Packers France Paris Mission Blog 91
Packers in Paris Blog 91
– Dec 2nd – Dec 9th, 2019
DINNER WITH
OUR DISTRICT
CONTACTING
IN THE COLD
DATE NIGHT
AT PARIS BEAUBOURG
LE LIAHONA (ENSIGN) ARTICLE PROJECT REQUEST
This has nothing to do with our mission, but nevertheless it was inspiring to say the least, how anyone could do what my friend, Jennifer Erickson and her daughter, Ashlyn did!
NORTONS FROM
HIGHLAND, UT
SABBATH
BLESSINGS!
MONDAY
PRESIDENT’S INTERVIEW, OFFICE COUPLES AND SWEET VISIT WITH DIOR MARTIN!
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
ONE OF OUR
FAVORITE PEOPLE!
While
in Salt Lake at the Church Office Building, between our meetings, we went to my
favorite place, the document center to see our good friend, David Mensah and
his office team. I had forgotten to put this photo and post in Blog 89 (though
I did 1-2 days later) and its story, because as I had been reviewing the order
of our meetings, this wasn’t a meeting and consequently I left it out! It
wasn’t until one or two nights later that I realized what I had done and
honestly felt horrible! David is a dear friend and kind and good man to
everyone! He is a special part of our history that needs to be preserved!
David
Mensah is the general manager of the Document Center in the Church Office
Building. He has done a lot of work for me in various callings that I have had
and while also serving as a church missionary on Temple Square and personal
needs.
Every
day I use items that I have had printed at the document center, for my
scripture study, journal paper I designed and thank you cards, not to count
many other items in the past. Thank you dearly David for all your friendship
and goodness to all!
 |
| Elder and Sister Packer and David Mensah - general manager of the church's document center |
Last
Tuesday, we had another dinner ‘chez nous’ for our district, as the next day Sister
Mattice would be transferred to the Epinal Branch. We will dearly miss her and certain
she will be such a wonderful force for good in her new area, east of Paris,
close to Germany. We were most grateful we weren’t losing any others!
Knowing
they were coming to dinner shortly after our trip back from Utah, I brought
back some American Cheddar cheese, which you just can’t buy here (isn’t this
the cheese capital of the world?)! I also brought back a couple of more things
to make my favorite tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches and our favorite
artichoke dip and our scrumptious celestial sugar cookies. I think it hit their
American belly and they were pleased to have a taste of home!
 |
| Sisters Severson and Allred - dessert was all that was captured |
 |
| The Paris District |
 |
| Elders Poulin, Jones, Farnsworth, Sun and Sisters, Mattice, Lofgreen, Severson, Allred |
AWARD
GIVEN TO OUR DISTRICT!
With
almost two weeks behind us of our three-week pilot (hopefully it’ll continue),
we have been so overwhelmingly pleased! The most heartwarming reward though was
how much they have enjoyed their experiences as they shared their thoughts over
dinner. We learned some valuable tips from them as well. They were grateful and
hopeful that it continues.
NEW ASSISTANT
TO THE PRESIDENT
We
were so happy that one of the new Assistant to the President is Elder Patrick,
who had been in our District previously and was an excellent missionary. He and
Elder LaFrance are a dynamic duo!
 |
| Elders Patrick and LaFrance, latest Assistants to the President studying in the Center |
Sister
Lofgreen and Sister Moon were so brave to contact in the cold in front of our
center. Sister Moon is the new Sister Training Leader with Sister Lofgreen! We
now have two red heads in our district, but more importantly, she is a
wonderful woman, thoughtful, courageous and a great missionary!
 |
| Sister Lofgreen and Moon - contacting in the frigid outside the center! They seem to love the cold when they know they can talk to people and try to help them, which they did! |
One
of our favorite restaurants is at Paris Beaubourg. This restaurant is right by
our center and only a 15-minute walk from our apartment. It was worth the walk
from our apartment that night! It does our heart good to have this time
together weekly to take our minds off of our assignments.
Mostly,
we love being together every single day and having time to enjoy our mission
side by side whatever it may be!
 |
| Paris Beaubourg! The large mural behind us reminds us that we were just in Utah! |
Last
February, Richard Romney from church magazines contacted me to see if I could
find some youth from this area to share their thoughts and traditions centered
around Christmas Time.
He
also wanted high resolution photos and all of it had to be sent in by a certain
date, not far off! I did all I could to find people to take the photos (as I
knew I didn’t have time), but none could be available in the time frame we had.
Finding people who had any kind of photos that were related to Christmas time
was a challenge as well.
After
much searching, I found two youth who agreed to share their stories and find
some kind of photos they already had to share, though they weren’t high
resolution, it was all they had. Miriam Goreeba and Alexi Lalaus are the two great youth featured!
Through
a series of back and forth, all documents were finally gathered and emailed to
Richard and finally in the December Liahona that just arrived, the articles
came out (all in French). If any of you read French, I’ll send you the link and
page numbers for you to view! These two are exceptional youth and grateful they
were chosen to be in the church magazine.
 |
| Miriam Goreeba, far right, who wrote the thoughts in the magazine |
 |
Alexis Lalaus and his father on the far right, Phillipe - forgot the name of the man in the middle, but each are remarkable men of God!
|
GINGERBREAD
MANSION CREATION
This has nothing to do with our mission, but nevertheless it was inspiring to say the least, how anyone could do what my friend, Jennifer Erickson and her daughter, Ashlyn did!
This
Mansion first was built by the Eccles family and later bought by Jennifer’s
parents, when they only had one child. As a young girl Jennifer lived in the
mansion, where #’s 2-11 siblings were born (if you’re going to have a mansion,
you might as well fill it)! Every year Jennifer makes gingerbread houses, I
guess more than your typical kind. This year her daughter begged her to make a
gingerbread house of the home she grew up in. Long story short, after hours and
hours and sweat and tears and a lot of stress, Jennifer and Ashlyn actually finished
building an exquisite mansion gingerbread home, the very home where she grew up
in Logan, UT! I can’t imagine doing anything like this, but everyone has their
talents and through hard work, we can accomplish things that are magnificent
and build bonds of love at the same time. As Jennifer shared more of her story
with me, it was clear that this was more than time building a mansion of
gingerbread, but instead of a mansion of relationships of love and memories
that will forever be preserved!
This
gingerbread home is displayed in the window of Needham family jewelry store in
Logan.
SE Needham Jewelers (Utah’s oldest jewelry store, since 1896)
Monday - Saturday 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
141 North Main, Logan, UT
 |
| Jennifer and Ashlyn Erickson - creators of the Eccles Mansion - This home was at first the Eccles home, who had donated nearly a billion dollars in various needs. Afterwards Jennifer's family moved in afterwards! |
 |
| The Eccles Mansion now - photo sent to me by Jennifer Needham Erickson |
 |
| Front view of the Eccles home - photo sent to me by Jennifer Needham Erickson |
Though
we didn’t know the Nortons previously, they came early to church before it was
open and since we were in the center early ourselves, and thinking we were the
church building, they came in. We had such a delightful visit with them!
Brother Norton was here on a business trip, and they took a detour with the
whole family to see the Paris sites. We could see what a special family they were as we visited!
 |
| The Norton Family |
Each
Sunday we see the familiar and loving faces that we are going to miss terribly.
They are filled with such light and so much love for everyone! We have grown to
love them immensely and as we interchange with them, we are quietly reminded
that our time with them is precious and to make sure make we don’t pass them by
without a smile, handshake, bisous and perhaps when we can a special conversation.
Today
the Relief Society lesson was so magnificent on allowing the love and light of
Christ to enter our hearts so that we are filled with hope, love and a desire
to reach out to others and walk the walk of faith, which in turns brings us so
much joy! As I looked around, I captured the image of this captive audience,
who are so desirous to improve and to understand and lift others. These people
are so dear to us! We have made such dear friendships that we know are eternal
and that someday, if not in this life, we will see each other again! What a joyful
day that will be!
 |
| The comments contributed by these 5 women alone, during the RS lesson, were absolutely inspired! How I love each of the Relief Society Sisters in this ward! |
 |
| Sisters Allred and Severson - church wouldn't be without the beautiful faces of our sister missionaries! |
Because of the major transportation strikes
going on possibly all month long, getting to our appointment went ok, but
getting back was a different story! It took us 2.5 hours, for what should have
been 45 minutes. It’s literally has caused major havoc all over Paris every day,
coupled with periodic manifestations and their destructions.
We had a wonderful interview with
the president and felt of his great support in our efforts. He’s so pleased
with our most recent pilot with the two districts in Paris and we grateful for
his continued support to move forward.
While there we said hello to the Harmons
and Crains and our new APP’s (Assistants to the President). What would we do
without them! They are invaluable!!!
 |
| President Sorensen and Elder and Sister Packer |
 |
| Elder and Sister Crain |
 |
| Elder and Sister Harmon |
 |
| Elders Patrick and LaFrance |
Dior Martin visit
On
our way coming home, we received a phone call from a dear friend in the
ward, who needed a priesthood blessing from my husband. Once we got home, we
left for hers. We spoke for some time and then Steve gave her a powerful
blessing that was just what she needed. He left so that he could get to the
center and I remained to visit for a while! It was quite a sacred visit and one that will bless both her and me! She is an amazing single mother and
woman, with two adorable children. Our visit and the blessing was just what was
needed. This is something each of us could use here and there and yet often, we
hesitate to ask! She is a glow of energy, so much love and gratitude and her
children dearly love their mom! |
| Dior Martin, Hyrum and Kalia |
~~~~~~~~~
Our
schedule from here on out may be more full than ever, but we are going to do our best to enjoy
and savor each day, love the cold, wind and rain and periodic snow, love
the crowded and insane streets, love the cobble stones a little more, love the crowded
buses, love even more the wonderful neighbors we have, the dear people we pass
by at the local stores, crêperie, and restaurants, those who visit our center
for the first time or more often and especially all our dear friends at church! Leaving soon has caused us to reflect
on how much we can so easily take for granted our everyday experiences and our
everyday walks in a very memorable place, called Paris or wherever it is we may
live! We are beyond grateful!
Joie au monde (Joy to
the World),
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
Comments
Post a Comment