One of many steep stairs in our area; diana fell in love with this cow; Elders Bond, Von Niederhausen, Tavake, Holzapfel (Woodenapp;e in English), Bentley and Larson. Diana always wants to be the one taking the photos.

JANUARY 26, 2010 TUESDAY

We awoke again to a cold, dreary, foggy, snowy morning and I was glad to have an excuse not to go out for my walk. Diana got a call yesterday from someone named Maier and we couldn’t think of who that might be. Diana thought it was a less active member we tried to visit the other day who wasn’t home and we later called who didn’t want to talk to us. I couldn’t think of why he would want to call us and thought it might be Hans Peter Meister, our computer guy, who we expected to call us. He told Diana he would call us this morning at 8:00, but the phone never rang. We were anxious to talk to our computer guy so I tried calling him, but got no answer. So, whoever it was, it remained a mystery.

We did a little reading in the PMG to prepare for our district meeting at 10:00, put the leaves in our dining table to accommodate the missionaries and then cut the peach pie we made last night and got it ready to serve. We expected two companionships and with us that would have made six and that’s how many pieces we cut the pie into. However, there were three missionaries working together in Schwenningen so that made seven in all. The pie worked out okay because the pieces were big enough that Diana and I split ours. Those attending were our district leader, Elder Bond, and his companion, Elder Holzapfel, serving in Singen. Elders Bentley, Von Niederhausen and Tavake are serving together assigned to Schweningen. We were impressed by these young men who seem dedicated and hard working. One of the activities was to discuss favorite scriptures each use in teaching the first missionary discussion. They were all very knowledgeable, finding and explaining scriptures with confidence and clarity. He spotlighted Elder Tavake by letting each of us ask him questions which he answered. Diana gave the spiritual thought about the experience that Pres. Hugh B. Brown had in England in 1939 when he met a prominent man who was a member of the House of Commons who didn’t believe in prophets, that God ceased talking to men shortly after Christ was crucified. He wanted Pres. Brown to present his position, that God talks through prophets today, as one would prepare an argument in a court of law. She read the part of Pres. Brown and I read the part of the Englishman. If anyone wants to look it up, it’s printed in the June, 2006, Liahona. He bears testimony at the end that Joseph Smith was and is a true prophet and that we have prophets leading our Church today. Diana bore a strong testimony at the conclusion of her remarks. Elder Bond did a good job in planning the meeting and also keeping control while not being overbearing. The game we played was called Bonsai and this is how it went.

Place two dice in a cup. The first person shakes it and looks into the cup to see the numbers on each dice. For example, say he rolled a 3 and a 5. He can say he rolled 35 or 53 or he can lie and say another number. He can either tell the truth and say what the numbers are or lie. He then passes the cup to person #2 who can’t look into the cup. #2 has to do one of two things. He can challenge the first person and look into the cup, or he can believe the first person told the truth and shake the cup for new numbers. If he challenges and then confirms the 1st person told the truth, he gets one point against him and then he passes the cup to #3 and the game starts over. If #2 finds out the 1st person told a lie, the 1st person gets a point against him and then #2 shakes the cup for new numbers. #2 must shake a number larger than the one #1 said or lie about it, and then he passes the cup to #3. The next person in line has to always shake a number higher than the previous one or lie about it. #3 must then decide to challenge or shake and the game goes on. However, that’s the first phase. Any person can also roll doubles or lie and say he has doubles. Once doubles have been declared, only higher doubles or a Bonsai count. The highest number that can be rolled or said is 65. Double 1's is higher than 65. Of course, if someone says he has double 1's, for example, the next player can either challenge or roll, but he must roll a double that is higher, or lie. He can also roll a “Bonsai” which is a one and a two. If someone rolls or says he has a Bonsai, the next person can either challenge and, if he decides to roll, he has to roll a Bonsai to win. In the course of the game any person on his turn can roll or say he has a Bonsai, but he can be challenged, of course.

The district meeting ended, the pie was eaten and the Elders went back to their places of service. We are used to seeing missionaries on almost a daily basis or, at least, talk to them several times a day on the phone. Here in Schaffhausen we are almost on our own except for the members. Elder Vincent calls us once in awhile and Sister Hutcheson called once, Charlotte called a couple of times and this morning Neide called and talked to us for a few minutes. And without being able to skpe and only do emails intermittently, it feels like we’re at the end of the world. We’re really not complaining, except for not having the internet, but it is different and something we have to get used to. We’ve met some great people here and they’ve gone out of their way to help us feel welcomed.

After they left I called our computer guy to ask him how things were coming. He said he ordered something, but it wasn’t delivered in the mail today. He said when it comes, he’ll call us. How long we must wait, we don’t know.

One of the dining room chairs a missionary was sitting on fell apart just as he was getting up after we were done, so this afternoon we repaired it with wood glue and longer screws. Diana wrote most of her talk and we worked on the translation together. Late afternoon we got a call from our mysterious Herr Maier. Diana was right in that it was Franz Maier, the less active member we tried to visit. He said he would be interested in meeting with us at a local restaurant, but only if we didn’t talk about the Church. He said he left the Church some years ago and had no interest in coming back, but if we still wanted to meet and talk with him about any other subject, he’s willing. We made an appointment with him to meet us at the bahnhof at 4:00 tomorrow and then go to his favorite hangout and talk. This ought to be interesting.

As we reviewed the day we felt the tender mercies were that Diana got her talk written and translated, we got to be in the company of missionaries again, Franz Maier called and we have an appointment with him.