Juergen & Susan Klaumuenzner and Elder and Sister Larson; Worms that have eaten the plant outside the door of our apartment.

AUGUST 6, 2010 FRIDAY

Our meeting with Emely went really well this morning, even when we were there at 9:00. We presented her with a very nice CTR (WDR in German, Waehle Das Recht) ring which was too big for Emely. We bought the smallest one they had, but Diana devised a plan that we thought was inspired. We presented it to Emely and, because it was too big, we suggested we let her mother wear it until she was big enough for it to fit her. She agreed and Katia was really excited that she’ll be able to wear it for awhile. We should have bought them both one, but hindsight is better than foresight, it seems. We centered our lesson around choosing the right and used a conference talk given by Elder L. Tom Perry in the November 1993 issue of the Ensign. We also gave Katia a sunstone and discussed it’s symbolism. Just for kicks and because we don’t have room to take some things home, we also gave Emely the pencil our kids sent us that smelled like bubble gum and a fish on a key ring. She loved both of them. She hooked the key ring fish on her backpack which had nine or ten other similar animal key rings on it. It was hard to say goodbye, but they promised to come to Church on Sunday to see us for the last time.

We took the barber tools with us so we didn’t have to go home to get them. We took the bus back to the bahnhof, waited the fifteen minutes for the train to come, and then we were on our way to Frauenfeld to visit Juergen and Susan Klaumuenzner. When we got to Winterthur, we had to change trains and after we did, we called Juergen to let him know we would be at the Frauenfeld Bahnhof at 12:00. The lady that sat across the aisle from us noticed that we spoke English and started a conversation with us. It turned out she was a Jehovah Witness and was happy to talk about religion. She was very genial and complimentary about the missionary effort of the Mormon Church and then she said she really didn’t know what we believed. That opened the door toi a very brief first discussion. We only had fifteen minutes on the train from Winterthur to Frauenfeld. As we were pulling into Frauenfeld we gave her a Book of Mormon with the usual brochures in it and she in turn gave us a couple of Watch Tower magazines. We thanked her and she seemed happy to receive the Book of Mormon. We just hope she reads what we gave her. She probably hopes the same thing.

When we got off the train, Juergen was already there to pick us up and take us to his home. We spent an enjoyable three hours there visiting, cutting his hair and eating a wonderfully delicious baked salmon dinner. On the side she had baked/braised potatoes and green beans making it a very calorie conscious healthy meal. Dessert was fresh mashed blackberries from their garden with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream. They are a great couple who have served in the mission home for five or six years straight, but now they are anxious to wrap up what’s necessary to close out the mission home in Zurich and transfer all responsibilities to the new mission home in Munich, Germany.

When we got home, we finished writing the report on our investigators and comments about the members for the missionaries that will replace us here. They’ll be able to hit the ground running. Later I took a walk while Diana worked on her talk that she’ll be giving in sacrament meeting Sunday. If all come who say they’ll be there, the building should be packed.

Elder Neuffer called today to let us know the zone conference will be in Schwamendingen on Wednesday, August 11, just a day before we go home. At the last zone conference a month ago we were asked to bear our testimonies which is the custom for those going home. Will we be asked to do it again? We go home the next day. Of course, we’re always ready to bear testimony. He also told us that he wasn’t allowed to have a district meeting during the same week as a zone conference. They were really looking forward to the french toast, hashbrowns, fried eggs, sausage and hot chocolate breakfast that we told them was on the menu for next Tuesday. Oh well, not having a district meeting will give us more time to get everything done so we can leave with a clear conscience.