BLOG 46, AUG 21-27, 2023
SISTER STEWART’S BIRTHDAY DROP OFF AND THEIR
ART
Monday was Sister Stewarts Birthday, but we were unable
to go till Tuesday to bring her a little treat. They live in our old apartment,
and it was fun to go in again. They took us to the kitchen and showed us their artwork,
that they put on the front of the cupboards painted on contact paper, that they
can easily remove. I hope they don’t, it’s adorable!
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| This and the artwork below were all done by Sisters Ferrari and Stewart painted on contact paper placed on the front of the drawers and cupboards in our old apartment. This brought such sunshine to our souls. |
Tuesday we were invited
by Camille and Duck to get on a video call to where their oldest is serving in Independence,
Missouri, now at the visitor center. Maliyah knew that her dad was a few hours away
for business but was in awe that he got permission from her mission president
to pay a surprise visit. We were so thrilled to watch this sweet surprise in
real time. The sweet emotions were so real, but she was so grateful and loved
her time with her dad. Duck took her and her companion out to lunch after their
visit.
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| With permission of the Mission President, Duck surprised Maliyah at the Visitor Center in Independence Missouri, while he wasn't too far away for a business trip. We loved being able to view live this fun event. The joyful tears flowed freely, but she soon took composure, and was so happy! |
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| Duck took Maliyah and her companion out to lunch afterwards. |
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| This sweet Austin loves his sister so much and loved watching this event take place. |
District Council
We had a wonderful
district council Tuesday. We have been so grateful for our amazing District Leader,
Elder Cheney. He is so enthused with Sharing Church Resources and has caught
the spirit of this work. We’re afraid he’ll be transferred soon in a few weeks.
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| District Council |
Social Media X 2
We had two separate Social
Media meetings this week with Joshua Boswell and the team. We’re praying they
can catch the spirit of what he’s trying to teach them.
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| Joshua Boswell top left and the great social media Team and President and Sister Léporé bottom right. |
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| Joshua Boswell giving the social media Team more insights on how to be effective. |
Elder Cheney call
We had requested a special
call with Elder Cheney to have him share some of his experiences he’s had these
last couple of weeks with his companion using the Resource Banner. We loved his
ideas and then we shared a couple ideas of our own.
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| Elder Cheney on the left giving a wonderful update on the good happening on his end with Sharing Church Resources. |
LYON CONNECTION WITH WOOD SWISS TEMPLE MISSION
This week I was going through
an inactive Gmail account that I had not cleared out, knowing that there were
some important emails I did not want to lose. I found an interesting email from
my father from 2016 or so. The PDF document he shared was about their mission
experience in the Swiss Temple in Bern. It was beautiful, but one of the parts that
stood out was the name of a couple, from Lyon, who had served in the Bern
Temple and knew my parents from both of their missions in Lyon and Bern. I
realized that this couple could be deceased, but I looked up their names in the
Lyon Stake directory and there they were. I have since contacted them and we
have been communicating. They remember my parents well, but what was also
stated in this document is that my dad knew them as teenagers while he served
in his Paris Mission in 1952-1954. Brother Jean-Claude and Jeanine Roux are
their names.
They have children and
grandchildren who also live in the Porte des Alpes Ward in Lyon. Generations of
faithful families.
I have no doubt that my
parents are in heaven orchestrating beautiful connections with us here on
earth, and not just with us, but with the rest of our extended family. They are
very much aware of where we are and what we are doing.
HEAT WAVE BUT IMPROVEMENTS COMING
Thursday was our highest temp for the week, being 105. We took a walk that morning, as it wasn’t terrible in the morning hours. We found every way to keep cool in our apartment, but it drained us and we were more tired than normal. Water was my best friend. The weather has been quite warm this whole week, until Saturday and Sunday finally cooled.
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| What was supposed to be 104 on Thursday, changed to 105 with lovely humidity. |
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| It finally took a lovely plunge with welcomed relief! |
MOVING A MEMBER AND THE MAMMOTH SPIDER IN THEIR
HOME
Friday early evening we
drove over an hour away to the Lamothe family home, to help them move. We were grateful
to have helped Cédric and Anne Marie Lamothe family, who live in Lamure-sur-Azergues.
While Sister Stewart and
I were sweeping out a room, I came across a mammoth spider in the corner and I might’ve wanted to scream normally,
but I remained calm and showed Sister Stewart the atrocious spider. She wanted
to vacuum it up right then (who wants a live mammoth spider in your vacuum). I went
to one of the men and told him we had problem. I’m sure he was intrigued. Once
he saw it, he did not seem to be bothered by it, but also knew that it was no
ordinary spider. He took care of it right away and disposed of it. I made sure
and took a photo of it before it was killed. It was about 4-5 inches long.
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| Trust me it was horribly large! 😬 |
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| Part of the crew helping with loading up the first of two trucks. |
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| This is Sister Ann Claire Lamothe, who was our amazing Relief Society President. We will miss her so much! |
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| Sisters Ferrari and Stewart know how to get down and dirty to clean and load! |
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| This is the view that was right outside of their home. |
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| And down the street is this view. The woman down the street is the mother of Brother Lamothe, who lives very close and helping to bring food over. |
ON-THE-SPOT ANALOGY STORIES FROM THE SISTER
MISSIONARIES
On our way home from helping the Lamothe family, I asked the sisters if they could pull out an analogy on the spot from their many experiences, that could be used for a spiritual message with members or in their teaching. We were impressed by their quick responses that were quite random. Analogies are some of the best ways to teach, especially as we use our own personal experiences. They loved having this opportunity. We were both impressed with what they shared.
SUNDAY WORSHIP
Another beautiful
Sabbath. Steve was asked to help pass the sacrament today, something I have
rarely seen him do in a church setting, not counting during Covid in our home. There
were fewer people there today, for this last week of vacation.
Today was also the day
the stake had set apart and trained those in charge, for a combined 4th Sunday
with the Priesthood and Relief Society to discuss and present more about Sharing
Church Resources and to invite as many members as possible to register for
courses, and then to still invite their friends. We’ve been anticipating this
for a while now and it was so wonderful knowing that this presentation was
going on in all wards and the one branch throughout the stake. With so many
gone, there most likely will be weekly reminder each Sunday for the next
several weeks till the courses begin the week of September 17th. We were
grateful that President Jubault was in attendance, to give a few words of additional
instruction and his passionate support. We now have 81 people registered for 8
different courses beginning in September, and hopefully more will register in
the next few weeks.
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| The second hour was sparce and spread out, as so many were still gone on vacation. But we had a wonderful discussion on the importance of utilizing the blessings of the resources of the church and then sharing them with our friends. |
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| Steve helping a brother in the ward register for a class. |
After church we had a
lovely visit with the Mathew and Hannah Peedle family from North Hampton,
England. They were visiting dear friends in our ward. We had a lovely visit
with them, and they were there listening in our second hour, 4th Sunday combined
meeting. They received one of our pass along cards and wanted to know more. Mathew
is the Stake President and was thrilled with this direction, as his stake is
very involved in using the resources of the church, but not yet sharing them
with the community. They gave us their contact info and we’ll have a zoom chat soon
just to tell them a little more.
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| Mathew and Hannah Peedle family from North Hampton, England, who are interested in learning more about Sharing Church Resources. |
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| These awesome sisters are full of life, can you tell? |
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| Sisters Stewart and Ferrari - we love them! |
Maddie’s move to Utah State
Saturday our oldest, Nate,
and his family helped their oldest, Maddie Packer, move to Utah State
University. We look forward to hearing how she’s enjoying her new experience,
different from Weber State. She’ll be nearer to our daughter, Janine, and her
family. We love you Maddie and are so proud of all you are doing.
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| Maddie giving a group hug with her siblings, as she takes off for her 2nd year of college but first year at Utah State. She's also the first grandchild (she's number 2 grandchild) to move away for college. |
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| Dixie, Maddie's mom, is thinking Maddie is going to do just great! |
Austin and Emma’s moving
pod finally arrived 9 days late. They are so happy to have finally been able to
move in.
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| The pod finally came from Utah to Florida, 9 days late! |
Video conversations of the week
Monday, we had a fun video
chat with our son, Brent (Shal and the kids were at their first day of school)
and got caught up on family, his working on their barn home (he’s amazing at
his genius with his home building). Ayden is a senior this year, Olivia a 9th
grader and Allen is in 6th grade. They are very good kids and treat
their parents with a lot of love. Shal teaches 5th grade, and her
students love her, because she loves and respects them.
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| Brent, number 5 child, is mister do it all! He's building his own home in an historic barn in Burley, Idaho and getting closer all the time to finishing. |
Saturday was our family video chat with Jordan’s family. We loved our catch up on their family as the kids started school several weeks ago. Jordan is climbing another 14er soon, and Larissa is the Primary President and running her kids around each day and works hard to keep things running. Lincoln is in his advanced 3-4th grade school and doing amazing and getting close to reaching his red belt, then black belt in Taekwondo! Lydia loves her schooling this year and going on a fun 2-day adventure with all 6th graders.
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| Jordan and Larissa Packer family with pretend sleeping Lincoln and wide-awake Lydia! |
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| Lincoln finally gave in for a real smile and his eyes opened! |
Sunday, I had a fun video chat with Micaela, since she wrote me a recent letter, I wanted it to be a special time with just her and me. Micaela is trying out for the State Orchestra program with her viola. She’s a special young woman who loved summer camp. I had a fun brief moment visiting with Adelaide and Brigham too. These kids are growing up way too fast and it did my heart good to see them.
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| Micaela was my special chat buddy Sunday afternoon. Loved our visit with her! She's an amazing violist and sister and daughter and friend. |
“Another exciting
thing is that since tours have slowed down, President is now letting us make
going to the temple a part of our weekly schedule (aside from pdays)! I
couldn't be more excited to be going more. The temple brings me so much peace.
If you haven't been in a while, I invite you to go! Or to do whatever you need
to do to go. It truly is a place of refuge from the storm:)
This week, amidst
everything that happened, I think I've just learned that God is truly in the
details of our lives. He sees our joys, He sees our struggles, He knows our
hearts, He knows what we need, and He's always, ALWAYS watching over us!!! And
if you look for His hand daily, you'll start to see it more and more. I don't
believe in coincidences hahaha. I know He places certain moments and people and
situations in my life for a reason, either to bless me or help me learn
something in order to help me become a better person; the person He knows I can
become. It's only through Him and the atonement of Jesus Christ and HIS power,
that we CAN become.”
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| Maliyah and Sister Tew! They love going to the temple and love being companions. Gratefully they'll be going to San José the same time. |
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| The Visitor Center missionaries and Mission Leaders in Independence, Missouri. |
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| These are radiant missionaries. Maliyah is on the far left! |
Elder Kyson Duckworth
“This week has
definitely been rough for me in trying to keep my spirits high and not focus on
the things I don't know. The other day, I was really struggling with myself in
doubt with the language. But that night I had a really cool realization.
6 weeks ago when my
family dropped me off at the airport, I didn't know a single word in
Portuguese...
Present day: I can now
teach a non-memorized 5-minute lesson of a scripture, gospel topic or lesson in
PMG.
I thought to myself....
"woah... wait, really?" Like how did I not see this progress I have
made in these few weeks!?!? I had to tell myself in my best loud Elder Holland
voice, "How many people do you know that can or have done that??... Exactly.
Quit doubting yourself. Forget yourself and Go to Work."
I wanna testify to you
guys on the truthfulness of the Holy Ghost and of the Gift of Tongues. THEY ARE
REAL. I could not have made the progress I have these past few weeks without
them. I feel the Holy Ghost daily and have experienced the gift of tongues
myself. …for those devoted readers I hope you can or do know for yourself of
the Holy Ghost and his divine role as our guide and friend through this mortal
life.”
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| Kyson and his MTC leaders, just as he's getting ready to leave for Brazil. He has been in Brazil for a couple of days by now. |
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| This is the outdoor scene going to a fireside, or devotional at the MTC. We love the MTC spirit! |
GOSPEL STUDY REVIEW
Book of Mormon
- Fortify our homes, support our liberty, our lands, wives, children, our peace and live unto the Lord, our God.
- Protect ourselves with the armor of God.
- Recognize the tender mercies of the Lord in our lives.
- Take the opportunity to cause change for good with us and those around us.
- It’s important to always be aware of the enemy that is around us and not be swayed by its many deceptions.
Come Follow Me
- Focus on God and glorify Him.
- Keep our hearts riveted on the things of God.
- Be faithful and seek God’s help in our desires.
- Become one in unity, not sameness.
- Communicate with a desire to be unified and united.
- Do not feel pride or superiority to anyone!
- Focus now on the things our prophets and apostles are teaching us.
- My learning should direct me to learn spiritual and secular truths to help me come unto Christ. “Our religion encompasses all truths.” (Joseph Smith)
- Unite the words of our scriptures and our modern-day prophets to draw us towards the Savior in all we do.
- Glorify God in all that we learn, all that we do, all that we say and all of our actions.
Conclusion:
As our mission is rapidly
moving ahead (with almost 7 months left) my heart is absorbed in all that we’ve
experienced so far, differently than what we experienced in Paris. Nonetheless,
it is teaching us what we need to learn, to grow, to serve more valiantly,
overcoming weaknesses, being more attentive to that which is of greatest worth, and continually being aware of all that
is going on with our families back home. We are fully aware of our guardian
angels who are always with us, comforting us, lifting us, guiding us, and have no
doubt that God is involved in the details of everything we are doing. It does
not take being on a mission, though, to learn these lessons. However, at times,
being away from the comforts of life and being far from home and family reinforces
important truths that we easily learn at home but seem more magnified in these types
of circumstances. We love each of you wherever you are in the world!
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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