The Snyders in the France-Paris Mission

  À la recherche du temps perdu [ In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past ] One day, according to legend, 38-year-old Marcel Proust (1871-1922) had a taste of a small French cake, a madeleine to be precise, which miraculously conjured up vivid memories of his childhood and all sorts of other stuff lurking in his subconscious.   He started writing them down and never stopped until his death—the results being seven published volumes totaling around 3,200 pages in French and 4,300 pages in English translation. The expression “Madeleine de Proust” entered the French lexicon to signify anything (smells, sounds, tastes, sensations) that evokes childhood memories. Despite having served as a young missionary in the France-Belgium Mission (1972-1974), I had never even heard of a madeleine, let alone tasted one, so when Delys and I were called to the France-Paris Mission, I decided we should have a taste of one at the first opportunity. Accordingly, “madeleine” was t...

 Our mission ends in 5 days! We look forward to seeing out children and grandchildren, as well as our friends, but we will miss many of the delightful and sometimes strange ways of France and Belgium. Let's list the ways. OK, in Belgium there is a store named after me!! Yes, we had to go in and buy their treats. Paris has surprises every few blocks. Even the Metro stations are beautiful. One of the quirks of Europe is that you have to stand on the right on escalators so people can pass you on the left. Do you want to stand out as a tourist? Stand on the wrong side and don't let anyone pass. We will miss the people most of all. Here is my Friday morning English Connect class with my Tahitian missionary friends in the Prais France Mission.  I have stories about each one of these great people. And then we have the missionaries, like Soeur Kalati from Toulouse and the Millwards from Utah. Here we are at the temple after an endowment session and before a yummy lunch last Friday. An...

Somehow this blog ended up being about war. We are two weeks away from coming home. We have done a marathon sprint for four months to finish up humanitarian projects and start new projects.  This last week we got three new projects approved, and we are ecstatic. All of our projects have been in the Netherlands and Belgium. We fully acknowledge the Relief Society stake presidency members who jump started the humanitarian work in the Netherlands and Belgium.  Thanks, especially to Shaynah, Rachelle, and Sheila. You are amazing women. The French take their holidays seriously.  Today is May 8, and most everything is closed except the local bars/restaurants.  The French and other Europeans are celebrating the end of WWII, a day certainly worth celebrating. Of course, the people love holidays that land on Thursday because they take a bridge day off on Friday too.  War has ravaged France many times, and the French have been the attackers (Napoleon) and the attacked (Wo...