NOVEMBER 15, 2008 WEDNESDAY
Didn't see the telephone pole until after. Fun flowers in the windows.

Prayer at 7:00 and the normal routine. This morning we spent extra time studying German, but about 11:00 we left for searching out the lost and/or forgotten. But first we had to go to the government office to complete our permit to stay in Switzerland. This time we arrived at the right office building, but the office was closed for lunch. We knew most businesses closed for lunch but thought at least the government offices would stay open, but we were mistaken. We rode the bus back to Schwamendingenplatz, caught Tram 7 and rode it one stop. We got off and started looking for members homes. We ended up ringing on ten homes and walking many miles. These are the results: One moved back to Chile, four had moved who knows where, four weren’t home so we left a note and an invitation to Stake Conference this next weekend, and one who was sick and couldn’t visit. The mother of sister Gerde Schroeder, the one who was sick, came to the door and explained the problem and asked us to come back another time. Little did we know that the mother, Hildegunde Schoeder, lived in a building a half a block away and was visiting her daughter. We had been to Hildegunde’s home and no one answered the door so we left a note and an invitation to Stake Conference. After we get home we call the ones who weren’t home to see if we can set up a visiting appointment. When I called Hildegunde Schoeder, not knowing we had already met her, she told me we had already met her att her daughters. We had a good laugh after I realized what had happened. So, we’ll see if we can visit them next week sometime. On our records they both are less-active.

In between our visits we went to the government office again. This time they were open and we finally got everything done. Now we are legal aliens. And, we’ll have to do this again next year because the permits are only good for a year.
When we were done, we decided to get back on the bus (#62) and ride it to the end to see where it went. It went right thru the middle of Zurich onto the other side. We saw places we had been to before looking for members homes. We’ve been trying to find a map that would allow us to see all of the bus/tram lines along with the names of their stops, overlaid with street names. All we can find is one or the other, but not both on the same map. Oh well.

We were dead tired when we got home and hungry as well. We had a delicious dinner of potatoes and gravy, a green salad, cold water and an ice cream cone for dessert. After dinner came the follow-up work. Phone calls to all of the ones who had moved or weren’t home. That’s when I had fun with Hildegunde Schroeder. I was able to call another brother who had moved, but stayed in the same area. This is the very first one that we’ve been able to contact once they have moved. Brother Stefan Fuhrer said that he hadn’t been to church in a long time and didn’t really consider himself a member. I asked him why he hadn’t been active. His reply was that he didn’t have the time nor did he have the interest. I asked him if we could come over and visit him anyway. To my surprise he said we could and gave me his address. We made an appointment for next Tuesday at 6:00. This is one of the lost sheep that I hope we can influence to return to the fold. Isn’t that one of the reasons why we’re here?

BAD NEWS! OBAMA GOT ELECTED. We’re in for trouble now. We’ll still pray for him and the rest of that lot in Washington DC. Can’t think of anything else to write, so good night.