Transfer 3, Week 1, Day 1 = Staying in Bruck (25.10.10)

Mom - - Please send Strumpfhosen...it's really cold!!!

I received a card from the Popes..I haven't opened it becaus I wanted to savor the mail since I don't get mail often. (hint hint).

Also, would you send me some pictures of home - the house, Waynesboro in fall, family pics, anything. I realized that I don't have any pictures from before my mission besides one of my roommates and the ones we took at the temple.

Transfers came and went, and I get to stay in Bruck and der Mur with Sister Alder.
Before I forget - - Please add Ordean Monn to the email list. He's sent me a letter every other week and I don't have enough time to respond to every letter - - I got a prescription for an Inhaler that I will go pick up today as tomorrow is a National Holiday called 'National Feiertag'.

1) Graz Schloßberg (Bell Tower). Because of bad weather...aka SNOW...in the mountains, we spent the day touring Graz with the Elders there and our Branch President (who lives there).
2) We threw some vegetables in a pot while we went to the store and out came a wonderful Gemüse Suppe (Vegetable Soup). We're true Austrians when we eat that stuff. Also, Sis Alder's mom sent us Fall decorations which we just barely put up so today was our 'Start of Fall' celebration....Aside from the fact that it feels like WINTER!!

This week, we set 3 Baptismal Dates. Martin. Manuela, and Anton will all be baptized on Nov 14th...the day after Manuela's 33 birthday. We found them through Martina, the lady who opened her door and came to church the very next day. These three are related...Anton is the father, Manuela (32) and Martin (33) are his children. They're all on pension so all they do all day is sit around. That would drive me up the wall. The first Sunday Manuela came to church she told members that she wasn't a visitor anymore. (We don't like saying 'Investigator' to the members or in public, they're visitors). P.S. her cat loves me. Every appt, I sit down and she comes and sits on my lap or meows at my feet.

Because the Winter is coming, the chances of us getting to go hiking in the mountains again is slim to none. We were hoping for a clear day on Monday so we could go to Bärenschutzklamm, but since it didn't, Pres Schatz (Branch President) invited us to come to Graz and he'D take us on a private tour. We agreed, and he invited the Elders to come as well (so we weren't Schwarz...aka breaking rules). Graz is a beautiful citzý!!! We went up to Schloßberg (made famous in the movie 'Errand of Angels') and then went on a tour of the old downtown with its ancient churches and crumbling buildings. The day ended with the last scoops of ice cream from Arnold Schwarzenegger'S favourite brand of ice cream (Temmel Eis). The next day, the shop was turned into a scarf and mitten store. All the ice cream shops in Leoben and Graz have turned into Cheese markets for the winter. It'S odd to go down mainstreet, see EIS parlor, and enter to find Cheese...not quite the same thing.

Tuesday we had district meeting in Klagenfurt (2 1\2 hour train ride south). After the meeting, we had an Austellung (a public display on the square and we go out and stop people around the square). Needless to say.....I was cursed out quite profanely three times in a row (by extremely old ladies) and all my courage immediately went down the drain and out the window. I'm fine stopping people with my companion, but alone, it does NOT WORK. I ended up in tears. One of the Elders (serving in Graz) noticed my dilema, came up to me and started talking to me. We laughed and joked and he told me his most embarassing mission story. I felt a lot better. (He was in the group that I came with from the MTC and he also served in München last transfer. We've become good friends). Sister Alder also noticed my distress and we went out into the city a little bit and contacted people together. Much better! I much prefer being with a companion instead of alone.

This weekend, we left the car in Bruck because we need to save our kilometers so we can drive to Graz and pick up our Winter tires. It's fun to take the trains and buses because we get contacting practice. But, when it gets colder, we'll get to talk to more people. Yesterday, we were stressed out before church waiting to hear if we'd been transferred or not. Basically, if you get transferred, the Assistants to the President call before 8 am to notify you. We got a call at 7:50....to tell us that the calls were running behind so if we were getting a call, it could be even as late as 10. We watched the Sun AM session of conference for the last two hours of church...the first hour being the Sunday School lesson and the sacrament rolled into one. We were supposed to watch the PM session, but we'd been sent the wrong DVD. So, we watched the session over (this time it was in German since we watched conference in English).

The weather has turned sour AND COLD out here. Winter is right on our heels. We went running this morning and found an old cemetery with the red candles glowing brightly. It was breathtaking! On the 11th is the Latern-fest where the kids have laterns and walk around town (remember that Tay). Then comes the first Advent. The Christmas tradition memories just keep coming as each person we stop tells us about what the Austrians do here around this time of year.

Tschüßi Baba!
SCHWESTER LIND

P.S. are there any general authority messages on Cain's wife (from the bible). We were asked about it this week by one of our new investigators and we wanted to see what the church knows about it.

Sister Thurston - welcome to the East coast! Isn't it beautiful this time of year!?! Now you get a taste of what I grew up with. Sheltered!!! Hopefully your first week has been smooth.
Ashley - I saw someone that could be your twin. I hope you're being as amazing as always.

And the list just keeps growing... (18.10.10)

1-Me and Sis Cseh in front of a lake on our way to Grüner See
2-Grüner See - it's a little low this time of year. In the Spring it's filled up and over the part where I'm standing
3-This tree is growing out of a giant boulder. It's about 8 feet off the ground.
4-Pathway to the entrance to the forest containing Grüner See
5-Did I ever say how proud I am of my last name...and how often we see it
6-Me and Grüner See


Grüßi!!!

SO much has happened this week!! First off, I would like to announce how proud Sis Alder and I are of how our week went. Our investigators are progressing...and multiplying. Okay, enough hiding exactly what happened, here goes.

MON - PDAY!! Sis Cseh took us to Grüner See which is about 50 min by bus from Bruck (which is 35min by car from Leoben). The weather was beautiful and the views spectacular. That's an extreme understatement and I'm pretty sure pictures won't do it justice (but I'll brag and send them anyway). It took us about 2 hours to walk to and around the lake. We stopped along the banks and had a picnic...complete with annoying ducks. The bus to the area only comes every 3 hours (except on Mondays) so we could not miss it. We got back a little early and were able to explore an old church. That's becoming a hobby of mine and Sis Alder. We just love looking at the history this area has and the only way really, since we're in the middle of nowhere, is through religion (appropriate I would say). Pday ends at 6 so we had to bring clothes to change. We had a return appt with Martina and were hoping her 3 friends from Sun would be there. One of them was (the other two had to work). BUT, there was a new friend there. Hence, our new investigator Martin. He's VERY opinionated and has a lot of interesting theories...he believes in the DaVinci Code idea of Christ as the Second Coming and he believes that Nostradamus was the first prophet (not Joseph Smith). Which reminds me...please send any info on this Nostradamos fellow...it's confusing us.
New Investigators - 1

TUES - District meeting in Graz. We met with out Branch Präsident (Pres Schatz) and he bought us ice cream...yes, in Oct we got ice cream. FUN FACT - did you know that Arnold Schwarzenegger is from Graz and his favorite ice cream brand is Temmel Eis. Thought you might like to know. We had an appointment with a family where, when we called to make out the appt, the dad said we could come so he could convert us to catholicsm. I GOT SCARED! The appt was wunderbar and in the end, we walked away with 3 new investigators.
New Investigators - 3

WED - We went to visit the Kaisers on their farm. This time, we got to gather wood, load it onto a tractor trailer, and then stack it in their huge woodshed. That had to be done that day because the forecast was snow for the weekend. NOT COOL! We got to work with Br Kaiser this time and by the end of the day, he sincerely thanked us for our help and asked when we were coming again. BIG step!! Last time, we didn't exist, this time, we're invited back. On the way down the mtn, Sis Alder realized that she'd lost the phone. We said a prayer then scoured the car. Just then, a van pulled up - MELANIE KAISER!! She said that she was on her way to pick up her daughter but then had a distinct impressio nthat she needed to hurry. Our prazers were answered! 30 min later we found the phone, it was on a hillside by the road where we had gone to check on the cows. Also visited the RS Präsident who lives 3 hrs away from church and picks up 4 people along the way every week. She fed us Knödel (thanks mom for finding the recipe).
New investigators - 0

THUR - no exciting\extraordinary news. Had Dr appt so I can get my EU license. Went well, still living, heart still there, limbs still work.

FRI - We went to visit an Eternal Investigator and she fed us.....and fed us....and fed us.....we had to tuck food away in napkins when she turned her back or else we would've exploded. (Tay would love it here). First she served us Dumpling and Onion soup. Then pulled out schnitzel, cheese Knödel, roast chicken, and boiled potatoes. THEN, she served salad drenched in vinegar with chopped potatoes inside. THEN, dessert - a huge slice of plum cake she'd made with a huge slice of a cream torte she'd bought. I could NOT even touch half of everything. Sis Alder had warned me that she stuffs missionaries, but I wasn't expecting that. The sad thing is that they give you your plates already loaded and you're expected to clean your plate. Luckily, Sis Alder had brought plastic baggies (but because of where I was sitting in relation to Sis Wechsler, I couldn't use mine) we quickly scooped things off our plate and into the bags when her back was turned. Sis Alder did a much better job of finishing more food than me. I just could NOT eat...ALL OF THAT WAS AT LUNCH. We didn't have to eat dinner that night. Later, we had an appt with the Jehovah Witness couple which went really well. They said that they're beginning to know that what we're teaching is true. Sad thing is, that it'S against their religion to go to any other church's services so we can'T get them to church.

SAT - Weekly planning. Had an appt with a man we met on the street on Thurs while going to the Dr. Return appt with Martina - she invited yet another friend (Manuela). Went to teach Ayban (from Turkey) and they'd invited a friend - Zia.
New Investigators - 3

SUN - Church as usual. Martin, his dad Antone, and sister Manuela came to church. Ward Council afterwards. Met with Martina & co later...a friend from last week was there again. Appt with Ayban - she wasn't there but her boyfriend Chan (who we've also been teaching) and his mom were there. Then, Zia came.....and Chan's younger brother....and...his older brother.....and Ayban'S nephew. We taught them all
New Investigators -

GRAND TOTAL NEW INVESTIGATORS FOR THE WEEK----------- 9!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It'S cold and we can feel that winter is in the air. I already had to open a pack of thermals and unpack my boots. We're going to Bärenschutzklamm today and it's going to be 'frisch'.

Lots of love
SISTER LIND

Pictures of beauty (18.10.10)

Isn't life beautiful...and then there's me at an appointment where we were fedd WAY TOO MUCH

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Fall is in the air...and it's gorgeous (11.10.10)

Highlights of the week

Montag - Set a Baptismal date with Shirley - November 7th. It's more of a goal for her than an actual set date because she still has a long way to go. We committed her to have a phone appointment with us during the week since she's in school. I hope she can recognize the changes she needs to make in her life not only for baptism, but so that she and Janosch can work things out. He's willing to give her a second chance, but she doesn't realize what her actions are doing. Ayban texted us to say that she had to cancel our appt for tonight and the rest of the week because she was too busy...I got worried she didn't want to meet anymore at all.

Dienstag - Interviews in Vienna. We met up with the Elders and the Eheparr (Senior Couple) on the train. At the church building in Vienna, we had a District meeting with the Zone Leaders while President Condie pulled one person out at a time for a 10 min interview. Our District is really small so it didn't take long. In our interview we were asked to share a scripture that really touched us this week and then share an experience of when we noticed the Holy Ghost affecting our investigators. Then, we could ask President Condie any question we wanted to and talk about anything. It was great and I learned a lot. We also got mail and supplies...we are now the proud owners of duvets...we didn't have any and had been sleeping under only sheets.

Mittwoch - Stopped by on Ayban - not home

Donnerstag - I decided that there are no black cows in Austria...only brown (maybe that contributes to the fact that chocolate is so much better here....already brown, no need to dilute the stuff from black cows).

Freitag -

Samstag - Since all of our regulars investigators were either out of town or didn't have time to meet with us, we had A LOT of time to go contacting (honestly, my least favorite thing). We'd decided to stop by a member's home so we drove there and then wanted to 'door' the building. We hiked up to the 7th floor (no elevator) and started from the top. No one was home and I was getting discouraged. As we hit the Erdgeschoss (main floor) we knocked on a door and a woman came out. We gave our spiel and then asked her if she'd like to come to church tomorrow. She (Martina) agreed and we made out an appointment for Sun evening. Then, we called a member to see if they could pick her up, they agreed. Martina is kind of scary. She wears all black (even her hair and glasses), wears alien\Iron Maiden Tshirts, and smokes. I was intimidated.

Sonntag - we met the member at Martina's apt - she was waiting outside for us (wearing all black, smoking, and wearing a cross around her neck. We decided to go with her and the member to church and just leave our car there till later. Church was great. Martina stayed for all three meetings. RS went in with Priesthood and the lesson was on Faith in Jesus Christ. Martina said she liked how everyone could participate and make it a discussion. Since we meet in the chapel, she also asked why there was no cross up. Ping, teaching opportunity. We taught Sunday School\Investigator class. We had decided to watch the Restoration. Since Martina was the only investigator there, we invited Sis Cseh and Mark (from Hershey) to join us. The discussion after the video was perfect. Sis Cseh and Mark both bore their testimonies (we had to translate for Mark). Overall, great. It was also nice that it was Testimony meeting. She liked that too. After church, we decided to go vorbei on Shirley since she had cancelled our appt on Fri and Sat and wasn't at church. She didn't come to the door even though we heard her and Lukas inside. Then we walked back to pick up the car - a good 40 min walk or so. We decided to take the scenic path over the mountain instead of around it. Our walk took us over Schloßberg (the big clock - every city has one). Along the way, we called an inactive member to see if we could stop by later. She said that she and her son we just eating and then were going out to enjoy the sunshine and invited us to come along. So we caught the bus (because our car was farther away than the planned) and drove to Schw Hernaus. When we got there, she told us to get in the car. We thought we were just oging to sit outside in the sun, but oh no, not in Österreich....we were going in the mountains. 2 hours later, we had our appt with Martina. She'd invited three of her friends to be there and after entering the extremely smoke-filled room (everyone and their dog smokes in Austria) we got started. 30 min later, we had four new investigators (Martina, her friends Anita, Linda, and Anton). After Martina, we didn't have any set appointments, so we decided to go visit some inactive members in Leoben and stop by on Ayban since we hadn't heard from her all week. First, we went to her apt which is in a creepy building in an interesting part of town. Luckily I had my flashlight. She wasn't there so we left a msg and then decided to try her boyfriend's house, where we usually meet. Along the way, we got contact information and taught plenty of people. Night time, Sunday night is when interested students are out and about. She was there and was so happy to see us and even made out an appointment for us to come back. As we got outside the building I just stopped and was awestruck by the stars...they were all there and glowing brightly. Sis Alder and I just stood there and stared for about 10 min. They truly are a beautiful sight when you'r ein the mountains. I saw the big dipper and it reminded me that home isn't that far away because that exact same big dipper shines over our driveway at home.

Pic 1 - The day we rented Bikes.

Pic 2 - I just love seeing my name all over the place. I'm not even sure anymore if my ancestors really did come from Denmark...maybe Austria should be my new home

Pic 3 - The German word for 'Repentance' is 'Umkehr' and the word 'Möglichkeit' means 'possibility'...I just love German words

Pic 4 & 5 - Schloßberg in Bruck an der Mur

Pic 6 - Aren't the mountains BEAUTIFUL in fall.

Today, Sister Alder and I are going Wandern with Sister Cseh (the little old lady who miraculously speaks English). We're going to a place called Grüner See (Green See\Lake). I'm super excited because I've heard so many wonderful things about this place. Especially with all of the fall colors coming in, IT WILL BE BEAUTIFUL!! Next week we're going to Bärenschutzklamm (which is world famous) with the Elders in Graz and our Branch President. It'll be awesome! Look it up, there are some really neat pictures of it. Basically, it's a ____ with waterfalls and rickety ladders that climb all the way up.

The church true, the book is blue, and my shoes still feel like new (that's the only rhyme I could think of). No matter where you go in the world, there's a comfort in knowing that you learn the same things and feel the same spirit.

Alles Gute

Sister Lind

President Condie has asked me to get a Driver's License. We have to pay the first €60 and then the rest is reimbursed. I have to get a doctor's appt (€35), a translation of my american license (€15) and then the actual license (€150ish).

No cool title this week - Still in Bruck (4.10.10)

Grüß Euch!!!

Sorry, no pictures from me this week as I forgot my cord in the apt. Sis Alder gave me hers to get our pictures from last week's Pday when we rented bikes. We rode along the Mur for about an hour and a half. Then on the way back, we stopped in a little old church which was built in the 1200s ish. It was beautiful and I got some amazing pictures of the architecture and some of the neat memorials on the outside. I'll send those next week. They're amazing! Mom - we go to the local library for emails. In München, we went to an internet shop, but here it's free. Sis Schulthess was all about ease, not cost.

Received your card\letter and a letter from Vickie. It was like Christmas to get mail just for me. Even when we get ads I get excited. It's interesting to me, the few letters I've received read as follows (minus the one from mom)

Kiche Jesu Christi
Sis Lind
Salzlände 15\21
8700 Leoben
Österreich
Germany - - - > in case there's any confusion, I'm serving in AUSTRIA. Österreich is the German word for Austria.

This week, besides the amaying conference, not too much to report. Friday was a particularly powerful day. Every Friday, we have what's called "weekly planning" where we sit down with our area book (records of all investigators ever for the area), Preach My Gospel, and ward list and plan out the entire week as far as appointments, what we'll teach, how we'll find new investigators and how we'll get people to church. Total - - 3hrs every week. (Sis Alder and I have to take a couple breaks during that time or else we go loopy).

So finally we left our apartment and headed to an appointment in Bruck (30 min away - where we have church) and to pick up a member to take with us. We were teaching a man from Africa (all in English), but since we're sisters, we can't meet alone with him so we brought a little old lady named Sis Cseh. She's as Austrian as they come and serves for months at a time in the temple. She speaks no English. We drove to her apt and she wasn't there yet (she'd gone to get her watch fixed. We waited for awhile then decided just to leave; we'd just have to meet with Collins outside. As we got to the end of the lane, there she was, speed-walking towards us. As she got in the car she exclaimed how she felt prompted to walk down that street even though she usually took a shorter way home. If she'd gone the other way we wouldäve missed her. We get to the appointment and Sis Cseh tells him that she speaks 'a liddle English'. We are teaching about Priesthood, Sis Alder and I switching off translating for\from Sis Cseh when suddenly Sis Cseh starts bearing her testimony in ENGLISH!! Extremely broken English, but it was beautiful. It was truly powerful. Then, as we were driving away, Sis Cseh told us that she wasn't sure what she said in her testimony, she just said it. GIFT OF TONGUES ANYONE. She then told us that if we had anymore appointments today that she'd love to come with us. How did she know that we did indeed have another appointment right then. So, Sis Cseh accompanied us to meet with Erwin. He's about 45 and still lives at home with his mom (which is why it didn'T matter whether or not we had another woman to bring). He's OBSESSED with the 'oldest fish in the world...1000 years old and still living'. As he pulled out his BoM, we noticed that he stores it right alongside the fish book AND brought it out on the table for our meeting. Weird!! There's definitely a reason he's still at home. The spirit was super strong in our meeting though each time we bore testimony to him or attempted to answer his questions (from when Sis Alder met him on the street) he just laughed at us. I was getting ticked off after awhile. I do not appreciate being laughed at while I'm bearing testimony. NOT COOL! DON'T DO IT!! Sis Cseh was a great asset because she could relate to him as they are both born and raised in the area...and she has a super powerful testimony. She's been a member for 40 years and you'D think we'd brought a General Authority with us. It was a wonderful lesson...aside from his rudeness. Sis Alder was perturbed as well.

Shirley and Janosch are not doing so well. He's moved to Graz....and long story short...many things happened in Graz while we were there and now we don'T think they're getting back together anytime soon. Shirley called us Sat morning and asked us if we could find someone to watch Lukas (age 3) so she could go take a test in Berufshule. She was going to be picking Lukas back up Sun morning. We were able to get a couple in the branch to take him overnight. Long story short...she didn't show when she said she would and we come to find out (through the counselor in the branch presidency...story to follow) that she'd gone to school not for a test, but to go with friends and ended up cheating on Janosch. The members have really shown to me that they truly care about each other and the investigators. The problems with Shirley and Janosch spilled over into conference and the members stepped up and took over. When the Counselor in the Branch Presidency (age 23) and his wife (age 22) dropped us off at the train station Sat night, we unknowingly unloaded a lot of our frustrations and problems that had been building up inside of us with regards to the Shirley situation and how her calling us to find someone while she went to take a test late on a Sat then come home (4 hr train ride) and then be back at school Sun by 3 didnät make sense. When we got in the train, we felt really bad about doing that and called the counselor. He didn't answer, instead pulled us aside Sunday between sessions to tell us not to apologize. He told us that he and the Branch Pres are there for us to talk to when we need it. He knows that there are a lot of things in the branch that get piled on our shoulders and he told us to come to them whenever we need to. Janosch is still strong in his faith and we'Re more than positive we'll be able to get him baptized and receive the Priesthood by Christmas. He's so strong and through all the things that happened, he still clung on. We're so proud of him. Sis Alder was saying to me last night, that the spiritual banks of the two of them have switched. Shirley was the one that took the gospel on frist and was ready to be baptiyed. Then the missionaries were able to get Janosch to meet with them. Now, after all that's happened, he's the strong one. It's an amazing transformation. Though he's living in Graz, we'll still get to meet with him and we'll meet with Shirley here in Bruck.

CONFERENCE WAS AMAZING!! But, Sis Alder and I cheated a bit....we watched it in English. Saturday, we had lunch at a members home (where they served 'milk shakes' which were really just milk with pureed bananas...odd) and then they took us to the Relief Society broadcast. We watched that in German because we didn't know there was a room set up for English. Apparently, in this area, if anyone speaks\understands English, they like to watch broadcasts in English so they can hear the actual voices. I don't blame them, hearing a 20 yr old voice out of Pres Monson and a man's voice for Sis Beck was a little disconcerting. By the time Pres Monson began to speak, we found out about the English room and dashed back there to hear his stories in English. We didn't get the gist of his talk for awhile, but then it was glorious. If you could send a transcript of that session as well, I'd appreciate it. Or the Ensign itself. (It takes an extra month and a half for us to get church magazines through the church) Then, there was an hour break before the Saturday morning session began. I don't have my notes with me, but the talk that struck me the most was Elder Holland. His power and authority blows my mind, anytime he speaks. He means it and you know it. I was also particularly touched when we started talking about the sacrifices of his parents and how grateful he is for all parents. I echo his words with my whole heart. I was also particularly affected by his statements about Sister Missionaries and couples. Sis Alder and I couldn't remember a time when they'd specifically spoken to Sisters. We'd decided to go home Sat night and sleep in our own beds instead of staying with members which was nice because then we could take time to ponder and meditate in our apt instead of being entertained (and fed) by members. I've had enough coleslaw and cucumbers to las tme a lifetime. And by cucumbers I mean cucumbers in balsalmic vinegar, then floating in vinegar. yuck! Watching the Saturday PM session Sunday morning threw me off. 4 new temples!! Amazing! Especially the ones in the Philippines and Mexico - the church is really growing down there, but don't forget what I said in a prior email...'Germany is the sleeping giant of the church. This is where the most retention is' I'm planning on writing a nice long letter with more of my conference thoughts, but that's the one I can think of at this moment. The music was especially moving. I usually write down any words or phrases that I like. I really liked the closing song from Sun AM. Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd has new meaning for me because I can apply what I'm doing to the lyrics. The scripture about the seed and exercising a particle of faith was quite a topic for the conference. I'm currently reading the BoM all the way through and that was where I was at so I truly felt prepared for the talks. I was also pleasantly surprised to see Pres Packer standing at the pulpit instead of speaking from his chair. I also noticed the Pres Monson was especially witty this time around. I really liked Pres Uchtdorf's segue into an airplane story.

I have a new vegetable that I really like. It's called Kohlrabi. We stopped by a member's house (he's an old man that we come do service for occasionally) and he loaded us up with fresh veggies. Note to dad for growing tomatoes. Stick a stake in the ground and tie a fishing line to a green house style roof (tie the tomato plant up to the roof). Don't let them grow out in the open and they'll produce better fruit. Keep them partially shielded from the elements. Also, I've decided that I love anything made with Marillen (Apricots). Sis Kaiser gave us a huge jar of homemade jam and that's about gone and then Sis Cseh gave us Marillen Krapfens (Berliners). Oh, and Muesli is the way to go. Sis Alder and I discovered Strawberry Muesli with white chocolate shavings while in Vienna and the Sisters there gave us the box to bring home. It's like a fancy dessert for breakfast....except with half the sugar of American desserts.

What's the status on the PA temple? We were watching the news thing between sessions and they were talking about the Ukraine temple and the solar-powered church and I just thought 'I wonder how the PA temple is coming'.

Mom - DO NOT WEAR BLACK AND BLUE TOGETHER!!!!!!! 'Don't bruise yourself by matching black with blues' Wear the scarf with green, camel, burnt orange, or even red. Fall colors mainly. To wear it the Austrian way, just tie it in a knot at the back of your neck (like a bib). If that's too cowboy for you, pull the knot just around the front till it reaches your collarbone. For you, put the knot on your right side (since you're married). I on the otherhand would put it on the left since I'm single. I have to be careful whenever I wear my colorful scarves that I don't put the knot in the wrong place or else we get funny looks. I'll take a picture of me in my edelweiß scarf as a demo (though mine's the baby of yours).

We have interviews with Pres Condie this week so any mail sent to the office will be brought down to me. We get ten minutes each to talk about things with him and then we can ask him about any quiestion we want to and bring up any concerns. We're traveling up to Vienna again since that'S our Stake center and the Zone location.

Here's a link Sis Condie sent us with a map of Austria - Graz is right by the word Austria.
http://maps.google.at/maps?q=austria+map&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:de:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=%C3%96sterreich&gl=at&ei=QtupTNviA5HOswaRkZygDA&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBoQ8gEwAA

I haven't even thought about Christmas. I'm just living one week at a time. It's getting colder and I'm glad I bought some really warm Strumpfhosen before I left München. They're my best friends on two different occasions - a) it's cold b) I forget to shave.