Sunday July 26, 2026

Although it has been an exciting week, I am going to write about the last 24 hours first.  We arrived in Avignon yesterday after a 4 hour drive from the mission home with our last load of stuff.  The traffic on the road was horrendous, most likely because of vacationers or those evacuating from fires.  It normally takes 2 1/2.  I had been preparing what I would say in a Sacrament Mtg prayer if asked today.  It was based on an idea of Hugh Nibley who said we come to earth to learn two things: how to repent and how to forgive.  Sr. Schow had her own interpretation - the same as the two great commandments, loving God (repentance) and loving your fellow men (forgiveness).  I had figured out how to say what I wanted to say.  This morning  when reading the talk for RS, I shed a few tears for it said, in different words, what I would have been praying for.  Sometimes the Lord is gracious and lets us know we are on the right track.

We made it to church in time to welcome and bisou branch members.  It is about double the size of Chalon, with members from Spain, Ghana, DR Congo, Tahiti, and those were only the ones we met.  Our branch president is young with two little girls under 3.  I was struck with emotion as we sang the opening song  ‘Enfant Jesus grandit dans la vérité ‘.  I learned this hymn first in French and love the words, especially the last part of the chorus: 

    Il peut changer mon cœur et m’aider dans mes choix

    Je marche avec Jesus, et il marche avec moi.

They did not ask us to pray but to bear our testimonies and tell a bit about ourselves.

While still in Lyon, Tom explored a different running route that includes the woods of Serre.  Alongside the trail he noticed a stone marker with the words "An VIII" (Year 8) and the names of the two towns on either side.  This was a boundary marker between the two communes (Ecully and Dardilly) erected in Year 8 of the 1st Republic, which would have been 1800.

We had two outings from Lyon this week. We explored a restored medieval city (1300s) about 40 kms away - Pérouge. Original hardly walkable cobblestone streets, tiled roofs, stunning rock wood buildings, gardens and windows boxes, Church and coat of arms of each family in the area, stunning scenery.  It was a lovely morning.  

Wednesday we drove to the high plateau beyond St. Etienne - a much longer trip looking for the villages and farms which sheltered so many, mostly children but some families, from the dangers of the Nazi régime of WWII.  This was the protestant area of France and had experienced persecution for hundreds of years.  On the lintel above the door to the church were the words LOVE ONE ANOTHER.  The stories and records of what happened here during the Vichy régime are recorded in a book called ‘A Good Place to Hide’.  The goal was to smuggle the Jews out of France at the peril of your life, either to Switzerland or Spain. Sobering, but they were successful thousands of times.  Lyon was the headquarters of the Resistance.

The protestant church with the lintel

The stream (Ligne) in Chambon-sur-Ligne

On our way home from the plateau, we came through Chaponost, about 20 miles SW of Lyon.  There we found the remains of an amazing aqueduct built by the Romans to bring water from the Gier river to the Fourvière Hill in Lyon, a distance of almost 55 miles.  It was one of four built to bring water to Lyon.  Why, since Lyon is the site of two huge rivers coming together?  The Romans built the core of their city high on the hill and it was better to bring pristine spring water from the surrounding heights for their fountains and baths than it was to haul the water up the hill from the big (not so clean) rivers.

The Gier aqueduct

I am charmed with our accommodations. We open the shuttered doors and windows after the sun goes down and the evening breezes blow through.  I think my favorite room today is our bedroom.  The window sill is probably 14 plus inches deep.  I love the foliage outside and hearing the church bells. We are testing the oven later today.

Outside our window: the blossoms close during the heat of the day

Sunday July 19, 2026

We have been back in France for three days, staying at the mission home until our housing in Rochefort du Gard is available on the 23rd.  Our flights were full and I did not get much sleep - Tom slept much better.  Charles de Gaulle was absolutely packed with bodies waiting to board.  

Waiting at the gates

Our flight to Lyon was 1/2 hour late.  The Laters (good friends and office couple) were there to meet us.  We picked up a different car at the mission office, one with lower mileage.  Most of the couples now drive a KIA Ceed.  Pres. Schow sent out a message to the missionaries that they were now allowed to get sick since Elder Spackman was back in the country.

We had two unusual experiences since arriving.  On Friday when we got up, after some thunderstorms overnight, the power was out in half the house including the kitchen and fridge there.  Tom looked at all the fuse boxes he could find without seeing where to reset. He finally contacted the Pres. who was out of town, who contacted the maintenance man in Valence, who contacted Tom with the appropriate info and VOILÀ , all was on.  Second, Tom got an email from our Chase credit card with a possible fraud charge.  This is the card we use all the time, so we hurried and bought some groceries, including Dad’s favorite peanut butter, phoned Chase, and cancelled that number.  Hopefully a new card is arriving tomorrow morning at the mission office or we will be using our debit card.

Yesterday morning we went on a walk to the bakery for some fresh bread, about a mile away.  On our way home we passed this stone inscription, near a building that we couldn't approach close enough to photograph.  After some research, we found out that the building was a country retreat (Castel) of the deputy mayors (échevins) who helped govern Lyon from the 1300's to the revolution.  

When a devastating plague hit the region in 1643, the Mayor (prévôt) and the four Echevins made a vow that if the Virgin Mary would spare Lyon, they would make an annual procession with offerings to the Fourvière Hill (site of the old Roman forum).  The city was spared and the mayor and city officials still hike up the hill annually, now to the basilica built there in 1896.  It's a climb!

We both feel very comfortable being here although I had forgotten how small the parking spots are and I still don’t understand what is said in Sunday school.  Ecully Ward was very welcoming this morning.  We are happy to start our new adventure this week.  There are 8 couples left in the mission, three of them leaving before November.  In Sept. Tom will possibly be adding the Paris North Mission to his medical assignment.  He does not know yet how the other Pres. wants to do things but we’ll make that transition when we get to it.

Our Inter-mission Report, July 12, 2026

This is the only blog we will write from America before returning to Avignon, France for the last 9 months of our mission. We have immensely enjoyed reconnecting with family and friends from medical school and 3 previous missions. I will share parts of three or four of those…

We spent a week in Utah at Rhonda and Marcus’ house. We often stay with them because they do not have a dog and we feel so comfortable with each other. Our reason for being near Highland was to celebrate Eden’s graduation with honors from Lone Peak  High School. Eden is the oldest child of Neal and Candice who was born on the autism scale and has had every kind of therapy to learn how to conquer those triggers which isolate her from learning as others do. She has worked hard, earned the  5 honors chords on her gown and showed great poise in her class of 800 at the Marriott Center. She has been accepted at the University of Utah in their honors program. We are proud of her work ethic and amazing accomplishments.  We give special credit to her mom for her enduring love and  endless hours of service to Eden. 

Our next adventure required driving 2500 miles from Jacksonville  FL to Alberta, Canada via Rochester, MN. We met with Footes, Ferraras, and Shermans, eating, laughing and sharing experiences for five hours. It was so good to meet with friends who we have worked with in the Church and love what we love. In Alberta, we spent quality time with my five siblings, Tom’s two siblings and several friends, all of us recognizing that we are not as young as we used to be.

 Then our 5 children arrived in Waterton with 3 of their spouses and nine of our grand children and the party began. What great fun hiking Bear’s Hump, going horse back riding, climbing Crypt (one of the top 20 day hikes in the world) laughing at old slides, eating good food, performing Lead Kindly Light a cappella in church, walking to Cameron Falls, and trying to skip rocks in the lake.

Cameron Falls

The riders prepare to mount up

The hikers

The Crypt trail and falls - not for the faint of heart!

 Some of the things that most impressed me:

Cousins living together and liking each other

Cousins doing the dishes without being asked—special kudos to Elizabeth and Simon

Roses and thorns- Jonah’s comments showed great maturity

A foot and hand rub from Emily 

Watching Cam and Jonah building a dam in the freezing Red Rock Creek

Ivy taking pictures - some very dramatic

Ethan and Asher providing great bass for the ensemble

Scott playing appropriate chords for Eensy Weensy Spider

Sitting by the big fire place in The Barn watching the FIFA World Cup

Waking up to pumpkin waffles with butter milk syrup and bacon 

Each person introducing themselves at the Hicken family reunion

Watching the full moon rise and the fireworks from the Raymond Cemetery

We got to know each other better and made some great memories.

July 2 we all headed out by car: Erin to a Rushforth family gathering in Idaho, Ben to a 50th anniversary celebration on Vancouver Island, Neal already at home so Candice and Tommy could go to Orlando for volley ball, Hugh to N. California to prepare for the Tarpenning family reunion and Tal back to San Antonio and his new job. We made it back to FL in four days and have been shopping and  packing to leave for France.  Thank you all for coming. The only thing that would have made our time together better would have been if Candice, Tommy, Eden, Kristina and Hailey could have been with us. Love to all.   G &G Spackman

Sunday May 10, 2026

Our last week in Chalon has been an emotionally draining and physically exhausting adventure. Like the ancient Inca tribes, I have enough faith in an afterlife that rather than finalize a goodbye, say au revoir - until we meet again. We have learned that distance does not negate love of our brothers and sisters - not in Edmonton, Cardston, Pocatello, Rochester, Accra, Daloa, or Nairobi. Chalon sur Saône will be the same.

We had some interesting experiences these last few days. Thursday we made a trip to Lyon to the mission home to store a load of stuff for Avignon. We left cooking pots and bowls for large groups at the office. I was supposed to get a crown on a tooth that afternoon but the dentist had to remeasure for the lab. She was quite surprised that we were leaving the country for two months on Friday. We figured out that next Tuesday is the only possible day for this to happen.

Friday, May 8 is the day the war ended in Europe. We were at the cenotaph for that remembrance. Afterward the mayor presented Bro. Landré with a medal and certificate honoring his service to the community.

We met his sister and a couple of nephews and he received lots of attention. We were supposed to smooze but excused ourselves to meet the branch president and wife for lunch. They took us to their favorite restaurant, a quaint little open air place among the trees next to a stream. It was quite heavenly listening to the birds and such a pleasant three hour meal.

What a lovely last hurrah with them - at least until August when they are coming to visit in Avignon.

Saturday we attended a baptism for 8 year old twins in our branch.  We do not have a font so must travel to Dijon where there is an actual chapel. It is about a seventy minute drive north and is the border of our mission. I lead the singing. Tom accompanied me, also the Soeurs singing a duet, and was on the program to bear his testimony. It was heartfelt and the little girls listened intently. My favorite part was a member from the Dijon Ward playing ‘When Jesus Comes Again’ on her harp.

When all was finished, a woman about my age approached me and said Larry Spackman was her first bishop in Calgary when she joined the church at age 17. She served a mission in France and Belgium in her twenties and was so impressed with the commitment of the members that she wanted to live around them. After her mission, she used to pray that she could help build Zion in France. She ended up marrying a Frenchman who joined the church at 35 and her prayer became a reality. Her husband now has some severe health problems and he is her mission at the moment. What a sweet lady.

From there we headed to see our widow who had just arrived home from the hospital after having surgery on Thursday. We had already said our goodbyes but wanted to cheer her with some flowers and see how she was doing. I said to her ‘The next time we see each other we will be younger and more beautiful.’ She promptly replied ‘And I will have my teeth.’ With that we all laughed, gave hugs and left.

For the next two months we will be blogging occasionally, not weekly. We will be in Florida, Utah, and Alberta, then returning to France on July 15. Au revoir Burgundy. We will miss your stunningly green hills and hedgerows, your historic chateaux, your vineyards, your river, and most of all your people. We will remember your beauty.  

Sunday May 3, 2026

Our last morning in Berlin we ate whole cardamom buns for breakfast and Christy got us on the train to the airport. We had our carry ons checked, compliments of Air France and have learned how we can get on the plane with group one. We tell them our age and they say ‘Welcome  aboard’. It was a late night arriving home  at 11:30 

Tuesday was an unpack, do laundry, get groceries, make granola day. I cleaned the freezer and planned our meals using what we have for our last 2 weeks in Chalon. The next three days we cleaned windows, kitchen cupboards, wallpaper, the oven, and the wooden dining chairs. Also helped the elders start cleaning their cupboards. I threw out three frying pans, chipped dishes, spices from 2021 and many things they have never used.

I have been thinking about 3 different things this week. Who are we going to include in our visit to Utah? What is going to Avignon (packed separately) via the mission home, what are we taking to Florida that stays there and what  activities are we planning  for the family reunions in Canada? We have started packing. Third, how do we best support those who are dealing with heartbreaking challenges? 

Today was one of my hardest goodbyes with the widow I have loved since the first time Tom took her the sacrament. For ten years she has only left  her house in an ambulance. She speaks French and mine is very limited but somehow we connected. She actually stood up so we could hug and weep on on each others shoulders. I will miss our visits and the sacred times we shared spirit to spirit. It reminded me of saying goodbye to the couples in Rochester who stayed to clean up after our going away party. I could not speak, only hug and cry. We had invested 30 years of our lives there and raised our children there and were leaving it behind. How we love and remember those dear friends.  That was 17 years ago and Tom and I have lived several different lifetimes since. 

Sunday April 26, 2026 Berlin

It is so strange hearing German spoken with smiling eyes or hearing the words of the Sacrament prayers in that language. Until visiting Berlin this week, most of the German I had heard were words from movies or documentaries on World War Two. It requires a paradigm shift.

Berlin is on a plain, with forests (we walked and ran in them), lakes, and beautiful treed streets, and a horrific history.  The plan was 1000 years of glorious reign by a superior race instigated by a Viennese immigrant adopted by a country humiliated by the their defeat politically and economically by the First World War.  It is a beautiful city now, mostly new, with 3 1/2 million people thriving under democratic government.

Ben and Christy have been so accommodating since we arrived. (I have  walked  29.9 miles).  We travelled to Potsdam, unspoiled by the war, to see the Dutch Quarter from the 1700s and the King of Prussia’s Summer Palace.  We have visited the Brandenburg gate, Jewish Museum, the Stasi Museum and the Topographies of Terror, Checkpoint Charlie, and the Berlin Wall. Sobering.  I was especially aware of the personal stories recorded - one father had written a poem about living, to his young child headed to England on a kindertransport and another asking when he could come visit his 5 yr. old epileptic daughter at the hospital for undesirables.  You know the end to both stories.

We delighted in two concerts: two solo violinists with piano at the Berlin Philharmonic performing Beethoven, Mozart, Ravel, and a medley from Carmen, and an outstanding Orgelvesper  at Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church with readings from Mathew plus the Lord’s Prayer and selections from Buxtehude, Bohn, Bach, and Mendelssohn on the organ.  I must mention the  bonus couple on the train playing harmonica, guitar and bass.

At the same time, a sixty year old women came on with her bike.  That may not sound amazing to you but she was also carrying a 5’ blossoming fruit tree.  I could not quit giggling. How was she going to get that to her house? 

We have eaten sour cherry and tonka bean (outlawed in the US) ice cream at Jones, Turkish kabob, rhubarb squares from Markthalle Neun, manti, and could easily develop an addiction to cardamom buns.  Christy taught me how to cook leeks in potato soup or include them in roasted vegetables.  We found blueberries like you have never tasted, 2 euros for 1200 grams, mandarins 1 euro a kilo and green grapes for 2 euros a kilo.  We really hit the jackpot at the outdoor market.  Everything was delicious.

We had a most unusual meal after ward conference today. There were lots of salads and desserts but also two pizza ovens with two bakers making and cooking fresh pizza.  Christy was cutting them as they came out.  There were fresh flowers on the tables and a pour your own drink stand.  This was all outside on the lawn in the trees behind the red brick church built in 1950.  This raised the anti for meet-and-greet in the future.

We thank Ben and Christy for a week of new experiences, and expanded perspective, but mostly for their time, their conversation and their goodness.  We may never visit Berlin again but we have memories for a lifetime.

Brandenburg Gate

Walking in the forest

Sculpture in Sans Souci Palace garden

Buying rhubarb squares at Markthalle Neun

Section of the original Wall at Topography of Terror exhibit 

The organ in the new Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

Checking out Checkpoint Charlie

Saturday April 18, 2026

There is excitement and then there is excitement.  Last Sunday, the branch had a little surprise going away party for us.  Kate was included as well since it was her last Sunday in Chalon, being here for 7 months.  Lots of finger foods and fresh fruit and presents.  I am taking the gifts to the U.S. in May adding to what I bought months ago for myself - black and white polka dot cutlery.  Pres. Catogni was effusive with his praise and the branch was very generous.  Fortunately, we did not receive any live Guinea hens that we need be concerned about (sometimes given in Africa).  

Pres. Catogni

We have invested nineteen months of our lives here and have learned so much from them.  I am brought to tears thinking about leaving this place but know it is time for a new assignment.  Jacob 4:10 "Wherefore brethren,  seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he he counseleth in wisdom, in justice and in great mercy over all his works."

Sr. Landré, Kate, Sue, Bro, Landré, Tom

We found a new couple who just moved from Tahiti and need both our beds .  I cleaned out the kitchen and the balcony and they took everything from dishes to planters this morning and will come back for the rest on May 11 when we move.  Our stuff will reside in the mission home in Lyon until we return in July.  

We talked to both Elder Later and Elder Delbar about the place we had found to live.  Each suggested that we ask the owner if he would be interested in a long term rental.  He was.  We said we would need to see it first.  He suggested we come yesterday so Thursday we drove to Lyon to get my tooth checked again and then travelled south to an adorable hotel in Villeneuve called La Magnanerais for the night.  Absolutely charming; rock walls, climbing ivy, shutters, marble bathrooms, beautiful gardens, and glorious birds chirping in the evening sunlight.  I was in heaven.  I hope there are chirping birds in Heaven.  

Our room at upper right

The hotel garden

The next morning we prayed that the Lord would confirm that this was where He wanted us to be and headed off.  The place was spotless and quaint.  As soon as I walked through the door, I became very excited.  This spontaneous energy can’t be conjured up and almost can’t be contained. Tom was talking about serious things like reliable internet while I was looking through cupboards etc.  The owner was very accommodating about rearranging furniture, bringing in a table or desk for a work area, updating to a faster speed if needed etc.  We each knew this was the right place.  It looked and felt like France.  The owners’ great grandfather had built the house and attached barn about 1840 surrounded then by grape vines and olive groves.  Now it was surrounded by a ten foot rock wall in the middle of a village.  We would be living in the remodeled barn. We were delighted to be part of it and it would become a part of us.

Interior view of the new apartment

Unfortunately when we arrived home and read our mail, we were slammed with a multi- thousand dollar special assessment on our condo In Florida.  Such is life.  Opposition in all things.  We will work it out.  We know God is still in control.

 We hope life is good at your house and that Spring has come.