Report of Jan 22, 2009.

Can't resist giving you another report of the day for 22 Jan 2009.

1. I've been meaning to put Greg and Ruth on my mailing list. As you may know, we had to have our computer “re-booted” back in November. There was a problem which required us to buy a new hard drive and much of the stuff we had on the old one did not get transferred to the new one, including several addresses. I'll put you guys's names in my address book before I send this.
This morning before starting our shift, I went over to the temple to pay our rent. We pay it in the office there rather than here in the Miss. Apt. Bldg. (MAB). They put me off. “Come back later” they said (nicely). So I did. Same thing: “Come and make your payment tomorrow” (again, nicely). It's incredible! No one is money-grabbing here. The level of trust is high, high, high! We'll *force * them to take our rent for Jan. tomorrow! The cost is 555 Swiss francs, about $525, since the Sw. Fr. is worth 90 cents. Like Mom says, I'm in “hog heaven!”

If we were busy yesterday, today was. . . *wow *! (Almost overwhelming!) I was taught how to give the new name, and did it about six times, in 4 languages, including English. (I wouldn't try to do it in Dutch, but I think I would in Portuguese!) Then I was shown how to do initiatories. I used only French in that, because it's a long ceremony and I can't speak very fast in German or Italian. Someone was there to “watch over me,” but he didn't seem to feel a need to correct me. There were a lot of them to do!!!! By the time we had done about 15 (I suppose), my back and feet were starting to say, “Hey, that's enough!” We kept on going, for probably another 15 more! Owww!

Then down to the baptistry. This time I didn't have to do much, just serve as a witness for the baptisms and recorder for the confirmations.

Then upstairs to the endowment room, where I served as a veil worker, again in three languages for about 5 patrons. One of them goofed up. Thankfully, there was a supervisor there to help me deal with the problem. I'll have to ask tomorrow what I would have done if the supervisor had not been near by.

We start at 11:45 am, and work through until about 4:30 pm. It's not a *long * day, but by the end of the initiatories, I was already tired. Came home, unwound, grabbed a bite to eat, and went shopping again, this time for jam and laundry soap (and a few other things). Yesterday we got French bread, and I simply want to have something on it (even if it's mayonnaise, but I prefer jam).

It seems to me that there really aren't a great many patrons here, and yet we're still busy most of the time. I can't imagine what it must be like in temples like West Jordan, where I hear it is going, going, going, all the time, with no let-up.

We met the Depierraz family, people we knew in summer of 1972 when we lived for 3 months in a suburb of Lausanne (Pully). They remembered that we had two little boys (Rod, 20 months and Eric 5 months), and that the diapers were terrible! Now their hair is almost as white as mine is.

9. Today at 7 p.m., our “landlord” (the person responsible for overseeing all the housing) came, at my invitation, to do a walk-through of the apartment. What a nice guy. He's a French speaker and he lives next door. We all three (he and we) inventoried everything and “checked it off.” . Most anyplace else, that would have to be done before we moved in. Not here. Wow!

10. Tomorrow is Friday, and it'll be along day. . . 1 p.m. until 9 p.m. I don't think I'll write tomorrow. I probably will write less next week.

11. Today, Mom did the new name, in English for Germans and in French, for French and Italians. She stood or sat in the hall or in the Celestial Room (just kinda like a “monitor.”) She went on the 3 p.m. session. Our “landlord” found out Mom does piano, and now he wants to get her to do the organ for the preparation / prayer meeting of both équipes (“shifts” in English, not “teams”) (of which there are two. . . one morning and one afternoon). We'll see if that happens.

Still got other things to do. Luv to all,
Dad / Gerry