Our tomato plant. Suwang's lunch. The video is of Suwang; sorry I got off a little, but I didn't want her to know I was making a video.

JUNE 18, 2009 THURSDAY

This morning we got a call from Suwang asking us to come over early for lunch. She had invited us to come over today, but didn’t give us a time. We said we’d be there at 10:30, but we didn’t arrive until almost 11:00 because we still had to get into our preaching clothes and the trip there takes about an hour. She is so happy to see us each time we come. We complimented her on the progress she had made in getting the clothes in the two dozen black bags sorted, washed and either donated or put away. She still has some big boxes and some piles left, but she has made tremendous progress. We talked and visited while she was busy preparing lunch. She talks a mile a minute using an English dialect with a smattering of German and Chinese mixed in. We can understand most of what she says, but once in awhile we get lost.

Last Friday we wrote in our journal we were kind of glad we didn’t get to stay for lunch because what we saw didn’t look to good. Today we were waiting with suspense what she was going to prepare for us. It all turned out really good and it was a healthy meal to boot. She served us boiled/fried potatoes plain, broccoli, steamed carrots, plain beans and chicken. I had peppermint tea and Diana had water.

After the meal she talked some more of her family and her desire to bring her son and daughter, Danek and Halina, back into activity in the Church. She is a convert and so didn’t have the advantage of growing up in the LDS culture. She said she didn’t understand how to be a good mother, but learned by watching others as they interacted with their children on Sundays. She’s trying to make up for those early years and she says she has made progress. She had some other things weighing heavily on her mind and just wanted to talk to someone about it. She said she trusted us to keep things confidential which we will. Sometimes you just have to get things off your chest and discuss it with someone in order to move on and heal. We finally had to go and she was disappointed we couldn’t stay for supper too. But we told her we’d come visit for awhile Saturday and that made her happy.

Today was Hans Maurer’s, Margarita’s 40 year old mentally challenged son, birthday. We called Elders Harris and Nilsson earlier to see if they would come with us to wish him a happy birthday. Diana talked to Denise, Margarita’s daughter, on Tuesday and Denise said she thought her mother wanted another blessing because of the pain in her knee. We wanted to use the occasion of Han’s birthday to all be there so, if she wanted, give her a blessing. We had made arrangements this morning for them to call us around 3:00 after their teaching appointment so we could get together and go over to Hans’ place. Their appointment went late and when they called us, they said they didn’t have time to go with us. We got our stuff together and went alone. It’s a good thing we did because both Hans and Margarita weren’t home. We turned around and came home.

Just as we thought we were done for the day, we got a call from Charlotte. She had cooked a roast and bought some stuff to make a salad to make dinner for the missionaries , but they called and had to cancel. She is a woman alone and was going to be gone the next few days and didn’t want the food to spoil and didn’t want to just throw it out. She called us to come and get it, which we did. We offered to pay for it, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She also found a set of thick glass rectangle plates you use to put hot dishes on in a second hand store that she gave us. She said they are made in a factory in Italy and they are very expensive and she was surprised to find them there.

About 9:45 we were just getting finished with our journal when our doorbell sounded. Diana didn’t want to answer it because the last time we did, the tax man was there and made us sign up to pay taxes on our internet connection. Suwang told us today that if you don’t answer the door, they give up and won’t bother you till next year. She said that’s why so many Swiss don’t answer their doors; they’re home, but don’t answer. But I looked out our window and saw that it was Brother and Sister Neidhart so I let them in. Their son Jona left for his mission on January 3rd and they wanted to find out how to check his email to see if he had sent them anything yet. They don’t know how to do it and they thought we could help them. We got on their internet account and didn’t find anything from Jona. We visited for almost an hour and then they decided to go home. So now, once again, we think we are finished for today. We try and try, but can’t seem to get to bed as early as we want.