THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS

One of the greatest blessing I have ever received is being a missionary, and serving with a wonderful companion (Elder Meservy!) I say "one" of our greatest blessings because our wonderful family is right at the top of our "blessings list."

Missionary work at times is hard -- but the rewards are very high. What a blessing it has been for us to study, teach and focus on our Savior, his love and teachings every day.

During December we have tried to emphasize the Spirit of Christmas in our Investigator class. The true meaning of Christmas is not about "things," but the Spirit of Christmas is found in our heart.

This class has been a wonderful opportunity for us to talk about serving others. In fact, in our class today, I told them several stories -- including the story in McKell's blog.

I also told a story found in last year's Ensign that really touched my heart. It was about a family who was very poor, but nevertheless they gave to someone else who was in need. At the end of the story they said, "we wept in gratitude that the little we had was enough to give joy to someone who had less."

You can talk about service a lot, and stories are great, but it is doing something that really counts. (In Jenny's blog she mentions her family doing a Sub for Santa.) We passed out papers and had everyone write down something they could do for someone else before Christmas. Service does not always take money -- sometimes your "time" is very important. I also told them that if something seemed hard to do, they should ask Heavenly Father to help -- such as giving a friend a Book of Mormon and asking them to listen to the missionaries.

Today, one lady in our branch that attended our class, invited a friend to come to church. The friend invited her friend. AND her friend invited her friend. We taught the class in English which was translated into Portuguese for the three investigators. Service has a way of multiplying!

President Monson put it this way -- There are hearts to gladden, there are kind words to say, there are gifts to be given, there are deeds to be done, and there are souls to be saved.

Heavenly Father truly blesses us when we give service because the person receiving the service is blessed -- but the person giving the service is doubly blessed with the joy he feels in his heart and sees in the hearts of others.

Elder Meservy and I love family traditions -- one of the things we enjoy most at Christmas time. Being together with our family, friends and gatherings really warms our hearts. We love the Christmas breakfast, the sleep-over, the pajama kids, the pickle on the tree, the excitement of children's laughter, pulling the string on the musical bell at Grandpa's house, playing games together, and enjoying good food.

Because we are so many miles away from home this year (and last), we have had to look for the Christmas Spirit in many other ways. We have decorated a table in our apartment, sang Christmas songs in German, and made cookies (Yes, and, surprise, I made them all by myself!) We have visited the elderly, the lonely and those living many miles away who have enjoyed our visits and a Christmas message.

Our Christmas wish is that we will all remember that tiny baby that was born over 2,000 years ago. But not only remember his birth -- but know that not many years hence He will come again. He will come in power and might as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

The greatest gift we can give to Him this Christmas time is to emulate his life and do the things he did. He gave His life in service to others. May we follow Him and do the same. Remember -- Wise Men Still Seek Him.

GREATFUL HEARTS

We are thankful for the wonderful days of November 2009.

We were able to attend a Senior Couple Conference the first part of November in Munich, Germany. We gave a presentation in the training part of the program, but then after we just relaxed and enjoyed visiting with the other couples. Oh, how we love them and their sweet example of dedication and service.

On our way home from the conference we stopped in Kufstein. We had said many times -- "some day" we will stop and tour the fortress. As we were whizzing down the autobahn, we decided that "some day" was today. And what a wonderful experience. The weather was warm and we walked for hours up and down narrow stairs, down tunnels, into prison rooms, etc. The fortress is a very, very old large structure on top of a hill. (Everything here is on top of a hill!!!) You can take a cable car to the top, but we opted to walk up and enjoy every minute of our adventure.

As an "official" young adult center now, we are busily engaged in the organization. We are cooking full meals every Thursdays and mini meals on Monday night. It was really scary the night we had to cook for Stake visitors. Elder Meservy is quite involved with the Stake in getting furniture and computer equipment ordered for our center. It is coming along nicely.

Elder Meservy loves being with the young adults -- and they love him. He is always right in the middle of a hockey game. These kids are fast and good -- but he can certainly hold his own. Every time they start a game they yell -- "Elder Meservy -- we need you!" He also enjoys ping pong games. AND, he and a young missionary who wrestled in high school last year did a wrestling thing -- and Elder Meservy received the winning points.

He is just a kid at heart.

We sent a young gal off on a mission last Friday. She will be a great missionary and did a lot of joint-teaching with the young Elders. She has personally brought many people into the church and is a very motivated missionary.

Here are some of our kids acting "goofy." Diana is in front wearing an orange hat. These kids may be young -- but they are all spiritual giants.

On Thanksgiving we decided to prepare a full Thanksgiving dinner for the young adults. It was actually quite fun. Jerry did the turkey that we had bought in Garmisch at the military base and some Stove Top dressing. I made sour cream potatoes (that they just love), green salad and sunshine carrots. I also made delicious pumpkin pie squares with whip cream. It is an easy recipe using a yellow cake mix. Again we had to buy the pumpkin and cake mix in Garmisch -- something they just don't have here. We fed about 15.

I told them that we had a tradition at home of going around the table and saying something we are thankful for, but you cannot say the same thing that someone else has said. They enjoyed it, it was fun and reminded us of home.

The young adults are so fun to feed. As they go through the food line -- they look and point and say, "What is this?" They are rather skeptical about American food. I usually say that "It's a surprise" or "It's a secret!" But they love it and always eat everything we have prepared.

We have probably gone on our last long hike in the mountains. Last week we called it our "Melancholy Trail" because we will sorely miss the hikes. The wind is whipping up outside now and snow is predicted in the next few days.

In some places the trail is against the mountain, and the other side is quite a steep drop off (as you can see in the above picture.) And in some places it is quite a steep climb up.

We had a wonderful baptism today -- Mark Ibe. He had prayed for a long time to find the truth and just by chance he met the missionaries on the street. (Of course, we know that it wasn't by chance -- he was directed by the Lord.) On the baptism program was one of our young adults who is in our English class. He gave his talk in English because Mark only speaks English. He did a really good job and asked me after if his English was okay. I told him that it was "super."

We are busy and happy with our work here. Last night after a long day of visiting, we dashed home quite late and started making brownies for the baptism. I also had to put the finishing touches on our Sunday lesson and complete our weekly visit report. Just as we were putting the brownies in the oven the young missionaries called and asked us if we could do a late joint-teach. As soon as the brownies came out of the oven we put our missionary clothes back on -- and off we went again.

Every day is full to the brim -- or you might say "our cup runneth over." (Yes, our cup runneth over with blessings.)

We are so grateful at this Thanksgiving time as we continually see the Lord's hand in our life.

Memories

The days come, the days go -- and what wonderful never-to-be-forgotten memories.

As we go for our morning walk, the meadows are changing. The cows, goats and sheep are gone along with the high stalks of corn, and the autumn leaves are appearing. There certainly is "Beauty all Around."

For a while we had 8 or 9 cows in our backyard. We loved the sound of the cow bells, even when they woke us up at night.

We are experiencing a nice Indian Summer and have seen a few sites close to home. We visited a wonderful museum in downtown Old Innstruck -- I could have stayed there for hours because there was so much history and things to see.

And we took the cable car to the top of the mountain, Hafelekar, and then hiked to the peak. Jerry -- sitting "on top of the world."

On the top of the mountain we could see all the way to Italy. The view was spectacular. It is much cooler at the top. The cable car was really fun. We had to disembark twice to catch another car going up. On the way back we stopped and hiked around for a while -- oh, it was so beautiful. On one part of the hike, I didn't think I was going to make it -- it was so steep and my feet were sliding. I was afraid to move ! ! ! Jerry tried to help, but I was afraid I would pull him down the hill too. Needless to say -- because I am typing this -- we made it. The rest of the hike was wonderful and we found another trail back down -- avoiding the steep part.

Our "One Year in the Missionfield Picture"

Because of the mountains, we very seldom experience a sunset or sunrise. On our way to Salzburg, very early in the morning on my birthday -- this is the sunrise that greeted us. Before long the whole sky was orange and pink -- oh, the beauty of ths earth.Our youth greeted us at the end of the day with a Birthday surprise and a cake. The girl standing next to Rosalyn holding the cake recently received her mission call to Homburg, Germany. She will enter the MTC in Provo on Jerry's birthday -- December 15th. What a wonderful blessing it has been for us to have our lives intertwined with these wonderful, faithful youth. We love our visiting. This is Christine Clingraber. She is inactive, but a very dear friend. She knitted Jerry and me some sox -- and we love 'em. In Austria everyone takes off their shoes before entering someone's home. So some warm sox are nice to use, expecially in the winter time. (This is a great tradition -- and sure keeps the house clean!)

A few days ago we were in Munich for a Mission Tour and were taught by members of the Seventy. Elder and Sister Carmago of the Third Quorum of Seventy spoke to us in the morning session and Elder Teixeira from the First Quorum of Seventy spoke to us in the afternoon. They are all originally from Brazil but have lived here for many years. The Mission President asked if they could speak to us in German. They said they spoke Portuguese, Spanish or English. He opted for the English -- YEA! What powerful testimonies and conversion stories.

And to finish the week, we had a baptism last night -- Peter Kojat. He was so excited and so ready for this day. After we had a wonderful buffet dinner prepared by a member of our branch. Our tummies were fed -- and we were spiritually fed. Peter thanked us for our class that we teach on Sunday. He said every time he had a question or was wondering about something -- he received an answer in our class. After the baptism we had a late appointment with an investigator and the young Elders. He had also come to the baptism and felt the spirit there. We had never been to his apartment before. It was very clean, however, sparse of furniture. I sat in the only chair, Elder Beckstead sat on the floor and the others on the bed. He speaks English, is very receptive to the lessons and has recently stopped smoking, drinking alchol and coffee.

The Lord is blessing us in this work. One of our greatest blessings is our family and we are so grateful for their support. What a joy it is to serve. As we listened to a church CD while traveling with the young Elders, I remember the words of a song that went something like this . . . .

Don't you know -- Can't you see -- I'm not who I used to be.

Don't you know -- Can't you see -- what His love has made of me?

As we accept His love into our hearts and our lives, we will never be the same.

August Happenings

Our summer is almost over and we will soon be entering into the lovely Fall months.

We do a lot of cooking for the young adults and other ocassions. The tricky part is in getting it in the fridge until time to transport everything to the church. The fridge measures three feet by one and 1/2 feet. It didn't take us long to love German foods -- especially the bread, cheese, homemade soups, etc. We still prefer American deserts and ice cream.

MY SUPERMAN. We are trying to stay healthy. We have walked everyday except Sunday for 124 consecutive days. That is really a record considering the weather and time constraints.

Jerry in the corn stalks. This picture was taken several weeks ago and now the corn is at least two feet higher.

The homes, roads, parkways, etc. are all so beautiful with flowers of all kinds. We are also harvesting our tomatoes growing out on our patio -- YUM!

This is one of the new hiking trails that we have discovered. I don't want summer to end as we are still exploring trails close to home in Axams -- oh, how beautiful they are.

Yes -- this is a chicken (we think -- at least it was in the chicken coop with the rest of the chickens!)

I never thought I would be taking pictures of CHICKENS. Have you ever seen any like this before? And, yes, we have pictures of cows, goats, rabbits, etc. Yesterday we saw a strange site -- a lady was pushing a very nice baby buggy. Inside was a nice size dog who was thoroughly enjoying the ride.

Youngest member -- one week old Kalie Sue. Her mother is Austrian and her father is a returned missionary from California who served in Innsbruck several years ago. I asked how much she weighed and was told 3,350 pounds. (oops -- I mean grams!)

Our good friend, Konrad Nagele, had surgery to implant an electrical device to help with his Parkinson's Disease. The survery and Priesthood blessing, has done wonders. Three holes were cut into his head, one in back and two in front. He jokingly says the two in front were to remove his "Mormon horns!"

Because of health issues, Paula cannot stay alone. Their son stayed with her for the first week after Konrad's surgery, and now their daughter, Susanne, now living in Salt Lake City, came for a week. Konrad left the hospital for a few hours long enough to attend Sacrament Meeting. When someone is baptized, it is their choice who will perform the baptism. and also plan the program. Because of our love for Karin, we were happy that she asked Jerry to baptize her. We have been looking forward to this day for several months -- and what a beautiful day it was.We were present for several joint teaches with two super young missionaries, Elder Beckstead and Elder Wilcoxom. We were always amazed at her prepration -- studying, praying and seeking to "know" the truth.

We have enjoyed our friendship with Karin. She speaks English very well and is very friendly and outgoing. The custom here is to shake hands with everyone, and for the women to also hug and a kiss each other on both cheeks. I love this custom as it makes everyone feel welcome. Karin is so friendly and enthusiastic that I have to be careful of her handshake -- it can be a hand "crusher!"

I was the ward historian in our Canyon View ward for about a year. I enjoyed the calling because I love history and scrapbooking. Yesterday we had dinner at the church prepared by President Roth and his family. What a meal! Three main dishes with salads, fruit, rolls, and desert. When Jerry was here serving as a young missionary, he was Branch President in Salzburg and President Roth's grandmother was the Sunday School President.

After our dinner, which also included the young missionaries and the newly baptized member, he brought in the Innsbruck Branch's history books. Some were very old and had type written pages with all types of paper and format. Some books had pictures and it was fun to find a picture of Jerry as a young missionary.

VISITORS

OUR CORNER OF HEAVEN

Because we are so high up in the mountains, we are often in the clouds. Yesterday morning before dawn we heard a loud thunder storm that lasted for several hours. Then it poured rain all day. By evening there was snow in the mountains. But today the sun is shining and it is beautiful.

AXAMS -- Our little part of heaven.

An old door on a house along Main Street here in Axams.

The carving on the door says that it was made in 1809 -- 100 years ago.

VISITORS #1

Were we ever surprised and happy to see Warren and Lydia Hansen. Warren is Jerry's cousin and they are serving a mission in Switzerland. They were on their way to Vienna to attend a meeting, and Innsbruck was on the way. So they spent the night with us and then later the next day they had to be on their way again. We enjoyed their visit so very much! Here we are at a famous restaurant in Old Innsbruck where it is said that some famous person (can't remember his name) ate here in the 1490s.

Breakfast with Warren and Lydia before we set off for our day of adventure!

We decided to visit the Linderhof Palace which was only about a 2-hour drive from Axams. It is so much more fun to visit a historical site with good friends. This is looking away from the Palace toward some of the gardens.

The gardens were fantastic and it was such a beautiful day.

The difference between a Palace and a Castle is that a Palace is much smaller. However, this is one of the most beautiful. The inside is incredible, but no one is allowed to take pictures inside. This is a side view of the Palace. The story of the King who built and lived in this Palace is very interesting.

This shows a vine covered path leading around the Palace.

We hiked up to the "grotto" above the Palace which is a man-made cave. It is very interesting. This picture is looking down on the beautiful setting of the Palace.

This building was down the path from the Palace, and then up another path. Inside it looked like a small chapel of some sort. Looking at this picture you can see how tall Warren is as we stand in front of the Candy-stripe building!Oh, how we enjoyed visiting them them. We wish them well on their mission -- and hope their assignment will send them this way again!

VISITORS #2

President and Sister Condie visited our Branch for the first time last Sunday. Everyone was so excited to see them. After the meetings and many pictures, we invited them to our apartment for lunch. We really enjoyed having a one-on-one visit with them. They are wonderful leaders.

Who says you can't have visitors -- just because you live 3,000 miles away from home.

Now, y'all come and visit us any time, OK? WE LOVE OUR VISITORS!

PLAN, PRAY and PREPARE

Three little words that can mean so much. We usually call them our daily "PPP." You can bring sunshine and order into your life if you always remember to pray, plan and prepare. Plan each day, but better still do it the night before so you can get an early start. One hour in the morning is worth three in the afternoon.

PLAN -- "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." So much more can be accomplished if you plan your time wisely. Time is but a fleeting moment, and passes too quickly. In your planning, among other things, plan to tell someone that you love them, plan to be of service to others, and plan to be happy.

PRAY -- "Life is fragile -- handle with prayer." We are told that we should pray as if everything depended on the Lord, and then go to work as if everything depended on us. How great it is to know that He is not only our Father, but also our best friend. He knows each of us by name and is always there to help us along the way through this mortal experience.

PREPARE -- "If you are prepared, ye shall not fear." D&C 38:30 Also in Alma we read, "For behold this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors."

We all know that even with lots of planning and preparing, things don't always turn out as planned. As the saying goes -- "Life is what happens when you have made other plans." But that is where prayer comes in. Prayer brings comfort and peace, and it will keep you headed in the right direction -- and that is what really matters.

We have had a wonderful week which has included much planning, lots of preparing, and tons on praying.

We missed getting pictures of some great events this week because our camera broke! It was a new camera, and a good one, but for some reason the lens suddenly refused to work properly. We took it to three stores and received the same opinion -- it would cost more to repair than to buy a new one.

When I think about buying something there are several categories to consider before buying. First -- is it essential; then, is it important; and last, is it just something you want. For us a camera is essential, important, a necessity and we just need one! So we had to bite the bullet and buy a new one.

So no pictures -- we are still reading the instructions!

I don't like reading instructions! I guess I don't have enough patience. Luckily Jerry is good at instructions. He also loves to take pictures -- of everything! I like pictures of people, but he also likes pictures of buildings, the sky, clouds, mountains, animals -- everything. I have to admit, he gets some pretty awesome pictures at times. I am just guessing -- but I am sure that our next blog will have tons of pictures.

In the Beginning . . .

For Ever and Ever and Ever . . .

It all started with a phone call . . . . "Would you be interested in going out?"

"No, I'm too busy," was the reply. To be polite, the conversation continued for a few minutes even though it was late and I was anxious to retire for the night. Then his name was mentioned -- Jerry Meservy.

Oh, I remember him. He was that cute new kid at Bountiful High School that came when he was a Senior and I was a Junior! Why did I remember him? The names of a lot of school mates had long been forgotten. (After all, wasn't that almost 50 years ago?)

So the conversation continued after hearing his name -- "Oh, maybe we could go out . . ."

The person on the other end of the phone was also from our high school days and was just an acquaintance. Her husband had called Jerry to request some information. During the conversation he asked Jerry if he was dating now. (Jerry's wife, Nancy, had passed away the previous year.) Then he suggested some ladies in his ward that he might like to date. Just before hanging up the phone, his wife, Claudia, came on the line.

She heard the list of names Jerry could call. She said, "No -- why don't you call Tibby Vander Meyden." After a few phone calls and finding out that my name was now Rosalyn Brown, Claudia called to see if I would be interested in dating.

After two weeks (Jerry was in Disneyland with his family), he called and we made a date to go out to dinner on March 3rd. However, on March 2nd he called me at work and asked if I would like to see a concert at Woods Cross High School. It was the Hughes Brothers. I had just read about them in the Clipper on my lunch hour. They are a famous singing family and they were doing a one night benefit show. So I agreed.

As I hung up the phone my mind started to race. I had several responsibilities that had to be done right after work and it wouldn't leave me much time to get ready. I quickly made some phone calls. I was in a mad dash after work to get everything taken care of and then get home "for a very important date."

I was a little nervous (maybe I should say a lot!!!) as neither of us knew what the other one looked like. I was ready a few minutes early. Wow, I felt like a teenager waiting for her first date! Then the doorbell rang! I think I jumped 10 feet!

AND -- there was my "Prince" in shining armour -- flowers in hand.

I think we both knew from the very beginning that this wasn't just a passing friendship. Within three and one-half weeks we were engaged and a tentative date set for a temple wedding.

When I met his children, grandchildren and sisters -- I loved them and they seemed like family right from the beginning. (I met his brother and his wife several months later while they were serving a mission in Tennessee.) And I know that my children, grandchildren, brother's family and Mom also loved and accepted Jerry.

We both felt that our meeting was a miracle. Even though we both lived in Centerville for many years, our paths never crossed. What are the odds that we would have ever met? And how miraculous that a slight acquaintance would have brought us together?

There is one thing that we have both felt very strongly about. There must have been a reason for this miracle. Heavenly Father expected much from us, and we were needed to serve in aeas where neigher one of us could have served alone, such as the blessing of this mission.

So the wedding date was set. Preparations were made with the help of many who assisted.

June 14th was a beautiful day, one we will treasure forever.

The night before our wedding, Jerry stayed up late into the night to write a poem. I had tears in my eyes when he read it at our wedding breakfast.

From Strangers to Eternal Companions

We met as strangers with the help of a friend,

And now are eternal companions with no end.

How could this happen in such a short time,

That a stranger is now the best friend of mine?

It started with the Hughes Brothers Bunch

and then moved on to a ball game and lunch.

Then a temple session brought us both bliss,

And provided the setting for the first "I Love You and a kiss."

Many visits and outings took place in between,

But I knew quite soon that you were a "Queen."

Then there were discussions as I remember,

That soon led to June replacing September

There is much more to say,

But suffice it for now we are well on our way.

As eternal companions we'll travel the path,

Till as He has promised, we'll receive all that He hath.

Today we celebrate two wonderful years -- years that have been filled with sunshine, love, fun, service, and peace that only the Gospel can bring. Together we share four sisters, two brothers, eight children, 27 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Oh, how we love them and their spouses.

We have made our home in Nauvoo, Centerville, and Axams, Austria.

We are finding "JOY IN THE JOURNEY"

Home is where the heart is and home will always be where we are together.

How wonderful it is to say -- "We 2 R 1"