Rhein River; can't resist taking pictures of all the many churches throughout the country even though only 7% of the population goes attends church more than twice a year; photo of a castle or something on the skyline.

FEBRUARY 17, 2010 WEDNESDAY

Today the sun was shining for the first time in we don’t remember how long. That didn’t mean it got whole lot warmer, but at least our noses and ears didn’t freeze off today.

This morning we called Elder & Sister Walters to welcome them to Switzerland. They are the new senior couple who arrived yesterday afternoon and are now living in our old apartment in Schwamendingen. He was very unsure and hesitant when he answered the phone in German in response to me greeting him in German. It reminded me so much of how I felt when we first arrived. We didn’t make him suffer long and switched to English and he breathed a big sigh of relief. We had a good chat and gave him information about where the nearest ATM was and told him where the wash room was located. We made arrangement to visit them before conference on Sunday to show them where it is and how to operate the washer. The clothes dryer is inside their own apartment and we’ll show them how to operate it as well. It will be good to finally meet them in person and not just read their weekly email journal. We found out he was converted to the Church when he was forty and was formerly a Presbyterian. We don’t know about her. They will only be in Zurich until the mission is dissolved July 1st and then will be transferred to Munich, the headquarters of the newly organized mission.

We left shortly after noon and tried to visit a less active member, but she wasn’t home. By then it was time to go to our 2:00 appointment with Sister Christina Kusz. She is probably our age, has four grown children, but lives alone. One of her sons is a counselor in the branch presidency, but she doesn’t have a very good relationship with him because of his wife. That is really sad to see. She also has a conflict with another member and doesn’t feel comfortable living in this branch. She is attempting to find an apartment near her former daughter-in-law and her kids who live in Kreuzlingen (her son divorced her, but Christina still has a good relationship with her and her family.) We had a long visit with Christina while she opened her heart and let it all out. Sometimes that is a way to let the healing begin and we hope it happens for her. We gave her love, encouragement and support and gave a spiritual thought on Moroni 7, faith, hope and charity. We used an object lesson where you place three cups upside down at the corners forming a triangle. The cups are spaced far enough apart that three table knives can fit between them, but can’t sit on top of the cups. We then asked her, using the knives and the cups, without moving the cups, to form a support that would hold up a stack of books. The three cups represent faith, hope and charity. The knives represent putting these three characteristics into practice. The books represent the challenges we face in implementing and actually putting into practice these three qualities. After either they, or you, have it put together, read the scriptures and then discussed the different ways to use these three qualities, quickly remove one of the cups and see the whole thing fall down. All three are necessary to live a Christ-like life and, if one is missing, it impossible to follow the example of Christ. One of the hardest things for people to do is to accept people as they are, not be offended and to forgive. We gave her a lot of hugs and even had a group hug before we left. People feel the love we have for them and they especially respond to Diana. When she hugs them, they don’t want to let her go.

On the way home we stopped at another less-active member’s home, but no one answered his door either. We’ll try to go to these two less-active members on a Saturday of later in the evening to try to catch them home.

Other things we did today was a batch of wash, always a lengthy, time consuming project although here, we can choose when we want to do it. We called Kofi and confirmed he was going to stake conference on Sunday. We called Elder Tavake and told him not to pick us up on Sunday, that we were going to go earlier by train in order to meet with the Walters. We called Pres. Philippo Flammia and reported that Paul Hunziker needed a ride to conference both Saturday and Sunday and Kofi only on Sunday. And finally, Sylvain called to let us know he was alright and to see if we could meet with him tomorrow to start the 12 step program. Unfortunately, we already had appointments and couldn’t meet with him. We agreed to talk about it this weekend and make arrangements to meet with him next week.

Tomorrow we have an appointment with Paul Hunziker who has been taught for many years and actually is an active non baptized visitor in our Branch. We got a lesson ready for him that will hopefully help him take a step closer to wanting to be baptized. Miracles can happen. We also are going to visit Jecelyn Hoenle who just had a miscarriage last week. We haven’t seen her since that happened so we’re hoping she has put her trust in the Lord and that we can give her the emotional and spiritual support she needs to help her through this tough time.

The tender mercy is that people respond to love when it is honestly and freely given.