We delivered 2008 Christmas cookies even if it was in January of 2009
Lausanne Stake sends out a great young missionary: Today was the final Sunday for Mikaël Mayer before he leaves for his mission to Toulouse, France. Thus we drove up to Renens for his talk in that ward. He had also arranged a choir piece (which he conducted) from 2 or 3 hymns – beautifully done. This was in addition to his successfully defending his master’s thesis in the theoretical mathematics of computers being able to program other computers. And he’s enthusiastic and pleasant to talk with; at age 23, he’ll be a great missionary.
If a pilot hits this crane, it's his own fault
The “eyes” have it; or is it the ears? (This is also the week for some obtuse introductory captions.) Monday’s District meeting emphasized the importance of service, even if the recipients seem to remain unreceptive to being taught. For missionaries, who are sent forth to teach, that can be a challenge, but the friendships built over the longer term will eventually result in doors being opened for those who are prepared. Dede was very happy to be able to speak French well enough to make appointments over the phone with the ophthalmologist (re a spot in her right field of vision) (the first one she called was not available until May; the next was available 18 Feb, but the 3rd had a vacancy the very next day)
and with the hairdresser for Thursday. Another Tuesday highlight was having the washing machine repairman come and replace the broken shock absorbers that are supposed to cushion the spinning drum. He finished just in time for us to dash off to the missionary correlation meeting with Fr Gillet (without dinner). Wednesday, Dede learned that her retina is fine, but part of aging seems to be the onset of some mild “macular degeneration.” At least that’ what she thought the doctor said. She may try to get a 2nd opinion – maybe in Feb.Does hanging Christmas trees upside down make you an athiest?
Christmas decorations in downtown Geneva: from the non-sublime ridiculous to the understated ridiculous
For us seniors, you don’t have to be a “78” to do record preservation: At French class with Elder Doyle, we were introduced to a new senior couple, Elder and Sister Asay. They will live in Lausanne and will do genealogical record preservation for the Swiss Canton of Vaud – and some missionary things as they have time (after their at least 40-hour work week). He’s a former French missionary and taught French in American Fork High School (Utah); she speaks no French, but will try to learn as quickly as possible. We had to dash off at 1:30 to meet a nonmember lady named Evelyn who had asked for some help in learning how to do family history research. Dede introduced her to a couple of people at the stake family history center, but unfortunately, one was a nonmember, and the other merely gave us an 800 number to call plus an internet address to get help by telephone or computer. Nevertheless, we were able to give her a pamphlet that describes the general process.
A Bern bear wonders why this guy took his Halloween mask
They say “speed kills,” but even if it doesn’t, it can sure cost a lot: Thursday, to celebrate the repair of the washing machine, we did 7 loads of laundry before going out to the church offices in Thoiry to see Br Aubin regarding a couple of speeding tickets I’d “earned” – both on Sunday, October 18, one on the way up to church services with the young adults in Moudon, and the other on the way back as we were hurrying to get to Geneva where I was to teach Sunday School. (As someone said, no good deed goes unpunished) After learning that the first ticket (18 km over the limit) would cost 240 francs and that the 2nd might cost many times more (23 km over) plus a court appearance and possible loss of driving privileges for 1 to 3 months (fortunately Sister Hinman would still be able to drive) we returned home to do some grocery shopping and get gas for Friday’s trip to Yverdon. That evening, Dede helped Sonia prepare some family names for Saturday’s temple trip. As they were finishing, in walked Sister Miranda. She also had a couple of names she wanted help to prepare, for her own mother, and for an aunt. The miracle here was that we are almost NEVER at the Center on Thursday, but she had felt (was inspired) that she ought to try, and there we were. Also, had she been 10 minutes later in coming, we’d already have left. The corrections were made, the pages printed, and we then gave her a ride back to her place. After we let her off, we drove around a bit to see if there were a shorter way home – there wasn’t, but we made it safely back by around 11:30 pm.
In Bern, chimneys are capped with wee houses
Record preservation can also apply to the Hinmans' surviving long enough to write this blog: Friday, it took the first 3 hours or so of the day to review and make corrections (I only found 8) to the final draft of the 44 page patent application that needed to be submitted later in the day by the folks back at the University of Toledo. I was very happy that they had included data from the manuscript that had just been submitted to the Journal of Urology for publication. That afternoon, as snow was starting to fall, we drove up to Lausanne to see if we could pay the fine for the first of the 2 speeding tickets. In spite of having printed out a map and directions to what I thought was the “Bureau of Radar” and our having plugged the destination into our GPS system, the address was incomplete. We had arrived by 4:10 pm (per phone that a.m., they said they closed at 4:30), but after failing to find the place, we searched until 5:30 for a post office where we might make the payment – all to no avail. By now it was not only snowing more heavily, but it had become so foggy we could hardly see any street signs. As we got onto the freeway and tried to head north to Yverdon, two lanes went off to the right to go back to Geneva, and only one lane went left and north. Unfortunately, as we came around the bend and realized we’d have to get into the far left lane, we saw that the traffic was completely stopped in that lane – perhaps due to the icy road conditions. I signaled, and pulled over and stopped behind the last car – but the car behind me was NOT happy – since he had to find a way to go around us without hitting us – in the snow covered road. We felt blessed not to have been hit, and we made it safely to Yverdon. After the young adult council meeting, institute classes, an activity and cleanup, we headed home. Roads were fairly clear, and again we arrived around 11:30 pm.
Sister Hinman and Vivienne, the Chinese plastic surgeon baptized 11 Jan 2009, who asks in 2010 if we're planning our trip to China yet
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