More of Our Swiss March Trip

 Continuing on to the Senior Mission Conference,  we drove through the big city of Zurich but we went on to Luzern where we parked to walk around some of this beautiful city.

 Elder Smith moved the van to this handicapped spot which we are saving. Elder Tew's tag comes in very handy which means free parking. He still struggles with his leg but once he gets going, he can walk really well.  (I think his limp is getting worse though.) But he doesn't complain. He says it's the price he pays for the free parking and that's ok.

 More pics of Luzern.

 Do you remember the story of William Tell?  He was from here.

 This is "Gletschergarten Löwendenkmal" which means glacier garden monument to the Lion. It is a war monument to the fallen.

 Notice the details. What does this Lion remind you of?

 Walking by a store to buy glasses, we thought this was funny.

 Farewell to Luzern, time well spent.

 Breathtaking view of the Alps here in Interlaken.

 A common hobby and sport here.

 Three Amigos in Interlaken, Switzerland.

 Interesting trees. I wonder what they look like in summer.  Notice the parachute flyer in the distance. They take off from the mountain behind us but we couldn't really see them, and they land in this park. If you look back to the previous picture, that is the top of the mountain they take off.

 Driving to our Hotel we stopped for pics. The fun statue of the Swiss man looking at the valley. Oh, I mean the one on the left not Elder Tew!

Cute little pizza place for a late supper close to our Hotel.  We were starving!

Trip through Bavaria - More March Memories

 We are on our way to our Senior Mission  Conference in Zollikofen, Switzerland. We rented a huge van and picked up the Smiths and Wades in Saltzburg so we could all go together. The Wades traveled up from Klagenfurt to meet us. The six of us did some sight seeing for a couple days on the way to the Conference.

                                                                       We traveled through parts of Bavaria, Germany and of course we had to visit our favorite castle Neuschwanstein. Here it is in the distance nestled among the beautiful Alps.

 This church was just waiting for a picture. This is on the way to the castle.

 Getting closer and using our zoom on the camera.

 I cheated on this picture because it is a pic of a place mat I bought at the gift shop. But I wanted you to remember how famous this castle is. Not only did King Ludwig ll build it but Disney loved it also and fashioned his fairy castle after it. You will also remember the poster we have of this picture on the wall by our family room. When we came here 33 years ago, we were too late for the tour so we bought the poster instead.  I have always loved this castle. We got on the tour this time!! We have read up on Ludwig ll who was King of Bavaria from 1864-1886. Quite a fastinating story. He also built 2 other castles.

 We paid extra for a horse drawn ride up the hill. Money well spent!

 The entrance and into the courtyard.

 Going up the stairs to begin the tour of the inside. We were the last ones on the last tour of the day, and we're excited!

 Oops, I snapped this pic right before I saw the sign for no photographs inside. Pretty cool though to give you a flavor of what it looks like.

 We could take pics from the inside out.

 Looking out a window to the magnificent view.

 This pic was after buying our stuff at the gift shop. They don't care about cameras here.

 Some outside shots.

 Fabulous castle but the King died before it was finished on the inside. We did see several spectacular rooms though. 

 Great detail! You can see where Disney got ideas for his fairy tale movies.

 Goodbye Neuschwanstein...hopefully we will see you again.

 Across the way is the castle of King Maximilian, the father of Ludwig ll.

 Some fun Bavarian pictures.

I will continue our trip on the next posting.

March Memories

 We walked by this fabulous church on the way from an appointment here in Graz.

 While walking around Schloss Eggenberg we found the peacocks posing for us...

... even spreading their feathers.

 And of course we had to take a shadow pic. We think this one looks pretty cool!

 We visited the Hanselmayers and she served us open faced sandwiches.  Yummm.  Bro. Hanselmayer is such a great example of endurance and trusting in the Lord. His testimony is so strong and humble.  His wife is not a member but was the perfect hostess until she had to leave for a concert. We enjoyed getting to know this good brother a little better. He speaks mostly German and Elder Tew translated for me.

•  Osei (Paul) Boateng was baptized. The Sisters found him while riding the Streetcar to church and he started asking questions. He was pretty golden right from the start. He is 43 years old, from Ghana, and is happy to have a new life now in the Church.

 Our next potential Baptism is Albert Handy. Here he is with Osei after the Baptism.

 I make lots of cookies every Monday for FHE and to take to people. These Chocolate Crinkles are a favorite with everyone!

 Anna Sinitsyna has been working and living with the Suppan family this year and will be leaving to return to Russia in a couple of weeks.  She is so strong in the Gospel since her Baptism last October and is excited to share her newfound truths with her friends and family. She is a great missionary already. Here she is with part of the Suppan family, Marlene, Sister Suppan and Phillip. Bro. Suppan and Clements were gone but we snapped this pic while Elder Tew and I were there Visiting Teaching the girls. Sister suppan had shoulder surgery a couple weeks ago.

 Kristin Pail could hardly wait for dessert after the dinner and Institute lesson. She really piled on the whipped cream and cherries on her piece of chocolate cake and said "This is what I have been waiting for all day!!"

 Heather and Dominique liked it also.

Elder Tew couldn't resist buying these on the way home from the Senior Couple Missionary Conference we had in Switzerland last week. He said he had to get rid of all his extra Swiss money (Franks). We brought the biggest Toblerone Chocolate to District meeting where the Missionaries devoured it in minutes.