Christmas market booth; Australian omelet; Tito, Triana and Elder Larson.

DECEMBER 4, 2009 FRIDAY

Yesterday we made arrangements with Liz to come over at 12:30 to show us how to make her Australian omelet. Each omelet takes 7 eggs and we didn’t have that many in our fridge. That meant we had to go into town to buy some more. We also needed to buy another bag of potatoes because we were almost out of them too. We took cinnamon rolls to home evening last Monday and the elders who were there raved about them and so Diana wanted to bake some more this morning for when they came today. Last, but not least, we needed yeast because we used the last of it making the last rolls. I made a quick trip into Migros to get everything and was back in a flash, well, maybe five or six flashes. On the way back I got on the front of the tram and as I looked around, I saw Gabrielle Rodriguez standing way on the other end of the tram. We waved at each other and we hope that contact will help her choose to come to Church Sunday.

We made the dough and then put it in a bowl to rise and, while it was rising, I ground the brown sugar bars into granules to mix with cinnamon to put on the dough after it was rolled out. We have yet to find American brown sugar, but we did find these brown sugar bars (5" X 2" X 1/4") in an Asian food store. We found a little hand gricer that is just perfect for making the bars into useful granules even though it is a lot of work. We also made the icing out of butter, powder sugar and Philadelphia Cream Cheese. After the dough doubled in size, we punched it down, kneaded it for five or six minutes and then rolled it into a rectangle. We spread butter on it, sprinkled the sugar/cinnamon on it, rolled it up and cut the roll into 16 pieces. After rising fifteen minutes, into the oven they went. The aroma of baking cinnamon rolls is indescribable. They turned out just perfect and just in time for Elders Irick and Knight to arrive at 12:30. They only had an hour so we were hoping Liz would hurry and get here. After waiting ten or fifteen minutes we decided to fix lunch for the Elders because, even if Liz came, there wouldn’t be enough time for her to make her omelets before they had to leave. We fried some potatoes with eggs and cheese along with a couple of hamburger patties for them. Just as we were serving that up Liz and Triana came so we dished some up for her too. As they were eating we explained more about the gospel and how our Sunday meeting are. We explained about Fast and Testimony meeting, the purpose of the fast, the bearing of testimonies and the sacrament. We told her that the missionaries have a series of lessons they give to people to explain the gospel and asked her if she would allow them to teach her. She said she would be glad to hear them and when we invited her to Church Sunday, she said she would try to come. We hope nothing will interfere this time like it did last time. Last time as they were getting ready, little Triana trip and fell face first into a cabinet door and had to be taken to the emergency room for treatment.

After the missionaries left Liz showed Diana how to make the first omelet while I tended Triana. As soon as the first one was done she wanted to make another one, but this time with me doing the work while she watched and coached. She liked to explain every little detail as if I had never done any cooking before, but finally it was all done and we could just relax. She likes her tea so we brewed her up a cup of hot peppermint tea while Diana had hot chocolate. Along with the tea we had the freshly baked cinnamon rolls and now we are required to go to her home and show her how to make them. She said another of her favorites is brownies, but hasn’t found any here in Switzerland that she likes and can’t make them herself. Some day in the near future we’ll visit her and teach her how to make both of them. We talked the rest of the afternoon away and then she finally had to leave to pick up Tito from school at 5:30.

We tried several times yesterday and today to call the Neidhards to invite them over tonight for dinner to celebrate Martin’s birthday. They never answered their phones. Instead, I went to Schwamendingen intending to leave his box of cookies and card in their mailbox. When I got there, I rang their doorbell and Ewa opened the door. She apologized for not answering their phone, but said they have been so busy that they didn’t want any interruptions. It seems they have to finish getting a package together and get it to the post office tonight in order for it to get to Jona, their son on a mission in France, before Christmas. It seems everything is a crisis for Ewa who is so disorganized. But they are really wonderful people and we love them. Martin wasn’t home having gone to Migros for something, so I left his gift and card with Ewa and left. On the way back towards the tram stop I ran into Martin who was returning home. I wished him happy birthday and told him we’d invite them over for lunch or dinner next week sometime when they weren’t so busy. I went on to Migros and bought some milk, flour, sugar and some wonderful Clementines and then went home.

Tomorrow is ward temple day and we still needed to find a ride with someone rather than ride the train. The last time we went we rode with the Wichtermans so we called them and arranged a ride, but it remains to be seen whose car we’ll ride in. We’ll meet them at the Church at 8:00 in the morning.

The tender mercy today was the package we received from Roxsan and her family this morning. Just the things we needed. Thanks a bunch. Another one are the photos and film clips that our children post on their blogs that we look at almost every night. It helps to be able to see them grow up even though we are not home to watch them.