LettresdeLyon: December 15, 2024

I always appreciate miracles, especially practical, desperately needed ones. This week we attended district council in Dijon and on the other days visited several members outside of Chalon. We now understand why some do not make it to church regularly. They do not have cars, and getting transportation which coincides with the meeting schedule is very difficult. Those who live far away do so because the housing is much cheaper. Train and bus fares are expensive. Some are just too old to make the effort. One couple, 85 and 90, wanted a paper subscription to the Liahona and could not figure out how to order it on their computer. Tom helped them. We were treated graciously and invited back. Of course others outside the city are trying to hide and do not want contact.

Friday afternoon we went to the RS President’s home - 90 minutes away. I had cleaned and cut all my vegetables to roast when we came home. Knowing that baked potatoes would take twice as long I decided to throw them in the oven 30 minutes before leaving, with the plan to turn them off when I walked out the door. We had a beautiful drive through the countryside and a great 30 minute visit in her fifth floor very old apartment, when it registered that I had not turned off the oven. Panic! Those potatoes would be completely black by now and who knew what would happen in the next 90 minutes at 375 degrees. I prayed all the way home that there would not be firetrucks and police cars in front of our building with men breaking down the door to get to the alarms and smoke. There was no one to phone because no one had a key to our apartment. The fog was bad coming back but we made it home exactly 4 hours after we left. Our building was still standing and there was no smoke in the hallways or our house. When I opened the oven door, the potatoes were completely crisp with only a little flesh adhering to the skin. For some reason the oven was not very hot. We could not figure out why but we were grateful the Lord had heard our prayers.

This week we started FHE with four other senior couples from Corsica, Toulouse, Chambery, and Mont de Marsan. It was a getting to know you activity and was pretty fun. I sent out a series of 10 questions for them to think about and then each couple took about 10 minutes talking about them.

Sample questions: What foods remind you of Christmas? We had everything from prime rib to tamales to pomegranates. What have you found surprising or frustrating about your mission? Amount of cooking, computer program on the car which says aggressive driver, the weather, following in the shadow of previous missionaries, isolation. Will you describe in one sentence your relationship with the Savior? He lifts the burden. When I feel inadequate, I know He is not. Every day I can start fresh. He is the One who allows me to change. He is my courage, my trust, my confidant, my friend, my redeemer. These couples will all be here at least another year. Surprisingly our assignments are completely different but we are happy to support each other.

We hope you are enjoying the Spirit of the season. We are so grateful to have access to music which is such a big part of our celebration. An adult sister in the ward asked if we could teach her to play the keyboard and she had her first lesson on Friday. She is a singer with a good ear but has never learned to read music, so we started with the Church Conducting Course. She quickly learned about key signatures, different note lengths, etc. and committed to study the hymnbook during the week looking at timing and rhythm. This may open up a new world for her.