Forty-five

                       

           Forty-five years ago, we left Provo in the afternoon as soon as we had taken the last exam, and drove off towards his home in California. We passed Reno, Nevada, and as we headed up to Donner Pass, police stopped everybody. It was snowing heavily, and we needed chains to proceed. We didn't have any, so we had to drive back to Reno in the middle of the night, buy the chains, drive back up, put the chains on, and proceed. I remember feeling glad that my almost-husband was calm, and 'not the swearing kind.'
                     
                         We finally made it to his home in Lodi, his worried mother was relieved to see us.

                     
            A day or two later was our wedding day. When we left for Oakland early in the morning, a few snow flakes were falling. (Very rare there.) They say snow on your wedding day will bring good luck.

            (...and we needed it. All we had to go on was commitment and hopeful hearts.  It's a miracle, considering how young and illprepared we were, and how different we are, that we were able to make it, and flourish.  It's a testament to the power of gospel teachings, and to God's help and grace.)
                       
                         

Happy Smiles

These gorgeous pictures just in from Zurich.

The Branch

Last Friday we had our annual Thanksgiving dinner at church. I felt kind of nostalgic when I remembered that it's been ten years since our first Thanksgiving dinner as a new branch, over in the old house.  TEN!

 At that first dinner, Abbey and Loretta (my counselors) were very busy with organizing and serving, as was I.  Loretta and I almost ruined the gravy in the big pot. So, every year, we joke about that now. "Don't let Loretta near the gravy!"

Dawn H had the idea to ask everyone who has been here in these 'pioneer' years to write down some memories or experiences or thoughts, and she will compile them into a book. Here is part of what I wrote:

        " My husband had been commuting to Kentucky for work, and he attended the Elizabethtown ward when he was not home in Utah. We moved to Bardstown in the summer of 2003, a month or so after the Bardstown LDS branch was formed. I was immediately called as relief society president. Two wonderful sisters, Abbey Schluter and Loretta Wainscott, were called as counselors.
         We were a very little group of pioneering members who met in a former family home on Templin Avenue. It was wonderful. I loved everything about our time there - the house itself, the cozy atmosphere, the close family feeling among all of us in the branch, and especially the Holy Spirit which was strongly present in our Sunday meetings and in our activities during the week. We had a lot of fun, too.
          Sitting in sacrament meeting, we had the prettiest view out the large picture windows - green fields and trees. Sometimes there were horses. In the winter all was white. It was idyllic.
          My very favorite part of my relief society work and service at that time was going to Louisville to the truck that brought the welfare food and items for the needy families in our stake, and then delivering them locally. Seeing that truck full of nourishing foods and everything a family needs to get by, and thinking of the love and and work and sacrifice and fast offering moneys it takes to supply that to so many, made me realize more strongly than ever that we truly are in the Savior's church.
          When our new chapel was completed and it was time to move, everyone was excited. But not me! Someone joked that "Sister Charles is against progress." I just wanted everything to remain as it was. And yet, I knew the Lord wanted our branch to grow. New brothers and sisters would be joining us, through conversion and moving in. We needed more room and a permanent location. And it would all be good.
           My husband and I love to visit members and especially new members in their homes, home teaching and teaching new-member lessons and bringing encouragement and support. We feel it is a privilege and blessing to be members of Bardstown branch."


       
                 Good friends, fun times, great memories --

                             
                         

Game night on Friday nights.   Jake is at left.

                                      this is the evening we had square dancing


           And then, the day of the groundbreaking for our new church building, in April 2004 --

 

a few of these people are visitors (e.g. third from left is the mayor), but most are the branch members at that time.

Great picture of a wonderful family

Harmonious

Me, I'm still basking in the beautiful wedding celebration last week. Magical.

It was like them:  heartfelt, natural, gorgeous.  There was no wrong note.

And Sundance in autumn splendor was the perfect backdrop, especially since they have memories there.


      Engaged!

     
           

       Wedding

   

The last, beautiful family wedding before this one, was seven years ago -    
                Jamis and Marcie

And before that, there were TWO weddings within just a few days in May:     

                   Steven and Cristie

                  David and Liz

 

And before that, on a sparklingly beautiful winter day in St. George-

                   Chris and Amy

Engaged!

       

Leaving the temple, my face tells my feelings. It was probably just the sun through the stained glass, but to me it honestly looked like the air in the room was hung was sparkling little diamonds, the feeling in the temple was so beautiful and extra special. I felt totally happy and thankful. Happy for this beautiful couple, for their future, and for our family.                                                                 

from left: Karen, Carol's husband, Carol, Jeff, Michaela, Angie, Delpha, David.  Peter and Betty's family were there also, as well as Amy's family and relatives, of course. I don't have pictures of everyone. Sadly, Chris's dad could not be there; not allowed to leave the missionaries.

                                                               


                                                                     **********

And I have to add just one more happy, wedding day photo, because it's a good one - the Provo reception for our dear friend Christian and his bride, Kirsten. In the Eichberg days, Christian was like a brother to our boys, and part of the family.

"Patience"

Today we had the privilege of attending church in Steven and Cristie's ward in Provo.
Steven happened to give a talk in sacrament meeting. It was stellar. The subject was 'patience'. Always needed (the subject as well as the virtue...)

In one part of his talk, he cited some intriguing thoughts from the book, "The Anatomy of Peace", by the Arbinger Institute.
Here is part of the quotes that Steven cited:
"...In the way we regard our children, our spouses, neighbors, colleagues, and strangers, we choose to see others either as people like ourselves or as objects. They either count like we do or they don't. In the former case, since we regard them as we regard ourselves, we say our hearts are at peace towards them. In the latter case, since we systematically see them as inferior, we say our hearts are at war."
"...almost every behavior...can be seen in two different ways: with a heart at peace, where we view others as people with hopes, needs, cares and fears as real to me as my own, or with a heart at war, where we view others as objects, obstacles or irrelevancies."
" ... So if we are going to find lasting solutions to difficult conflicts ... we find ourselves in, ... we first need to find our way out of the internal wars that are poisoning our thoughts, feelings and attitudes towards others. If we can't put an end to the violence within us, there is no hope for putting an end to the violence without."

Note to self: find this book.

"Can't it stay summer forever?"

When we lived in the heart of Europe,. it was relatively easy to drive to the Mediterranean Sea.
We went to Greece, twice.

         and to Spain

Another summer, we went to Hungary with our friends, the wonderful Erlacher family.
Hungary was  amazing! The iron curtain was still up (but not for much longer)  and prices were incredibly low, especially compared to our home in Switzerland.  John noted that our whole family of nine could go out for a delicious dinner, including dessert, for the price of one person's meal  in Switzerland.

And it was the same in Czechoslovakia.
We took an excursion to Prague while we were staying at a family vacation village in northern Austria. We were really close to the border. John would ride his bike up to the warning signs and crossings.
picturess

And of course we took excursions closer to home:

at Insel Mainau, the flower island

Neuschwanstei

                                 Looking at our house and village down in the valley.