Elder Tavake & Elder Holzapfel; I liked the bells on this Church.

FEBRUARY 4, 2010 THURSDAY

Today we had our every six week interview with Pres. Matern scheduled for 2:00 in the stake center in Zurich Schwamendingen. He also wanted us to bring our hair cutting equipment to give him a haircut during his lunch break. That meant we had to get up at 6:00 and be on our bus by 7:47 to catch our train in Schaffhausen by 7:09. Yesterday Sister Matern called us and said she had some sheets and blankets she wanted us to have and we told her we’d come to the mission home this morning before we went to the stake center. When we got to Zurich we used the trams and dolderbahn to get to the mission home. It was good to be back on familiar ground. When we got to the mission home, no one was there except Sister Matern. She said she sent what she wanted to give us with Pres. Matern and he’d give it to us during our interview. Charlotte said she’d meet us there, too, to see if we wanted any of the materials they were going to throw away. It seems Pres. Matern is going through the mission home top to bottom and getting rid of everything that isn’t absolutely necessary because the mission is being dissolved July 1st. She finally arrived at 10:00 and we took some of the things off their hands, but we’ll give them to the ward for them to use. We have enough stuff here in our apartment to last for a long time.

We went to Neide’s on our way to the stake center to take her the birthday presents we brought for her. Unfortunately, she wasn’t home so we put the crystal platter and the English hymn book in her mailbox. We sent a text message telling her they were there.

We got to the stake center just in time to walk in with Elder Baird and his companion. Both needed a haircut. I quickly set up shop and not only cut their hair, but cut Elder Rowley’s as well. By that time President Matern had his break and I cut his hair as well. While we cleaned up, Pres. Matern ate his lunch and then we had our interview with him. He checked to see how we’re doing and made sure we have everything we needed for our apartment. Then we reviewed our progress reports and discussed the people we’ve contacted and the work we’ve done. He gave us some suggestions and counsel as well.

From there we went to the Oerlikon Bahnhof and just missed our train by 15 seconds. This has been a recurring theme lately. We decided to take a train to the Zurich Bahnhof because we felt we would be able to get a better seat on the next train to Schaffhausen rather than wait to get on it at Oerlikon. It would be warmer as well rather than standing out in the open. We had about twenty minutes to wait in Zurich and, since neither of us had breakfast or lunch and it was nearing 4:00 pm, we decided to buy a roll for Diana and a nut-filled croissant for me. However, when we passed a hotdog stand, they smelled so good we just had to buy us one of those, too. We enjoyed them as we waited for our train.

We made it home this time without any problems. All this traveling and lugging around heavy hair cutting equipment, books and stuff was really tiring. We were glad to get home. On our steps coming up to our apartment we found a package from Shirley. She is such a sweetheart. And she knew just what would hit my happy button. Fruitcake! Yep, all the way from Spanish Fork, Utah. I ate half of it right away, not waiting to follow her directions to wrap it in fruit soaked cheese cloth and let it sit for a couple of months. No siree!

No rest for the wicked, however, because we had to catch up on our wash. While the wash was getting done, we finally caught up on all our emails. We pass the good ones along, but people are probably getting tired of being bombarded with these things. We often wonder where they all come from? Who dreams these up and then starts them on their worldwide trip?

We called Neide tonight and wished her a happy birthday for tomorrow. She found her presents and she thanked us for them.