This Week

We have been very busy these last couple of weeks as we are getting ready for the Aungouleme chapel open house. The 13th of Sept is a national day in France for open house of business, homes and churches. Our activities chairman came up with the idea. Joanne is using her skills in the area of drawing to get all the proper pictures with good drawings and headings. We are having the 4 rooms set aside for different themes: Families are Forever and the video on temples; Plan of Salvation; Genealogy; and The Restoration of the Gospel. The missionaries will take the Plan of Salvation and the Restoration. The 1st counselor and his wife, a great couple, will take the Family room and Patrick Humblot will handle Genealogy. We will have a three to five minute presentation in each room with the chapel being used for questions and soft music. We will have a room for refreshments and hopefully we can get some interest going. We are distributing 900 fliers in the general neighborhood of the church and the missionaries are going to hand out additional fliers as they make contacts the week before the open house.

We have a referral from one of the members who we are teaching. Angelique has come to church twice and was taught the restoration lesson after church. Anyone who can sit through 3 hours of church and still want to be taught more has got to have the spirit. We are still waiting for Gilda, the almost blind lady, to come back from vacation at the end of the week.

The rest of the work is concentrated on our rest homes sisters, inactive members, and the few contacts we make as we go about town. Carole Bruce, our student from Togo went off to Canada to school and we are trying to get a hold of the Quebec Mission to get a hold of her. Carole gave us the names of her parents in Togo and the name and address of her brother in Tour, France. I am waiting for the mission office to get a hold of me so I can send the referrals.

Two things have struck me since we came to France and that is the civility of the insects and the different methods of transportation. The insects here have been trained over the centuries to stay out of the homes of potential victims, humans. We can leave the doors and windows open here and even though there are no screens on anything here, the bugs stay mainly outside. They might venture in, but for the most part they go right back outside. They are not like our insects back home. We even have mosquitoes that have not attacked Joanne, whereas in Wyoming she would have been picked up and carried off the minute she set foot outside. The insects here are not attracted by the lights inside the house at night. They have been well trained to stay in bed after the sun goes down.

As for the methods of transportation, they vary from feet to the fancy cars. After the normal feet, the next method is skate boards. Quite a few young people use skate boards to get around. Angouleme is a little tough since it is up hill until you get to the center of the city. Down hill will be much appreciated. Bikes are very popular. Most bikers wear head gear and, when it is for recreation, most of the men are decked out in the best Tour de France outfits. Mountain bikes are popular here. Then comes the moped: this is a heavy bike (like the old balloon tire bikes) with a little motor that fits over the front wheel. Once you pedal and get some speed, your maximum speed will be about 15 mph, but on any uphill climb you would have to help the motor and pedal. Motorbikes come next with a speed of about 35mph. From here on in the two wheeled types get very noisy because there are no laws against certain decibel levels. Scooters for one and two person come next. Less noisy and better to get around on because they have a rack on the back for caring your goods. Motorcycles are very prevalent and can get up to very fast speeds and are extremely loud with the lack of exhaust pipe system to cut down the noise. The two wheeled types of transportation don't follow the rules of the road. They go in and out of traffic at will and try every which way to pass you. They will go so far as to drive up on cement dividers to shoot past the slower traffic. On the freeways, they have no regard for the speed limit. If you see them coming in your rear view mirror and move over to give them even a little space to zoom by you, after they pass the driver of the motorcycle will lower his right leg a little off the pedal as a way to say, thanks. If you don't see them in time in your mirrors, they will make you jump out of your skin because they make so much noise they will startle you.

The cars come in all shapes and sizes. There are the two-seaters, like the Smart Cars that are now selling in the U.S. Smart Cars are not the only two-seaters around. Many other companies make them, but you won't see them in your local showrooms because they don't meet U.S. emission standards. You hear a lot of criticism by Europe of the U.S. not accepting the world wide treaty on industrial emission standards, but if the European car makers had to meet just our national standards for cars, we would be the only ones selling car along with the Japanese and Koreans. Don't let anyone tell you that it is only people in the U.S. who love their cars. The popular expensive cars are seen all over Angouleme, even in the apartment buildings we call the projects.

There are many more car makers in Europe than back home and I sometimes wonder how they all make it. Many can't sell in the U.S. because they don't meet our pollution standards. There are no emission control standards like many states have at home. Once a year tests here in France would put half the cars off the roads.

Well with all the cars on the roads here, it is a wonder that they get around with the huge gas tax that puts the cost of a gallon of gas at about $7.50. The schools for learning how to drive are about $1,500 a session and if you fail the drivers test you must start all over again at the same price.

Well keep the faith and soyez sage, be wise.

Love Elder Dad