BLOG 2 4 - MAR 20 - 26, 2023
Late Monday morning, we
visited Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse, a 10-minute walk from us, to check out
a high-end indoor market. Not a mall, but more like a permanent market, but inside
a large building where it’s open every day. It was quite expensive, so we only
walked through and took photos.
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| Is your mouth watering yet? |
FLORENT THEVENON STORY – CHOCOLATIER LYON
On our way home from Les Halles, we strolled slowly
towards our apartment, and decided to enter a chocolatier. We were amazed at
the chocolate creations that the owner had created. I asked the man in the store who made
these, and he said it was him, the man himself. We bought a chocolate bar of
90% chocolate, with low glycemic sweeteners. It was so delicious.
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| Florent Thevenon, the owner and creator of all of these. |
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| Our purchase! |
A LIFE CHANGING STORY OF MATHIEW BOKOLO
Recently David Parkinson,
a former Paris missionary we served with, posted on our France Paris Mission
Facebook/Messenger chat, a remarkable story, about Mathew Bokolo, an individual
that David had recently met. This man’s extraordinary and exemplary story was
so beautiful and powerful to me. This story will be shared in General
Conference in two weeks. Listen for it! The worth of a soul is great, and you
can never dismiss the good that a missionary and member and friend can do to
bless someone.
“This is about Mathieu
Bokolo. 40 years ago he was a university student walking the streets of Nancy
when he ran into two missionaries. He & his wife both got baptized, &
they soon went back home to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
After leaving France, he
soon lost contact with the missionaries who taught him.
Unknown to those missionaries,
he & his wife went on to help transform the church in the DRC from just a
few members to 20 stakes & 3 temples. They have 8 kids & 14 grandkids
who are all active in the church. Frère Bokolo was a stake president,
patriarch, & helped translate the Book of Mormon into Lingala, all while
serving as the President of Kinshasa University.
His story will be shared
in general conference in 2 weeks, & it’s cool to think that those
missionaries who taught him & lost contact with him are in for a happy
surprise.
Frère Bokolo said “Je
pense que ceux qui m’ont enseigné vont me voir sur le télé et ils vont savior
que je vais très très bien”. (“I think that those who taught me will see me on
TV and they will know that I am doing very well.”)
David Parkinson said, “I
think we all made bigger impacts during our missions than we think, even if we
the results aren’t clearly visible yet.”
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| Mathiew Bokolo and his wife and former missionaries |
DAY IN GRENOBLE & STAKE LEADER VISITS
Fort de La Bastille and an urban cable car ride
As part of an assignment in
Grenoble, why not do a little sightseeing while you are there? The only real
notable thing to visit right in Grenoble is Fort de La Bastille and take a ride
in the historic cable cars/bubbles (built in 1934, where a steel cable connects
Grenoble to the summit), otherwise you have a lovely walk up and down a lot of
stairs, which we didn’t have time for. The cable cars were pretty fun, and walking
around the Fort and learning a bit of its history was also enjoyable.
History of Fort de Bastille – Cited from
Expedia
“The fort was constructed during the 19th
century, but human use of this strategic hillside location dates back as far as
43 B.C. Inspect the current fort’s wall-mounted turrets to see that one is
actually a remnant from an earlier fortification built in the 16th century. The
fort standing on the hillside today was constructed in order to protect the
city against an attack led by the dukes of Savoy.”
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| There isn't much they've done with the Fort. |
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| The view was incredible! |
Visits with the Antoine Piérache family and Sophie Boutin
Our visit that we had
this afternoon on Wednesday, was with Antoine Piérache and his wife and cute 1
year old daughter. This was our first opportunity to share with a family, Sharing
Church Resources. Antoine had heard the presentation before with the Stake
Council, but we were asked to begin sharing it with families in the Stake
Council. Once we shared it with them, they then will turn around and share it
with the family of the bishop of the ward he oversees. We send them the email
with all the information he needs. This also gives him the opportunity to do
the same with those families he ministers to. Basically, we’re trying to spread
the good word of Sharing Church Resources to the Stake leadership, their
families and outreach through the stake. His father is also one of the bishops in
Lille, France and he would like to share it with his dad. It always helps to
have a stake involved in this situation, but it certainly can be of great value
starting with a ward.
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| Darling Antoine Piérache Family |
Afterwards, we drove to Izeaux, a 30-minute drive from Grenoble. We met with a member of the Stake Relief Society Presidency, Sophie Boutin. She is a single woman living in the most beautiful and quaint village. It is so peaceful. She is studying to be a lawyer and working in that field as an understudy.
We had such a beautiful conversation with her, and
she was thrilled that this effort is moving forward. She now is going to be
moving this out to sisters that she ministers to and other people in the stake.
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| This is the view from her apartment. |
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| Sophie Boutin |
Early Wednesday morning
we got up early enough to watch, via zoom, our oldest grandson’s mission call
opening. Kyson is our 3rd grandchild. His sister, Maliyah, our
oldest grandchild, is the one going to California on her mission next month.
Kyson has been called to
the Brazil Curitiba Mission, reporting to home MTC on July 10th, and
then going to the Brazil MTC the following week. He is so thrilled and we’re
all so proud of him for his decision to serve.
Since Kyson, our daughter
Camille and Maliyah were traveling to Idaho Falls and the dance team that Kyson
dances in, there was no chance to open up the call once they got it the night
before. Camille printed it out for Kyson, and he decided to open it up in the
hotel room with his dear dance team friends. This is an incredible all LDS
dance team. They have received many awards and compete with the best teams
their age.
Kyson and Maliyah both have
danced on this team and also many of these same dancers have sung in a fabulous
LDS choral group of about 70 members, all of this in Portland, OR, an hour away
from Amboy, WA, where the Duckworths live. Most of the rest of us were on zoom,
and heard a little of the music prior. Most of Kyson’s family was back home
watching him read his call. He had asked if it would be ok, to have a devotional
just prior to his opening up his call with everyone present. He shared his
testimony and then these youth began to sing music they had memorized, all a cappella.
Beautiful music sung by the dancers who belonged in the choir. It was amazing,
the little we heard. Kyson said that there was a time that he wasn’t 100% positive about going on a mission, until their family served in the Nauvoo
Pageant last summer. That experience changed the trajectory of his life and his
desire to serve the Lord. He’s always been such an amazing young man and we’re
so excited for him and his sister to be serving the Lord together.
Our prayers are with both
of them, with all they have to do to get ready. Camille and Kyson are coming to
France next Tuesday and we’ll see them the week following in Lyon. We’re very
grateful that family will coming here, as it may be the only ones who are able.
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| Kyson in the black top and hat and Maliyah at the right. |
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| Dad and the four youngest at home. |
I never mind going to a
RS event at the church, but since I have chosen not to drive here in France,
which I’m convinced was a great idea, Steve has to drive me, stay there and
bring me home. Luckily, he had much to do on his computer.
I was asked earlier in the
day if I would give a 5–10-minute message on what we are doing on our mission. Instead
of writing anything down, I chose to share from my heart and was so grateful
for the Lord’s help to instill the words and tender feelings I have for this effort
and for the amazing women in this ward, who have hearts and hands like Christ’s.
They are so willing to serve others and open their hearts to get to know and
listen to others, their neighbors, strangers, etc. and see how they can help with
their particular needs. We will be having more discussion soon on this in RS
class with the YW in April.
SABBATH SUNDAY VISIT TO CLERMONT-FERRAND
This morning we took off
early to head to Clermont-Ferrand, about 2 hours away from Lyon. We first
attended church with the ward and enjoyed such lovely visits with people there.
Clermont -Ferrand is such a lovely city of over 140,000 people.
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| Sisters Raheri and Spigarelli serving in Clermont - Ferrand |
Benoit and Véronique Membré and Lee Family
After church we met at the home of Benoit and Véronique Membré. While there, we loved getting to know their daughter and family a little better (as we had met them at church), Lucie Lee and the children who were visiting from just 10 minutes away. Clint, her husband, was traveling to the US for business, where he’s from and all the children were born in the US. The Lee’s actually lived in Smithfield, UT for several years and now in France for a while and then back to the US. The Lee family was absolutely adorable, and they all speak English and French fluently, of course.
We only gave the
presentation to Benoit and Véronique, who are such a dynamic and amazing couple,
and we were thrilled to share with them more information on Sharing Church
Resources and give the presentation. We then invited them to share the same
with others in the Stake and especially the ward/bishop family that Benoit is responsible
for. We are connected to the hip with them, with the same ideals and purposes
behind this work, as they are over JustServe in the Stake.
Afterwards they fed us a simple
meal we were not expecting, but grateful for, and then took off for our next
appointment.
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| The Membré couple and daughter, Lucie Lee and children |
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| Clint and Lucie Lee and family |
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| The Membré Family |
David and Marjorie Allanic Family
Following the Membré
couple, we were delighted to meet the Allanic family (two children). Marjorie
is the Stake Relief Society President and as such is a part of the Stake Council,
as were the Membré couple (he is a High Councilor as well as over JustServe).
We were able to involve
the whole family as well, to share this message and invite them to share it
with others they minister to and share with the 2nd councilor in
the RS Presidency. They were wonderful to visit with and each of them spoke
English quite well. Though the presentation was given in French, we could converse
periodically in English.
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| David and Marjorie Allanic Family |
COME FOLLOW ME STUDY
We’ve been studying this
week about familiar parables found in Matt 13, Luke 8 and13. I have learned so
many beautiful truths this week that have really enhanced my understanding about
the value of these parables from the teachings of Jesus Christ, and also teaching
about the apostacy and the restored gospel.
- We must always nourish our ground in order for good fruit to grow, otherwise it, and we, will perish.
- We learned more about what tares are. We learned they are poisonous and even deadly. We will always live among the wheat and the tares, and our choice as we live among both, is to not be like the tares or be affected by and become entangled by them.
- The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. The mustard seed looks nothing like the tree it will become, nor does any other seed, as we nurture and strengthen the soil once planted. Each of us also has the opportunity to become more than we started out to be, and be nurtured like the seed, and help nurture others from their seed like faith.
Bless each of you this coming week and know that you are definitely loved by us and a living and loving Father in Heaven and His son, Jesus Christ! Enjoy Conference in a week! We can’t wait!
With all our love,
Elder et Sœur
Packer Grandpère et Mémé
801-336-6153
(Steve’s)
801-564-1332 (Renée’s)
New Address
below: Please
include the name and address as
Les Missionaires – PACKERS
59 rue Bossuet
69006 Lyon FRANCE
PHOTO DUMP HERE
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| Paul Obrecht - our only zoom this week, shockingly and I forgot to put it above, sorry to him. |
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| Apartments and restaurant up high on the mountain, and just below the Fort. |
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| Strolling through the town. |
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| Whitest blossoms, almost looking fake, they were so white! |
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| More Tete d'Or park images. |
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| This is how they did Palm trees in Paris, by putting them in these large containers and bringing them out during the warmer months. This is at Tete d'Or park images. |
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