APRIL 17, 2009 FRIDAY

We invited Helena Roffler and Heinz and Lily Locher for dinner tomorrow at 12:30. Since the Lochers are friends with Silvana Gianatti, a less-active member, we asked them to invite her and bring her with them because we felt it would be more likely that she would come. It turned out she turned the offer down. Sister Roffler said she wouldn’t be able to come, but made arrangements to come anyway. She’s a sister who lost her husband seven months ago and the bishop asked us to look after her a little bit to help her with her loneliness. Helena and Heinz are brother and sister. The Lochers have had us over to their place a couple time for dinner so we thought we’d return the favor. We wanted Brigitta, Helena’s daughter, to come also, but she was working and couldn’t get off.

Today we delivered invitations to Rene’ Gysler, Patricia Pacutto, Henry Otth, Gerde Schroeder, Hildegunde Schroeder, and Franz Bannwart. The only one we found home was Brother Bannwart and he didn’t have time to talk to us. We only got to say a few words over the speaker system. When we started out, it looked pretty bleak as it was raining and blowing. Throughout the day there were periods of sunshine and nice weather, and then a storm would blow in and it would be cold and rainy for awhile. We came back home for a few minutes while Elder Pine and Elder Harris used the computer to print off another lesson from the Portuguese PMG for another lesson with Solange. Her baptism is still on for Sunday evening. After they left, we went back out to deliver a birthday gift to Marco Lechmann thinking we were late enough in the day (6:15 pm) that he’d be home from work. He wasn’t home and it was a disappointment for us not to be able to meet him and his wife. We made it back to Migros just in time to pick up a few things for tomorrow’s dinner.

We were also able to plant two of the tomatoes in pots to put out on our balcony. We’ve never grown plants in containers before, so we hope this will give us some fresh tomatoes this summer. We need to buy more potting soil and some other types of plants too. It’s still early, but we can bring them in at night so they won’t freeze.

No we didn't buy or eat the horse steaks although we hear they are good and very healthy. We borrrowed the photo from Elder Ehlen and Elder Roberts who bought them and ate them and said they were delicious. You might have noticed the price was about $15.00 a pound.

elder & Sister Larson; real honest to goodness horse meat steaks.


APRIL 16, 2009 THURSDAY

This morning we baked some brownies for Urs Wichtermann because it was his birthday today. He was released as bishop of the ward last year and, after we gave him the brownies, we talked to him and his wife about a couple of members who we didn’t know. One was Simon Andrea who Brother Kummer told us about yesterday. Urs told us he had moved to Winterthur but, because we found his name on the internet phone book white pages, we decided to go to the address just to make sure. The other name, Marco Lechmann, was on the ward newsletter birthday list. We found out he moved into the ward with his wife a couple of months ago. His birthday is tomorrow so we hope to meet him then.

Elder Pine was still trying to resolve the problem with his portable hard drive. He came over and used our phone again, but had no luck with the warranty. The person he talked to did help him to figure out a way to download the information from it to our laptop and then transfer it to a new portable hard drive. The problem was he needed a cord in order to transfer the data. We told him where there was a computer store not far from here so they went there to see if they had one. Instead of having to buy one for 60sfr. they let him borrow one for free. He downloaded the information and when they left, we left also to go find Simon Andrea. It was raining and cold when we went outside, so I went back in a got an umbrella. We wished we would have gotten our coats too. We took tram #9 to Luchwiesenstrasse then walked to the address. Urs was correct in that Simon didn’t live at the address anymore. We walked back to the tram stop, but just missed our tram. There was a nursery right there so we went in to see if they had any plants to plant in a garden. Low and behold, they did! We bought three tomato plants and wanted to buy some cucumbers, squash and maybe some others, but they didn’t have any of those. They said they would have some in by Saturday. We hopped back onto the tram and went to Schwamendingen where we got off. We had a dinner appointment with the Viegas-Hawes family tonight and wanted to buy something to take with us. It seems it’s customary to bring something (drinks or a dessert etc.) as a thank you for the invitation. We bought a nice chocolate cake. We also bought a bag of potting soil for the tomatoes and then went on home. Shortly thereafter we left for the appointment in Binz.

We left a little early just in case we had bad connections with the trams and buses. It turned out we had no problems and so had time to kill because we were advised not to arrive before 7:00 which is when the two small children would be in bed. We got off two stops before the one we needed and spent some time in a Denners grocery store mostly killing time while staying warm and out of the rain. We bought a few things just to be polite, but we also bought an umbrella to replace the one that was stolen some months ago. We finally found one cheap enough (9sfr.). We arrived at just the right time and spent a very enjoyable evening getting to know Tony & Julienna, as well as eating their delicious dinner. She prepared a curry sauce with chicken over rice which was spicy, but very good. For dessert we had crepes with melted chocolate over which went fresh strawberries and bananas. It was delicious also. Our spiritual thought was one on faith and enduring to the end. We used the burning of the tea bag as the object lesson. It is always impressive as an illustration if it goes as it should, and this time it worked to perfection. They wanted to drive us home because it was late, but we declined and took the bus/trams and got home at 10:00.

L: crowds at the zoo; M: Diana, Gita and Robert; R: Kurt & Gitta Kummer









APRIL 15, 2009 WEDNESDAY

This morning when we woke up we were still worried about what to do about Sister Martin and her house cleaning project. We called the Zone Leaders and they said they couldn’t help because they would be in Arau for a district meeting there. Next we called the AP’s and asked for their help. They said they could help and would try and help Elder Norris figure out how to do it on that day. Later on Elder Norris called and told us the good news that next week’s district meeting could be a district service project at Sister Martin’s mother’s home cleaning it out for her. I called Sister Martin and told her the good news and it was a big relief to her to have help with this project because there’s no way she and her husband would be able to do it alone. Sometime during that day Elder Norris said we will have lunch and a spiritual thought etc. so it can be counted as a district meeting. This morning we also did some work on updating the member list and getting a lesson ready for Kurt & Gita Kummer with whom we had an appointment at 3:00. We also did our wash which was a morning long project and then the drying which went into the early afternoon.

We left for our appointment, but on the way there we made a visit to Sister Tilgner to take her a birthday gift. She wasn’t home so we left it on her door and continued on to the Kummers. They are always fun to visit even though she has many health problems and can’t get around very easy. She said she’s only been outside the house once this year and that was for the blessing of their new grandchild last January. We gave them a lesson on the mission of Jesus Christ and made a comparison between Him and Satan, using the same “Bird Cage” story and the story of the anti-Christ Korihor in Alma chapter 30. Diana gave her part in German. Before, during and after the lesson did very good in conversing with them in German. They understood everything she said and she understood most of what they were saying too. They naturally speak very clearly and slower than most Swiss which helped her and me a lot. Sister Kummer wanted a photo of us together with her so we took photos with her camera and ours. While we were there, Brother Kummer asked us if we had visited Simon Andrea whom he said was once a member of our ward, but didn’t know his status now. He said Simon lived not far from where they lived. Simon is not on either of our member lists and we hadn’t heard of him before. Following that visit we came home and looked him up on the internet and found his name, address and phone number. We’ll try and get some information on him in correlation meeting next Sunday before we try and visit him.

Elder Pine called and asked if he could use our home telephone to call the company where he bought his portable hard drive because the pin where you plug in the cord had come loose. He took it to a repair place here in Zurich, but they told him it would cost a thousand dollars to get it fixed unless he could arrange the repair through the warranty where he bought it. He was unsuccessful in reaching the company tonight because it was after hours, so he wants to try again tomorrow. All his photos etc. from the beginning of his mission until now are on this hard drive and he hopes he hasn’t lost it all. That would be heart wrenching to say the least. Diana fixed dinner for them while they were on the way here, but they had just come from a dinner appointment. This is probably only the second time they have come here and not been hungry.

I forgot to write in yesterday’s journal entry that Diana called Suwang to see if she would be released from the hospital on the 15th which is today. Suwang told her the hospital staff was unable to find an in-home physical therapist in her area to help her after she was released, so they decided to keep her in the rehab hospital for another week. That means we’ll be able to visit her at least one more time in that pretty part of the country.

: Elders Harris & Pine, Solang, Patricia (hidden) Elder Evans, George Wimalasuriya, Charlotte in front; M: Christ healing the blind; R: Faith.










APRIL 14, 2009 TUESDAY

This morning began with district meeting at the Church here in Schwamendingen. There were two object lessons given that we wanted to write in our journal so as not to forget them. The first is related to our missionary work and illustrates the principle of teach-to-find as outlined in the Preach My Gospel book. The teach to find method is like a sandwich made of a slice of bread on the bottom and a slice of bread on the top. In between are condiments, lettuce, ham, turkey and cheese. The way you put the sandwich together is first a slice of bread (teach a principle), bear testimony (slice of ham), bear testimony (slice of turkey), and last another slice of bread (a different principle of the gospel). The condiments (mustard & mayonaise) and lettuce go anywhere to improve the sandwich. The way this works is the first missionary approaches a person and begins with teaching a principle and then bearing testimony. His companion then bears testimony again and then teaches another principle. You add substance to the principles by adding the condiments and lettuce to the sandwich (explain the principle in more detail). Once you get through making one sandwich, you can add another to it and make a Dagwood sandwich. The way the sisters emphasized this teach-to-find principle was to give each element of the sandwich a number; bread #1, ham #2 etc. Each person had a dice and needed to roll a #1 first to start your sandwich. The others could come in any order except the last one had to be the number for the 2nd piece of bread to finish the sandwich. The first one done with a complete sandwich was the winner.

The other principle that was taught was tithing. When teaching an investigator, open a bag of M&M’s and count ten into his hand. Ask him to give you one back while explaining that tithing is one tenth and he still has nine left in his hand. Then after reading the scripture about the windows of heaven being opened and blessing being poured out such that one can’t receive them all, ask him to put his two hands together. Once he has done that, pour the rest of the contents of the bag into his hands and there should be enough that he can’t hold them all and they spill over the top.

After district meeting was over we chose the names of three people to look for this afternoon, Kaylina Graf, Sybil Oberli and Werner Buehlmann. We’ve tried Werner many times before and thought we’d try him again because Kaylina lives near him. He wasn’t home again. Kaylina is a new person off our member list that had been crossed off by the earlier missionaries as having moved. Diana got the feeling we ought to check it out for ourselves, so we did, and found she still lives there, but was not home today. At least we know she lives there, so we’ll keep trying until we catch her home. We met Sybil in Church last Sunday, but didn’t have a chance to visit with her so we wanted to get to know her a little better. She wasn’t home, but we got to talk to her mother for a minute. She said she’d be home on Saturday.

Cornelia called this morning during district meeting and invited us to dinner tonight at 5:30. We already had an appointment with Charlotte at 5:00 to continue the German/English learning with Diana. I made the decision and Diana laater agreed it would be better to continue our fellowshipping of Cornelia than to do the language thing. After we left Sybil’s home we had time to go back home for a minute and then go to Charlotte’s for about 20 minutes. We tried to call Charlotte a couple of times throughout the day to change the time or cancel, but she never answered her phone. She is great and didn’t feel slighted when we had to leave so quick. Rather than using the few minutes to do language, she showed us photos of the Matterhorn and the schedule she had organized to go there next Monday. She is just so excited to show us as much of Switzerland as she can. She also told us she was having a dinner on Saturday evening and asked us if we were coming. We told her we didn’t know about it and so she invited us on the spot. She then counted seats to make sure there was enough room for us, and there was. We asked her if she could afford to sponsor all of these meals because it’s not cheap. She said if she ran out of money, she would go out on the street and sing for donations. We at least talked her into letting us bring a salad.

Cornelia had a simple, but delicious bologna vegetable salad prepared for us and we supplied the dessert. We had a good visit and found that she only had a very basic understanding of the Church doctrines. She agreed to let us teach her, not only to help her understand the gospel better, but to give us practice in teaching the lessons. We stayed there as long as we could and then went on our way to Institute. It’s always good to be with the youth as they meet and participate in the classes. We enjoy talking to them and the adults that are there during the social (with food) after the classes are over.

One more thing needs to be included in this entry. Sister Daniela Martin called us to see if we could organize as many missionaries as possible for next Tuesday to help her clean out her mother’s apartment. Her mother died a month ago and she says everything has to go. She ordered two dumpsters already for next Tuesday at 8:00 am and needs help loading them. The only problem is our district meetings are always on Tuesday. We called our district leader tonight and asked him if it would be possible to move the meeting to another day in order to help Sister Martin. He said he would try. Daniela said her brother, who is a non-member, will be there and it will be a good opportunity to try to fellowship him. We’ll see what happens.

Robert satnding in front of aquarium; Robert & Diana standing by the biggest bird you'll ever see; Robert holding Faith, Elder Jensen, Dorkus, Elder Evans.










APRIL 13, 2009 MONDAY

P-day again already? Elders Pine & Harris came at 9:30 and did their emails etc. on our computer. Diana fixed Elder Harris some lunch, but Elder Pine didn’t want to eat anything before they played soccer. At about 12:00 Elders Norris and Carrier dropped in to eat their lunch. These two brought their lunch with them which is very unusual. All of the missionaries met in the soccer field down the road a few blocks to play soccer for their P-day, while we went to the zoo with Charlotte. It was a holiday today so the zoo was packed with so many people it was hard to see the exhibits or even move around very easily. It’s the same with every zoo we’ve been to, so little room for the animals that you feel sorry for them. We walked around until we were tired and ended with the best part and that was a rain forest under a very large dome. Inside it was very humid and warm, but the plants were big and thick. There were various animals, birds, reptiles and other tropical animals and wildlife, most of it unseen.

We left the zoo intending to ride to the Zurich bahnhof with Charlotte who was going to buy some bread and other things for the FHE tonight. As we got close to the bahnhof we realized we had agreed to team teach an investigator of Elders Evans & Jensen this afternoon at 6:00. It was already 5:10 when we remembered. They were supposed to call us and tell us what they were going to teach and give us an assignment, but they didn’t. We called them and they said the appointment was still on and would we teach the importance of prophets and the priesthood. We quickly explained to Charlotte we couldn’t stay with her, got off on the next stop and took a tram back to our place. We arrived at 5:35, quickly changed, reviewed the lesson and then walked to the Church where the meeting was going to be. We were the first ones there even though we arrived one minute late, but I checked the class rooms just in case they were already teaching in one of them. When I got back, the investigator, Dorkus, had arrived and was talking to Diana. She had her little daughter, Faith, with her. She’s probably one and can’t talk yet, but she is very sociable and really cute. Elders Evans & Jensen arrived , we found a room and taught her the first lesson. We bore testimony of Christ and that his true gospel waas restored through Joseph Smith and that the priesthood is again on the earth today. She is one of these golden investigators we hear about all the time, but don’t usually see. Elder Jensen challenged her to baptism and she accepted the challenge and said she would, when she received a testimony that the Church is true.

Following the lesson we had just enough time to go home, change, get our things for FHE and leave. Before we left, however, Elders Pine & Harris stopped in to check to see if the Ward Mission Leader had receive their email arranging Solange’s baptism next Sunday. They said it was unsuccessful so they had to resend it. We couldn’t wait for them to finish so we left them there while we went to FHE. They came a while later, but said they hadn’t finished. It was Juerg’s birthday so just light desserts wouldn’t do. They had arranged an outdoor BBQ with bratwurst and big fat hotdogs as well as the trimmings. It was very good and by the time we finished, it was very cool. We moved the group inside to Charlotte’s apartment which made it very cozy. We gave our lesson on the Atonement and the group became reverent and reflective as the story progressed and continued with the anti-Christ Korihor in Alma 30 in the Book of Mormon. After we were through Pres. Bolt was very complimentary and wanted a copy of the story of the Bird Cage. The FHE came to a close and Elders Pine & Harris went back to our apartment to finish and when we left, we walked Naeide home. Of course she invited us in for a minute because she had made a scrapbook of her conversion/baptism and wanted us to look at it. It was already late and we didn’t want to stay, but how can you say no? At 10:00 Elder Pine called us and wanted to know when we were getting home. They had been waiting there until we got home so they could give us our keys back. We already had a set and told them to lock up and put the keys in the mailbox. We used this interruption as a graceful way to leave and go home. We got home a little after 10:00 which is way too late. Now it’s 11:45 and this entry is finished. Good night.