Tis the season

The irony of this photo says it all..our home was vandalized! Why would someone smash our living room window? So here are some thoughts we have had since then, talking to our neighbors, the super, the police, a friend/neighbor security guard at the UN, and the mission leaders. The super said he has worked and lived here for 30 years and has never seen anything like it. Our neighbors say it is one of the safer places to live. At first I thought, oh no. they dont like us, The police and the mission say, it is a random. act Another neighbor says we should close the blinds when ever we are not home. We were closing the bedroom (but many of you know how I love to look out and we have a beautiful view),but rarely the living room because we have two flower boxes outside ( and you all know how I love flowers ) and the way Jim "balanced" the flower boxes the blinds could not go all the way down. These are outside blinds that block out all the light and are metal and strong. So, now it looks like we will be closing up tight every time we go, A few more details before I leave this pleasant subject, It was 9:30pm or 21 et demi h, We had just finished watching, "By the light of the Silvery Moon", (we are never home on Thursday evening as that is our busy night at Institute, but it was Holiday). And then BOOM. very loud crash, broken glass everywhere. We thought alcohol but the glass that was hurled through our 1/4 inch glass window was a peach fruit drink. which traveled about 20 feet into the room at ground level. This already wasnt good night for me. Besides my crutches that I keep tripping over, I had just taken a homeopathic medicine for urinary infection that had me in a different state (confusion, very flushed and very cold). But. of course, the need for a french speaker was TOTALY necessary. Jim stayed up until after midnight "talking" to the super, the police, and, neighbors, while I tried to figure out the french. So. what did we learn? This is a heck of a way to do missionary work, but it works! We have a rendez-vous with our neighbors and everyone (except the perpetrators) have been delightful and helpful So, much for door to door. how about windows!

Joyeux Noel

Today is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus. We have been blessed with many rendez vous with many friends here, We prepared dinner for two couples using our never-fail recipe with egg/tofu, we traveled to Annesy to buy Santon Creches made in Marseilles and then had our Institute Noel Soiree, we shared quiche with our adopted family the Herrs, and then, we had a Swiss Christmas Eve with the Stake Pres with fondu, But, the highlight for me was the Scripture reading and sharing the Nativity by Skype at Midnight (our time)
Today we continue to give thanks for all your love and prayers. for health, and for our opportunisty to share the Gospel here in the Geneva Switzerland area. As I sat in Church this morning and looked around at all of our new dear friends, I was even more filled with love.. And especially grateful for this day for continued chance to say.< Je saie que le Livre de Mormon est vrai. Je sais que Dieu aimes toutes le mond,> ( I could type more but would have to look up the spelling of some of the words!) I love the gospel and the celebration of Jesus's birth on this day.

Tis our second winter in Ferney Voltaire

TIS OUR SECOND WINTER LIVING IN FERENY VOLTAIRE
On our mission to serve people from here to there.
Thanks to good shoes our feet have no pain
and the words francais are filling our brain.
Love to all our grandchildren we wish we could see,
New ones; Peter, Mia, Milo, Kallie, and Erik. yippee!
Our work is with young single adults, from everywhere;
They dream of finding fun, jobs, and someone who cares,---

Jim and Pat are keeping fit with yoga and walking,
While he gives out cards and she does the talking.
Chocolate , yogurt and produce really are the best,
Also hors d ‘oeuvres and entrees and all of the rest.
Beret , warm coat, and scarf are worn every day
Walking with bread under arm is the French way.
On kidney stones and broken nose,
On shingles, bad knees and bloody toes
... Go away, far away, dash away all!
And then in a twinkling…….. I heard on the roof…..
A YSA choir, a fiddler, and Mongolian music to boot
These musical events were fun , as I recall
A lot of work for some, but for most ... a ball!
To all the world over, to our dear new and old friends,
To you we now send a greeting of great joy
A perfect brightness of hope; his light he sends.
And you'll hear us exclaim after many translations:
Love to you all, and enjoy the celebration!

I have written the Noel poem but we are having trouble finding a good photo. Do I really want crutches or a wheelchair in the Christmas photo? This week there was alot of rain and now there is a BIG snow storm so we are settling down for the holiday . We celebrated ESCALADE in Geneva again this year. We didnt go down town to see all the celebration (crutches ) but we did have soup and chocolate which is really the best part of the holiday.!There is a photo at the Instute showing the chocolate soup pot which represents the soup which won the war between Geneva and the French in the 1600's The happy times of the week were shopping ( which for me could be everyweek) and getting more info from the MRI and the physiotherapy, but the highlight was going to the Bern Temple. This time the new Temple President ,. Pres. Sperling, is a close friend of my cousin Elaine Henrikson. After we went to one of our favs. Heil Armee (salvation army) I purchased a red faux leather coat, a bunch of wooden games for Jim and a beautiful piece of art depicting a humble girl preparing dinner. We also bought fabric for our next adventure which will be teaching them how to quilt. We sang carols with the Missionaries but didnt go downtown this year(crutches).The best thing about being on crutches is that I will be about to complete my extra scripture study ,In Romans 15:4.....that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. It is my hope and prayer for us all to be ..ONE in the SAVIOR.

I walk by Faith

After xrays and MRI, this week was a long challenge with wheelchair and sticks (crutches).The other challenge was to get an apartment in Annesy (1 hour away) ready for the Sister missionaries to live in.. For Jim, he says, Bring it on! He was gone painting, organizing and socializing while I was home pondering, praying, and trying to be patient. Luckily there was decorating at the Institute, making cookies for the Missionaries, Christmas Zone conference and many friends helping us celebrate Noel. We learned how our German friends celebrate the advent by lighting a candle 4 Sundays before Christmas. We shared dinner with our Italian friends with alot of pasta and good fun and with others from Canada with young children. And finally after waiting for 8 days we got to talk to the Orthopedic specialist. The first things I asked him (in french) Parlez-vous un peu d'anglise? So from our visit we learned that: yes I have arthritis in the knee (been there.. done that) and it looks like a cyst burst inside the back of my knee ( a Baker or poplileral fossia cyst).Never heard of that! But, I shouted for joy when I didnt hear, So next is physiotherapy, which looks like PT and a functional xray, which is one taken in motion SO good news/bad news = more pondering, more praying, and more patience. As many of you know there is always a song running through my head, little angels filled my head with the words to one morning and have continued to sing in my ear. My prayer to you this week, that you too may have sweet angels singing in your ear, Joy and brightness of hope

still giving THANKS?...yes!

All of the chatter about our Mongolian Fete has been positive, One of our YSA said it was best party she has ever been too.! And we have had many new Mongolian friends come to the Insitut and to church, Our dancers are so excited, they want to do the dance again. But, I may have danced my last for a while, .( Praying for the sanity necessary for me not to do anything for a while.) We are starting our Christmas celebration now. We found the mother lode of treasures this week and are so thankful for the fun adventure .We learned about.< Angelus of Millet>, a famous painting of two peasants gleaning the last of their potatoes ,stopping to pray to give thanks,, We bought a plate,... not the painting.. which should look good with our theme of Thanks in the dining room (if we ever get around to decorating again !) , The biggest action this week is the knee gving out 4 times on the stairs on tuesday, once one wednesday and then on thursday, it just popped, I was trying to move a large heavy table with the help of a two year old! I know, STUPID - then it popped .We await the next action after having xrays and MRI. The good news is,, I can straighten it and put weight on it after 4 days using the sticks (elbow crutches) Our friends here have been so nice to help with love and kindness,and food and DVD"s (you cant keep a good horse down) The timing is good as we ponder our lesson this week about being the Savior's hands in serving others. So often we serve but never allow others to serve us.The other part of the lesson this week reminded me of my father Gordon, who always said he was a Jack Mormon because he never wanted to be a hypocrite! At the beginning of this season we are both thankful for the example our parents gave to us in the importance of serving others.We love the gospel and need your prayers as we conquer this latest challenge to continue our mission here in the Geneva area.. We love you and miss you.:)

costumes Mongolian

Here we are in our group with the costumes. The red ones were by Jim using the green ones as a pattern and the hats are Tour de France hats, ,modified with Christmas decorations

thanks that keeps on giving

After Thanksgiving dinners, we are thankful for turkey noddle soup and that the Mongolian fete was well attended., First, even though we did not prepare a bird ,we got the bones after eating at the mission home celebration to make soup for the Institute and that is my favorite part! The most significant dinner was at the Institut as ,most of them didnt even know the holiday or what any of the food was. And they like the idea of celebrating being.... Thankful. We had many visitors that night including a family from Germany. Wednesday night we shared our table with a couple from India, and learned alot about their culture. Her family entertained Gandhi in their home! Small world! And..now we are finished with the Mongolian Fete, We ran out of plates and had to use the Relief Societies after 150, so I am guessing 200. We performed the dance 3 times, beginning, middle and after the closing prayer, so we got our monies worth out of the costumes which we made after trial and error!. I cant say it ran smooth, but I can say we had 15 nonmember Mongolians, many other interested visitors and the Mongolian Embassy. So, the only other thing I can say is,,,I am thankful that I dont have to worry about that any more, The biggest struggle was language, again, Most of the people we worked with spoke, of course. Mongolian, So, my last piece of wisdom for this blog, is the importance of clear, simple communication....ahead of time. There was one moment when I looked at my watch and it was 8:10 and I said, gee, too bad my watch broke,,later, Jim said, he looked at his at 8:30 and said the same thing!, NO, our watches didnt break

Encore

One stress down,, we sang on Saturday with about 35 YSA and some missionaries,< Lord I will follow thee> in a choral arrangement with the altos singing the meloday (of course), in french, spanish , English, and American Sign language, and I guess it was good enough that they asked us to sing at the Crown Plaza Hotel the next day. NOW we have the Mongolian fete to finish. But, in between we have our lovely fete (holiday) Thanksgiving, I thought we would get by easy this year but, now .. we get to celebrate with our friends Wednesday, Thursday at the mission home and thursday evening at the Institute, So far I have made 7 loaves of cornbread and chopped up a big bowl of dried cranberries and walnuts. The cranberries here are the bomb, they are big and plump, much better than Costco *except the prix. And I have surrendered my code of cooking cornbread and added WHITE flour and sugar. The local honey is the best also... So, as I ponder this time of thainsgiving. I say ENCORE, because, we are glad to be here for another year. We dearly miss you all, and some days are more painful than others. and those days are .... like missing the birth of another grandchild, the musical Grease, the dance, violin, and piano shows, and all the sports, But, most of all the Hugs and Kisses. Here, EVERYONE bisous *KISSES everyone, two or three times on the cheek. There is no other touching, no shoulder , no body, and usually no hand shakes.. But. I get confussed and many times extend my hand, then go to kiss , but put my hand on a shoulder to stop the collison of bodies. But, the hugs and kisses of our little ones are the most precious. So, we say Encore..bring on the New Year and Noel. My testimony is the importance of scripture reading is greatly strengthened. We know that this is where we should be and hope you all feel our love for you. We pray for you and the blessings of a loving holiday season

My happiest day here was yesterday, I sat at the cumputer and waited and waited, Jason said that it would be lunch time before he would come,.. so I ate lunch at 10>30, Lucky me ! ERIK ANDREW came a little after 4 (Michigan time) weighing in at 8>4 and 22 inches, any other info must be received directly from Valerie and Jason Mercado... because everyone knows I cant get my numbers straight. Besides being healthy, which is great. He brought NEW light into the name and memories of my ERIK, who died 30 years ago. So, what am I thankful for.? Simple> Family,Friends. and Our Saviour Jesus Christ

Thankfulness

In this very busy time for us ( tonight we sing for Stake conference with Seventy Rep- Elder Texiera ) I pause from all the preparation. For next week,s Mongolian fete and the organization for tonight and give thanks. Thanks for the great visit we had at the Mongolian Embassy. We went there inviting them to come to our celebration ( yes, I know, why would they want to celebrate their Independence Day with us! ) At first, we were not well received but by the time we left , they were asking us to help them with finding someone to help a Mongolian girl with translation while attending school here. and telling us about some of their actvities and a big national flag and magasins!. So we now have a part time job to offer one of our Mongolian YSA. Another job offer came to us for an Au pair -80E a week Part of our calling here is helping with housing, jobs and of course the GOSPEL of LOVE. Again I mention the thankfulness for teaching the New Testament, as I am forced to really study the life of Christ and apply his teachings AND make it meaningful for those that travel great distances in the evening to share in our lessons. Most of our YSA travel in public transport- tram and bus , with transfers and at least an hour travel time. This week I am including a district photo, more Monoglian photos, choir practice.. and notice....no extra travel and visits.. so,.. I am thankful that this stress will be over soon.... and we can prepare for NOEL and NEW Year .....and welcoming Erik into the Mercado home :)

pressure

I heard Billy Joel's song twice today (My fault)! I was trying to avoid pressure but instead was reminded of it. So,why? We have two big activities a week apart. First, teaching as many as possible YSA and Missionaries an arrangement of (French, English,Spanish... end in French) Since it is an arrangement we had to translate and put in all together, Sounds easy.but notes and words needed changing, Then, the next week is Fete de la Mongolian (Mongolian Independence Day) and I only know the alphabet and hello, how are you, (which sound like---SAY NO U N) to answer you say.. I N (fine). We had a quick visit with cousin Frank Hatch and enjoyed sharing old and new stories and later we took a walk at twilight after looking for beads for the costume . On our blog we have photos of Jim sewing with my adding technical help ; like darts, facings, hemming, trim, etc, and it has been PRESSURE,( I am also including last weeks photos of down town Geneva, Saint Pierre archives with the church in Gothic and Roman style and the reunion from 400AD of a baptistery when immersion was still practiced. It is easier to fill the blog with more photos, so if you havent seen it, go to...jlandpj.blogspot.com..... the church stopped baptisme by immersion because it wasn't as practical ) I am writing this on 11/11/11 as it is a holiday everywhere and everything is closed which makes for a much needed break from the PRESSURE.

This is what we see every day

This is just a quick visual of our every day life.. view from our window, view on the way to Institute on the Freeway (not free!) and the view around the Institut. The post just before had the Ferney Voltaire cemetery and a close by stream where we saw an old mill

Tousaint Day--Perfect brightness of hope

November I is TOUSSAINT , All Saints Day, or as I learned from my Sp friends Dia de muertos (sp?) is a fete catholique to honor the faithful departed, which isnt this what we do in family history by doing the work for the dead,!! Not that far off from us. The peasants would end the harvest by gleaning all the potatoes in the field in preparation for the winter. So the family history display at the stake center is well timed this weekend. We visited Annesy ward about 1 hour from us. It reminded me so much of my experience growing up in the mission field, feelings I will always cherish. It is there that my testimony of the Gospel began. Small in numbers but mighty in spirit. And this is the message that I wanted to convey as I gave my talk to their ward. The main speaker did not show up so about 4 minutes before Sacrament meeting started they ask Jim and I to speak. Jim had given a talk last week and got a translator to help him. (one of our YSA from South Amercia translating into french!), I wanted to give mine in french and jotted a few notes down and practiced reading what I thought was my favoirte scirpture in 2 Nephi,, Perfect brightness of hope.,,,in french,,. The first speaker was in Bishops daughter ( the bishop gave the combined RS / priesthood lesson and his wife gave the Sunday school lesson) His daughter reminded me of myself, 13 years old.., thin,.. braces,but, a well planned and presented talk. As I listened I went back to the mission field in Valley Forge PA, and remembered my burning testimony in 8th grade, That is the year that we did Promised Valley, in Philadelphia, directed by the original director ( I think, Dr, Christensen, I might be mixing him up with someone from BYU) ..there is only so much space in my brain left, now that all this french is in there) And so as I began my talk I really felt the spirit. I made it through without help and finished with my scripture. Later I looked up the scirpture and sure enough it was....perfect brightness of hope.. which is the message I wanted to convey to them and to you,,as we continue our own personally mission here on earth that we will have HOPE.

This week contiued working on the Mongolian fete costumes which we are still struggling with. May our struggles only be costumes! May you all have hope and love this season.

same old,,,same old/not

Highly recommend two year missions, as we feel that it is easier this second year. We had a great week with a pantomime of scripture stories for FHE, missionary split night with YSA, Halloween American style (great for non members) and preparation for Fete de la Mongolian. We enjoyed the Autumn colors and another baptisme. We still find new places to walk and explore, This week we had to find tissue (fabric) for the Mongolian dance. The sisters are insistent that the costumes be authentic and thus another adventure trying to find the supplies. Jim loves trying to sew and make the pattern himself and I love the music, the sisters and the Dance!. But, I fell this week and twisted the same ankle that I twisted at the Draper Temple just before we entered the MTC, so I am doubling struggling with pain (I already have alot of pain in my knees... thinking it is just another way Mr, Arth ritis is getting into my body..ugh) Jim is very disciplined in his eating and has been successful in not having too many physical problems. He, also thinks that the yoga classes that I teach twice a week are helping.. So, I hate to sound the same old same old story, but we love teaching the Institute New Testament, There is alot of prep but what a better way to prepare than to read the New Testament and learn more about the Saviours love for us.

Love and miss and pray for you all. Mom, Pat, Soeur