NOVEMBER 28, 2008 FRIDAY

This morning we got back to our normal routine of preparing and studying before going out searching and finding. When we did go out, it was cold cold cold. We bundled up a little better including gloves. I bought some the other day and Diana already had some and they came in real handy today. We traveled by tram then bus to Dietlikon/Bahnhof Bad. After that it was the feet doing the walking. The first address we got to we didn’t expect to find the member still lived there, but he was still there. Unfortunately he wasn’t home at the time so we left a note and invitation to come to a musical event in December at the church. Our next address the member answered the door. He was an older gentleman probably 80+ years old. He explained his wife had died many years ago and when she was alive, they had been very active and even sealed in the temple. Now his family was gone and he didn’t feel it important to be active in the church anymore. We did our best to encourage him and to let us come in to talk with him, but he refused. He said he didn’t have bad feelings for the Church, but just didn’t want to participate. We’ll talk about him in correlation meeting Sunday and see if someone has a connection there to try and fellowship him. The next address the member wasn’t home so we left a message and an invitation. The last address that was furthest away of course was the one where the member had moved away about ten years ago. When we couldn’t find the name on the house, we rang every doorbell with no results until the last one. When we rang the twelfth and last doorbell (it’s always the last effort that is rewarded) and a lady stuck her head out of the window on the fourth floor. She asked what we wanted. We told her we were looking for this person who we thought lived here. She said she knew her, but she had moved away probably about ten years ago. So this one is at a dead end for us. That ended our searching and finding for today except we had to get back home. We were no more than a half mile from the Dietlikon Bahnhof so we started back that direction. We came to a bus stop and saw that a bus would be by in another few minutes so we waited and took the bus the last few hundred yards or so.

At the bahnhof we got on our bus and started our journey home. I still hadn’t found a transformer for my barber clippers so we’ve been on the lookout for a likely store to buy one. At the third stop we saw a shopping center that looked promising so we got out. The first store we went into didn’t have one, but the salesman directed us to another one. Miracles of miracles we finally found one in this store. It also had some fuses for our apartment, we only had two left, so we bought some of those too. After we bought those we went back to the stop we got off on so we could continue on our way home. However, just across the street the other way was an IKEA store so we decided to go in there to look around. First thing we saw was a snack bar so we bought a couple of hotdogs (1sfr. each) and a turnover kind of thing that was sort of like a pizza (2.50 sfr.). It was kind of tasty and we were hungry since we’d worked through lunch and it was nearing 4:00. Then we wandered around awhile before we went home. By the time we got home it was getting dark and we were plenty tired. Supper was leftover sweet potato casserole and pumpkin pie. Delicious. All we needed was some left over turkey and it would of been heaven. No such luck since all the turkey is still over at Norma’s. I took a video clip of last nights celebration, but couldn’t get it to work on the computer or transfer onto the blog. Sorry.

Left: Elder Elend giving lesson (farthest back) to man in gray sweater; left overs; our mailman.


NOVEMBER 27, 2008 THURSDAY

Because today was Thanksgiving, it also became our P-day instead of last Monday. We went out this morning looking for sweet potatoes, pumpkin in a can for pumpkin pie, brown sugar and pecans for pecan pie. We found sweet potatoes, but they were small and expensive. It cost $15.00 to buy enough for a normal size casserole dish. It took awhile to find pecans and they are expensive too. We couldn’t find pumpkin or brown sugar anywhere. Fortunately we had one small can of pumpkin an enough brown sugar that the Mellors left when they went home. We also bought some already made pie crust that is ready to put in a pie dish. You just have to unroll it and whamo, the pie shell is ready. We made the pies and they turned out pretty good. The sweet potatoes that Diana made were just delicious. She mixed in some marshmallows we had left over from the rice crispie treats we made a week or two ago. I also goofed up one of the pie shells. I tried to cook both at once, but the one slipped off the back of the rack upside down which put the dough on the oven element. Ruined. So after the one pie was finished baking, we went back out and bought another pie shell and did that one over.

By this time the Elders came by and picked us up to go over to Norma’s for Thanksgiving dinner. The AP’s, DL’s and we were there as well as Fabian, Norma and her son, a friend of Norma’s and her husband, the Frioud’s and Sister Maurer and her daughter. It was a very pleasant evening and even in the middle of the hubbub Elder Elend gave the Joseph Smith story to the friend of Norma’s husband (non-members). We new he was going to be there and so were looking for an opportunity to teach. So even though it was a Thanksgiving celebration, it was also a missionary activity. Things broke up around 10:00 and the Elders dropped us off at home. Elder Middleton is so tall and skinny that we are always looking for ways to fatten him up a little. On the way home he mentioned he really liked the pecan pie so we sent the leftovers home with him. We did tell him we needed the casserole dish back however.

Diana wants to mention that at one point in the evening Fabian said he’d eaten so much he’d have to do extra exercises tomorrow. Diana said, “why don’t you give me 10 right now?” So everybody started egging on everybody else as to who could do the most push ups. So almost everybody took turns doing push ups. Even the friend of Norma, who is about five feet tall and weighs about a minute, got in one the act. She actually amazed everyone by doing 20 legitimate push ups, which was more than anyone had done. Even I was able to grunt out 11 pushups for which I’ll pay for tomorrow. After that we played the game we did in FHE a few weeks ago. The first person in the circle said one thing he was thankful for. The next person would have to repeat it and then add his own. The third person had to repeat what the first two had said and then give his own and so on and so on. This time it only went around once instead of three times so it wasn’t so hard. It was a way good way to express some things we were thankful for.

We are alway grateful for the email messages we get from everyone. This is one blessing we have that I didn’t have forty some odd years ago when all there was was snail mail. We love all of you and on this Thanksgiving Day we give thanks to our Heavenly Father for all of you. We know some are having especially hard trials right now and we pray for you everyday. God loves us and the Church is true.

Left: Elders Elend, Middleton, Sisters Wellborn, Walker and Larson.
Right: Elders Pine, Elend, Evans, Eschweiler, Larson , Larsson, Sisters Walker & Wellborn and Elder Middleton sitting down.




NOVEMBER 26, 2008 WEDNESDAY

Since Bishop Schwendener wants us to come to Bishopric meeting tonight to go over the member list, we felt we needed to go over everything we’ve done since we got here and make sure we had all the information. We started to redo the list on the computer with the information we’ve collected, but about 11:00 Diana got antsy and wanted to take a break and go out searching and finding. So that’s what we did. Two addresses were pretty simple to find, but the last one required a couple of tram changes and the last tram took us way out into the country. It was too bad the member had moved, but the ride was good anyway. If it weren’t so bitter cold, it would have been ideal. Even though the sun was shining, the temperature was below freezing.

We got back to our apartment at about 4:00 and started working on the member list again. It looked like we may have barely had enough time to finish, but the AP’s called and said their investigator wanted to meet with them at 5:00, but they couldn’t so could we do it for them. So our work was interrupted again. We went to meet her at 5:00, but she was late so we knew we wouldn’t be able to finish the member list before the meeting. We were just going to have to wing it with the notes and maps we had with us. We had a good meeting with our investigator and then went to the church. We had a half hour before the bishopric meeting so we put it to good use organizing our information. In the meeting we went over every name on the list, indicating the ones who’d moved, those who didn’t want contact with the Church and those who were still unknown. We accomplished a lot and hopefully the ward leadership can better serve the members of the ward. One of the counselors said they were grateful we had done the work we had because they were always afraid of the member list when they looked at it. We have found that about 50 names have been removed from the list because they’ve moved out of the ward. Several had died also. With an updated list it doesn’t look so intimidating to them. We still have quite a few names to visit so it may be even more than that by the time we are done. We have to remember this bishopric is only 3 or 4 months old and two of them haven’t lived in the ward all that long. They are great men trying to do the Lord’s work. The meeting broke up at 10:00 pm or so and that takes care of this

Diana & Elder Eschweiler; Robert cutting Elder Middleton's hair while Elder Pine is goofing off. Left to right: Elders Pine, Elend, Evans, Eschweiler, Larson, Larsson, Sisters Walker & Wellborn, and Elder Middleton sitting down. Of course Diana is taking the photo.









NOVEMBER 25, 2008 TUESDAY

We began our day today with the pre-district meeting where the missionaries assigned to our ward coordinate the people we intend to visit this week so we don’t all arrive at the same address at once. However, the AP’s were late and other missionaries began arriving so the meeting didn’t take place. Later today Elder Pine called us on the phone and we got some coordination done. We had another great District Meeting and then I cut Elders Pine and Middleton’s hair. It’s always fun to do that because I get to talk to them while I cut hair. During the meeting Bishop Schwendener called and asked us to attend their bishopric meeting tomorrow night at 7:15 to help them go over the ward list with the information we have collected. It should be interesting and we hope we have all our ducks in a row. We’ve tried to keep accurate records of what we’ve done. Hopefully, when all is said and done, we will have a complete and accurate ward list. The other good thing that will come out of this is the names of those who have become “lost” can be sent to the office of “missing members” so efforts can be made to locate them and bring them back to the fold. We think there is an office in Germany that tries to trace the whereabouts of the lost.

When we finished with the haircuts, they came home with us and used our computer to research the question of why the Sabbath Day was changed from Saturday to Sunday. They have a Seventh Day Adventist family they are teaching. There’s a whole chapter on the Sabbath Day related to this question in the book “A Marvelous Work and Wonder.” They were here over lunch so Diana made lunch for us all which was very tasty. Soon after they left the AP’s called and wanted to know if we had time to go to an appointment at Naeide’s. Her son, Marcel, was supposed to be at work, but he answered the door when we got there. There is still bad feeling between Naeide and Marcel and we are trying to help them by teaching out of the scriptures. This afternoon’s lesson was on hope, charity and love and the need to forgive. Diana gave her input by having both of them stand up and hug each other and expressing love for each other. It seemed to help, but it could have been better on Marcel’s part. However, it’s a beginning to help them heal their relationship. All we can do is hope and pray they’ll be able to work things out. Naeide was going to be baptized on the 7th of December, but right now she is confused and doesn’t feel right about it with this conflict in her life. Before, when Naeide was ready to be baptized, Marcel was against it and this seemed to exacerbate the problem they have. Naeide had to leave to go to work so we were able to talk to Marcel alone. He said he doesn’t want to hurt his Mom and that he loves her, but he can’t seem to tell her. We counseled Marcel to write a letter to his Mom expressing his love for her. He asked us to pray for him and Naeide because he believes prayers can be answered. Marcel expressed his feelings that the Church is true, but now Naeide is having second thoughts. We need to get them singing from the same page at the same time. It seems Satan is working overtime to keep them from receiving the Gospel in their lives.

We finally had to leave because the AP’s had to teach the English class at 6:30 and we normally attend hoping the Dora will be there. She wasn’t, but Diana picks up a little German training at the class too. As soon as that was over YSA/Institute began. We stay at this activity as part of our mission assignment. We attend the “Religions of the World” class. About 9:00 we went home, but Elders Middleton and Pine came over and used the computer again to locate some addresses of people they wanted to visit tomorrow. I got them to find a free anti-virus program and install it for me. I guess we hadn’t been infected yet, but it makes us feel better to have it on the computer. They left about 10:00 and now I am just about finished with our report for the day and our journal entry.

Left: overlooking Zurich. Right overlooking Zurich University.


NOVEMBER 24, 2008 MONDAY

President and Sister Matern paid us a visit this morning for our every six week interview. The first interview was at the church as it is for all the missionaries. The next one is at the apartments so Sister Matern can inspect them while Pres. Matern does the interviewing. Then next time they will alternate back to the church, etc. etc. Only for us, Sister Matern didn’t inspect our apartment, at least so it was obvious. It’s so small that as you walk from the front door to the living room you can see everything as you walk by anyway. Sister Matern was interested in seeing our clothes dryer and making sure it was working ok for us. Pres. Matern said he was more than happy with our work and to make sure we didn’t over do it. He made sure we understood that we don’t need to keep the same schedule and meet the same expectations as the younger missionaries, but to do what we feel we can. He said he was surprised and concerned about the number of members who have moved away that were still on the member list and the length of time they’ve been gone without the local leadership knowing about it. He asked rhetorically if the ward had a functioning home teaching and visiting teaching program going, not expecting an answer from us, but just thinking out loud, I guess. We told him the High Priest Leadership is actively working at trying to get every member visited and get up-to-date information. Yesterday Brother Locher said it would cost $30.00 per inquiry with the government to get a forwarding address, but that he may be able to get the same thing through the post offices. When Pres. and Sister Matern left, we sent some homemade cookies and Diana’s nut and raisin clusters with them.

After they left we went out searching and finding although it turned out to be mostly searching. We did locate three addresses and verify the members had moved. We found one more address where a member still lived, but she wasn’t home. We left a note there and we’ll follow up with a phone call. Walking through the slush and with a light rain falling, we were soon frozen (feet), but we were determined to get all of the ones on today’s map contacted before we went home. We got off the tram for the last one and walked up a steep hill until we were above the Zurich University, kind of where we were the other day, but farther west. We took some photos from there and will post them on our blog. After that we went home .

Later on we went to the FHE we have on Monday nights at Pres. Bolts. Again it was a fun time with the normal people who come. The AP’s gave the lesson and Diana had the game this time. She bought a ball and wrote questions and things to do all over on it. The object of the game was when the ball was tossed to you, your thumb touched one these items. You had to answer the question or do whatever it said within five seconds or the person that was “it” would stuff your mouth with goldfish crackers. It was a fun game, but a little difficult for those who don’t read English very well. We came home and were filling out reports when Naeide called wanting to talk to Diana about what happened with them today. The Elders told us as we met them before FHE that they had spent the last six hours with Naeide and Marcel because they had got into a fight and the neighbors had called the police. The police came, but since the AP’s were there as well was Bishop Wichtermann and Naeide didn’t want them to arrest her son, they left without Marcel. The Elders said they hoped the problem had been resolved. Diana spent some time on the phone with her giving her comfort and counsel. It seems Satan works overtime to disrupt the lives of those who are trying to make a change in their lives to accept the Gospel and be baptized. We pray for them and have faith the Lord will bless them in resolving this problem.

Rees wanted a photo of our toilet. Why? The other photo is out of our bedroom window at 10:30 pm with our footprints.

NOVEMBER 23, 2008 SUNDAY

This morning we got ready and went to our 8:00 pre-correlation meeting to prep for the whole missionary correlation meeting. We always have a long list of people we have visited as you can tell from our blog. I learned today that the ward leaders had started to do what we’ve been doing several times, but for some reason it fell apart before they finished each time. This time they are committed, with our help, to finish it to the end so we have a good member list. They are going to assign some of the names for ward members to visit. Brother Locher has done a good job in researching the ones we’ve turned in as “moved without a forwarding address.” He did the same thing as we did, looked up the names, addresses and phone numbers on the white pages on the internet for Switzerland. You can put in any one of the three and get information if it’s available. With just the address you get all the people living in the building so you can see if the person you’re looking for lives there. Even though we had done this already, it was good to have a second verification.

At the beginning of Sacrament Meeting Sister Bader came to me and handed me a note we’d left in a mailbox of a member who wasn’t home when we tried to visit. We always leave a note saying we are new missionaries and want to meet all of the members of the ward and invite them to come to church. Evidently we left a note at her son’s home (different last name) and he wasn’t too happy. Through his mother he said we aren’t welcome and when he’s ready to come back to church, he’ll do it on his own. Until then, stay away. We assured her we didn’t mean any harm and we wouldn’t bother him again. She also said we should never give up hope for our children. She’s had one daughter return after being away for many years.

After Sacrament Meeting Bother Locher wanted to meet with me to go over the list of members he and we have been working on. He had insight into a lot of them because he is a former bishop of this ward years ago. After this meeting Naeide wanted us to come listen to her sing a song she wrote the words to with George playing the accompaniment. She also sang another song she likes. She wants to sing these songs at her baptism on December 7. We assured her that they were beautiful, which they were, but we didn’t understand the words because they were in Portuguese. It appears everything is progressing well for her baptism.

After this we went home for a few minutes, prepared a lesson for Gitta and Kurt Kummer who we are fellowshipping. They are the elderly couple the bishop would like us to visit. She is the one we visited several weeks ago who was so glad to see the missionaries. We hadn’t met Kurt before, but he was at Church today so I met him there. We arrived at 2:00 pm and had a delightful visit. She is homebound, but has a positive outlook that she is going to get better. They were really cute together and seemed to enjoy our visit. He joked that the bishop thinks he’s less-active and that’s why we were there. We assured him we just wanted to visit, especially since Gitta can’t get to church. We told them we’d be back again next month, and they seemed pleased. Diana also gave them a Sunstone which Gitta just loved. She had to kiss both of us so was so pleased. It has something to hang it on the wall with, but she hugged it and said it was one of her best treasures and she was going to put it behind the glass of a display cabinet she had.

The AP’s have an appointment with Naeide tonight and Naeide asked if we could come with them. It should be a special meeting with her tonight. We just got back from the appointment. When we went there, it was just lightly snowing. Two and a half hours later when we came home, it was snowing heavily and there was several inches on the ground. Winter is really here. The lesson with Naeide was on repentance to get her ready for baptism. The missionaries did a good job in explaining the elements of repentance and the necessity for Naeide to give up her occasional coffee drinking. Marcel, her son, was also present and added some very insightful comments during the discussion.

Elder Gunther, one of the Zone Leaders, called tonight also and asked if we had experience in creating slide shows on the computer. He wants to do one for Zone Conference on December 12 of all the missionary companionships in our zone. We told him we weren’t sure how to do that , but our AP’s and DL’s may have that expertise and, if they could help, we could do it on our laptop. When we met the AP’s for the meeting, we asked them if they could do it and they said they could, that it was pretty easy. We let Elder Gunther know and we should be receiving emails from all the missionaries pretty quick. I guess we’ll learn a few more things to do with the computer. And I guess that’s it for today.

NOVEMBER 22, 2008 SATURDAY Our bedroom

Because today was a Saturday for the display at Bahnhof Oerlikon like last Saturday, we expected a call from the AP’s to see if we wanted a ride over there like last time. We didn’t get a call so we thought maybe, because it was cooooold and looked like snow that they may have cancelled. We got ready and went over anyway to see if they were there. It should have started at 10:00, but we got there just a little after. The wind was brisk and it started to snow. It seemed, though, that there were as many booths and buyers as last week. The missionaries weren’t there so we started walking around the market booths. We brought our own BM’s and tracts so we were prepared to go it alone, if necessary. We looked for the guy who we gave a BM to last week, the one who gave us a bottle of olive oil in return. He was here again this week so we stopped and talked to him for awhile. He said he hadn’t had time to read the BM yet, but said he wanted to and would. We found out what he does for a living is go to different cities with his booth to sell his stuff at the markets. Every Saturday he would be back here unless it was really bad weather. He didn’t put up his shelter this time because the wind was blowing too hard, so his goods were getting snowed on. Poor guy tried to keep things as dry as he could by wiping stuff off with a towel. We got his name and address; he lives about 40 kilometers away in Uzwil near St. Gallen. We told him we could come up there and visit him, but he said he’s on the road most of the time to the different markets. So we’ll just visit him here until he gets a testimony of the BM and then we’re sure he’ll want us to come teach him.

After we talked to him we wandered over where the missionaries set up our display. The stand and some missionaries had arrived, but the BM’s and brochures hadn’t. We told them we were in business because we had ours. They took them and set things up, but it was hard to keep things on the little table because of the wind. It was amazing that the snow didn’t stick on our materials, but the Lord blesses us in many ways. We talked to a few people, but most were too cold to want to stop and talk I guess. I was proud of Diana because she was out contacting everyone who came by and tied her hardest. When we couldn’t feel our feet, face and hands anymore, we would duck into a store and stay long enough to get at least halfway warm again. We saw a cucumber rolling on the street in the market and Diana thought she knew who had dropped it. We picked it up and caught up with the lady. Sure enough she had dropped it and she discovered a hole in her bag. We thought maybe this was divine intervention, but alas, she was friendly and nice, but wouldn’t take a BM. She did, however, take a tract on the Plan of Salvation. Who knows, somewhere down the line she may be interested.

We stayed until we couldn’t stand it no more, and then we went home. We did stop and pick up some milk and Diana bought some more soup mix. She does love hot soup. I got some yogurt; I do love yogurt. The rest of the afternoon we got our reports ready for tomorrow’s missionary correlation meeting and to send in to Pres. Matern. We also studied the language by reading the scriptures in German and English. All’s well that ends well.

I did say that we would describe some of the differences between regular missionaries and senior missionaries. We may not know all of them yet, but here a few. We aren’t held to the same schedule as the young ones, nor do we need to pass off the scriptures and lesson plans that they do. We are expected to learn the lesson plans enough to be able to teach. We were asked at one time to prepare to teach the new member lessons, but the baptism fell through for some reason. We aren’t expected to go out and tract or do that type of missionary work. We are expected to do contacting in different ways, however, such as while riding the buses, trams and trains. We have had some good experiences doing that. We are at the disposal of the Bishop and visit those he wants us to that are either less active, in care centers/nursing homes or homebound. We meet with the other missionaries in District Meetings, zone conferences etc. Right now our assignment is to visit all the less-actives (some of them the bishop knows and some he has never met) and verify addresses and what their attitude is towards the Church. We also are expected to attend the YSA and Insitute just to be there and fellowship. We don’t have to teach or plan any of the activities, but just be an example and encourage the youth. Pres. Matern said we also may be asked to work in the mission home answering phones etc. when the regular staff can’t be there. We haven’t had that opportunity yet. He also said we may be called on to help with maintenance of the missionaries apartments if it’s a simple fix. Young missionaries are restricted to their areas of assignment. We are allowed to travel throughout our mission. We can also visit the temple whenever we want to. Young missionaries can only go when they are assigned. These are some difference. We will also probably not be transferred around. We work as we are able so we're not required to stay out until 9:00 p.m. Picture below is our bathroom with Grandma sitting on the throne.

Diana in the Lufingen bus stop waiting station; countryside without bus stop; church in Rapperswil.
The address we walked to is on the other side of the street which is the main part of Lufingen. You really can't tell from the photos how windy, rainy and cold it was.


NOVEMBER 21, 2008 FRIDAY

We started off the day doing our wash and then we went back to Embrach in a cold, rainy, windy morning. Fortunately the tram stop by our apartment is underground so at least we weren’t getting wet or blown away while waiting for he tram. It is always cold down there however. We traveled to our stop in Lufingen by Embrach and, after walking uphill (why never downhill?) and winding around we found the address. A young lady answered the window (she opened a window instead of the door) and said no such person lived there who we were looking for. So we went back to our bus stop (downhill this time) and waited for the bus to come. This time there was a three sided waiting station there so we didn’t have to stand in the wind and rain. We got on the bus after a 30 minute wait and rode it to the end of the line. We were looking for one more street, but didn’t see it. We plotted an address on Google Maps and the satellite picture showed no building anywhere in the area. We didn’t want to walk there with the weather the way it was just to find an empty field. We’ll try again on a good day just to verify. Usually we don’t get much wind, but today it was strong. We saw many people with umbrellas turned inside out when they tried to use them. We wished we had windshield wipers on our glasses. We don’t want to miss anyone. We rode back home and decided to stay in the rest of today. We’ve done some more computer searching and had some good results. We called a few people and got various responses. We called the phone number of the one who lived in Lufingen and a woman answered and said Tom Mauss had never been a member of our church. We called another phone number off our member list and the person who answered said she had never heard of the person we were trying to call. We also called the home-bound sister we visited a few weeks ago and set up an appointment for Sunday to visit her. Her husband should be there with her this time. At least we know we’ll get a warm reception there. So the work goes on trying to update and locate all the people on the ward member list. Hopefully we’ll be done with this before long so we can concentrate on other things.

left: Zurich Univ. campus; center, near Embrach, next two is our tram stop, underground.


NOVEMBER 20, 2008 THURSDAY

Today we decided to follow the same plan as yesterday, go out earlier. Brother Heinz Locher of the High Priest Group leadership gave us a list of members who were less active. He highlighted the ones they didn’t know. Last Sunday we gave him a list of those from his list whose addresses we had visited and knew had moved. We checked over his list this morning to see if we could go check on more that we hadn’t already done. We found four on our Embrach city map so we decided to do those. Embrach is a little town east of Zurich and we hadn’t been there yet. Our connecting bus was at the Zurich airport so we found the bus that took us that far. We got off the bus and while we were looking for the next bus to Embrach, a bus right next to where we were standing took off. Yup, it was the one we should have been on. We didn’t realize it until after it had started to leave. So we had 40 minutes to wait for the next one. We decided to go into the airport terminal to wait because we were cold and it was warm. There was one complete floor with all kinds of shops and food places so we just wandered around until Diana spotted a McDonalds. It made her day and was worth the wait for the next bus. I, however, am not a McDonald fan so I got a hazelnut goodie from a kiosk. Then we were both happy.

We got on the next bus and made it to Embrach way out in the sticks. It took a lot of walking in a bitter breeze to find the four addresses, but find them we did. Two had moved and the other two weren’t home, but at least we verified the addresses of those who weren’t home but still lived there. We always leave a note that we are new missionaries in the ward and would like to meet and get to know them. We also invite them to church. We were walking to the nearest bus stop to go home and as we rounded the corner of the street we saw the bus leaving. So we were stuck for another 40 minutes because they only run that often out here. There was a COOP grocery store right by us so we went in to get warm. As is always the case we look around for things we haven’t been able to find over here very easy; things like corn syrup, baking soda, Miracle Whip and Best Foods Mayonnaise. Now that we bought baking soda in a drug store last night where they had to measure it out into an envelope for us, we find it in little packages in this store way out in the sticks. It’s still in little 5 gm. packages, but it looked official and was cheaper. Funny how things happen. Our bus finally arrived and we came home.

To finish off the night we did a little computer detective work and came up with the address of one of the ones who had moved. I called him on the phone to see if we could visit him. As soon as he heard the words new missionaries, he said “no more interest” and hung up. We also found another member who had moved. We’ll try and visit him tomorrow. Nothing extraordinary today in the life of these two missionaries. Tomorrow and Saturday it is supposed to snow pretty heavy. We’ll see how accurate they are.

All of the photos are of the Zurich Bahnhof market which happens every week or so except Diana is in the basement of the stake center which resembles a bomb shelter because it is.

NOVEMBER 19, 2008 WEDNESDAY

We decided today to change our routine. After the normal prayer and get ready stuff we left this morning about 10:00 to do our searching and finding in Kloten. We were hoping to get to where we were going today to catch people at lunch since they always take a break from work for lunch. We found two of the members had moved and one Sister’s husband said his wife had no interest and invited us to leave. We did make one contact with a member who was really nice and friendly. He mentioned he had two daughters, one 18 and one 14. He said the missionaries had met with his family every week some time ago and he thought his daughters would be baptized, but they weren’t. He said the oldest one went a different way with friends, but the youngest may be influenced to come to YW activities. He said he knew he should be coming to church, but wanted his family to come too. He also said maybe he ought to just decide to come on his own and maybe his family would follow. It seems to us if the members would just fellowship him that he would come to church. We made sure that he knew he was welcome at church anytime. We’ll bring this up in missionary correlation next Sunday and see what happens. This is only one short paragraph, but going to these addresses involved trams, trains and walking and about five hours. We must walk miles trying to find these places and it’s usually a lot of uphill and downhill stuff. Wears us out.

Today everywhere we went we ran into missionaries or members. At the Kloten Bahnhof as we were standing at a bus stop, the AP’s drove up in their car and we talked for awhile. They were going to Suki’s so we gave them vitamin C tablets to give to her; we had intended to visit her, but since the Elders were going there, we let them take them instead. At Schwamendingenplatz later this evening we ran into Rolf, one of our FHE group. It’s been one week to the very hour as we talked with him that he hasn’t had a cigarette. We congratulated him on this achievement and encouraged him to keep it up. During our chat Diana brought up that we were looking for baking powder. Rolf said we could find it in the Drogerei (drug store) right across the platz. We went there and was able to get some although it was $3.00 for 100gm which is enough to make peanut brittle etc. We also ran into the AP’s again at our own Schoerlistrasse tram stop. We asked them where their wheels went (they always have a van) and they said a mission home couple had pre-empted it for the night. We wished them well on their journey. We also got a call from Naeide saying that things were better for her and her son. Well, that all for now.

The bomb shelter room/FH Center; stairs going to the Gross Munster tower; boat tunnels under the Rathouse; and below is on the Zurich University campus.


NOVEMBER 18, 2008 TUESDAY

Today was wash day so we had prayer and then took our wash to the next building washroom to start the wash. Even though we had it reserved, someone got there before we did and were using the washer. We moved from Mondays so this wouldn’t happen, but I guess it didn’t work. We went back a half hour later and whoever it was had finished. So we started our wash, but it put us a little late. We went back and got ready for our district meeting at 10:30 and the pre-meeting at 10:00. We put half the clothes into the dryer before we left for the meetings and put the other half in after we returned home.

The first meeting is the one where the three sets of missionaries assigned to our ward coordinate who they’ve visited and who they want to visit this next week. We also exchanged information on unkown or less-active members we’ve already visited. For instance, when we asked about a person we planned to visit, the AP’s said they had already visited him and decided he was crazy and maybe it wouldn’t be a good idea to visit him again. They said he said he had devils in his closets and had the Catholic priest come exorcise them, but when the devils left, they took all his belongings with them. And then they came back again. The AP’s said he had a lot of others weird scary ideas, so maybe we’ll skip him for awhile. It was a good meeting and hopefully we can do our work this week without interfering with someone else’s plans.

The next meeting was fun and spiritual at the same time as is usual for our district meetings. We set some new goals for the coming 6 weeks and extended some of the goals we were currently working on. We measure everything in six week periods because transfers happen every six weeks. The lesson this time was given by the Zone Leaders, Elder Gunther and his new companion (I think Elder Harris). It was on being united not only as companions, but also being united with Christ. This lesson can be used for any group that needs to be united. To begin with the missionaries were divided up into 4 groups of three people. Each group was given a sheet of paper folded into three sections like you would fold it to put into a business size envelope. The goal for each group was to draw the picture of the perfect missionary. The oldest person in the group would draw the legs on the bottom fold; the next Elder would draw the body without looking at the legs (fold the paper to cover the legs but leave small lines above the fold to show where the legs were); the last missionary drew the neck and head. Without unfolding the paper, they were given to the instructor. To set it up they read several scriptures on being one or united, and then opened up the sheet so you could see the whole picture perfect drawing of the perfect missionary. You can guess the results, very weird looking pictures. Sum it up by saying everyone has his own opinions and desires etc., but unless we figure out how to be united and one, we can’t get the job done.

Since we had a new sister missionary pair and a new Elder, we did the same get acquainted activity that we did when we first arrived. Elder Pine handed out a form with questions you write down about yourself. We took some rice crispie treats for them and they were way happy to see them. Even the two from England were excited to get some.

After the meeting we came home, finished drying the wash and then went out searching and finding. It was still raining lightly today, but it wasn’t too bad. We got off the stop by the University of Zurich, walked uphill (lots of steps for Diana) across the campus to the other side to find one sister in a care center. Unfortunately she had moved from there a few years ago and we didn’t get a forwarding address this time. We walked back, hopped onto a tram , got off at the next stop and walked to our next address. He wasn’t home so we left a note with an invitation to come join us for worship services on Sundays. Then we walked around a little looking in some of the many little stores everywhere you go to find some baking soda. No such luck. Then we found a new tram to ride to a connection to tram 9 and came home. We had been fasting for Naeide so we broke our fast and had dinner early. Tonight is English class and Institute. We’re hoping Dora Wachter will come to the English class. We haven’t seen her for a month now.

We’re back from class and Institute and Sis. Wachter wasn’t there, but the Elders said she had been having problems with her son and would maybe be to the English class next week. The Elders turned it into a German class since Diana and I were the only other ones there. We learned more about the different divisions in Buddism in Institute.

I just had to try Recca's fix and it worked. Thanks Left photo is St. Peter's Kirche; right upper photo is Frau Munster Kirche on the left and St. Peter's Kirche on the right. The bottom photo is the same Frau Munster on the left and St. Peter on the right but taken from the Gross Munster Kirche tower. Post our journal tonight. Love You.

NOVEMBER 17, 2008 MONDAY
Today was “putztag” and we spent the first few hours thoroughly cleaning our apartment, from floors to ceiling, inside cupboards and out. After that was done we went into Zurich city to look at some of the churches, building and other sights. First, we finally found our way to the Frau Munster church and then over the Munster Bridge to the Gross Munster church. We went into the Frau Munster, but they wouldn’t let you take pictures inside. It is just a big cathedral with a few stained glass windows, not very ornate, and very cold. We also went into the Gross Munster and while Diana sat listening to the organ music that sounded like Halloween music, I paid two francs and climbed up the tower stairs. The music would start suddenly and then it would stop suddenly. Really weird. The stairs were narrow and made of stone for the first half and then they changed into wooden stairs. I took some photos from the tower and we’ll post some of them in our blog over the next few days.

After we left the Gross Munster we walked through the old town part of Zurich for a little while. The buildings are old, the roads are narrow and paved with cobblestones. There are a lot of little shops along the streets. One shop sold all kinds of gummi candies so we went in. This is one of the few places we found licorice so we bought a couple of bags. Diana also bought a plastic boot to see if it would work out for a plaster mold. She wants to make something for the primary kids to paint. We also went to the Wasser Church which is built partly over the water. It has two tunnel like things where they park boats. It was closed on Mondays so we couldn’t go in. There was a statue of Zwingli, one of the early reformers, on the one end of the church so we took some photos there. The Rathouse (Council Hall) was also closed when we got there. After that we decided to go on the Rigiblick bahn to see where it went. We travel past it a lot, but never have stop there. We found that it takes you up the steep side of Zurich and, if it were a clear sunny day, you could see over the city from the other side of where we took pictures before. From the top you could also catch a bus and go to the zoo, but we didn’t have time to do this today. We had to get back and get ready for FHE. We did stop in a grocery store to get some ice cream. We also wanted to find some baking soda for future baking. Guess what? This is another item that isn’t very common over here. We don’t know what they use instead.

Most of the people who regularly attend FHE were going to be gone tonight so we only had the AP’s, one investigator and us attend. The missionaries had the game and the lesson so they combined them into one. We played Jeopardy but used Prophets, Book of Mormon, Bible and Jesus Christ as four categories. Questions were worth 100, 200, 300, and 400 points in each category. Of course at the end there was a bonus question and then the one where you wager how many of your points you would like. The last question was to name seven of the 12 original apostles. Great game and lesson at the same time. At the end since there were only us 5 there, the missionaries brought up a problem the investigator was having with her son. He has been getting more and more aggressive with her and again tonight grabbed her and pushed her around. She is afraid to go home tonight so the Elders left her with us while they went to talk with the stake president. They made arrangements for her to stay with them tonight and see if they could work things out. While the Elders were gone, Diana and the investigator had a good long talk and Diana was a real help for her. We hope and pray that things will work out for her and her son.

This is the tram/bus map for central Zurich.

NOVEMBER 16. 2008 SUNDAY

We began our day going to Missionary Correlation Meeting at 8:00. Only the AP’s, DL’s and George we were there for the first part. Since we all speak English, this part of the meeting was in English. Elder Elend conducted it so he was kind to us by letting us go first. A few weeks ago we started in English and it came to our turn and the German speaking committee members came in so I had to do ours in German. So we went over our contacts for the last two weeks and the meeting continued until the rest of the committee came in at 8:30. Then we switched to German and went over the important parts again only this time in German. I’m getting better and better at understanding and speaking although I still have problems, of course. Diana is making progress too. In Sacrament Meeting Diana was asked to give the opening prayer and was told she could do it in English. However, when she prayed, she did it in German. After the meeting many people congratulated her and were thrilled that she could do it. I was too.

Elder Elend told us today that Naedae Graf had set a baptism date of December 7. We are happy for her and hope things work out. Her son, Marcel, is totally against it, but she is resolved to get baptized anyway. She is one of our permanent Monday FHE participants. She also came to church today and had a meeting with the Bishop after Sacrament Meeting. Fabian Streit, another of our FHE participants, had a special project at work last week and he was feeling a lot of pressure. He asked us to pray for him that it would go well. Today he was excited to report to us that everything went way better than he thought it would ever go. His clients were thrilled with his project or presentation or whatever it was he was supposed to do. Fabian was convinced he had divine help. Another of our FHE participants, Suki, also was very happy today. She and the correlation committee have been praying she would find a job. Today she said she found a job, one she liked and had prior experience in, and would begin in a week or so. So today was a good day all around.

After church we came home and made some goodies for FHE tomorrow night. We are the hosts so we also provide the Imbiss, or I should say refreshments. Diana made brownies for brownies and ice cream, and we also made rice crispie treats. The marshmallows we found were not just the white ones, but they were mixed colors, pink, yellow, green and white and all are different flavors. We put the pink, yellow and white together in one batch, and green, yellow and white for another batch. It should taste ok.

Tomorrow is also Putztag, cleaning day, for the whole mission. Every companionship is supposed to thoroughly clean their apartments according to a list posted in each. The next round of missionary interviews by Pres. Matern will take place in their apartments. He interviews while Sister Matern inspects. Pretty cool system, don’t you think. We will also clean tomorrow even though Pres. Matern assured us it was for the younger missionaries and not the seniors. We need to get ready for FHE anyway. So, I guess that wraps it up for today.

Bells in Zurich - left; our apartment right, the one just above the trunk of the blue car with the 3 potted plants






Starting from left back: Elders Middleton (DL), Eschweiler, Jona Neidhart, Larsson, Evans (AP), Elend (AP), Larson (me), and Pine (DL), and Mom's taking pictures and you know why.

NOVEMBER 15, 2008 SATURDAY

This morning Elders Elend, Evans, Pine and Middleton picked us up in the van at about 9:45 to go to Bahnhof Oerlikon to set up our exhibition stand and meet people. We didn’t know, but the Elders did, that it was a big farmer’s market that’s held there every Saturday. Anybody can set up a stand and sell produce, meat, cheese or whatever. There happened to be another display about 50 feet from ours where the people were giving out religious calendars and material. After we were set up we went over and talked to them. They don’t believe in any one particular church or belief . They think churches are only for getting money from people. They also only believe on the bible and nothing else. After talking to them for about 15 or 20 minutes, we were able to place a BM with the one lady and we took one of their calendars. After that we walked around trying to talk to people. Most wouldn’t give us the time of day, but we were able to place two more BM’s before we left. One of them was given to a man that had a booth. We talked to him for awhile about the Church and the BM and he accepted the BM when we offered it to him. As we were walking away he gave us a small bottle of olive oil which was among all kinds of bottles of oils and stuff he was selling. We thanked him and went on our way. We showed the bottle to Jonas Neidhart, a member who was helping us, and he said it was a very expensive bottle of olive oil. It was very cold this morning with a little fog. When our fingers, hands and feet froze to the point we couldn’t stand it, we’d duck into a store and thaw out. Then we’d go back out and try some more. About noon we ducked into a store to get warm and found a McDonalds so we bought a cheeseburger for all the Elders. They really appreciated those because it gave them something warm. We came around a corner of a building and saw a person laying on the sidewalk not moving. Some people walked past her, but as we got there two men stopped to see what they could do. When we got close enough we saw it was a lady and she blinked her eyes so we knew she was alive. I took off my overcoat and put it on the lady to keep her warm while the two men called the police for help. She finally moved her head and we saw blood underneath where she must have cut her head when she fell. After about 10 minutes when the police finally arrived, I took my coat and we left. By that time the Missionaries had seen the crowd and came over. One Elder said the lady was a person that hung around the bahnhof and was drunk a lot. Anyway, a little excitement for the day.

All of the people with produce/other booths closed up around 1:00, but the Elders kept ours up until 2:00 although we left a few minutes early. We went home for a break and then went grocery shopping for a few things. We ended up getting more that we thought. We took that home and then decided to go get some more plaster so Diana could make more sunstones. She’s been giving them away and before she runs out, she wants to make some more. The climate is humid here and it takes forever for the plaster to dry enough to paint them and then for the paint to dry. For the rest of the evening we are completing our reports and getting everything ready for our correlation meeting in the morning.

Even though I type the journal, Diana (Mom) makes sure I write down what she wants written, so it’s a combined effort.

Oops, already did the photo of mom in Rapperswil.

NOVEMBER 14, 2008 FRIDAY

Today we decided we better take our rent to the mission office before our searching and finding. We met a lady on the dolderbahn that we ride up the hill to the office. We had a short conversation about Christ and faith etc., but she was unwilling to take a BM. We got off at our stop and went to the mission office. It appeared deserted, but there was a light on. While we were deciding to use my key or not, Pres. Matern opened the door and let us in. He said it was a slow day so he let all the office missionaries go home, that he could take care of the office. We gave him our rent and then picked up some tracts and videos. He is so nice and accommodating. Sister Matern had asked Diana some time ago if she would like an extra sewing machine she had. At that time Diana didn’t think she wanted one, but she decided it might come in handy to repair missionaries clothes etc. when they needed it. She asked Sis. Matern if she still had it and could she borrow it. Sis. Matern got it for us and fortunately it was in a cart with wheels similar to most carry on bags. It was impossible to try and visit members with the machine and the tracts so we took them home. We then went back out to visit. This time we found one member not home, two had moved and one address we couldn’t find because there was no house number on the member list. By this time it was dark and we had a fireside to go to at 7:00 so we went home. The fireside was on the proper use and control of the internet. It seems like this is a problem all over the world. While at the fireside we asked the missionaries about the exhibition they were going to do at Bahnhof Oerlikon tomorrow. This is where they set up a display and talk to anyone who comes by, kind of like the old street meetings they used to have. So we are going to take part at least for a little while. It should be interesting.

After the fireside we decided to use a new tactic to try and find those people who have moved. The white pages (phone book) is available on line. It didn’t help a lot, but it is something will work on when we have more time to figure it out a little better. We may have found one who had moved to Wohlen, but she hasn’t answered her phone yet. It could be just someone with the same name. I placed a follow up call to the one I tried to call last night whose wife said to call back tonight. Bro. Mueller said he had no interest and absolutely would not let us visit him. So on that note we end the day.

other direction in our living room, top: overlooking Zurich

NOVEMBER 13, 2008 THURSDAY

Today at noon we had a dinner appointment with the Roffler’s, but before we went there we went searching and finding for two members on our list. It’s becoming all too much the case that members who are not active have moved leaving no forwarding address. However, for one of these, when we were at the Aeberli’s last Sunday, we asked them if they knew either of these two members since they lived in their area. Sister Aeberli said she thought the Muellers had moved and looked them up in the phone book. She gave us what she thought was their new address and phone number. We checked the address on our member list today, and sure enough, they had moved. Tonight we called the phone number and was able to talk to the wife and confirm the new address and telephone number. Bro. Mueller wasn’t at home, but she said we should call back tomorrow night.

After we checked the two addresses we found our way to Sister Rofflers. Diana had brought two sunstones, one for a birthday present for Brigitte and one for Sister Roffler. We didn’t realize Heinz and Lilly Locher were going to be there also so we were one short. When we had dinner at the Lochers a few weeks ago, Diana wanted to take one to them, but she had just made them and they weren’t dry yet. We promised them we had one for them too, but they’d have to wait. It was a delicious dinner as is always the case. Roast beef sauted in a light gravy with carrots and onions, ham, mashed potatoes and fresh string beans cooked in a special way. For dessert we had a healthy kind of muffin with mashed raspberries and cream. Everything was just delicious. Their desserts don’t seem to be real sweet. At the FHE last Monday night the dessert was a chocolate mousse with unsweetened whipped cream. When they brought in the cream to put on top, I thought oh boy, something sweet. I was surprised that it wasn’t, but it still was good.

On the way back to our home we ran into Elders Pine and Middleton. They were going back to Schwamendingen so we were able to chat with them a few minutes. We talked of who we had visited and who next. It turned out they had visited a member in a way out of the way hard to get to place and had been rejected by the member. This is the same one we called last week on the phone who said she couldn’t understand me, that she only talked German. Well, I was talking German which made me wonder how good my German was. As Elder Pine related his story he said the member kept telling him she didn’t understand what he was saying, that she only understood German. Elder Pine’s German is very good, so it made me feel better that she said that to him also, just acting as if she couldn’t understand him to get rid of him. The games people play.

By this time it was fairly late but we still wanted to try and find two more addresses. We made connections, but didn’t realize how long it would take to get where we wanted to go. Not all of the stops were listed on our map and we counted them as we went. There was a total of 37 stops. It was way dark before we got to where we wanted to go so we went on back home and will try again tomorrow. It was the bus that went on and on and on and didn’t seem to want to return. So goes another day in the life of a missionary couple.

living room nice and cozy
Our kitchen


November 12, 2008 Wednesday

Today started like all the rest, but it was rainy this morning so we decided rather than go out and get wet, we’d stay in a plot the rest of the zip codes onto Google Maps. We got finished around 2:00 and then got ready and went out searching and finding. We decided we’d try and find Paul Price, the one who we tried to find sometime ago but couldn’t. This time we had better directions, but we still had a problem because neither one of us was paying attention. We got on the bus for the 2nd leg of our trip and forgot to pay attention to the stops. When we realized we didn’t know what stops we’d passed and which one was coming up, I jumped up, went to the middle of the bus to look at the map, thought I knew where we were, then went back and sat down. I thought we’d passed our stop so we got off to go back the other way. We got on the bus going back and low and behold, we were back at the beginning. We should have gone one more stop. So we started the right way again and this time we paid attention. We finally got to the right stop. We walked to Paul Price’s apartment, rang the bell, introduced us over the speaker and was rewarded by “keine Interesse” which means “no interest.” So our trip was in vain, but we are accomplishing our task of finding each member and their status in regards to the Church. It’s always sad when someone rejects you which means they’re really rejecting the Lord.

Sometimes when riding around, we get out of the city proper and get to see some pretty or interesting views. On our way back we got off at a tram stop to take some photos overlooking Zurich. We should of taken a photo of some long steep stairs up to peoples apartments we passed when walking to Paul Price’s home. If Rebecca ever saw these steps, she would never again complain about hers.

We went back towards home, but decided to go on to Schwamendingenplatz to withdraw some money from the ATM. When we got there it was totally dark and there was a long line for the ATM. We decided to go for a walk around the platz until the line went down because I’ve only used the ATM once 6 weeks ago just after we arrived. I didn’t want to try with a long line in case I couldn’t remember how to do it. We went in to a little grocery store we hadn’t been in before. They had some comparably cheap prices on some things so we bought some dates, a cucumber for a salad, bananas and two cans of string beans. And surprises of all surprises, we found some small bottles of CORN SYRUP. Imagine that! The trouble is the little bottles cost almost $5.00 each so we didn’t buy any because we still have three bottles from Halloween. If we need some later, we know where to get it.

We went back to the ATM, but it was still busy. We decided it would be better to try during the daytime. While we were waiting for our tram, a couple of drunks were stumbling around the bench area where you wait. One tried to put his glass wine bottle into the trash, but missed. Of course it broke which spread glass shards all over. We decided to move down a little ways. Finally the tram came and we went home. Dinner was Lasagne and a delicious green salad.

I guess that’s all for today. It’ll still be raining tomorrow, at least during the morning. It is supposed to get better for the weekend, stop raining and get a little warmer. Dear Sis. Roffler has invited us to lunch at noon tomorrow to help celebrate her daughter’s birthday. Diana is going to give Brigitte a sunstone for her birthday present. Hope she likes it.