LETTRE SEPT POUR LE VINGT-DEUX AVRIL

When we lived in Portland, Oregon in the 1970’s, we tried to be thankful for the rain because it helped produce surroundings that were green and beautiful.  We are using the same thought process here in France when we go out in weather that has been cloudy and rainy for every day in April but maybe one.  On Samedi during our preparation day, we decided to stop waiting for a sunny day and drove over to our office location in Thoiry to take a few pictures in between rain drops.  First, we took a stunning picture of our office building with our car in front.  Then we traveled to a Holiday Inn a block down the street where Sister Jeppson bravely climbed four flights of stairs on the outside of the building to take some amazing photos of the city of Thoiry nestled in the foot hills of the Jura Mountains.  We will try to take some pictures again near the same location if the sun shines long enough and at the right time before we leave for Lyon.        

The rain helped us decide to go to a large indoor shopping mall that is five minutes away from our office location.  It is anchored by a department store named MIGROS which is a chain of stores that are mostly located in Switzerland.  We managed to walk through part of the mall long enough to find a jacket that I can wear on preparation days when it is cool and rainy.  We also looked at umbrellas before we bought a few groceries.

We attended an inspirational district meeting on Jeudi with the missionaries in our district.  We were treated with a bonus of a nice lunch and surprise birthday party for Elder Pittson, one of the office elders, hosted by Sister Murdock after the meeting.  As part of the celebration, the other elders made a piñata filled with candy that Elder Pittson had a fun time trying to find and break open while blindfolded. 

We attended church meetings in Annecy with a lot more people in attendance because it was ward conference.  This occasion brought stake leaders and their spouses to the meetings to participate including the stake president and his counselor, and presidents and counselors from the relief society, primary and young women’s organizations.  Two amies (women friends) of the church that the sister missionaries are teaching and their little babies attended the meetings.  In addition, a family with three children attended the meetings for the first time.  They just moved to Annecy where the husband has secured a job.  He speaks French well and is originally from Salt Lake city, and his wife is from Marseille, France.  He said that his parents served a mission in France two years ago.  They will be a nice addition to the branch.  The Stake President’s wife told me how well Sister jeppson had read a paragraph of a conference talk in French during Relief Society.

NOS PETITS-ENFANTS
I love to sing the hymns in French for two reasons.  First, the French language is beautiful especially when the words are put with music.  Second, because I am trying to remember and learn the language, I pay special attention to the meaning of the words.  This helps me to have a deeper understanding and appreciation for the inspirational messages of our beautiful hymns.  When you sing the hymns in sacrament meeting or the songs in primary, I hope that you will pay special attention to the words and their inspirational meaning as you sing.

LETTER SEPT POUR LE 15 AVRIL 2012

Lundi was a holiday for the French and the Swiss but not for the Americans.  We worked alone all day in a cold office.  We found out later that we could have turned up the heat, but we didn’t know how at the time.  We have needed to turn up the heat all week because it has been rainy with temperatures in the 40’s.    Sister Jeppson has been trying to get warm at the office and at home all week.  Because their children were out of school this week, most of the office workers took the week off while Sister Jeppson worked on her many responsibilities including preparing a lot of correspondence, working on travel arrangements for outgoing and incoming missionaries, and helping me organize and label files while I continued to try to catch up with the many financial projects. 

I had been asked by the human resources manager before he took the week off to lead the office devotional on Tuesday and give a five minute spiritual thought.  I diligently prepared to deliver the thought in French the night before.  However, when only four other people were there at 8:30 a.m. in the morning with one of them anxious to leave on a business trip, I decided to defer my thought until another time.  One person did come into the office for one day.  As I introduced myself and got acquainted, I learned that he was Frère Rimli from Genève.  He had been working with human resources as a service missionary and was cleaning out his office at the conclusion of his service term.  I found out  that he had been ordained an elder by my mission president so you can guess that he was probably close to my age but he looks a lot older (Ha, Ha).  He said that his next assignment is to be a counselor in the Swiss Temple Presidency.  He will be serving with a temple president from Germany. 

Our most exciting adventure this week was a visit to the post office on Samedi which is near the outside market that we visit every week.  The Ferney-Voltaire post office is very modern with a machine that allows patrons to weigh their letters, obtain necessary postage and pay with a credit card.  However, a postal worker still helped us through the process.  We braved the rain to purchase our customary assortment of fruits and vegetables.  This week we purchased a new kind of cheese called Emmental from the Savoie region in France.  The vendor cut off a large slice from a large round chunk of cheese.  We ate some of this kind of cheese with holes later for lunch.  It was magnifique.

Because we had worked so hard this week, while everyone else was enjoying their vacation time, we decided to reward ourselves with two activities.  We ate dinner on vendredi soir at the Buffalo Grill which is just a few blocks away.  We had noticed for some weeks that a lot of people were eating at this restaurant.  The restaurant has a cowboy and rodeo theme with waitresses dressed up as cowgirls, a menu that includes different platters with cowboy names and several kinds of hamburgers, chicken dishes and steaks.  Rodeo films are shown at various locations around the restaurant.  The food was not quite as good as the Texas Roadhouse, but it was a change of pace for us and interesting to see how the French have tried to emulate western themed restaurants in the United States.  Finally, we splurged and purchased our first éclair from our favorite patisserie.  We split it in half for lunch dessert,  It was délicieux.  We thought of you, Emily and Liz, as we ate it and the last time that we enjoyed an éclair in France during our visit to Paris.

NOS PETITS-ENFANTS

There is a large rock wall that is probably hundreds of years old that divides our apartment complex from a playground.  We often see children at the playground.  There is a ladder that someone has placed against the large wall.  However, the top of the ladder only reaches half way up the wall.   Steven R. Covey, a well known author, has taught that to be successful when we set goals we need to have the ladder in the right place.  If we work for something that has no chance for success or is headed a direction with no lasting value, it is like this ladder that is against a wall that no one can ever climb over and only arrives at a bunch of worthless rocks instead of reaching the playground on the other side.

LETTRE SIX POUR LE 8 AVRIL 2012

Le Léman, Lac de Genève; Jet d'Eau far away in the background

What is the Jet d'Eau?  It is a Jet of Water that is located in Le Léman, Lac de Genève in downtown Genève.  It shoots 7 tons of water  469 feet into the air with a force of 124 miles an hour.  It operates from early March until early October.  It is the world's largest fountain!  On Jeudi, we enjoyed an unexpected opportunity to have lunch by the lake which is only about three minutes away from the mission home.  We could see the Jet d'Eau in the distance since the mission home is located in the suburbs of Genève.  We had traveled from our office location in Thoiry to the Mission Home in Genève to attend our District Meeting and expected to have lunch as part of the meeting.  However, lunch was not provided so we picked up a sandwich and found a nice location for an unexpected picnic in cool overcast weather. 

Five new missionaries are now in our Geneva South District:  Elder Escamilla from New York City is being trained to be the Legal Secretary in the Mission Office.  Elder Soares from Belgium and Elder Moore from Houston, Texas are new zone leaders of the Geneva Zone.  Elder Clafin from Utah is the new assistant, and Sister Bichierri is a new missionary from Italy that just arrived.  We continue to be uplifted by the spirit and the testimonies of the missionaries that participate in this meeting.   Sister Jeppson also contributed some insightful  comments.

We enjoyed a wonderful Paques de Dimanche (Easter Sunday).  We again traveled to our branch meeting in Annecy, about 29 miles away through picturesque country side that will only become more beautiful as the leaves come to the trees and the flowers bloom.  It was heartwarming and inspiring to spend Easter Sunday with the members of this small branch.  Frère Colignon delivers thoughtful priesthood lessons from the President George Albert Smith manual and Soeur Demeure, the branch president's wife is always well prepared and presents uplifting lessons about the Book of Mormon.  Because of the small number of priesthood holders, I have the opportunity every Sunday to either bless or pass the sacrament.  It was especially an inspiring opportunity to pass the sacrament on Easter when we think of the symbols of the sacrament and the importance of remembering the Savior.

Sister Fairchild, a newly arrived sister missionary from Idaho that was assigned to Annecy, bore her testimony for the first time in a French sacrament meeting and did a nice job.  A woman from Nigeria   who is being taught by the sister missionaries and her six month old son attended the meeting along with a young man from the Netherlands who served a mission in Bulgaria.  He speaks English and Dutch and Bulgarian but not French.  He told me that he came to Annecy to spend a week with Emily who was also a missionary in Bulgaria, but now teaches English at a school in Annecy.  Three young women from two of the families in the branch showed their courage and talent by playing the piano and leading the singing in Sacrament Meeting.  Four members of the branch talked about the significance of Easter and bore their testimonies.

Betty, the housekeeper of the mission home

Sister Murdock invited us to Easter Dinner on Dimanche afternoon at the Mission Home.  We enjoyed a delicious meal with President and Sister Murdock, the four office missionaries, Betty, the mission home housekeeper from the Philippines, another senior couple serving in the Geneva Young Adults Center, the Chatterlys and two guests.  The office missionaries were excited for us to participate in an Easter Egg Hunt after dinner.  They had colored 28 boiled eggs and had hidden them outside around the mission home.  We all had fun looking for them and finally located all of the 28 eggs.  Thanks again, Matt and Jessie for hosting our family for Easter.

 Nos Petits-Enfants

We drive through six tunnels on our way to attending church meetings in Annecy, France and while driving to the office in Thoiry.  French and Swiss road builders like to build tunnels.  If you ever come to France or Switzerland, It would be a challenge for you to hold your breaths through these tunnels.  The longest one, the Mont Sion Tunnel  is about two miles long.  We also traveled across four viaducts that stretch across large deep valleys.  During the drive to Annecy, we leave our apartment and cross over the border from France into Switzerland, travel for a few miles and then cross over the border again from Switzerland into France driving the rest of the way to Annecy.  We also pass through toll booths to pay money for the privilege of driving faster on part of the freeway.

Zachary, when I passed the sacrament today, I thought about you.  You will be a deacon in four months and will have that same opportunity.  Prepare diligently for this wonderful opportunity to have the Aaronic Priesthood conferred upon you and be ordained to the office of a deacon.  We love and miss all of you and know that you had a wonderful Easter. 

LETTRE CINQ POUR LE 2 AVRIL 2012

Has anyone heard of C.E.R.N.?  According to the travel book, The Lonely Planet, It is The European Organization for Nuclear Research, a laboratory for research into particle physics founded in 1954 and funded by 20 nations.  It accelerates electrons and positrons down a 27km circular tube(the world's biggest machine) and the resulting collisions create new forms of matter - in 1996 it created antimatter for the first time.  Why this science lesson?  After moving our mission office to Thoiry, France, last Thursday, we now pass by and over this facility every day on our way to work.  It is about five miles away from our office; however, most of the processes take place underground.

Missionaries that went home Tuesday morning.

Missionaries that went home Tuesday morning (being silly).

We will enjoy this comfortable office space in the church administrative offices for six weeks until we move to Lyon.  We have met some very friendly people who work here and administer such activities for the church as accounting; facilities management; supporting the missions, stakes, wards and branches; family history, employment services and family services.  When we travel to work, we can see the snow covered Jura Mountains since our office is close to the foothills.  When we return home, we can see the snow covered Alps including on some clear days Mont Blanc. 

New missionaries with their trainers.

Last week was full of activities that revolved around 11 missionaries coming to the mission home on Monday afternoon, eating a nice meal at the mission home that evening, staying there overnight and departing for the airport in Geneva to fly home early the next morning.  Then 15 new missionaries arrived later in the morning.  They were greeted, fed, photographed, taken to downtown Geneva for contacting activities, interviewed, fed again and trained.  They valiantly tried to stay interested and alert through a busy day and not much sleep so that they could go to bed at the mission home in the evening and start to get used to the time change.  Their missionary companions/trainers traveled to Geneva the night before, stayed in a hotel, and arrived Wednesday morning at the mission home.  Then, we witnessed the excitement when each new missionary was given an envelope with information about where they would be going in Switzerland or France and who would be their first companion.

New missionaries walking to the train station, with the Mission Home
in the background. 

You may be able to imagine a little the work required by Sister Murdock, the mission president's wife, to buy groceries and cook meals to feed these groups of missionaries.  Sister Jeppson made a large green salad to help with the lunch on Tuesday.  She also prepared letters from the mission president to the new missionaries and their trainers.  Then after they departed for their new assignments, she has been e-mailing each of the missionary's parents a short note with five pictures attached. 

It was very exciting to associate with these missionaries and be uplifted by their spirit and enthusiasm.  Jeri, because of your service as a missionary in Italy, you will be interested to know that Sister Bichierri from Italy is one of the new missionaries.   She said that someone with her same last name served as a missionary in Italy around thirty years ago.  I will be seeing her every two weeks at our district meetings because she is assigned to serve in Geneva.  One of the sister missionary/trainers that I met is from Lugano in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland.  Two of the other sister missionaries/trainers  are from French Polynesia.         

We enjoyed associating with the members and the missionaries (21) from the Geneva area when we attended the satellite broadcasts of general conference at the Geneva stake center building on Saturday and Sunday.  The various sessions of conference were broadcast in the chapel in French, in the recreation hall in English and in another large room in Spanish.  The Saturday morning session was a live broadcast, from 6-8 p.m. at night.  The Priesthood and Saturday afternoon sessions were delay broadcasts on Sunday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.  Later in the day at 6 p.m., the Sunday morning session was broadcast live.  Sister Jeppson waited in the car and in a classroom during the priesthood session, and then we ate lunch in the car before attending the 2 p.m. session.  After that meeting, we went for a walk, ate the supper food that we brought with us and then attended the 6 p.m. session.  We watched the final session of conference at home through internet at 10 p.m. to 12 midnight.  It was a long day, but we were inspired and uplifted by the messages and by our association with the members and the missionaries that attended.

Nos Petits-Enfants

When we visited with the Andy Jeppson family on Sunday through Skype, Noah tricked us with an April Fools comment that a spider was on us.  We had not thought about it being April Fool's Day until he caught us.  Every morning and evening when your grandma and I get in the car to travel somewhere, we follow the example of our mission president and the office missionaries and say a prayer to ask Heavenly Father to bless us to be safe and protected while we travel.   We have had a few close calls, so we are grateful for that protection.  We recommend to our grandchildren that they encourage their families to do the same thing.