BLOG 9 - DEC 5th - DEC 11th, 2022
MALL FINDS (MAINLY TO GET OUT AND WALK)
When one (meaning us:)
needs to get out of their apartment, yet still stay warm from the cold humid
air, one goes to the mall. Even though there were items we needed, our main
purpose was to get out, walk a lot and then at the end find those items we
needed.
It definitely served its purpose,
and I was grateful to find some better walking shoes (on sale) and needed items
at the mall grocery store.
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| MALL I N LYON |
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| Mall parking reminder # |
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| Practical leather walking shoes - ahh they feel so good! |
ZOOM CALL WITH ELDER AND SISTER SUMNER
We had another delightful
zoom meeting with Elder and Sister Sumner. He is the branch president and they
have so much on their plate, but their willingness to do so much, is never
failing. They only have till the middle of March till they return home from
their mission, and they want to make every moment count.
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| Elder and Sister Sumner - as good and faithful as they get. |
CHRISTMAS IS ALIVE AND WELL IN LYON
Christmas time in Lyon is
beautiful and the city takes great pride in doing all they can to bring the
Spirit of Christmas here. We hope to brave the cold in the evening soon, so
that we can see more of the lights.
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| Just a little portion of festive streets of Lyon. |
HELPING HANDS
I have always been so grateful
for all the help Steve has been throughout our married life. We’ve had a great
system in our married life and now that we are in our senior years, sometimes
he cleans after dinner, sometimes I do, and sometimes we work side by side. But
last week when I was at the kitchen sink washing the dishes, he comes up and
says, “Let me finish that for you.” His loving kindness is so beautiful to me!
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| Yes, he loves me! |
CLEARING/CLEANING OUT AN ELDER’S APARTMENT
Sometimes, apartments of
Elders are cleared out and not used any longer, so it’s quite a job to get it
cleared out and deep cleaned. Elders Gannaway and McNevin had gone quite early
in the morning to finish clearing out the rest of the Elder’s apartment. We
offered to help Sister Gannaway to clean the apartment. What took the 2.5 hours
with 3 of us cleaning the entire apartment, would have been a much longer
experience alone. She and her husband have so much to do as one of the office couples
over cars and apartments. Bless them!
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| Cleaning out an Elder's apartment with Sister Gannaway |
3D ART AND MURAL ILLUSIONS ON BUILDINGS
Throughout our drive in
Lyon, we have noticed a common theme of 3D Art and mural illusions on sides of
buildings. We’re not talking graffiti, but incredible artwork and sometimes fun
mural illusion art that you can’t help but want to take photos of, even if they
are taken from your car.
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| It's hard to believe that the one on the bottom left is not real, but it's all painted, minus maybe one door and window. |
COME FOLLOW ME QUOTE
As I have mentioned
before, our daily study from Come Follow Me, has also been enhanced with the Book
of Mormon Central Come Follow Me study from YouTube, which has been an amazing
addition for us.
A quote that Tyler Griffin
shared from their session this week came from a temple sealer who had sealed his
sister and her husband in the temple many years ago. The sealer spoke of his
recent trip to Israel, which they thoroughly loved, but as they returned home
the temple sealer came to realize and then shared with those in attendance…
“It is a holy thing to walk where Jesus
walked, but
it is a holier thing to walk where Jesus [now] walks.”
We have complete faith that our Savior walks in the
temples of the church and we love what President Russell M. Nelson had
to say in his April 2018 message.
“My dear brothers and
sisters, construction of these temples may not change your life, but your time
in the temple surely will. In that spirit, I bless you to identify those things
you can set aside so you can spend more time in the temple. I bless you with
greater harmony and love in your homes and a deeper desire to care for your
eternal family relationships. I bless you with increased faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ and a greater ability to follow Him as His true disciples.”
OUR FIRST ZONE CONFEENCE IN LYON – AMAZING
We love zone conferences
from our 2 years in Paris, so we looked forward to our first one here in Lyon.
It was held at the Écully building where we attend church each Sunday. We love
zone conferences for many reasons, but it also gives us a wonderful opportunity
to meet all the missionaries in this area and to witness their enthusiastic spirits
and dedication to their missionary work. We were inspired by them. There were
36 of us in all. There are a total of 6 zones in the France Lyon Mission.
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| President and Sister Léporé - devoted leaders |
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| Elders Rosales and Cecchetto - Assistants to the President (AP's) |
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| STL's Sisters Wilkey and Bennett |
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| Lyon Zone Leaders - Elders Hansen and Zarbock |
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| Discussion during a break |
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| Sisters Bennett and Wilkey |
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| Elder Gee is a friend of the Maner family, that we know from Nauvoo Pageant, that we dearly love. |
President and Sister Léporé are very inspired by their thoughtful preparation of how Zone Conference should look like each time (held every 6 weeks) and since Christmas is around the corner, they wanted to bless all the missionaries with a Christmas surprise after the morning session.
The first half of the
meeting was so instructional and there was much discussion among the missionaries.
We were so thrilled to see that during their discussion they were starting to
realize how teaching with the Doctrine of Christ, as their specific objective, can
also include the many means whereby they can achieve their goals in blessing
all of God’s children through the countless tools and resources the church has
to share with others. They began to realize how the two can work so well
together as they focus on the example the Savior so beautifully lived, meeting
people where they are and helping them with their needs.
LOVE,
SHARE, COMMENT – 41K STRONG
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| Love, Share and Comment |
croyantsenjesuschrist FACEBOOK LYON
By lunch time, they opened up the room of the cultural hall where they had a beautiful and festive layout for lunch, and afterwards a fun service activity.
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| Such careful preparation to bring Christmas cheer away from home |
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| The Léporé family ready to serve us! |
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| Crockpot lasagna was a hit with the missionaries |
After lunch, the Léporé’s and three of their children had put out on the table a host of items to make homemade Christmas cards, to send to all the missionaries in the Paris mission. The missionaries loved this activity, and we were amazed at some of the artistic talent in this mission. We decided to write specifically to Elder and Sister Scheuermann in the Paris Center, since we know them very well, and one other card for another senior missionary couple in Paris.
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| Our wonderful office couples, Elders and Sisters Gannaway and McNevin - they had just finished making their cards. |
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| Elder Cecchetto - trying out art, maybe for the first time, and feeling good about his efforts |
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| This district learned a Christmas song from Tahiti |
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| Oh my, the Senior Couples had to dust off their vocal cords and sang, The First Noel (Sister McNevin was on the piano) |
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| Sisters Wilkey Bennett, Diatel and Davison |
At the end, President and Sister Léporé shared their testimonies and love to their dear missionaries. It may have been a long day, as we were at the church 9-6, with assembling food and cleaning up afterwards. Our hearts were uplifted, and time did not matter.
LA FÊTE DES LUMIÈRES 2022 - FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS
For 4 nights each year at
Christmas time, the city of Lyon has their annual Festival of Lights celebration.
The second night was the night of Zone Conference. We were much too exhausted
to go that night and then next day was not going to work. Nevertheless, we’ll
show a few images of what we missed.
It would have been amazing,
but we have next winter to hopefully attend. It’s very similar to what they do
throughout Paris during Christmas, where digital images are projected over many
buildings in specific areas! Both city festivals are pretty incredible.
FAMILY VIDEO CALL
We were so excited to
visit with the Nate and Dixie Packer family on Saturday of this week. For those
who may not know, Nate is our oldest child, and they have 4 children, with the
oldest attending her first year at Weber State.
It did our heart so good
to see each of them all together and to hear an update from ever family member
and how family life, school/college and work is going. We sure love them, as we
do each of our children!
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| The Nate and Dixie Packer Family, with their children, in order of age, Maddie, Ryan, Ellie and Blake. |
COLD SABBATH WORSHIP
With the high humidity here
in Lyon, the weather is so much colder in the wintertime and of course much
hotter in the summer. Yes, we feel it!
Our church building has
been having chauffage (heater) problems this week and everyone was wearing
their coats to keep warm. As I looked around, I noticed that everyone was still
smiling, and their interaction with one another was no different. We are
edified by their examples.
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| During Relief Society, the sisters keep on smiling no matter how cold it is. |
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| The joy on their faces is real! I love these dear women! |
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| Gifts from the Relief Society Presidency. |
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| Packers with Sisters Davison and Diatel - new companionship |
ANOTHER LIGHT THE WORLD VIDEO TO WARM YOUR HEART
CLICK HERE TO WATCH ANOTHER LIGHT THE WORLD
DEBUT - WITNESSES OF CHRISTMAS, SYMBOLS OF CHRIST IN EUROPE
If nothing else, watch this incredible 1-hour long production, for an evening Christmas celebration with your family, debuted today. It will lift up your heart this season like none other!
CLICK HERE TO WATCH - WITNESSES OF CHRISTMAS - SYMBOLS OF CHRIST IN EUROPE
DECEMBER BIRTHAYS
10th Brigham
Hunsaker - 7
11th Jaron Packer
17th Steve
Packer
18th Renée
Packer
28th Leo
Packer - 1
May God be with each of you!
With all our love,
Elder et Soeur
Packer Grandpère et Mémé
801-336-6153
(Steve’s)
801-564-1332
(Renée’s)
Address: Please include the
name and address as stated
Les Missionaires –
PACKERS
17 rue Philibert
Roussy
69004 Lyon FRANCE
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