Stephen and Elaine Biddulph

8 - 14 MAY 2016

We returned on Friday afternoon from a trip to Mulhouse, Colmar, and Strasbourg in the Alsace Region of France. It was just an over-nighter, but it was nice. The Alsace Region of France lies just west of the Rhein River on the border of Germany. It is a region rich in Roman, German, and French history. This predominantly agricultural area is a broad, fertile plain stretching from Marlenheim in the north (just above Strasbourg) south to Thann and Mulhouse, just above Basel and the Swiss border. The route is filled with scores of quaint little villages and towns that have attracted tourists for many years.

After a drive from Frankfurt to Strasbourg, our journey began there in center city. We walked about the inner city area and saw the huge Notre Dame Cathedral and other sites. We then followed highway E35/36 and some small country roads to various villages such as: Obernai, Barr, Ribeauville, Riquewihr, Kayserberg, and Colmar. The countryside was beautiful and green with hills and small tree-covered mountains further to the west in France. We found parts of Colmar and Strasbourg and most of the small villages to be filled with little cobblestone streets, narrow passages, and houses that looked centuries old. We found many places in France to be not nearly in a state of repair as what we see in Germany and especially in Switzerland.
We continued on to Mulhouse, a larger city to the south of Colmar, just above Basel, Switzerland. We believe it to be the birthplace of Elaine's Aunt Olga who migrated to Salt Lake City with her family and lived in Salt Lake until her death. It was fun to see the big church and the quaint streets and houses, and to wonder what it was like when she was a little girl living there.
We stayed overnight in Colmar at the Colmar Hotel, an adequate 3-star place. Our room was clean and neat, but small. We got there early enough that we walked about the old city to see many of the sites before nightfall overtook us. Among the sites were the Prefectures, the court of appeals, churches, Little Venice, many statues of famous generals and even Bartholdi who sculpted and created the Statue of Liberty that stands in New York Harbor. A replica stands at the outskirts of Colmar with a sign commemorating Colmar is the original home of the Statue of Liberty.

Our cell phone ran out of juice on us during the night in Colmar. Stephen brought a cord to charge, but discovered too late that it did not work with his phone. Thus, we decided to head home on Friday. It was beginning to rain and be a little stormy, and we had seen much of what we wanted to see. We arrived back in Frankfurt on Friday afternoon.

We had an interesting experience with a missionary. A mission president called quite upset that one of his relatively new missionaries had decided to quit and return home. He asked if Stephen would speak with him before he acted on the demand, which he did. The missionary came from a broken home and the father was not a member. The mother was active and broken-hearted that her son was quitting his mission. In fact, the father was antagonistic to the church and was very upset that his son was on a mission. Stephen and the elder had an open, frank talk about things. The elder expressed great resistance to following all of the rules required of missionaries. He called the white handbook a poorly-written book and stupid. He expressed doubt about the truthfulness of the church, living prophets, the Book of Mormon, and other things that Stephen found rather premature for a young person to make, and he encouraged him not to decide on such things too quickly because he still had a lot to learn. He bore his testimony to him, expressed his love to the missionary, thanked him for his service, and wished him well. The elder responded, "Thanks. Your talk helped me." Stephen asked how it had helped him and he responded, "It made me think."

They left it at that and Stephen reported to the mission president and the Infield Representative on the talk. Later that evening, Stephen felt a strong premonition to write the mission president and suggest that he not just give in and let the missionary go home, but to meet with him face-to-face and ask him if his father was the source of his antagonism toward serving a mission and living the rules. He asked the president to challenge him on some of this and at least make the elder take accountability for his choice and not give in too easily.

The mission president responded that he liked the idea and would act upon it. Two days later, an email came from the MP with a letter to the missionary's mother attached saying, "I spoke with your son this morning and I have good news as he shared with me his desire to stay on his mission by being obedient and acting as a disciple of Jesus Christ. I am very proud of him, of his desire to act as a full time missionary. I will meet with him on May 25th for Zone Conference but he knows that he can call me at anytime if he needs something. Thank you very much for your support to your son, I am confident in his ability to find true joy and happiness by loosing himself in the work."

This was a confirmation to us of the influence of the Spirit and the involvement of the Savior in those who are called to serve. It is also a testimony to us of the influence of mission presidents who have the keys for the missionary work. We are happy when such things happen.