Every lane has a light. Notice the red X for the one lane to close it to accommodate merging traffic from the right. Many Santas are tardy and still trying to get the gifts into houses. Me standing by the bull. I wanted to get on it, but the rain made it too slick.

DECEMBER 30, 2009 WEDNESDAY

Today was another day of rain and overcast although it hasn’t been bone-chilling cold. It was wash day and since we are kind of stuck in the apartment, we washed everything we could think of including our normal whites and darks, but we also washed the sheets, pillow cases and three small throw rugs. Since Diana couldn’t lay on the bed with the sheets off, she moved into the living room on the couch. From there she could look at the ceiling and discovered spider webs in the corners of the rooms so she kept me busy until I had all of them cleared off. We got a call from Charlotte wanting to get all of the planning done for her New Year’s eve party tomorrow. She went over her menu and the games she wants to play and asked us to call the missionaries to see who were going to come and how many investigators they were bringing with them so she could plan for how much food to cook.

Yesterday at the little grocery outlet store in Dorflinde I bought some drink syrup that they use here quite a bit. It’s a punch syrup made of different kinds of berries or blossoms such as elder berry berries and blossoms. They were only 2.00sfr. a bottle which is way cheaper than in a regular store. I only bought one of each and after tasting them, we decided I should go back over and get a few more. The flavors I bought were Holunderbeeren, Holunderblueten and Goldmellisenblueten. But before I went to the store, I hiked along Winterthurerstrasse and found the metal sculpture of a raging bull that we had passed many times while riding in cars. I don’t know why, but I really wanted to take a photo of it, but had never had the opportunity to do so until today. I wanted to take a photo of me riding it, but it was too high and slick with rain for me to climb on before the camera self timer clicked the shutter. After I took the photos I walked through a lot of little pathways between houses and finally worked my way down into Oerlikon. I didn’t exactly know where I would end up, but amazingly ended up almost exactly where the little grocery store was. However, before I went to that store, I walked the other way to another favorite store called the Asianway where I have found strange foods to try. Most of them have been pretty good and we like to go in and browse around once in awhile, if we’re in the neighborhood. As I wandered around in there this time, I spied some real brown sugar that I didn’t have to grind up. To top it off everything was on sale at 18% off. I bought four bags and hope that will be enough to last us for the next seven months.

When I left this store, it had started to rain a little more so I hurried up the street and ducked into the discount store. I got what we wanted and then at the checkout the lady looked at my missionary badge and mentioned that she knew someone from our Church. I asked her who and she replied, “Ewa Neidhart.” Sister Neidhart brought this lady along with her son and three or four others to our ward Christmas celebration and the following Sunday, this lady and her son came to Sacrament meeting. We had a lively chat for a few minutes and I invited her to come again Sunday or whenever she liked. When I went back out, it was raining cats and dogs so I went across the street and caught the bus back to Schwamendingen rather than walk. At Schwamendingen I changed to the tram and came home.

By this time it was dinner time so we fixed Knorr tomato soup and added a little left over rice for Diana and I had lemon chicken over rice. Both were pretty tasty although Diana didn’t especially like what I had. Just as we finished Elder Nilsson called and said they were in the neighborhood and could they come over and get some help in planning Madeline’s baptism for Sunday. That was a fun project for us to be involved in, deciding who would give talks, sing a song, give the prayers and the many other details that needed to be worked out. By 8:30 we were finished and the Elders left.

Earlier in the day Elder Irick called and said they had just left Priscilla’s apartment and wanted to go visit Tony Dkere who lives not very far away from her. They wanted his phone number to call him to see if he were home. A couple of hours later they called us back and said Tony was home and they had a really good meeting with him. Elder Nilsson said Tony couldn’t say enough good things about us because we had not given up on him and when he came to Church, we welcomed him and made him feel at home. They offered to teach him the missionary lessons and he said he would love to have them teach him. They also invited him to Charlotte’s party tomorrow night and to play soccer with them prior to the party. We are thrilled that the missionaries finally made the effort to get to know Tony because we’ll be leaving soon. We were afraid he would be forgotten, but now we feel he’ll be brought along and back into activity. That’s the hard part about being transferred, wondering if our efforts to contact and make friends with some of the less-active will have been in vain, if the missionaries and members don’t pick up where we leave off. We worry about Silvana Gianatti, Walter Burri, Werner Buehlmann, Tony Dkere, Charles Aboussou, Cornelia Schaer and others.

Diana called Priscilla today and she seems to be doing better. Diana invited her to Charlotte’s party and to our New Year’s day lunch and we think she’ll be coming to both. Elders Irick & Nilsson visited her this afternoon , too, and they said she was doing much better.

The tender mercy is that I, Diana, had time to read more in the scriptures while staying home, and today I read all of Job and Esther. I especially liked the definition of “wisdom” that I found in Job 28:28, “ And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” I also wants to know if you know, what the word “Leviathan” means. You can find the reference in Job 41: 1 and the definition in the Bible Dictionary. It means a crocodile. I learn something new every day.

The other tender mercy is that Elders Irick and Nilsson visited Tony Dkere.

Old photo of Zurich from a tower in the Gross Muenster church; Drayson & Naathan at Bear lake; Diana goofing around with Anita Weiss.

DECEMBER 29, 2009 TUESDAY

We were kind of taking it slow getting ready for our district meeting that started at 10:30. However, we got a call from Elder Dockstader at 7:30 wanting to know if he could come over and get a haircut before the district meeting. Soon after, we got a call from Elder Irick telling us that Norma had invited all the missionaries over for lunch after the district meeting and did we want to come. We did, but had to decline the offer. To get to Norma’s apartment takes a long ride on a bus, a half mile walk and then a five flights of stairs climb. Diana’s knee has been giving her a lot of pain for the last month or so that she can hardly walk at times right now. We’ve decided she needs to be off her feet and give it a rest to see if it will heal on it’s own. We gave her a blessing and we’ll leave it in His hands. The days between now and January 1 should be a good time for her to try and let it heal. Does anyone have suggestions on what will help?

Elder Dockstader and Dias arrived just before 10:00 and I tried to get his hair cut quickly to get to our meeting on time, but we were a few minutes late. Since I had the key to unlock the high council room as well as the opening song and prayer, that wasn’t a good thing. In spite of that we had a good meeting as they always are. Diana’s part was a workshop on contacting people in trams, trains or buses and she prepared two scenarios to role play. She wrote numbers one through ten on slips of paper and then had each of us draw a number. Numbers four and eight acted the part of the two people to be contacted, one reading a book and the other a shy person. Numbers one through three approached the first person, one after the other, and the others approached the second. We all watched as each missionary used a different approach to begin a conversation. The point of the exercise was that every person is approachable; we just have to be creative and listen to the Spirit.

After the meeting we went home and, after a little coaxing, Diana began her convalescing. She really wants to be out among the people doing what she can to encourage less-active members to strengthen their testimonies and keep the covenants they already have made with the Lord. But, her job right now is to let her knee heal so when we get moved, we’ll be in shape to begin the work in Schaffhausen. But, just because we stayed in today, doesn’t mean we weren’t able to do missionary work. A few weeks ago a city electrician showed up to conduct a mandatory every twenty year electrical inspection of this building. They found one problem and we had made an appointment for this afternoon for an electrician to come by and fix it. He arrived at 2:00 and proceeded to fix it. Using what we had learned in district meeting, we struck up a conversation and, before he left, we had taught him most of the first and some of the second discussions. When we offered him a Book of Mormon, he refused to take it. He said he had started reading the bible and his goal was to read it completely through before he started on something else. With a little coaxing he accepted the Joseph Smith testimony pamphlet and the pamphlet comparing the bible and the Book of Mormon. Hopefully he’ll read it and use the phone number on the back to contact the mission home for the missionaries to come teach him some time in the future.

While we have some quiet time, we’ll catch up on some reading, work on the missionary discussions, try to increase our vocabulary and proficiency in the German language, update our member progress report, write down helpful information for the Walkers, the senior couple who’ll live in this apartment after we’re gone, pack for our move, prepare for our New Year Day lunch, and a lot of other things that seem to take up our time. There’s never a dull moment.

Around 4:30 I decided to take a walk into Oerlikon and back again. I stopped in two little shops to look around. The first was just a junk store that was so full of stuff there was only a skinny aisle and it was blocked by the sales person. I took a quick look around and decided, if she didn’t want to move to let me into the store, that I didn’t need anything in there anyway so I left. The next one was an out of the way little grocery store in Dorflinde. I bought a few things there that were pretty cheap and then walked on home. It rained off and on most of the day today and during my walk it sprinkled, too. It really started to rain just as I got back home.

The tender mercy today was that, even though we are cooped up, we still were able to teach a lesson. We had a really good hour long conversation and we’re sure he learned some new things that he didn’t know before. Another tender mercy was that Roxsan skyped us. We hadn’t heard from her for quite a while and it was good to talk with her, Rees, Drayson and Nathan. Where was Mayleah?

Winter photos of Davos.


DECEMBER 28, 2009 MONDAY

This evening we were going to sponsor the weekly home evening so we began by calling the missionaries to give them assignments to give the spiritual thought and the game. When we called them, we found out neither companionship would be attending ours because they had made other appointments. While we were on the phone, Elder Nilsson asked if they could come over a quickly do their emails. While they were here we asked them if they had had their breakfast. Of course they hadn’t, so we fixed them an egg and cheese sandwich apiece. No wonder these missionaries are all so skinny, they don’t eat unless someone makes them or cooks for them.

We decided to do the lesson ourselves and we called Charlotte who agreed to do the game. Diana called Suki and Madeline to make sure they knew it would be at our house this time. Good, everything was set except for something to give them to eat as they arrived. We decided on toast with a slice of tomato, or pineapple, or pear on it covered with a slice of cheese melted over it. Simple to make and tasty. We also had the dessert so we made a vanilla pudding which we put in the bottom of a bowl for each person with a couple of pear halves on top of it and sections of clementines around the edge. We decided to try and go a little healthier after eating all the Christmas goodies.

During the morning and early afternoon we cleaned house and packed up a lot of things we weren’t using, preparing for our move in a couple of weeks. We’ve tried not to collect much of anything, but it seems a little has crept in, especially in the food department. That being said, we still had to go buy a few groceries to make what we wanted for tonight. Mostly tomatoes, pineapples and clementines were on the shopping list, but we also wanted to buy some canned green beans. Before I left to go buy them, I gathered up all the plastic bottles, cans and glass containers to drop off at the recycle bins down the street. You can only put the cans and glass in the bins; the plastic goes in recycle locations inside the grocery stores. As I approached the recycle bins I noticed a lot of dishes, pans and utensils placed along the curb. Most were old or chipped, but there were three small dessert bowls in perfect shape that looked like they would match the four we had in our cupboard. However, I resisted picking them up and went on my way to the COOP store down the street. I stuffed the plastic bottles in the slots and then looked around the store. Clementines were too expensive as were the other stuff so I didn’t buy any there. There were some big bins full of Christmas stuff and clearance items that had been marked down to half price and I couldn’t resist looking in to see what they had put on sale. I discovered some packages of 100 10" and 8" plastic plates that would be handy to have, but I resisted and walked out of the store. I didn’t get far before I had second thoughts, but I called Diana instead to see what she thought. She advised me to go buy some, that maybe Charlotte could use them or someone else could when doing something at the ward. I went back and bought two packages of each.

As I walked back home to drop them off, I had to go past the three dessert dishes along the road. I couldn’t resist the second time and picked them up and took them home. Diana was happy with what I brought home, but the dishes didn’t exactly match although they were close and we can use them. I went back out to walk to Schwamendingen for what we really wanted to buy. It didn’t take me long to get what we needed and get back home with them. It really felt good to get out and walk around for the exercise, something I haven’t been doing for awhile.

We had everything ready when Neide came. She was the first to arrive although Charlotte and Madeline weren’t far behind. We had a fun time together tonight because we all had a hard time understanding each other. Charlotte speaks German/Swiss German, but can speak French although she’s rusty, and Spanish; Madeline speaks French, but also German and English very poorly; Neide speaks Portuguese, but also speaks German and English with a heavy South American accent. Of course Diana and I speak English and German somewhat. At times none of us understood what Madeline was saying when she spoke anything other than French to Charlotte and Neide. We broke out laughing a lot because of the problems with the language. There was a spiritual side to our home evening, however, as we talked mostly to Madeline about the restoration, the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith and Priesthood authority. We watched the DVD, Special Witnesses of Christ, in French with English sub-titles. The is the video of all the Apostles and Pres. Hinckley bearing testimony of Christ. We also discussed Madeline’s upcoming baptism. She joked that she really wanted Diana to baptize her, but she knows she can’t. We got a real kick out of that. She is planning on getting baptized next Sunday. We think this time it may happen.

Winter photos of the Davos area, the middle one from Daniella's room balcony.

DECEMBER 27. 2009 SUNDAY

Christmas is past and now it’s back to work. We were up, got ready and made it to our correlation meeting at 8:00. Elder Irick & Nilsson were already there, but no one else came until 8:30 when Pres. Matern, George and the other ward leadership came. Elders Dockstader & Dias didn’t come at all. Pres. Matern was a little disturbed when he was told the missionaries didn’t have an “Investigator Progress Report” to turn in today. Progress reports are for reporting the teaching and progress of investigators and not necessarily for work with the less-active. We normally report on less-active work verbally. The week was taken up in visiting and working mostly with less-active members and being invited to members for meals. I jumped in and reported on all of the less-active members we and the other missionaries visited and sang hymns to including some investigators and he seemed a little more content that we were not just goofing off for the week. Elder Irick discussed Madeline’s baptism next Sunday and it was decided it wouldn’t be announced until after Bishop Schwendener had an interview with her to talk about tithing. We think she will be baptized next Sunday, but we’re not sure at this point.

In Priesthood and Relief Society opening exercises it was announced that Phillip Ryser, who just left on his mission a month ago, was hurt playing soccer on a P-day. We were asked to fast and pray for him so he wouldn’t have to interrupt his mission to come home for an operation. The Priesthood was asked to pray in their quorum/group meetings in Phillip’s behalf. In our High Priest Group we did that and then time was given to me for the lesson. I have been asked to give the lesson twice in the 15 months we’ve been here and both times Pres. Matern and Pres. Bolt have been in attendance which puts extra pressure on me. They are normally not here because they are visiting the many other wards and branches throughout the stake. Just my luck. However, we had a good discussion and I hope it helped everyone be a little more committed to being not just better diligent home teachers, but also feel responsibility for anyone else in the ward who needs a lift, help or encouragement.

A surprise for us all was that Michael came and attended Sunday School and Sacrament meeting today. I sat by him until Elder Irick came and invited him during Sunday School to attend the Gospel Essentials class being taught by the missionaries and, when he left, I went and sat by Diana. In Sacrament meeting I wished I would have taken my camera to Church to take a photo of Diana with Madeline sitting on one side of her and Priscilla sitting on the other. If she would have had another shoulder, I’m sure Suki would have been there, too. Diana just loves these people and they are drawn to her because they feel it, too. When the meeting was over, we talked to various people to try and let them know we care about them all even though, because of the sheer numbers, we can’t get to everyone. We did notice who wasn’t here today including Cornelia, Sister Azzola, Sister Stoehrer, and Gabriella Rodriguez.

We wanted to go visit Daniella Martin in the Davos rehab clinic today so we needed to make our way home rather quickly in order to catch the train at the Zurich Bahnhof at 1:37. Before we got out of the chapel, however, Elder Nilsson caught us and asked us if we had anything they could have for lunch. Of course we invited them over, but didn’t guarantee them much of anything because we had so little time. Word quickly spread to Elders Dias and Dockstader and they came and asked us if they could come, too. We hurried home, cooked some rice and made some sweet and sour chicken to go over it. That along with bread, orange juice and apple cider and banana bread and cookies and ice cream made up their lunch. We didn’t have time to partake and we left them to eat their lunch while we met Charlotte at our tram stop to leave on our 3 hour trip to Davos.

Daniella was surprised and happy to see us. We stayed for over an hour, but when we tried to leave, Daniella kept right on talking. Finally, we just had to leave and we almost missed our bus. We made it with only seconds to spare and went back to the train station. The train was crowded on the return trip, but we found three seats open and the fourth was taken by a young lady of about 18-20 years old. On the return trip Diana struck up a conversation with her and ended up teaching her most of the first discussion before we got to Landquart where she had to get off. Her name was Jasmine and she lived in Chur where we have missionaries stationed. We tried to get her address so the missionaries could bring a Book of Mormon to her, but she wouldn’t give it to us. We had already given her the pass-along card to call a number to order a free copy of the Book of Mormon and she said she’d call it and get one. If she does that, the missionaries will get the referral anyway, at least we hope.

We got a call from Elder Knight and gave him our weekly report while riding the train home. He said he’d call us later with our assignment for district meeting Tuesday. We arrived home at 9:00 tired and hungry and Diana with a sore knee. It doesn’t seem to want to get better. Elder Knight kept his promise and called us with our assignments, me to choose the opening song and give the opening prayer, Diana to give a five minute workshop on how to contact people on trams, buses or trains. We sent a text message to Cornelia telling her we missed her in Church today and inviting her to Charlotte’s New Year’s eve party. We also found out that neither the Bolts nor the Moeller-Russos were going to be around tomorrow night for FHE so we will have it here at our place. We will have to organize who is doing what tomorrow.

Tender mercies were that Diana received an assignment for district meeting. At first Elder Knight said he didn’t have an assignment for her, but she badgered him long enough that he thought one up for her. Another is that Michael came to Church today. Another is that Diana was able to talk in German to Jasmine on the train, but I had to help her a bit over the rough spots.

Sorry, no new photos today.

DECEMBER 26, 2009 SATURDAY

In Switzerland the day after Christmas is still a holiday and so it was kind of a laid back day for us. We spent the morning and early part of the afternoon catching up on some things. Diana was busy reading scriptures, studying German trying to increase her vocabulary, reading the Relief Society lesson for tomorrow which is a talk by Pres. Eyring called “Man Down” given in last May’s Priesthood session of conference and doing stuff on the computer. I mostly worked on my lesson for tomorrow’s High Priest Group meeting which is the same talk from Pres. Eyring. I really want to lead the discussion on this subject, but I wish I had a better command of the language to do it. This talk is about the responsibility of priesthood holders to watch after, help and teach members , especially the weak who may be spiritually in trouble. It focuses on home teaching (and visiting teaching) and how we are representing the Lord and need to do what He would do if He were here. It’s hard for the members here to “go after” those who slowly drift away to help bring them back. Bishop Schwendener is doing a good job in revitalizing the home teaching and visiting teaching in this ward. President Matern has given direction to all the missionaries to use half their time in seeking out and helping the less-active regain their testimonies and activity in the Church. With members and missionaries working together we hope to invite the less-active members to accept Pres. Monson’s invitation to come back into the fold. Diana and I have met many wonderful less-active members who, with a little more help, might just get over the hump.

At 2:30 this afternoon we met Elders Dockstader & Dias and Elders Nilsson & Irick at the Church to continue visiting less-active members to let them know they haven’t been forgotten. We visited Angela Campbell, Tony Dkere, Priscilla Wegmueller, Carolyn Maurer (Remi) and Simone Assmann. We also went by to see if Beatrice Jakob was home, a contact we haven’t been able to teach yet, but she wasn’t home.

Angela Campbell was home, but when we rang her doorbell, she stuck her head out of the window instead of letting us come up. We talked to her a couple of minutes, wished her Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, left a small gift in her mailbox and left. She called us later and apologized for not letting us in. The reason was she said her house was a mess and she didn’t want us to see it. She has three little kids and we could imagine with Christmas and everything, it would have been embarrassing for her. We weren’t offended in the least because we have also been in that position at home from time to time. Part of what we gave her was a loaf of banana bread and, once Diana told her what it was, she said she was going to bless it and eat it.

Priscilla had just gotten home from having lunch with the Lochers and she seemed to be in better spirits than last we saw her. She still had a half of day’s work to finish up that she didn’t get done the day before. When we invited her to come to Church tomorrow and she said she would come.

Carolyn Maurer wasn’t home again, but Remi was. This is the third time we’ve talked to him, but his mother has never been home yet when we’ve come by. We’ve talked to her on the phone once and she told us she isn’t ready to come back to church yet and, until she is, there was no reason to come visit her. It would be nice to at least meet her before we have to leave.

Tony Dkere and Simone Assmann weren’t home and so we left Tony’s gift in his mailbox and Simone’s we left on her door. Simone is a very active member, but we visited her because it was her birthday today. She is the last birthday of the year and it’s a relief to have all the birthdays behind us. It was a daunting task albeit a rewarding and successful one to have visited all the members in the ward on their birthdays, except for a few who told us we weren’t welcome. After that we came home and I continued working on my lesson. I am never comfortable teaching and probably never will be, unlike our friends serving in Geneva and Argentina who actually live to teach.

Even though Simone is an active member, EldersDockstader drove us to Volketswil to take her a gift which saved us about a two hour trip. We are very grateful for this tender mercy today. We would have been coming home in the dark if he hadn’t of been kind to us.

Can't get away from flipping pancakes (I like to do it); Elders Dockstader, Baird, Dias, Knight, Harris, Gabriella, Siskea, Julian, Charlotte, Elders Nilsson, Vincent, Michael, Eders Irick & Larson; Michael with his big pancake, Elders Vincent & Nilsson and Charlotte.

DECEMBER 25, 2009 CHRISTMAS DAY

A day we could have slept in with a clear conscience and we get a call from Elder Irick at 6:45 wishing us a Merry Christmas! How thoughtful of him. He also wanted to tell us that because we were going to have other people besides missionaries at breakfast, they had decided to open their presents at home instead of bringing them to the Church. Since I was up already. I showered, shaved, got dressed for the day. While Diana did the same, I started getting the food and things ready to take to the Church. We sauteed the onions, diced and cooked the ham so we wouldn’t have to spend the time at the Church doing it. We loaded all the stuff into our little pull cart and a Migros shopping bag and arrived at the Church at 8:30. We were supposed to meet Elders Irick & Nilsson there at 8:00, but we were the first to arrive anyway. We unloaded things in the kitchen and got to busy.

First thing we turned on the oven and pulled out all of the food Madeline cooked for us last night that we put in the fridge. We put the goulash into a pan and set it on a burner to heat. The potato casserole went into the oven along with the breaded fish, rice and fried bananas to heat. Diana was busy putting the hashbrowns together and getting them into a fry pan when Charlotte showed up and pitched in. We had things well under way by the time the rest of the Elders showed up. The last ones to come (at 9:30) were Elders Irick & Nilsson who said they were just having a lazy morning opening presents and lost track of time. They apologized and then jumped right in to make the pancakes that they were responsible for. While we were cooking the food, the other missionaries pulled out our big banquet table and got it all set up with dishes, utensils, etc.

We and the missionaries had invited quite a few people to come share our breakfast, but only the two we invited actually came, but we also had another person show up who had not been invited but just happened by. Charlotte and Gabriella and her two children, Siskea and Julian, were invited by us. The other person was Michael who seems to always be hungry and has a nose for where he can get a meal. He saw Elders Vincent & Knight coming to the Church and followed them. We were glad to have him because we had a ton of food and besides, isn’t the what Matthew recorded in Chapter 25 we should do? The missionaries did a good job in playing with the two kids and making Gabriella and Michael feel welcome. Gabriella is alone this Christmas with her two children and she was happy to be in as place where Siskea and Julian could play with other people. It is unbelievable how much food Michael can put away. At the end of the meal I made a big pancake as big as the pan with the last of the batter and then took it in to see who wanted it. The only taker was Michael, but later on Elder Irick took part of it to help him out. There was quite a bit of what Madeline cooked left over so we boxed it up and some the missionaries took home and the rest went to Michael who said it would help him through the holidays.

After the meal the missionaries played indoor soccer while Diana and Charlotte washed and dried the dishes and I helped with the clean up a little, too. We left about 1:00 while the missionaries continued to play soccer. Gabriella, Michael and Charlotte were gone by then as well. It was a good Christmas morning, one in which we still accomplished missionary work in fellowshipping Gabriella and providing companionship and a meal for Michael. When we got home, we put our stuff away that we didn’t use and then just kind of relaxed for a while. We remembered we had one present that Denise and Ashley had given us that we were going to open on Christmas morning that we had forgot about. We opened it and it was a handmade picture in a frame. They mixed up plaster of Paris, spread it around, embedded sea shells in it and sprinkled it with white sand and then let it dry. They had one like it that we saw and admired when we visited them a couple of months ago. It was very kind of them to make one for us.

Later in the afternoon I wanted to take a walk to get some exercise and, while I was t it, walked over to Liz Bouso’s home to take her and her kids something for Christmas. We tried to take it to them yesterday, but couldn’t find their apartment because we forgot to bring the address. I got there and rang the buzzer and someone let me in the apartment building. However, few of the apartment doors had the owners’ names on them and I couldn’t tell exactly which one was Liz’s. I knocked on several doors where I thought she lived, but none were hers. I left the sack with clementines, candy, nuts and several stuffed animals in it at the door I thought was hers. I forgot to bring the cell phone so I couldn’t call her then, but when I got back to our apartment, we called but got no response. We also sent her a text message. The rest of the evening we messed around on the computer, read and I took a nap as well.

Three things we’d like to mention as tender mercies today. First are the many emails and cards family, friends, stake and ward family sent us this Christmas season to let us know we haven’t been forgotten. We appreciated every one of them. Second was being able to follow the admonition of Christ to care for the poor and hungry in that we took Michael in, treated him as a brother, fed him and sent him away with food in hand. Also that we cared for a widow (Charlotte) and a weak member (Gabriella). Third is that Elder Vincent made “buckeyes” and brought them to our breakfast this morning. In his words “buckeyes are made like Reese’s Pieces only rolled into a small ball and dipped in melted chocolate, kind of like our peanut butter Easter egg center.

Elders Nilsson, Dias & Dockstader playing twister at Normas; Emma, Stephan, Kirsti, and Sarah Schmid, Diana, Robert, Elders Dias, Dockstader & Irick with Elder Nilsson taking the photo; Elders Dockstader, Nilsson, Irick, Larson, Norma, Deanna (Normas's cousin) E. Dias sitting & Alessandro with Diana taking the photo.

DECEMBER 24, 2009 THURSDAY

The day before Christmas and why are we still running around trying to put together something for each person we are going to go caroling to this afternoon? Yesterday, with the help of Pres. Matern’s counsel, the missionaries decided to go caroling to as many less-active members as we could this afternoon. Diana and I felt it would be a good thing to give them a goody bag along with the singing so we worked all morning to get them ready. I went into town to buy some more bags of clementines and packages of dates to give to certain people. For others we put peanuts, snicker bars, oranges, chocolate bars and some Rafaellos in two wash mitts and in some a bottle of orange drink as well. We also had time to make four loaves of banana bread which almost turned into a disaster. I forgot to turn on the oven to get it pre-heated while we were making the batter and to speed up the process, I turn the oven all the way up thinking it would heat up faster. Problem was I forgot to turn it down when I put the loaves in. Some minutes later I just happened to look in through the glass door and saw the tops were browning already and realized what I had done. I think the Spirit has to work overtime to keep me tracking right.

We called Charlotte this morning to invite her to our breakfast in the morning and while we were at it, asked her if she had any more of the stuffed animals Sister Schmid had given her for Nikolas. She said Nikolas had taken a lot of them but there were still some in a bag she had taken to the Church. I went down, found the bag, and picked out some for Gabriella’s and Liz Bouso’s kids to take to them today while we were caroling.

On the way back from town with the things I had bought, Elders Dockstader & Dias honked at me as they drove into the Church parking lot. I turned around and went back and put the bags of clementines and the dates in the back of the van so I wouldn’t have to take them home and bring them back. I took the rest of the stuff home and Diana finished getting the gift bags put together. As we were collecting all the things we needed to take with us including bags of clementines and dates we’d bought previously, we couldn’t find three containers of dates that I’d just bought. We looked everywhere and couldn’t find them, and then decided maybe I had left them at Migros when I had adjusted the items in our little cart so they would fit better. I made a hurried trip into Migros, but didn’t find them. On the return trip I remembered I had put them in the back of the van at the Church! Maybe it is true that the older you get, the more you don’t remember.

We were ready when the missionaries came to pick us up. The missionaries who were with us today were Elders Dockstader & Dias, Nilsson & Irick and Knight & Vincent. The people we actually caught home and sang hymns to were Valerie Otte (non member), Stefan Fuhrer, Margarita Maurer, Denise Maurer & Ashley, Kurt & Gitta Kummer, Walter Burri, Silvana Gianatti, and Gabriella Rodriguez. Those who weren’t home included Agnes, Liz Bouso (non member) and Suki Ehrensperger.

We woke Gabriella up when we rang her doorbell, but she allowed me at least to run up the stairs to give her the clementines and dates, and I gave her a plastic bag as well with some stuffed animals in it for little Julian and Siskea. She called us later in the day and thanked us for the gifts. Her husband is in the Dominican Republic for a few weeks and since she is alone with her kids, we invited her to our Christmas breakfast tomorrow. She accepted the invitation and we hope she comes.

It was good to see Sister Margarita Maurer again and she seemed glad to see us and all the missionaries. Her son, Hans, was also there. As we were singing the Christmas hymns to her she stood with her eyes closed soaking in the Spirit as we sang with amazing harmony. Before we left she told us her knee replacement surgery was going to happen on January 8, 2010. We’ll have to come visit her in the hospital while she’s recuperating.

When we rang the bell for Walter Burri, he eventually stuck his head out the window and, when he saw who it was, came and let us in. His greeting was totally different than a year ago when he told us to go away, that he didn’t need the Church any more. We sang him a couple of hymns and we feel he really enjoyed it. He accepted the clementines and dates graciously as we promised to come visit him again. While we were doing that, an elderly man came out of his apartment on the floor below to listen to us. As we left we knocked on his door and, when he and his wife answered it, we sang to them. He tried to give Elder Vincent some money, but of course, he didn’t accept it. Before we left we gave him the DVD, Finding Faith in Christ and a pass-along card.

When we rang Silvana Gianatti’s doorbell, her daughter answered the door. She said her mother was busy, but we persisted and said we had a Christmas gift for her and we also wanted to sing a couple of carols to her. She allowed us to come up and Silvana invited us in although she had been cooking and protested her apartment was a mess. We sang to her and gave her clementines and dates and she enjoyed the brief encounter with the missionaries.

We had fun doing this service for them and we felt the Spirit as well as they did. We wanted to get to others as well, but our time ran out. We had an appointment with Madeline to go pick up some food she had cooked for us. Elder Irick told her we already had two eating appointments tonight, but Madeline told him we could just come and pick it up. It didn’t work out that way. She had a pan full of fried plantain bananas, a pan full of breaded cooked fish, a pan full of beef & gravy to put on the rice, a pan full of cooked rice with carrots and a potato cheese casserole. She insisted we try them all and that took fifteen to twenty minutes. She insisted we take the food in the pans they were already in to the Church and add it to what we already had for tomorrow’s breakfast. We’re not quite sure if she is coming in the morning or not.

After taking the food to the Church we left to get to the Schmid’s home by 6:00 for our first eating appointment. Emma & Stephan are no slouches in putting on a wonderful tasty meal. They started with a delicious green salad followed by ham and scolloped potatoes. They apologized for not having dessert, but they had talked with Norma, who our next appointment was with, and they agreed she would do the dessert. That was just fine with us because with what we ate at Madeline’s and the Schmids, it would have been really difficult to eat another full meal. But they couldn’t resist bringing out a lot of cookies to munch on after the meal as Elder Dockstader lead the spiritual thought which included Luke Chapter 2 that documents the birth of Christ.

We left the Schmids just in time to be a little late getting to Norma’s home. We spent a fun couple of hours with her, Alessandro and her cousin who was staying with her. We felt the tender mercy today was that we caught almost everyone home who we intended to visit. And, Diana and my goal for today was to introduce the missionaries to as many of the less-active members that we could, who they have never met before, before we are transferred in January. We hope they will continue to work with our dear friends. And now it is 1:00 on Christmas morning and we wish you all a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Ruth & Bruno Diethelm, Pres. & S. Matern and Diana; chicken & noodles/carrots; dessert.

DECEMBER 23, 2009 WEDNESDAY

Besides doing our wash this morning we wanted to buy everything we needed for the Christmas morning district breakfast and anything else we needed for gifts to give to less active members when we go caroling tomorrow afternoon. We made a quick trip into Schwamdingen for eggs, potatoes and other things to make a hash brown casserole and to buy bags of clementines and packages of a special kind of dates. About 1:00 Elders Irick and Nilsson came over to develop a list of people we thought would benefit from a personal visit from us missionaries. However, when we finished with the member list, we had selected way more than we can possible get to in one afternoon although we’ll do our best to visit every one of them. Among the list is three of our investigators, Valerie Otte, Elizabeth Jakob and Elizabeth Bouso. As long as Elders Nilsson & Irick were here at lunch time, Diana cooked them French toast and let them use some of the maple syrup she made for Christmas morning. Both said that the maple syrup was the best they had ever tasted. Following lunch we finished planning the menu for the breakfast, who was going to bring what and who besides the missionaries we wanted to invite. By the time we completed all of that we didn’t have a lot of time left to get ready to go to the Diethelms for dinner. President & Sister Matern were already at the Diethelms when we arrived. The Diethelms have never been in a hurray to start a meal when we’ve been invited, but like to sit around and talk for awhile. Ruth not only cooks very delicious meals, but the presentation is like directly out of a five star restaurant. The conversation during and after the meal concerned mostly the experiences Bruno and Pres. Matern had while Bruno was a bishop and Pres. Matern was a stake president. They discovered both had traveled to Salt Lake City to attend the same General Conference even though they didn’t know each other at the time. They talked about their excursions to Southern Utah and how wonderful the scenery was throughout the canyonlands and Lake Powell.

During the meal we received two phone calls; the first from Sister Neidhart and the second, from Elder Knight making his midweek “are-you-alive-can-I-do-anything-for-you” call. Sister Neidhart wanted to let us know the lady who came to the ward party and to Church with her, wants to watch The Testament because she’s been reading in the Book of Mormon every day. She just needs to set up a time and we’ll be glad to show it to her and answer any questions she may have. She was also excited the Jona, her son on a mission in Paris, had permission to call her on Christmas, but she doesn’t know what time he’ll call

We were thankful that Brad skyped us just to say hello, but he also gave us an update on the remodeling of their new home. They’ve made a lot of progress and hope to be in it before the first of the year. We also saw Nathan and Mayleah and heard Roxsan, but we didn’t see her.

Diana, Esther Ryser, E. Nilsson & Daniel ryser; Rafael Ryser who said his greatest wish was to be a missionary; Bastian Ryser & his cousin, E. Larson, E. Nilsson.

DECEMBER 22, 2009 TUESDAY

And so begins another day as we were up and getting ready for our district meeting. We were assigned to give a spiritual thought about Christmas and we chose to read two stories, The Bird Cage, author unknown and A Story of the Christ-Child-A German Legend for Christmas Eve as told by Elizabeth Harrison. The first one was actually in two sections: a pastor had a conversation with a mean boy and then a conversation between Christ and Satan. Diana acted the part of the pastor and Christ and I acted the part of the mean boy and Satan. The second story I just read aloud. For us these stories brought the meaning of Christmas a little closer to home as we better understood the role of Jesus in our lives and our responsibility to look after the poor and down trodden. The rest of the meeting was inspirational and uplifting as well and it’s always a treat to be instructed by these young Elders and feel their testimonies and commitment to the Lord. We planned a district breakfast on Christmas morning where they will open their presents together. We also plan to invite some members and investigators to come as well.

After district meeting we came home and had a quick lunch of tomato pasta soup and then went to Bassersdorf to visit Verena Bosshard in the care center there. She has been really ill for the last week or so and she was still sick today, but feels she’s on the mend. She’s always so appreciative of visits because she doesn’t get out much. She said her home teachers, Bruno Diethelm and Heinz Locher, were also going to visit her a little later this afternoon. She said her son plans on coming on Friday to pick her up and take her home to visit for a week or so if she can stay well long enough.

We made it home with a few minutes to spare before we had to leave to go to Esther & Daniel Rysers in Opfikon for dinner. Just as we were thinking about leaving, Elders Irick & Nilsson called to see if we could hook up and go out there together. We met them at our underground tram stop five minutes later and traveled to Opfikon where we got off the tram and walked the remaining fifteen minutes to the Ryser’s home. We waited outside for about ten minutes so Elders Dockstader and Dias could catch up, but we went in before they got there because we didn’t want to be late. The Rysers are always gracious and friendly and make us feel welcome. Just as we were invited to sit at the table, Elders Dockstader & Dias came so we were all present when dinner was served. Dinner was chicken chunks in a chicken gravy over cooked pasta. Along with that came a vegetable casserole and a green salad. Later came various flavors of ice cream with different toppings. It was all very delicious and filling.

After dinner Elders Irick & Nilsson lead out in our spiritual thought with showing the video, Finding Happiness, which lead into a discussion of what is the most important thing in life. We all got a turn to respond to that question and then we discussed what we had to do to be able to achieve our goal. The discussion included Alma 22:15 where the King was willing to give away his kingdom to know God’s will for him. As the discussion came to a close Ddiana bore her testimony in German about the Plan of Salvation after which I and others also bore testimony of how important this knowledge is in helping us to live the gospel. The discussion lasted for about an hour and then came dessert which was ice cream with various toppings. We finally left about 9:30 and as we stepped out of the building, we discovered it was raining. For once we didn’t have our umbrella with us so I found a plastic bag in my backpack for Diana to use as a hat and then we made the fifteen minute walk back to our tram stop. The rain didn’t bother the missionaries and only one had a rain jacket (I did, too), but the rain didn’t seem to bother the other three. We arrived home about 10:15 and when we climbed the stairs to our apartment, we discovered someone had left a Christmas gift leaning against the door. This one we’ll save until Christmas to open at our district breakfast. Then we’ll know who to thank.

The tender mercies we feel today is the love and appreciation members have for us and the other missionaries who serve here. We love and appreciate them as well.

Diana with the bag over her head as a rain hat, Elders Irick, Nilsson, Dockstader & Dias.

Gabrielle on the right; Diana and the Mascaros at the piano; Bishop Alvin Schwendener.

DECEMBER 21, 2009 MONDAY

A cold wave has hit Switzerland it being the coldest it’s been for a long time. Most of the temperatures have been zero degrees F. or below. The coldest was in the French part of Switzerland in La Brevine, NE, where it got down to -34.2 C. which is way below zero. So much for global warming.

We didn’t have any plans for this morning so we fiddled around doing this and that and just having a pleasant uneventful morning. Charlotte called to tell us the other missionaries were going to come to her home this afternoon to play games for P-day rather than try to go sightseeing because it was so cold outside. She invited us to come over, too, if we wanted. At about 11:00 I decided to go to the new LiDL to buy some nectarines to take to the families who have invited us to dinner each of the next three evenings. I took tram #9 to get there, but one stop away from where I wanted to get off, the tram stopped and didn’t go any further. I asked the driver what the problem was; he said he was told over his radio to stop, but they didn’t tell him why or how long to stay put. I got out and walked the rest of the way to LiDL hoping that when I’d finished shopping, the tram would be running again. No such luck. When I came back out, I saw the tram still stopped so I just walked back into Schwamendingen. Just as I got there the trams started running again, but I was glad for the chance to walk and get a little exercise. While I was walking, I received phone calls from two sets of missionaries. The first was from Elders Vincent & Knight wanting to borrow our One Good Man DVD to watch it on their P-day today. The second was from Elders Ross & Rowley who wanted to come use our computer to write their emails. I called Diana who was still home to let her know they were coming. I finally made it home, a lot later than I thought I would when I left home.

When Elders Ross & Rowley were finished, we enlisted them to help carry the bags of home evening presents over to the Moeller-Russo’s home so we wouldn’t have to carry them over tonight alone. They weren’t home so we carried the bags down and put them outside Charlotte’s door. A little later we heard Joerg in the basement storeroom and I went out and carried the bags upstairs and since their apartment door was open, I carried them right inside and put them down without anyone seeing me. Then I hurried back down and went back into Charlotte’s apartment. Later on that evening Joerg & Irene told us all that Santa Claus had been and left three bags of presents in their apartment. All eyes looked at us; we hadn’t fooled anyone.

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing sequence with Charlotte and Elder Irick while Elders Vincent & Nilson played chess. When the missionaries left, Charlotte showed us how to a make flat pumpkin pie. It didn’t turn out so good because it was squash and not pumpkin, but it was okay to eat. She gave us the left over squash mixture and later we put pumpkin spice in it along with flour etc. and made cookies. They weren’t red hot either, but they were certainly better than the pie.

We made a quick trip home to change and pick up the last bag of presents and then went to Madeline’s to get her and escort her to the Moeller-Russos. She walks so slow because of her crippled knee that it took about 15 minutes to walk the few blocks Moeller-Russo’s home. She’s a fun person and we love to walk with her. We were excited for this home evening because of all the presents we had bought for the game. But before the game we had to get through dinner first. Irene had it all ready for us when we got there; the table was so festive with Christmas ornaments by each plate (which she allowed us to keep), red table cloth and Christmas themed napkins. We started with salad and then were served a Austrian traditional soup with dark bread. It was a simple but a very delicious meal.

After dinner we assembled in the family room and sang Christmas hymns for a half hour or so and then proceeded with the game. We put all the presents out and then beginning with Irene, each person picked one, opened it and then had to give it away to someone else. When he gave it, he had to say why he picked that person to give it to. After the first round was complete, then, beginning with Irene again, each person in their turn could either select a new present or take one from someone else. If a present was taken from someone else, that person could pick a new one. When the last present was taken, the game was over. It was hilariously funny and everyone had a good time. Some of the presents were a Chinese checker set, three long sticks of salami, scarves, umbrella with money, a Swiss military cap with rootbeer and slippers, a racklett machine, chocolate bars, salt &pepper shakers with money, two billfolds with money, a box of children’s toys, a fleece blanket, two chocolate Santa Clauses with money, an aluminum Swiss mug, Swiss slippers, ties, frying pan, headband ear muffs and a German children’s book. Everyone had a blast and we had a blast putting it all together. After the game we sat back around the table and had a frozen dessert that Charlotte made for the party.

The only thing that put a damper on the whole evening was that we couldn’t find our camera. We tried to find it before we left home, but a quick search couldn’t locate it. We checked Charlotte’s apartment to see if we had left it there earlier in the day. Nope! There were some funny things that happened that we wished we could have photographed. Even after we got home and made a thorough search of our apartment, we couldn’t find it. We had given it up for lost. However, one last look in the satchel I used on Sunday proved successful. Even though we had looked in it several times before, we didn’t see it because both the camera case and the satchel were black. What a relief! What would we do without a camera?

YSA's acting out Santa & Schmutzlis planning Christmas; Diana with black wig goofing around with Anita Weiss; Martin Neidhart, Madeline and Suki greeting some of the Neidhart's neighbors and Elders Nilsson & Irick.

DECEMBER 20, 2009 SUNDAY

Sacrament services started today at 10:00, no missionary correlation, priesthood/relief society or Sunday school so we slept in a little, but not too long. We still had to put a few little Santa gift bags together for a few members to give to them at Church today. We bought some cellophane bags with a picture of Santa on them and put various kinds of wrapped chocolates and cookies in them. We got so involved in those that we nearly forgot the I had to be at the Church at 9:20 to meet David Wichtermann so we could drive to the Duebendorf care center to pick up Werner Buehlmann for the Sunday service. We put all of the gift bags in my satchel along with the birthday presents for Samuel Koch and five year old Niven Sannemann intending to get to the Church and leave it there while we went to pick up Werner. However, as I was walking to Church David drove up beside me so I got in and we were off to pick up Werner.

When we got there, David parked and stayed with the car while I went to Werner’s room to get him. On our way down to the car he told me the pope had been to visit him to ask his advice on something and that Obama called him to get his opinion on global warming. I asked him if he had spoken to President Monson recently and he replied he hadn’t, but intended to send him a letter. Even though he lives in a fantasy world because of his accident, he is pleasant to talk to and be around and he enjoys coming to Sunday services when we can get someone to pick him up. We got to the Church and went in and many of the old members came to greet him. He remembered their names and was genuinely happy to see them again. I left him to his own while I looked for Diana and talked to some of the members before services began. After a bit I looked for Werner to get him to sit with us, but I couldn’t find him. At first I wasn’t too concerned, but after searching the whole building including the restroom, I started getting scared he had wandered off. I even went outside and looked up and down the street, but didn’t see him out there either. However, after asking a few people, one pointed to the chapel door that was propped open and said he was sitting behind it half concealed. He was patiently waiting for me to find him. I got him and we walked into the chapel and sat him down on a bench and went to find Diana. Diana came in, saw him sitting alone and sat on one side of him and I sat on the other. Suki came in a little late and sat in front of Diana. Suki loves to sit by or near Diana and often puts her head on her shoulder or, like today, held her hand. Priscilla came today also, but is weighed down by worry for her mother and family in the Philippines. Madeline comes regularly now and will be baptized next Sunday. Neide walked her home after Sacrament meeting.

Sacrament meeting today was a two hour meeting with several youth speaking and well as adults and musical numbers between each one. Songs were sung by the Primary and Relief Society. Seven year old Melanie Daehler played a piana solo and the congregation sang quite a few hymns. One musical number was sung by the four missionaries and we was a little disappointed I had been asked to sing with them. But they and all the others did a good job and it was a very spiritual meeting. After the meeting we found Samuel Koch and gave him his birthday present. He and his wife, Lila, have been married five years and they are expecting their first child the middle of April. We went around wishing everyone merry Christmas and giving some the goody bags we’d made up. David Wichtermann was going to drive Werner back home, but he had a meeting right after and Werner wanted to go home. He was hungry and, if he didn’t get back right away, he would miss the lunch that was served at the center. We finally talked Elders Dockstader & Dias to drive him home even though they needed to take another sister home. With Werner taken care of we said our final goodbyes and started walking home. Halfway home we realized we hadn’t found Nevin to give him his birthday gift so I hurried back to find him. As I walked into the chapel he spotted me and came running over. He had been looking for us and he would have been a mighty disappointed boy, if we hadn’t of remembered.

This afternoon we made some banana bread, returned a call to Sister Martin in the rehab hospital in Davos and talked to her for a minute, sent a text message to Cornelia to let her know we missed her at Church today, took a nap, read the Deseret News on line, wrote a Christmas letter to family, friends, ward and stake members. We received such a letter from our friends, the Doyles serving in Geneva, for which we were grateful because it reminded us to do the same. We love reading their blog as well as our other friends’ blog, the Kroffs who are presently serving in Argentina. Our letter is posted below. It is 8:30 right now and we’re thinking about watching the DVD of The One Good Man that I bought last week for Diana to watch.

Dear Friends and Family,
This is our second Christmas as missionaries in Zurich, Switzerland. We have experienced blessings from our Father in Heaven beyond our capacity to express. He has allowed us opportunities to see ourselves and our abilities and weaknesses, and to see how we can use that information to help others, as well as to strengthen and improve ourselves. We have been stretched farther than we have sometimes wanted to be, but know the Lord has supported us as we do this work.

We love Switzerland. We love the people and the countries they represent. Our ward is represented by so many countries that it is amazing to see how they all come together in one goal, and that is to follow Christ. Some of the languages spoken by people in our ward include German, Swiss German, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, Greek, Hungarian, Russian, English and others as well.

Our daily associations with dedicated, energetic, capable, young missionaries has been a thrill. It is clear why the Lord has put so much trust in the young and inexperienced to forward the grand work of preaching the Gospel to the children of the earth, none of which would be effective without the incredible, stalwart, spiritual leadership of mission presidents and wives! We are in awe. Even if a young man never converted anyone, a mission would be incredibly valuable. They are taught leadership skills by taking turns being District Leaders. There are usually only 6 to 8 in a District. The young men missionaries are responsible for planning the meeting, prayers, music, instruction and reports. Weekly they are responsible for getting reports to the Zone leaders from the district members. A few of them do very well from the start, but most obviously need, and benefit from this training. Senior missionaries and sister missionaries are never called as District or Zone Leaders. There are several Districts in a Zone. Zone leaders take reports from District leaders and conduct Zone Conferences, arranging the program and instruction under the direction of the mission president. The mission president has a couple of young male missionary assistants to help him, but they are still responsible to be out contacting and teaching. This gives missionaries more opportunities to learn leadership skills. We have seen a lot of young male missionaries develop their leadership skills over the months that we have been here. Of course there is a great deal of spiritual learning and development and that is what you would expect.

As a senior missionary couple we have been given the assignments to work with the Bishop and ward leadership in reactivation as our main assignment, but also to proselyte as other missionaries do, support the young missionaries in whatever way we can, fellowship and teach new converts, attend Institute with the Young Single Adults and to help out in the mission home as the need arises. All this has kept us so busy and involved that we hardly notice the passing of time. We have been blessed to be able to help a few of the lost sheep find their way back into the fold. We have come to learn anew how important and inspired the Lord's program of home and visiting teaching is. Sometimes, just a helping hand, a word of encouragement or an inspired message could have prevented someone from wandering away. Our mission has been a rewarding experience and we encourage anyone who is in a position to do so, to consider serving. The members and the people we have worked with are so wonderful; they make us feel like we are being served instead of the other way around. Many have called us "their angels" arriving just at the right time and saying exactly the right thing at the moment they needed to hear it. Even though it is good to hear, we know it isn't really us, but the Lord they are thanking because it is Him that knows their needs. We are the ones who just happen to be it the right place to deliver the message or encouragement.

The marvels and mysteries of computer technology have kept us constantly in a quandary, often in a quagmire and usually in a quest , not to mention, in quick access to … yes, we are happy and grateful for the computer. The technology that allows us to communicate, by voice and sight, across half the world is absolutely amazing.

We base our joy in the testimony that God lives, that He knows us and loves us and hears and answers our prayers. We love our Savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who has shown His love for us by His birth and His Atoning sacrifice. How marvelous to have the gift of the Holy Ghost in our lives as comforter, teacher, guide and protector. We love the scriptures and have found additional insights in reading the Book of Mormon in the German language. It is the word of God and surely helps us see that Jesus Christ is His Only Begotten Son! How grateful we are for the young, courageous Joseph Smith who was truly called as a prophet to establish and restore the Church of Jesus Christ upon the earth in these “latter days,” as prophesied throughout the writings of ancient prophets. We are grateful for this Christmas season which helps us draw closer to Him as we celebrate His birth and life. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer who gave His life for us that we might live, if we but do our best in living His gospel, repenting when we fail, and move forward with faith. We are grateful for the prophet who leads the Church today, President Monson. What a wonderful, loving, tender, powerful leader and teacher he is.

It was really tough when we had to say goodbye to friends and family at home when we left for our mission. You have all become such integral parts of our lives that it took some time to adjust. We find ourselves in that position again as we are being transferred from our beloved Schwamendingen ward here is Zurich to a small branch in Schaffhausen which is still in Switzerland, but the border of Germany is not far away. Some of the members of the branch live in Germany as well. The branch has about 25-30 active members and again we'll be out looking for the lost sheep in that part of the vineyard. The elders who are currently stationed there will leave the apartment on January 7 and we will officially take up residency there on January 15. Our new address will be: Fulachstrasse 245, 8200 Schaffhausen, Switzerland.

We appreciate your faith and prayers. We love you all and wish you a Merry Christmas und ein glueckliches neues Jahr

Elder and Sister Larson

Missionaries and Rachel & Tony Mascaro sing songs; Elder Vincent & Michael talk together; Diana tending Dominic.

DECEMBER 19, 2009 SATURDAY

We have been trying to find the time to go to the Oerlikon Super COOP which is a complete department store and this morning we decided it was the day. The item we especially wanted was a Swiss aluminum cup with a built on carabineer to clip on a belt or backpack to complete our present collection for Monday night home evening. We found one and looked around the store for a bit, but couldn’t find anything else good so we paid for it and left. We saw that the farmer’s market was going on at the Oerlikon Bahnhof Platz so we went to look for Herr Fischer, our contact we gave a Book of Mormon to last Christmas time. Each person usually puts up his stand in the same place week after week, but this time he wasn’t there. We looked all over for him and the last one we checked was his. We wanted to see him, but we also wanted to by some more Brombeeressig, a fruit flavored vinaigrette salad dressing we bought from him last Christmas. We gave the brombeeressig to Charlotte last Christmas and she liked it so much, she has been trying to find some more ever since and hasn’t been able to find it. We asked him if he was still meeting with the missionaries. He said they had stopped coming and he seemed a little disappointed. We’ve talked to the missionaries and they say the reason they don’t visit him any more is because he won’t come to Church and accept other commitments. So sad. He only had one bottle so we bought it and hurried to get back to the Church for song practice.

The only ones who showed up for song practice were us, the Mascaros and Elders Nilsson & Irick. We mostly decided what we were going to sing and the Christmas story were going to read. The story we decided to read was my favorite, The Christmas Guest by Helen Steiner Rice. The songs we were going to sing were Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer and Jingle Bells. While we were there, Madeline called Elder Irick and told him something was wrong with her CD player and could he come over and fix it? Diana helped Charlotte finish up the decorations while I went with Elder Irick to Madelines and he discovered she had pushed a button on the back that had put it on hold so none of the other buttons would work. Simple fix, only if you know what to look for. On the way out of the building we met a Muslim man who wanted to talk with us. Actually he just wanted to argue and fight and really had no interest in learning anything about the restored gospel. We talked for a good forty-five minutes while standing in the freezing cold with big flakes of snow falling on our heads. We finally made it back to the Church where we warmed up a little and then Diana and I went home.

When we got home Elder Irick called and asked us if they could come use our computer to find a song to sing in Sacrament meeting tomorrow. We said they could and then he said they had not had lunch yet and, if it were alright, could they come have lunch with us. It didn’t take them long to arrive and, while they worked on the computer, we cooked spaghetti and fixed a green salad. That along with a potato salad, bread and orange juice made up our lunch. That used up the time we were going to go visit Samuel Koch in Voketswil for his birthday. Instead of visiting we gave him a call on the telephone and wished him a happy birthday. He said he’d be to Church tomorrow so we’ll give him his cookies then. We also called Tony, Charles, and Priscilla to invite them to the ward party.

Diana made the brownies yesterday, but made the frosting for them today. We got a call from Ewa Neidhart who wanted us to make sure and reserve her a complete table for ten. She said she had invited ten people who she said would come to the party. She wanted to make sure she had seats reserved for them. I put on my coat and walked to the Church to do what she asked me to do. After reserving a table for Ewa I noticed Isobelle Daly standing at the end of the hall with her baby, Dominic. She and her family are moving back to England and I just wanted to say hello. As I approached her I saw that she was crying and in response to a question, said she was just tired because her four month old child had been fussing, crying. When I asked her if we could help, she responded that it would be great if Sister Larson could come and tend Dominic while she tried to get a little sleep in the first aid room. I hurried and ran home and told Diana Isobelle’s problem and she immediately got ready and we both went back to the Church. Diana took little Dominic and tended him until the program started.

The Christmas party was half spiritual about the birth of Christ and other related things. The other half was more the normal Santa Claus and secular celebration of Christmas. The Mascaros read our story and scripture (Matt. 25:32-46) and we all sang Jingle Bells and Rudolph. There were quite a few investigators at the party including Agnes, Madeline, four or five that the Neidharts had brought , a neighbor of Marcel Daehler and Michael, the same person that Elder Pine complained was stalking them all the time. There were probably others as well. Our less-actives who came included Tony Dkere, Gabriella Rodriguez, her two children, Stefan Fuhrer and his wife and two year old boy, Brian. Charles Aboussou said he would come, but he didn’t. Priscilla didn’t come either. Charles and Tony said they would be to Church tomorrow and we hope they will come. In talking to Tony he said he really appreciated our persistence in calling him; he said he feels “broken” and it’s nice someone will throw him a tow rope and tow him along. He slipped out after about an hour, but it was nice to see him participate. After helping clean up and take the decorations down, we came home physically and mentally drained. By the way, it snowed all day long, sometimes very lightly and at other times, heavy. And it is below freezing, even in the day time.

Irene in the kitchen and Lily looking on; Andreas Sannemann standing on top of the scaffold that is always used to hang decorations from the ceiling; Me hanging bulbs and pine cones for decorations.

DECEMBER 18, 2009 FRIDAY

The phone rang shortly after 6:00am bringing us wide awake out of a deep slumber. Who could be calling this early in the morning? Brother Klaumuenzner wanting to know how our trip went yesterday and also to make arrangements to pick up the key to the car we drove home. He said his trip went well and that he had to deliver the car he drove yesterday to the sisters today in Dornbirn which is on the other side of Bodensee opposite Romanshorn. We made arrangement to meet him here at home between 11:30 and 12:30.

I showered and shaved and then walked into Schwamendingen to get some eggs and oranges to make candied orange peel for the last of the ingredients we needed to make some fruit cake. How can we have Christmas without fruit cake? Everybody makes jokes about only giving fruit cake to people you don’t like, but you can give it to us and we’ll love you forever (home made, not store bought!). I got what we needed and then walked back home fully expecting Neide to be at our house working on Diana’s eyebrows. But when I got home at 9:15, Diana was wondering where Neide was and if she had decided not to come over after all. About 9:30 the phone rang and when we answered, it was Neide asking if Diana was going to come for her appointment or if she had change her mind. When they talked to each other last night, both thought the other was going to come to her place, so both sat home wondering where the other was. The mystery solved, Diana was the one who went to Neide’s. We walked down together and I was just going to drop Diana off and go back home, but Neide invited us both in to look at her makeshift beauty chair. It was actually a lawn chair with blankets and pillows on it so the person being worked on could sit down and lay her head back making it easy for Neide to work on her face. I went home and Diana got her eyebrows and eye lashes worked on while I went home to make orange peel and put together the ingredients for the fruit cake. I basically had everything done except mixing the ingredients together when Diana got home.

Diana really enjoyed her time with Neide. It’s been a long time since she has been able to spend any time with her and she has become such a good friend. She is pleasant to be around and she and Diana can talk back and forth without any problem understanding one another. She spent an hour there and then came home.

Brother Klaumuenzner came at 12:30 to pick up the key to the car. He gave us a liter of milk he’d bought in Germany just so we could try it. We’ll have to see how it compares with the milk from Switzerland. He told us he’d already crossed the Bodensee twice this morning, once on the ferry with the car after which he delivered it to the sisters. He then came back across to Romanshorn where he took a train to here. The Walkers, the new missionary couple coming in January, will replace the Klaumuenzners who will be leaving sometime the end of February.

We printed off a birthday card for three year old Dora Bianda, got her gummi bears and left to pay her a visit in Volketswil. When we got to Volketswil, we made the 15 minute walk only to find no one home. We left the card/gummi bears in the mailbox and then walked back to the train station. We arrived back with almost 15 minutes to spare so, in order to warm up a little, we went into a Migrolinas (like our convenience stores at home). At Schwamendingen we made a quick visit to the textile shop, Diana’s favorite little store, to buy a pair of thinsulate ear warmers for Elder Vincent. After, we went to the Church to help Charlotte with the ward Christmas party decorations, but no one was there so we went home.

We didn’t have anything planned so we decided go ahead and make the fruit cake, which we did. After it was in the oven we got a call from Charlotte asking us if we intended to help with the decoration. Upon answering yes, she said she’d meet us at the Church at 4:15. I went down and helped the few members who were there including Charlotte, Andreas Sannemann, Bodo Rueckauer and Heinz & Lily Locher. Once everything is finished, the decorations will lend a festive atmosphere to the cultural hall. While I was gone, Diana watched the fruit cakes and took them out when they were finished. We were only going to test one of the four loaves, but ate half of it before we could say boo; it is just sooooo good. While I wrote this journal entry, Diana made some of her yummy brownies for the ward party tomorrow.

A tender mercy for today was that Roxsan saw that Diana was on the computer and skyped her. She got to talk with and see Roxsan, Mayleah and Nathan. Nathan kept trying to open Christmas packages and Mayleah kept rescuing them.