Week of 13 September 2009

Dede, Sister Hanson, and Sister Doyle wonder how cyclists cope with their own traffic signals



Sunday meetings in three cities: Dede’s positive attitude brightened an already sunny Sunday morning when I misunderstood the Google map printout for our trip and took the wrong road on our way to visit the Renens Ward near Lausanne. The extra twenty km or so we travelled past Lausanne and then back made us about 10 minutes late for the start of their sacrament meeting, but Dede reminded me that this was just another interesting adventure. As we walked in, Lam, the recent convert whom we had taken to Stake conference this past spring, greeted us with a giant smile. We found a place to sit near the rear of the chapel, and were amused when then bishop extended a welcome to us as the mission president and his wife (whom he obviously had not yet met). From Renens, we drove to the chapel in Lausanne (this time using the Magellan GPS) for a meeting with Eric and Sabrina and Br. Christian Buhlmann to finalize the plans for the opening kick-off for the coming year of Institute and YSA activities for the “Three-Lakes” region. It was a real joy to feel their spirit and the enthusiasm they have in working with other young adults. We made it back to Geneva for their meetings in time to partake of the sacrament, but it was rather hard to stay awake during the talks after only 6 hours sleep the night before.

Unconventional food and Dave’s super help: For an hour’s exercise on Monday, we walked past the giant apartment construction project at the top of Ferney, around the back of Voltaire’s chateau, past a large farm, and then down thru the path by the village cemetery. We only had a few minutes for dinner, so Dede made a hamburger soup by chopping up some left over zucchini and some sweet red pepper, and adding that with the hamburger I’d cooked last week and some remaining spaghetti sauce to a package of tomato and eggplant soup. It was delicious. A computer problem arose at the Institute, which Dave Perez was kindly able to resolve by taking over that computer from a computer in Provo, Utah where he was at work – after we had called him via Skype - we continue to be amazed at how technology has advanced sine the dark ages of our own college days. We finally got home around 11 pm, had a piece of toast with jam and cheese, and a glass of cold milk, and hit the sack.

We’re recommending the mission allow senior couples a new mode of transportation

Catholic prayers in LDS Scripture Class: Wednesday’s major event of note was Mary Magdalene Jones’ presentation in the scripture class regarding prayers in the Catholic Church. She had a three-page handout containing the wording of several specified prayers (in Latin, French, and English, no less). One of the things that impressed me was that generally they were scriptural excerpts from the gospels. It appeared to me that in ancient times, this may have provided a way for those who could not read – or who had no access to written scripture – to learn and to remember important passages of scripture pertaining to the life of the Savior. For example, the “Magnificat” is Luke 1:46-55; the “Hail Mary” is Luke 1:42; another formal prayer is “the Creed” which is rather like our first couple of Articles of Faith. We learned that the formal prayers of the Rosary help put the individual into a state of gratitude and of concentration which will have the power to “create a pool of energy or force (an “egregore”) that radiates and that others in need can draw from.” To help a person concentrate, the rosary needs to be spoken. We also learned that each day of the week has both some specified prayers (all related to the life of Christ) and some saints associated with them; things that require FAITH to accept and believe are termed “mysteries:” Monday and Saturday are the “happy mysteries” = the annunciation to Mary, the visitation of Mary to Elisabeth, the nativity, Jesus’ presentation in the temple as an infant, and Jesus teaching in the temple at age 12. Tuesday and Friday are the “sorrowful mysteries” = the agony in Gethsemane, Christ’s whipping by the Romans, his crown of thorns, his carrying the cross, and his death on the cross. Wednesday and Sunday are the “glorious mysteries” = his resurrection, his ascension to heaven, the day of Pentecost, the assumption of Mary into heaven, and the coronation of Mary in heaven. Pope John Paul-II added a day for “illuminating” mysteries on Thursdays = the baptism of Christ, the wedding in Cana for his 1st public miracle, his preaching of the advent of the kingdom, his transfiguration, and the Eucharist.

Dede and Sabrina at the YSA kick-off

The Young Adults will make it a great year: Friday was the kick-off for the Young Adult Institute year in Yverdon. Because we’d volunteered to bring refreshments, we spent much of the day baking apple cakes: 13 apples peeled and chopped yielded three 9x13 inch pans of cake; Dede also made a couple batches of cookies, and we had purchased sufficient fruit drinks for the expected 40 people. It turned out that 48 participated. After the program and registering for classes, the young adults socialized, munched the refreshments, played ping-pong, and let themselves be photographed. It was a super evening.


Miracles occur even when we’re “off-duty:” During our Saturday stroll with two other senior missionary couples along Lake Geneva thru “Parc-du-Lac”, Elder Jones noticed a lady sitting on a bench who seemed rather depressed and almost ready to cry. He sat down beside her and began a conversation. The lady was a consultant who deals with religious issues and human rights, somewhat similar to what the Hansen’s do at the United Nations. She told him how she had just been praying to know that God cared about her efforts, and within a few minutes, Elder Jones stopped to talk with her. As we finished taking pictures of the lake and gathered around her bench, she and the Hansen’s agreed upon an invitation for dinner at their apartment where we would all come and let her share her experiences. We felt that the Lord had intervened to bless one of his children by having us be in the park at that particular moment, and even more, by having Elder Jones respond to the prompting of the spirit to sit down and talk to the lady, even though the rest of us had been so busy taking pictures that we had ignored her. After we finished our walk, we decided to go back to Ferney-Voltaire to the “Insolite” restaurant. None of us had eaten there before, but the meaning of its name (“unusual”) intrigued us. It was a bit expensive,but a very classy place with good food well presented. Our pictures of the plates and the food tell part of the story.

Steak with mushroom sauce, surrounded by potatoes and veggies – mmmm, good!

Sometimes we’re treated to a sunset over the Jura mountain range