Lunch with Lam and the missionaries

This afternoon we invited Lam to come to our apartment to watch the video on the restoration of the gospel and to have lunch with us. Lam will be baptized on Saturday, May 2nd. From left to right: Elder Badger, Elder Asay, Elder Chan, Lam and Sister Badger.

Family Home Evening with the Lyon Young Adults

On Monday evening, April 27, 2009, we doubled our numbers at our Young Adult Family Home Evening in Lyon. We watched a wonderful movie made for the Geneva Mission. The movie shows a young adult giving a Book of Mormon to a friend. Her testimony inspired the young man to read the book which resulted in his baptism. After we watched the movie, we gave each person a Book of Mormon and had them write their testimony in it. Then we committed each one to give the book to a friend.

We had Rice Krispie treats and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. After the serious part of the evening was over, there was a lot of clowning around. This is a picture of Veronique, Benoit-Lancelot and Katie.

The group found their way into the classroom where Katie played the piano and the group sang songs from Phantom of the Opera. Elder Chapman, second from the left, has a beautiful voice. From the left: Comfort, Elder Chapman, Katie, Ama, Xavier, Landry, Elder Waller and Benoit-Lancelot. (Landry was baptized last Saturday.)

Sunday Night at the Kesters

Sunday evening, April 26th, we were invited to Shane and Heather Kester's home. They have three beautiful children and live in the little town of Cessy, which is just up the road from Ferney-Voltaire. They also invited Tenney Jensen, who is a member of the Geneva Ward with the Kesters. Shane is a movie maker. Heather works for the World Health Organization in Geneva. Shane just completed a wonderful film for the Geneva Mission. He gave us a copy to take to Lyon to show to the Young Adult Family Home Evening group.

From left to right: Sister Badger, Tenney Jensen, Shane, Heather and Baby Kester.
Shane fixed a delicious curry and rice dish for dinner. Pierce and Sophia had gone to bed by the time we took pictures.

Scenes around Ferney-Voltaire close to our apartment

The turn-off from the highway into the area of our apartment is easy to spot because of this erotic statue that stands on the corner.
Here is another view of the couple. The French love their statues to be anatomically correct.
This is a friendly farmer who was spraying his field. We feel so fortunate to live in an area with beautiful open green areas.
The Geneva Airport is just behind the trees in the background. When we walk, we watch the planes taking off. It is a beautiful sight.

April Senior Couples Dinner

Friday evening, April 24th, we enjoyed our monthly senior couples' dinner at the mission home. Each couple brings a part of the meal so it is no hardship on any one person. We always share the recipes from the dishes. This particular evening I brought a broccoli and cauliflower salad. We had two different chicken dishes, a couscous salad, wild rice and a wonderful fruit plate with dip. Sister Jarvis made crepes for dessert. She filled each crepe with vanilla ice cream and then poured a fantastic fudge sauce over the top. We had sliced almonds and whipped cream to top it all off.

Around the table, starting with the back of Elder Jarvis' head, are Elder and Sister Doyle, Elder Hinman, President Peterson, Sister Badger, Elder and Sister Jones. The people from the missing chairs were in the kitchen at the time of the photo.
This is a photo of Sister Hinman, Betty (the Peterson's house helper), and Sister Jarvis. They are putting the dessert crepes together. Betty is always included in our get-togethers. She made a curry chicken that was delicious. She is from the Philippines.
Now you can see Elder and Sister Jones and Elder Jarvis. Check out the picture of the crepe.
In this photo we have President Peterson, Sister Badger, Frank's empty chair and Elder and Sister Jones.

These are the masculine halves of the senior couples in the Switzerland Geneva Mission. From the left is Elder Doyle, Elder Jones, Elder Jarvis (seated), President Peterson, Elder Hinman and Elder Badger. At the time of the photo, we were in Annecy, France where we had just finished dinner at a creperie. Elder Badger had to have some ice cream from a shop on the street.

The Senior Couples in the Geneva Mission

This is Sister Hinman sitting in a cave at the Gorge Fier. To the right of her is a scale that showed how high the water has risen in past years.






This is Sister Jarvis in the same cave.
This photo is of Sister and Elder Jones at the foot of the tower at the Chateau Montrottier.
Here we have Sister Doyle, Sister Jones, Elder Peterson, President Peterson, Elde Doyle and Elder Hinman checking out the beautiful sights from the Chateau Montrottier.

The city of Annecy is so picturesque.
The river runs through the center of the old part of the city.
The streets are narrow with lots of little shops and restaurants.
This is our wonderful senior couples group at the Creperie in Annecy. We tried a dinner crepe and a dessert crepe. They were both delicious!

The City of Annecy, France

We left the Montrottier Chateau and drove into Annecy. The city is situated on a beautiful lake. We walked along the edge of the lake that is at the foot of the mountain range.











There were lots of boats to rent so you could go out on the lake.
























Sister Hinman is admiring one of the beautiful gardens in the park by the lake.

On Saturday, April 18, the senior couples of the Geneva Mission left the Gorge of Fier and drove up the hill to the Montrottier Chateau that was built in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
We climbed up this huge tower which provided us with a view of the beautiful countryside and the mountains in the distance.
Frank is looking out of one of the windows at the top of the tower.
This the courtyard of the chateau. The owner was a collecter and the chateau is full of his fabulous collections of things from all over the world. Evidently he was not a traveler, but people came to him and brought their treasures. There were costumes, porcelin, guns, sabers, swords, and art work from many different countries.

Saturday, April 18, 2009 the five senior couples along with President and Sister Peterson took two vans and drove to Les Gorges du Fier in Lovagny, France. It is a natural gorge formed by the Fier River. We walked along the footbridge above the gorge and saw some spectacular sights.









Sister Badger is carefully walking along the footbridge.









This is looking down into one of the caverns.
Can you see the face of a woman on the left side of the canyon wall?

On Sunday, April 5, we were in Lyon, France for a meeting on Out Reach that was held between the sessions of General Conference. While waiting for Frank while he was in the Priesthood session, I met these two wonderful ladies. On the left is Sister Omorodion, who is originally from Nigeria but who has lived in Lyon for almost 16 years, and Yuan Yuan, who is from a city near Beijing, mainland China. She has been a member for 5 years. She is interviewing for an internship in the U.S. She will be a wonderful missionary when she returns home to China after her education.

This is our balcony at 28 Chemin de la Planche Brulée. We have planted geraniums, pansies, lettuce, radishes and two cherry tomato plants. We will see how the picture changes as the plants grow.