Week 6 in France

This has been a busy week, so we haven't taken many pictures. The week started on Sunday when Wayne was asked to play the organ in church.  We got there an hour early so he could practice, especially on the pedals. That evening we had a senior missionary couple get-together to welcome a new missionary couple and the new second counselor in the temple presidency.                     

Monday was especially frustrating.  We had to stay in our apartment waiting for the technician to come and install our WiFi.  He spent over an hour looking for the optical fiber connection, but couldn't find it.  Here's the sign at our apartment building entrance plainly stating that our building has been connected by Orange, the French WiFi company, for the optical fiber network!  Oh well! Maybe next week.

Wednesday evening we had our first guests in our apartment: from left to right: the two sister missionaries, a young friend of the church and her mother.  Janet fixed a wonderful four course French meal starting with a salad bar, then some tasty home-made beef stew, then a French baguette with a nice selection of French cheeses, and, after a brief discussion, we send dessert home with them because it was getting late.  The dessert consisted of Costco chocolate chip cookies. Yum!

On Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, the senior couple missionaries got together for a pie fest.  We skipped all that turkey and stuffing and such and went straight for the good stuff!  Janet made a delicious cherry pie with lots of help from Wayne.  We learned that sour pie cherries are called "Griotes" and that whipping cream is not called "Creme Fraiche".  We tried whipping the Creme Fraiche without success only to find out that we were trying to whip sour cream!  Whipping cream is called "Creme Fleurette".  After whipping it, it's called "Creme Chantilly".  Ah, the things you learn by hard experience!!

                               

This week the workers started to set up the"Creche" or manger on the temple grounds, much to Janet's delight.  This is the only decoration the temple will have; no lights like at temple square in  Salt Lake City.  I told Janet that it would be better to wait until after it was finished to send a picture, but she wanted to show you the progress NOW! 

This afternoon the senior couple temple missionaries were invited to a real Thanksgiving dinner at the home of the Paris Ward bishop, Bishop Hall.  There were 20 people there with an amazing assortment of gourmet Thanksgiving foods: everything from turkey to mashed potatoes to gravy to fruit salad to baked vegetables to French baguettes to a wide assortment of pies. What a wonderful evening it was!  The picture on the right shows Bishop Hall with three of his 6 children.

Time is flying by.  We are so busy at the temple that the days seem like minutes.  We miss our families, but we were able to stay up until midnight on Thursday after our pie fest and "Messenger"with 5 of our children. We tried but were unable to reach Andy and Jane, our Taiwanese children. We have so much to be grateful for, but above all, we are grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who sent his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to live for us and die for us so that we might repent and return to our Father in Heaven.

Week 5 in France

This past week we were on the afternoon schedule, which gave us time in the mornings to go for walks, do some shopping, and study French together.  However, it also meant we walked home in the cold, dark evenings.  The other senior missionary couples either live much closer or in the temple on-site housing, and they think it a hardship for us to have to walk so far.  We, however, enjoy the time walking and talking together, and we enjoy the beautiful scenery and the many French families out walking and riding bikes.  Janet's phone counts her steps, and so she knows she gets her 10,000 steps each day walking back and forth to and from the temple.  She knows she takes many steps in the temple, too, but can't take her phone there to count them. Here's a picture of Janet walking towards the Versailles gate called St. Antoine's gate.                                                                         

Since it was taken in the dark, the image is a little fuzzy, but you can still see the light directly above the arch, which I like to think of as the Angel Moroni! The bright light in front of the arch is a bicyclist coming toward us.  You can see how well lighted the path is, so we aren't too worried about walking home in the dark.

 On Sundays we walk 5 minutes to the bus stop through the Parly 2 mall, take a bus for about 10 minutes, and then walk another 10 minutes to the chapel in Versailles.  We met this young couple while walking to church from the bus.  The chapel you see in the background is one of the first chapels to be built in France.  I remember going to a zone meeting here once as a young missionary 50 years ago! Now 2 wards meet there: the Versailles ward and the Le Chesnay ward.  We attend the latter, which starts at 2:00 pm, but starting in January, we will be meeting at 9:30 am.  No more sleeping in on Sunday mornings!  The next picture shows a beautiful autumn tree at Place Laboulaye where we get off the bus. It's getting to be winter coat time here.

The next four pictures show us on other walks and a sunset from our apartment balcony.  As you can see in the picture of us together, we finally found the tunnel under the busy highway.

 

One day as Janet was getting dressed, she pulled out a beautiful
scarf that Jane had given her.  It went well with the outfit she
planned to wear that day, but Wayne saw it and commented that
it was just the right size to cover the piano keyboard.  So he
needs to thank Jane for a beautiful piano cover! Sorry, Janet.

The next picture was taken outside of the Dessange Hair Salon. Janet got her first French haircut.  She is still suffering from sticker shock, but the cut was nice, and while they washed her hair before cutting it, she got to sit in a massage chair and get a back massage while getting her hair done.  It was nice, but pretty expensive. Next time, she might try a different place since there are so many to chose from.  She still will not consider letting Wayne cut her hair!  She learned her lesson in Tarawa during out first mission.

Christmas is in full swing at the Parly 2 mall.  Here are a few scenes we thought were picture worthy:

Notice that this nativity scene is missing the baby Jesus. That's because
in France they don't add him in until Christmas eve.  The next picture shows a close up of the same nativity.

Janet saw this Lindt chocolate shop and wandered in. The sales lady gave us free samples, and we ended up buying a bunch of chocolate to put under the Christmas tree for her.

We happened to wander past a store that sells telescopes, but I doubt if I'll find one of these under the tree for me.

As we are given additional responsibilities working in the temple, we realize even more how eternally significant the work we do there is for both the living and the dead. We believe that many of those who have passed out of this world welcome the opportunity to learn of Christ's sacrifice and atonement. We welcome people from many different countries, but all have a happy glow as they enter and leave the temple.  We hope and pray we can always contribute to that happiness and help them feel the love and peace our Savior Jesus Christ wants them to feel.  We hope you will also feel his love for you.

Week 4 in France

This past week we served at the Paris Temple on the morning shift.  That means we left our apartment at 7:45 am and got back around 3:00 pm.  We don't particularly like walking in the dark mornings, but it's nice to walk home on a sunny afternoon.  We enjoy our walks, especially when it's not raining and/or the wind is not blowing, which happened twice this week. Here's a picture of Wayne closer to the Versailles gate know as St. Antoine, which Janet took on our preparation day (also known as P-day) last Monday.

We had planned to walk into the Versailles gardens, but Janet wouldn't cross the busy highway over the barricades (duh), and by the time we got to a crosswalk, we were a long ways from the entrance, so we walked past the temple and had supper at the Bistro de la Place, where we ate our first lunch two summers ago while serving as tour guides at the Paris Temple open house.  Because we got there at 6:30 pm, we had to wait to order until 7:00 pm, which is when most restaurants open in France!  We've since learned that there's a tunnel under the highway on the other side from where we were. We'll use it next time.
Last Sunday we had a farewell get together at the temple president's home for Brother Bertrand, the second counselor in the temple presidency.  These three photos show all the temple missionary couples and the temple presidency:

 From left to right: Janet, Sister and Elder LeSueur, and Elder and Sister Pitcher.  Funny story: Elder LeSueur has a French name but is very much American.  When an American visitor spoke with him, seeing his name tag, he assumed he was French, and told him that he spoke excellent English, to which Elder LeSueur simply replied "thanks".






From left to right: Sister Giraud-Carrier, the temple matron, President Lazarus, First counselor, Sister Lazarus, Sister and 2nd Couselor Bertrand, and Elder Deladerriere.  Elder Deladerriere has quite the sense of humor, and has taken me (Wayne) under his wing.  He has been especially helpful in teaching me the things I need to learn to serve in the temple.

From left to right: Elder and Sister Deladerriere, Elder and Sister Piepgrass, and, standing, President Giraud-Carrier.  In the four short weeks we've worked together, we've come to know and love these dedicated people.  They have been so kind and patient with us as we learn our new responsibilities. They, like us, are giving their lives to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.  As we help temple patrons make sacred covenants for themselves or on behalf of deceased ancestors, we often feel the Lord's spirit very strongly.  The feelings of peace and love found in the temple are truly wonderful.  We count it a choice blessing to be called to serve here.



Last Tuesday we received our first package from home.  We had Zach and Angelica send us a few things we couldn't live without like Janet's microwave egg poacher, the white shirt that she ordered but which didn't arrive until after we left, my pocketknife, some ultrasonic mosquito repellers, and the Hershey's Special Dark chocolate bars we forgot to take.  There's good chocolate here in France, but Hershey's Special Dark is still our favorite!  We could hardly believe it cost $53 to send this little box.

One morning we notice a huge flock of green birds that looked like parrots picking the fruit off of a Japanese apple tree growing right next to the temple.  As we walked by after taking a picture, they all flew over to the tree behind the Christus statue.  They were there again the next day, too.

Yesterday we went for a walk to find a hair salon we were told
would do a good job cutting Janet's hair.  On the way we walked
past a street market that was just closing.  We were tempted to
buy some couscous, but the vendor told me they were closed.

I had been looking for a small piece of thin wood to mount my piano sustain pedal on to keep the pedal from sliding around under my foot.  A discarded wooden crate had just the piece of wood I was looking for and at just the right price.  A little dumpster diving didn't hurt my pride much.

We had been looking for a way to thank the workers who have been working on fixing the toilet in our apartment.  (It's still not entirely fixed.) We found these chocolate bars with the words "Thank You" written on them in white chocolate.  We were surprised they didn't say "Merci".

We are about to Messenger with Angelica and Jeramiah, so it's time to close this blog.  A la prochaine!

Weeks one, two, and three in France

Despite still not having our own internet, and thanks to the graciousness of our senior couple neighbors, the Woods, we'll post another blog about our first three weeks in France.

We were picked up at the airport by the Paris Temple recorder, Brother Ridet, who took us directly to the temple where we were greeted by President and Sister Giraud-Carrier.  Wayne's hearing aids had died near the end of the airplane flight, so before we could do much else, he had to dig out some fresh batteries.  We were set apart as temple ordinance workers by President Giraud-Carrier, and after some brief visiting, we were taken to our apartment.

Our apartment is wonderful, with lots of room and modern appliances.  We are 3 minutes by foot from the huge Parly 2 shopping center and 20 minutes by foot from the temple.  We get lots of exercise walking since we don't have a car.  In bad weather, the buses stop 300 feet from our apartment.  Public transportation is really good here and not too expensive.

On our way to the temple we walk right toward the
arched gate to the Versailles gardens near where
Marie-Antoinette lived.

 We often shop at the Hema store.  It's sort of like a really expensive All-A-Dollar store.

We were able to go to a wonderful park called France Miniature on our second preparation day.  The park has 116 one-thirtieth scale models of French heritage sites.  The detail of the models was incredible.

From left to right are Elder and Sister LeSueur, Janet, and Sister Piepgrass.  It was a cold cloudy day with only a few light sprinkles, but we really enjoyed it anyway.

This is a model of the Place de La Concorde, the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe. The fountains have all the statues around them and the Arc de Triomphe has all the bas relief carvings in amazing detail.  Someone spent a lot of time making these models.









We wanted to take a picture in front of the Paris Temple Christus to match our picture in front of the Salt Lake visitor center Christus, so we had someone take our picture.  We wanted to show you us in our "work clothes" as we serve in the temple, but had to get special permission to take a picture in the visitor waiting room.  We don't leave the temple in our white clothes.  Here we are:

Here are a few pictures of our apartment:
Our bedroom                                                   

One shopping load from our handy

                                                                                   red shopping cart. Everyone in

                                                                             France has a shopping cart!

                                                                                                 

 One of the kitchen pantries with some of the foods we've purchased.

Our dining room/living room.

Our kitchen.  The washer and drier on the left work well, but the drier vents into the room!  To prevent moisture and heat buildup, the drier uses a cooling coil to cool the exit air and remove the moisture.  I have to empty the collected water every other load! We have yet to use the dishwasher next to the washer.  The stove top (dark appliance in the center) only works with ferromagnetic pots and pans.  The nice aluminum fry pan we bought doesn't heat up!

I couldn't live without a piano.  I bought it
white so we could donate it to the temple when
we leave two years from now.

Janet couldn't live without a nativity.  She found these pieces
which had to be purchased separately, but she managed to
put together a very complete set just like at home.
Christmas is already dominating most of the stores here.

It's getting late so we'll close for now.  May the Lord watch over you all.  We love feeling His spirit as we serve in the Paris Temple.