3 December 2013
We have some catching up to do - so here we go.
Mom is down a bit with the Flu - but still going strong.... no surprise, she's awesome:-)
We have already told you a little about the bad strom at the end of October - well, we finally got all out of the old apartment for the Elders and they are in a new one. IKEA is happy to have the business

Elder Meeks likes his new clothes closet with extra drawers :-)





Elder Brindley is busy with his new desk. Busy, Busy, Busy












The fridge looks really small - BUT - it is much larger than the one they had. We miss our refrigerator at home. American home refrigerators are hard to beat - they just don't have that much space available in the apartments and homes in Germany.

The new Microwelle (Microwave) is also a very nice item for missionaries to have - few are gourmet cooks..... I don't think i know a gourmet cook around here :-)  I'm sure there are some, and we will continue to hunt for them while we are in the area:-)


The new kitchen is really nice - and yes, small.
There is not dishwasher except the Elders. They can cook then wash dishes, etc. etc. They can arragne whatever works for them - but after having cleaned up so much in the old apartment that has been occupied by missionaries for about a decade, we warned them that Sister Porter is going to inspect each month and they had better be CLEAN!!! We do much in good humor here and the Elders are great.  Finding is a constant opportunity and challenge. They are very excited to be a new area of town and a whole new field of potential harvest :-)  



As you can see -  there is still much to do and they will work on this elephant a bite at a time:-)
We started an office pool as to when they would have all in place and ready for prime time :-)
We all won as we said before December - and they DID IT!!!  We bought dinner at a local restaurant.
I find that Elders are not that much different since when I was in Austria in the 60's - they have their favorite foods that are affordable and a LOT of food. We didn't go there as we don't feel our stomachs are up to the challenges:-)  It was a fine meal and we know they enjoy going 'off budget' sometimes - when we buy, they are always 'off budget' as it is not on them :-)  We are happy we can do it.  They like Turkish Doernner which is a type of wrap of meat cut off a turning spit, then a ton of sliced cabbage - green, red - then some fine Turkish spicey sauces. Certainly makes one feel full and WARM!


We also were invited to Sunday dinner at Brother and Sister Lechner's farm. It is about a 40 minute drive along the North Sea dike line, and then backroads to their boondock location.  We plan to go back when the weather is better and get more pics - will limit these to a few.

Note the sign/tablet on the barn/building. This was quite something, made of brick in 1775, then repaired 1778. It is also of note, that another family owned the famr in 1913, which was just before WWI, which ran from 1914-1918.
The cows, horses, etc. were all in the barn, with the living quarters built into the building, but on the other end. A lot of interesting things to find as they are pretty well self sufficient for water (cisterns under ground and pumps in the cellar to keep the water going for watering the gardens, etc.)


Mom liked the wooly socks Sister Lechner loaned her. You can see that the fireplace helped a lot too. It was drizzly and cold in late November before Thanksgiving.  We walked around the farm and saw the two ducks that Brother Leschner 'talks' to in duck talk :-) They come running when he calls as they know it's time for chow.

I wonder - is it talking in tongues when you talk to ducks, s they really don't have a tongue?  Just wondering:-)

We all had a really good time - especially with all the great stuff Sister Leschner prepared.  WOW - there goes the diet.





L-R: Sister Porter, Elder Meeks, Elder Brindley, Brother Leschner and Sister Leschner - Willi and Alisse.  They are getting close to 80 now and are thinking that it may be time to sell and get into something more manageable for them. - realities of getting older aren't always welcome. We look forward to enjoying each other;s company while we can.


Speaking of Thanksgiving, This is ours:-) We spent Thanksgiving with Brother and Sister Schulz in WHV.  She is Amy Woolcott from Chicago area, and her husband Juergen grew up on the North Sea coastal area. He lived in USA for awhile, and when they decided on marriage, she moved back to Germany with him. She doesn't speak German and is very happy to have the Church tie-ins with fellow Americans - altho I really don't know if her citizenship is one or the other - or both:-)

Her forefathers had one who signed the Declaration of Independence - so she is very happy about that.  Juergen took the first picture and Elder Meeks this one with Elder Brindley looking intently on.








 Juergen Shulz and Amy Woolcott - host and hostess for turkey day - we all shared happily and she did a great job cooking.
I want to point out that Sister Porters stuffing went very fast - and we wished we would have had more of it....something to think about for Christmas????  Have to admit, the bread was different than what we are used to, but HEY - stuffing is stuffing!!

       Happy Thanksgiving to ALL.
There is much to be grateful for, and one really appreciates much of it when he/she is away from home turf:-)
Tschus until later - US in WHV :-)