Packers in Paris Blog 77
– August 19th – Sept 1st, 2019
TEMPLE PDAY
AND UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS
We
looked forward to this P-Day and attending the temple. As we were riding on the
RER, we met a couple from Chicago, but the husband was originally from Israel
and the wife from Kyiv, Ukraine. As we got to know them, we eventually told
them what we were doing here. I gave them one of our cards and explained more of
the Family History side. As the wife from Kyiv spoke, she was delighted to know
how many ways that FamilySearch has to help her find her ancestors. We have some
beautiful experiences with those who have entered our center from Israel and have
found many of their ancestors through our site. She was energized to go back to
Chicago and find one of the FamilySearch Centers nearby.
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| Mr and Mrs. Kohl from Chicago - encouraging them to do Family History! |
As
we approached the temple, we had not realized that the 5 departing missionaries
who were going home between transfers would be attending the temple, and furthermore
would be in the same endowment session as ours. We were so happy to be with
them.
We
then found out that a dear former sister missionary (Utile Nduwimana) who had
served in the Paris Temple Visitor Center previously was getting sealed shortly
after the session. After the session, we were invited to attend the sealing. I
knew this dear sister and we were so happy we could join them. It was a
beautiful sealing and her husband had his family were all there in the temple.
But since her family (who are all from Africa) are not members of our faith, they
waited outside and were all dressed in their brilliant colorful robes. They
were absolutely lovely and beautiful people!
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| President and Sister Sorensen with the mother and aunt of Utile Nduwimana |
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| Sister Sorensen with the mother, aunt, sister of Utile Nduwimana |
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| Sisters, some departing and others staying but all served in the Visitor Center |
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| Utile Nduwimana's family |
As
we waited for the couple to come out of the temple, I took several photos! It
was a joyous and delightful experience to be there. They looked so very happy!
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| Bride and Groom |
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| President and Sister Sorensen |
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| Elders Packer, Kiene and Sisters Packer and Ding! Elder Kiene (departing) was in our District! |
THE
PARIS FAMILY HISTORY CENTER (FORMER NAME) MADE THE FRONT END OF THE CHURCH’S WEBSITE
(FOUND IN THE FRENCH SIDE)
For just a short while this past
week if you go on the church’s website (French option) you can scroll to the
bottom and see our center as it was over 6 months ago.
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| Nouveau Centre means New Center (though this was nearly 11 months ago and not the name we use now! It's nice to see the church share about the great advantages of having Family History in full bloom here in Paris. |
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| Taken from our Open House back last October of 2018 |
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| From our Open House last October of 2018 |
How
could one drive to Mongolia and back in three hours? It was so unexpected! Did
you know that when you go to an embassy, you are literally standing on that country’s
territory? We did not!
Last
Wednesday, Prisen Coopen (our ward clerk) and the Paris Sisters, myself and
Avarzed drove in a little car to the Mongolian Embassy. We had no idea what we
would find, but when we walked in there was one man behind an opaque window and
only spoke English and Mongolian (thankfully the two languages we needed).
We
found out at this meeting what documents would be needed to get her legal
papers in order and will begin working on that procedure. By the end of the week,
we got scanned documents of everything and are praying that it is what they
need.
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| Those of us who traveled to Mongolia and back (to the Mongolian Embassy) |
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| Me, Avarzed, Sisters Tabiliran and Doughman and Prisen Coopen! |
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| Sisters Tabiliran, Doughman and Avarzed |
OUR WEEK OF MIRACLES
AND HARD WITH AVARZED!
For
the past few months there has been a reoccurring theme of our mission, and that
is, when hard things happen miracles can also happen either simultaneously or
closely spread out, nevertheless, this is not uncommon when the Lord desires to
bring about sacred blessings in our lives. He rarely shows us the end of the
road, nor very far into the path, but through His grace if we are ever so trying,
taking leaps of faith, staying diligent, and are willing to go through the hard,
He will allow little glimpses into where we are going and the blessings that
await us if we endure. In fact, He will be with us on our journey, every step
of the way if we allow Him that privilege since he has already walked our individual
path!
This
is the case with our dear Mongolian friend, Avarzed. Our experiences helping her,
especially in larger measure this past week, has taught us so much and yet given
her hope that in the future she will get back with her family. Her story is
much longer than I dare share here, but what we’ve experienced the past 5
months, and more recently, has grabbed our hearts to love more deeply. This
woman was meant to be here for us, and maybe perhaps her life will have had
more purpose and meaning as well. We love this woman, we cherish what we’ve
experienced with her and our prayers will not stop till she is well taken care
of and safe!
We
aren’t sure why the Lord chose us to go through this choice, and at times very
hard, experience with Avarzed, but we are continually learning lessons that
humble us and cause us to stretch and grow our hearts and even our muscles.
This woman has changed our lives, especially those of us who have taken her
into our arms and loved her. We have seen the blessings of Christlike love that
blesses the giver and the receiver. Avarzed is filled with love and compassion
and is an extremely hard worker and is quite stubborn to receive help, but
nevertheless she allowed us to help her, only because we said she could help in
cleaning the church house. It put a large smile on her face. She also has a
daughter serving a mission in Mongolia.
Thankfully
her former bishop and counselor in Mongolia speak beautiful English and have
been extremely helpful when we can talk and or send a message to them and they
call her. But most often it’s all through Google Translate!
Forgive
this part of her story being so lengthy, but savoring it was important to me.
Skip if you wish!
____________
Starting
the beginning of this past week, we began our search for an Airbnb for Avarzed
with the Bishop’s approval to find her a place temporarily while we help this
dear woman get everything in her life situated so she could go to Spain to be
with her sister and mother. We thought this process would be fairly simple but
were we ever in for a huge surprise. The Airbnb didn’t work for 5 days, so we
put her up in a hotel nearby. She felt like a queen! This woman is so full of
patience, love, forgiveness, always giving gratitude for every little thing in
her life or that anyone helps her with. She is filled with so much light! And
now her light is filled with hope!
Wednesday,
we picked up all her luggage at a homeless storage area. It was so helpful to
have Sisters Tabiliran and Doughman and Elders Jones and Poulin come with us.
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| Avarzed putting all things in order after retrieving all the rest of her belongings. |
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| Avarzed in one of her hotels and felt so special! |
Friday
was a blessed experience. Prisen had noticed earlier last week that Avarzed had
an appointment with a Dr at 3:00 p.m. I couldn’t see how it was going to happen,
but Prisen was insistent that we make this happen, since Avarzed had been told
by one of her sisters (who had caused much harm in putting a false name on all
her documents) that she had cancer after the last Dr visit and x-rays. We didn’t
know any better and knew we needed to get her to this Dr appointment. So,
Prisen, Avarzed, Georgette and I took another far drive. The hospital by the
way, brought back many memories of when I was a little girl (7 or 8) getting my
tonsils out in Belgium. The hospital looked as old and gave me eerie feelings
from that time so long ago.
Avarzed
did not want to use the false name that her sister had given her when they arrived
in Paris and never did. We went in there with every intention to clear her name
and be totally up front with the Dr and let him know what had happened and that
she and all of us wanted things to be under her correct name. After looking at
the papers she had from her former visit and x-rays, he concluded that it was
indeed not cancer, but instead a little cyst in her back and that it was
a very simple procedure.
He
was amazing and as I sat in that office, still feeling like a little girl some
54 years ago, I saw such a good and kind man who understood her plight. He
brought in his social worker who proceeded to tell her that if she would
continue under the false name, she could have everything paid for, all her
lodging paid and all food taken care of and that they would be fine with that
if she chose that. We knew that she nor any of us cared to go down that road. Having
honor and honesty was a much better option. They were absolutely in awe though
of this decision. They asked what the name of our church was, and the Dr. was
in awe that we would care for our members in this way.
He
then wrote up a prescription for another doctor to do the procedure and told us
it would not cost much at all and we stated that our church would be taking
care of the bill. We left there knowing we had witnessed a remarkable thing and
that the Lord had blessed us all in that visit.
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| Avarzed feeling peace after the Dr says no Cancer and that her name has been restored with honor! |
Sunday,
in between our church meetings, we held a meeting with the bishop, me, and our ward
clerk, Prisen, who has been so helpful in countless ways. We spoke of all her
needs right now and all that needed to be done to help her on her way. It was
so nice to have some dividing and conquering going on.
By
Sunday night, the Bishop had secured an Airbnb for a week for Avarzed (and more
when needed). She will not sleep outside again. This faithful and diligent
woman has every right to know of her divine worth and that her faithfulness has
brought her trial into a sense of peace now.
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| Our friend Avarzed! |
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| Avarzed and Sister Ding (who has been such a dear person to Avarzed) |
ONE
STORY OF MANY WHO’S LIVES ARE BEING BLESSED
One of the sweetest blessings of working in the center, is
hearing the beautiful stories of those who have been contacted through our
center by our missionaries or for those who happen to pass by and see the many areas
where we can help them. Nearly 50% of those who wish to sign up for classes,
also seek to know more about the religion behind these free services we offer.
Here is Faudji’s story that is remarkable. He’ll be baptized this Sunday and we
are grateful for those others who have had similar experiences because of our
center and have, and or planning on their upcoming baptism.
Faudji Telehala Story (written by Elder Sun)
Faudji's story is a real miracle. A year ago, in Holland, he decided
that he wanted to change his life, so he left everything that he had except for
a bike, his one-person tent, and his backpack. He started off on a journey
towards Portugal, hoping to be able to bike there before his money ran out. Unfortunately,
not long into the journey he discovered that he had only thirty dollars left in
his pocket. He changed course and headed for Paris. There, one year after
arriving, he ran into missionaries contacting in front of the Family
Resource Center, and in signing up for some resources checked the box to
learn more about the church. We called him not long after and set up a lesson
to meet him at the church. In getting to know him, he expressed to us his
desire to change himself, and cited it as his impetus for his journey away from
home. He showed an unmatched desire to change himself. As we prayed, read the
Book of Mormon, and learned about the Gospel with him it was clear that he had
been prepared by the Lord. Everything clicked for him when we taught him
repentance through the Atonement of Christ. With each following lesson his
desire to change himself changed into a more specific desire to repent, and
then again into a desire to be baptized. We're working towards his baptism on the
8th of September and he's well on track. It's been a blessing for us to be able
to teach someone so humble and prepared for the message of the Restoration, a
blessing that we would not have had if it were not for the Family Resource Center.
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| Faudji setting up his Family History with help of the Elders |
STAKE
CONFERENCE WEEKEND
We
were most grateful for Saturday night Stake Conference in Versailles, but
especially once we were finished giving our talks. Steve did a beautiful job
speaking in French with such fluidity. Our talks were combined and divided in
half, on the topic of, “Jesus Christ, Our Example of How to Gather Scattered
Israel.”
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| Saturday might, Stake Center in Versailles! |
What
was most amazing to me, was to watch the translators (who happened to be our Bishop
and his wife, Scott and Becky Stonehocker). Having a great view of what they
were doing, we were in awe of their efforts. They are both English speaking
Canadians and have mastered the French language beautifully. But being a
translator is a whole different story, and just watching them work back and
forth through the whole meeting was so impressive!
Sunday’s
Stake Conference was held in the Stake Center in Versailles, but also broadcast
to each Ward building. It also was a magnificent meeting and we were grateful
to be among our ward members.
Our
Sunday visitor’s meeting was smaller than normal since tourists have slowed
down considerably, but as usual very sweet to mingle with them afterwards and always
making connections.
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| The Packers with Susan and Paul Johnson - from Colorado and knew our daughter in law and family (the Spears) ! |
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| Sister and Brother Wade, friends of Susan and Paul Johnson |
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| Me with Avarzed! |
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| Avarzed with Sister Ding who treats the world with joy and optimism! |
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| Charlotte receiving help with Family Search by Flora |
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| Our District with Avarzed in the middle! They have all given her so much love and she feels it and feels so comfortable! |
In
between the two meetings, I met with our Bishop and the Ward Clerk to discuss how
to proceed with helping Avarzed. I was so grateful for his willingness to do
whatever we could to not only help her, but to give her a way to get back to
her family that is now in Spain.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As
we near the last 5 months of our 23-month mission, our emotions of leaving are becoming
a bit more tender. We are so grateful for each experience that has graced our
lives and for the blessings that have enriched us here and our family back
home. They are always in our heart and mind and we miss them terribly and can
see the Lord watching over them while we are absent. We testify of the Lord’s
love for each of His children. What we have gained during our time here has
taught and blessed us more than we could ever have thought possible. Words can
never fully express in this blog, in my journal or face to face, what has taken
place, but the Lord knows and that is all that truly matters. Isn’t that with
all of us! We desire to always be His instruments no matter where or how we
serve!
Parce qu’on m’a
beaucoup donné (Because I have been given much),
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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