Over the hump; Goodbye Frere Pho, Cauterets

Our Church Week—once again, illness curbed our week. We are better, just not at 100% energy yet. Elder Gardner is still recovering from the flu and it appears his companion, Elder Scharmann, might be next. We had a scheduled District Council Meeting in Toulouse this week but it didn't seem savvy to go. So instead of travelling 2 hrs one-way trips to Toulouse, the four of us met at our apartment and Skyped into the meeting.

You know the Elders are sick or under the weather if they miss a District Council Meeting and would rather be with us.  The meetings are so helpful for all of us, but particularly for the Young Missionaries as their jobs are harder in many ways see they meet up with so much rejection.  The meetings are inspirational and they get to see their friends and comrades in the field, compare notes, offer suggestions to each other and feel of each other's strength all working toward the same end goal. We attend as well, again in a supportive role as the meetings are all run by the young Elders. We remain impressed at their ability to lead when called upon to do so. They always come home energized, enthusiastic and ready to fight their up-hill battle. We all get filled up during those meetings.

In a world moving against God and religion, we have our work cut out for us and these meetings allow us to council with each other with tips and support. We count each success no matter how small or bit and cheer each other onward and upward. In the end, change is really only made one small step at a time. It's doing it consistently over time that brings greatness and growth in those we teach.  We don’t give up easily because we believe strongly in our message and that empowers us like none other.

As for us as Senior Missionary and because we are temporarily here, it’s important that we make sure we are training well so that when we leave programs and ideas can continue. Most of what we do involves vision-casting and modeling. When we see an opportunity to bring growth to the Branch, we discuss it at length to provide the next step that can sustain itself over time. Then we take a step back and see if we’ve done our support role well enough. More and more as our months wind down, we are actively taking a step back in this “winding up” leg of our mission. We are successful if others catch the same vision, build unity and provide opportunities to experience personal and Branch growth.

Build the foundation strong so programs can run successfully and be ready for incoming converts that can benefit by the programs. No matter our numbers, the programs can run. It's the programs that offer opportunities to serve, love, work consecrate ourselves and learn our areas of stewardship to build the Kingdom.

Giséle—has been asked to be the Missionary representative for Relief Society (woman’s group). She had that desire and was helpful before she was asked to help in this capacity; now she is on fire and has a new lease on life. It's amazing to watch someone bloom and run with enthusiasm. She’s really caught that “Missionary Spirit”. She met with the Elders this week and contacted us, we think before she was even home. They worked together on some ideas and she is very eager to jump in. She gave us the recap and wanted to meet with us to present her ideas. You should see her!!

Meg has been decorating for the monthly “repas” (lunches) and making personalized invitations. This is a wonderful platform for missionary work as well as for our Branch and those coming in once a month from Toulouse. The repas are already in place, we just added a layer. One of our favorite things is to watch everyone chip in and visit for hours with old and new friends. Meg will begin to phase out and Giséle will phase in with her own creativity. Did we mention she is creative in her own right? Today she brought it some added items for our upcoming March repas. Move over Meg. And that is what we want--model it then pass it on. we have full confidence in Gisele.

Bernard and Michèle—invited us over this week for a “goûter” or after-meal dessert. Dessert is a much better option for them as Michèle’s arm has been in a sling for 4 months and she is now doing Physical Therapy for another 4 months. So a meal, French-style, would be quite an undertaking. They are very gracious and we share a love of traveling, having been to many of the same places here in their beloved France. Marc helped Michèle get established on Family Search by setting up an account for her and getting her genealogy underway. Marc is in his glory doing genealogy and with the Poussard last name, has been working for decades now with several French genealogy websites. Knows them inside out. Funny how that all comes together and he's able to pass on that gained experience and knowledge.

Frère Pho—We said our last personal good-bye this week to Frere Pho since we will be gone next Sunday for his Branch send-off. We are very saddened by that conflict...really bad luck for us; we never miss a Sunday....except this one. Frère Pho is a gentle soul whom everyone loves. He lives right around corner from us, a short block and a half away. True he works long hours, but we’ve been able to visit quite a bit. And the Elders live just on the other side of him and they will miss their visits. Missionaries love to visit him and he has pictures of missionaries past in his collection. Elders who have completed their missions and come back to visit France, stop by Frere Pho's. This visit, the walls are bare. Most of the furniture is gone—all donated to neighbors. This is Frère Pho. He is a giving perso and wants to return their favor of friendship and kindnesses to him these past 7 years.

Frère Pho has been our Assistant Clerk and will now take that skill back to Cambodia with him. The Church has been in Cambodia for 23 years and they just announced a temple to built in the capital city where Frère Pho lives. That is quite remarkable, if not unique. The Church is growing there so quickly. He has visited the wards there when he visits his family. Now with his earning from here, the family now has a car. He said, “When I get home, we are going to Church together!” He already works with the Missionaries in Cambodia when he is home for his month-long visit. Now he will stay. His eyes tear up easily when he talks about his family in Cambodia over the years and now they tear up easily since he will leave his Tarbes Church family. But we are all excited for him to be just where he belongs—with his family!

Louise and grand daughters—we visited Louise this week and brought her Rice Krispies and marshmallows to make Rice Krispy Treats. The French call marshmallows "shmallow". Meg made Rice Krispy Treats the last repas. They are a BIG hit here and Louise sampled some for the first time in her 80 years. She wanted to make some for her granddaughters who come over every Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday is a short school day and she makes them lunch and they do a fun activity together each Wednesday. She entered the recipe into her very professional looking hand-made cookbook of favorite recipes, saying if it goes in this book, it's good and an honor. Louise is very creative and loves to cook.

Her father was a famous sculpture and was celebrated in many magazines. Her son is very artistic as well re-fabricating antiques modern appliances or furnishings. He’s done many pieces in her home, including a custom cabinet for her stove. He made a lamp out of an early fire-extinguisher. His pieces are very “unique-boutique” items. It’s challenging in Tarbes for that type of artisan workmanship; but his work is eye-catching and well done. He just has to market it outside of Tarbes.

30,000 mile check-up for car—Being on a mission doesn’t relieve us from all our household duties we don’t mind leaving behind. The car we lease was due for its 33,000 mile check-up on our watch so Marc took it to the Toyota dealer. The appointment fell nicely just before we are ready to undertake our 2 week journey…next week’s news. It's not quite the nice weather from the last 3 weeks but we are hopeful it will improve as we drive lots of scenic French miles.

Chauffage cleaning—We have a gas heater unit vs a hot water tank. The element heats the water on demand as cold water pours over the instantly hot coils.....220-voltage has its benefits....very quick heat! In France, if it’s gas-heated, the unit has to be checked once a year. The person renting the apartment is the responsible party, not the landlord. But it was easily done and now we are set. We think that takes care of all our “home-ownership” duties all in one week, actually 2 days, so we cannot complain.

Town of the week--includes a few towns in our very own back yard. We start with Tarbes and then travel just 35 minutes to the south to the town of Argelès-Gazost where our Elder's Quorum President lives, and then a bit further south to a town called the Cauterets.

Cauterets is a thermal spa town, a ski resort and a breath-taking commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department, Occitanie Region. Each thermal town is unique, depending on the water source...really the mineral content within the water source. Cauterets is well known for its numerous thermal springs characterized by the presence of sulphur and silicate of soda. These minerals are used in the treatment of diseases of the respiratory organs, rheumatism, skin diseases and many other maladies. The heyday of thermal springs was in the 1800’s, so many of the buildings date from this period. Make no mistake, they are still widely used but folks come for a week rather than the several month-long visits in the 1800's. Famous spa-goers include Chateaubriand (founder of Romanticism in French literature), Victor Hugo, and several of the Bonaparte family. Each theremal town has its own claim to fame. Cauterets touches the Spanish border.

A la Prochaine...