Hello from Angouleme;
You must be wondering what the subject for this week is, but it is about rest homes. We have 8 members in rest homes and since it is our responsibility to visit each member, we head for the rest homes. Outside Angouleme, we have been very successful in visiting our members and spending some time with them, but in Angouleme, we have run into a major situation. We went to a member in a rest home just on the outskirts of Angouleme. The first time we met with a little sister that was so glad to see us that she hung onto Joanne's hands the whole time. We promised to come back the next week and did. She was not in her room the first time we came by, but when we came back later we found another sister in the same rest home. She said she didn't want to see us, so we left her within 20 seconds and went to look for Sister Louise. We found her upstairs in a public area. She was so happy to see us. We sat down with her in the public area and just started to talk to her and show her a picture of our family when the head nurse came up and asked us some questions. We told her that we were here to see our members and bring them some happiness with our visits if they wished to see us. She was rude and said that they controlled who visits and who doesn't and that if they let us in, every other sect would be here. I told her that the government of France had classified us as a bona fide church, but she almost ushered us out with force.
We came back and met with the director and he said that since we were a sect we had no rights. We told him we know that the Catholic priest comes for Mass in the rest home and that he is provided with a major room. If he comes, we, as bona fide ministers of Jesus, should have the same right. No, was the answer.
We let the mission president know and the next thing we knew we were in a conversation with the Church European office in Frankfort, Germany. The church lawyer took our statement over the phone and through email. She said that she would pursue the matter.
We then went to another rest home and when we asked to see the member we were ushered right to her. We spent some time with her and her fellow patients. I told them about Wyoming and what it is like there. Two men asked me questions and I spent some time with them. On the way out, I asked if there was some service we could do. The nurses and other staff said yes, yes. We went to the main desk and we were given a name of an organization that helps in the rest home. We called the number and were told to come to the hospital on a certain day and hour. We did so and as soon as they saw our name tags they went nuts. No religious symbols allowed. We said fine, we will not be a part of your organization, but we asked the director if there was something we could do.
Another day and another appointment with two directors. Can we help? No. Can we see our members? No. We were forbidden to see anyone in any of the rest homes run by this medical group. Louise Meslier came up and our visits with her. I said, why do the Catholic priests get to come and give Mass and we can't come and offer the sacrament to our members? No answer, but forbidden. Are there places were our members can go? Chapels on and off the grounds run by the Catholic Church. If another church can have a chapel on the grounds why can't we go? Forbidden. We have the oldest and largest women's organization in the world, can the president of the Angouleme Branch come and see the members of the organization? Forbidden.
Next morning a call came from the lawyer. I told her of the last meetings. She told us to go back and get the names and phone numbers of each of the three directors and email her the situations as they took place.
Went back and got a shocked look from everyone everywhere we went. With reluctance we got the info and told them our lawyers would be in touch with them.
The lawyer stated that they thought we would go away, but we are like bulldogs with their pant legs in our teeth. The lawyer says they are breaking the French law and we are in a fight for member's rights.
There rest of the work has its ups and downs, but we are making baby step progress.
Elder Dad
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