The top two windows belong to our apartment in Schaffhausen; E. & S. Larson, Helena Roffler, and Lily Locher with Heinz Locher taking the photo; Suwang Stefaniak.

JANUARY 13, 2010 WEDNESDAY

Today we woke up one more day closer to moving day. First came a batch of wash. We want to get everything washed so we aren’t pressured when we arrive in Schaffhausen. We have the washer reserved for part of tomorrow and part of Friday, too, so we can wash all the sheets, blankets and quilts so they’ll be fresh for the new couple moving in. We also plan on going through the apartment with a fine tooth comb so that everything will be spic and span. We’ll also leave some food and a few essentials to give them time to get oriented before they have to go shopping. The couple we replaced did that for us and we sure appreciated it.

About the time we were getting ready to leave to visit Suwang she called us to not arrive before 10:30 because she had been delayed a little in getting home. That gave us a little more time to do a couple of things and then we left in the falling snow for the hour trip to her place. She called us before we got there wondering where we were and when we’d get there. When we got there, she greeted us with her happy smile and excited voice. We visited for about an hour and then she started to cook lunch which was a wonderful stir fry and egg soup. We watched her cook all the veggies and meat separately and then put them together to finish cooking. She was going pretty slow when she asked us how long we could stay. We told her we’d have to leave about 1:00 so we could be home at 2:00 for another appointment. When she heard that, she protested that she thought we would be there until 4:00 and that was why she wasn’t in a hurry to fix lunch. We really didn’t have an appointment, but told her that because we had packing to do and didn’t want to be there all day. She would be happy if we adopted her and brought her home with us when we’re released. She kept saying how disappointed she was that we couldn’t stay all day and so we relented and told her we’d postpone our appointment until 3:00.

The stir fry was absolutely great and she really piled it on three times more than we should have eaten. Diana said it looked like the Matterhorn. The soup didn’t look good and also didn’t taste so good, but to please her I ate mine down to the last drop. Diana got away without eating hers and didn’t want to because I told her it wasn’t good, and she doesn’t like that kind of Chinese soup anyway. She had all she could handle with the stir fry. She told us about her drunk neighbor who she thinks has a key to her apartment and comes in when she is gone and either takes what he wants or messes up everything else. We gave her a bag of chocolate yesterday and she said he stole it off her kitchen counter while she was gone. We brought her two more bags today. She hides all her food under her bed and then blocks up the hallway with all her furniture and kitchen table so he won’t be able to get to it very easy. Is she imagining everything or is it really happening? We don’t know.

When we started getting ready to go, she did, too, which surprised us. How do we tell her she can’t come with us without breaking her heart? So we didn’t; we let her come with us. But now we had a problem. Norma was supposed to come today at 2:00 to help us clean our apartment, but she postponed it until tomorrow. Everyone wants to come help us clean our little apartment and we don’t have anything for them to do so when they come, we’ll just visit with them. How many does it take to clean this apartment.

We were trying to figure out what to do when Elders Schmidt & Talley, the new zone leaders, called asking if we knew where a computer was that they could use to write their progress report for their meeting with Pres. Bolt and Pres. Matern tonight. The Lord once again pulled our bacon out of the fire in that now we had “an appointment.” We arrived home and soon after the Elders arrived. They did their report and we packed and cleaned. The Elders got through a little before Heinz Locher came to pick us up for a dinner appointment with them tonight at 5:00. We said our goodbyes to Suwang and left with Brother Locher.

On the way we stopped at Helena Roffler’s, Heinz’s sister, to pick her up, but she said she would rather walk the few minuted to the Locher’s home which she did. For the meal they served us a salad and then Raclette which is a cheese melted at the table and poured over boiled potatoes, dill pickles, pineapple, olives or any number of other things according to one’s taste. During the meal Brother Locher told us the story how the two large granite rocks came to be along the driveway into the Church parking lot. Hans Ringger, the stake president about the time I was on my first mission, during a stake conference said that he and his family would “serve the Lord” and invited the rest of those present to commit to do the same and to sustain it by raising the right hand. The voting was unanimous. The two stones along the one side and the oak tree on the other were put there by him as a sign of the covenant they had made with the Lord to serve Him. He said only the older members of the ward knew this story and, when we suggested he needed to recite this story to everyone so they would all know the significance of the rocks, he agreed and said he would. After dinner Diana spent time with Lily and Helena while Heinz and I went over the list of names in the High Priest Group. With the information I gave him he’ll be able to clean up the ward membership list and get the records sent to the right place for those who have moved or we can’t find. After all was said and done Heinz drove us home in the rain.

During the dinner Madeleine called to invite us over on Thursday at 3:30. As far as we know she doesn’t want anything this time except to tell us goodbye. Elder Nilsson & Irick also called wanting to come say goodbye and they’ll come over tomorrow afternoon, too.