BLOG 42 - JUL 24-30, 2023
24TH OF JULY
It was a normal day for
us here in France, but in Utah, the 24th of July commemorates the
day that Brigham Young entered into the Salt Lake Valley with the first group
of Mormon Pioneers in 1847. It’s a big celebration all day, with parades, picnics
and fireworks.
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| 24th of July Pioneer Day in Utah |
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| The parade for the 24th is a large annual event! |
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| Fireworks display |
Steve happened to be in
the office on Monday and met Elder Delcourt who was heading home at the end of
his mission to return to Charleroi, Belgium. He belongs to the Charleroi II
ward, not Charleroi I that my dad built, but he knows some of the same people
we know.
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| Elder Packer and Elder Delcourt (who is from Charleroi, Belgium) |
FLOWERS AND ANIMALS AT THE PARK
Another beautiful week in
the park with Steve!
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| These deer were taking refuge in the shade! |
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| This turtle was basking in the shade to get out of the heat! |
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| These flowers, that we love, were still blooming! |
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| These flowers were just across the street from the park! |
TWO SISTER COMPANIONSHIPS FOR DINNER
We had yet another dinner
this last Tuesday with the sisters of Val de Saône and Confluence Wards.
Sisters Emery, Ferrari, Watson and Moody were our
special guests. They started the evening with an inspiring message from Jacob 5
that they shared with us. They are wonderful and amazing missionaries.
I made a new type of roll,
called Knotted Mini Challas and for dessert, my Belgium apricot tart that I’ve
loved since I was 5 years old, living in Belgium. I fed them more than just
bread and dessert, but those were fun to create.
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| Sisters Moody, Watson, Emery and Ferrari |
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| We started a wonderful evening with a beautiful message. |
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| First try making Knotted Mini Challas |
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| My favorite Apricot Tart |
SENIOR SCR COUPLES ZOOM MEETING
We’ve been trying monthly
to hold a SCR (Share Church Resources) zoom meeting. We are grateful for all
that everyone shared with each other. We were able to introduce Elder and
Sister Hansen and asked them to share some of the great things happening in the
Toulouse Stake with SCR. We have grown to love each of these couples. Elder and
Sister Riley were not able to attend, we love all that they are doing in Corsica.
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| Elders and Sisters Smith, Packer, Rellaford, Hansen and Reneer! |
ZONE LEADER'S BANNER PLANS
This week we connected
with the Zone Leaders to give them the new SCR stand-up banners to move this
effort of using banners forward in the Zone. They will distribute two of them
locally and we will drive to Clermont-Ferrand and Grenoble Sunday and Monday to
deliver the other two banners that they are supposed to experiment with this coming
week.
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| Elders Lauener and Johnson |
DISTRICT COUNCIL
Another great District
Council this week! We’re always given a challenge or question that helps
generate great conversations and growth. Most of the times it’s in English (unless
we’re reading the scriptures) but once in a while, if Sister Mast is present (our
French Service Missionary), we’ll change to French.
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| District Council - Sisters Ferrari and Emery, Elders Cottam and Cheney, Sisters Moody and Watson, Elders Karlinsey and Nielsen, Elders Hunsaker and Whitney, Sisters Wall and Morgan |
GETTING ESTIMATE ON BROKEN WINDOW
Another first today, was our
driving to the Toyota Dealer to get an estimate for mission insurance purposes,
on our small broken window. Steve is very good at getting us to the right spot,
and then he leaves the communication to me! I’ve learned to just dive right in and
hope for the best. I was amazed at how easy they were to work with and we’ll be
going back in about 10 days to get it replaced. We then gave the estimate paper
to the office for the mission’s insurance needs.
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| The cardboard is not going to last when we are out in the rain. It'll all be fixed on the 7th of August. |
SISTER PATRICIA HOLLAND FUNERAL
There are women in this
world that reflect perfect and genuine love, kindness, radiance, gentleness and
the embodiment of all that is good in this world, and this would describe
Sister Patricia Holland, wife of Elder Jeffery R Holland. Her funeral was held on
Friday.
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| Elder and Sister Holland - Her passing brought out the deserved honoring of this remarkable woman's life! |
ZOOM WITH ELDER AND SISTER HANSEN
With Elder and Sister Hansen being so new in the mission field, they have not shied away from asking lots of questions and reached out to see if we could do a quick zoom with them on Saturday. We are always happy to help or answer questions if we have the answers. But no matter, nothing is better than devoted missionaries, which all of these are.
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| Elder and Sister Hansen |
BAPTISM OF SANDRA CAROSI-ARCANGELI
We were so grateful for
the missionary sisters in our Val de Saône Ward (Sisters Emery and Ferrari),
for having their first baptism. Sandra has been coming to church for a couple
of months now, all while taking lessons. She has no doubt that this is the right
direction for her. We have a good ward who will love her and help her feel
needed. We were so grateful for the wonderful support from the ward.
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| Sandra just before her baptism - she's a sweet and happy woman! |
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| Elder Whitney, not picture here, performed the baptism. There were more than pictured here who attended, but it was a beautiful program, where talks were given by these two dear Sisters Emery and Ferrari, on the left. |
SABBATH WORSHIP
Early Sunday morning we
drove (2 hrs. away) to Clermont-Ferrand to attend church there and deliver the
banners to Elders Cheney and Cottam. We gave them a few instructions and we
pray they are successful in getting out a couple of times this week for a few
hours.
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| Just outside the chapel of Clermont Ferrand. We never got a photo of the Elders when delivering the banner. |
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| We drive under this bridge each time we go to Clermont Fd. |
CHILDREN/GRANDCHILDREN/FAMILY MOMENTS & BIRTHDAYS
Sister Maliyah Duckworth
“Helloooo everybodyyyy! Two days ago I officially
hit my 3 month mark as a missionary! 1/6 of the way through and it's going way
too fast (thankfully I still have a ways to go). I love my mission, I love
being a missionary, and there's genuinely nothing else I'd rather be doing with
my life right now than representing Christ! I see God's hand in my life every
day and it's incredible. I'm not the same person I was when I left, and I can't
wait to see how God will continue to work through me and turn me into the
person He needs me to be. :) I've met so many amazing people too, that I can't
imagine my life without! Life is just so cool. God is cool.”
“This past week was another super busy week with tons of bus tours!!! It frankly was really exhausting and draining, hard to have so much energy emotionally and physically. I kinda felt like I was in a slump all week. But I still love it! It's honestly so special being here. Serving here and meeting literally thousands of people every week has been so cool. I've been able to meet wonderful people, make cool connections, and testify of Christ to so so many.”
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| Maliyah on the left. |
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| Elder Wheeler a friend from home. The missionaries all got to go to the Kansas City Royals MLB game. |
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| Maliyah posted this as a flashback from her family being in the pageant a year ago at this time. |
Elder Kyson Duckworth
“Arriving to the Provo
MTC (Missionary Training Center) the next morning was crazy, everything
happened so fast. I got dropped off, took a quick pic, then in the next ten
minutes had everything I'd need for my stay and was in my dorm. We had a bit of
time to unpack and meet with our district to get to our first class with both
our teachers, Irmão Petitt and Smith. We were all so happy to meet each other
and it was such a neat experience. All the guys in my district were definitely
taller than I thought they'd be, but our teachers... Holy cow they are giants!
Spiritually and physically, they're both 6' 3". Especially Irmão Smith,
he's built different. I'll share a picture with all of us together, one of the
things I love most about the study halls is that there are huge murals
everywhere with super cool paintings and we're standing behind one of Joseph
and Hyrum in Carthage and it's really cool.
I love my district so
freaking much! We call ourselves the "No Visa Voyagers" cuz we all
were reassigned to the Provo MTC instead of the Brazil one cuz we haven't
received our visas yet (I just got mine Thursday tho) There are 12 of us total.
I'll try to list them out, there's me, my companion Elder Cromar, then Elders
McKell, Numbers, Birch, Sheets, Pond, Thiriot, Park and Taukei'aho, and Sisters
Brewer and Christensen. We've grown so close together already these past few
days. I wanna write a whole paragraph about each one of them but for your sakes
I won't, but I love all of them!
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| Elder Duckworth on the right with his companion. |
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| Kyson on the middle right! |
Nauvoo Pageant News
My sister Janine Green
volunteered this year to be in the Nauvoo pageant band, playing her guitar. This
has got to be one of the most satisfying and fun experiences to be involved with
the Country Fair band (as you get to play with everyone else and then watch the
dancers on the floor, having an amazing time). This is an hour or so prior to the
pageant. For several nights, though, the Country Fair was closed and the
pageant started 30 minutes later, as the heat and humidity were so unbearable
and dangerous they had to cancel the Country Fair.
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| Janine Green - Renée's sister in the Nauvoo Pageant Band playing the guitar. |
Birthdays this week!
25th – Adam Jr
Hunsaker
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| Adam Hunsaker 18th Birthday - HS grad photos |
28th – Emma Packer
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| Emma and Austin Packer! This was Emma's 30th Birthday! |
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| Picola Wood - My mom's 93rd Birthday in heaven. |
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| Duck (Brandon) and Camille |
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| Savannah Duckworth - turned 14 |
GOSPEL STUDY REVIEW
Book of Mormon
- Ammon shows his faithfulness to His father, by offering himself as a servant, from which miracles and hearts change.
- When we love and serve others, it opens hearts of others to want to learn truths and allows hearts to change.
- Faith, humility and a desire to know God and to learn, brings about miracles.
- Learn to hear the voice of the Lord and obey.
- No matter the hardships, Aaron and others continued to teach the Doctrine of Christ.
- There is always hope for those who have once been wicked, if they have their hearts humbled, changed and turned towards God and have no more desire to do evil, as happened with King Lamoni and his father.
- If you want a beautiful reminder of what can happen when those who show forth love and selfless service to others, and how it can change the course of history, read in the Book of Mormon, Alma 17-27. I love Ammon’s amazing example and those of his brothers.
Come Follow Me
- If we look outward and glorify God instead of ourselves, we will see the Lord’s hands in our lives for good.
- Be an example of the believer and stand for truth.
- Charity allows us to stand strong next to those who are going through rough times and be their strength.
- Though Paul and Silas were imprisoned, they were able to convert the jailor.
- With our knowledge and testimonies of Jesus Christ, we can make righteous judgments.
- How often am I testifying of Jesus Christ?
- Have hope, have faith, and keep pressing forward on our journey, wherever we are.
Summary:
There is a cycle in life that
most families can relate with and that is how ready we always are for summer to
arrive, and for summer to be done. It must have something to do with the need
to be a bit more relaxed for a while and then longing for a time to be more
orderly (it’s a bit different on a mission and once retired).
Some things should never
change though, and that should be our daily commitment time with God. No matter
when that daily routine is, we should always put our lives in order with Him. Prayer
is essential, studying His word is crucial, and listening to His will for us is
vital. This I do know, He is sure, He is real, He is ever present for us,
especially when we look to Him, and call upon Him.
Steve and I can’t do life
without Him, not even for a day.
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
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