What a wonderful Christmas season we have had. We missed family and friends terribly but we are able to go home with new traditions and fun memories. We have been able to spend more time reading the scriptures and appreciating more how lucky we all are to know of Christ.  Christmas is celebrated on 3 days in Germany.


On the 1st Day of Christmas we were invited to a wonderfully
warm home and a delicious meal.

On the 2nd Day of Christmas we went to another wonderfully warm
home and another delicious dinner.

On the 3rd Day of Christmas we enjoyed some down time in our own warm apartment with our own trees and another delicious dinner. This time not so fancy but still delicious - bread, cheese and fruit. 



We got to spend Christmas Evening with the missionaries as they
Skyped home.

And then it snowed. And snowed. And snowed!



A "library" in the park. It was a pretty busy little spot.

Fun ice skating rink.

We spent several days this week being sick and locked up so getting out in the fresh, crisp air by the end of the week felt wonderful. We "worked" in a few different cities and love the charm of Christmas in Germany.  Most cities have Christmas Markets and some even install ice skating rinks. It's a great family activity, lots of laughing and fun. We also got to help Santa (Nicolaus, Weinachtsmann) pass out treats, loved that activity! The highlight of the week was celebrating The Man's Birthday! The young missionaries filled the car with balloons, friends had us over for dinner, friends called and sang, and famLee calls are coming in. Life is great.

In front of a Hair Salon, the ornaments are
curlers.

The looks on their faces were priceless.

View out our friends' balcony.




Surprise - balloons!!

Our friends on their balcony.

German Chocolate cake mix and frosting
brought from home. Delish!
Happy Birthday!
 

 We lost track of how many Christmas Markets we went to. They each have their own specialty depending on their region and they have some of the same at each one. The sights, sounds and feels are indescribable - everyone should experience a German Christmas. The sacred Christmas carols can be heard everywhere, manger scenes can be seen everywhere and laughter and happy greetings can be heard everywhere. No one is in a hurry to buy, wrap and send. It's a fabulous feeling to be able to focus more on the life of the Savior during this special time of year.



The multi-zone Christmas Conference was a great way to feel the
spirit of Christmas.

LOTS of packages full of love were delivered to young missionaries.

We celebrated Christmas early.

Nothing like warm soup in a bread bowl in a park on a cold day in Vienna.



Typical "hut" at a Christmas Market.



All company needs to see Neuschwanstein. It was very cold so we
rode in a horse drawn carriage wrapped in wool blankets almost
to the top.





Good bye! We had a great time!





We dragged them from the Black Forest to Vienna, Austria. We went to Christmas Markets, a conference, a baptism, palaces, train rides, bus rides, a concert and we walked and walked and walked. Thanks for coming girls. We love you.

It's been a full week - a sweet sister finished her mission and went home, we are excited to have visitors from home, we were able to participate in the baptisms of 4 beautiful people and we showed this beautiful country off to our visitors and lots of other minor things to keep us on our toes.

Good bye! It was great working with her.

Hello sweet visitors!

Christmas Market Number 1.

Ordering food all by herself. Christmas Market Number 2.

Such a wonderful experience with these people.

Christmas Market Number 3. Yes, it is cold!!



The reason for the season.
 

Beautiful Swiss Temple at night.

What mother wouldn't love a picture of her son scrubbing
 the floor so he can earn a candy bar?

We spent two days doing apartment checks These young missionaries are such a joy to be with and learn from. We visited 7 apartments, 16 missionaries, all working hard. One of the highlights of the week was being able to have 8 young missionaries over for Thanksgiving Dinner. They helped ease the pain of being away from family and were so much fun to be with. They brought food to share, set the table, helped with dishes, shared stories and laughter. It was a great time. We had an exceptional experience at church today - the lesson was given in German, translated into English for several visitors, one of those visitors translated it from English into Italian for another visitor. None of them (including one of the translators) had English or German as their mother language. When it got hard to translate they looked up scriptures. All of them were trying to learn more about Jesus Christ - they are an inspiration to us.


Lots of foggy days but we still get fantastic views.

One of my "helpers."

Celebrating American Thanksgiving including two Germans and a Dane.



They were asked to bring dessert - this is a "cookie" -  they were so proud!

Part of our family.



They called this "Opa Time."



One of the few times my gravy has turned out. Another blessing of
serving a mission - I learn to cook!!



 

Lots of travel this week. Mostly assignments with some fun thrown in. We went to Zone Training in Singen, Munich to get a new car, Neuschwanstein because it was kind of on the way home, and Bern for the Stake Temple trip. This represents only 3 of the 7 days of the week. The rest of the days we rested up, went on visits and made arrangements. Mostly we rested.

Our Freiberg Zone. The young missionaries teach each other and us, the old
people are just there to learn and marvel at the maturity of these 18-23 year olds.

Old car.

New car.



Some of the artwork on buildings in Bavaria.  

Such ingenuity. Why demolish a perfectly good building for a highway.

Looking up at Neuschwanstein.

Looking down from Neuschwanstein. Gorgeous views every where.

Couldn't get a picture of the whole castle, the miniature will have to do.

The camera was falling but we got the castle in the background.



After much walking to and around the castle we found a great place
for dinner. They put the closed sign up as we were reading the menu.





Lunch after Temple. They had planned on 120, 250 came, there
was plenty of food for everyone!

More of our fantastic fellow missionaries!

Parents of one of "our" favorite missionaries when we worked in Jena.

It was such a beautiful day, inside and out!

We see lots of beautiful things but the best part of serving a mission is being able to see miracles in people's lives every day.