Packers France Paris Mission Blog 33
Packers in
Paris Blog 33 – October 22nd – October 28th, of 2018
A
SUCCESSFUL SECOND WEEK
I’m not sure what denotes a successful anything, but we are feeling extremely
grateful for getting through another week at the Family History Center. The
building didn’t collapse, the furniture is still standing, and people keep
coming in to learn about or work on Family History!
What success may also mean to us, is that we were able to help others engage
in Family History for the first time, from those coming off the street
wondering what is happening in this building, to those who had sought out our
building as a close Family Search Center to come and do their research. The
stories we’ve encountered this week have been remarkably sweet, tender and
miraculous! I will only share a few throughout this blog!
NURIA AND 8 YEAR OLD
DAUGHTER, CAROLINA (a young girl of faith)
The sisters had met a dear single woman and her 8-year-old daughter, Carolina,
and brought her to the FH Center. I was able to visit with her for a short
while and was very touched by both the mother and daughter. Nuria has recently
moved from Lisbon, Portugal and in just 6 months has picked up French fairly
well and her little daughter speaks like a pro.
As I helped her walk back to the metro, she began to share with me how
difficult things have been for her, and yet every time she would express her
fears to her daughter, her daughter would repeatedly state, “God is with us and
everything will be ok.” The faith that this young girl of 8 has and her ability
to help lift her mother, was so touching to me that as I walked back to the
center I was in tears. I called my oldest daughter and shared with her what had
just happened and how I was so grateful for these examples of faith during such
hard times. Still hoping to get a picture of the two of them.
HOT WATER HEATER FINALLY REPAIRED AFTER 3 WEEKS!
We had never been more
grateful for hot water, than on this last Tuesday, after having gone 3 weeks with
cold water. With no working hot water, we also didn’t have a working heater for
our apartment. As it began to get colder, we were so grateful for the warmth as
well.
Just when I was feeling that
my complaints were warranted for going so long without hot water, we spoke with
a pair of Elders that same day who had just had their hot water heater repaired
after 5 months! I self-inflicted my own slap in the face and felt very humbled.
VISITOR FROM HOME (MRS SANTA CLAUS) AND THE CASE OF
THE MISSING LUGGAGE
We are always so grateful to
have our dear friend, Sharon, visit us from Utah. She has spoiled us by no
small means. She comes willing to bring us items from home, in a suitcase (she
has a loyalty account with Delta), in exchange to stay in our apartment. We are
getting the better end of the deal here! For us, it’s so fun to have visitors
and so we are just grateful for her being here with us.
 |
| Sharon Olson - Santa Claus in disguise |
Our oldest son, Nathan, and
his wife, Dixie and our youngest daughter, Becca, helped put together a
suitcase of items we had either ordered through Amazon, or Vanesa and Becca
bought for us, to have prepared for Sharon’s coming. This was no small task! We
can’t express how grateful we are to all of them!
Sharon made the long trip to
Paris, having just come home from a lengthy trip to Hawaii. She was tired, warn
out, but anticipated her trip here and willingly brought our luggage. After arriving
in Paris and going through customs, she went to pick up hers and our luggage, but
it was not on the belt. She waited and waited, and nothing! Long story short,
it finally arrived Monday afternoon just prior to sending out this blog.
Sharon has had an incredible
attitude, knowing she was leaving to go to Germany the next day. She borrowed a
few things, and bought other items, having survived and having had a wonderful
time with friends. We feel horrible on our end that this happened to her,
probably because of our luggage contents (nothing illegal)!
FRANCIS HSU
Francis Hsu came Thursday
evening to say hello out of interest in the building. We were in the back,
while Soeur Bonny was on the computer and noticed someone staring in. She
smiled at him and he felt welcomed to enter. He was a very kind and gracious
man, originally from Nanjing, China, where my sister is living currently. He now
lives in Maryland. He’s a writer and wrote a book titled, “Life is Free,
Information is Not.” We had a delightful visit!
NOTRE DAME LIGHT SPECTACULAR ARMISTICE DAY AND MEETING MY
BIRTHTWIN ‘SISTER’ KIND OF!
Notre
Dame Light Spectacular
Last Thursday evening after
we closed the center, we were on the bus coming back to our apartment, when we
began speaking with a man from Paris! He asked if we had heard of the Notre
Dame Light Spectacular? We had not, though noticed that there was a lot of
noise going on down the block at Notre Dame each night. He said that this last
Thursday was the last night of a week commemorating the 100-year anniversary of
Armistice day. I was very intrigued as to what this might be. I told Steve that
I felt we should go, though it would get us home later than desired. The show
was well worth every bit of our late night. We’ve never seen anything like it!
The photos and short video clip give just a small taste of what took place.
Meeting
our new friend, Zianya from Mexico
Prior to the show and after
going to our apartment to unload, we walked to Notre Dame, literally a 3-minute
walk from our apartment and waited for a good 45 minutes for it to begin. The
crowd was massive! We didn’t have tickets to go inside the courtyard, so our
photos were from behind the tree branches (making it a bit spookier looking;).
Meanwhile, we met Zianya C.
from Tijuana, Mexico. She was this most precious and dear young adult. We had
such a delightful conversation with her. We told her what we were here for and
gave her one of our information cards. We told her how much we would love to
have her come by our center.
Zianya
accepted our invite
We were so delighted when on
Friday night, Zianya came to the center. She came when it was dark, cold and
rainy, but she came anyway! We enjoyed showing her our interactive discovery
experiences and then helped her sign up for Family Search. She knew all about
the ‘day of the dead’ and having also watched the movie Coco, she knew there
was some of great value to preserving our ancestors through Family History.
While she was beginning to
sign up for Family Search, we realized that she has my same birthday, but
exactly 40 years later. We instantly felt like we were BirthTwin sisters.
We vowed to stay in touch
and that she would let me know when she arrived back home. She also will be
meeting in Tijuana with the local Family Search Center there to get additional
help.
 |
| Zianya looking on to see what Family Search is all about! |
STACIE SCHNEIDER – BRINGING JOY TO ELDER DURANT
Stacie S. is a friend of
Elder Durant’s family (he is one of our beloved zone leaders). She is a flight
attendant and comes often to Paris. She has come before looking for Elder
Durant to say hello with no luck. We finally were able to connect the two of
them. Prior to Elder Durant showing up, she and I had a lovely visit and I then
showed her all about Family Search and the discovery activities. She then met
with Elder Durant and gifted him with some cash for food. Eating is something
that is hard for the Elders to take time for. She’s a good woman!
 |
| Stacie S. with Elders Durant and Reed |
FAMILY HISTORY FOR DALLYN AND ELDER DURANT
Dallyn Larsen helped us at the
Open House and became so enamored with Family History that he was sold on
wanting to get involved in this awesome work. He came this last week to begin
the process of finding names to take to the temple the next day. We helped him
do descendancy research. He then proceeded to find quite a few names. He was so
thrilled and is looking forward to returning.
He also helped us with an
important document that needed translating. He is a former missionary here and
also does a lot of translations for his work. We are grateful for his kind
efforts on our behalf. Google translate just doesn’t cut it on the more
important items.
 |
| Dallyn translating important documents |
As the missionaries help
their convert friends get ready to go to the temple with a family name, they
too desire to bring a family name to do baptisms along with them. This was Elder
Durant’s first time with finding names via Family Search. We helped him as well
through descendancy research and he too found several names. He was rather
stoked!
 |
| Elder Durant finding names and Dallyn Larsen in the background |
EMAD’S TEMPLE EXPERIENCE WITH THE ELDERS
This last Saturday, Emad and
Elders Durant and Ludwig met up at the Paris Temple for Emad’s first chance to
do the baptisms for his father and sister and perhaps more. He was so grateful
for this immense blessing in his life and could not deny the power and blessings
of temple work. He was thrilled to help perform the baptism of some of his
names.
 |
| Elders Ludwig and Durant with Emad Seddik |
THE GIBOZ FAMILY
Last Saturday we also
enjoyed a visit from a father and his two daughters. Mr. Giboz had seen the
center during the remodeling and once he found out what it was about, was
anxious for it’s opening to bring his daughters. Mr. Giboz and his two
daughters were most genuine and eager to begin their family history. Though we
are not experts, we can at least get someone started and on the road to their
family history. They were so fun to talk with, and patient through the process.
With all our free accesses
to so many otherwise costly databases, people are truly grateful for a place
such as this center, to use these facilities at no cost and know that they will
have a greater likelihood of finding the information they need.
FITTING IN A WEEKLY DATE SOMEHOW!
From the time of our first
week of marriage, it has been our goal to have a weekly date! With our late
hours at the center, we knew it would be a challenge somehow, but it will
happen. We took the time after our late evening Saturday and went out to eat at
a favorite restaurant near the center and enjoyed a moment to unwind. Once we
find someone to help us have a P-Day we will have a little more time, but we
will have to keep it simple!
 |
| Beaubourg Restaurant doesn't disappoint! |
SUNDAY’S BLESSINGS
We are always grateful for
the Sabbath, a day of rest from the cares of the world and most importantly a
day to partake of the Sacrament and renew our covenants with the Savior.
Nothing else matters than renewing our covenants each week through partaking of
the Sacrament. We are blessed beyond words knowing that a loving Savior atoned
for all our sins and allows us to renew our baptismal cleansing covenants
through His gift.
The dear missionaries of our
area sang a musical number in church today and did so with such beauty and
peace. We are grateful to have them in our midst.
 |
| Elders Durant, Cheng, Ludwig and Patrick and Sisters Jensen and Bell |
ANN, THE ANGEL BEHIND THE SCENES
This is rather an emotional
part of my blog this week! I knew that I could not go another week without
mentioning my oldest sister, Ann Harper! I will admit that my words will not be
sufficient to adequately express how I, and all my siblings and parents feel
about this woman! She is admired by not only her siblings and parents, but to
all of her children, husband, friends and neighbors. We would all agree that
she is the epitome of an angel.
Please indulge me for a
moment to express my love and gratitude for this woman, as she quietly gives
more than any of us could ever think of and does so with such humility and
quiet grace. She is doing far more than any of us who are off serving missions
or other worthy service could ever do, all while struggling with her own health
issues. Though there are others who lovingly serve our parents and others with
all they can, we would all agree that this woman needs a special recognition!
She knows that her mission
is not to serve a mission such as we and others may be serving, but instead she
is serving to care for her husband, our parents, her extended family and other
neighbors who are not well and doing it all with no fanfare. Her schedule is
rigorous to say the least. All that she does is out of a deep love of the
Savior and for our parents and all others. Matthew 25:40 “… Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my
brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
Thank you, dear Ann, for the
angel sister you are and all you have always done and will yet do! Your rewards
in heaven will be greater than you will ever imagine (can I ride on your service apron strings?). My prayers are that you will know and feel
the love we all have for you and that your Father in Heaven has for you, and
that your joy will lift you above the weight of your call! Your loved ones and posterity
do and will forever call you blessed among women!
 |
| Ann Harper - our angel sister here on earth! |
Dieu
soit avec vous (God be with you),
Elder et Soeur Packer
Grandpère et Mémé Packer
(Please be sure and also use last name on any mail, or it will get returned)
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
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