Did I put this one on already? Photo of me reflected from the window; the real subject of the photo was the stack of rocks. There were a few swans on Zug Lake.

SEPTEMBER 23, 2009 WEDNESDAY

President Matern told us a long time ago that we didn’t have to get up early, if we didn’t want to and then, only do as much during the day as we felt we could. No pressure. However, it seems that every morning we have to be up early for something or other, district meeting, zone conference, correlation meeting and today, wash day. Our time in the wash room started at 7:00 and ended at noon. In order to get everything done, we had to start on time. First a load of whites (shirts, garments), then a load of darks (socks, pants, dark dresses etc.), followed by another load of whites (towels, wash cloths), and then another load of whites which included sheets, pillow cases and one pillow. I washed the other pillow by hand in the wash tub. Every load takes about an hour in the washer and then at least an hour in the dryer. Very time consuming but, at least we have the convenience of machines to do it for us. The washing machine was faster than the dryer so while one load was drying, we had clothes, sheets and towels hung all over so they would air dry as much as they would before they were thrown in the dryer. It saves time, energy and money that way.

We kept busy doing other things in between loads. I took one bedroom curtain down and Diana washed it in the tub. She wanted to be careful with it because she didn’t know how long they had been up and how much sun damage has occurred. She didn’t want them falling apart in the washer.

We decided we wanted to take an invitation for General Conference on October 3-4 to all our less-active members to let them know about it and maybe they’ll think about it and decide to come. We wrote the invitation then I went to the church and made copies of both the invitation and the conference schedule. Back home we cut them apart and stapled the invitation to the schedule.

Elders Harris and Nilsson called and made an appointment to come over about 3:00 to write a report for the Ward Mission Leader that he needed to take with him to ward council tonight. We had time to go out and make a few contacts before they were due to come, so that’s what we did.
We rode into Schamendingen, but just missed our connection, so, rather than wait the seven minutes for the next tram, we walked back towards home to put an invitation in Br. Bannwart’s mailbox. Next, we took the street underpass to get back on the other side of Ueberlandstrasse to go put an invitation in Fr. Kerinnes’ mailbox, but it was inside the locked doors so we couldn’t. The doors are usually open in the mornings for the mailman, so we’ll try in the morning. About then Elder Harris called and said their appointment fell through and could they come now instead of 3:00. We were only about 10 minutes from home so we agreed and went back home.

It’s fun to meet with these two missionaries (zone leaders) because they always bring us up to speed on what’s been happening around the zone. We exchanged experiences and then told them what we had planned to do as far as handing out invitations. They had a couple of other ideas too, but asked if they could help us. Of course they could. We divided up the names, giving them the ones who had already told us they didn’t want any contact with the Church. We gave them a short history on each one so they wouldn’t have any surprises. After they got their work done, they left to go about their missionary work. Before we went back out, we made a few phone calls; one was to Fabian who said yesterday he wanted to do missionary work with us just to keep busy while his knee was recuperating. He declined the invitation saying he had too many appointments this week. We tentatively set next Wednesday when he should be in a better position to help us.

After they left, we had an early supper and then continued with the contacting/invitation giving.
First we went to Gerde Schroeder, but she told us over the speaker she already had a visitor and now wasn’t a good time. We were happy that she at least talked to us this time. We left her invitation in her mailbox. Next, we tried her mother who lives just down the street. Hildegunde has missed two Sundays in a row and we really wanted to talk with her. However, she wasn’t home so we left an invitation in her mailbox too. Then we took the tram the other way clear into Zurich to see if we could finally contact and meet Tensu Tesfamariam, who we have never found home after many tries. We were kind of unfamiliar with this area, but walked right to his apartment. His mailbox was inside the locked door too, so we left the invitation stuck to the door and hope he or someone else sees it and gives it to him. We had to walk back up the steep hill to get to Fr. Pastore’s apartment, but she wasn’t home either. We were late enough that everyone should have been home, We left the invitation in her mailbox. And, since it was 8:00 and way past dark, we went home.

We finished drying the wash and then cooked some milk rice. We bought the makins’ in Germany and it was pretty simple and good. The rest of the time we spent making the bed (after the sheets were completely dry), reading the scriptures and studying German. Elder Carrier called to make sure we were okay and didn’t want for anything. And now this journal entry is done.