Hello from Angouleme

Bonjour everyone . . . we're holding our breath hoping the sun will keep peeking out from behind all the clouds shrouding this place. I wore my raincoat all day yesterday, otherwise I would have been soaked like a wet puppy. We helped a young woman, unmarried and the mother of two little children, with something she needed for her kids. It was great to see the happy, trusting smile that lit up her face, replacing the wary, suspicious look she gave us the first time we
we knocked at her door. She left her kids with her boyfriend on Sunday, and came to all the meetings. The members welcomed her back so warmly, she used to be active, along with her family, but things fell apart when her mother died. The father became inactive, and still had Maia and her younger sister with him, while the older boys fared better, and are now active family men in the Bordeaux area. The best news is her boy friend wants to learn about the gospel and they want to be married this summer; we are going back at the end of the week.

I was asked to send a recent photo of Madeleine Chauveau to the ex-missionaries who knew her, so we went to Geant Casino and found an instant photo machine to try. "Things you learn the hard way!" = 1. Do not give it money first, because it won't give it back. 2. Stay calm, (even if you have a desire to kick the machine - Refrain!) and in the end it WILL give you something! Jack kept pushing buttons, so we didn't know how many photos to expect, and the machine spit
out four. By now, he was thoroughly disgusted, having spent several Euros on this venture; so we walked to a bench where I could put them into the letters, and he could begin to download a talk in this free WIFI mall. The computer was balking a bit, so he decided to try another place while I headed in the opposite direction to the postal office. Just as I was coming to the photo machine, I saw, incredibly, a picture of Sister Chauveau in the hands of a young, leather-clad, "biker" guy, with a shaved head and an earring sparkling in his ear! He looked a bit perplexed at having a picture of someone's great-grandmare in with his fist full of photos of bikes and babes! I was dumb-struck too, just kinda pointing & sputtering, "That's my, my, my . . ." He took a wide-eyed step backwards, while thrusting out his pictures at me, "Here, take them!!" And I did. There were three more pictures of her there, now was that just happenstance? Anyway, I was happy.

The Branch here is full of elderly people, so that the average age is easily 60. Our Branch Pres. joked with the Elders and us about bringing down the age to attract families. With the two families we are now teaching (with 5 babies between them), and another single mother with her two toddlers, we will do it in one fell swoop, and we'll have to start a nursery! We are very excited about this turn of events. Every third Sunday we bring food and we eat after the meetings are over.

We have to leave Luciane (a very different sister who loves to take charge and do things her way) in charge in the kitchen, while we have a quick (hopefully) meeting. People just bring what they want, so what you get can be interesting. This time there are 4 quiches, 2 salads. a pot of yummy lentil beans, and potato & ham casserole; and all 4 tables are filled with people. We brought left over hot dogs from the BBQ, and Luciane had cut them all in half. Jack passed out our carrot cake, and when he came to tiny Sis. Deni, he said loudly, "Soeur Deni won't want any of this carrot cake." She grabbed his arm and pulled the cake toward her . . . "Yes I do!" she emphatically stated. We clean up together, trying to stay out of Luciane's way. It is something they all look forward to.

We are reading Matthew, and the life of Jesus Christ was a wonder. I love how he talked to the people, "Those who have ears to hear, let them hear." Reread Chap. 13 and let's all be the "good" seed.

Love to you all.

Sister Mom, (Joanne) Grandma

What a week!

Hello to everyone.

We have had a tremendous week. We went with one of our members, Alain Kaus, to an inactive member. She has very active brothers in the Church in other cities in the mission, but for some reason she went off the deep end after her mother died. We have seen her a couple of times in very poor living conditions with two children and a live-in boy friend. One good thing about it all is that the young man has stayed with her and the two children through these years. That is a rare situation in France.

We went to meet them in the apartment of the young man's sister and things were in bad shape. They live in the projects in Angouleme and the sister has two children, no husband and is off every night living a riotous life. The only reason she let Maia and the family to move in was so Maia could watch her children while she went off to play. The other bad thing about all of this is that Maia's boy friend has no job.

Well it does get better. Alain went back and met with them and committed them to meet with us. Then he picked Maia up on Sunday and brought her to church.It was a great meeting and it was the French Mother's Day. She felt the spirit and so when we went back yesterday and gave the restoration lesson all was well.

The young man knew about the church and found no problem with all we taught them. Now we have a wedding day for them and plans for the future. We have another amis we are teaching that has a government position in retraining people without jobs, so we are putting the two in contact with each other and praying that there is a good result. We are also seeing if he can do the cleaning and the gardening at the church since we now pay a company to do the work. We have another meeting with them on Friday with Alain. We will follow up with the video on the restoration.

We also got news about a sister we see 75 miles from the branch, Chantal Patricola. She just passed her written exams and will be moving to Angouleme.

She talked to our Sister Bouchard, Relief Society President and they have it worked out that Chantal will live with Sister Bouchard since there is a living space in her home for rent. This also gives Sister Bouchard someone to take care of the house since she is planning on a mission to the genealogy library in Salt Lake this September.

Someone might think that all of this is coincidence, but we know better. We see the hand of the Lord in all the good we try to do.

Love Elder Dad

Keeping Busy

Bonjour, and have a beautiful brand new day to enjoy being alive! As for us, it's getting dark as the sun has set, and we're almost ready to hit the hay after another interesting day in Angouleme.

We finally were called in to pick up our new Recepisse's, to keep us legally here in France three more months, until Aug. 6. We tried for a week before the old one became out of date to see somebody about it at the City Offices. When time after time we were sent away because the lady in charge had the day off, or the office was closed on the day we came, etc.; we were finally informed that May is crazy month for getting anything done in France, so just don't worry about it! So, sounds good to us, but I do like the security of having that small document in my purse.

Little Sister Chaveau was sick on our regular meeting day of Wednesday, but called us to come see her on Saturday. The poor soul was x-rayed and they found calcium deposits in her sore shoulder, so that's why she's been having pain there. She had two prescriptions and needed Jack to interpret them again for her. One horse pill was scored so as to be broken in half and to be taken morning and night. She had taken the whole thing in the morning; so he broke a week's worth in half for her. The older we get, the more confusing "stuff" becomes, so it was nice to aid her, and she trusts him so. We've been reading in Alma about Ammon and King Lamoni, and she hung onto every word and laughed when some of the people thought Ammon was a "monster." I massaged her shoulder while he put the screws we bought into one of her shutter hinges that had come loose. He gave her the sacrament, and then I brought out the letter from the ex-Soeur Wylie (now Bradshaw) of Queen Creek, Az.

It was a beautiful letter, written with much love and regard to a special friend such as you meet in the mission field. In it, she told of naming her second daughter, (her third child) after Soeur Madeleine! Madeline gasped at this news, saying, "Nobody has ever been so kind to me!" Soeur Bradshaw told her of the special place she has in her heart for Soeur Madeline, and how she hopes to see her again, if not in this life, "I know I will see you in the next. We are sisters!" Then in an addition to me, she said she had used an Internet program to translate her letter into French, "since after 15 years my skills are not as great as they once were." She used large black print for the letter, and I had hoped that Soeur Madeleine would be able to discern it with her magnifying glass. Sadly, her eyes just could not handle the task, or make out the faces in the family picture that was included. But, the thought that she is remembered fondly by others makes her very happy, and we love seeing that.

So many members have interesting backgrounds. One of the strongest member here was raised by godless communists, where religion was not even mentioned. He became a Muslim to marry a girl when he was very young and in the French Peace Corps, serving in Madagascar. They divorced (such an easy solution) when she did not want to live in France with him. He found the Arab Muslims too militant, and drifted from that into seeking answers. The TJ's turned him off, and then one day two Elders "in ties" knocked on his door. He was baptized one month later, and I love hearing his testimony and his take on gospel subjects. Life is trying him right now, because of another divorce, which I really wish they could have avoided (but what do I know), except that two children are in the middle of a mess and it is sad. I hope Jean-Pierre Mazaleyrat, and his ex-wife Veronique, and their children Marion and Clemont find some peace in their lives. Pray for us all!

Thanks Jo, for the music, we are into recycling Christmas tunes now, and I'm not sure if I'm coming or going at times. I think of you, friends and family, and you make me smile.

Love, Sister Mom (Joanne) Grandma

We are Winning

Hello to all,

We have been late the last couple of weeks because our plate has been full. When we get the chance to serve on our preparation day, we put the day off to when we have an opening. Since we are not restricted as are the Elders and Sisters of the younger persuasion, we can put our schedule as we need to.

We are writing to you about a major victory for the Church and for the rights of members in all of France. We told you earlier of our being cast out of the Homes for aged in Angouleme even when we have members to see. We were not about to let this situation go unchallenged. I guess it is the history teacher in me and bull dog in me that made me take the bull by the horns.

Our mission president, who was also upset about this situation, put us in contact with the Church lawyers in the European Mission Center in Germany. We sent e mails to them about the situation and the members names. I'll put in a pitch for journals at this time, since Joanne keeps a blow by blow description of each day, we were able to reconstruct the whole affair for the lawyers.

The Church lawyers then got in contact with the French lawyer that handles these and other affairs for the Church. He is an active member in Paris. We got a call from him one afternoon as we were visiting a member far from Angouleme. When I told him that we were forbidden to come to the Homes because we were a sect, he took the challenge personal. The Church has been declared three times in the last 30 years as a bonifide church in France.

We just got his letters to the directors of the Homes and he has very well stated our case according to French laws and the laws of the European Union. He knows his stuff and although he was polite, he was precise in his notation that unless representatives of the Church were allowed access, with our badges visible, the Church through Elder and Sister Metcalfe would take further legal action. I now know one reason why were sent to Angouleme. I was not willing to see the rights of Church members to be trampled on by bigots and Joanne's detailed records have been the way to see this situation through.

We have had other good things happen here but we have so much more to overcome. We will take those problems in the light of the Gospel of Christ and go at each situation with the same fight in us and with trust in Christ. Light is the only thing that can put darkness to flight.

Love Elder Dad

Strange Fruit

Bonjour! How are you all doing this rainy month of May? Not raining where you are, huh? I'll send you some, we've got plenty, and to spare! Now I know why moss grows on everything in France; it is pretty to look at though. I was minding my own business going into the grocery store when a lady shoved two free items into my hands; a bottle which said Fruit and Rouges, (which I thought must be for cooking), and a sample bag of sweets. When I came back to where Jack was sitting doing email, he asked me to stop waving around that bottle of beer, it was unseemly for a missionary lady. Hmmmmm. You just never know around here, where just last week, I learned how to cook a garden snail. I think we all need to know this, in case of emergency. First, you have to catch them (they are tricky and faster than you'd think). Then put them in a box with cornmeal all over the bottom. They will try to escape, so cover the top with mesh and weigh it down because they are strong and will work together in a bid for freedom. They'll eat the cornmeal, and when their poop is white, that means they are all cleaned out and ready to cook. Boil them til the shell gets hard and pull out the gut part, and push in the meat part. Make a paste of garlic, butter and parsley and push that into the large end of the shell; top with butter and bake upside down in a special pan til the butter sizzles . . . and eat with baguette, of course! They really do love them here, and you can get them frozen.

When we did service with the Lemoges Branch at the Morrison's horse ranch last week, it was so good to be with all ages of men, women and children again. That's the one thing we really miss in Angouleme where the average age has got to be about 60. They have a horse farm with an old ramshackle house and barn all in one, the house being in the end part, about one forth of the entire structure. Good thing Brother Morrison is a builder, because he has put a lot of work into that place all ready. Today was fence erecting day, and 36 folks showed up to help. Jack jumped right in with the fence post pounder (a hand held tool) and I got a trowel and pulled weeds from around their entrance way. They fenced in the goats, and then worked on a long section for a paddock for the horses.

Carol Morrison is legally blind; no sight in one eye, but with 28 operations on the cataracts in the other eye, she can see a bit out of it. This lady is a true inspiration to everyone. She loves the church totally, and rides her horses, and told me her philosophy on raising them the way God would have us do. I was enthralled with her feelings about animals. She had made goat's milk ice cream for one and all and served it with jelly! (which turned out to be Jello), and that was pretty good. They are English, and sold their property in England to come here like 500,000 other retirees from there to live a cheaper, simpler life. It was a beautiful day and the Branch got a lot done for them.

Last night we (the missionaries) hosted the commemoration of the Priesthood program with a Bar-B-Que. We had an excellent turnout, and just the program would have made it worthwhile because the Elders and Jack did a good job with talks etc. But the day was made with the baked drumsticks (they usually stew them) in sauce, and pulled pork (that was unheard of) in sauce on a bun, and hot dogs with mustard, and cheesy potatoes (fat and cream-yum!), and a giant fruit salad. It is so much fun to introduce new (to them) food ideas, but I really was surprised at how they all loved Jack Daniel's Bar-B Que sauce, and I even found a recipe that's a reasonable facsimile to that, so I had lots of extra. We actually found that sauce at the store here, but it's costly.

Well, that's about all I can reasonably tell you about food right now without beginning to drool a bit with hunger. Hope you are healthy, happy and strong in the faith. We love you all, bye for now.

Love, Sister Mom (Joanne) Grandma

Good Day

We had a great experience the other day. It was our trip to the outback to see Eric Foucrier. He and his mother have been on our route almost since we got here. We go to his house twice a month and bless the sacrament for him and go over the Sunday School lessons. We have been listening to the conference talks the last couple of times. The last time we listened to Bro. Bedenar and his talk on prayer. It had an effect on him and he committed to fast and pray last
fast Sunday. This time we listened to Bro Uchtdorf's talk on the faith of our fathers. This time it was for his Mother who is steeped in religious tradition. Since Eric is a priest and we received permission, he was able to bless the sacrament. After our lesson and the conference talk, he tried to teach his Mother that she needed to be baptized. She is still not there yet, but we are making headway. When our meeting was about to finish, he asked that the next time we come could we please bring him an envelop from church so he could pay his tithing. I about exploded with joy. It reminded me a little of the brethren meeting with members in the islands of the Pacific and paying their tithing before having the priesthood come in.

This progress is worth all the time and effort we have spent in France. Eric's health has not improved, but when we are there he has a new glow to him and with the help of Our Father in Heaven we will understand His will and accomplish it. I had the Spirit speak to me that Eric's situation will only come with much prayer and fasting.

We are doing well. Joanne had a quick health visit with our mission president in our last interview. He is a doctor and he got her on some medication that will reduce the swelling in the knee. We have seen more rain here in the last six months than we had seen in Cokeville in the last ten years. We are enjoying ourselves and making small steps of progress.

Love Elder Dad

Good Week

Hello from France. The first news is that Joanne is getting quite a reputation for her goodies in the Charante and other areas in the south of France. We have been making food for the branch meal every 3rd Sunday of the month and the sisters have spent some time on one Sunday in Relief Society in having Joanne explain her method of fixing her main dishes, especially her deserts.

The Elders in district conferences get to sample our goodies. Two districts meet in the same chapel every two weeks and we take an American treat for the Elders. They look forward to each meeting not only for the spiritual food we receive but also the delights that they can savor after the meeting. Elder Page said that he has not had a care package from home for the three months he has been here on his mission, so the only taste of home he gets is at district meeting. I do the small mundane tasks with the goodies, but it is Joanne that adds the special touch and love in what she does. The care package from home helped the last time because when the Elders, 16 of them, tasted the butterscotch bars last time they were very glad that there were two per missionary. We have two Chinese missionaries in our area and they love the American treats. We have a good store for peanut butter here in Angouleme, so we have been giving jars of it to Elders who can't purchase it in the smaller cities where they labor. It is great to meet with the missionaries in district and zone conferences and feel of their enthusiasm and testimonies for the work.

We are making good progress in the branch. We are getting better attendance and people are bearing their testimonies that have not in the past. Joanne and I teach the only active teenager in Sunday school and she is thrilled that she has a young woman's class and a Sunday school class especially for her. We talked a couple of weeks ago about our Heavenly Father's Plan of Happiness and our responsibility to help our ancestors with temple ordinances. The next Sunday, she exclaimed that her father and she are planning a trip to the Madrid temple in October. It is great to see progress.

Eric Fourcier fasted this fast Sunday for his health problems and I received permission from the branch presidency to have his bless the sacrament the next time we go to his home. He is a priest and blessed the sacrament at church before his illness, but this will be the first time in years. He is progressing in his testimony and we are working on bringing them to church when we commemorate the priesthood on the 15 of May. The Elders and the two of us have planned a short program at the chapel and then a bar-b-que after. We will get the fixings today.

We are going to teach a couple tonight about the church and their need for the gospel in their lives. We have a new short CD in French on "Finding Happiness" and we have felt the spirit that this is a good beginning to our meeting. We are also meeting with a sister who needs some help to come to church each Sunday with her husband. There have been some problems with one of her daughters, but the only way to show the way is to be faithful to the Lord. We pray and fast more now than ever before for the "amis", investigators and the members of the Church because we know the value of prayer and fasting and the prompting of the spirit for each situation.

I know that the situation with Eric will only come after much prayer and fasting. I hurt for this good brother who desires to be active and receive further blessings of the temple, but because of his physical and mental health problems can't fully participate. We know members back home who have all the opportunities to be blessed through the church and are in good health who throw away the chance to walk a few blocks to the Cokeville chapel. They should meet Eric.

Keep your cards and letters coming by snail or email coming and remember these people in your prayers. We love all of you.

Elder Dad

Memory Moments

Bonjour, and I hope you all are doing well!

We had a wonderful turn in the weather, and have red roses blooming on a large bush just outside our window; I really love seeing the beautiful things of this world. It was actually so "hot" one day last week that we cooled off by walking around the man-made lake just across the road from us. It is a nice place, big enough for 2 man sailboats and wind surfing.

There is a huge complex attached with swimming pools and ice rinks, and exercise rooms even, but it's expensive, so kinda exclusive I think. But, walking is free! We found two leg exercise machines in the grassy area near the basketball courts, and so we tried them out. One was cycling and the other you sat and pushed your weight back and forth. For the small amount of time we spent on them, we both noticed a big improvement in our mutual problems, tired knees and legs, so we go there when we can.

After visiting Eric last Friday (we took pictures of him and Yann) we drove into Cognac to see if we could find the Chateau Chesnel. We located it, and took a quick picture through the open gate, and then thought that if we asked, we might be able to see more. It is not officially open for tours yet, but a woman came out of the chateau, (which is huge and shaped like [ that, only the wings are longer and the door is in the middle of the long end) and walked down the long walkway through an iron gate, and greeted us. Jack introduced us, and asked if she minded us taking a couple of outside shots, and she smiled and offered to show us all around the grounds.

It was so interesting: a deep, wide, dry moat all around, for protection, the walls are 4 feet thick in the chateau, so it looks roomier from the outside than it really is. She asked questions about our tags, wondering if Jack's first name was Elder, and figuring that mine wasn't Soeur, and it was so nice to talk intelligently to someone really listening to you, instead of thinking of ways to escape a discussion on faith. She asked searching questions and Jack bore strong testimony of the church and what our mission is all about here in France.

Her family grows grapes for fine wine, and she showed us the distillery room, equipment and oak barrels. We pass by the vineyards every time we drive to Bordeaux, and the best grapes grow all through this whole area. As we left, Jack ran back to give her a pamphlet on the family, and she gave us a postcard with a rendering of the chateau on it.

One Monday night when only we and the elders and Jean-Jac (church caretaker) showed up for FHE, we decided to take a field trip to view a special mass to be held in honor of the Virgin Mary at her very own church in Angouleme, the chapel Notre Dame D'Obezine. It is close by our church, just up in the ville, and if we hurried we might get a seat. So, we all squeezed into the Renault, and took off, expecting maybe a crowd. We parked a block away and walked in, 10 minutes early, to find the huge chapel full of mostly empty folding chairs, except for the hundred or so people right up front.

We sat in a row about halfway back in the chapel, with at least one half of the chairs ahead of us empty still. With four of us wearing our plaques, and JJ in the middle (scruffy and toothless), we kinda made an impression on one and all. The Priest made a 'big' point of coming to us and shaking our hands and asking who we were and welcoming us very graciously. I was impressed by his sincere niceness. He wore a simple flowing robe and greeted people left and right. The mass began with a canter type manchant-singing in a loud voice, and we could follow along the words in the program.

A man played the organ along side of the room, and the people stood up, and then sat, and then stood up again for quite awhile. The Priest then spoke, and I was very surprised to hear him say the name of our church. Jack said he announced we were visitors, and although we worship differently, we were very welcome here. People's heads turned to see the strange ones, and then the program continued. I liked when the congregation then turned to the strangers beside them and shook their hands in friendship. Several came to us, especially after the Priest made his way down the aisle to shake OUR hands once again! I was a big recipient, being seated on the aisle, and it was fun. Then, two people began passing the tray for donations, and it was hard not to get into my purse, but Jack gave me a quelling look, and I came to my senses. The program ended at 8, and people made their way out and had to pass us as we just sat and smiled. The Priest (seemed fascinated with us) was at our side once again, and it would have been so interesting to talk to him for real. Sheesh, I could go on and on all day!

That's it for now..we are well, and have two interesting appointments tonight.

Prayers welcome!

Love, Sister Mom