Happy Halloween! We had a fun time with some of our YSA on Halloween Night. We carved pumpkins and ate lots of good food. For two of them it was the first time they had ever carved a pumpkin. It was fun to see how creative they were and then light them all up. My favorite part of Halloween is all things Pumpkin.
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| All Lit Up |
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| Caleb |
These pictures are some of the YSA we love serving.
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| Cat Woman |
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| Michael |
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| Jeremy |
We had 7 from the BYU study abroad students and 6 from our YSA. We were planning on about 30, but the ones who came had fun. The Missionaries had planned to come, but were given a 6:00 curfew to be in their apartments because of it being Halloween.
The fun part for me was to create the foods that looked fun and tasted good. They were amazed that I made it all and that they really enjoyed it. We had a fruit pumpkin - mandarin oranges with grape mouth and raspberry eyes. Apple slices with homemade caramel dip. It's not a party without Texas Salsa, chips, cheese sauce and guacamole coming out of a pumpkins mouth! We made mummy hotdogs, and homemade bread with pumpkin soup. The soup was the big hit of the night.
Recipe at the end of the blog.
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| Pumpkin Soup |
The girl that was in charge decided not to come and did not tell me. We had to pull the party together at the last minute and with the food I had been assigned to bring and the pumpkins we bought last Saturday, we pulled it together. Grateful this was not our first time for a Halloween Party! One of the advantages of having a Senior Missionary Couple - they tell us we have experiences to offer and resources that others do not have.
This week was filled with 3 trips to the Dentist's office. I had to get a tooth filled and a new crown on the other side of my mouth. I had a temporary crown put on and will get my permanent one next Wednesday. Let's just say I have not been eating very much solid food this week. My mouth is still healing from the extraction last week. I hope next week is the end of Dental visits until I get home. Meeting this Dentist has been a real experience. He is a free spirit. He loves music and likes to sing. He plays music on his sound system and then sings along with it. Even I was moving my feet to the beat of the music. Usually it is classical, but for me he played American Oldies like "House of the Rising Sun" and Elvis.
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| St. Charles Borromeo Cemetery Church |
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Thursday was Reformation Day - a Protestant Christian religious holiday in remembrance of the onset of the Reformation. Oct. 31, 1517 was the day German monk Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five These on the door of the All saints' Church in Wettenberg in the Holy Roman Empire. Martin Luther wrote to the Archbishop of Mainz protesting against the sale of indulgences. Luther had no intention of confronting the church, but saw his disputation as a scholarly objection to church practices, and the tone of the writing is accordingly searching, rather than doctrinaire. Thesis 86 asks: "Why does the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build the basilica of St. Peter with the money of poor believers rather than with his own money?" He insisted that since forgiveness was God's alone to grant, those who claimed that indulgences absolved buyers from all punishments and granted them salvation were in error. Christians, he said, must not slacken in following Christ on account of such false assurances. This event sparked the Reformation. It is celebrated mostly by Lutherans and Reformed Churches and us a holiday in Germany, Slovenia, Chile and in some areas of Switzerland and Austria.
Friday was All Saint's Day and a National Holiday. Saturday is All Soul's Day and is just observed by some areas. With Friday being a Holiday and everything closed, we ventured out in the bitter cold and visited the Vienna City Cemetery. It is one of the largest cemeteries in the world by number of interred. It was opened on All Saints' Day in 1874 and is located in the far outskirts of the city borders. It did not come without controversy. The interdenominational character of the new cemetery - the different faith groups being interred on the same ground - met with fierce resistance, especially in the conservative circles of the Roman Catholic Church.
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| Priests Burial Section |
The cemetery is 620 acres (2.5km) with 330,000 interments and up to 25 burials daily. The Central Cemetery has a dead population of almost twice the present living residents of Vienna. The Cemetery Church was built in 1908-1920 by Max Hegele. The crypt of the Austrian Federal Presidents is located in front of the church - as shown in the above picture.
This is the crypt of the Second President of current Austria. The flowers were beautiful.
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| Strauss |
Vienna has been a city of music since time immemorial, and the city
expressed gratitude to the composers by granting them monumental tombs.
Beethoven and Schubert were moved to the Central Cemetery in 1888.
A cenotaph honors Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who is buried in nearby St. Marx Cemetery.
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| Brahms |
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| Schubert |
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| Beethoven |
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| Mozart |
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| Mozart |
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| Mountain Man |
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| Grave of Honor Section |
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| Grave of Honor |
The cemetery is divided into sections based on religious denomination. There is a Catholic, Protestant and two Jewish cemeteries within the larger cemetery. One of the Jewish cemeteries was destroyed by the Nazis. The second one was built in 1917 and is still used today.
There is an Islam, Russian Orthodox, Romanian Orthodox, Bulgarian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Protestant, Lutheran, Calvinist, Buddhist and a section for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was established on September 19, 2009, currently with 13 graves. We actually met a family in this section that we know from Church that was visiting the graves of their Grandfather and Uncle. We loved the Memorial statue in the center of the area. It is a statue of Jesus Christ with a little child holding on to Him with a Mother and Father standing looking at them. The bottom of the statue tells about Eternal Families. It is one of my favorite statues depicting a child being taken from it's parents and received by Jesus. It brings great comfort to me as I have experienced that with our son, Eric. Of all of the statues, this one is of Hope, Peace, and Comfort. So grateful once again, for my knowledge of the Plan of our Heavenly Father for us to come to this earth and gain a body and return home to him. For some it is after a long life - for others it is as an infant or small child. Each one of us has a purpose and a mission and when it is complete we are called Home to be with our Father in Heaven.
We spent about 2 hours at the cemetery and really enjoyed the walk and the history that is there. We did not begin to see all of it, but enjoyed what we were able to see. It was a great way to spend the day remembering all those who have lived and died.
We ended the day having a Dinner with a family who are friends of the Church. Their 9 year old son was baptized a few weeks ago. They are from Syria and have been in Austria for 8 years. We made Chicken Schnitzel with spatzle (noodles) and gravy with bread and a fruit tray. They brought the best chicken with rice and a chocolate lemon cake. I made chocolate zucchini bread. They were a delightful family. The children are wonderful. They speak German and Kurdish and translate for their parents who speak some German, Kurdish and Arabic. She is going to come back and teach me how to make her stuffed grape leaves for our Christmas Dinner. We cannot communicate very well, but we had an immediate connection and I look forward to spending a day with her and the Sister Missionaries making the Grape leaf rolls.
We have been planning for this P-Day for about 2 months. We spent the day with Elder and Sister Homer and Elder and Sister Lloyd from the Mission Office. We love visiting sights with them and today was a real treat.
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| Garden Entrance |
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| Tower built in 1100's |
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| Chapel |
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| Garden Terrace |
The MELK was originally built as a Fortress
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| Garden Path in Fall |
for the House of Babenberg, Austria's first ruling dynasty. The abbey was founded in 1089 as a castle and soon after given to the Benedictine monks. The monastic library soon became renowned for its extensive manuscript collection. It has over 1,000 books in the working library and has been in use since it was established in the 1100's. Today's Baroque abbey was built between 1702 and 1736. When it was renovated in the 1700's, because it was a gift from the ruling dynasty, a Royal residence was required for their visits. One side of the Abby is for that purpose and currently is the museum and school. The school currently has 900 students from ages 10-18 and accepts students from any religion. It is widely known for its academic excellence.
The Austrian Benedictine monasteries have a unique character. Most people picture a monk as a community of men living, praying and working together in a monastery, never leaving the sight. In Austria, historical conditions led to unique circumstances. The founders of the Austrian monasteries granted the monks property, not only to provide them with a livelihood, but also with the expectation that they would act as missions and civilize the areas under their control. They work in the parishes instead of in the monastery. Their lives are very similar to those of diocesan priests. They have a code of behavior that states they are to first
Listen. Much learning comes from listening. They are to
Read - the library is very important,
Pray, and Work. There are currently 37 monks in residence.
They do not allow any photography inside. The frescoes by Paul Troger
and others are some of the most beautiful of the Baroque period. It is
by far the most beautiful Church we have been in.The Alter is massive and tells an wonderful story. They told us that the reason all of the Church's have paintings and pictures is because the Mass was given in Latin and the people could not understand it so they had pictures and painting depicting the stories of the Bible that they could see and help to understand what they were being taught. This High Alter piece shows Peter and Paul in the lower middle bidding each other their final good-bye with other Apostles and Prophets on each side. At the top is God in the middle on top of a globe looking down on the world. Moses and Aaron are on either side. The crown in the middle is being held by angels waiting to crown the people with Jesus Christ. On each side are angels, one holding an upside down cross and the other a sword depicting the deaths of Peter and Paul. The chapel is designed with all artwork and paintings describing Heaven. It was the first time of all the churches we have visited that there was an explanation of the room and it really made a difference in understanding the purpose. We stayed for one of their services and the Organ was wonderful.
Our second stop was
Aggstein - Austria's most well-known castle ruin!
It sits high above the Danube on two steep rocky outcrops in the heart of one of the finest river landscapes in the world.
It was an important fortress that belonged to various well-known Austrian noble families over the centuries. A drawing by Wolf Huber (1485-1553) dating from the 16th century shows the Castle still intact. It is a prominent Middle Ages Castle. It was the best ruin we have been to. It has been well preserved and very interesting to tour.
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| Rock fortified walls |
The Rock walls were filled in to make a solid wall from the rock
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| Important room in the Castle |
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formations. The workmanship was very skilled. It is hard to imagine living in such isolation. 12 guards were assigned to protect the property. Large armies were not a threat, but a bigger concern was small groups sent to overthrow the family dynasty.
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| Danube Valley |
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| Dining Hall |
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| Tower |
The views were spectacular. We would like to take a cruise down the Danube some time. They have short ones between the cities. We had so much fun climbing over the rocks and up and down the wood stairs finding interesting sights along the way. We were with wonderful people who made the day even better. It gets dark around 4:00 now, so our time was limited as the afternoon grew late. We had a nice drive home along the Danube all the way to Vienna. It was so fun driving on the back roads and not on the highway. It was deep in Wine Country and beautiful vineyards in their Fall colors. It was unfortunate that the daylight did not last very long and most of the drive was in the dark. We will have to return and see what we missed.
All of the Grandkids seemed to really enjoy Halloween this year. We were so excited that they all sent us pictures - so we have to share.
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| Kelly |
Kelly and Shannon would have
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| Jamie |
loved being in the Ruin today. They
would have fit in nicely. They just turned 18 and are busy in their Senior year of School.
Jamie just celebrated his 9 3/4 Birthday with a Harry Potter Party. He fits the part well.
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| Zach and Emma |
These are our Minnesota kids. Not sure how Emma survived the cold to get this picture taken. They filled a carry on suitcase with candy from their Trick or Treating outing in the neighborhood. I hope they share.
Emily as the neighborhood Witch with her two kids, Logan (10) and Preslee (8). This is Emily's favorite time of year and she plays the part well. He kids get the benefit of her love for the season.
Wrapping up with William and Nora in Wichita, Kansas ages 6 and 4. Ghost Busters and Toy Story were represented well. They have posing for the camera down!
I love how creative all of them were and how much they express themselves and enjoy doing it. Thanks to everyone for sharing the cute pictures.
Sorry for the Novel this week - so much going on in our lives to share. We look forward to a wonderful November especially the beginning of the Christmas season. We do not have Thanksgiving here so Christmas is getting into full swing and it feels good. Perspective is everything - depending on where you are.
In everything we do, we see the influence of Jesus Christ in our lives. We are so grateful to be serving and helping others to see the power and influence and need for Jesus Christ in our lives. From Halloween Parties with the YSA to Cemeteries to Monasteries and Ruins to Family - we see how relationships, knowledge of the Plan of Salvation, Religious preservation and knowing Families are Forever, we see the hand of God in all things.
Viel Liebe,
The Grimmett's
Recipe for Pumpkin Soup below:
8 cups Chicken Stock 1 1/2 tsp Salt
4 Carrots, chopped 2 Onions, chopped
4 Garlic Cloves, chopped 4 Celery stocks, chopped
Cook above in chicken stock until soft. Puree in blender or food processor.
5 1/2 cups pumpkin or squash. Bake in oven or steam on stove and then
puree.*
1/2 tsp. fresh Thyme or 1 tsp. dried
2 cups milk or half and half
Black Pepper
Stir all ingredients together and heat to warm. Can make the day before without the milk and then before serving, stir in the milk and heat to serving temperature. Can garnish with 2 Tbl. parsley with a sprinkle of pumpkin oil.
For a heartier soup you can add the following:
2 lbs. hamburger or sausage
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, minced
4 cups cooked rice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
Brown onion, garlic and hamburger. Stir in soy sauce and brown sugar. Mix to blend. Add to soup mixture. Add cooked rice.
* Baking the pumpkin or cooking in an Insta Pot gives you a thicker puree than when it is steamed on the stove.
