Perhaps no one even looks at this anymore because it has been so long since we have posted anything. Well, there is a reason for that. We got busy for several weeks in the late spring and then in the summer when I decided to add some photos and text, I couldn't get into it--I forgot the password and wasn't even sure of which email address we used. I hadn't written it down, so it took a long time for me to figure out what I needed to do to get back in. (The instructions we get are in German and it isn't easy to figure out what it all means.) Finally, when I went to try it again, the new computer at the center had a block and wouldn't let me in to Blogspot. So, now I am finally getting around to it at home and I probably won't put more photos on because it uses so much of our highly priced upload/download bytes. You've seen what Graz looks like from the photos already posted, though.
In the spring our group of young adults sponsored a sport weekend here and invited other young adults from German-speaking stakes to come. They stayed overnight with member families here. There was a dance on Friday night. Some of the members of our group have formed their own band and they played for that. They decorated the cultural hall with flags from surrounding countries. The them was "Come all ye Nations". Saturday they rented a high school gym here and had lots of sport activities during the day. Then after a grill meal in the evening we had some workshops and performances (we taught a squaredance workshop, and other workshops were dances from other countries) and then more dancing. On Sunday we held a singles ward, had lunch together, and said farewells. The weekend before we had been with the young adults on a temple trip to the Freiberg Temple. There we met some young adults from Hungary who were there with their families. We invited them to come to our sport weekend and 5 of them did come--their town is only about a two hour drive from here. What a great opportunity that was to help organize and hold this weekend, and meet many young adults from other areas. We recently learned that there are two young men who are dating two young women that they met during this weekend.
We bought a senior summer pass for the Austrian trains that was good for a month. We took several trips to see more of Steiermark and also Kaernten. Then we went for a weekend to Innsbruck and the train route there was mostly through country that we hadn't seen before. Actually, we have come to the conclusion that most of Austria looks much the same. The mountains are higher in some places, but the lower rolling hills where people live are lovely, green and very picturesque. It was so great to see our friends in Innsbruck again. We spent two nights there and stayed at a small hotel in Axams that we had passed everyday when we lived there. Naturally, we took some time to hike the Panoramaweg above Axams--one more time.
We also went to Munich in August for a senior missionary conference. We all went to see a museum with carriages that belonged to the Bavarian royalty of former days. That was more interesting than I thought it would be. Some of those carriages were so extremely elaborate that it seemed just too much.
Our group of young adults has increased in number and we really enjoy working with them. They are terrific group with strong faith and we love them so much. It is such a great opportunity to serve here and gain strength and commitment from their example. Our assignment when we came was to work with them to establish a center for young adults here. That has been accomplished and we now have new furnishings and games in our room in the basement of the church. The young people are enjoying the welcoming atmosphere, the classes, and activities that are held there.
That's a brief account of our doings for the past many months. We are doing great and really enjoying serving here. Autumn is about over. A couple of days ago there was a bit of a breeze and the leaves were falling from the trees like snowflakes. That was a new experience for us.
