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