Night photo of Zurich; a franc coin next to the train tracks. I wanted to get it, but I didn't think I could jump down there and get back out without getting dirty.


JANUARY 2, 2008 FRIDAY

Yesterday when we went out visiting, we forgot to take our cell phone with us. When we got back in for the evening, I checked it for any missed phone calls. There was one listed, but I decided to wait until this morning to return the call since it was from other missionaries. I didn’t realize they had left a text message. They had been assigned to do a musical number in the next zone conference and asked me if I would also help them sing. I thought about not calling them, but then, as good missionaries are supposed to do, I called them and said I would. We were to meet at the church at 2:00 to practice.

Right after that Elder Middleton called and asked if they could come over and do our goal setting and combined study that we didn’t get to yesterday. They arrived at 11:00 and we discussed goals and they had some good ideas for us. In addition to the ones we had already decided on, they asked us to consider opening our home to the missionaries to teach investigators if they didn’t have any other suitable place to go. We thought they already knew that was an option for them, but we were happy to make that one of our goals also. While we were having this discussion, the AP’s called and asked if they could borrow some butter and eggs so they could make cookies for an investigator they were teaching tonight. This is the first time we realized today was a Swiss holiday (still part of New Years) and all of the stores were still closed. It was a good thing we had bought some the other day just to have on hand (inspiration?). After our goal setting we watched a DVD Elder Middleton had received from home and in return, we made them watch our DVD of our daughters and their families holding FHE. It’s great to see and feel that families really are the center of our lives. In the middle of this the AP’s came to get the butter and eggs, but stayed to watch some of the DVD’s. After they left we listened to a tape of an address from Cleon Skousen on the Atonement and why it was necessary. It was a great talk, one that we wished we could understand a little better. Just as this got done I had to go to the church to practice.

I can’t read music and have to learn by repetition. Hymns in the hymn book are good and I can sing them from memory. It seems that nobody wants to sing the hymns the way they are written because they think they are too boring. Well, they’re not boring to me; I love the hymns the way they are written. The song Elders Larsson and Eschweiler had chosen was, “How Great Thou Art.” The only problem was Elder Larsson had jazzed it up a little and wanted me to sing two parts by myself without accompaniment. I guess we’ll see how that goes. We will only have one more practice on Sunday evening. We had the Wachter’s coming for dinner tonight and I stayed practicing longer than I should have. It kind of left Diana wondering how she was going to get everything ready in time. When I got home she had everything well underway and together we were able to finish just in time. Elders P & M were also invited and came first, followed by Markus and Dora Wachter and their two boys. We had a nice enjoyable evening and I think we’ve made some new friends. We found out more of the background of both and got better acquainted with Markus. They brought Diana a red rose and also a chocolate cake that looked like a house which we ate for dessert. And I guess that brings to a close another day in the life of these missionaries.

We were reminded of a talk by Elder Henry B. Eyring that we should write in our journals the tender mercies of the Lord in our lives for the benefit of our posterity. Diana feels that a tender mercy for her is that she was better able to understand Dora as she spoke German because of her diligent study and that we were able to provide the Elders with a meaningful missionary experience on this holiday when it would have been difficult otherwise. I feel that we were prompted to buy the extra butter and eggs so Elders E & E were able to make their cookies, that the Lord is aware of the needs of everyone, even down to the little things such as eggs and butter.


Another tender mercy Diana thought of came from Elder Middleton's DVD. A returned missionary from Switzerland gave him some advice that the Swiss had a hard shell, but you just needed to keep working and pounding because underneath they are soft and squishy.