Week 50

I am late getting my an entry posted since we spent most of Sunday—after the Berlin Stake conference—driving for some six-plus hours with the Huszes to Vienna.

Beautiful Grace Scott who captured Bill Laing's heart

Monday, last week, John and I received an early morning phone call from his brothers, together on a conference call, letting him know that his mom had passed away at 4:22 pm, Sunday evening, on September 9—just four days after her 89th birthday and exactly one-month from the day Pop left us on August 9.  We were amazed at the speed with which Mom declined.

The process that took Pop weeks to go through (not wanting to leave Mom behind, I’m sure), took mom just hours, anxious to rejoin him. What a wonderful blessing to have it so. It is difficult to lose both parents so quickly but we can’t but be happy for their being together again. We are so grateful for the knowledge we have of the Plan of Happiness, of Salvation, and of Redemption. What a blessing the gospel is in our lives. John has been flooded of memories of his mom from when he was a little boy and together we worked to capture these to send to his siblings as his contribution to their funeral preparations.

We called back in on the conference call with the siblings to decide the date for the funeral, to approve the program and obituary that Crystal put together from drafts John had sent earlier. They looked great. Crystal does such a super job. It was wonderful to talk with everyone. It has been a sweet experience to have the chance to work together in such harmony, everyone willing to give and take as needed to bring things together beautifully. The viewing was to be Sunday night and the funeral Monday, September 17. We were so grateful our three could attend. Patrick and Tessha would flew down to attend and to enjoy a get away together, since they wouldn't have the kids for the weekend. We will hear a report on these special events soon, I’m sure.

Our early walk to welcome the sunrise after hearing about Mom.

When we got off the phone it was just before 6:30 am and we decided to go out walking to see the sunrise and to talk. It was so lovely in the cool of the morning. Later we finished boxing up the first of three boxes we will ship home, and with the help of the Meyerses and their car, we hauled this one down to the post office. It was nice to get one under way. I hope they all make it home safely! In the process of getting it packaged and weighed—all 20 kilos of it—I managed to strain my back and put it in spasms and was worried that I was going to be in real trouble, but John worked my back, knees, and legs, helping me enormously. How grateful we are for the things Sis. Cyr taught us that allow us to help keep each other going!

It is hard to say goodbye to the Metzners

We said our last farewells to the Metzners Monday evening; they left Tuesday morning as we began a wonderful week at the temple with another group of Hungarians here with their children for their week-long visit--the older ones who participated in baptisms and the little guys who were cared for in the Herberge by parents and friends trading off. One young man, here with his wife and four children—the eldest 5 years old—commented to John that this was his children’s seventh temple trip—adding, they come bringing them as often as they can because they want them to learn to love the temple! I don’t doubt that they will. These families who spend their vacations doing temple work have a special spirit about them.

On Wednesday John felt really lousy—as if he had been run over by several trucks. He was really wobbly and his energy level was just not there. The next day we realized in the rush to get to the temple the day before neither of us had had our morning pills. No wonder John was flattened! At least now we realize they do help him keep going.

Thursday, while John was resting, I went to Netto to see if they had held some empty boxes for us—and was able to come home with three big Brötchen boxes that should finish off giving us space for everything we will need to still ship home so we don’t need to wield a lot on our journey. We also packed knowing we were leaving Saturday after the second session and would have no time to do so Friday after our late shift.

On Saturday we had serveral live sealings to arrange for and then left with the Huszes just after the second session finished, quickly changed, loaded our bag into their car, and were under way for Berlin—a place we had thought we would not see before leaving Germany. To try to get there and back on the train on a weekend would have been beyond John’s energy levels, though we had had wonderful invitations from different Saints living there to come see them and let them show us around.

The Berlin bear welcomes us en route to our bus

Huszes were to speak at the Saturday evening session for the stake conference and we thought we should go with them but president said “It’s your only chance to see Berlin.” So I made a deal with him and Sis Husz that we would go see the city Saturday night if they would share their talks with us en route to Wien.

Our Hop-on and Hop-off Bus--we stayed on!

City tour--our way.

They agreed so when we got to our hotel, they left for the stake center and we walked (John brought his sticks with!) down a ways from our hotel to catch a city bus tour—our usual mode of getting an overview of a city. In this case, with our short time frame, it was our only chance to see anything of this big city, which John had never visited and I hadn’t seen since I was 16 when I met my brother after his mission and when Berlin was still a divided city—with a wall separating West and East Berlin. How different things are now!

Our impression of Berlin was that it was much like China in that it is largely under construction. The tour director on the bus said that there were over 100,000 sites under renovation. We could believe it. Cranes were everywhere. The Berliners may have to share with the Chinese in having the "crane" declared their national bird too!

Construction cranes everywhere!

We still enjoyed seeing sites on both east and west sides of the city.

As we were leaving the city the next day after stake conference, Sis Husz told us, when we drove by the Victory Tower we had seen the night before, that her son had served his mission in Berlin and the missionaries always joked that the beautiful angel on top was Angel Moroni’s girlfriend.

Victory Tower--Moroni's girlfriend!

We were especially drawn to the Brandenburger Tor that used to present such a threat to anyone wanting to enter or leave the East Zone. The last time I was here, so long ago, the Berlin Wall still flanked the gate on both sides. It was wonderful to see the city now joined in one and to think of all the fulfillment of prophecy that has come regarding blessings to the East German Saints—not the least of which is the wonderful temple where we serve. Whenever I think of its being constructed—behind the Iron Curtain—and the blessings poured out upon the Saints who remained so faithful in such dire circumstances, I am humbled to have come to know them and work among them for this brief year of our mission.

Brandenburger Tor

We enjoyed seeing these neat little pedicycles all over Berlin--bike-rickshaws. John wouldn't be able to fall out of one of these.

Classy transportation and no gas!

After our tour we stopped for dinner at an Argentine steak house not far from our hotel and, typically for us, ordered a salad and side dishes to share. It was very yummy and we went back to the hotel having gotten in a very good walk, seen a good overview of Berlin, and had our tummies comfortably filled.

Sunday morning we enjoyed a very nice breakfast at the hotel before loading our stuff back in the car and heading to stake conference. The building is in a lovely area tucked in among the embassies and near the Tiergarten. We enjoyed greeting and hugging many of the Berliner ordinance workers and patrons we have grown to love at the temple.

Primary choir practice before stake conference

It was an excellent conference, focused on welfare issues—mostly on what we individually can do to reach out to those around us to lift hearts in multiple ways. We enjoyed the Primary chorus that began the meeting and John loved listening to the German, very different from the Sachsen we struggle with in Freiberg. This was really hoch Deutsch!

A welcome stop outside Prague

Following the meetings we climbed in the president's Opel and headed back onto the Autobahn for Dresden, then Prague, and finally Vienna. We stopped at McDonalds just past Prague, the Huszes normal stopover en route, to get a salad before heading out for the last 300 Kilometers. As we drove, we enjoyed hearing about the Huszes' talks the night before and then John whispered to me that it would be a good time to give Sis. Husz the gift we had ordered for her and the things we had for President’s birthday—which will be Tuesday, while we are in Sopron.

The Huszes—though especially Marikka—love Minerva Teichert's paintings, and years ago she had owned a biography of the artist, but had loaned it to someone and never got it back. Whenever she went to Utah she had unsuccessfully tried to find another copy. I was able to find one online, as well as another of hers showing her Book of Mormon murals, thanks to my sister Kathy’s packaging them up and sending them off to us after they arrived in Utah. We were so pleased that they got to us before we left on our trip. We also had heavy bookends for President—he loves books. We were thrilled that they were so pleased with the gifts.

We finally got to Deutsch Wagram--the Vienna suburb where Huszes' home is--about 8:00 pm and stopped for a simple meal at a small restaurant still open, before we pulled up to the Husz’s little house.

Schwester Husz (with Minerva in hand) outside her home.

Oh, were we glad to get out of the car, haul our stuff into the house, and go to bed! It was a long, long day and the end of a happy and bitter-sweet week.

Together again!

Sunday night was John’s mom’s viewing and we thought much of those who would be gathering together for it, wishing it were possible to be there too but so happy that the folks are together again.