E. Larson in Braunwald. Looking from Braunwald down into the valley. E. Nilsson, Charlotte, E. Harris and S. Larson in Braunwald.

MAY 28, 2009 THURSDAY

This morning we finally took the time for Diana to cut my hair. It was either that or start curling the back. As usual she did a wonderful job and now I feel like a new missionary. Last Monday at FHE Juerg asked if we had been over to see Cornelia’s shop and seemed disappointed when we told him we hadn’t. They’ve done a lot of work for her and wanted us to see it. So, we were going to go to Cornelia’s shop today to see how everything turned out, but as we’ve said before, things don’t always go as planned. We decided to call Sister Rodrigues to see if her move went well and also to apologize for not being able to go there last night in case they needed more help unpacking and arranging in their new apartment. She said they were okay and thanked us again for yesterday. Shortly after she hung up, she called back and told us her old landlord wasn’t satisfied with the way they had left the apartment and could we help her today finish up some stuff. We met her at the old apartment at 12:30 and after we climbed the stairs together and entered her apartment, she broke down and cried. She had her two little kids with her, one on her back and carrying the other one. The little one was still sick and the other one had been asleep and woke up whiny. When the landlord chewed her out, it was just too much for her. The landlord had told her that she was a crappy renter and if she hadn’t of moved on her own, she was ready to throw her out anyway. Gabriella said the landlord didn’t tell her exactly what needed to be done, just that it was unsatisfactory. It seems that here in Switzerland, to get an apartment in the first place, they have to pay a security deposit of 10,000sfr, so the landlord has a lot of power. The stress from the move, her sick children and the landlord had just overwhelmed her. Diana let her cry on her shoulder for awhile until she got herself together somewhat and then I gave her a blessing. Having the priesthood and being able to give a healing blessing is a wonderful gift from the Lord. The change in her and the children was almost instantaneous. She perked up, the kids stopped whining and started to play around while we did what needed to be done. Everything was clean that we could tell, but all of the cleaning stuff as well as some other stuff needed to be gathered up and taken down into the cellar. After we did that we mopped all of the floors again and when we left at 2:15, the apartment was completely empty and as clean as it would ever be. Just as we were leaving, her husband showed up for which we were really glad. We hated to see her walking back to the tram stop with two small children and have to go home by herself.

We had an appointment with Cinthya Frioud this afternoon and promised her we’d be there between 2:00 and 3:00. We didn’t want to be late, but there was no way we could have left Gabriella’s before we did, so we were hoping to make good connections so as not to be late. We already had to move it from yesterday to today because we didn’t get through at sister Gianatti’s until late. We forgot to put her map/address in my bag and I also left our cell phone at home, so there was no way to call and let her know that we were still coming, but we’d probably be late. As it turned out we were only 20 minutes late anyway. When we arrived, we discovered Norma Bachmann was also there with her son Allesandro. Cynthia and Norma are very good friends, having both been born in South American and Spanish as a first language. During our visit we found out Allesandro was going to be baptized on June 7, a day after his 8th birthday. There were some concerns that he wasn’t going to be baptized for some reason or other, mostly because his parents are divorced and Norma didn’t want to push him. That’s the problem with rumors because they are seldom true. Cinthya is 7 months pregnant and is patiently waiting for the last two months to pass. She is just hoping to carry to term and have their first live birth after three former miscarriages. We had a nice visit; Diana talking to the ladies and me playing around with Allesandro.

Usually when we come out this way we travel through Zurich City to get to our destination. After we are through, we hop on the bus traveling the same direction to make the loop down along Greifen Lake to Stettbach and then back home. It’s a much prettier and scenic drive that way. Sometimes, like today, we get to sit on the shore of the lake at Maur to wait for our connecting bus. Today it was mostly overcast and cool so it was just right for Diana. When we arrived at Schwamendingen we walked down to the material/junk store to buy some plastic bowls and plates for Irene, Juerg and Charlotte who need them for a youth activity next week. We were only able to get the bowls because they were out of plates. Then we made a quick stop at COOP and bought some bread, nectarines, and yogurt then went on home. The rest of the evening we read the scriptures, cooked dinner (spaghetti with mushrooms for Diana and spaghetti with mushrooms, herb tofu and grated cheese for me) and wrote reports and this journal entry. Tomorrow we have to be at the mission home to help with cleaning out the garage and whatever else Pres. Matern wants us to do.