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 ...

WEEK 8- NEVER A BAD DAY IN FRANCE

BONJOUR TOUTE LE MONDE! Comment ça va? i cannot believe what a week it has been! i am so much better this week though...thank you for all the prayers and thoughts in my behalf! last week was hard but this week has been all the better and i just love it here in FRANCE!!! i also am just loving hearing from everyone that is getting mission calls and who is all leaving and all that! congrats to everyone!!! the work is going great! and missions are so amazing! well i guess i can tell you a little bit about my week:) it's been a good one so stay attentive..:) wow i'm weird k here we go!

TUESDAY

well i am like so stupid because monday night i left my journal at the Church after emails....so we went back to get it first thing and they had moved all the furniture out of the computer room (because the church is currently under a huge renovation, remember?) and so me and elder eldredge had to look around the whole church to find where they put my journal! ahhh but we found it and then we put some of his music on my usb so that i had some more! but then we had to go clean our apartment parce que we didn't get to yesterday...so we did that and then had to go to email the president. but we went to this place that had really slow and old internet service so we had to go to another place...ahh that took forever..but then it was time to head back to the apartment for the night.

WEDNESDAY ---- HAPPY 12TH BDAY BOWEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

how is that little fart already 12....ahh that blows my mind! today was one of the funnest days that i've had in france! i just loved it so much. it was exactly what i needed and i just felt at home and happy! it was such a good day! we had zone conference today, and in my zone, there are 4 blue's (they call green's blue's for some reason...) me, elder merrill, one of my good friends in the mtc!, SOEUR HUDSON!!!, one of my fellow district members at the mtc and one of my favorite people ever on this planet, and Elder Wilson, the one that Megan Bunch's sister told me to look for at the MTC. me and him are also pretty close! we just all talked and it was so good to just catch up with them...i just love them all so much! we had interviews with president and soeur babin! they went so well and i can tell that they really are like my parents while i am here. they are so nice and such inspired people! Soeur babin reminds me so much of Dearwyn...just so loving and she even looks a lot like her! then we had meetings and what not but then we had lunch..we got chinese! then we were all waiting for trains and final messages from the president and we got talking about lunch...turns out that we ate...DOG for lunch...i repented so no worries...i don't think i'll be eating chinese food in france anymore:( i thought it was CHICKEN! but nope it was fluffy from two doors down....i got my wallet and camera back today and good thing too cause.....WE WENT TO THE EIFFEL TOWER!!!!!!!!! HOLY COW. THAT THING IS HUMONGOUS! seriously think of how big you think it is, and its a billion times bigger haha so crazy! i got lots of pictures and i'll be sending them later today:) wow thats all that i can say...it is like almost majestic! but we accidentally missed our train back to metz so we had to wait and buy tickets for a new train...we look at lots of nice Swatches and i think i'm going to have to buy one:) along with shoes...i LOVE french shoes!!!

THURSDAY

Another good day! ahhh but who can have a bad day in france right? haha jk i had a few last week but they've just been getting better and better every day! i feel like today i really got really close with my companion and that's something i need right? i mean he's pretty much my wife for the next 6 weeks;) we went contacting for about an hour and talked to maybe 5 people and they all said no hah! but we had a meeting with the ward mission leader again this week so we went to that and got back around 5. we decided that we were going to make dinner and go get baguettes. then we went contacting again for the rest of the night and got two numbers! one was a fake number and the other lady won't answer her phone...but we keep trying!

FRIDAY

what a day! so the bishops wife called us last night and asked if we'd teach institute for her today...so we planned for a lesson in institute during study and then went contacting...just another day in paradise! if you consider paradise somewhere with no success:) but it's always fun to listen to how people reject us! ahaha. then we came back and started weekly planning and got a little off subject and ended up not finishing...oops! so we ate dinner and went off to our rendezvous avec Nora! it went really well but she told us again she's not really ready for baptism yet. she said she likes meeting with us and she likes talking with us but she doesn't know yet. she's such a cool lady. i hope things work out with her! then we taught our lesson at institute and it went pretty good! we talked about the 4th section of D&C and then went to print some things off the computer and then headed home for the night.

SATURDAY

today felt unproductive and slow but none the less it was good! we studied and had a lesson with our recent convert. like 2 weeks before i got here, but that went well. we asked her to bare her testimony and she said no but ya...other than that it was a good lesson! then we were supposed to meet someone at the church to help us prepare for our ward party we're having in a few weeks, but she never showed up...so i was playing the piano for a long time! but then we went to get kebabs. which are like a french hamburger...and fries! they're pretty good but i like american hamburgers better!:) haha then we went back and finished planning from yesterday, and went to teach a lesson to one of the other investigators. he suprised us with telling us that he didn't want to meet with us anymore...kind of a bummer but what can we do? then we went to the church to print off some stuff and when we got back, but watched 17 miracles. so it was a pretty good day!

SUNDAY

had my first sacrament meeting in france today! haha it was pretty good! met lots of nice ward members and the bishop! he's actually from utah so he speaks fluent english...what a relief! haha went to all three classes and might not have understood everything, but i definitely liked it! haha then we came back and went visiting a bunch of people in the ward and then contacting! then we came home for dinner and some studies and then we went porting! it was a fun day! porting is knocking doors...it's definitely different, but i like it! then we went home for the night,

well thank you everyone for all that you've done for me to get here! i love it here and i am doing great! i love chatting with all of you and can't wait for my pdays so that i can talk to you all! thanks for everything and i'll talk to you next week! au revoir! je vous aime!

Elder Libby