October 31 to November 6, 2011

The week began with Halloween and we (the Todds), the Office Staff, President & Sister Murdock as well as Betty the housekeeper decided to have a Halloween Lunch together. It was a beautiful Fall day

and so a barbeque sounded like the perfect lunch. Besides, being able to have a barbequed hamburger is such a wonderful idea anytime. I combed through my Halloween recipes to see what could be made here. I discovered that there is still plenty of Halloween fun to be had. Our menu included: Bony fingers with swamp dip, Spider Breadsticks with ghoulish sauce,

Jack-o-lantern burgers,

Wormy eyeball potato salad

and Spiderweb apple slices.

Such a frightfully delicious meal! Elder Wayment and Pittson even dressed up in fake mustaches

and Betty set a most beautiful table. (I think Elder Meyer is trying to get used to eyeballs and worms in his potato salad.)

After a fun lunch it was back to work.

Tuesdays are the day we usually receive notification of new missionaries coming to our mission and sure enough there was a notification. The surprise was that it was the notification for the couple that will replace us! We knew it should be coming but it was still a surprise. It was fun to find out who they would be. They are the Jeppsens from Centerville, Utah. How fun. They look familiar but I don’t remember ever meeting them. They will come on February 28 and we will train them for two weeks – President jokingly said “They will come and then you can train them for 3 ½ months – right? That would be when President and Sister Murdock are released. The big unknown is whether the mission home and office will move to Lyon, France before President & Sister Murdock are released on July 1. Sister Murdock and I both feel like that will happen in March but we really have no idea because they have not found a mission home yet. If we are in the middle of the move we might stay a little longer – if not we’ll travel for a couple of weeks and then be home. There are a lot of “ifs” in there. but, sometime next Spring we’ll be home.

Last week President Murdock met with us and two other Senior Couples as well as the office elders to brainstorm ways we can find the new apartments the mission needs. We no longer have a couple who handles the apartments and we have seven apartments that are needed immediately and that doesn’t include the three apartments that will be needed when the office moves to Lyon. There are another three or four unsatisfactory apartments that we need to replace . Finding apartment owners who will rent to “associations” (the category that the church falls into) is very difficult. As a result, several of the senior couples will assume responsibility in their assigned areas to find new apartments or to help arrange for repairs or refurbishing. We were asked to look for an apartment for a new set of Sister Missionaries in Annecy, France. We spent Thursday looking at apartments with two of the office elders and a member from the Annecy Branch. What we learned was that all apartments have very tiny kitchens,

and tiny bathrooms,

lots of stairs – the ones that are available are usually on the 4^th or 5^th floor -Most without elevators.

and brightly colored bathroom fixtures.

We found two we thought would work only to discover later that one location was not really as safe as we would want and the other one won’t rent to an association. So, it’s back to Annecy to try to find some new apartments. The Sisters come on Nov. 21 so we really need the Lord's help.

Saturday, we went to Geneva to an archaeological site with the Chatterleys and the new couple serving at the UN, the Holsingers. It is located underneath St. Peter’s Cathedral in the center of the old ville, built during the twelfth century. Archaeologists have discovered the remains of several previous churches, the oldest of which dates from 350 AD. It also contains traces of pre-Christian activity dating back over 2000 years. The site has been developed in a marvelous way so you can walk through the underground areas which are brightly lit

and with exhibits which explain what things are.

This is a model of the outside of the cathedral and an another of the interior of the old cathedral. Some of the most fascinating things for us were the baptismal fonts for baptism by immersion that were used until the 4^th or 5^th century AD. The baptistery is in section 4 above. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

This mosaic floor was in the reception room for the Bishop. A close up shows you the intricacy of the pattern of 1/2 inch tiles. It is so beautiful.

There is even a skeleton of a past leader found in a tomb.

The most amazing part of it is the fact that all of these areas are underneath St. Peter's Cathedral and all this digging has not caused it to collapse and fall into the space which has been excavated. Below is a picture of the outside of St. Peter's Cathedral which sits on top of the excavation site.

July 9 - 15, 2011

On Saturday, Doug and I had some free time so we decided to drive up the Jura Mountains that are next to were we live. Because we are so close to them they do not seem that big but as you drive up the mountains you realize how big they really are. We drove up a winding road that had spectacular views. As we neared the top, the view of the valley below was so beautiful. The valley below was a patchwork of gold and green fields. You can also see lake Geneva and just barely the Jet D'eau at the far right.

We stopped at a small ville that has several ski lifts and a toboggan ride that families were

having a great time riding.

There was a chalet-looking hotel and a few souvenir shops to wander through. We traveled a little further on the road which was covered by an umbrella of trees. We stopped along the road and found some rocks to sit on while we ate our lunch.

We then continued on to a city that was the finish line for a run through the surrounding mountains. Each runner was greeted with this cow bell! of solid brass It was fun to hear it.

This week we said good-by to the Asay’s. We had dinner at their apartment on Monday night so they could “clean out their fridge” and pass out a few things they were not going to take home with them. The idea of going home and leaving this beautiful area behind seems so strange. We will be so excited to be home with our children and grandchildren again but I think I will leave a part of my heart in this beautiful land and the wonderful experiences we have had with the missionaries.

This is the week before the “big transfer” We have been preparing things and getting ready. I had to make a ton of new labels for the President’s and the Assistants transfer boards. Finding a way to fit so many more zones, districts and missionaries on the boards was a bit of a trick but in the end it all fit. The Toulouse Mission President sent all of the pictures of their missionaries up so we could put them on the President’s board but now it looks like the board has been in a paint fight. All of our pictures are mounted on white paper. Theirs are mounted on bright green, blue or yellow. It works but it looks funny. Eventually I'll make new pictures so the board has a more uniform look.

The Larsons, the former office couple from the Toulouse Mission arrived on Thursday afternoon bring all manner of things from the mission office in Toulouse – computers, printers, paper supplies, files and records – they had the Vivaro (like a extra large van) stuffed to the top. Now we need to sort through all the things and find a place to put them. On Thursday Sister Murdock asked if we would show the Larsons around since this might be their only time to be in the Geneva area. We took them for a short drive Thursday afternoon to see the UN Botanical Gardens. Elder Larson is a former botany teacher and principal and so he was especially glad to see this beautiful garden in the middle of Geneva. He knew the names of most of the trees and plants. On Friday we took them to Annecy. Our favorite place! We stopped at the Gorges du Fier and again Elder Larson’s science background added to their interest.

We have been here several times but it continues to fascinate us.

It's amazing what water can do!

Then we headed to the downtown area. Annecy is a wonderful little city and it is so beautiful.

Elder and Sister Larsen

Relaxing and enjoying the park and lake in Annecy

This is one of my favorite areas in the old ville of Annecy. They change decorations frequently to reflect the holidays or what is happening in the town.

Annecy is where we attend church. We really feel like we are going home when we go there because we have so many ties to it. And – ta da!! We had lunch at Subway! That may not seem like any big deal to those at home but it is a taste of home when we are so far away. Usually we are in Annecy on Sunday so stopping at Subway is out but this time we were free to go and it tasted soooo goooood!.

After spending all day in Annecy we decided to stop for a quick look at Geneva’s old ville. It was a great time in the eveing to walk around.

The famous flower clock looks especially beautiful right now.

St. Peter's Cathdral built in the 1500s

As the sun went down the lights came on and created a very romantic feel to the city.

The lights on the ground are actually glass tiles that are lit at night. When you combine that with the sidewalk cafes and the fountains that are lite it is really beautiful.

July 2 to 8, 2011

Ever since last Fall when we saw all of the fields of dried sunflowers, we have been anxiously waiting for the time when the sunflowers would be in bloom. Finally it is here and the fields are even more beautiful than we imagined. Everywhere we drive there are fields of sunflowers. We have eagerly waited for them to bloom and voila the time has come.

We love looking at them and watching them grow. We even learned from a botany teacher that just as the story goes the blossoms really do turn and follow the sun during the day but as they get older they become set and face East. Doesn't the Son of God come from the East in the last days. Maybe they are firmly planted awaiting the dawning of the sun when they are older.

We celebrated the 4^th of July on Saturday the 2^nd with a BBQ with most of the Senior Couples at the Mission Home. Betty, the mission housekeeper, loves to have parties at the mission home and loves to decorate for them. It's amazing what she can pull out of nowhere to add a fun touch.

It is always fun to get together and share our experiences and it was great to have a real barbequed hamburger! the couples from right to left are: the Graffs, Yeverdon; the Thomas', Lyon; the Chatterleys, Geneva and of course Doug and I (Doug is taking the picture)This was also a farewell dinner for the Asays who will be released on July 13^th. They are a great couple. At this table from right to left: Sister Murdock and President Murdock is standing; Sister Burgi, Swiss Archives; the Asays, Swiss Archives; Brother Burgi; and the Dooleys, Lyon

He has been our Sr. Couples French Class teacher, which was right up his alley because he taught Jr. High French for years. Sometimes I think we are just as difficult to keep on task as those Jr. High students.

Sister Chatterley went on a steep hike this morning and on her way down her feet slipped and the pole she was using to steady herself hit her face really hard. Her sunglasses saved her eye but the force of the impact broke her nose and bruised her face. We're so grateful it wasn't worse.

It has been a busy week but also a week of waiting – waiting for the intranet program Imos to complete the consolidation process so that we can have access to the information that we need. The majority of the work done in the Mission Office revolves around Imos. It plays a vital part in all that we do whether it is paying bills, tracking legality work, tracking incoming and outgoing missionaries and providing contact information. We had been told that we would have access on July 1^st but it actually took more than a week. We all had lots to do but could do nothing without Imos access. Also while we waited we had the Toulouse Office Elders and then the Toulouse AP’s to help us integrate processes – it was very hectic with so much to do, so many people in a small office, learning new processes and WAITING for Imos. At last Imos became available, the extra people returned to their assignments and we began the process of consolidating two missions into one.

On Friday, July 8 the Asays arranged for us, the Chatterleys and Sister Murdock to come to the Archives where they have served for the past 18 months. It is a beautiful facility. The workers, volunteers and the head of the archives held a party to celebrate the Asays service. They spoke of the important work that the Asays have done. It has been very tedious for them but they have been very good at what they have done. The Burgi’s joined them in February and that has made it nice for them to have friends to work with. The Swiss government invited the church to come and photograph their records in order to preserve them. But first all of the books of records needed to be numbered according to a very exacting system.

These are some of the books that have been numbered. They date back to the late 1500s. They also have maps and charts from that period.

After the books are numbered they are photographed using this special computerized camera, being careful to protect the fragile books.

The rooms where the records are stored are under ground with temperature and humidity controls. Doug was especially interested because of his work on the Church History Museum.

This is how the Asays and the Burgis spend their days. Quietly numbering pages and checking and then rechecking to make sure they haven't missed a page or written the wrong number - very tedious but very important.

It was great to be with the Asays and the Burgis to celebrate all that they have done and fascinating to see these old records. These records once digitized will be available to church members to help with Family History research and hopefully taken to the temple to receive their temple blessings.