TUESDAY DISTRICT COUNCIL IN PERSON
We had a wonderful
District Council in person, which is done once a transfer, unless it happens to
be around a transportation strike, which has happened before. We were grateful
we were able to finally meet everyone, outside of a zoom meeting.
We were asked to buy and
pre-cook 30 hamburger patties. Our hopes were to make sure they were still
good, not dried out and still juicy by the time they ate them 4 hours from the time I
cooked them at home.
The trick! Cook them on
high tempts to brown, not cooking the middle all the way, and then set the oven
on warm at the church and voila! They loved them and they were all cooked
inside and juicy. No photos of the lunch!
We were grateful for Elder Lauener’s leadership in
this council and for the great comments to the whole. We finished with a
beautiful testimony meeting, where each shared a simple but inspiring
testimony.
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| This was during our Council meeting...before lunch! |
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| This was after dinner, having Crème Brûlée made by Elder Johnson from Chalons Branch. |
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| District de Lyon #1 |
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| Elders Gillespie, Candland, Lauener, Steve, Ethan Johnson, Roberts, Pugmire and Samuel Johnson. |
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| Firehose!!! |
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| Sisters, Emery, Moi, Buysse |
WEDNESDAY XRAYS FOR OUR OFII APPOINTMENT
Each missionary needs to
get X-rays in preparation of their OFII appointment for legalization purposes. It
was harmless and took very little time. The walk there and back was brief, but
such a beautiful day.
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| X-ray's for OFII (legalization purposes) |
On the way back we
stopped at the local Marché that is very near our apartment. They are now open
on Wednesdays, along with their normal Saturdays. It was our first-time
walking through it.
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| The Marché just around the corner from us! |
THURSDAY PDAY VISITS OF 2 OLD VILLAGES
Steve had researched places
we could drive to and visit that were not more than an hour away. We had heard
about one of them and found the other one during our drive.
Our first stop was at Le Bois-d’Oingt
(Le Bois-d'Oingt, and Saint-Laurent-d'Oingt merged becoming one commune of Val
d'Oingt), a small village dating back from as far as the 12th-14th centuries.
We didn’t spend a lot of time in this little village but enjoyed walking
through varied streets and inside the Cathedral. It was also known for their beautiful
roses that were everywhere! They have a festival once a year, which was
starting the very next day. We were not allowed in the area where the main part
of the festival was held, but we still saw many beautiful roses in the village.
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| The village in Val d'Oingt. |
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| The town is famous for its roses throughout the village with a Rose Festival once a year. |
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| Part of the Town Square |
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| St Vincent des Pierres Dorées Cathedral in the Town Square |
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| Inside the cathedral |
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| Beautiful stained-glass windows within. |
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| Just a fun red door! |
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| Our only self-photos were these two in this village. |
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| These bright colored buildings were common. |
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| This is the gallows base they used back in the 12th-14th Century. |
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| Fun archway just outside where the gallows was situated. |
On our way back, about 10
minutes away was another small village, Chazay-d'Azergues Châtillon, with a large
Cathedral and Château. As we parked, and began to walk all around, trying to find
the best way to the Cathedral and Château, we finally
found signs that took us up a steep and winding trail, some with stairs in
places. We finally made it to the top only to find that the Cathedral and Château
were not open. Nevertheless, it was a cool experience walking through the amazing
maze of streets, and narrow walkways and finally being able to reach our destination.
We could see the Cathedral, but the Château was not visible from the front of
the Cathedral as it was in the rear. Only from the base of the hill could it be
viewed. Putting my phone camera behind a large, gated fence, we were able to
take a photo of the large home, which we presume is the care takers or owners of the Cathedral
and Château. The map below will show how massive the Château is, behind the Cathedral.
One thing we enjoyed particularly
was the amazing local stone in both villages. It had an orange tone that was
prominent for this area. We noticed that they also loved painting some of their
old buildings with bright colors.
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| We were determined to walk up to the top, no matter what it took. More interesting than we realized! |
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| A local cathedral in the lower part of the village. Eglise Divo Camillo |
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| Our steep walk up, produced a beautiful scenery of flowers and greenery. |
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| T |
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| The walk up, had these old homes along the way. |
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| On the right is the Cathedral at front, with the immense castle behind, which we could not enter any of them. |
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| The English is on the left. |
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| You can see on this map, the cathedral on the far right and the Château on the left, which is behind the Cathedral. |
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| This is inside the gate. I used my camera phone to sneak a photo through the tall gates. Probably this is for the owner or housekeepers or both. |
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| This is describing the 16th Century home below. |
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| 16the Century home. This is called a sculpted lintel above the right door. |
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| The village below. |
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| Our walk going back down. |
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| I just had to take this photo, at the bottom of our walk, was a restaurant with cool door handles inside and out. |
All in all, the trip there
and visiting and then back only took us 4 hours, but we loved our visits of
these two villages, and the views from the top and the drive going and coming were
gorgeous.
TOM HOLDMAN’S STAINED GLASS EXHIBITION IN
PARIS
This remarkable exhibit
began on June 2-11 in Paris, and Tom is planning on taking it throughout the
world in varied locations, before having a permanent home. We are not privileged
to see it in person, but we should be able to see it through a video Tom Holdman
is putting together today for our mission to be viewed on Tuesday.
Watch the video below to get
a fuller story from KSL 5.
https://ksltv.com/539202/utah-stained-glass-artist-tributes-jesus-christs-easter-week/
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| This is the actual display in the chapel of Saint-Merri where we went to church every week in Paris. They are holding the ward meetings in another building during the 10-day event. Thanks to Amanda Scheuermann for sharing these few photos with me. |
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| From display in Saint-Merri. |
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| From display in Saint-Merri. |
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| From Tom Holdman's Facebook page. |
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| From Tom Holdman's Facebook page. |
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| From Tom Holdman's Facebook page. |
FRIDAY – PARK, ZOOM, DATE NIGHT WITH
FLOWERS
This week has been a
harder to get out consistently to the park, but still so beautiful.
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| There are often gatherings/meetings in this area of beauty and shade. |
We had a zoom with Paul
Obrecht (no photo), talking about the wonderful news that the Stake finally called an
official couple to oversee Sharing Church Resources instead of Paul doing it
with all his other assignments. It really needed to be turned over so that when
we are finished with our mission it is totally being run through the Stake, as
it should be, with help from the missionaries.
SATURDAY DINNER WITH THE WACHTER FAMILY
We were invited to join
the two sets of missionaries in our ward to dinner with the Wachter Family. The
Wachter family live about an hour away, in a village called Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne.
Eric and Maria Wachter and their daughter, Emma. Their younger son was with
friends.
They were so fun to be
with and the missionaries had so much fun with the meal that was prepared. They
fixed gluten-free Galettes and then Crêpes (but not gluten-free). It was held
outside with beautiful weather, until we left for home.
About 10 minutes after
our departure, it began to pour buckets of rain for quite a while, making it
difficult to drive and then it kept raining till we returned home. But, the Wachter’s
didn’t get a drop, sadly, they said.
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| At the Eric and Maria Wachter home with their daughter, Emma (she was taking the photo) and these great missionaries. |
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| These are Galettes, Eric Style. They make Galettes and Crêpes every Sunday. The missionaries loved them! |
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| Inside a Galette! |
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| Does his head look a little red to you? |
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| They were pleased! |
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| As were the sisters and Emma still waiting for hers. Eric makes them one at a time. |
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| Then he started cranking out the Crêpes! |
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| Thumbs up on the Crêpes! |
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| The spiritual message afterwards was actually about Sharing Church Resources, starting with a great scripture helping to remember to love our neighbors. It was wonderful! |
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| Elders Lauener, Pugmire, Sisters Emery, Buysse, Packers and Wachter Family. Their dog was close by, trying to sabotage the photo. |
SUNDAY WORSHIP & FRANCE MOTHER’S DAY
Another beautiful Sabbath
day, and yes, it’s Mother’s Day here in France. Since it was Fast and Testimony
Meeting today, we did not travel anywhere to speak in Sacrament meeting. We
only have 2 left and then we’re finished with that assignment. Hooray!
Mother’s Day is always
later in France that in the US, but Father’s Day in France is the same as the US.
Steve bought me flowers
on Friday, and I am still enjoying the beautiful bouquet of roses. All the
women in the ward, received some beautiful Gerber Daisies, that I stuck inside my
rose bouquet.
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| Steve's gave me these beautiful France Mother's Day flowers and the Gerber Daisies were from the Ward. |
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| I love flowers! But I love him more and I love Him more! |
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| With my amazing and handsome prince! |
GRAND CHILDREN MOMENTS
We may not catch all of
the happenings with our grandchildren, but sweet Rosie Packer is such a doll at
her first dance recital. She was the youngest in her class and was most
definitely in her own world. We loved the videos we were sent.
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| Rose Packer - 1st Dance recital! That smile melts my heart! |
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| Rose with her daddy, giving her flowers. She was the cutest dancer of all of them, in our opinion! |
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| Bowen and Rose Packer with the cutest smiles! |
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| Emma, Rose, Bowen, Austin, and Leo Packer |
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| Rose is second on left! Such a cute button! |
Maliyah is in Missouri,
loving it and we can’t wait to hear from her tomorrow in any way, shape or
form!
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| Maliyah (Sister Duckworth) with two of her companions, as they would soon be a companionship of 4! They love it! |
GOSPEL STUDY REVIEW
Book of Mormon
- We must each do our part
to nourish in the Lord’s vineyard.
- We love more deeply as we
nourish others.
- We will have joy for our
efforts.
- Continue on faithfully.
- How can I testify of Christ
with more conviction?
- Have joy with everyone!
Come Follow Me
- We should give our best
to the Lord, but our best will look different than the next person. We are not
here to prove ourselves to others, but only to the Lord.
- Is it I? - Elder Uchtdorf’s talk is a great read!
- Our covenants and renewing
them regularly is of great importance and our greatest privilege.
- The Lord’s desire, while praying
in the garden of Gethsemane was not His will but the Heavenly Father’s. The
Lord didn’t give up, allowing His will to be swallowed up in the will of the
Father.
- Christ is our Lord and
Master, yet He gives all to serve and help us because of His love for us. We can
show our love for Him through loving and serving our family, friends, and
others.
- Unlike the Zoramites in
the Book of Mormon, we should not focus for only a few minutes per week, for show,
while partaking of the Sacrament. Instead, we can prepare for this sacred opportunity
on a daily basis, by repenting and renewing, and come more prepared and devoted
to partake of the sacred emblems and renew all of the covenants we have made
with the Lord, full of gratitude and clean hands and hearts. It gives us an
opportunity to ponder what we can change in our lives to be more like the
Savior,
We have been out on our
mission now for 8 months and the next 10 months will fly by much too fast, but
we can’t help but think of our family, whom we love so much and know that we
will be thrilled to see them. We will continue to focus on our efforts here and
pray that we will be sustained during this time so far away. We love our family
and each of our dear friends. Bless each of you and know that our faith and prayers
are with you all!
With all our love,
Elder et Sœur
Packer Grandpère et Mémé
801-336-6153
(Steve’s)
801-564-1332
(Renée’s)
Address below: Please include the
name and address as stated
Les Missionaires –
PACKERS
59 rue Bossuet
69006 Lyon FRANCE
PHOTO DUMP
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