Never Thought

Hello to all at home,

We have had a great week and feel very blessed to be here in France. The Elders are teaching a 78-year-old man, Jean Bourdicheux, and he has set his baptism date for April 6th. He has come a long way from someone who had no faith or little knowledge of Jesus, to now be one who has joy in the blessings of the Gospel and in the Atonement of Christ. He has poor health and thought that it was too late to come to Christ, but now looks forward to his meetings with the Elders and coming to church with his brothers and sisters. It is a blessing for me to pick him up in the car and talk with him to and from church. He always has questions for me and calls me his, pere spiritual, spiritual father. We have found a real brotherhood together and he no longer feels alone in the world. He loves the light of Christ and it has been a pleasure to see him make progress in his life and to watch him strive to be a good disciple of Christ.

We never in our wildest dreams knew what was to be our role in the mission field, and I never had any clue that we would end up in the same city for our entire mission. I never visioned being the branch president, but the blessings of working with faithful members of the Lord's kingdom has been a joy beyond measure. I must admit that it has not been easy and the problems have not been simple, but without the chance to be here all our time we would have not been able to make the progress that has come little by little with the help of the Spirit.

Joanne has seen the wisdom of having eight children as she now feeds the masses. Every third Sunday we have a branch meal after Sacrament meeting and all that practice has come in very handy. I help as the sous chef, chef's helper, as I peel apples for the huge pies she makes and peel carrots and potatoes for the dishes that she prepares. Each Sunday we feed the Elders and the bachelors of the branch and she takes Saturday to get something scrumptious ready. The Elders throughout the mission know all about Joanne because as the missionaries leave here they carry the news of the blessing of being in Angouleme because of Joanne's touch of home in the meals and especially the deserts she prepares. We also get lunch ready for district meeting every two weeks in Bordeaux. It is cheaper and quicker to have something for the 6 elders than to go out and get pizza or Kebabs or head to a restaurant before coming home. The touch of home cooking makes many of the missionaries want to be in the Bordeaux district.

It is a joy to see Joanne pray in French as the members and amis want to feel her spirit. She reads scriptures in French as we share spiritual thoughts with all we meet and we sing the hymns in French every chance we get. I love to try to sing the hymns in French with Joanne. I enjoy watching her as she struggles to communicate with members and amis. It has not been easy for her, but the spirit and love she shows makes up for the lack of words spoken. When Joanne gives suggestions for members and amis, it is always what is needed. I might be the mouth piece, but she is the spiritual guide in many cases and her direction come from the Lord.

I love the work and although it is hard, I know that if we had not come here, we would not know the Saints of France and would have not known so many great missionaries. District meetings and Zone Conferences give us a chance to be with the Lord's finest young brothers and sisters. Some of these missionaries come from Europe. We have seven elders and one sister in our zone that are from Europe and the other zones have more than we do. Elders from Sweden, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, and France and one sister from France. They are among the spiritual giants of the mission. The church is growing in Europe with solid saints.

We had the opportunity to go to a Zone Conference last Friday in Bordeaux and then since we are a couple missionary team and a part of the branch presidency, we stayed for the Valentine Dance at the Stake center. We had hopes that more of the branch would come as they had planned, but Alain Kaus came and we enjoyed the evening with him and the others of the stake that came. We were able to dance because the rules for couple are not the same as the Elders and the Sister Missionaries. It was great to see the members get together in good fun and we even got Alain out on the floor to dance. Alain is special and he is working on getting ready to go to the temple. When he is ready, we will have another blessing as we will be able to rent another car and go together with him to the temple in Madrid. I have loved many of you I have met back home, but when you struggle and grow with these people there is a special bond that binds us fast in the Lord that is not always the case at home.

We love you all and ask that our members and amis be in your daily prayers.

Much love,

Elder Dad