LETTRE VINGT POUR LE 27 OCTOBRE 2012

In 1856, the Lyon city planners purchased a large farm called the Tete d’Or (Head of Gold) by the Rhone River and created a large park where  residents of the city could relax and enjoy walking and other activities in a spacious area that is one of the largest urban parks in Europe.  The park displays a variety of attractions including a roseraie (rose garden) with 70,000 plants and 350 varieties of roses and a jardin zoologique (zoo).  A large modern community center, the Cité Internationale  comprised of buildings that contain offices, hotels, restaurants, theaters,  lodgings and a large amphitheater that seats 3,000 people called the Palais des Congrès (constructed in 2006) lies between the park  the Rhone River.  I wish that we had pictures to accompany this narrative.  Unfortunately, this is one of the places in Lyon that we should have visited when flowers were at their peak of blooming.  

Last Sunday, Sister Jeppson and I attended the Lyon Stake Conference meeting at the Palais de Congrès near the park.  We traveled by metro and a bus and arrived early enough to find a seat in the front.  I enjoyed watching members and amis of the church enter and come close to filling about  80% of the amphitheater.  The stake covers a large area surrounding Lyon that includes the wards of Villeurbanne, Ecully and Gerland in the metropolitan Lyon area and wards located in the cities of Grenoble, Valence,  Clermont-Ferrand, and St. Etienne (a city where I served as a young missionary). 

The Lyon stake president, President Bennasar, and his two counselors spoke along with President and Sister Roney , and some other members of the stake including some recent converts.  Sister Jeppson remarked that she now knew a new definition of hope.  It is for her to bring paper and a pen for taking notes when talks are given in French.  I was inspired and uplifted by the music and talks.  We noticed today that President Bennasar is featured on the French version of Mormon. Org.   He is an impressive and relatively young leader, probably in his 40’s.

We enjoyed the opportunity of welcoming nine new missionaries this past week, including four sister missionaries and five elders.  Our plans for Tuesday where suddenly changed  when we received word at the office by someone in the church travel office that the missionaries had missed their plane and would arrive at around 6:00 p.m. instead of 11:15 a.m.  We were at the office discussing how we would adjust our plans when President Roney received a call from one of the sister missionaries at about 11:30 a.m.   who was at the Lyon airport wondering if anyone was going to meet them and provide transportation.  The plane had waited for them even though they were late.

We all sprang into action.  President Roney, the office elders and the elders who are the assistants to the president quickly prepared to head to the airport while Sister Jeppson and I assembled some sack lunches that we thought wouldn’t  be needed.  Our activities almost continued as planned  through the rest of the day.  Sister Jeppson and I met the new missionaries and those that picked them up at the airport at the large hill by the Fourviere Cathedral that overlooks Lyon.  Sister Jeppson took each of the new missionaries’ pictures with the city of Lyon in the background which is becoming a mission tradition.

We traveled to the mission home where the missionaries managed to stay somewhat alert by playing “Around the World” ping pong while waiting for a delicious meal prepared by Sister Roney.  While at the mission home, one of the office elders became aware that the airlines was in the process of sending the missionaries’ luggage back to the states because it hadn’t followed them on their almost missed flight.  They worked things out and picked up their luggage at the airport and delivered it to each missionary’s hotel room around 10:30 p.m. that evening.  While they were working on that problem, Sister Jeppson worked at the office to email the pictures from Fourviere Hill and pictures taken with President and Sister Roney at the mission home to parents in Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Florida, Quebec and Denmark who were anxious to hear about their missionaries.

The next morning, the missionaries came to the office, met their trainers, learned where their first homes in France would be, received training and headed to their new locations in Bordeaux, Valence, Dijon, Chalon, Montpellier, Aix-en-Provence, Gap, Toulouse and Annemasse.  While they were traveling to their new cities, two of our experienced native French elders, Elder Gouttin and Elder Prunin began an historic event for the mission traveling to open up the island of Corsica to missionary work again and lend support to the small branch of Bastia.

Nos Petits-Enfants

We were inspired by the music at a recent fireside at the Villeurbanne Ward.  The hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, was performed by three young adult musicians playing the piano and violins.  Later in the meeting President Roney played the same hymn as sung by the Tabernacle Choir during his talk.  During the music, we felt the spirit strongly because we know that our family is truly one of the great blessings of our life.  We have attached excerpts from a talk by a German general authority of several years ago, Elder Enzio Busche, given to us in district meeting.  Parents: this talk would make a great family night lesson.

** ELDER BUSCHE'S TALK ("Unleashing the Dormant Spirit"):

•  When we are filled with the Holy Spirit we will not sin. We will be filled with wisdom, and we will be able to have the fruits to heal the wounds of the afflicted and to build a community of Saints. It is also obvious that without constant efforts, it will be very difficult to always be focused on our most righteous desires. Therefore, I want to share with you a vehicle, an instrument, that I developed some time ago for myself and for my family. It can assist us to reach our focus as we read the suggested vision of true discipleship as a Latter-day Saint. It helps when, from time to time, we ponder and seek identification with the following thoughts:
• * Embrace this day with an enthusiastic welcome, no matter how it looks. The covenant with God to which you are true enables you to become enlightened by him, and nothing is impossible for you.
• * When you are physically sick, tired, or in despair, steer your thoughts away from yourself and direct them, in gratitude and love, toward God.
• * In your life there have to be challenges. They will either bring you closer to God and therefore make you stronger, or they can destroy you. But you make the decision of which road you take.
• * First and foremost, you are a spirit child of God. If you neglect to feed your spirit, you will reap unhappiness. Don't permit anything to detract you from this awareness.
• * You cannot communicate with God unless you have first sacrificed your self-oriented natural man and have brought yourself into the lower levels of meekness, to become acceptable for the Light of Christ.
• * Put all frustrations, hurt feelings, and grumblings into the perspective of your eternal hope. Light will flow into your soul.
• * Pause to ponder the suffering Christ felt in the Garden of Gethsemane. In the awareness of the depth of gratitude for him, you appreciate every opportunity to show your love for him by diligently serving in his Church.
• * God knows that you are not perfect. As you suffer about your imperfections, he will give you comfort and suggestions of where to improve.
• * God knows better than you what you need. He always attempts to speak to you. Listen, and follow the uncomfortable suggestions that he makes to us—everything will fall into its place.
• * Avoid any fear like your worst enemy, but magnify your fear about the consequences of sin.
• * When you cannot love someone, look into that person's eyes long enough to find the hidden rudiments of the child of God in him.
• * Never judge anyone. When you accept this, you will be freed. In the case of your own children or subordinates, where you have the responsibility to judge, help them to become their own judges.
• * If someone hurts you so much that your feelings seem to choke you, forgive and you will be free again.
• * Avoid at all cost any pessimistic, negative, or criticizing thoughts. If you cannot cut them out, they will do you harm. On the road toward salvation, let questions arise but never doubts. If something is wrong, God will give you clarity but never doubts.
• * Avoid rush and haste and uncontrolled words. Divine light develops in places of peace and quiet. Be aware of that as you enter places of worship.
• * Be not so much concerned about what you do, but do what you do with all your heart, might, and strength. In thoroughness is satisfaction.
• * You want to be good and to do good. That is commendable. But the greatest achievement that can be reached in our lives is to be under the complete influence of the Holy Ghost. Then he will teach us what is really good and necessary to do.
• * The pain of sacrifice lasts only one moment. It is the fear of the pain of sacrifice that makes you hesitate to do it.
• * Be grateful for every opportunity to serve. It helps you more than those you serve.
• * And finally, when you are compelled to give up something or when things that are dear to you are withdrawn from you, know that this is your lesson to be learned right now. But know also that, as you are learning this lesson, God wants to give you something better.

LETTRE DIX-NEUF POUR LE 14 OCTOBRE 2012

 We loved the opportunity to watch general conference at the Ecully chapel with the missionaries and members and be taught and uplifted by our general authorities.  Our schedule for watching general conference included the rebroadcast Woman’s Relief Society Conference on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and the live Saturday morning general conference session at 6:00 p.m.  On Sunday, the Priesthood session was rebroadcast at 11:00 a.m. with the Saturday afternoon session being rebroadcast at 2:00 p.m.   We then watched the live broadcast of the Sunday morning session at 6 p.m. and returned home to watch the Sunday afternoon session live at 10:00 p.m.  There were many powerful talks.  I was especially inspired by Elder Holland’s talk during the Sunday morning session.  If you missed any sessions, I encourage you to watch them on lds.org.

We have continued on the path of helping to teach the truth of the gospel to our amie (friend), Hermine, from Gabon in Africa who we mentioned in our last letter.  She is a remarkable woman who already has a strong belief in Jesus Christ and the Bible.  She lives within the boundaries of the Ecully Ward and came to church meetings there on Sunday two weeks ago and today.  We attended that ward’s meetings instead of the Villeurbanne Ward so that we could be there with her.  I am impressed with how well she sings the cantiques (hymns) that she is singing for the first time.  She is building friendships with the members of the ward including a sister in the ward from her country.

Guy, with the missionaries

Last Wednesday evening, we supported the Ecully Ward missionaries from Canada (Elder Stanford) and Texas (Elder Blythe) while they taught Hermine the first lesson from Preach My Gospel about the apostasy, restoration and the Book of Mormon.  We felt the spirit during our discussion, and she participated  well because of her belief in Jesus Christ, her knowledge of the Bible, her belief in prayer and her desire to learn.  She also attended the baptismal service yesterday evening of Guy, an ami from our Villeurbanne ward who is from the Congo.  Frère Carré, a member of the Villeurbanne ward gave a well prepared talk on baptism and the Holy Ghost that helped Hermine to understand those principles better. 

Nos Petits-Enfants

Our message to our grandchildren is about two symbols that we saw at the Gallo-Roman Museum several weeks ago:  a sword and metal helmet.  The sword was used by the Romans while fighting their battles and the helmet was for protection.  Many of you will remember the Disney movie of Hercules who was a hero to the Greek people.  The two small figures of Hercules were toys for the children to play with. They were the original super hero play figures.  During one of the general conference sessions, the congregation sang the hymn:  Let Us All Press On.  The hymn includes the words:  “In the fight for right let us wield a sword, the mighty sword of truth”.  In the scriptures, the sword is a symbol of truth.  The truth of the gospel is what we as missionaries are preaching to the people in France and Switzerland.  We encourage you to study the truth of the gospel that is found in the scriptures, in church magazines, at church web sites and in conference talks like we heard recently at general conference as spoken by real heroes:  our prophet, apostles and general authorities.  Please follow the message of our prophet and many other general authorities and  prepare for missionary service which can now come at an earlier age.

LETTRE DIX-HUIT POUR LE 26 SEPTEMBRE 2012

Where would you find a place where the Pope of Avignon, Jean XXII was consecrated in the 14^th century; King Henry IV married Marie de Médicis in 1600 and an astronomical clock that was crafted during the 14^th century and still operates today with figures that move around and one plays a religious song? If you answered the St. Jean Cathedral in Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon) that was constructed beginning in the 12^th century and finished 200 years later in the 14^th century you would be correct.  We experienced that history when we visited the cathedral a little over three weeks ago.

Where would you find fifteen tired young adults from France, Belgium, Canada (2), Texas, New Jersey, California, Arizona, Wyoming and Utah (6) who traveled all night and early morning, stood for individual pictures by mission photographer, Sister Jeppson, on a hill above the St. Jean Cathedral; and then that evening would stand around a baby grand piano (well most of them anyway) at the home of their mission president and sing hymns accompanied by a Belgian missionary that didn’t need music to play with virtuosity any hymn that was chosen?  If you answered our September Transfer Missionaries:  13 elders and 2 sisters, you would be correct.  We were blessed to get acquainted with their enthusiasm and their testimonies and keep two of them in Lyon while thirteen others traveled with their new trainers to cities in France and Switzerland.

Where would you go to feel the spirit strongly among a group of missionaries and be taught by an inspired mission president, his wife, 2 assistants and 2 zone leaders as they presented a message focused on Jesus Christ and prayer and encouraged us to be part of the Miracle of bringing the people of France unto the  Savior and helping them find lasting peace and happiness as they join His church that was restored a little over 180 years ago,  not quite as long as it took to complete St. Jean’s cathedral?  If you answered the Lyon Zone Conference, you would be correct.  During the zone conference, President Roney encouraged us to be obedient, show love, exercise mighty prayer and trust in the Lord to achieve that Miracle.

Nos Petits-Enfants

We believe that Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, with the help of angels can guide us to be instruments in their hands to achieve the Miracle of bringing people to Jesus through our faith and prayers and the guidance of the spirit and helping them to be happy because they come to learn about Jesus and become members of his church by being baptized and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  We have been asked by our mission president do be united in prayer for this Miracle to happen.  We ask you and your moms and dads and anyone reading this letter to join us in prayer by not only praying for us but praying specifically for the missionaries and our success of bringing the gospel of peace and happiness to the people of the France Lyon Mission.

Just today, one day after the zone conference, we witnessed an answer to our united prayers when a woman who arrived in France just a little over a month ago from Gabon in Africa came to our office saying that she was looking for a church that worships Jesus Christ.  Sister Jeppson and I were happy to briefly teach her that our church was the restored Church of Jesus Christ and that we believed Jesus Christ and in the Bible like she did, but also believed in another book of scripture that testifies of Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon.  We gave her a DVD about Jesus Christ and a copy of the Book of Mormon and the address of our church building and meeting time.  She gave us her name, address, and telephone number and indicated interest in having the missionaries contact her and her husband to learn more.  

LETTRE DIX-SEPT POUR LE 13 SEPTEMBRE 2012

In the last letter I mentioned our visit to Lyon’s Gallo-Roman Museum which is constructed in a hillside above the city of Lyon with views of the ruins of two Roman theaters outside.  The largest Roman theater seated 10,000 during its glory years.  The artifacts inside the museum are well organized and displayed in chronological order on four floors.  We were provided with English speaking headphones that explained many of the exhibits in an interesting way to supplement the displays with explanations in French and English.  Most of the artifacts were found locally including an unusual bronze chariot that dates from the seventh century B.C.

At the end of August, Elder Teixeira from Portugal, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy and the Europe area president, and his wife toured our mission and spoke to the missionaries along with President and Sister Roney at three zone conferences in France at the cities of Lyon, Bordeaux and Aix-en Provence.  They stopped by to see our mission office the day before the Lyon Zone Conference, and Sister Jeppson and I were able to meet Elder Teixeira and his wife and speak briefly with them.  President Roney went out of his way to praise the extraordinary work of Sister Jeppson in the office.

We learned from and were inspired by the messages of Elder and Sister Teixeira and President and Sister Roney and the Lyon Stake President during the zone conference in Lyon.  Sister Teixeira challenged all of the missionaries to read the Book of Mormon during the next two months.  Sister Jeppson and I are going to achieve that goal.  We read at least ten pages in the Book of Mormon in French every day while listening in English.  We have reached Chapter 13 in Mosiah to this point.  During the zone conference meeting, one of the hymns that President Roney chose for us to sing was Angels We Have Heard on High.  He said that it is not just a Christmas song because it is about Jesus and should be sung at other times besides during the Christmas holidays.  I was especially touched while we sang that song and felt that Grandma Jeppson could be present and singing with us.  She was really enjoying the Glorias.

Recently, the Elders in our district organized a date night and invited couples in our ward to attend.  The main purpose was to fellowship a couple that they are teaching.  Four couples including Sister Jeppson and I were able to participate in an evening during which the Elders cooked and served the dinner and then taught us how to waltz.

Nos Petits-Enfants

A few weeks before celebrating Grandma Bagley’s birthday, I had the opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting in French at the Villeurbanne Ward and describe her story of meeting Grandpa Bagley in Kansas City, Missouri and her being touched by the spirit while listening to general conference that led to her baptism and becoming a member of the church in Star Valley ( La Vallée de l’Etoile), Wyoming at the age of 25.  She has demonstrated a depth of faith, testimony and perseverance through many challenges in her life that has been a great example to all of us.  I encourage all of us to honor her and follow her example as we strive to live the gospel in our lives.

LETTRE SEIZE POUR LE 28 AOUT 2012

 We are finally getting better acquainted with our city of Lyon.  Lyon was founded as Lugdunum in A.D. 43.  It was a critical transportation hub for the administration of Roman Gaul.  The city became the central metropolis of the Three Gauls---the integrated Roman provinces of Aquitiania (Aquitaine), Belgica  (Belgium) and Lugdunensis (Lyon Region).  Two Roman emperors were born in Lugdunum.  Last Saturday we visited some major Roman ruins (two outdoor Roman theaters) and a well organized and highly interesting Gallo-Roman museum that displays artifacts of ancient Lyon and surrounding locations.  I will write more about the museum in the next letter.

The ruins and the museum are located on Fourvière Hill which displays a dominating view of the Baslique Notre-Dame de Fourvière.  The construction of the cathedral began in 1872 and was completed at the beginning of World War I.  We caught the métro at our closest stop called Garbaldi and traveled past three metro stops to arrive at the Vieux Lyon stop.  From there we caught a funicular train that transported us up the hill.  When we got off the funicular and climbed up the stairs, we found ourselves right in front of and gazing up at the imposing view of the cathedral.  It took about thirty minutes to get there.  When we entered the cathedral we discovered elaborate mosaics on the walls that depict various religious events that took place in France with an emphasis on their view of the role of the Virgin Mary in these events.

In back of the cathedral we gazed out at the panoramic view of the city of Lyon and its two rivers, the Saone and the Rhone.  Of course the crayon building as it is called by the French dominates the view of the city.  We could also see the most famous “Place” (large square or park) in Lyon called Place Bellecour where there is a large bronze statue of King Louis XIV on horseback.  We celebrated our 44^th wedding anniversary by eating at a restaurant called PizzaPino located at one corner of the “Place” a few weeks ago.

We are fortunate to have good accessible public transportation since we are not driving our car right now because my wallet was stolen and I lost my driver’s license, some euros, and some credit cards that we are in the process of replacing.  Replacing my driver’s license is becoming a little complicated because I need my signature on forms sent by the state of Utah notarized.  The Notary process is more complicated in France especially when almost everyone takes off for three weeks of vacation in August.

A new couple, the Greens from the Salt Lake City area, arrived a week ago.  They replaced another couple and will direct the young adult activities for the Lyon Stake.  There is a building near our office where the young adults gather for activities and institute classes.  All of the couples from our mission traveled to Lyon for an afternoon conference last Friday at the office.  Six couples direct young adult activities in the cities of Geneva and Yverdon in Switzerland and the cities of Lyon, Toulouse, Nice and Marseille in France.  Two other couples serve in Member and Leadership Support roles.  I had not yet met two of the couples.  We enjoyed getting better acquainted and felt the Spirit of the Lord during our meetings as the couples shared ideas and discussed some of their experiences.

 Nos Petits-Enfants

On Sunday, I spoke for a while with Yan, a university student from China.  She will start school next week.  She is an amie (friend) who is being taught by the missionaries.  She told me that she is very impressed with our church’s teachings about the family and our family values.  She is the only child in her family.  Her parents live in central China.  I told her about brothers-in-law and sisters who have some connections to China through their experiences there.  She was very interested to learn about our family.  We are very blessed to have a close knit family that enjoys doing things together as demonstrated by all of the activities that took place while Liz was in town.  Many of our grandchildren have begun or will begin soon a new year of school.  Some of our children or their spouses will experience a new year of teaching.  Please study hard and take advantage of this wonderful learning opportunity.  During this time, it is also important to remember the words from the primary song, I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus.

Love, Grandma and Grandpa Jeppson      

LETTRE QUINZE POUR LE 2 AOÛT 2012

What is the significance of Place BirHakeim?  It is a park three blocks from our office where there is a monument containing glowing words from the main general of the French army during the 2^nd World War, Charles De Gaulle, paying tribute to Frenchmen who lost their lives there on June 17, 1942.  He was the President of France when I served in France as a young missionary.   

It was also the location where 26 missionaries gathered last Wednesday.  Thirteen were missionaries that just arrived the day before who represented families and wards in seven states and Canada.  The other thirteen were assigned to be their trainers.  They had come by train from all over our mission area.  Sister Jeppson took a picture of each equipe (missionary team) standing by some trees in the park with the marquee of a French café in the background (Le Grande Café Neuf).  One of the trainers was born in Cambodia.  His family now lives in northern France.  Another impressive trainer is a Navajo from the “Four Corners” area. 

The evening before we gathered with the missionaries and President and Sister Roney and their three boys for dinner at the Mission Home in Ecully about one half hour away from the office.  It was interesting talking with these twelve elders and one sister about their background.  They have a lot of enthusiasm and will become a great strength to the mission.  We really need them since we said goodbye to 26 missionaries the day before.  Two of them were an elder and a sister missionary from northern France.

After this latest transfer, we will be working with a missionary from Kaysville, Utah, Elder Frazier, who will train with his new companion to become the legal secretary.  Another missionary from Vancouver, Canada, Elder Ioannidis (his family is Greek), replaced one of the assistants to the President.  We will see a lot of him because they spend quite a bit of time in the office.  As we became better acquainted, I learned that he sang the Canadian national anthem before one of the major Winter Olympics events in 2010 and also performed with a group during the opening ceremonies.  His sister is currently serving a mission in Hungary.  One of the new zone leaders who will attend our ward is from Australia.

Nos Petits-Enfants
Two young men from our ward, David from Kenya and Johnny (English name) from China joined the church in February and April.  They then received the Aaronic Priesthood and were ordained to the office of priest.  Now they have the opportunity to bless, prepare and pass the sacrament.  Like these two young men, Zachary will receive the Aaronic Priesthood this year also on Sunday and will be ordained to the office of a deacon.  We will miss not being there for his ordination.  He will have the wonderful and sacred opportunity of passing the sacrament every Sunday and helping with the ordinance that allows his ward members to renew their promises with the Savior and Heavenly Father.  He will be a great example for his cousins who will one day receive the priesthood:  Brad, Caleb, Hunter, Noah and Cade.  His dad and Uncle Andy were good examples of servants and priesthood holders when they gave their brother Matt a priesthood blessing this week because of a serious health problem and then stayed to play a game with him and bolster his spirits.   

LETTRE QUATORZE POUR LE 18 JUILLET, 2012

Our blessing of associating with a wonderful group of membres de l’église (members of the church) and amis (friends learning about the church) with backgrounds from different parts of the world continues.  The two missionaries who work in the office with us have been teaching Luisa who is from Columbia.  Some of her family are members of the church.  The missionaries have taught her in French and in her native language Spanish.  One of the missionaries, Elder Escamilla speaks Spanish.  He is from New York City and his family traces back to El Salvador.  She married a French man and moved to Lyon.  They were divorced earlier this year.  Their child, Emilie who is about 14 months old spends time with both parents. 

We attended Luisa’s baptism service on July 7^th at the stake center in Ecully, a suburb of Lyon.  The talks on the subject of baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost were well prepared and given by members of the Villerbanne Ward.  Luisa was baptized by Rock who is from the Congo.  She bore her testimony after the baptism in Spanish.  Elder Escamilla translated into French for her.  It was a very humble and heart- felt testimony.  The next day her ordinance of being confirmed a member of the church and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost was performed by Elder Hughes, the other office missionary that helped teach her.   The Elders continue to meet with her and teach her the after baptism lessons.  This past Sunday, Luisa had the courage to bear her testimony in French during sacrament meeting.  The week before, Noella, another new member from Madagascar, gave her first talk in sacrament meeting using the scriptures and did a wonderful job. 

Guy (another member from the Congo) is returning to activity in the church.  We met him during a dinner with a member a few weeks ago.  He is very happy to be attending church again and help to bless and pass the sacrament.  He is very friendly and gives me a big hug every Sunday.  Another “ami” of the church, Simon who also ate dinner with us at a member’s home continues to study with the missionaries and comes to church every Sunday.  A couple originally from Peru came to church for the first time a week ago Sunday.

Ecully Chapel

We are now busily helping President and Sister Roney and the Assistants prepare for the next transfer on the 31^st of July when 26 missionaries leave and 11 arrive.  They returned from their tour of the mission and came to work in the mission office on Tuesday with their three sons.  This was nice because they furnished sandwiches for lunch and brought a basket of what must be the Costco small candy bar mix. 

Sister Jeppson has been preparing a large volume of correspondence relating to this big event.  She also has prepared two laminated pictures of all of the missionaries.  One set of pictures have Velcro backing and are placed on a portable board under headings of locations where they are currently serving.  The other pictures have magnets on the back and will be placed on a large metal board yet to be mounted in President Roney’s office.  These tools help President Roney and the Assistants as they prayerfully seek guidance from the Spirit of the Lord to determine where each missionary should serve across the different areas of the mission.

Nos Petits-Enfants
We encourage you to learn about the different countries of the world and their people and cultures.  This information is fascinating to learn about.  All of these people are Heavenly Father’s children, and He loves them.  Also, take advantage of opportunities to study a foreign language like your oldest cousin, Megan, who is studying French and your Uncle Alex who studied Spanish at BYU.  This kind of knowledge will prepare you for educational and missionary opportunities in the future. 

LETTRE TREIZE POUR LE 4 JUILLET 2012

Happy 4^th of July.  Our holiday ended well because we were able to Skype with some of our children and grandchildren. 

We have been busily engaged during the past two weeks with taking care of necessary office business before President and Sister Murdock departed for home.  We then focused our attention on welcoming President Roney and his wife and helping them understand their administrative responsibilities.  We also had the opportunity to participate in meetings with them as they met first with the mission leadership and then with missionaries from the Lyon Zone.

President and Sister Roney are from Provo.  They have eight children and four grandchildren.  They have two married children and two children currently serving as missionaries.  One son who just returned from a mission a year ago is spending three weeks here while their three youngest sons who are 11, 12 and 17 will live with them in France and attend school here.  President Roney served a mission in the Toulouse, France mission during the late 70’s.  He founded NuSkin and left his position as chairman of the board to serve as mission president for three years.

President and Sister Roney invited us to the mission home that is located in Ecully, a suburb of Lyon, for dinner on Sunday evening.  We enjoyed seeing the mission home and meeting them for the first time.  They are very friendly and expressed appreciation to us for our service.  We helped them get acclimated to their administrative responsibilities on Monday.  They and two missionary assistants conducted a leadership session with the zone leaders from throughout the mission on Tuesday.  We were invited to participate.  They taught the gospel of Jesus Christ while they presented their vision and plans for the future direction of missionary work in the mission locations where we serve.  They plan to conduct meetings throughout the mission area to present their vision and plans the rest of this week and next week.  President Roney will also interview every missionary during this time. 

Their first zone meeting occurred today for the Lyon Zone.  The Lyon Zone includes missionaries from Lyon, St. Etienne, Grenoble, Valence, Besancon, Dijon,  and Chalon.  They will conduct meetings on Thursday and Friday in the Geneva and Lausanne Zones.  Next week they will conduct meetings in the Nice, Bordeaux, Toulouse and Montpellier Zones.  One of their main themes is that our job on earth is to learn what the Savior taught and obey it.  They gave each missionary a small journal to use in writing down this theme and other main points that they presented.  They also encouraged us to search in the scriptures and Preach My Gospel for sixty major teachings and commandments that the Savior communicated himself or through prophets.  Another major theme centered around the second great commandment of showing love for others.  They asked us to write the things that we learn and related scriptures and stories in our journals.  He said that these journals if used productively will become a precious resource for giving talks and teaching others.

These past two days were very inspirational for us as we participated with President and Sister Roney and the missionaries in being taught the gospel and feeling the spirit.  We know that President and Sister Roney were called by Heavenly Father through a prophet to lead the Mission Francaise de Lyon at this time and that we will be greatly blessed with the opportunity to support them as we go forward in this great work.  We were also excited to hear that an apostle of the Lord, Elder Neil Anderson will visit the mission for a week in November when he comes to speak at the Bordeaux Stake which is in our mission and in the Paris Stake the following week.  He served as a missionary and as a mission president in France and of course speaks French.

I will tell about the kiss/quiche story that we related over Skype today.  When we first arrived at a neighbor’s home for dinner last Friday evening, the sister arose and said what I thought was “quiche” because she told me that is what she was serving.  I translated to Sister Jeppson that same word and that we were going to eat it for dinner.  However, we soon learned that I had misunderstood.  What they really were saying was the English word “kiss” trying to remind Sister Jeppson that French friends will kiss each other on each cheek as a greeting.  Everyone at the dinner got a big laugh out of our misinterpretation of what they were saying.  Then the next Sunday at church, they teased us with the words quiche/kiss as some of them stepped forward to greet Sister Jeppson and kiss her on both cheeks.

Our service here continues to be an international event as we meet people from different countries.  A week ago we met an “amie de l’eglise” (someone learning about the church) from a city near Bejing, China at a showing of the movie Seventeen Miracles on Friday and at church meetings on Sunday.  She had been invited to these meetings by a member of the ward who is a Chinese student that was baptized in April.  During these events, we learned that this Chinese “amie” travels to the church building to and from the same metro (subway) stop that Sister Jeppson and I use.  At the end of each meeting, we had the opportunity to walk with her and ride the metro together.  This gave us the opportunity to get better acquainted and discuss the gospel.  She has been studying French for sixteen months in Lyon and has applied for graduate school.  She seems very interested in BYU.

NOS PETITS-ENFANTS

Earlier in this letter I mentioned an important thing that our new mission president taught us:  “Our job on earth is to learn what the Savior taught and obey it.”  He mentioned that there are 60 commandments and teachings that the Savior communicated himself in the scriptures or through prophets and asked us to write them in a journal that he gave us.  With the help of your parents, we encourage you to discuss this in family home evening and communicate to us by e-mail some of those commandments and teachings that you would recommend to us to study and write in our journals.  Our mission president suggested one resource for this search of 3 Nephi 11 in the Book of Mormon which relates what Jesus taught when He appeared to the people on the American continent after his resurrection.  He also recommended the resource of “Preach My Gospel”.  We love you.

LETTRE DOUZE POUR LE 20 JUIN

We just completed our first time of saying Au Revoir to ten departing missionaries and Bonjour to sixteen new missionaries in Lyon instead of Geneva.  Our office was the focal point for the related activities.  The ten departing missionaries traveled to Lyon on Monday afternoon.  They came to the office for departing interviews with President Murdock and a final testimony meeting.  In between, they traveled by metro to a pizza restaurant and ice cream shop for dinner.  They stayed at a nearby hotel about ½ mile away.  The next morning five of them took the Rhone express from the nearby train station to the Lyon airport to fly home.  The other five greeted their parents at their hotel that morning.  We served closely with one of the missionaries, Elder Smith from Kaysville who served as an assistant to the president.  His father, Dean Smith, has been a close friend of our brother-in-law, Dean Carver.  I had the opportunity to meet the Smiths and their daughter at the hotel.

Sixteen new missionaries arrived late Tuesday morning after flying into the Lyon airport.  They deposited their luggage at the same hotel near the railroad station, took the metro to a French government office and took care of their procedures to be legal to live in France.  They arrived at the mission office around 4:00 p.m. and tried to stay alert during training and orientation meetings until they left to eat dinner at the same restaurant where people ate the night before.  I am sure that they were glad to go to their hotel that night and get some sleep.  The next morning they came back to the office to eat breakfast, meet their trainers who had traveled by train to Lyon on Tuesday afternoon and receive more training.  The exciting time is when they meet their companion/trainer and find out where they are going.  One of the trainers is a friend of our niece, Kate.  The trainers/new missionaries departed by train to their cities early Wednesday afternoon.  The fourteen elders and two sisters came from Utah, Idaho, California, Texas, Oregon, Nevada, Canada, Scotland and Tahiti.

These events were the last major ones for our current mission president and his wife.  They will finish their mission next week when a new mission president, President Roney, arrives with his wife and three sons.  You can see that there will soon be new changes to communicate about.  

Last Saturday evening we attended the baptism of Noëla from Madagascar.  She is in her early 20’s and has a cute little 9 month old son named Noé (Noah-pronounced no-a in French).  We met her several weeks ago when she attended church for the first time after the missionaries started to teach her about the gospel.  We had the opportunity to talk with her and get better acquainted while we walked with her from church and rode the metro together.  We enjoyed talking with her every Sunday.  She was baptized at the stake center in Ecully which is a different direction by metro than traveling to our ward building.  We also take a bus from the metro station to get to the Ecully chapel.  We were spiritually uplifted by the baptismal service which included talks by a humble sister who rose out of her wheel chair to speak and a young man recently baptized from Africa.  A recent convert from China gave the closing prayer.  Noëlla bore her sweet testimony and commented how special it was that it began to rain outside just when she was baptized.  She said that rain was always a special sign for her family while growing up in Madagascar.

The week before, we enjoyed attending stake conference on Saturday evening and Sunday morning at that same Ecully stake center.  It was exciting for me to see the chapel filled with members of the church who came to hear their leaders and general authorities speak.  The members of the stake presidency are probably in their 40’s.  The Sunday morning session was broadcast from a central location in Salt Lake City to members of the church in France, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium.  President Eyring, a member of the first presidency and a member of the quorum of twelve apostles and Elder Nelson were among the speakers.  I listened to the meeting in French while it was one of the few opportunities for Sister Jeppson to understand what was being said in church meetings by listening to the broadcast in English.

NOS PETITS-ENFANTS

Noëla from Madagascar who was baptized on Saturday and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday, gets her baby ready every Sunday to travel with him in a stroller which includes walking, taking the metro (an underground train) and sometimes the bus to get to church.  She has found that she can learn about the gospel at church, take the sacrament, feel the spirit and enjoy associating with the members.  Most of you travel a short distance to church.  I hope that you take advantage of the special opportunity that you have to attend meetings of the true Church of Jesus Christ every Sunday just like this recently baptized convert from Madagascar.   We have learned to appreciate our beautiful meeting houses that we have all over our neighborhoods in Utah.  Here in France we travel far to attend church in a building that is not really a chapel and there is very little parking for people’s cars.         

LETTRE ONZE POUR LE 5 JUIN

It has been four weeks since we last wrote a formal letter.  Elder and Sister Jeppson are beginning to achieve a slight level of recovery from our memorable adventure of moving to Lyon.  Almost every day we have encountered new experiences and sometimes unexpected challenges that have tested us and helped us to establish a new office and maintain our heavy work load; while staying in hotels  for two weeks until our apartment was ready for occupancy.

When I wrote our last letter, a week before we moved, we were still uncertain of finding an apartment in time.  The next day, our last two apartment possibilities floundered and we were starting over.  That Thursday, President and Sister Murdock recommended that we join them and the office elders in fasting and praying to find an apartment.  The next day, an apartment showed up in the advertised computer listings.  Elder Headrick, one of the office elders scheduled to finish his mission on the 21^st of June visited the apartment and made an offer.  The offer was accepted the following Tuesday, the day before we moved.  Amazingly, the apartment building was just across the street from our office building, about three minutes away.  Even though our faith and confidence in that blessing was still to be tested, we have felt the Lord’s hand in answering our prayers and providing this apartment.

We stayed in hotels near Lyon’s large and bustling railroad station for almost two weeks until our apartment was ready for occupancy.  We stayed for two nights in a building called the tower.  The Radisson hotel occupies the top floors.  This is the large building that you can see in the background of the blog.  It is the highest hotel in Europe.  The hotels were a little over one half of a mile from the office.  We either walked or took the metro (subway) to get to the office each day.  During this time we began to encounter one challenge after another with getting our apartment ready. 

The apartment was completely unfurnished.  It needed a kitchen full of appliances including a fridge, stove, microwave, washer and dryer that were eventually delivered.  It is customary with new apartments to furnish them with Ikea products and assemble them.  Over time, our apartment became an Ikea showroom as Elder Headrick, President and Sister Murdock, Sister Jeppson and I  and the other two office elders worked together to assemble a couch, living room cabinet, kitchen cart with shelves, a bed, chest of drawers, two night stands, and two desks.  Elder Headrick literally spent most of the day on Thursday, Friday and Saturday picking out and assembling the furniture.  He then returned home to Ohio the following Monday.  We will never forget his service in helping us survive.

Although the apartment looked quite presentable on the surface, we soon learned that there were some unexpected problems.  The toilet leaked and needed to be replaced.  The hot water heater didn’t work, and major repairs eventually brought hot water needed for daily activities and for radiator heating in the winter.  An electrician will hopefully come soon to upgrade the number of working electrical outlets.  There are three that work outside of those in the kitchen.  A few days ago, we discovered water leaking into a bucket that we had fortunately put under the drain pipe under the sink.

As mentioned earlier in the letter, in spite of the various problems we strongly feel the Lord’s hand in placing us here.  The location has already proven and will continue to prove to be an important blessing.  Parking and driving during rush hour in Lyon is a challenge.  We can walk to work in three minutes no matter what the weather conditions are.  We are 5 minutes away from a nice grocery store with almost everything we need and 20 minutes from one of the largest shopping malls in France near the railroad station.  The mission office has two parking spots.  We were able to park our car in a narrow spot in a garage under the office building.  We are only a quarter of a mile from the Garibaldi metro stop which will connect us to the metro trains, above ground train lines, buses and other public transportation.  We have purchased a monthly pass for seniors that will give us reasonably priced access to the public transportation system.  We have been on the metro several times.  It is well run and maintained.  We have traveled to our Villerbaune ward building three times which is about a 40 to 50 minute metro ride and walk.  I will discuss the ward members and friends of the church that are being taught by the missionaries in another letter.           

NOS PETITS-ENFANTS

Heavenly Father has answered our prayers while he has guided us through small and large challenges including finding a place to live.  Always remember to say your prayers every morning and evening. Pray for your parents and for your Grandma and Grandpa.  We need those blessings. I know that he will bless and guide you in your challenges also.