WEEK 23

hello all! how is life?? i hope all is going well! so today, one of the elders in my apartment who is from logan, his dad is in france for a business trip. he was kind enough to call my mom and she got to send me a little love in his suitcase :0) he stopped by our apartment took us all out for lunch! so that was really fun! this week has been really good and it FLEW by...literally time flies when you're having fun! and you're always having fun when in FRANCE right?? so um ya! here we go!

MONDAY NIGHT

well because we are probably not the smartest kids in the east of france me and my companion completely forgot about having to prepare a meal for district meeting so we went to go and find some stuff to make fajitas! it was lots of fun we went all over metz trying to find tortillas of all things! haha what's the word for tortilla in french? we don't know...but it was good fun! then we were on our way home and we walked past the kebab shop and thought of how good that sounded and we stopped and got kebabs for dinner. #kebabnumber1 for this week, then we went home and called it a night

TUESDAY

so today was my 5 month mark! january 20 already! and we completely didn't even remember til like 8:20 at night...so we didn't even get a lot of celebrating in! i was bummed... but all was well cause in the end i got ice cream! so for the first time since i've been here in metz we actually had district meeting here in metz! we got ready and the lux elders called and said their train was delayed and then district meeting was delayed til like 12! haha that was fun stuff. we had a really good lesson and even better food. when you put the time into it, lots of good stuff happens! the meal was good and we laughed and talked and had lots of fun! then after that we headed back to the apartment and showed off all the stuff we had bought yesterday at soldes (its like, "whoo-whoo, mid-summer blowout!", all the merchants put their items on 75% clearance!) next, we just got a new ward secretary and he asked us if we could take all of the information for the new ward list and make it beautiful for him so that was hard....haha but we did it in less than 3 hours! me and my companion were then alone in the apartment cause the other elders went on an exchange in lux so that was fun! we got on the topic of who we thought we would marry...and that was fun....haha thinking of home and after mission life does not make time go fast! but we had a lesson with our newest investigator that night. she is the one we have who's husband was just released from the hospital because of diabetes...rings a bell for me huh? love my sis macy :) but that was really bizarre. we taught her the first part of the plan of salvation and she said she doesn't think we lived before this life cause if we did, we would think back to that a lot and that is looking back... she believes that god wouldn't want us doing that. so that was fun and haha interesting.! then we went to buy ice cream to celebrate my 5 months here!

WEDNESDAY

today was really good! it really was almost exactly what i needed! i've been thinking that this transfer is my last in metz and i've been really sad about it cause i don't wanna leave! haha things are just getting good we've got about 5 solid ami's and i feel like i'm starting to see "the fruits of my labors..." is that the scripture? idk. but ya! i was really nervous about it all day! but i read a really cool scripture in personal study that helped me.... D&C 84:81-84. "therefore, take no thought for the morrow, for what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, or wherewithal ye shall be clothed. for, consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin, and the kingdoms of the world in all their glory, are not arrayed like one of these. for your father who is in heaven knoweth that ye have need of all these things. therefore, let the morrow take thought for the things of itself." it was really cool! it answered my question! and i loved it! then me and my comp went contacting. not a ton happened while we were out but we did find georgia tech and a lot of english speakers! haha that was fun! but then we went to the gare to get the zone leaders cause we had an exchange with them tonight! so we got there and i knew who my exchange was with. it's a good thing i love that kid with all my heart cause i sure do spend a lot of time with him! we then got the apartment and set all the goals for our exchange, the zl's companion told us that this parents gave him some money as a reward for having 6 months left in his mission and that dinner was on him! so #kebabnumber2 haha for the week! haha they are really good! we had a rdv with a family in the ward that i love and we shared a spiritual thought with them! it was really fun. they are such a nice family! then we made our way back home and went and bought some drinks for the night!

THURSDAY

today was a really good day! we were finishing our exchange with the zl's and we had to go to the church so that they could do some sort of confidentiality thing that all zl's have to do at the end of transfers...so that was fun and it took forever! haha we got to the church around 9 and we didn't leave til like 12:30!  the time went kind a slow but it was good. we then had a meeting with the ward mission leader! so we got on our train and we headed to his house! it was a good meeting where we discussed a lot about this new initiative france is doing where all the members are being challenged to hand out books of mormon or something like that! it was really good. then we talked about our ami's and we ate some snacks and made our way home! by that time, me and my comp had a rdv with another investigator! we got to her house and talked about a little story in the january ensign...we couldn't figure out what to teach so we talked about a spiritual thought. it was really good and she loved the little story about the lady giving her flowers away! it was good. she told us she was going to come to church on sunday too! so that's exciting! we then just contacted to finish up the night! it was a good day!

FRIDAY

well today was good except we had weekly planning! i'm such a complainer but weekly planning kills me! it is so not fun. but anywhoo. last night the two other elders in our apartment walked in and had been shopping...that's a no no but they said as long as you take the time out of your meals, it's ok...so, after much debate, we went shopping during lunch! at least I didn't eat a kebab that day. i found this coat that is to die for! haha it is the nicest coat ever! but it was one size too big and wayyyy expensive so i was kinda sad when i couldn't get it! but life goes on! haha we then had a rdv at the church with a member to go home teaching! so we made our way to the church to do home teaching and that was good! he based the lesson off of a talk in the ensign this month and it was good! the guy really wanted to just talk and so it was good for him to talk! then we had a meeting with the forbach branch president because we need to get things going there! so that was really good. he answered a ton of questions and really helped us out! then we talked to some other people that were at the church and made our way home and ended the night with a coke and a baguette! it was good!

SATURDAY

today was literally kind of miserable haha no nothing bad happened but it was just really long and i didn't like it! haha we woke up this morning with a big thick blanket of snow! which was awesome until we had to go out and work in it! haha we started off today with studies and then we all decided that we wanted kebab's for lunch....#kebabnumber3 ahhh i know i am so bad...3 in one week?! how can i do that!? but they were really good so i kind of don't even regret it! haha but anyway after that we went to go and do some less active finding in the snow and both places we walked to, the people didn't even live! so we really didn't even do anything but find empty apartments! ahhh but anyway. after that we came home and took dinner and then we went porting and found a less active family there and we shared a spiritual message with them so that was good. it was a good way to end off the day.

SUNDAY

today was really good! we had church obviously so that went well. one of our investigators came to all three meeting just like he regularly does and that was really good! we got invited to a members house for dinner and so that was really good! another exciting thing is that another investigator came for sacrament! i was really happy! then we had a CES devotional afterwards and our investigators stayed for it! it was really good! when we went home, we needed to take the train to the members house for dinner and when we got to his house he walked us to his car and said, we didn't have a ton of time to make food so is KFC ok? haha so we went to the drive-thru and got KFC for our sunday dinner! when we got back to his house it smelt a little like something burnt from the kitchen so we don't know if they just burned dinner or what, but it was good and fun! lots of fun! then we went home and finished off the night with some contacting!

well there's my week! lots of fun stuff and lots of progression! if anyone is sending packages or letters from now on, maybe send them to the mission home just to be safe! i don't want them to get lost incase i transfer! thanks for everything! love you all!

elder libby

 

WEEK 22

hey everyone!! it's been a week and this week the internet cafe is closed so i have little time to write. sorry but this letter might be a little short and fast! but that's how we like things right? this week was really good. i got a better understanding and stronger testimony of the importance and blessings of fasting! it was an amazing week!

MONDAY NIGHT

so me and elder Q went porting to finish up the night and it was pretty good! we talked a lot about friends from home and i realized again how much i love all of them! haha we talked about school and what we wanna do when we got back and what we were thinking of doing for jobs and it was a pretty good night!

TUESDAY

no more going up to luxembourg for district meeting cuz the church in metz is almost done with construction! so we're just gonna come here now! that's gonna save us a lot of money! haha and i'm really glad cause spending all that money just for a 45 minute meeting and a meal is not worth it to me! so district meeting was good today and the food tasted better! that made all the difference! the other companionship had an exchange with the lux elders so they all came down to our apartment so that was a fun night! but we had a rdv when we got back and they were really good! we then had another rdv with this one guy that we found in our potentials list and when we got to the meeting place he didn't have enough money to go on the bus so we had our rdv in....MCDONALDS! haha it was good fun! we taught him the first lesson and he wants to meet again!

WEDNESDAY

today was long and it felt like we weren't doing anything when we really did a lot! haha it feels like it is always on wednesday's when me and elder q never have anything planned so we just go contacting and stuff all day! so that's exactly what we did all day. and, we went to get kebabs! we went less active searching and we had a rdv with an ami! this ami gave us some pates (liver hors d'oeuvres) and it was good! it was a long day with not a ton of fun or interesting stuff!

THURSDAY

today was such a good day and i realized how much our heavenly father loves us! it was amazing! we had a normal day but we had scheduled a rdv with this less-active/recent convert that we have been scheduling rdv's with for a lot time! she would always cancel the day of and so we were hoping that today she'd come to this one! our day had been full of contacting and stuff til we had to go to or ward mission leader meeting! it was really good and we talked a lot about less actives oddly enough! so when we got home we went back to the church to wait for her...i really wanted her to come cause i wanted to figure out how she was doing! she finally walked in the door and she told us a lot of personal things and just broke down crying! she told us that she knew she needed to be at church but didn't know how eveyone would treat her. so i couldn't even talk cause i was about to cry! the spirit was so strong and as elder quist was bearing his testimony and saying how christ loves her, i could see the spirit touching her. she told us she'd come back to church cause she's made plans at work for this week to be the last week she works sundays and she'd come next sunday but that she wanted to meet once a week with us! it was amazing and as soon as she left the church, i cried with relief! i was so happy to be able to help the lord in helping the people we teach realize his love for them!

FRIDAY

today was super long and tiring! but that's the way it should always be right! haha so we had studies and then right after we took lunch cause we had a day in forbach! it was really good we got there around 1 and straight off we started looking for a map so that when we got back home we could find some less actives and do some fun stuff with the map! so elder q didn't do anything and it was all me trying to find my way around asking people where they thought i could get a map ... and i did it! i was really happy! then we went and got kebabs and yes i know...two in one week was bad...i'm sorry and i repented! haha but then we went contacting and porting all around out in forbach! it was a really good and really exhausting day! but we did it and made good things come out of it!

SATURDAY

so today was weekly planning and it was really good. haha i just really don't like weekly planning...so we did that til about 3 in the afternoon and when we had a rdv with a new ami that we found last week while going through the potentials! and when we got to the church she walked up the walkway and had her son with her! it was super cool and a super good rdv where we just had to finish up the restoration! it was really good! then we had a rdv with one of our very strong investigators who is trying to decide on baptism and we taught her about fasting and as we were preparing this morning for that lesson, we got the feeling of maybe asking her if we could start a special fast for her to know the truth...and she said YES!!! so we did and i felt amazing! it was one of the most spiritual experiences! she is amazing and i love her with all my heart!

SUNDAY

today at church was really good! Another of our strongest investigators came to all three meetings again and it was really good! me and elder q thought of 5 families that we could ask if we could go over to have a meal and share a thought with them and we believe that it was because all the fasting we were doing, they all said yes! so i was pretty happy! it was really good. then we left and headed home and started to mess around with the map that we got in forbach! so that was really good. we got it all messed around and all marked up. it was good. then the bishop and his family invited me and elder q over tonight to share a spiritual message and eat crepes! so that was way fun! we spent the rest of the night there. it was good to have another english night! such a fun family!

ok i'm super sorry that this is short and not a ton of info...this week was weird cause of the internet cafe! i love you all! keep in touch! i love you!

elder libby

WEEK 21

dear everyone,

well what a week! haha i first off wanted to thank everyone for the prayers and love towards me and my other missionaries in france! it's been quite the interesting and kind of scary week but honestly there is nothing to worry about when you're in the Lord's hands and on his errand right? we've been very safe and very aware of everything going on and we are truly watched over and blessed all the time. me and the other elders here in metz are actually a little happy to hear that our small town in France made world news! so a little good comes out of everything! look for the good and it will come haha that's my little shpeel to you all this week! ok here was my week!

MONDAY NIGHT

not too much happened tonight! me and my comp went out porting and we talked a lot about people from home and how we missed all our friends and it was good but made me think a lot about all of you! it was good and fun though and sometimes you need to just vent and make things better right? haha it was a good night. then when we got back the ZL's were here for an exchange with the other equipe! so we got to talk and have some fun with them! my zl’s mom follows the mission page, just like my mom, and when he told her he’d be in metz, she told him he’d better give elder libby a hug from his mom! so, he gave me a hug from my mom who had gotten it from his mom who had gotten it from my mom (at least i think) so it was really worn down once it got to me, but still good!  haha

TUESDAY

we woke up and had to hurry fast to district meeting in lux! just kidding not hurry but it always seems like we have to cause we have to be out of the apartment at like 8:30 and usually we don't leave until like 11 so its always a little bizarre. but we got on the train and once we got on the announcer lady came over the intercom to tell us that there was a problem on the rails and that we wouldn't be getting to luxembourg anytime soon. so we were on the train to lux for 2 hours when usually it takes just less than 45 minutes,....haha that was fun! we finally got there and had a really good district meeting and then ate some food and took some time to be chatterboxes and then all was well! haha then on the way back to metz we were all telling each other a bunch of jokes and stupid riddles and making everyone mad cause they couldn't figure them out so that was pretty funny cause me and the one zl knew them all so we kept playing them and making the others upset cause they couldn't figure them out! haha we got home and then my comp realized he needed to shave but had no shaving cream...so we walked and contacted people on the way to the store and went to buy some shaving cream! that was fun and really cold! haha the weather here is freezing! then we got home and took dinner and went out porting where we found this really nice lady who let us in her home to un-thaw and told us i know why you're here but i'm already catholic and i am saved. she told us she let us in because what we were doing is something extremely important and she didn't want us to freeze to death. when we were about to leave i asked if we could pray, she then grabbed mine and my comps hands and held them tight and we prayed! she then told us she would bisou us (double kiss on the cheeks) but she is a little sick. haha it really touched my heart. she was amazing! we then came home and finished off the night!

WEDNESDAY

today was just the weirdest day...like i did not feel like myself at all...haha! it was so weird like i was all over the place and i couldn't concentrate on anything and i just felt really weird. when studies started i couldn't stay focused and i was all over the place and falling asleep...it was just a really weird day and i don't know what was the matter. maybe i just didn't sleep good last night? it was really bizarre. but anyway then we went contacting and i had a letter to drop off and we went in to send it and they have changed all the prices on stamps and everything! they used to be .98 euros and now they are 1.20 euros....so i won't be sending a ton of letters home soon...i'm kinda poor...haha! but then we went contacting until it was time for lunch! we got lunch out of the way and made our way around metz trying to find some less-actives that we could meet. we found this one in a building who was ironically the son of another less-active lady that i've met with a couple times! so that was exciting! we got home and found the relationship and figured everything out. i was pretty proud of myself for figuring the stuff out! then we went contacting and i wanted a patisserie...i had a weird day so i can have one right? i bought a little cream puff and it was delicious. pretty cheap too! then we went home and took dinner for the night and then just went porting again! i told my comp some fun senior year stories again tonight! gosh i love all my friends! i miss them so much. but all is well. soon enough i'll see them again!

THURSDAY

today was really good! they are starting to take down all the holiday stuff from christmas and i think that is helping a lot! this holiday season was just a little rough cause i was away and i wanted to be with family and friends...but it's good now cause it's over and i think my homesickness is finally vanishing away! so i'm really grateful for that! after studies me and my comp went contacting and while we were out he asked me if i wanted to go to mcdonalds for lunch! ummmm....YES! #FIRSTMCDONALDSRUNINFRANCE!!!!!!  you could say i was a little excited! haha it cost me a lot but i got a coke and fry for 5 euros...haha youch...but i'm only gonna make it a rare thing so don't worry i won't be spending nonsense money! i took lots of cheesy selfies so that was fun! then we had dmp and this week was really good. we introduced our new investigator and it was really good! we talked a lot on being able to nourish them in the gospel and how to do it! it was really good. we then had a rdv with a less-active family and they had completely forgetten about the rdv so they let us in for just a little bit and then told us all the drama in paris and what had been happening. what a sad day for everyone! but then we went home for the night. on the way home my comp asked me to explain what grey's anatomy was...haha… he HAD been listening to my senior year chatter! i was really excited to pull someone else in on my strange addiction! haah. and i want to be a dr. when I grow up!

FRIDAY

today was pretty good. we didn't do a ton but we did at the same time! we had our studies and then we had weekly planning.... it takes forever, but it is good and if we don't do it our week is crazy and chaotic. we went way in depth to the area book and talked tons about our amis and we had lots of fun too! it's funny how off topic you can get. but it was really productive and we did what we needed to do. we were talking about the family who hosted our skype calls, and literally after i said how much fun they are, the phone rang, and it was that same sister saying she had a letter from my mom! so she asked us to meet her at the church and she gave it to me. this sister had taken a couple minutes to email my parents and tell them we were so safe, and my mom emailed her back telling her about all the #answerstoblessings from this week, and that they knew at home i was safe. it was really good to hear from them and to see how touched this sister was from doing that little act of email service. she was very grateful my mom trusted her to deliver this message! then we had a rdv with our new ami and we made our way to her house and had a good rdv talking about how important the bom is and how she needs to read it and how she believes that it's true! she's truly been prepared by the Lord!

SATURDAY

today we woke up and we had studies and then finished off our weekly planning and when we went outside to go contacting there was NO one outside and so we went back in and got hardcore into the area book and got way in depth of what we need to do with our area! so that literally took like all day and we just did that! then we had a rdv  where we discussed the importance of going to church. our investigator told us she'd even come to church tomorrow!

SUNDAY

today was ward conference and so church was really special! we went and we had good meetings where one investigator came. he is so integrated with the ward it is phenominal! then during sacrament, some other investigators walked in! it was amazing! we were all so touched by the stake president's talk and i think we might be making progress. the first one told us that he is still praying and wants to be baptized but wants to be sure. he asked us to continue to pray for him so that is really special to me! we then had a ward meal after and our investigators all stayed to eat! by the time that was all over it was about 2:45 and we needed to head home and stay inside. there was a peace walk all over france today and we were instructed for safety to stay inside and on the way home, i kid you not....THOUSANDS of people were walking on the streets of metz. it was really cool to see. the rest of my night was just spent in the apartment and staying safe! haha not a ton happened!

well i had an amazing week and it's all thanks to you! thank you for the prayers and continual support! i love you all and miss you more! thanks for being my friends and family! talk to you soon!

elder libby

 

WEEK 20

already in the 20's! haha look at that! i'm almost a fourth of the way done! amazing how time flies even when it seems like it isn't haha! this week was super long so i'm pretty happy to be sitting down writing my emails this week! it's gonna be good to get the holidays out of the way and get back into the normal routine of crazy missionary scheduled life! haha just in case you're wondering, i am no longer sick but i have a cough still and that sucks but we learn to live with lots of things we don't like right? haha ok here was week 20!

MONDAY

elder quist was still feeling really sick today so after emails and all that fun stuff was over we headed back to the apartment and we played uno and we found a scrabble board in the apartment so we even got to play bananagrams! haha it was fun but i was really wanting to just get out of the apartment and get back to doing missionary work! time seems to go faster when you do what you're supposed to and i was getting really homesick and really apartmentsick haha i had been in the apartment for almost a week straight and i just wanted to get out and do something. but that happened soon enough.

TUESDAY

today we woke up and made our way to luxembourg first thing for district meeting. we got on a train and just talked to whole time and when we got up there me and elder quist realized that we had to buy drinks and bread...haha so that was fun trying to scrouge up some money to get ready for district meeting...luxembourg is sure expensive...i can't wait to be done going up there! haha district meeting was really good. we had lots of announcements and a good lesson so you could say it was productive! we had some good lunch and some good laughs and then we left. we decided that since in the next couple of weeks we are going to stop going to luxembourg for district meeting we needed to go get some snapples a few last times! so we did and the lady in the store recognized us and was talking to us like we were regulars! cause we kind of are...but it was funny! then we got home and elder quist said that when he goes outside is when his sickness kicks in because of the nasty weather...so we stayed in for a while with the other elders and i realized that me and elder lattin were perfectly fine and so we didn't need to be in the apartment and so i asked him if we could go out and do something so we did! it was really good. we went porting and found this family that was like ooh ya you're the mormons! the elders right? haha so we talked and they asked us to come back later! so that was good. it was a good way to end the night!

WEDNESDAY

elder quist was feeling lots better today so it was a really good day of solid contacting and finding. today was new year's eve and we had heard that france is kind of a scary place to be outside in on new year's day so we decided that thursday we'd stay inside again and then work our tails off today! so that's what we did. we started off with studies and everything and it was good, then we went out and we contacted for a couple hours. after lunch we went back out to the porting neighborhood to see if we could talk to the people who knew us and they weren't home...so we just made our way back to town and contacted and did some stuff til it was time to go in for the night and dinner. we had been invited over to the bishop's house again for new year's so it was really exciting to get over there and have another rdv with english speakers! their family is really nice and so it was lots of fun to talk and have a fun night with them. she made us chicken enchiladas and homemade salsa so i was like about to cry cause i haven't had that in like almost 4 months...it reminded me a lot of home! i love salsa and mexican food. i cannot wait to eat cafe rio again! our night consisted of schrades, talking, laughing at french cultures, fireworks even! haha it was really fun! we had ice cream sundays and when we were leaving the bishops wife gave us popcorn boxes to use over the next few days and i had about 5 boxes in my arms and reached across the table to shake hands like a good missionary does before they leave dinner appointments and a box fell out of my arms and landed on an ice cream dish and it fell to the ground and shattered.....i am such an idiot! haha i was really embarrassed and she just told us to go...haha i felt bad but hopefully she wasn't too mad at us! we then went home and watched frozen! it was a good day!

THURSDAY

today we woke up and since it wasn't safe to go out all day we just chilled in the apartment and watched a few movies that the Royer family lent us! we watched frozen again....haha then the incredibles, and finding nemo! after finding nemo was over i fell asleep on the couch and when i woke up we had nothing else to do so....we watched finding nemo and the incredibles again! haha it was really an unproductive day but we were following counsel from the mission president and ward members...haha i felt like we were breaking all kinds of rules! but it was really fun! we then ended the night by watching frozen...one last ime! haha it was funny! by the way...the frozen we watched was on USB from the Royer family and so it was only in French! so it was fun to watch that and hear all the quotes and songs in french...i thought a lot about my friends while i was watching it! i mean i did go see it in the theater with my friends and family 5 different times! haha je voudrais un bonhomme de neige!

FRIDAY

today elder lattin had a meeting in paris so me and elder quist and elder pratt were a three-sum equipe and it was really good! we got a call last night from the senior couple that they'd be coming by around 1 to deliver new mattresses and frying pans so they needed us home so they could be delivered! haha yay...another day spent in the apartment...i have memorized every nook and cranny in that old apartment it's insane! but anyway we dropped elder lattin off at the gare around 7 and the rest of the day was studies and waiting around for the senior couple...well 1 pm came around and then 2 and then 2:45 so i called and asked if they were still coming and they said they'd be here in 5 minutes! so we ran down and met them and brought everything up! it was fun to talk to them and they seem really nice! in fact, the elder lived in metz for 3 years when he was a kid and his dad was in the air force, and he literally lived right around the corner! so we went and took pictures with them and talked and then we needed to go get elder latting from the gare! we went and had kebabs for dinner and then had a rdv with Nora..it was really good except she's not willing to start praying to know what to do...we think it's because she knows what the answer will be...but be sure to keep her in your prayers! elder quist wants to drop her and i don't want to yet...she told me on friday that she was like my french mom.. she's really nice so pray hard for her! then we headed in for the night and found some frozen music on the other elders USB.....

SATURDAY

today was long and really boring! haha it included staying in the apartment encore to do weekly planning! haha it was a really long day but it was really good none the less! haha we had studies and then went straight into weekly planning and it was actually really good! we talked a lot about our amis and went really into depth with the area book! it was awesome! we got a rdv set up for later today with this guy that we found in the potentials area and it was just really good! then we went and got baguettes before our rdv with abraham. the guy we found. it was good. he was on his phone the whole time and didn't seem too interested but at the end he said that he wanted to meet with us cause he was curious...so we'll see where that goes! then we went in and took dinner and made our way to a spiritual thought with the piguets! we got to their apartment and soeur piguet called us and asked us to meet her at the grocery store cause she needed help! so we met her there and she had bought us chocolate's for christmas cause she felt bad she didn't get to see us on christmas. haha she's awesome! then we went back to their house and their non member cousin showed up! arville if you remember! so we gave a spiritual thought and it was really good! then we made our way home for the night! it was a good day!

SUNDAY

today was really good. church was really good and maxime came to all 3 meetings again! just like normal! it was really good! we had a really good testimony meeting! there was a time when no one was going up so frere Royer, who is the second counselor looked at me and nudged his head towards the pulpit...so i became his favorite and went up and bore my testimony! haha it was a good meeting! he said to be sure to tell my mom that i saved the meeting! then we taught maxime the word of wisdom and he was like stop teaching...i already do this so it's all good. haha! it was funny! he's currently praying to know if baptism is the right thing! so keep him in your prayers too! then we went home and contacted for a while and then ended the night with few hours of porting! it was really good! we got a family that asked us to come back tuesday night so that's exciting!

well thank you for the continual prayers and thoughts! i love you all and i am so thankful for all you do for me! i look forward to talking to you all soon! talk to you later!

elder libby

WEEK 19

well this week was something else! talking to the family was amazing and i loved every single minute that i had! it was incredible and i am very thankful for modern technology haha how did missionaries work without skype?;) it was amazing though and i'm sorry i couldn't call all of you...i really wanted to and was thinking of everyone who wrote me a letter! so thanks to whoever did! i love you guys! haha alrighty here we go with week 19!

MONDAY NIGHT
well monday night me and elder quist finally went and contacted our referral that we'd recieved like a week before! just like schedule conflicts and everything led to not being able to meet til tonight but our first lesson went very well! she told us she believed that the story of Joseph Smith was true and asked us to come over again so we could talk more! it was a good lesson! then we decided that we'd go out and find a new porting area and see what we could do. so we found this one area and started it and then finished out the night with that. but on the way back to the bus stop we were stopped by ... the police! haha someone in the neighborhood called and tattled on us! what bums...but we showed them our passports and they were nice and joking with us and then left. so that was pretty funny!

TUESDAY

today was when the plague hit...haha i woke up today with this nasty cough and a really bad headache so i started popping the airborne!!! haha i love that stuff! but i took some of that and then we had to head out the door to make it to district meeting! it was good fun. we got to lux and then had to get on the bus and get to the church. the meeting was good except while we were there my headache was just booming and i wanted to die. haha it was so bad i felt like i couldn't eat anything or else i'd throw up! haha it was really bad. we got on the bus and train and that only made it worse so by the time we got home from luxembourg i just needed to lay down and take a nap. so me and elder quist stayed in for the rest of the night and i slept off the headache! haha it was really bad but thank heavens for sleep and airborne it finally went away! i woke up around 7 and so after a little food we went out porting to finish up the night. it was really good. nothing really happened but it was really good.

WEDNESDAY

well last night i did not sleep at all! haha i was up all night just tossing and turning and having a throbbing headache! haha i hate being sick! but we got up and me and elder quist had to wait in the apartment all morning to wait for my package from home to come! it was a package sent from my grandparents! they gave me lots of goldfish! it was a great present and much worth the wait i'll tell you that much! haha then me and elder quist had to go buy cookies for the little service project that we decided to do for christmas eve. we all decided that we'd go and carol for some less active families and give them all a box of cookies so they knew we were thinking of them on christmas! but that plan was thrown down the hole when we got there and no one was home and one guy was too busy working to hear one song...haha so we just left all the cookies and counted it as an A for effort! haha we got home and went to catch our train to get to the Brun's house! it was such a good night with them. they gave us a good dinner and a little gift and it was really good to just chill and talk cause they are the coolest family! we then ended our night and got in bed cause SANTA WAS COMING!

THURSDAY

we woke up around 8 and just made our way out to see what the big fat man with a long white beard brought us! it was awesome to walk out and see some presents. none of us were on the naughty list this year! santa treated us all really well. i was mostly excited to just read all the letters from home! i got up on the couch and read all the letters and it literally took me almost an entire hour or so just to get all the way through! so thank you to everyone who was a part of that. only a couple got me choked up but there were no tears so i'm getting better! haha i loved the letters though and it was definitely the best part of the morning. we then were all just sitting around waiting for the bishop to come and take us to his house for the afternoon and it was actually a lot better than we planned. we had a good meal and some fun playing apples to apples and bananagrams! it was really fun to be able to talk in english (cause the bishop here is american) it was really good. we listened to some music and talked and it was really nice. when i saw the car of frere royer come into view, my heart sank! haha i was terrified and i kinda didn't want to go call my family! haha weirdest feelings ever! but we got to their house and i called and it was awesome! like i said i wanted to call everyone but...i couldn't...so i'm sorry but know that i love you all! then they made us dinner! it was escargots and this kind of pasti! it was so good! hahah yes even the snails! they look disgusting but they are delicious! then we took frozen, incredibles and finding nemo back to the apartment...haha one day a year for movies? we gotta take advantage!!! haha but it was an amazing day!

FRIDAY

today was kinda awful...i woke up last night and i was dripping with sweat....it was awful! so i changed my garments and tried to get back to sleep...haha i woke up thinking i was fine and then i stood up out of bed and....the banging headache came back.....so i got in the shower thinking that would help and then it didn't...so elder lattin decided that we could start exchanges and me and elder pratt could stay inside and recooperate and not die! haha so that's what we did. we literally just chilled in the apartment and watched all the videos on our usb's and listened to a ton of music and i wanted to just leave the apartment...being sick on the mission SUCKS, elder lattin and quist had a rdv with nora tonight and said that it went really well and they left her with a good commitment so hopefully she keeps it and i get to see her next week!

SATURDAY

well today was a lot like yesterday! besides the fact that....WE WOKE UP TO SNOW!!!! it was really little and had all melted by 10 but still it was snow!! elder lattin and elder quist had to go to paris all day long so it was just a long day....haha elder pratt slept almost all day long so it was me listening to all the movies and music on my usb all day long! i wrote lots of letters back to people who wrote me on christmas day and it was really good but really long! haha then when the other two got back the mailman had brought presents too! haha i had a little package from the one and only PAM COBURN!! haha it was a letter and a little game! really nice and made me remember why i love her so much! haha we played with that for a little to turn out the night and elder quist started coming down with the plague....so this stuff can kill haha it's spreading to everyone!

SUNDAY

yesterday was a longer day haha we woke up and elder pratt and quist were now dying and i felt really good! so me and elder lattin went to church and everyone thought we'd killed the other elders or something ahah it was a good church meeting but for some reason i was really thinking about home today! so it seemed to go on forever. when we got home we decided that we'd tend to the needs of our dying companions for the day so we stayed in and took care of them. me and elder lattin and towards the end of the day all four of us got really good at uno and took lots of time playing that! it was good fun but we're really need to all get healthy again and back to missionary work! haha

well that was my week family and friends! thank you for an amazing christmas! i love and miss you all and i pray for all of you all the time. know how much i love you! i can't wait to see you all again! talk to you soon! over and out

elder libby!