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.
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.
We had the occasion to assist with a self-reliance devotional in Caen, France. The self reliance devotionals are a ward or stake wide event, where members and non-members alike are invited to hear about the churches self-reliance groups and sign up for a group appropriate to their needs.
Sister Frodsham with Gisele, a good friend taking our EnglishConnect class
We worked with the Snyders, the WSR (Welfare, Self-Reliance) missionaries who live in Paris. They also spend several days a week staffing the Paris family history center.
Frodshams and Snyders at the family history center
Caen was a major objective in the WWII invasion of Europe, Operation Overlord. Since we were already in Normandy, we took the opportunity to spend several days exploring the places of such bloodshed and heroism almost 80 years ago.
The Museum at Utah Beach
We stayed at a little bed and breakfast in Saint Clair sur l’Elle, and on an early morning walk, I went to the town square and was fascinated by a WWI statue dominating the square. It had been vandalized, arms broken off, the rifle broken, and I wondered at it’s history. An old gentlemen (and by old, I mean about my age) walked up to me to chat, and I asked him about the statue. It was built after WW1 to commemorate the soldiers who had given their life in the war from that small town. When the Germans occupied the town, they vandalized the statue, braking off anything they could without actually bringing in a truck or other vehicle to pull the statue down. The statue remains in the square as a symbol of defiance and freedom.
WWI statue in the town square of Saint Clair sur l’Elle
Our Bed and Breakfast in Saint Clair sur l’Elle
Sainte-Mère-Église, attacked by parachutists of the 82nd and 101st airborne divisions, was one of the first towns liberated during the invasion. A replica of parachutist John Steele hangs from the spire of the local cathedral. Parachutists overshot their landing zone and dropped directly in the town.
Saint Mere Eglise
In the church of Angoville-au-Plain, two medics Robert Wright and Ken Moore, treated civilians as well as American and German soldiers alike, When the town was briefly retaken by the Germans, the medics declined to leave. German soldiers honored request of the two medics and left their rifles at the door. During the conflict, a mortar pierced the ceiling, but did not explode. during a later restoration, the local members of the parish decided to preserve the blood stains on the benches.
The Church at Angoville au PlainRobert Wright grave marker, Angoville Au Plain
The cliffs at Pointe du Hoc were scaled by the 2nd ranger battalion, who suffered a 70% casualty rate in finding and destroying guns overlooking Omaha and Utah beaches. Had these guns been brought into operation, casualties would have been much higher for the allied landing.
At Pointe du Hoc, the bomb craters from the aerial and naval bombardment proceeding the landings are still visible.
On Utah Beach where general Roosevelt stormed the beach with his men. Strong currents swept them from their landing spot. “Well start the war right here. As with the battles throughout Normandy, it was the bravery of a few men who turned the tide of the battle. Utah beach had far less casualties because of the accuracy and precision of aerial and naval bombing of the shore batteries moments before the landing.
It is in some ways reassuring to see people playing and enjoying where so much devastation and hardship in the name of freedom had occurred 80 years earlier
German batteries near Longues-sur-Mer fired at allied forces on D-Day, but were damaged by allied naval bombardment. They were captured the next day and played no further part in the war. They are one of the only remaining intact gun batteries along the Normandy coast, and a testament to the forces to be overcome by the allied soldiers.
German Batteries at Longue sur mere
For me, the most poignant was the cemetery at Omaha Beach and the beaches themselves. now a playground with horse trotting and skim boarding. There is still a spirit of the thousands of men to struggled here, many of them giving their last full measure of devotion. The American cemetery a testament of the sacrifice of so many young men.
The German cemetery near Omaha is a testament as well to young men who were following their leaders. The feeling at the German cemetery is much different than that of the American, a feeling of hopelessness and loss. In both, the spirit of brave men who gave their lives for their country.
Through out the Normandy battle sites and museums, the horrors of war were apparent. The evil intentions of a very few lead astray whole populations, something king Benjamin and King Mosiah warned about in the book of Mormon
Mosiah 2:18,19 Behold, ye have called me your king; and if I, whom ye call your king, do labor to serve you, then ought not ye to labor to serve one another? And behold also, if I, whom ye call your king, who has spent his days in your service, and yet has been in the service of God, do merit any thanks from you, O how you ought to thank your heavenly King!
Mosiah 29:16,17 Now I say unto you, that because all men are not just it is not expedient that ye should have a king or kings to rule over you. For behold, how much iniquity doth one wicked king cause to be committed, yea, and what great destruction!
We may not call them kings today, but many act as such, bringing whole nations to sin and unbelief. Events in the Book of Mormon tell us of the wickedness and suffering that can be caused by one individual or a handful of people. Unfortunately, people today are looking to a leader to change the nation, leaders who will right all the wrongs in our countries. What will permanently heal our nations will come from the bottom up. It was apparent as we toured the battle sites of Normandy that is was a few who turned the tide of war. A few who let to victory operations that were doomed to defeat. The future will be shaped by fathers and mothers, teachers and leaders changing our world one family at a time, which is why we are here serving a mission.
When we were filling out our mission papers, Catherine listed her extensive experience in introducing the church’s self-reliance program. She helped establish a pilot program in her ward and stake as a Stake Relief Society President as well as the stake Self-Reliance specialist. It was no small surprise that we were called as Welfare Self-Reliance (WSR) missionaries, certainly a big surprise that we were called to France.
“The aim of the self-reliance initiative is to help individuals help themselves become self-reliant. Self-reliance is more than having a good job, food storage, or money in the bank. Self-reliance is ‘the ability, commitment, and effort to provide for the spiritual and temporal necessities of life for self and family. As members become self-reliant, they are also better able to serve and care for others,’ and work is enthroned as a ruling principle in their lives” (Handbook 2: Administering the Church [2010], 6.1.1).
Over the last five months, We have been studying the self-reliance program. There are four core classes in the Self-Reliance initiative:
Personal Finances Find a Better Job Starting and Growing my Business Education for Better Work
In addition to these core classes, the church offers two courses for learning English:
EnglishConnect 1 and 2
There is an EnglishConnect 3 course which is taught through BYU pathways and is to help individuals learning English prepare for entering the BYU Pathways education system.
There are four additional courses offered by the church to strengthen self and family:
Emotional Resilience Strengthening Marriage Strengthening Family Addiction Recovery
Churchofjesuschrist.org
In studying these programs, I have come to better understand the meaning and purpose of Self-Reliance as taught by the church.
“Without self-reliance one cannot exercise these innate desires to serve. How can we give if there is nothing there? Food for the hungry cannot come from empty shelves. Money to assist the needy cannot come from an empty purse. Support and understanding cannot come from the emotionally starved. Teaching cannot come from the unlearned. And most important of all, spiritual guidance cannot come from the spiritually weak.” (The Celestial Nature of Self-reliance, Marion G. Romney, October 1982)
President Thomas S. Monson taught: “Let us be self-reliant and independent. Salvation can be obtained on no other principle” (“Guiding Principles of Personal and Family Welfare,” Ensign, Sept. 1986)
“All things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal” (D&C 29:34)
“We invite you to diligently study and apply these principles and teach them to your family members. As you do so, your life will be blessed. You will learn how to act on your path toward greater self-reliance. You will be blessed with greater hope, peace, and progress.” (The First Presidency, in the introduction of all self-reliance manuals)
As a young father, I remember talking with one of the members of our ward. He was well off, but his whole demeanor, his entire focus was on making money. He was sincere in his belief that the difference he made in God’s kingdom depended on the amount of money he had to further His work. Once he was really wealthy, he would “make a difference in the church”. He wasn’t quite there yet, but his spacious house, large boat and other earthly possessions told a different story. He entirely missed the point. If all the Lord is after is money, he knows where all the riches of the world are hidden and has but to direct his leaders to untold wealth. Self-reliance does not separate the temporal and the spiritual. They are one. Being self-reliant does not dictate we have a lot of money and need to rely on no one else.
“Self-reliance is not the end, but a means to an end. It is very possible for a person to be completely independent and lack every other desirable attribute. One may become wealthy and never have to ask anyone for anything, but unless there is some spiritual goal attached to this independence, it can canker his soul.” (The Celestial Nature of Self-reliance, Marion G. Romney, October 1982)
President Léporé of the France Lyon mission and his son holding up a list of items to be included in homeless kitsMissionaries in Nice, France writing messages of faith and hope to be included in homeless kits
Could not a homeless person, or a homeless family be self-reliant in the eyes of the Lord? Missionaries in the France Lyon mission assembled homeless kits, not as a dole, but with the goal to include messages of hope and inspiration, hand written notes to lift up heavy hearts, to distribute these kits as the spirit directs to those whom they encounter during their service.
What is the Lord’s view of someone who is self-reliant?
churchofjesuschrist.org
The widow giving her mites at the temple may have been ‘dependent’ in the world’s view, but she was one of the most self-reliant people mentioned in the New Testament. I love the image of the widow as a young woman with children, teaching her children about trust, faith, action and service. In other words, to be self-reliant.
“Self-reliance is evidence of our trust or faith in God’s power to move mountains in our lives and to give us strength to triumph over trials and afflictions.” (My Foundation, Self-reliance is a principle of salvation)
Self-reliance has little to do with our ability to make money, the extent of our possessions or even the amount of food storage in our closets. Self-reliance is doing all that we are capable to spiritually and physically prepare ourselves to care for our families, care for others and wear ourselves out in His service.
Early in our mission, Roland Léporé, our mission president requested that we help with a service project. At each zone conference, he wanted the missionaries to put together homeless kits that they could give out to the homeless they encounter during the course of their work. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has decided, however, to focus on larger humanitarian projects which impact many people. Smaller projects, such as homeless kits, are no longer approved for funding by the church.
After several months of work, we started a homeless kit project with the mission. Using a bit of creativity and finding local sources for materials, we put together, over time, sufficient supplies to have each elder and sister assemble two homeless kits; four per companionship. During the last sequence of Zone Conferences, the missionaries took the time to assemble the kits, and more importantly, write personal notes to put in each kit. After searching the web for resources on homeless kits, I came across this site, which gives many good recommendations on what the homeless need.
With the help of the office elders, we transported the materials, boxed up for each zone, to the mission office. For each zone conference, the supplies would be organized on tables for the missionaries to assemble kits.
We have already received posts and videos from missionaries who have given these kits to a homeless person they encountered during the day, tender stories of love and encouragement. It is our hope that over the next few weeks, these kits are distributed with love and care, as the spirit directs, to homeless individuals in the mission.
A hand written note is one of the most important components in a kit. Tracts and other mass-published items are quickly recognized and tossed, but a hand written note makes a profound difference. They are all children of a loving Heavenly Father and recognize the touch of his spirit. It is our prayer that the tender messages written by these missionaries will touch lives, however gently.
We also pray that as the missionaries give out these kits, they will feel the same love for them as the love emanating from our Heavenly Father over all his children. These are the last days, and we are tasked with gathering Israel. Sometimes this gathering takes place in the smallest of ways, a hand-written note of love and testimony, a kit at a time, one by one.
We are learning not only the Welfare Self-Reliance programs that the church offers to the world, but also how the French people understand and accept these programs. The pace of the French in society and in the church is different. Not better or worse, just different. We love how our ward ends Sacrament meeting. After the closing prayer, everyone remains in their seats for several minutes. No one talks, we just sit in reverent silence. Once the bishop gets up, everyone gets up and begins to socialize. It may take 10 to 20 minutes before people move from the chapel to their respective meetings. After church, the saints linger and talk. One Sabbath, an hour after church, people were still chatting.
Dinner with our boss (second from left) and the WSR leaders in Clermont-Ferrand
In a recent Area devotional, the Area manager spoke about the expanding work in Central Europe. One of their desires is to cultivate native workers in the Area office and native missionaries; both senior couples and young missionaries in the field. It reminded me of a discourse given by President Kimball on how missionary work would spread throughout the world. Countries that depend on American missionaries would become self-sufficient and in turn, export missionaries to others. That is the goal of the European people. Local missionaries to fulfill their needs and an excess to export to other countries. Right now, many French missionaries are sent to the US. Some stay or return to the US because of the opportunities here. The saints and the leadership of the church here in Europe want to open opportunities for their missionaries as incentive to stay.
Catherine and I discussed this after the devotional and concluded that saints from the US look at the French culture through the lens of our own culture and experience. We remembered a conversation with a Senior couple in the Area office while we were there for training. They were rather upset at an affiliate organization that had received humanitarian funds from the church. Rather than using them as agreed, they gave them to another organization in country and then publicly took credit for the donation. The funds were not necessarily misused, but credit was not given as we would expect in our US culture.
Outside the Cathedral in Clermont-Ferrand
A big question we ask ourselves is if the work we are doing here is sustainable. Are we just blowing hard on the coals? As soon as we leave, will the fire die back down? We have seen couples so excited about pushing the work forward that they push local WSR specialists out of the way in order to do it ‘the right way’. The work glows brightly for a while, but when they leave, the local saints called to this work are not prepared to take over. Our goal is to build a strong, sustainable source of heat and light by training, and more important, sustaining the local leadership in the responsibilities to which they were called. President Kimball delivered a landmark discourse in 1974 on how the world will be converted. In that discourse, he quoted a discourse by Brigham Young in the April, 1852 General Conference:
The Cathedral of Clermont-Ferrand
“This kingdom will continue to increase and to grow, to spread and to prosper more and more. Every time its enemies undertake to overthrow it, it will become more extensive and powerful; instead of decreasing it will continue to increase; it will spread the more, become more wonderful and conspicuous to the nations, until it fills the whole earth.” We are moved to be a part of that work.
Catherine in the Cathedral, surrounded by stars made by the local children
We recently met with a couple in Clermont Ferrand, called as Welfare Self-Reliance specialists for their stake. I watched with awe as Catherine embraced these fine people, both figuratively and literally. She adores and is adored by all she meets. Catherine speaks little French, and the sister spoke little English, but they instantly became lifelong friends and communicated in ways far beyond mere spoken language. Catherine worries about how little of the French language she commands, but she communicates far beyond anything I can do. This couple is excited about the work and have a testimony of the Church’s Self-Reliance programs. Catherine and I pray continually for the inspiration and revelation necessary to sustain them.
It is a joy for us to work as WSR (Welfare, Self-Reliance) missionaries. the MLS (Member Leader Support) missionaries in our mission have somewhat well-defined responsibilities, particularly those that work in the office. Our job is nebulous. We are left to figure out what we should do and how to do it. We would enjoy the more defined MLS responsibilities if that were our call, but we are embracing the lack of definition in our current callings. We find opportunities to learn and to serve wherever we can.
With the Sister Missionaries and acouple being taught in our apartment
We are learning how the church works with the French government. It is not better or worse, just different. An integral part of the French Revolutions was throwing off the suppressive yoke of the Catholic church. I don’t know enough about French history to make any kind of judgement here, but that is certainly the perception of the French people. Because of this, as a culture, they are very suspicious of religious organizations. The church understands not to fight it, but to work with it. For example, EnglishConnect classes can be taught in some church buildings but not in others. It seems arbitrary, but it depends on ownership of the buildings. The church cannot directly own buildings in France, not even the temple. They are owned by subsidiary or affiliate organizations. The way the church owns each building dictates if EnglishConnect classes are seen as competition with local public universities. Some buildings in our Stake can host EnglishConnect classes, some cannot. We work with that. Where we cannot hold physical classes, we do so online.
On the Streets of Clermont-Ferrand
While serving here in France, we are re-learning how to pray. I was reminded recently of a discourse on Prayers of Gratitude. Sometimes our prayers turn into a list of “monotonous pleadings”. Rather than a long list of requests for our work and our families, even though these requests may have the best of intentions, we have been offering prayers of gratitude for all the blessings poured out on us. We thank the Lord for his help as he blesses us the way he blessed the People of Alma. He did not remove their burdens, but he made them light. In the coming weeks and months, I will try to describe the answers to our prayers, most particularly our prayers of gratitude for the support He gives our families while we are in His service.
We attended our first Zone Conference during the week between Christmas and New Years. The Mission President gave an opening testimony and then had the Assistants to the President and the Zone Leaders present most of the material for the day. I was impressed at how well these young leaders taught and testified with faith and power. The Elders taught about testifying and extending invitations to those investigating the church. It is important to understand that as they embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His restored Church, trials and hardship will not be taken away. In fact, the adversary will exert even more effort to dissuade and disrupt our lives.
Break time at Zone Conference
They gave as an example the People of Alma and what they had to endure. The Lord did not lift their burdens, but he strengthened them so that they could not feel them (Mosiah 24:13,14). When we strive to follow Him, the adversary has no power over us (Helaman 5:12). Several years ago, I wrote an article about the People of Alma and Limhi and how the Lord interacts and helps His people based on their faith and obedience. The presentations of these stalwart missionaries reminded me again that the future of the Church is in good hands.
Sister missionaries at the Zone Conference
President Lepore concluded the conference with a testimony about the work in Europe. He cited President Nelson in a recent address to the Europe Area. “The Church has an unparalleled future in Europe!” The wars raging around Europe are bad, but the Lord is using these events for His own purpose. People are being displaced to areas where they can hear the gospel. There are twenty missionaries called to the people of Turkey. All of them reside in Germany and extend the invitations of gospel learning online. When someone from Turkey is converted, missionaries along with appropriate leadership as prescribed by law, fly to Turkey to perform the baptisms and then return to Germany.
Lyon from the river near our apartment
Pres. Nelson also said of the missionaries called to serve here, and I paraphrase: “You were born to do this. Europe has an unparalleled future because of you. You have access to the power-God’s power- that will literally change the future of Europe. As you keep your covenants with increasing precision, you are the hope of Europe, and you are the hope of Israel. You are the ‘children of the promised day’ “. Great things are happening in Europe. Among other indicators, baptisms are up 60 % in the mission as compared to last year. Our contribution to the conference was bowls of fruit and a large batch of cinnamon rolls.
At the Tete d’Or park
We spent New Years with several families. The faithful members here are generous to a fault and treated us to magnificent multi-course meals in their tiny apartments. At our New Year’s Eve dinner invitation, the wife got a call to go into work later that evening. She is a PA for a local hospital and was needed to assist in a multiple transplant surgery. Her married and engaged children were there, all intelligent and conversant in both French and English.
Prettiest thing in the park
On New Years Day, we took a long walk around the city. From our apartment, it is a comfortable walk to the river, to the Tete D’Or park, the mall and several shopping areas. We are still exploring the richness of the city around us.
The new year, we will start traveling in our assigned area to train stake leadership and self-reliance specialists in the church programs. Catherine has been bringing me up to speed on these wonderful programs and the power they can bring to wards and stakes in binding their people together and extending a hand of gospel fellowship to others.
Latter-Day Saints 