The Snyders in the France-Paris Mission

June 6, 1944.  The Germans had built the Atlantic Wall up and down the coasts of the European countries they had captured.  The “wall’ was a series of fortifications along the coast to protect newly conquered land. German-controlled France was vulnerable to attack from England, especially the town of Calais because it was the closest spot in France to England. The Axis forces had built up substantial defenses because German leaders suspected the English and other allies to cross at Calais. They were wrong.  Americans, Canadians, and British chose a less convenient and less obvious spot for their sea invasion: the beaches of Normandy.  The day was stormy, and the preparatory bombing was unsuccessful, but these young men from the English-speaking world launched the attack that marked the beginning of the end of the war.   On D-Day, (known as J-Jour in France) 160,000 troops crossed the channel into France. Eventually 875,000 crossed. Thousands died. Within da...

Although we are blessed to have a car because of our need to travel throughout the mission doing Welfare & Self-Reliance, we mostly travel by train and metro and sometimes bus throughout the Paris a area.   Sometimes it’s standing room only with all the seats taken, especially on the metro, and sometimes it’s like we have a semi-private railroad car.   To travel in sometimes extremely close proximity to absolute strangers requires a certain aloofness balanced by necessity with a simple courtesy that exemplifies France’s motto of “liberté, égalité, fraternité.” Still, there are moments of connection among commuters. When a train doesn’t leave a stop promptly, everyone starts looking around at one another and, then, when there’s an announcement that everyone needs to switch trains, everyone throws up their hands, shaking their heads muttering as they gather up their things and disembark in mutual commiseration with the injustice of public transportation. Because we stand out...

God has taken my strength and made it into my weakness.  How is that for backwards? One of my strengths and one of Phil's strengths is our language ability.  I have spent decades of my life in undergraduate and graduate school learning to be more eloquent with language. I have taught students to express themselves accurately and eloquently, writing for the level of their readers. I love to talk about ideas, and I love to connect with others through talking. But with French I speak like a 5-year old. I have loads of compassion now for immigrants and children. So I could just give up and let Phil, with his wonderful French, do all the talking. But there is no way I am giving up.  We have been in France 2 1/2 months. I have spent a hundred hours in meetings listening to French that I barely understand--in sacrament meeting, in the temple, in Relief Society, in Sunday School, in missionary meetings, in Zoom meeting after Zoom meeting, in conversations everywhere.  Now I ...