E. Anderson, E. Talley, E. Larson; Madeleine, S. Larson, roommate; can you see the guy with the binoculars?

APRIL 29, 2010 THURSDAY

We had a good night’s sleep and awoke this morning raring to go. I took my walk and when I got back we got ready and left for Zurich at a little before 10:00 for our every six week interview with Pres. Matern. When we got to Oerlikon we took our normal bus #63 to Saatlenstrasse and, since we had to walk by Neide’s apartment on the way to the stake center, we stopped and knocked on her door. She wasn’t home so we left a card in her mailbox to let her know we were there. Next, we walked to Charlottes wanting to aks her if she wanted to come visit Madeleine with us later in the afternoon. She wasn’t home either, probably working in the mission home today. We rang Pres. Bolt’s doorbell wanting to let him know about Paul Hunziker’s baptism, but he wasn’t home either. We struck out all around. We couldn’t think of anything else to do besides go to the stake center arriving a little before noon.

Our interview wasn’t until 2:30, but Pres. Matern likes us to come early to give missionaries an opportunity to get their hair cut. We set up the barber tools and soon we had missionaries arrive who needed and wanted haircuts. Elder Talley and Elder Anderson got their’s cut and by then, it was lunch time for Pres. Matern. After his lunch I had the opportunity to cut his hair, too. When his haircut was finished, he invited us into the high council room where he was conducting interviews and we had a nice discussion. We talked about how the work was going in Schaffhausen. He wanted to know if the members were getting along and if they were supporting the missionary work. He asked about Paul’s impending baptism wanting to know if everything had been planned and taken care of. Fortunately we had the Baptism Recommend Form with us for him to review. His interviews are very laid back and pleasant, but also productive. We gave him copies of our progress reports and we went over the names discussing each one.

The next subject we discussed we weren’t sure if he would take us serious or not. We have written in our journal several times how difficult it is to get to our Church building in Schaffhausen. There are only parking spaces for maybe three cars so most have to park their cars in the park and ride at the bottom by the train station and then walk up the steep road to the Church. We told him our membership is aging and it’s difficult for them to climb the hill every Sunday and for other activities during the week. Some members just don’t come because of it. We asked him if there had been any thought given to selling the current building and buying another in a location more suitable for access. He wrote the suggestion down and said he’d talk to Pres. Bolt about it. It probably won’t happen, but at least we kept our promise to a couple of members that we’d talk to him about it.

After all the business was taken care of he asked us if there was anything he could do for us. Since he gave us the opening, we asked him if it would be possible to take a trip to Geneva before we get released in August to visit our friends, Dennis & Mary Kaye Doyle, who are serving in the mission home in the Geneva Swiss Mission. At the beginning of our mission we asked the Assistants to ask him the same question for us and the answer they brought back to us was no. This time he grinned a little and said it was okay, we had his permission. He went on to explain that the young missionaries wouldn’t ever receive permission, but he’s more lenient with senior missionaries. We don’t know if the Doyles are willing to share some of the sights in and around Geneva with us, but we’ll ask. We decided not to push the envelope too far and ask if we could visit the Kroffs in the Buenos Aires North Mission.

After our interview and while we were putting away the barber tools and cleaning up the mess, Elder Eschweiler and his three week old companion, Elder Reid, came in for their interview. Elder Eschweiler was in our first district and we got to be pretty good friends with him. He just recently got made a zone leader. It’s fun and inspirational to see these young men progress and blossom as they gain experience in the mission field. Finally, we had to say our goodbyes so we’d have enough time to visit Madeleine.

Just as we were about to leave, Madeleine called us to give us the number of the hospital. We told her we were on the way over there and would get it when we arrived. We took the bus back to Oerlikon, boarded the train and traveled to Wettingen where we got on another bus that dropped us off right at the hospital. We went in and asked reception where her room was and she couldn’t find her in their records at all. We verified we were at the hospital Madeleine told us. Right in the middle of this Madeleine called us on our cell phone. We tried to understand what she was telling us (French, German & English all mixed together), but couldn’t quite figure it out. She got frustrated and got someone on the line that spoke German to explain it to us. At that point we just gave our cell phone to the receptionist who got it all straightened out after a lengthy discussion with the guy. So with new directions we were on our way back to the Baden Bahnhof where we got off. We asked further directions from a man who was sitting on a bench and he did his best to help us, but it was mostly in Italian or Greek or something. His daughter (?) who was sitting there, too, translated for him. We walked the direction they pointed and continued on until we were lost again. We stopped a couple of ladies and one of them was kind enough to escort us back through the bahnhof to the other side where we were close enough to see distinctly where we should go. We had a good conversation along the way, she practicing her meager English on us and we our German on her. When we parted company, we gave her a Book of Mormon for her troubles. She thanked us and then we said goodbye.

We walked down the street and found the hospital, went in and located Madeleine’s room. She was sharing her room with an older lady who had a visitor with her, too. We had a nice chat with Madeleine who seems to be on the mend, albeit slow. We made friends with her roommate and visitor, but we only brought one BM with us and had given it away so couldn’t give them one. If we visit again, we’ll take one for them. By this time it was 7:00 and we knew it’d take a a couple of hours before we got home so we bid her goodbye and left.

Back at Oerlikon we just got off the bus when we got a call from Katia Dipaolo who cancelled their appointment with us tomorrow. Saturday is a holiday in Germany and whatever they were going to do on Saturday, had to be done tomorrow. She promised us, however, that she and Emely would come to Church Sunday. She’s promised us before and not come, but we always have hope that they will.

We normally get on the S-16 train to go back to Schaffhausen so when it came, we got on. We should have looked closer because it only took us to the airport which was the end of the line for that particular train. Everyone had to get out, we along with all the others. One can always find a train to go where one wants to, but you have to be patient. We waited the half hour for one to come and we climbed on. On the way to Schaffhausen we made a phone call to the Bolli’s. We invited Robert to come to Paul’s baptism, but he declined. We invited Lukas, the son, to be a witness and he declined. Robert used to be very active, but for some reason, is inactive at this point in time. It’s sad to see the example of the father being followed by his son.

We got home about 9:30 and immediately checked our phone for messages. Sylvain called earlier to tell us he was okay and that he would talk to us tomorrow. We hope that means he will be here for his 10:30 appointment to continue on with the Alcohol Recovery Program. But now we’re falling asleep at the keyboard and we still have to put photos on and post it, so we better close for tonight.

Tender mercies today included Madeleine calling at the exact right moment to get her right address. Another is that Pres. Matern gave us permission to go to Geneva.