January 25, 2026

We were blessed to zoom the ground breaking of the Jacksonville Florida Temple yesterday. Our friends, Gene and Sara Patch, were the organizers.  Impressive that two youth speakers were included with an adult woman and a man giving the history of the church in the area. Jacksonville Stake was organized in 1947, the 1st stake in the South, and 4th stake east of the Mississippi after New York City, Washington DC, and Chicago.  When the Jacksonville East and West Stakes were divided in 2009, Elder Teixeira of the Seventy sat with the three new stake presidencies and challenged them to do all they could to prepare for a temple within five years.  It has taken 17 years, but the Lord's timetable is not ours.  

Elder Eric Bednar conducted (seemed nervous to me because he spoke so quickly) and Elder De Feo of the Area Presidency gave the sacred dedicatory prayer.  His humility before God and his sensitivity to his assignment were very touching.  I hope the prayer will be in print some day where we can read it.

We took Srs. Cardon and Bell to Cluny on p-day.  Through the influence of its order, Cluny Abbey is considered the greatest monastery of its time.  Founded in the 10th century, the order of Cluny restored the rule of Saint Benedict, benefited from the protection of the papacy and extended its influence across Europe to the point that it was the mother house of nearly a thousand other monasteries at the end of the 13th century.  The huge church was completed in 1130 and was the largest in Christianity until St. Peters in Rome was built 500 years later.  At it's height Cluny exerted central control over those other monasteries and became very rich.  Starting in the mid 1400's, the Abbot was appointed by the King rather than being elected by the monks, which coincided with the beginning of the decline of its influence and power.  Most of it was destroyed during the French Revolution but part has been restored and the bell tower is original as is the wall surrounding the once huge structure.

The church went from where we are to 650 feet away, by the huge bell tower

Standing beneath the bell tower, of which there were three

Soeurs Bell and Cardon with the huge walls of the Abbey in the background

When we visited Sr. Navarro this week, she was out of bed and sitting in her chair for the first time in weeks.  Happy day!  We helped Sr. Bergeron organize her storeroom by building three sets of shelves and stacking all her daughter’s stuff on them. She can now get in to it.  

We met a new branch member from Spain who has recently moved to Beaune.  Her husband has an 18 month work assignment there. They have a daughter serving an Italian mission.  Had a surprise visit with the Berubes from Alberta.  They are the senior couple in Lyon over young singles and are doing a marvelous job.  They were supposed to drop off new smoke detectors, then head to Dijon for a day with a companion from her mission to Paris years ago.  At last minute, that day was postponed but they came with their delivery anyway.  We invited them up to our apartment, fed them fresh fruit, hot baguettes from our wonderful boulangerie next door, and truffle cheese.  We enjoyed a delightful couple of hours getting to know each other.  They are very interesting people and much more fun than we are.  Also a lot younger. 

I found out that our next zone conference is 36 hours after we get home from Nice.  I was anxious about how I could have that prepared. The idea of hot pulled pork with homemade bbq sauce came to mind.  Most could be done in advance and the rest could be assembled at the mission home the day before.  I now have pulled pork for 32 in my freezer( about half of what is needed) and the recipe for the bbq sauce from Sr. Hemming, who we lived by in Nairobi.  The Berubes offered to make all the coleslaw and Sr. Lande and Tom will help with potato salad.  All will go well.

January 18, 2026

Sue: January is the month that the French celebrate the Epiphany. The celebration honors the coming of the wise men although we know it probably took 18-24 months for them to find the ‘young child’ in his house.  They had come to worship Him and bring him gifts for they had seen his star and had most likely travelled from Persia and Greece.  From them we can learn the importance of prophecy and carefully watching for signs of the Savior but the  French are now a little more secular.  They celebrate the wisemen with a Kings' Cake, a puff pastry filled with almond paste.  We have seen hundreds of these in grocery stores, bakeries, and specialty shops ranging in price from 6 to 35 euros. Inside each cake is one fève - a prize made of plastic or porcelain.  If it is in your piece, you wear a crown, and depending on the circumstances, buy everyone another round of drinks, host the celebration next year, or have good luck.  At one time the fève was to remind us of searching for the Savior but I have seen everything from dinosaur disks to the winged victory.  I have collected second hand a donkey, a sheep, Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus in a manger all in porcelain. These are one of the few purchases I am bringing from France.  I am hoping to start a new tradition at home.

Creche fèves (about an inch in length)

It has been a good week peeling 80 apples for apple crisp, baking 75 potatoes for a potato bar and making chili for 55 hungry missionaries in the Lyon zone.  I had great help and everything was devoured except some butter and some humus which we donated to the Young Singles leaders.  I always just stare at the wall the day after as I recover but am grateful to contribute to the health and happiness of those dedicating their energy, time, talents, and all to serving the Lord.

I was invited to assist the young sisters on Friday evening.  They are working with a family of 5 from Nigeria who are English-speaking. I was able to answer some of the mother’s questions, share some of the history of Joseph Smith and the coming forth of the  Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ, and testify of it leading us to Christ and clarifying his gospel.  It was a marvelous experience for me as I felt the Spirit guiding me.  I rarely share my feelings in French for lack of vocabulary.

Tom: One of my least favorite responsibilities here is the oversight of a few missionary apartments. When something isn't right we become first contact.  This week the soeurs in Chalon had a mishap requiring the need for a new mattress, and they also decided they would like a vacuum cleaner - a standard apartment item but previously not wanted.  Fortunately we've been here long enough to know how to do this.  Ikea in Dijon carries a standard single bed mattress, so I made a quick trip to pick one up.  Also, Amazon has a Basics vacuum cleaner that does the job for a small apartment and it was delivered Friday.  It really wasn't that difficult!

                            Scenes from a recent walk:

Tour boats (7!) lined up for their winter refurbishment

Swans browsing

An empty German-flagged boat headed downriver

Happy New Year 2026

We had a wonderful time with Ben and Christy in the Dordogne region in the waning days of December, staying in a rural farm loft with beautiful views over the valley down to the river.  The weather was very nice for the first few days, even permitting lunch on the balcony outside one day.  

We visited several chateaux: Beynac, so full of history, Castelnaud with its medieval weapons museum and trebuchets, and Chateau des Milandes, the home of Josephine Baker, heroic/tragic black American entertainer who was beloved in France. Her life reminded us of the need for stability in life.  We also found some lovely patisseries and went for walks in the hilly woods.  It was a good break from the routine.  

The gardens at Chateau Milandes

A view of Beynac from Domme

On our way home we stopped at Vichy for a drink from the municipal fountain - bubbly water!

Ben taught Sunday School - Intro to the OT

We returned to a transfer week, sending off Sr. Rasmussen to Clermont - Ferrand and receiving Sr. Cardon.  In testimony meeting Sunday we heard from Sr. Schuling, our mariner who lives on her boat in the marina.  She told of how she had met a couple while boating on the Saône in the fall.  They invited her to dine on their boat and she went.  Before the meal, feeling prompted, she asked if she could offer a prayer before they ate.  The wife accepted with enthusiasm and it led to discussions about religion and life.  Sr. Schuling has stayed in touch with the couple, who live in Clermont-Ferrand not far from the LDS chapel, and a week prior had mentioned sending two books about the Church, but had no way to send them.  When she heard Sr. Rasmussen would be transferred there this week she was overjoyed at this answer to her prayer, and gave the books to be delivered by hand.  That has happened already, with photos of the sister missionaries enjoying a meal with the couple.  We don’t know the outcome of this yet, but God certainly moves in mysterious ways.

Kitchen helpers after the arrival dinner

We had snow in Lyon during the arrival day, enough to make it slippery driving the next morning until the temperature warmed above freezing.  We also learned some things.  The couple that were to replace us in April had their assignment changed.  They will now serve as mission leaders in Halifax, NS starting in July.  We also heard that with so many new missions opening, it is unlikely that our mission will be able to replace many seniors currently serving - too many needs elsewhere.  Isn’t that a wonderful problem to have?  We are excited at the new missions opening in the Africa Central Area, and even more so with the new Paris South Mission, which will likely take the Bordeaux and Toulouse Stakes out of the Lyon Mission.  Big changes.

This week is the start of another round of zone conferences, beginning in Lyon.  The last series produced a lot of viral illnesses - colds, etc. - among the missionaries.  This time we will require the missionaries to use hand sanitizer before they eat the lunch meal.  Hand washing is one of the best things we can do to prevent the spread of these winter illnesses.

The branch had 10 friends in church this morning.  Not many seats left, and several members absent.  It's an exciting time to be here.