First Sunday in a French Ward
April 27, we met in the Porte des Alpes Ward
to help celebrate my birthday: Delbars, Dinklemans, Miners
The office couples made us all waffles!
and it helps to find a peaceful location to read,
such as the Parc de la Tête d'Or near our apartment
Mission leaders
shared what happened while opening Corsica, an island off the coast of France, in
1991.
At first it was very difficult due to the Corsicans’ anti-French and anti-American feelings. Finally after many failed efforts to teach about the gospel, they decided to just serve the people, by offering to give any kind of service they could perform.
The missionaries reported their experiences:
At first we couldn’t even find an apartment. After long hours of searching we were told nothing was available to us. One person said we would need to get the approval of the city mayor to find anything on the island, so much to their surprise we said we would go find him.
We explained we were on Corsica to share a Christian message about the importance of families and heritage, and also to provide service where we could. He challenged us. If we were really there to serve, we were to show up tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. at his small hotel to help paint and clean it. At 7:00 a.m. the next morning we arrived at the hotel and started working. In the late afternoon the mayor was astonished to see us still there. He asked us what we needed. By the next morning, we had secured a well-situated apartment and a kind note welcoming us to Corsica.
Within a few months, the mayor and his wife and children began attending our Sunday services. They loved singing the hymns. His wife and children were subsequently baptized. Little by little a few families joined the small branch.
Early in the work on Corsica, we went to the main Catholic hospital to offer volunteer service. The Catholic authorities of the hospital did not want to have a different Christian faith involved with the hospital but wished us well and accepted our card with our telephone number.
In 1992, we were invited by Corsican members to attend a championship soccer match at the city stadium. We were unable to attend because one of us felt ill. Late in the afternoon of the match, we heard mass commotion of helicopters, ambulances, and people wailing in the streets. The part of the stadium that had been temporarily expanded to hold the large crowd collapsed. Eighteen people were killed, and 2,500 were seriously injured. Those injured included members of three new Corsican branch families and members of two families interested in the Church. We would have been sitting with them had we attended the match.
The local hospital could not handle all the injured, We received a phone call from the hospital where we had left our card, asking if we could come help. The hospital was overflowing, seriously injured were everywhere, and patients lined the hallways. We assisted with many types of emergency care from IV lines, tourniquets, clearing, helping move the injured, etc. We were in the hospital for 36 hours straight. When we learned some of our members and friends were injured, we searched and found them and performed a priesthood blessing for each of them.
When the Catholic leader observed this, he led
us around the hospital telling the injured, “These are men of God . . .God
walks with them . . . Let them bless you.” He accepted a copy of the Book of
Mormon with our signatures. Some time later he told us we could use his church building
for English lessons. Our members did well after the accident, as did the two
investigator families. Both families were baptized.
To read other posts in our Mission Blog,
click on the arrow or 3 lines to the left of NEVILLES IN FRANCE
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