WEEK 14- ELDER COOK IN PARIS

what a week!! it has been one that is definitely fun and i won't soon forget some of the memories that i made this week. it was just amazing. well i'll start off with some fun news from France...umm first off, so far in the 8 weeks that i've been here i've lost a total of 29 pounds!! don't worry that's a good thing in case you don't remember how fat i was before i left...so be happy not concerned! umm starting on the 28th we are supposed to Christmas carol for our contacting...so that should be fun! if people don't already think we're weird, they're going to think we're weirder when we sing to them! haha and one more thing...our mission president told us this week that we have a HALF HOUR on WEDNESDAY to celebrate Thanksgiving after district meeting! haha not even on thursday! so that's fun! (mom don't go calling the mission home...i know you're thinking of doing that right now...so stop :) ) so that's some new fun stuff from France!! haha here goes my week!

TUESDAY

so today kinda was just blehhhh haha i was really ready for it to be over! it was just kinda a day that i wanted to get over fast cause there were no exciting things happening and it seemed like there was contention...so whatever...but we went and did missionary work all day! we started off with studies and that was good cause i have the ensign now and i've just been reading conference talks for them! i love conference talks! after that we had comp study and 12 week...that took forever and we watched a ton of The District and by the time we finished it was time for lunch. so while we ate i watched the John Tanner Story. i had no idea who he was...but that was an amazing movie! it's like 25 minutes long so if you find it, you all should Watch it! and then we had DMP with the ward mission leader...the lady in the office must've messed up on my tickets or something because they wouldn't even print out and i had to pay for my own! good thing for reimbursements right? so we got to Thionville to have our meeting and when we got to the apartment, he wasn't even home...so we waited and waited and he never came home! so we just sat in the apartment building waiting! ahhh then we had to leave to make our train and we got to the gare and headed home...when we got home it was time for dinner and language study..so we took those and then eldredge was like lets go contacting all the way to the Church cause i need to print something off....so that's what we did and on the way there we taught one lesson. this lady was way nice and we talked to her for about 10 minutes and then elder eldredge asked me to pray and after the prayer she asked me what part of France i was from...BEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE. i can die in happiness now...don't know if it was the look or the language but either way, she thought i was from France! made my day! then we went to the Church and i was sitting in the chapel playing the piano for 45 minutes waiting while he "printed something off..." that printer must be really slow....

WEDNESDAY

today just seemed really long but it was pretty good! we started off with our studies as usual and of course i just read more talks in the ensign..they're always really good! and then we went contacting for a while..the other elders went out for an exchange with the ZL's last night so it was just me and elder eldredge in the apartment so that good i guess? companionship bonding! then we went contacting for like 2 hours or so and we talked the whole time! it was good! we realized that it was time for lunch and we made our way back to the apartment and i turned on ephraim's rescue...and when we finished lunch we realized how packed the rest of our day was, cause we had to go into paris tonight for the Elder Cook Conference, so we had to take dinner and language study at 2:30! early early dinner! haha we had a rdv with the piguet's and their cousin arville. have i told you about him? we met at the luau and the piguet's want us to meet with him at their house once a week. so we went to that at 5 and finished up at 6 so that we could make our train! the rdv was good! we found a "because of him" video on lds.org in french and shared a message with that and he told us he was interested in meeting with us more. so that was awesome! then we left for paris!!!!! on the way down i couldn't sleep so i started reading Our Search for happiness. that's a pretty good book! and by the time that we got to paris i was like 2 or 3 chapters in! we got to paris and had to go find the other elders that we'd be sleeping with! and both companionships were some friends from the MTC!!! elder reiss and elder wells! so i was way excited...wanna hear how awkward i am? i saw elder reiss on the other side of the ticket scanner thing that we have to scan the metro tickets in and i ran ahead of everyone, scanned my ticket, and the doors didn't open...so i pried them open and my bags got stuck...so when i finally got out of the gates...everyone in the whole station was staring and laughing at me and i was the last one through....haha i was pretty proud! but i ran and gave elder reiss a huge hug cause i just love that kid more than words can explain! anywho we met up with the others and made our way to our apartment for the night! then we got to the apartments at like 10:30 and we just went to bed cause we had to get up super early in the morning!

THURSDAY

today was just simply amazing. so spiritual and so great...i just loved every second of it. not only did i get to spend the day around all of my really good friends, but i got to hear and personally meet and shake hands with an apostle of the Lord. it was just simply amazing. we started off our day at 5 AM which was like the only bad thing that happened all day so don't worry. :) we had to get ready and get to the gare in Melun by 6:30....so that was way fun! for any of you who remember...i am NOT a morning person...getting out of bed is like the hardest thing in the world for me...i can hardly get up and at them by 6:30 let alone 5...so we finally got to the gare and we almost missed our train! after me and elder eldredge had bought ours, we had 2 1/2 minutes before it was supposed to leave! so we ran to the voie and barely made it! we were pulling the doors open to be able to get everyone in the train! it was funny all the workers were yelling at us! but we finally got to paris and had to go catch one more train to versailles! i met this guy on the metro that was talking to me about the bible and then he gave me his number and i gave it to the paris ZL's! Courtney...elder Brown is one of the paris zl's! haha it was fun! and then we got our train! i ran into like everyone!!! i saw sœur simpson from good old k-town! haha she's been here just a week! and all my mtc friends! we all talked on the train ride there and i realized that i did not grab a ticket to get out of the train station...so i buddied up with sœur dionne and had to sneak out of the train station with her and her ticket! haha i'm such a good missionary right?;) anyway then we walked to the Church and there were more friends!!! and we all talked and waited for elder cook! it was so fun catching up on times! not to mention that today was our 3 month mark since we entered the MTC!!! haha we got lots of pics! then a hush came over and elder cook walked in! he had requested that all missionaries shake his hand! so i got to shake his hand!!! it was amazing! at first he talked a lot about preach my gospel and how much of a blessing it is in our lives as missionaries and then he got into the spiritual part...and this is when the tears couldn't be stopped! haha there was not a dry eye in the whole Church! his testimony and message to us was unspeakably amazing! something that i love is he told us to remember 4 loves. 1-LOVE your companion 2-LOVE your mission president and his wife 3-LOVE the people you serve 4-LOVE the lord. it was amazing. and his testimony made the walls shake. definitely an experience i won't soon forget! then we had to make our way back to Paris and it was on the train ride back that i realized how much i love being here. how blessed i am to be here, and how much I LOVE FRANCE! i was praying almost the whole train ride to paris that i'd have to opportunity to serve in paris someday and that i'd get to be an instrument in the Lord's hands in that amazing city someday. it was an amazing and very spiritual thing that happened to me on the train! anywho, we got to paris and had to say goodbye and make our way back to our villes! it was a good fun time there. we were waiting at the gare with all the Nancy missionaries and i hope that sometime i can serve with some of them! they were awesome! when we got back to metz, we took dinner and then elder eldredge had things to do on the computer so we were there for the rest of the night....it was a good day and i loved every second of it!

FRIDAY

today went by pretty dang fast and it was really fun!! haha it was a blast just like any day of missionary work right? studies were good today just as usual! after i read a couple of talks i was going to continue to read our search for happiness when the last talk i read said something about reading and knowing the testimony of Joseph Smith. so i decided that i'd read that instead! little did i know that it was just joseph Smith history...haha i'm kind of dumb ok? but then we had comp study and 12 week and by that time we were ready to leave for Forbach for the day! we got to Forbach and went and got kebab's...haha those things are going to kill me! but we ate that and then went contacting for the rest of the day. we went all around again and talked to tons of people! it was a good day. it's starting to get really cold in France so there aren't a ton of people out walking anymore but we do what we can! then we made our way back to metz and had a rdv with nora! it was really good! it was just a re-cap on last time and telling her that we wanted to start teaching her about the commandments and she was like all excited for it and started like bearing testimony on the plan of salvation...haha #gettothefont! why is she not baptized?! anyway it was really good and she invited me and elder eldredge over for dinner before transfers just in case any of us get transferred out! so i'm really excited for that! i'll get pics of her and send them so you all know who she is! then when we got home i realized i needed a haircut...so i asked elder pratt for a haircut and let's just say....i really miss andrea cutting my hair...anyway anyone can send her to France every 6 weeks to cut my hair?

SATURDAY

today was really busy and really good! we were going all day long and it was awesome!! we had studies to start out the day and then we started exchanges today! haha i was with elder lattin! it was such a fun day! i love that kid!!! we had a good comp study and then we had 12 week! it was really fun! he was a party and we contacted all day! we went all over metz and we found this castle that we wanted to take a pic by! it was just fun! we then had to go home for lunch and when we got there the other elders were there too so we all took lunch together. that was fun and then we went out contacting again for the day! we went back to that castle and found a stair way the lead to the roof...don't know if we were allowed up there or not? but it was good none the less! haah we took some fun pics! and then that ended our day and our exchange and everything! it was a fun day!

SUNDAY

today was just another sunday! haha nothing really happened..we woke up and got to Church! still haven't had to give a talk so that's a happy day! in all the meetings i honestly just had no idea what was going on...haha! but it was good and it was sunday! so all is well. i sat by the piguet family during sacrament meeting and they thought it was so cool that a missionary wanted to sit by them. they are like the funniest family i know. i love them all! then after sacrament, we had choir again and it was good....i just really don't like singing in front of people haha singing is not my thing....but whatever! oh!!! by the way! maxime came to all 3 hours of Church today and it was awesome! he made tons of friends and said that it was good. we taught him after choir and the lesson was good. we taught him the plan of salvation and his commitment last time was to read the chapter in the BOM that talks about Lehi's dream...just one chapter...and he read 5!!! it was awesome. he's pretty golden! there was also a new family that came into sacrament today and we went up to talk to them and found out that they were from american fork, had lived in germany for the past 2 years and he had served here on his mission so they were just visiting! it was awesome! we talked to them a lot after Church about missions and stuff. they were way nice. then after all that we headed home for the night and finished off the day with studies and weekly planning! it was a fun day...haha lots of busy work...haha that's for sure!!!

well there was my week! it was amazing and i loved it! i also love all of you back home! thanks for your constant prayers and love. i love all of you more than you know!!! thanks for all you've done to help me!! email me!! i love talking to you all!

elder libby

1 john 4:18-19

3 months!

WEEK 13- LOOKING FRENCH, FEELING FRENCH

wow! this week has been crazy fun! haha it went by so fast and was a blast! never a dull moment when you're in France right?;) haha glad to hear that everyone at home is well and alive and seeing each other and all that jazz. it's good you all still have a life without me there....cause i was such a big part of them...right? a missionary can hope so! haha well you ALL know that i love and miss you all soo much! k i'll tell you a little bit about my week!

TUESDAY

well today was just weird and made me hope that these four weeks for the transfer go by fast! but because of this week i think they're going to go by pretty fast! we had our studies and stuff and they went well and then since today was elder faura's last day in Metz we all went out to lunch at this american restaurant and i got burgers and fries...keep in mind that the choice was not mine! he is from Tahiti and likes american things...so don't get mad at me for not absorbing the culture here;) haha so we did that and it was a pretty fun time! we got back and had a couple hours to kill and so we went contacting. haha elder eldredge was like not happy at all. he said 10 words to me the whole time we were out. and we were out for like 2 and a half hours so that was fun! he didn't talk to me the rest of the night and we had a mangez-vous with the piguet family! so that was interesting. but the piguet's are always fun. we got there and they had invited their cousin who is not a member. #primeopportunityformissionaries so we prepared a short spiritual message and shared it with him! just a scripture and some thoughts on it and he said he wanted to do it again! we have another rendezvous with him and them this week! then sœur piguet was sick the night of the luau so i showed her some of the videos of all the dances that the bishop did and some ward members that i had on my camera....she laughed the hardest i've ever heard anyone laugh...haha! it was something else that's for sure! she's quite the funny lady!

WEDNESDAY

so today was a good day! we got up really early for our goodbye's for faura and then started to get ready for the day. we started our studies and had to leave a little earlier cause we had to catch a train to go to a rdv with sœur esse. she's the less-active tahitian that helped with the food for the luau. we got to the train station and frere brun was the member at this lesson and he drove us to her home. just so you all know, the brun family is like the coolest family that i have ever met in my whole life!! i'll tell you a lot about them this week! we got to her home and just talked about the luau for the whole time...we were there for like an hour and a half and just talked about how much fun the luau was! she's super nice and we told her that since she expressed interest in family history (cause i guess she did...i wasn't there for that) we'd like to come back and teach her more about geneology and stuff! she said she'd really like that. so hopefully we get back out there soon!then the brun family invited us over for lunch as well so we went to lunch and that was really fun to be there with all their family and hang out with them! then we had to catch our ride back...turns out it wasn't a train, but a bus! so we had like an hour long bus ride back to metz! that was fun! haha memories right? then we got back and met the new elder that came in for transfers! elder lattin is quite the kid! he's pretty cool! then me and elder eldredge went and bought me a new coat cause i wanted to look french and an infinity scarf! not being a brat or anything...but i look pretty dang french with my coat and scarf...just so you know:) haha i love them! we then had recieved a referral from another ville and so we went to meet him and this guy was something else!! he got up from his chair every 5 seconds to do somehting...he told us once that he needed to change his clothes, he needed to find his dog, and then go walk his dog...literally he left us in his apartment while he walked his dog for like 5 minutes! haha that was really fun!

THURSDAY

today was a good fun day with just lots of laughs and no drama! so that's always a bonus!! it was just a fun day! today was a #dayofmiracles for our zone. we had a finding day which is when you cancel all appts for the day and just go contacting and finding all day! so we did just that. we contacted all day...we talked to tons of people but had no success:( so whatever! but then we had DMP with the ward mission leader and we couldn't reschedule that so we had to go to that! it was alright. we just talked about random stuff for a good 20 minutes and then he didn't have any snacks for us today:( so we just went back to the gare and waited for our train! it was a 50 minute wait! so that was dang fun! then when we got back to the apartment, it was already time for dinner again! so we took language study and dinner and i wrote a couple letters to home! haha we went out porting again tonight and knocked on doors for about 2 hours and didn't get anything but it all works. then we came back and made some hot chocolate and crepes! it was a fun night!

FRIDAY

today was just such an amazing day..i loved it so much! i was just so happy with today and it was so great. we started out with studies but not a ton of studies cause we were going back to Forbach for the day! it was way fun! we got there and had a day of contacting again! we walked everywhere and then decided that we wanted a kebab for lunch..i think i've said what a kebab is before but i can't remember...it's like a french hamburger. they're freaking huge! they are like chicken and some other meats that are on a pole and heated up by these heater thingys...they're totally against the health code in the u.s. so don't go looking for them! but we got kebabs and they were really good at this one place we found! then we went hiking up to that castle again! it was fun. there was no one on the little park by the castle so i may or may not have played on it...i'll send pics;) then we made our way down and talked to some people and then we had to go to the brun families again cause we were going to go to dinner with the son cause he did tons for us to help out at the luau...he couldn't do dinner but wanted to go back to metz with us cause they had seminary! so we were like, hey we have a rdv with Nora tonight, can you come help with that? and him and the parents were like uhh ya! so we did that!he was like the most amazing kid ever. he's all i don't know if i want to go on a mission...he was like better than me and elder eldredge in the lesson. we talked about enduring to the end and invited her to baptism for the 5th time and she didn't say no but not yes! she said she was going to pray and see...Corantun brun bore testimony and it was like...well hello spirit! haha it was just an amazing rdv!

SATURDAY

well today was just unproductive and we did a whole lot of nothing...so ya! it was good though...no contention or anything...just really unproductive. the day started out with elder eldredge telling me that he needed to go to the Church to do some stuff for school when he gets back from the mission...i was gonna say something about his parents doing it but...whatever! i didn't want to cause contention...so we got to the Church and i was watching Church movies and writing more letters home while i waited...it got to be 2 o'clock and he came down and said that it was time to go...so we went! then we had a walk with francoise. it was a good walk. she just likes to go with us and talk! elder eldredge was really kind of a bum..he really made it known that he didn't want to be there with her...she kept asking why he was mad at her...so that was sad but whatever. at the end she asked me to pray cause she likes when i pray. so we prayed and then headed back to the apartment! i got a package today from the gardner's! it was a letter and an ensign! it was pretty great if you ask me:) then we started weekly planning and didn't finish...we had to go emergency shopping cause we needed something for tomorrow and the stores here close at 9! so that was interesting!

SUNDAY

today was good! super speedy and just really good! we had a member text us first thing in the morning asking when our next rdv with maxime was and we told him it was today and he was like can i come? we were like YES! so that was fun! at Church, we realized that in the past weeks all the other elders have had to give a talk in Church and were supposing that it was going to be my turn! well the conselor in the bishopric walked in and saw the new elder and asked if he'd bear his testimony. so i was off the hook! i was pretty happy! then we just had Church the rest of the day! it was pretty good! we just had lots of french words spoken! haha it was good though! our lesson with maxime was right after sacrament meeting and we met in the chapel. it was a good lesson and he said that he thinks he wants to be baptized but doesn't want to pick a date yet! so that was amazing! by the time we got home it was like 4:30 and i guess the counselor in the bishopric invited us over for dinner so we had to leave at 5:30 for that and we had dinner til about 8! it was fun! they had a cute little weiner dog...and for any of you who know me...you know that i love weiner dogs! hha it was just so fun! then we headed home for the night and we ended the week and night like that!

well there's my week! i've got some fun pics to send you guys and i just love life here! i got a new french jacket and some scarves that are fun! haha don't think i'm weird...scarves are normal here and i actually really like them! but ya! i love life! things are good. i love and miss you all! keep me in your prayers and i'll talk to you later! love from France!

elder libby

2 nephi 22:2

 

WEEK 12- FINISHED THE BOM

Salut tout le monde! j'espère que les choses vont bien dans l'Utah! choses ici à Metz vont bien et je ne peux pas croire à quel moment va vite! merci, d'abord, pour toutes les lettres et colis cette semaine! ça a été une semaine de lots de surprises et de plaisir! et je vous aime tous simplement !! ok voici ma semaine! oh...and this week was transfers! so me and elder eldredge stay here and that's gonna be good! the transfer this time is only 4 weeks long because of christmas! so that's exciting! can't wait to talk to some of you!

TUESDAY

today was a really good day! it was interesting but really good and actually kinda fun! not a ton of talking between me and my comp but ça va! we had our last district meeting for the transfer today so we needed to get to that! we just had a testimony meeting today and told how we grew this transfer...i hate those things...cause you have to get up and talk cause there's only like 6 members and if you don't you're the dumb one of the group, AND i always cry...cause i'm just weird like that so ya...i got up and said like 2 words before i started crying...don't even know why! just cause? the spirit was too strong...we'll go with that! haha! then we had a burrito party and took our district photos! that was fun...haha i'm so awkward...i'll just let you all see the pics and see what i'm talking about..be glad you're my friends:) then we made our way back to metz cause we had a rendezvous with soeur piguet and a less-active member so we went to that and i was asked to give her a blessing...haha luckily she spoke english! so that was cool and ya! then we talked for a while and then went over to the piguet's to make cookies! soeur piguet forgot to buy chocolate so we needed to go to the store to buy that and they were playing a bunch of american music...hhaha i miss that! then we got to the piguet's house and they didn't have a blender so i had to make the cookie dough by hand! haha that was fun! i have respect for the pioneers now so no worries. i think they might have had something else in mind when they asked for cookies though cause they legit were so amazed by them! haha all the kids were taking snapchats of the cookies and they were like, "we can eat the dough?" haha it was so fun! they are a funny family. then they showed us a bunch of their favorite vines and we just hung out with them for about an hour before we needed to head home for the night. that was way fun!

WEDNESDAY

oh my gosh...today was the funnest day i think i've ever had on the mission...and like it wasn't even that fun...haha it was just the best!!!! we had to wake up at like 5:30 cause....TODAY WAS LEGALITY AND WE HAD TO GO TO PARIS!!! WITH ALL MY FRIENDS FROM THE MTC!!! ahh it was just the best day of my life! so we got to paris around 9:15 and did some busy work stuff and just had talks and stuff with the paris bureau and stuff and then around 11:30 we had lunch! we just all got to talk to each other and it was like the best! i got to talk to almost everyone from the whole mtc group! there were like 5 kids that had to go to the doctor's office early so i didn't get to talk to them..but it was good! then we had a meeting with president and soeur babin and that was good! he's such a cool guy..literally he cries almost every time he talks. just love him! then we had to leave for our doctors appointments! we left for the doctors office and just took tons of pics all day. we got to talk and laugh and talk and have fun all day. it was just the best. i just LOVE PARIS SO MUCH!!! then we got to the doctors office and we had to wait in the waiting room. they split us up in to 3 different groups and i was thinking i'd be in like the first or second, but i was in the last, and i was the last person to go! #ialwaysgetpickedlast haha whatever:) it was good. pee in a cup, chest x-ray, doctor told me i'm fat....:( he was like you need to lose 10 kg's...that's 22 pounds...haha gotta love that. then we went back and had to go home...hard to believe that took all day but it did! and i was sooo tired! don't even know why! but we also found out today that ELDER COOK is coming to the France Paris Mission and wants the whole mission to come hear him speak! that's next Thursday! so that will be cool and i'll see everyone again! i'm way excited!!!

THURSDAY

well today was not yesterday...haha but it was still alright! we did a lot today and it was pretty good. we started off the day just like normal..had our studies and they went pretty well! then we went out contacting and we just walked everywhere! i contacted this one dude who was muslim and he was like talking about muhammed and stuff and i accidentally told him we believe that he was a prophet too. haha so ya! that was fun...then ya all that was good. we just contacted for about an hour and then we went walking with Françoise. it was good! today she seemed really happy and she just talked and was laughing and smiling the whole time! she's definitely changing a lot! still not reading the BoM or anything but she's doing good! then we went back for lunch and i wasn't really hungry so i just did my laundry. elder eldredge fell asleep so i just read my scriptures til he woke up. then we went out to see if some people he'd met before i got here were home...i've never met them, but they weren't home so we just went back to the apartment and took language study and then dinner! we had a rendezvous with nora tonight and it went really well! she just won't be baptized! ahhh she tells us she knows that everything we teach is true but she won't be baptized....haha keep her in your prayers for us! then we went to the church to do some usb stuff or something and make copies of my passport cause of yesterday and stuff! it was an alright day!

FRIDAY

today was just crazy! we seriously went all day long...haha! it was a little slow right in the middle, but the rest of the day was just a blur! first off, i finished the book of mormon this morning! that was good! haha i was really happy that i finished it in one transfer! then we just went and contacted! didn't find really any success, but it took like 25 or 30 minutes before elder eldredge talked to me...he's just funny i guess! and then we just walked all over the place! we walked to a new cathedral and found a garden and a park and some funny statues! haha it was fun! then we decided that it would be a good idea if we took cookies to our less-active members and asked them to come to the luau tomorrow. so we got there and i made the cookies and when i put them in the oven, i went in to our study room and elder eldredge was sleeping on the couch! haha so i waited and waited and he never woke up and then we had to go to the church to start setting up for the luau...so, we never took them to our less-active members. so we went and did that and it was good! it took the rest of the night and we just had fun while doing it! a less-active member from the ward is tahitian and she volunteered to make food and give us a bunch of decorations so she was there helping us! it was a fun night! and a bunch of ward members were there for seminary and institute and we just had tons of fun with them! i love this ward here! i got a package from the fam today...it was pretty great:)

SATURDAY

today was seriously sooo fun! it went by so fast and it was just so great! the day started off kinda ehh cause someone closed the blind shutter thingy on our window so when the alarm went off, we all fell back asleep til 8! ahhh it was bad...but then we got up and we had our studies. personal studies were good and i just started reading in the new testament cause i don't know what to read this transfer...but it was good! then we were supposed to start comp study and elder eldredge goes i don't want to do comp study...so what did we do instead? he asks me how i want to propose to my wife...haha dude i don't know! haha i'm not even sure who or if i wanna get married yet! haha that scares me...ahhh weird k we're done talking about that...so he was talking about that for a good 45 or 50 minutes and i just sat and pretended to listen while i was like quoting movies in my head cause i don't really wanna talk about that. haha then we had to go pick up a grill from a ward member for the luau tonight and get to the church to check out transfers! it was good! elder faura is going to versailles! lucky....i wanna go there! but the rest of the afternoon was just getting ready for the luau...haha when we went back to the apartment to shower and get ready, we found that our water heater had broken! so not only do we not have warm water, but our heaters don't work either! haha so what did i do? got the biggest pot we had, put water in it, and boiled it on the stove and used that for my shower. like i said earlier, i now have respect for the pioneers..even though they probs had cold showers...mine wasn't constantly running hot water...so same thing right? then all the other elders were making fun of me and telling me i was weird and stuff...but later that night, they all did the same thing! haha whatever...haha the luau was a huge success! lots of ami's came and we had so much fun! lots of help from the ward members and we had tons of fun doing the show and everything! it was just such a fun night! lots of videos and pics! it was fun getting to know everyone! it was just such a fun night. Nora and her daughter came and her daughter made friends with some of the kids and nora did too! and she told us she'd probably come to church tomorrow. it was just a great night!

SUNDAY

well today was just another sunday! got up and headed out to church! it was a good day! for our meeting with priesthood we had a lesson on missionary work so that was fun! then for sunday school we went in the ysa (which is j.a. in french) class and it was good! they talked about like stakes or something...haha french is kinda hard to understand;) but it's coming and all is well! then for sacrament we walked in and started and after the sacrament, we looked down the aisle...AND NORA AND HER DAUGHTER WERE THERE! so we got up and went and sat by them! it was like the best feeling ever! she is like the coolest lady you'll ever meet! she was like nodding her head and singing the hymns the whole time...she is so cool. i just love her. and then after church we had to stay cause the bishops wife asked us to be in the church choir for the christmas program...haha so had choir practice and then we had to get to a rendezvous with our other ami maxime! remember him? it went well..he accepted the restoration and said he was excited to read the BOM! so that was really good too! then we had to get back and finish our 12 week for the week and that took forever then we had weekly planning and that took forever...haha so by the end of that...that was our day! haha

well i am just so great here! i love the baguettes and crepes and the nutella too so i guess you could say life is pretty great! not a day goes by that i don't miss any of you at home though so remember that i love you and you all are in my prayers! keep the letters and emails coming! i love them and i love you all! remember that all is well in the end...NO MATTER WHAT! god can work miracles...i've seen them everyday since i got here! he lives and loves you!

elder libby

matthew 11:28-30

 

Paris with friends!

this guy started playing tequila on the metro and i thought of home!

senior cotillion, riding in the jeep in moab, and all the fun

times we had with that song!

WEEK 11- "BLOCKIN OUT THE HATERS"

what up my fam and friends?! quoi de neuf ma famille et mes amis? comment ça va? holy cow this week was way long and it seems like it's been like forever since i've been able to talk to any of you! but all is well and here we are. just another week in paradise! haha i just am so glad that i get to get on here and talk to all of you! p day is like the one day i get to be selfish so i love talking to you all and sorry for making you all get up to talk to me, but i'm pretty great ya? #cockymissionary #whatever #ithappens wow..i haven't seen hashtags for a while! anyway here goes my week in metz!

TUESDAY

today was such a fast day! like it went by soooo fast! haha i can't even believe it! me and elder pratt don't like to go running in the morning..i'm not about that healthy life..but we got up and we just did some things in the apartment while the other elders went running...comme les push-ups, les sit-ups, les stretches....choses comme ça then the other elders came back and we just got ready for the day and then headed out to the gare for our train to Lux cause we had district meeting. when we were at the gare, some lady came up to me and read my tag and said oh Jésus-Christ! Young people that talk about god are so nice. if you want we can sit by each other on the train and talk! so we sat by her and holy cow...she TALKED! haha literally i think we said two sentences the entire 45 minute train ride to Lux! haha she told us that the government thinks she's dead, she doesn't have a home, she's living in a catholic Church with a few other people at the moment, and ya! haha funny cause she looked like a really Professional business woman and stuff! but ya as soon as the train stopped she was all, ok bye! haha so we didn't even get to like share a message or anything..i guess she just wanted to talk? then district meeting was good and we talked about all of our investigators the whole time then we made our way back to the gare, bought some snapples and then back to metz! tonight me and elder pratt had an exchange til tomorrow night. so for the night we had to go to the Church to learn the haka for the luau that we're having and i voted myself to be the camera man! haha i'm not doing the haka! so that was good and that ended our night!

WEDNESDAY

today was straight up fun! haha me and elder pratt just had the time of our lives! it literally did not feel like missionary work at all! i just felt like i was hanging out with a friend all day. it was just SO MUCH FUN! we walked all over, found a fun little patisserie, went to try to find bibles in a book store (i don't know why so don't ask), and just had such a blast!! then we had to stop and get back and end our exchange...boooo but whatevs..so we got back to the apartment finished up the exchange and then me and elder eldredge had a meeting with the Piguet's! so we went to that and that went well. we then went out to have our lesson with Nora, and when we got to her house she came down the stairs in her bathrobe and had completely forgotten about our lesson! so we scheduled for another night and finished up the night with porting. so that was a quick fun day!

THURSDAY

well today was just another day! haha started out with our studies and when we got to comp study, elder eldredge was talking in his "i really don't want to do anything today...." attitude...haha so i talked in my happy, go-Lucky attitude just to try to change the mood...haha we went contacting and he walked by me and everything, but didn't talk to me at all! haha so i just walked, took pictures, and tried to start up conversations here and there! but whatever! i've just decided to not let him get me down anymore! then we had lunch and a meeting with the ward mission leader so we went to that. i sat by the cutest little girl with big huge curly pony-tails! ahh so cute. then our meeting went good and we came back and had to go to the computers to do this stupid Survey about preach my gospel that the Church wanted us to do and while we were there elder eldredge found this cool Church website that was like based on the living christ and stuff and we realized that we didn't even have a copy of the living christ! so we printed a copy off and by that time it was time to go back to the apartment! so we went back and i got in the shower and when i got out, elder eldredge was watching a movie, and HE BROKE MY SPEAKERS... thanks bro! haha like the other elders left the apartment at 8:15 am and didn't get back til 9:15 pm so ya...they were fine yesterday! whatever...the Bluetooth still works just not the auxilliary cord...so when we get ipads they'll still work...so i just have to wait til then!

FRIDAY

today was soooo fast! i thought it was going to be awful and take forever to go by but it was sooo fast! we got up and went running and then came back and got ready! today we went to this town that's about 45 minutes from metz but in our sector called Forbach! the whole way there was a silent ride, so i just sat and started memorizing the living christ! it's a new goal and a new challenge to me...heck i'll throw it out to everyone! have it memorized by Christmas ok? it's such a cool testimony of our savior! i love it! then we got there and we had no lessons planned for the day so you know what that means.....A WHOLE DAY OF CONTACTING!!!! haha so that's what we did! we talked to a bunch of people and contacted 2 people and had "street lessons" with them and just talked all day! we walked all over and saw a few pretty cool things! we talked a lot about scary movies today cause it was HALLOWEEN! so that was fun! then we came back for the night and we played dress up! haha my costume was kinda dumb...hint before the pics...#BLOCKINOUTTHEHATERS part 2;) elder eldredge dressed up as a woman...it was actually quite scary...not being rude or hatin on anyone...but he wouldn't let me take pictures or anything sooo ya...but that was fun i guess!

SATURDAY

well today was just a good day. no fights. no contention, just a good solid fun day! we had a lot to do! we got up and got ready for Samedi Sports and had our studies. it was a good study session! then we were off to the park. we just played the dumb games like every week haha and then we ended at noon! so me and elder pratt headed back to the apartment while the others went to the Church to practice for the luau. me and elder pratt just went and made crepes and watched a movie about emma Smith! so ya that was fun! then me and elder eldredge had our weekly planning and then made our way out to go see Nora! it was a good lesson that went by really fast and we just talked a lot about the heavenly language...this lady...she tells us she knows that what we teach is true...why won't she be baptized? she's talking about the heavenly language for heaven's sake!!!! haha! but it went well and we scheduled another date for a lesson and ya! then i had a craving for some dagum cocoa-cake! so we went home and realized we didn't have eggs...so i awkwardly went to our neighbor, who answered in her lingerie, and asked her for an egg...she was like uhhh sure and went and got me one...what a kind soul. so i made the cocoa-cake! but...i used freaking olive oïl and it just tasted weird...so ya! that was quite an adventure! i'm just the most awkward kid i know so ca va!;)

SUNDAY

today was mostly pretty great! since it was sunday we didn't have a ton of time for studies cause we had to catch our bus around 8:20. so we got to Church, greeted and such and then went to priesthood! it was good. still i don't understand a ton, but i get some of it! i had to pray at the end of priesthood so that's always fun! we wanted to meet with the bishop to talk to him about our luau so we met with him right after Church. he's actually american so we got to talk to him in English...that was nice! then we got home and we had a meeting with someone who elder eldredge met while on his exchange with elder pratt! so we met with him and that when really well and he said that when he finds out that the things we teach are true, he'd be baptized! that was really cool! then we had 3 hours of our dumb 12 week video to Watch. to we went and watched that and elder eldredge fell asleep...so i was really paying attention and i really got a lot out of it! they talked a lot about the area book and i realized that i have only seen the area book once since i got here. so after we were done with the videos, and after we contacted and everything, i pulled our the area book to try to get to understand it better! it was pretty cool i made a paper for the guy we met today! then i kinda got homesick...elder eldredge had already gone to bed and the other elders weren't in for the night yet so i just cried for a little bit! haha sorry that's embarrassing but ya...i just miss and love you all!!! but all is well and know that i love you guys!

well there is my week! i'm gonna send a ton of pics this week cause i took a ton! haha so be ready! thank you for the mail, the prayers, the constant support! everything! i love you all and i am so thankful for all of you! thanks again and i'll talk to you next week! au revoir! je vous aime!

elder libby:)

 

that's a baguette dispenser!! haha funny huh?

and i thought this looked like the soccer field from

she's the man...i miss that movie!

 

this is how happy i was when i found the she's the man field!!!

this is just meeee being meeeee

be proud of me...i can sometimes point to the right thing!

 

#blockinoutthehaters part 2 happy halloween!

WE LOVE THIS BOY!!

WEEK 10- "SHALL WE NOT GO ON IN SUCH GREAT A CAUSE?"

bonjour tout le monde! hahah i just want to start out by saying thank you. thank you to everyone for the prayers, for the thoughts, for the letters, but mostly, thank you for letting me come on my mission! like literally it's only been 10 weeks and i'm more homesick than i've ever been, i sometimes just randomly start crying (that's nothing new), and i miss you all so much! BUT. i've never been happier, i've never felt the savior's love so strong, and i've already learned so much about everything out here! and it's only been 10 weeks! crazy things happen when you are having fun right? it's kind of been a rough week so i'm just so thankful for you all! well now that the emotional part is over ;) here we gooooo

TUESDAY

well today was a good productive day. we had little time for studies this morning again...but just like every other tuesday..we had district meeting in Luxembourg! that's always a fun time! there's this monument there and it has something that looks just like angel moroni! haha i'll try and take pictures tomorrow for you all! it's not a temple :( but it looks like angel moroni! district meeting was good and then we made our way back to metz! and it was POURING rain! haha like harder than i've ever seen in Utah! so we had to make our way to the apartment in the pouring rain! it was a fun time! i got soaked and not to mention that this week it has started to get FREEZING COLD...and our heaters aren't working..so it was really fun! i bought some applesauce yesterday that tastes just like grandma jolley's so there's a little taste of home for me;) but ya! i had an exchange with the elder from Tahiti tonight. he's pretty cool! we just went out contacting and went and met one of their ami's! it's so fun going with other people and meeting people you don't know! haha she wanted to see pics of my fam and haha it was just a fun night!

WEDNESDAY

started today off still on an exchange with elder faura. it was really funny! we got up and had to get a train cause we had a meeting with someone in the next town over so we got on the train, and it started going in the opposite direction! haha so we flagged down one of the conductors and he said that the train was going to Thionville, which was where we needed to go, but that something was blocking the tracks and that we needed to get out of the way for the other trains that were coming...we later overheard that it was a person that jumped in front of a train:( sadddd but we were on that train for 3 hours! haha it was really interesting! then we got off and had an hour bus ride to the guys house. we got there and he asked if we could go teach his friend..so she came and picked us up and when we got to her house...it was the nastiest house i think i've ever been to! she had 3 dogs, 4 cats, hadn't cleaned the house in forever, and it STUNK SO BAD. so we taught her, answered questions, yada yada and then she gave us a ride to the bus station. that was interesting! then we got back to metz bought some baguettes and returned to our original equipes. me and elder eldredge then had a lesson fall through so we just went porting. we found another house where it was a less-active family! this brother was the first bishop in the metz ward! and we were just about to get to a lesson/find out more about him and his wife when his daughter and some family friends came through the front door...and...i got my first bisus(?) in France tonight! haha you know the kiss thingy's on the cheek? elders aren't supposed to do those! but she started and ya..! haha funny stuff. we scheduled another appt with them this week so hopefully that goes good!

THURSDAY

today was kind of a rough day...there were a lot of times that i had to get elder eldredge off his butt and doing things i knew he didn't want to do...he was really annoyed of me today...we went contacting a lot and he would always walk 5 feet in front of me and just doesn't ever talk to me, but then we get back to the apartment and he acts like we're bffs..so i just go with the flow.. you know?:) haha then we had a meeting with an investigator. so we went to that and we walked and talked and prayed and that went well! i gave the closing prayer and after i was done she says "when you pray, i feel vibrations in my feet!" hahah so funny! so after that, elder eldredge said that he needed to go buy a new winter coat...which was kind of hypocritical, cause just last week i asked if we could go buy something and he was like no it's not p day...so um that was weird..but when we were at the cash register he said, i know you think i'm being hypocritical and i know you're probably mad, but i want you to know that i'm buying this for elder pratt cause his family doesn't have enough money to buy him a winter coat...so then i was ok with it..it was a nice coat, kind of expensive, and a really good gesture on his part;) then we went to the computers to do language assessment evals and finished up the night with area book work and language study! so that was an interesting day..

FRIDAY

today was just a really hard day...probably the hardest day that i've had since i got here. well the day started off with us sleeping in...the alarm didn't go off and when we woke up, it was 8:15. so that was no good, and might be the reason it was such a bad day. our studies went surprisingly well and i actually thought that it was going to be a good day. then we went contacting and the same thing as yesterday...he walked 5 feet in front of me the entire time. we had one lesson and while we were praying, we felt an earthquake..i kid you not! so many things were happening and pretty much telling us that it was a bad day! haha so umm we talked a lot about that on the way back to the apartment and started our weekly planning. we were about an hour in and all the sudden elder eldredge stops what we were doing and says look at me. then he just said a lot of things that pertained to how he thought that i was a bad missionary. i won't go into detail..it was just really rude! so i stood up, told him to stop, and walked out of the room, grabbed one of the other missionaries i live with and went for a walk. i just cried the whole time! he was telling me really mean, personal things that just were really uncalled for and so i cried, got over myself, went back and we had an hour long talk on how he's been treating me unfair and that we both have things we need to work on, but that we'd try to be better. so that was good i guess. then we had a meeting that night at sœur piguet's house again! haha she is the nicest lady! she showed me all the letters from her and mom, cause they've been emailing! it was good, and since it was a rough day, i cried when i saw them! she was laughing at me! but it was good. i'm so grateful for her! haha

SATURDAY

started out with studies and getting ready for our samedi sports again! haha that was fun! the piguet boys came. i just love that family! such a fun group of kids! we came back from that and the two most amazing things happened! first, we figured out why the heaters weren't working, fixed them, and now we have heat!! such a good day! and then, i got a letter from makenly and corbin today! haha it was awesome! corbin's letter was literally like the cutest thing that i have ever gotten in my life just so you know! (by the way everyone...they're my cousins!) just the best thing ever. made my crappy week somewhat better! then we just got finished with studies and all that fun stuff and went contacting for the night! me and elder eldredge decided to walk all the way to the Church and back and that took a whole hour! and ya then we went to this tree down by the river (yes like the van;) and it has legit mistletoe on it! haha funny i know!

SUNDAY

well today was good cause of daylight savings! found out that it was just me and not you guys though....so i got an extra hour of sleep and you guys didn't! haha! so we slept for a while and then got up to get to Church! we got there and i was sitting by elder eldredge and all of the sudden he got up and went to go sit by someone i'd never seen before...so i just stayed where i was..turns out that he was from elder eldredge's first ward on his mission and there were a bunch of them here for temple recommend interviews! elder eldredge's first baptism on his mission is going through the temple this week! so that was cool! he literally had us stay for like an hour after Church so he could talk to them all haha so that was fun! then we went back to the apartment and had lunch and then started our studies! elder eldredge tried to get it so that we could stay Inside all day but i made him get up and go contacting til it got dark! then we had like an hour and a half of movies to Watch for 12 week and ya so that was fun! then we had just studies and what not to finish off the night. so that was a fun day!

 

i just want you all to know that i love you so much! thank you for your constant prayers and your constant love coming my way. it's crazy but i can literally feel all of them! i know that our savior lives and loves us...some people say that it's coincidence. but we all know better right;) he loves us and wants us to come back to him someday! please continue to keep me in your prayers! i keep you all in mine all the time! this church is true and i know it! thank you for everything! i hope you all are watching a lot of movies for me!;) keep in touch!!

 

elder libby:)

shall we not go on in such great a cause? - joseph smith

thought of the week:)

a little taste of Metz!

WEEK 9- 2 MONTH MARK, LOVE & BAGUETTES

Bonjour ma famille!!! et mes amis aussi! comment ça va? how has another week already gone by? haha not a lot of new stuff here in the good old France but it was definitely a good week and i am thankful for everyone and their support:) well umm ya here we goooooo

TUESDAY

well our district, since we are all the way on the east side of France consists of the set of Elders that cover the whole country of Luxembourg. so for district meeting, since our Church is under construction and we can't go there during the day, we have to go to Lux once a week for district meeting. DANG!;) haha such a pretty country! it is crazy how small it is though! i mean they've got one set of missionaries covering the whole country! haha so we were there for a few hours of the day and had some lunch while we were there also! so that was pretty fun! then when we got back, we did some language studies and the ZL's were coming into town for some exchanges with the other set of missionaries so we met them and did some language study and then me and Elder Eldredge went porting again! (knocking doors)(it's called porting cause "porte" means "door") we found one guy that said he loves jésus and wanted to meet us tomorrow at a pub to talk about him! haha first offered beer in France. check! but we told him we don't drink alcohol and that we could meet him almost anywhere else so he agreed to meet at his house tomorrow and then we continued porting. the man next door....an less-active member! used to be a branch president, and him and his wife just got "too busy to go" so we are meeting with them this week! really cool expériences!

WEDNESDAY

today was a day that went on forever! like seriously...i felt like there we so many more hours in the day..woke up at 6:30 and since the ZL's didn't have any exercise clothes or anything we had to just do little exercises in the apartment. and by we, i mean they...haha i was still trying to Wake up...cause i hate waking up in the morning! but then we had studies and for the rest of the day, we kind of just did things to fill the time.....haha we went to get lunch with the ZL's and when we came back i had a letter from the fam!! haha it was so good to hear from everyone! even though all Bowen told me to do was try to find a chocolate cake shop...on the other side of the country;) haha it was so good to hear from them. then me and elder eldredge went and went on a walk with an investigator...she's an older lady...probably in her 60's and she's just sooo depressed and ya..but she speaks English and we walked and talked with her for like an hour and that went well! then we went to go meet Louis! the guy from last night! our lesson went well, but at the end he realized he was late for a gig...he's some sort of musician i think so we couldn't leave with a prayer and we didn't get a date for another meeting...keep your fingers crossed! we then just ported for the rest of the night and came back! yuppers a longgg day! OH by the way...there's a new advertisement that we saw at a bus stop tonight...it's talking about BREAST cancer...so i'm gonna leave it at that and let you all decide what the picture of it is...haha it surprises me how normal that is for them here...it's so sad! and it literally just sneaks up on us everywhere!

THURSDAY

today was a day that went by really fast! we were going to get up and go running this morning but i literally could not wake up to save my life! i hate waking up in the morning! can you tell? had our studies and then we took lunch cause we had a meeting today with the ward mission leader around 2...we just talked all about the luau that we are having and he gave us cookies and ice cream! then we came back to our apartment and kinda all just talked for a little bit and started language study cause we needed to get to the computers a little later to do some assessments for my 12 week program and we couldn't go til the workers on the Church had left..we got there and did the assessments and i printed off a talk by Jeffrey r holland..remember lot's wife..and if any of you haven't read that yet, READ IT NOW! it is so good! go to byuspeeches.com and read it! so amazing! then we went to the Piguet's house and she let us teach a lesson and then she fed us! my first mangez-vous! then on the bus ride back we saw the advertisement for breast cancer again...it's everywhere..it's so sad..but then we got back and talked about like movies and jobs and how different things will be when we get home haha ya!

FRIDAY

i started alma today and i'm starting to get excited that i'm going to finish the whole BOM in one transfer! then after that we had a half hour until the Lux elders came into town for their exchange with the district leader so we talked about a ton of stuff! then they came and we went to this chinese buffet they've been raving about since day one...honestly i don't ever want to eat chinese here again because of the last experience...it was alright but nothing will ever beat ABC...staying true no worries guys. haha then we headed to the Church again so that i could finish some of the assessments that i needed to finish! and then we went contacting for the rest of the night...elder eldredge was kind of mad that i wanted to go contacting though..we hadn't done anything all day so i kind of made him let us go! then we went and he started getting mad cause i was asking him what everyone was saying when we talked to them and being happy when i understood them...so he gave me this lecture on how i need to not be prideful and i need to remain humble...idk i didn't think i was being prideful so whatevs..then he made up this rule that i could only get a coke if we teach two lessons a day and a baguette if we get a new ami...(investigator) so umm i did just that haha we taught two lessons that night and got a new ami! haha idk if it was all serious but it was just kinda bugging me cause he was being all stubborn and stuff

SATURDAY

today we literally did nothing almost all day! it was such a long and boring day! we started off the morning with some crepes..i'm trying to lose weight right? ya it isn't working when all i do is eat! then we started our studies and when we were supposed to do comp studies we all got talking so umm bad start to a day already! then we went off to Samedi Sports! so that was actually pretty fun...we played basketball, soccer, and a little bit of football so that was fun! then when we came back we were just studying and then elder eldredge and elder faura had a meeting with someone for the luau in a couple weeks and so that went to that and told us that they would only be like an hour or so...they left at 1 and we waited and cleaned and talked, and watched Ephraim's Rescue and by the time that was done, it was 6:45! so me and elder pratt had enough of doing nothing and we went out and walked and contacted and got cokes and just did stuff...haha we taught 2 lessons and came back to the apartment...it was pretty much a day wasted and i kinda was a little mad but whatevs..

SUNDAY

well today we woke up and headed out to Church! just like last week, it was a good time, but i didn't understand a lot of what went on and i felt kinda lost, but it was good and i got to talk to a ton of people! when i got to sunday school, sœur piguet saw me and she came up to me and told me she thought i looked so good and that my suit was the nicest suit ever! haha she was so nice! then i had to help pass the sacrament and when i passed it to her she said the same thing again! haha we had sacrament and then after she came up to us missionaries...and said it again! she was just so funny! then when we left the Church and got to the bus stop she was waiting there and asked me if we could get a picture and i told her only if she sent it to my mom...so that's where that picture came from! it was funny! then when we got back to the apartment we had lunch and by the time that was done it was already like 2 so we started to finish our 12 week studies that we had slacked on for the entire week.. by the time that was done it was already time for dinner! i wasn't hungry so i just listened to conference talks and then by 6 we started our weekly planning and that takes a minimum of like 2 1/2 hours so by the time we finished it was already 8:45...so yesterday was just a day of planning and stuff!

so blurry...sorry :(

 

well that sums up my week everyone! haha things are good here in France and i just love baguettes and the smell of cigarettes already! haha it is so great here and there is no where else i'd rather be! it is so cool to walk down the street and see how many people are eating baguettes or speaking a language you can't speak faster than you can blink! i love each of you back home and i am so thankful for all that you all do for me! keep the prayers coming and i'll keep the emails coming! i love you all so much! i can't believe i'm already two months old! haha only 22 short months! so don't wish me home! much love and many baguettes

Elder Libby

HAPPY 2 MONTHS ELDER LIBBY!! :)

 

notice all the empty coke bottles ...

glad he left the toilet seat up for the pic ...