Lion & lighthouse at harbor entrance to Lindau; Catholic church; Luthern church.

APRIL 20, 2010 TUESDAY

District meeting today which meant that Elders Bushnell & Sills from Singen and Elders Bentley & Dahneke from Schwenningen would be coming here at 10:00. We got up at our regular time and got ourselves showered then dressed in casual clothes to prepare the lunch we always have for our missionaries after the meeting. We didn’t have a lot to do other than get what we bought yesterday out of the fridge and into pans so we could heat it up. We added shrimp to one of the three varieties of the dishes we bought; the other two we left as was. Then we actually pre-warmed them all and then left the pans on the stove with the heat on very low. This way it would be quicker to heat them up to serving temperature rather quickly when the time came for lunch. We also cored, partly peeled and put cinnamon & sugar with a little butter on a dozen apples and got them ready to shove in the oven when the time was right. Ummmm, baked cinnamon apples!
It took a little longer getting things ready than we anticipated, but thought we still had enough time to get ready before the elders were supposed to arrive. Our phone rang and Elder Bentley informed us they were going to be ten or fifteen minutes late. This was welcomed news for us because it would give us a little more time to get ready. However, soon after, our doorbell rang and the other two missionaries arrived fifteen minutes early. We took things in stride and just went about our business getting ready while they finished getting their meeting assignments prepared in the living room. When they and we were done, we had a good time visiting while waiting for the other two who ended up being thirty-five minutes late. When they finally arrived, Elder Bentley apologized for being late and then got the meeting started.

After the song and prayer Elder Dahneke discussed a topic out of the Mission Rule Book. I was next and gave a ten minute talk using two quotes from prophets on pages 12 & 13 of the Preach My Gospel relating them to how they inspire us to be better missionaries. Diana was next having the paragraph from page 19 of PMG entitled “Living What You Learn” as the basis for her ten minute talk. By then it was time to do the mid meeting stretch and play a game to get the blood flowing again. We played a rousing game of Bonsai which was fun. Down to business again Elder Bushnell gave his presentation on receiving inspiration and acting on it. At the end of every meeting those who have prepared something to pass off from the Master Missionary Program has the opportunity to do it. Normally, whoever it is, presents what he has prepared, the others listen and then after offer opinions on what was good, what wasn’t good and suggestions on how to improve. This time Elder Sills presented part of the 1st discussion in German and did a great job for only being in the mission field for three weeks. It is wonderful to see how these young elders are so well prepared, serious about their callings and anxious to improve their understanding of the gospel and their teaching abilities.

While the game was going on, we slipped out and turned up the heat and got things going in the kitchen. As soon as the meeting was officially over the food was hot and ready. The missionaries always enjoy a hot meal, even though this one wasn’t homemade except for the baked apples. All too soon they had to leave, but at least we’ll see Elder Dahneke & Bentley Saturday when they will pick us up to participate in a street contacting activity in Tutlingen, Germany.

While Diana did the dishes and cleaned up, I went over the baptism interview questions and prepared some thoughts to teach Paul at our meeting with him at 3:00. He was waiting for us when we got there and invited us right on in. He always bustles around getting something for us to eat and drink, often seeming to almost lose his balance and recovering in the nick of time. He is an intelligent man with a sharp wit and wry humor in spite of the pain that is his constant companion. Sometimes it’s hard to know when he is serious or joking until a sly smile crawls on to his face.

Our goal today was to go through all of the baptism questions just to make sure he understood everything that was required. Each question was thoroughly discussed and, as far as we can tell, he’s ready for baptism. He is a man who’s been striving his whole life to be a follower of Christ and to be of service to his fellow men. He wanted to be sure he could invite some friends to his baptism and that Pres. Flammia would be present, too. Pres. Flammia told him last Sunday that he wanted to be present after having waited these many years for him to finally want to be baptized. He also wanted to know the time and place and other details, but we told him we’d arrange a meeting with the Branch Mission Leader next Sunday to work out all the details.

At home we used the internet to try to figure out our travel plans to get to two members who live in Horheim to do our home teaching. Last time he waited in Waldshut for us, but we told him he wouldn’t have to do that this time. We’d been there once so we could find it again.

Other things that need to be noted:

We tried to call Sandro Di Marzi, our branch mission leader, to set up the appointment with Paul. He must be on one of his business trips so we left a message on his answer machine to call us.

We haven’t heard from Sylvain since last Friday or Saturday which makes us worry. We’ve tried to call him several times, but get no answer. We left a message where he lives and also on his cell phone.

We got a call from Elder Bentley wanting our “progressing investigator” report and to see how our meeting with Paul went.

We got a call from Roxsan on skype and got to talk to her and see little Truxtn, Nathan and say hi to Mayleah. Roxsan said she wouldn’t be able to come visit us here in July like she wanted to.
Our tender mercy today is one that happened with Roxsan and Nathan, her two year old. About ten minutes prior Roxsan had just taught him how to blow his nose. She saw him poke a soft pellet gun pellet up his nose and when he tried to get it out himself, poked it up further. She was able to grab him and then have him blow his nose like they’d practiced and it came right out. Two things about the incident are noteworthy. First, she was inspired to teach him how to blow his nose just before the incident. Second, she saw him put it in his nose. The Lord is watching, inspiring and caring and knows what we need, when we need it, if we pay attention and are trying to do what is right. Isn’t it wonderful that we aren’t alone.