Photos on way to the Zoo.

JANUARY 12, 2009 MONDAY

Today is P-day again. Seems like the weeks roll by rather quickly. First thing Elders Pine and Middleton came over to do their emails, but we left before they got done. We have a spare set of keys which we gave them to lock our apartment when they leave and they just drop the keys into our mailbox downstairs. Before we got too far away, Elder Middleton ran after us and said they needed a world map for a game at a member’s family home evening tonight and did we know where they could get one. We told them we didn’t have one, but maybe the Salvation Army thrift store would. We gave him directions how to get there and went on our way. We decided we’d take a ride on some trams we hadn’t been on before so we took Tram #7 to a connecting point for Tram #6 and went up to the zoo. It was a nice ride which took us above the fog and we actually saw the sun. It was still plenty cold, but we walked about five minutes to the entrance to the zoo. The admission for adults was 22sfr. each. Maybe when the weather warms up we’ll go in and see what’s what. We walked on back, got on tram #6 back to Tram #7 and rode it to the end where we’d never been. About this time Elder Middleton called and said they probably didn’t have time to find a map and would we see if we could find one for them. This posed a problem because in order to help them, we’d have to give up the rest of our P-day. The other problem was we were exactly at the end of the line opposite from where we needed to be to find the Salvation Army place. Well, one of our assignments is to shepherd the missionaries so we decided to see what we could do. We rode the tram all the way back to Stettbach while trying to remember which bus it was we should take from there. We knew once, but they have changed the bus routes because of construction (yes, over here too). We chose wrong the first time and at Zentrum Glatt we had to change buses and return to Stettbach. The second time we chose wrong again, but this time we got off at the next stop and decided to walk till we found it. We passed an Office World and thought maybe we could find something in there. Unfortunately, what we found wasn’t suitable and was too expensive anyway, so we went on our way. It was difficult finding our way amongst all the barracaded ice-covered sidewalks and narrow roads. We crawled through the barracades and finally got to where Diana recognized the buildings. We soon found the place, thanks to Diana’s sense of direction, none too soon because we were absolutely frozen. The sun had gone down and the cold had settled in. While I searched for a map, Diana found a treasure which she just had to have. She loves weird things. It was a mug that had a logo on it, “idiot mug” with the handle on the inside of the mug. I found a good world map for 1sfr. During the last hour of our trek, Elder Middleton called every 10 or 15 minutes to check on our progress. He was really thrilled when we told him we’d bought one for him. We walked back to Stettbach and they were going to meet us at home and pick it up. We got to our stop, but called them to see where they were. We found out it would be easier to meet them at Schwamendingen, so we went back there. Diana wanted to buy some more of the candle/napkins sets for birthday gifts, so we told them we’d meet them there. The candle/napkin sets that normally sold in Migros for 7.90sfr. and we got them in this little store for 1sfr. These make for a nice gift at little expense. We met the Elders, gave them the map and made our way back home. We also got some money out of the ATM and found out later the exchange rate was 2 pennies higher from what it has been for awhile.

We got home, rested and warmed up and then went to our FHE. The lesson was presented by Juerg on “Who am I.” The game we played goes like this. Everyone stands in a circle. Everyone in turn says one or two words of a sentence. The sentence is, “One frog (1st ) jumped in (2nd) the pond (3rd) kerplunk (4th) .” Whoever says “kerplunk” leans forward and puts his hands on his knees. The next person says, “two frogs” ....... and the next people in line do the same as in the “one Frog” scenario except this time every phrase is repeated twice. For example, the 1st person says “two frogs” and then the next person repeats “two frogs” and so on.And then it goes to three frogs and so on. The catch is, the first time a person says kerplunk and bends over to put his hands on his knees, the second time he says “kerplunk,” he stands up. Now anyone who misses saying a phrase, or bends over when he shouldn’t or straightens up when he shouldn’t, is out of the game and you start over with one frog. It sounds simple enough, but you really have to concentrate. I hope this explanation makes sense.

Charlotta, our non-member friend, was asking Naeide about baptism clothes which makes us think she is thinking about being baptized soon. We’ll see.