THE GRACIOUS THANK YOU NOTE

We received the most touching thank you note from a Sister in the Talence Ward in Bordeaux. Sometimes we don't feel that our efforts are as grand as other missionary couples, but this note brought things into perspective and made us so thankful that we are doing exactly what we are doing.

The thank you card reads:

CHAUMET, Claudette LALANDE, CHARTRES, GRETIER, ROSSEAU, MARTEL, DAVID, ROUAU, GAUTHIER, MARTIN, GABDELLE, POUZET, GUIET, CARREAU, ROY, GRILLER, MAACHAIS, LABAT, REY, JUDE, BROUET, BOLE, DUFEUIL, DUSSAUT, JAGOURD, CORT, BUDINET, MATHIEU, PEPIN, CONTRÉ, BLOUIN, RABOUTET, PETIT, DAVID, MELON, FAURE, COTIRAUD, MONFOLLET, TOURTEAU, GUÉRIN, DUPUY, BENETEAU, HERVÉ, ROUX

ALL THESE PEOPLE ARE MY ANCESTORS
All of them say thank you! All of them know your work!
All my gratitude Fraternally Claudette SPAGNOLINI
Chère sœur, cher frère, Merci !

In addition to this card was a two-page typed letter which we have included below. Arnold translated it into English - the French follows that.

Dear sister, dear brother, Thank-you!

For your sacrifice and your presence in Bordeaux, thank-you!
For your work in the shadows and in privacy, thank-you!
For all the researchers, who, thanks to your work, can find their ancestors, thank-you!
For the great ease, the great comfort of my research, thank-you!
For the thousands of souls, who because of your participation will be saved, thank-you!

Dear brother, once in the course of a past conversation you told me that you “did but little” toward the results that I have been able to have. That is false!!
If you think that your work has no more value than a nail, what an error!
Reflect upon all that a simple nail can do! •

In 20 years of research I have found about 9,500 names of members of my family; in 6 months I have added 1000 !!! (and that is but the beginning!) It is your work in the shadows which has permitted me to find them.

Genealogy (the science of genesis) consists of identifying the names of our ancestors; tracing their family history and guiding them toward the light.

In an obscure hall, you work with old dusty papers to allow thousands of souls to receive the gospel and the most marvelous light that one can imagine, that of the true Gospel and the possibility of returning to be with our Heavenly Father.

You are two of the blacksmiths who fabricate the key that thousands can use to attain their salvation.

It is the first indispensable stage of this great work, and it is you dear sister, dear brother who have the trusted responsibility!

At any hour of the day – even the night-, I can profit from your work and find numerous members of my family. What a great blessing for them!

I want dear sister, dear brother for you to know your part in this. I bear testimony of it.

Numerous researchers profit or will profit from your work without ever knowing to whom they owe this great blessing that they consider as normally due.

Know that each time I connect my computer to the Departmental Archives, I think of you. This blessing has a name and faces: yours!

I told you that before I encountered difficulties with my researches because the archives had not been microfilmed by the church, I should have supported the downturn due at the functions of the office at the archives.

I told you that my permanent calling at the Talence Ward genealogy center gave me the opportunity to help other people to use the material that I could not take advantage of for myself. What frustration! 6 or 7 years later, it is your work which now gives me the possibility to advance rapidly in my research. What a blessing!!

I think it is a reward that the Lord has sent to me after all these years of serving others. If this principle is valid for me (and I testify that it is) it will be as much for you in the righteous desires that you can express to our Lord, as much for your research concerning your ancestors as for the members of your family who might have need for special help for their own salvation.

In his time and according to our faithfulness, the Lord remembers us and grants us His support, His help, His love, His blessing.

May the Lord quickly remember all that you have done for others, your important participation, in the great plan of salvation for these multitude of souls who can be easily found, and may you receive the righteous blessings you could hope for.

All my gratitude and affection,
Claudette SPAGNOLINI

For want of a nail the shoe was lost
For want of a shoe the horse was lost
For want of a horse the knight was lost
For want of a knight the battle was lost
For want of a battle the war was lost
For want of a war the kingdom was lost
All for the want of a nail


For our French-speaking friends:
Pour votre sacrifice et votre présence à Bordeaux, merci !
Pour votre travail dans l’ombre et la discrétion, merci !
Pour tous les chercheurs, qui grâce à votre travail pourrons trouver leur ancêtres, merci !
Pour la grande facilité, le grand confort pour mes recherches, merci !
Pour les milliers d’âmes, qui grâce à votre participation seront sauvées, merci !

Cher frère, au cours d’une conversation passée vous m’avez dit que vous « n’aviez que peu fait » pour les résultats que j’ai pu avoir. C’est faux !!
Si vous pensez que votre travail vaut pas plus qu’un clou, quelle erreur ! Songez à tout ce qu’un simple clou peut faire !

En 20 ans de recherches, j’ai trouvé environ 9500 noms des membres de ma famille ; En 6 mois j’en ai ajouté 1000 !!! (et ce n’est que le début !) C’est votre travail, dans l’ombre qui m’a permis de les trouver.

La généalogie (science de la genèse) consiste à répertorier les noms de nos ancêtres ; Tracer son histoire familiale, c’est les conduire vers la lumière.

Dans une salle obscure, vous travaillez dur de vieux papiers poussiéreux, pour permettre à des milliers d’âmes de reçevoir l’Evangile et la plus merveilleuse lumière que l’on puisse immaginer.
Celle de l’Evangile véritable et la passibilité de retourner auprès de notre Père Céleste.

Vous êtes deux de ces forgerons qui fabriquent la clef que des milliers pourront utiliser pour atteindre leur salut.

C’est la première étape indispensable de cette grande œuvre, et c’est vous chère sœur, cher frère qui en avez la responsabilité !

A n’importe heure du jour, -et même de la nuit-, je peux profiter de votre travail pour trouver ces nombreux membres de ma famille. Quelle grande bénédiction pour eux !

Je veux, chère sœur, cher frère que vous sachiez bien que vous en avez votre part. J’en rend témoignage.

De nombreux chercheurs profitent ou profiteront de votre travail sans jamais savoir à qui ils doivent cette grande bénédiction qu’ils considèrent comme normalements due.

Sanchez que chaque fois que je connecte mon ordinateur sur le site des archives départementale, j’ai une pensée pour vous. Cette bénédiction a un nom, des visages : les vôtres !
Je vous disais que autrefois je rencontrais des difficultées pour mes recherches parceque les archives n’ayant pas étées microfilmées par l’église, je devais supporter les ralentissements dus au fontionnement du bureau des archives.

Je vous disais aussi que mon appel de permanente au centre de généalogie de la paroisse de Talence, me donnait l’occasion d’aider d’autres personnes à utiliser du matériel que je ne pouvais pas exploiter pour moi-même ; quelle frustration ! 6 ou 7 ans après c’est votre travail qui me donne la possibilité d’avancer rapidement dans ma recherche ; Quelle bénédiction !!

Je pense que c’est une récompense que le Seigneur m’envoie après toutes ces années au service d’autrui. Si ce principe est valable pour moi, (et j’en témoigne) il le sera tout autant pour vous, dans vos justes désirs que vous pourriez exprimer à notre Seigneur, tant pour votre propre recherche conscernant vos ancêtres que pour tous les membres de votre famille qui peuvent avoir besoin d’une aide spéciale pour leur salut.

En son temps et selon notre fidélité, le Seigneur sait se souvenir de nous et nous accorder son soutien, son aide son amour, sa bénédiction.

Puisse le Seigneur se souvenir rapidement de tout ce que vous avez fait pour autrui, de votre importante participation au grand plan de Salut pour ces multitudes d’âmes que l’on peut si facilement trouver, et puissiez vous reçevoir les justes bénédictions que vous pouvez espérer.

Avec toute ma reconnaissance et mon affection,

Claudette SPAGNOLINI

Faute d’un clou, le fer fut perdu.
Faute de fer, le cheval fut perdu.
Faute de cheval, le cavalier fut perdu.
Faite de cavalier, la bataille fut perdue.
Faute de bataille, la guerre fut perdue.
Faute de guerre, le royaume fut perdu.
Et tout cela par la faute d’un clou !

AND OUR NEXT SPEAKER WILL BE...

Today, we picked up Eleanor and her little boy Sasha to take to church. As often happens with little ones, it took them a little longer to get ready. Consequently, we were a little late for church. But the meeting had not started yet. Just as we were about to sit down, the counselor in the Branch Presidency came up to Arnold and asked him to give a talk on family history and his ancestors. We decided later that they had not started the meeting on time because they didn’t have enough speakers. The meeting started immediately after that.

Arnold gave a great extemporaneous talk. (That part was written by JoAnn – lest you think that Arnold boasts about his great talk.) He tied in temple work, history of temples and ended with telling about his ancestors that were among the very last to have their temple work done in the Nauvoo Temple before the Saints went West.

Brigham Young had announced that the temple would be closed for good. They had to plead with him to leave the temple open long enough for them to go through. The temple was open all that night and Brigham Young worked around the clock as so many of the saints needed to have their temple work done before they left. What a blessing to be able to endure the crossing of the plains knowing that they had been sealed to each other for all eternity. The temple was then locked up and the Saints began their trek to Utah.


The Elders talking with one of the members after church. Because so many of the members are on long vacations during the summer and there are not enough teachers to teach all the classes, they have started having only 2 hours of church. They have sacrament meeting and then Sunday School/one hour of Primary. Everyone seems to want to stay longer and talk this way.

PIONEER DAY BARBEQUE

The Branch had a barbecue planned for the 24th of July celebration, but had cancelled it because there were so many members that were going to be out of town on vacation (the Belgians take a month or two of vacation each year, usually in July and August). One of the sweet sisters in the Branch, Sister Egbert, decided that we really needed this so she changed the date from Saturday to Thursday (the real July 24th) and invited the Branch to a barbecue at her home. She has a rather large house in the middle of town that looks like an apartment from the outside.
 When you go in there is a nice large downstairs, and then you go up a flight of stairs to the upper part of the house and out into a very large, lovely patio/garden area. It was such a surprise.
 She has so much room that she even raises chickens there and gets around 70 eggs a week from the chickens.

There was a very good turnout as most families were not leaving for vacation until Friday night or Saturday morning. (In fact, it looked like there were more at the barbecue than had been at church on Sunday.) There were about 20 or so children and they had so much fun chasing the chickens and playing in the grass part of the yard.

This is John. He loved the red Koolaid and somehow managed to spill every glass that he took. But JoAnn can't say anything, because she was helping him pour a glass so he wouldn't spill and the top came off the pitcher and the whole thing went all over the table and patio.

This is John's Mom, Amy Marshall. She is a military wife and just had her 6th baby in 8 years. Her mother came over from North Carolina for six weeks to help out. You really have to admire military wives. They are awesome - taking care of all those kids with her husband gone a lot and still being so positive and upbeat.

Courtney and Joshua Stearn

The adults sat around in the patio area and just had a wonderful time visiting. We got to meet some more of the Branch members and got to know better some we had already met.

 Brother Stearn (in the blue shirt) manned the barbecue and made the most delicious sauces for the meat – one spicy and one mild. The man to his left is a counselor in the branch presidency, Brother Kilgore and the next one over is Brother LeRoy.

The Branch is mostly divided into those from America who are affiliated with the military base and the French-speaking locals. There was a little bit of a divide at the party. The French speaking were mostly in one group and the rest of us in another. It is understandable considering the language barrier, but many are doing their best to cross that barrier.
 One little girl who has Downs Syndrome is one of the best to bridge the gap. She appears to be about 10 years old and speaks French, but she also speaks love. She gave a big kiss and hug to everyone and was so helpful to pass out cookies or whatever needed doing. She seemed just as comfortable with people from both languages. We could all learn from her.

Elder Peterson, Elder Warncke and Elder Scott
in front with Elder Kam in the back

All four Elders are now living at the Egbert home. The last two moved in that day. One of the Elders, Elder Scott from Tacoma, Washington, was new. We asked him how long he had been in Belgium and he looked at his watch to tell – he was that new.

Sister Egbert with one of the many babies at the party

Sister Egbert teaches school on the base and bought this big house just so she could have room for the Elders. She is a fun, funny lady. We thoroughly enjoy her. She can get almost anything American we need from the commissary on base and is very willing to do so. She also says that she can ship things back to the United States at the rate you would pay if you were over there. We hope that we will be able to take advantage when we go home so that we don’t have to leave so much behind.

All in all, it was a wonderful relaxing evening. It has rained almost every day we have been in Belgium, but it was a beautiful warm evening with blue skies and just a slight breeze. It’s funny here in Belgium, it is still light as late as 10:30 in the evening during the summer. Sometimes we forget to get to bed by missionary curfew time (10:30 p.m.).

I THINK I CAN - I THINK I CAN!

First a little background. We applied for and received our passports several months before our mission call. Before we came to France we had to go to San Francisco in person to apply for a visa. Otherwise, we would only be allowed to stay in France for three months. When we got to Bordeaux we had to go to the Préfecture’s office to get a carte de séjour (something like a green card) to make us legal for a year. Then at the end of the year, we reapplied for another one that would last another year, or until the end of our mission. Everything was right on schedule. We reapplied, turned in all our paperwork and waited for them to issue the new cards. Unfortunately, when they said they were ready and we went to pick them up, they had made several errors – JoAnn’s birth date was incorrect, our address was wrong, and they had them expiring before we even received them. We then had to turn our papers in all over again (the same papers we had turned in to them when we first got to France and then again only a month earlier). We again had to supply 3 more pictures and they gave us a récépissé (which is like an official receipt with our pictures on them and saying that we had turned in all our paperwork and were just waiting for the new cards). They were supposed to let us know when they were ready to be picked up.

In the meantime, we received the transfer to Belgium. Since the mission in Belgium also includes parts of France, we were told it would be okay to use our French carte de séjour to stay legal as that is what all the missionaries in the Belgium Mission do, and since they told us they would get them reissued within a few weeks, we were not concerned. However, as the time came for us to leave Bordeaux, they still had not sent us notification to pick up the cards. We had no choice but to leave for Belgium on June 25 without them. We had our récépissés so we were legal until they expired, which was on July 10, 2008.

We had the Bordeaux Elders check for us after a couple of weeks to see if the cards were ready to pick up. They wouldn’t let the Elders even inquire without our written authorization. So we sent them signed authorizations. When they checked, they found that JoAnn’s card was ready to pick up but whoever was doing Arnold’s apparently had quit in the middle and it was not completed. We were told we would have to go in person to pick up JoAnn’s card and again turn in the same paperwork with 3 more pictures to get Arnold’s started again. We thought we couldn’t possibly go all the way back to Bordeaux. After checking with our mission president and Jean Pierre Massela, the man who is in charge of us as Family History missionaries, we were told to book a train to Bordeaux and see what we could work out. They even told us that we could go first class and that they would pay for it.

We booked a super fast train called the TGV, which travels around 320 kilometers per hour. It was to take us only 5½ hours to go the same distance it had taken us several days to go in the car. We had to take a smaller train from Mons to Brussels and then transfer to the TGV to Bordeaux. Since the train stations can be a little intimidating and Toon thought we would get on the wrong train, he offered to drive us to the station and even rode with us on the train to Brussels to make sure that we got on the right train to Bordeaux.

Because we were traveling on July 14th, which is a French holiday – Bastille Day – the trains were crowded going to Bordeaux and we had to take second class seats. They weren’t bad, but there was very little leg room for Arnold. They have assigned seats just like on an airplane and our seats weren’t together. We thought we would have to ride the 5½ hours sitting away from each other. However, when we got on the train, there was a young man sitting in JoAnn's seat so he could be next to his friend to watch videos while they traveled. JoAnn told them that was okay and took a seat across the aisle. A very nice Asian gentleman offered to change seats with her so that we could sit together. It worked out very nicely.

Because the Préfecture's office is only open in the mornings for our type of business, we had to take a train on Monday, stay in a hotel, do our business the next morning, and return on the train that afternoon. We had had some trouble printing off the directions to the hotel where we were staying, but we figured we could just go to the big shopping center near the hotel and look at a map in the store or ask directions. We forgot about it being a holiday, so there was nothing open. Not even a restaurant. Nothing was open to even ask someone for directions to the hotel. We thought we were going to have to sleep on a bench. We wandered around a little and finally find an Internet Café that was open. We went online and found the directions, but again they wouldn’t print out. So we quickly wrote down what we could make of the directions from the map they showed and ventured out. We knew it was in the vicinity but not exactly where. It was, again, a very hot humid day in Bordeaux. We walked up and down the streets trying to find at least one of the streets listed on the map, but couldn’t seem to find one. We thought we were going to get permanently lost. We finally decided to give up and go back to see if one of the hotels near the shopping center might have a vacancy. We thought it had to be better to pay for two hotels than to keep walking around Bordeaux with our luggage in the heat – looking too much like the couple from the movie “The Out of Towners.” We thought we were undoubtedly going to be seen as an easy target and get mugged. Just as we turned a corner to go back, there was our hotel.

It was a cute, very out of the way, hotel with a tiny little kitchen. We thought we could buy groceries when we got there rather than carrying them with us on the train, etc. But, again, nothing was open. We thought we were surely going to starve.

We remembered that last year we had gone down by the river to see the fireworks and noticed that the restaurants down there were open, so we got on a tram and headed that way.
 We found a great little “Mexican” restaurant that we had been to a few times before on special occasions. The food was delicious, and the owner remembered us from before. He was disappointed when JoAnn had to tell him that she still didn’t speak much French. On the other occasions, he had offered us a free glass of wine or champagne. When we told him we didn’t drink alcohol, he offered us a cup of coffee (everybody in France has coffee at the end of their meal). Again, we had to refuse. This time you could tell that he had been thinking about what to offer us and he came up with a real winner. He offered us some “mint tea.” Not knowing what mint tea was, we thought we would offend him by having to refuse again. But it was not that kind of tea. He steeped some mint leaves in hot water and added honey. It was delicious. He seemed so happy to have found some way he could bring us pleasure.

We left after eating to catch a tram back to the hotel.
 We had noticed signs saying the trams would not be running after the fireworks began and it would have been a very, very long walk to our hotel. We sighed a sigh of relief as we got on the tram, only to hear the announcement that the tram would not be able to leave as there were parachutists coming down up ahead and we had to wait until they were through. We thought we would miss our transfer to the tram to our hotel. But soon the tram started up, we made our transfer in just the nick of time and were able to get back to the hotel before the trams stopped running.

The hotel was very nice and in a very quiet neighborhood. It was small, as most hotels are in France, but it was very clean, had a kitchen with a microwave, fridge, stove, dishes and cooking utensils.

But by then all we really wanted was a good night’s sleep.

It also was within easy walking distance to the tram stop and the Préfecture’s office. The only thing we had to do in the morning was go the shopping center and get 3 pictures for Arnold’s récépissé and head off to the Préfecture’s.

We had such misgivings that they would not accept that we had already turned in our paperwork and thought they would probably deport us. But, everything went very well. JoAnn got her carte de séjour, Arnold was able to get his récépissé with no problem, and they told him that he could come back to get his carte de séjour in about a month. The récépissé will be good for three months. The lady there was very apologetic. She remembered us from before and knew that it had been their mistakes and not ours.

Just before we left Bordeaux in June, JoAnn went to a doctor and got some prescriptions for her tendinitis. The pharmacy we went to would only give her one month’s worth at a time. We still had the prescriptions, but we thought that the French prescriptions wouldn’t be accepted in Belgium and that we would have to start all over with a doctor there. While we were in Bordeaux before we always went to the same pharmacist, who got to know us very well, as Arnold has many prescriptions that we needed to have filled. Arnold asked them if they would give us a 3-month’s supply, but the girl said the prescription said for just one more month. However, the other pharmacist that we knew very well said, “Oh, just give it to them.” So, we got a supply that should last until the tendinitis is healed.

We wrote some post cards while on the train and at the hotel. We haven’t found out where the post office is in Mons yet, so we thought they would be a long time getting mailed. But luckily, there is a post office right next to the pharmacist, so we got that taken care of also, and since we were sending them internationally, we got to go in a special room with no lines.

After lunch, we decided to get to the train station early just to be safe. We caught our tram but when we made the transfer they said that there was an “incident” with the tram up ahead and they couldn’t go beyond a certain point. Again, we thought we would miss our train and have to pay double to rebook. Fortunately, there was a bus that was able to get us to the train station in time. We finally found the right train and found our seats. This time we were in first class and it was very nice. The seats were large and there was much more leg room. It also was not very crowded. We thought we could just settle in and enjoy the next 5 1/2 hours back to Brussels.

We had barely made it in time for the train but the train did not leave. We waited about 20 minutes, when they told us there was something wrong with an engine and they were trying to fix it. We thought we would have to change trains and take a later one. Finally the train started, but after a little while it began to go very slowly. We thought we were going to be stranded out in the country on a broken down train. We limped into a little town and stopped for awhile and apparently they fixed the problem for we started up and were able to go at the normal speed for about 2/3 of the way.

Then apparently the train in front of us had broken down. We couldn’t get around the other train, so we had to just sit and wait. We waited for a couple of hours. No one seemed to know what was going on ahead of us. They said that they had tried two radios, cell phones, etc., but couldn't get in contact with the train station at Lille to find out what was happening. Finally, we started up again going very slowly so as not to run into the train in front of us. We were worried that a long line of trains must be stacked up behind us and hoped that they had gotten the word about the slow down. We thought for sure that one of these super fast trains would come roaring up behind us and crash into us.

During the wait we met some very nice people. The lady in front of us was from England and was very helpful in letting us know what to expect and what was happening. Evidently, if the train is delayed over an hour you can get a full reimbursement for your ticket. That will be nice for the Family History Department. Hopefully, they won't feel too badly about our having to go back in a month of two.

There were three children around the ages of 8 to 10 traveling with their grandfather. They were so well behaved and entertained themselves for the entire 10-hour trip. There also was a lovely older woman who seemed a little frightened by the experience, but she tried very hard not to show her concern. There was also a young couple and a few others. Everyone was so friendly.

All in all the delays lasted about 4 hours and we didn't get into Brussels until around midnight. Consequently, we missed the last train to Mons and thought we would either have to sleep in the train station or take a taxi to Mons (60 kilometers). But Toon came to our rescue. He is just that kind of guy. He is always looking out for us (and everyone he is around). He said he would drive up to get us, even though it was midnight. He told us to stay where people were because we would be easy targets at that time of night in the train station by ourselves.
 Luckily, there were others in our situation, so we all kept together. Some of them actually did have to sleep in the station until they could make another connection in the morning.

We finally got home about 2:00 a.m. We thought we would have a hard time getting up for work at the archives in the morning, but Toon told us to take the day off.

So the moral of this little tale is that most of the things we think can or will go wrong almost never do. We have been so blessed and watched over all through this mission. We know that what we are doing is what Heavenly Father wants us to do and, even though there are challenges, He is there to see us through and keep us safe. We could not feel more gratitude for this experience and the lessons He is teaching us. We are learning to not be so negative but to walk in faith.

NEW PRESIDENTS

Today we got to meet our new Mission President. President Woodland is from Logan, Utah, and has been over the Belgium Mission for about two years now. He was visiting our branch in Mons. His wife was not with him, however. She was teaching in the International Ward in Brussels that Sunday. He is a wonderful man, and we are very blessed to have him as our mission president.

This was President Kronen's last Sunday in our branch. He's going back home to Canada. He almost died a month ago in the hospital from gall bladder surgery complications. He bore a strong testimony of the Savior visiting him in his hospital room the night he almost died. He said in addition to the Savior's voice he felt his gentle hand touch him where the pain was unbearable and thereafter he was able to sleep through the night in very little pain. He recovered miraculously and was back in church two weeks later.

We were surprised when they called the new Branch President from another ward. President La Baron had been the Bishop in another ward when he received this call.
 He said he was reluctant to make the change at first, but that the Spirit had testified to him that this is where he is supposed to be. He is an American but speaks French fluently. They kept the same two counselors, Brother Kilgore (an American) and Brother Ludovic LeRoy (a Belgian). They both seem like they will continue to do a great job.

WELCOME PARTY AT ARCHIVES

Today at the archives Toon and Elly organized a little welcome party for us and invited all of the workers at the archives. The archives are closed to the public on Mondays so they decided today was a good day. The employees at the archives are a little, as Elly says, afraid of us. So we thought this might break the ice some.

Toon and Elly bought some delicious cakes and pies to share and also some drinks. They said that the archive employees would be offended if we only served water and lemonade, so they bought some alcoholic beverages (champagne, etc.) and also had fruit punch and sodas.

Elly and Angela are serving. The man in red is the head archivist, Laurent. The girls on the couch are students and giggled a lot.

The head archivist, Toon and various archive employees. The man standing was very friendly and enjoyed speaking to us in English.

It was a little awkward as they did not know how to react to us. Most of them do not speak any English, and Elly says that sometimes if you have an accent the Belgium people are very slow to warm up to you. Several of the people were very gracious to us, however, mostly those who spoke a little English. The main archivist was especially nice to us as he is impressed with the work we are doing and we have a good relationship with him already. He has a newborn daughter the same age as Madeline, which gave us something in common to talk about. Although it was not perfect, it was a good start to becoming integrated into the archive family.