Author: Catherine Frodsham

Miracle Sunday

Catherine Frodsham, Sunday July 7th 2024

Several weeks ago, I taught Relief Society. I had a month to prepare, although some of that time was taken with some special family events. I was asked to teach on a Conference Talk by Ulisses Soares on being Confident Covenant Keepers. I speak little French, and many of the Sisters in the ward speak no English, so I made a power point presentation on parts of the lesson in French and had sisters read them. I also had a sweet translator named Helena. She is 18 years old and is the Relief Society Presidents daughter. I had lots of pictures of my family in the power point and I told a couple of personal stories. The reason I told those stories was so the sisters could see how I got through some very hard things in my life by staying true to the covenants I had made in the temple. That gave me strength. I am pretty honest and told of my weaknesses as well. I told a story of being on the floor and I couldn’t get up after my husband Zane died. But I remembered my eternal covenants and I prayed for help. The Lord sent angels to help me get up. The lesson went well and we had lots of discussion. One sister came up at the end and said some women in this room are still on the floor. That was interesting. The French people tend to be very proud and private. Most of the sisters would not ever tell a personal story let along reveal weaknesses. BUT, here is the miracle!!!! A cute sister that I see each week who is very quiet and does not engage with anyone came up to me after sacrament meeting the next week. She was nervous but she came up to me and said, “you don’t know me but I was in Relief Society last week and heard your lesson. I went home and told my husband about your lesson. He is not a member. He has not been interested in church although we have a son serving a mission in Africa right now. He told me I could invite you and your husband over to dinner in the next few weeks”. She said he is changing in some ways. I said Tim and I would be so happy to come over to dinner.

I told Tim about this on our way home from church and he said there are reasons we are here. More and more miracles happen when we turn our hearts over to God and let Him lead us. We just need to be willing to go where he asks us to go. There have been several people that we have met and I have looked them in the eye and I know we are here for them. I have told them that when I feel that so strongly. Here are the few by name because I want to remember when I said this: Machilo – baptized in May. Yebei –from China and still investigating. Clarmont – I love this young man. He will be a Bishop someday. His family are 7th day Adventist and are very against him being baptized. Members I know I am here for – Theresa, Martine, Munashe, Laetitia, and all our missionaries who we love!

God is a God of love. We all need to be loving and kind and welcoming. I am grateful to be a missionary in the Lyon France Mission.

Tags christianity, faith, france, jesus, missionary, Missionary work, missions

Mission

Baptism of Machilo

Catherine Frodsham 30 June 24

When Tim and I first got to Lyon last November we were very sick with COVID. It took us a few weeks to recover, and the first activity we were able to attend was a ward Christmas dinner. We struggled to find our church building which is indistinguishable from the surrounding apartment buildings. Several floors of apartments were remodeled to make our meetinghouse. On the 3rd floor, a large room with a baptismal font is where we have baptisms and ward dinners. It is not very big but we manage. I was a bit overwhelmed with not speaking French, but was drawn to a cute couple from Zimbabwe. I walked across the room and started talking to them. The girl was so cute and her name was Munashe, his name was Machilo. We started to talk and I asked him a ton of questions.

When I found out he was not a member, I was shocked because he acted like a member, was so kind and had all the right answers. I remember saying , “why aren’t you a member, whats holding you back”? He started to laugh and said I am working on it. From then on we hosted them and the sisters who were teaching him at our apartment once a week for lessons and dinner. We did that from December through May. What a joy to have this wonderful young couple in our home.

They had been trying to get married for months. Assembling the paperwork necessary for a wedding license was difficult as they needed a number of documents from their home government. France does not recognize weddings in a church. It has to be done by the government and then after that you can go to a church and do a wedding ceremony. In the meantime, Munashe was expecting a baby in March. I remember early on Machilo said “ Should I get baptized first or get married first?” I loved that! I said you need to get married first, otherwise you would have to move out!! We laughed! We had such great lessons.

The sisters were Sis. Fraga, Sis. Ariiotima, & Sis. Molinet. Sis. Molinet was giving a lesson and she challenged Machilo to be baptized on May 4th. I remember thinking that was so far away. But it was very inspired especially a month later when they got their wedding date from the government. Machilo and Munashe got a wedding date from the government for Saturday April 27th. I realized then that God is in charge and we need to trust Him.

On March 26th little Elsie was born. What a sweet little baby. We all are in love with her. Machilo and Munashe call us her “Gogo” and “Khulu” which are grandma and grandpa in the Zimbabwe tribe they are from.

Then they were married on Saturday April 27th. Then on Saturday May 4 we all came to the church building. I worked with Laetitia (RS president) and Bishop Nelson and we planned a beautiful wedding and baptism feast. Machilo loves white cake with white frosting and I made him a wedding cake. We bought flowers and decorated very simply. I had fun with the decorations. We had the baptism and then we cut the cake and had a party. It was so fun to celebrate. The french like to eat long meals and party into the night. Bishop was worried but it was all done in 3 hours. So fun to celebrate Machilo. Just for information. Last Sunday June 23, Machilo was called to be the Ward Clerk. He was made an Elder. We are so proud of him.

We had many discussions with the two of them, answering questions and testifying of the truthfulness of the Gospel and the church Machilo was joining. Meeting after meeting, the spirit filled our tiny apartment. He is one that the Lord prepared for us to meet.

Tags Baptism, christianity, church, faith, france, jesus, Missionary work

Mission

Family

Catherine and Tim Frodsham: 30 March 2024

We had the first of our rather large family visit this week. Anika Davis, Catherine’s granddaughter and her husband, Brigham.

At the Part Dieu train station

Theirs was the quickest trip possible. They took a train from Paris on a Thursday, spent the night with us and then took a train back to Paris Friday morning. When I saw my Anika I screamed, “SHNIKES!!” when I saw her on the walkway coming down to meet us! She said, “only my Nana calls me that!” We picked them up from the train station at around 9:30 am and brought them to our apartment to drop their suitcases off and then we headed out using the metro and a walking tour of Old Lyon.

Catherine and Anika at the Basilica Notre Dame de Fourviere * Our apartment is near those tall buildings in the background.

The city was founded before the time of Christ, and for many centuries was the capital of France. It was a major shipping and transportation hub in France and had a thriving silk industry.

It’s a bit of a jar to pop out of the metro to some Roman ruins in the middle of the city. The amphitheater and the theater were built at around the time of Christ, and early Christians were persecuted here.

Anika and Brigham at the Fountaine Bartholdi

We took the Metro to the Basilica and walked from there through the old city to the Fountaine Bartholdi. The fountain was designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, who also designed the Statue of Liberty in New York.

We walked around Old Lyon and ate lunch there. One of the highlights for Brigham was the candy shop! haha! We had a wonderful time and beautiful weather.

It was hard to see them go the next morning. Way too short of a visit but made my heart happy!

Miller family at Basilica Notre Dame de Fourviere

Two days later, Elise and her family drove in from their visit in Normandy. We took them on the same walking tour.

Mya, Elise, Michael and Lydia at lunch near the Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Lyon

Walking through old Lyon, Elise stumbled on the cobblestones, and twisted her ankle.

At the Roman theatre

We were all to drive to Chamonix where the Millers wanted to ski in the Alpes. Michael took the girls with him to ski. Elise, Catherine and I came later to enjoy the sights.

On the streets of Chamonix

Nestled in the Alpes and a stones throw from Mount Blanc, the views in and around Chamonix are breathtaking. We spent just one night, plenty for missionaries taking a break with family.

Standing in the “Void”Looking towards Mount Blanc

We love family. We are missing so many family events; baptisms, graduations, marriages and more. We are delighted when family comes to visit, and though we are missing much, there is no place we would rather be than here in France on the Lord’s errand.

Tags france, grandchildren, lyon, Mission, Missionary work

Mission

Friends, 15 February 24

Catherine and Tim Frodsham 15 Feb 24

First and foremost, Happy Birthday to Catherine. Her birthday is the day after Valentines Day, which makes it easy to remember.

This will be more of a photo blog of the people who have touched our lives in the first three months of our mission. When I was young and foolish, age having solved one of those issues, I loved to take scenery pictures. On walk-abouts with my children, I would focus on the scenery and take the occasional people picture. The people pictures are the only ones I look at anymore, so no, this is not going to be a travelogue.

These family pictures were taken when we were set apart to serve this mission the 4th of November, 2023. We entered the Missionary Training Center (MTC) on Sunday the 5th.

We flew from Sacramento to the Salt Lake City airport, and Adam Shaeffer and his family picked us up there and drove us to the MTC.

We met several young elders we knew while at the MTC. Tim was the home teacher, then ministering brother for the Istook family. The Rodriguez family were good friends in the Oregon ward as well. Gabby and Ella were Catherine’s seminary students, attending school at BYU. Sheila is a long time friend of Catherine.

Catherine is a magnet for friendship. At times, I step back in awe and watch her magic as complete strangers become lifelong friends. We worked with the Hatfelds in the MTC and the rest in training in Frankfurt, Germany. She still converses with her friends in Frankfurt, even though we were there only a few days.

Missionary couples we are working with in France. The Gannaways and the Hardys work in the mission office, taking care of the auto fleet, apartments, visas and finances for the mission. There jobs are much more defined than ours, which is a good thing. At times, we struggle a bit with the ambiguity of our mission call, but we love following the spirit to define many of our contributions to the saints in France

The McBrides serve as the mission medical for both the Lyon and the Paris mission. Bernadette McBride was right there to help when we arrived in Lyon, sick with COVID. They are stationed in Chalon, but we get together every time they come to the mission office in Lyon. We traveled to the Chalon branch the 2nd week in February to speak in Sacrament Meeting and to present the self-reliance courses the second hour.

Youth missionaries we work with in Lyon. Elders Guiernot, Dane and Last are Chinese speaking elders in the area (Yes, there was a transfer between photos). We spent a day with them, cleaning an apartment which had been locked up for months. Unfortunately, the last elders there turned off the refrigerator before leaving . . . We picked up Sister Nash at the airport, flying in from the Provo MTC. Her arrival was delayed so she was the last missionary to fly in for that transfer and there was no one in the mission available to pick her up. We remember our arrival in France, so we were delighted to welcome her to her mission.

The sister missionary trio are media specialists for the mission. They are teaching Machilo once a week in our apartment.

Most of all, are the friends we have made in the ward, or should I say, the friends Catherine has made in the ward.

After she bore her testimony in Relief Society, Soeur Meyer came up to her and exclaimed ” You have to learn French, and you have to do it now!” Yes, I used an exclamation point. For those keeping track, It has been at least a decade. She wanted so much for Catherine to push through the language barrier and testify to the people here in their native language.

In the collection, I had to add the shop keeper in the silk district who was Catherine’s best friend from the instant we walked into the shop. Also included is the street musician she befriended outside the Basilica Notre-Dame de Fourvière in Lyon. He was a charming, articulate gentlemen and they did their best to converse in between numbers he played for her.

Last of all, I am including some photos of us as we have worked and traveled in our mission. We are not here as tourists, we are here foremost to push forward the work of our Savior in France. During our assignments, we have a goal to visit Lausanne, Switzerland where my grandmother was born, Marseilles, France where Catherine spent some months as a youth, and Normandy, which has so much history for us as Americans.

The Frodshams at the Basilica Notre Dame, overlooking Lyon

Every day we grow to love our mission and the people of France. We miss our children and grandchildren terribly, baptisms, ordinations and as we just heard, the first wedding of one of Tim’s grandchildren. If we were to wait till there is nothing to miss at home, we would be waiting forever. We know that innumerable blessings will come to our family because of our service here, we have seen His hand already.

The Frodshams

Tags france, grandchildren, lyon, missionary, Missionary work, missions

Mission

3 December, first week at church

Post author By Catherine Frodsham
Post date December 3, 2023
1 Comment on 3 December, first week at church

Today is Sunday Dec. 3, 2023. Tim and I went to church for the first time since we arrived in France. The first 10 days I was very sick with Covid and was in bed most of that time. Luckily, I had a good mission nurse in France and a good mission doctor in Spain who started me on antiviral medicine and Exomuc which is just like it sounds: “get rid of the mucus”! I already had an inhaler to use to help my lungs. I always felt at peace that whatever happened I was in the Lord’s hands. Tim was positive for Covid as well but did not get as sick thankfully.

Preparing for Christmas in our apartment

Our mission President, Roland Lepore and his wife Aimee are wonderful, kind people and not much older than our oldest children. They have been serving a long time in France as a Stake President and now Mission President. We are serving as Welfare/Self Reliance missionaries, but we can also do humanitarian efforts as needed. We have a WSR Manager and church employee over us named Momo Djemai. He is a joy to work with and is a very humble servant of the Lord. Tim and I are very happy and feel blessed to be on this mission/adventure together. We love the people already and enjoy the beauties of France.

Today was fast and testimony meeting. They had put our picture in their ward bulletin for today and gave us a warm welcome. There are 3 sister missionaries and 2 Elders that are Zone Leaders working in our ward. The ward meets in a large building that might also hold apartments? not sure but we have several floors and an underground parking garage with a very tight opening for small cars. 😉 We chose to park on the street which is also very small with very small parking that take work to fit our car in! Tim is very good at manipulating the car in tiny spots. I have not wanted to drive yet. I usually love to drive but I’m holding back.

Shopping
We parked and started to pay at the kiosk on the street and a beautiful sister came up to us and said we don’t have to pay on Sunday to park. We thanked her and realized she was going to our church. Her name was Sicily. So, we walked in to our church and were greeted by the Bishop and the missionaries. Alot of people speak English and seems as though they like to speak it with us. The bishop said we would like you both to bear your testimonies first. We said OK. (Just before we left our apartment this morning I felt as though I should bring my testimony that I had typed in French.) Listen to those whisperings of the spirit. There were about 80 people including missionaries. It is not a huge chapel. ON the first floor there is a gathering place and Bishop’s office and a place to hang your coats then you go up 3 flights of stairs or an elevator to the 2nd floor to the chapel. There is a 3rd floor that has a baptismal font and a large wood floor room where we held Sunday School. In the chapel, the primary was practicing for their program which will be next week. Oh, how I love the little children. I always love to go to primary to see if they need a substitute or a music helper. So next week is the primary program. YAY!! They don’t have that many children, so I am so excited to see it. I met Vanessa who was all alone and Liz and Lydia and Teresa and her son Ceasar and Alicia and others. I am going to try and remember people’s names. It is so important to remember names. I will try hard.Shopping

So, it came time for Tim and I to bear our testimonies. I don’t get scared speaking in front of anyone actually but it’s very different when I don’t speak their language. So, I went first, and I said slowly into the microphone – Je ne parle francais. (I don’t speak French) Everyone smiled at me. I called up Tim to translate for me and I said “I am excited to be a missionary in France. We are newlyweds. Both of our eternal spouses died about 10 years ago. When we got married 7 months ago (Tim said 8 and people understood I said 7 and he said 8 and they started to laugh! Haha. He was right in fact, its nearly 9 months!) When we got married, we both wanted to just go on a mission together. I was a difficult teenager so at age 16 my mom sent me to live with my aunt in Marseille. So, when we opened our mission call I said, “I’m going home.

We have 11 combined children and 40 grandchildren. “Then I told Tim I would do the rest by myself. I pulled out my testimony I had written in French, and I read it. It was from my heart. It was a wonderful feeling when I told them I loved them. I feel that they love me as well. When senior missionaries and even the young missionaries leave their homes to serve any ward or area in the world, we do it because we love God’s children, and we are here to serve them anyway we can. Tim and I honestly feel that love for our new ward. We felt Gods love in church today and I didn’t have anyone translate for me. I didn’t want that. It is distracting for all around to hear that, so I tried to understand words here and there, but I knew what they were talking about because of the spirit.

I wish I could have had all our children and grandchildren with us to know and feel what it is like to attend church in a different country and culture and feel the same spirit that we feel in our home wards. The church is the same. We testify of Jesus Christ throughout the world. We love one another and offer service to each other even those not of our faith. We are all God’s children on earth. We all have stewardship to love one another.
God works through any of us who have ears to hear and willing hearts to serve His children. May all of us have ears to hear and willing hearts this Christmas Season as we remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
I sure love you all!
Cathy Shaeffer Frodsham
((inside story: After Sunday School a cute Dad from Belgium who speaks great English came us to us and said his son was listening to my testimony and he said, “Dad how can they have 40 grandchildren in 8 months??????!!!!!!” hahahahahhaha. We all said at least he was listening.))