Dorothea and lunch; gondola ride coming down to Kriens from Pilatus;

JULY 7, 2010 WEDNESDAY

On my walk this morning I went up the hill past Charlottes and put a Plan of Salvation pamphlet in German in her mailbox to go along with the one in English we gave her yesterday. After that I walked up into the woods and found the Vitaparskurs which is an exercise course with stations built along the trail. The idea is to stop and do the specific exercises at each station which are spaced a couple hundred yards apart so you get the physical exercise and the aerobic exercises as you complete the course. The Swiss have these courses set up in every woods I’ve had the pleasure of walking in. It’s really a pretty good idea.

We had an appointment with Dorothea Jaermann at noon for lunch so we got ready and left, taking with us some homemade cookies and our object lesson material. She is such a good person and friend; we’ll miss her a lot when we go home. She had a wonderful lunch prepared for us which included baked fish, a green salad and a large salad plate with a different kind of lettuce leaves around the outside and the center filled with carrot salad, olives and German potato salad. For dessert she served a fruit bowl with grapes, currants and melons. After the meal we shared our spiritual thought mostly on the need to support and help one another using Ecclesiastes 4:9-12. This was a subject that was dear to her heart because she said the Schaffhausen Branch had a big problem with unity and love between the members when we first arrived. She also said it has gotten better since we’ve been here because of how we’ve treated every member with respect, love and compassion. She said our example is just what they all needed to help start the healing process. She feels it is far enough along now that it should continue after we leave. We were humbled by what she said, but it made us feel good if we in any way have helped strengthened the members in this little branch. Our conversation also got onto the subject of the spirit world and who exactly would be the ones who go to Paradise. We all couldn’t agree so we decided we’d do some research about it and, if we do have the opportunity to meet again, we’ll be better able to discuss it. We stayed longer than we should have, but this may be one of the last times we will meet with her b efore we go home. Dorothea was reluctant to let us go and needed the extra time with us. We’ll really miss her.

By the time we got home it was rather late in the afternoon and past the time we usually do our contacting work. We were out of fresh fruit so I walked to Aldis and bought some nectarines, kiwis, apples, shelled sunflower seeds and a cantaloupe. I was able to squeeze everything into my backpack except two pounds of nectarines. Those I put in a bag and carried them in my hand. The backpack was pretty heavy, but I made it home okay.

We made a few phone calls, but ended up sending text messages because we didn’t get any answers. Those we sent were to Jasmin and Prisca. Fatma Altunoez called to say that our appointment at 4:00 tomorrow wouldn’t work for them, but then asked us if we had time at 6:00. When we said we did, she invited us to have dinner with them and we accepted. We are excited to be able to meet with them. Right after that Sylvain called and we had a good long talk with him. He said he’s still doing okay and has continued working on the recovery program. He said he’d be coming to Church next Sunday because Pres. Bolt will be visiting and he wanted to see him. Right after the meetings on Sunday we, Pres. Flammia and Sylvain will drive out to where Sylvain is living and visit with him for awhile. We just got a return text message from Prisca letting us know she’s doing okay and that her daughter, Katharina, is back in school and she is hoping she sticks with it this time.