The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly......

I'll start with the Ugly......my hair!  I will be so glad to get back to Sara in Lehi !  The humidity does crazy things, too.

Now the Bad........

Keith has bursitis in his knee.  It has been sore, red, and hot for 2 weeks now.  The Senior Missionary Doctor/Elder Ryser can advise, but can't prescribe.  He helped us find a doctor here in Friedrichsdorf and she gave Keith a prescription for amoxicillin 10 days ago.  He also keeps off his feet and ices it a lot.  We haven't been able to work at the office very much.  We went in this morning and came home about noon to wait for the doctor to call and tell us to come in.  This socialized medicine is different.....and we miss our dear friend Dr. Hawkins!  I'll keep you posted.

PS...... We are back from our visit.  New prescription and prognosis is good....should be better in 4 or 5 days.

Now for the GOOD.....and it was really good!!

Our dear friends from our home ward are celebrating their 40th anniversary by taking a trip of a lifetime.

Dave and Marianne spent 5 days in London and then flew to Frankfurt to see us!  Well, that was a little side trip, but it really did us good to see them.  They stayed in a hotel just up the street from us.  We spent Friday afternoon going to a little village called Johannesburg visiting a wood carver.  The drive through the fall forest was absolutely beautiful.  

Several years ago some Senior Missionaries discovered this place and the wood carver did some carvings of Moroni burying the plates.  He creates a beautiful piece, but I was interested in the Nativity Scenes he makes.  I was interested because he puts elephants in them.  However, the pieces are priced separately and are very expensive.  So I bought just an elephant to go with my biggest set.  I have had $100 set aside for a special souvenir from Germany.  This is it!  (Thank you, my dear friend....you know who you are!)

We also bought a  Holy  Family piece to add to my collection.  By the time we, and Johnsons, paid for our purchases and made arrangements for shipping them home we felt like we had made new friends!  Dave really enjoyed talking to the wood carver and his cute wife.  It was nice to have our own interpreter!!  I have now decided  l need a little elephant trainer to go with the elephant, so we will have to make another trip up there before we go home.

We had a typical German meal at the Berliner by our apartment and visited into the evening.

We picked them up Saturday morning and made a trip to the Apothacary to get Marianne some cold medicine, then drove them around Friedrichdorf and the Temple.   Then over to the Area Office and our chapel.  Turns out they had gone to our chapel when they picked up their son Eric from his mission.  I think Dave loved all the memories that came flooding back.  We dropped them off at thr train station.....and we hope they got to Baden Baden to meet their tour group for a River Cruise to Paris.  We have looked forward to this visit for many months, and it was a highlight of our mission.

Now I am looking forward to my sister LeAnn and nephew Austin's visit in December!!  They will be here a week, then meet Jim in Paris and fly to Saudi Arabia to spend  Christmas week with their son and his family!

A couple of weeks ago I was rummaging through my stuff and found an envelope addressed to us to be opened in April of 2015.  I had forgotten that Kennedi had given it to us.  I opened it ......just 6 months later than she has intended.  She had written it in April of 2015 on a day when we were at her house.  She told what we had been doing that day......and I could remember Keith helping Chris in his garden and me playing with Austin and Kennedi.  It made me just a bit homesick, but I have recovered and look forward to more "ordinary" days two months after next April.

We have Zone Conference coming up on Thursday, Stake Conference in 2 weeks, and Elder Ballard is coming 2 weeks after that.  There are already plans being made for a Thanksgiving dinner, so time is going by.  I have put our adventure into time periods......Shock......Settling in.......Digging in.....Smooth sailing.......Hitting a wall........Re-dedication.......and now enjoying the ride......we shall happily endure to the end.  We are very glad to have had this experience.  What a great time we are having serving the Lord every day.  We love His gospel and are grateful for the blessings He has given us.  

Love to one and all.

Elder and Sister Saunders

Another PS....Kathryn, I thought of your little dog when I saw this in Frankfurt last Saturday!

 This is the first "Dixi" I have seen......they are usually called "Toi-Toi".