What I Like About France

There has been a reoccurring theme that has been going through my mind for the past little while and it is about what I really like about being in France. It was not hard to come up with a large list, but I will pick out just a few of the highlights.

The first is the members of the church here in the Lille area. Today we had ward conference in both wards and as usual Joanne and I split our time between both of the wards by attending sacrament meetings in each of the wards. Some members come as far as 30 to 40 miles away to come to church and every week they are faithful in doing so. The members here give 10 minute talks in sacrament meeting so that means there are at least 4 talks each Sunday. The chance to give a talk comes much quicker here than at home, but they are always well prepared. Most Sundays there are as many as two youth speakers and their topics are well thought out and their testimonies are strong. The youth here are usually the only member of the church in their schools and they are very missionary minded even though French law prohibits the discussion of religion on school grounds. They show by example who they are and what they believe and that brings about questions from their friends. The members here need to be ready with the answers to so many more questions than we do at home because the church is not as well understood here in France and many of the news that is disseminated is false.

The leaders here are the same quality as at home because they are called by revelation. These brothers and sisters toil a few more hours than we do at home. Joanne and I are home teachers to two families that live far from our home and that means the leaders here are constantly on the road to keep in contact with the members of their ward. The bishops of the two wards here are very different in age but their dedication to the flock is the same and it drives them to be mindful of everyone.

Today with ward conferences the two ward decided to have a meal after and with both wards ending at about the same time there were about 140 people to feed. The Lille ward had the main course, which was couscous. Since distance is a problem the sisters came to the ward and spent Saturday afternoon getting everything ready and then took everything to their homes and put it all together in large quantities. The other ward had the salads and desserts and that was somewhat easier to get ready for, but everyone did their part to make the event a success.

Working with the young adults of the stake is a joy. These young people work in schooling and work along with their church assignments. We are having the privilege of meeting with 8 to 10 at Monday's home evening at the ward and then anywhere from 10 to 19 at the institute class on Thursday. Joanne prepares something good for Monday night and then cooks a meal for after the institute class because some of the students come from different wards that are 50 miles away. The youth gets along very well and we know that as they go on missions and then come back and marry in the temple that the foundation of the church will be solid. This program is inspired and it keeps the youth together and focused. We have a major stake activity once every two months and local activities every two weeks. Our Stake is planning a tri-stake youth activity at the end of Easter vacation. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

The next item on my list is peanut butter and a French baguette. You might think that bread and peanut butter is good but if you put it on French bread you will think you have died and gone to heaven. The typical French bread is baked in a special oven and the different wheat blends gives it a taste we thoroughly enjoy. We try very hard to keep this eating ritual down to a minimum or we would balloon out of sight with the added weight. The other food that we limit ourselves to a once a month feast is kebab. This is the North African equivalent to our American hamburger tradition. It is made with a special foot long bun and the sauce is spread on the inside of the bun. You can have it your way if you want to add lettuce and tomatoes. The meat is lamb, well cooked and it is placed in the bun until it overflows. French fries are then added to the kebab in large quantities. The fries in northern France are delicious and much better than anywhere else we have tried in the country. Wrap that up and take it home and if we don't split it in half for the next meal we would get fat in no time.

Keeping with the food theme, cheese is definitely on the list of the great things in France. Each region has its special cheese and so that means the variety is almost unlimited. The cheese section in the super market has three aisles and each aisle is 30 yards long. There is soft cheese that spreads on bread, hard cheese you can slice off and eat with bread, cheese to cook with and cheese to make deserts with. You have cheese from milk of cows, goats, and sheep. Most of the cheese is aged to perfection, but there are some that are fresh. The cheese that is aged is enclosed in a special outer coating that also adds to the flavor over time and keeps the cheese from spoiling. Every meal that is worth being classified a true French meal always has a cheese course with at least 4 to 6 difference types.

We have a few other favorite foods here. One is a cereal that is called Jordans Country Crisp. It is a mixture of grains and nuts, although you can get it with dark chocolate or strawberries, instead of nuts. I like the one with nuts, because there are many varieties of nuts in with the grains. It has a touch of honey to go with it. Hot dogs are something we have come to enjoy. With the fast pace missionary days we resort to eating a French style hot dog. We buy the ones made with chicken. They are long and thin and fit nicely in a bun called, "Pain au lait" or a special milk bun. The bun is soft and when you spread a mild French mustard and some ketchup on it you have a treat.

One last thing that I have come to appreciate here in Lille is the freeway system. With the cities in France being established centuries ago the building of freeways was a mighty feat. In Lille the construction was done in such a way as to make it efficient, but also in a way that did not destroy the ancient flavor of the city. Some of the system goes through tunnels that save the structure above. The signs are very well marked and the interchanges are done with the traffic flow in mind. The drivers in the north of France are for the most part very mindful of each other. The flow in and out of the interchanges is done courteously because there is an understanding that everyone must change lanes to get into their correct freeway so as to get to their destination. It is very easy to signal and be let in to your next lane.

We love the people here, their old traditions with food and some we have changed as we mix ours with theirs. The time is flying by because we are busy and see the progress that is being made. A mission is a great way for a couple to grow together and make a difference. The members love us because they think we are making a great sacrifice to be with them, when in reality it is a great blessing to serve and be with such great people.

The Misadventures of Jack & Joanne

Because of spring vacation, I have no cooking duties for two weeks, so Jack set up appointments for us last Thursday. The first was a call back to Emmanuelle in Belgium at 11 a.m. I decided chocolate chip cookies might be an 'ice breaker' for us, so I made a batch before we left. Armed and loaded with cookies, who could possibly resist us? We quickly found out that Emmanuelle can - her little house was closed up as tight as a cocoon, the white shutters locked up unwelcomingly. We knocked on her door anyway, but no answer, so we left her a phone message to let her know that we had kept our part of the bargain. We spent the next 4 hours checking addresses against names of possible young adults and found one 25 year old woman at home. She had a young daughter and looked to be expecting again, so I don't think she qualifies in that category any more. Then Jack got a phone call from the new Home teaching family we were to see that night. They had to cancel because of sickness and car trouble to boot. Rats! Our best laid plans gone ka-poot and leaving us with far, far too many choc. chip cookies for the best interest of Jack and Joanne. We dropped some into the hand of a gypsy who was begging at a stoplight in the city.

While getting ready to leave for more head hunting on Friday, we got a Skype call online and were able to see one of our newest grandsons. We talked with his mom for 20 minutes or so, and then went down to our car, and there on our windshield was a parking violation ticket! Blaaaa! We have to park on the street until we can get into an underground parking space, so any time during the week we are home from 9 to 5; we have to pay the meter. Jack is always so watchful, making sure to pay on time day after day; but somehow in the 10 minutes that we overdue, the meter lady showed up and gotcha! We owe $17 Euro for that, but the guy who got caught in the handicap parking in front of our building has to pay $130, so it could have been worse! We programmed our GPS machine Mappy (affectionately known as Mappyanne to us for her sweet, patient voice), to take us to Armentieres where we found no family with the name Cretel in the building listed. Next, we located the very nice house of Mme. Beaudot, who was not at home...we'll be back. Jack got a return call from a young man who'd moved to Paris, and gave him a real pep talk about the Young Adult program there, and he said he was thinking about returning to the church. I then programmed in our other Home teaching family, la famille Lagache , and here we ended up 40 k. away from Lille and in big trouble when Mappy didn't warn us of upcoming radar like she usually does. Jack forgot to slow down soon enough as we approached their ville, Vieux Berquin. Suddenly a bright light flashed into our eyes from the roadside, and we were had! Oh my heck - a two ticket day! Hoop-la, they're coming to take us away I'm sure, as they'll soon discover that we're serial law-breakers! But, wow, did we ever get a warm welcome from the mother of the family, Doriane. She caged her dogs and invited us in, gushing happily over our visit. She's in her early 40's and her family is a bit fractured; her oldest son ( 21) has kids and is losing his home, her daughter (20) was in the corner glued to some show she was watching on the computer with earphones, and a 4 year old sucking a binky was watching U.S. cartoons on a very loud, very large TV set. We talked for awhile and we 3 had a prayer together (the others not so inclined), and Doriane warned us to watch out for the radar (coming and going), and then clucked sadly when she heard our bad news. We then found ourselves in a part of Lille we had not yet seen, Old town, with cobblestone streets too tiny for two way traffic. We parked and walked back to Rue Doudin (a real throwback to the middle ages) and found the place that was listed. It was an apartment complex that looked like a cave almost, the opening covered totally by a blue gate of iron bars. A young woman opened it with her electronic disc and she let us into the inner, glass door protected alcove, so we could check the mailboxes for Michele C. There were many boxes, but none with her name, so we went back out the glass door and the blue gate wouldn't let us pass through! Hmmmm. Jack hunted high and I hunted low for buttons or the like - pushing anything we saw that was button-like. With the glass doors locked behind us and the blue gate locked in front of us, we were caught, like rats in a trap! Jack tried out his whistle, but nobody paid any attention to it. Finally I spied a decrepit looking button thingy in a recessed corner past the blue gate - I pushed and nothing happened. Jack came and tried his muscles on it and 'click' the gate reluctantly unlocked itself, and we were free!

We've been hearing how high the gas prices have been rising there at home...amazing that some officials seem to think that U. S. prices should be in line with what people pay in Europe. At the pump now, on average, we pay $6.00 a gallon in Euros to gas up our little Chevy, and that's diesel (which is cheaper here). But, also you have to remember the exchange rate, because it costs us, on average, $598.00 in U.S. dollars to buy $450.00 Euros (which are so pretty and shiny they just seem like play money to me!). So, in our dollars, that adds on even more to the cost of that gallon of gasoline, making it more like nearly $8.00 dollars a gallon. Is that high enough for them yet? Some food for thought.

On Monday night our Peruvian Ami, Denis, went to a member of our ward's house for Family Home Evening. Racquel invited him when she heard that he was from South America, because she was born in Spain and could speak Spanish to him. She said things went very well and that they presented the Plan of Salvation as their lesson. He told her that if he doesn't get the internship he is trying for he will go back to Peru in two weeks. I'm glad that he has been introduced to the church well here, because if he does go back he will find that it is well established there as well. As you can see, things are normal or goofy no matter where in the world you are...but we are happy here right now.

Love to you all..........Sister Joanne