Castle Herblingen in Schaffhausen

MARCH 15, 2010 MONDAY

This morning I got up early, caught the bus and rode it to Herblingen which is where we go shopping, got out and went out walking in the light snowfall. There was a castle a couple miles up the road that I’ve wanted to go see and today was as good a day as any to do it. It was a brisk half hour walk to get to it and as I got close, it looked pretty impressive. I went through the main gate to the castle entrance and discovered it was private and so wasn’t able to go any closer. There was a guest house and restaurant that shared the main courtyard so I took a few photos and then went back out. I found a path that took me around the fence that enclosed the castle, it’s grounds and a large field. Around the edge of the field were some statues and I took a few photos of me standing by them using the self-portrait function on my small, but amazing camera. I enjoyed the walk clear back home, not bothering to use the bus as I did before.

Back home as we were getting ready to go to Jestetten, Germany, to do some shopping for the Easter egg hunt and the lunch for the missionaries after our district meeting, Lily Chai called to check to see if we were still alive after helping her move the furniture Saturday. She said she worried about us old people doing that kind of work. I emphatically told her we weren’t old and no, we weren’t sore from the work either. We told her we would like to come visit her when we had time and she readily accepted the invitation. She lives in Zug which is about an hour and half away by train. The next phone call we got was from Silvia confirming our appointment for this afternoon and also to check to see if we had called Jasmine Hunziker. Silvia called us Sunday evening to let us know Jasmine is still sick and needs some help to do her ironing and help clean her house. We set up an appointment with her for tomorrow. We finally got on our way to Jestetten and did our shopping. We bought so much food it was a wonder that we were able to carry it all back home. We filled three of the big heavy duty Migros bags, my backpack and another sack. We forgot to take our wheel cart along and so we had to carry them ourselves. On the train back to Schaffhausen the border patrol police finally caught up to us. This was the first time we had ever been checked coming back from a shopping trip from Germany. They looked over our long receipt to make sure we didn’t have more of the restricted items than allowed. We passed muster and they moved on.

We made it home and put the stuff away. We discovered our water had been shut off, so we did without. Later our landlord brought us the bill for our internet installation ($199.00) and at the same time told us they had to shut our water off to fix a tap in the basement. We had a quick lunch, got the two birthday cards and presents and went to Neuhausen to deliver them. We only had an hour before we were supposed to meet Silvia so we couldn’t waste any time. It was raining lightly by this time, but we had our small umbrella so were okay. We got off the bus in Neuhausen and quickly walked up the hill to Krummstrasse 2a and 6. We rang the doorbell for Vania Ponnusamy and the bottom door clicked open, but after we climbed the steps to her apartment and rang that doorbell, no one answered. We left her card and gift (4 candles in the shape of soccer balls) on the floor against their door and then left. Reinhard Gasser wasn’t home so we left his with a note in his mail box. We hurried back to the bus stop just in time to catch the bus back to Schaffhausen. We were a few minutes early so we walked to the bus stop and waited for Silvia.

She arrived and we rode to Beringen for our meeting with Hans Ulrich Gasser. On the way we clarified what the expectations were for Diana and me in relation to the branch Easter camp. We agreed to participate on Friday and Monday, but not Saturday and Sunday when we wanted to be in Schwamendingen for General Conference. They were going to arrange to have the Easter egg hunt on Monday morning so that worked out good for us. When we got out at Beringen, we had an additional half hour walk up the mountain to get to Hans Gasser’s home. Once there we had a very good meeting with him, one in which we felt the Spirit very strong. We felt it, but were not sure if Hans did. At the end his response is the one found in the Book of Mormon: a bible, a bible, we already have a bible and we don’t need another. We only have to believe and we’ll be saved through the Grace of Christ. It doesn’t matter which church you belong to, just that you believe and have been baptized. We ended with Moroni’s promise, our testimonies and a prayer.

When we got home, I picked up the six cans of peas and carrots I’d mistakenly bought instead of green beans and went to Migros to exchange them. No such luck. The clerk said the store policy was to not accept any food products back even if they were in unopened cans. Well, fine! I guess I have a lot of peas and carrots to eat. Maybe we’ll feed some to the missionaries tomorrow. Anyway, I bought Diana six cans of green beans, some raclette cheese for tomorrow and a can of spray paint to finish the Nauvoo Temple sunstones. When I got back home, it was after 7:00. I finally got around to having supper. You guessed it, peas and carrots, but also a little Spanish rice left over from yesterday.

Diana tried to call Sylvain tonight, but he didn’t answer. Later on, Sylvain called to say he had a very good first day at work. His boss said he was pleased with his work and during their noon break as they were talking, his boss told Sylvain that he is a recovered alcoholic and he would help Sylvain get through the tough times and give him support. We feel that the fasting and prayers in Sylvain’s behalf have led him to this job where he can find the support he needs from someone who has fought the fight and still does, and is an example and help for him.