Packers in Paris Blog 87
–Nov 3rd – Nov 11th, 2019
FAMILY
VISITORS FOR THE WEEK!
Camille
and her oldest daughter, Maliyah, almost 16 (who earned all the money for this
trip), have spent this past week with us and will have left on Tuesday the 12th
of November. Our week has been full in so many ways.
While
I spent time with the girls as much as I dared, Steve was such a dear to hold down
the fort again when he wasn’t joining us. We’re so blessed to have Heidi to
help when needed and then the Maxwells are there for their shifts. Though I spent
a little time in the center and attended District Council, it wasn’t as much as
I would have liked.
We
have much on our plate right now as we near the end of our mission, and time is
ticking. We are looking forward to meetings in Salt Lake with Brother Léporé when
we go to Utah for our daughter’s wedding, and possibly with others concerning
our work here to further all we can before we return at the end of our mission.
MIRACLE WEATHER THROUGHOUT THE WEEK!
When
one comes to Paris, the expectations of good weather is fairly low during the
fall and winter times.
If
I could just preface the rest of the week by saying the weather app for all of
us said rain and clouds every day (which we expected). Amazingly though, one
day at a time, the weather was quite magnificent, though the forecast for the next
day did not look good. Each day was a gift of beauty and sunshine! With it
being November, we could not have asked for more beautiful fall weather that
captured so much beauty, charm, and not to mention comfortableness! We only
have Him to thank for these sweet gifts!
MONDAY
ARRIVAL AND EIFFEL TOWER
After
we picked up Camille and Maliyah at the airport and came to our apartment, we then
took off for a wonderful afternoon to see the Eiffel Tower! It was beautiful,
though we were being threatened with a possible storm, the clouds became so
brilliant with each passing minute!
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| Maliyah and Camille - picking them up at the airport |
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| Maliyah's first site of Notre Dame and our apartment |
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| Maliyah (our oldest grandchid) with Gma Packer |
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| Maliyah, a rainbow and the Eiffel Tower - how much better can you get! |
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| Lego Eiffel Tower |
SAINT
CHAPELLE, LUXEMBOURG GARDENS AND SACRÉ COEUR
Just
around the corner from us is Saint Chapelle and the Luxembourg gardens. The
gardens do not let you down with their magnificent and beautiful flowers as
long as they can hold onto them.
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| Saint Chapelle - It's hard not to be imporessed with this beauty! |
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| Luxembourg Gardens - Still magnificent in the Fall |
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| Luxembourg Gardens |
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| Luxembourg Gardens - Statue of Liberty - one of the many replicas |
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| Maliyah, standing in front of the door of where I used to live nearly 42 yeras ago in Paris across the street of Luxembourg Gardens |
For
the rest of the day Steve joined us for Sacré Coeur and dinner out that
evening. Sharon also joined us for a brief time!
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| Beautiful tree on our walk up to Sacré Coeur |
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| Sacré Coeur |
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| The girls and I on the steps of Sacré Coeur |
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| Sacré Coeur - standing in front it's door! |
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| This was a similar pose that our Austin took in Paris 11 years ago |
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| Looking out from Sacré Coeur |
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| Nems - our favorite GF appetizer from C'Trobon |
VAN
GOGH ALTERIER DES LUMIERS
On
Wednesday Sharon met us girls at the Van Gogh lightshow and for my third time,
I was thrilled again to attend the lightshow!
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| Packer, Duckworth and Olsen girls |
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| Starry Night |
PARIS
TEMPLE – BAPTISMS – SRI LANKA NAMES
After
the Van Gogh light show, the girls and I took off for the Paris Temple to
assist with baptisms. Maliyah was the only one who did the baptisms, but we
helped in the baptistry. Camille was actually able to be a witness for the
first time! It was such a tender experience to finally go to the temple with a
grandchild after nearly two years!
As
we sat in the chapel waiting for Maliyah to be baptized, Elder and Sister Bradford,
a senior couple from our mission began to tell me the story of the man sitting
next to them. He had been baptized just 1.5 weeks ago and was from Sri Lanka.
He had already found many names to bring to the temple to be baptized this day.
His story is so beautiful and though it was not written down, I hope to retrieve
it from Sister Bradford and share it with you soon.
He
came up to me to see if Maliyah could do the female names of his family. There
were about 7-8 names, along with 4 names from my side of the family. Each of
these names he gave her were close family members that he knew personally, but they
had since all passed! By the time Maliyah went into the water to do the
baptisms I was handing out towels. Maliyah began to be baptized for my names
and the names of the man from Sri Lanka. At first, he didn’t realize his names were
being read and baptized, as I kept looking over to him, but as soon as he did his
eyes were fixed on each name for his deceased family members. Shortly afterwards
he was baptized for his deceased male family names. This had to have been such
a thrill for him. It certainly was for us!
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| Maliyah inside the Paris Temple Visitor Center |
VERSAILLES
CHÂTEAUX
Thursday,
we took off for the Versailles Châteaux. I will admit I was somewhat melancholy
as we walked through the gardens knowing that it was my last time there for a
long time. It was another magnificent day, though brisk, the sky was amazing,
the fall colors were beautiful and walking all around brought so much beauty
into my heart. We all enjoyed the day as we walked throughout the gardens being
together!
A FEW BEAUTIES OF VERSAILLE, ESPECIALLY THESE GIRLS BELOW!
PARIS SITES
– VENTUING WITHOUT US THROUGH THE REST OF THEIR STAY
Though
we have been to all of the sites, there came a time that I needed to let the girls
venture out on their own, and I was able to get some things done. This last
weekend they chose the Musée D’orsay, Musée L’Orangerie, going up to the top of
the Eiffel Tower and then to a Zoo not too far from here). The girls also went
souvenir shopping and took a stroll all around Notre Dame!
LOUVRE
Friday
night Steve joined us for a beautiful evening at the Louvre. We walked from our apartment there and back (20 min walk one way) and when we
first walked in we witness this incredible scene pictured below! Truly inspiring!
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| The scene we walked into to the courtyard of the Louvre |
We
didn’t think we would be able to see Mona Lisa, but the line was very short, surprisingly,
and we got in without a problem. It’s Mona Lisa, what more can I say. You don’t
miss it if you can help it! The rest was massive and filled with so much
history and art. I’ve always loved the Louvre, but not in one big bite!
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| Louvre - The Winged Victory |
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| Louvre - Mona Lisa |
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| Louvre - John the Beloved! |
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| Louvre - Islam artifacts - made from a single copper plate |
SHARON
TO THE RESCUE!
Steve
took Sharon to the airport with her two large bags, one of them ours (she
offered) as she returned back to Utah. After nearly two years, one does have
more than you come home with, some of which is souvenirs and such. Thank you,
Sharon and Steve, for getting this on its way!
MARIE
ANTOINETTE – CONCIERGERIE
Saturday
morning, Steve joined us for a new exhibition around the corner, in the Palais
de Justice, next to Saint Chapelle. It’s the new Marie Antoinette Exhibition in
the Conciergerie building. This building held the royal residence and prison.
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| Conciergerie - names of those who were executed - the room was filled with these plates throughout |
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| Conciergerie - Marie Antoinette's chapel prison room |
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| Conciergerie - Maliyah - pointing out maybe Becca should change her mind on a wedding dress! ;) |
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| Conciergerie - Maliyah, Camile and Steve |
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| Conciergerie - he's captured my heart! |
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| Conciergerie - some of the many movies that have been made about Marie Antoinette |
ADRIEN
AND GUYOME DINNER GUESTS
Camille
and her family had an exchange student last summer, whose name is Adrien from Angers,
France. His brother lives in Paris while attending school and so Adrien came to
visit the Duckworth’s.
Last
Saturday, they first met up near the Arc de Triomphe and then meandered till
they made it back to our apartment after several hours. They are both such good
and honorable young men and we enjoyed our evening with them.
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| Friends of Duckworths! Guyome and Adrien |
SUNDAY
WORSHIP
We
had such sweet visits and connections with our visitors and how we love our
time with the ward members. There was a family visiting from Gilbert, AZ who
knew Steve’s brother and wife (Brent and Sandy Packer). They are traveling in Europe
for 6 months. I admired them for this and enjoyed our brief visit.
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| Heather Humphries and her mother on the left! Traveling through with their family for 6 months throughout Europe, from Gilbert, AZ |
Each
week, as we get closer to our departure home, we are filled with so much
gratitude for the members in this ward. Their goodness, their thoughtfulness of
others, their ability to put aside the world for something better and to look
into the heart, rather than those things that might distinguish them from
others, no matter what that might be, is so beautiful to me! They see everyone
as a beautiful Child of God! They also need one another and that is so
important! We are family to each other!
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| Avarzed - our Mongolian frirend who just shines brighter each week! |
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| Charlotte, Max with us women! |
We
loved showing Maliyah our Family Resource Center and Steve got her hooked on
some of the fun Discovery Activities that we have.
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| Steve helping Maliyah with Discovery Activities in the Center |
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| Heidi helping Angie with Family Search |
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| Heidi, Angie and Sisters Lofgreen and Mattice |
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| Camille and Maliyah in the Center |
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| The Humphries Family from Gilbert, AZ |
Charlotte
and Max joined us at church, and we invited them for dinner later that night.
We were so grateful they joined us and it gave time for Camille and Charlotte
to get to know one another. Camille and Maliyah fell in love with Max as well. Charlotte
entertained us with her varied accents (she is quite the actress)!
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| Camille helping Max with drinking from a cup! |
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| Max receiving his new toy from Sharon that she left for us to give to him! |
MONDAY
– ZOOM MEETINGS
Today
we met via Zoom with our Mission President just as we begin a full week of
meetings in Versailles and here in Paris for a mission wide conference and
meetings. We were grateful to share with him some of our exciting updates from
the center and to continue to work together.
We
had previously heard from Bro Léporé about a Mission President in Germany who
is interested in starting a center like ours. Our Mission President said that the
Mission President in Germany came to him last week at an Area-wide Mission
President Seminar in Belgium, asking to receive more information on how to
begin a missionary driven center, like the one we have here. We have since been
asked to conference with this Mission President in Germany to help him get
started. The Area Presidency has been spreading the word of the efforts of the
center in Paris, seeing there has been some remarkable outcomes. We can see
that the fruits of the missionaries and this new direction are bringing about extraordinary
results!
Our
Zoom Conference with Brother Léporé is always enlightening! His efforts provide
us with the strength to continue. We plan on meeting with him and possibly
others when we travel back home for the wedding. There is always so much to
discuss and so it will help to visit in person.
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| Bro Léporé with us on a Zoom meeting |
HAPPY 16TH
BIRTHDAY MALILYAH – GMA’S SPECIAL ALONE TIME WITH HER
For
just a small moment, Monday evening, I took Maliyah out to lunch for her
birthday and we had a sweet and memorable time together! I am so proud of her
and that this girl has determination when she wants it! She earned so much
money on her own to come to Paris, she worked, saved, worked and saved some more!
So proud of you!
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| Farewells would be a bit harder if we weren't seeing them in a couple of weeks! |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My tribute to Elden Leigh Wood for Veterans Day!
This
dear man, my father, Elden Leigh Wood, is a hero to me and not only to his
posterity of over 230 family members, but to every single human who has ever
met or known him to this day! This is the power of influence for good that he has
had throughout his life, and still to this day at age of 94!
I
will be privileged and emotionally grateful to see him and my dear mother in 10
days for our brief stay in Utah as we attend our daughter's wedding!
I
will personally be able to pay him my utmost and sacred respect as my father
and for his service to his country and to the Lord and especially his family!
Though
he is a small framed man, he has a giant heart, a strong determination for good
and a loving spirit for all! I love you dad and on this Veterans Day and always
I honor you for your many sacrifices you have made which has shaped your soul
and all of ours! Your loving daughter, Renée
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| Elden - staff sargeant between 1945 - 1947 |
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| Elden in Korea 1946 |
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| Elden and Picola for their 85th and 90th Birthdays |
Voyez une armée
royale (Behold a Royal Army Hymn # 251),
Elder et Sœur 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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