Busy

Hello to all,

I have learned one thing by living in Angouleme and that is that I am not going to move to Oregon or Washington any time soon. The weather here is very similar to that of the Northwest and I have found that although it is not cold here, I can't take a continued week or more of rain. We are in a situation here where there is some flooding in the very lowest areas of the Charante because the earth is saturated. We did have 4 days of partly sunny weather and it was a welcome sight, but we have gone back into the rainy days again. It is not so much the rain but the dreary sky. I can see why people can get depressed without the sun coming out and warming the day as well as the heart.

We had the four days of the comic book festival in Angouleme and the streets are safe to travel again. Every year at this time Angouleme, the home of some of the original comic figures in France and even in Europe, puts on a 4 day festival for up and coming designers of comic book characters and future video producers. It is very well attended and the city makes a good piece of change hosting the affair. There are a few schools in Angouleme that are noted for their technology in the visual arts.

We had some changes in the branch with the departure of Sister Bouchard to her mission call in Salt Lake City and the Family Research Mission. She did so many things in the branch that it took a while to call people to replace her, but last Sunday many of these people gave strong testimony to the new callings they have and how it has helped them grow and develop. We look forward to even more progress as we put the branch on a footing so that when we leave we will not be missed and the branch will function well without us.

Joanne is having a Sunday experience since she is right now the only primary worker. We have one boy in the primary and some times some visitors, but she never knows what to expect. She tries to tailor her lessons for a wide range of situations. Joanne never knows who will show up and with her limited French she also is concerned with how she will be understood or how she will get the point across. We go over quite a bit of translations before every Sunday.

I think the hardest thing that happens is that we are limited in the words that the average Frenchman knows to express everyday ideas. There is such a difference between teaching the lessons that need to be learned before baptism because we are more conversant with the Gospel language. There are more helps for us as we use "Preach My Gospel" and the scriptures. When it comes down to trying to get across everyday ideas, we get many things lost in translation. In the U.S., we have sayings that are similar to the French, but they translate straight across, so we find ourselves at a loss for words on the simplest ideas. I also get a thought going and then have to pause often as I struggle to continue the line of thought through to its conclusion. This the reason I would like to leave the mission field with the church responsibilities in the hands of the French members. If there is a reason to build the branch, that is the main one.

We have had a very different experience in visiting our 98-year-old member. She feels that she is definitely coming to the end of her days and we are talking a great deal about how the scriptures and the leaders of the church talk about the life after this existence. The last few times with Madeline, we discussed things that she needed to think about that needed to be completed before she leaves this frail existence. We were prompted to go to her genealogy and check out what had been done. When I entered her names into the "New Family Search," we found that the married couples had all their temple work done except the sealing together of husband and wife. She was excited to know that these sealings could be done by someone else on their behalf so that these couple could have the choice to accept or reject the work done for them. We will meet with her again this week to see if there is any thing else we can do for her.

We have a hard time when there is a change in missionaries in Angouleme. We get to have these missionaries a little longer than most because of the small size of the branch and the need for them to stay and get to know and work with the members. Our last Elder stayed for 5 months and entered the mission as a greenie and just left. We have had two missionaries finish their missions here since we have been here and we get very attached to them. It is tough to wrap your arms around them and say goodbye. Joanne is famous throughout the mission for her Sunday meals for the missionaries and we have found that on district meetings it is cheaper and quicker to fix a noon meal for the district then to go out to eat with our two missionaries or the ones that come to Angouleme on an exchange before coming back to our city. The whole district looks forward to see what the treat will be. The new missionary let us know that the missionaries all over the mission know about her cooking and he said he wasn't disappointed to hear he was coming here and enjoying a good Sunday American meal.

Well, that's all from this side of the world.

Love, Elder Dad