Card given out at zone conf.; Video clip of Pres. Matern teaching a spiritual talk.
Demonstration with ropes representing Satan's chains which were cut off by Pres. Matern as he talked of Christ being able to cut the bands to free us.


JUNE 22, 2009 MONDAY

Normally today should have been our P-day, but instead we traveled to Bad-Saechingen, Germany, for our Zone Conference. Zone conferences happen every transfer or, in other words, every six weeks. We were picked up at Stettbach Bahnhof by Elders Pine and Jensen and rode up in the mission van with the rest of our district, Elders Harris, Nilsson, Norris and Carrier making eight in all. Sisters Hewitt and Stoddard rode with Pres. Matern. On the way there we got stuck in traffic and, since Pres. Matern was ahead of us and stuck too, he called Elder Pine and told him to take the next exit and go another route which is what Pres. Matern did. However, when we got to the exit, the traffic freed up so we stayed on the freeway and beat Pres. Matern to the conference location by a good twenty minutes. We ended up starting 30 minutes late anyway.

Altogether there were 38 of us in our zone conference. We always learn a lot and have fun to boot. We learned more about setting goals, being united, urgency, commitment, proper use of time, working together and etc. The unity game we played was “the helium stick” which worked like a charm. We also were split into teams and given a sack of random things to build a tower out of. The team who built the tallest tower won a prize. The sisters in the local ward provided the lunch for us and we always thank them after by singing them a song and giving them a gift or flowers or something. During the lunch break Pres. Matern came over and asked me if I had brought my barber tools with me. I thought that was a weird question, as if I take my barber tools wherever I go. He said he noticed some missionaries who need haircuts bad, but I couldn’t help this time. Later on Sister Matern came and asked me the same question. I had to disappoint her too. I mentioned they could let me know next time and I’d be glad to bring them and do whatever they wanted me to do. I was asked to give the opening prayer of the afternoon session. Elder & Sister Horlacher, the Outreach couple stationed in Freiburg, will be going home next week after having served 23 months. It is both a very sad and a very happy time for them. After the meeting was over, Pres. Matern came over again, but this time he asked if he could make an appointment to come get his hair cut. So next Wednesday he’ll come over to our apartment and I’ll cut his hair here.

Just as the conference was getting over, we received two calls on our cell phone, one right after the other, from the same person, Sister Klaumunzner from the mission office. Since we were in Germany, we weren’t allowed to answer the calls because it costs too much for international calls. She ended up calling Pres. Matern and Diana brought me his phone so I could talk to her. She said it was important for us to come to the mission home tonight and sign a power of attorney form so the mission lawyer can work on our behalf to challenge the Zurich Health Insurance Bureau’s decision not to recognize our insurance from home to fill the Swiss’s requirement for mandatory health insurance. After dropping the others off at the Zurich Bahnhof we went to the mission home to get that done. That made us late for our family home evening at Pres. Bolt’s. They were glad when we showed up even if we were late. Normally we have as few as eight and as many as fourteen, but tonight there were only four before we came. We spent a nice evening together as we always do.

Two things disturbed the peace of the evening. First, Joerg Moeller was in the hospital because of stomach pains or something. He was transported there by ambulance earlier in the evening before we got there. Second, the cell phone in my pocket rang and when I pulled it out, SURPRISE, the phone wasn’t mine. It belonged to Elder Jensen. Where was our cell phone? I looked in all my pockets, my jacket pockets and my briefcase. We couldn’t find it. We guessed perhaps I had pick up Elders Jensen’s cell from the desk in the mission home and left mine there. Diana was tired and didn’t want to go clear back to the mission home (it was 9:15 pm) so I walked her halfway home and then went back to the Bolt’s home to ride with the elders. I happened to look through the van window as I passed by and saw our cell phone on the seat. Yippee! After telling everyone I had found it, I went home too