E. Irick, Madeleine, E. Nilsson getting the Church videos in French working; Agness, E. Irick & Joerg at FHE; The two covenant rocks by the orange box and the oak tree across the driveway.

JANUARY 14, 2010 THURSDAY

Happy birthday Susan on the 5th, Jade on the 6th, Shirley on the 13th, and Marilyn on the 14th.

Today was a major work day for us as we tried to finish up packing everything, sorting out our files and papers, cleaning out our drawers, cleaning the fridge and freezer, washing carpets and windows, and so on and so forth. We pulled out the fridge, dryer and stove and cleaned the walls and floors and then pushed them back in. Anyone who has moved before, knows what a job it is, especially if you do it right. Norma was coming around 2:00 because she wanted to help us clean, but we worked hard so she wouldn’t have to be bothered with our mess. We had basically everything done by the time she got here so Diana had a chance to visit with her one last time.

Charlotte called this morning to see if she could get her photos off our computer. Her computer went belly up some time ago, but she was able to download her photos to our computer before she sent it in for repairs. After several months of trying to get it fixed and couldn’t, she finally bought a new one. Later in the day while Norma was here she brought a thumb drive over to get her photos. She asked us if we were going to come with the rest of the missionaries on an excursion next Monday. We told her that we nor the other missionaries could go because we had a zone conference on that day. She was surprised to hear that and said she’d just talked to Elder Nilsson about it and he didn’t say anything about a zone conference. We tried to call him and the AP’s to confirm the conference, but neither answered their phone. At just the right time Elder Nilsson & Irick returned our call and got everything straightened out with Charlotte. They arrived a short time later and Elder Irick downloaded her photos for her. Charlotte told us it was Elder Irick’s birthday today and when he arrived, we all sang happy birthday to him.

The reason they didn’t answer our phone call is that they were teaching Michael at that particular moment. This is the same Michael who Elder Pine and Harris thought was stalking them eight or nine months ago. Elder Nilsson reported that he is taking the lessons seriously and as a new year’s resolution, is going to think more about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and make changes in his life. He told them he is taking the lessons seriously. He even showed up at the Church Tuesday as the missionaries were arriving for district meeting. He asked if he could attend it with them and Elder Anderson, the district leader, let him. It just goes to show the gospel is for everyone. It would be neat to see him baptized.

Last Sunday Charlotte told us she had a new calling, but she couldn’t tell anyone about it because she hadn’t been sustained yet. She said she was going to tell us Monday at home evening, but she forgot and we didn’t ask. Today she told us when no one could hear and boy was it a surprise. She has been called to replace Sister Sunke in the mission office when she is released. Charlotte will begin working next week three days a week and, when she is trained, will take over those responsibilities. That means the whole office staff is being changed and when Pres. Matern is released in June, the change will be complete.

We were having so much fun that we forgot about our appointment with Madeleine at 3:30. Diana remembered at 3:45 and we quickly called to let her know we’d be on our way. We got no answer and we decided we wouldn’t go until we did. We left a message for her to call us when she got home. An hour later we got a call and off we went to visit her. She is a fun lady, but very hard to understand. I’ll put a video clip in our journal for the Doyles in Geneva to see if her French is any better than her English or German. While we were there Elders Nilsson & Irick called to say they we in a grocery store and wanted to buy her some chips and wondered what kind she liked. It was quite a process before the Elders understood her and were able to find the right ones. Soon after, they arrived and when they did, we sang happy birthday to Elder Irick once more. Elder Nilsson & Irick had been to the mission home and had gotten a copy of every French Church video that was available and brought them to Madeleine. It was just like Christmas for her. Madeleine baked a really good coconut cake for us as a parting gift and she gave the Elders a piece of it before they left. It tasted heavenly.

Back at home we de-iced the freezer compartment, got all Diana’s shed hair out of the vacuum roller, had a cervalat and left over noodles for dinner and puttered around the rest of the evening. We emailed some more information on members to Brother Locher so he would have everything we had.