Packers in Paris Blog 59 – April 21st – April 28th,
2019
TUESDAY
PDAY AT THE TEMPLE
Coming to the temple this last Tuesday with
Steve was very refreshing for both of us! Our hearts and spirits needed to be
there. Our little travel was delightful as the weather was perfect and comforting
just to take time away from the rush of everything else we do normally! The tenderness
of being in the Lord’s house is something hard to express but what we feel within
its walls brings immense joy and peace. Being with Steve in the Temple is
heaven on earth. I am continually in awe and filled with gratitude for my
eternal companion!
Our homes can be the next closest thing
to a temple, if we allow it to be! In the Bible Dictionary it states: A temple is literally a house of the Lord, a
holy sanctuary in which sacred ceremonies and ordinances of the gospel are
performed by and for the living and also in behalf of the dead. A place where
the Lord may come, it is the most holy of any place of worship on the earth. Only
the home can compare with the temple in sacredness.
I was grateful to help Sister Ding from
our Paris ward in directing her to join us for a sealing session. She is such a
faithful and dear woman and I love her dearly. Her French is very hard to understand
though, because her Chinese accent is so strong. We eventually figure it out!
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| Sister Deng saw us in the temple grounds and we couldn't resist a photo with her! |
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| Elder and Sister Poussard from the Lyon Mission - coming to the temple! |
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| Elder and Sister Frogley - Senior Missionary assigned to the Temple Visitor Center - Elder Frogley's brother was my sister's mission president in Belgium once upon a time! |
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| Brother Sylvain Athenour - our FamilySearch director for France |
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| Random, but this new contraption was being built on our way home right off the street from Versailles Chateaux! When I stopped to ask what it was, they said, a stairway! It goes up and down and around non stop! |
SPEAKING OF TEMPLES
With our recent General Conference earlier
this month, we learned that there would be new changes coming to Temple Square!
Our dear prophet shared in his final address that on April 19th, 2019
there would be an announcement for renovating Temple Square and the Salt Lake
City Temple! As we watched this announcement on the 19th, we were in
awe of what will be a 4 year project with an amazing transformation, beginning
at the end of this year! Watch the short or long version of video of this
project! If you have never been to Temple Square and want to capture the before
and after, I would go soon!
“As we speak of our temples old and new, may each of us signify by our
actions that we are true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. May we renovate
our lives through our faith and trust in Him. May we access the power of His
Atonement by our repentance each day. And may we dedicate and rededicate our
lives to serving God and His children—on both sides of the veil.” President Russell M. Nelson
DISTRIC COUNCIL
More often than not our District
Councils are usually in French. We used to have them more in English with some French
scattered throughout! Gratefully, Steve can now understand almost everything they
say and will periodically make a comment in French. I’m rather proud of him and
love him dearly!
ACTIVITY IN THE CENTER
I was so pleased to help a lovely woman,
Denise Bouton! She was so happy about what was provided for her through FamilySearch!
She is most definitely coming back. I shared with her what she could do at her
own apartment to get ahead and that we could also help her with more research
if needed. I showed her that she could also preserve all her photos, documents and
so on, all on FamilySearch.
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| Denise Bouton - our new and excited FamilySearch patron with Sister Packer |
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| Elder Reep and Elder Phair contacting in the cold! |
CHANGES IN THE CULTURAL ARTS SECTION
We are working through changes in our publicity
for the Family Resource center to put less emphasis on Cultural Arts classes. We feel a need to simplify so we can get our
organization and foundation in place first.
We have also turned over all the Cultural
Arts classes to Georgette! Our hands are so full with all of the other items
that we think are of greater help at this moment, that it’s been good to turn
it over to her!
PRIVATE LESSON WITH CLOTILDE
Since not everyone received the message
for the cancellation of the voice class. Clotilde came and so I gave her a private
30 minute voice lesson. She is a woman a little younger than I am and has never
really sung much. Even though I was taking her through beginning steps I was in
awe of how quickly she caught on and was able to sing the notes on pitch for
the most part. She felt much love receiving a one-on-one lesson and receiving
personal care and attention.
Several weeks ago she had indicated that
she was interested in hearing more about our religion. I then asked her this
last week if she would like to join us at church the next Sunday. She began to
cry and thanked me for my kindness towards her and for giving her personal
attention. She accepted to come join us! She has not felt this type of love for
a very long time. Her husband passed away about 3 years ago.
LONG TIME FRIEND COMES TO PARIS
This last Friday, my dear friend and neighbor
from the late 90’s came to Paris. Linda Simmons and I have not seen each other
for many years and it was a treat to have a good portion of the afternoon with
her. We enjoyed our catch-up on all of our children and life in general. She’s
an amazing woman who has been through many trials and has come out as quite the
warrior and conqueror! She joined us for
dinner that night at our apartment!
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| Linda and Renée |
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| Tulips at the Garden of Luxembourg |
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| Jardin Luxembourg - my favorite park that I lived right across the street 41 years ago! |
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| Child's boat races at the Jardin Luxembourg |
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| A walk in the gardens with my dear friend, Linda |
Because a technician was coming sometime
this day, Steve stayed in our apartment, waiting for them to eventually come.
Meanwhile we had the missionaries help us out at the center! It worked out,
though we normally would not do this.
MEMORIES POSTED ON FACEBOOK - I COULDN'T HELP MYSELF
My sister Janine retired from the
Tabernacle Choir on Temple Square three years ago on April 27th,
2016. I love how Facebook reminds of these important events! My parents along
with other siblings and Janine’s children attended. I love the photo further below of my
parents at this event!
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| Janine in the blue with the main choir leadership |
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| Elden and Picola Wood - my beloved parents |
SATURDAY EVENING DINNER AND CONCERT
We were so grateful for Linda’s
graciousness to take us out to eat and then to a concert at Saint Chapelle! It
takes a friend from home to wake us up and take the time to go to an amazing
concert just around the corner from us on the Island.
Inside Saint Chappelle we were honored
to hear, Les Solistes Français – Vivaldi a La Sainte Chapple – The Four Seasons.
We were absolutely mesmerized by their playing, the music and the acoustics in
this beautiful cathedral. It was absolutely awe-inspiring! We’ll be going
again!
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| Saint Chapelle |
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| Steve bought the CD - Main lead violinist, Paul Rouger |
BACK HOME, ANOTHER AMAZING CONCERT
While we were listening to Vivaldi’s
Four Seasons, our son, Austin would soon be playing his cello later that evening
in a concert with Brady Allred conducting Mendelssohn’s Elijah, with full orchestra,
choir and organ and soloists. It was a 3-hour Oratorio. The Libby Gardner Hall was
packed to the brim. How we love these concerts and hope to be able to hear the
recording they made.
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| Salt Lake Choral Arts and Orchestra |
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| Rehearsal |
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| Rehearsal |
SUNDAY’S BLESSINGS
I was so grateful that Clotilde came to
church this last Sunday. I am sorry I never got pictures, but she really
enjoyed it and is planning on coming next Sunday. The sister missionaries are
in the process of trying to teach her the lessons. She has such a big heart and
hears and accepts truth! She had lots of questions that we were able to discuss,
and she could see and understand! In speaking with Clotilde, she presumed that
we as missionaries are paid to live here and be missionaries. She was shocked
when I told her that we pay our own way and that the sacrifice we make is an
honor to come and serve the Lord. I think that it gave her a much deeper appreciation
for what we do!
I was also grateful to have Linda
finally meet Charlotte and Max! Charlotte says she’s always amazed that she
makes it to church each Sunday! But when you do what she does, take one step
out of bed, one step towards getting ready, one step towards getting out of the
door, the Lord will help her make it happen! She is amazing!
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| Charlotte, Max and Linda |
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| Max - We love you! |
My mother called
Saturday night to tell me that she had received a lovely handmade thank-you card
from Charlotte.
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| Part of the thank you card that Charlotte made for all those she thanked back home! |
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| The other side of the card with writing inside! |
There was a lovely Young Single Adult
woman who began to play the piano until our pianist arrived! I went over to
talk to her and found out that she was a Vocal Performance Major and had just received
her Masters while living in Italy. She had served her mission in Rome just after
our son, Austin, had!
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| Erica Lovell - I was pretty far, but her beautiful voice lifted all of ours! |
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| Erica Lovell |
English Sacrament Meeting
The time was changed on our site so it
was still a bit confusing, but the situation was improved from before. We
welcomed about 65 people who attended the meeting. We enjoyed meeting who we
could but mostly enjoyed their sweet testimonies and desire to take the time to
stop and honor their covenants to put God and his son, Jesus Christ, first!
LETTERS AND MAGAZINES OF LOVE
Periodically we receive a letter in the
mail and recently we received one from Micaela Hunsaker! It was so amazing to
hear her speak with such maturity through her words of love! She is nearly 9 years
old! We love you Micaela and all our dear grandchildren who have written us and
our children. We love any letters or packages that land on our doorstep! They mean so much!
Our daughter, Camille started at the
beginning of the year to put together a magazine of their family to the
grandparents in Utah and Paris for each month. We now have four, one for each
month! It has been so wonderful to get a glimpse of their life each month. Each
one has a personal letter to us each month. The work and effort mean so much! Thank
you Camille, and each of your family for their time and love to share with us! Can you tell she is a pro photographer?
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| February magazine from the Duckworth family in Oregon |
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| April magazine - one of Emma's upcoming baptism photos |
We pray each of you are feeling warmth
and sunshine in your soul no matter what the weather is like and no matter what
trials you may be facing, we pray you know where to find the light, the
sunshine and the warmth of our Savior, Jesus Christ! He is not far!
Il y a du Soleil dans mon Âme (There is Sunshine in my Soul),
Elder et
Soeur Packer
Grandpère
et Mémé Packer (Please be sure and use the last name on any mail, or it
will get returned)
Our Address:
4 quai du Marché Neuf
75004 PARIS
FRANCE
Email address: Renée: srpacker10@gmail.com
Steve: wf-packer@hotmail.com
You may
still text or FaceTime Renée at 801-564-1332
We are 8 hours ahead of Mountain Standard
Time
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