We were in the office until 9pm Monday night, went home and packed, and headed to Vienna early Tuesday morning.
Elder & Sister Muehlmann (our in-field couple), Signe Lassl (Austria National Communications Director) and Helmut Wondra (Welfare & Self-Reliance Manager) met us for lunch to prepare for our visit at Vinzi Werke Social Market.
Vinzi Werke
An amazing group of volunteers at Vinzi Werke collect donated food from 20 local grocery stores every day. 150 community members come to this shop daily to obtain food. This organization needs a refrigerated truck to transport dairy and meat products from the grocery stores to their Social Market. We learned about their organization and discussed the process for them to apply for a humanitarian project in 2026.
Giving Machines
Next stop was a local mall where the Giving Machines are located. Giving Machines came to the Europe Central Area for the first time this year in Vienna, Barcelona, and Rome. We helped identify possible NGO’s for these machines. This unique idea sponsored by our church is a specialized vending machine that allows people to donate to charities as part of our yearly ‘Light the World’ campaign. Light the World is a special invitation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ by sharing His light with others during the Christmas season through acts of kindness. We would love you to join us. Look to see if there is a Giving Machine in your hometown this holiday season.
Alaska Reunion
We were able to have dinner with our dear friends, the Duffles who live in Vienna. Good friends are a treasured blessing!
Caritas
Wednesday morning found us at Haus Immanuel, a Caritas home for women transitioning to an independent life. We did a follow up evaluation on the donation here of stoves, washing machines, and a new kitchen for one of the apartments. We met Sahra from Somalia who is thrilled to have a stove in her apartment to cook for her children. She has a job and is working towards becoming independent as she saves for an apartment of her own.
Regional Conference
Helmut hosted a regional conference in his hometown of Vienna from Wednesday to Friday. We were so happy to gather with our three German infield couples (Muehlmanns, Burkes, and Waldals) and with the Johnsons’ couples from Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. There was beautiful Christmas music which brought the spirit in abundance, team-building activities, role plays on NGO first visits, and presentations on local resource development, communications, and help from family services on how to deal with the challenges of mission service.
On Wednesday evening we attended a Mozart concert at Musikverein Brams Hall. Heavenly!
On Thursday evening, Helmut gave us a walking tour of his beloved city in the rain.
Good company and good food were enjoyed by all.
Feeding the Homeless
On Friday afternoon we joined local members of our church to prepare and serve a meal at a local homeless shelter. It is a joy to see the projects that we prepare on paper come to life.
We spent Friday evening and Saturday morning with the Muehlmans enjoying a few of Vienna’s 20 official Christmas markets.
Spittelberg Christmas Market (a street-based market in narrow alleyways and courtyards) where we tried germknodel (plum filled pastry covered in vanilla sauce and poppy seeds)
Art Advent Market at Karlsplatz
Rathausplatz Christkindlmarkt
Belvedere Palace Market
We celebrated two holidays in Vienna. Thankfully we had no sightings of the Krampus carrying off naughty children on December 5. Nor did we see St Nicholas on the following day, parading through the streets with a book in which children’s good and bad deeds are recorded. December 6 is the feast day of St Nicholas. Children leave their shoes outside their doors the night before and the well-behaved wake up to shoes filled with nuts, mandarins and chocolates.
Warmstube
On Saturday we attended another one of our projects. Caritas sponsors a Warmstube program during the winter months. Many local churches join to open their facilities so that those in need can find a warm meal every day of the week for four months. It was our church’s turn on Saturday. What a wonderful winter tradition.
On Sunday evening we attended a Christmas concert in Frankfurt performed by the German American Community Choir. The first Singing Christmas Tree was presented in 1954 by the Charlotte Choral Society.
May you find joy during this Christmas season as you gather with those you love and serve those around you.
With love, Elder & Sister Lamb (aka Ed & Debbie, Mom & Dad, Pop Pop & Tu Tu)
Lambs in Central Europe 