WEEK 84

Hello all!! I know, I usually do this first part in French, but this week is special and so I feel as though I need to start in English. This week was HARD. It we EMOTIONAL. Haha but I am fine and I'm probably the last person you all need to be worrying about. We have been in the apartment literally all week, and we won't be able to leave until Wednesday for transfers. It has been crazy and we are still in the clouds with a lot of the details. Today while we are at the church, I am going to go crazy on all those websites to find all the details. To answer a lot of your questions, yes I knew the missionaries. Me and Elder Wells were in the MTC together and so we knew each other quite well from them and he had also been my district leader while I was in Dunkerque. Elder Empey and I lived in the same apartment for a transfer while I was in Metz and so I know him quite well also. And the Norby's have been my apartments mission couple since I arrived in Dunkerque and I've spent many days with them as well. (He served his mission in France when he was younger and was in Reims and knows a lot of members from there!) I've been pretty emotional all week... From what I've heard, missionaries are doing fine. We've heard that they are all going home and have finished their missions. But like I said, I am fine. Please keep the prayers coming, FOR THE OTHER MISSIONARIES. They need them! The good news is, I am staying in Belgium!!! And I'm pregnant!!!!!!! Read on;)

LUNDI SOIR

Well tonight, since it was the day right after Emmanuel and Claudette's baptism, the members wanted to have a special family home evening for them and they wanted to make dinner and sit and talk with them and answer any questions that they had and just really welcome them into the ward. That's what they said the goal was;) so we all got to the church and set up and then had a huge dinner tonight! It was really fun and Emmanuel and Claudette were really grateful! They kept saying how grateful they were to be a part of this 'family.' It was a fun night.

MARDI

Well I don't have a ton to say about today....you all already know what I did. We spent the entire day in our apartment and from the looks of it, it's gonna be like that for a while! It's a good thing the apartment is so big and comfy!! So a little back story, we were supposed to be having district meeting HERE in Namur for the day. We had EVERYTHING planned out. Literally everything. It was going to be amazing. So we woke up and got all ready and were in the middle of studies when we got a phone call. It was elder McDonald telling us that nothing would be going on today because of the bomb. From the way he explained it the first time, it sounded like nothing had happened, but that they had found a bomb and progressively through the day we were getting more and more. We were told that we were all staying in our apartments for the day and that we would be informed later on what to do. So me and Nelson just chilled for the day. We got a phone call I'd say about every 2 hours telling us some updates. Like I said, at the beginning it sounded like nothing had happened, then it went to 2 bombs are there, to they both went off, to the ZLs and the Brussels couple were there, to they're all on their way for surgery, to one has a broken leg, to one got burned all over....it honestly went from annoying to devastating. I can't think of a better way to describe it. Every time the phone rang, it just brought worse news and the best way I could describe things after that is emotional. I was a wreck. I couldn't stop thinking about how chaotic it all was and how so many people were hurt and how there was literally nothing that I could do. I was a wreck. With time I just came to the conclusion that Heavenly Father knows best. For me, through this experience, I am learning charity and love. I can't stop thinking about those missionaries and it just hits me every time how much I love them. I am grateful that they are all alive. We haven't heard from them, but we hope that everything and everyone is ok! So anyway, we were stuck inside all day. We cleaned the apartment a little bit and we played some games and watched some movies and read some scriptures and took some naps....haha it's not too fun to stay inside all day....

MERCREDI

Well I'm super sorry for the brevity, but today we stayed in the apartment all day. Haha that's about it! We don't really have anything to say more. We woke up today and we went and had our studies and then the rest of the day consisted of studying, playing games, sleeping, eating, chilling around and then doing that about 5 more times! We are super blessed cause here in Namur, at the bottom of our apartment building, we have some wifi (yes mom I have gotten every single one of your emails;) I just didn't have the permission to send any to you yet;) ) and so for the past few days we've been going down and checking out emails every few hours and also checking up on mormonnewsroom.org to see if there are any updates. I'm sure you're all up to date on what's wrong with the missionaries that were hurt. It's been a little crazy being stuck inside the past few days! We got a call from Emmanuel and Claudette tonight telling us that they were going to bring us some frites tomorrow cause they felt bad we couldn't go and get them ourselves;) so that is going to be something to look forward to tomorrow while we are stuck inside;)

JEUDI

Today didn't differ from Tuesday or Wednesday haha! The only thing that was different was that we got a little visit from Emmanuel and Claudette this afternoon and they were delivering us some frites! So that was great. I also will tell you that something else that's fun is I haven't shaved since Sunday morning! I usually only shave every other day cause #sensitiveskin #igetanastyrash but it's been super fun cause before my mission I could probably go about a whole week without shaving and be fine, but now it grows so fast and so I finally have seen myself with a beard! Haha I just figured if I don't have to go outside, then heck no! I'm not gonna shave! It hurts my face anyway... So ya that's like the most exciting thing today. I have a beard coming in. We went out to go get the frites from E&C and Claudette was like, Elder you have a beard?!? And I was like ya I'm not shaving if I can't go outside and she just shrugs her shoulders and goes, oh I understand. Why get pretty if you don't have to? I thought it was hilarious. We got a call from a member tonight telling us that he wants to come and pick us up and take us to his house to eat and so we get out of the apartment, but church policy says otherwise;) we are STUCK as stuck can be! It's getting to the point where me and Nelson are getting super close haha we've been telling lots of stories and playing lots of games and had lots of deep conversations. It's been an interesting few days.

VENDREDI

Well today was fine haha me and elder Nelson only lost our heads a little bit!! Haha no I'm totally kidding. I'm doing fine but Nelson.........anyway we'll move on;) today we did the same as yesterday and got up and had studies and then just hung around all day. This lockdown is CRAZY. Haha we have literally just been sitting in here all week. I guess the fun thing I'm gonna be able to take out of this is that I will be able to tell people I've survived 4 terrorist attacks while being on my mission! That's fun right?? Um so today we just played games and chilled and my boredom really caught up to me that I just sat down on my bed and took a little nap haha and when I'd woken up, Nelson had made us some pizza for dinner. We then got a call from a member asking us how we were doing and telling us that he wanted to bring us some snacks and so he brought us some ice cream and some Coke and then we came up and finished up the night. Something else that's exciting is that I finished the Book of Mormon today and so now I can start the New Testament and try to finish that up before I head home. Literally other than that, I have nothing to report on today haha. My beard is getting so long though!!! Haha it's been super weird to see myself with a beard.... Haha I'm totally going to grow one out when I get home!

SAMEDI

So BY FAR today was the best day of the week so far!!!!!!! Yes we were still stuck inside, and yes we didn't do all that much, but it was by far the best. We found out transfers today and......IM PREGNANT!!!!!!! I'm having a baby bleu!!!!! He's due on Wednesday and I am going to be a dad!!! I am excited beyond belief!!! Since we were stuck inside all day, and we were bored, we decided to take some pregnancy pictures. It was so fun!! I can't believe it's finally happening! So that sums up the most exciting part of the day. We woke up and we went to study and then we decided to go and check our emails downstairs and that's when the phone rang and it was Elder Martin, an AP, asking me if I'd accept the call to be a trainer! I was so stoked!! He told me that I needed to do 3 things. 1) have a CLEAN apartment so that my bleu doesn't think that we are some sort of frat group and we have some respect lol 2) try to get a dinner appt that night with some members to make him feel welcome and at ease and 3) write him a note with my testimony and some goals that I have as being a trainer for him and why I want to make his mission important:) IM SO EXCITED! So anyway after that, calls started coming from all over, cause people here in Belgium know that we are like the only companionship in Belgium that had wifi! Haha everyone wanted to know what was going on and who was going where and so we were able to tell everyone everything and then the rest of the day was ehh....haha we spent the day in the apartment reading scriptures and watching movies and all that fun stuff. Emmanuel and Claudette did bring us some frites again and it was fun to be able to see them. Other than that, I just kept reading in the New Testament! It's really cool reading about Christ and His life and ministry around this time of year. I'm sitting here think about how cool it is to think that it was around this time He was doing all these miracles. It's such an amazing thought! Tonight was when we started daylight savings and so we lose an hour of sleep......

DIMANCHE

Today was a pretty good day as well!! We had a good Easter. We sang the song in church today 'He Is Risen!' And I realized how much I liked it! In French it says, 'Dans son amour infini, Christ nous a donné la vie!' And translated that says, In His infinite love, Christ has given us life! And I thought that was great. This Easter holiday, we celebrate how Christ has given us life, and how through Him, we follow the idea that Sister Neill F. Marriott put it in her talk this last conference, 'that nobody ever really dies.' I think that is so great! Death has NO victory, and the grave NO sting BECAUSE OF HIM. Isn't that amazing? Christ has done so much for us and because of Him we can overcome all. He knows our struggles. And that is something that has helped me out this past week. Christ suffered all things for us. It's an amazing thought! I am so grateful that Christ took all that on Him for me and you. It's such an amazing principle. We are SO blessed. So:) today we went to church! YES! WE FINALLY GOT OUT OF THE APARTMENT! But leaving the apartment meant that I had to shave my beard.....it got pretty long!!! Anyways... We had a GREAT Sunday! Emmanuel and Claudette got confirmed and received the Holy Ghost and then Yannick was given a name and a blessing and it was so special!! I love the Byiringo family:) they have been such a source of inspiration to me and truly they have become some of my closest friends. Claudette was telling me today that if I don't stay in daily contact after I leave that I will be in trouble haha! I was all uh oh haha. During priesthood, Emmanuel also received the Aaronic Priesthood the and the Bishop asked him to bless the sacrament the next time!!!!! During sacrament meeting, Nelson got up to bare his testimony and he told everyone where he was going and said the name of his new ville, St Dié-des-Vosges, but he pronounced it, St Dié-des-Verges.....translated, he said St Dié of the Penises..... I died. I think a member told him what he said haha! But let's just keep that between me and you lol! It was funny;) then after church today Emmanuel and Claudette took us home and we came in and ate and then for the first time in 19 months, I TOOK A SUNDAY NAP AND IT WAS THE GREATEST THING OF MY LIFE. Like honestly, it felt so good to hop into bed and just sleep! Haha I think I might make it a regular thing;) no I'm just kidding. Only if I'm ever on lockdown on Sunday again I will! Haha when we woke up we got ready and then headed out and Emmanuel and Claudette came and picked us up for a fireside that the stake was having in Namur! So we all got there and had a good fireside on Christ and his resurrection and the atoning sacrifice He made and it was good! Then we met the Slaughter's, who are a new mission couple on Liège and they offered us a ride home and so we went with them and came in for the night. Elder Nelson then made us some shakes for a little snack! It was a great Easter if you ask me!!:)

Comme je vous ai dit, cette semaine n'était pas normale. Lol j'ai beaucoup pleuré, j'ai beaucoup prié, et toujours les choses qui sont arrivée ne sont pas claire pour moi. Je sais que notre père céleste va bénir les gens qui étaient blessé dans cette accident. Je sais que, dans son plan, tout va finir par s'arranger. Il est le maître, et avec lui nous pouvons tout faire. Cette épreuve est surmontable. Continuez à prier pour ces missionnaires. Ils sont dans le besoin. Merci pour tous ce que vous faites! A bientôt:)

Elder Libby