Dear Relatives - follow our trip, click on dates at left

The Lord now asks much more of us than He did 10 years ago. Instead of limiting our focus to 4 generations and direct lines, He asks us to gather ALL RECORDS for ALL GENERATIONS and for ALL COLATERAL LINES. That means we are to gather and do the work for every descendant of the oldest record we have found in each line.

We can no longer say, "Our family genealogy is all done!" We have not even begun!

I think we should put together a Family Extraction Committee. I fear, in my enthusiasm, I might step on toes or duplicate efforts. Is anyone interested? If you are working on the Rosa Jeanetta Hurler Burgon line yourself, please note what I am doing and advise me on what you are doing. If you are using new.familysearch.org program you can see it there also.

Last spring I hired a professional researcher residing in Switzerland to do some work on our Hurler Line. And I hired the workers at the Civil Records Office in Winterthur to provide a Certicate of Family on the siblings of Hartman Meyer (Meier) line. I also made contact with relatives on the Zellweger and Zollinger lines, neither of which are members but they do family history as a hobby. I don't know how many new names I got, but I am sure it is over 300.

Aunt Beth, Trina (Neal's daughter), Laura (Karen's daughter) and EmmaLeigh (my daughter) have all offered to help enter the names in new.familysearch.org. I am providing packettes for them so they can clean up duplicates in these lines (using Craig Paxman's PAF file as a master) and enter or link the new names I gathered. And Karen is organizing family temple trips. If you need names to do, call her. If you want to help, please email me. We have much to do.

If you are personally doing extraction over the internet, please keep me posted on your work so we don't duplicate.

My mother is collecting donations towards additional research on colateral lines and additional Certificates of Family - where appropriate. If you don't have time for genealogy but want to contribute funds for ongoing research, contact Larae at 801 561 7384.

My email is anne.h.brown@gmail.com.

By the way - this is a BLAST!

I'm home! Entering names into new.familysearch.org!

It took a few hours to figure everything out, but I just entered the nieces and nephews of Hartman Meyer into the NEW familysearch site. It appears they had not been submitted before and no work has been done. I wonder if these are the people who have been "haunting" me lately.

There is so much to do - so many names to submit. I think I have 300 more to go. And then there are many more names we need to collect from the records in Switzerland and England. Whoever started the rumor that all our geneology is done was, well --- wrong!

On our trip, we sat in the field where Mina and Tilda played, and we smelled the fragrance from the cherry tree in the back yard of the home that might be Emil Hurler's home (at least his street) and we leaned on the post out front of James Burgon's home, chatting with the neighbors. And the realization that dominated my thoughts was this.

Some missionaries from America told our ancestors about gold plates, a boy prophet, the day Christ and His Father appeared on earth. And gave them a Book of Mormon. And from that, they gained a testimony that was so strong that they left everything - family, husbands, children, homes, careers - everything.

They did not have the expanded version of the church to help strengthen them. There was no girls camp, no Relief Society visting teachers, no general conference or BYU football teams. They didn't even have a nice church building in which to attend church or a hymn book or even little plastic sacrament cups. They had 2 things - the "story" of a new prophet and a book.

And it all comes down to that. Joseph Smith was a prophet - for our time. Jesus and His Father appeared to Joseph. And the Book of Mormon is scripture, written to prophesy to us of Christ and His work.

I stand shoulder to shoulder with my ancestors, and we testify of these things.

Winchester and the Burgons - another favorite day

We attended church at the ward closest to the airport. It was nice to hear english again. It is a large ward with very devoted members. They had stake conference the week before so it was testimony meeting again. The ward was dealing with a serious problem with one of the men. The testimonies were strong. The Sunday School teacher is a small, young woman who taught a tremendous lesson. We really enjoyed the experience.

We left before Relief Society so I could perpare for our trip to Winchester. I had studied Heber Burgon's missionary journal as well as the diary from Emma and Willards visit to the area. They listed addresses! I was so determined to find them! I mapquested and researched, trying to make the trip as easy for our "angel guides" as possible.

James and Matilda lived in Winchester from 1855 to 1880. James and Willard worked at the bakery in the Winchester Prison. In his later years, James had serious financial problems. The Trinity Church provided money for him and several times he applied to live in the Alms House (Poor House) On those applications he listed his addresses!

"Willard was born on November 5, 1853. Two years later the family moved to Winchester, where Willard spent his childhood. His parents joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1850 and when Willard reached the age of eight years, he was baptized, 4 September 1861. Willard was the fourth of six children in the family. It is said that Willard and Heber were named after Willard Richards and Heber C. Kimball who stayed in the Burgon home when they were visiting in England."

Grandpa Heber Burgon visited Edith, Ebb's daughter on his way home from his mission in Ireland.

"March 28, 1905
I bid all good-bye at 75 Desborough Road at 9 o’clock and took train to Winchester the birthplace of my father. Arriving there I hunted up my cousin Edith (uncle Ebb’s daughter) and found her at 48 Hyde Abby Road. She was pleased to see me, and talked me in the notion of stopping over until the next morning. After dinner her husband, a postman, Mr. Pearce, took me for a walk about the town. We went to Winchester Cathedral and the old college, which are several hundred years old. We then went up on top of the hill and had a good view of the city. I also saw, in the distance, the old jail where my father’s father used to be a baker. From there we went to the “West gate” of the city, where we saw lots of old relics. I spent the evening in with Edith and had a good talk with her on the Gospel and bore my testimony to her concerning the restoration of the same. I retired about 10:30 o’clock."

I had planned to follow his walk through the city. But that was not possible.

However, our dear freinds, the Manuels, drove us first to the Winchester Cathedral. It was great to walk around, knowing that Grandpa Burgon had visited 103 years earlier and that James and Willard lived near buy 130 years earlier.

The Cathedral is beautiful and has a great amount of history. Jane Austin is buried there. There was a service going on. I made everyone wait till the choir sang, expecting something wonderful. The acoustics were terrible - I was expecting something like the Tabernacle!

Next we tried to find the house James and Willard lived in. I had the address - 53 Middle Brook Street.

I should have realized. Everything I was looking for was within a 1.5 mile radius. They must have walked to work, to church, to their cousins house - even to the Alms House.

The most logical thing to do was to park and let me run around discovering the footprints of my favorite ancester, James Burgon.

First we found the address Heber visited in 1903 - Edith's home at that time. (48 Hyde Abbey Road)

Down one street, turn left, walk a little ways and there is Upper Brook Street, which is the back entrance to the Holy Trinity Church.

Another small block and there it was, the street James lived on.

As I was taking photos of the buildings and frantically trying to find #53, a couple arrived at

their home. They were so helpful. Their unit was built in 1850. They bought it because they love old building and they had just finished renovating it. The ones James lived in were across the street and had recently been torn down and replaced by

new townhomes.

Down that street and turn right, and there is the Alms House.

And 1 mile to the west is the Prison which housed the bakery where James and Willard worked - and it was there that 12 year old Willard developed health problems from the flour in the air, which was the primary reason James and Matilda sent him ahead to Zion.

This was a good day.

Why is it important to me to find these places. I can't really explain. But having walked the streets these people walked, I sometimes sense them, feel their presence, understand them a little better - which in turn helps me understand myself a little better.

Change of Plans but Going to London Temple

It is saturday. We are in England - on our way to the temple.

We have decided to go home early. The people I work for refused my 3 week vacation request. This was after I had purchased the tickets and verbally agreed to "as many days off unpaid as I wanted". I was planning to simply stay the 3 weeks and lose the job.

But as I see how worn down we are getting and Mom's infection has returned, we will miss many of the things we wanted to do, anyway. So we might as well go home so I can keep this job. (obviously I will be looking for another job asap - anyone have any leads?)

So we will leave Monday am. Mom will be home around 8 Monday night.

It has been wonderful.

.... later that night

The drive to the temple was great. With our "navigation system" and a few days experience under my belt, we got there in no time and without getting lost. It is a fun temple to find. I expected it to be high on a hill. It is not. In fact it would be easy to miss. But there is the church logo on a brick wall on the corner of a residential street. And just a few yards down the street you see it. Much like the photos, but smaller and private feeling.

There are beautiful flowers. Mom of course loves that.

We arrived just in time to squeeze in 2 sessions. We completed the names that Aunt Beth provided for us. Mom had a very special experience with one of her people, she knows this woman was there and had been waiting for her work to be done.

I had come to the conclusion that I would do ANYTHING to be able to go to Winchester before leaving. The issue was how to navigate our way around a very busy city in the small amount of time we had without scaring mom right to death with the appearance of cars coming right at us. So, planned to ask one of the workers if they knew someone we could hire to drive us around for the afternoon on sunday.

There was a very very kind and beautiful sister behind the counter. I decided to start with her. She looked at me rather deeply and said, "Let me check with my husband." Within 10 minutes they had offered to take us themselves! These are wonderful people on their second mission at the London Temple, Marcus and Tuire Manuel. They are from England so they know their way around. We finished up our arrangements and left!

Now, for those of you who know Mom well, she usually wants to save money. But as we drove she suggested we find a nice resturant and have a nice meal. Granted, we had "lifted" extra food from the Breakfast Buffet at the Holiday Inn over the past 3 days and stretched it to cover all of our meals!

As we drove along, we found a darling Old Home type resturaunt.

The service was great, the food was even better and the cottage was charming.

We had a great time. We even ordered dessert.

Our hotel was not too far away and everything went smoothly. Except for the valet guy parking the car. Mom was still in the car. He was parking for us - the parking was so tight, I could not get into the spot they wanted us to take. So, just picture this. The guy was from Egypt, spoke no english and had never driven an automatic car. Each time he would start forward, his left foot would cram on the brakes and mom would jerk forward. Then she would shake it off, he would gather his thoughts and then do the whole thing over again, and again, and again! Finally he parked the car. As he got out, he shook his head muttering, "My foot hit the brake every time --- every time". I about died laughing.

Day of Rest

When I suggested that we just spend the day in the hotel, you would think Mom had won the lottery. She went straight back to bed and slept till about 2.

Truthfully, at different times we both felt "bad" about our plans for today. We decided to follow the promptings. Why pray for direction and then do what you wanted anyway. So this is a story just like the one about the general authority who heard a voice that said, "Don't go in the barn," Later, someone asked, "What was in the barn?" He said, "I don't know - I didn't go in!" We both felt good about not going.

I did, on the other hand, spend the morning fighting with Avis about the car. Somehow we ended up with a Peugot sports car. Now, when I was 20 or even 40 this would have been great. But learning to read new street signs, navigate round abouts, figure out new laws, operate a tight gear shift, see out of tiny windows, control the "0 to 70 in 5 secounds" power AND DRIVING ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD has been a bit much. We've been okay - most of the time. And mom has been great! She only screamed once when I pulled onto a street and in her mind I was heading into traffic. (That scream was the scariest thing I have experienced in a long time!)

Anyway, Avis traded for a slow, poky, automatic ford and now I am happy.

We spent a lovely afternoon in the hotel. Mom read the Burgon Book and I worked on getting the Blog updated. I continue to drop in photos, even on old days, so if you are interested take a look. I have a lot of video but it will not upload. Don't know what I am doing wrong. And if I don't get it done before I leave here I will never finish.

A few days after Mom's antibiotic's were gone she began to get sick again. She is now back on antibiotics and hopefully regaining her health. She has not been too bad. I think we caught it soon enough.

Tonight we went swimming. Now, don't picture swimming - picture standing in the pool for about 20 minutes. That is what we did. Actually we did some exercise. Mom is a very fun person. She loves water. Her eyes brightened up, she giggled, and had a wonderful time.

She is now off to bed. Another 12 hours should help a lot.

I am thankful for the time with her. Today we talked about everything. We have talked a lot the last few days. It is goofy that we have to go all the way around the world to make time to talk for hours. But it has been worth it.

Portsmouth, Grosport and Portsea

Portsmouth, Grosport and Portsea England. This is where many of our ancestors lived. James Burgon was born in Portsea. I was surprised. I pictured a fishing port or something.

This is the home of the English Navy. Currently there are battleships docked everywhere. Some are historic but most are actively being used. Two of the ships are used for training new Naval Personel.

Back when James Burgon lived here the Navy was building and testing torpedoes.

Currently, the Navy has been reduced substantially. The area began to get run down. The City Council bought much of the harbor area and sold to a developer.

Now it is a huge tourist destination. There are hundreds of Outlet Stores, resturants, pubs, expensive condos and the Spinnaker.


















Mom and I spent the day there. We went up in the Spinnaker and could see Portsea. It is a very small area right on the water's edge. We also took the Harbor and Historic Ship Tour.



It was a very nice day and a good way to transistion from Switzerland. And it gave us just a little more insight into Grandma and Grandpa Burgon (mom's parents). Their parents came from totally different worlds. Then, with one generation born in America, the two worlds combine. Grandma was still more Swiss and Grandpa more English.

Oh My Gosh!!!!!!!!!!!!

Traveling from Switzerland to England should have been simple. Our plan was to drop Spencer off for his flight to Arizona, check in the car, put Mom in a wheel chair and zoom to the gate. We could be in England by noon.

We got to the airport way too early. Spence left for Arizona. Our flight was delayed a few times.

We finally got to London about 2:30.

It took about 3 hours to get to the hotel - and I can't tell you why!

Suddenly it was time for bed.

Cherry Trees, Hurlers, Speicher and Shopping in Appenzell

It was a long shot. And it might take hours and we could still come up empty handed. But I wanted to try to find the “2 story house with a cherry tree next to the window” that Emil Hurler described in his history.

We got up early and were out of the house by 8:30 or so. Our destination was a Civil Records house in Hubler. This is a small town marked on the map with very light, thin letters and it doesn’t even warrant a dot. Spencer has a keen sense of direction and, had long since mastered this area of Switzerland. We drove straight to the town. Then next issue is to find someone who speaks English. That is almost impossible in a town of this size. So between repeated pointing, “200 meters”, more pointing and the map one middle aged lady drew for us, we found the building. In the country, the Government buildings look just like homes. We found the building but they are only open between 2 pm and 5 pm. A dead end. However, Appenzell was only 20 minutes away!

Women love to shop. And Mom and I are no exception. We both came to Switzerland with a “wish list” in mind. But our itinerary took us completely out of the tourist loop and we had not seen “hide nor hair” of any shops that wanted our money. We needed to go to Appenzell.

It is worth pointing out that the term Appenzell can refer to the Appenzell Innerhdoen Canton, the Appenzell Ausserrhoden Canton, or Appenzell the village. And, when you search the internet for tourist information in Switzerland, Appenzellland is right there in the top 3 of the list. They sponsor dance festivals, yodeling contest, and other programs, illustrating early Swiss traditions and dress. Hurlers are from Speicher and Tuefen whih are in Appenzell Ausserrhoden. Kunzler’s are from St Margarenth which, I believe is in Appenzell Innerhoden. But no one is from the village of Appenzell, so I had not planned to go there, until we heard about the shopping.

At first, Mom just ohhh’ed and ahhh’ed over little items, but always put them back. Finally Spence and I gave her the “If I have to tell Todd and Wayne that you would not buy a few things because of money, they will kill me” lecture. Her eyes lit up and off we went! She got most of the items on her wish list! Christmas Gifts, Birthday Gifts, and little things to give her friends for birthdays – everything for other people. Eventually she picked up some earrings with Edelweiss flowers on them, a cow bell for her Christmas tree, and a couple little things for her. She had a blast. It is true that with the exchange rate and the high cost of living in Switzerland it cost more than a penny, but Mom was thrilled with her “Treasures”.

It was just after 2:00. It is hard to describe the level of fatigue that we carried around with us each day. I almost chose not to return to Hubler. Fortunately we did.

The lady in the Zivil office was darling. I explained our goals, reviewed the research that Bernadette had done and showed her my permission from Zurich (the permission does not apply to her area but she could see we were legitimate) and she went to work. Within a few minutes she had pulled up a map showing the street and area that is referred to in the marriage records of both Emil’s father and grandfather. More importantly we made an agreement that we would work together through email to get the names I was looking for. This was a real miracle. I had previously emailed this office multiple times and been told no one could help me and no one spoke English. In addition, she referred us to the Government Office that held the records of property and community (Administer of Community), and gave us the name of her contact who could help us.

On with our detective work! Now, finding this building was even more challenging. Sometimes you can’t tell the difference between walking paths and side roads. I am not sure which we drove up. But Spence did it!

I must admit that the gentleman, Herr Preisig, seemed to think we were a little odd in our requests. But he pointed out the section of the street where it is most likely Emil’s childhood home stood. And, he agreed to research further to confirm. That additional information is not available until Friday.

The street “Hinterweis” was not far away. It is in an unbelievable area. It runs from the back to the front of a hill. The area we were seeking is on the front of the hill. It overlooks the valley and Lake Constance. It has a million dollar view. The new homes are obviously premium properties. Then the road turns to something between a walking path and a cow trail. Again, Spence drove on it anyway. I’ll acknowledge that there was no cow dung on this “path” so maybe it was a road! At the very end, the path leads right into the driveway of a very old home. It is 2 story home. Again, a long shot. I jumped out and stumbled (it is very steep) down the hillside to walk around the home, hoping there were no dogs – and based on the area, no ‘billy goat gruff”. As I came around the home, there was a cherry tree. Cherry trees don’t live 100 years. But cherry trees grew along that mountain side, behind the homes.

I don’t know why this happens at one location and not another. But as I stood there, photographing some man’s Swiss home, the spirit of Elijah filled my heart and tears poured down my face. I’ve had this experience 4 or 5 times. The feeling comes from the ground, up into your body and overwhelms you. I don’t know if Emil climbed out of that specific window to eat cherries, but I am pretty sure he played in these meadows and stood to gaze at Lake Constance, just as I was then. This is where his mother, Elizabetha Kunzler Meier accepted the gospel. Standing there, with a better understanding of the people and the pressure on them to be either Catholic or Protestant, I can better imagine how startling the news of a current prophet and an additional book of scripture might have been. I had thought these early members were courageous to walk across America to Utah. But now I know the courage began when they explained to their families and friends that they believed these strange missionaries and their message of an angel, a prophet and golden plates. This is where Elizabetha and her husband somehow decided to part ways. Her husband had previously immigrated to America and lived in New York for a year. For whatever reason, he (with his first wife and children) returned to Switzerland after a year. And, he was older – he died 3 years later. Records show he did not join the church. This is where the persecution pushed the new members to immigrate to Utah. Six months later, armed with money from her husband, Elizabetha took Emil, her brother Henry and her father Hans Kunzler and left for America. And several years later, this is where Emil returned to collect the inheritance left to him.

In preparing for this trip, it became clear to me that these small moments are gifts. And that my hobby of searching out the ground where our ancestors lived is just that, a fun hobby. But I should not loose sight of the Lord’s goal – that of collecting names, processing them through new.familysearch.com and providing the ordinances for these people. How can we think that Emil has not been teaching and loving his family members, his nieces, nephews, uncles and aunts, and distant cousins? Have you read his testimony and his dream recorded in his history? Of course he is. And of course gathering these names and doing the work is our part of the process. However, to document my success with my hobby, I picked some flowers from this meadow and dried them. I need tangible reminders of moments like this one.

I will forever be thankful to Spencer’s patience and expert driving and Mom’s willingness that allowed us this experience.

It seems this is enough for the day – but there was more!!!

We drove home and packed.

The Zimmler’s, the owners of our Bed and Breakfast, had invited us to have dinner with their family. They are the cutest family. They have twin girls, Nina and Kim, that are about 11 and a boy, Luka that is 9. Zmie (the husband) and Simone became ‘friends” at 15 and have been together for 21 years. They are happy, jovial and very enjoyable. Kim had set a lovely table with Swiss decorations and a piece of Swiss Chocolate for each of us. They served salad, a macaroni dish that was great and home made aslkglasglh. Mom and I were apprehensive but found it was delicious. We had a great time. They played “Swiss folk” music in the background which the kids hated! Simone speaks pretty good English and Zmie speaks a little bit. The kids understand a few words. But we were able to communicate and laugh a lot. The highlight was the skdgjlshglshdf horn. Zmie owns one and played it at one time. It is about 12 feet long. He played for us. Then he offered Spencer a try. That was hysterical. Just imagine Spencer with a little Swiss hat and blowing into this huge horn! Surprisingly Spence was great. He played the national anthem – he did have to tell us what he had played – and a few little melodies. Pretty soon the dog was so traumatized we had to quit. It was a lovely evening and we will be friends forever. (My talent as a cameraman is still horrid. But it is worth hanging in there on these 2)

Kunzlers, St Margarethen and Germany

The Kunzlers. I have always liked the Kunzlers. I Hans like the thought of Hans (Johann Casper Kunzler, Anna Elizabeth's father), a big, strong man but tender enough to open his heart to the gospel. And I love that Anna Elizabeth had big feet and was taller than most women. But my favorite Kunzler story is the new information I found about the Kunzlers in 1400's. During the plague in 1434 in Austria, the only way to escape the illness and sure death was to flee the villages. Hans and Jos Kunzler were boys who were somehow taken to a relative's home who lived on the Buehli Farm in Switzerland. They grew up there, married and were able to purchase their own land. They did very well, donated property and labor for 2 churches, and helped in "the fight for freedom". We don't have the magic link that connects our Mr. Kunzler to these boys, but it is generally accepted that the Kunzlers from St. Margrenthen come from this line.

St Margrenthen is about 8 miles down the hill from our Bed and Breakfast. It is very near the Austrian Border. We planned to visit the 2 churches there. One built in 1686 and one built in 1805. Kunzlers were involved with both. And, we wanted to see a window designed by a Hans Kunzler in the early 1400. It was part of the original church and is now displayed in a museum. We could not find the museum. But we found the churches.

As we entered the city, Spencer drove directly to a church. But I, always doubting, insisted that this was not the church. So we drove to another one. We got out of the car, read the Kunzler history, talked for a while and then took a million pictures. I could faintly hear music. Inside a man was practicing the pipe organ for sunday services. He played a short concert for us. We left feeling great - but as we drove away and I looked closer at the map - Spence got the last laugh. This was the wrong church. It was not even that old. And the church Spence instinctively went to first was the correct one!

We then quickly visited the 2 churches, located headstones with the name Kunzler on them, took photos and moved on.

I was sad to miss seeing the window. This is the inscription on it.

It was written by Hans Kuenzler.

It's true, Mount Bashan, you lift yourself high,
And you brag about your fat oxen.
Great cedars also grow on your slopes--
Like a beacon you beckon young lambs to Zion.

However, this small mountain has been chosen by God;
He will make you humble.
It will please Him to live there.
He mocks your pride and vanity.

To the temple in Jerusalem
People must come from distant lands,
Until God's Son comes down from heaven
To take away the present hardships.

He, the Savior, has promised enlightenment:
Where two or three are gathered
In devotion, things will go better from that hour.
Your prayers please Him.

Our next destination was Germany! Switzerland is on one side of Lake Constance and Germany is on the other. From Rorschach a ferrie crosses that lake and docks at Lindau. The 1 hour boat ride was lovely. We had great weather and wonderful views. Mom loved it.

Lindau was a little frustrating. It was hot, we

were tired and it is hard for Mom to walk long distances. I am not sure what there really was to see. We saw several tourist trap type shops with figurines, spoons with country names on them ... that kind of stuff.

We also saw buildings with beautiful painting on the walls. But we didn't know what we were looking at and we were hot and tired, so we sat at the sidewalk cafe and waited for the boat to take us back.

However, Spencer found a little Swiss hat and outfit for Davis. We had a blast picking that out. I'm sure Doug is thrilled!

I knew that European Football was huge, but I did not realize how huge. A new stadium was completed within the last few weeks in St Gallen. And, one of the national teams involved in the upcoming tournament planned a warm up practice in the stadium. The Zimmler's, being huge fans, planned to attend and invited us (mostly Spencer but I tagged along). It was pouring when it was time to leave, but we decided to chance it. I am so glad we did. It continued to pour for a while, but finally it stopped and event began. I am not even sure which country it was. But it was so fun to be there. Everyone was so excited. The new stadium is beautiful. The team colors are green and white. The walls are GREEN. The parking is underneath the stadium. And there is a shopping maul attached to the stadium. It was exhilarating and fun.

St Gallen and The Alps

This was my 2nd favorite day.

We attended church at the St Gallen Ward. This is the ward nearest both the Hurlers and the Kunzlers homes. The church is small and cute. The people are strong. It was fast day and the spirit was very strong. Fortunately one of the missionaries translates each week for english speaking people. So we could follow everything during sacrament meeting and Sunday School.

It was a special experience. The people shared sweet, humble and very developed testimonies. One man is not baptised. He and his family have attended church regularly for a couple of years. He said, "I heard the spirit tell me to come up here and talk. I guess the rest of you did not hear it because you are still sitting down there!" Very cute and funny.



We met a gentleman who is the Public Relations Director for Switzerland. I showed him the pages from the missionary journal of John Paul Kunzler (not our direct line, distant cousin) He was thrilled. They are going to include the photos of the St Gallen Choir in 1911. I will put them in contact with each other.



It was one of those special sundays when the spirit works on you and allows you to feel the love, safety and joy of being a member of the Church. And I loved seeing it in Switzerland. And then knowing that it happens all over the world. The Lord is a God of order - and you can see it as every member studies the same lesson on the same sunday in every corner of the world.

Spence waited for us. He has been so patient.

After church we headed to the Alps.



It is a 40 minute drive to Santis. This is one of the viewing sites for the Alps. It is the highest point in Eastern Switzerland. The road weaves through the mountains and we gain a lot of altitude. Along the way we stopped for dinner. The food has been quite good except at this place. It is called the Arizona. They have created a cute Swiss version of an Arizona Steak House. We sat outside. As soon as our food came the flies came also. Just across the street was a farm with the typical home and barn attached. There was no way to wave frantically enough to get the flies to leave. And you could not help gazing across the street and picturing where those flies had last been. We gobbled some down and left --



Even though you know you are going to the Alps, it is still a surprise when you come around those last few bends in the road and realize you are past the foothills and at the foot of the upper part of the mountain.



The gondolla ride is spectacular - and disconcerting. You just go up, up, up. At a few spots the gondolla changes angels, and continues almost like a helicopter. Every few minutes it is again surprising to see where you are.



The gondolla empties out right at the top of Mount Santis. There are several flights of stairs and an elevator that takes you to the tip top and the man made look out.



At that point words will not explain. The photos make a pathetic attempt. You can see 6 countries - France, Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland,and one more but I can't think of it right now.


In the gift shop area there are videos of Swiss dancer, singers, yodellers, long horns - everything. Spencer particularly loved these! And mom could have watched them all day.



As a compromise, we purchased a video of the Alps and a CD of the music. (BTW, my hair will not work in this humidity without irons and dryers - just ignore it please!)




Spencer is planning to return to ski ASAP. I would love to do some of the hiking in the foothills. Mom will stick to the Gondolla.



From here we went to Appenzell only to find that the stores close at 5 on Sunday.

ST Gallen Abbey and the Alps Rained Out

Our plan was to visit St Gallen, the embroidery museum, the Appenzell museum and then top it off with a visit to Santis.

We made it to St Gallen. My priority was the Abby of St Gallen and the Cathedral. We found our way there without much problem. And it was beautiful. Of course I see everything from the perspective of our ancestors. The hermitage was founded in 612. And in 1758 the Library Hall was built. It took 9 years to build. So where were our people in 1758? Kunzlers lived about 11 miles away. Hans Kunzler's grandfather and father ( Han's is our first immigrant from the line - and Elizabeth Zellweger's husband ) lived in St Margarethen. I don't know their profession, but they lived close enough that they must have been aware, if not visited the project in those 11 years. More interesting is the Hurler line. For 2 or more generations the Hurlers were "Master" textile producers ( probably embroidery ). And in the history of St Gallen / Abbey Library it says "... embroideries attracted international recognition and brought prosperity to the town.". The Hurlers lived in Speicher which is about 8 miles from St Gallen. They must have traveled to St Gallen to do business, and they must have visited or at the very least passed by the Library Hall.

We took a pass on the textile museum in that they were hosting a special exhibit featuring women underwear.

The storm was gathering at this point. But we headed to Santis anyway. This is part of the Alps. You drive up several hundred feet and then take a tram to a lookout point. We stopped to shop and for some lunch. And the thunderstorm hit! It rained like Arizona Monsoon storms - maybe worse. Since we were 10 minutes from the Tram station, we drove up. There was 1 time we were actually driving up a stream right in the road. Spence got out and took a photo and we headed back down the mountain. We will try again tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Em

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMALEIGH

Lake Constance and the Zelwegger line

The primary focus for today was the meeting with Christoff Zelwegger. We planned to meet at his home and then drive over to Austria for dinner. Knowing this would make a late night, Mom rested most of the day.

Spence and I went down to Lake Constance to look around. The lake is huge, and very blue. There are not many fish in it because it is too clean. We drove along the bank for a while and then parked so we could walk.

Suddenly I heard someone calling my name. And there were Simone and Stephen who are our landlords. They were in a little cafe having a coke with their son. We sat and talked with them. It was delightful. They are a very charming couple. He is a mechanic and she is a housewife and also runs the bed and breakfast. Their 9 year old son had just been to the dentist. How weird for us to run into one another.

We picked up Mom about 5:30 and drove to Christoff's home. I brought tons of geneology so I could really "talk the talk" with him.

Have I told you how I found him? While preparing for this trip, I decided to try to locate descendants of our ancestors who stayed in Switzerland. So, I mailed over 100 letters to people with our last names - almost like picking them out of a hat. I pulled up the swiss directory on the internet, filtered by village and then selected about 20 people with the same last name. Then I sent letters to them explaining that my ancester lived there in about 1850, immigrated to Utah in about 1860's and I was looking for the family he / she left behind. I included some pedigree sheets and family group sheets, and I asked if we happened to be cousins. While writing the cover sheet for the Kunzler family, the thought came to me that I should include the wives maiden names - so I did.

Miraculously, about 2 weeks ago I got an email from a man with the last name Zellweger. He explained that his boss got a letter from me and saw that one of the wive's maiden names was Zellweger and gave the letter to him. Sure enough, we are cousins! His ggggrandfather and my ggggrandmother were siblings. Hans Kunzler's wife, Elisabeth died about 11 years before he and Anna Elisabeth ( Emil Hurler's mother) and Emil joined the church. She is the sister to his direct line. He emailed me several family group sheets, histories etc. I spot checked a few of the names are on family search.org but many are not.

I have been so excited to meet with him. A real cousin!

We arrive at their cute apartment in Au at about 6:15 pm. I was surprised to see that he was about 36. We sat down to begin our sharing. I was stunned. He had no more interest in family history than to fly to the moon. Yes, he like old things, like the photos in his hall. He had never done research and he really did not care to talk further about our lines and where they split. I was so disappointed.

We had a wonderful evening, however. He is a fascinating person. He married a girl from Sibera. He has travel very extensively. He is full of facts and fun stories. And, he has reddish hair and some features that remind me of some of the cousins. It was fun to cross the Rhein (spelling???). The resturaunt was lovely. Seriously, we enjoyed getting to know him.

Later, as I thought about this, it seems to be a bigger miracle than I had seen at first. The records he gave to me came through his father, from a family friend who had a hobby of doing family history research. This friend is currently about 80 years old and not very clear minded. Several years ago he gave a gift to Christoff's father - which was his family line. His father kept it for a while and then gave it to Christoff. Christoff read through it, thought is was cool and kept it. Then my, rather random letter reaches Christoff's boss and somehow it got to me.

So somehow we now have many more names on Emil's Grandma Zellweger's side. She died before she heard the gospel. But most likely she and Hans are active on the other side, and of course she would teach her siblings and aunts and uncles. And now we have information on many of them. And there is no logic in how we got them.

We will keep in touch with our new friend and distant cousin Christoff, and I will enter these names as soon as possible.

When I meet Hans and Elisabeth I can say I got their message!

The Lack of experience Day

The Lack of Experience Day
The temple is about 2 ½ hours on the Autobahn from Grub (Appenzell) which is where our Bed and Breakfast is located. Having no experience and thinking like an American, it seemed like a great idea to drive on the smaller roads and see the country side. We figured it would add 1 to 1 ½ hours to our trek. It actually took all day long!

Mom loved it. She is comfortable riding in the car and watching fabulous countryside out the window. I got rather tired and I think it got very old for Spence.

It was amazing to see the different areas. First we passed rolling hills with Swiss Houses and farms, dotted with Creamy beige colored cows with huge cowbells tied tightly under their chins. I thought we would have hunt for a home with the barn built as part of the house, decorated with flower pots and red geraniums, complete with brightly painted shutters. I was wrong. They are everywhere! You would have to hunt for a modern “western” home.

The terrain began to change and suddenly we were at the foot of the Alps. Sharp, jagged black rock at the top or green mountains, topped with snow. Beautiful. Again we tried to capture with video and then photo’s, but the only way to see this is to be here.

We drove through Luzern. I would like to have spent a day or two exploring Luzern. We did stop and walk across the slkdgladsglsadgj brigde. It is at the base of Luzern Lake and connects the old town to the modern town. You may recognize the view, I have seen it on post cards and in movies. The bridge has paintings from the 17th century strategically mounted every 6 or 8 feet. They tell the history of the area. A few years ago the wood bridge caught fire and burned many of the irreplaceable paintings.

We spent a couple of hours and then continued winding our way through tiny villages in pursuit of our Bed and Breakfast.

I was surprised at the climb in elevation to get to Grub. Again, all around us were typical swiss homes and farms, lace curtain, flower pots and GREEN pastures. Oh, another thing, the greens on the mountain are unique. There are dark greens and light greens, making a patchwork and a little surreal visual.

The Bed and Breakfast is across the street from a church. “How delightful”, I thought. But Spencer’s response was more accurate. The next morning he said, “I think we should call the police to get that drunk man out of the bell tower.” The bells chime over 100 times at 6 pm and 6 am, in addition to something every 15 minutes. After a day, we hardly noticed.

The BnB is 200 years old. The rooms have a lot of natural old wood. 2 of the beds were pretty good, one – Spencers – was truly a fold out trundle type of thing. Not the best. And we had to turn on the light and walk through Spencer’s room to climb some very old, not terribly stable stairs to get to the bathroom. The bathroom was nice- a creative presentation of old wood, brass kettle for a sink and slate shower flooring. It was tiny but lovely.

Mom went right to bed and Spence and I tried to find food. We met a couple of Germans speaking middle age men, getting a drink at the pub/restaurant. One spoke some English and we had a fun chat. As he explained the items on the menu, we thought we heard him say Horse Steak. Of course, we thought, that is an error in translation. So Spence did the only logical thing. He imitated a horse – shaking his head and …. What words are there for Pluuuuuuuu. The man said, yes, horse steaks. We were careful to order salads and beef or pork braughtworst.

Days like this happen – and turn out enjoyable after all.

Dad

Dad passed away 1 year ago today.

This was a perfect way to spend the day. We attended the temple.

And, we slept for over 12 hours.

Events of the Day...
I had warned Spence that our accommodations at the Swiss Temple might be stark, like a college dormitory. But it was more like military barracks. Our room was tiny, with 2 bunk beds crammed against one wall and just enough room for suitcases to line the other wall which forced you to trip whenever you moved. We had a private shower and toilet – which made it tolerable. And it was stuffy.

We arrived about 11:00 at night and decided to make due for the evening. We didn’t hear the noise that began at 5 am as families prepared their breakfast, dealt with several noisey children and made their way to the morning sessions of the temple. We slept 12 hours! And I had to wake everyone up at that!

Spence had a free day which he spent in Bern. Mom and I found that there were only 2 sessions left for the day. We did Washings for the 6 names that Beth had prepared for us and then went to a session.

We stood out like a sore thumb – Americans! And we were trying very hard to understand the little English people could speak and then to somehow, using gestures, facial expressions and any little word that seemed common to both languages in order to respond back. We did pretty well and people were patient. Mom tried especially hard. Sometimes she fell into the trap of “louder and slower” hoping that would make them understand. We finished making all the arrangements and were heading down the hall. Mom turned to me and with huge hand gestures, slow and loud semi-english words and eyes as big as saucers, tried to tell me that she needed to go to the restroom. All I could do was cut her off and say, “Mom, I speak English!” Well, you know how Burgon Women laugh. Right there in the area where we should be silent we were laughing hysterically, tears running down our faces, trying to tell each other to be quiet. The lovely women around us tried to remind us to be reverent – but then they could see it was hopeless and joined in the laughing. I don’t know if they knew why they were laughing, but it was a very bonding thing – German, French, Italian and English – laughing, as silently as possible as tears rolled down all of our cheeks.

That evening we walked a short way to a lovely restaurant. Eating outside makes every meal better, but this was fabulous. Then we went to bed. Spence returned about midnight.

Mom had a priority to do 2 sessions in this temple, so we got up early and joined the 8 am session.

Events of the Day...
Wuelflingen and the Meiers (There are no words to describe this day.)

We left the hotel about 10 am and drove about 1 hour to Lauferstrasse, which is a beautiful water fall about half an hour north of Wuelflingen. The falls were great, but watching mom enjoy them was even better.




Our next stop was to 2 civil records offices in Winterthur. I have been emailing a few wonderful people there over the past 5 months. They had about 40 or 50 names for me to pick up plus documentation on the Meier family. It was pricy but exciting to find new names.

From there we went to the protestant church in Wuelflingen. In the 1800s the records for the entire town were kept at the church. Hartman and Elizabetha's records were kept at this church. We can only assume that Hartman and Elizabetha attended there. The historian at the Civil Records Office said that in 1889, when Hartman died, most people were buried in the cemetary behind the church - so that is probably where Hartman was buried.

But the best part came last.

Lilian, the researcher from the Civil office gave us a map that showed the farm that was owned by the Meirer family for about 300 years. It is owned by a different family now, but based on her records, Hartman, his family and his brother lived there until Hartmans death. He died about 3 months before Elizabetha and their oldest son Henry left for America.

Spencer has a well tuned sense of direction. He followed her map, winding through country roads, up and down hills and through tiny villages. Getting directions from someone speaking German is difficult, no matter how much pointing is involved. And, it is a good thing gas is only $8 a gallon.

Finally we wound around a hill and there, in front of us was a farm with several red buildings. It had to be the right farm! We slowly drove past, stupidly looking for an address marker. Nothing. So we drove to the top of the hill and looked back down at this farm. It had to be the right farm. This had to be where Hartman Meier grew up, where his father Jakob, his grandfather Jakob and his great grandfather Jakob grew up. This was where Mina and Tilda played in the fields when they were young. This was the farm where Elizabetha had to work hard to help support the family because Hartman had become crippled. And this was the farm where the missionaries taught the gospel to this little family. More correctly, Elizabetha met somehow met the missionaries and became converted. Then she explained the gospel to the rest of the family and they were all baptised. In that little red farm house, where the barn is part of the house, filled with cows and all that go with them, Elizabetha explained that Christ had paid the price for our mistakes, and that, if we accepted Him for our Savior, we could be made whole. And they received testimonies which changed the direction of their lives forever.

In Aunt Lillians history she records that, because of the persecution, the family walked to the river in the middle of the night, broke the ice and were baptised. Was this really the house they lived in? We took 1000 pictures, hoping - assuming that we were right.

Then, we drove by again, moving slowly, taking pictures out of the car window. No one wanted to go up to the door and ask if we could see the house since we used to live here 300 years ago, and by the way, could we use the bathroom!!! During one of our U Turns, Spence suggested we drive over the mountain and see what is on the other side. As we slowly drove by the house - again, there was a lady working in a small garden. Spence shouted to her, of couse in english, asking her if this was the Aschau Farm. She came, trotting, actually to the car and then, somehow she and Spence communicated enough to find out that this was the correct farm. Two minutes later, a man on a tractor came along, trying to turn into the driveway which we were blocking. The lady told us to pull up into the driveway - the man was her brother and she would get her mother. Within about 1 1/2 hours we had all become friends. Spence and Hans had an amazing ability to communicate. At one point Hans ran into his home and brought out a brown envelope holding old documents. They were the deeds to the house, and there, right in front of us was the deed documenting the Meirer family selling the farm to his family. It was astounding. As we stood in the middle of this 1800 "period" photo (the barn is still part of the house - and all that goes with it!) Hans ran into his house again and quickly scanned a copy of the deed.

Eventually, after somehow talking about feed for the Cows, the age of the house, when the property was divided in half, where the dividing line is, our ages and where we each live, Spence asked about the closest River. It is the Toss - across the fields towards Winterthur.

We exchanged contact information and we were on our way.

About 3 miles from the farm is the Toss River. If you walked straight toward the river from the farm, cutting through fields, one would meet The Toss where there is a gentle curve and a small waterfall. At the base of the water fall the water pools. The water is quiet and still, a little deep and just about perfect for the baptism. As we stood there, we felt that this had to be the place, at least within a few feet of where Mina, Tilda, Henry, August, Elizabetha and Hartman were baptised, late one winter night in 1877.

We are changed somehow, we are now connected to the old red farm in some tiny way.

Schaufelbergers and Weiningen

Today was wonderful.

First thing Spence and I drove into Zurich. I had arranged to meet a government worker in order to apply for and receive permission to get names that are current. This is a big deal. And, he gave it to me.

Today we focused on Schaufelbergers and the village of Weiningen. I have great photos that I will add later. Weiningen is about 15 minutes from Zurich. It has about 4500 people. It has a lot of historic buildings and homes. We went to the church that has been there, in one form or another, since early 1700s. The Schaufelbergers had to attend that church. It is beautiful. The doors are wonderful old polished wood with interesting looking handles and knockers. The grounds are lovely.

We drove up the hills behind the village. Spencer is a fabulous explorer. He found a spot that overlooked the village that was perfect. It is covered with vinyards and so beautiful. You can look down on the village, see the church and still see the Alps in the background.

Anna and her family must have climbed up this hill at some time in their lives.

Then we went to a convent that is a few miles away. It was started in early 1100. It is beautiful with a cute church, gift shop, barns with cows and pigs and sheep and rabbits. 30 nuns live there. It is delightful. Again, the Schaufelbergers lived around the convent for hundreds of years. Did they have a friend who joined? How did a convent of nuns fit into their lives as protestants? More questions ...

I am not a travel agent. I made an error. I had planned to eat at the Convent - they have a cute little resturant there. But it is closed on Mondays. So we were starving. No I mean starving.

We drove towards what appeared to be civilization. We found a golf course - and where there is golf there is a club house - with food! It turned out to be a great place to enjoy the scenery and eat some very expensive sandwiches.

We had a wonderful day.

Tomorrow is Wuelflingen and the Meyers. We found the farm they lived on ... cant wait till morning.

Events of the Day...
Today was a wonderful day.

Spence arrived today. We ran into him in the lobby of the hotel as we were leaving for church. He had been up all night and so he went to sleep for a while and spent the day on his own. It was really fun to see him. Amazing that a few email and presto, he meets us in Switzerland.

We attended church at the Winterthur Ward. It is a lovely ward with strong people serving with all their heart. The Sunday School teacher taught in German but every 5 minutes or so he would give us a quick summary in English.

I sent their bishop a letter asking about the Schaufelberger and Meier Lines. He gave the letter to the ward geneologist. She was watching for us to come to church. It was fun to share a little. We got several invitations to dinner during the week. Great experience.

The rest of the day reminded me of looking at the ocean in Capastrano CA on our family trip. Lots of squeals and pointing. We were trying to drive 30 minutes to Heiler to meet the geneologist that has been doing research for me. As the true American, I know nothing about the meter system. So, when the directions said 230 Meters, I read KM. We passed the turn by about 1 hour and that forced us around Zurich Lake the very long way.

So we were about 4 hours late meeting my friend. But, we had a blast. Totally lost we drove from Village to Village seeing the fabulous things in Switzerland / green fields, darling homes with shutters and flowers in each window sill, cows grazing on hillsides each with their own cow bell, the Alps in the background / so much beauty. Mom loved it.

We finally met up with Bernadette and Grobert. They are researchers who have helped me prepare for this trip. They found the address where Emil Hurler grew up. We had dinner, a great talk and became friends.

Tonight the jet lag has hit me. I must go to bed / more tomorrow.

PS. Did you know there is a different keyboard in Switzerland. There are few keys I just cannot find like the dash and the exclaimation point.

Out of respect - and a moment of sheer terror - I missed the most precious "photo op" ever. You will just have to imagine it.

The 18 hours of travel were much more difficult for Mom than expected. Granted, having a sinus infection, not sleeping the night before because of the sinus infection, and Air France changing our schedule are valid complications. I really should have postponed and given the antibiotics another day. But we left as scheduled.

Our highest priority was to make sure Mom did not miss meals. We allowed time for a nice dinner once we got to our gate area. As a side note, whenever you travel make one of your party bandage up their foot and feign the need for a wheelchair. We ripped through the entire check in and security process for a International Flight in about 11 minutes! We had plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely meal, but there are no resturants in the International Gate area. Somehow Mom convinced me that a Nibley's cracker would hold her over till we ate on the plane! We nibbled and boarded. When the long awaited meal arrived, Mom couldn't bring herself to eat the Lox and Couscous - so the night kept getting worse! Mom couldn't sleep at all. She was nausiated and miserable and basically, stayed up all night again. And she was wearing her "Force a smile and just get through this!" face.

We did have a few great laughs trying to figure out what time to take her next pills - you know how everything is funnier when you are exhausted.

Anyway, we finally got to our hotel. Mom planned to shower and go to bed. I ran back to the airport to rent the car (skipped that part in order to get her to the hotel faster).

This is where you need to get a visual in your head. About 2 hours later I tip toed back into our room. There was Mom kneeling at the side of her bed, praying. I waited. Then I tried to wake her (this is where the panic came in). Eventually I could see she was breathing, so I picked her up and put her in her bed. She never stirred. Her body was cold and stiff as a board. I slowly unfolded her legs and arms so she could sleep. I have no idea how long she slept there, praying. Every night Mom prays for each of her children, then her children's spouses, then each of her grandkids, and their spouses and future spouses, then the great grand kids and their future spouses. Then her sisters and brothers and then half her ward. So who knows how long she had been there, even before she fell asleep.

When I walked in that door I saw was a beautiful, valiant, and faithful woman of God being obedient. She could have said her prayers while in bed - am I the only one that does that when I'm really tired? She could have skipped them. If she was ever justified, she was tonight. She could have sat in chair to say them. But no - she knelt, and without excuse, reported to the Lord. In my opinion, that angel, dressed in her favorite silky pink PJ's, stands right up there with her ancestors. Hartman Meyer and his family, who broke the ice in a frozen river, in the middle of a wintery night just to be baptised have nothing over Mom. Neither do Mina and Tilda who left Switzerland at - was it 9 and 11 - without their parents, to begin the family's move to Utah.

Tonight's experience changed my entire focus. I just traveled half way around the world to learn about and gain strength from the lives and choices of my ancestors - when I could have just looked right next to me at our Mom.

Good Night