New Year's Eve Dinner

One of my goals for this year is to have special meals on special days. I figured today is a good day to start! This was our special New Year's Eve dinner

 I decorated with twinkle lights that the sister assigned to minister to me gave me.

 Dinner is served! We had cod, brussell sprouts, carrots, rice and sparkly non-alcoholic juice.

 Pretty!

For dessert we had pudding that is made from avacados and coconut milk with a large helping of cocoa. It was seriously so good and so filling!! Definitely a do-again recipe. You can find the recipe here.

Christmas Celebrations

It sure was wonderful to talk to Jill on Christmas Day. I feel like this has been such a great Christmas. I just have felt so happy! Maybe it's a missionary blessing. 

I've also been reading lots about the Savior's birth. I was struck by the thought the other day about when Mary and Elizabeth got together. Imagine Elizabeth listening to Mary's story about how now she's a teenager and pregnant and hadn't been with anyone. Elizabeth may have thought, "Listen honey, that isn't even possible! Quit making stories up." Instead, she loved her and delighted in her news and they spent months together.  Imagine if we were all like that? If we just accepted and loved. Oh what a world, it'd be! (I feel like there's a song somewhere in there).

It sure has been a great Christmas. These are some highlights:

 Peirce got a new suit! Well, actually, Allen got a new suit, but Peirce needed one for the wedding and found out this one first him perfectly. So much for Allen's new suit. LOL

We always go to the Hudsons on the last Sunday before Christmas to sing carols. It is always a great time!

The NAckroyds have some tricks going on with us. We snuck a gargoyle into their new house (Auntie Becky does't like gargoyles...so you know, Allen had to make an attempt to her her to appreciate them.) On Christmas Eve, they returned the gargoyle surreptitiously, along with two more dinosaur skeletons. Now, while they're away in Utah, we have plans for getting them back. Silly them, they asked us to look after their cat! LOL

It was great to have Tony here.  It was fun to take him to the Nativity Pageant. It was his first time seeing the whole Christmas story. He had a lot of questions and dad had a good discussion with him. For Chrismas he gave dad a key chain that said "#1 Dad". He really sees Allen as a father-figure. I have a feeling we will always have a connection with Tony.

The other thing we  did on Christmas Eve was dad dressed up as Santa for the Hawryluks. Only, he did things his way (of course!) He climbed up on their roof and stomped around until the kids noticed and came outside. He ho! ho! ho!d and told them to go to bed so he could come back with presents.  We also went over to see Antonio's boys. They were SOOO cute and SOOO excited. It was fun!

The boys were good helpers with dinner! Tony wanted to cut the turkey. Peirce did the gravy. It was all great!

 Chico wished he could help!

We went to a movie on Christmas Day....Aquaman. It was on the Imax screen and in 3D. Intense!! I may never go swimming again.

Allen bouth a new computer. It's fast too!! Nice!!

Most fun of all, Peirce is getting a dog!

This has been that weird week between Christmas and New Years where it's hard to figure out what day it is. It sure has been a lovely week though. I spent a bunch of time reading (finished the Book of Mormon!) and working on goals and setting up my 2019 bullet journal. All of it is so good for my soul!

We took Peirce down to Lethbridge on Boxing Day to go to Utah with the Letourneau's. He was very excited. Dad did a great job of helping him get all the things done that he needed for his trip. I was so impressed with all that they did together. Peirce made a packing list and he'd check with dad to see if he missed anything. They talked about how you figure out how much money to give to Uncle Adam to pay towards the trip, how to budget his money while he was there, etc. Peirce was totally set up for a great trip! Here are a few pictures. What a great looking bunch of cousins!

Peirce had a great time at the wedding. I'm really glad he got to go. He came home in a great mood despite driving all night (They left at 6:00 Saturday night and drove all through the night...and the roads were NOT great!) Those Letourneaus are great. He really had a great time.

This week Allen and I went out to eat at the King Eddy! It was so fun. There was a live band that was really quite a lot of fun (even though they were country!) There's nothing like enjoying good food with people dancing in their seats along with you!

Today was Zane and Zoe Clark's farewell. They both got to speak on the same day. It was a really great meeting. Zane leaves this week and Zoe leaves at the beginning of February. Zane will be in Germany, right next to Jill! We went to their open house tonight too.

I decided I'm going to tell more jokes in 2019. Here's my start: The end of the year has come and now we can say goodbye to 3 hour church! There were  so many funny things about twitter on today:

• Everyone is trunky at 3 hour church today.
• Time to take the 3 hour block to a farm where it can run around happily with other length church schedules.
• I feel like going from 3 to 2 hour church is gong to impact the Foyer Gang somewhat
• We might get 2 hour church, but that extra hour has to go somewhere. Now get ready for....3 HOUR STAKE CONFERENCE!
• wave goodbye to 3 hour church
• The old 3 hour church block is our generations "I used to walk uphill both ways to school in the snow." FINALLY I have something to have over my future grandkids.
• If you're going to miss 3 hour church, here's a solution: Join the ward choir!

....okay. I'll keep working on the jokes.

I'm really excited about the home study idea of all this two hour church stuff. That kind of thing is right up my alley!

Post Christmas Email

Sorry that call was so short! I was really trying to keep it to the 30-40 minutes that President wanted us to. But that was hard!

I realized I forgot to say a big thank you for my presents. I appreciated them so much and I was so happy to open them. It made me feel right at home. Thanks so much for the dress and the scarf! So beautiful and so French. You really nailed it. Also, I forgot that I had even asked for dried mangoes, so when I opened it I  gasped because I was so happy and surprised! 

I wanted to tell you more that I love you all lots and I miss you lots. I don't think very often about missing you because we're busy and there's lots here to work on, but I do. I pray for you all lots. I just felt so overwhelmed by the time constraints that I didn't even think to say all the things that I wanted to say. But I want you to know I love you all so much. 

I also want you to know that while I've been on my mission, I've learned a lot already! I've learned that Heavenly Father is there for us and He hears us. I've learned about how much He loves us. It's amazing how our hearts keep growing as we serve others and understand His love for them. I'm like, does this ever stop? But I don't think it does! His love for us, all His children, is perfect and unconditional. He is sad when we go through hard things. He wants the best for us. I think all other aspects wherein my testimony has grown are included in that statement, Heavenly Father loves us. 

I also wanted to tell you a bit about how it's been being in a trio. It's been hard. I'm happy to be able to help but man, sometimes helping others is a lot of work. It's been pretty cool though how in times where I feel like I can't go on for one more minute, I can literally feel the holy ghost comforting me and telling me that I can go on. I can even go on for TWO more minutes instead of one. I hope that in the moments where you feel like you can't go on for one more second, you can ask for that help. I know you'll get it. 

Also, I forgot to ask about Maren's wedding! Whats going on? 

Also I want to hear more funny stories from you! And about news years resolutions... everything!

Here's some cool pictures of our raclette dinner. 

Jill

*There were no pictures* LOL

Christmas in France

 Jill's companion, Sister Ethington, is from France and so they get to see her family. Her grandparents serve in the temple once a month and her aunt is in their Antony ward!

A legit missionary Christmas tree! :) 

It was SO fun to talk to Jill on Christmas Day!

Gifts of the Spirit

From Uncle Ron:

Growing up I remember Mom (Ruth Evans Ackroyd) talking about an event when she and Grandma (Phoebe Longstroth Evans) and the other young women had gone to the Cardston Temple to act as proxies for baptisms for the dead.  As I understand it, in those days the young women and young men did not go together to perform proxy baptisms.  While waiting Mom’s turn in the baptistery Mom and Grandma heard a mixed chorus singing.  Mom asked Grandma if there were men in the temple that day other than those working in the baptistry, and Grandma assured her that no one else was there that day.  Then Grandma explained to Mom that what she heard were angelic choirs rejoicing in having their work done that day. 

 I always wanted hear heavenly choirs. 

I thought that they must have sounded like the Choir on Temple Square at their very best.

 Yesterday I was working my regular Saturday afternoon shift as an ordinance worker at the Cardston Temple.  It was about 3:30 – the last endowment session was just drawing to a close.  There were still a couple of families doing proxy sealings in the room just south of the Celestial Room and I and another brother were in the ‘pantry’ (the waiting area at the top of the stairs for workers waiting to officiate shortly at the veil) to officiate at the 3:45 veil.  As we sat there I heard the sound of a mixed acapella choir singing Angels We Have Heard on High fade in.  I could clearly discern the chorus of Gloria in excelsis deo(Glory to God in the Highest).  As I sat there the other brother asked me if I too could hear the choir singing.  I said yes, and that I was surprised because I couldn’t think what group would be singing in the chapel below.  I remember thinking that while the choir sounded good (they were singing my favorite Christmas Hymn after all) they were no Tabernacle Choir!  I don’t remember if I said that or only thought it.  As we talked, the sound of the choir slowly faded away.

 After our work at the veil I went back downstairs where I met President Nelson (the 2^nd Councillor in the temple presidency) and I asked if there had been a choir in the temple that afternoon.  His reply was to the effect that if I had heard a choir, it had to be an angelic choir, as there was no other in the temple that day.

 I have though much about the incident in the past 24 hours.  The choir sounded like any group that you might hear in a Sacrament Meeting – nice, but nothing special.  As I have cogitated regarding what I heard, the prompting came that just because we die, we don’t suddenly obtain ‘angelic’ singing voices.  There is no reason to suppose that the men and women celebrating having their temple work and sealings finally being completed yesterday afternoon were anything other than just normal people (spirits) with normal voices praising the Lord in heart and voice.

 It may be that the angelic choir singing in the night sky above the plains of Judea on the April night so long ago were all destined to come down to earth and sing with the Choir on Temple Square or be recording artists.  Maybe only the best voices were allowed in that choir.  And maybe the Hosts of Heaven that night were just the spirits of those who were foreordained to be normal people, who were so excited by the unfolding of the Father’s Plan that they could not contain themselves, or be contained by the veil, as they shouted and sang Glory to God in the Highest, Peace on Earth, Good Will to men.

 I am thankful that I was not the only one to hear the choir yesterday in the temple, so I know it was no just my imagination.

I am thankful for the tender mercy of being able to hear that angel choir, and for the added grace of being able to comprehend what I heard.

I leave you this testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

David Clements Meets Soeur Ackroyd

My name is David Clements. My family and I had the privilege of meeting your daughter at the France Temple Visitors Center and I wanted to send this picture to you. Soeur Ackroyd greeted us with a sweet smile and warm spirit. I know how it is to have a daughter serving a mission here. My daughter (with the hat) served here a few years ago and we returned to visit her mission. What an amazing place and what an amazing daughter you have. You should know she is very happy to be serving the Lord as a full time missionary. I told her I would send you this picture to see that she is doing well.
Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Parties!

 Here are some excerpts from Jill's last letter:


Thanks so much for your email! I really liked reading about Dave and his friend digging the hole. I've been thinking about it all day. It reminded me of one of our friends today that we're teaching who's had a really hard life. She was baptized when she was young, but left the church and has gone all over to find the hope and the peace that was right in front of her! I hope that we can help her to find what she's looking for. I know that she'll find it when she gets back to the basics of faith, repentance and renewing your covenants with the sacrament. God gives us simple things because that's all we need. Those things work, they fulfill his plan. It reminds me of the scripture from the book of Mormon that say something like " immediately shall the great plan of happiness be brought to pass in your life." when we do those ordinances, that's when God gives us more of His spirit and His peace. 

So like I mentioned before, we're in a trio now!Sister Peterson joined us. I'm excited!

Another thing that I wanted to tell you about that happened this week was the ward Christmas party! It was amazing! It definitely wasn't your average "everyone gets assigned a turkey or a dessert" party. Everyone got asked to bring something to share! So we ate food from the ivory coast, from Congo, from France, from Madagascar, and from the United States! It was a FEAST. Soeur Ethington doesn't like African food but I LOVED IT. One of the things I like about African food is that they make a lot!

Another thing I loved was the program. It definitely wasn't polished or beautiful or anything special. The missionaries actually did a musical number too and it was HORRIBLE. But I loved sitting at a table with this lady that we're working with and our recent converts and their little babies. I was amazed at how my heart was sooo full. I know that even though I'm far from my family that I love so much, Heavenly Father is going to give me a great Christmas with the people I love. He's blessed me so much to be able to share the gospel with the people here. When I tell them that He loves them, it makes me love them too! Christmas is a great time to be a missionary. 

Love you! I look forward to hearing back from you!

This is the team of missionaries at the Paris France Temple Visitor's Center.

This is at the ward Christmas party. Jill said it was TERRIBLE. Her companion said they sounded like screeching goats. LOL

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Soeur Ackroyd and Soeur Ethington

 

Here are some excerpts from Jill's letter this week:

 

On Christmas is coming quickly:

 

It sure is beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I feel like it kind of snuck up. Soeur Ethingtons birthday is on the 20th and that makes me think of the shortest day or the year... But the longest day of the year wasn't that long ago either! 

So for Christmas, we're still working out the schedule in the VC for skyping. I hope that it's all going to work out smoothly, I'm a little concerned because our dinner appointment got changed and I'm not what is going on. But I'm really excited to talk to you. President was us to keep it 30 to 40 minutes.

On learning and studying:

I don't remember you telling me about your Heaven Journaling from the summer... Sounds fun though! Sounds like missionary study time. It's such a spiritual feast every time. When I was reading about you being a wide open mouthed drinker, it made me smile. I love that you have such a desire to know and to learn. How do you think that applied when you were first deciding for yourself if the church is true?

So funny that you talked about eating meat. We have and ami who's mother in law is a long time member, and she always told her that she wasn't allowed to eat pork meat because it says so in the Bible! I didn't even know it said that so that question kind of stumped me. But then I learned that it's all about the law of Moses and about Christ.

Speaker of higher laws, are you SO excited for come follow me for families and individuals? We had a meeting about it last week and I'm so excited. It's going to do so much for missionaries and members and people being taught..... It's AMAZING and inspired. Even when it was first announced I thought that, but the more I learn, the more I love it.

On the power of healing through Christ:

That's a really good talk about people being healed and forgiven. I assume we're talking about the same one. We have a  person that we were teaching that is pretty mad about all this gas price stuff and this tax issue.... She always talks about how we live in a bad world, and she doesn't understand why God permits that. I was really sad for her, but maybe that talk would be a good one to send. I'm going to have to think about that question more. Didn't you read a book about that once? Why bad things happen to good people?

On fun with friends:

 Karaoke reminds me of when I did that with David and Jamie. That was fun! When all those Soeurs were over for the mission Conference, I met one who is good friends with David from home and then again at school. So funny! 

 

 

It was Elder Wood's, the Visitor Center President's birthday.

Driving in France

We got asked to take a sisters suitcases to the Paris chapel because she was taking all the new missionaries one the train on transfer day. Soeur Ethington took a video of our drive! If you listen remotely closely, you can hear me sneeze! 



https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eZRFTXf-WjWQvDMjvZ4rokHnChQ-542h/view?usp=sharing

Mission Conference AND a baptism

This week was so exciting! So many things happened so I'll try to get everything in this email!

Monday: préparation day so Sœur Ethington and I cleaned all day to get ready for the Soeurs who were staying over for mission Conference! (all ten of them!)

Tuesday: We taught our new friend George, and it was so awesome! We taught him about the restoration of Christ's church. He told us how he hasn't prayed in many years because he felt like God had forgotten him and he had lost hope. So we invited him to give it a try because God always loves us no matter what and He wants to talk with us. Later in the week, we called him and asked him how it went. He said when he prayed, he "felt like he had never been alone." Isn't that awesome? 

Wednesday: Mission Conference day one! This was super exciting for us because we had all the missionaries in our mission (half of France) in the Versailles area to listen to one of the leaders of the church for this area speak and give us some training. Soeur Ethington and I were scheduled to attend the conference the second day so we stayed at the visitors centre to be on shift. Antonina and Soriana came to the visitors Centre for a tour! I wish you all could have seen Soriana run into the garden, run up to the Christus and just be SO AMAZED. You can tell that she recognizes the spirit that is present in the house of the Lord, because she was glowing with happiness! It was such a fun day, they were at the temple for a few hours so we got to show them around the temple model and spend a lot of time with them. It was so great!

Then that night, we had 8 sisters staying over from outside of the Paris zones. It was CRAZY but lots of fun to have all these sisters over! It was really nice for Sister Ethington because her last companion got to stay over! We went to bed super late (by missionary standards) but we had a great time!

Thursday: Mission Conference day two! One of my favorite parts was at the temple when Sister Johnson talked about the change that happened in her family when they were sealed in the temple. Sometimes we talk a lot about how the temple is somewhere we feel peace and God's love, which are such important things in everyone's life. But I love how her testimony pointed out the real difference it can make in someone's family to make those  sacred promises in the temple. She had a daughter who passed away, and she shared a really touching thought about how every time she is in the temple, she feels close to that daughter. Heavenly Father has real and tangible blessings waiting for us, things that we have wanted our whole lives, and he's just waiting for us to be ready to receive them. When we do those sacred ceremonies in the temple, we prepare ourselves for those things that he has in store. 

The senior missionaries prepared an amazing meal for us for lunch. We felt so special and we were so grateful for all their hard work. Soeur Ethington and I had a great time, we got to sit with President and Sœur Sorenson and Elder and Sister Johnson! They asked us about how we do missionary work online, and Soeur Ethington got to tell them about the family the she connected with the missionaries in India! They just got baptized, and their extended family is being taught too! The funny thing is that Sœur Ethington didn't even remember that family until they sent her an email about their baptism. It just goes to show that Heavenly Gather takes our small effort and turns it into MIRACLES. 

Friday : We did weekly planning then went over to Antoninas house to do last minute baptism preparations. Their grandma told us about all the things God has done for her, and how her dream is to repay him by serving in the temple. She has been a member of the church for a long long time but because of her health, hasn't been able to even go see the temple! We started making plans RIGHT away to get her there and to be able to enjoy the spirit there. 

Saturday: Antonina's baptism day! Everything was crazy as it usually is when you're getting ready for a baptism! We held the baptism with a family from our ward who's daughter just turned eight so she's old enough to be baptised too. Because of protests and riots in Paris, Antonina and Soriana got there late! And because the little girl's whole family was there on time and impatient to get things started, we had to do our best to make things work! 

At the end of it all, the baptism was wonderful. We witnessed a beautiful moment after they had both gotten out of the water, they were glowing! Antonina was so happy, she hugged her daughter and said "c'est fait, ma fille! C'est fait!" or in English, "it's done, my girl! It's done!" After getting to know them and seeing all they've been through, it was so beautiful to see the relief and the comfort that comes from Christ's atonement. I was so happy to see them experience the beautiful blessings that we had promised them! Feelings of sadness, guilt and fear were gone from them and you could see the difference. They were so happy, and Soeur Ethington and I were too. There were quite a few tears of joy shed that day! 

Afterwards, we invited their grandma to come to the temple. She's such an amazing woman. I don't know if I've ever met anyone who loves God so much. We had a wheelchair there for her, so we took her up to the Christus, and had a very special and sacred moment together. You can just tell she's been praying for her family to have her family joined together in the church for so long. She looked at the statue, and with tears streaming down her face said again and again "merci seigneur, merci." I am humbled by the blessing I've been given to  know these people and help them get closer to Christ. 

Sunday : Antonina and Soriana were given a special priesthood blessing that confirmed them as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and gave them the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was a really beautiful blessing, and you could tell that the spirit of God has already started to change them. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and what it has done for these people that I love. 

We also got to get started on the churches #lighttheworld initiative by sharing a box of pastries with a homeless man who we see every week on the way to church. It always feels nice to share. I hope you all enjoy the Christmas season and the feeling of giving. 

I also hope you all got to the end of this, it's been one of my favorite weeks of my mission. 

Bisous, 

soeur Ackroyd 

 The family in India that Soeur Ethington taught online.

 Us right before their baptism! 

Antonina and Soriana with Melissa, the little girl who got baptized 

 Us with the whole family! 

The baptismal program we spent forever on

 Another one with Antonina and Soriana

The banquet tables at mission conference. It was amazing and Sister Fitt made an amazing Christmas dinner for all the missionaries and we were all so honored!

Us with all the sisters (10 total) who slept over in our tiny 2-man apartment for the mission conference! It was such a blast. 

Soeur Angelique came to the temple for the first time after a lifetime of being in the Church. She wept as she rolled her wheelchair to the base of the statue and placed her hand on the scars in His feet. It was a beautiful and powerful moment so I snapped a picture to remember. 

All of the adorable VC sisters! Together, we speak French, English, German, Russian, and Spanish. Coming soon: I am currently learning Lingala. :)

 The Visitor's Center Christmas tree

Us in front of the temple with Antonina and Soriana and the twins!