The weeks pass very quickly. Sunday we went to church in Avignon. It is a branch about the same size as Chalon with a very young branch presidency and half the population older than we are. Some members were from Tahiti and some from the Caribbean - not quite as diverse as ours now. There is a nice two story building but a piano rather than an organ. We were surprised to see the Elder and Sr. Hansen there. He served in Avignon 50 years ago and shared his testimony of being there with a total of 4 people. They are now serving in Angoulême.
Monday I purchased all the supplies for the mission tour meal except the pork which was already pulled and frozen. I made 5 litres of bbq sauce which took most of the day and hard boiled 40 eggs. Tuesday we headed to the mission home and peeled 20 of the 32 pounds of potatoes and cut up cut up 3 stalks of celery. We had a conversation with Pres. Schow about where we will serve our last 9 months.
Wednesday we cooked all the potatoes and sprinkled them with vinegar, cut up the pickles and eggs. I made all the salad dressing. It took 3 hours to assemble potato salad for 120 missionaries with 4 of us working. It was a relief to have that done. Sr. Berube made the cole slaw because she has a food processor. Tom and I went to Promocash for paper plates that would not collapse, spring colored napkins, and plastic folks that would not break. We were ready. We zoomed Elder McConkie’s talk in Marseilles on the language of personal revelation and had a quiet evening. Hopefully everything needing to go to the Church would fit in our car.
Thursday was a bright sunny day. All the food did indeed fit into the car. We considered setting up tables in the grassy area outside the church, but the ground was too soft. Fortunately the space inside was adequate for 120 place settings. The lunch was very well received by all and there was enough food for seconds for many.
Elder and Sr. McConkie were a marvel to observe in their teaching and interactions with the missionaries. Elder McConkie taught from Luke 5 - the calling of Peter. How did Christ invite? What did he promise? What can we learn from that experience in our invitations to others to follow Him? He also shared the experience he had in his training as a general authority observing Elder Cook as he matched missionaries to their assigned missions. At one point Elder Cook didn't feel right about assigning a missionary to any of the missions that would have vacancies, so he asked to see all the missions. He assigned the missionary to one of those. When the attending member of the missionary committee said that mission was full, Elder Cook said "I don't care. That's where this missionary is called to serve!" Later on, he was struggling to find the right match and asked to see the mission leaders in the missions under consideration. That gave him the answer. Calls come under inspiration!
The McConkie's met with the senior missionaries separately for a short meeting after the others, to thank us for our service, and then asked what we were learning. We responded that mission leaders make all the difference in the spirit in a mission, and that we knew we were supposed to be here. Many times it isn't what we do that makes the difference, but just being there. When we are willing and try, the Lord uses our individual talents to bring about good things. Possibly the greatest thing we have seen is the resolution of a long-standing feud which had divided the branch for years. We served as a catalyst and the Lord took care of the details. Sr. Later also contributed that she has sent in the past year from the office by request copies of the Book of Mormon in 37 different languages!
Yesterday we drove to meet Neal and spend a few hours together. He was in Switzerland for the week to give several talks at a convention in a beautiful mountain retreat. We met in Geneva and visited the Bastions Park with the Reformation Wall - statues recognizing the great Protestant reformers. Their work also paved the way for the independence of Geneva as a canton. Carved into the wall behind the statues are the words "POST TENEBRAS LVX". It took a bit to realize that the Latin LVX wasn't a number, but that the V was a Latin U. Loose translation, "After darkness, light". That is Geneva's motto.
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| Reformation Wall |
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| Geneva Coat of Arms |
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