Zone Conference in Salzburg

 Ok... so on the morning of Tues. July 8th at about 6:50 our neighbor rang our bell to tell us that our mission car had been hit just a few minutes before. Oh great! We were leaving at 7am to pick up the Sister Missionaries and drive the 3 hours to Salzburg for our special conference with 2 Zones. Our new Mission President wanted to meet with us all, introduce his family, instruct us, and have short interviews with each pair of missionaries. So here were were with a kaput car. What to do?  Prayers, police, phone calls...

 You can see the culprit's car that was undrivable. Apparently the 19 yr.old male made the turn too fast and slid into our parked car. Police were great, our neighbor was great, (he even changed our tire for us) the car was drivable and we were blessed.  But when we picked up the sisters, the extra weight was not good so we ended up renting a car. With all this happening, it actually worked out pretty smoothly and we were only an hour late for the Conference. But what a morning! More experiences to add to our list.

 What a beautiful drive to Salzburg. We went a different way this time to see other scenery.

 Our new President Brian Kohler and his great family. 

 We were so impressed with this wonderful  family. President and sister Kohler are fabulous. Erica is 14 and Tanner is nearly 17. They left their home in Provo to serve here. They also have an older daughter serving her mission in Japan. 

 A picture with the Parkers who are the senior couple in Vienna. they are from Alpine, Ut.

 Our District.

 On the drive back, we passed this sign indicating that we are entering into our Providence (or county). Steiermark is where we live and Graz is the capital. We love the green heart for the heart of Austria!

 We stopped here at this landmark that honors  the Archduke of Austria, the Styrian Prince. This was a fun place to purchase some bakery treats and walk around a bit. The next 7 pics are from what we saw.

 Interesting place to drive through to the few houses inside.

 This is a look from the other side. Let's hope it never gets blocked. 

It would be fun to stay here at this Guest house. 

 This is a work house with all kinds of tools mounted on the front as decoration. Interesting concept.

Another sign of the Styrian Panther. The Styrish people are very proud of him.

 Another view of the Guest House and our rental car.

 We had to get a double take of this hotel as we were on the road again. Too expensive for our wallet for sure but great for a pic.

Lovely countryside from the car. T'schuss!!

July means Summer!

Happy Summer to you all!

At the end of the youth water activity, the guys started launching water balloons up in the air to see how high they could get them.  It was fun to see how excited they all got.

On our way to a ward couples activity, on July 4th, we had a nice drive through the country. We love all the flowers and how they decorate their houses and even the bridges with flower boxes.

 A random house we passed.

 These gorgeous bushes (hydrangeas) are everywhere. We want to find and plant one when we get home!

 Lovely wheat field that I had to snap.

 The couple activity was a walk/hike and this picture has a particular story behind it.  Let's just say that a  less active member friend, a single sister, brought her very old female dog on the hike. And out of nowhere bounded this male dog and attacked her and wouldn't leave. Elder Tew carrried this dog the rest of the way for our friend. This was a very appreciated service for Uli, but by the time we got to the parking lot and the other dog still jumping up, Rick was very tired! We couldn't get that dog to leave us, he even chased the car as they drove off.

 The fun Austrian Resturant we went to at the end of the activity.

 How fun it was to hear this great musician sing and play the Steirische Harmonika (Austrian Accordian) for us during our dinner.

 This meal comes with all the bread you want to eat with it (even though you pay for each slice). We also ordered an Austrian salad. When we were about to leave, Sister Sander who is an opera singer started singing "The Star Spangled Banner" for us right there in the resturant to celebrate July 4th, the American Independance Day. Of course she insisted that we sing also because she forgot most of the words. Interesting Night.

 July 5th, a pizza birthday celebration lunch for Elder Martinez.

 Our Austrian attire again (Rick is sporting his latest gift of a fancy, like new, Styrisch suit and tie, from a member!) 

 This area of Graz is called Jakomini Platz (square), and I had to snap some pics.

 We love Graz!!

 

Eating our Döner sandwich at our favorite shop. We love the outside portable extensions on the sidewaks and streets for seating because in the summer it is terribly hot inside those cafes where they are cooking the meats on large rotating Kabobs.

At FHE our group loves to play games after the lesson.