For
anyone who has been sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for our
big announcement, I hope this doesn’t disappoint. But we are very
grateful for this new change coming this week, so please forgive us
for unloading our enthusiasm.
For
a while now we have been working with Brother Roland Léporé on a
new and added dimension to the Family History Center. The church
itself has so many resources that are free to anyone who has a desire
to participate. Brother Léporé has felt that bringing all of these
resources under one roof for those in need would be a great benefit,
more than just Family History.
As
soon as he started to mention these various areas and what could be
done with them, it was as if a fire was lit underneath me. Through
weekly conversations with him and slowly thinking through all of the
aspects of this, we were given free reign to develop the publicity
and how to implement this new direction in our center! We would never
have done this without his consistent guidance in its purpose and
hopeful results.
Since
Brother Léporé is on a joint committee with FamilySearch and the
Missionary Dept., that committee is looking forward to seeing how
this new direction will help bring more people in contact with the
church and how it will help them or their families personally, thus
we are an unofficial pilot program! No pressure at all!
As
we started to piece together how to bring this about, and with the
help of our friend, Georgette Lalaus, there is no doubt that the Lord
has been in the details of this
work
and especially now
with this
project. From pouring His will and
thoughts
on the publicity design to the content to every particular, we know
that it was done under His care and influence.
We
met early on with our Mission President and his wife to share the new
direction and they were both very supportive and could see the great
value this would be to this area.
If
you would have told us 13 months ago what we would be involved in at
this time on our mission, we might’ve laughed and or run the other
way, but here we are, doing what seems impossible, but having faith
in the Lord’s faith in our meager efforts!
NEW
TITLE OF THE CENTER: THE FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER
Starting
this coming Wednesday the new name of the center will be changed to,
“The Family Resource Center” (Centre de Ressources Familiales).
We will also have assigned missionaries helping us in the center with
this new direction.
Our
main interior design and technology within the center will still be
centered on Family History, but now we will also help link others to
many of the other free resources from the Church that are available
in the Paris region and on the Church website. Listed below is what
will be offered and is presently available (some in several nearby
locations).
-
Self-Reliance
-
Find
a better job
-
Get
a better education
-
Personal
Finances
-
Start
a new business
-
Family
History
-
Addiction
Recovery
-
Marriage
& Family Relations
-
Language
class in English/French
-
Cultural
Arts
(drama, piano, dance, yoga, sports, etc.)
-
Other
Resources
- Humanitarian service opportunities
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| Front of flyer |
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| Back of flyer |
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| Inside 'near the door' sign |
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| Banner for street contacting |
There
are enormous needs for this new direction for those living in Paris,
especially with Self-Reliance. Paris is truly the melting pot of the
world and the need to offer others a way to make a better transition
into the culture and become self-reliant is vital.
Also,
the number of refugees coming in on a regular basis is enormous.
Often the refugees are educated and have a great desire to get on
their feet and care for the needs of their family and Self-Reliance
has been the very tool that has taught them how to get started and
eventually get ahead! They are ready to receive this type of help.
Many
of the other areas offered will help and benefit them in numerous
ways. The classes going on already in cultural arts, language classes
and Self-Reliance have proved to be of great worth! We literally have
access to so many resources through the church’s foundation.
Your
prayers in our behalf as we embark on this new direction would be
greatly appreciated. We are not experts in any of these areas but can
see His will coming forth no matter our frailties. Having the wards
and stakes and each missionary involved will be of great value!
TUESDAYS
PDAY ESCAPE – JEWISH QUARTER – VICTOR HUGOS’ HOME
An
escape for us from missionary work doesn’t mean we’ve left town,
but we finally took a breather and went to nearby sights!
We
decided to take a long walk around the Jewish Quarter and were so
enchanted. As we meandered throughout, we decided to go to Victor
Hugo’s home which sits inside Place des Vosges, originally named
Place de Royal. In 1800 Napoleon changed the name of the square to
what it currently is to show his gratitude towards the Vosges
department, for being the first in France to pay their taxes. The
Jewish influence was subtle but quite charming. It is the oldest
planned square in Paris, France.
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| Jewish Quarter |
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| Walking into the courtyard of Jewish Quarter (Le Marais) |
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| Oldest square in Paris in the Jewish Center |
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| Half way mission photo! |
Victor
Hugo’s apartment tour and the place where he died
This
was an unexpected treasure right here in Paris. However, the more
famous home of Victor Hugo where he was exiled, is located in
Guernsey, Saint Peter Port. That is under renovation until April of
2019, and it is where many of his famous writings took place.
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| Victor Hugo |
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| Victor Hugo |
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| Part of the apartment in Paris where he lived |
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| Victor Hugo |
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| Bronze hand of Victor Hugo |
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| One of the lavish rooms in Victor Hugo's apartment |
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| Hauteville
house in Guernsey, Saint Peter Port where Victor Hugo was in exile |
We
were unaware of the other many talents of Victor Hugo until we went
through this tour in the Jewish Center.
One
area that intrigued us was a small photo and story that Steve pointed
out. This experience took place while he lived in the Hauteville
house in Guernsey, Saint Peter Port. Take the time to read below. What a remarkable man he is, from just the writings of Les
Misérables alone and his many talents, but this story taught us such
a profound lesson of aligning our own lives with what we truly
believe in.
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| This is the kind of man Victor Hugo was |
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| One of the many times Hugo invited the poor to dine with him |
Below
are images of Victor Hugo just prior to his death. It was rather
somber being in the very room where he died.
Afterwards
we took a leisurely walk around the square looking into the exquisite
shops. This was definitely window shopping only!
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| The very room that Victor Hugo slept where he later died |
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| A painting of this same room with him lying in his death bed |
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| Victor Hugo's son, George was an artist and painted this of his father |
OUR
HALF WAY MARK – FEBRUARY 19th,
2019
Also
on this PDay we were honoring our half way mark of our 23 month
mission. It was also just a year ago on the 18th
that we had our farewell two weeks before we left for the Missionary
Training Center.
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| MTC on March 5th, 2018 |
THURSDAY
HOT CHOCOLATE ON A HOT DAY – DOESN’T WORK!
We
had purchased a hot chocolate machine a while back, but had not had a
chance to purchase the bulk chocolate powder until recently. The
sister missionaries were very excited to try it out in front of our
center. But, they and we knew it probably wasn’t such a great idea
on that day because it was quite warm outside. But nevertheless we
attempted, had a sign, and perhaps gave hot chocolate to 20 people
but no one cared to enter our doors that day! But great conversations took place!
 |
| Sisters Jensen and Schofield |
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| He must have been cold, as he had a coat on! |
PASSING
OUT PUBLICITY TO MISSIONARIES ON THE WEEKEND
From
Friday on we started to pass out all our publicity to 24 missionary
companionships (48 missionaries in total) to begin a massive
publicity campaign. Though this will be an ongoing effort we are
looking forward to the first start of this project and we pray that
it will go well in the next two weeks. We are most grateful for the
set of missionaries that will be in our center to help us out!
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| Elder Blake carrying one of the three Banners |
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| Elders Rep and Blake |
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| Elders Ovard and Layton |
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| Elder McGrew |
SUNDAY’S
MEETINGS, FACETIME VISITS AND MUSIC TO OUR EARS
On
our way walking to church, we noticed a familiar site, but this time
I actually remembered to take a photo. Since most places are
apartments here the only way to get large items up to the apartment
is to hire a lift to get it up to the apartment and through the
window.
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| How they transport furniture or large items into apartments |
We
were pleased to meet a neighbor of our daughter, Janine Hunsaker,
from Hyde Park, UT. His
name is Brother
Saldivar who is here for business! He mentioned several times how
grateful his family is for being the recipient of Janine’s amazing
baking skills.
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| Sister and Elder Packer with Brother Saldivar |
During
our Sacrament meeting, the two talks given
were
incredible. Ophelie Meunier and Bishop Hall spoke. I was rather taken
by both of their talks and knew that their messages were of great
importance to everyone there. Ophelie’s parents are missionaries in
the Paris Temple Visitor Center. They come often with her and
Ophelie’s husband, who is taking the missionary discussions.
Ophelie is such a remarkable woman!
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| Sister Meunier and Ophelie Meunier |
I
was so proud of Charlotte for making it to church a week earlier than
she had planned. Though she was a little late, she came with sweet
Max and has figured out what it takes to get here with baby in tow!
Everyone loved that little boy and he is always so good and very
calm!
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| Aurelie, Max, Casandra, and Charlotte |
Facetime
video with my parents
It’s
not often we can facetime video chat with my parents, but Sunday
evening my brother called me, at
my
request,
so that we could. I love how my father hasn’t lost his humor and my
mother is always curious as to what is going on with each of our
children and our mission. How I love and miss them!
Music
to our ears from home
Periodically
some of our children will send music recordings or videos of things
they have been involved in. I won’t post them not
having permission,
but the emotional and joyful feelings it brings us is beyond words.
Thanks to each of you for sharing of your talents, your love of music
and your desire to bring us joy!
BLESSINGS
OF VOLUNTEER SERVICE
We
recently received a letter from the church concerning our tax
purposes and the last line states this powerful thought! We wanted to
share this with you!
The
Church provided no compensation, goods or services in consideration,
in whole or in part for your unreimbursed expenses, other
than intangible religious benefits.
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