Diana & b-day cake; Pres. Bolt & Juerg Mueller; Me in Baar Cave.










APRIL 6, 2009 MONDAY

We had made arrangements to go to Thun and spend our P-day there with Charlotte, but Elder Pine called last night and wanted us to go with the District to visits a cave near Luzern. We told him we’d be happy to go, if were OK with Charlotte. He called Charlotte and she said it was OK with her, if it were OK with us. He and his companion also wanted to come over this morning to do their emails. So that is what happened to day. First they came over at 9:00 and were finished by noon. When it came time to go, Diana decided to stay home and study German and she wanted me to go so she would be undisturbed this afternoon and be able to concentrate. Our zone leader gave us permission to do it, and so I left with the others. We picked up Charlotte, traveled to the Zurich Bahnhof and met the other four Elders. From there we traveled by train to Baar which is near Luzern and met the two sister missionaries. We took bus #34 to the end of the line and got out at Talaker bus stop. It took about a half an hour to walk to the cave entrance where we bought admission for 9.00 sfr. each. The last part of the way we walked down a steep road and was rewarded with a view of the river and a bridge that was worth taking a photo of. Compared to the Timpanogos Cave it was rather a disappointment, but still it was worth the effort and it had some interesting formations in it. It took about a half hour to walk through it, stopping to take photos along the way. After we came out of the cave, we walked all the way back to Baar rather than taking a bus. It was an invigorating and beautiful walk along the river and it was good to get a little exercise along the way.

We bid adieu to the sisters and when we got on the train to return to Zurich, we weren’t paying attention and got into a car that forbid talking or making any noise. This was inconvenient because, of course, we all wanted to talk. However, it was also nice to have some quiet time. From Zurich Charlotte, Elders Pine & Harris, Elders Norris and Carrier and I took a train back to Oerlikon. The missionaries wanted to go to McDonald’s for something to eat, but I reminded them I couldn’t go the rest of the way home with just Charlotte for a companion. They quickly realized the situation and escorted us to Charlotte’s where we all said good-bye and I walked the rest of the way home by myself. I found Diana still reading and studying German and am amazed at her faithful determination to learn to speak this language.

Not long after we got ready and went to our Family Home Evening, this time at the Moeller-Russos. Thirteen of our group was there, only Suki was missing because she works. The lesson was on the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead and lessons we should learn from that including having faith as well as many other things. The game was provided by Charlotte which was a mimic game. She had a pair of scissors and each one of us in our turn sat opposite her with another pair of scissors. The trick was to mimic what she did and if you didn’t get it right, you were out. The whole trick of the thing was to cross your feet exactly as she did, and it had nothing to do with the scissors. There was also a second game played where you try and do two actions at once. The first thing you do is raise your right foot off the floor a little and make a circular clockwise motion, and while doing that, draw the numeral 6 in the air with your right hand. The trick is to keep your foot rotating in the clockwise direction while you draw the 6 in the air. Can you do it?

The highlight of the evening was the birthday cakes they had made for Diana and Elder Jensen, whose birthday is Wednesday. Diana’s was an ice cream cake decorated with gummi bears. Elder Jensen’s was a lot of individual torte made by Naeide. We all sang happy birthday to them and then came the eating part. The gummi bears were hard because of the cold ice cream so they were a bit hard to chew. Otherwise everything was great. The evening came to an end and it seems it’s hard to say good-bye and go home. Eventually we all did.