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!