Mother's Day and New Sunday School

- May 14, 2018

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Well it is winter here again in Tarbes. It is 36 degrees F right now and 90% rain predicted today. Being from Poway, CA, we are not used to all the rain, colder weather, and lack of sun. Though I would like to report that we did have a direct ray of sun a few days ago between 10:24 and 10:32 AM which was nice. Actually, the locals say this has been more of an odd year. To top it off I (Marc) have caught a bad cold, which although bad, is an improvement over the flu, so I am not complaining too much.

In our branch yesterday we restarted Sunday school and thus added a 3^rd hour to our worship service. We had a class for adults with 24 attendees and a class for the youth with 3 attendees. We had some great discussions and everyone seemed to enjoy the class. We are using a manual that covers the basic principles of our church https://www.lds.org/manual/gospel-principles?lang=eng It explains what our church believes on a number of subjects and is arranged by topic.

We had a former missionary visit with his family from near Calgary, Canada. He was here in Tarbes for about 6 months in 2017. He said that on some days when he was here they had only 9 people at church, counting the missionaries. But all the groundwork that was laid by he and others before him, have allowed for the growth we are fortunate to see. Some have moved in and others people are returning to church. Having greater numbers allows the congregation to offer more classes and programs to help everyone cope with the everyday challenges that we all seem to have in our everyday lives. The challenges range from health issues, long distances to church and one of our members who lives in a shelter just had his tablet stolen. The first concern he expressed is now he can’t read his scriptures. So we have a set ready for him.

We had the United States Mother’s Day on Sunday so we got to Skype with our daughter Nadya thanks to the kindness of a Senior Couple in Montreal who had a nice dinner for several missionaries. Thank you!! At that dinner party, there was an extra treat.... a brief but joyous hello to a Senior missionary couple that we took classes with at the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo, Utah. They now work at the Mission Office in Montreal. They are INVALUABLE in all missions and we can't thank them and others in their capacity for all the behind-the-scenes work they do to help missions who are "in the field". They are the real unsung heroes!

In two weeks we get to have Mother’s day again, this time the French version. Mother’s Day here is the May 27^th. Hope all had a nice Mother’s Day in the USA and can enjoy your second Mother's Day, French style. It's on us:)

Azaleas outside the local museum at Jardin Massey

In California we have placards that discuss what to do during an earthquake. Here unfortunately, the placards cover what to do during a Terrorist attack

"Garden orchids"

Love those shutters

One of our favorite trees, and immense in size with beaucoup blosoms

Stylized entry ways

Wisteria, now fading away

A great new cheese that Marc recently found

Meg and a great dogwood tree

Azalea bushes

Monsieur peacock

Just love the green in the new growth

Meg with a member whom we just found

AND lives around the corner!

Azalea

Even the weeds flower

The deep purples of wisteria

Close your eyes and imagine the most heavenly of smells

Time for iris, home of a member

Marc with our new Sunday School President and Primary President

Our visiting former missionary (white shirt) and former Branch President (green tie)
Branch Missionaries (L), returned missionary (Siobhan-R)
2 young future missionaries
2 member missionaries