Fri. Returned from Wimmis.
2 December 1905 – Saturday
Sat. 2nd Dec. Studied + went to Thun + Visited an ancient castle near Thun. It was very interesting. It is now used for a church. It was built in 1601.[N1]
3 December 1905 – Sunday
Sunday 3rd First day held meeting at Wimmis. Fraulein Toman of Thun was there, and we walked home togeather.
4 December 1905 – Monday
Monday 4th wrote letters home, Went to Thun in evening.[N2]
5 December 1905 – Tuesday
Tue. 5th Held Bible Class in Wimmis.
6 December 1905 – Wednesday
Wed. 6th Held Bible Class in Du[“]rrenast
7 December 1905 – Thursday
Thur. 7th Held Bible Class in Wimmis.
8 December 1905 – Friday
Friday morning visited Bro. Weber who is afflicted with consumption – administered to him, returned home to Durrenast same day.[N3]
9 December 1905 – Saturday
Saturday 9th Wrote letters[.] visited Bro. Luegenbihl stayed over night[N4]
[p. 21]
10 December 1905 – Sunday
came home Sunday 10th and held Sunday school + afternoon + evening meetings in Du[“]rrenast[.]
11 December 1905 – Monday
Monday studied and visited With [Lewers or Tewers or Sewers]
12 December 1905 – Tuesday
Tuesday went to Wattenw[i]l and held Bible class. Returned to Du[“]rrenast Land Yager [landjaeger] stoped us on the way and inquired about our buisness.[N5]
13 December 1905 – Wednesday
Pres. Mauss arrived in the evening Dec. 13th.
14 December 1905 – Thursday
Dec. 14th Held Bible Class in Wimmis. Went same night went to sit up with Bro. Weber who was very low with consumption, he passed away from this life quietly at […] 5 minutes past two.
15 December 1905 – Friday
Fri. 15th Dec. Bro. [John] Spr[i]nger + I washed and layed him out before going back to Thun.[N6]
16 December 1905 – Saturday
Sat. 16th studied.
17 December 1905 – Sunday
Sun. 17 Bro. [John] Spr[i]nger + I went to Wimmis to atend Bro. Weber funeral The Minister of the town said that any sexts could preach their funeral
[p. 22]
sermons in their meeting house but the Mormon’s. So I preached a short sermon in front of the house before going to the cemet[e]ry. There the Minister read the sermon and prayer at the grave after which we all went up to the old stone church, and the minister preached again, his Text was upon the Lords supper from 22 Chapt St. Luke. Held afternoon Meeting at Roufmans house. After meeting returned to Du[“]rrenast and held evening meeting there.
18 December 1905 – Monday
Mon. 18 Went to Thun on buisness wrote letters,[N7]
19 December 1905 – Tuesday
Tues. 19th studied
20 December 1905 – Wednesday
Wed. 20 Studied + went to Thun on buisness.
21 December 1905 – Thursday
Thur. 21st Held Bible Class in Wimmis.
22 December 1905 – Friday
Friday 22nd We worked at home getting things ready for Christmas
23 December 1905 – Saturday
Sat. 23rd Dec. Went to
[p. 23]
Bern to attend Priesthood Meeting + Conference. I atten three meetings Sat. In the forenoon the Elders gave in their reports. We met in the Local hall. President Serge F. Ballif and Jacob Mausse were present. There were twenty two Elders present. I met Bro. Harry Shephard who came over from Utah in the same ship with me, we were so pleased to meet we pretty near fell into each others arms. We had a fine time. The meeting was continued in the after noon. In the evening we met again and had a swill time togeather with Song’s, speeches + recitations.
24 December 1905 – Sunday
Sunday we met in the Hotel DuPont. In Conference. The were three meetings held in the forenoon from ten untill two
[p. 24]
in the afternoon from two untill four. And in the evening from six o’clock untill half past seven. Every Elder had an opportunity to speak. There were some young Elders who just come over, and could not speak german, Pres. [Jacob] Mause had to interpret for them. We had a swell time. Sunday 24th Returned home to Thun on the nine twenty train from Bern.
25 December 1905 – Monday
Dec. 25th We had Christmas doings here in Du[“]rrenast. We had a Christmas tree and a little Theater play in which the children took part.. Presents were also given out. Three oranges a piece and a lebkunchen.[N8]
26 December 1905 – Tuesday
Dec. 26th Went to Wartenw[i]l and held Bible Class. Bro. Gurtsch came
[p. 25]
with me from Bern to visit friends around here.
27 December 1905 – Wednesday
Wed. 27th Received word for me to take charge of Branch. Bro. [John] Springer to go to Solothurn.
28 December 1905 – Thursday
Thur. 28th Went to Wimmis and held Bible Class.
29 December 1905 – Friday
Fri. 29th worked on Branch books, and took sulpher back for the itch and visited with winterbergers.[N9]
30 December 1905 – Saturday
Sat. 31 [30] Bro. John Sprenger left for Solothurn to labor there.
31 December 1905 – Sunday
Sun. 31st Held Meeting at Wattenwyl, In the evening Bro. Kunz Gu[“]rtsch + I went and visited with Familia Tomans. At half past eleven we all went to Thun to see the old year out and the New in. There was sing, and band playing. The streets were crowded there were some dressed like clowns. The whole town was out on the streets.
[p. 26]
NOTES:
[N1] It isn't clear which castle Fred is referring to. The castle in Thun itself, Thun Castle, was built in the 12th century C.E. Oberhofen Castle to the east was built in the 13th century. My suspicion is that he is referring to the Spiez Castle to the south. While built in 993, a "New Castle" was built in the 17th century, with the old castle also receiving extensive expansion in 1600. The "New Castle" did end up being repurposed as a church for a period of time.
[N2] Missing letters.
[N3] This is the first mention of consumption of his mission. Compare this with my notes on consumption in this post (note 3) and this post (note 5).
[N4] Missing letters.
[N5] A term for a mounted country police person. Also, a common name for a kind of sausage today, but definitely not what Fred was referring to. Mormon missionaries were often arrested, banished, and/or imprisoned for encouraging immigration (by encouraging them to gather to Zion), and had
to be careful.
[N6] Speculation here as to Fred contracting consumption from this person. On the flipside, Fred as I noted in other posts met other consumptives too (think of his sister Eda who had died from it, and he'd visited just prior to leaving for Switzerland). Many had. Fred wrote his sister Tinnie (Ernestine) about those suffering from consumption in Switzerland, as evident from the letter where she noted surprise in hearing that consumption was impacting people out there as it was in the United States.
[N7] Missing letters.
[N8] A lebkunchen is a German ginger snap cookie eaten during the holidays.
[N9] Just as it is now, sulfur is used for various skin treatments: today sulfur cream, lotion, ointment, and bar soap are used to treat acne. Sulfur ointment is used to treat seborrheic dermatitis and scabies.
No comments:
Post a Comment