OCTOBER 3, 2009 SATURDAY

Up again early today to be at the Church by 7:15 to catch our ride to the temple with the Wichtermanns. We got there just as they pulled in. They already had Ewa and Martin Neidhart with them and we waited for a few minutes for Norma and her son Allesandro to show up. After waiting and a few phone calls, Bro. Wichtermann found out she got a ride with someone else so we finally left for Zollikofen. The trip was pleasant on the way down and we arrived in time to dress and be in the chapel by 9:15. Our session was arranged specifically for our ward and we had about 2/3 of the seats filled. While we were in session, the children were cared for by a few adults who took them on walks around the temple grounds and did other things with them. After we were through and before we left, a group photo was taken on the front steps of the temple. Of course I forgot our camera so we didn’t get a picture. We had a couple more passengers on the way home, Witney Weibel and Phillip Huber, both returned missionaries.

When we got home, we listened to some of the Relief Society Session of conference on lds.org and then we took an invitation to Valerie Otte. As we went down to our tram stop, we met Gitta Kummer on her way up to go to the Church for the satellite re-broadcast of the RS Session. We visited for a few minutes and then went on our way. When we returned, we walked directly to the Church and Diana went in and I went home to wait for the 6:00 session to start. At 5:30 I went to the Church and joined Diana in the cultural hall, but then I went to the foyer to see if any of the people we had invited would come. One person came wandering in looking like he was coming into a strange building and, when no one else greeted him, I did. He said he had been invited by the Hartmanns, but I didn’t know anyone by that name. After thinking about it a few minutes, I asked him if it was the Neidharts who had invited him. He said yes. The problem was the Neidharts weren’t there and, when the meeting started, I couldn’t leave him alone. Diana was in the cultural hall where the English version was being broadcast and I was in the chapel where German was spoken. Diana thought I had abandoned her, but I couldn’t just leave the man sitting alone. The Neidharts finally arrived fifteen minutes after the conference started but, when I started to leave, Bro. Neidhart grabbed me and said I needed to stay there. They want us to teach all of their contacts so he wanted me to get to know this man. I sat by him until that speaker was finished and then I got up and went into the cultural hall to sit with Diana. When the first song break came, I went back into the chapel for a bit and then decided this was nuts, going back and forth, so I went back in and sat with Diana until conference was over. While I was jumping back and forth, Diana sat by Priscilla doing some fellowshipping of her own. Priscilla hasn’t been a member too long and it helps to have a friend to sit by so she looks for Diana. She is getting to know more people, but it takes a while to get integrated into a ward.

Once conference was over we went out into the foyer. The Kummers were standing there waiting for their ride home with the Lochers so we visited with them for awhile. I felt I needed to go back into the chapel to talk with the visitor that the Neidharts had cornered. I ended up doing the same thing as before, spending a few minutes with the Neidharts and then going out and spending a few minutes with Diana and the Kummers. I went back into the chapel one final time to say goodbye and when I came out, Diana was gone. No one saw where she went so I looked all over the church and Sister Locher looked in the bathroom, but she was nowhere to be found. I ran home and found her standing patiently in front of our apartment building waiting for me because she didn’t have a key to get in. I told her I was waaaay sorry, and I hope she forgives me.

To end the day Diana made some brownies for tomorrow and we also made some little pigs-in-a-blanket to see how they would turn out. The were delicious so we’ll make some more tomorrow when we have people come over.