We have been blessed to spend the days leading up to Christmas with wonderful experiences with members, missionaries and new converts.
We attended our ward Christmas party on the same day as the
Bagley Christmas party. The French
people really know how to celebrate.
They had decorated the room at the church very creatively and set up
tables with the name of each person planning to attend. They served a four course meal and we enjoyed
the games, messages and stories that were part of the program. The party started at 7:00 p.m. and we arrived
home at 11:30 p.m. We sat at a table
with a Sister from Ethiopia who joined the church in Australia and an ami
(friend) of the church whose family were refugees from Viet Nam during the
war. His father served in the South
Vietnamese army and was killed during the fighting.
On Thursday of this past week, we ate lunch at the home of
Frère and Soeur Roux. He is the High
Priests Group Leader. They have been
members of the church for sixty years.
He has served in three different temple presidencies at the Swiss
Temple. They have served for six years
in total. He received telephone calls
from President Monson on two occasions when the calls to serve were extended.
We attended two baptismal services last weekend. A man from the Congo, Hadric, who was taught
by the sister missionaries was baptized on Saturday and a young woman in her
20’s from Bejing, China, Liu Jing, who was taught by two elders who learned
Chinese at the MTC was baptized on Sunday.
The young woman’s baptismal service was conducted in English and was
especially inspiring as she bore a powerful testimony after she was baptized
explaining her conversion experience.
She described how she was encouraged while growing up to be competitive
in sports and other activities in China by focusing fully on achieving and
putting down others. She said the more
she selfishly focused on herself at the expense of others the worse she
felt. She said that during this time she
felt that there was a small box of light deep inside of her waiting to be
opened. She came to Lyon to study French at one of the universities. When the missionaries contacted her and
taught her, the box opened and she felt the light of the Holy Ghost and warmth
and love of the Savior and others as she learned the truth and progressed
towards baptism. She expressed her love
for the people attending the baptism and we felt the spirit strongly.
President and Sister Roney, the office elders and the
assistants have been planning and preparing for conferences with the
missionaries that happened last week. We
worked hard to support them. Sister
Jeppson had communicated to the families of the missionaries to send their
Christmas packages to the office. I kept
a record of the receipt of the packages and used every empty shelf space to
store them. If some missionaries did not
receive packages, President Roney purchased various small items to wrap to put
in large plastic bags for each of them.
Sister Jeppson spent a lot of time helping to wrap everything and put
them in the bags. The office elders and
assistants prepared a CD with appropriate Christmas and spiritual music and a
DVD with pictures sent in by the missionaries.
We also received just in time liahonas (Ensigns) for November and
December and new Debit Cards for each missionary to be administered by a new
banking institution.
Conferences were planned for our seven zones for last
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in three locations: Geneva, Marseille and Toulouse. Tuesday was a very busy day as we prepared
the debit cards and instructions for distribution and organized all of the
packages and other items so that the elders could load them into our large
mission van. Four missionaries traveled
to Geneva in the mission van on Wednesday morning. Sister Jeppson and I took the train at 6:30
a.m., (We started the day at 4:00 a.m.) , Wednesday morning to Geneva with
another couple and all of the missionaries from the Lyon area. After a two hour train ride, we caught a tram
that arrived at a stop close to the Geneva church building.
The theme of the conference was centered around the Savior
and Christmas. President Roney spoke of
the birth of the Savior and His relationship with his mother Mary. He then spoke of a tender experience when his
mother passed away while he was serving in the Toulouse area as a
missionary. Sister Roney spoke about the
gifts that the Savior and our Heavenly Father have provided to us. The assistants are accomplished singers. They sang Hark the Herald Angels Sing and
used that as a theme for their instruction.
President Bonny (the Geneva Stake President) and his wife also addressed
us with uplifting messages.
During lunch the Christmas packages, CDs and DVDs and a surprise,
an apron with a new mission logo, were distributed to each missionary. They enjoyed signing each other’s aprons
during lunch and after conference. The Geneva Stake Relief Society had organized
and served a delicious lunch. President
Bonny distributed a sack to each missionary with a loaf of delicious bread and
a chocolate bar. They became our dinner
at the train station before returning by train to Geneva. Many of the missionaries were in the same
train car with us. I sat across the
aisle from a lady that seemed to wonder about who all of these young people
were. I spoke with her about them and
their missionary service and purpose and gave her a pass along card. She is a resident of Geneva. We returned to Lyon and arrived back in our
apartment around 8:00 p.m.
NOS PETITS-ENFANTS
Intermingled in the talks and instruction at the missionary
conferences were opportunities to sing Christmas Carols including a portion of
the Hallelujah Chorus with a recording of the Tabernacle Choir. We felt the spirit throughout the meeting,
but especially while we sang that song which praises the Savior. Although we miss our family members, we have
felt that there is no better way to spend the Christmas season than being in full-time
service for Him whose birth we celebrate.
We hope and pray that you will have a wonderful experience during this
Christmas season and encourage you to especially focus on the life and example
of Jesus Christ. Joyeux Noel!
