Elder Knight talking to a Jehovah Witness couple. Diana and Elder Irick talking to the man who took a BM for his wife. Elders Irick & Knight talking to a passer-by.

OCTOBER 17, 2009 SATURDAY

We caught our S-5 train in Bahnhof Oerlikon this morning at 9:14 and traveled to Niederhasli, a trip of about 20 minutes. We had never been to Niederhasli before and this time we came alone, only having verbal directions to follow to the site of our intended Ausstellung (display and street contacting area). It was a seven minute walk to the market square by the Mirgos, but there were no missionaries in sight when we got there. We were about a half hour early because the train ran only once an hour; we had the choice of being a half hour early or being a half hour late. We chose to be early so, because it was drizzling and cold, we went into a little stip mall to stay warm and dry until 10:00, hoping we had found the right place to meet the missionaries. About 9:55 we went back out and saw Elders Knight & Irick and Brother & Sister Ryser putting up the display. Stiven Ryser is the brother of Daniel Ryser who lives in our ward. While Daniel & Esther have five children, Stiven & his wife have nine, which is way unusual for the normal Swiss family of one or two children. He is current 46 years old and married at 26 years of age which means a child about every two years. His youngest is only five months old.

The Ausstellung was made out of metal and so was waterproof, but we couldn’t put our material and books on the table because of the rain. Stiven left, but soon returned with a canopy that we quickly put together to shelter everything and us as well. To be legal one needs to register with the city and have written permission and Elder Knight was supposed to have brought our permit. He left it in his apartment in Dielsdorf, but we went ahead anyway, hoping no one would come to check us. Our permit had specific instructions and boundaries within which we are required to stay and how we are allowed to contact people. For example, we weren’t allowed to come within so many feet of business entrances to contact people. Diana’s not bashful at all and makes the most of contacting anyone coming into the proscribed area. She gave away many brochures and pass-along cards and even was able to place two Books of Mormon. I chose a spot under a tree across the street where I was mostly protected from the rain and could talk to people walking to and from the parking lot. Sometimes we would work together when there were enough missionaries and members over by the display to take care of the people walking by. Strategically, we were in the best spot across from the display because people would try to avoid the display, but they would then walk past us. Most people were friendly and took whatever we were offering except for the BM’s. People don’t want to take anything as big as a book because it may seem too much of a commitment or something.

We dressed for the cold, but it was difficult to keep hands and feet warm for four hours. It wasn’t too bad for the first two hours, but eventually we had to duck into the strip mall to get warm. There was a bench outside a barber/beauty salon that was soft and convenient to sit on and, while we got warm, I was able to see the beauticians cut men’s hair. I was interested in how they did it and the styles they cut. I can honestly say that I could have done a better job than any I saw them do. I wouldn’t have been happy if it had been me getting the haircuts they got. The customers seemed to be pleased, however, so who am I to criticize?

Besides the cold, halfway through, another crises emerged. No where was a restroom to be found! Now what? Knowing restaurants are very displeased with people coming in to use restrooms without buying anything, when things become critical, drastic measures have to be taken. I entered a nearby restaurant and, upon spying the restroom sign, looking neither right nor left, made a beeline there. How do you spell “R-E-L-I-E-F?” It was worth the dirty look I got on the way out.

Elders Nilsson & Vencent didn’t arrive until about 12:30 because the went to a Seventh Day Adventist church meeting in exchange for them coming to our meetings next week. Both said the doctrines taught were similar to ours except for a few exceptions. They talked to one member who said they knew their Church wasn’t true and perfect, but it was the best they had. When they meet with them again, they’ll use that as a starting point to teach them about the restoration of the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

All good things have to come to an end. During our scheduled time, a few other members came including Elder Koch, the stake patriarch, and two young women brought hot tea and a sack of hard, chewy cookies that tasted somewhat like ginger bread. At one point we went into Migros and bought some gipfels (croissants) for the hungry missionaries. They always seem to be hungry. Elders Nilsson & Irick and we left in time to catch the 1:33 train back to Bahnhof Oerlikon and from there we took a bus back to Schwamendingen. We did a little shopping for our trip to Klosters on Monday and then we went home. We didn’t have enough time before dark to really do any more contacting so we stayed in and got thoroughly warm again. Diana made some rice crispie treats for Monday and I iced the cake for Werner Buhlmann’s birthday tomorrow. We’re going to surprise him in the rest home with a birthday party after Church. We also made a few phone calls to invite our less-actives to Church tomorrow. Diana wrote an email letter to Genielle Orgill in response to the one she wrote us.

Before we left, Diana recruited Elder Nilsson to go with her into the bakery near our Ausstellung to tell them what we had been doing all day. She thought that if she did that, next time missionaries came here, if they wanted to know more, they could come out and ask. They went into the bakery and did just that, giving them some brochures and making friends with them.

The tender mercy for today is that Diana was able to place the two BM’s and that a husband cared for his wife enough to take one for her to read. We also felt the Ausstellung was a success because we talked to a lot of people and gave out a lot of material about the Church.