Mom carries me and I caarry her; we make a good team don't you think?


DECEMBER 4, 2008 THURSDAY

Today was a better day weatherwise and so we took advantage of it by finding addresses that would take a little more walking than usual. When we say better, we mean it wasn’t raining, but still overcast and cold. The first address was a good one, but the member wasn’t home. We got to the next address and the bottom door hadn’t completely closed so we were able to go inside where it was warm. After warming up a little we climbed the stairs to Silvana’s apartment and rang the bell. Wonders of wonders someone was actually home. The lady that answered the door was Silvana and, after introducing ourselves to her, she said she already had visitors and that we may know them. When we went in we recognized Brother and Sister Locher and Sister Roffler. They are active members in our ward. We later found out they visit Silvana every few months. We had a nice visit with all four of them. We found out Silvana was an artist and did wonderful artistry on porcelain as well as created tapestry pictures. She showed us two vases she had just completed for Christmas gifts that took her all year to do. She said once she gets them completed she gives them away because she doesn’t like them any more. Her joy comes in the creating and not the possession of them.

After that visit Sister Locher drove us over to the next address because they said it would be difficult to get to it and Sister Locher had to get out of the apartment because she was allergic to Silvana’s cats. We got out of her car and she drove off. We went across the street to the address and when I looked in my briefcase to verify the name, I couldn’t find the member list we always have with us. Panic set in because it has all our information on it as well as confidential notes. The only thing we could do is go from memory on the name we were looking for. Fortunately we found it, rang the doorbell, but no one was home. We left a note and then tried to figure out how to get back to Silvana’s. Again we were blessed in that we saw a bus stop not too far from where we were. We weren’t quite sure it was the right one or if bus would stop where we needed to go, but it all worked out. Silvana’s address was still in our Tom Tom so while we were on the bus we made sure we followed the blue arrow down the green street. When we thought we were close, we got off the bus. It took us a little bit, but we finally arrived at the right place. We saw the Locher’s car parked so we looked in the windows and, low and behold, with great relief, we saw our maps and member list on the back seat right where I had left them. We had to go get Sister Locher to unlock the car and then we were on our way again, this time toward home. We stopped on our way home to buy a 22# bag of potatoes (did I tell you yet that Mom likes the potatoes over here?) And then we went home.

Naeide had called us earlier in the day and asked us to come over for a snack later in the afternoon. We got home around 4:00 and called her to let her know we could come over. The rest of the evening was spent just talking and visiting with Naeide who apparently was just lonely and wanted company. We also invited her over to our place tomorrow night for dinner and for her to show us how to make a dessert she served us the other day.

Elder Pine called us after we got home to let us know about Zone Conference in Dielsdorf on the 12th and we should each bring a white elephant exchange gift. We also set an appointment to come over and work on the missionary slide show for the conference on Saturday afternoon. And that’s it for today.

Luzern Bahnhof; Gate at Luzern Bahnhof; me with ducks (greenheads) at Greifensee

DECEMBER 3, 2008 WEDNESDAY

I forgot to add in yesterday’s entry that we got a notice in our mailbox that we had a package waiting in the post office for us to pick up.. Our kids mentioned in an email over a week ago they had sent our Christmas package to us. This morning we picked it up first thing. As soon as we got home we ripped it open; we couldn’t wait! Sorrrry! There were a lot of things in there we had asked for and some which were a surprise. The best part was the photos, notes and drawings of Christmas ornaments which were in there. Some of the other things were flavoring oils for hard candy suckers, my zipper fleece vest, some cake and soup mixes, a sink sprayer, peppermint and coconut candy, some missionary helps, packages of bubble gum pop rocks, a bag of dice for FHE games, Diana’s sandals, some photos of Jade and Robert, some Christmas CD’s, and a photo of Rosxan and Brad and their family. It was a lot of fun.

After that festive activity we went out searching and finding. As the day wore on it got colder and colder, darker and darker, but it didn’t dissuade us from our work. From tram to tram to tram to bus to feet we went. This time Tom Tom pointed us right to the house even through we had to walk a distance to get there. When we rang the doorbell, the member’s wife stuck her head out of the 3rd story window and asked what we wanted. This member actually lived there, but his wife said he wasn’t home. We asked when he would be and she said after 5:00 or on Saturday. She also said she thought he had little interest and probably wasn’t a member any longer. We politely told her we would like to speak to him personally so we would come back to visit him. We have a baptism to go to this Saturday, but maybe we can visit him in the late afternoon.

From there we went from feet to bus to feet again. Tommy was a good boy again and directed us to the right street, but the building for our address number didn’t exist. We checked some other buildings to see if the numbers had be transposed, but could not come up with where this member lived. The bus ran only every half hour so we waited in a building foyer out of the bitter wind until close to bus time. A resident of the building came by and asked us if we had a problem. I just told him we wanted to be out of the frosty wind while waiting for the bus. He just smiled and went on his way. We got on the bus when it came and rode it to Greifensee, the lake at the end of the line (the bus stop schedule called it Maur See). We got off and discovered we had to wait fifteen or twenty minutes for our connecting bus to the next address. It was getting dark by now and Diana was frozen, but being the trooper she is, we determined to finish our task for the day. This time the bus stop had a little store by it rather than being out along a road somewhere, so we knew we could get warm after we checked out the address we had. We couldn’t find the member at the listed address and a person who lived in the building said he had never heard of him. So, another dead end. It’ll sure be good to get all of the members on the member list verified. We had to wait again for the bus, so what else is new. We went into the little grocery store and, just so we didn’t look like flakes, we bought a cucumber, a loaf of bread and a carton of milk. The bus finally came and we went from feet to bus to tram to feet to home. Dinner doesn’t sound so good, but it was to us. I had cottage cheese mixed with pineapple yogurt and left over pumpkin pie. Diana had a ham sandwich and orange juice.

On one of our trips through Schwamendingen we got off the tram and I used my debit card to withdraw some money. It has a maximum amount that you can get in one transaction. We didn’t have time to do another one so we thought we would do it later. The “later” came this evening after our dinner; we also needed a few more groceries to go along with what we bought at the little store. We stopped at the ATM again, but evidently it will only let you do one transaction in a day because it wouldn’t allow me to get any money. We went into the COOP store and had just picked up a bag of Clementine (tangerines) and the store clerk told us they were closed. We were able to buy these and a couple of things we grabbed while on the way to the cashier. So home we went with not much for our efforts. We’ll finish up the evening with writing this journal, updating our Progress Report and working over our maps and member list to update them with our findings of this day.

Swarovski Christmas Tree; Zurich Bahnhof; chandelier in Luzern Bahnhof













outside Luzern bahnhof


DECEMBER 2, 2008 TUESDAY

I arose early this morning to try to get two loads of wash done before leaving for our district meeting. We needed to be at the church to be picked up by the AP’s because our meeting was in Luzern today and not in our stake center. The sister missionaries stationed in Luzern have always had come here, so Elder Pine wanted to give them a break. It seems our washer takes it’s own sweet time when you want it to hurry. The electric lock takes several minutes for it to release even after the cycle is over and the washer has stopped. It finally popped open and I gathered the clothes and ran back to our apartment, got our stuff together and we made it on our way to the church. Elder Pine still managed to call us to see if we were coming. We got to the church thirty seconds later, but the AP’s (with the van) hadn’t arrived yet. I guess Elder Pine was just anxious to get on the road because he wanted to start the meeting on time and it would take at least an hour to drive to Luzern. The AP’s arrived a few minutes later and we were on our way, but first we picked up Elders Larsson and Elder Eschweiler which made eight of us in the van. We brought the left over peanut brittle and the missionaries made short work of it. It was a beautiful drive through the scenic Swiss country and small villages. Luzern was breath-taking with its snow-capped mountains and medieval churches, towers and walls. A river runs right past the train station which makes it very picturesque. The only thing that could of made it better would have been if it hadn’t of been so foggy, overcast and rainy. We’ll post some photos on our blog tonight. We ended up at the church house which is small compared to our stake center, but it was very nice.

The meeting was what we have come to expect, very well organized and all those who had part were well prepared, talks spiritual and informative. We have said this before and it’s probably becoming redundant, but we can’t help but be amazed at how well-prepared and spiritual these Elders and Sisters are. Diana did a great job of teaching the scripture and everyone had a fun time while memorizing it. She had the missionaries draw pictures on the blackboard to replace words and some of them were pretty funny.

The AP’s had to leave early (and so also did our ride) so after the meeting was over the six of us who came in the van walked to a bus and rode it back to the train station. Since it was lunch time everyone wanted to go get a Kebap (hot sandwich) at a fast food place the Elders were acquainted with. We had to walk through the train station to get to the shop and as we did, we passed several goody kiosks that smelled great. We wanted to stop, but the Elders just walked on by. They were focused on getting to the Kebap store. The train station was also set up with a myriad of little kiosks selling all kinds of Christmas handicrafts and food. Nobody wanted to stop but us so we were obligated to walk on by too. We finally arrived at the shop and I got a Hawaii Kebap while Diana got a hamburger in a “tasche”, a three cornered pocket bread. Both were very delicious and much better than the ones we had in Schwamendingen a couple of weeks ago.

When we were finished, we walked back to the train station, but discovered our train wouldn’t leave for Zurich for another twenty-five minutes. We got to browse through the little shops after all. It was fun to see all of the stuff and we may have bought some if we had been home. We took some photos and the Christmas atmosphere got us into the Christmas spirit. Before we left, we bought six Berliners which resemble the Berliners you can buy at home, but these were much better. On the train we gave each of the Elders one and we also each had one. Mmmmmm good! Most of the way home the Elders and we discussed German words and grammar and otherwise had fun looking at the scenery and just visiting. The conversations are always interesting because two are from England, one from Sweden, one from Oregon and we from Utah. Quite a collection.

We arrived back at Zurich Bahnhof, but did not immediately go home. On the train ride back home we discovered someone knew where to buy rootbeer in the Bahnhof. A quick phone call to another Elder and we had the name of the store. When we got off the train, the first thing we saw was an old lady with some disabilities struggling with her luggage. We stopped and helped her to a place where she could get a luggage cart. We told her, if we help her, she would have to take our booklet on the “Restoration of the Gospel.” She had no choice but to agree and did it with good humor. After that we made it through the crowds to the store which sold mostly liquor and beer. But way in the back we found the rootbeer, only 3.00sfr. a can (about $2.50)! It was expensive, but we wanted to have something American for our dessert next FHE which is going to be rootbeer floats. Rootbeer is very uncommon here so it’ll be a new experience for them. After that the Elders went on their way to their own areas and we were left alone among the crowds of people. This bahnhof was also crowded with a myriad of the kiosks selling Christmas stuff and food. It also had a huge Christmas tree decorated with Swarovski crystal figurines etc, and had large and small crystal animals, figurines and shapes on display under the tree also. It was just an amazing sight of glittering, shimmering works of art that must of been worth a fortune. It’s too bad that people are so focused on worldly riches and treasures rather than the real riches of the gifts we’ve received, or can receive, from the person whose birthday we celebrate, Jesus Christ.

We made it home and had a little time to rest and then the AP’s came over to transfer their photos from their camera’s to a CD. This took only a few minutes and then we were off to the English class the AP’s teach. Following this we stayed an attended YSA Institute. After opening exercises we always go to the “World Religions” class. This time we learned about the “Sihks” which is supposed to be the fifth largest religion in the world. Very interesting. The turban they wear on their heads is made from a whole bed sheet folded and wrapped a certain way on their heads. We’re glad we don’t have to wear those things around all the time.

This afternoon while trying to translate Fabian’s book, I couldn’t get the Microsoft Word program to work. The computer told me my free trial period was up and I needed a product key code to get it working again. The AP’s came over after Institute and helped try to get it going. After an hour long phone call to the USA HP hotline, we got it resolved. The resolution was that I had to buy the software to get the key code. We had to buy the software over the phone and had to have it shipped to our home in Sandy, Utah. We’ll have to get Roxsan to send the code to us by email because we need it right away, not only to translate the book, but also to produce the slide show of the missionaries in the whole zone for zone conference. Everything has to come together quickly because zone conference is on December 12. The Elders finally were able to go home and Diana went to bed while I finished this journal entry. And I’m done.

Me standing at the top of an alley; St. Peter's Kirche, Zurich,

DECEMBER 1, 2008 MONDAY

Of course it was raining because it was our P-day, but it didn’t stop us from going out a little. We thought we’d go visit St. Peter’s Church which is the oldest church in Switzerland. It’s right in the same area as the Frau Munster that we visited a couple of weeks ago. Before we did, we looked for and found another address of a less-active member, but she must have moved. After that we got on the tram to get closer to St. Peter’s Kirche. We got off by the Limmat River and walked along its’ bank on a sidewalk, the river on one side and shops on the other. We found the church and took a photo of the outside, but when we went in and tried to take some photos, our camera died. Imagine that! Once in awhile it’s necessary to charge batteries; we’ll have to remember that in the future. We’ll have to take photos of the inside some other time, although it is really rather unremarkable, big, cavernous and cold. It did have some nice woodwork for the pulpit and a beautiful pipe organ. Our children mentioned the bells in the churches that ring every hour. Sometime when our camera is working we’ll take a video clip (with sound) at noon and put the bells on our blog. After that we walked along some of the narrow, cobblestoned streets lined with quaint shops. It seemed like most of them were jewelry shops with way expensive albeit beautiful jewelry. We had planned to go to the zoo, but with the rain and no camera, we decided to go home and prepare for Family Home Evening with the Bolt’s and our little group.

While on the way home, we decided to try and find that chocolate outlet store the Aeberli’s told us about. We didn’t have the address with us, but we thought we could find it from memory. Eventually we did find the street after walking uphill in the rain for about 45 minutes, and after asking several people along the way how to get to Zielackerstrasse. The trouble was there was no outlet store, only fields, a big sports complex and some apartments. We turned around and an older couple was walking by and when we asked them if they knew where it was, they said there wasn’t one up here ,but told us where they thought there was one. It was some distance away back down at the bottom of the hill. We continued on back the way we had come and saw two other old men who told us a different way. When we got to the store where the two old men told us to go, the store clerk told us another way. He said it would take another fifteen minutes or so to get there. We followed his directions, but when we got to the church he told us we had to walk past, we decided we were too tired, Diana’s shoes were soaked and her feet cold and tired and I had to go to you know where. By this time we’d been walking for over an hour and forty five minutes. The final straw was when we saw a bus and that did it. We did stop in a COOP store to warm up enough to give it another try, but that didn’t work either. We made our way back to where we could catch the bus to get to our tram to go home. So back home we went. When we got home we checked the map the Aeberli’s gave us that had the store marked on it. Plain as day it showed we were in the wrong area; I guess when I transferred the location to a Google map, I put it in the wrong place. Sorry Diana.

While waiting for FHE I did a little more translating on Fabian’s book. If we do two pages a day, it won’t be such a task and we should get it done before he goes on his vacation to the USA (Chicago). Diana helps me wordsmith this so it sounds more interesting. Fabian is such a great guy and would do anything for anybody. He’s always cheerful and happy and likes to be around people. Even though it is difficult and takes a little time, it’s good for language training. We also made some coconut almond chew. We don’t have a candy thermometer so we weren’t quite sure how it was going to turn out. You can’t water test this batch because the mix is pretty soft when you have to add the coconut. It did end up a little soft, but Diana rolled it in powdered sugar and it was just great. We also used butter instead of vegetable oil and that made it all the better.

FHE is always a fun time because we meet with such great people. We have developed a great love for each other and a bond that will last forever. The lesson was a children’s Christmas story read by Sarah. The story was of a small donkey that saw the angels appear to the wisemen and the star in the heavens and wanted to go see the baby Jesus in the stable. It told of his journey through thick and thin, harassment by the other animals etc etc. He finally made it to the crib and the Christ child smiled at him which assured him even the lowliest of the low is recognized by Christ. It was a great story. After that came the game which was as follows. The person that was “it” had a rolled up piece of newspaper and called out a category such as a color. Everyone in his turn had to say a color or be hit by the rolled up paper until he thought of a color to say. No one could give the same answer. As soon as someone repeated an answer, he became “it.” The category changed every time “it” changed. It was a lot of fun and everybody had a blast. We also took over some peanut brittle we had made and everyone raved about it. Peanut brittle is not something the Swiss have over here. Suke was especially fond of it and we thought she was going to founder she ate so much. Desert was a half a pear on a saucer with chocolate pudding over the top of it. Very delicious. We also found out that Naeide baptism had been postponed a week so three of our FHE group (Pres. & Sis. Bolt and Eilene Russo) could attend. She also wanted a little more time to send invitations to some others. The good thing is she is committed and Marcel is supportive and actually investigating himself now. We thought we were going to have enough peanut brittle left over for the missionaries tomorrow at district meeting, but Naeide wanted to take some home to Marcel. Even then there might have been enough, except Pres. Bolt loaded up a bag for her. This was all ok by us and it was fun to watch them enjoy it. We may take some of the coconut chew with us tomorrow instead. We do have enough to eat in the van with the AP’s and DL’s on our way to Luzern tomorrow. Elders Pine and Middleton (from England) don’t know what peanut brittle is either. After tomorrow they will.

Just another side note. We’ve been invited the celebrate Christmas Eve with the member family Schmid and Christmas a little late with the Mueller-Russo’s on the 26th. Members are so good to us.

NOVEMBER 29, 2008 SATURDAY

This morning we met with Fabian because he wanted us to help translate his book from German to English. We spent about an hour and a half at the church using his laptop to do the work. We read a sentence or paragraph and then the three of us would wordsmith until we caught the meaning of what Fabian wanted to say. And then we would move on. We managed to get a few pages done and then decided we’d had enough for the time being. We kind of have a flavor of how we should proceed with the translation. We also wanted to get in on the last of the street display at Bahnhof Oerlikon and see our contact there, the man who sold olive oil. First we went home and Fabian put his book on our laptop. Now we can work on it in our spare time at home.

We arrived at Bahnhof Oerlikon and tried to find Herr Fischer, but he had already packed up and gone home. We’ll have to try to find him on another Saturday. So we joined the other Elders and a few members passing out tracts and trying to talk to people as they hurried by. Before we knew the lady was a member from a different ward, as we turned around we saw her rummaging through our brochures and BM’s sitting on our display. Thinking she was just a passer-by we asked her if we could help her or answer any questions and she broke out laughing. She introduced herself to us and we had a laugh too. It was plenty cold on this day too, but not quite as cold as the other Saturdays. At 2:00 we packed it in and started on our way home. At Schwamendingenplatz where we change from bus to tram there was a flea market in progress. We strolled through looking at things, but it was like a garage sale at home after everyone had rummaged through them. We don’t need anything so it’s just interesting to go through and look. After that we went home and I spent a few hours translating Fabian’s book. And so ends another day.

NOVEMBER 30, 2008 SUNDAY

Today was a pretty full day which started with our 8:00 correlation meeting. These are always interesting because we get to find out about the progress of investigators etc. During our week we met Walter, an older member who has been totally inactive whom we wrote about in a previous entry. We asked the council members if anyone knew him. One knew of him, but for better information we were referred to Bro. Locher. He gave us some history about Walter and that he’d been totally inactive for at least fifteen years. We’ve decided we’ll take him a Christmas gift in a couple of weeks and see if he won’t let us be his friends. Evidently he lives alone and must be lonely. We learned that Naeide is still going to get baptized next Sunday. She has had some trials during the past weeks, but has been able to overcome them with great faith and determination. We also found out that Suki’s stepdaughter will be baptized Dec. 6th in our stake center although she’s a member of another ward. So good things are happening in this part of the vineyard.

After the block of meetings we talked with Sister Ryser and offered our services at her daughter’s wedding on the 12th of December. We are going to help in the kitchen as well as bring brownies. After that we went home for a couple of hours to wait for the activities scheduled for this afternoon at 4:00. Elder Pine kept calling us to find out information on people he and Elder Middleton were trying to find and contact. It seems as if we have become the clearing house for information on less-active members for elders and the Bishopric. At 4:00 there were three different things going on at the church: a baptism of a young boy from a different ward (primary room), a Young Single Adult fireside (chapel and cultural hall) and a music/talent event (Relief Society room). We chose to begin in the music/talent activity because George and Naeide asked us to and we wanted to support them. George was taking requests from those present and Diana had him play some of her favorites which include The Girl From Epanema, The Entertainer, Take Five and Aquarius. She asked him to play the Flight of the Bumblebee, but he said he hadn’t practiced that one for a long time. One lady sang two songs who had a very beautiful voice. Her husband played the saxophone like a professional. Naiede sang the two songs in Portuguese she’s going to sing at her baptism. Sister Brigitte played the piano also. Norma and Denise, who we celebrated Thanksgiving with, were there too. It was just a nice enjoyable evening. While we were there, we met a less-active member who we had met while finding and searching, but hadn’t actually been able to visit with yet. We also met the mother of an active member who, when we called her on the phone, said we weren’t welcome and that she had returned to her Catholic faith. It was good to meet them and talk with them a little bit and try to build a relationship. The music was beautiful and near the end it turned into a sing-a-long including Christmas hymns. Part way through Elder Elend came and got Naeide so she could witness the baptism to prepare her for her own next Sunday. After the baptism we went back into the music/talent activity. It is such a joy to be in the midst of such wonderful faithful people.

After the activities were over we offered to walk Naeide home. Of course she invited us in and we spent a couple of pleasant hours talking about this and that with her and Marcel. Naeide is taking a course in Cosmetology and needs people to practice on at school so she talked Diana into being a model for facials etc. Diana is not too excited about this, but she is prepared to do most anything within reason to further the work here. We finally bid adieu and went home. No sooner did we get home when Elder Pine called again and reported his activities of trying finding the members he’d asked us about earlier and also to give us our assignments for Tuesday’s district meeting. He calls us every Sunday evening to get a report on our missionary statistics for the week. This time the district meeting is going to be in Luzern where the sister missionaries are stationed. Diana’s assignment is to teach/memorize the scripture, and I have the assignment to talk about my work at the Utah State Prison and relate that to missionary work. That’s a strange one and I’m not sure how this will all work out. Finally, Diana and I looked for things to do on our P-day tomorrow. And this ends this day in the life of two missionaries.