Munot Schloss in Schaffhausen; woman playing for money in the freezing weather (couldn't resist throwing in a couple of Euros); three different styles of building together in Konstanz.

FEBRUARY 15, 2010 MONDAY

This morning I was awake at 6:00 and got dressed and went for my walk early. This time I walked into Schaffhausen and then up to the Munot Schloss (castle) which overlooks the city. We came here on a little trip last summer and went through it, but it has shorter hours now that it’s winter. It was closed this early in the morning so I took some photos and then walked down to the Rhein River. I checked when the boat trips to Konstanz and the Boden Lake were going to start running for the season and found out they will begin on April 2. It’ll probably still be a little cold so we may wait until sometime in May to take the trip. We wanted to do it last year, but never got the opportunity. I got back home about eight and then, since it was P-day, we decided we’d make a trip into Konstanz since we hadn’t been there in a long time. We took a train that went along the bank of the Rhein River, stopping at all the little towns along the way. It was an interesting hour long ride through country we hadn’t seen before. The closer we got to Kreuzlingen and Konstanz the wider the river got. We didn’t realize it was so big and wide. We walked around town a bit and then discovered a new grocery store called Edeke or something similar. We went down into the store and looked around, but decided we like ALDI better and so we left without buying anything. At ALDI we took our time walking around and looking at everything. Normally, we’re so short of time we just rush in and get what we need or anything that looks good, and then run out to catch the train again. This time we had plenty of time to look and ended up spending only 37 Euro on things we needed. Before we left we stopped at the little Thai take out and bought a couple of dinners to go and took them with us. I couldn’t pass up a “Berliner” with a vanilla creme center either. So happily we went on our way and caught the train on the Swiss side of the station and traveled back to Schaffhausen. On the way we ate our delicious meals.

When we got home, Diana had time to take an hour nap while I prepared a spiritual thought for our next appointment at 6:00. We met Silvia at the post office by the bahnhof and, since she had made the appointment and knew the address where we were going, we followed her onto bus #5 going back in the direction of our apartment. She soon realized we were going the wrong direction and, after conferring with the bus driver, had us get off at the next station. We crossed the street and caught the next bus going back into town where we caught the #5 bus going in the right direction this time. So, it’s not only us old Americans who get mixed up, but also native Swiss. We soon got to Claudia Clavadetscher’s apartment and were invited in. She is a lady around fifty years old (just a guess) who’s husband passed away. She has a 27 year old daughter who is single and lives in Winterthur. The missionaries have been meeting with Claudia for a long time, but she’s never been baptized. In talking with her she knows the Book of Mormon is true, but isn’t convinced she needs to be baptized. She doesn’t want to be baptized without her daughter being baptized, too, and her daughter isn’t interested right now. During our visit we covered a summary of the first discussion and specifically talked about the restoration, priesthood authority and temple sealings. We left on good terms with a promise to come back and visit some time. She was nice enough to drive Silvia back to the bahnhof and us to our apartment.

After district meeting tomorrow we provide lunch and this time we’re going to make French toast, hash browns with onions and cervelats and hot chocolate. Maybe, if we get around to it, we’ll make some pudding with fruit for dessert or Kaiser Schmarmen, which ever comes first. This was part of the reason for our grocery shopping trip to Konstanz today.

Later on, Sister Gardedieu called to cancel our Thursday afternoon visiting. She said this was the only day she had a car and needed to go to Bonndorf/Schwarzwald, Germany, to visit Jecelyn Hoenle who just had a miscarriage last week. Jecelyn was so happy to be pregnant and now she’s having a tough time of it. We asked if we could go with her and she was elated to have company on the long drive.

So now we’ll finish boiling the potatoes and making the pudding for tomorrow.