old building and it is not in good condition.  We had recommended that they have them relocate.  They looked at the situation and are ready for us to move forward.  Unfortunately it is very difficult to find affordable and available places in Freiburg.  It will be almost triple the cost to what they are paying now, but it is needed.  So, it will keep us busy for the next while until we find something - and then the move - that will be a real adventure!  They do not have an elevator and it is a LOT of stairs to carry furniture and belongings down.  The story begins -

Friday was a much needed day at home catching up on sleep, cleaning, finances and laundry.  Sounds like P-Day this week.  I have always done our taxes and this year I am a little nervous about being here and getting everything right.  I spent the day gathering all of the documents and putting together all of our expenses.  Just a little stressful!

We come to the end of another week.  This week has been a roller coaster of emotion.  I am so grateful we were able to start the week in the Temple where I could go and put the outside world aside and just feel the love of Jesus Christ in instruction, pondering and prayer.  It was a great comfort to me the rest of the week.  Wednesday my Dad took a turn for the worse and is sick again.  The Doctors have recommended hospice and so the paperwork was drawn up and ready for it to be signed.  It was determined my Dad was not mentally stable enough to sign for himself.  My Brother has the Power of Attorney for his medical treatment and he will not sign the forms - so......it has been a difficult few days.  I have watched how other people have handled these situations over the years and hoped I would never have to deal with a family that was not unified in these decisions.  I continue to learn how we each see things in different ways - for good or bad.  It is hard to let our own feelings get in the way instead of looking at what is best for the person who needs our help.  I pray that this will be able to be taken care of in the coming days. 

We decided to spend the evening taking a drive to the Mountains to see the snow and lights at night.  We thought we would see some night skiing, but everything was closed.  It was absolutely beautiful.  I wish the photo was better to capture the scene.  We were high up on a mountain looking down into this little village on the hill.  It got really foggy as we got almost to the top and it was hard to see so we turned around and came back home.  It was a nice way to end the day.  We had found an American Taco Shop earlier in the day and thought we would try it out.  It was full and by reservation only.  We will go back sometime.  We decided to just go to our favorite Italian Place and get Pizza.  We had a really nice time.  You sit really close to the people next to you and we had a man sitting next to us who was eating by himself.  I finally had the courage to talk to him.  He spoke some English and between the three of us we had a great conversation.  He is a math teacher at the private school and teaches 16-18 year olds.  They were having an event at the school tonight so he was staying late and came over for dinner and was going back to the school event.  He said he only knew of the Catholic and Protestant Church and did not know of any others.  He said he knew about Christians but he was not interested in Religion.  We were not trying to talk to him about religion, but had just told him we were missionaries for our Church.  He asked us several questions about what we are doing.  He heard us talk and thought we were from England.  He told us of some great hiking places to go that are not very far from Freiburg.  We gave him our card and thanked him for the wonderful conversation.  As we were getting off of the tram a man looked at me and asked if I was an American.  I think he saw my name badge and must have known about missionaries.  I acknowledged that I was American and wished him a good evening and the door closed.  We love these little encounters and had to wonder what he saw that made him talk to us.  Great way to end the day.  Earlier in the day we had gone out to do some visiting.  We were waiting for the tram and a car was stopped at the light.  A little girl in the back seat of the car starting waving to me.  I waved back.  She just kept looking at me.  A little boy in another car saw me waving and he started waving.  When the car with the little girl started to leaved I again waved to her.  She waved and then turned around in her car seat and waved to me until the car was out of view.  The little boy across the street waved again.  There was a look in the little girls eyes that seemed like she was drawn to me.  Russ and I looked at each other and wondered, what was she seeing or thinking.  If nothing else, she brightened my day.  So, I have no doubt that The Lord is watching over us.  These little happenings today were very simple, but had a profound effect upon me.  It is hard to express the emotion of the moments. 

It is now Sunday and time for me to close.  Until next week,
Viel Liebe,
The Grimmett's

January 20-26, 2019

I am not sure where the week went but it seems like I was just clicking the Post button for last week. 

Elder Janousek & Elder Fishburn

We started today pulling out of the garage at 7:30 AM to pick up the Elders and head to Zurich for Zone Conference.  We arrived back home after a wonderful day of instruction, uplift, fellowship and good food at 7:30 PM. 

MONDAY we had another emergency change in our District.  Normally a missionary companionship is changed on a 6 week schedule.  You count your time in the mission based on how many transfer days.  Most companions stay together for at least 2 transfers and sometimes up to 4.  We have had a crazy transfer schedule just in the last 4 weeks.  In December there was a missionary in Switzerland that needed to go home and so because we had 3 Elders it was necessary to take Elder Falkena and send him to Switzerland.  He was sad to leave just a few days before Christmas, but was also glad to be going back to Switzerland.  So we were back to 2 Elders.  Then 2 weeks ago we had the emergency transfer of Elder Odro who we took to meet his parents and return home.  So, because missionaries have to be in a companionship with at least 2 at all times, They had to combine our lone Elder with the Schwenningen Elders and have them try to cover  both areas until the next transfer date in February.   That is the city Elder Fishburn came from in December when Elder Silva completed his mission and went home - so he was thrilled to be back with his old companion and Elder Sides.  They were making it work and we enjoyed having the three together.  Are you confused yet?  So on Sunday evening we received a call that there was another emergency transfer - a car accident with some missionaries - they were not injured but can no longer drive a mission car and so it necessitated a change - SO they came to our threesome and made it two and sent a new Elder to Schwenningen with Elder Sides.  We are back to two Elders and they will hopefully finish out the last 18 days of the transfer with no further changes.  Elder Fishburn will be going home on Feb. 14 and we will receive a new Elder.  That means that Elder Fishburn has had 3 changes in his last month of being in the mission - no time to get trunky (homesick) and certainly something to remember. 

Elder Sides & Elder Kuttler

 We got a call Monday afternoon and they said Elder Kuttler from Texas would be arriving to be companions with Elder Sides and would it be possible for us to pick him up at the Train Station.  The other Elders were still in Schwenningen and would get there as soon as they could.  We asked if they would like dinner when they arrived and they said yes, that would be great.  So, I hurried and made spaghetti and salad and we set the table and went to the Train Station to pick up Elder Kuttler.  Well, they told us the wrong train and so we waited and got a call that he had arrived and was told to go to McDonald's - you have to love the comforts of home when you are feeling lost or alone!  We went and he was nowhere to be found.  Well, we got there before he did and so we met up and brought him to our home.  The other Elder's arrived and said, we just came from a dinner appointment and we are stuffed.  Sis. Grimmett - you have already set the table - we feel so bad.  Oh the life of missionaries.  We talked to them 3 times after they said they wanted to come for dinner and they could have said, we stopped to say goodbye to a family and they asked us to stay for dinner, you won't need to feed us.  Well, Russ and I had spaghetti for the rest of the week!

Update on my Dad.  He was able to return to his home at the Care Center on Monday.  He was so glad to be back home in his familiar surroundings and in his own bed.  He is determined to enjoy life to the end.  He is feeble, but is back playing BINGO and going to exercise class.  We are taking one day at a time.  

We were invited to have lunch with Sister Runge again on Wednesday.  She served in the same mission with Russ many years ago.  She served us a specialty here called Raclette.  It is actually Swiss.  She has a really nice electric Raclette maker where you put your cheese on a tray and put it under the heat.  It melts the cheese and you put it over boiled potatoes.  It was SOOO good.  She kept saying we needed to eat more potatoes until they were all gone.  It was a delightful afternoon and we really appreciate her efforts in our behalf.  She enjoyed the company as well and shared many stories of her life with us.

I have been asked to teach a bread making class for the women at Church in February.  I am looking forward to sharing my bread making skills with them.  I was grateful they asked.  I will just have to have a translator to help.
I was also asked to help with a Healthy Food Fair in February.  They have liked the vegetarian foods I have made and want to learn and know more.  I ordered more of my Cookbooks and found out they have a French office and it is printed here in Europe so we did not have to pay International shipping.  I have already received them and we are still waiting for Christmas packages to arrive that were mailed in early December from the USA.  February is already filling up - I hope I am up for the challenge.

Thursday was shopping day for Zone Conference.  It is a major job to purchase enough food for 80 people!  I started making some of the food.  It was a very busy day. 
Friday is Cooking Day!

 I started the day with making 12 loaves of Italian Corn Bread.  My own invention.  This is my Italian Bread made with half corn mehl.  It turns out really good for a yeast corn bread and then I made honey butter to go with it. 

I made Taco soup for 45 - These are like Home Depot buckets full of soup.  Lots of Soup!  I also made one recipe of Vegetarian Taco Soup.  One of the other Senior Couples is making Chicken Tortilla Soup and then Green Salad and all of the toppings for the soup and salad.  It is really good that it is very cold outside - my balcony has turned into a winter fridge.  

I completed the day of cooking with this Cinnamon Streusel Cake that we will serve for dessert.  It is not my Honey Bun Cake, but it turned out good.  You cannot get cake mixes here so everything has to be made from scratch so I had to adjust the recipe a little. 

Zone Conference Lunch was a great success.  It was a feast.  I was told there would be 15 additional people for lunch and to plan accordingly.  We planned for 80 people.  After the meetings started and the guests came in, I counted 25.  They were supposed to register but in the end we served almost 100 people.  I am so grateful that we were serving soup - lots of soup.  It was like feeding the 5000.  We had plenty and some to spare.  All of the bread, salad and desserts were eaten.  It was a beautiful Texas spread with Taco Soup, Chicken Tortilla Soup with tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream, olives, avacados, homemade salsa, great green salad, bread with honey butter and dessert. 

A few takeaways from Zone Conference:
LIGHT
In John 1:4-9 we read, "In him was life; and the life was the light of men.  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."  
God is Light.  The Glory of God is intelligence; in other words light and truth.  To keep this light we must read the scriptures and then obey the commandments and what they say.  We must act upon the knowledge we receive.
"I want light more than I want to be right"   Notice when light leaves your countenance, seek light and act upon it.  Fill your life with loving others.  Sister Brown (Mission Presidents wife)

President Brown shared 3 Nephi 9:15-18
"Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God, I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. . . . I am the light and the life of the world.  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end."

He then asked us to ponder on:
1. How has Jesus Christ been the beginning of something in my life?
Like, I began serving a mission because of my faith and testimony of Jesus Christ.

2.  How has Jesus Christ been the end of something in my life?
Example:  Jesus Christ ended the pain and sorrow of death and brought me peace and comfort.

I invite you to ponder on these same questions.

I am so grateful for Pres. and Sister Brown and their wonderful leadership and their testimonies of Jesus Christ.  It is always a great day when we are taught and trained by them.
Our District was asked to provide a musical number today.  We sang Abide With Me.  It was beautiful and it was very nice that they included the Senior Missionaries.   

A family from Switzerland that Elder Fishburn taught the lessons to and Baptized the mother asked if they could come and go to church with him on Sunday.  He asked if they could come to our Sunday Family Home Evening group that we have over on Sunday afternoons.  We had a change of plans for the group due to a special Stake Meeting for all YSA, so I invited them to come to dinner.  What started out to be 2 additional people is now the whole family coming and I will be having 10 for dinner.  We went to IKEA on Thursday and purchased more chairs and I cooked most of the food on Friday so I would not have to worry about it when I arrived home Saturday evening.  It is Saturday evening and I am really glad I have dinner done so that I can finish this blog post.  It is time to close - I am falling asleep at the computer.
This week was not very eventful, but very busy in supporting the young missionaries.  We are so glad to be here doing what we are doing.  Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Viel Liebe,
The Grimmett's