"45 Minutes, all to myself!"

January 31st

How does God always know what we need? My heart was heavy all morning in the greenhouse, and I was hiding it to the best of my ability. Perhaps it was because I was not singing, but Rahel somehow knew and gave me a good hug and told me she was praying. Then I went back to my room to change for lunch, and as I unlocked the door, there I saw propped up against it some high quality Swiss chocolate. I picked it up, and there was a verse printed out, and a note from Herr Jegge that said, “Dear Rebecca, have a blessed day!” He had no idea about my struggles, but listened to the Lord, and God used him to bless me in such an incredible way.

I have been learning so much from so many little things. As I have been planting the tiny seeds in the greenhouse, I have to be so precise. Each seed is so incredibly small, and I have to count. The verse often goes through my head; “He who is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.” And the mountains have been hidden for the past few days as it is rainy and gray and cloudy. But I know they are still faithfully there, looming as majestically as ever, whether I see them or not. And they are like the Lord. Sometimes there are clouds in my life, so heavy and thick. To my sight, there are no mountains, just rain and fog and drizzle. But God remains there, true and faithful, even when I do not see any sign of Him, the reality remains. I need to trust Him in times of gloomy weather that He is right where I saw Him last, by my side, and He will meet each and every need, and work everything for my good.

Last but not least, I am amazed at all the cutting, cutting, cutting that we have to do to the plants. It is for their own good, to get thicker and stouter and have more blooms, but it feels so brutal to -even on the smallest little cuttings- slice away spurts of growth, to make the plant grow all over again. Hmm…reminds me of the way God often works.

After lunch today Grandpa Lippuner came and sat down by me. He has been teaching the Bible School students up in Hasliberg the hymn we taught him. He has such a burden for my complete healing, and said he has been praying for me. He reminded me again that for those who love the Lord, He WILL work everything together for their good. We talked about how much better you can relate to others who are suffering when you have been through something yourself, and how God will strengthen and purify our faith through sorrows in our lives.

Grandpa told me how up until he was 60, he was completely healthy and could run and play games with the young people. But when he was dealing with low blood pressure, he fell over 3 meters off of a roof onto his head. The doctor told his wife that if he even lived, he would be 95% gone in his mind. After being in a coma for 9 days, he awoke, and is now almost completely healed. But after he has been sick and has had physical problems, he feels he can relate so much better to others who are hurting. That man is such an incredible blessing to me, I am so happy I got to meet him!

9:44 Tonight I told Hannah a whole bunch of my sister Hannah’s embarrassing moment stories, and we were literally rolling on the floor laughing through tears. Hannah Loewen gets this silent laugh when it’s really funny, and mine gets louder! She said I should wear a patch that says “Warning: sudden loud explosive laughter may emerge at any given time!”. We have so much fun together.

I should continue describing my friends here….

Manfred and Heidi Roth (40’s) they have 3 children, and do not speak English very well, or I would know them better! But they are faces that I see regularly.

Urs and Ursula Fischer…(late 30’s) got married about 7 years ago. Urs recently fell a short distance and hurt his leg badly, and has been limping around! I have not seen him much because they are on a holiday, but Ursula I have described before to you. She is ALWAYS happy, and serving people, and wearing traditional clothing. She is the one who “taught” me how to clean a shower. They are coming home this weekend I believe.

Pia Hfeli (37) is the one who fetched us at the airport when we arrived. She has almost Irish coloring with white skin, black (graying) hair, and freckles. She always wears colors that look fabulous on her. She is the main office lady, and carries a phone with her, and often jumps up and runs off to answer it at any given time. We always have to ask her about everything. Pretty much the answer to any question is, “You’ll have to ask Pia”. She is very single, and knows many languages, and has been here for like 14 years. She is also very tall and has a large presence. I love her laugh, it makes you feel all happy inside.

There are a few more single ladies that do not know English, so I only know their names and faces. Eveline (late 40’s, separated) works in the flower shop, Anita Widmer (early 40’s) works with the guests and in the laundry, and Marti (70’s) is in the laundry.

February 2nd

Today the Guetli held a huge feast/celebration/party for all the local community that often come to help out here. (At times a young mother will come to help with laundry and ironing, and her little kids will help in various places where they can. Then of course, there are the grandpas that work in the greenhouse, or the retired baker that comes in once a week. It was for people like this that the party was held, in thankfulness.) They have been planning and preparing for it for days, and I got to work inside all day today, helping.

Zita and Ursula wanted me to help them serve, and that was it! At breakfast they announced what the jobs would be for everyone, and when they said I was to serve, Manual thought maybe I shouldn’t because I do not speak German, (this was all interpreted to me) but when the time came, they told me to change into something nice, and I was to be their “right hand man”. They said it is because I work in a coffee house, and am aware when things need to be refilled, and they also noticed that I like serving the tables at mealtimes. It was a lot of fun, and I was surprised how many people I knew already! Their were 170 people, guests and all. I took a lot of pictures. They had a song by the Guetli choir, a really funny skit, a game, a children’s song, and a short devotional.

For the game, they had a picture of several co-workers as a 2 year old, and you had to guess who was who. Out of the 20 shown, I had 11 right! I was pretty proud of that after only 3 weeks!

Marcel (whom I am still trying to decide if I like after all) read a story for the skit, which was so funny that Cornelia could scarcely interpret for me because she was laughing so hard, and they were doing things so fast. They are so creative! Marcel picked random people out of the crowd to be the subjects of the fairy tale, and had them sit on chairs 2 or 3 abreast train style. Then he named them, and whenever their name came up, they were to jump up and run around their chair and sit again. I don’t know if I described it well, but it was hysterical! I will post some pictures of it.

It was a real feast. We had the whole gas lit fancy buffet pans, filled with all kinds of interesting food. And the desserts… that retired baker is way too cute. He can make the most amazing looking (and tasting!) desserts. He had a long nut roll shaped like a fish, among other wonders. Again, I took some pictures so you could see it. I love the way they decorate here. Each place setting had a fancy paper napkin folded fancy, with a small glass upside down and a foil chocolate on it, flowers scattered on the table, and candles.

We had a fun surprise yesterday, Thea and Elvira came down from Hasliberg for the weekend. We did not meet Elvira the first time we were up there, she is one of the 8 Bible School students, and I think she is lovely. She has auburn hair, a round face with imbedded dimples, and is very graceful. Whenever I see her I start singing, “Oom, papa, oom papa, mow mow…Elvira!” and she never gets it. :P

In the evening after eating ONCE AGAIN, Hannah and I bundled up and headed out for a night walk. It is so cool to see the villages on top of the mountains because when it is foggy and dark, you do not see the mountain, only clouds, and then there are these lights twinkling in the sky from out of nowhere, it seems. When we came back, the Zurichhaus was all lit up, and we could see people on all 4 floors doing different things. I told Hannah, “Let’s spy on Guetli at night!!” and so we sat under a dark tree and watched everyone. It was WAY too fun, just the sort of immature thing I would do with Anna. In the basement where we have church and banquets, Ulrich, Mirjam’s Simon, and a boy named David were all practicing brass. Ulrich plays trombone, Simon the tuba, and David trumpet. They were having difficulties, to Hannah’s amusement. She laughs at the same things that Mom or Betty would.

Then just up above in a private room you could see Emmanuel and Lydia just sitting and visiting having quality dad/daughter time. Up above them were Rahel, Eva, Daniela, Rebecca S, and Thea all around a table organizing something for a program today. Ruedi was everywhere, appearing first here and then there, and we could see Thomas in the dining room. Suddenly Rahel jumps up and opens the window, and I told Hannah, “Oh, now we can eavesdrop!” and then remembered it would be German. We also saw several people run from building to building, which was entertaining as well. They all have such distinctive personalities and ways of walking. Hannah laughs so hard when I imitate people to her at night.

We decided to sneak into the kitchen and snatch a few dessert leftovers and some tea for our room, and everyone else had the same idea. Zita, Eveline, Tabitha and Elisabeth brought out the best moussy dessert, and stood guard over it while they ate! We had no chance! Thankfully I had stashed a pear in Hannah’s pocket before they entered the kitchen, and as she stood innocently visiting, I smothered a laugh at the large protrusion by her waist - she had forgotten it! We really do not have to sneak, we really could have anything if we wanted, but there is something fun about seeing what we can get away with. We came back to our room and laughed and laughed with Rahel and Katja about the day, and looked through all of my pictures.

February 3rd

Hani and I had the morning all to ourselves because there is a busy afternoon planned and most of the staff was headed to visit a church community in the village. So after breakfast, I made us something special to drink, and we went to our room. I was SO ready for a good coffee I almost cried. They had the reheated coffee again this morning, and I know it is not very missionary of me, but anyone who loves coffee would understand that that is something you just don’t do! So I made a sort of espresso with instant coffee in the bottom of our mugs, and then frothed some milk in a steaming pitcher, (what a great sound!) plopped some chocolate in the bottom of our cups, and voila!

We sat and went brutally through my pictures, deleting and flipping them and such. I never have time for such things! Then we bundled up and walked into Mettmenstetten. It was a good hour’s walk by the time we returned, and we were a little late for lunch. Now we are in our room again, and I am attempting to finish this so I have something to post soon. Apparently Pia has to be in the office when we are, and she didn’t have time yet, so we are waiting until later.

There is “Guetli afternoon” today which is every 2 weeks. I think it consists of testimonies and singing and a message, and tonight Hani and I are invited to the Hages for fondue! I need to go rest now for a bit before then. It will be another late night, I think!

February 4th

It was a late night, and a fun one! We all packed around their table and ate and ate and ate fondue until we were stuffed! Every time I have had it here, we eat the Gerber fondue/wine cheese, and you dip brown bread, pickles, and radishes in it. We also had pickled zucchini last night as well. After supper we ladies all sat around on the floor and discussed beliefs and our families, and I began to imitate the people of Guetli. They were rolling on the floor laughing (since they were down there already) and could not believe how many little things we pick up on. It was so much fun, I love getting to know people better.

9:17pm “Splish splash I was takin‘ a bath…” I needed to get some peppy music playing so that I would be inspired to write, but poor Hannah (I call her Hani for short now) did not like my music. I sang “149 is the school for me” really loud, and she didn’t like that either. So now it is a nice rumba, and I think she is content. I nicely informed her that if she really wanted, she could stand behind me and rub my shoulders and be able to read what I write, but instead she stole my Zebra pen, and went off to her bed to write. She always takes my pen! I keep finding her new ones to try, but she abandons them and mine is found missing. Anyway, what shall I tell you now?

We are planning a special meal this weekend for our favorites. I found a big common room in one of the buildings that is like a library and has a large table and a fireplace, and since we do not have a private dining area, we are going to have Natti, Rahel and Simon, and Moris there for supper! I have a whole meal planned, and am getting really excited about cooking again. It has been so long since I made a small regular meal that was not dictated to me what I need to do. I really hope it turns out. I have to convert things to the metric system.

Today we had SO much chocolate! Every morning we make a new year’s resolution that we won’t have any today, but then we do, and confess in the evening. Some dear person put DARK chocolate out for Tsfirie in the greenhouse this afternoon. Wow, it was so good! It put me in a zany mood for Tsfirie, though. I have been working on transplanting the seeds I have planted the past few weeks. They sprout so fast! I was also pruning geraniums.

Did I tell you that the road is about 20 feet or less from our window? It is a very busy road, with cars streaking past all the time. We have learned to ignore the sounds. Tonight after the evening service Sarah asked us if we would like to help her sing the guests awake in the morning, and we agreed, and worked on a song for the next half hour. She plays guitar so well! They all just keep coming out with amazing abilities along the instrument line.

OK, here are some funnies. The other day I was listening to Nati play piano. He is so good! I asked him how long he took lessons, and he casually goes, “Oh, 3 years.” I was amazed, and commented that he must have practiced a LOT every day. Again, very casual, “Oh, about ½ hour a day, and I had a ½ hour lesson every 2 weeks.” If you heard this guy, you would not believe it. I just glared at him, scooted my chair away and said dryly, “I don’t like you anymore.” A little later, he comes up to me, and asks, “So is this a typical American expression, ‘I don’t like you anymore’?” I began to laugh and apologize and tell him that it really isn’t nice, and I never should have said it, and he interrupts, “No, I like it!! It’s funny. It means you are jealous of me, right?” Later I heard him telling someone else about it in German. :P

So much of it is knowing their personalities. Daniela has this mug that is her favorite, and I try to bring it for her for the break times, and sometimes tease her and act like I will take it before her. (I am careful, though, she’s pretty strong!) The other day Simon came to spend Tsfirie in the greenhouse with us because he is gone studying so much and doesn’t see Rahel. It was also Marcel’s birthday. They were all in line for the hot water, and Daniela had a different mug. I held hers up to her, and she exclaims, “OH!”, and turns and without thinking or aiming, tosses her boiling hot water behind her on the ground. Simon (who is very…um, sincere and contemplative and dry) dashes out of the way, turns to me and with his teasing grin goes, “Now, there’s culture for you!” I laughed so hard, because it was the combination of their personalities, and having someone there that spoke my thoughts aloud in my language! I wish you could see Ulrich’s way of shrugging and grinning when he is telling a story. He showed me some pictures of his fiancée Dorothe. She is returning soon from Ethiopia, and he is excited!

February 6th

So yesterday we sang good morning to the guests. It was so much fun! I think that is such a creative way to wake your guests up. The halls really echo, so we had great acoustics. They all quickly open their doors, and a little girl came and sat on the floor in the hallway with her doll.

And something else special…we went swimming last night!! Inge invited us to go with her and the girls, so right after supper we left for Baar - about 6 kilometers away. It is a sister city to Zug. There was a nice indoor pool that was tiled, and had a strong current in it. The current was from a small shoot you can float through. The pool had unique lighting, almost fluorescent. They also had a wet sauna room that was heavy with wet steam. It was so thick that you could not see someone’s face 3 feet away, they were just a shadowy form. The air was tinted with peppermint and eucalyptus, and it felt so good on my stiff muscles! We would breathe deep and just relax in there, then go back to the pool to swim. We definitely knew we were in Europe when we got to the shower room, yikes! We ended the night in the kitchen eating fun stuff before bed, and ran into a lot of other people snacking in there.

This week has been busy in the greenhouse, lots and lots of transplanting. I love being out there so much! It is such a fun group, too. The snoonie and tsfirie times are so happy and relaxed and dirty. I got a package from home! It was so welcome, I was very happy for all that my family sent, especially the coffee and Ghirirdelli powder! Tonight I was put in charge of the photography for the mission night.

Well, I want to finish this up so that I can send it during my break time. I am sorry it has been about a week…hopefully not so long next time. Love from Switzerland!