April 27, 2025

I was out for a walk one day and stopped to look at the window displays of the most unique and expensive chocolate and pastry shop in Chalon. I was awed by what I was seeing.  Chocolate planters with chocolate dirt and delicate white chocolate blossoms growing on a chocolate stem with green chocolate leaves.  Completely edible.  

Nougat

A woman beside me exclaimed something in English. I turned to acknowledge her language. She was from Pennsylvania, on one of the tour boats on the river and was doing her own walking tour.  She asked if I lived in Chalon and how long I had been here.  Yes.  6 months.  I would return to Florida in a year.  What was I doing here?  I told her that I was a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and showed her my name tag.  Is that the one from Utah?  It is head quartered there.  Is there one here?  Yes.  How is that going?  It is always great when you can teach about Jesus Christ.  She smiled.  She asked about buying scarves and we parted ways.  I thought about my spontaneous remark and realized the absolute truth in the statement.  Speaking about the Savior brings peace and joy to the soul.

After hearing about the death of the Pope early this week, I was gratified by the message released by the First Presidency. Both Pres. Nelson and Eyring had met with him:

"We join with the world in mourning the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis.  His courageous and compassionate leadership has blessed countless lives. We extend our heartfelt condolences to all who looked to him for inspiration and counsel. As the world pauses to remember his example of forgiveness and service, we feel deep gratitude for the goodness of a life-well lived and rejoice in the hope of a glorious resurrection made possible through the atonement of Jesus Christ."

Yesterday I watched some of the funeral for Pope Francis.  He was known for his humility, a Pope of the people, especially the poor and needy and originally from S. America.  He requested a plain wooden casket, not three stacked inside each other.   He was the first to request his burial outside the Vatican and in a church.  He requested only a few cardinals, the pallbearers and intimate friends to take him there - no large procession.  He made other requests but tradition was followed instead. There were almost 250,000 in St. Peter’s Square to observe the mass for him and hundreds of cardinals and priests dressed in red and white, the red representing their willingness to shed their own blood for Jesus.  It was a well-scripted production. 

Tom and I and the Elders Quorum President and his wife spent the afternoon in the ville of Creusot.  We were visiting and taking the Sacrament to an older sister (who got out of bed to welcome us) and another who had come to her apartment.  Neither had taken the Sacrament for several months.  We spent a couple of hours visiting and answering questions, with little contribution from me.  Then Antonio and Tom prepared, blessed and passed the bread and water.  I was struck by the simplicity and power of that ordinance.  Here was Tom, kneeling on a linoleum floor, reading the prayer from his phone, over two small bites of bread on a white cloth napkin placed on top of a red checkered table cloth.  He had the authority to offer to these women, the opportunity to strengthen their bonds with their Savior by renewing the covenants they had made with Him when they were baptized. The ordinance ends with ‘so they may always have His spirit to be with them.  Amen’.  As I contrasted my morning hours and my afternoon hours, I was overcome with gratitude for the gospel of Jesus Christ and his restored church.

The "Skinny House"

St. Vincent's Square

The lawyer's house, 1607

Spring, women's clothing store

Wisteria

Happy Easter Sunday

This has been perhaps the best Holy Week for me because I have learned that we individually determine if it is holy for us by what we focus on, watch, listen to and how we  spend our time preparing for Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  Tom and I have read all the scriptures in the Gospels and  3rd Nephi: 11, dealing with Palm Sunday and the following 7 days. This was a good reminder of our Savior and his love for us.  I have often said that Jesus Christ makes my life possible.   He is the one who allows us to move on.  When we turn to Him, we only feel acceptance and love, which can then transform our hearts.  I have some favorite thoughts from other sources.  Palm Sunday should not only be remembered for the fronds waved at Jesus as He rode into Jerusalem but also the palms of Jesus’ hands.  Jesus riding on a donkey reminds us that  Christ usually comes in unexpected ways.  What does Hosanna literally mean?  Save us now.  What do I need to be saved from right now?  What am I praying for?  Hosanna is both praise and a prayer.  

Yesterday we attended a child’s baptism. I have attended many baptisms but this one was filled with joy.  All of the family - the grandparents on both sides, the parents, the siblings, and the little boy were excited. There were no signs of stress - only of happiness and confidence, enough that the father and his son could be playful at times, still realizing the sacredness of the occasion. Let me enlarge on this. 

Two weeks ago , I was asked by Ephraim, an eight year old in our branch, to say the closing prayer at his baptism. I don’t know why he asked me unless it was because I gave his family some green balloons for St. Patrick’s Day.  His mother told me that when she asked him who he wanted, he said Soeur Spackman immediately.  Of course I accepted.  I have only said a prayer in Sacrament Mtg. once in French.  One morning I spent four hours deciding what I wanted to say in this prayer and then translated it into French.  I knew that I wanted to mention that his parents had taught him to walk with Jesus, a phrase from one of my favorite songs.  I said this prayer in my mind 3-4 times every day so that I could remember the grammar and pronunciation and not embarrass my fluent French-speaking husband.

Ephraim’s baptism was in Dijon because we do not have a font in our building.  When we arrived and looked at the printed program, the closing song just before my prayer was ‘I Will  Walk With Jesus’.  I shed a few tears, grateful that the Lord was giving me confidence and that I was in tune with what the Kuglers were planning.

The meeting began with a young man playing the music on the organ with one finger.  I vacillated between thinking this was pathetic and thinking how courageous he was to do this in front of 50 people.  I had decided before hand that I could carry a cheat paper to the pulpit in case I could not remember the French correctly.  When I looked at this young man, I thought if he could do that, I can surely have the faith to say my prayer without a paper.  And I did!  I made a few little mistakes but not enough to change the meaning.  I did it!  I hope I can always  be as sincere as I was in that prayer, and hopefully a little less stressed.

You may remember one week in November we were invited to be in charge of Primary and it was disastrous. Three little girls (9,7,7,) from one family were completely disruptive.  I finally requested that they sit down please.  Things improved as they  listened to a story and primary ended.  This week, Tom and I were invited to their home to do a family home evening.  Their mother warned us ‘the girls are afraid of Soeur Spackman’.  We planned a rhythm activity, three short videos about Easter and an appropriate song.  To our surprise, they were attentive, we all felt the spirit, had fun singing, and enjoyed our time together.  It is a relief not to be feared.

Our prehistoric cave painting

Springtime on the river: the flowers and tourists have returned!

Chocolates anyone...

or perhaps macaroons?

April 13, 2025

What a week!  It started with General Conference.  Pres. Schow in our zone conference said he prepares to listen to conference by asking two questions: what am I doing that I need to stop doing? and what am I not doing that I need to start?  We will try to answer those as we read and study.  The schedule is a bit overwhelming overseas.  We started with watching Saturday sessions live: at 6 PM, then at 10 PM.  The evening session we watched Sunday morning before going to the branch chapel where we met with many watching the 1st session together (in French) and enjoyed the potluck lunch we all shared before the Sat. PM session was seen.  There were so many great stories!  A telling statistic from the Oct 2024 conference was that Jesus Christ was referred to there a total of 1,604 times.  He was definitely the theme of this conference also.

Shortly after conference ended, a good friend sent me a copy of the dedication program of the Cardston Stake Center in 1953 (Dad was a bishop at the time).  The picture of the temple in Cardston had this caption: “The Church also has a progressive Temple building program. Today there are eight temples…and [two] sites have been purchased for temple construction [London and Berne]…”.  A significant change in 72 years to the 382 temples now dedicated, under construction or renovation, or planned.  

We had a great P day with the sisters this week.  We travelled into the country about 40 kms. to the village of Cormatin to explore the chateau.  It was built around 1600 but was purchased about 30 years ago by three friends who wanted to restore it - part to its original condition.  They have done a magnificent job with  the private apartments (walls, ceilings, floors and furnishings) of the Marquises de Huxelles.  She was 14 when she married him in his 30s.  The grounds were also spectacular (topiaries, a maze, a moat, a cupola, vegetable gardens, an orangery still full of tropical plants) although the only blooms were daffodils and flowering trees.  The blue sky, sunshine and lack of wind kept us wandering for about 3 hours.

In addition to staying up late to watch conference sessions, Tom tried to watch the NCAA BB final Monday night: Florida versus Houston.  He gave up at half time to sleep and was very surprised to find in the morning that Florida had managed to come from behind to win.  

Wednesday we drove to Dijon to visit the sister three-some there and check their apartment.  It has been used for a long time time by missionaries and shows it by the large amount of clutter one might expect.  We helped to throw out quite a bit of trash, recycle, and clean out an old vacuum cleaner they can now use again.  There is more work to be done but we will go back next Saturday after a baptism.  We all went for lunch together and had dim sum while we enjoyed getting to know one another better.

Thursday, we headed the opposite direction out of town to help an older single sister in our branch organize her kitchen, put fabric screens on her windows, hang some laundry and haul things back and forth to her storeroom.  I had made her some yummy chicken soup for her supper.  After two hours we left.  Three of us have allergies to her cats.  We picked wild flowers out of the ditch on the way home.  The Srs. joined us later for roast pork, mashed potatoes, sesame green beans and cabbage salad. Cooking a meal like that is not their top priority, so they are always grateful to be invited over.

We can tell summer is coming. We have seen several tour boats on the river from France and Switzerland, the trees are budding, the tulips are blooming and I have planted some geraniums in two flower boxes on our little balcony. It has been over 70F two different days. Hurrah! 

                                    The Cormatin Chateau

The carriage house and Orangery inside the moat

Looking out from the Orangery

Entry view - the left wing collapsed in the 1800's

Topiary and gardens

Maze, gardens, and chateau

The library

Apartment of the marquise - blue represented the Virgin Mary

Original tapestries in the marquis' bedroom

April 6, 2025

We are slowly improving our apartment. I have hemmed up sheers to go on the balcony door, hand sewed a cushion, (showed Sr. Hammond how to hem her pants) and hung two pictures. We have moved a small table and two folding chairs from the bedroom and made another seating area in our living/dining room. It almost looks like someone lives here.

 I learned how to listen to the Book of Mormon in French on one device while looking at it in French and English simultaneously on another. It makes studying much easier.

We spent a couple of hours with the Elders Quorum President and Relief Society President, the Farias, on Tuesday.  Tom was helping him make ministering assignments.  They are from Portugal but speak French also.  I was able to communicate with Maria for over an hour in French.  She asked about family, when I was a child.  She asked about dual citizenship.  She asked about children and grand children and traveling.  I don’t think they have been anywhere but Portugal, France and Switzerland (they work in the temple for one week a month).  They do not have many resources.  She made an apple tart to share with us when we were finished.  We got to meet one of their two sons and his wife.

Wednesday afternoon we got a text asking if we could bring dessert to zone conference the next day.  We are trying to encourage missionaries to eat fruits and vegetables, so we prepared a huge bowl of fresh pineapple, strawberries, kiwi and bananas on a tray, surrounded by apple slices and orange chunks.  The main course is always not-very-good pizza.  We have started taking our own sandwiches with us.

Thursday we met Pres. and Sr. Schow.  We knew as young missionaries they were in the same MTC district but called to different French missions, so both are fluent in French.  All the Elders and Sisters in our zone had lined the hall way leading from the entry door to the chapel so everyone could shake their hands.  When the president reached me he said ‘Do I get a hug?  Tom and I had had some previous interactions by email.  I gave him a good reaffirming one.  He has piercing blue eyes like my dad and Pres. Hinckley.

Sr. Schow’s presentation was based on the idea that the gift of Easter is repentance. She used Van Gogh’s painting of the Good Samaritan (below) as her object lesson, where the beaten man refuses to look at the man (the Christ figure) who has saved him.  Do we resist turning to Christ?  Do we impose our own isolation?  What did the Samaritan provide - oil, wine, food, clothing, shelter, protection?  All are symbolic of covenants. Do we know how to repent?  Will we allow Christ to heal us, to give us spiritual sight, to cover or clothe us in righteousness rather than be naked?

Pres. Schow continued  stating that the gift of repentance comes through the covenants we make that bind us to Christ.  We are trying to be yoked with Him in His yoke.  If we choose to turn to Christ, He will show us only acceptance and love which will eventually transform us.  If you love the Lord, spend time with Him.  Be diligent and be patient.  He talked of his desire to gain a testimony in the year before his mission.  He knelt and prayed in a gravel parking lot.  Nothing happened.  Later, he was studying D&C 4:3……  “if ye have desires to serve God , you are called to the work”.  He knew he had the desire, so he moved forward with faith.  Many years later, he was praying mightily for the life of his son.  He heard a voice saying “I have heard thy prayers”. Gratefully he acknowledged that patience does not mean being idle and concluded with his testimony.  Inspiring and practical.  We are excited to serve with them.

Sr. and Pres. Schow greeting the lined-up missionaries in their first zone conference

The Good Samaritan, by Van Gogh (after Delacroix)