E. Nilsson, Urs Wichtermann; E. Baird, Charlotte (dueling cameras w/Diana), E. Irick; Elders Irick, Richeson & Dockstader. We're all at the airport for Fabian's send off.

NOVEMBER 11, 2009 WEDNESDAY

Another week has slipped by and we note the passing time by how often our wash day comes around. We tried to get it done before we had to leave, but didn’t quite make it. The first (white) batch had to be done because my shirts were in it and I had my vest in the second one. I needed it because it was cold outside today. The towels we saved to dry later. In between batches we read our scriptures and did a little work on our assignment for tomorrow.

We had three people to visit for their birthdays today and each of them lived in a different direction. We knew it was going to take most of the day because, in addition to the trams, buses and trains, each one required a good amount of walking. The first one was Rafael Ryser, a 10 year old who lives in Opfikon out by the airport. Diana and I had a discussion about who we should visit first and we followed her inspired suggestion to go to Rafael’s. It’s a good thing we did because he and his mother were just leaving to celebrate his birthday somewhere else. If we hadn’t of come just then, we would have missed them completely. Rafael was happy to get a present from us, but was more excited to be on his way to his big party.

We went back home to pick up the other presents and, just as we were about to leave, we got a call from Elder Nilsson asking if they could come and finish their report on our computer for their meeting tonight. We waited long enough for them to arrive and give them a key, and then we were on our way to visit Cynthia Frioud. She lives out in Ebmattingen so went to Stettbach by tram, transferred to bus #743 and went to Maur, transferred to another bus, #747 and went to Ebmattingen. We had a nice visit and got to play with little Aline who is four months old now.

We retraced our steps back to Stettbach where we changed to a train and traveled to Schwerzenbach. We hurried from the train to the bus stop and got on #826 and rode it to the end of the line in Volketswil. We hiked uphill to the Mascaro’s home and were delighted to find them all home. We were wondering if Rachel had gone to the hospital yet to give birth, but she hadn’t. She is due Friday and so it could happen any time. Here in Switzerland the doctors won’t induce labor unless it’s an emergency, unlike in the USA where it is quite common. It was Anthony’s birthday and we congratulated him. Tony is in the Elders Quorum presidency and last Sunday, Pres. Patane’ mentioned he’d like to get together with us to discuss the less-active members in the ward. Tony had his list so we spent some time talking about the ones he didn’t already know. Tony offered to drive us home when it came time to leave, but we didn’t want to take him away from his wife just to drive us home. On the way home all of our connections were perfect; we didn’t have to wait in the cold at all.

We arrived home about 7:45, Diana had left over spaghetti for dinner while I had melted cheese, tomato and ham on a flour tortilla. Both were pretty tasty. Just as we were about to settle in for the night and write our journal, our doorbell rang. Elder Dockstader came up our stairs and Elder Middleton was right behind him. We are especially fond of Elder Middleton because he was Elder Pine’s companion when we first arrived in Switzerland. He got here just ahead of us and was still a little bit lost, but was the hardest studying Elder we’ve seen. He is now one of the Zone Leaders in the Bern District. It was good to see him again and to renew our friendship. After they left, Elder Knight called to make his mid-week “are you alive and can I do anything for you” call.

It’s impossible to list all the tender mercies, but here are the highlights. First, we caught Rafael just as they were leaving for his birthday party. Second, our connections from when we left sister Fiounds couldn’t of been more perfect. We arrived at the first stop just as the bus got there and it was the same the rest of the way until we got home. Third, we had a nice visit with Elders Middleton and Dockstader.