Missionaries and Rachel & Tony Mascaro sing songs; Elder Vincent & Michael talk together; Diana tending Dominic.

DECEMBER 19, 2009 SATURDAY

We have been trying to find the time to go to the Oerlikon Super COOP which is a complete department store and this morning we decided it was the day. The item we especially wanted was a Swiss aluminum cup with a built on carabineer to clip on a belt or backpack to complete our present collection for Monday night home evening. We found one and looked around the store for a bit, but couldn’t find anything else good so we paid for it and left. We saw that the farmer’s market was going on at the Oerlikon Bahnhof Platz so we went to look for Herr Fischer, our contact we gave a Book of Mormon to last Christmas time. Each person usually puts up his stand in the same place week after week, but this time he wasn’t there. We looked all over for him and the last one we checked was his. We wanted to see him, but we also wanted to by some more Brombeeressig, a fruit flavored vinaigrette salad dressing we bought from him last Christmas. We gave the brombeeressig to Charlotte last Christmas and she liked it so much, she has been trying to find some more ever since and hasn’t been able to find it. We asked him if he was still meeting with the missionaries. He said they had stopped coming and he seemed a little disappointed. We’ve talked to the missionaries and they say the reason they don’t visit him any more is because he won’t come to Church and accept other commitments. So sad. He only had one bottle so we bought it and hurried to get back to the Church for song practice.

The only ones who showed up for song practice were us, the Mascaros and Elders Nilsson & Irick. We mostly decided what we were going to sing and the Christmas story were going to read. The story we decided to read was my favorite, The Christmas Guest by Helen Steiner Rice. The songs we were going to sing were Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer and Jingle Bells. While we were there, Madeline called Elder Irick and told him something was wrong with her CD player and could he come over and fix it? Diana helped Charlotte finish up the decorations while I went with Elder Irick to Madelines and he discovered she had pushed a button on the back that had put it on hold so none of the other buttons would work. Simple fix, only if you know what to look for. On the way out of the building we met a Muslim man who wanted to talk with us. Actually he just wanted to argue and fight and really had no interest in learning anything about the restored gospel. We talked for a good forty-five minutes while standing in the freezing cold with big flakes of snow falling on our heads. We finally made it back to the Church where we warmed up a little and then Diana and I went home.

When we got home Elder Irick called and asked us if they could come use our computer to find a song to sing in Sacrament meeting tomorrow. We said they could and then he said they had not had lunch yet and, if it were alright, could they come have lunch with us. It didn’t take them long to arrive and, while they worked on the computer, we cooked spaghetti and fixed a green salad. That along with a potato salad, bread and orange juice made up our lunch. That used up the time we were going to go visit Samuel Koch in Voketswil for his birthday. Instead of visiting we gave him a call on the telephone and wished him a happy birthday. He said he’d be to Church tomorrow so we’ll give him his cookies then. We also called Tony, Charles, and Priscilla to invite them to the ward party.

Diana made the brownies yesterday, but made the frosting for them today. We got a call from Ewa Neidhart who wanted us to make sure and reserve her a complete table for ten. She said she had invited ten people who she said would come to the party. She wanted to make sure she had seats reserved for them. I put on my coat and walked to the Church to do what she asked me to do. After reserving a table for Ewa I noticed Isobelle Daly standing at the end of the hall with her baby, Dominic. She and her family are moving back to England and I just wanted to say hello. As I approached her I saw that she was crying and in response to a question, said she was just tired because her four month old child had been fussing, crying. When I asked her if we could help, she responded that it would be great if Sister Larson could come and tend Dominic while she tried to get a little sleep in the first aid room. I hurried and ran home and told Diana Isobelle’s problem and she immediately got ready and we both went back to the Church. Diana took little Dominic and tended him until the program started.

The Christmas party was half spiritual about the birth of Christ and other related things. The other half was more the normal Santa Claus and secular celebration of Christmas. The Mascaros read our story and scripture (Matt. 25:32-46) and we all sang Jingle Bells and Rudolph. There were quite a few investigators at the party including Agnes, Madeline, four or five that the Neidharts had brought , a neighbor of Marcel Daehler and Michael, the same person that Elder Pine complained was stalking them all the time. There were probably others as well. Our less-actives who came included Tony Dkere, Gabriella Rodriguez, her two children, Stefan Fuhrer and his wife and two year old boy, Brian. Charles Aboussou said he would come, but he didn’t. Priscilla didn’t come either. Charles and Tony said they would be to Church tomorrow and we hope they will come. In talking to Tony he said he really appreciated our persistence in calling him; he said he feels “broken” and it’s nice someone will throw him a tow rope and tow him along. He slipped out after about an hour, but it was nice to see him participate. After helping clean up and take the decorations down, we came home physically and mentally drained. By the way, it snowed all day long, sometimes very lightly and at other times, heavy. And it is below freezing, even in the day time.