Dear Family,
As we begin our third week here in Vienna, things seem to be settling down a bit. Thus far we've visited three of the seven wards here in Vienna with five of them quite easily reached and with two of them quite a ways away, (actually there's an eighth ward located in Graz, an entirely different city) Today we'll visit the fourth of the five easy-to-get-to's. We currently have a threesome of sisters working here in the city and two of them will be speaking today. One is a native German who speaks excellent English in our private discussions but obviously has no problem with the language otherwise.
No sign of the lost briefcase. We did get a call from the Lost and Found indicating they had found two laptops, but neither one was ours so we've been reconstituting what we can from our iflashes. I think we've figured out how to get pictures from our cell phones onto Mom's computer and we'll see if we can find one or two later on to attach to this email.
We've essentially been through just about everything at least once with the exception of a Friday night "Wafflenight". We were spared that twice because of a couple of special events. One was a forum on morality and sexuality especially for the Young Adults a week ago and the other was a special fireside with visiting general church leaders. Sister Wixom, the president of the Primary and Sister Reeves, 2nd counselor in the Relief Society, along with Elder Kaeron who is the 70 in charge of the European Area came for a special meeting. It was kind of neat for us because they all spoke English and were then translated into German so it helped us build our vocabulary. At any rate, both meetings were held on Fridays so we have yet to try out Grammy's hand at cooking waffles. We met the senior couple from Graz prior to the meeting and they informed us that it's also the responsibility of the elder to cook waffles so I guess we'll have to try out my meager talents.
Last Thursday morning we attended our first Institute Advisory Council with a member of the Stake Presidency, the area supervisor over seminaries and institute, and three members of the YA advisory council. We figured we picked up somewhere between a third and a half of what was being said but hopefully it will get better. We generally understood what they were talking about but not much of the details as they spoke quickly and in detail. They were planning special activities for the close of the institute year and we may get a chance to get down to one of those outlying wards which is centrally enough located for people who may be coming in from as far away as Salzburg as well as the folks from Graz and all the Vienna students. They're planning on a hike up some scenic pathways with beautiful waterfalls apparently. Then later in the day, everyone comes back to our youth center for further activities and apparently all want to see the ongoing World Master Cup finals in soccer which apparently takes place over several days. I guess we'll figure out how to get it projected in the center by then. All of this takes place at the end of this month. There is an apparent conflict that day with a special festival presentation that always occurs at the end of the school year in Vienna in which numerous bands come for free concerts, and apparently it's an annual conflict with institute closing as well so it's a perennial problem no one has yet solved. I guess we'll see what happens but it sounds like we're stranded to make sure everyone can see the soccer matches if they're willing to forego the free concerts.
It seems there have been lots of celebrations going on since we've been here. I think the end of May is the annual Vienna Festival Week or Wienerfestwoche. Because our youth center is located right behind the big city hall or Rathaus we have the option of taking the subway which lands us right behind the city building or the streetcar which places us in front of it. Generally we take the streetcar because its more direct with fewer transfers but a longer walk. Since we've been here they've been setting up or tearing down and then setting up again for one celebration or another. I've included a picture we took one night between set ups when it was the best we'd ever seen with all the lights on. We spent part of our day off yesterday walking through all the displays and little shops set up on the Rathausplatz with lots of little yummy pastry shops and food stands hither and yon. Everyone told me I'd put on 10 pounds the first week from all the yummy little pastry goodies everywhere. Interestingly, we've been running so much from here to there that dinner was catch as catch can. Our predecessors left us a scale and depending on how accurate it is, I actually weighed in initially at 98.6 kilos and then actually down to 95 kilos. I'll let the mathematicians in the group figure it out but it calculates out to 8-9 pounds less than when I left. I haven't weighed this little for 10-15 years. I'd been losing some weight very little at a time over the past couple of years and before we left I actually put an extra hole in all my belts to cinch them up a little tighter. I've had to add one more hole to two of my belts now because if I don't my pants would hang around my knees and that's certainly not proper for an elder! We had an extra hour on Thursday and decided to just walk past the big cathedral in the center of town, St. Stephens Cathedral. Because this is a big holiday weekend, celebrating Pentecost over a three day weekend, there were lots of tourists in town. I presume that everyone is renting space from the Catholic Church but all around the cathedral were shops and craftsmen selling their wares. We didn't pursue it as we had no time but I'm sure we'll get back to it some time.
We're back now from church where we had quite a delightful time. The ward made us feel quite at home. One couple has a son at BYU Idaho who will be home in August after serving a mission in the states and he has a younger brother currently on a mission in Idaho as well. Everyone generally speaks pretty passable English but they tolerate us trying to get our German going. I was asked to say the opening prayer in Priesthood opening exercises and Grammy, much to her dismay, was asked to say the opening prayer in Sacrament Meeting. They don't want us to be idle! She did a great job and everyone is quite impressed at how good her German is compared to the last several sisters who have preceded us. We have also received an invitation to go to dinner tomorrow on the last day of the three-day holiday from a family in the ward we visited today. They've also invited the sisters who spoke today so it should be fun. Of all of the things I'm most impressed with here in Vienna, considering that we really haven't been to much yet, the top of the list is the water. Boy is it great! The Viennese brag about the fact that it comes directly from the Alps and I believe it. No one makes ice cubes here but it doesn't matter because it flows cold and clear straight from the taps. You can even get tap water at restaurants which was unheard of in northern Germany. I can't seem to get enough of it. Well, I'll let Mom say a few words and we'll be back in touch next week.
I think Dad or Grandpa said it all but there are a few things of note. The washing machine is in our bathroom and is an interesting contraption. You open a metal door inside the washer, which opens into a rolling machine that you lock before turning the thing on.When it changes from wash to rinse or rinse to spin, it sounds like metal trash cans banging into each other. The spinning leaves the clothes dry enough to hang out in the room on collapsible drying racks and then you turn on a fan to help them finish drying, which of course takes until the next day. I also keep wanting to put the dishes into the dishwasher that isn't and to turn on the air conditioner which isn't. We take trams, buses, and subways to church, sometimes 3 different ones. Oh, it is such an adventure and we are having a good time. We don't stop to question why we are doing something. We just do it because it is what we are suppose to be doing and part of the mission experience.
Love you All,
Grammy and Grandpa,
or Sister Parker and Elder Parker
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