Originally published 7 June 2010

Hey there everyone! I don’t have a lot of time to write at the moment, but we’ve done so much already! I’ll try to tell more about it all soon, but the highlights have been…

I was awake for almost 40 hours the first day (days? haha) because I didn’t sleep on the plane as I’d hoped I would–but I haven’t missed a minute! So what am I doing here? My Swiss friend Kaleb told me about his family is Switzerland, and I wanted to meet them and see how they operate out there at their church. His parents and two older brothers live out there, and he told me I should go visit–so here I am!

Ben Steinhauer (the middle of three sons) came and met me at the airport in Zurich on Saturday morning and bought me Starbucks and sprüngli (what a guy!), then his parents, two grandparents, and a couple of their friends and I went to the Alps for a rose festival in the Chur canton (like a state)… in the Swiss Alps! Oh my stars, it is SO amazing here!

After marveling at that and thoroughly enjoying some gelato, we went to Heidi’s village! Yes, Heidi from the books and movies. I’ll upload all the pictures asap, although I’m not sure how soon that will be–I need to get an outlet converter. =)

We got home late, but I slept SO well! We went to church for a potluck breakfast Sunday morning, and I got to meet some of the nicest people in the world! Ben helped translate the lessons and sermon for me during church, and I was able to sing along (in English) to a couple of the songs we sang. I love it! Even though I don’t speak Swiss German, I couldn’t help but love every minute of our time there. Being a Christian is wonderful (wünderbar!) because you have family everywhere you go. They have to really WANT to be Christians here. Faith is so real here. It’s the same faith, but it’s a different mentality.

After church we had a potluck lunch (yep! It’s just like a good ol’ Southern church family here–tons of food and get-togethers), and I got to meet Chris, Kaleb and Ben’s oldest brother. I am amazed at how alike these brothers are–it’s so funny!

We walked around Big Basel (the buildings here are from the 1300s and even earlier!), ate some ice cream, had McDonald’s (which was so much better than in America!), and went to see The Prince of Persia movie–in English but with German and French subtitles!). I love it all–everything is so different and it’s exciting!

Today I think we’re going to talk about the work here and how they became Christians. So much to see, so much to learn… and two more weeks to enjoy life in Switzerland!