Packers in Paris Blog 72 – July 22nd
– July 28th, 2019
DEDICATION PRAYER
FOR THE CENTER
From the beginning, since the Center was first
opened, it was our desire to have a simple dedicatory prayer for the center, but
it never happened. We finally went ahead, especially since we had just deep cleaned
it thoroughly!
Prior to District Council Steve did another thorough
cleaning. After District Council Monday morning, we invited all 4 companionships
to come to the center afterwards for a simple gathering and to bless the center
for the great efforts and work that is done in the center.
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| Just after our dedicatory prayer! They are truly a magnificent team of missionaries! |
It was such a tender and beautiful gathering for
this event, where the spirit was felt in abundance. The purpose of what this
center is about has far reaching value that perhaps we don’t even have a clue,
but we do know all the good that is happening thus far!
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| Elder and Sister Packer |
MICHAEL AND ANNIE BUSH VISIT
Later in the day on Monday, Michael and Annie Bush
stopped by. They had previously served in the Paris Temple Visitor Center,
finishing last October, and had not yet seen this center! They have been traveling
for the past couple of months in Europe and making the rounds to visit the
Senior Couples and others from their mission. It was such a delightful visit with
them! They loved what is happening and the changes from earlier this year with
the Family Resource Center.
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| Annie and Michael Bush - former missionaries from last year serving in the Paris Temple Visitor Center |
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| Elder and Sister Packer helping a woman with her Family History - She was so grateful for this help! |
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| Elder Jones, Fred Tan (Amazing Ward Missino Leader) and Elder Ballard - Fred left this last week! |
PDAY - TEMPLE IN THE MORNING, THE PANTHEON & LA MAISON
DE VERLAINE RESTAURANT IN THE EVENING
Finally, we were able to go to the temple and enjoy performing
some sacred ordinances! It was what my heart yearned for, and to enjoy this
time with Steve! It was great to bump into Brother Sylvain Wu who is a recent
convert and loves coming to the temple!
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| Elder and Sister Packer at the Paris Temple |
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| Sylvain Wu with us at the Paris Temple |
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| Flowers at the Paris Temple |
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| Paris Temple water fountain |
The Pantheon
After we returned home, we then took off to see the
Patheon (former Roman Temple)! It was quite magnificent, where it also houses
the tombs of famous people, such as Voltaire (He helped popularize the famous tale about Sir Isaac Newton and the
apple and so much more), Marie Curie Sklodowska (most famous woman in science) and Victor Hugo (Poet and writer! Notable works:
Hernani (drama, 1830), Les Feuilles d'automne (poems, 1831), Notre-Dame de
Paris (novel, 1831), and Les Misérables (novel, 1862).
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| Pantheon in Paris |
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| Pantheon |
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| Pantheon |
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| The Foucault Pendulum in the Pantheon |
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| Dome in Pantheon |
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| Sculpture in Pantheon |
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| Elder and Sister Packer in the Pantheon |
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| Voltaire buried in the Pantheon |
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| Marie Curie S buried in the Pantheon |
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| Victor Hugo buried in the Pantheon |
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| P. Corneille - 1606 - 1664 - One of the three great seventeenth- century French dramatists |
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| Eglise Saint Etienne |
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| Organ Pipes in Eglise Saint Etienne |
La Maison de Verlaine
It was only a year ago we ate here with the Gaillards
from Dijon, France on July 24th as they treated us to this amazing
restaurant! We loved it so much that we came back again, not quite realizing it
was a year apart.
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| Such a beautiful atmosphere inside and out! |
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| La Maison de Verlaine - we had eaten here a year ago! Loved it! |
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| Panthteon |
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| Love the beautiful flowers in Paris |
IT’S A GIRL & EMMA’S BIRTHDAY 7-28-19
Our son, Austin and his wife, Emma have been so
grateful for the pregnancy of their IVF baby! Because it was an IVF baby, they
have the ability to find out much sooner the gender. They went
ahead and submitted to find out sooner. They were pretty much expecting it was
a boy and were overjoyed that the stork was bringing a girl this time!
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| Emma with baby Bowen and Austin just having popped the balloon of pink confetti |
Emma Howes Packer’s 26th birthday is on
the same day as my dear mother (7-28-19), which is written about further down.
I’ve not been consistent with anything on this blog, I’m sure, and taking note
of all 43 of our posterity’s birthdays is one of them that has not happened,
but in rare cases. Emma has blessed our family more than we can ever say, and
we are so grateful that she is part of our eternal family! We love her family
as well! She is such a beautiful presence of calmness, love, patience,
goodness, kindness and charity all wrapped up in one! Happy Birthday Emma!
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| Emma on her left, with her dear mother, Wende Howes |
OUR YOUNGEST IS A COLLEGE GRADUATE – MARRIAGE AND FAMILY STUDIES
We’ve looked forward to this day for a very long time!
Our youngest, Becca Michelle Packer, graduated last Tuesday, July 23rd,
2019. She spent the last couple of years finishing her Bachelor’s degree online
from BYU-I. She and her sister, Janine Hunsaker drove up for this event,
graduating in Marriage and Family Studies! Though she was once studying Choral
Education for two years prior to her mission, she has proven to be in the field
she is most passionate about. She works with female young troubled teens in a home
where these young girls live full time! Her skills have been remarkable how she
handles very challenging circumstances and is gifted with how to respond to
them and help them! CONGRATULATIONS Becca! Some of these photos are taken by Camille,
her sister, from when they all joined for the family reunion in Rexburg, ID and
then Janine took the others the day of! I don’t know which photos are by whom!
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| Facetime screenshot prior to going to Becca's graduation! - Janine Packer Hunsaker and Becca Packer |
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| Photo credit - Janine Packer Hunsaker |
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| Photo credit - Janine Packer Hunsaker |
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| Photo credit - Janine Packer Hunsaker |
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| Photo credit - Janine Packer Hunsaker |
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| Selfie with Becca's sister, Janine |
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| Photo credit - Camille Duckworth |
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| Photo credit - Camille Duckworth |
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| Photo credit - Camille Duckworth |
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| Photo credit - Camille Duckworth |
24TH OF JULY (PIONEER DAY)
For those of you who are not aware, each year Utah
celebrates the 24th of July, or aptly called, Pioneer Day! It commemorates
the entry of Brigham Young and the first group of pioneers from the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847!
It is celebrated by parades big and small, with fireworks and concerts and
family gatherings. We love the 24th of July!
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| Days of 47 Parade in Salt Lake, UT |
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| Days of 47 Parade in Salt Lake, UT |
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| Days of 47 Parade in Salt Lake, UT |
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| Days of 47 Parade in Salt Lake, UT |
OPHÉLIE MUNIER – A WIFE, MOTHER, A MEMBER OF OUR WARD AND FRENCH
TELEVISION PRESENTER
Ophélie Munier is in our ward and her parents serve
as Paris Temple Visitor Center guides. She is also a French television presenter!
She had a baby about 6 weeks ago! She was front page of the Paris March
magazine! She is such a kind and generous woman and an incredible Sunday School
teacher!
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| Ophelie Meunier - Member of our Paris Ward! |
RECORD HEAT IN PARIS – 108.6 F OR 42.6 C
We were here when the record heat of Paris came to
bite us hard! We are told this was the highest temperature in the recorded
history of Paris! It would have been ok if we had been swimming, in a cool
building, or sitting in front of a refrigerator with the door wide open, but no,
we had to travel an hour away and an hour back and walk through the muggy heat
and we did it with a smile, laughing at how insane this was! With the humidity
more than normal, it increased the uncomfortableness even more!
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| It was 108.6 degrees to be exact! |
VISIT WITH PRESIDENT SORENSEN & MISSION RECORD BOOKS FROM
EARLY 1960’S
We met with President Sorensen to follow up with
requests that we had made with him. We were so grateful for his willingness to
meet with our district via a Zoom Conference this week to move things forward
with using the resources to serve those in this community more readily with the
missionaries. He is very supportive and can see the great value of these resources.
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| Elder and Sister Lynn - they only have about 4-5 weeks left |
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| Elder and Sister Harmon - Over housing and more... |
While at the Mission Office, we were shown two large
books titled, Record of Missionary! Inside these books is the information about
each missionary starting from the early 60’s. We think perhaps there would be
records of some of the missionaries who actually came to help with the construction
of the chapel in Charleroi, Belgium when we lived there form 1962-1966.
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| Missionary Record book from the early 1960's |
VISIT FROM JEAN MICHEL & BEATRICE GAILLARD AND FAMILY
Interestingly enough, just two days after we ate at
the restaurant we had gone to with the Gaillards a year ago this last week, they
(the Gaillards and two of their children, Clement and Flavie) came to see us on
July 25th. They had not seen the center before and we enjoyed a
sweet visit and this time getting to see Flavie! What amazing people they are! Jean-Michell
and Beatrice are now expecting their first two grandchildren! Flavie is back
from her mission in Hong Kong and Clement’s wife, who is in China, is expecting
their first child, and Celine is back in Utah is expecting her first as well.
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| Jean Michel, Flavie, Beatrice and Clement Gaillard from Dijon, France |
MISSIONARIES INFRONT OF CENTER
CONTACTING
This last week we had two sets of missionaries contacting
outside, one of them was on the hottest day ever in history! The Elders had
ice water for anyone needing to cool off and though many people stopped, but they were too hot to want to
stop and go inside! It gave them a chance though to think about the resources
that are there if they are in need
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| Elden Larson and Mcdougal |
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| Elden Larson and Mcdougal |
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| Sisters Jensen and Andreason |
Our District was looking forward to another meal at
the Packer’s apartment! It’s not an easy thing to throw a meal together in our small
kitchen. What made it interesting was the extreme humidity, though the temperature
was much lower, it was just as hot, because the humidity was much higher. So,
with the oven going and the stove top on for a long period of time, it felt
like I was actually baking myself.
I prepared for them an Olive Garden type dinner, but
then the dessert was the sweet end of the meal. I call it, Exalted Apple Wraps.
It was a hit! The sacrifice to show them our love and appreciation was worth
the efforts in the heat! We attempt a dinner every 6 weeks with our 8
missionaries, but it doesn’t always happen.
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| The Dream Team - District |
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| Renee's Exalted Apple Wraps |
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| The District, possibly the last time before some may leave |
MARIE-CLAUDE – A BLESSING FROM HEAVEN
We have been looking for a place that Heidi Sugden
could live when she comes back in the fall and yet struggling where to find
something affordable, safe and closer than where she was prior!
Ben Poussard, from our ward, called Steve to let him
know he knew of a place only 30 minutes away that would have a single bedroom,
a private bathroom and share the kitchen, for a very reasonable price. We made
an appointment to connect with Marie-Claude last Saturday. Ben took us there to
meet her!
We not only fell in love with her beautiful home that
Heidi would stay in, but we also fell in love with Marie-Claude. She is a
retired professor of piano at one of the Universities and still teaches 21
students, we think she is in her 80’s. She reminds me of my mother!
She is as nice as can be, keeps a beautiful and
clean home, and has the upstairs to rent out, but Heidi will be able to use the
kitchen as well. If Marie-Claude is needing to take off, she can feel very safe
with Heidi being left alone and caring well for the place. We know that
miracles are alive and well here in Paris! Thanks to the Lord and to Ben
Poussard!
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| Marie-Claude - home owner of where Heidi Sugden will be renting |
AMADOU FALL’S BAPTISM – OUR THIRD BAPTISM FROM THE CENTER
This last Saturday was Amadou Fall’s
baptism, but only one of us could attend, even though we both desperately
wanted to. I had been asked the day prior if I could speak at the baptism on
the Gift of the Holy Ghost. At this point Steve insisted that it was me that go!
😉 He could’ve
easily given it in English and have the missionaries translate, but I was
grateful to be there to support Amadou and make another sweet connection with
Sister Wendy Ding’s friend from China! She is such a dear woman and we
connected very well (thankfully she spoke French, as my Chinese is limited to
one word)!
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| Amadou sharing his testimony with such strength, conviction and eloquence! He has such a great presence and yet humility! |
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| Elder Jones, Amadou and Elder Ballard (who baptized him) |
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| Friends of Amadou Fall |
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| Sister Wendy Ding (far right) brought her friend in the middle to see Amadou's Baptism |
Amadou’s story is so beautiful and
I will share it below, as written by Elder Ballard. When he spoke and bore
testimony at his baptism, he was so articulate, calm and poised with such a strengthening
presence. There is no doubt, he’s an educated man, filled with love and the
spirit of God. He is a refugee from Senegal, West Africa who is still trying to
get his financial and work life in order after fleeing his country. The gospel
has been his greatest blessing in his life.
The Elders finally contacted him
toward the end of May as a result of the referral
from the Family Resource Center.
In the words of the Elder that is teaching him, “From the moment we met with
Amadou and told him about the Book of Mormon [since he wanted to learn more
about the gospel], I could tell there was something special about this man. The
first time we got in contact, he told us he didn’t have time because he was
currently searching for a job, but a couple weeks later he had time. As I
handed him the Book of Mormon and told him God had called prophets in the
Americas. He gave me a very wide-eyed look and couldn’t believe he didn’t know
about it before. We told him it could change his life, and indeed it did!
One week later we called him to
see how he was doing. For the next 25 minutes he described the stories of Nephi
and Lehi and how the spirit led them across the waters, and much more. The next
time we met he told us he received an answer from God that it was true, without
us even asking him to do so. When we had appointments with him, we would meet
at the church where we often found him reading the Book of Mormon and waiting
for us. A lot of times I felt like he was teaching us. After a month, he has
already finished it and is getting baptized very soon. I’ve never met someone
more prepared and humble on my mission.”
SUNDAY BLESSINGS
Sundays in Paris are never dull! Though each day is
filled with inspiring and busy experiences, Sundays seem to put the cap on the
beauty of our purpose! I can only share a snippet of what really goes on each
day here, but we are grateful for the people, the opportunities, the sacredness
of what transpires.
We love the visitors who come to Paris and our Paris
Ward, and listen to their amazing stories. Often we have former missionaries
who served here recently or 5-50 + years ago! We love hearing their stories and
how they’ve waited all their lives to come back to visit, or those who frequent
their mission because once here, you can’t stay away! I’m afraid we will become
one of the statistics of coming back some day!
We met Elder Bright’s family, Zachary who just returned
6 weeks ago and came back with his family. He introduced his family and it didn’t
take long before we made connections with three of each of our mutual friends.
It is a small world!
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| The Bright Family from Colorado - Elder Bright second from right, jus returned 6 weeks ago from his mission here in Paris! |
Sharon Olson, our dear friend from Utah, stopped
over night on her way back from her two week adventure. She was able to drop into
the English sacrament meeting and connect with Charlotte! She then joined us
for dinner, visited Charlotte that night and then spent a quick overnight before
heading back early to Utah! She packs more good into a day, week and month than
most, and all of it is of great worth, with some play on the side!
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| Sharon just waking up from taking a nap right next to the Eiffel Tower just prior to the finish of the Tour de France |
TOUR DE FRANCE JULY 6-28 ENDING IN PARIS ON THE CHAMPS ÉLYSÉE
It’s as if it didn’t even happen, as far as we are concerned
(since we can’t join in celebrations with large crowds), but it’s still cool
that the Tour de France finished just less than 3 miles from where we live! So,
I might as well post photos!
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| Tour de France ending on CHAMPS ÉLYSÉE in Paris |
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| Egan Bernal - Winner of Tour de France |
JULY 28TH - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOTHER AND EMMA
PACKER (DAUGHTER-IN-LAW)
In a typed letter I wrote
my mother for her birthday, I couldn’t help but want to share more than I
should in this blog, but with my feelings for her and all that she has given
me, I wanted to record it as a special keepsake in this blog! She has given me
so much! How dearly I love her! Happy Birthday Mother!
“I am so grateful for you
and your love and your concern you’ve always shown me throughout my life! You
have always been there to be a listening ear on the other side of a phone call,
or in person. Those late nights in the evening after a date, you never failed
to stay up and just let me talk about my evening. That has stayed in my memory
all these years and taught me the importance of showing not only that you care,
but the importance of talk time!
I will always be grateful
for your faith in me to spend time with improving my talents, especially in
music. I’m forever thankful for your love and devotion in helping to provide
funds for me to live in Paris 41.5 years ago. That time so many years ago, while
now living here in Paris, had a significant impact on my receiving personal
revelation for our mission now! How blessed I am to serve with my dear Steve!
Thank you for always loving him! He is as amazing as you’ve always treated him!
Your example throughout
of love and devotion to serving the Lord and those around you, must have
printed a small DNA stamp in my heart to know of its importance and to strive
to follow the best I can.
I will forever be
grateful for your willingness to follow the Lord’s will, not yours to go down
those challenging roads to raise a family while dad was away serving and then
to raise a family in foreign soil and know that the Lord’s will would
ultimately bless your posterity. It has and continues to!
I am so grateful for the
gifts of music that has come through your sacrifice and devotion to me and
thousands that you and dad have touched throughout your lives. It has carried
through the generations and will continue to do so with a love and appreciation
for you and dad!
I love you so much and am grateful
for the peace I receive, though still longing for family, to help me focus on
the Lord and the work He desires for us while far away. You have done this your
whole life and so thank you! I will forever praise the name of my parents!”
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| Elden and Picola Wood - July 2015 (Their 85th and 90th Bdays) |
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| Elden and Picola Wood - 2016 |
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| My parents while serving in Halifax, Nova Scotia |
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| My parents and Alan, prior to my dad leaving on his mission to Paris for 2.5 years without his dear wife and son and # 2 on it's way! |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May each of you know how grateful we are for your
great examples in your own personal lives. We appreciate your love and support
for our efforts on our mission. Never hesitate to share an email of what your
goings on are from your neck of the woods! We have no doubt of the quiet acts
of goodness, as well as the hardships, that are taking place in each of your
lives! We love and appreciate you!
Que l’Amour de Dieu Soit Avec Toi (May God’s Love be With You),
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
VISIT WITH PRESIDENT SORENSEN & MISSION RECORD BOOKS FROM
EARLY 1960’S 
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