70 Years Young

Margarite & Elder Metcalfe

Jack's 70th birthday dawned on a Sunday this year, but what he was excited about was that our new ami (friend of the church), Margarite, had promised to come to church today. This long journey began for us back in mid-June when Elders Andrus and Meyers (two super missionaries) passed her along to us because she lived too far away from the city for them to teach her. They had contacted her by helping her with several heavy grocery bags, and had gotten her name and address. Finding her house was incredibly hard...it's like she lives at the end of the world; a former commune that she and her husband are gradually renovating from dorm like rooms into a residence for their family, consisting of three nice sized buildings. So few streets are named on signs here in France that even Mappy-Ann gave up, and we resorted to asking the 'man on the street' for directions. We were 15 minutes late by the time we finally figured it all out, but she was gracious and understanding of our plight as we met her for the first time. Jack launched right into the first discussion of the Godhead and Joseph Smith's first vision, and she sat and listened respectfully, nodding her head and asking a couple of questions here and there. He gave her a Book of Mormon and she read the promise, then I had her mark it with a red pencil so she could find it again, and she said she'd try to read, but was very busy with two young teenage daughters.

At our next visit we showed her the Joseph Smith story on video, and afterwards in the discussion he asked her, "If you gained a testimony that the Book of Mormon is true, would you be baptized?" "Well, that would be the natural next step, wouldn't it? she smiled. She said she'd been baptized as a baby, and because of the influence of her religious grandparents she has always believed in God. Jack told her how in our church we don't baptize babies because they are sinless, and I thought of Moroni's chapter 8, which teaches why infant baptism is an evil abomination. It is strong doctrine, but Margarite is so open minded that I thought she needed to hear it. I found it in her book and she read the heading, then got into the verses, reading quickly aloud, until she finished the whole chapter! We sat there amazed as she seemed to be carried away with the words she was reading. Jack talked to her about prayer, how it is a conversation with her Heavenly Father, pointing out the steps and asking if she'd close with a prayer. She did, even though it was foreign to her to pray aloud, but she was pleased and vowed to do better next time.

Two weeks later at our next meeting, she wasn't home when we drove up, no cars to be seen anywhere in her courtyard. We were quite sad, but as we turned to leave Jack's phone rang and it was Margarite, saying don't go away, she'd be there in 5 minutes. We helped her in with her groceries and then had another great visit with her and answered her questions about Adam and Eve, with help from 2 Nephi 2:11 where it talks about opposition vs. agency, and about Satan's designs on the children of men vs. the joy we can have with God someday. We taught the Plan of Salvation and it made sense to her with the scriptures to back it up, she definitely chose the Celestial Kingdom as the goal to strive for.

Then just last week, we had a great experience with her, because a couple who are stalwart members of the nearby Branch came with us to teach her about the Word of Wisdom, and it was so much fun to see these French people connect with each other. By the end of our visit, Margarite had promised to come to the Branch this Sunday, so we were all very excited about that. Jack and I left Lille before 8 a.m. Sunday morning, for the hour's drive to St. Omer to be there for Margarite's first time at church. It is a small Branch, and this is vacation month, but the people are very faithful (even though few in number) and we had all three meetings for her to experience when she came. The members welcomed her heartily, and one woman even knew the person Margarite had once worked with who was Mormon, and who had impressed her very much. This is why Jack was a happy camper today, on his birthday, that he was able to be a part of the welcoming committee for a special ami that we have been working with, and have such good feelings about and high hopes for.

Emily

Singing Soeurs

After church we rushed home to get ready for the 2 p.m. dinner appointment at our apartment with the 3 Soeurs (sister missionaries) who are serving in Lille together right now, plus a young member who could use a friend, Emily. We got home and I had an hour to get things ready. Jack went to pick up the Soeurs because the Metro was running slow, and they brought a chocolate sweet treat from the legendary Paul's for me to sneak into the fridge. Then Emily came bringing a pear tart and a big, round brownie as well....hmmmmm. Since he asked me to make him a Lemon Luscious Dessert for him, I see a huge sugar overload in our future! I wondered how everyone found out about his birthday? We had a nice dinner and sampled all the desserts, then the Soeurs sang a special song and their voices blended together beautifully. Then Jack requested that they sing his personal favorite French hymn, Souviens-toi (Remember me), and that capped things off perfectly.


A surabondance of birthday treats!

The next day we arrived at the church for Family Home Evening and there was quite a good crowd of young people there. I took our rhubarb dessert into the kitchen and the irrepressible little Somalian refugee, Emanu, rushed in begging me to quickly cut a piece so that he could put a candle in it for "Elder Metcalfe". "It's his birthday, a day late, but it's his birthday, so hurry, I've got a candle!" I did it, and it was presented to a surprised Jack as the Young Adults all sang happy birthday to him. Then they brought out homemade greeting 'cards' from all the Elders and Soeurs in the area (including Andrus, who is now in Orleans ), complete with their handprints to seal the deal. He loved the whole thing and was very touched by their show of love for him, and that was how Elder Jack Metcalfe spent his 70th birthday.

Surprise!

Make a wish.