Enjoy!

 We dodged a bullet a few days before Christmas!  A very dear Elder in our district asked Judd to record a violin part to a recording he wanted to place on social media as a missionary tool.  During the recording, Judd placed his violin on a window sill, forgot it had a microphone attached to it, moved suddenly and his violin fell onto a hard floor!  Judd was in a state of shock (understandably!)  We were worried that the violin might be cracked but we took it to Henrietta Lersch, a violin maker in Vienna, and she assured us that it is fine!  It just needs a little cosmetic repair to the varnish!  We were so grateful to receive this news!  Judd plays his violin nearly everyday here in Austria.  He plays for members in their homes.  They love it!  We also perform a lot in church meetings and mission conferences.  It was a scare and we were worried for a few days but we are so grateful that Judd still has a violin to play here!  Judd’s violin was made by Leopold Widhalm in 1777 (who was an Austrian!)

We had such a sweet time during the days leading up to Christmas, visiting the members of our branch and bringing them little remembrances.  We love these dear branch members.  On Christmas Eve we were invited again to the Schatz family for a very special meal and Christmas Eve program. Manuela Schatz is a wonderful cook.  All eight missionaries in our district were invited!  They gave each of us wrapped gifts.  The Schatz family are such generous people who love and serve with their whole hearts!  For many years now, all the missionaries in our district have considered the Schatz Family their home away from home!

On Christmas Day we drove back to Graz to pick up the sister missionaries and drive them to the home of a member of the Graz ward named Edeltraud Wemmer, who lives in Leitersdorf, an hour south of Graz.  The sisters had called her before Christmas to ask her what she would be doing to celebrate. She told them that she had nothing planned and that she would be completely alone for the first time on Christmas.  She has children and grandchildren but because she has not been immunized, none of them would come to visit.  The sisters asked us if we would drive them to this lonely sister’s home so we could bring her some joy.  We wanted to surprise her and sing carols for her.   We drove the hour to her place and we really did surprise her!  We sang some lovely christmas carols for Edeltraud.  She thanked us and we wished her “Merry Christmas” and began our journey back to Graz.  Shortly afterwards Edeltraud sent Sister Meyer a text message saying that it was the saddest most lonely Christmas of her whole life.  She said that we sounded like angels caroling outside her door and she wanted to sing along with us but she couldn’t because she was crying!  That meant everything to us!  

Isn’t that what our Savior encourages us to do?  We want to do more to reach out to the sad, the lonely the downtrodden and the afflicted, not just during this season, but throughout the year and throughout our lives!  It was a blessed Christmas 2021, in Leitersdorf Austria!