Dec. 8-14, 2019 Train Travel

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN GOOD FRIENDS GET TOGETHER -

EAT OF COURSE!

We had a wonderful week traveling back to Germany to visit our previous Zurich Zone Missionary Senior Couples, The Blanchards and the Bretzings.  We had a great gathering as we called it as we visited, did a service project, played games, visited sites, and ate a lot of good food.
Below is our family style dinner at a wonderful restaurant in Singen Germany.  It was Sauerbraten, Dumplings with a meatball inside, spatzle, cheese spazle, potatoes, bread, pumpkin soup and salad.  Sauerbraten is a traditional German roast of marinated meat.  It is known as a  national dish

Dumplings and Spatzle

 and is frequently served in German-style restaurants internationally.  We were at a 120 year old family owned restaurant where the owner came to the table at visited and took pictures with us.  Fun evening for all.

This is a picture of the owner and our waitress. 
We started the day with fresh biscuits and gravy, fruit and yogurt and lots of wonderful juices.  There is nothing like good food and wonderful friends!

Biscuits and Gravy

Our adventure began on Thursday morning at 7:00 AM.  We decided to take a train instead of driving for 9 hours.  It was a grand adventure.  We boarded the train and sat back and enjoyed the journey.

  Trains have become a way of life for us.  The long distance trains are much nicer than the ones we use around Vienna.  It was less expensive than renting a car and much less wear and tear on our physical well being.  I was finally able to see some of the scenery as we went along instead of just driving and watching the road.  We had several stops, but not long enough to even get off of the train.
Linz, Salzburg, Liechtenstein, Innsbruck, Zurich and Singen.  It began snowing soon after we departed Vienna and we were so glad we were not driving with the traffic and the weather to contend with.

outside of Salzburg

 You see places on a train you do not see in a car.  The clouds, fog, snow and sun rays created some very interesting scenes.  My camera and the moving train did not make for very good pictures.  One of the fun things was getting to go through Liechtenstein.  Since I had nothing but time, I did some research to find out "Who is Liechtenstein"! 

Liechtenst

Rhine Falls

It is a German-speaking (but really Swiss German) principality between Austria and Switzerland.  It is 25 km long  with an area of 62 square miles with only 5 kilometers of train rails in the whole country.  It is Europe's fourth -smallest country with a population of 38,000 people.  It is known for its medieval castles, alpine landscapes and villages linked by a network of trails.  It is a cultural and financial center.  Hilti tools is located here.  It is a semi-constitutional monarchy headed by the Prince of Liechtenstein.  Two of the princes live in Vienna where they have a large art collection.  It is mountainous, making it a winter sport destination.  It shares a monetary union with Switzerland.  Catholicism is the official state religion.  In schools, religious education in Roman Catholicism or Lutheran is legally required.  75.9% adhere to the Roman Catholic faith with 9.6% Protestant and 5.4% Islam.   It is a very wealthy country and the homes we saw were a good indication of that.

After being in the mountains for several hours and nearing our final destination, we emerged out of the mountains and the river was next to us and then Rhine Falls appeared.  We visited here in Sept. of 2018 just after we arrived in Germany.  We took a boat ride close to the falls.  This was a different view and it was beautiful. 


We were warmly welcomed by our friends and we all stayed at the home of Elder and Sister Blanchard.  They have one of the nicest homes in the mission.  It is large and they can accommodate up to 10 in beds. 

 They have turned their 400 year old cellar into a lovely bedroom.  We opted to take the cellar bedroom.  They have worked really hard to make it comfortable for guests.  You walk down these very old stairs and enter into this stone room. It is amazing to see the old and new construction.  The original alcove in the wall was a wonderful space for a night light. 

We ended our first night with a very special Christmas tradition.

This is a Christmas Pyramid or Tower.  We were each asked to tell a story or experience that expresses our feelings of Christmas or of blessings we have received this past year.  We each took a turn and when we finished our story we lit a candle.  In the end we had all 6 candles lit and the tower was spinning.  It was a wonderful evening of sharing and it also strengthened our friendships and love of serving as missionaries. 
We were able to take care of some German Banking business that we needed done and then we were all off to Insel Mainau -  this is an Island on the Bodensee that we have visited a few times before.  Their brochure and website say it is a winter wonderland and a great place to visit in December.  We were glad to be able to return and use our Season Passes one more time.  It is good that we had good people to be with and other things that made the trip worthwhile.

Instead of a large Christmas market as advertised with Swedish traditions and cooking classes, we found the island almost deserted and barely open.  They said some things would open later in the day.  It was a disappointment, but still worth the visit.
This is a large group of ducks and swans gathered together  for the Winter season. 

 This is the famous peacock on the island.  It is dormant at the time.  It will be beautiful again in the Spring.

 Beautiful rainbow as the snow had stopped and a little rain had fallen.  The sun was trying to come out and the sky was beautiful.

 Two funny men resting under the mistletoe tree.  I wonder who they can be?

Swedish Market

 The advertisements said this was a large Swedish market with entertainment, cooking classes and food.  It consisted of this tower, these two Swedish reindeer and 4 small food and gift booths.  We had fun with all of it anyway.

Nativity inside of the Palace Church

The Blanchard's, Bretzing's and Grimmett's

 They were getting ready for the Lucia festival that evening.  This is a Swedish tradition.  The decorations were very festive and beautiful.  They let us go in and take pictures.  That was the highlight of the island.

Another interesting place on the Island is the Butterfly house.  We saw this transparent butterfly and it was so interesting.  There were many of them on the plants and this one was particularly interesting next to the flower.  Take a close look and see that you can see through the wings. 

We went to dinner at the restaurant I told about above and then settled in to complete a service project by filling 90 bags for a Christmas treat for the missionaries.  They had a apple, orange, nuts, candy, chocolates and a candy cane.  We had a lot of fun working together and talking.  We ended the night with a few games of Skipbo.  The day went way too fast and it was a long way to go for a short visit, but it was worth every minute of it. 
Saturday we were up early and back at the train station for our return trip.  Once again, we were so grateful we were not driving and could enjoy the ride home and catch up on some reading and planning for the next weeks activities.

These are pictures of Lake Zurich.  It is a very large lake and some beautiful homes and resorts all around the lake.  Again, the sky gave us a beautiful canvas to look at.

castle on the hill

Innsbruck

This is the mountain that we rode the train up and then climbed a little to the top back in October.  We were there when they got their first snow fall.  It has a lot more snow now and lots of skiing in the area.

These three days were a wonderful Christmas Present.  We are so grateful to have wonderful friends and our Mission President who let us take the time and go.  It will help us get through the next ten days before Christmas!

 We had 4 missionaries for Sunday dinner.  At the end of dinner we shared a Christmas tradition and then lit the Nativity tower.  There is something about fire that mesmerizes people.  This picture shows everyone intent on watching the lit candles providing the power for the tower to spin.  It was magical to watch them.

 So what do you do when you need to make a cake for a Birthday on Monday and it calls for apple sauce and you don't  have any?  MAKE SOME!  I took some apples and put them in my insta pot and in about 10 minutes I had the best homemade applesauce.  I made this Chocolate Chip cake for Elder Bennett and it turned out really good. Again, everything made from scratch, even when I don't really want to.

Elder Bennett blowing out the candle.

Shenan Owens, one of our BYU students came by the Institute on Monday afternoon with her mother. They had just completed a 10 day tour of Germany, Hungary and Italy.  We were so glad to see her again before she flies back to the USA on Tuesday morning.  Her mother brought me a very nice Texas Dish towel and some Steak seasoning from Buckee's.  Now that is Texas Hospitality!

 On Tuesday we took about an hour and went to see the Christmas market at Schonbrunn Palace.  It was one of our favorites.  It was local craftsman instead of all the import vendors.  It was really nice, but a very cold and windy day. 

Potato Vendor

 This is a Potato cooker.  Being from Idaho, we just had to have a picture.  Next to it is the booth to get all things baked potato.  It looked like a good place to eat.

We enjoyed looking at the many booths and varied wares for sale.




So, we were just planning to look for a few gifts and I did find what I was looking for and then, there was a nice booth that all items were made from beeswax.  The Nativities were simple and very unique, so yes, I broke down and purchased another Nativity.  It was made in Hungary and the collection continues to grow!

We left the market and met two of our Sister missionaries and another friend of the Church who is from Turkey.  She took us to a Turkish market to shop and is going to help me make the food for our Zone Conference on Dec. 23.  She is going to teach us how to do stuffed grape leaves and then I am doing our traditional Night in Bethlehem dinner.  We had so much fun at the market and the young sister missionaries learned a lot.  They were fascinated by the market and all that it offered.  They had never been in a Turkish market and it was a real experience for them.  I will write more on the dinner next week.

Wednesday was our last Institute class for this year.  We will have a 3 week break and then start back in January.  We had another record group with 41 and I had about 10 in the English class.  We have a good group and I really enjoy the class.  We talked about the time between the death and burial of Jesus Christ and His resurrection three days later.  According to modern day revelation, as found in the Doctrine and Covenants Section 138, we know that Jesus Christ spent that time in the Spirit World with the righteous spirits who had died before him and were waiting for His resurrection so that they too could be resurrected.  It was because of those three days and what work He did during that time that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints builds Temples on the earth today.  We have a great work in continuing the work He set up for us to do in behalf of those who have died.  It was a lesson that I learned so much from as I prepared.  It was a great lesson to end the year on as we prepare for the Christmas Season and the Birth of Jesus Christ. 

So, all in all and very good week.  We continue to stay too busy, but anxiously engaged in The Lord's work.  We are doing the needful things and some of the things we have done in past years are on hold for now.  We have a different purpose and focus in our lives right now and we are trying to make the most of where we are and what we are doing.  We have so enjoyed the Christmas cards we have received - it really means a lot to us.  I am hoping to get ours out to everyone this week. 
Viel Liebe,
The Grimmett's

Dec. 1-7, 2019 Light the World and Transfer Week

This has been an amazing week for so many reasons.  I can't believe it is already December and the first week is even in the books. It has definitely been a #Light the World Week.

We attended church in two different Wards on Sunday and really enjoyed being with so many people.  We love the International Ward and they are all so friendly to us.  We said good-bye to the BYU study abroad students and we will really miss them.  So glad to have met so many students from all walks of life. Jordan and Jackson were the Student TA's for the semester and they brought a life to the group and Institute that was remarkable.  We really enjoyed their leadership and contribution to all of our activities.

 Monday was District Council and the final meeting for 9 of our

South District

missionaries.  We are loosing half of our group to transfers and 2 going home.  It is a tradition in the Districts to take these pictures at that last council showing how many transfers you have served.  They did not think it would be a good idea for us to have our own stack of chairs, so Elder Grimmett is standing next to the stack indicating how long we have been out.  In our District, we are the senior chair with Sis. Griffith.  She goes home on January 2.  That is when we were scheduled to go home, but with our extension, we will not return until April.  As you can see, our District is a much younger one than the other one in our Zone.  Elder Kuttler from College Station Texas and Sis. Daynes from Utah returned home on Wednesday.  They were great leaders and we loved serving with them.  We attended our meeting first and fixed them homemade chicken noodle soup with bread and then we took the leftovers and visited the South District to share and to take pictures.  It was a very busy day.  We left these meetings and were off to the Institute to get ready for Family Home Evening.

YSA girls

sign by Leoni

We had a great time with the missionaries putting up the tree.  They were a great help getting things ready before the YSA arrived.  Everyone found their niche in decorating and just went to work.  They transformed the Institute into a very festive place.

Wilson dreaming with mistletoe

The Christmas tree

I spent most of the time in the kitchen making waffles, fruit and hot punch.  We had about 10 helping and
it was a nice evening.  We did not leave until 10:30 and the 4 girls were still doing their decorating.  We called it a night.

I found this glass Nativity at a free giveaway day and it is just perfect for the Institute.  It lights up and looks great when you come in the door.

We have had so many people stop and come in just to ask what this place is and what we do inside.  There is a lot of activity here and people notice.

 Tuesday started with an austelung with the South District.  We participated with our District last Tuesday for a little while and had such a good time we decided we would join this group on Tuesday.  It was very cold, but they stayed warm by walking up and down the street talking to people.  Elder Kuttler had 1 Book of Mormon with his testimony in it left to give out with about 5 minutes left before packing up.  This would be his very last act as a missionary before he left the mission on Wednesday and he really wanted to find someone to give it to.  I really wanted him to be able to find someone who would talk to him and who would accept the gift.  He was successful within minutes of walking away.  He came back so excited!  I thought it would be so neat if I could have the courage to talk to someone and share the Book of Mormon. 

Elder Kuttler sharing the love

As they were packing up the bike, I turned around and noticed a man watching what was going on.  I approached him and asked him how he was doing.  He started talking to me in another language - not German and seemed very interested.  I motioned for Elder Grimmett to come and help.  He came over with Elder Olsen and in broken German and English we found out he was from Romania and could speak French as well.  He accepted a Book of Mormon - we had one in Romanian - and we gave him our card.  I knew that the silent prayer I had in my heart was answered.  It was wonderful to be a small part of that group and to truly feel the love of Jesus Christ as we served.  It was a busy day of packing, emailing, eating, and good-byes as many of the missionaries were leaving.

We said our first good-bye's to Sis. Daynes on Tuesday night.

Zone Leaders and STL's

 She had to leave a day early to go to Salzburg and unregister in the country.  The immigration laws are getting very difficult.  It is getting harder and more costly for us to have missionaries in these European countries.
We add a lot of excitement to the train station on transfer days.

Wednesday morning we were back at the train station for the remaining 8 missionaries to leave.  That is a lot of missionaries to say good-bye to.  We will only be receiving 7 new ones this transfer. We could not say good-bye to Elder Kuttler - it was just too hard.  We served a short time in Freiburg with him and it was so good to be with him in Vienna.

Elder Kuttler

Elder Hull

Elder Garlick

Elder Duce

Sisters Hepworth and Mendenhall

Elder Vargas

This was a dedicated group of missionaries that we have served with for the past few months.  We have grown to love them and they are mission family.  They are from all walks of life and from England, Spain and the United Sates.  They each bring their own talents and personalities and with the Lord's help, they do a mighty work of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  As we say good-bye, we look forward to meeting the new missionaries and loving them as well.

On Thursday we started a free English Conversation Class and so I made some cookies and finished preparations for our Institute class on Wednesday evening.  Our Institute Director, Esther, has her mother visiting from Anchorage Alaska and she came and fixed the dinner for Wednesday night.  We became fast friends and it was so fun visiting with her and helping a little in the kitchen. I loved her hair cut and told her I had been trying to get a cut like that since I had been on my mission.  She said she comes to Vienna every few months and always gets her hair cut at a great cheap place.  So on Thursday she called and asked if I would like to go with her and get our hair cut.  We arranged for Friday and was it ever and adventure.  I wanted to take pictures, but I could not for privacy reasons.  It was only about 20 minutes from our apartment in the Turkish section of Vienna.  I love the market in the neighborhood.  After Russ rode with me on the S-bahn and walked me to the door of their apartment, we parted ways.  He would return home and I was sure I could find my way home.  So, I could not even find the right apartment number, but I finally found it.  We then set out to find the salon.  So you have two foreign "old" ladies walking the streets looking for the shop.  I her defence, it had been two months since she had been there and most of the shops look the same.  We finally found the right one.  There was a whole wedding party getting their hair done for an afternoon wedding.  They were all beautiful Turkish woman with long beautiful hair.  It was amazing watching them transform their hair into different styles.  The matriarch of the group was elegant with the hair to match.  Everyone had a specific job.  They had the hairwashers, the blow dryers, the assistants to the hair stylists and the make-up artists - everyone busy doing their jobs.  I had a wonderful time and got the best haircut I have had in a very long time and only $25.  We then went to a - you guessed it - Turkish restaurant and had a delicious lunch.  It was getting late and I needed to get home to get ready to go to the Institute for the day.  I said good-bye to my new friend and headed to the S-bahn.  I knew Russ would be wondering where I was.  I had the phone with me and so I sent him an email that I was on my way - no response.  I got to our building and thought, I will just use the buzzer and have him buzz me in instead of getting my keys out.  Well, someone else was going in at the same time and let me in.  So I went up the elevator and got off and went to use my key to get in and a man sitting on the stairs says, "I am sure glad you are home."  I look up and it is Russ.  He had forgotten his keys when we left home and could not get back in the apartment.  I had the only phone so he could not call and find out where I was to come and get my keys.  It was really cold outside, but he went to a mall and walked around and tried to kill time.  It was a crazy morning to say the least.  Oh, the joys of being a Senior Missionary.

We had 30 people respond to our ads for the English Class.  We were not sure how many would actually come.  We made all of the preparations with handouts and lesson plans and of course good cookies and hot punch.  We had three attend.  They were from the countries of Georgia and Afghanistan.  It was a delightful evening and I think they all enjoyed it.  They said they would return next week.  They each had their own story to tell.  So many people give so much to have a better life.  They are all well educated, but want to learn better English to get better jobs.  We think the class will grow each week and we look forward to helping them learn English.

Friday night we were sitting at the Institute - just the two of us.  It was nice to have a quiet evening.  Russ wanted to go home early.  I said we needed to stay a little longer so I could study.  He fell asleep in the chair while I was studying for next weeks Institute class.  I had just put away the hot punch and cookies I had set out for those who came earlier in the evening.  A nice man and woman came in the door and said they were walking by and wanted to know what this building was and who were we. Russ quickly awakened and we told them who we were and what we were doing.  We gave them a tour of the facility and got to know them a little.  They asked a lot of questions and said they live just down the street and pass by every day and just wanted to know more about us.  They asked if we had a card or information about what we believe.  Yes!  I picked up a Book of Mormon and shared a few thoughts about the book and invited them to read it.  Russ gave them our card with our contact information and a few other pamphlets.  They said they would like to come back and talk with us.  We told them we would love to have them come and visit and talk or even play pool or games.

On December 1 we started the #Light The World Service Project.  It has already been a great week of service and we look forward continuing to give service, gratitude, and help to others as we prepare for Christmas day.  So we are walking through this Market today and a man walked past us and then noticed our name badges and came and asked if we were with The Church of Jesus Christ.  We said, yes.  He said he was from Romania and was working in Germany.  He said he was a member of the Church in Romania.  We thought we were just having a nice visit and then he gave us the line that we hear so many times.  He said, "I am traveling home and spent the night in the train station and everything I had with me was stolen.  He said the police gave him a new ID.  He wanted to know if we would help him.  He said he was hungry and he needed help with a bus ticket.  We told him there was a Free Dinner at the Church for the Christmas party and that he was welcome to come and get a good hot meal.  We gave him our card and also gave him the address of the church.  We told him he could talk to the Bishop at the Church.  We gave him enough money for the bus fare to the church and said good-bye.  We gave him an opportunity to receive help and it was up to him to act upon it.  Unfortunately he did not show up at the Church tonight, but  we did our part to help him today.

 We started our afternoon at the Museum Quarter and heard these musicians playing.  It was so cute to see the little child so intense listening to them play.  They had on animal heads and it was intriguing .  Just as they finished this song the police came and asked for their permits and made them stop playing.  I felt bad for them - they were good, the people were enjoying them and they added to the festivities on the square.

Vienna Snow Globes

 Did you know the Snow Globe was originated in Vienna?  These are from the original show globe company.  They are very plain, but special none the less.

Candle lights

This is one of my favorite shops at the market.  These lights are so vibrant with beautiful scenes on them.  They are nice to look at.

 For all of my cat friends.  This booth had the cutest cats.

Horseless Carriage

Light on Street

The city streets are amazing.  These giant chandeliers line one of the streets and it is so beautiful.

 This was a fun window decoration in a very nice hotel and restaurant.  I love the upside down tree all decorated.  This is the restaurant you get the famous Sacher Torte (chocolate cake).

We spend a lot of time at this main train station.  Today was a 

Russ at the train station

nice time of day to take a picture.  We found a new way home from the Institute and it is working out well.  Russ has found his favorite place to wait for the S-bahn (street car)

 It was the International Wards Christmas dinner tonight.  We were invited to attend and it was a real experience with people from all over the world.  Over half of the people in the Ward are from the Philippines and many from Africa.  The children enjoyed Santa - a little laid back, but fun none the less.  

 These two little girls were so cute as they admired the Christmas Tree.  The magic of the ornaments!

 The Primary went all out and had cute costumes for the kids.  It is so fun to see the Nativity acted out the same all over the world in our Churches. 

 The Sisters from the Philippines performed some Christmas songs.  They really bring a great spirit to the Ward.  The theme tonight was about the different traditions of Christmas around the world.  We learned some fun facts about some of the other countries.  They ended with the custom from Sweden of St. Lucia.  They sang a traditional Swedish song and were all dressed in white carrying candles.

International food

It was an international buffet for dinner.  Lots of rice and noodles.  There were lots of salads as well.  This casserole was like a whole dish of deviled eggs and was really good.  I loved the decoration on the top.  We enjoyed being there and participating with the wonderful people in that Ward.  It is starting to feel like Christmas.
This party was a great way to end the week.
Viel Liebe,
The Grimmett's