Packer's France Paris Mission Blog 6
Packers in Paris Blog 6 – April 16th-22nd of 2018
Monday, April 16th, marked 1 month that we’ve been in
Paris! The time has flown quickly, yet feeling like we’ve been here for a very
long time. We’re getting a little more into our groove and settling into our
apartment and knowing our way around much more comfortably. The metro system,
as long as I’m with Steve, is going very well.
I used to maneuver the metro system with ease 40 years ago, so hopefully
I’ll get there soon!
SALADE DE FRUIT
This week I taught the YSA’s a new game! I had to explain it to
them all in French, and somehow they actually got it. What I didn’t know, was how
best to translate, Fruit Basket, in order to really make sense, so Elder Bonny
gave me the name of, Salade de Fruit. They actually enjoyed it and since it was
new, they had a great laugh!
TUESDAY MISSIONARY EXCHANGES AND OTHER MEETINGS
Since we are the couple that lives the closest to the church, we
were the ones called to come early to unlock the doors for the Elders to start
receiving missionaries to make the swap for the big event every 6 weeks. Steve
came earlier, just to get the doors unlocked and then I came a little later. It
was so exhilarating to see all of these missionaries packed and ready to conquer
a new destination with a new companion! Admittingly, super grateful we are
together as companions forever!
We also met with Brother Magnatia today, who is a graphic designer
from Lille, helping to design an outside sign and possibly help with other interior
ideas. He’s got some wonderful thoughts
that he shared with us.
We also met with President Sorensen, after his meetings today at
the church, where we discussed further assignments he needed our help with. He’s a wonderful and exuberant Mission President and we’re
grateful to be working with him.
Later that evening we had a video conference with the Paris South
Stake YSA leaders discussing how we might be of assistance to the program for
their area.
OFII AAPOINTMENT AND METRO CONVERSATIONS
What in the world is OFII? It’s where you go through a series of
events to become legal immigrants. You must go through a couple of different physicals
and answer lots of questions, not hard, but a bit awkward. It was quite an
affair getting all of us there and then back (taking a big portion of the day).
There was a total of 8 of us who were newbies and then the 2 elders who brought
us. As we got in and out of the metros, the leading elders, would count to 10
each time, making sure we were all together. This reminded me of when all 10 of
us in the Packer clan visited Washington DC and would go in and out of the
metro system and I was constantly counting to 10. You don’t want to leave one
behind.
Just yesterday, we received an additional assignment, which is to start taking
the new missionaries each 6 weeks to OFII to help them through this process. Steve
made sure and wrote all the directions to get there.
On our way home on the metro, a few of us struck up a conversation
with an elderly woman who we sat next to, who was simply delightful! She was
quite passionately philosophical in her belief, and believed Christ to be a
prophet, not really the Savior of the World. I would periodically tell her
things that intrigued me about her and she would say, “Why?” I was honest in my
reply and she seemed to be very pleased. She knew we were genuine!
COSTCO RUN
I’ve been looking forward to going to Costco all week! What I
didn’t know is how fun it would be to get there. We took 45 min via walking and
metros to get to the home of our Relief Society President (American), Sister
Donna Ermatinger. She then drove us in her van to Costco, another 45 min. The
Bonny’s joined along with us!
Walking into a Costco, after a month of not being able to shop for
groceries anywhere bigger than your neighborhood smaller grocery store, was
liking walking into a candy store, with our eyes were wide open and not knowing
where to start. We came back with more than we were planning on, and not sure
if we had room to stire it all, but it should hopefully last a long while,
because there’s no going back there any time soon!
TEMPLE WITH THE SNAPPS AND EVENING PLEASANTRIES
As we took our 2-hour trip to the temple, we sat for quite a
length of time on the RER and met up with a girl from Lyon, who was going to
Versailles for an LDS wedding. She noticed our tags and was delighted to meet
up with the missionaries. We had such a delightful visit on the train with her.
As we visited with her, there was another gentleman sitting next
to her and heard our whole conversation. As I was visiting with her in French,
there was a certain word in French that I couldn’t remember, so he leaned over
to her and told her the word I was trying to say, obviously he knew how to
speak English. At this point, he engaged in our conversation, and finally asked
us a great question. “What makes your religion so different than all the
others.” He was genuinely interested to know. We had a great discussion and
felt we answered his question and hope that he was intrigued by the answers. There
are many similarities in some religions with ours, but the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, has distinct and eternal differences that stand us
apart from all others. It’s what intrigues others the most.
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| New LDS friend we met at the RER |
We finally met up with our friends from our 2009 Nauvoo Pageant
days, Terry and Kristi Snap, that we’ve stayed in touch with through the years,
and who were in Paris for a business trip. We met at the temple in Versailles.
We loved our time at the temple participating in a session, experiencing such
reverent, inspiring and heavenly instruction.
The exquisite beauty inside is stunning, but the peace we feel surpasses
all!
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| Packers and Snapps |
As we walked into the garden court yard we met up with two
gentlemen, who had served their missions in the Franco Belgium Mission with my
brother, Alan Wood. They remembered him well.
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| Past missionaries from the Franco Belgium Mission |
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| Statue of Joan of Arc (one of my heroes) |
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| Louvre |
WEEKEND EVENTS
Saturday was a day to truly get ready for Sunday, with shopping
cleaning and talking to some of our children.
Church was delightful as always and having the Snapps join us with
the other visitors from all over the world who come to our English speaking
Sacrament meeting, was a marvelous experience.
After church we took them on a tour of the church facilities, the Institute Building and
the Visitor Center, and then we walked back to our apartment and finished
preparing our meal.
After dinner, we took a walk to my favorite park, Jardin du
Luxembourg. Then we took a metro to the Champs-Elysees. We walked the length of
the Champ-Elysees, and then once we got to the Arc de Triomphe we went to the top
to see a view of the city that was most breathtaking.
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| One end of the Luxembourg Gardens |
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| Arc de Triomphe |
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| Sacre Coeur |
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| Roue de Paris - us a 60- metre (200 ft) tall transportable Ferris Wheel |
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| Stairs ascending 300 steps |
Project Update
Our proposals have been turned in and next week President Sorensen
will meet with President Johnson, our Area Seventy, for hopefully a personal
interview to discuss the great purpose of this center. If accepted it will be
in fulfillment of then-President Uchtdorf’s vision of this center. Please keep
us and them in your prayers.
Cordialement (Sincerely yours),
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
RANDOM PICTURES
Fruit basket has become a favorite of Austin’s!! I took some videos of him being ‘it’ this week. Super cute watching him think so hard about what fruit to choose although most of the time it’s just fruit basket.
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