Warming up

We rediscovered the old truism that you don’t know what you don’t know.  We thought that the radiators in our apartment were supplied with hot water from a central source.  After someone asked about our thermostat however, we investigated ours more closely and then followed the instructions written there.  Voilà!  The gas heater in our kitchen, which we thought was only for the kitchen, roared to life and the apartment warmed up nicely.

We have been walking more this week, with Tom able to do some running.  He has almost recovered from a stress injury from about a month ago.  We can walk to our chapel in 13 minutes.  The closest market on Wednesday is 5 minutes away and the Friday market is 10 minutes away.  The markets have many stalls with fresh vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, chicken, cheese, spices, clothes, etc.  We continue to explore the town and appreciate its ancient and newer character.

Wednesday we were invited with the elders to visit a family who live 30 minutes away by car.  They were sealed in the temple in the summer and have had many spiritual experiences to guide them.  The brother asked Elder Mou to give him a blessing. Elder Mou is Tahitian and speaks French well.  His blessing was an eloquent expression of love and strength.

Thursday we were invited with the elders to visit another older sister and her middle-aged son.  Her husband passed away a couple of years ago, so the son lives nearby.  They served us a lovely salad with  a pork pastry. It was very good.  We thought that was it, but then they brought in a huge bowl with paella.  Delicious!  Then came the cheese course, and two dessert courses, chocolate mousse and an apple tart.  That’s typical French hospitality, and we loved it!

Pres. and Sr Soulier invited us to dinner at a restaurant last evening.  We greatly enjoyed the conversation.  They will launch some form of Zoom FHE on a regular basis for the senior couples.  The mission is too big to gather the seniors in person more than once or twice a year.  They also attended our sacrament meeting this morning and spoke.  Sr. Soulier gave a very understandable testimony in French, which she is still learning. She served in Italy in her youth.  Pres. Soulier had an inspiring message from the scriptures about the Savior.

He pointed us to Matt 14:23, where the Savior went up into a mountain by himself to pray, and asked, “What would the Savior have been praying about?  He was the Son of God, He knew the Father.  Why should He need to pray?"  He then pointed us to D&C 45:3-4 where Christ says, “Listen to him who is the advocate with the father, who is pleading your cause before him…”. Likely when Christ went to the mountain to pray, He was praying for his disciples, for us.  There was much more and it was a sweet message of hope and courage.

Following the 2 hour block, the “branch choir” rehearses.  It involves almost everyone in the branch, most of whom can sing but not all.  We are working on the new hymns.  One brother who tries to sing tenor said that he doesn’t have the ear for music.  I suggested that he use the other ear but he didn’t laugh so I won’t use that one again.

This week is transfer time, or “mutation” as is the French translation.  We will be losing our new friends, Elder Mou and Elder Neilson, who have been very helpful and are a great team, to be replaced by sisters.  As part of our medical assignment we will meet briefly with the 16 incoming missionaries to review their health history and help them understand the healthcare system.  We are really looking forward to getting to know them all.  Pres. and Sr. Soulier say that they used to have 4 children but now they have over 200.  

Saturday morning on the river

Reflections

Walking home from church

Héron cendré