Elder Larson on steps leading from Munot Tower to street level; Elders Larson, Porter, Irick and Agness; Shot overlooking Schaffhausen.

FEBRUARY 22, 2010 MONDAY

This seems like the first real P-day we’ve had for months. Yesterday we made arrangements for the missionaries from our old district as well as Charlotte and Agness to come to Schaffhausen to see the sights and also to have lunch with us. We needed some groceries for the lunch so as part of my morning routine, I went in to Schaffhausen to visit Migros. Before I did that, however, I wanted to make sure I knew how to get to the Munot Tower, the Munster Platz (a convent built in 1100) and the Rheinfalls. It was raining and snowing this morning, but we were hoping for better weather as the day wore on. Having done that and bought the groceries, I returned home where Diana and I got things ready. We got a text message from Elder Irick that only four of them were coming which included him, his companion, Elder Porter, Agness and Charlotte.

We met them at the bahnhof at 10:10 and then began our excursion. We first went to the Munot Tower which was a place of defense in the Mediaeval times. From there we descended the thousand steps to the street level and walked to the Munster Platz. The museum was closed because almost all of them throughout Switzerland are closed on Mondays. We don’t know why, but it always coincides with our P-days. We were able to walk the inner passageways around the enclosed courts of the abbey and got to go inside one of the cathedrals. While inside the great cavernous cathedral, since we were the only ones in there, I sang “How Great Will Be Your Joy” and Diana joined in. Diana and I both love that song. It was like we had a microphone in there which amplified the sound.

From there we walked through the old town to our bus stop and went back home for lunch. On the menu was taco salad, open faced tacos and tortillas. Diana made some brownies as well and it was all so good. After the lunch we did the spiritual thought (object lesson) with the glasses and knives again. Before long everyone will have seen it and we’ll have to move on to another new one.

This afternoon we went to the Rheinfalls. Diana stayed home to clean up and rest a little. It was a good thing she did because Sylvain called to arrange to come a little earlier tomorrow rather than the 3:00 appointment we had already made with him. By this time the sun was out, the clouds had disappeared and it was actually quite warm. It had turned into a wonderful day. The rest of us took the bus to the Rheinfalls stop and then walked the ten minutes to the falls. It’s quite spectacular in a European kind of way, but it of course doesn’t begin to match the Niagra Falls. Rheinfalls is the largest falls in Europe and the Swiss are quite proud of that fact. We didn’t have too much time to spend there because Elders Porter & Irick had to be on the train by 4:09. We made our way back to the bahnhof and said goodbye to them. Charlotte was responsible for the dessert at their family home evening and she was going to leave with them, but Diana gave her the rest of the brownies so she didn’t have to go home so early to make something. Charlotte and Agness came back with me to our apartment.

We rest there for a few minutes and then we four went to the Salvation Army second hand store that Diana had been dying to visit all day. We wandered around in there for an hour or so looking at the interesting things. Diana bought a glass hanging ornament that was made in Hergiswil right here in Switzerland that had the picture and name of the Rheinfalls embedded in it. I found a small recipe book that we bought. Agness had never been in a “broken house” before and was surprised to find so many quality things at cheap prices. She bought a few items to take with her. Agness and Charlotte had to go so we waved to them as the bus took off. We, on the other hand, walked down the road a ways and went into another much smaller and junkier “broken house” and looked around for a half hour, but never bought anything. After that we came home tired, but happy.

We have that appointment with Sylvain tomorrow to start the 12 step program to help him quite drinking alcohol. While we were at the Humphreys yesterday, Cynthia, being a medical doctor, told us there is a prescription drug on the market that, when taken as prescribed, changes the way the brain reacts to alcohol, eliminating the craving for it. She gave us the name of it, Naltrexone, and told us we should give this information to Sylvain. He would have to find a doctor to work with him and give him this prescription. We looked it up on the internet and it looks hopeful. For the rest of the evening we needed to prepare for our meeting with Sylvain tomorrow as well as get our assignments for district meeting done.

The tender mercy for today is the way the Lord arranges to help us with our work. Just two days before we planned to meet with Sylvain, we were invited to the Humphreys for dinner. Cynthia served chocolate cake for dessert and, when Diana said she didn’t want any because of her agreement with Sylvain, Cynthia gave us the information about the medication to help alcoholics quite drinking. Is that amazing or what?