LETTRE VINGT-DEUX POUR LE 17 NOVEMBRE 2012

It is Tuesday afternoon on November 13, 2012.  Eighty-nine missionaries are gathered outside the Ecully chapel in Lyon in front of trees with their late fall foliage.  They are from our Lyon, Geneva , Lausanne and Nice Zones.  Our missionary leaders have done their best to arrange us with a small opening in the middle so that we are ready for a quick photo with important visitors that will arrive soon.  Our visitors arrive in a large van.  President Roney quickly sets up his camera on a tripod while Elder Andersen, an apostle of the Lord and his wife, Sister Roney and Elder Kearon (2^nd counselor from the area presidency from England) step into the middle of the throng of missionaries.  I find myself standing right next to Elder Andersen with Sister Jeppson at my side.  President Roney rushes to his wife’s side and the remote camera snaps several pictures.  The large group disbands and enters the building according to a plan.

Elder Andersen, Elder Kearon, and seven members of stake presidencies from Lyon, Nice and Lausanne have lined up to greet and shake hands with each missionary as they enter the chapel.   After everyone is seated a choir of missionaries with Sister Kofoed from Bountiful as a soloist set the spiritual tone for the rest of the meeting when they sing Merveilleux l’amour (I Stand All Amazed).  The meeting is conducted in English with translation into French though headsets.  Sister Roney shares some insights that she learned while reading the Book of Mormon again recently as a missionary.  President Roney speaks about faith and trust in Christ.  Elder Kearon discusses the importance of the power of the spirit.  Sister Andersen relates experiences relating to her husband’s calling as a mission president and later in 2009 as an apostle.  Elder Andersen concludes the meeting by describing his calling as an apostle, teaching  about the fruits of the spirit from Galatians 5:2, sharing insights about sharing the gospel, and teaching and testifying about Jesus Christ.

I cannot adequately describe the depth of feeling when an apostle of the Lord testifies of the Savior, and you know that he really is a special witness of the Savior because he testifies and witnesses in such a profound and inspiring way that you know that he knows that the Savior lives and has been blessed with sacred experiences in acquiring that knowledge.  At the end of his testimony he says to the congregation, “I love you”.  When I respond back like the others and say “We love you”, the spirit is very strong as I receive a personal witness that Neil A. Anderson is indeed an apostle of the Lord, a prophet, seer and revelator.

That evening we travel from the church by bus, metro and tram with other missionaries to a large assembly hall where hundreds of members from the Lyon area gather to hear Elder Andersen speak.  We are very pleased when our amie (friend), Hermine from Gabon, comes to the meeting and we have the blessing of sharing the experience with her of hearing an apostle of the Lord speak.  This time the meeting is conducted in French with translation into English.  The Lyon stake president conducts the meeting and also shares experiences with Elder and Sister Andersen as a young single adult in Bordeaux twenty years ago while Elder Andersen served as a mission president.  Elder Kearon requires a translator as he speaks about the symbol of roses.  Sister Andersen speaks in French and shares experiences and teaches about tithing.  Elder Andersen speaks in French about marriage and the family and the theme taken from the New Testament, “I was blind, now I can see”.  He teaches and testifies about the Savior and bestows an apostolic blessing on the audience.  After the meeting he graciously stays to shake hands with the members and amis of the church including our amie, Hermine.  We hear later that Elder Andersen traveled to give blessings to two sick children in hospitals after leaving the meeting.  We return home knowing that we have been blessed with a memorable, life changing experience.

NOS PETITS-ENFANTS

During the April 2010 conference, Elder Andersen gave a talk with the title, “Tell Me the Stories of Jesus”.  He quoted words from the Primary song:  Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear, Things I would ask him to tell me if he were here.  Then he talked about experiences of Jesus Christ just like he did with us during our Tuesday meetings.  I encourage you to read this talk again and encourage your parents to use it as a theme for a home evening lesson.  Grandma and Grandpa are reading a special book about Jesus:  Jesus the Christ by a former apostle, James E. Talmage.  We encourage everyone at the right age level to understand it to read or reread this marvelous book.

When reading and being taught about the stories of Jesus, you probably remember stories that include his apostles like Peter, James and John.  I believe that even though our current apostles including Elder Andersen were not with Jesus in Galilee and Jerusalem, they are so close to him through the sacred and spiritual experiences of their ministry that their desire to serve, their spiritual strength, their priesthood power and their testimonies of the Savior are just as strong as the ancient apostles.       

   

LETTRE VINGT-ET-UN POUR LE 06 NOVEMBRE 2012

Last Saturday, we hopped on the metro at our closest station, Garabaldi, and got off two stops later at Montplaisir-Lumière (Light) to visit a museum that tells the story of two brothers with the same last name of the metro stop, Louis and Auguste Lumière who Rick Steves calls the Eastman-Kodaks of France.  The home of their father, Antoine, has been transformed into the museum.  The brothers ran a huge factory on that site that produced four million glass photographic plates a day during the 1880s.  In 1895, they made the first cinématographe, or movie.  In 1903 they pioneered the “autochrome” process of painting frames to make “color photos”.  In the early 1900s they sent photographers all over the world to film and take photos of people and their surroundings in many countries.

Since the last transfer, our Villeurbanne District has become more international.  We noticed this during our district meeting last Thursday.  Elder Tromeur who comes from Como near Milan, Italy is now the companion of Elder Sopi who comes from a city near Paris.  Many of you may remember that my sister Jeri served a mission in Italy with headquarters in Milan.  Elder Bennallack who is from Australia stayed in Lyon and has a new companion, Elder Wulfenstein.  No, he is not from Germany or Austria, but from St. George, Utah.  We have a new area that was opened this transfer added to our district which is Corsica, the island in the Mediterranean.  The two missionaries now residing there are Elder Prunin from Nimes, France and Elder Gouttin from Bailluel France.  They participated in our meeting through a conference call.  You may have guessed by now that our meeting was conducted in French.  This was harder for Sister Jeppson to understand, but she still added wisdom and inspiration to the meeting with her comments.

We were very pleased last Sunday with the opportunity to associate with amies (friends) who continue to attend church meetings.  Our amie from Gabon returned from Spain and attended church meetings at the Ecully Ward building.  She called me on Saturday evening to let me know she had returned.  We will be supporting the missionaries when they teach her this Thursday.  Also, Yan our amie from China attended church meetings with us at the Villeurbanne Ward location.  She gave a closing prayer at the end of our Sunday School class. The missionaries are helping her to gain a greater understanding of Jesus Christ.  Sister Jeppson has a genuine way of letting people like her feel special and loved.

Today, the office missionaries and assistants met with President Roney to discuss plans for the visit of Elder Neil L. Andersen, one of the twelve apostles of the church.  He and his wife will speak in a stake conference meeting in Bordeaux, France where he served as mission president several years ago.  He also served as a young missionary in France.  He will then meet with missionaries from three mission zones during a two hour meeting in the afternoon.  He will come to Lyon on Tuesday and meet with the  rest of the missionaries in our mission area in the afternoon and then he and his wife will speak during a meeting with members and friends of the church in the area that evening.  We are preparing our hearts and minds for this special occasion by reading his conference talks since being called to serve as an apostle in 2009.

 NOS PETITS-ENFANTS

We mentioned earlier that we visited the Lumière Museum.  You may remember that Lumière was the name of the candle stick character in Beauty and the Beast.  Lumière is the beautiful and meaningful French word for “light”.  The Lumière family placed special symbols of light in their home including a rooster at the head of a staircase that welcomes the light of a new day as well as using decorations of stars and sunflowers.  While we were at the museum, I thought of a scripture about light from the Doctrine & Covenants.  After finishing reading the Book of Mormon, Grandma and I are reading ten pages in the Doctrine & Covenants in French while listening to it in English.  We read Section 50 verse 34 that evening, the scripture that I had thought about at the museum:  “That which is of God is Light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light growth brighter and brighter until the perfect day”.  I encourage us to continue in God and receive more light by praying, living the commandments, serving others and reading the scriptures and the messages of our current prophet and apostles.  I encourage you to join us in reading the talks of Elder Andersen and using one as the theme of your family home evening lesson next Monday evening, the day before he meets with us here in Lyon.