March 22, 2026

The weeks pass very quickly.  Sunday we went to church in Avignon.  It is a branch about the same size as Chalon with a very young branch presidency and half the population older than we are.  Some members were from Tahiti and some from the Caribbean - not quite as diverse as ours now.  There is a nice two story building but a piano rather than an organ.  We were surprised to see the Elder and Sr. Hansen there.  He served in Avignon 50 years ago and shared his testimony of being there with a total of 4 people.  They are now serving in Angoulême. 
 
Monday I purchased all the supplies for the mission tour meal except the pork which was already pulled and frozen. I made 5 litres of bbq sauce which took most of the day and hard boiled 40 eggs.  Tuesday we headed to the mission home and peeled 20 of the 32 pounds of potatoes and cut up cut up 3 stalks of celery.  We had a conversation with Pres. Schow about where we will serve our last 9 months. 

Wednesday we cooked all the potatoes and sprinkled them with vinegar, cut up the pickles and eggs.  I made all the salad dressing.  It took 3 hours to assemble potato salad for 120 missionaries with 4 of us working.  It was a relief to have that done. Sr. Berube made the cole slaw because she has a food processor.  Tom and I went to Promocash for paper plates that would not collapse, spring colored napkins, and plastic folks that would not break.  We were ready.  We zoomed Elder McConkie’s talk in Marseilles on the language of personal revelation and had a quiet evening.  Hopefully everything needing to go to the Church would fit in our car.

Thursday was a bright sunny day.  All the food did indeed fit into the car.  We considered setting up tables in the grassy area outside the church, but the ground was too soft.  Fortunately the space inside was adequate for 120 place settings.  The lunch was very well received by all and there was enough food for seconds for many.  

Elder and Sr. McConkie were a marvel to observe in their teaching and interactions with the missionaries.  Elder McConkie taught from Luke 5 - the calling of Peter.  How did Christ invite?  What did he promise?  What can we learn from that experience in our invitations to others to follow Him?  He also shared the experience he had in his training as a general authority observing Elder Cook as he matched missionaries to their assigned missions.  At one point Elder Cook didn't feel right about assigning a missionary to any of the missions that would have vacancies, so he asked to see all the missions.  He assigned the missionary to one of those.  When the attending member of the missionary committee said that mission was full, Elder Cook said "I don't care.  That's where this missionary is called to serve!"  Later on, he was struggling to find the right match and asked to see the mission leaders in the missions under consideration.  That gave him the answer.  Calls come under inspiration!

The McConkie's met with the senior missionaries separately for a short meeting after the others, to thank us for our service, and then asked what we were learning.  We responded that mission leaders make all the difference in the spirit in a mission, and that we knew we were supposed to be here.  Many times it isn't what we do that makes the difference, but just being there.  When we are willing and try, the Lord uses our individual talents to bring about good things.  Possibly the greatest thing we have seen is the resolution of a long-standing feud which had divided the branch for years.  We served as a catalyst and the Lord took care of the details.  Sr. Later also contributed that she has sent in the past year from the office by request copies of the Book of Mormon in 37 different languages!

Yesterday we drove to meet Neal and spend a few hours together.  He was in Switzerland for the week to give several talks at a convention in a beautiful mountain retreat.  We met in Geneva and visited the Bastions Park with the Reformation Wall - statues recognizing the great Protestant reformers.  Their work also paved the way for the independence of Geneva as a canton.  Carved into the wall behind the statues are the words "POST TENEBRAS LVX".  It took a bit to realize that the Latin LVX wasn't a number, but that the V was a Latin U.  Loose translation, "After darkness, light".  That is Geneva's motto.  

Reformation Wall

Geneva Coat of Arms

March 15, 2026

Trust in the Lord but tie up your camel. This is one of the resonating lines from the testimony meeting at the senior missionaries conference the last four days in Aix-en-Provence. The 34 (that number starts diminishing on Tuesday) of us met for some time together with our mission leaders.  All are exceptional in their individual ways.  The greatest part of our missionary experience is the people - those you serve and those you serve with. 

Wednesday we met in the town of Aubagne to tour the Santon factory and museum.  A santon is a cultural doll ranging from a shepherd, a seller of produce, and a fisherman, to the angels who announced the nativity.  Each is made from Marseilles red clay in a press, fired, detailed and painted by hand, dressed with authentic costumes, and mounted on a base.  The process was fascinating to watch and, including the drying, takes two to four months to complete. 

Trimming

Putting on arms

A shepherd

The museum had several scenes with hundreds of the figurines in various settings.  

Scene from a town with prisoners

We checked into a lovely Marriott Renaissance Hotel and enjoyed a goat cheese, hazelnut, and drizzled honey pizza that evening.  

Thursday we were treated to lunch in an old French farmhouse featuring a huge fireplace with a log burning, brick floors, and a beamed wood ceiling.  The house and grounds were pretty rustic but the food was delicious.  I had lamb.  We spent the afternoon visiting the monastery where Van Gogh was held for most of a year for insanity.  His rooms had large windows where he could see and paint his pastoral scenes.  Although treatment for mental health has come a long way from straight jackets, limited food, tub baths, and months of isolation, there is much left to learn and understand.  As an aside, Dr. Albert Schweitzer, the medical missionary to Gabon, was interned in this place in 1918 until the end of the war. 

Walkway lined with Van Gogh reproducitons

Part of the gardens out his window

Friday we hiked part of Mt. Victoire with David and Camilla Spackman who fly home to Calgary on Tuesday.   We did not plan to make it to the top (rock face too rough) but did make it up about 1.5 miles to a little 1000-year-old chapel called the Hermitage before coming down.  Several paragliders hiked past us on the trail and were soaring overhead as we descended.  This mountain appears in many of Cezanne’s paintings.  He lived in Aix and could see the mountain out his window.  

Camilla at the Hermitage

We all met at 3pm for a council meeting with the president to discuss apartments, supporting young missionaries, and finances.   At 6pm we enjoyed a delightful dinner at the church compliments of Sr. Oakeson: bread and favorite cheeses, sparkling apple and pear drinks, chicken with cream, carrots, green beans, rice, salads, fresh strawberries and pastries.  After, we were spiritually fed sharing heart felt testimonies of Jesus Christ and the wonders of Him being our God.  

Our goodbyes were all said Saturday morning.  It was an exceptional few days that we will always remember.  Thank you Pres. & Sr. Schow.  After checking out of the hotel we drove to Villeneuve-les-Avignon and toured Fort St. André, a fortress built in the 1300s as a border defense - the land across the river (Avignon) was part of the Holy Roman Empire.  It was never attacked and so has retained much of its original character, with barbican, gatehouse, towers, and 700 meters of walls with machicolations, etc.  The Mistral had started to blow as we toured the fort and it was really cold and windy!

The entrance

This place was huge!

The Pope's Palace across the river

An artist at work

 

March 8, 2026

Monday in Nice we invited a trio of missionaries to come for lunch with Spencers: Srs.Tew, Apedaile, and Jones. We fed them sweet potato and kale curry for an appetiser with a main course of chicken, ravioli and spinach Alfredo with hot crusty bread.  It was yummy.  Sr. Tew served in Chalon one transfer not long ago and wanted to know about all the members and Amis that were being taught.  Sr. Jones gave a lovely prayer and Sr. Apedaile a thoughtful short  devotional.  They all brought a wonderful spirit.

DeAnn took me to her Asian store to buy the curry paste needed for her recipe and we so enjoyed the walk in the sunshine.  In the evening we caught the tram to the Conservatory for a free piano concert with a marvelous pianist.  Florent Bouffard had come to do master classes for the piano students.  He has performed with many of the orchestras in Europe and played Debussy, Ravel, and some Brahms.  Tom and Brent promptly went to sleep.  We only recognized some of what we heard, and much of it was what Tom calls “scenic” - the music gave an impression of a picture, a feeling, without making any definitive statement.

Tuesday we celebrated with quiche and pain au chocolate for our last breakfast together.  Our train left on time.  We were seated with two young men from Hong Kong who were exploring France on a budget.  Somewhere between Toulon and Marseilles the train stopped.  The conductor announced that the train had killed a “person” on the track and would be delayed for up to two hours.  No other information was given but it is well known that distressed people who wish to commit suicide will sometimes walk on the tracks.  We missed our other connections and played musical chairs between Marseilles and Lyon where there were no seats available.   The train to Chalon was not full so we made it home only 3 hours late.  We could not believe what we saw - the river had dropped 12 feet in the days we were gone.

Wednesday we made a short trip to Lyon for an appointment with my petite, gentle Romanian dentist. She is fixing my tooth at 1/3 the cost it would be at home.  Thursday and Friday the car was in the shop for regular maintenance and the replacement of a piece of plastic on the undercarriage knocked off when hitting a rock.  That repair cost over $1200!  I cooked another batch of pulled pork for the mission tour.  We are now over 100 servings and one more batch may finish it.

We’ve received good news from the family this week.  Eden has turned 19 and will graduate with honors from Lone Peak high school.   Jonah (Hugh’s youngest) is learning to play the bassoon.  Neal’s projects are making progress.  Sadly, we also heard of Chuck Dubois’ death.  He was a dear man.  We are so happy that we visited with him and Elsa in their home in St. George between missions.  We will be praying for their family.

March 1, 2026

I have been on the fast train in France only once some years ago. It was a memorable experience: comfortable wide seats, two on each side of a central table and large clean windows to view the spectacular countryside at 90 mph.  We were booked  second class on the SCNF to Nice for a visit with friends from America and I was looking forward to it.  We were up at 5, at the train station at 6 and ready to go. Not to be.  

At 7:30 we, with 150 others from 2 late trains were waiting on the quais for an arrival.  What a disaster!  The train was party full already.  Lots of jostling.  Tom and I found two fold down side seats between people who had scooters, leaving little leg room and giving us a view of several sets of legs holding up the bodies standing.  It was pretty uncomfortable.  We obviously missed our connections but had to rebook inside the station in Lyon. They put us on the fast train to Marseilles so we could get to Nice before dark.  What a lovely place: calm sea, sunshine, no wind, a delicious dinner and walk along the promenade before bed. 

Friday we set out for a walk along the Coulée Verte, a green corridor that was built to replace a very large freeway that used to curve along the north side of Old Nice down to the Mediterranean.  We are told the road was usually jammed with traffic.  The new space is about a block wide and has lots of playground areas and spaces to sit.   

Later we caught the bus to the Chagall Museum, which was designed by him to hold many of his works.  The most interesting was a very large space that held about a dozen of his paintings representing stories from the Old Testament.  As we were there, a middle-aged man who works in the museum wanted to know about my missionary name tag.  He was aware of the Church, but not of our chapel in Nice.  We ended up in a long conversation about religion, scripture, miracles, etc., and I was fortunate to remind him that the greatest miracle was Christ’s resurrection, which brings about the resurrection for each of us eventually.   

Mosaic at the Chagall

It looks like a sculpture but it's a tree!

Saturday was a surprising day. This was the day of the burning of the king, a burnable statue of Neptune, symbolic of getting rid of our mistakes and failings of the past year.  The weather was perfect as we sauntered along the rocky beach viewing sailboats, bold swimmers, and Eric spear fishing for a fresh catch for Sunday.  Along came all the floats, decorated with fresh flowers, on their way to the parade - it was like a mini Rose Bowl Parade and we didn’t even  have to wait in line.  

We climbed Le Chateau and dreamed as the seagulls soared and the ferry arrived from Corsica. So fun to watch that huge boat dock. 

The Corsica Ferry docking

We spent a lazy afternoon visiting, eating Thai, watching My Octopus Teacher, and waiting  until 10:45 pm for the big event and fireworks.

February 22, 2026

We missed the mardi gras parade today, even though they were lining up right across the street from our balcony.  However when we got home from Creusot there was a great costumed drumline playing outside the bar.  Hugh, you and Scott would be impressed.  Not quite Sunday music but really loud and great rhythm. What I like most about parades is a  good band. 

Fortunately the level of the river, though very high, was not enough to flood any major roads or spoil the party.  The town did put up flood barriers along the river at some of the lower spots, which are only a block or two from our apartment.  We assume that they use sandbags on those barriers to keep the water out.  

Another meter and the road would be awash

I normally run here but the trail is under about 7' of water

It has been a tiring week: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in Lyon for exit and entry dinners and assignment day.  We had only two sisters leaving so invited a mother who was picking up her missionary to join us.  Raclette is much easier to cook for 12 than 50 and we enjoyed a more intimate evening.  Wed. the plane from Provo MTC was late so the lasagne warmed in the oven an extra hour but no one seemed to mind. As the rain and flooding continued, all the trains and planes were cancelled to most of southwestern France so 9 of our 12 new companionships are staying in Lyon until they start running again. 

Friday, Tom and I drove to Dijon to check out apts. for a new équipe (team).  We did find a never-lived-in one, twenty minutes by tram to the church.  It was the best of the five we saw and rents unfurnished for 830 euros but included all utilities.  A good price we are told.

We had two hours between a couple of appointments so drove into the old town to go exploring. WOW!   Stunning architecture.  We walked a couple of km and found the streets as captivating as those in Paris.  What a surprise!  How did we not know about this part of the city before? I  definitely want to go back.  The Palais des Ducs de Bourgogne seemed to be built in the same style as Versailles but not as grand.  It was stunning with embossed walls, indoor cenotaphs, sculptures, oil paintings from the last 700 years, and decorated salons with fabric walls (an idea imported to Russia by the Czars). 

The Palais

A wall in City Hall

The cenotaph, i.e. memorial (the bodies are buried elsewhere)

A square in the old town

Maillé mustard shop.  Note the plaques: 1747, Antoine Maillé

Today in church one of the speakers couldn’t come but Pres. Etienne gave an excellent talk to replace him.  He has worked as a prison guard for several years and makes an effort to treat the inmates with respect.  When he worked in Grenoble, one of the tough prisoners asked him, “Hey Tahitian, how come you treat us differently than the other guards?”  He pulled out a crisp 200 Euro note and said, “If I offered this to you, would you take it?”  Of course, was the reply.  “What if I crumpled it up, smashed it in the mud with my boot, and spat on it, would you take it then?”  “Sure”, he replied, “It’s still worth 200 euros.”  Etienne then said, “My father taught me to not look on the outward appearance to judge the worth of a man, but to value everyone as if they were a child of God.”  

February 15, 2026

It has been a week full of answered prayers and great blessings. Hugh received and accepted a job offer beginning next Monday. We could hear the excitement in his voice when he told us “this is the one I have been waiting for”.  Eden, our first grand daughter has been accepted into the honors program at the University of Utah.  Asher has been accepted to BYU.  We are so proud of both of them.  And Tal's band was the top streamer on Facebook this week!

Tuesday we went to the mission home over night, starting a journey to Toulouse to visit David and Camilla Spackman, Tom’s cousin. We had not seen them since the seniors retreat almost a year ago, despite our best intentions.  They will return to Canada in March after 18 months of working with the YSA, and seeing many baptisms in that age group.  We left the mission home early Wednesday in the rain and drove to Avignon where we found the the location of the chapel and then ate a picnic lunch next to the Pope’s Palace.  It was 65 degrees in welcoming sunshine and broke up the long drive.  That evening  we joined the yoga class that Camilla leads. There were probably 15 participants there. Sue went through the forms, Tom caught up on the missionary sick roll.  There were severe warnings of strong wind with rain that night but we didn’t hear a thing.  

The Place du Palais in Avignon

Yoga class

The next morning we saw several tiles smashed on the ground that had blown off the adjacent apartment building. On our walk, there were garbage containers blown over and lots of debris on the streets.  The sun decided to come out just for our tour of the center of town, including the basilicas of St. Sernin (UNESCO historic site) and Notre Dame de la Daurade.  We enjoyed a delightful lunch at Brochette.  Neither Tom nor I had ever attended an English Connect class but we  learned about that back at the church with Camilla teaching again.  We met one of the students, un ami, who had grown up in the same neighborhood of Daloa, Cote d’Ivoire, where we lived for 15 months in 2019-’20.  He moved to France many years ago and was very surprised to meet someone who knew his hometown so well.  We really enjoyed our 36 hours with David and Camilla.  Nothing beats family connections!

In front of the Donjon du Capitole

Saint-Sernin, one of the largest Romanesque churches in Europe

Interior of Saint-Sernin

Our drive home was more direct.  We saw lots of flooded fields as we came north.  The Saône is also very high and lots of the small feeder streams are well over their banks, with low lying ground covered with water.    The coming week is forecast to bring more rain!

We heard Bro. Maraiti tell his childhood story in church today.  He lived on the island of Bora Bora, Tahiti and said it wasn't like you see on post cards.  His mother died when he ws 10, and his father was rarely present, leaving him and his 5 year old brother to fend for themselves.  If his grandfather had not taught him to fish they would not have survived.  Eventually he found the church.  We never know what people have been through unless we are good listeners and they are wiling to talk about their past.  

February 8, 2026

This was from a recent visit to Sr. Navarro.  We were delighted that she is smiling and ot of bed!

We had a surprise this week.  Tom got a phone call, when he was out running, from the grandparents of one of the missionaries we have served with in Chalon.  They were visiting in France, from the U.S., and wondered if they could come and take us out to dinner that evening.  He responded that we had commitments until 5 but any time after that would be fine.  What a wonderful evening we had although we ended up eating soup, salad and apple crisp at our house, sharing stories of success and struggle as older adults.  They had come to thank us in person for helping their missionary survive the first six months in France.  They were grateful we showed personal interest, were encouraging, provided many meals, rides, advice, and listening ears.  As senior missionaries it was our great opportunity and blessing to love.  And we made some new friends.

We have been anticipating our branch conference for the past week and we were not disappointed.  Our branch president spoke first about accounting, and how important it is when discrepancies arise during an audit to not try to "fix' the books, but honestly identify the cause of the problem so correction can be made.  Likewise, we need internal audits of our lives to recognize when we are not in alignment with God, so that repentance can bring about necessary change. 

The stake president is a young man and spoke about his family working in the production of Baccarat crystal.  His father was a glassblower in his younger years.  It has a special purity and brilliance because it is made with lead, up to 30%, and is heated to 1500 C to purify the melted sand.  Each finished glass resembles the others, but each is unique and makes its own tone when the rim is moistened and rubbed with a finger.  He compared the lead to Christ's presence in our lives.  He purifies us through trials to help us become the disciples who can reflect His light to the world and help others see more clearly.  Second hour was a discussion about how to bring the spirit of the temple into our lives and homes.  Our quorum president suggested, quoting his mother, "We need more Nephi and less Wifi".

Among the stake visitors was the second counselor, Pres. Kabuya, who immigrated from Kinshasa about 25 years ago.  We asked if he knew Elder Thierry Mutombo, the Central Africa Area president with whom we worked closely when serving as the Medical Advisor there.  He said they grew up together in Kinshasa and that they still stay in touch.  I told him the story of a meeting in Nairobi when Elder Christofferson came to visit.  Elder Christofferson said he had just one concern about Elder Mutombo - that he needed to smile more.  Everyone laughed out loud because Elder Mutombo is known for his ever-present broad smile.  Pres. Kabuya also got the joke.  We had a photo taken to send to Pres. Mutombo.

Everyone enjoyed the meal after conference

A view from a run this week along the old levee of the Canal du Centre