Diana & Charlotte at the Christmas Market; Pineapple upside downs cake and cinnamon rolls.

NOVEMBER 30, 2009 MONDAY

Today was P-day again and it was a little weird to have two of them so close together because Thanksgiving threw things off a little. We used up half of our P-day baking cinnamon rolls and a pineapple upside down cake for home evening tonight, but we still got in a little trip to the Zurich Bahnhof to look at the Weihnachten Maerkte (Christmas Market). We looked up recipes on the internet and chose ones that looked good and tried them. I had to run into Migros really quick because we were out of eggs and I bought a couple other things we needed. The cinnamon rolls were a lot of work and in my opinion came out like hockey pucks although Diana said they looked and tasted good. The pineapple upside down cake came out looking scrumptious.

While they were baking, we got in touch with Charlotte and decided to go to the Christmas market at the bahnhof. She arrived just as the cinnamon rolls were coming out of the oven. We iced them just before we left for the bahnhof. On the way down the rain changed to snow and it snowed pretty steady the rest of the day, but not too hard. There was probably around two hundred shops selling all kinds of things, from food to handicrafts to clothes to you name it. It was fun wandering around looking at stuff, but most of it was way over priced. Every year Swarovski sponsors a very tall Christmas tree decorated with their very expensive crystal objects. We think the tree last year was much prettier than this year’s tree, but the bigger pieces under the tree were very interesting, exquisite and expensive. Of course all of them were protected by a glass barrier around the tree. We walked up and down the isles looking at everything and at one of them we got to sample the dates. They were so good that I had to buy a box of them for 15.00sfr. After we got done looking at all the shops on the main floor, we went down to the second level to see if there were any more. There wasn’t so we took a train to Oerlikon where we were going to take a bus and go home. Diana has wanted some more sweet potatoes since Thanksgiving and since we were not far from LIDLs, we decided to go there and see if they had any. On our way there we saw some red Swiss house slippers we’ve been looking for and so we bought some to take home with us. We got to the grocery store, but couldn’t find any sweet potatoes. We went back out to our bus stop and there we parted company with Charlotte. She wanted to do some more shopping and we needed to get back home.

When we got home, we checked the rolls and cake to see how they looked now that they had cooled. I was really disappointed how the cinnamon rolls turned out, but the cake looked really good. I decided we had enough time to try rolls again and so this time I used a different recipe. The second time around they came out much much better and without a minute to spare. We hurried and boxed them up and walked through the snow to the Bolt home. We had the usual group, but this time Agnes came and Neide was there , too. Bodo gave the lesson, Charlotte the game and of course, we brought the dessert. Joerg & Irene just returned from a three week vacation to New York. Her sister who we’ve met a couple of times while she was here on vacation, sent two big bags of Splenda back with them for us. What a sweet sister Irene has!

During the course of the day we made some phone calls to members, some active and some not so active.

Norma Bachmann: She didn’t come to Church yesterday because she wasn’t feeling good so Diana called her to see how she was doing. She’s doing better today and she made an appointment with us for tomorrow to cut her hair. This is one for Diana because I don’t do women’s hair.

Priscilla: Diana called Priscilla to see how her recovery from an illness was going and to cheer her up, too. She is doing a little better today.

Rachel Mascaro: Rachel just had her baby last week and Diana wanted to check up on her. Everything seems to be going okay for the both of them.

Angela Campbell: She wasn’t home so Diana left a message telling her that we miss her.

Madeline Schwitter: We were going to go to Madeline’s home to escort her to home evening tonight. Diana was concerned about her walking in the snow and called her to see if she still wanted to go. She did want to go, but she said she better stay home and try again next week. She had some questions about the physical aspects of being baptized and Diana had the opportunity to explain what the procedure is and what to expect.

Gitta Kummer: I called Gitta Kummer to wish her a happy birthday. We couldn’t get there today to wish her a personal “happy birthday,” so we made arrangements to go there tomorrow.

Elder Knight: He called Diana to clarify her district meeting assignment, but he didn’t give me one yet.

Sister Sunk: We called Sister Sunke at the mission home to tell her we got a letter from the Zurich City Tax Bureau wanting some information. She asked us to bring the letter in to the office and she would handle it. Zurich seems to want to badger us about this and that trying to get more money out of us.

The tender mercy for today is Irene’s sister, who lives in Virginia, is so kind hearted and thoughtful that she sent us the two packages of Splenda.

Rosa, Norma, E. Vincent; E. Vincent's cowlicks (some of them; there's more).

NOVEMBER 29, 2009 SUNDAY

We both stayed up to listen to the BYU vs. Utah game which started around 11:00. I stayed up until the bitter end, but Diana zonked out somewhere in the third quarter. It seemed like BYU zonked out about then, too, and didn’t wake up until the last play of overtime. But the important things was that they indeed did wake up and win the game. Now we can rest in peace for another year. Wooohoooo.

Knowing we were going to bed very late (early?) at 3:30 a..m. and that we would have to be awake again by 6:30 to get ready and prepare for our correlation meeting at 8:00, we requested our district leader to give us a wake up call which he did. I got ready first which allowed Diana another half hour to snooze. We made it to our meeting on time and were alert and chipper and at peace with the world. After the greetings and opening prayer the first thing on the agenda was how to get the progress reports from the three sets of missionaries consolidated into one report as has been requested by Pres. Matern and Bishop Schwendener. We decided the best thing to do would be to email them to Bodo, our ward mission leader, and let him consolidate them. So that’s what we’ll do next Sunday. Our report only had a few names on it because we mostly helped clean apartments this last week, but we did report that Tony Dkere came last Sunday and we expected him today and that he now had home teachers assigned to him. We reported our visiting the bazaar with Valerie and Friede and helping Sabina and George’s ex-wife clean their apartments.

For Sunday school and priesthood/Relief Society meeting the brethren and sisters met together in the chapel for a combined fifth Sunday lesson taught by President Rueckauer. Most of his lesson was on time management and organization and how that relates to living the gospel and building and keeping a good marriage relationship with your spouse. It was similar to the Franklin Time Management System, but with a little variation here and there. Knowing the principles and doing them are two different things, however. The class lasted through until the break before sacrament meeting. In sacrament meeting Elders Dockstader and his new companion, Elder Diaz, Pascal Hoffmann and President Rueckauer were the speakers. All of the youth in the ward sang the interlude song which was really nice.

We kind of puttered around for a couple of hours after we got home until Marcello came and I cut his hair. It takes about as long to clean up and put away the tools after a haircut as it does to cut it because we have to rearrange the kitchen so there’s enough room to move around. I had just finished that when we got another call, this time from Elders Vincent and Knight. Elder Vincent said he was in desperate need of a haircut, too, and so we let them come over. Elder Vincent has this really weird hair with all kinds of cowlicks all over his head and when it gets a little long, it looks like he’s been in a fight with a static electricity generator. When I got through with him, he looked like a missionary should.

Tony Dkere wasn’t in Church today so we sent him a text telling him we missed him and would see him next Sunday. I was going to ask him what day we could come over a see him this week, but I hit the wrong button and sent the message before I wrote that part of what I wanted to say. I retrieved the message and added it, but he already sent a reply to the first one before I could send the second one. His reply to the first one was that he was a little down today and that’s why he didn’t come. He didn’t answer the second one. We also sent a text to Cornelia to let her know we missed her, too. She is a judge for the voting and it seems like they do a lot of voting on everything here.

First photo is of all the stuff we bought at the bazaar and rummage sale minus the little stein. It was put away and we forgot to get it out. Second photo is of a shop selling Christmas stuff in Uster. Third photo is Diana and Daniela in the hospital; Daniela is wearing a cap she knitted.

NOVEMBER 28, 2009 SATURDAY

This morning while we were doing our usual morning stuff we got a phone call from Valerie Otte who invited us to go to a church bazaar with her and Friede. We were supposed to meet Valerie at Swamendingerplatz, but when we got there, we couldn’t find her. We called her on the cell phone and discovered she was already at Stettbach and that she would wait for us there. We caught up with her and traveled together to the Breitibach stop and then walked to the bazaar. It was like any other bazaar with homemade goodies for sale as well as hobbycrafts. We bought two little books with painted wood covers and blank pages inside for someone to write notes or something. We thought we could use them for white elephants for the home evening Christmas party coming up in December. Valerie insisted we buy something for lunch so while we were in line to buy and order of pomme frites, we saw another tent outside the double doors where a rummage sale was going on, too. After we polished off the fries we went into the rummage sale and bought a few things there that were really quite cheap. Some were for souvenirs but others were kitchen utensils that we may need for our next apartment. We bought a ladle, potato masher, apple corer, pizza cutter, and table spoon all for a dollar each. When we got done with our shopping spree, we said our goodbyes and left.

Daniela Martin was in the hospital in Uster having undergone a knee replacement operation last Monday and we wanted to visit her before she was transferred to a rehab clinic. We went back to Stettbach, got on a train and traveled to Uster, then took a bus to the hospital. We found Daniela in good spirits, but a little bored and she welcomed the visit. We spent about an hour talking about this and that and she showed us some things she had knitted. She said she was going to be transferred to a rehab clinic in Davos next Tuesday and Diana promised her we’d visit her at least once while she was there. Davos is the resort town we visited when we were staying in Klosters with President Bolt a few months ago.

Earlier in the day we got a call from Marcello again asking for a haircut. We told him we were away from home, but would be back sometime around 6:00 and would call him. We actually got home at 5:20 and called him, but he was busy with something so he’ll try again tomorrow. We know it’ll be on a Sunday but since he’s a non-member, we thought it would be okay because we can teach him at the same time we cut his hair. We cooked some turkey steaks and warmed up some potatoes, gravy, corn and sweet potatoes for dinner and had some apple pie for dessert. It was like Thanksgiving dinner all over again. After that came writing our journal and our report for correlation meeting in the morning, and then checking our emails and reading the blogs of our friends, the Doyles and Kroffs. All in all a good day.

President Eyring counseled us to stop and review each day to identify how the Lord blessed us that we may not have been aware of at the moment because we are too busy or the pace of life is too fast. As we did this, what came to mind is asking Daniela if she had her Book of Mormon to read while she’s bed bound. She said she had hers, but then Diana was prompted to offer her another one to write her testimony in and give to someone in the hospital before she leaves next Tuesday. Daniela seemed excited to take on the challenge so we gave her one.

Norma

Thanksgiving at Norma Backmanns.

NOVEMBER 27, 2009 FRIDAY

This morning we had an appointment to go help George’s ex-wife again, but this time it was to help clean the old apartment. We arrive at our appointed 8:30 and rang the doorbell. Finally a man groggily opened the door and let us in; he had been sleeping in one of the bedrooms. Vera nor George were there, but Vera came about fifteen minutes later and kind of told us what she wanted us to do. She puttered around for a few minutes and then asked us if we needed anything and then left to go buy something or other. We suspected there would be a lot of work to do to clean it up, but we expected she would have had all her remaining stuff moved out to her new apartment, but alas, it wasn’t. We’re not ones to waste time when there is a job to do, so we cleared out the back corner bedroom and got to work. The one wall was windows from ceiling to floor and wall to wall with a door opening onto the balcony. The windows had all kinds of things stuck on them including old paint and picture of a dragon that was painted on with some sort of plastic paint and dried egg where they had been egged at one time or another. We scraped all of it off, which was a job in and of itself, and then washed and shined the windows. We started to wash the dirty walls, but Vera quickly told us we didn’t have to do that because she was just going to paint over them. We at least cleaned spider webs from the corners and then swept and mopped the floors. One of her kids must of painted something in there because there was quite a bit of paint spots on the floor that we had to scrape off. The last thing we did in that room was to wash the window casings and frames, wash the mop boards and then the door and door frames. When that was done, we moved to the next bedroom and started all over, but without having to scrape anything off the windows. While I finished off the insides of the two bedrooms, Diana cleaned and swept the huge balcony and then gave one of the bathrooms a quick once-over. We promised her two hours and we gave her all of that and a little more, but we had other things to do today, too.

We hurried to the bus stop and traveled back home to meet Elders Nilsson & Irick so we could cut Elder Nilsson’s hair. They expect us to be punctual and, when we were a few minutes late, they gave us a call to see where we were at. We told them we’d be there in two minutes which we were. We had an hour to cut his hair and then be on the tram for our meeting point in the Zurich bahnhof to meet Charlotte, Agnes and all the other missionaries going to Winterthur for our P-day activity. Diana prepared a lunch while I cut hair. Food and hair we’re flying in order to get it all done in time. We managed to be on the tram on schedule and met up with the others at the appointed place. Agnes was the last one to get there and then she had to buy her ticket in one of the automated ticket machines. They were still trying to figure it out when I noticed we only had two minutes to get to the train. After warning them Diana and I didn’t wait for the others, but took off. The only trouble was, we got on the wrong escalator, but had to ride it to the bottom and then back up to the top. We were just in time to meet the last half of the missionaries hurrying to the right escalator and we joined with them. We all arrived at the train just in time to wave to the first half of our group who made the train. We were left standing on the platform. Now what! Elder Vincent was a little excited because his companion was on the train and he was still standing with us on the platform. We calmed him down and told him he wasn’t alone and we’d see he got hooked up with his companion in Winterthur. We went back up to the main floor, found another train leaving in 15 minutes, took it and after the twenty minute ride we were all back together again in Winterthur. That was our excitement for the day. We got on the tram and went to the “The Swiss Technorama Science Center” that all of the missionaries wanted to go to. It’s always closed on Mondays, the normal P-days, so this is the only time they would be able to go there.

In the Technorama were inter-active displays where you could experience for yourself the many different science principles. They had displays involving mechanics, high voltage, electricity, magnetism, perception, mathmagics, water, nature, chaos, light, vision, spatial imaging, the sound of wood, faces and mirrors, and automation. There was also a youth laboratory and a section on models of trains, planes and boats. There were hundreds of things one could try and experience. We only had two hours so we didn’t really get into any of the many inter-active things a person could do. In order to understand the principle, what was happening and what you were supposed to learn, you needed to read the card at each display. We didn’t have time to do that so it was not a very exciting activity for us. Upon entry each of us received a brochure explaining the many things that were available to see and do and, if we had of had that before we got there, we could have planned what we wanted to go see and do. Admission was also expensive, 22sfr. each and we paid for Agnes as well. When we left, it was raining as usual and we didn’t bring an umbrella this time, but we are used to the rain by now.

Going home was not near as exciting and we made it without any real trouble. As soon as we got home, we put the already prepared sweet potato casserole in the oven to heat up to take to the Thanksgiving dinner tonight at Normas. While it heated up, we changed and got ready to go and then packed it in one bag, the pumpkin pie in the other and the three bottles of apple and grape drink in my backpack, grabbed the umbrella and we were off on the hour tram, bus ride and hike to Normas. We arrived only a few minutes late.

We had a wonderful dinner of roast turkey, creamed spinach, cooked carrots with rosemary seasoning, cranberried ham, potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes and then for dessert, pumpkin pie, carrot cake and chocolate pudding. But the best part of it all was the company, Norma, Rosa, Jana & Ted Parkins with their two daughters, Aubrey and Kaitlin, Elders Knight & Vincent and us. The Parkins moved into our ward a few weeks ago and this was a good opportunity for them to meet some other members and get acquainted.

We arrived home at about 10:45 and finally were able to take a rest. It seemed we had been going every minute the whole day long. We usually write our journal entry every evening, but just couldn’t muster the energy tonight to do it. And so goes another P-day.

The tender mercy we want to mention today is the Parkins family expressed appreciation for being included and for the opportunity to get to know everyone on a more personal level.

This is the ramp going from street level down the top of the stairs and then the stairs to our tram stop. Of course, when we come home, it's reversed; two flights of stairs and then the ramp up to street level.

NOVEMBER 26, 2009 THURSDAY THANKSGIVING DAY (but not for us)

This morning we we’re up and out of the house to meet Elders Irick & Knight in Schwamendingen at 8:55 to go to Sabina Richter’s old apartment to clean it for her. She greet us with a hug and then a handshake for the Elders and then showed us what she wanted us to do. She had everything out of the apartment and had cleaned the kitchen already. Once she explained things to us, she had to leave with her electrician who was working on her new apartment. We only had the morning so all four of us got to work. Diana went to work in the bathroom and, when she had that finished, continued on in the kitchen. The rest of us cleaned the windows and frames, doors, balcony, walls, cabinet and closet shelves. We vacuumed the hardwood floors and then mopped them. We had everything spick and span within two hours. Sabina made arrangements to leave the key with a neighbor across the hall, so we gave him the key and then we left. We hope she approves of the work we did; it looked good to us. Before we went home we stopped in at COOP to buy some of the expensive sweet potatoes for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving dinner at Normas and a few tomatoes as well.

For helping us we promised Elders Irick and Knight that we would take them home and fix them some fried potatoes, omelets and hot chocolate. We had some left over boiled potatoes from Tuesday’s district meeting lunch so it was not a big deal to cut them up and fry them. Omelets are also pretty simple to make; we used sausage, green peppers, onions and cheese for the filling. We piled two on for each Elder along with a stack of fried potatoes. Elder Irick has been sick and hasn’t eaten much for a couple of weeks so we thought he wouldn’t/couldn’t eat all we put on his plate. It must have been really good because somehow he got it all down.

By the time they finished we had to leave for an appointment with Charlotte who had invited Elder Jensen for a final meal before he goes home tomorrow. Those that were at his little farewell party were Neide, Heinz Locher, Elders Nilsson, Vincent, Jensen, Hawks and us. Elder Hawks is also being release tomorrow with Elder Jensen. Elder Jensen requested “raclette” for his last meal which is a special raclette cheese that is melted on little individual trays and poured over various food items on your plate. This time the food items we had to choose from included boiled potatoes, dill pickles, pineapple, pears, two kinds of pickled onions and little salad corn cobs. It was all very delicious. For our part, we provided a block of raclette cheese, two liters of grape juice and two bottles of Schoerle, a grape and apple carbonated drink. After the main meal for dessert we had a chocolate cake Neide had made from scratch especially for this occasion. Elders Jensen and Hawks couldn’t stay long, but before they left, Charlotte, Neide and we each gave him a memento to remind him of Switzerland.

Just before leaving Charlottes I noticed our cell phone was missing. We looked in all my pockets, coat and backpack, but couldn’t find it. When we got home, we looked around, but couldn’t find it there either. We called the number to see if we could hear it, but we only heard silence. The last time I remembered seeing it was at Sabina’s apartment when I put it on a window sill because it kept falling ourt of my shirt pocket when I bent over. I went back over to the apartment hoping that the neighbor still had the key we gave him. His wife answered the door, listened to my problem, then got the key and gave it to me. I unlocked the door and the first thing I spied was the cell phone sitting right where I had put it earlier. Thank goodness! I got it, thanked the lady and then walked home, grateful to have it again.

The rest of the evening was spent making a pumpkin pie, a sweet potato casserole and some pudding from the juice we squeezed out of the cooked pumpkin. It’s a lot more work to process your own pumpkin than to buy it in a can. I had to bake it, squeeze it through a strainer, and then strain a lot of the juice out of the pulp. One pumpkin about the size of a volleyball yielded three cups of processed pumpkin and four cups of juice. That was enough pumpkin to make a pie in one of our casserole dishes. We’ve tried to find a pie plate to buy, but they just don’t make anything here shaped like our pies. Then the problem came of what to do with the juice. I didn’t want to just throw it away because it tasted pretty good and was fairly sweet. I decided to make a pumpkin pie pudding and it turned out pretty darned good, too.

When we were finished with everything we got a surprise call from Fabian Streit. He called us to wish us a happy Thanksgiving and to let us know he was doing okay. We think he may be a little homesick, too. He let us know his plans are still on to get married on December 11. He told us he bought a 1990 car and was disappointed he had to spend another $3000 on it because it broke right after he bought it.

We called Norma to let her know that we invited the Parkin family to her dinner tomorrow evening and she asked us to call Jana back and ask her to bring a vegetable and maybe some drinks. Diana called Jana and relayed that message although it was only to an answer machine. Elder Nilsson called at 9:45 p.m. to see if he could get a haircut tomorrow and we made the appointment for 11:15. By 10:00 we thought everyone would be in bed, but we got a text message from Suwang asking us to pray for her that she wouldn’t get the swine flu this winter. We haven’t the slightest idea why this became important to her so late at night, but we texted her back that we would. We enjoy her text messages because they are a mixture of English and German, most words are misspelled and she always ends with “adios.” We love our Suwang.

Political ads, 1st one to vote against exporting war equipment and the 2nd to stop Muslims from putting minarettes on their mosques; the last photo is of all the ward members who attended the last ward temple day which included baptisms for the dead for the yound members (over 12).

NOVEMBER 25, 2009 WEDNESDAY

We started out the day doing the wash; the first load was in at 7:00. We did our usual morning routine and when the white load was washed and dried and the rest hung up to dry, we left to go to Konstanz on our monthly shopping trip. We were out of some things that are much cheaper in Germany than here in Switzerland. For example, butter is less than half what it costs here, so when we go, we buy at least ten packages. We needed to buy some sweet potatoes, but the store didn’t have any. Here they are $3.00 a pound and they are really dinky. But they’ll have to do because that’s all we can find. Just before we left, Marcello called to see if he could come over for a haircut. We had to put him off, but told him we’d call him when we got back and he could come over then. Norma called us while we were on the train coming back to see if she could come over and visit with us for awhile. She was at the Church for a primary activity and at the moment didn’t have anything to do and, rather that sit over there, she wanted to come to our home. Unfortunately, we were on the road. After we got on the tram at the Zurich Bahnhof we sent Marcello a text message alerting him that we’d be home in a half hour and that he could come over. When we got off the tram at our Schoerlistrasse stop, we met our sister missionaries, Sisters Robinson, Wellborn and Miron. They were on there way to the Church for an appointment with someone. We got home, put all our groceries away and expected Marcello any moment, however, he didn’t arrive. We sent him another text message and then tried to call him and got no answer. No sign of Marcello, but we’re sure to hear from him again soon.

Here is a list of other phone calls we made and/or received today.

George Wimalasuriya: He wanted to recruit us to help his ex-wife clean the apartment she just moved out of. We told him we could come on Friday morning for a couple of hours. He asked us if we could recruit others to come and help, too.

Ewa Neidhart: We called her to confirm our appointment to help her non-member friend clean her apartment she just moved out of. We helped Sabina Richter move a couple of weeks ago and now we’ll go help her tomorrow at 9:00 for a few hours. The Neidharts are ill and won’t be able to help clean tomorrow.

Priscilla Wegmueller: We called Priscilla to se how she was doing and to invite her to Norma’s dinner Friday evening. She said she was feeling a little better, but declined the invitation.

Jana Parkins: She and her family just moved into our ward a few weeks ago. Norma Bachmann wanted us to invite some other members to her Thanksgiving dinner Friday night and we thought this would be a good opportunity for the Parkins to get acquainted with other members. They accepted the invitation.

Liz Bouso: We’ve been trying to get in touch with her for some time now to continue teaching her, but were not successful today.

Valerie Otte: We called and left another message for her to call us back and hope she will this time. She never answers her phone, but returns calls when she feels like it.

Elder Klaumuenzner: Called to see if we still had the sack of clothes Brother Wichtermann had given us at Institute last night. We told him we had given the sack to Elders Richeson and Dockstader who said they would deliver it to him.

Elder Richeson: We called him to ask if he had taken the sack of clothes over to the mission home yet. He hadn’t, but said he would tomorrow. We asked him if he had Sabina Richter’s phone number, but he said he didn’t.

Elders Nilsson & Vincent: They called at 6:00 and wanted to know if they could come rest here for a few minutes until their next appointment. While they were here, Diana made them some hot chocolate and heated up some potatoes and gravy for Elder Vincent who hadn’t eaten yet. We recruited them to help us clean at George’s ex-wife’s apartment on Friday morning which is P-day this week.

Elder Knight: He called making his Wednesday night “are you alive” call and to get his mid-week report to see if we are actually doing any missionary work. We recruited him to come help us clean Sabina’s apartment in the morning.

Roxsan, May, Drayson, Nathan: They skyped us and we had a nice long talk mostly with our grandkids. They are so cute and growing like weeds.

Water Fountain in Neuaffoltern; our apple pie with raisins; Our Omega meeting with S. Wellborn, E. richeson. E. Nilsson, E. Dockstader, S. Larson, E. Larson, E. Vincent (behind spoon) E. Knight, E. Irick, S. Miron, S. Robinson.

NOVEMBER 24, 2009 TUESDAY

We got up with one thing on our minds today, preparing a lunch for the district that would be delicious, nourishing and on time and as close to a Thanksgiving dinner as we could get without a turkey. We had all our supplies loaded up in our little pull cart as well as all our hands could carry and were at the Church by 9:30. While Diana cut up all the vegetables and made the salad, I washed a big pot of potatoes and got them on and boiling. We spiced up some flour, rolled the chicken in it and then fried it long enough to get the outside crispy. It then went into the oven to bake. This time we kept checking it so we would get it cooked, but not burn it. Diana got the big table out of the overflow, rolled it over to near the kitchen and set it. We had things under control by the time district meeting started at 10:30. We turned down the chicken a bit and then went to the meeting.

For this Omega meeting the missionaries decided to watch the “Prophet of the Restoration.” We don’t know if that is the real title, but it’s the DVD on the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith. It’s always a testimony builder to watch this movie and it’s one we all ought to watch from time to time. It would help us to see where our commitment level is and if it’s where it should be. I kept ducking out to go to the kitchen to check up on things, and each time everything seemed okay. Part way through the movie I got a call from Norma Bachmann who invited us to Thanksgiving dinner on Friday evening. She asked us to think of a few other members she should invite, too. She said she had invited Elders Dockstader & Diaz (his new companion) and Elders Nilsson & Irick, but when we asked them later, if they were going to go, they said they had been invited to the Weidmann’s and would be going there instead. We volunteered to bring pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes.

Just before the movie was over we left to go make the gravy, mash the potatoes and then get everything ready for the meal by the time the rest of them came. This time everything turned out perfect. The salad was great, the chicken tender and moist, the gravy just right as well as the corn (how do you ruin corn?) All of that was followed with apple pie and ice cream. There was, however, one big problem. These missionaries don’t eat as much as they should. There was waaaaay too much left over, so we know what we’ll be eating for the next week or so until it’s gone. After the meal was over and the missionaries left, it took us about as long to clean up as it did to prepare everything. But soon all the fun was over and we went home to rest up and get ready for Institute tonight.

About a half hour before we had to leave for Institute Rebecca skyped us. We had a good chat with her and were surprised that Mack recognized grandma and actually called Diana grandma. We didn’t know he could say as many words as we heard him speak. We do miss our kids and our grandkids. Rebecca also wanted to know how to make a small batch of carmel so she can make carmel pretzels at home. We walked her through the steps and it shouldn’t be too hard to do.

7:40 rolled around and we were off to Institute. After opening exercises Elder Dockstader came up to us with a cheesy grin and reminded me the I promised him I’d cut his hair tonight. It was supposed to be before Institute and not during. He wanted to look sharp for tomorrow when he and Elder Richeson go to the airport to pick up the “Goldens,” (new missionaries arriving in the mission) at the airport. Why get things done before when you can wait until the last second, right? Diana went to class with Suwang while I and Elder Dockstader walked home to cut his hair. That done, we got back to the Church just before the classes ended. There was the usual after class refreshments, but this time it included a send off for Phillip Ryser and another young man from another ward who are both leaving for their missions in a few days, one to Berlin and Phillip to Hamburg. After that we came home.

Earlier in the afternoon we also got to talk to Roxsan, Nathan and Rees on skype. We feel blessed to be able to communicate as freely as we do with our children and their families.

Bishop Schwendener & Cornelia Schaer who is now a faithful member; The Neidharts & Phillip Ryser who is leaving on his mission; E. Nilsson, S. Larson & Madeline Schwitter who is planning on getting baptized on December 19.

NOVEMBER 23, 2009 MONDAY

No P-day today! Thanksgiving is coming on Thursday, but transfers happen on that day so P-day (Thanksgiving celebration) will be on Friday. I told George I would help him this morning put together some more of the closets and beds because he said he wouldn’t be able to do it alone. I got up, showered, shaved and sneaked out of the house not wanting to disturb Diana’s sleep. It didn’t work. Soon after I left, she got up and got ready for the day. While she was at it, she plunged all of the drains to keep them in tip top shape. Elders Dockstader & Richeson came over and used the computer and then borrowed the concentration game Diana made some time ago for a home evening.

While that was happening at home, I met George at his ex-wife’s apartment and we put together two closets and a bed. It sounds simple. But it wasn’t that easy. Whoever took them apart should have marked which pieces went to which and kept the bolts, shelves and other parts together. As it was, parts and pieces were scattered and mixed together so it took awhile to sort things out. We never did find a metal bracket for the bed or a kick plate for a closet. And it would have been a lot easier if sacks, clothes and boxes weren’t stacked in the room. Every time we needed to do something, we had to move things around. We improvised the missing parts and finished what needed to be done on this day by 11:30. That is when I needed to be on my way back home to change into my missionary attire.

Diana and I walked over to Charlotte’s apartment to go to Winterthur together to see Elder Harris and wish him a happy birthday. The day got progressively worse, becoming blustery and cold. It sprinkled off and on, but didn’t break out into an all out rain. We met Elder Harris and his companion, Elder Baird, at the ward building and had a good but short visit with him. Charlotte put candles on the chocolate cake she brought for him and, after he blew the candles out, we ate it. Before we left Winterthur we took the bus to the place we are going to visit on Friday. We wanted to see how much it would cost, but it was closed and there were no signs with ticket information that we could see so we turned around and went home. While on the bus, we saw and said hello to the temple sealer who conducted our sealing session last Wednesday. When we got to Schwamendingen, we stopped at Migros to buy the food for tomorrow’s Omega district meeting lunch. The menu includes baked chicken, potatoes and gravy, corn, green salad, and apple pie (Swiss style) for dessert.

7:00 came all too quickly and off we went to the Bolts for home evening. It was a smaller group tonight which included the Bolts, Bodo, Neide, Charlotte and us. Nevertheless we had a good time and enjoyed the gospel discussion and the dessert. The game and the lesson were combined and it consisted of splitting into three groups of two and answering bible questions.

After we got home we made and cooked the apple pie so there wouldn’t be so much to do tomorrow morning. And now it’s way past our bedtime.

One of the Lord’s blessings today was being able to have a gospel discussion with Charlotte as we traveled on the train today. We think it’s a blessing for us and Charlotte to just be able to discuss questions and concerns she has without the pressure of giving a “lesson” so to speak. She has been a member for eight or nine months and wants to be prepared to go to the temple when her year is up. Our ward is getting ready to start a temple preparation class which she will attend.

Danielle Martin and Lydia Azzola (we visited Lydia several weeks ago and forgot to take a photo); middle photo is E. Nilsson, S. Larson, Madeline Schwitter, E. Irick; E. Irick, E. Dockstader, Neide, E. Larson, E. Richeson, Madeline Schwitter, E. Nilsson (the short one).

NOVEMBER 22, 2009 SUNDAY

This morning we had our correlation meeting with Bodo Rueckauer, our new ward mission leader, and we actually started at 8:00. It was odd because the AP’s and ZL’s were late for some reason so we started without them. They were late because of tram connections were off a little. That meant we were the only ones there and were able to go over our agenda first instead of last. We brought him up to date on Tony Dkere and some of our other members we’re working with.

Following correlation meeting Diana went to Relief Society and found the RS room empty except for Sister Theresa Sigrist who was sitting on the back row in the corner without the lights on. Diana turned the lights on and sat by her and waited for the other sisters to arrive. Sister Sigrist has been coming pretty regular for quite awhile now and we are happy to see that. When we visited her a year ago she said she was glad that we came when her husband wasn’t home or there would have been problems. She told us then that she couldn’t come all the time, but would when she could and she has kept that promise.

I went to the foyer looking for Tony who said he would be to Church today. I kept an eye out for him through the opening exercises and then went back out to the foyer instead of to the High Priest Group meeting. I waited in vain until twenty minutes after, but he hadn’t arrived by then. I wanted to call him, but I had left our cell phone at home. I saw other members bringing food items for an after sacrament meeting social for Phillip Ryser who is leaving for his mission Friday. I decided to run home quick, get the cell phone and bring a loaf of zucchini bread back for the social. I saw our camera sitting there so I grabbed it, too, and then hurried back. It was too late to go to class, so I stayed in the foyer still hoping Tony would show up. I found out later that Tony had come just a couple of minutes after I had abandoned my post and went to the Elders Quorum class. Class ended and everyone filed out and headed for the chapel for Sunday School. I met Tony in the foyer and Brother Locher saw us and came over and told Tony he had been assigned home teachers, Rolf Aeberli & Guido Weibel, which was good news. We took our seats in the chapel and before long Diana came, then Suki, Charlotte, Nikolas on our bench, and Neide and Madeline in front of us. We noticed Cornelia was here today, too, sitting in her usual spot on the back row, and Hildegunde was also present. Before Sunday school started we saw Brother Aeberli so I went and got him, brought him over and introduced him to Tony. That should give Tony some support in his efforts to become an active member again.

Sacrament meeting was kind of a farewell for Phillip; first his dad bore his testimony and then Phillip spoke for about ten minutes. He’s going to be a great missionary. Most Europeans go on missions later than in the USA because of military and school obligations. Phillip is already twenty-two years old. The whole family, mom, dad, six children and one son-in-law, sang the interlude song and then Bishop Schwendener spoke for the last half hour. His topic title was “Irgendwann” or, in English, “Sometime.” It was a great talk for members, but especially for the investigators and less-active members who were present, especially Tony. He talked about all the things we intend to do sometime, but never get around to it. Sometime I’ll repent; sometime I’ll get active; sometime I’ll join the Church; sometime I’ll start saying my prayers; sometime I’ll read the scriptures, sometime I’ll go to the temple; etc. etc. He used the story of Abraham getting up “early in the morning” to go chop the wood for the sacrificial fire. The wood we have to chop early in the morning is saying our prayers and reading the scriptures to invite the guidance of the Holy Ghost for the rest of the day. Then came the story of Joseph fleeing the king’s wife leaving his clothes in her hand. We need to flee away from temptation. Sometimes we have to sacrifice something to flee out of temptation just as Joseph sacrificed his clothes to get away. He finished with, “Don’t wait; do it now!” It is dangerous not to do it now because we may get lost in the “mist of darkness” as described in Lehi’s dream and just wander off as we’ve seen so many do. Pres. Eyring gave two promises, if we do it now. First, our circumstances may not change a whole lot, but you’ll receive strength to carry the load and endure. Second, you’ll experience greater love from Him and you’ll develop greater love for others. Bishop Schwendener’s final plea was to trade your “sometimes” for “today.”

After the meeting Tony said goodbye and left, but he said he would be back with some friends for the music activity at 3:30 this afternoon. We did our usual visiting and then I noticed Madeline leaning against the back of a bench just standing there. I went over to her and talked to her for a bit and made the remark that the bishop said a lot of things to think about. She replied she was going to get baptized on December 19th. The remark was unexpected, but we know she has been working towards baptism and the talk by Bishop Schwendener must of made an impression on her and the truth of what he said was confirmed by the Holy Ghost. We later told Elders Nilsson & Irick, who are the ones teaching her, and they told us they better make sure they teach her everything she needs to know so that can happen.

We stayed for about an hour visiting with people in the cultural hall and eating our share of the goodies that were available. Everyone has a good time and it sure helps to fellowship people and get better acquainted with members. We took a lot of photos to remind us of the people we’ve come to know and love.

At 3:30 we were back at the Church for the music activity. There are not many people who take advantage of this wonderful and spiritual activity. Those present this time were George, the main attraction, Neide, Madeline, Urs Wichtermann, Marlis & Edi Fuhrer, Elders Richeson & Dockstader (they were there because we told them Tony was coming and was bringing some friends with him, but he didn’t come), Charlotte, Rolf & Christa Aeberli and Hildegunde. George played all of our requests and then Neide sang a few songs. After that, hymn books were passed out and we sang Christmas hymns and other hymns as well. We hated to do it, but we finally went home a little after 6:00.

And that essentially ends our day except for the usual writing our journal, reading the blogs of our friends, the Doyles and Kroffs, and going through our emails.

The tender mercy for today is the desire Madeline has to be baptized and that Tony was there to hear Bishop Schwendener’s talk. Bishop Schwendener gave an inspired talk on this specific day to those who needed to hear it. The Lord works in subtle ways to accomplish His work and such was the case in the timing of Brother Locher in informing Tony who his home teachers were so that we could introduce them to each other in Sunday school. George also seemed excited to get the music to “How Great Shall Be Your Joy.” We may be able to sing it before we’re transferred out of this ward.

Little George, Vera, Carolina, E. Dockstader; our orange juicer, (E. Vincent). Our friends, the Kroffs, in So. America have an orange juicer, too, but we like ours better.; I think I got the short end of the stick on this one.

NOVEMBER 21, 2009 SATURDAY

As we were getting ready to go to help Vera, George’s ex-wife, this morning, Elders Richeson & Dockstader called to see if they could meet up with us and all of us go over there together. They didn’t have the address and weren’t sure how to get there. After they arrived at 9:00 we all went over and got busy. This time there were enough people to have a good crew at the old apartment and another crew at the new one. We stayed at the old one with Elders Knight & Vincent, Bodo and two other young men who were friends of Vera. Elders Dockstader & Richeson helped for a couple of loads and then they went over to the new apartment with that crew. Others who helped at the new apartment were Markus Brechbuehl, Boris Rothmund and two other young men. It was much easier taking all the furniture, bags, boxes, equipment, etc. out and down the elevator than being over at the new place having to carry everything up stairs (no elevator). Vera hadn’t emptied drawers nor packed some of her stuff into boxes or sacks and so that had to be done as well as the moving and transporting. We worked steady from about 9:30 until 2:00; there must have been at least 20 van loads of stuff that went over. How it all fit into the new apartment, we don’t know. We’ll find out Monday because we are going back over to help George put all of the wardrobes, beds and other things back together again. Vera bought some COOP pizzas and fed us lunch before we left to go home.
Elders Richeson, Dockstader, Knight.
Elders Vincent, Larson, Knight, Boris Rothmund, Bodo Rueckauer.

All six of us missionaries walked to our bus stop, but just before we got there, the bus came and left. We didn’t want to wait for the next one so we walked four or five blocks further along and we decided to go grocery shopping ALDI since we were right there, and the four other missionaries left to go do whatever they had planned for the evening. We saw some reusable hand warmers and some colorful gel pens so we bought some getting an early start on Christmas presents for our missionaries. With the tools we were carrying and the additional groceries, we were really loaded down. However, we had one more stop before we could go home. Our dry cleaning was ready to be picked up last Tuesday and we kept forgetting, but our bus stop was right next to the cleaners. We didn’t forget today. We were just glad to get home, tired and worn out, but satisfied with the days work.

This evening Diana cut her hair and we baked two loaves of banana bread to replenish our supply. We took all of our banana bread and brownies that we had with us for the moving crew today which left us with none. Later, we realized that tomorrow is our Musiknachmittag (Music Afternoon) at the Church that’s held every couple months or so. Members who want to can come sing, perform or just listen and we always end by singing songs together. George is a master piano player and plays from memory anything we request. We always take something for the refreshments after.

We also called Tony Dkere, who answered his phone this time. He apologized for not being home last night and said he’d see us at Church tomorrow. We tried calling Liz Bouso, Priscilla Wegmueller and Angela Campbell, but none answered, but Diana was able to leave messages on Priscilla’s and Angela’s voice mails.

NOVEMBER 20, 2009 FRIDAY

This morning we got a reminder call from George at 06:30 just to make sure we hadn’t forgotten we promised to help him move his ex-wife and daughter and also to ask us to bring our tools. He hoped to have enough to have some dismantling furniture in the one apartment and another crew in the new apartment putting things together. We got there at 9:30 and pitched right in. We were the only missionaries there to help because Elders Nilsson and Irick were both ill and had doctor’s appointments later in the morning, and Elders Dockstader and Richeson were busy lining up all the transportation for missionaries being transferred next Thursday. That has to be a big job. George had two other helpers there to do the heavy lifting, but Diana did her share, too.

George and I took apart the two bunk beds while Diana and the two men carried the taken apart wardrobes down the elevator, loaded them into their van and transported them to the new apartment. The two men with the van were responsible to get it from there to the new apartment which was only about a 15 minute walk away. When we had the beds apart, George had us walk to the new apartment and start putting the wardrobes together. It’s not too hard to put them together again, but it would have helped to see them while they were in one piece. George had to leave for work and we continued putting the wardrobes and beds together. They have no built in closets in Switzerland. Once they were done, we screwed the lights in two of the bedrooms to the ceiling. It sounds pretty simple, but that was the hardest job of the whole day for me.

In Switzerland when people move, they have to strip everything down to the bare walls, including taking all the light fixtures off the ceiling. New renters have to bring their own wardrobes, furniture and light fixtures. Ceilings, walls and floors are made out of concrete and then have a half inch layer of plaster on them. The floors are usually covered with some type of wood flooring. If the old holes in the ceiling don’t match the holes in the new light fixture, you normally have to drill new ones. The concrete seems a lot harder than the concrete at home for some reason so it’s not easy. I didn’t have any new carbide tipped drill bits the right size and after straining my guts out to no avail, I decided on a different tactic. I drilled new holes in the light fixtures to match the old holes in the ceiling, and that seemed to do the trick. Wonderful!

As we were finishing with this task, we heard some huffing and puffing and discovered Elders Knight & Vincent together with the two men struggling with a piano to get it up the stairs and into the apartment. We were glad we didn’t have that assignment; everyone who has ever had that job, knows how heavy they are and they had to come up six flights of stairs with it. That ended the work for today. Everyone left but Elders Vincent & Knight and us and we had a chance to rest up a bit and visit while eating some bread, cheese brownies and cold cuts. All good things have to come to an end and we went home to get ready for our appointment with Tony Dkere tonight at 6:00.

When Pres. Matern informed us of our impending transfer, he asked us to keep it confidential until the actual transfer calls go out to the missionaries the end of December. Because we are being transferred, we felt it advisable to try and get the Elders acquainted with the members we’ve been working with, who they don’t know already, so they can continue to work with them after we’re gone. It’s kind of awkward to ask the missionaries to come team teach with us and they probably wonder why we want them to come along. When the transfers are made public, they’ll understand. All that was to explain why we invited Elders Dockstader & Richeson to come with us tonight. They met us at 5:30 and we all traveled to Oerlikon and walked to Tony’s apartment. We anticipated a good meeting with him, but when we rang his doorbell, we got no answer. We called his home phone number; no answer. We called his cell phone and again got no answer, but we were able to leave a message. We were disappointed he wasn’t there and we hope he’s okay.

Me at Uetliberg in Zurich; Elders Vincent, Irick, Richeson, Dockstader, Knight, Sisters ?, Robinson, Wellborn, Larson and E. Larson standing. Daniel Wichtermann on his 19th birthday with his girlfriend.



NOVEMBER 19, 2009 THURSDAY

This morning we got up and got ready for district meeting. We put all of the pre-cooked noodles, chicken, fried onions, sauce, carrots, peas, broccoli and cheese into a casserole dish ready to warm up at the Church for an after meeting lunch. For an extra special treat, I quickly went into Schwamendingen and bought some gipfelis (croissants) to go with the casserole. I got back just in time for us to get what we needed and we both walked to the Church in the fog. I had the assignment to pick the opening song and give the opening prayer. Transfer calls were made this morning and we found out the sisters are being transferred out of Luzern and Elders Harris and Baird will be replacing them. One of our AP’s, Elder Richeson, is also being transferred to Freiburg, Germany. Elder Diaz, a missionary who arrived in Switzerland the same time we did, will be transferred from Chur to be an Assistant to the President and companion to Elder Dockstader. Other than that, no changes were made in our district for which we are glad. We really have top notch missionaries and we always hate to see them transferred away. Elder Irick was feeling sick and so was his companion, Elder Nilsson. Before we left our apartment this morning, he called and asked us to bring some ibuprofen for him, if we had any. We had some and we brought some to him. We had a good meeting and at the end, talked over some suggestions for our Omega meeting next Tuesday, our last district meeting before transfers next Thursday. Midway through the meeting, I slipped out and put the casserole in the oven to heat so it would be ready when the meeting ended. I was careful not to turn it on too high this time because last time we burned everything. Diana had the assignment to select the closing hymn and say the closing prayer. The hymn she chose was, “Did You Think To Pray.” After her prayer the sisters complimented her on how much progress she has made speaking the German language. She really has done remarkably well.

We brought in the casserole and were embarrassed that it didn’t get very hot, in fact some of it on the bottom was still cool. I just haven’t figured out how that blinkety blank oven in the Church works. First we burn it and now we couldn’t get it hot enough. But the good thing is, it was already cooked and it tasted pretty good anyway. Most came back for seconds, although that may have been because they are tired of living on cold cereal.

This afternoon we called Priscilla Wegmueller, who is back from the Philippines, to see how she is doing. The day she got home she became ill and had been ill ever since and that’s probably the reason she wasn’t to Church last Sunday. Even though she’s sick, she still has to work, ironing those 200 shirts every day; she can’t afford to not work, especially since she spent a lot of money going to the Philippines to see her mother who she thought was dying. The good news is her mother seems to have improved while she was there and that made her happy.

Then we continued on with our self-imposed goal of visiting every member on his birthday this year. We walked down to our tram stop and, when a tram stopped going the other way than the direction we wanted to travel, we saw Valerie Otte sitting next to the window. We knocked on the window getting her attention and waved at her. She smiled and waved back. We hope this will remind her to call us for another appointment to come teach her and Friede.

We traveled to Volketswil to take little Joris Sanneman (2 years old) his birthday present, cookies and a put together foam airplane. He was playing outside with his grandparents, Edi & Marlise Fuhrer, and when we gave him his present, he was really excited. His brothers were happy also because he shared his cookies with them. We visited with his mother, Nadia, for awhile and then the Fuhrers offered us a ride home in their car, so we left with them. They don’t live too far away from us so it wasn’t too inconvenient for them to take us home, but we appreciated their thoughtfulness. They are old time members of the ward so we took the opportunity to talk to them about a an inactive member we haven’t been able to catch home. They gave us some background information that may be helpful.

We had one more birthday boy to visit tonight, but couldn’t find anything in our apartment that would be appropriate for him. Daniel Wichtermann had his 19th birthday today. I went into town to see if I could find something to give him that wasn’t too expensive, but after going to four stores, I had no luck. Schwamendingen only has grocery stores so we weren’t too hopeful of finding something. I went back home and we looked through everything we had and finally found a few packages of “rattlesnake eggs.” We decided that would have to do. If you don’t know what rattlesnake eggs are, they are two egg shaped magnets that, when thrown in the air together, they react with each other with a buzzing sound like a rattlesnake makes. We wrapped that and a snickers bar and walked over to the Wichtermanns who live about a ten minute walk from us. He wasn’t home, but came a short while later. In the mean time we had a good conversation with mom and dad. When he came, he had his girl friend with him who is a member from the Winterthur Ward. We took a film clip of him speaking Swiss German and then had him say the same thing, only in high German. It really shows the difference between the two.

On the way home Charlotte called and told us that Elders Nilsson and Irick were really quite sick and that she had taken them some dinner as well as some medication she either had or bought at a pharmacy. She told us that we needed to check on them in the morning and, if they weren’t any better, to make sure they called the mission home to get permission to see a doctor. When we got home, we called them to see how they were and if we could do anything for them. Soon after that we got a call from George Wimalasuriya, a good member on our ward, asking if we were still available in the morning to help him move his daughter to somewhere. He gave us the address and we’ll meet him there in the morning. And that about ends our day.

Temple photos from today.

NOVEMBER 18, 2009 WEDNESDAY

We were up this morning, dressed and on our way by 7:00. It had been raining and was misting when we went down the ramp to our tram stop. We took our big umbrella with us this time because it’s about a ten minute walk from the Zollikofen bahnhof to the temple and we didn’t want to get wet. However, as the day progressed it got clearer and clearer and we never needed it again on this trip. It was a big pain dragging it around with us on the trams and trains especially when we didn’t need it. But, you never know; better safe than sorry. We made it to the Zurich bahnhof in time and got on our train. The schedule we wrote down said we should have arrived in Bern at 8:29 to catch our connection to Zollikofen at 8:37, but we were still traveling along at 8:40. We thought we had gotten on the wrong train and wondered where we would end up. As it turned out, we had evidently written down the wrong time because we came safely into the Bern bahnhof. We hoped there would be a connecting train to Zollikofen we could catch and still be on time getting to the temple. Almost always the time you have to catch a connecting train is just enough to get there, if you hurray and don’t make any errors. We were guessing this time not knowing for sure what time or what train, but we were led by an unseen hand to the right platform and everything worked out. We got off in Zollikofen and walked to the temple. It’s always an awe inspiring sight to see Angel Moroni sitting atop the temple spire as well as the temple itself and the beautifully manicured lawns and grounds. Normally there are a lot of missionaries milling around the temple when we’ve arrived other times, but today there was no one in sight. We went inside and asked the brother at the desk where everyone was, if the session had started and we were late. He surprised us by saying we were the very first ones to arrive and that the session wouldn’t be starting until 10:00. So that’s two we owe the AP’s; not only did they not bring us in the van, but they gave us the wrong arrival time. We could have slept another half hour or so instead of getting up at 5:45. Oh well, it gave us time to get everyone on the prayer roll who we thought could use a special blessing. In the morning we did a sealing session and the afternoon an endowment session with a lunch break in between.

After the afternoon session was over we had about a half an hour to get changed and to the train station. We made it with a few minutes to spare and, as we approached the station, we saw Brother & Sister Klaumunzner, our office couple, looking at the train schedule to find the best way for them to travel to their home in Frauenfeld. They finally decided to take the same train as us and ride back to Zurich where they could get a speedier train to Frauenfeld. When we found out they knew about our upcoming transfer, we took this opportunity to ask a few questions. One of them was how we were going to get an internet service provider, get it installed and have the bill come to the mission home so it could be paid out of our account. Since we would only need it for about eight months, could we pay by the month or would we have to pay for a whole year? She said she would look into it and try and arrange something so it could be available soon after the missionaries leave our apartment where we’re moving to.

In Zurich we waved goodbye to the Klaumunzners and took our tram home. We had a half an hour for a potty break and then to get what we needed for our meeting with Tony Dkere. We arrived at his place a few minutes late and rang his doorbell. No answer. We rang it again; same results. We were so excited to have a teaching appointment, but he wasn’t home. We got the cell phone out and were going to try calling him, but when we looked at the screen, we had a message waiting. It must have come while sitting in the temple locker and we hadn’t looked at it until when we wanted to call him. It was a message from Anthony telling us he would be gone for a couple of days and he’d see us at the same time and place on Friday evening. It was a relief that he hadn’t just stood us up because he’s disappointed us many times in the past. We hope and pray this is a sign he’s making progress. So we wasted an hour going over to Tonys just to turn around and come back home.

The rest of the evening was uneventful other than I cooked a tomato soup for Diana and pre-cooked some ingredients for a casserole for tomorrow. Elder Knight, our district leader, made his mid-week check-up call and we got a call from our former District Leader, Elder Norris, who is currently stationed in Germany.

Some tender mercies we received today was that Tony sent us a message to change our appointment, we were able to put many names on the prayer roll, and we rode home with the Klaumunzners and got some of our questions answered.

Robert, E. Dockstader, E. Richeson on Uetliberg; An old photo of Suwang in the hospital.



NOVEMBER 17, 2009 TUESDAY

We were in the middle of doing our wash this morning when we got a call from Suwang who just wanted to remind us of our appointment with her at noon and confirm if we were coming to meet with her today. We assured her we would get there this time; we didn’t anticipate any problems with the trams and buses that prevented us from getting there the last time. She said we could come earlier, if we wanted, but we couldn’t because a batch of clothes was still in the washer. As soon as the last batch was out and hung up to dry, we left on our hour journey by tram and bus to get to her apartment in Morgantal. Suwang was waiting for us when we got there and she didn’t wait to launch into her complaints about her neighbors. She still has the complaint that someone has a key to the apartments, including hers, and comes in and puts poison in their food. After eating food one day she said she got a terrible pain in her kidney and since then, she hides her food under her bed or on her balcony, and only buys fresh food and eats it the same day. She said two of her neighbors had died since she moved in about 6 months ago complaining of the same pain in their kidneys. She claims another neighbor, who lives in the apartment on the other side of her wall, hits on her and badgers her, gets drunk and makes a lot of noise in the night so she can’t sleep. She thought that if he saw that she had company and wasn’t all alone, that he would quit harassing her. We stood out on the walkway on the third floor in front of hers and his apartments for a couple of hours hoping, if he were home, that he would look out the window and see us and, if he weren’t home, he’d come home and see her standing with us. Her neighbor on the other side came out and said hello to us and she really likes her. Finally she decided he wasn’t home and went in and cooked us lunch. She left the blind to the window up so if he came by, he’d see us eating with her. And that is exactly what happened and what she had been praying for. That seemed to make Suwang happy for him to know that she had people she could count on, if she needed help for some reason. She also showed us how she blocks the front door so no one can get in during the night. We still don’t know if what she is telling us is true, has a vivid imagination or if she has a persecution complex. Before we left we had a gospel discussion. She has a desire to talk to her brother and sister about the gospel, but she said that her mother is not supportive of her being a member and, as long as she’s alive, the others go along with her. In spite of that she wants to write both of them and we suggested she send each of them a Book of Mormon, too, with her testimony. She thought that was a great idea and so we promised to get her two in the Mandarin Chinese language. When Diana said the closing prayer, Suwang asked her to include three things in it: that she be able to continue to live in her present apartment in peace because she really likes it there and has made some friends; that a neighbor would be able to find a key that he lost; and that her family would listen to the gospel. When she found out that her neighbor, Herr Meier, had lost his key, she asked him if he had prayed to God to help him find it. He thought she was joking, but she told him of her experiences about finding her keys and her cat after having prayed. She told him she would ask us to pray with her for him to find his key. She’s convinced the Lord will answer our prayer and, when He does, she hopes she’ll be able to talk to him about the gospel.

It was almost dark when we left for home, and we arrived with a little time to rest before it was time to go to Institute. Diana heated up some leftover soup from Sunday and I had the last piece of pizza from last night. At Institute we got some disappointing news from Elder Richeson. He told us there was no room in the mission van for us to ride with them to Zollikofen tomorrow for our temple trip. The other AP’s spoiled us and we just expected to be able to not worry about how we were going to get there. We’ll have to get up and be out of the house by 6:45 in order to arrive at the temple by 9:00. When we went by car, we didn’t have to leave until and hour later.

What touched us today was that Suwang told us again how much she appreciated us coming to the hospital everyday while she was sick. Before she knew us she really didn’t see any point in living any more and was hoping she would die rather than get well. When we started visiting her in the hospital, we really thought she was going to die because she looked so bad. She has been very grateful that we’ve been there to give her an example, and give her hope that she can also serve a mission. She is currently working on getting a temple recommend with the intent of serving a mission in her home country of Thailand. We have been supporting her in her desire to do this. She keeps telling us, “If the Larsons can do it, I can, too.” And we tell her the same thing. She also wants to do missionary work with her son and daughter and her own brother and sister. And we feel blessed to know our dear Suwang even though she talks a hundred miles a minute and we only understand about 2/3 of what she says

Madeline Schwitter; Zurich Lake; view from Uetliberg.

NOVEMBER 16, 2009 MONDAY

The decision to go to Uetliberg today didn’t look to be a good one when we looked out the window after getting up this morning. It was overcast and raining pretty good. In fact Elder Harris called to say he and Elder Baird weren’t coming, but Elder Richeson & Dockstader and Charlotte were still planning on going. We didn’t have to meet at the Zurich Bahnhof until 11:30 and that gave us enough time to get a few things ready for home evening tonight. I left at 11:00 and Diana stayed home to rest and relax without having to worry about walking, hiking or getting wet and muddy. She said she had a wonderful P-day just staying home. I also had a great P-day hiking in the woods and hills with Elders Dockstader, Richeson and Charlotte. We traveled to the end of the line by train, got out and hiked the rest of the way to the top. When we got out of the train, it was still cloudy and fog laid between the mountain ridges, and the best part it wasn’t raining any more. The air was fresh and clean and the views were fantastic. We took a lot of photos, but most of them don’t do justice to the magnificent scenery. We climbed the tower which gave us a complete unobstructed view over Zurich City and many of the smaller towns and Zurich Lake. After climbing the tower we hiked a trail along the top of the mountain (not really a mountain, but a tall ridge above the valley where Zurich sits) for a couple of hours enjoying the country. At one point Charlotte said she heard an interview on TV where this man said there is no such thing as God and all religions just prey on the fears of people, and when people talk of faith and feelings and testimony, it’s just themselves imagining things, etc. etc. I told Charlotte there was a story in the Book of Mormon about a man who taught the same thing. She’s been a member for about eight months and had read the BM, but didn’t recognize the story of Korihor in Alma chapter 30. So, while we walked along the path, I read the story to her and we had a good conversation about testimony and faith and that Satan recruits people again and again to teach the same lies and falsehoods. We hiked as far as Haldenegg where we got aboard a gondola that took us back down to where we could get on a train back to Zurich Bahnhof. We traded trains and continued on to Oerlikon where Charlotte left us to go home while the three of us went grocery shopping. I didn’t need any groceries, but I needed an excuse so I wouldn’t be traveling the rest of the way alone with Charlotte. After she was gone I went over to LIDLs and bought some more oranges and tomatoes. I also bought some ice cream to go with the brownies for dessert tonight.

When I got home about 5:00, Diana was rested and relaxed although she finished getting our apartment ready for visitors tonight. We decided to have pizza for hors d’oeuvres at the beginning of home evening so we got the pizza out of the freezer, grated mozzarella cheese on it, and then Diana made faces (16) out of tomato slices (mouth), pineapple chunks (nose), and two slices of wurst for eyes. We put it in the oven about ten minutes before people started arriving. First came Neide. We were glad to see her because she’s been absent for our home evening for quite some time. Next came Charlotte followed by Madeline and Bodo. Madeline is the investigator of Elders Nilsson & Irick. We started with a song, Waehle Recht, (Choose the Right) and a prayer offered by Charlotte.

Everyone loved the pizza; it was just the ticket to start things off. After the small talk and snack, Bodo gave the lesson on “Conversion.” He introduced the subject by telling us, he and Charlotte were working on writing her conversion story. He asked who else had not been born in the Church and Neide raised her hand. He asked Diana and me if we were born in the Church which, of course, we were. He then asked Madeline when she was baptized, not knowing she hadn’t been baptized yet and wasn’t a member, but was investigating. Madeline didn’t quite know what to say so Diana interjected that she wasn’t baptized yet, but had a baptism date for December 19. Diana doesn’t know if she really does, but Madeline kind of went along with it. Now we need to be sure and tell Elders Nilsson & Irick that the seed is planted and to keep her working toward the 19th. He asked Neide and Charlotte to tell how they decided to get baptized and how that affected their families. Both said they recognized the truth, prayed and received a testimony and had the desire to be baptized even though their families were against them doing that. But they stood firm saying they had to live their lives the way they felt they should and that their families couldn’t live it for them. Diana and I also made the point that every person, member or not, has to go through the conversion process. Just because we’re born into the Church, doesn’t guarantee anything. We all have to work, study develop faith, pray and live the commandments. And the important thing is that we endure to the end. Madeline said her family was having trouble accepting her talking to the “Mormons,” too, but we hope she can overcome that problem. Hearing Neide’s and Charlotte’s stories will help her stay strong.

We began playing the game called “Spoons” when Elders Nilsson & Irick came and we gave them each a couple pieces of pizza we had saved for them. When we dished up the ice cream and brownies, everyone said it was too late for something sweet and so we gave each a carry home bag of brownies. We put the ice cream back into the carton and then into the freezer. All in all we feel it was a great day and especially a great home evening. Bodo did a wonderful job in teaching the lesson.

Elder Knight called tonight and gave us our assignments for district meeting Thursday; Diana has the closing song and prayer and I have the opening song and prayer.

A tender mercy was Diana feeling inspired to reinforce the baptism date for Madeline and then Madeline agreeing with the suggestion. We always feel it’s a tender mercy when we get to teach the gospel and today we got to do it twice.