WEEK 83

Salut  tout le monde! Comme d'habitude, j'espère que votre semaine c'était bien passé et que vous avez pu voir la main du Seigneur dans votre vie quotidienne :) je n'ai pas beaucoup plus à dire cette semaine que celui qui est écrit dans mon mail, alors je ne vais pas vous ennuis avec tout ma n'importe quoi;) simplement je vais dire que cette semaine qui vient, nous allons savoir les mutations!! Vous savez ce qu'il faut faire;) c'est plus que 100% sûr que je vais rester au royaume céleste, oops! Je voulais dire Namur;) mais s'il vous plaît ENVOYEZ TOUS LES LETTRES ET COLIS AU BUREAU DE LA MISSION:) merci! J'attends avec impatience de les recevoir!!  (Hello everyone! As usual, I hope your week was fine and you could see the hand of God in your daily life :) I haven't much more to say this week than is written in my email, so I will not trouble you with all the other stuff ;) I will simply say that this coming week, we will know our transfers !! You know what to do;) it's more than 100% sure I'll stay in the celestial kingdom, oops! I meant Namur;) but please SEND ALL LETTERS AND PACKAGES IN THE OFFICE OF THE MISSION :) thank you! I look forward to receive them!!) 

 

 

Elder Tanner Libby

La Mission Française de Paris

131 Boulevard Carnot

78110 Le Vésinet

France

 

Voici ma semaine!! (HERE IS MY WEEK)

LUNDI SOIR

Well tonight we got back a little late from our day with the Mazy's;) haha they had taken us to the village of Spa which was super fun and we even went on a chocolate spending spree! It was delicious!! So ya we got home and we had a quick rdv with Chung for our weekly work and what we did throughout the week. We informed them all that this week was going to be a rough one cause of exchanges, zone conference and the baptism, but they all seemed to understand. We then had a lesson given to us by Chung and had a fun night with Emmanuel and Claudette of course;) they then gave us a ride home where we just talked about all the rest that we need to discuss before their baptism.

MARDI

Well today FLEW by and it was fun. I got to finish up the day on an exchange with my fave, elder McDonald and it's just always a blast when I get to hang with him. So ya it was a super fast day and honestly it's not gonna take a lot to explain. Well remember how I said that spring was coming?? I didn't lie!!! Today was absolutely gorgeous and I walked out with a scarf for contacting and had to take it off half way through cause it was just so nice and warm!!! So we got up and studied and then we went out to contact and seriously it was just beautiful which makes no sense. There was NO ONE outside. Like I kid you not, we contacted maybe the only 15 people that we crossed and only 3 let us talk. It was ridiculous. Like people, come outside!! It's beautiful! Haha anyway. Yesterday President Babin sent us his weekly email and he told us that he would encourage us to use a new way to contact people. He said that a missionary that he'd talked to mentioned to him that he didn't like to use the phrase, 'I'm here to share a message about...' Because that is the way that the Jehovahs Witnesses start their conversations. He encouraged us to become better at sharing a message immediately about the restoration. Something like, 'I am a member of the church of Jesus Christ and I am here to tell people about its restoration that came after the falling away which was prophesied by prophets and apostles in the bible. I have this proof which is called the Book of Mormon which testifies of Jesus Christ and His resurrection and answers the questions of the soul...' And so I was like super excited to try that cause I want to kill these last 4 months of my mission!! But no one would let me talk....haha so anyway we walked all over and around lunch time we found ourselves in front of chez gaby and so we bought some frites for lunch and then headed on home for lunch. We ate and then had to pack our bags so that we could go and catch our trains for exchanges tonight and tomorrow. We left and caught out train and then headed in to Nivelles for the night. We got in at about 4 and then headed to their apartment where we planned and ate and then we went out and worked for the rest of the night. Me and elder McDonald went out and ported and we taught this one old lady that told us we could come back if we really wanted to and that we would be lucky if we caught her at home again. So anyway, we then came home. It was fun cause we were laughing and talking all night. He's getting me really excited for college. It's gonna be so much fun up in Logan I'm so excited!! We got home and we pulled out monopoly deal and let me tell you one thing! It had been FOREVER since I played that game!! It was so much fun to play again.

MERCREDI

Well I'm gonna be straight up honest, today was kind of a waste...we got to help some members out with service, but do you remember that time in Dunkerque that me and elder Sorensen went to go and help that one member out in the booneys on her farm with some service? And we got there at like 10 and the next bus didn't pass until 4 and when we got there she pretty much just locked us in her house and held us hostage for the day and we watched movies cause her husband didn't want to do the work that day??? Today was kind of like that haha. But we did get to do some service. So anyway let me explain! We woke up today and got all ready and had our studies and then we all went out and then met up for lunch at this really good friterie and kebab shop and ate lunch there. We then went and got all our stuff and hopped in the car and went and made our way to this members house cause he was moving a few blocks down the street with his non-member wife and they needed help moving some boxes. The missionaries in Nivelles have a car and there are 4 missionaries there and so we thought that it would be easy to get all those boxes moved with a lot of missionaries. We were right, things went fast, but when the car would leave to take a load, the wife would just tell us to sit down and wait for the car to come back til we start finding new stuff to load...so we were just sitting and watching Storage Wars and Shipping Wars on the History channel and it reminded me so much of dad. Haha I remember sitting at home watching those with him. It was a fun little reminder. So anyway after we'd finished all the moving, I thought we'd be leaving! But you'd think as a missionary I'd learn...haha they decided to feed us and to keep us ALL afternoon haha. We sat there and at all this homemade pizza that she was in the kitchen cooking up and he turned the TV back on and turned on this special about gangs in the US and we all just sat there and ate and watched this TV series..haha not gonna lie, I was waiting for the lightning to strike on us. But anyway I motioned to elder McDonald that we should get going and so he told them and we went and got in the car and headed home. We got home and figured out when our train left and then me and elder Nelson left and made our way home back to Namur EN FIN! We then headed to a members house cause we had been invited to go and celebrate Soeur Chung's birthday with everyone, and to be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to it....but I'm so glad we went cause the spirit that was there while we shared the spiritual thought was so amazing! We got there and ate and had fun and then we pulled up the new video that the church made for Easter called #hallelujah or something like that. I hadn't seen it yet but when I watched it, this HUGE feeling of peace came over me. It was incredible. Like it talks about finding a new life through Christ and how it's possible cause he died for us and I was just watching it like wow....haha it was really great! I can't really describe it, but I felt the spirit in a way that I hadn't felt EVER before and it was incredible. So anyway that made the sacrifice of going to the birthday party doable;)

JEUDI

Today's zone conference was good haha not going to lie, I've had better but like even still it was good. We'd heard about this zone conference all transfer cause this transfer is a 'finding' transfer and so I had my hopes up really big for this huge and amazing zone conference, but it was just eh...haha so anyway we got up and out of the apartment really fast this morning cause we needed to catch the train into Brussels and so we did that and got in at a decent hour. We then went and met up with all the missionaries in the gare and then headed out to the chapel. When we got there President and Soeur Babin were already there waiting for all of us and so we went and got into the chapel and we started the conference. But before we headed in, the phone started to ring and it was the office and I answered and it was Soeur Redd. she was just calling to check in and tell me hello and that she and her husband had been thinking and praying for my family and me and that she wanted me to know that even though they are leaving next week, she loved me and that they will definitely be coming to see me when I get home!:) I love those 2 so much!!!! So anyway we had conference and I actually really liked the formation that we were given by the sisters that talked all about having faith in finding and how if we don't show or have any faith, nothing really is going to happen. So that one was good. The APs also talked about being confident and really showing the desire to be there to find. They talked about not being robots cause obviously we are teaching people haha then Soeur Babin talked about the importance of finding time to teach at EVERY moment and I realized how bad I am at that....I need to get better at talking to people on the bus haha. President also talked more about this plan that he has announced before about our friends being your friends. It was alright, but I think I was expecting more. Then we went to eat and during lunch, these 2 sisters were telling the funniest story I think I've ever heard and so I'm going to tell you. Apparently they went to teach these African investigators they had and when they got there, one of them offered to pray to start them out and she was all of course! So he started to pray and in the middle of his prayer he goes, 'kisses to Jesus!' And the whole family, all at once, makes kissy sounds aimed heavenward hahaha!!!!! And then the best part is that she said that she was in the middle of the lesson and she shared something that the man really liked and he goes, 'that is amazing. Kisses to Jesus!! You give kisses to Jesus!' So she was all uhhh and then made the kissy sounds and aimed them up to the sky! I literally couldn't stop laughing and as I'm typing this, I'm again laughing hard hahah anyway. Soeur Babin came up to me and asked me how my family was doing and if I had news on my dad to which I replied, 'hey wait. I don't have news haha. I hope he's doing ok.' It took me til Thursday afternoon to realize that I had not heard ANYTHING all week from my family haha so I was like ya I hope they are ok, they're being pretty quiet haha. I was also supposed to have a little interview with president Babin but it didn't work out. He's quite a busy man. So we then left and made our way to the gare to be able to catch a train home to Namur. We got home and hurried and went and got our stuff and headed to E&C's for the night. We went and got dinner at this one restaurant not too far from their house and then went home and talked a little bit about a few questions they had and finished up the baptismal program. It went well! We also found out that they'd been searching on the gospel library application and they found the Gospel Principles Manuel and they've been reading from that and studying out of that! They are literally amazing.

VENDREDI

Today went by pretty well. I honestly love my time in Namur. It's such a great ville and I am so excited to come back after my mission to see all the members and hang out with them and go on adventures in this place. I honestly just love it here! We woke up this morning and got ready and had studies and then we went out contacting and ,are our way to lunch with Patrick. Today the pasta was super good! And plus it's always fun to be able to spend some time with patch. So we are and talked and while we were talking, I realized that today marked 4 1/2 months until I go home....haha it's so crazy how fast time is going! I told Nelson, it feels like yesterday I was saying that I still had 6 months left....haha it's crazy. So anyway after lunch with Patrick we went and we tried to go and see Virginie and Esaïe cause it had been a while since we've heard from them and we'd tried to stop by their house a few times too, but every time we did, and including today, they didn't answer....so I tried on the phone and they didn't answer there either. So that was a bummer. We decided to run home and grab my bus pass and then head to the church so that we could go and print off one baptismal program just to show E&C how it would look like tonight and then turn on the water heater cause we need warm water for the baptism haha. So we got up and turned on the computer and then printed off the program and then got going cause we wanted to go and see the one lady that lives just right next to the church that we met a few weeks ago. Do you all remember her?? The one who's husband told us she was too timid to tell us no? And then she told him that she was? We wanted to go and see her and invite her to the baptism. So we went and stopped by her house and she answered and took the invitation and said she would try to come! And she said she would bring her kids! So we'll see. We then went and caught our bus home and as soon as we sat down to weekly plan, we realized.....WE FORGOT TO TURN ON THE HOT WATER. AH. So we finished up with our planning and got everything ready for this week and then we went and headed back up to the church to turn on the hot water...I was kinda mad at myself for not remembering when we were there the first time. But when we finished we decided that we'd go and stop by this other lady that we met porting a few weeks ago and invite her to the baptism as well. So we got to her house and she straight up told us no that she wouldn't be coming...so we just decided that we were grateful that she was nice enough to be honest with us? Haha! After that we headed home and took a little bit of time for some dinner and then we went and headed to Emmanuel and Claudette's for the night where we watched the restoration video. Yannick was laying on the couch and I know that he doesn't like to be left alone and he'd just woken up from an all day nap and so I knew he'd be a little fussy, so right before we started the movie, I went and sat down next to him and sat and played with him and then they started the movie. He started to get a little fussy and so I picked him up and started walking around with him and just said a quick prayer saying, 'Heavenly father please keep him quiet just til the end of the movie!' And right after I said that, he stopped fussing and was just chill in my arms for the rest of the movie. It was awesome! It was a cool little answer to prayer.

SAMEDI

Well today we were SO DANG BUSY. Haha we were literally running all day long, about halfway through I asked myself if I had even breathed today haha! So like we didn't do a ton but what we did took a lot of time, haha it was good though. We woke up and we got some studies out of the way. We then had to get going cause we had planned to meet with these one members that the missionaries apparently went to go and meet with often. She is active but he isn't...so something else you need to know is that in FRANCE when you speak French, 'petit-déjeuner' means breakfast, 'déjeuner' means lunch and 'dîner' means dinner. In BELGIUM when you speak French, 'déjeuner' means breakfast, 'dîner' means lunch and 'souper' means dinner.....so when these members suggested that we 'déjeuner' together, I thought they just meant lunch....but when we got to the gare and the train made us 45 minutes late to their house cause it was late, they were a little bugged to be eating breakfast at 12. Lol. Whoops;) my bad. So anyway they had invited us over cause they love the missionaries and they are a little less active and they are a younger couple and they wanted to say goodbye one last time to elder Nelson. As we were getting ready to leave, they told us that they want us to come with them next Saturday to the zoo cause apparently this zoo is like the best zoo in the world haha so that is going to be fun! When we left, the train was again late coming in and so we were again even later getting into Namur....haha we had to go and buy some chocolate for tonight cause e&c wanted to make cookies for the baptism tomorrow and so we went and bought that and then we headed out to catch a bus to underwear man's house! Haha we got out there and you'll never guess what? He was in his underwear again;) haha he let us in and he told us his wife would be home soon and that she'd gone into town to do some shopping. So we started teaching him the rest of the restoration and it was going well! We almost had finished the Book of Mormon when his wife walked in and so we finished and then went all the way back so that we could explain it all to her as well. They told us that they were grateful we took time to come and see them cause it feels 'good' to be able to talk to people like this;) #spirit! We asked them to come to the baptism but they told us that they already had plans made and that it wouldn't be possible. After our rdv with them, we needed to go up to the church to clean it cause none of the members had been up there to clean it...so we got up there and hurried and cleaned up that chapel like you wouldn't believe! It's crazy what 2 elders can do in 30 minutes to a dirty church. I had never seen it cleaner;) haha no just kidding. But, I do remember a quote from Joseph Smith saying, 'Nothing but the best for the Lord. *Unless you have a bus in 30 minutes. Then whatever you can do it great!* so we cleaned and then ran out to catch our bus home so that we could get home and grab stuff for the cookies and then head out to E&Cs house for the night. They had made us dinner and so we ate and then made cookies and then we rehearsed the baptism a few times cause they were both a little worried that they weren't going to be able to do it right;) Claudette told me that I had better do it right the first time cause she didn't want to do it a second time and be all embarrassed!;) she also said that the water better be warm;)

DIMANCHE

Today was so dang fun!! The baptism went great, I know that's like the only question that you guys are asking haha it was really good and Emmanuel and Claudette were just so happy all day long. They bore their testimonies during the program and it was so dang cool to hear their stories from them instead of just knowing, now we've heard it and know what they really have a testimony on and all. It was a great day:) we woke up and I had to finish up the cookies and get all done that we hadn't done last night and then we headed out to catch the bus and then got up to the chapel and then all the members started to show up. We didn't have a ton of members there today cause apparently there is like this huge nasty death wish going around and it's affecting everyone and their dog and so it was just a smaller amount of people today. So we had some good meetings and things were going well and then me and Nelson went and started to fill up the baptismal font and the water was SO hot that it was steaming up everywhere and I was getting a little worried but they all told me to just let it go. So we let it fill up and then we went and ate with all the members and when it was time us and Emmanuel and Claudette went and changed into our white clothes and it was so cool to see them in all white!!!! I am so excited for them to go to the temple!!!!! As they walked out of the bathroom I was just kind of breath taken and I just started to take selfies cause it was just special. We went into the chapel and started up the program and had some talks and all that fun stuff and then we headed out to the font and we took some pics and then I walked down into the font and as soon as I stepped in, the water was FREEZING!! I must just have bad luck when it comes to things like that.....what a bummer. So we got in and Claudette just looks at me and goes, YOU SAID IT WOULD BE WARM! So that was funny.....so I baptized Claudette and then Nelson got in and baptized Emmanuel and it was so funny cause Emmanuel just FLOPPED right down into the font that it made this HUGE splash and then Nelson like pretty much lost control of him and so they both kind of like flopped down into the font haha!! It was super cool to me to watch the members cause in all the baptisms that I've watched in my life it's just the little kids that come up and watch the baptism, but today I noticed that EVERYONE, old and young, fat and skinny came up to the font and stood there to watch them get baptized. It was a special moment! We then went in and changed and then passed out their scriptures that we had bought them and then they bore their testimonies and it was super cool;) I really love these 2!!! They were saying how it was all thanks to the plan of salvation that they knew what they needed to do and they knew that all this was true. It was powerful:) then we finished up and they gave us a ride home. Compared to the baptism and all that happened today at church the rest of the day is really dumb haha! We came home and changed and ate some lunch and then went out and did some porting to end the night. It wasn't too crazy today, only like 5 people answered their doors and then we needed to come home and make a progression sheet for Chung for tomorrow. So we did that. I am currently writing this at 10:15 PM and we just got an 'African' call from Emmanuel and Claudette. That is missionary term for: an African with no credit tried to call you so they beep you on the phone so that it shows you have a missed call and then you call them back so that the call costs YOU money and not them;) lol it happens all the time! But anyway I called them back and Claudette answered and said, 'hi!! The reason I beeped you is cause I wanted to talk, but I thought you'd be in bed and so I beeped you and said if you call me back you're awake but if not then we were in bed!' Lol so they just wanted to talk and see how we were doing;) they are too great. Claudette just told me that even though the water was freezing, as soon as she got out of the water, she had a burning in her that made her warm! Haha she is too funny. I love them.

Et bien! C'est vrai que cette semaine, nous étions pressé! Mais c'était bien satisfaisant!!! Je suis très reconnaissant d'être ici avec mes amis qui s'approchent près de notre père. Quand vous voyez quelqu'un qui décide de changer leur vie pour le meilleur, il n'y a pas les mots qui peuvent l'expliquer. Ça nous change. Ça nous donne l'envie de nous améliorer. Ce n'est pas facile, mais les récompenses vaut la peine! Pour les gens entre vous qui veulent faire une mission, je vous encourage à suivre les directifs de NIKE, 'JUST DO IT.' J'espère que vous sachiez combien je vous aime et combien je suis reconnaissant pour vous, vos prières et votre aide envers ma famille et moi. Merci infiniment. Je vous aime:) à la prochaine!!!! (Well! It is true that this week we were in a hurry! But it was satisfactory !!! I am very grateful to be here with my friends who will come near our father. When you see someone who decides to change their lives for the better, there are no words that can explain it. It changes each of us. It gives us the desire to improve. It's not easy, but the rewards are worth it! For those of you who want to serve a mission, I encourage you to follow the directive of NIKE, 'JUST DO IT.' I hope you know how much I love you and how grateful I am for you, your prayers and your help to my family and me. Thank you so much. :) I love you! See you!!!!)

 

Elder Libby

 

          

WEEK 82

SALUT TOUT LE MONDE!!!! Comment ça va?? Premièrement, je voulais vous dire que le printemps ARRIVE!!!! Le soleil sort chaque journée et on peut presque sortir sans une veste. C'est merveilleux! J'ai oublié combien que j'aime le printemps. En tout cas, je suis heureux:) ma semaine c'était très bien! Avec beaucoup des expériences qui m'aide à grandir, et je suis reconnaissant pour chaque occasion que mon père céleste me donne pour changer et m'améliorer. Merci pour vos prières envers ma famille et moi. Je peux dire que je les ai ressenti et je sais que j'ai l'aide d'en haut. Merci pour votre foi et pour votre désire d'aider ma famille pendant cette période de la vie. Et, juste pour vous dire, vous avez tous un bonjour d'Emmanuel et Claudette:) ils vous aiment et ils sont reconnaissant pour vos prières et pensées:)  (Hello world!!! How is it going?? First, I wanted to tell you that spring is coming! The sun comes out every day and you can almost get out without a jacket. It is wonderful! I forgot how much I love spring. In any case, I'm happy :) my week was very well! With a lot of experiences that help me grow, and I am grateful for every opportunity that my Heavenly Father gives me to change and improve myself. Thank you for your prayers for my family and me. I can say that I've felt them and I know that I have the help from above. Thank you for your faith and for your desire to help my family during this period of life. And, just to tell you, you have all a Hello from Emmanuel and Claudette :) they like you and are grateful for your prayers and thoughts :)

LUNDI SOIR

So after emailing today, we went home and changed and then headed back to the church to have our family home evening and our weekly meeting with the ward mission leader. Tonight we had a lesson given to us by Soeur Mazy on building a celestial home. She told us that she had felt inspired to do something like that because Emmanuel and Claudette are getting close to doing that. Haha it was really good. Claudette was also asking me all about my family asking how they were doing and all that. She is pretty worried about them all and she told me to not give up. She keeps telling me to be strong cause she knows that everything is going to work out. It was a good family night. I love this ward!

MARDI

Today went by pretty smoothly. Haha there were only a few bumps in the road. First off, I wanna share something funny that happened. So last night the phone started ringing in the middle of the night. I thought it was the alarm, cause when I got over to turn it off, I touched the phone and it stopped ringing. So I thought it was the 6:20 alarm, cause we have one that goes off at 6:20 and one at 6:30. So I opened the curtains and then went and hopped into bed and waited for the second alarm. Anyway when I woke back up I thought to myself, 'it feels like it's been hours since the alarm went off!' So I looked at my iPad and it was 5:55 and I was like what?! So I got up to look at the phone and turns out that some blocked number had called us at 12:30 AM and that was what woke me up last night haha. So that was funny. Anywho, today we had district meeting and so when we woke up we got out the door to catch our train. The normal train that we were supposed to take was canceled and so we had to take another into Brussels and then to the little town of some elders in the district named Braine l'Alleud. We started off the day with some contacting and it went well. Haha no one really wanted to talk to us, and so me and Nelson were just walking around all morning trying to teach people. Then we went and got back to their apartment for the actual district meeting. Today we had a formation given on the importance of planning and being prepared to teach. It was really good, and made me realize that we always have to prepare for the lessons we are going to teach cause honestly no lesson that we ever teach is ever going to be the same, cause everyone that we teach is different. So it was really good! Then we ate and that honestly took forever cause they made home made 'kebabs' but they weren't all that good and so it just took forever but they weren't too good. I'd definitely rather go to the shop and get one;) haha so anyway we were waiting for a long time to eat and then we ate and while we were eating we were watching a bunch of these funny videos that this kid in the district found on the gospel library app. Haha and let me tell you, the church makes some really funny videos! Anyway when the lunch had finally been made, eaten and cleaned up, it was already time for me and Nelson to go back to the gare to catch our train to make it home for our lesson with Emmanuel and Claudette tonight. We got home and hurried and planned for our lesson, cause we didn't have any time this morning and then headed out the door to meet up with Frere Istace who was going to be helping us out with our lesson tonight. We taught them the priesthood and its auxiliaries, missionary work and service and we had a super good rdv with them and the next time we meet with them we will finish all the lessons and they will be ready for baptism!!!!!!! HALLELUJAH! Lol anyway we had a great rdv and there were no problems haha thankfully;)

MERCREDI

Today went by pretty well. My mind has been running all over the place lately, but I think today I woke up and things just seemed to be normal. I don't know haha I feel like everything might have just felt like they were there and I just had to deal with it. So anyway it was good. So I got up and we had our studies and I'm getting so close to the end of alma haha! It honestly just feels like you get to the end of alma in the Book of Mormon and you're gonna be able to finish it;) haha but I'm getting close!! After we'd finished up studies we headed out to go contacting. It went well this morning. It's kind of hard when everyone just shoves you off haha but whatever. It's a bummer but we have to ENDURE TO THE END. So we were contacting for what seemed like a really long time and then we went and got some frites for lunch. On the way in I checked my email and I had an email from mom telling me about the fast that they were doing to be having for dad tomorrow and I thought dang it! We have our rdv with Patrick tomorrow! So I finished up my frites and started a fast for the rest of today and the beginning of tomorrow. After we'd finished up with lunch, we went and we contacted again and taught this one Asian girl who seemed really interested in the restoration and the fact that we believe in modern day prophets and then when we asked if we could maybe meet again sometime she said no.....haha who does she think she is getting our hopes up like that and then nothing...? Lol jk anyway we then went and had to catch a bus up to the church cause we had fixed a *super sketchy* rdv with this potential haha it was like almost not even worth going because we knew she was going to not show up. But because we don't want to the ones ditching out on others, we went! And we were about 20 minutes early, and we left about 30 minutes after the rdv was supposed to be and tried calling her about 3 times....haha but that's ok. We win some and we lose some. So anyway when we left it was already time for dinner so we went in and Nelson ate while I just kind of sat around and played around on my iPad and whatnot. And then we wanted to go porting. So we went out and we caught a bus and while we were on the bus, I remembered that Pauline had told me that if we ever did a family fast that she wanted to know, and so as we got to the neighborhood, I called the Royers and I got to talk to Soeur Royer and Pauline and it was so good to talk to them. I seriously am so blessed to have people like them in my life. So anyway we ended the night by knocking out a whole neighborhood! Both figuratively and literally! Haha we taught 2 lessons but nothing too crazy, they both told us that there was no need to come back...so anyway, like we learned earlier, you win some and you lose some!

JEUDI

Today went by pretty speedily! Haha it wasn't too bad of a day. We saw some good success today. I honestly just love going to lunch with Patrick. It's honestly something that I look forward to each week. It's really good food and it's a really fun time with him. So it's always a good time when we get to be with patch;) haha today we were going to go running, but as I got up and was saying my morning prayers, I remembered that I was fasting and didn't want to go running and come home and be PARCHED for the rest of the morning and so I asked elder Nelson if we could postpone it for tomorrow haha. So we got up and we got all ready and got to studies and they went well. I'm trying my hardest to catch up in my French Book of Mormon, but I'm literally so far behind that it's going to take me FOREVER to catch up haha. I'll get there sooner or later. We got a buzz at the door today that was a package and so elder Nelson answered and the man never came upstairs and so we went down to see him and turns out that he just left and left us a slip that has my name on it and we have to go tomorrow to get it...so thanks to the person that sent me a package!!;) no just kidding, I think it's the Books of Mormon triple combinations for Emmanuel and Claudette for their baptisms that we ordered. But we'll see tomorrow when we can go and pick them up! We then went out and went contacting and made our way to the pasta place with Patrick! It was super funny cause we got there before him, but because we go every week, and we always get the same thing, the people know who we are and they know what we want. So we got there and we were waiting when someone that works there noticed us waiting outside and came and said hello and told us we should come in and get a table while we were waiting for 'the big boss' cause it was going to get busy soon, like it always does. Haha! Then we went and sat down and the cook looked up and saw us and yelled, '2 4-cheese pastas?!' Cause he only saw us 2 haha we told him we were waiting for Patrick and we'd be ordering soon. It was funny. When patch got there we ordered and ate and it went well. I really like spending time with him. Then we had the afternoon to work! So we went and we did some contacting and it went well. We talked to lots of people and taught a couple lessons and one of them looked promising. The only bummer is, when people say they'll give you a call, that always means, I'm gonna forget about you in about 3 minutes haha so that's a bummer. We also had planned to go and see Josiane today cause we didn't have time last week and she got up to hear her testimony this last Sunday and she said, 'I'm a little mad with the 2 young gentlemen cause they didn't come and see me this week.' Haha so we made it a point to try and see her this week. We went and met up with Chung at her place and knocked and.....no answer. Haha she wasn't there sadly....so we turned around and headed out to do more work. As we were talking, we realized that we hadn't even put together a baptismal program to show Emmanuel and Claudette how it would work out so we went to the church and hurriedly put together an example and then went and got some frites for dinner and then went and met up with the Mazy's and finished up our lessons with Emmanuel and Claudette!! The spirit was SO strong tonight as we talked about the temple and marriage and had Frere Mazy, who is a temple sealer, explain his calling and talk about sealings and it was just an amazing night! They cannot wait to go to the temple and be sealed as a family!! I am so excited for them!

VENDREDI

Today was a good day as well. Thankfully I didn't get a phone call from home today;) I just got a lot of pictures. Haha we had a day full of weekly planning, but today during weekly planning we planned a ton for the district meeting that was going to be in Namur, not next week, but the week after and we got a TON planned to have 10 missionaries here:) we're gonna get so many new investigators it's not even funny!! We're gonna rock it. So anyway today we got up and had studies and then we went to go and get those packages that we missed yesterday. One of them was from Julie Jorgensen, Jorgy's mom!!!! It was so nice of her!!! And the other was Emmanuel and Claudette's triple combinations and so I was double happy! And then when we got mail today, the next little part of our order from the mission came and so I had a total of 4 packages that were addressed to me come today!!! Don't worry we got pics;) we then went out and did some contacting and contacted this one girl that was super cool!! She was super nice, from Slovenia and didn't speak a ton of French, but she did speak English and we are going to try and call her next week. It was super cool to talk to someone that cool;) we came in and took lunch and then planned for the week. It was so weird cause this week we had a BAPTISM to plan for! Haha we made lots of calls to different members and stuff and it was really good. We think we have everything planned out and we hope that all is going to work out. Apparently during the last baptism here the water was FREEZING. Haha does that remind you of anything?! Hahaha so we think we got everything figured out for that. We also planned for the district meeting that will be here and thought of all the different areas that we could send companionships and we found some old investigator papers that we are going to give them as they go out and go contacting and we found 5 areas that people could go out to go porting for the night. It is going to be awesome!:) anyway as soon as we figured that out, we took dinner and then we went to our rdv with Emmanuel and Claudette. Today was really chill with them. We just went over to their place and filled out their baptismal records and then watched legacy with them cause they had asked a few weeks ago if there was a movie about the early saints that explains a little bit about their stories and so we told them when we finished the lessons we could watch it;) it was fun. Claudette had predicted the whole movie, except for at the end, when David Walker goes away to war, she guessed he would die and when he comes back *SORRY FOR THE SPOILER IF NO ONE HAS SEEN IT:/* Emmanuel looked at her and said, 'haha! Look you're not God anymore. You didn't see that coming did you?!' Lol it was fun.

SAMEDI

Today went by pretty well....except for the fact that I had absolutely no motivation to work....I have no idea why either...I felt really bad at the end of the day, but like honestly that's just how it was. All I wanted to do was stay in the apartment....I know. #badmissionary anyway. We woke up this morning and we got to studies and halfway through companionship study, we got a call from a member telling us that she was in downtown Namur this morning and that she wanted to take us to get some drinks this morning. So we told her we'd meet her at the gare and that we would love to go and get some hot chocolates or something! So we went out and contacted our way to the gare and met up with her and she bought me a Coke and elder Nelson a hot chocolate and we talked with her for a good half hour at least before she needed to catch her train home. So that was super nice on her part. Anyway we then went and did some contacting til we went in for lunch. So we ate and then we headed back out and went contacting and talked to this one guy who was in the army here in Namur and he was telling us how he might call us one time cause he wasn't sure about anything and he was always posing questions and he might want to learn more. For those of you who don't know, that is the perfect time to talk to someone! When they are posing questions, that is when it's perfect to teach them. So if you know anyone who is struggling with some things in life, or maybe has questions, ASK THEM IF THEY WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THE GOSPEL:) don't be afraid. Something else that I've learned on my mission is that the WORST thing they can do is: Say no. Haha so don't be afraid to share with others. Anyway we then had a rdv fixed with Whitey Tidy man and his wife;) haha their names are the Pesesse's, and so we headed out to their house and their son answered the door saying that his parents wanted to call us, but they couldn't find our card and so they told him to tell us next week at the same time. So we then hopped on the bus and headed out to this one neighborhood we thought might be a good area for work, but when we got their we just saw that it was a neighborhood with houses and apartment buildings. So we knocked a few doors while waiting for the bus and then went back down to downtown for the rest of the afternoon. We then came in and took dinner and then went and ported to finish up for the night. It was a good night. We'd been to an area that we'd never been to and taught one lady on her doorstep and she told us that we could come back in a couple months if we wanted.

DIMANCHE

TODAY WAS AMAZING. Honestly it was such a good Sunday. I ABSOLUTELY love Elder Kearon and his wife. We had a special stake conference today with them as the guest speakers and it was so good to hear from them. They honestly spoke directly to me. Especially sister Kearon. They were honestly just incredible today. But something else that made this day special was the fact that Emmanuel and Claudette passed their baptismal interviews!!!!!!!! THEY ARE GETTING BAPTIZED NEXT WEEK!!! We are all so excited!! So anyway to start off the day we got up and out to E&Cs so that we could all head up to Brussels for the day. We got up to Brussels and into the chapel and the Mazy's were there and had saved a couple benches for us all right up front in front of the stage. So we were front and center of everyone;) we were saying hello to everyone and meeting new people and all of the sudden Elder Kearon showed up right next to me and said, 'ELDER! How are you?! It's been a while!' Haha I love that man! He then went around to say hello to everyone that was around me and when he got to Emmanuel and Claudette I told him that they were our investigators that were getting baptized next week and he goes, 'Terrific!' Just imagine a really nice and proper English man saying that. I love his accent! Haha anyway the messages started and sister Kearon got up and talked about the trials in life and how we can get over them and how sometimes Heavenly Father sends us trials so that we stretch and grow and that we get them because our Heavenly Father knows that we need the experience. She said that sometimes it is hard to accept the plan of God, but she said that when we are thankful and happy, it's impossible for our brain to worry. She encouraged us all to focus on the gratitude that we have in life and to not worry because God's plan is perfect. I absolutely loved that. Then we stood up to sing the intermediate hymn and I was looking down at my iPad looking at the lyrics for the song and all of the sudden, out of no where, someone was right by my side, with their arm wrapped around me, and their cheek touching my cheek and I heard the words in my ear, 'what are your investigators names that are getting baptized next week?' I then noticed that it was Elder Kearon that came down from the stand to ask me haha! So I told him and he said thank you and then went back up. During his talk he talked about the importance of knowing the greatness of God's plan and always being willing to learn more and being like new members of the church like Emmanuel and Claudette. He mentioned them over the pulpit and it was great. They were just smiling!! It was an incredible conference and the spirit was so strong. We then finished and were talking to everyone and I wanted Elder and Sister Kearon to come and say hello to Emmanuel and Claudette again cause I thought it was super cool how he mentioned them in his talk, so I went and told them thank you for their talks and that they really touched me and then invited them over to say hello to Emmanuel and Claudette and they came and it was tender. Claudette told us on the way home that when she hugged Sister Kearon that is was so special to her and she'd never forget that. As we were standing there with the Kearon's I looked at Sister Kearon and told her thank you so much for her talk and that it touched me and then told her about my dad and how I got a call from home last week and told her what was going on and she said, 'Elder, I promise you I'll be praying for him. Everything will be ok. You can grow closer to the savior through this and don't lose your faith. We all know this is a test for you and your faith to grow.' She then grabbed Elder Kearon and they both then told me to let this experience help me grow closer to the Lord. It was tender. Elder Kearon then gave me his email and told me to email him if I ever needed to, not just for fun;) he also told me to not go sharing it with everyone, so sorry, IM BFFs WITH A GENERAL AUTHORITY;) we have emails and everything. I guess you could say things are pretty serious;) #namethemovie as they were walking out, Sister Kearon came and grabbed my hand and told me she loved me and she would be praying for my family and that everything will be ok. I then looked out the door and through a crowd of people, I could see Elder Kearon's face with a thumbs up and a smile. It was an amazing conference! Then Emmanuel and Claudette went for their interviews and Elder and Sister Norby helped me to find some baptismal clothing. Jumpsuits are so much more convenient than dresses and stuff haha! After they'd finished and passed the interviews, we went and took a couple pictures cause they want a picture of all of us to be on the front of their baptismal program;) it's cute:) so then we got in the car and headed home for the day and when we got home, me and Nelson took lunch and then we went out to work. We had a dinner appt with some members tonight and so we went and looked at bus times and then contacted until we had to go. When we got to the Halushka's we ate and had a really fun night with them. They are such a fun family. We shared 'Is It Still Wonderful to You?' And had a really great message and spirit was so strong!

Eh bien. C'est ça! J'ai que 20 semaines qui restent en mission. C'est bizarre, mais ce matin, lorsque j'étais en train de penser ça, je me suis dit que je peux ressentir que c'est presque fini. Je me disais que pendant ces 20 semaines je dois suivre les conseils dans ma bénédiction patriarcale et 'garder les commandements et apprendre de la vie du Sauveur pour apprendre de son véracité.' Je sais qu'il veut que nous nous rapprochons vers lui pendant les temps difficile. Il veut, et il peut nous aider. Je vous souhaite une bonne semaine!!! Continuez d'envoyer les prières et mails!;) JE VOUS AIME!!  (Well. That's it! I have 20 weeks which remain in my mission. It's weird, but this morning, when I was trying to think of it, I said to myself, "I can feel that it is almost finished." I told myself that during these 20 weeks I must follow the advice in my patriarchal blessing and 'keep the commandments and learn from the life of the Savior to learn its truth.' I know he wants us to come closer to him during difficult times. He wants it, and he can help us. I wish you a good week! Continue to send emails and prayers! ;) I LOVE YOU!

Elder Libby

 

 

WEEK 81

Bonjour tout le monde! Vous avez tous un bonjour d'un mec a Belgique! Haha cette semaine c'était bizarre haha. Je n'aime pas recevoir les appels de chez moi pendant que je suis en mission. Ça me semble que chaque fois, ça m'amène les mauvais nouvelles. Mais c'est vrai que nous ne pouvons pas grandir sans les épreuves. Mais bon. C'est la vie eh? Fin bref. Mais autrement, je vais bien. Voici ma semaine!  (Hello everyone! It's a Hello from a guy in Belgium! Haha this week it was weird haha. I do not always receive calls from home while I'm on my mission. It seems to me every time I do, it brings me bad news. But it is true that we cannot grow without tests. So good is life eh? End gloom; otherwise, I'm fine. Here's my week!)

LUNDI SOIR

Well tonight family home evening was really good!! Again, Emmanuel had school tonight and so he couldn't come, but the Mazy's went and got Claudette and she came with Yannick! So we were there and we were all playing ping pong and then we had a lesson given on Coming to Christ. It went really well! We talked about the importance of having Christ as the LIGHT the LIFE and the WAY:) it was a really good lesson. Then we ate all the snacks and then we got a ride home with Emmanuel and Claudette. When we got home we went to make our dessert for lunch tomorrow and came to find that we didn't have a 9x13 pan to put the crumble into....so we had to call around to other missionaries and try to find one....haha that was fun.

MARDI

Today was a good day. We had district meeting and the new way we do district meeting is really fun! Haha today we had district meeting in Charleroi and honestly it's just kind of a gloomy ville. I'm super happy to be here in Namur! Haha so this morning and got all ready and got all the stuff that we needed for our crumble and then headed out. The last time we were with the district leader, we forgot to have him buy our train passes with his mission card and so we didn't have any train tickets and so we had to go early today and buy tickets with our own money haha which isn't a problem, we just need to send in some reimbursements now. So we got into Charleroi and we waited for the district leader and may or may not have snagged some Gaufres while waiting;) we then hopped on the tram and headed to the elders apartment. We had to take a super long tram ride....haha but we got there and then we got assignments for the day and were told to be at the church to eat at 12:30. Then me and elder McDonald were put together again and we were assigned to go and take all the food to the chapel, which was also a SUPER long tram ride haha. By the time we had gotten to the chapel, we had gotten a call from some of the other elders who were a little late getting there who had food to drop off but they didn't know how to get there and so they called and asked us to go meet up with them. We went and found them and when we got to the church, we had 30 minutes left and we still needed to make the crumble...so we just stayed there and I started to peel apples and get the crumble ready! We then started district meeting and had a formation given to us on unity and elder McDonald had blind folded me and another elder and given us each a task to do while blind folded and sorting food but we didn't know each other's tasks. So we really messed up a lot haha then we are food and laughed and talked and had a fun time and then we were going to go out to work, but we found out that it takes a lot longer to get to the gare from their chapel and so we had to leave after that to be able to get to the gare to catch a train home and get home on time. Literally we were on the tram to the gare for 45 minutes. Ah! But as soon as we got to the gare, we had 3 minutes before our train left and so we ran and hopped on and got home. When we got home we came in and dropped off our stuff, and took dinner cause we had a rdv with Emmanuel and Claudette that was going to take up the rest of the night. While we were taking dinner, elder Nelson took some pics of me trying on my new jeans haha I'm excited to wear them! We then went to go and get to our rdv with Emmanuel and Claudette. It was a great rdv!! We talked about prayer and scripture study and it went really well. They are getting super excited about getting baptized!!:) after that we made our way home for the night.

MERCREDI

Today was fun!! Haha it was really bizarre but it was good. We had a good day. So on Sunday we had talked to the Paulus family and asked them if we could go over for dinner sometime this week and they were like ya how about Thursday and so we were like ok, but then today we were getting ready this morning and got a text from Pierrot and he was asking us if we could come over tonight, but we were supposed to have a rdv tonight and so he was like ok we'll have to do it next week then... So I was bummed but whatever. We then went and studied and then we went and contacted this morning. We had to run to the church to download a Mormon message that we wanted to share with the Badoux's because we were having lunch with them today and so we needed to get a little thought ready. So after headed over to their house and we ate. It was a fun time and I'm really grateful for good members who really like to take care of the missionaries. It is always a fun time to go and spend some time with some members. So anyway, we were eating and they were telling us all about how they wanted to take us out to some new places to visit on Pdays and so we are going to be having fun with them cause they really want to take us out to some really fun places!! I guess their is this little town out in the middle of nowhere with this cathedral type thing with like a statue of Satan and it's like legitimately scary and so they are super excited to take us to it? Haha it'll be fun! So anyway we shared the message of expressions of love with them and it was good, and then we bounced out of there. We decided to go and contact our way over to Virginie and Esaïe's place cause we hadn't fixed a date last week cause she was starting an internship this week and didn't know her schedule. So we went over and tried to see if they were home and they were and so we went up and talked and prayed and tried to start teaching them a little bit of the plan of salvation when their buzzer rang, and it was a friend that came up and started to get on their computer and being loud and after that Esaïe wasn't really paying attention and then the buzzer rang again and it was another friend haha.....so there was a ton of people in this little apartment and they were all talking to each other, me and Nelson were just sitting there and so we then left and fixed a rdv for Friday. We slowly made our way home for dinner and Nelson then told me that it was his 6 month mark! So we celebrated by getting frites and heading back to the apartment. We were eating when we got a text from the potential investigators that we were going to see tonight telling us it was canceled. So we called up Pierrot! He told us to come on over and we'd get pizza! Haha so we hopped on a train and headed out. It was a fun night! They had a pet chinchilla and so I got to hold it, and he showed us his new speaker system in his house and he's super excited to meet my family when we come and stay at his place when we come back;) it's going to be fun! When we got home, I got a call from Elder Pratt telling me that he had a dream of me last night and so he wanted to call and say hi haha. So that was fun to talk to him!

JEUDI

Today was a LONG day full of CONTACTING. Haha literally we spent 5 hours contacting today. It was a longggggg time. Normally we were supposed to have a rdv but it fell through at last minute and so that was a bummer.....but it was a super long day haha. But it had its good parts too. We started off with studies and then we went to lunch with Patrick!! This week he brought a friend from work with him and it was fun to get to know him. His friend is a 20 year old college student and is doing an internship at the place where Patrick works and so he invited him just to be nice! I think for the moment that his friend thinks we are kind of interesting for leaving everything behind and coming to talk to people about God haha but maybe it will turn in to something?? We never know! After we left and like I said, the rest of the afternoon was literally just full of non stop contacting. Haha like I honestly was so dead tired by the end of it and my feet hurt and I just wanted to climb into bed haha but Emmanuel and Claudette saved the day:) there isn't a ton to tell about contacting today. Honestly it was just kind of a bummer and there was really no one that stopped and talked to us, and when we were supposed to start making our way to our rdv, he texted us and told us that he needed to cancel so that just meant we needed to fill the time with more contacting until we could go in and take dinner. But it was good. We went on a couple roads that I had never been to before and so I'm just getting into the phase of exploring Namur eh;) so we went in for dinner and then the Mazy's came and picked us up and we headed over to Emmanuel and Claudette's. We taught the importance of being obedient tonight and then went over baptism and confirmation and then went over all the questions for their baptismal interview. We decided we'd cheat a little;) haha JK ITS NOT CHEATING. We are supposed to go over the questions so they know what to expect. As we were leaving, everyone had walked out and I went up to say goodbye to Claudette and said, You have to promise me one thing. PROMISE that you'll invite me to the temple when you guys go and get sealed. She looked at me and got a smile and a little teary eyed and said, would you really come?! It was so cute. These guys are gonna go to the temple!!

VENDREDI

Well tonight was the night that I got the news about dad. I don't think it's quite set in. I've been thinking a lot and praying a lot and reading the scriptures. Just trying to make it a reality. I don't know if it will be until I actually see him in person though. I am doing fine! I would ask you all to continue to pray for my dad. He needs the prayers more than me. Anyway. Today wasn't too special and I'm gonna be honest, it didn't end on that great of a note either haha. We woke up and had studies and then went out to go contacting. It was really windy and rainy and so there weren't a ton of people outside, so after about an hour of contacting we decided that it might be a better use of our time if we went inside and started to make calls from our potential investigator list. So for the last little bit we did that. We crossed lots of names out, but didn't get any rdvs set for this week....so that was a bummer. We then took lunch and then started weekly planning haha. So we were planning and getting all ready for the week and getting everything all planned for with Emmanuel and Claudette, (we are going to have finished all the lessons by the end of next week!!) and then we had to get going because we had fixed a rdv with Virginie and Esaïe. We got to their house and, just like every other time;), they had forgotten that we were coming and so they had to hurry and clean up their apartment and then we went in to talk. We were planning on sharing a lesson with them but we got too caught up in our conversation that by the time we wanted to start something, Esaïe had to leave and because of rules, we can't be alone with women haha so we left as well. We got home and finished up planning which didn't take too long, and so when we had finished we decided to go out and try to see that Belge couple that we found last week that were super cool, that canceled on us the other day. So we went out to their neighborhood and he answered and told us to text him later and we'd fix something and that they would come to church sometime soon. So we spent the rest of the night porting in that neighborhood and trying to find some new investigators, but nothing too amazing happened. When dinner came around we decided to go and get some frites and then head home for the night. I also decided to cut my hair and so as I was cutting my hair, I got the call from mom and dad and spent a good hour on the phone with them. I'm not upset, and I'm not confused, I just don't know if the fact that he actually has cancer has set in. But as I laid in bed tonight, (I like didn't sleep at all haha), I was thinking about how much that has been like that on my mission. As I thought about it, I realized that going home is gonna SUCK. haha! I'm not sure the fact that my sister is married has set in, or even the fact my grandpa passed away, so this is just adding to the 'dream' I call my mission. We'll see if I ever catch up to reality. So anyway, after I talked to my parents I called president Babin and I had an interview with him next week. So we'll see how that goes!

SAMEDI

Like I just said, I literally didn't sleep like at all last night. Too much was going on in my head, and I was just tossing and turning all night. I had gone through the whole grieving process steps 1-7 haha I've finally arrived at acceptance I believe haha I think my heart is at peace and I know things are in the Lords hands and I just need to get ready for that to set in some day. As I got up this morning I made a phone call to Jorgy. Haha he answered and I just started to cry and as I told him what was up he just listened and then everything got quiet and he goes, 'dude your mission sucks!' Haha we had a laugh and then he told me I could call whenever I needed to. So we went and studied and I'm actually in the Book of Mormon at the part in Alma talking all about faith, and how if we have great faith, it will help us through. During comp study the phone rang and I answered only to hear the voice of Pauline Royer! Haha we talked and she told me that if I ever needed anything that she was only 400km away;) haha then I spoke to Gilles and it was good to talk to them. They told me that they would be praying and fasting for my family. So anyway after we finished talking, we went out contacting and it was exactly like yesterday and there was a ton of rain and wind and so after about an hour we went inside and decided to make some phone calls for the rest of the time. We then ate some lunch and it was probably the most healthy thing I've eaten my whole mission!! Haha we made some chicken breasts with steamed vegetables and it was amazingly delicious haha! Then we went and had a rdv with the man and his wife from last week that answered the door in his Whitey tighties haha do you remember him?? When we showed up this time, he was in clothing so that was all the better. He smoked 3 cigarettes and drank 2 beers but it was a good rdv none the less. Just as we were about to get into Joseph smith, someone knocked on the door and it was some family friends and they asked if we could come back next week....BUMMER. So we are going to do that. We then had about 4 hours of straight contacting and so we set out to go and do that. We eventually had made our way to the chapel after a few hours and took a 20 minute break where I looked up a bunch of info on Lymphoma and tried to understand what is really going on at home haha. Then we contacted our way home so that we could fill out a few papers to have for church tomorrow. Then we made our way to E&Cs for the night. We had about 30 minutes before the Mazy's would be showing up and so Emmanuel wanted to play Mancala with us and he kicked my butt haha! Then we taught them about prophets and what they do and why we follow them and shared Thomas S Monson's last talk, Be an Example and a Light and it went really well. At the end of the lesson, I decided to tell all 4 of them what was going on cause I trust them and love them all. I asked them to keep it private and told them I told them cause I love them and that I wanted them to know what was going on in my life. They all told me some pretty great things but most importantly they told me that I needed to be strong and Emmanuel kept saying, 'everything will be ok. It will all work out.' When we got home I got a call from Soeur Redd and she told me she'd found out that she wanted to talk and that she and her husband loved me and they were here for me. She told me that she wants to try and see me once more before they leave, and so we'll see what we can do about that before the end of March;)

DIMANCHE

Sunday's are so great. And Heavenly Father knew that I needed a good sabbath day and a good experience at church this week. I got to church and saw a bunch of fun members and went into sacrament meeting and I was sitting there thinking about how this week was kind of like the world crumbling and I was just so overwhelmed but I was really trying to feel my Heavenly Father's love. As I was listening to the sacrament prayers, I noticed something that I really liked. The French translation of the sacramental prayers saying, 'That they WANT to take upon them the name of Thy son.' Whereas in English it says, 'that they are willing...' So as I was thinking about it, it hit me that partaking of the sacrament is something we really need to want to do and really need to try to be as worthy as we can when we take it, cause by taking it, we are really WANTING to take Christ's name upon us. And me being a missionary, I LITERALLY do that every day! So that was a cool little manifestation from my Heavenly Father. Nothing too crazy, but still, something that touched me:) the rest of our meetings were really good and then after we'd finished them up, Emmanuel and Claudette offered us a ride home. So we left and got home and ate. After we'd finished up our lunch, we got all dressed and ready and then headed out the door. We were supposed to have a rdv with Virginie and Esaïe. So we got to their house and rang the doorbell and called them a couple of times, but nothing happened....so that was really a bummer. So we got a little sad and then left and I looked at the phone and we had 5 hours of contacting and porting left......haha ya. I was a little depressed because that was a long time. But we went and did it. We talked to lots of interesting people including one man saying how he really didn't like how the USA sends people that try to change all these different cultures of different countries and that we should go back to the USA and worry about ourselves cause the Mormons needed to go back where we came from.....in GERMANY!! where did he hear we came from Germany?! And why does he want us to go back to the USA if he thinks we came from Germany?! Haha it was really interesting. Then we went out to this one area and went porting and it was FREEZING COLD. Honestly, I could not feel my hands after....it was so cold and all I had on was a light jacket, a scarf and my umbrella and it was pouring rain for most of the time as well....sadly nobody let us in so it was just a bunch of knocking on doors and talking tonight. We then came home and got all warmed up cause you have no idea how cold it was. I LITERALLY COULDN'T MOVE MY THUMBS....haha

Et voilà! Je vais vous dire tous, merci pour vos prières pour moi et ma famille. Je sais que lorsque je suis ici en mission il n'y a pas beaucoup que je peux faire. Je sais que cette épreuve c'est une preuve de ma foi. Nous allons survivre et tout va finir par s'arranger. Je vous demande de continuer à prier pour ma famille, notamment mon papa, car ils sont dans le besoin. C'est un peu rigolos parce que cette semaine, pendant notre planification hebdomadaire, j'ai fixé le but de me rapprocher au Seigneur. Haha je ne savais pas combien qu'il veut que nous atteindrons nos buts! Mais comme j'ai dit, nous allons survivre et tout ira bien. On se parlera bientôt:) je vous aime!!  (And voila! I'll tell you all, thanks for your prayers for me and my family. I know that when I'm here on a mission there is not much I can do. I know that this test is evidence of my faith. We are going to survive and everything will eventually work out. I ask you to continue to pray for my family, especially my dad, because they are in need. It is a little funny because this week, during our weekly schedule, I set the goal for me to get closer to the Lord. Haha I didn't know how much he desires that we will achieve our goals! But as I said, LIBBYS are going to survive and everything will be fine. We will talk soon :) I love you!)

Elder Libby