Packer's France Paris Mission Blog

Packers in Paris – New Assignment Changes & Much More

Hello to our dear family and friends! We are alive and well in Paris, France! There is much to write and yet would like not to bore you before we’ve begun. We’re afraid the first is longer than we planned and hope to make all others much more brief!

Here is a brief recap of what has happened within the last month! You may want to read a little past this to see the assignment changes we have received. We are so grateful for this opportunity and just willing to do whatever we are asked!

-          Farewell – February 18^th, 2018 – So grateful for all our dear friends and family who attended, and those who couldn’t showing their love and support! What a tender and joyous day of love!

-          Setting Apart – March 4^th, 2018 - Setting apart by our brand new Stake President, President Lance Davenport! He brought a beautiful spirit of hope to our call, with many promised blessings. 

-          Enter Provo MTC – March 5^th, 2018 – More farewells to some of our children. 

-          Finished MTC – March 14^th, 2018 – 10 days of life changing experiences, and will forever be grateful for new found friends!

-          Flight to Paris – Thursday, March 15^th, 2018 – An 11-hour nonstop flight to Paris, France.  

-          Arrived in Paris – Friday, March 16^th, 2018 – Picked up by Elder and Sister Lynn, taking us straight to the Mission Office.

-          Received Formal Assignment Change from our Mission President – Read below to see what what our new assignment is.

-          More Events in Paris – Apartment in the heart of Paris, figuring out shopping, attending church, Zone Conferences and more.

Our Brief Story

Preparing to leave, pack up for 2 years, give our goodbyes more than once with some family members and finalize all necessary things, must be the real test if you are serious about serving a mission. Well, we must’ve barely passed, since we are here, humbled and grateful for each of you and your love and sweet support. We have found that once you make the decision to move and press forward to serve a mission, you will begin to see grateful blessings come your way. 

We are feeling overwhelmed by the many miracles and tender mercies along the way as we’ve prepared for our first mission. We are so grateful for the incredible support from our wonderful children, as many of them are faced with their own trials to bear while we are gone! They are amazing and how we love and adore them! We are so grateful to have the love of our parents and siblings who are such devoted examples of goodness in every sense. We are also blessed with cherished friendships throughout that have also graced our lives. We miss you all!

Making the decision to serve, one of many missions, began many years ago, as we saw the blessings that came to Renée’s parents, as they served 7 different French speaking missions, and over 12 years as temple workers. We have a new-found appreciation for those who have gone on more than one mission! It’s all about giving back to the Lord for all His generous blessings in our lives.

Farewell

This was truly a day of joyful reunions. Our hearts were so full of all the love from all our family. We loved seeing all those who came from far and near. To have ALL our children and posterity and our parents and siblings was a treasured memory. The emotions shed were that of gratitude! 

Steve & Renee Packer Family - minus 2 grandchildren

  

Renee's Siblings and parents

Audrey Packer - Steve's mother

Assignment Changes:

So, what were the changes that took place in our mission assignment? On February 20^th, just 2 days after our farewell, Renée received a phone call from one of those unknown numbers you would usually just ignore, but felt impressed she should answer. Once she did, she knew it was a safe number. The voice on the other end stated, “Sister Packer, this is President Roland Léporé, Stake President in Lyon, France. He then gave a title as a Northern Europe Family Search employee for the church. He said he had talked to our Mission President about possibly changing out the Visitor Center in downtown Paris to a Family Search/Discovery Center. 

After speaking with Renée for about 30 min. he expressed that he felt good to make a recommendation to our Mission President, President Paul Sorensen, to have us oversee this project. We were humbled by his call and grateful to have had this opportunity. He said he would get back with us as soon as he heard back from our mission President. Meanwhile, he asked that we get as much information about Family Search and Discovery Centers as we could before entering the MTC. I told him that the Lord would help us bring all things into preparation if that’s what we needed to do.

We put other preparations aside and visited the Salt Lake Family History Center that following Friday, which includes the magnificent new Discovery Center, and while there receiving additional training by Sister Curley. We also visited the first ever Family Search/Discovery Center in Layton, UT, just a few miles down the street from where we live in Syracuse. Both facilities are incredible, inspiring and innovative. And then we spent the Saturday before entering the MTC at RootsTech.

RootsTech

We’ve always enjoyed RootsTech, but this year brought new dimensions because of this recent call. It was so electrifying as we attended various classes specific for our new assignment. While there we also received a personal tour of the Discovery Zone from Bryan Austad (a genius over Discovery Centers), who happens to also be in our ward in Syracuse (one of those divine coincidences). It was fascinating. You will not want to miss attending any of these buildings which houses both the Family Search and Discovery Centers. There are 5 in existence that are a combined Family Search/Discovery Center. With 4 in Utah (soon 5 with one being built in Ogden, UT) and then 1 in Versailles, France associated with the Paris Temple’s Visitor Center. To have 2 in the Paris area, is incredible. It takes some time though to get it fully authorized, so meanwhile we are asked to continue to move forward till that happens. 

By Thursday, February 22^nd, President Sorensen had given his approval to go ahead with this plan. We were extremely humbled by this call and look forward to what lies ahead. We’ll still be working on the side with YSA when we are able. We look forward to being involved with them as much as possible. 

MTC Experience

Our MTC experience was magnificent and spirit filled! The new friends we met and the inspired instruction made our 10 days at the MTC so vital and memorable. We’re grateful for the dear friendships we made along the way. We even had the chance to meet up and have a sweet visit with our MTC tutor and learning coach. Sister Watkins and Bro. Cox. They have become such dear friends! We also enjoyed seeing quite frequently, Elder Jesse Hughes from our old Layton ward. He never was seen without a smile! 

 

 

 

 

Our Departure
We left early for the airport, on Thursday afternoon, March 15^th, with enough time to say goodbye to our daughter Janine and her 5 children, and our son, Brent who had come by from work! It did our heart good to see them to share in one last hug!
The time for our flight to Paris came with great anticipation, but we were totally exhausted from the final packing and excitement. We flew out in the evening and were supposed to sleep all night long so that jet lag would not be so bad. Well, Steve slept all night and I may have gotten a wink. I missed the boat somehow on how to fall asleep on a plane throughout the night.  

 

Meeting with President Sorenson After Landing in Paris, France (New Assignment Discussed) 

By the time we were picked up at noon on Friday, Renée had expected to be wasted, but instead, we both received a sweet miracle all day long, both feeling energetic and filled with the strength that was needed. Not feeling a need for a nap. 

We were met by Elder and Sister Lynn (a mission office couple) who were delightful and drove us to the Mission Office. Once there we had a meeting with President Sorensen, his wife and President Léporé. It was wonderful meeting with each of them, so that we could finally discuss the new project. 

We were formally asked to be the Project Managers over the new Family Search/Discovery Center in the heart of Paris, France. We were grateful to have been given this formal call so that we could prayerfully receive guidance and direction as to what the Lord desires. It’s the only way such a project can really be accomplished. Our space is not large, but we have since envisioned how it might work. 

Elder & Soeur Packer with President & Soeur Sorensen

First Day in Paris and Fun Apartment Information

After our invigorating meeting at the mission home, we were taken to our apartment, where a set of Elders (Elder Eyring & Elder Antzbach and (The Fitts and Lynns) helped us bring all our luggage! How grateful we were for their help. The Elders left and the three senior couples spent a little time together over dinner getting to know one another and filling us in on necessary details about living in Paris!

Our apartment is located in the heart of Paris on the little Island of Notre Dame, just a block down from Notre Dame which is on the Seine River. We live in a quaint little apartment on the 4^th floor, built some time in the 18^th or 19^th Century. The elevator measures 20” X 40”, just enough room to fit two people and a large suitcase, if you suck in. We try to take the stairs as often as possible (only 100 stairs) but there are times we are so exhausted or in a hurry to get to our destination, we give into our cute little elevator. 

Notre Dame on the far right and our apartment is on the far left - second door from the left.

Events of Saturday and Sunday

Our first full day in Paris, last Saturday, was mostly filled with getting our apartment in order and going shopping to buy food. It was all an adventure, but grateful to be here and get to work. We woke up to very frigid weather though and with 80% humidity, making it even more cold, sank deep into our bones. We even got to experience snow in Paris, not something they see very often here!  

We also took the time to take a 15-minute walk, one we’ll make frequently on a daily basis, to see the Visitor Center which we’ll be transforming as soon as possible. It was larger than we had expected and we began to see the great possibilities of how we can utilize the space. We were excited to let the inspiration from the Lord begin. We know He has a purpose and design in mind. 

Attending the St. Merri Ward and then an English Sacrament meeting for visitors was such a thrill! We loved meeting many of the ward members and the Elders and Sisters. I was so pleased when Steve was asked to give the closing prayer (in French) in Sunday School. He did beautifully! It’s not common when a missionary couple serves in another tongue, that the wife is the one who speaks more fluently than the husband, but he’s doing so great. He’ll be fluent before he realizes it. 

After impressions began to come to us, we drew up a draft plan and shared it Monday night with President Sorensen and President Léporé, and they were very grateful and excited about our proposal. Things are moving along!

We love and are grateful for each of you and thankful for any who lasted this long with this first blog post. We promise to keep it much more brief in the future!

A plus tard (See you later)! 

Elder et Soeur Packer                                                                                                   Grandpère et Mémé

Our Address:
4 quai du Marché Neuf
75004 PARIS 
FRANCE

You may still text or FaceTime Renée at 801-564-1332
We are 8 hours ahead of Mountain Standard Time starting the 25th of March