The first two photos are in Bern; Diana in the candle shop in Interlaken.


MARCH 30, 2009 MONDAY

This morning we met Charlotte at her apartment and we were on our way for another great P-day. It was our turn to bring a lunch so Diana made egg salad and ham and cheese sandwiches. We also brought bananas, peanuts and a few candy bars. This time we took the train from Zurich to Bern. We got out there and spent time walking through the old town looking at the many fountains, cobbled streets and buildings. We climbed the tower of a church and got a magnificent view over the city. We walked to the capitol building, but didn’t have time to go inside. We took a lot of photos and some we’ll post on our blog. All of the sidewalks are covered which makes it quaint and nice if it were raining. There are many shops in the old town, and it seems it’s possible to buy anything there. Along the edge of the covered walkways are slanted doors that when opened, seems as if you are going down steps into a cellar. In reality there are shops under the ground level stores; we didn’t go down to see them, but next time we’re there, we’ll have to check them out. Our time ran out so we hurried back to the train station and caught our train to Interlaken. We went through Thun, along Thunersee, through Spiez to Interlaken. This is a smaller town nestled up against the mountains at the end of the lake. It is a post card picture of what you’d dream Switzerland is like. We didn’t have much time to spend here and Charlotte wanted us to see the candle shop with every imaginable kind of candle in it, from very small to very large. We’ll have to go back and spend some time there to actually explore the wonders of that city.

From there we got on a train, that took us over the Brunigg Pass to Luzern. We traveled along the Brienzersee through Brienz, Sarans and many other little villages and towns until we came to Luzern. It would be nice to have the time to stop for awhile to walk through the old town streets and experience Switzerland as it should be. We continued on until our train arrived in Luzern where we jumped out and hurried to our next train. We made it with a minute to spare. We arrived back in Zurich at 5:00. We went to the new grocery store, Lidl, bought a few things and went home to get ready for FHE. One of the big benefits of traveling with Charlotte is that we carry on our conversations in German. She corrects us and help us with new words and expressions. Diana is able to communicate with her pretty well. She is also learning English so it’s a mutually beneficial activity. Since she’s a newly baptized member, we can also talk about Gospel doctrines and principles. Her husband died in 2003 and we were able to talk about the temple and an the sealing power of the Priesthood.

FHE was great as usual, but Hitch and Kathy Bolt were missing because they had gone to the temple today. Suke said she’d for sure be here tonight, but she called again to say she wouldn’t be coming. We are going to ask Cornelia to come next time we see her. The lesson was on our relationship with our Father in Heaven and how the Gift of the Holy Ghost is beneficial in our lives. Some related experiences where the Spirit helped them with an answer to a problem or had received inspiration or comfort.

Following the lesson the game we played was one where you sit in a circle and all stay in rhythm. You start by clapping your hands on your knees (thighs), clap your hands together and then snap the fingers of one hand and then the other. Everyone keeps repeating this action keeping in rhythm with each other. One person is designated as the “Boss” and another is designated as the “janitor.” The others in the circle receive a number starting with “1.” The Boss starts the round by starting the rhythmic clapping and snapping fingers. When he’s ready, as he snaps the fingers of his first hand, he says his own designated name “Boss.” When he snaps the fingers of the second hand, he calls the number of a person or the designated name of the “Janitor.” Whoever’s number or designated name he calls must say his own name/number as he snaps the fingers of his first hand, and then calls the name or number of some one else as he snaps the fingers of his second hand. The game continues in this pattern until someone either gets out of rhythm or doesn’t say his designated name/number and/or call someone else’s name/number. It’s kind of like tossing a hot potato. The person throwing the hot potato tells who he’s throwing it at; the one receiving the hot potato snaps his fingers to acknowledge he’s received it and tosses it to the next person by calling his name/number. It’s really quite fun if you can figure it out. Diana was pretty good at this and won the second of the two rounds we played.

After the game we had dessert which was banana splits. Everything was delicious and Juerg made such a fuss over the carmel and chocolate that we left all of what wasn’t eaten at their home. Then we came home. Elder Pine and Harris came with us to pick up their sandwiches they left here last night. We gave them a key so they could use our apartment/computer today, but they were able to use someone else’s computer instead of ours. They forgot to bring our key back so we’ll have to get it from them tomorrow.