May has been
a month of change for us. It was the
first month this year in which we did not get on a plane. Almost all of our missionary assignment
related travel revolves around training new Welfare couples. During the first half of our mission we
traveled five times. During the first
four months of this year we traveled ten times.
And during the last four months of our mission we have another five
trips scheduled. So we have really enjoyed
being home this month.
Earlier this
month Daniel Kopischke joined the Welfare Department as a part-time accounting
employee. Daniel is taking care of
paying bills and writing journal entries for the Department. This change will bring consistency to the
payment process role which in the past has been handled by senior missionaries. Perhaps those most pleased that Daniel is now
with us are our replacements Elder James and Sister Marlene Lindsay. Hearing
how much of my (Russell) time was previously taken up with accounting work was
not a great recruiting line.
Last Sunday
the Paris temple was dedicated. Since
Thursday of this week was a holiday in Germany (Ascension Day), we decided to take
the opportunity to attend the Paris temple on Friday. It took longer than we expected to drive
there and back consuming most of Thursday and Saturday but Friday made it all
worth it.
It is
interesting how God answers my prayers. Recently
I have been asking for patience – with a lot of things. Those who know me best are aware of just how
much I love driving in large cities during rush hour. Our drive to Paris on Thursday was rather
uneventful. But on the short drive
Friday morning to the temple I experienced one of those patience building
experiences; a test I once again did not pass without challenge. On our way home on Saturday, somewhere
between Rheims and the German border in beautiful rural France, I glanced down
at the gas meter and discovered our car was near empty. By the time we finally
found a gas station in a little town we were riding on fumes. In France many gas stations are totally
automated with no personnel there. The
machines do not take cash or any credit cards which require a signature. I had both cash and a credit card but not the
prepaid gas cards the French use.
Eileen, speaking in French, found a woman who was willing to help
us. We paid her 50 Euros for 40 Euros
worth of gas and never felt better about it!
For me it was a lesson in both patience and humility, in appreciation
for my good wife and her patience with me, and in gratitude for a French woman
who was willing to help us. Afterwards
both Eileen and I were saying prayers of thanks to God for helping us get out
of that mess of my own making.
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| Eileen's sister Chris and Eileen outside the temple |
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| Eileen and Russell in front of the Christus statue |
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| Russell looking at the model of the temple in the visitor's center |
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| Stained glass window in the visitor's center |
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| Paris Temple |
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| Sign identifying the temple |
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| Inside the temple in the celestial room-photo courtesy of Mormon newsroom |
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| Spiral staircase-photo from Mormon newsroom |
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| Beautiful stained glass windows are throughout the temple-photo courtesy of Mormon newsroom |
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| Beautiful stained glass window-photo courtesy of Mormon newsroom |
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| This beautiful window rises above a spiral staircase made of marble-photo courtesy of Mormon newsroom |
