Chers familles et amis,
(Dear families and friends)
Three weeks later, "It's time for another blog", says Janet! Especially since Christmas is in full swing in France. Actually, "Bonnes Fetes" which means "Happy Holidays" is in full swing. We think it's sad that the true reason for the season seems to be lost for so many. Celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ will always be foremost in our hearts during the Christmas season. He is our Savior, Redeemer, and King.
Still, we enjoy the festivities and lights, as you will see in the pictures below. We had the wonderful opportunity to meet at our mission president's home with the other eight senior couples on December 8th. After a raclette dinner we wandered around downtown Lyon to see the light shows. Maybe we were expecting too much, but we were underwhelmed. We thought the lights and decorations in Beziers were better done.
The most important event in the past three weeks just happened yesterday. The mother and son we mentioned in our last blog were baptized yesterday. Wayne was honored to be asked to baptize them. It was a very spiritual experience to help them follow in the Savior's footsteps down into the waters of baptism. The portable baptismal font in the Beziers chapel had never been used. Wayne had to figure out how to put it together without any instructions. The wood frame went together nicely, but the vinyl liner would not fit. Even with Janet's help, it just wouldn't go in. After a silent prayer, the thought occurred to try using some clamps Wayne had purchased a few weeks ago for another job. That did the trick, the liner was stretched into place, and the plumbing to fill it even had an adjustable temperature control.
Some other events in the past three weeks include travelling to Toulouse twice: once for a stake conference and a week later for a zone conference. We loved meeting with our leaders and with the young elders and sisters serving around us. We had to hurry home from Toulouse to teach another English Connect 1 class. We are preparing to teach another class for new young elders and sisters to help them adjust to missionary life. The class is called "Strength in the Savior", and it offers suggestions on how to deal with the many challengers these 18 and 19 year old young adults have to deal with.
Now that we're done cleaning and repairing apartments, we're looking forward to focusing more on our original calling to work with the young adults. We have a Zoom meeting next week, and we'll let you know how it's going in our next blog sometime after Christmas and New Year's.
We hope in this season you all enjoy the warmth and love of one another and of God's only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
Merry Christmas!
Elder and Sister Wayne and Janet Sumner
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It wouldn't be Christmas without English toffee
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| Janet at the Auchon mall |
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| Riding in a two-reindeer open sleigh |
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| Galeries Lafayette |
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| The decorations in Beziers |
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| more Beziers decorations with Sladjana and Yugi |
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| Beziers decorations with us |
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| Light and fountain show in Beziers, mostly done with American Christmas music! |
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| This window display cracked us up. |
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| dinner with President Lepore's family and senior couples |
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| a missionary lesson in our apartment |
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| portable baptism font with ladders to get in and out! |
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ready to perform the baptisms | | Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter seen from our back patio |
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Loved the Christmas decorations in Beziers and your ingenuity with the baptismal font. Merry Christmas. Hope to see you again soon. Elder et Soeur Poussard
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