Sunday Morning

This is Dave covering the day. We’re a bit behind, so we thought we would cover two days at once. Wendy is covering Saturday while I cover Sunday on the in-house computer. It’s German, so please forgive spelling errors and other typos. The y and z are switched (among other things) which is driving me nuts.
Sundays have been the toughest days for us. Things got better in Paris once we met folks and got into a rhythm. Well, we went back after switching to Germany. The major part of the tough day had to do with Wendy not feeling well. She had a migraine starting on Saturday night and it continued to the next day. She felt horrible the entire day. Add Mali’s nagging cough and cold plus the gray drizzle that seems to be here all the time, and it started things off on a really bad foot.
I called the Munich mission home Saturday night to see if there was an international ward. There is one. It meets at 1:30 way the heck and gone across Munich. I hate 1pm church because it eats up the entire day. Add on 1+ hour transit time and Sunday was going to be mostly about church. I guess that’s how it’s supposed to be…
My drive to see stuff got us out to hit the Alte Pinakothek (major art museum a short tram ride away from our apartment). We only had about an hour there, but it was one euro on Sunday. Wendy soldiered on despite the pain. I love art museums, so any time at one is happy time for me. I loved seeing Albrecht Dürer’s work (particularly his self portrait). There were other pieces I loved but forgot to write them down. One thing Hayley or Mali pointed out is that Mary always is portrayed wearing some blue. I found a painting where she was in red and black. First one without blue. That was fun. Wendy loved a few pieces (and wrote them down): Andrea del Santo’s Heilige Familie mit Johannes, Pietro Perugino The Virgin appearing to St. Bernard, and a number of Raphael paintings. The migraine drugs were kicking in making Wendy fall asleep, and we needed to leave to get to church, so we cut the visit short.
When we got back, Wendy decided to take a nap and catch us later, so the kids and I took off on the long train ride. I found a path that got us to a mile within the church and hoped there would be a bus for the rest of the way. Right before our last stop, there was a major announcement in German. The lady sitting next to us asked us our stop (in English). We told her, and she said good and explained the announcement (tracks were getting fixed, so everyone was moving to busses). That’s the third time random strangers have tried to help us on the train. She also offered to help us find our street. So, those of you out there that speak a foreign language, help out when you can. We didn’t need it this time, but the other times it has saved our bacon, and it has been much appreciated.
We ended up having to hike the mile long trek to church. I found the bus line, but it turns out it doesn’t run on Sunday. We missed the first hour, but they have sacrament meeting third so I felt ok. It was an all English ward with people from all over the world. We walked in and ran into a bishopric member who showed us to class. He looked at Hayley and Dillon and said “Young men and young women just follow me. I’m teaching the class.” Those two were pumped since our Paris ward didn’t have anyone their age. Turns out a number of them were from Washington and had several connections with our kids. Hayley and Dillon came back from class super excited. Our Paris ward was great, but I wish we would have had this there. For me, Sunday school was interesting. Lots of comments you don’t hear in the US (a woman was corrected for reading the scriptures in a non-structured format), but the church is still true around the world. Primary was fun for Mali, but not as fun. The closest child to her age was 9, but Mali is good at making friends.
The kids new friends gave me a better way to get back (bus to the u-bahn) so we got home much faster. Wendy was feeling a bit better, but not 100%. I made dinner. Nothing super amazing: Chicken marinated in a jar of Indian curry seasoning with rice. The kids were happy because it was rice and home made. Dillon and I played cards for a while the girls read. We got ready for bed early since we had to catch a train to Salzburg early Monday.
For the kids, it turned out good. Wendy started feeling better and had a basic recovery by Monday, so it wasn’t a terrible Sunday. It’s just hard to be sick, not in your own bed, far away from home, and not knowing a soul on a day that’s typically friends and family. If we were here for 6 weeks, I’m sure we’d be in a groove. The fist Sunday is the hardest. So, if you see a family show up in town not knowing a soul on Sunday at church, invite them to dinner. Even if you don’t become fast friends or see each other much, it will make a huge difference. It has for us on this trip.
Another major realization: next Sunday is our last day in Europe. We’ll be packing and getting ready to leave. Time is a strange thing going super fast and super slow all at the same time.