Bonjour to you all, family and friends -
A brisk ocean-like breeze has blown in from the coast today, and I can tell that Fall is just around the corner. Hmmm. As a matter of fact, I'm a bit chilly, and just ran to get myself a wrap to wear while I type. After seeing a few homes being built, we realize that insulation is virtually unused in them. We actually loved coming into our shutter-enclosed, darkened house after being out in the summer sun, because it was like walking into a cool cave. But, as the weather cools down outside of these basically rock or cement block homes, we do begin to bundle up more inside and shiver in our boots a bit on the tile floors.
We have been experiencing some "panic attacks," off and on lately, as we realize that we will be leaving here in just a few short weeks. The thought of having to say goodbye to the Branch makes us very sad and leaves us torn with conflicting emotions. Jack's second counselor, Patrick, says that we can go home for a month's vacation, and then return and be just like we were. We actually kicked that thought around for a while--maybe we should come back and get an apartment here, so that we could finish helping our friends, and tie up our dangling loose ends. Don't worry, sanity does have a way of returning as we began to realize that it would NOT be the same. We have been so blessed with perfect places to live, all furnished for our use, practically falling into our laps. We'd most likely not be that lucky if we returned. Besides, people do move on; we aren't indispensable; and others will step up to fill in the gaps that we have left. It's just that you become accustomed to seeing certain people often, and there is a trust and friendship that builds up between you when you've shared problems with them, and their happy or sad times also. It will be hard to leave.
Then again, there is Alain Kaus, whose latent cooking genes have been somehow activated. He is now in the kitchen constantly with me each week, "helping" with the bachelor repas. On the one hand, I like help; on the other hand, he is so unpredictable he drives me crazy. Last week, he brought in not just his one loaf of honey white bread (which has improved in texture immensely from his inedible first attempt), but also two more "dessert" loafs--one of which was studded with chocolate and one made with goopy caramel. He also brought special jams to eat with them, an orange marmalade, and a scary looking banana confiture; plus two jars of nutty or smooth peanut butter, and a jar of Nutella. He then set about cutting up each of those large, square loaves into slices, while my little helper (79-year-old Adele) and I, tried to make the green salad and keep out of his knife-wielding way. Then he was with us, wringing out a piece of mozzarella cheese that he'd brought, cutting it right on top of the lettuce, as we stood back and let him have his way. He brought Jack some Turkish Halva to try (which appears to be a near-eastern sweet treat), but he hasn't been up to opening it yet, because it really isn't very appetizing looking. Then last night at FHE, he brought me a cooking magazine 'Cuisine Actuelle', and seemed to be saying, as he talked and talked at me, that I needed to learn some French recipes. I like that idea, it's just the many translations of words and terms that I need to master first; but that was nice of him--I think.
The Elders have found a new Ami who is very interested in the church, and has come to church the last two weeks. The bad news is that he is also a bachelor and, as Richard sadly shook his head, this is a Branch of 'Celibataires'. He is a sweet little man whose apartment is cluttered with clocks, as that seems to be his passion in life; and he is under a doctor's care, and gets through life's trials with pills apparently. That seems to be France's answer to every body's problem. I sat behind him last week when Jack spoke in Sacrament meeting about the Apostasy and Jesus Christ and the restoration, and he was nodding his head vigorously throughout, agreeing with everything that was presented. He is wanting baptism, but the Elders want him to receive all the lessons first. He came and played UNO with us and won his first game ever played and killed Elder Chlarson with plus 4's every hand. We have a lot of fun together on Monday nights.
Well, that's a little update from us over here for now. Hope all is going well in your part of the world, stay safe, endure well, and we love you!
Sister Mom (Joanne) Gran'ma
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
How Grows Our Garden
Bonjour -
Our summer days are winding down, and we feel like we are almost on borrowed time hoping for a harvest of the gospel seeds that have been sown these past 20 months. I love the analogy of the good seed (from Alma 32) that is planted in our hearts (that has to be a good spot!), that if you do not cast it out with your unbelief, and resist the Spirit, it will begin to swell and grow. When this happens, we begin to see and understand and become enlightened, and the fruit of our faith becomes delicious to us. It's so wonderful to read in the scriptures how the word of God works in our lives.
The actual garden that Jack planted and learned from, did rather well, and we are enjoying the fruits of his labor. We have tomatoes for us and some to share, which is always nice. I actually was a little nervous when he brought in the very first one, because it really did look slightly bizarre. It's skin was strangely transparent, and you could discern veins showing through it, all yellow and greenish in color. I took a knife to cut into it, and was loath to release those fluids into the atmosphere! Eeeek! (I've probably seen too many old science fiction movies, do you think?) I don't know where that one came from since all the others have been fairly normal in comparison. He got a tiny crop of peas and a few beans, and then cleared out the old vines and popped in more beans, which promptly sprouted and just finished flowering, so we'll see what we can get there again.
Sophora Croq was 17 when she became the "black sheep" of her active Mormon family, and was excommunicated for her unrepentant actions. She had a son, fell out of love, and lived with other men, off and on, until she began to see how this was affecting her 5-year-old boy, Jeremie. Her mom brought her to church in Angouleme, a 40 min. drive from where she lived, and we drove out to see her several times after that last year. We were stymied because she was living with someone at the same time that she was making overtures to return to her faith. When she finally sent him packing several months ago, we returned and began to teach her again. Jack started at the beginning with her, using Preach My Gospel, and the day that she prayed aloud was such a great breakthrough. Jeremie loves to pray, but when Jack told him that it was his mom's turn, his eyes got wide with wonder, because she hadn't done it before with him. We all sat quietly with heads bowed, waiting for her to find the words, and I was so surprised when the talkative little boy stayed silent also. After 2 long minutes, she gathered the courage to talk to her Father in Heaven, and said a beautiful prayer, asking for his help to come back into his fold. Her case has been reviewed, and after some personal interviews she will be cleared for baptism. We had a very good lesson with her last time, when Jack had her read aloud all 39 verses in Hebrews 10. It is all about how the Lord accepts repentance, but that it is a sacred promise that must not be reneged on, or it's as if you are trampling the Son of God under your feet. It's a powerful message of having patience and enduring to the end for our final reward. I think she is scared of failing, because she knows it will be hard in many ways, but she seems willing to continue to pray for help, and to ask (as Jack suggested) if there is anything else she needs to do in her life before being baptized again. We hope she keeps the date to keep moving forward.
Joao and Sandra are in a tizzy with their new baby, and his worries about his continuing health concerns have him even more frazzled. We dropped by for our appointment and found the social worker with Sandra in the kitchen, the kids running around the house, and Joao complaining about the temperature he's had for several days which makes him unable to take his medication. He brought out a thermometer, and yelped when he saw that his temperature was normal, and ran to get his shot kit. He came back to where we were sitting, pulled out the needle, and began the process of filling the chamber and flicking the needle with his fingers. He was just pulling up his shirt to plunge that thing right into his liver, when Sandra gave him a horrified shout to STOP! She made him take himself into the kitchen to do it, so we wouldn't have to see it. I knew he'd done it when I heard the loud OW! from the next room; darn, we miss all the fun! They haven't come to church for over 2 months now, and it's always the same excuses: it's too hard on the children, 3 hours are too long for them, the members don't like hearing noisy kids, Sister Metcalfe can't speak French to them (so they did notice that!) Jack talked like a Trojan, countering their every objection: We've all been where you are now with the kids, people do understand your plight and would like to help, and my wife is ready with a lesson and gets help in the translation from the Elders. We had such high hopes with Sandra, but maybe she needs to develop at her own pace, so we don't lose her completely. We need to ask the Lord's help on this, and ask for a change of heart, and more patience and desire for the gospel of Christ in their lives.
So there you have our gardening efforts . . . it begins with the planting, and continues with all the growing pains, and I'm not sure how long the harvest lasts, because those seeds are too important to give up on. You hang in there too, we miss you.
Love,
Sister Mom (Joanne) Gran'ma
Our summer days are winding down, and we feel like we are almost on borrowed time hoping for a harvest of the gospel seeds that have been sown these past 20 months. I love the analogy of the good seed (from Alma 32) that is planted in our hearts (that has to be a good spot!), that if you do not cast it out with your unbelief, and resist the Spirit, it will begin to swell and grow. When this happens, we begin to see and understand and become enlightened, and the fruit of our faith becomes delicious to us. It's so wonderful to read in the scriptures how the word of God works in our lives.
The actual garden that Jack planted and learned from, did rather well, and we are enjoying the fruits of his labor. We have tomatoes for us and some to share, which is always nice. I actually was a little nervous when he brought in the very first one, because it really did look slightly bizarre. It's skin was strangely transparent, and you could discern veins showing through it, all yellow and greenish in color. I took a knife to cut into it, and was loath to release those fluids into the atmosphere! Eeeek! (I've probably seen too many old science fiction movies, do you think?) I don't know where that one came from since all the others have been fairly normal in comparison. He got a tiny crop of peas and a few beans, and then cleared out the old vines and popped in more beans, which promptly sprouted and just finished flowering, so we'll see what we can get there again.
Sophora Croq was 17 when she became the "black sheep" of her active Mormon family, and was excommunicated for her unrepentant actions. She had a son, fell out of love, and lived with other men, off and on, until she began to see how this was affecting her 5-year-old boy, Jeremie. Her mom brought her to church in Angouleme, a 40 min. drive from where she lived, and we drove out to see her several times after that last year. We were stymied because she was living with someone at the same time that she was making overtures to return to her faith. When she finally sent him packing several months ago, we returned and began to teach her again. Jack started at the beginning with her, using Preach My Gospel, and the day that she prayed aloud was such a great breakthrough. Jeremie loves to pray, but when Jack told him that it was his mom's turn, his eyes got wide with wonder, because she hadn't done it before with him. We all sat quietly with heads bowed, waiting for her to find the words, and I was so surprised when the talkative little boy stayed silent also. After 2 long minutes, she gathered the courage to talk to her Father in Heaven, and said a beautiful prayer, asking for his help to come back into his fold. Her case has been reviewed, and after some personal interviews she will be cleared for baptism. We had a very good lesson with her last time, when Jack had her read aloud all 39 verses in Hebrews 10. It is all about how the Lord accepts repentance, but that it is a sacred promise that must not be reneged on, or it's as if you are trampling the Son of God under your feet. It's a powerful message of having patience and enduring to the end for our final reward. I think she is scared of failing, because she knows it will be hard in many ways, but she seems willing to continue to pray for help, and to ask (as Jack suggested) if there is anything else she needs to do in her life before being baptized again. We hope she keeps the date to keep moving forward.
Joao and Sandra are in a tizzy with their new baby, and his worries about his continuing health concerns have him even more frazzled. We dropped by for our appointment and found the social worker with Sandra in the kitchen, the kids running around the house, and Joao complaining about the temperature he's had for several days which makes him unable to take his medication. He brought out a thermometer, and yelped when he saw that his temperature was normal, and ran to get his shot kit. He came back to where we were sitting, pulled out the needle, and began the process of filling the chamber and flicking the needle with his fingers. He was just pulling up his shirt to plunge that thing right into his liver, when Sandra gave him a horrified shout to STOP! She made him take himself into the kitchen to do it, so we wouldn't have to see it. I knew he'd done it when I heard the loud OW! from the next room; darn, we miss all the fun! They haven't come to church for over 2 months now, and it's always the same excuses: it's too hard on the children, 3 hours are too long for them, the members don't like hearing noisy kids, Sister Metcalfe can't speak French to them (so they did notice that!) Jack talked like a Trojan, countering their every objection: We've all been where you are now with the kids, people do understand your plight and would like to help, and my wife is ready with a lesson and gets help in the translation from the Elders. We had such high hopes with Sandra, but maybe she needs to develop at her own pace, so we don't lose her completely. We need to ask the Lord's help on this, and ask for a change of heart, and more patience and desire for the gospel of Christ in their lives.
So there you have our gardening efforts . . . it begins with the planting, and continues with all the growing pains, and I'm not sure how long the harvest lasts, because those seeds are too important to give up on. You hang in there too, we miss you.
Love,
Sister Mom (Joanne) Gran'ma
Monday, August 17, 2009
What Next?
Bonjour everyone - Have yourselves a great day today!
It's when I blew up my breakfast oatmeal that I kinda knew what sort of day we would be having! We had an 11 o'clock appointment with Sister Walter to take her the sacrament, and had to leave by 10 to be on time. As we drove into her yard, we were surprised to see that her car wasn't there. That was very strange, so we got out and knocked on her door to make certain, and . . . NO answer. While Jack wrote her a note, I walked around her large back yard looking at the crumbling out-buildings made of those old piled up stones that you see everywhere; and sure enough, the 'mortar' seemed to be dirt that I could easily brush away with a finger. Her near-dead dog roused himself with great effort, and began to do his duty by barking at us, so we gave him the satisfaction of having "chased us away" by leaving, after placing the note in her mailbox. We'd been back home only a few minutes, when I looked for my bag, and couldn't find it anywhere. My heavy, clunky, ever present bag, with all my stuff: my quad de englaise, my scriptures de francaise, my hymnbook (with translated titles . . . the only way on earth I know what I'm singing), and not at all least - my journal! EEEEK! Yes, I really did leave my bag sitting on the back stoop at Chantal's house; I was sick! Jack said, "Don't worry, don't worry, we'll be going back for it." Then the phone rang, and it was Chantal calling to apologize for getting her dates wrong; she thought we were coming the next day, and to tell us "the news" that she had my bag. I mouthed the "news" to Jack . . . "I NEED my bag!" So he told her we'd come by later to pick it up. Then Carole called us to move our meeting with her back by an hour and a half because she was swamped with work, so Jack grabbed me and said let's go right now. We dove into the car and took off once again to Chantal's little commune, Le Pruneau (love that name); because if you feel naked without your bag, you must have your bag, right? We got to meet her son, a young man in his 20's, who was there to help her fix some water damage from an earlier storm, and told her we'd be back in the morning.
Then, we were off to our appointment with Carole, who is such a different person from the timid, stand-offish woman we first met a year ago. Their place of business is clear on the far side of Angouleme, so it seemed like we'd been in the car for hours. We got off to a good start with my small offering of her personal favorite: lemon bars, a treat she cannot refuse! Jack felt that she needed to understand about opposition and agency, having been the victim of a crime, so we read and discussed 2 Nephi 2, which talks about why God allows his children their agency to act and how they are responsible for the consequences that follow. She read the verses, then reread them, and discussed them with Jack. It is a hard concept to forgive someone who has hurt you or a loved one, but she is trying to come to terms with it. I snapped a quick picture of her and Jack, and she told him that she's gained some weight back, and is up to 50 kilos now. At her low point a few months ago, she was at 47 k.; bound and determined to get down to her "magic" number of 42! Fifty kilos is just over 100 pounds, and she is about my height. Jack and her fiancee, Dominique, worked so hard to get her turned around, to realize that she was "losing" her beauty by becoming a scarecrow, not enhancing herself as she seemed to think. It finally seemed to dawn on her, and she has lately had much more spark and liveliness, and we are so glad for her because health is everything. Carole seems to just drink in the knowledge of the gospel, and is reading the Book of Mormon. When she gave the closing prayer, she said something that thrilled us so much, "Father in heaven, please help me so that I can be baptized." It was great.
I was called on to give a different kind of service than usual when we came an hour early to FHE, and set up a barbering station in the kitchen for the Elders. I first tackled Elder Chlarson's hair, which sticks out straight all over his head. It has a coarse, heavy texture that I'd never dealt with before, but he was desperate enough to allow me a free hand and took all the buzzing and clipping and "oopses!' with a determined smile. Then Richard Humblot snuck in, hoping to save himself the 45 euros that a haircut costs him at a shop. His bald pate needed shaving, then I mowed the sides and especially got rid of the heavy, curly forest that grows down the back of his neck. I thought his hair was white as snow, but there are plenty of black ones sprinkled throughout that surprised me. Next came the fussy Elder Hill, whose close cropped, curly, short hair hardly looked like it needed cutting. At first he directed me to just trim some off the sides mostly, but soon he said just take it all, that his hair could never be too short! So, I got after it, and to me it looked the same after I'd finished as it did before; every person is so different from each other! It was his birthday also, so after our lesson he got to blow out the 20 blazing candles on his chocolate brownie cake (what else?), and we all pigged out as we played our rousing UNO games with cheers, groans and great gusto (especially when our resident funny man, Bro. Bourdicheux wins and celebrates triumphantly!).
We honestly never know what's next around here, but the journey has been worth it because of all we have gained along the way. Take care of yourselves, we think about you, and love your place in our lives.
Til we meet again,
Sister Mom (Joanne) Gran'ma
It's when I blew up my breakfast oatmeal that I kinda knew what sort of day we would be having! We had an 11 o'clock appointment with Sister Walter to take her the sacrament, and had to leave by 10 to be on time. As we drove into her yard, we were surprised to see that her car wasn't there. That was very strange, so we got out and knocked on her door to make certain, and . . . NO answer. While Jack wrote her a note, I walked around her large back yard looking at the crumbling out-buildings made of those old piled up stones that you see everywhere; and sure enough, the 'mortar' seemed to be dirt that I could easily brush away with a finger. Her near-dead dog roused himself with great effort, and began to do his duty by barking at us, so we gave him the satisfaction of having "chased us away" by leaving, after placing the note in her mailbox. We'd been back home only a few minutes, when I looked for my bag, and couldn't find it anywhere. My heavy, clunky, ever present bag, with all my stuff: my quad de englaise, my scriptures de francaise, my hymnbook (with translated titles . . . the only way on earth I know what I'm singing), and not at all least - my journal! EEEEK! Yes, I really did leave my bag sitting on the back stoop at Chantal's house; I was sick! Jack said, "Don't worry, don't worry, we'll be going back for it." Then the phone rang, and it was Chantal calling to apologize for getting her dates wrong; she thought we were coming the next day, and to tell us "the news" that she had my bag. I mouthed the "news" to Jack . . . "I NEED my bag!" So he told her we'd come by later to pick it up. Then Carole called us to move our meeting with her back by an hour and a half because she was swamped with work, so Jack grabbed me and said let's go right now. We dove into the car and took off once again to Chantal's little commune, Le Pruneau (love that name); because if you feel naked without your bag, you must have your bag, right? We got to meet her son, a young man in his 20's, who was there to help her fix some water damage from an earlier storm, and told her we'd be back in the morning.
Then, we were off to our appointment with Carole, who is such a different person from the timid, stand-offish woman we first met a year ago. Their place of business is clear on the far side of Angouleme, so it seemed like we'd been in the car for hours. We got off to a good start with my small offering of her personal favorite: lemon bars, a treat she cannot refuse! Jack felt that she needed to understand about opposition and agency, having been the victim of a crime, so we read and discussed 2 Nephi 2, which talks about why God allows his children their agency to act and how they are responsible for the consequences that follow. She read the verses, then reread them, and discussed them with Jack. It is a hard concept to forgive someone who has hurt you or a loved one, but she is trying to come to terms with it. I snapped a quick picture of her and Jack, and she told him that she's gained some weight back, and is up to 50 kilos now. At her low point a few months ago, she was at 47 k.; bound and determined to get down to her "magic" number of 42! Fifty kilos is just over 100 pounds, and she is about my height. Jack and her fiancee, Dominique, worked so hard to get her turned around, to realize that she was "losing" her beauty by becoming a scarecrow, not enhancing herself as she seemed to think. It finally seemed to dawn on her, and she has lately had much more spark and liveliness, and we are so glad for her because health is everything. Carole seems to just drink in the knowledge of the gospel, and is reading the Book of Mormon. When she gave the closing prayer, she said something that thrilled us so much, "Father in heaven, please help me so that I can be baptized." It was great.
I was called on to give a different kind of service than usual when we came an hour early to FHE, and set up a barbering station in the kitchen for the Elders. I first tackled Elder Chlarson's hair, which sticks out straight all over his head. It has a coarse, heavy texture that I'd never dealt with before, but he was desperate enough to allow me a free hand and took all the buzzing and clipping and "oopses!' with a determined smile. Then Richard Humblot snuck in, hoping to save himself the 45 euros that a haircut costs him at a shop. His bald pate needed shaving, then I mowed the sides and especially got rid of the heavy, curly forest that grows down the back of his neck. I thought his hair was white as snow, but there are plenty of black ones sprinkled throughout that surprised me. Next came the fussy Elder Hill, whose close cropped, curly, short hair hardly looked like it needed cutting. At first he directed me to just trim some off the sides mostly, but soon he said just take it all, that his hair could never be too short! So, I got after it, and to me it looked the same after I'd finished as it did before; every person is so different from each other! It was his birthday also, so after our lesson he got to blow out the 20 blazing candles on his chocolate brownie cake (what else?), and we all pigged out as we played our rousing UNO games with cheers, groans and great gusto (especially when our resident funny man, Bro. Bourdicheux wins and celebrates triumphantly!).
We honestly never know what's next around here, but the journey has been worth it because of all we have gained along the way. Take care of yourselves, we think about you, and love your place in our lives.
Til we meet again,
Sister Mom (Joanne) Gran'ma
Friday, August 14, 2009
Reflections
Hello to everyone. We are doing fine and are working to bring some long strivings to fruition. I am convinced that the present day ideas of living together without the commitment of marriage is reeking havoc on France. Couples, for the greater part, are living together and when a major problem arises in the relationship, are going their separate ways even when there are children involved. If the couple doesn't marry and they have children, the state will pay the mother a monthly sum for raising them and the father is off the hook to go his separate way and take little or no responsibility for the child.
We had a case here with someone we know that the father was to take his son for a month during the summer vacation. After 15 days the father had had enough of the fatherly duties and sent the son back to the mother. If the father doesn't claim the child by filling out the necessary papers, the mother is totally responsible and the state then takes on the financial responsibility of 150 dollars a month. Dad goes his way and can continue the cycle all over again.
I am convinced that commitment to each partner in the marriage and to the children we are blessed with is a major contributor to the stability of the child and they will probably follow the example of the parents unless the false ideas of the world take hold. I am also convinced that marriage is not a 50/50 partnership; it is 100% on both sides. When a major problem comes our way and causes a problem, both partners can fight against the urge of pulling away and still overcome the problem.
I do not say that there are not valid reasons for dissolving a marriage, but for the day to day difficulties of life, a total commitment on both sides is needed to weather the storms that come down upon us.
To get people married here in France it takes patience. The documents needed do cost much more that at home and there are medical concerns and a waiting period. So to avoid all that, people just live together and avoid the hassle.
Changing gears drastically, I would like to say that there are few gated communities in France. The reason for that is that each house is gated. Where we live, each house has a wall around it and gates at the driveway and at the door leading into the yard. Some driveway gates only open with a electric door opener. We leave the house with the gate open so I don't have to get in and out of the car to open the gate on our return. Everyone here closes the gates behind them with a key when leaving, even for a short while. There is very little conversation among neighbors in France and when they do talk it is over the fence if it is low enough for them to see each other. We are totally enclosed at our house except for the iron gate out front. Not much opportunity for interaction. Even the church is locked up tight as the property is surrounded by a fence and a gate at the walk-in area and at the drive-in area; so different from at home. I feel that our way is an automatic welcome whereas here it is just the opposite.
In our 2nd summer here we are still amazed at the beauty of this country and the fields are a patch work of different crops and therefore you see a constant variety everywhere. We enjoy the few trips we have within the mission because the landscape changes quickly enough to enjoy every trip. There are greens of every hue and the flowers that bloom here are of every shape and color.
The French take care of their yards and most plant flowers, shrubs, and trees are of different colors. In this area, just about everything will grow, from a certain palm tree to pines. There is a tree here called a monkey tree because monkeys can't climb it due to the way the bark turns upward and it is sharp at the ends. The yards are planted in such a way that something is in bloom all the time and the colors and shapes of the flowers are all different and beautiful.
Unfortunately, in a way, we are seeing the time pass quickly and when the mission home starts making your home bound arrangements it is evident that this part of our life is coming to a close. We love the people here, but know that there are loved ones waiting to greet us at home. It is a little like when we leave this world and are greeted by loved one there. There is a care and love for those left behind, but there is plenty to see and do after this life if we hold to the iron rod.
As I always say to those I know here, Soyez sage, or be wise or be good.
Love
Elder Dad
We had a case here with someone we know that the father was to take his son for a month during the summer vacation. After 15 days the father had had enough of the fatherly duties and sent the son back to the mother. If the father doesn't claim the child by filling out the necessary papers, the mother is totally responsible and the state then takes on the financial responsibility of 150 dollars a month. Dad goes his way and can continue the cycle all over again.
I am convinced that commitment to each partner in the marriage and to the children we are blessed with is a major contributor to the stability of the child and they will probably follow the example of the parents unless the false ideas of the world take hold. I am also convinced that marriage is not a 50/50 partnership; it is 100% on both sides. When a major problem comes our way and causes a problem, both partners can fight against the urge of pulling away and still overcome the problem.
I do not say that there are not valid reasons for dissolving a marriage, but for the day to day difficulties of life, a total commitment on both sides is needed to weather the storms that come down upon us.
To get people married here in France it takes patience. The documents needed do cost much more that at home and there are medical concerns and a waiting period. So to avoid all that, people just live together and avoid the hassle.
Changing gears drastically, I would like to say that there are few gated communities in France. The reason for that is that each house is gated. Where we live, each house has a wall around it and gates at the driveway and at the door leading into the yard. Some driveway gates only open with a electric door opener. We leave the house with the gate open so I don't have to get in and out of the car to open the gate on our return. Everyone here closes the gates behind them with a key when leaving, even for a short while. There is very little conversation among neighbors in France and when they do talk it is over the fence if it is low enough for them to see each other. We are totally enclosed at our house except for the iron gate out front. Not much opportunity for interaction. Even the church is locked up tight as the property is surrounded by a fence and a gate at the walk-in area and at the drive-in area; so different from at home. I feel that our way is an automatic welcome whereas here it is just the opposite.
In our 2nd summer here we are still amazed at the beauty of this country and the fields are a patch work of different crops and therefore you see a constant variety everywhere. We enjoy the few trips we have within the mission because the landscape changes quickly enough to enjoy every trip. There are greens of every hue and the flowers that bloom here are of every shape and color.
The French take care of their yards and most plant flowers, shrubs, and trees are of different colors. In this area, just about everything will grow, from a certain palm tree to pines. There is a tree here called a monkey tree because monkeys can't climb it due to the way the bark turns upward and it is sharp at the ends. The yards are planted in such a way that something is in bloom all the time and the colors and shapes of the flowers are all different and beautiful.
Unfortunately, in a way, we are seeing the time pass quickly and when the mission home starts making your home bound arrangements it is evident that this part of our life is coming to a close. We love the people here, but know that there are loved ones waiting to greet us at home. It is a little like when we leave this world and are greeted by loved one there. There is a care and love for those left behind, but there is plenty to see and do after this life if we hold to the iron rod.
As I always say to those I know here, Soyez sage, or be wise or be good.
Love
Elder Dad
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Random Thoughts
Bonjour everyone -
We are in the lazy days of summer here in France, and much of the country seems to just close down, as people take their vacations. We have a French native, Elder Del Bel, who just finished his mission. He's in his late 20's, and after joining the church, he decided to serve and was a wonderful missionary, ending up as our Zone Leader. He told us that in his work as a librarian, he was entitled to 16 weeks of paid vacation every year. We could hardly believe it, but he assured us that it was true. School children here seem to get many weeks off for vacation during the year too, plus they also get every Wednesday off, it's nuts.
Living in a real home has changed some things for us, because houses need to be tended. Sister Bouchard loves her mission at the genealogy library in Salt Lake City so much that she is talking about extending. With us leaving at the end of October, if she extends for say, three months into March of next year, that will leave the house empty for quite some time. It has turned into a jungle around here, and we have to beat back the overgrowth of foliage and weeds constantly. Thank goodness we had the Corga's help while they were able. Sandra finally had her baby girl last week, and they plan to return and help us again when they are able. Joao has weekly shots that lay him out completely for his hepatitis, plus he told us that he is HIV positive, and so it would seem that his health is in serious jeopardy. He is very remorseful that he fell away from the church, and made decisions that have left him in this awful physical condition at his young age. Jack has done everything but taken their cigarettes physically from their house (he did threaten to do that too!), to get them to stop smoking, but their habit has them hooked fast so far.
Our experience with the ancient hedge out front has been a saga. Sis. Bouchard said we could do whatever we wanted to in her yard, but I bet she never would have dreamed Jack would take that literally, and tackle the ugly dead part of her hedge out front. He pulled out the sticks that had no foliage, leaving it a kinda shell of its former self, into which he planted new 3 ft. plants to take their place. Then we realized that didn't look good, so he cut off all the branches remaining, which left grotesque spiky stumps, so we knew that they had to go! He started digging around them with a shovel, tied a rope around each one in turn, positioned her car with its undercarriage hook, and pulled those suckers out with that extra added horsepower. It was like pulling out 6 huge teeth by their roots, and he was having way too much fun! We then went shopping for poles and bamboo fencing, because you must cut off the view of your neighbors in France, it's mandatory, I think! Later, at the grocery store, we began talking to a nice English couple in the line ahead of us. Their French wasn't too good, so Jack helped them explain something to the cashier, as she waited for the two Englishwomen ahead of us all to resolve their problem! They were stuck because they had failed to get prices on their bags of produce, so my ever-helpful husband ran back and got that done for them. Everyone was suitably impressed (the Englishman said that he should work there!), but Jack shrugged it off modestly, attributing it to his early boy scout training.
Jack has quite a fan club going on here, between Madeleine, who thinks he's wonderful because he helps in the kitchen, and does dishes, 'like no Frenchman would!'; and Adele, who hangs onto his every word, and tries so hard to please him as she reads the Book of Mormon with us each week, and tries to understand and answer his questions correctly. She has come a long way, and now prays each time we visit. Her prayers are not quite in our usual format yet, but she is talking to Heavenly Father, so that is good.
Sandra knew from the beginning that what he told her was true, it's just the cares of the world that keep her down; she really wants to be baptized. Carole has gone from being lost in the dark, to letting the light of the gospel open her mind to the wonderful knowledge that God knows her, and loves her, no matter what challenges and mistakes she's made. In her last prayer with us, she asked for help so that she could be baptized . . . we were so thrilled to hear that. Sister Trillaud loves him because he got her to realize that she could pay her tithing, which was all she is lacking for a temple recommend; then came up with the idea to help her set aside the money for it. We've become closer to her by helping the Elders as they take her the sacrament each week. Last Friday though, as the Elders met us at her apt. they were talking on the phone, to HER. "Don't come up! Don't come up! I'm going to the hospital, I'm sick!" she told them. We found out later that she has the Swine flu, and will be in quarantine for a month! Next, there is tiny Sister Walter, who lived upstairs while she went to school to become a nurse's aide. She looks on Jack as an older brother, and they get a kick out of each other's humor. We went to see her at her crumbling down old home at Le Pruneau (I love that name!), and she was given the sacrament (she always kneels down), and an object lesson on the three things we need to do to keep our channel of communication open to the Lord. She does two of them, reading the scriptures and praying, but the third one: coming to church, is harder for her. So, we are her little burr under her saddle to keep her remembering what she needs to do. Last is Sephora, who tripped over the traces at age 18, and was excommunicated. At age 27, unmarried and with an active 5-year-old boy, she is making her way back to the fold of Jesus Christ, and it's not easy at all. But she wants more for her son than the world can give, and she knows her life went sour through her own actions. She has welcomed us in eagerly to teach her again what she had almost forgotten. She has shed tears of joy at the thought that she can be forgiven for her past sins and it has been wonderful to be with her on this journey. Then there is ME, I'm in his fan club too, but I live with him, so I happen to know that he's human, not ready to be translated yet, and he needs me to keep him grounded, which I'm getting better at all the time.
I didn't mean to write a book. I'd better end this now. I love you all, my family and friends, and hope you are all doing well. See you soon!
Take care, Sister Mom Joanne Gran'ma
We are in the lazy days of summer here in France, and much of the country seems to just close down, as people take their vacations. We have a French native, Elder Del Bel, who just finished his mission. He's in his late 20's, and after joining the church, he decided to serve and was a wonderful missionary, ending up as our Zone Leader. He told us that in his work as a librarian, he was entitled to 16 weeks of paid vacation every year. We could hardly believe it, but he assured us that it was true. School children here seem to get many weeks off for vacation during the year too, plus they also get every Wednesday off, it's nuts.
Living in a real home has changed some things for us, because houses need to be tended. Sister Bouchard loves her mission at the genealogy library in Salt Lake City so much that she is talking about extending. With us leaving at the end of October, if she extends for say, three months into March of next year, that will leave the house empty for quite some time. It has turned into a jungle around here, and we have to beat back the overgrowth of foliage and weeds constantly. Thank goodness we had the Corga's help while they were able. Sandra finally had her baby girl last week, and they plan to return and help us again when they are able. Joao has weekly shots that lay him out completely for his hepatitis, plus he told us that he is HIV positive, and so it would seem that his health is in serious jeopardy. He is very remorseful that he fell away from the church, and made decisions that have left him in this awful physical condition at his young age. Jack has done everything but taken their cigarettes physically from their house (he did threaten to do that too!), to get them to stop smoking, but their habit has them hooked fast so far.
Our experience with the ancient hedge out front has been a saga. Sis. Bouchard said we could do whatever we wanted to in her yard, but I bet she never would have dreamed Jack would take that literally, and tackle the ugly dead part of her hedge out front. He pulled out the sticks that had no foliage, leaving it a kinda shell of its former self, into which he planted new 3 ft. plants to take their place. Then we realized that didn't look good, so he cut off all the branches remaining, which left grotesque spiky stumps, so we knew that they had to go! He started digging around them with a shovel, tied a rope around each one in turn, positioned her car with its undercarriage hook, and pulled those suckers out with that extra added horsepower. It was like pulling out 6 huge teeth by their roots, and he was having way too much fun! We then went shopping for poles and bamboo fencing, because you must cut off the view of your neighbors in France, it's mandatory, I think! Later, at the grocery store, we began talking to a nice English couple in the line ahead of us. Their French wasn't too good, so Jack helped them explain something to the cashier, as she waited for the two Englishwomen ahead of us all to resolve their problem! They were stuck because they had failed to get prices on their bags of produce, so my ever-helpful husband ran back and got that done for them. Everyone was suitably impressed (the Englishman said that he should work there!), but Jack shrugged it off modestly, attributing it to his early boy scout training.
Jack has quite a fan club going on here, between Madeleine, who thinks he's wonderful because he helps in the kitchen, and does dishes, 'like no Frenchman would!'; and Adele, who hangs onto his every word, and tries so hard to please him as she reads the Book of Mormon with us each week, and tries to understand and answer his questions correctly. She has come a long way, and now prays each time we visit. Her prayers are not quite in our usual format yet, but she is talking to Heavenly Father, so that is good.
Sandra knew from the beginning that what he told her was true, it's just the cares of the world that keep her down; she really wants to be baptized. Carole has gone from being lost in the dark, to letting the light of the gospel open her mind to the wonderful knowledge that God knows her, and loves her, no matter what challenges and mistakes she's made. In her last prayer with us, she asked for help so that she could be baptized . . . we were so thrilled to hear that. Sister Trillaud loves him because he got her to realize that she could pay her tithing, which was all she is lacking for a temple recommend; then came up with the idea to help her set aside the money for it. We've become closer to her by helping the Elders as they take her the sacrament each week. Last Friday though, as the Elders met us at her apt. they were talking on the phone, to HER. "Don't come up! Don't come up! I'm going to the hospital, I'm sick!" she told them. We found out later that she has the Swine flu, and will be in quarantine for a month! Next, there is tiny Sister Walter, who lived upstairs while she went to school to become a nurse's aide. She looks on Jack as an older brother, and they get a kick out of each other's humor. We went to see her at her crumbling down old home at Le Pruneau (I love that name!), and she was given the sacrament (she always kneels down), and an object lesson on the three things we need to do to keep our channel of communication open to the Lord. She does two of them, reading the scriptures and praying, but the third one: coming to church, is harder for her. So, we are her little burr under her saddle to keep her remembering what she needs to do. Last is Sephora, who tripped over the traces at age 18, and was excommunicated. At age 27, unmarried and with an active 5-year-old boy, she is making her way back to the fold of Jesus Christ, and it's not easy at all. But she wants more for her son than the world can give, and she knows her life went sour through her own actions. She has welcomed us in eagerly to teach her again what she had almost forgotten. She has shed tears of joy at the thought that she can be forgiven for her past sins and it has been wonderful to be with her on this journey. Then there is ME, I'm in his fan club too, but I live with him, so I happen to know that he's human, not ready to be translated yet, and he needs me to keep him grounded, which I'm getting better at all the time.
I didn't mean to write a book. I'd better end this now. I love you all, my family and friends, and hope you are all doing well. See you soon!
Take care, Sister Mom Joanne Gran'ma
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Going Home
Hello to all of you out there. It has been some time since I have written and so I will overcome my blue funk and get to the news at hand. The first thing is that time is passing so fast and there is so much to do that I am worried there will not be enough time to get it all done. We have good news though with the progress of some of our amis.
We will set the baptism date of Sephora Croq this Thursday. She has made so much progress. With our last visit, we felt the Spirit. Her promise to continue to pray and read the Scriptures is a great factor to her being ready to take on the challenges that are hers now and to progress in the future. I will interview her Sunday and then the Stake President will be here on the 30th for her final interview.
Carole is ready and prays for her baptism to come soon. We need to get her and her fiance married. We will meet with Dominique and Carole to see when the date will be. Getting the family members here that they would like to be present is the problem and we are patient with all that. It has been great to see the change come over her and the major hurdles she has met and conquered over the past year. Each of you would be amazed at the challenges that have faced her, but I know it would not have taken place without the Gospel teachings and the Lord's help. Clement, our young 9-year-old young man, bore his testimony Sunday and wants to be baptized. We need to get his estranged mother's permission or according to French law there will be future difficulties. Even though the father has custody of Clement, the French law allows a mother who is divorced, does not have custody, and has other major problems, to have a consent ability even though she has become disinterested in his real life progress.
The Corga family had a new addition with the birth of a new beautiful baby girl. Joao's health problems are still a problem and his treatment to be cured is difficult on him. They both have cut back on their smoking and it is the only thing holding them back. Sandra is down to 2 a day but this is the hardest thing she has had to do in her life. She has smoked since she was a young teenager and this habit is so tough for her to kick. It makes me want to take on the cigarette manufactures and give them a swift kick.
Our new young family is great for the branch and they both accepted calls last Sunday and were set apart as branch missionary leader and primary president. With their 4-year-old daughter, Jeremy, Sophora's 5-year-old son, and Clement, we had 3 in primary. We have the Corga's two young children to add if we can and we will be up to 5. We had one other visitor Sunday so we are growing. Joanne does such a great job with the help of the missionaries, but having someone there who can be there always and who can speak French will be such a great boon to our progress.
It took a lot out of me yesterday to take 2 missionaries to the mission home for their return trips home. Elder Archer, from Magna, has been here for 4 months and this is the third missionary we have sent home from Angouleme. These are tough moments after we have spent so many good and tough times with him and the others. The other missionary was Elder Green, who served here at the end of 2008 and into April of this year. He was in a city to the south and so we picked him up on the way down to the mission home.
At this time in our mission, it was a sad reminder to us how soon we will be leaving. We love these people with all our hearts and being here for two years and investing our efforts in their eternal opportunities has taken a toll on our heart strings. These are great members and amis and we will leave behind a major portion of our hearts here in this part of France. I know it is a hazard of serving and not being able to bring them home with us, but there are other major projects for us to do and loved ones to see and squeeze with huge hugs when we get home. I have learned the value of a hug since being here. The missionaries do it all the time when they meet. It not only shows your emotions through the force of the squeeze you can give but it puts your mouth to their ear to tell them how much you love them.
We love all of you and are looking forward to showing some of you the sights and the people here when you come. It will be good for you to put the faces and personalities with the names. Until the next time.
Love Elder Dad
We will set the baptism date of Sephora Croq this Thursday. She has made so much progress. With our last visit, we felt the Spirit. Her promise to continue to pray and read the Scriptures is a great factor to her being ready to take on the challenges that are hers now and to progress in the future. I will interview her Sunday and then the Stake President will be here on the 30th for her final interview.
Carole is ready and prays for her baptism to come soon. We need to get her and her fiance married. We will meet with Dominique and Carole to see when the date will be. Getting the family members here that they would like to be present is the problem and we are patient with all that. It has been great to see the change come over her and the major hurdles she has met and conquered over the past year. Each of you would be amazed at the challenges that have faced her, but I know it would not have taken place without the Gospel teachings and the Lord's help. Clement, our young 9-year-old young man, bore his testimony Sunday and wants to be baptized. We need to get his estranged mother's permission or according to French law there will be future difficulties. Even though the father has custody of Clement, the French law allows a mother who is divorced, does not have custody, and has other major problems, to have a consent ability even though she has become disinterested in his real life progress.
The Corga family had a new addition with the birth of a new beautiful baby girl. Joao's health problems are still a problem and his treatment to be cured is difficult on him. They both have cut back on their smoking and it is the only thing holding them back. Sandra is down to 2 a day but this is the hardest thing she has had to do in her life. She has smoked since she was a young teenager and this habit is so tough for her to kick. It makes me want to take on the cigarette manufactures and give them a swift kick.
Our new young family is great for the branch and they both accepted calls last Sunday and were set apart as branch missionary leader and primary president. With their 4-year-old daughter, Jeremy, Sophora's 5-year-old son, and Clement, we had 3 in primary. We have the Corga's two young children to add if we can and we will be up to 5. We had one other visitor Sunday so we are growing. Joanne does such a great job with the help of the missionaries, but having someone there who can be there always and who can speak French will be such a great boon to our progress.
It took a lot out of me yesterday to take 2 missionaries to the mission home for their return trips home. Elder Archer, from Magna, has been here for 4 months and this is the third missionary we have sent home from Angouleme. These are tough moments after we have spent so many good and tough times with him and the others. The other missionary was Elder Green, who served here at the end of 2008 and into April of this year. He was in a city to the south and so we picked him up on the way down to the mission home.
At this time in our mission, it was a sad reminder to us how soon we will be leaving. We love these people with all our hearts and being here for two years and investing our efforts in their eternal opportunities has taken a toll on our heart strings. These are great members and amis and we will leave behind a major portion of our hearts here in this part of France. I know it is a hazard of serving and not being able to bring them home with us, but there are other major projects for us to do and loved ones to see and squeeze with huge hugs when we get home. I have learned the value of a hug since being here. The missionaries do it all the time when they meet. It not only shows your emotions through the force of the squeeze you can give but it puts your mouth to their ear to tell them how much you love them.
We love all of you and are looking forward to showing some of you the sights and the people here when you come. It will be good for you to put the faces and personalities with the names. Until the next time.
Love Elder Dad
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Summertime in France
Bonjour everyone - I hope you are enjoying the warm summer days that we long for so much during the winter! It has been in the 90's consistently lately, and we had some hunker down days, but then a huge rain storm blew in and cooled us off--it was a nice break.
We had our second annual Branch Picnic last week, and had a good turnout at the big shady park filled with tables under tall trees, just like the ones we have at home. Everyone came to relax in their comfy clothes, and play boules (a game where you try to throw a heavy metal ball the closest to a marker). The Elders wore themselves out when they, and a couple of men from our group, got sucked into a pick-up soccer game with some athletic young guys. We had to revive Elder Archer by pouring water on his head. Richard is now divorced from Lucienne, so he invited a young family to come with him, and made sure they had plenty of food to eat. His brother, Patrick had two of his children and their young families with them, plus Jean Pierre and his kids (and their frisky, silly dog Boo-Bah), made for a lot of youngsters running around. We mostly had sandwiches and salads, and Alain's two roasted chickens into the mix, and we passed out our chocolate dessert bars and it was good. Patrick organized a nature walk along the lazy Charente River, where in one particular shallow bend they used to perform their baptisms for the church. Alain picked a bouquet of "Don't Pick These Flowers" from French native flora & fauna beds that were growing along the path, and thrust them at me to carry. Jack told him that if I got arrested for flower-napping HE was taking the rap, not me. I was later able to press quite a few of them in a heavy dictionary we have at home, so we'll see how they do. As we walked, Remy Demolombe pontificated about the world's political messes to Jack (he just nods his head, and tisk tisks here and there) to which Remy smiled and was satisfied. Our big, noisy group managed to disturb a beautiful family of swans from their restful spot in the shallows, but they were patient and waited us out until we got on our way again. It is odd and sad for me not to have been able to talk to the people I've grown to care for here, in any meaningful way. I know I have missed so much by not hearing Jacqueline Demolombe's whole story, as told personally one on one, and she feels it too, as our eyes express what our language barrier cannot.
On Sunday morning, for the first time in 4 weeks, I had children to teach in Primary! It is so daunting a prospect, but I always find a sympathetic helper, and together, with bumbling and lots of humor, we get through it. Today it was Christoph Humblot, who knows some English, who sat in with his 4 year old daughter, Kyana, and translated for me. Then Brother Savreaux brought his two grandchildren, Eva and Julien, ages 7 and 5, with him also, so we had a crowd! What this Primary needs is a good French woman to lead it, and I truly hope that comes to pass one day. I had a 'Prayer' lesson prepared, with a prayer can filled with pictures of things we are thankful for, and things we would ask blessings for; the printed out coloring page from the manual; and a take home project of more pictures to cut and paste about prayer. It adds up to lots of busy work (the less said in fractured French, the better), but it went well, so that was good.
Jack has his fun for the day by going to pick people up who can't seem to be ready when church starts at 9:30. It's frustrating when they don't seem to realize that they are really inconveniencing someone who needs to be at the chapel during the meetings. (You can probably tell this is a pet peeve of mine, but he just wants them to be there so badly, that it doesn't bother him.) Our feeding the Elders lunch each week after church has begun to become an institution, because of all the 'bachelors' we have in the Branch. They began coming too, since we always seem to have enough food for one more. Alain often brings his square bread, that is actually becoming lighter and more edible; and so thus encouraged, he's trying his hand at desserts. He brought in two home made "sugar pies" that had to be chiseled out of their pans. The Fourtina's, home from their three and a half month mission to the Madrid temple, came to speak to us, and stayed to eat afterwards. She was a lifesaver, and brought plenty of extra food, as they brought Madeleine Chauveau with them; so we had enough for the three tables of people that showed up that day.
Well, life goes on, it's kinda nuts, but it's all we have, so let's enjoy the journey, it's worth it. We think of you all often, so don't forget that!
Love, Sister Mom (Joanne) Granny
We had our second annual Branch Picnic last week, and had a good turnout at the big shady park filled with tables under tall trees, just like the ones we have at home. Everyone came to relax in their comfy clothes, and play boules (a game where you try to throw a heavy metal ball the closest to a marker). The Elders wore themselves out when they, and a couple of men from our group, got sucked into a pick-up soccer game with some athletic young guys. We had to revive Elder Archer by pouring water on his head. Richard is now divorced from Lucienne, so he invited a young family to come with him, and made sure they had plenty of food to eat. His brother, Patrick had two of his children and their young families with them, plus Jean Pierre and his kids (and their frisky, silly dog Boo-Bah), made for a lot of youngsters running around. We mostly had sandwiches and salads, and Alain's two roasted chickens into the mix, and we passed out our chocolate dessert bars and it was good. Patrick organized a nature walk along the lazy Charente River, where in one particular shallow bend they used to perform their baptisms for the church. Alain picked a bouquet of "Don't Pick These Flowers" from French native flora & fauna beds that were growing along the path, and thrust them at me to carry. Jack told him that if I got arrested for flower-napping HE was taking the rap, not me. I was later able to press quite a few of them in a heavy dictionary we have at home, so we'll see how they do. As we walked, Remy Demolombe pontificated about the world's political messes to Jack (he just nods his head, and tisk tisks here and there) to which Remy smiled and was satisfied. Our big, noisy group managed to disturb a beautiful family of swans from their restful spot in the shallows, but they were patient and waited us out until we got on our way again. It is odd and sad for me not to have been able to talk to the people I've grown to care for here, in any meaningful way. I know I have missed so much by not hearing Jacqueline Demolombe's whole story, as told personally one on one, and she feels it too, as our eyes express what our language barrier cannot.
On Sunday morning, for the first time in 4 weeks, I had children to teach in Primary! It is so daunting a prospect, but I always find a sympathetic helper, and together, with bumbling and lots of humor, we get through it. Today it was Christoph Humblot, who knows some English, who sat in with his 4 year old daughter, Kyana, and translated for me. Then Brother Savreaux brought his two grandchildren, Eva and Julien, ages 7 and 5, with him also, so we had a crowd! What this Primary needs is a good French woman to lead it, and I truly hope that comes to pass one day. I had a 'Prayer' lesson prepared, with a prayer can filled with pictures of things we are thankful for, and things we would ask blessings for; the printed out coloring page from the manual; and a take home project of more pictures to cut and paste about prayer. It adds up to lots of busy work (the less said in fractured French, the better), but it went well, so that was good.
Jack has his fun for the day by going to pick people up who can't seem to be ready when church starts at 9:30. It's frustrating when they don't seem to realize that they are really inconveniencing someone who needs to be at the chapel during the meetings. (You can probably tell this is a pet peeve of mine, but he just wants them to be there so badly, that it doesn't bother him.) Our feeding the Elders lunch each week after church has begun to become an institution, because of all the 'bachelors' we have in the Branch. They began coming too, since we always seem to have enough food for one more. Alain often brings his square bread, that is actually becoming lighter and more edible; and so thus encouraged, he's trying his hand at desserts. He brought in two home made "sugar pies" that had to be chiseled out of their pans. The Fourtina's, home from their three and a half month mission to the Madrid temple, came to speak to us, and stayed to eat afterwards. She was a lifesaver, and brought plenty of extra food, as they brought Madeleine Chauveau with them; so we had enough for the three tables of people that showed up that day.
Well, life goes on, it's kinda nuts, but it's all we have, so let's enjoy the journey, it's worth it. We think of you all often, so don't forget that!
Love, Sister Mom (Joanne) Granny
Monday, June 29, 2009
Lost Sheep
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
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
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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