BLOG 38, JUN 26- JUL 2, 2023
STEVE’S PACKER SIBS ZOOM
Every other month, for
the last 8 months, Steve’s siblings have gathered over zoom. It has been wonderful!
I love his siblings and love our time to get caught up. Each time we meet there
is a little different theme where we focus our thoughts towards. I can only
imagine how happy Steve’s deceased parents are as they look upon us and are grateful
that we are together, even if it’s via zoom. We never know when one may be
taken from us. Our prayers are always with each of them!
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| Packer sibs zoom chat. |
MENTORING FROM HAWAII
Aurélie, from Montreal, Canada, was an amazing
missionary in Paris while we served our mission there. She has since married
and she and her husband, Kyler have a 7 month old daughter, living in Hawaii.
A couple of weeks ago Aurélie reached out to me to see
if she and her husband could have a Family Home Evening with us, yet knowing we
were in France. She basically asked if we could share the lessons we’ve learned together about marriage and
working together to reach a greater goal. She remembered when we were serving
in Paris, that we had them over to our apartment and we shared a message about
eternal relationships. She’d never forgotten it.
We finally met last
Tuesday and had an amazing visit. We are so impressed with this sweet family
and look forward to further visits, as they’ve requested that we
meet monthly with them. We were honored that they would think of us.
One thing that Aurélie shared with us is that her
mother learned a valuable lesson from having lived in Portugal, where newly
married couples are often given God Parents (they can’t be relatives) to act as
mentors during their beginning stages of marriage and have an opportunity to strengthen
their marriage from the beginning. This was so beautiful to me.
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| Aurélie and Kyler - mentoring session! |
Last weekend, the small
front driver’s side window of our mission car had been broken into, while in
our parking garage. Steve didn’t notice it till Saturday and we finally were
able to go to the police station to file a report. It was quite a process, but
they were so kind, very helpful and organized. How sad they have to deal with
such petti things such as this, as it all takes so much of their time, but we never
felt like we were a bother. For the purpose of mission insurance for cars, it
was necessary to get a police report.
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| First attempt was a police station near us, but the wrong place. |
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| This time we took the car and found the right station for our needs. A little tiny broken window can take so long to report. |
OFII (OFFICE OF IMMIGRATION AND
INTEGRATION)
Wednesday, we met at the Mission
Office with 4 other young missionaries to then went together for our first OFII
appointment. It took us about 30 minutes via public transport, but all went well,
and it’s finished. We loved getting to know the missionaries we were with, as most
of them we didn’t know before .
On our way back to the
office, Elder Pugmire and myself engaged in conversation with an older
gentleman and his 1 ½ year old grandson, James. He was so sweet to visit with.
It’s always fun to start a conversation with someone. It didn’t take long to
let him know what Steve and I are here for and that I was able to share one of
our resource cards with him, telling him we’re here to serve others with the
resources of our church. I told him to check out the QR code on the other side.
He was so kind, and his little grandson was too adorable and wished I could’ve
taken a photo with them.
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| The trams are often colorful! |
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| This was the group of missionaries for OFII. All went smooth! |
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| The adventure getting out with the missionaries was quite enjoyable! |
PRAYERS NEEDED FOR NAUVOO, ILLINOIS TORNADO/HIGH WINDS
Thursday morning of this past
week, around 10:00
a.m. a tornado and strong 80+ mph wind hit Nauvoo, Illinois and other
surrounding areas extremely hard.
Nauvoo is a tourist area to visit historic Church History sites,
mostly from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (100,000 + yearly
visitors). We were in Nauvoo a year ago at this very time, serving in the
Nauvoo Pageant Presidency, where we were so blessed to be involved in this incredible
opportunity. We love Nauvoo, we love the people of Nauvoo, and we love the
Pageants we were helping with.
My sister, Janine Green moved to Nauvoo last September and
witnessed this horrific event that has caused so much damage.
It’s hard to know how much structural damage was done, but it
could’ve been much worse. The widespread fallen trees (est 1,000), fallen
electric lines piled with the fallen trees, will take a tremendous effort to
clean up. Many were without electricity
for a good 3 days or more. My sister has been able to reach out to help many of
her neighbors who are in need. She is strong and able to check on those who are
older and alone. By Saturday, she finally had her electricity restored but many
others are still without. She has shared her generator for others to use and drove
a distance to purchase more gasoline for the generator.
The pageant is scheduled to begin July 11th, and
much is to be done before then. Thank you for all your prayers in their behalf!
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| This is one of approximate 1,000 trees that fell. This was a common scene throughout Nauvoo, not to count for the massive powerlines everywhere! |
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| This was one of the lighting units that fell that lit the temple during the pageant. |
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| This tree was twisted by the tornado. |
WALKS IN THE PARK
Our walks in the park, as
usual, are so peaceful and never disappoint. Thinking back on the concert we
attended last week, I read a report that said there were about 25,000 people at
the park. It looked like it to us!
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| Sisters! ;) |
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| They were mostly hidden in the tall grass, but this one popped its head up and was walking! |
DISTRICT COUNCIL
Friday, we held our first District Council of this
transfer with our new District. Elder Cheney is our DL and did a fabulous job
starting us off getting to know one another. This will be a wonderful next
transfer!
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| New District Council. |
SUNDAY WORSHIP
We finally were able to attend
our own ward this week and enjoyed seeing our familiar ward members, plus some
awesome surprises.
Out of the blue, President
and Sister Hansen, just released (2 days ago) mission leaders in the France
Paris Mission, showed up in our ward, having just held yesterday a mission reunion
for all of European missionaries who served in their France Paris Mission. We
had such a sweet reunion, as it had been 3 ½ years since we last saw them in
person, though we’ve had several meetings via zoom with them since. They have been
remarkable mission leaders, having started from the beginning of Covid till
now. Michael Hansen was the marketing VP of Nike and used his skills during
their mission in a remarkable way.
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| President and Sister Hansen - newly released Paris Mission Leaders, whom we love. We were surprised by their unexpected visit. They had a mission reunion the day before for all missionaries in southern France for their mission in Paris. |
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| Catching the blue sky with the blue suit! ;) |
FRIENDS FROM 1978
On Sunday evening, I had
a lovely conversation with a friend from 1978 when I was a BYU Study Abroad
Study in Paris. We had some wonderful friends, but many we have lost contact
with. It was 45 years ago. Through a cool French mission connection, Grethe
Davidson Powell connected with me. We had a wonderful video chat and our
husband’s joined in later. They live in Rexburg, Idaho, but met many years ago
while both serving a mission in Toulouse, which is where President Hansen was
serving as well back in his day with them. It’s a small world, especially when I told her that we had just
visited with the Hansen earlier today at church.
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| Grethe and Kerry Powell |
CHILDREN AND GRAND CHILDREN MOMENTS
Jacob Packer’s astounding golf game –
Our sweet Jacob loves
golf almost more than anything and it shows. He is nearly 15, and very short in
stature for his age because of his condition with MPS6. He was playing at a golf
tournament in Logan and had to be his
own caddy, as his dad had to work. He scored 84 on 18 holes and was so pleased!
It may not have been his personal best, but he was so happy as it was a
challenging course.
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| Jacob - this is what he loves! |
Janine, our 4th
child, had a birthday on June 29th. She had a lovely lunch date with
her sister, Becca! So grateful they take this annual time each year. I have not
been consistent with all our children’s birthdays on this blog, but I’m trying.
Janine has done amazing, juggling so much between school and family. We love
you J9!
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| Happy Birthday Janine (the taller of the two) - Becca and Janine meet yearly for their birthdays! ♥ |
Last week, Savannah and
Emma went to girl's camp, and this being Emma’s first year going to camp. The
love they have for one another is so sweet! They had so much fun, they didn’t really
want to come home!
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| Emma (left) and Savannah, girls camp! |
Sweet little Austin Duckworth
was baptized Saturday afternoon. We stayed up late to watch his baptism via
zoom. He’s one special boy and his heart is so tender to do the right thing. He’s
a peacemaker and is just a whole lot of fun! We’re so proud of you Austin Blue!
His brother Kyson had the honor to baptize him, and his dad did the
confirmation of the Holy Ghost. I was grateful for those who were able to join
via zoom from the states.
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| Kyson was able to baptize him. |
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| Austin's dad did the confirmation. |
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| He's not sure what to think of this awesome experience he's waited for a long time! |
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| Austin saying hello to his missionary sister! |
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| Family joining for the baptism zoom. We do not know who the man on the far-left bottom is. |
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| Kyson and Austin! A special day for both! |
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| Duck, Austin and Kyson! Happy Day! |
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| Austin loves his oldest brother and will miss him when he's gone on his mission. |
Kyson’s Mission Updates
This is what Kyson had to
say on Instagram after his special week!
“This morning I had
the incredible opportunity to go through the temple with my mom and dad for the
first time. I felt the spirit very strongly while I was there making covenants
and I loved having that opportunity with my parents.
Then my little brother
Austin got baptized two hours later… by me! He had previously come up to me one
day and said “Kyson… I wanted to ask you if you could baptize me? I really
really want you to.” It was adorable and I was very flattered and knew this
would mean a lot to him. My dad did the confirmation along with me and others
assisting as well.
Then 3 hours later, MY
MISSIONARY TAGS COME IN. Like holy cow what next, pack all my belongings into
totes to be stored away for two years???…”
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| Temple trip Saturday morning, the day of the baptism! |
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| Camille, Kyson and Duck |
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| Kyson with his dad! |
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| The beloved tags! |
Maliyah’s emails are so
uplifting. She’s having amazing experiences in Missouri Historic sites. Here’s
a little snip from her last email. “My testimony of Joseph Smith and of the
restoration of the church has only been strengthened through being on these
sacred grounds, and through having these experiences. I don't know answers to
everything, but I DO know what I KNOW. And that's enough for me.”
.jpg) |
| The Missouri Sites Missionaries! |
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| Maliyah loving her finds! |
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| Something's got them pouting! ;) |
GOSPEL STUDY REVIEW
Book of Mormon
- Peace lasts as long as Christlike devotion endures.
- Preserving records are of great importance.
- Service will soften hearts on both sides.
- Love God and love our neighbor. So, who is our neighbor? We start with our family, our friends and all of God’s children.
- Recognize the immediate goodness of God.
- The Lord is always willing to pour out His Spirit upon us, but we must be humble and ready.
- Inquire of the Lord; means we are seeking, asking and ready to learn.
Come Follow Me
- The resurrection of Christ gives me hope and trust and His love.
- Invite the Savior to abide with me.
- A good question to ask myself (and answer) is “why do I believe in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, even though I have not seen them?”
- I, too, have felt my heart burn within me as I have studied His word and felt His love.
- We will each gain the glory we deserve after the resurrection.
- Just open my mouth, share my love and do that which pleases God.
- Women have been the witnesses of His birth and His resurrection.
- Christ never leaves us, even though He ascended up to heaven, He is always with us.
- Christ is and was the master gardener.
Writing this weekly blog is quite an exercise of
faith, faith that I’ll be able to make time to write it, faith that I have
anything of worth to share or savor, and faith that what I write is pleasing to
the Lord, though very imperfect and imperfectly written. As we look back on both
of our France missions, I do have faith that the Lord accepts these blogs as a
second witness and testimony of our efforts, our love of family and our desire
to be obedient even in our weakness.
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
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