On Fathers and Fellowshipping

On Fathers:
We realized today at church that Father's Day is strictly an American celebration.  Their were no clever songs about dads or the token bar of chocolate handed out (oh, don't worry, we have that every night here before bed....the good French stuff).  Today we simply tried to honor Matt with our gratitude and love for the amazing father he is.

For a dad to put in the hours at work for months in advance, to have work all in order,  to be able to leave for a month and to be the driving force behind the planning, it takes an amazing amount of effort.  And it could come quite as a shock to spend every waking hour with a wife and four children, the youngest, who can be quite disagreeable and loud about it!  Yet, he has been patient, flexible and welcoming of all the experiences we are having.  Part of the thrill of this entire trip is to watch how taking us out of our environment shows us key areas we need to focus on individually, as parents and as a family.  It's turning in to not only an amazing adventure, but month of self reflection and resolutions.

So, Happy "American"Father's Day to Matt, Grandpa Louie and Papa!    We love you and are grateful for the lessons we continue to learn from you.

On Fellowship:
We did it. We accepted the invitation of Branch President, of the Blois Branch we have been attending for the past three weeks, to attend not just the last hour of church, which is Sacrament Meeting, but the entire three hours of church.  This means that all 9 children of the Grimmer and Olson families would attend French speaking classes.  When we arrived to the church (a 45 minute drive from St. Aignan) we were greeted warmly.  Our chi,dren, who doubled the size of their primary and young women's groups (Emmeline was thrilled because she is not 12 yet, but was invited to attend anyway.) were kindly led to their classes.  Anthon was the only one not ready to jump into this new environment; however, after 10 minutes on my lap in the relief Society (women organization) he decided he did want to play with toys and eat snacks with Audrey.

We were amazed at the accommodations made for us.  Translators were pulled out of various classes to help all of us understand the lessons and talks given during all three hours.  We were overwhelmed by the generosity and kindnesses shown to us.  We left with full arms and hearts.  Those who could speak English visited with us and one family gave us a generous dinner invitation.  It is no small feat to invite 13 additional strangers plus two missionaries to you home for crepes.  Those Branch members who only spoke French gave us loaves of bread, a specially made t-shirt designed by a senior primary class, granola bars, candy, a toy truck, and a stuffed duck and frog.  The Olson's were equally gifted.

The gifts were so lovely and appreciated but truly what we were taken with was the sweet unity we felt among the Saints in the Blois Branch.  Our children now call it "Our" Branch.  There was no need to worry about a language barrier.  Each of us felt the Savior's love through each kindness shown.  We felt the holy spirit bearing witness of true gospel teachings.  We felt we were among friends.

We were invited to the home of Louie Marie and Cybile Liebold for crepes at 5:00 p.m.  We eagerly accepted and were very much looking forward to our visit.  We had just enough time to drive to the city of Orleans (or-leh-on), to see the tribute to Joan of Arc and the Cathedral of Orleans, which they say second in size and splendor for that type of gothic cathedral, only to Notre Dame.  While in Orleans we took time for a sweet pastry we had brought from St. Aignan, to celebrate our dads!

Cathedral of Orleans

I continue to be touched by the gratitude to the Allied Forces states
for the protection and victory in WWI & WWII.

Joan of Arc leading the seige of Orleans to recapture the city from the English.

Joan of Arc being burned at the stake for heresy which she was
later pardoned for and became Saint Joan of Arc.

The 9 children taking over the skaterboarders territory.

At the home of the Liebold's, the children joined their sons playing table soccer, badminton, swinging, throwing darts to get bulls-eyes, and climbing trees, while the adults joined together on the back porch.  We spent a delightful evening visiting, asking questions of each other, sharing stories and developing sweet new friendships.  We took a brief pause before crepes as Louie invited the missionaries to give us a spiritual thought.  Louie spoke what was on our minds: that no matter where you go in the world, when you meet others who are also trying to follow Christ's teachings you feel an instant closeness and friendship.

George and Richard verse Anthon and Elder Coleman

A rousing game of badmiton

"I got a bull's eye!"

Move over Matt...before we came to France we were very biased to our dad's crepes,
but Anthon pronounced Cybile the winner!

Looks like Matt is eyeing a crepe pan.  I think we may have to splurge.

Anthon won Cybile's favor when he told her, "These crepes are better than my dads.  Maybe he should put chocolate inside his and then they might be the best like these!" Later on when Anthon was too involved to pause his backyard play to go in the house to use the bathroom.....Cybile came to his rescue by taking pants one of her sons had out grown, cutting off the legs so they would fit and giving them to Anthon so he could return to his play.  Truly a (humbling) bonding moment.

This unexpected evening will always be one of our most favorite memories of this trip.