Temple

Not a lot of exciting things this week.

I finished my long copy sales letter for this relationship coach-- 14 pages.  I will likely start on another one next week.   I had to write a sales letter promoting myself for the Clayton Makepeace Workshop I'm attending in mid April.  It was hard to blow my own horn, but I talked to the guy I'm working for on these relationship letters. He agreed to let me write it as if it came from him.

I finally got my hair cut.  It looks better.

I've had wash windows on my list all week-- but haven't done it.  The weather has warmed up some.  We got about 1/2 inch of rain, but nothing below freezing this week.  Our asparagus is starting to emerge.  That will be tasty. None of our seeds are up yet, but the peach and apricot trees are blooming.  We put some boarders around our phlox to keep the other groundcovers from encroaching.  They are all set to give us a carpet of color.  I have faith spring will come.

Friday Tom and I drove to the temple.  We'd called to see if we could give away the back seats for other temple goers... but got no takers.  Probably just as well.  We got about 12 miles down the road and I remembered I'd forgotten my purse-- with temple recommend inside.  All our surplus time was eaten up turning around and getting the purse.  We needed to get to the temple in under 4 hours.  Something we'd never done before.  I told Tom, "If we get there at 5 minutes to 11, I want to try and make the 11:00 session."

It was a miracle.  We actually got there by quarter to 11!  The last road we took had NO traffic and we hit every light green.  I think it took us under 7 minutes on that road. On the way home it was bumper-to-bumper traffic and we hit every light red.  It just proved God's tender mercies!  We made the 11 and 1pm sessions and then headed home.  It was a long day-- Got home about 8:30.  But a good day.

Saturday Cotter was having an appraisal fair to raise funds for lighting the Cotter bridge.  We took two tables, a wash stand, Dad's light and the doll chest with doll.  The appraisers were just delighted with the doll chest and the old doll clothes. They liked the Aladdin Lamp. and said nice things about the furniture.  Gave us ball park estimates and places to sell them if we wanted.

That afternoon I drove to West Plains to train the new Relief Society presidency there.  We stayed to listen to the Women's Broadcast.  This was the first time every woman over 8 years old was invited to attend.  I thought the talks were excellent.  A lot about covenants and covenant keeping.  And a lot about how we can help each other regardless of the age differences.

Since the conference got over at 8:30, I decided to spend the night with the RS Secretary and go to church with her in Mountain View Branch. It's a little country branch about 30 minutes north east of West Plains.  There are many lovely people there and were very welcoming.  I visited with several people who used to live in Mountain Home, including the first owner of Levi-- Rebecca's' dog.

Got home a little after 4.  It was fast Sunday for us, so at least I didn't have to worry about missing lunch.  Had nice visits with some of the kids this evening.

Quiet week

I don't think a lot of exciting things happened this week-- except one. That comes later.

This was as good writing week.  I continue to slog forward on the two Infinite banking books.  But front row this week was my sales letter for a relationship coach.  I had several calls with my client.  I wrote two sets of headlines and got the go-ahead for the lead.  I wrote that and sent it in and they were very pleased.  Now it's just on to finishing the project.

At times it feels "in the zone" and the writing just flows.  I love those times.  Then I get to a spot where I have to fight for each word.  Time came to do something with Tom and I said, "Hooray! I get to Quit!"  Usually he has to drag me from the computer.

Friday we planted the garden.  It was so nice.  Tom had rototilled it so it was ready to go.  That was a tender mercy of the Lord.  It's rained and snowed since then and the ground is still pretty damp.  It would be hard to rototill it now-- as Tom found out when he tried to work on the neighbor's garden on Saturday.  We planted broccoli, beets, brussel sprouts, onion sets, peas, lettuce and spinach.  I'd planted potatoes earlier in the week.

Tom and I both had eye appointments this week.  Our vision has changed very little.  No signs at all of macular degeneration.  But a very slight clouding.  He said we are a long way from cataracts though.

Last week was my last week for studying options with one educational service.  So I crammed the last lessons in.  Now I need to go back and review them and get the strategies better in my mind. Sometimes I think I'm smart.  Other times I wonder that I can't keep puts and calls straight in my mind!  Am I buying to open or selling to open?  And I long or short? Is the stock at resistance or support?  It doesn't help that you buy a call for the right to buy, and sell a call for the obligation to sell. But you buy a put for the right to sell, and sell a put for the obligation to buy.

I called Ward Relief Society Presidents and set up a May 10th training meeting with each of them giving a small part.  This Saturday we'll train a new presidency.  I have another new president waiting for counselors.  And one that thinks she will soon be released.  It's funny.  When I was called, they said, Most of the presidents have been in for a while, so you won't have a lot of new ones to train.  And the ones that have been in, still feel insecure in some ways.

Saturday was the West Plains Ward Relief Society Ball.  They were kind enough to invite the whole stake. Tom and I went.  I brought a large salad.  I had been asked to speak, but there was a glitch of some kind an dinner moved into dancing without a pause for speaking.  That's okay.  Now I have a talk for another time.

Now the interesting news.   Today in Sacrament, Bro. Randall Drake was called as the stake patriarch.  For some reason, this was emotional to me.  I felt for them both-- bro and Sis Drake.  What an awesome responsibility and a blessing.  It's a calling for life!  But also what a marvelous blessing for our ward and for Mountain Home.  That conduit to revelation will bring greater spirituality to our area, I think.  He will fulfill this calling very well, I'm sure.  But it's...wow.  Huge.

Tom had Bishops Youth Discussion at our house this afternoon.  Now he is off to a stake priesthood meeting in West Plains.  Busy times.

A Dream and a Memory

Tom said at the end of our trip, “Soon this will just be a dream and a memory.”  That is what we heard when we were getting off our mission.  I thought, what doesn’t become a dream and a memory?  I think it’s our relationship with the Savior.  That can be a forever constant if we choose to stay close to him.

 We flew back on Friday and arrived home after traveling 22 hours.  We were tired puppies.  It’s taken us a few days to get back into a decent sleeping routine.  We awoke very early the first few days.

 I have a job working for a relationship coach now. It’s pretty interesting—writing for women wanting a better relationship with a guy—how to connect, what to talk about, how to get your ex back. And so on.  I’ve been working and talking with the client getting some jobs set up.  I also am moving forward with another Infinite Banking book.

 A lot of this week was spend on Relief Society.  I needed to prepare several talks and connect with RS presidents.  I had my first presidency meeting on Wednesday and got to meet my counselors really for the first time.  They are marvelous ladies and we will work well together.

Wednesday was the Scout Blue and gold banquet.  It was fun to visit with people and have no responsibilities.

 

Saturday we went to Ava Ward for their RS event and I spoke there.  They had a great lunch. We met again after that and planned out more Stake Relief Society events.

 

Sunday was the Mountain Home Ward Conference.  All the stake leaders were there.  We trained from 8:50 to 9:30. Then I raced to choir to practice the song we were singing that day.  Then during Sunday School I met with the stake president to talk about relief society things.  Then spoke for a few minutes in Relief Society.

 We were to go out and visit people after church. However it started SNOWING again during church!  Good grief! It had been 70 degrees or so the days before. I’d planted potatoes in the garden—thinking it would rain. And now SNOW?  So some of the stake leaders left to get home safely.

 The RS president and I did go visit. We took the truck (4 wheel drive) in case it got bad.  But it didn’t. And we had a great visit with a family. And with each other.

 We had a couple from Colorado come here for a job interview.  They’d called Tom to ask about the area, and so we invited them to stay with us while they looked for a rental and interviewed for the job.  They accepted the job offer and searched for the perfect house all in a few days.  They will leave to head back to Colorado to pack and then return in just a few weeks.

Dachau

Thursday we drove to Munich and to Dachau.  We went to see the concentration camp.

Entrance to concentration camp

Map of camp

I expected we'd spend a few hours there and then maybe see some of Munich.  We spent about 5 hours there.  It was very sobering.  The museum traced the rise of Hitler and his party and the erosion of freedoms of the people.

I had not realized that after WWI Germany had a democratic party with many freedoms-- the freedom to speak, to own property and not have it taken from you, the right to vote, the lack of discrimination based on race and religion.

With a series of rulings it was all swept away.

I also didn't realized that Hitler targeted so many groups.  He went after anyone who disagreed with him politically and put them into concentration camps.  He went after the priests and religious people who protested against him. He winnowed out his own followers and incarcerated any who might be weak.  He exterminated the infirm, the handicapped, the imperfect.  Then, of course, he went after Jews, and anyone non German.

As Germany went to war, they spread the program of extermination to the Jews and priests in the conquered nations.  And in Russia, they planned extermination so the new German Rich could spread into those lands.  Men, women and children were killed or hauled back to be slaves for the Third Reich and shoved into concentration camps.  Many Russian POW's were shot or killed in other ways.

The incredible brutality was mindboggling. Beatings, tortures, working to death, scientific experiments. And in the town of Dachau?  People said they didn't know what was going on.

How could that be?  I think it's because it was easier to believe a lie.  It's more comfortable.  If you believe the truth, then you must do something.  And that's dangerous.  It might put YOU in a concentration camp.

 

 Memorial. You can't see it clearly, but it shows skeletal people throwing themselves into the electrified barbed wire fence to kill themselves after they could no longer stand it.

 The camp was intended for 6,000 but grew to 32,000.  They were crammed into these rooms, but still expected to keep them spotless.

 Crematorium where the dead were burned.  They had a gas chamber, but it was never fully used.  Still, bodies were piled high in the two side rooms when the allied forces arrived.

 

I worry about our eroding freedoms.   I just read that the United States is now # 46 on the list of free countries just ahead of Haiti and behind Romania.  Where have our freedoms gone?  Since when have we allowed our freedoms to be slowly eroded and taken from us?  Why have we chosen safety and security-- government protection-- instead of freedom.

Innsbruck and Neuschwanstein Castle

Tuesday morning March 4th 2014 we left Italy and drove north to Austria.  Once again we drove into the clouds, through tunnels, and past snow covered mountains.  Cameras simply cannot do justice to the panoramic views we saw.  We'd go into a tunnel and come out with snow on the other side.

 

Occasional snow flurries made it seem like winter, but indeed, we were very blessed with great weather.  The roads were clear and we didn't have a lot of rain when we were out sightseeing.  It did rain most of the way to Innsbruck.

We went to the Crystal Museum sponsored by Swarovski Crystal Company.  I had expected a history of the crystal and information about the mining process.  It was none of that.  Rather it was a tribute to the crystal in art and design.

This was a picture from a mirrored room.  Below, someone taking a photo in another display.

It was very much a modern art museum and used sight, sound, color, and movement to celebrate crystals. There were many displays that had motion-- automation-- to set off the crystals.  But some.. I just couldn't figure out-- dancing legs (just legs with men's pants on) and moving shirts on hangers... and on torsos. Very odd.

We went into a room all mirrored like a giant crystal, and through a "water world" with the garbled under-water sounds.  Eventually we came to the Swarovski historical area with some beautiful crystal pieces and finally into the modern show room and sales.

Naturally we had to look... and buy.  I got a small necklace and earrings.

We then toured some of old Innsbruck.  Again the old town area was lovely... but crowded with a joyful Carnival or Mardi Gras crowd.  The costumes were not nearly as elaborate as Venice, but they were full sized kinds of Halloween costumes you might see on kids.

Also, loud music.  We wandered for a bit-- first with the sights and the crowds... then trying to find where we parked the car.  Then the automatic arm wouldn't let us out of the parking garage.  So Dan asked someone in the parking area.  He let us out for free! Nice.  He said, in honor of Carnival!

We drove on to Germany to Garmish where the US Army R&R lodge of Edelweiss is.  It is a large, elaborate lodge with a zillion rooms. Dan and Rebecca enjoyed the work out rooms and the trails to run.  We all enjoyed the dining area.

Wednesday we drove back through Austria to the Neuschwanstein Castle built by Prince Ludwig II around a romantic medieval Wagnerian theme. Driving back into Austria we found lots of snow.  Then after going through another tunnel, it disappeared.

The Castle was amazing. Most of the rooms are decorated with scenes from Wagner's operas.We could not take interior photos. Sorry.  The sketches for the castle came from sets from some of Wagner's operas.  It was built to rival Versailles. 

I don't think it does, although it's incredibly ornate, like Versailles.  It's not as large and doesn't have the majestic gardens.  It does however, have fantastic views.  Really breathtaking.  And the castle is lovely.  I particularly liked that it LOOKED like a medieval castle, but, being built in the last 1800's had much more modern conveniences-- even electricity and a telephone.

Alas, Ludwig, believing in absolute monarchy, drove himself into debt building this and several other palaces.  He never completed this castle, even as he drew up plans for another.  When the banks threatened to foreclose, he was declared insane, confined, and found dead the next day at age 40.  The castle was never finished and remains in the just as it was the day he died.  They never finished it.

Still, I think Bavaria came out ahead.  When you look at all the tourists going to the castle, I'm sure the state has earned back all the money spent on the castle.  And they have a wonder of the world there.  It is breathtakingly beautiful.

Venice

Monday we drove to  Venice.  The driving is less stressful when you simply assume getting lost is part of the journey.  We made a detour... but we arrived in Venice just fine.

I hadn't realized it was ALL islands (about 118 of them). We drove on a long bridge from the mainland and parked the car. Then we walked the rest of the time.

We hadn't realized until Sunday that Carnival or Mardi Gras was going on in Venice.  But it was.  Full blast.  Many, many people were in costume. There were masks and face painters and painted faces.  Loads of people.  Wow. Crowds everywhere.  But they were all having a good time.

We got a map of Venice and and it helped a lot.  We saw lots of alley ways. Some on purpose... some not. We crossed canals over lots of little bridges.  Tom was especially enamored with all the costumes.  I loved the colorful buildings and the wonderful view of canals.

 We first went to the Jewish Gheto or Ghetto.  Originally Gheto ment foundry, I think.  But with bigotry, they confined the Jews into this small island, locked them in at night, and only allowed them to ply certain trades- money changers, pawn shops, used clothing sellers.  Many were very poor.  Only a few were wealthy. We went through the museum there.

Then we went on to St. Mark's square.  This was where the head of the government was for many years when Venice was independent. We really didn't see a lot of the square.  We did see tons of people and the large Catholic church. It's very thought provoking how much of life revolved around church at this time.  And to  be in a very Catholic nation.

We sampled authentic pizza, a great Italian salami sandwich, gelato- ice cream, cannoli-- cream filled pastries and tiramasu- a chocolate topped/cream/cake dessert.  It was fun to try authentic foods.  On the way back to the car we passed this opera singer in one of the squares.  It was delightful to listen to him.

After we returned to Vicenza, we went out to dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant.  It was close to the base and recommended by Rebecca's friend.  Yummy pasta.

Italy

Friday, after we left Lucerne, we drove to Italy.

Once we came out of the alps on the Italian side via a long tunnel, we entered a new world!  The snow was really deep, the sky was shrouded in clouds and it was snowing lightly. We stopped for a pit stop at a rest stop, then continued through Milan and on to Vicenza.  While we passed a lot of vineyards, we also passed lots of cities.  Vicenza was bigger than I thought it would be.  We drove around the military base several times looking for the entrance in.  It was on the first road we came down, but hidden behind green fencing and could only be accessed if driving west.  We asked directions a couple of times... but still found lots of places that were not right, before finally getting to the entrance.  It took us 45 minutes of driving to find it.  Not our finest hour.

We stopped by the commissary and then drove to the lodging.  It has a kitchenette, living room with fold-out sofa, and a bedroom with queen bed.

Saturday we went to Verona--  of Romeo and Juliette fame.  I was fascinated by the age of the structures.  Tom and I spent some time scrambling around an old Roman Arena.  It was built like a coliseum with arched entrances and stone seating. It's still used today and it was built in 4AD.  Wow!  How did they do it?

I love the more colorful houses of Italy.  The balconies, shutters, archways and hanging vines all fulfill my vision of what Italy should look like.  It's so picturesque in a way that's quite different from Switzerland.

Saturday we went to Verona. Here is the arch to the old city.

They had a 4AD Roman arena there that Tom and I toured.

We toured a castle on the riverside and then went into the art museum there.  The art was mostly from Verona and from the 13 and 14 th centuries.  So it all had a religious theme.  Some were very lovely and well done.  It's amazing how oil and paint can look so lifelike... and after so many years.

We walked across this beautiful bridge.  The castle is right on the edge of this river and the bridge comes out right where the castle is.

 Beautiful Verona houses.

 We returned to the car for a late lunch and when we came out from the parking structure, it was raining.  So we walked in the rain to the cathedral.  Again, it had amazing detail on the inside.

By then we had tired, damp feet so we trekked back to the car.

The GPS, which had brought us to Verona on the toll road, decided to take us back on surface streets.  A better view of the scenery... but lots of round-abouts!  Dan finally ignored it, took the sign for the A4, and got us back on the main highway.

We dined at the PX eatery.  Here in Italy, restaurants close between 5-7 so if you  want dinner, you need to eat late.

Today we made it to church.  On the map it looked pretty simple.  The GPS took us all over the place... and we finally got there.  It was the pink building next to the massage parlor. We had to park across the street at the school.  It was comforting to talk to Carlie, Rebecca's friend from high school (Okinawa), and have her say that her GPS will take her a different route every time she goes one direction.

It was fun to be in a military ward.  Today was fast Sunday.  We had an early dinner of sandwiches and left-overs and then did a little sight seeing of  Vicenza.  We saw a cathedral and clock tower.  Lots of cobblestone and some parks. Beautiful old buildings.