L: our Church in Freiburg, Germany (I don't remember if i put this on before). M: A church in Maur. R: The Salvation Army DI.










MARCH 6, 2009 FRIDAY

Yesterday we went to see if we could find a less-active member home, but she had moved. Today we were able to find her new phone number on the internet and called her. She had moved back to her home town in Biel, Switzerland. She seemed like a really nice lady, but she declined to let us come visit and said she hadn’t been to Church in a long while and didn’t want to start now. We talked for ten or fifteen minutes during which time I mentioned I’d served in Biel when I was younger. She said she remembered a missionary named Larson and we agreed it was probably me although there was another Larson that served at that time too. I asked her if we could get together to talk of old times, but she declined that invitation also. We parted on friendly terms and as soon as I hung up, I called the current missionaries in Biel and gave them what information I could. It’s easier for someone to decline on the phone, but when one is on the doorstep, it may be easier to break through the shell the Swiss seem to have.

Elders P&H called wanting to come by at 1:30 to use our computer to print off the Portuguese Word of Wisdom lesson out of the Preach My Gospel book. We had enough time to go down to the hospital and visit Suwang before they got here. We didn’t have time to visit her yesterday, so we made sure we did today. She was excited to tell us she had been disconnected from all her IV’s and had showered twice and had been able to walk around a little in the shower. She wants so bad to be well enough not to have to go to the rehab hospital. She said she had been reading about the tree of life in her new Chinese BM. We got back just as the Elders got here. Diana fixed them hot chocolate which they appreciated because it’s been cold and snowing/raining all day. Elder Pine said they have been teaching a Chinese lady and they need an interpreter. They want Suwang to get better so she can help them. Suwang also would like to serve a mission and this would be good for her to be able to help.


This evening we had a simple dinner of cooked buttered carrots which were very yummy and healthy after which we went to the Church and helped decorate for the wedding tomorrow night. For every event they hang big white sheets horizontally from the ceiling. It makes it quite nice. It’s hard to describe so we’ll post a photo tomorrow. We suspect we’ll be working in the kitchen tomorrow night during the wedding like we did for the last one. We met a member from the Wetzikon ward who was here helping also. She is from Philadelphia, married a Swiss and has been here ever since living in Stefa on Zurich Lake. She has children and a Mother (90) who still live in USA. Her name is Betty Jean Riday. Her son, Kosimo, comes to our ward. We walked home through the rain/snow and by that time it was 10:30pm. Time for bed.