Austria is on LOCKDOWN!

 Yes, it is true!  Austria is on lock-down for three weeks!  When will this terrible pandemic be taken at last from the earth?  A very dear 83 year old sister in our branch (whom we adore) is ill with COVID and suffering in the hospital right now.  It is especially horrible because none of her family can visit her.  She is totally alone in her suffering. It is brutal!  The branch is fasting and praying for her complete recovery as soon as possible.  She is loved by everyone and we are very worried about her.

 It is true…Austria is on lock-down for three weeks!  When will this terrible pandemic be taken from the earth?

This is the fourth lock-down in Austria since February of 2020.   Everything is closed except for grocery stores and gas stations and essential emergency services.  It is a blessing that we can still attend church.  We are grateful to be members of a small branch that is still allowed to meet weekly.  Larger congregations are meeting every other

week with social distancing or with zoom technology.  

How can we continue to bless the lives of the members when we can’t visit them?  We are keeping in touch with them as much as possible on the phone, dropping things off to them on doorsteps and sending notes. 

Last Friday it snowed (a
very wet snow) all day!  We walked to the Farmers Market (Bauern Markt Leoben.)  We were totally soaked when we returned home and realized we should have taken our umbrellas! 

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving in the U.S. We thought about all of you surrounded by family and enjoying your traditional feasting!  We miss you all and pray for your health, happiness!  May this holiday season bring great blessings for you and your families.   

Our mission: (The Alpine German Speaking Mission) had a 5K yesterday on Thanksgiving Day.  To kick it off… at 7:00 AM our mission president Scott and Jodi Naatjes his wife, hosted a zoom call with a wonderful message of gratitude for us. He quoted President Dieter F. Uchdorf: “This is not a gratitude of the lips but of the soul.  This is a gratitude that heals the heart and expands the mind.  Being grateful in any circumstance is an act of faith in God.  It requires that we trust God and hope for things which we may not see but which are actually true!”

We are including a photo taken of us last month with President and Sister Naatjes at our Stake Conference in Vienna.

All the missionaries in our mission did the 5K (in the individual cities) they serve in.  During our 5K we were instructed to find something beautiful to stand in front of as we each made a video expressing something we are grateful for.  They are compiling them into a video for us to send home to our families.

On Thanksgiving it was a beautiful day and as we walked we took some great pictures of Leoben.  Notice a photo of me pointing to a building: This is the longest (continuously operating theater) in all of Austria!  We are planning to attend a play there during the next two years.

We also took pictures of the St.Xavier church in Leoben. This church purportedly has two wonderful organs. Our son Andrew is coming to visit us and will be arriving on December 26.  We hope he will be able to play the magnificent organs in this church during his 10 day visit here between Christmas and New Years. 

The other photos include amazing old buildings in Leoben  (including a medieval watch tower.)  We enjoyed our beautiful city while walking our 5K.  The weather was beautiful!  We knew the snow was coming the next day so we enjoyed every ray of sunshine and the glorious blue sky. 

Last Saturday we were invited to sweet Anneliese Riedner’s home for lunch with sisters Hancy and Meyers who are serving in Graz.  We knew the lockdown was beginning on Monday so we especially appreciated having a delicious home cooked meal with our beloved relief society president.

We heard a wonderful quote by Jared Halverson:  “God has made ample provision for all of his children!”  Yes, God is merciful and loving!  I am so grateful that he is in the details of our lives.  I want to “Let God prevail!”

We love you all!  Thanks for reading our blog!