Hello to all in the outside world. It is getting hot in Angouleme with the temperature reaching into the 90's during the day. Yesterday after church we had a high of 98.6 F. We have an air cooler in the chapel and also the meetings are in the morning so we get the benefit of a much cooler part of the day for our services. The forecast is for hot weather the next ten days. It is not what I call a good time to be out knocking on doors and meeting people in the streets.
It is hard in France to even talk to people about the Gospel of Christ due to the past actions of the government which are the reversal of the U.S. Constitution. As I have said before, the French government has made it very difficult to practice any religion. In France, the government has acted so that the law states"Freedom from religion" and not "freedom of religion." The Catholic Church has gone in debt in France and can't maintain their churches, so the French government has taken control of the ones build anciently, which makes up 97% of the churches once maintained by the Catholic Church. The government has labeled them historical land marks and the persons who do the up-keep are hired by the government agency that controls ancient landmarks.
If the Catholic Church wishes to hold a service in one of the churches controlled by the government, they must rent the church, just like any other private concern. That is why there are music concerts and other activities being held in the churches that are not related to religious services. A good example of this was when we took the missionaries to Poitier for Elder Hill's medical exam. The exam was a part of his visa for staying in France.
Poitier is out of our mission boundaries, but it is the place where people from Angouleme go for their immigrant and missionary visa medicals. We had two exams and they were hours apart so we got to visit the old part of the city and 4 different Catholic churches in that area. One of the buildings was the oldest baptistery still standing in France. It was built in the 11th century and has a large baptismal font where the baptisms were done by immersion. It just so happened that the baptistery was being rented by a business man from Poitier for a luncheon. There was a doorman at the front checking invitations for the catered lunch. A funeral in one of the old churches will run a person a nice sum of change.
The other denominations in France have built and maintain their own churches through member donations. Our church would like to build a temple in France, near Paris, but the French government feels that all church buildings should be open to the public and there are negotiations going on as we speak for a change in the French thinking. The church is making head way in this area. We have just finished negotiations for the donations to be tax deducible, but in doing this, we had to limit the donations to tithing, fast offerings, missionary donations, and temple construction and maintenance. All other donations on your sheet in the U.S have been taken off because the French government considers that their responsibility. A member must sign the donation sheet so that the government knows that the donation was given by the member's free will. Extensive auditing by the government goes on to see that the funds that are donated are in accordance with French law. I feel that this new arrangement will give the church more credibility and gain greater acceptance by the government and will lead to a temple in France soon. There are many influential members of the church in France, and they have been able to help the government understand our teachings and our desire to be financially sound as a church and as members.
We have been doing a lot of work to bring back lost sheep into the fold. Maybe that was the Lord's reason for sending us here. The Corga family has had one problem after another, but we have held fast with them and have been through each problem with them. The French are closing in on themselves. They would like to close the door on immigration even though the Corgas are from Portugal, a European Community member country. We have met each problem head on and, with some American ingenuity, have been able to counter the French government to get the family complete legal status.
Dominique Auje is another project we have been working on for over a year and we are now seeing swift progress in bringing him back. He and his fiance are planning a marriage and Carole is taking the missionary discussions and responding positively.
Sephora Croq is a single mother of a cute five-year-old that we are working with. She kicked out her live-in boy friend and is moving slowly to coming back into activity.
A new brother has moved into the branch. After raising his children with a wife who has been hostile to his conversion, he made a stand in favor of the Gospel and because of this his wife divorced him. He is retired and has moved into the Charente and he has found new strength in the closeness of the branch.
It is good to have success after some very long struggles. We love the Lord and we love the fact that we can be in His service to help others.
Elder Dad
Monday, June 29, 2009
Touched by Music
Bonjour everyone, from the northernmost point of our, "the South of France" mission. It is almost July, and it's not cool here anymore; just as yesterday in the car after church, the temperature registered 37 cel. (which is 97.6 degrees f.) according to Elder Archer, our on-board expert on most anything!
It's noontime now and the sun is beginning to heat things up, so Jack is out taking a clue from the French by closing our shutters during the day. We're hunkering down for some "indoor" P-day activities, washing sheets and towels for me, while he drove to the bank, and then stopped by to see the Corga's. They didn't make it to church yesterday, and he found Sandra really suffering from the weather with only a couple of weeks left to go in her pregnancy. He drove back to the chapel and picked up a portable fan for her to use to cool herself off, especially at night.
We are sad that the Corga's have missed some really great moments that we've had at church lately. Last Saturday was Angouleme's Musical Fete (festival), and in honor of that, our Branch organized our own little "members of the branch fete". It was funny to hear Jack singing at the top of his lungs in the upstairs shower, the song he was trying to get up the nerve to sing that day; I guess he thought the water noise covered up his noise! The four Americans started it off with the newly popular golden oldie, "Come Thou Font of Every Blessing," with Elder Archer pounding out the music on the piano for us. Then, Bro. Savreaux handed out words to the old favorites he was going to play on his saxophone, and Bro. Bourdicheux broke the ice for everyone by booming them out, so that a joyful feeling of good memories spread through them all. Sis. Demolombe sang from the pulpit in a sweet voice, and Bro. B. asked if he could do it too! So he came forward and sang his old favorite which seemed to be about love, birds and flowers. Then Jack had the best 99-year-old church member in the whole world come up (she'd been looking forward to this for weeks), and she sang a little song from her long ago past. Everyone clapped for an encore, and surprised her so, that all her songs fled from her head as she got flustered. Good thing Patrick Humblot remembered the song she sang last year, and came to her rescue. She sang that for us and sat down, content. Jack decided to throw caution to the wind. He got up and sang "Old Man River, and got a big round of applause for his effort. Bro. B. thought of another song to sing, and seemed to love the attention he got as he stood straight, and sang loudly, using large arm gestures . . . he was a hoot. Sis. Demolombe urged me up, so I sang an old girls camp ditty "The Poor Old Slave" (with its tongue-tangling 3 verses), and "A - You're Adorable" slowly, hoping they would pick up on the alphabet part of the song. We then ate the wonderful desserts they always show up with, and it was a good time for us all.
Then yesterday, thanks to an idea we got from Laraine's ward, we had a sacrament meeting about the hymns we love the most, and why. Jack gave them a week to think about their favorite song from the hymnbook, and then they could come up one at a time to tell us about it, and Bro. Auje would lead us in singing the first verse. Both Bro. Savreaux, and Sis. Demolombe love "Oh My Father," because of the beautiful teachings therein. Jacqueline said that as she was being taught by the missionaries, she knew about Jesus Christ, but hardly nothing about her Heavenly Father, and that is why the song opened up a whole new spiritual world for her. Richard Humblot is always touched by "I Stand All Amazed." Bro. Nadie Parris (a faithful, but divorced ex-missionary in France) was "grateful" to whoever was inspired to have this program, because he said that every day of the week he had good thoughts as he pondered the song he would choose. His choice was, "Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd." Bro. Auje gave a short discourse on the power of music to convey the spirit; and how even people in the middle ages (b. 1091) "Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee," could express the gospel message as well as someone born in our lifetime (b. 1945) "As Zion's Youth in Latter Days." Bro. Bourdicheux said he loves the brightness of "Count Your Blessings" (which is good because the Elders sing it to him a lot when he gets depressed and overwhelmed by his problems)! Our new Bro. Dano loves the vim and vigor of the song, "Ye Elders of Israel"--Oh Babylon, Oh Babylon (I love it too, because I get to sing it with the Elders a lot in our meetings)!! Patrick really likes "Families Can Be Together Forever," and we sang both verses. Then, Jack got up, and he too claimed a piece of "Oh My Father," because of the wonderful truths it teaches about the gospel and the pre-existence. He also claims the song "Come, Come Ye Saints," as the anthem for enduring to the end. But, his favorite song in France is, "Souviens-To"(Remember Me), which is so beautiful and emotional, about our life in heaven before we came here to live on earth. Time was almost up, so he asked if we could sing all 3 verses to this one. Bro. Auje, a very cool, self-possessed seeming man, got up to lead us, and the tears began to stream down his face during just the first verse; it was very emotional for us all.
The spiritual side of our life is mysteriously touched by an element of beautiful music, which inspires our emotions, allowing us to experience unforgettable moments of wholeness; we are so blessed by the hymns of the church and their wonderful sermons in every song.
Love,
Mom (Joanne) Gran'ma
It's noontime now and the sun is beginning to heat things up, so Jack is out taking a clue from the French by closing our shutters during the day. We're hunkering down for some "indoor" P-day activities, washing sheets and towels for me, while he drove to the bank, and then stopped by to see the Corga's. They didn't make it to church yesterday, and he found Sandra really suffering from the weather with only a couple of weeks left to go in her pregnancy. He drove back to the chapel and picked up a portable fan for her to use to cool herself off, especially at night.
We are sad that the Corga's have missed some really great moments that we've had at church lately. Last Saturday was Angouleme's Musical Fete (festival), and in honor of that, our Branch organized our own little "members of the branch fete". It was funny to hear Jack singing at the top of his lungs in the upstairs shower, the song he was trying to get up the nerve to sing that day; I guess he thought the water noise covered up his noise! The four Americans started it off with the newly popular golden oldie, "Come Thou Font of Every Blessing," with Elder Archer pounding out the music on the piano for us. Then, Bro. Savreaux handed out words to the old favorites he was going to play on his saxophone, and Bro. Bourdicheux broke the ice for everyone by booming them out, so that a joyful feeling of good memories spread through them all. Sis. Demolombe sang from the pulpit in a sweet voice, and Bro. B. asked if he could do it too! So he came forward and sang his old favorite which seemed to be about love, birds and flowers. Then Jack had the best 99-year-old church member in the whole world come up (she'd been looking forward to this for weeks), and she sang a little song from her long ago past. Everyone clapped for an encore, and surprised her so, that all her songs fled from her head as she got flustered. Good thing Patrick Humblot remembered the song she sang last year, and came to her rescue. She sang that for us and sat down, content. Jack decided to throw caution to the wind. He got up and sang "Old Man River, and got a big round of applause for his effort. Bro. B. thought of another song to sing, and seemed to love the attention he got as he stood straight, and sang loudly, using large arm gestures . . . he was a hoot. Sis. Demolombe urged me up, so I sang an old girls camp ditty "The Poor Old Slave" (with its tongue-tangling 3 verses), and "A - You're Adorable" slowly, hoping they would pick up on the alphabet part of the song. We then ate the wonderful desserts they always show up with, and it was a good time for us all.
Then yesterday, thanks to an idea we got from Laraine's ward, we had a sacrament meeting about the hymns we love the most, and why. Jack gave them a week to think about their favorite song from the hymnbook, and then they could come up one at a time to tell us about it, and Bro. Auje would lead us in singing the first verse. Both Bro. Savreaux, and Sis. Demolombe love "Oh My Father," because of the beautiful teachings therein. Jacqueline said that as she was being taught by the missionaries, she knew about Jesus Christ, but hardly nothing about her Heavenly Father, and that is why the song opened up a whole new spiritual world for her. Richard Humblot is always touched by "I Stand All Amazed." Bro. Nadie Parris (a faithful, but divorced ex-missionary in France) was "grateful" to whoever was inspired to have this program, because he said that every day of the week he had good thoughts as he pondered the song he would choose. His choice was, "Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd." Bro. Auje gave a short discourse on the power of music to convey the spirit; and how even people in the middle ages (b. 1091) "Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee," could express the gospel message as well as someone born in our lifetime (b. 1945) "As Zion's Youth in Latter Days." Bro. Bourdicheux said he loves the brightness of "Count Your Blessings" (which is good because the Elders sing it to him a lot when he gets depressed and overwhelmed by his problems)! Our new Bro. Dano loves the vim and vigor of the song, "Ye Elders of Israel"--Oh Babylon, Oh Babylon (I love it too, because I get to sing it with the Elders a lot in our meetings)!! Patrick really likes "Families Can Be Together Forever," and we sang both verses. Then, Jack got up, and he too claimed a piece of "Oh My Father," because of the wonderful truths it teaches about the gospel and the pre-existence. He also claims the song "Come, Come Ye Saints," as the anthem for enduring to the end. But, his favorite song in France is, "Souviens-To"(Remember Me), which is so beautiful and emotional, about our life in heaven before we came here to live on earth. Time was almost up, so he asked if we could sing all 3 verses to this one. Bro. Auje, a very cool, self-possessed seeming man, got up to lead us, and the tears began to stream down his face during just the first verse; it was very emotional for us all.
The spiritual side of our life is mysteriously touched by an element of beautiful music, which inspires our emotions, allowing us to experience unforgettable moments of wholeness; we are so blessed by the hymns of the church and their wonderful sermons in every song.
Love,
Mom (Joanne) Gran'ma
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
My Love/Hate Relationship with Computers
You might have noticed that I haven't written for a while; this is to let you know that I am in the repentance process, so hang in with me. Let me tell you how we spent one of our P-Days in May.
Computers and I are adversaries at best, and enemies at worst, and my sad tale will tell you why. Having labored over a letter for four hours (DOES ANYBODY ELSE DO THAT?), I was just about finished when Jack warned me that we had to get ready for FHE. So, I signed off and scrolled up to the top, where two buttons called to me: SEND & SAVE DRAFT. Hmmmmm. I knew that I should push send, but then again, shouldn't I save it first? That sounded so reasonable that I did push the save button, and POOF! the letter vanished into outer darkness.
Ohhhhhkaaay. I sucked it up like we learn to do in this life, put on my "I'm fine!" face, and went to Family Home Evening which can get quite interesting if certain people are there. We had eight in all, and after a good gospel discussion, Jack asked them if they wanted to play boules outside, or Uno? UNO!!! What a bunch of wild boys, they all want to be the winner so bad, even Sister Walter! I sat next to our new Elder Hill, and he didn't cow-tow to me like our departed Elder Gunter famously did. Then Alain Kos started mocking Elder Hill, saying that he was fat (he's not), but he didn't take it kindly, and mumbled to me how he should just go over and smite him some. No wonder Alain had all of his upper teeth knocked out in fights in the Foreign Legion . . . seeing that skinny face of his convulsed in open mouthed laughter was a sight to behold.
Elder Archer and Jack get along great because they think alike on missionary work. But this competitive Elder tries very hard to get the best of Jack whenever he can. This time he thought if he and Elder Hill sandwiched Jack between them, they could work together to beat him coming or going. Elder Hill was not above peeking at his cards if he could, and they caught him three times shouting Uno before he remembered to say it; but he won two games, as did both Sister Walter (who is a great sport putting up with all their boyish exuberance) and I. Then came the best part, what we all wait for . . . dessert. We had leftovers from the Branch brunch, and even some of Richard's often dubious concoctions (a sauce of mashed apples, pears and oranges) he begged us to finish--wasn't half bad.
Back at home, Jack said I should start my letter over while it was still fresh in my head (after all, now that I know what I am saying, it will zip right along). Uh huh. Can you possibly guess what happened to it again, several hours later? I'm not even going there, it's too painful.
I'm sure that's all you can take for now, so I'll write again soon. Take care of yourselves, and remember that we love you.
Sister Mom
Computers and I are adversaries at best, and enemies at worst, and my sad tale will tell you why. Having labored over a letter for four hours (DOES ANYBODY ELSE DO THAT?), I was just about finished when Jack warned me that we had to get ready for FHE. So, I signed off and scrolled up to the top, where two buttons called to me: SEND & SAVE DRAFT. Hmmmmm. I knew that I should push send, but then again, shouldn't I save it first? That sounded so reasonable that I did push the save button, and POOF! the letter vanished into outer darkness.
Ohhhhhkaaay. I sucked it up like we learn to do in this life, put on my "I'm fine!" face, and went to Family Home Evening which can get quite interesting if certain people are there. We had eight in all, and after a good gospel discussion, Jack asked them if they wanted to play boules outside, or Uno? UNO!!! What a bunch of wild boys, they all want to be the winner so bad, even Sister Walter! I sat next to our new Elder Hill, and he didn't cow-tow to me like our departed Elder Gunter famously did. Then Alain Kos started mocking Elder Hill, saying that he was fat (he's not), but he didn't take it kindly, and mumbled to me how he should just go over and smite him some. No wonder Alain had all of his upper teeth knocked out in fights in the Foreign Legion . . . seeing that skinny face of his convulsed in open mouthed laughter was a sight to behold.
Elder Archer and Jack get along great because they think alike on missionary work. But this competitive Elder tries very hard to get the best of Jack whenever he can. This time he thought if he and Elder Hill sandwiched Jack between them, they could work together to beat him coming or going. Elder Hill was not above peeking at his cards if he could, and they caught him three times shouting Uno before he remembered to say it; but he won two games, as did both Sister Walter (who is a great sport putting up with all their boyish exuberance) and I. Then came the best part, what we all wait for . . . dessert. We had leftovers from the Branch brunch, and even some of Richard's often dubious concoctions (a sauce of mashed apples, pears and oranges) he begged us to finish--wasn't half bad.
Back at home, Jack said I should start my letter over while it was still fresh in my head (after all, now that I know what I am saying, it will zip right along). Uh huh. Can you possibly guess what happened to it again, several hours later? I'm not even going there, it's too painful.
I'm sure that's all you can take for now, so I'll write again soon. Take care of yourselves, and remember that we love you.
Sister Mom
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