August 31, 2025

Already the end of August. Where has the summer gone?  If I open my journal, I can tell you. Some weeks are very busy, and some give quiet gems of experience.  All have been worthwhile.  We are so grateful for the opportunity to live in Chalon-sur-Saône in Burgundy, France. 

It is time for the grape harvest. We have driven through miles of vineyards.  We have seen several acres being picked by hand and learned that the grapes need hot dry weather now for peak sugar levels.  Alban, a friend of the church, says he will not see us until the end of the month because he is so busy working, but has set a baptismal date for September 27.  He has received his own tearful confirmation that the Book of Mormon is a second witness of Jesus Christ.

Monday we visited a couple in the branch whose 62-year-old daughter passed away recently.  She had pancreatic cancer and was being treated, but it had spread.  She was found unexpectedly in the morning sitting in her chair facing the television as if she had sat down the night before to watch a program, but had fallen asleep and died.  Her father was distraught and inconsolable.  That night he had a dream where the daughter came to him and said, “Don’t be sad, because I am very happy here.  I’m with (my husband who died not long ago) and my grandmother; it’s beautiful.  You should be happy for me!”  And when he woke from that dream his sorrow had passed.

Interestingly, she had asked her father the day before she died, “If I go away on a trip for a few days would you watch my dog?”  The couple had a faithful German Shepherd who had recently had been put down and the daughter had a German Shepherd also.  After she died, they adopted her dog and when he arrived in their house, made himself right at home.  He actually sleeps on their bed sometimes.  So they were consoled by his dream and had regained another faithful companion to fill the void of their loss.

The next day we went with the sister missionaries to visit Beaune and the Hôtel Dieu, also known as the Beaune Hospice.  It was built as a hospital for the indigent in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, chancellor of Burgundy, funded by a wealthy benefactor, Phillip the Good, and was used as such until 1971.  It is now a stelar architectural museum and a major relic of the middle ages.  Andre would love it.

Later we drove to Besançon to check a water leak in the Elder’s apartment there.  We were not able to fix it but we did find the water cutoff  so that it would only leak when the elders turned on the water briefly to collect fresh water for their needs.  Interestingly, the senior companion asked us if we had visited Cameroon in our previous mission, which we had.  We found a photo of one of the zone conferences we attended which included his older brother who was serving there at the time. We love that the world is such a small place.

A favorite street in old town

Beautifully decorated sign for a Tea Shop

Pastry temptations

First rainbow in a while

Back side of Hospice de Beaune

Colorful clay tiles of the Hospice

A sickbed

The main hall of the Hospice, founded 1443.

August 24, 2025

Sue: This week I have been studying Zeniff, King Noah, Abinadi, and Alma establishing the church at the waters of Mormon.  Two verses grabbed my attention:

Mosiah 12:27 Abinadi speaking  ‘Ye have not applied your heart to understanding; therefore ye have not been wise.’

Mosiah 18:12 Alma speaking ‘O Lord, pour out thy Spirit upon thy servant, that he may do this work with holiness of heart.'

These made me think about how I spend my time, and analyze my motives for serving.

We made two trips to Dijon this week. The first was to pay the person who hauled away the furniture off the balcony. He only took cash. The next was to deliver and replace 20 new casters on 4 desk chairs, a new vacuum cleaner and a standing fan. The sisters were delighted.  Perhaps it will inspire them to clean.  Since returning we have learned that Dijon is a UNESCO world heritage site. We will go another day en touristes.

Yesterday, I was excited to send  93 pages of stories about my life to the Storyworth publisher.  One of my sons, for Mother’s Day, composed a set of questions which I have answered. Some were in detail but others only 6 or 7 lines.  All have now been recorded in my own words and will be hardcover bound with one for each of our children.  This writing experience has reaffirmed that LIFE is GOOD.  I will also admit to weeping through some parts.  I hope this will help my grandchildren, and great grandchildren who I will never know, feel like they can relate to me in some way.

I tried walking and jogging this week. It is much more difficult than just walking. I made over 19.4 miles in 5 days. I hope I can keep this up.

Tom: I had the assignment to teach the priesthood lesson today about Pres. Oaks’ talk from April conference: Divine Helps for Mortality.  At first read it seems straightforward, but on studying there is a great deal of meat there.

He describes in perfect simplicity the Plan of Salvation.  However, in his justification for why God had to create the earth for us, he uses the analogy of our muscles not growing unless they have resistance - gravity - to work against.  That made me think that we needed to come to earth for our spiritual growth because there was no “resistance” in the pre-existence - no temptation to bring about a strengthening of our spirit.  We were like astronauts floating in zero gravity and needed to be born in a material world to grow.  

Pres. Oaks gives us examples of many divine helps in mortality, the most important being a Savior who dies for us.  I will skip most of the talk.  However, the part about distinguishing between the manifestations of the spirit and the Gift of the Holy Ghost led to several men telling about the manifestations of the spirt which gave them a testimony.  The most interesting was a man who plans on being baptized in late September.  He described his experience while reading the Book of Mormon: he felt a sudden warmth in the back of his head which slowly descended into his back and chest and filled him with such a wonderful feeling that he was moved to tears.  Others had similar but unique experiences for them which were manifestations of the Holy Ghost.

There is an interesting section in paragraph 15.  In English it talks about how those who obtain a remission of sins and who regularly renew their cleansing by daily repentance and living according to the covenants they make through the sacrament - qualify for the Holy Ghost to always be with them.  In French the word used for cleansing is purification.  A class member also used the word sanctification.  

My final comment is about paragraph 17 where Pres. Oaks talks about his disappointment that so many remain unprepared for our appointed meeting with the Savior despite all these helps provided to bring us home.  The translation in French is rendez-vous.  We never know when that rendezvous is scheduled.  However, if we are having meaningful personal prayers every morning, and then die mid-day, our rendezvous might be quite short.  We might be tempted to say” Hello again!  How are things since this morning?”  We can have a rendezvous with the Savior at will or whenever we need, but a regular rendezvous will help keep us on the path of happiness.

A beautiful building in Lyon

Sunrise over the Saône

Aug 17, 2025

I learned this week how to host a celebration for a future missionary who has a call. Invite family members and friends who have had influence.  Ask them to wear their missionary tag if they still have it and find out where they served.  Take time for all to get to know each other and something about their mission.  Have lots of good food. When all are seated, the future missionary tells how each guest has affected his or her life.  Do a multiple choice quiz with crazy questions about the new missionary so you can  laugh together.  Conclude with written bits of advice and lots of love and gratitude.  What an evening!  Best wishes to Léandre who has graduated from college, served as YSA stake représentative, fluent in French and English, and committed to Jesus Christ and his church.  We hope America welcomes you with open arms.

We are headed to Dijon tomorrow to pay the man who hauled away the moldy couch and chairs from the balcony of the sister’s apartment.  They now have an outdoor space and each has a desk to work at.  There are many physicalities to successful missionary work.

This has been a good Sunday.  We were up late last night at the above celebration and found out that our branch president is in the hospital with an infection.  It started in the urinary tract but after not getting the right antibiotics for a week it manifested as a septicemia with very high fevers.  Fortunately he was seen quickly at a hospital and the IV antibiotics are working well.  However, he was not able to attend meetings today.  

His two counselors are away and working, and the EQ President is gone for a month to Portugal.  That left the 1st counselor in the quorum (Tom) to preside and conduct today.  It has likely been 35 years since he last conducted a Sacrament Meeting and that wasn’t in French! - but old bishops don’t forget.  Only one speaker was assigned and we had a lot of visitors today.  Fortunately all went well - a couple of early notices were given and one was invited to speak.  The young man did very well.  Attendance was 68 - perhaps a branch record!  Sunday School was a lively discussion in groups about Section 88 led by our outstanding SS president.

After a short lunch and catnap we were off to take the sacrament to one of our shut-in sisters and then do some priesthood training with our member who is preparing for the Melchizedek Priesthood.  We might take the rest of the day off.

A corner of the ramparts in Autun, on the old hospital campus

Aug 10, 2025

How quickly the time passes!  Our two youngest grandchildren turn 12 and 11 this month.  We pray for all our grandchildren and children.  It is both a harsh and glorious world we are living in.

We love the Wednesdays when we have zone conference.  It is great to be together with the young elders and sisters but mostly we learn from our Pres. and his wife.  We studied the parable of the talents but tied it in with spiritual gifts and  faith unto miracles.  I learned that a monetary talent is the equivalent of 16 years of work.  Pres. Schow told us about vacuuming the carpet in the celestial room of the Kansas City Temple in preparation for the open house.  He was asking himself why he was doing this when it was spotless.  He  realized he was not doing this because it was dirty but to always keep it clean.  Then he taught us about false dichotomies.

We spent a lovely afternoon visiting, dining, and walking in Lyon with the Nevilles - another of the fascinating couples serving here.  Their calling is to interview pioneers in the area.  

Cooling off in the fountain

Lyon Hôtel de Ville

Fountain by Bartholdi, who also did the statue of Liberty

Tom and I are in charge of 4 (young) missionary apartments: Chalon, Dijon, Besançon, and one in Geneva.  We spent 5 1/2 hours this week getting rid of stuff left by probably six sets of missionaries who did not believe in throwing things out or giving things away.  We bagged clothes, shoes, binders, games, color by numbers, pens, pencil crayons, cloth grocery sacs etc. Those we gave to two families.  We carried close to 200 hundred pounds out of their cupboards to the garbage and to our car.  This week we will deliver 70 hard cover Books of Mormon, mostly in Arabic but several other more obscure languages, over 500 pamphlets in English and Arabic and more bags meant for the mission office.  Now the young soeurs have a place to put their shoes, the canned goods, the Christmas decorations,  p-day equipment and their books.  I joked that we should have taken before and after photos.  Meanwhile Tom was installing a new shower head, fixing a lock so the bathroom door would shut and working on all the folding doors in the apt. and arranged for a company to haul away the moldy couch and chairs off the balcony.  Who knew he would become a handyman on this mission?

We are grateful that some days are quiet and we can do the laundry and make a good dinner and watch a movie or read a book. There is much I will miss when we leave France - the history, the physical beauty of the countryside, the bread, cheese and fresh fruit and the diligent members of the church. We consider it a great blessing to serve here. 

P.S. Last week our mission had 1004 media referrals. WOW

Aug 4, 2025

It is so great having family visit, even for a day and a half.  We picked up Erin and Axie in Lyon, arriving from Madrid after finishing  their Camino de Santiago de Compostela.  We all enjoyed Tom’s homemade black beans with our fajitas, donated Erin some clothes from my closet and found Axie a skirt to wear to church.  Christy, Erin, and Ben were each asked to share their testimonies in French.  It was a sweet experience to have our little branch members meet and hear from some of our kids. They brought the Spirit to the meeting.

After meandering  through the luxurious country side, we explored the 1000 year-old medieval castle of Couches, then headed to Branch President Catogni’s home for dinner.  What an evening of sharing, discovering  commonalities  from biking and running to love of music, French, and excellent food. Our kids bonded with Roxanne (their oldest daughter), her husband Contin, and baby Eugénie, and Leandre ( their youngest son) who just graduated from college and has a mission call to Ogden Utah. Ben oriented Leander to the Cavalry and invited him to join.  We played a fun lawn game called Mokky and concluded the evening with singing - at Erin’s request.  What a choir!  Being invited into this French family home will be a memory that will always bring a smile to our faces.  Today before church, the Catognis told us they loved our kids. Who wouldn’t?

Ben, Christy, Erin, Jeff, Sue, and Tom at Couche

Château de Couches

At Catogni's home in Dracy St. Loup

Monday, we drove Erin and Axie to Geneva so they could catch their plane to the Japan - Seattle Suzuki Institute where Erin is the boss.  Along the route, I told Axie stories about her mom and grand parents she had never heard before.  The two hours went really fast.  In Chalon, Ben and Christy were welcoming Ethan and Haley, our oldest grandson and his wife.  They were dropping in for an overnight on their way to Paris from Spain.

Tuesday we were invited to the Landrés ‘museums’.  We learned about the 14 générations of grape growers and vintners in his family and saw all the accompanying historical accoutrements.  There must have been some huge adjustments for him as he left that life to join the church.

Wednesday Ben and Christy packed their suit cases and we headed east on country roads to the Haute Jura, a regional park with five waterfalls.  It was a sunshine, blue sky, birds singing kind of day and the park itself reminded me why I love mountains so much.  We hiked along a rocky stream umbrellad by huge trees, moss clinging to the trunks.  In Florida we have moss on the trees but it hangs like torn gauze from the branches. We could hear the falls and after a block , there it was - the tallest in the area.  I have always loved waterfalls and added this one to the collection of soothing pictures in my mind.  Then it was over the mountains (literally) to Geneva and a flight back to Utah for the last of our family here. How we love them all!

Hedgehog Falls

Lumpy tree moss!