To All of the Beloved Reasons Why We're Looking Forward to Coming Home,
I guess it's pretty hard to come up with a week as good as the last one was but even so, it went pretty well. Other than Monday night when we had about 19, every other night was pushing 25-30 people in attendance. Even our language courses were reasonably well attended.
Special events were Wednesday as we really started the new Institute Year. No one had signed up to take the English speaking class so Elder Parker prepared without knowing if he'd have anyone to teach. But it turned out that with the help of a co-teacher the stake called, thinking we might not have a replacement for a month or so, and one of his assignments being to enthuse the slackers in the International Ward to start attending again. We actually had three students with the two teachers dividing up 1 1/2 apiece. But we knew all three well and so it was a good introductory lesson to the next semester. We continue to get a hard driving response from our new stake representative, the 4th year medical student who is teaching the German class on the same subject. She's going to get 49-50 people signed up for Institute by this next week or know the reason why! We get about 3-4 emails a day from her as she is expressing her efforts in a great way. Her parents were also in town this week, living in Anchorage, Alaska but here for a visit, but the mother originating here in Linz, Austria. Interestingly, one of our elders who just happened to be there was from their ward. They'd known him since he was in primary.
It was a good week for parents as our special young lady from Italy was visited by her father, a non-member, who came by on Friday night to play games and enjoy the evening with his daughter's friends. We think he was favorably impressed with the wholesome nature of her companions. While at the temple a couple of weeks ago we picked up a 500 piece jig saw puzzle depicting the children of the world visiting with the Savior in a painting by Greg Olson. We thought it was pretty cute and actually started putting it together last Monday night. But it got a little too late to finish so Elder Parker finished it up on Tuesday. He then decided to take the whole thing apart and see if anyone might be interested to try again on Friday. Result: We had a cute young returned missionary sister from Hungary who apparently has a passion for jig saw puzzles and she couldn't stop until we were done. It was almost midnight before we got out of there!
We naturally slept in a little on our P day but decided it was definitely the time to finally see the Vienna Clock Museum. To hear them tell it, Vienna was the clock making capital of the world back in the 1700's, though they had the actual clock mechanisms of clocks that went back a couple of hundred years earlier. They even had the original works of the clock in the tower of St. Stephen's Cathedral, the focus of the heart of Vienna, which hasn't had a clock since the early 1900's.This was Elder Parker's favorite
You're looking at a pocket sun dial, the absolute ultimate for the traveling man!
And then of course there's the ultimate cuckoo clock. The picture doesn't do it justice as it was about three feet across and four feet high!
Sunday was, of course, Fast and Testimony Meeting and we had a lovely meeting at the ward we'd picked out to be one of our last such opportunities to bear our testimony of the truthfulness of what we are engaged in. That evening we had a Visitor's Evening at the center, pretty well attended at which all of the Vienna missionaries were present along with a good selection of people from around the stake and even a couple of investigators.
So here are the details about our return. We will arrive on United Airlines flight 5483 at 6:58 PM on the 18th of November at Salt Lake City International Airport. We have a two hour layover in Denver following up from a two hour layover in Frankfurt. All are invited to the house for Thanksgiving dinner on the 26th with the homecoming addresses scheduled for the 29th. We'll figure out a way to put up any out of towners that want to come.
[Sister Parker] I can't believe we are thinking on Thanksgiving and Homecoming, but whatever, it is true that we are visiting our wards here in Vienna for the last time. Even though we haven't gotten to know very many members closely, there are always a few that we have personally connected with. This ward has a sweet, friendly spirit and it is hard to say good-bye. I think our young adults are also thinking on our leaving and seem to be hanging out longer and longer in the evenings. But here again it is a joy to be with them, and it tugs at my heart. I find myself trying to cook their favorites. I think my favorite thing this week was attending the couples institute class on Thursday, as there was only one person and Ester asked if I would join. The lessons are on Jesus Christ and His Everlasting Gospel. It is interesting that being on a mission helps you see so clearly the purpose of life and that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to change peoples lives for the better. Cherish your testimonies and continually nurture them.
Looking forward to coming home next month, but trying not to think on it too much and to finish up what we would like to complete here. Its also getting colder and time to put on those heavy winter coats. Temperatures the next couple of days are from 47 degrees down to 32 degrees
Grammy, Grampa, Mom, Dad, Elder and Sister Parker
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