March 23, 2025

We experienced a myriad of emotions this week.  We  are still without a fridge but  a new one arrives in just 4 more days.  Our GPS is not reliable navigating the one way streets and road construction in Lyon.  It takes at least double the time to get from one place to another.  We only had to go down 2 one-way streets the wrong way to get to the mission office.  These factors made our day and night for intake much more stressful than it normally is. 

There were 19 new missionaries who arrived on Wednesday.  They came from Spain, Austria, Northern Ireland, Sweden, Tahiti, France, Switzerland, Alberta, Michigan, Idaho, Minnesota, Arizona, and seven from Utah.  Some spoke French well, others barely.  As a group they have the fewest medical and emotional problems in their past of any group so far.

Our first assignment was to prepare salad for 32, which would be served with lasagne, French bread, and ice cream on Wednesday evening.  This would be the newly arrived, exhausted missionaries’ first meal in the field.  While some ate, others would be interviewed by Pres. Poznanski and then sent to Tom to individually review their health records.  We spent most of Tuesday buying and preparing vegetables for a quick assembly at the mission office down town (temporary change of venue from the mission home).  Lettuce, cauliflower, celery, carrot sticks, cucumbers, olives, and red and yellow peppers.  We hauled these to our branch building fridge so they would stay fresh overnight and on our 70 mile drive into the city.  

Our second assignment was to make sandwiches and buy fruit for 54 box lunches. The baguettes were ordered in Lyon to be picked up on Thursday morning.  Chips, cheese, bottled water and little cakes were hauled from the mission home.  I purchased ham, mustard, mayo, butter, bananas, apples, and mandarins and took them with us.  Tom and I assembled and bagged all of the above on Thursday morning, and hauled them to the Sans Souci building, ready to be picked up by the missionaries and taken on the train to their new assignments. To our frustration, we could not get into the underground parking garage because it was locked.  After waiting about ten minutes in an illegal entryway, a parking spot became vacant across the street which we nabbed.  Unfortunately the two other senior couples attending the meeting were caught in a horrid traffic jam with cars going both directions down a one lane, one way street.  Nevertheless, we had a joyous meeting with trainees meeting their trainers for the first time and receiving their assignments throughout southern France. 

I was interested in one Elder in particular. His last name was Kastendieck and he was from Leduc, Alberta. When we moved to Edmonton for medical school in 1972, I taught the 9th grade early morning seminary class. One of my students was named  Heidi Kastendieck and I knew she had a younger brother Werner. She and I shared a positive experience that probably neither of us will ever forget.  When I met Elder Kastendieck, I asked if she was related. “Yes, she is my aunt and my dad is Werner.” Of course his grandparents were dead.  He was an impressive elder - already fluent in French and very solid.

The sister missionary from Sweden was also a delight.  I mentioned that my 2nd great grandfather came from a rural area called Jonkoping, and she excitedly said that’s where her family also had ancestry.  Small world, again.

Medically it has been an interesting week - a severe flare of eczema with infection, a slowly healing ingrown toenail, a missionary whose regular medicine for anxiety isn’t available now, helping one adjust to and treat her irritable bowel syndrome, and a sudden case of hives with no prior history.  However, most of the problems are resolving with education, medicine, and good self care.  We have been hampered by the loss of our information system (for 4 days), which contains all the past history of our missionaries, as we switch to an improved system.   My familiarity with work-arounds was useful.  All problems have solutions - it’s just that many of the solutions are not pleasant, practical, or convenient.

Blossoms!

Spring is desperately trying to arrive!