WEEK 32

well this week was a blur!!! we were so busy all week long trying to get everything in line for the baptism and we literally were just running busy and it went by so fast! which is always really good and makes all the better! things in reims are going really well! i'm really getting along well with all of the members and i'm having fun while working! and as we all learn from Charly (the movie) we have to have fun DURING the work! WA-TER-FIGHT. can you say that for me dear?

MONDAY NIGHT

we had a really good rdv with our investigator (who is being baptized on saturday) tonight and we had a member come with us who is from canada, so she speaks fluent english and french and she's pretty awesome! we had a really good lesson on the #LAWOFCHASTITY #firsttimethisweek it was really good and he said that he was of course going to follow it because he is married and that when he was back in Rwanda he had some sort of life changing experience when he did something....sorry that's only funny if you know him i guess...he always, in every rdv, tells us something life changing that happened back in Rwanda that somehow he relates to the lesson! so that's why i put that! it was good none the less!

TUESDAY

well today was super long and really boring!!! haha i was so happy to finally be in and not have to worry about the day any longer...not that it was necessarily a bad day, but we were at the church for a consecutive 5 hours and we still can't figure out how....it was super long though!!! i wrote and sent some letters home and that was really good. then we were walking around in centreville and i found a store with a really cool tie and thought that i deserved a small bday present from myself so i went and bought that! we then had a rdv with a less active who really loves the missionaries and he took us to mcdonalds and bought us some ice cream while we talked. he was a really nice guy and told us that sometime soon he wants us to come to his house and spend a good 3-4 hours with him! haha so we'll have to see if that happens! then we had a rdv with our investigator for baptism again and we brought the mustard member and they talked for almost an hour about how much they love africa and the people. so me and my comp had to just sit there and listen...then by the time we had finished the lesson i think we had been there for about 2 and a half hours with them! ahh we had another rdv with a recent convert and he would be there in about a half hour so we waited for him and he ended up showing up about 35 minutes late and we were just sitting there waiting! but the rdv went super well and he told us all about his patriarchal blessing and we answered his questions that he had about prayers and stuff and he asked if he could pray for us to close the lesson. it was really good! the members here in Reims are amazing!

WEDNESDAY

well today was the first district meeting in Reims and for that we have to go into this town just outside of paris (DANG ;) ) but i was super excited to get there cause in my new district is a soeur from the mtc named soeur clawson! we were in the same mtc district and me and her got along so well! i was super happy when i got the news we were in the same district! so we got there and we were both really happy to see each other! it was really fun to be able to talk and get up to speed with our new lives. we had our meeting on contacting today and it was fun cause we actually got to practice and it was fun/awkward to be able to do that for each other! we then had a really good lasagna that the soeurs made for us and that was really filling! holy cow i had the worst food baby ever. haha! but anywho we talked and ate and laughed and had a good jolly old time! then me and one of the zl's got to have an exchange! i was super happy! elder nelson is one of the coolest kids i know! he has a smile on his face even when he's frowning...which is never. so he always has a smile. he is so happy! we had a rdv and it was really good! they have a baptismal date with and it was really good #LAWOFCHASTITY #secondtimethisweek. then they had their meeting with the ward mission leader and ward counsel so we were at the church for a while! it was good though. we got those meetings done and then went in for the night.

THURSDAY

today was like a really momentous occasion cause i realized that i got my mission call a whole year ago today!!!!!! i can't believe that it's already been a whole year! it was really weird to have that in the back of my head all day. i still remember how i was sitting in AP calc and i gave my phone to Ms. Barney and told her that she needed to tell me when my mom texted me cause we were taking a test that day, and i was not concentrated at all! don't ask me what my score was on that test, cause first off, i know that it was horrible, but second off it doesn't matter cause i passed AP calc! haha i remember after the test i went over and i had about 5 texts and a couple missed calls from my mom! and she knew i was taking a test! i remember getting mad at ms barney cause she didn't pull me out and she said, "TANNER, be quiet. You were taking a test. Plus i don't know how to work your phone!" ahh that was a fun day! we finished up our exchange today and we went and stopped by a boulangerie and it was really yummy! i got a pain au chocolat and a religeuse! super yummy! then we went into paris and made our way out to Reims again! when i met up with my comp we made our way to the apartment so that we could take lunch and i decided to make a picture wall! haha and me being me...i forgot to take a picture of it, so i'm going to take one this week and i'll send it next week. but a future congrats to all who made it on #thewall then we had a short rdv to get everthing in order for the baptism and then another rdv #2in1night! it was really good! #LAWOFCHASTITY #thirdtimethisweek haha i taught that lesson 3 times in one week...is that crazy?? hopefully not a sign from upstairs :/ jk it's not. but it was a good rdv and i'm starting to make friends!

FRIDAY

well today was super busy but went by in the blink of an eye! it was really good. we started off by contacting to the gare so that i could print off another picture to put up on #thewall so that was good. then we came back and took lunch and went to go searching for our ward mission leader. apparently he is like a LEGEND in the ward of Reims and is like deathly ill with the Grip right now and i haven't met him and everyone is so worried about him cause he hasn't been to church in 2 weeks and that is not normal for him! so we went searching for him and when we got to his house and his son answered the door and said thank you for the visit but we couldn't come in cause he was really contagious...so we made our way to a rdv that we had with this member couple who are really old but they love to have the missionaries over to just talk sometimes! she told me she wants to try to alter my suits so that i can look french! so we will be doing that soon! then we had a rdv with a less-active who has some type of really bad sickness or cancer with his pancreas i think and he asked for a blessing. so we were able to offer him that! it was really cool! he was really nice and said that next week we were all going to make cheesecake together! so that makes me really excited!

SATURDAY

well today was very good, but might have been one of the longest days that i've had in a while!!! haha it was finally the day of the baptism and it turned out really well. after studies we ran to the store so that we could make some quiche for the baptism and then came to the church so that we could start filling the font! it took like a good 3 1/2 hours but it finally got filled and we made our way home so that we could get dressed and make it back for the arrivals and when we got back to the church, we found out that the font had a leak and it had gone down a good two inches!!!! so we hurried and turned it back on and luckily it was filled when we started. it was a great experience! i got to conduct the meeting and my comp baptized him! it was very good and i'm grateful for the experience! he invited some of his friends and one friend was really interested in what we were doing so she took our number and told us she wanted to learn more! so that would be very cool! we then had to clean everything up and a member, who served in england so he speaks fluent english, helped us and we ended up staying at the church talking and laughing with him til 9! he is very cool. he is actually the uncle of one of our amis so we meet and see him quite often!

SUNDAY

well i really hope that it was just because today was daylight savings time in europe, but it was just a really rough start to a day! it all started waking up...after losing an hour i really was struggling! haha my back was really messed up...then i shaved and when we were walking out to go to church and my comp said that there was something on my collar so i went to look and i had cut myself shaving and there was blood all over my shirt! so i had to change shirts and then we were on the way to church and my comp told me he forgot to tell me but we were helping to teach the lesson in priesthood....and then our newest member, who was baptized yesterday, didn't show up to church until half way through sunday school! ahhhh but other than that is was a great day....we had a good-ish lesson in priesthood, then a nice lesson in sunday school, and we confirmed out new friend in sacrament meeting! it was nice. then we had ward counsel after sacrament meeting and then went home to eat lunch and to weekly plan..it was a really packed day again! we noticed that one lady who came to the baptism wasn't at church today and decided that we'd go and stop by her house to see if she was ok! so we called a member and he said that he'd love to come with us and so we went and she said it was because she was sick, but she invited us in to talk and have a spiritual thought! then we made our way home for the night. it was a good day.

well there was this week! super packed and a lot to say, but when you have a lot to say, you have a lot to say! thanks for the prayers in my behalf! i really need them. i love you all! keep me in your thoughts! talk to you soon

elder libby

alma 29:9