Week #96 - LAST WEEK IN FRANCE!!!!

Mommmmmmmmm!!!

Yeah, so I wrote Bobby and told him n stuff, so that'd be really cool.

And yeah, I already told everyone that knows Utah/America that I'm going straight from the aéroport to 5 Guys,

so I might have to hold that promise.  Also I learned that they are opening a 5 Guys in Paris, so that'll be dope. 

But anyway, yeah, we can go get some American eats, I'll pray about the destination all week.  I'll let you know

while I'm givin' you a hug :)

As far as sleeping, uhhhhhh...I DON'T KNOW.  Like, I'm really used to cold floors, like in Zach's room, but also 

carpet could be fun, and bein' wit' Sam again could be fun............uhhhhhhhh.....I don't wanna ruin Sam's bed, 

though.....here, you ask Sam what he wants, and we'll go with that.  If he doesn't mind destroying his bed to 

share a room with me, or if he would rather keep his bed and I'll sleep in Zach's room, ça me va.

Got a sexy blue suit at Soldes, so you'll be seeing that in a little.  Plus, it's kinda stretchy, too, so it's comfy to 

sit down in.  Mmmmmhmmm.  It's kinda the perfect suit, you'll have to see.  Also Elder Anderson and I bought 

the same one, so that'll be fun this sunday when we wear the same one :)

Let me tell you a few things about this week before I answer your last question(s).

I was on exchange with Elder Thompson starting monday night (where we taught the Polish guy on the street),

then we had pday, and that evening was the missionary meeting, so that's all we really did that day.  We did, 

however, talk to some of the guys at the suit place, and it was especially funny, cuz as I was explaining we were

Mormon, they were playing "I'm on top of the world" by Imagine Dragons, but I toooootes didn't even think 

about telling him they were Mormon till after we left.  So that was a bummer.  But the next day with Elder 

Thompson, we met up with a couple recent converts/less actives, one of whom we taught in front of Paul 

Cezanne's house (you can ask Zach about him, he'll probs know), and another that we ate kébabs with that 

evening.  Best kébab I've found in Aix, too, so that was cool.  We also met a really cool guy named Samatar 

from Djibouti, who came to our american cake night, even though he was doing Ramadan and couldn't eat 

the cakes till after he got home.  He's a real cool guy, and we're hoping to see him again soon.

Then on thursday we got to visit our recently reactivated frère Philibeaux, who is doing just fine.  We also got 

a text from one of our amis, Catharina from Brazil, who was telling us that she got her scholarship she was

looking for and she thanked us for praying for her, so we milked the occasion and asked her if she wanted to 

meet with us that evening, where we got to teach her, and the stake president was there cleaning the church, 

so he helped out the teaching, too.  That was really, really cool.

Then we went on anoooother exchange, this time with Elder Arts, who is going home with me.  He served in 

Aix before, and he's also from the Netherlands, and there is a Dutch member here who really likes him, so we 

called him up and visited him.  His wife is also a recent convert, so that was fun.  then at soirée gâteaux 

américains, we had a real good time.  Played a sort of easier french dodge ball, too, which everyone enjoyed.

Then when we got here to saturday morning, we got back to back to back to back to back mangez-vous.  We 

had breakfast with a member who wanted to see Elder Arts before he left, we made the pancakes, then we 

had a recent convert who wanted to cook Iranian food for us (that's where he moved here from), and then this 

american tourist family that wanted to take us out to eat at some french restaurant.  They were the coolest 

family (besides my own), and they were at church the next day and we sparked them by giving them a bunch

of really fun french things.  Aw yeah.

So then sunday all we had to make for ourselves was breakfast, then after church while we were heading out, 

our bishop was like "what do you have planned today" and we said "nothin' till the evening, why?" so he invited

us over to eat.  And you might remember about a year n a half ago I told you about how I ate with Bishop 

Caussé's parents and then with his brother and then about 4 or 5 weeks ago I ate with his daughter and 

son-in-law?  Well, get ready to be jealous, cuz yesterday I ate with the man himself.  Bishop Caussé himself.  

The bishop of the entire world (first counselor, but come on).  and it was aweesesssssome.  His wife cooked 

some amazing FISH (yessssss) and they are the actual best family in the world (besides my own).  So that was 

huge and historical, and also I'll send you the pictures, but that'll have to be from the iPad, cuz I forgot my 

camera thing....oopps.

but anyway after eating with them we went to a BBQ with the same Dutch member from earlier this week, and 

that was really fun.  There were some other recent converts over, too.  Good times in Aix en Provence.

And this week we have previewed a lot of traveling for district meetings and baptismal interviews, so we're

lookin' forward to that.  A nice busy last week........

So the biggest change over the past two years....I don't know, cuz I can't really measure myself that way, cuz 

I've been there the whole time, I think you'll have to judge that when you see me next week.  But I think the 

biggest change, as far as I can tell, is my testimony of Jesus Christ and my understanding of how much He 

loves us!

Most proud of....my sexy blue suit maybe?  Kiddin'.  but not.  but actually I think the thing I'm the most proud 

of is...I don't know.  I really couldn't say.  That'll take a lot of thinking.  Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of lots of

things on my mission, but.....I'll think.  Tell ya next week ;)

Most concerned?  School.  I was laying in bed the other night and I was like "I have to go to school for, like, at

least 5 more years............." but I like school, so it should be alright.  I'm probably more concerned about money

n all that, but that's just my fault.  I'll probs try to fix that as soon as possible :)

I LOVE YOU.  I don't know if I email next week or not, but I'll just tell ya I love you!

Love,

Elder Max Liechty

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Week #95 - 2 weeks left in Aix-en-Provence

This is us and Frère Ismael Men Dassi the first time we ran into him at 

a fountain on street corner (lot's of fountains in Aix, btw)

MOM!!

I saw the pics, and I was suuuuuuuper jealous you got to hang out with John n Terry.  Super jealous.

So for pday today, we're actually gonna hit up SOLDES.  Cuz it's soldes.  And it's my last opportunity before 

returning, so I need to get a fly suit so I can look good when I triumphantly walk off the airplane.  Luckily I got 

sent to the sexiest town in France for soldes, so that's handy.

Also, I'm a day late cuz yesterday was ZONE CONFERENCE.  And I finally met President and Sister Brown!  

One word: spiritual giants.  Or two words: spiritual giants.  Like, I'm just glad it wasn't some knucklehead that 

took over my last couple weeks.  They're really amazing people, and love just emanates from them.

So, let me tell you something about last week.  So we made a goal to teach 20 less active/recent convert 

lessons.  And you know how many we got?  20!!  Plus we got more normal lessons this week than we did last 

week, so that improved as well!  We saw so many miracles it was just stunning to see how much Heavenly 

Father wanted to help us reach this goal.  We only got 20 cuz o' Him.

We started out on monday, which was a little bizarre, cuz we saw Michel, and he's not doing so hot.  He 

actually called us the next day, still not doing so hot, and we told him to go to the hospital, which he did the 

last time this happened and that helped him out a lot.  So we're pretty sure he's there now, and hopefully that 

works out for him and everything gets better.  Really sad there.

We also saw Jacqueline that day, and we saw her a couple more times during the week to sing with her, and 

also to visit her with another recent convert, which was really neat.  She's the one who lost her dog and took it 

really hard, but now she's doing a lot better.  She really appreciates our visits, and so that's neat.  So that's 

good news.

Then the really big miracles began.  We went to go pass a less active in the morning named Ismael, but he 

wasn't home (and the prob is that he is never home and doesn't answer his phone very often, so it's tough to 

see him.)  However, we went to pass him, nothin', then we went n talked to people in the street, no one wanted

to talk, really difficult, and then on our way back for lunch, we ran into a guy who we taught more or less the law 

of chastity (real fun to teach on the street, btw), and then who do we see on the street corner but Ismael!  He 

sees us and jumps up in the air out of excitement (he's realllllly funny like that) and then we were able to share a 

scripture and pray with him.  Very neat.  Then we actuallly saw him the next few days in a row again.  We helped 

him in his yard, we taught spiritual thoughts, really neat.  Especially neat, cuz he was contacting us and calling 

us and inviting us over n stuff.  So that was neat.

We got to see Fr. Philibeaux, who did not pray to Moroni this time, so that was nice.  As of this sunday he is 

actually officially reactivated, which is DOPE.  We're gonna keep visiting him and treating him as a recent 

convert, just because it's been so long since he came to church, but not he's coming all the time and it's 

awesome.

We saw this really really really old spanish less active, too, who is really hard to understand (probably harder 

than pépé was) and is not really interesting in returning, but really likes the missionaries.  He's honestly like a 

hundred years old (I think he's actually 92, but he could probably be 120 also).

Patricia, one of our recent converts, asked for help on how to give spiritual thoughts at family home evenings n 

stuff, so we helped her out with that a couple times, and she's doing just fine these days.  As is Rachelle, the 

other recent convert, who actually has the same birthday as you, mom, which we celebrated on saturday (I 

pretended like I was celebrating for you :).  All the recent converts are just doin' great, so that's nice.

Also, I was in Avignon thursday-saturday, so I was having just as much fun as you.  Got to see some of my 

favorite members, the Hubys had us over for dinner, the Farinas came to english class, and Bernard and 

Marylène had us over, too, and gave me a birthday present they had planned on giving me weeks ago, but I 

had to leave to quickly after church, so they couldn't get it to me!  so that was really cool and thoughtful that 

they had kept it in case I came back!  Very cool.  Also got to see Halima, who is going to be baptized the 18th, 

so that's super cool.  Also knocked on doors with no shade in 100 degree weather in the south of France, so 

that was also really fun.  AVIGNON!!!

And also on sunday bishop Gérald Caussé was there, so I got to talk to him (in french!  wooo!) and he 

remembered going to Cedar Hills for stake conference, and I told him what you told me about liking his accent 

and hoping I get one, too.  But I'm sorry, I don't think I have an accent.  sorry.

So now we're actually on a sort of exchange/blitz with the Elders from Manosque, with whom we did good work

yesterday after zone conference.  Elder Thompson and I taught a Polish man about the restoration, and that 

was especially cool.  And also ate kébabs.  so today we're gonna go get foxy suits and then do more work and 

then do the real exchange on wednesday n stuff.  So we done been BUSY!

This was one of the best weeks of my mission.  We worked really, really hard and saw amazing miracles.  

ONE OF WHICH I JUST REMEMBERED.  So we were waiting for a recent convert, John, to come teach 

Jacqueline with us, and while we were waiting at the church and doing a little cleaning (cuz it was filthy for 

some reason), a NOTHER less active came in, named  Yves, out of nowhere just walked into the church.  He 

had changed his number (again!), so we weren't in contact with him, but we got it from him again, and he's been 

calling to see how we are and if we can do some activities together n stuff.  Really cool miracle.  Also John 

showed up, and he was really great talking with Yves and asking him why he didn't come to church anymore!  

Really neat.

The whole week we shared one scripture with everyone, Mosiah 2:41, which just says that if you keep the 

commandments, you're happier than anyone else, and also blessed in everything.  It's an amazing scripture for 

less actives, things which we realized after seeing all these miracles and the progression of these people.  It 

makes them realize that you can be happier if you keep the commandments, and it makes them think about 

how happy they were when they were going to church and how different it is now that they've taken a pause.  

Really neat.  And all these miracles are thanks to MOMMA WEEK (also, like, dad helped and everyone else and 

also God and Jesus n all them, so).

I love you a lot, and probs see you soon :)

LOVE 

ELDER MAX LIECHTY

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Week #94 - Final transfer in Aix-en-Provence

MOM!

Yeah, it was nice to get some fun pdays in for once in a real long time.  We finally live in a central enough area that we can get all the important things done early and go and have fun.  Everywhere else just took forever because we weren't close to nuthin'!  For the hike it was all the missionaries in Aix, which means us and the Sisters.  They used to do this as a big zone pday, but no one wanted to pay for trains n stuff, because it's a really spread out zone.  So it was just us, and it probs woulda been more fun just Elder Anderson n me ;)

Patricia is doing great!  She was struggling a little bit, having some concerns of offense from members and misunderstandings, but luckily it was cleared up with apologies and now everything is all better!  The members are doing great with her, especially her home teachers, really magnifying their callings, which is especially cool, because home teaching isn't really France's strong point.  But her's are killing it, have FHEs with her all the time, so that's great.

Rachelle is also doing great!  But this week she was off in Spain, so we didn't get to see her at all, but we're not really worried for her, cuz it's kinda like she's been a member forever.  When she was 17 she was contacted by missionaries and given a For the Strength of Youth pamphlet, and basically since then she's been living the standards.  Really cool.

John is doing great, too.  He gave his first talk in church on sunday!  It was so great.  Since he's from Iran, his accent is really cute, and he bore his testimony of his conversion, and it was awesome.  We're gonna start working out with him every morning this week, too, which will be fun.  But not, like, really hard working out, cuz, let's be real, I'm not doing that.  Just the standard missionary 30 minutes.  but that'll be good for him, and probably for us, too :)

Yeah, they're all new members, and you can just pray, if you want, that they'll keep understanding everything and their knowledge and testimonies will continue to grow

So yeah, Fr. Philibeaux (I liked it when you wrote Philibreaux, cuz that would be pronounced Philly-bro, which is a super cool name) is doing real well, too.  His son was on vacation this last sunday, so he was able to come again, which was very cool.  His understanding is really good, but not perfect.  For example, our most recent rdv, he started his prayer with "Frère Moroni" which is definitely not adressing Heavenly Father, so there's one thing we'll work on with him.  He really likes us, and his coming back is also really thanks to really good home teaching by his home teacher.

Michel had a breakdown, which is really sad, cuz it's happened a couple times before.  He has big problems with the Word of Wisdom, and sometimes it just overpowers him and it makes a really big problem and he becomes a completely different person, and it makes things really exciting and interesting.  We're visiting him today to see what we can do to help him, cuz we don't want him to continue like this, cuz you can tell he hurts!  It's really sad.  So you can pray for him, too, that he will resist temptation, that would help a lot.  He was really cool one day in the middle of the week, he texted saying "use me, I'm idle, and idleness is the father of sins!" so it's clear he understands what he needs to do, but it's hard.  Poor guy.  so prayers for him!

We had two really cool miracles this week.  Make that three.  One's just silly, though.

First:  we had a rdv with a guy named Cisse, and he was running late, we called him, and he didn't answer, so we started heading away, then he called saying he was coming, so we went back and waited again.  While we waited, this guy came up to us, and we were able to teach him the restoration, and then Cisse showed up, and we got to teach him.  Very cool!

Second:  We were contacting on this street that Elder Anderson had told me "4 recent converts came from contacting on this street!" so that boosted my moral, except that there was no one on it...so we talked to all the two people on it, and the second lady said "I can't do your questionnaire right now cuz I'm heading to a move, but if you want, we can talk on the way" we said yeah, and also we can help with the move, so she accepted.  had a good convo with her, arrived at the move, helped out (there were already about 10 shirtless college dudes helping out, so it wasn't too much), and the lady we were moving was this younger philippino woman, who spoke perfect english, and when we said we were missionaries for Jesus Christ, she said "oh, that interests me, let's exchange numbers and keep in touch" so we did, and she texted us saying she wants to see us this week, so that's sweet.  Then the lady we contacted in the first place said to thank us she was gonna have us over for dinner with her family, but there was no room in the front of the moving truck (where her brother in law was driving), so we sat on a couch in the back, and that was really fun.  then we got there, met her whole family, all of them were amazing people, taught a restoration, ate delicious sausages, and now they want to have us again before I go home to eat bouillabaisse in Marseille, which is apparently really expensive, but I guess they liked us enough to offer us that, and they gave us their number, too, so I guess they're serious!  But so that was just the coolest ending to a really hard workin' week.

Third: the office elders were over giving us a new washing machine (whoooooo!), and we had to leave really fast that morning, so all their stuff was still on the ground, like blankets and sleeping backs and pads n stuff.  So when we got home, we found that the fan had fallen, right onto the pile of stuff, so we were actually inspired to leave it all there that morning.  Alright.  Miracles.

So yeah. Mom week so far so good.  We're actually shooting now to get 20 less active/recent convert lessons along with many normal lessons, so it's gonna be really exciting, and your prayers are welcomed!

I love you all a loooooooooot

ALSO.

Couldn't forget,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!! (On saturday)

A letter will probably be coming your way in the next little bit!

Love,

Elder Max Liechty

(Us on a couch in a truck with the first lady we contacted and her philippino friend)

(The fan on the pile)

Week #93 - Final transfer in Aix-en-Provence

Mommmmm!

Yeah, so we finally had pday, and it was FUN.

Last week we saw Michel (the tool belt super cool recent convert) for pday.  And you know what we did?  We forged metal.  Like heat it up real hot, hit it a bunch with a hammer, repeat, and then stick it in cold water.  We did that.  And we were all dressed up in leather aprons n gloves, and he had a bunch of old rusty tools and also some really nice ones.  We made the hilt for a sword, and we repaired an old rusty axe head, so that was sweet.  He's a forest ranger of sorts, so he finds a bunch of old WWII stuff in the forests all over the place and repairs them for fun.  So that was awesome.

Then this pday we hiked a real big mountain called La Sainte Victoire, which goes up n up and at the top there is a church and a giant cross.  And I'm curios how all the nuns managed to get all those supplies up there, cuz it's definitely not the easiest hike.  Lots of big rocks.  It was really fun, and I got pretty sunburned, even though I applied sunscreen two times on this trip!  It was a hike similar to delicate arch, but more shrubbery, but still not really any shade.  Verrrrrrry fun, and when we come back, I'll take you all on it, because it's one of the coolest I've been on.

Yes they have 4 july, but no, they do not celebrate it.  Their 4th is the 14th of July, and I might be on exchange in Marseille for that, which would be really cool to see all the fireworks in the city that did a lot for the french revolution.  The french anthem is called 'La Marseillaise', so, like, how about that.

Also about the prayer and answer n stuff. So the first one I can think of was when I was in the MTC and prayed real hard to gain a solid testimony about the restoration and Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ and all those reaaalllly important things, and then, like, getting that testimony not too long after.  That's one of the motives that's really kept me going when the going gets rough.

Another cool thing was this one time in Narbonne, where we had planned to go finding through service, and just knock on doors asking for service.  We had planned it out and reallllly wanted to do it, so we prayed for good weather, too.  That morning was lightning and rain and wind and we were pretty upset.  But we prayed again, and said "Heavenly Father, we're leaving at 11h, please give us good weather!" and when we left on our bikes, it had started clearing up, and by the time we arrived where we were headed, it was blue skies and sunny, just like Southern France ought to be.  And that afternoon we found many cool miracles with service and finding people n stuff.  That's the most solid one in my mind.  Like, I know I've seen a lot, cuz we pray a lot and see little miracles all the time, but I think that's one of the coolest ones.

That would be sooooo funny if you picked me up in a boot.  and so this cruise.  Not the same as the last one?  will there be just as much ice cream and chocolat melting cake?  And do you know the dates exactly, becuase as it turns out some friends from Avignon are going to be in Utah around the time I get home, but I don't know exactly when, but I'm finding out on tuesday, so if you know the dates n stuff, that would be cool if you could send them! 

And yeah, Aix itself is really pretty, but I'm a sucker for cute little towns and country side and mountains (kinda like my sweet Muret), so Gap was realllllllly pretty.

So this week was pretty fun, as far as work goes, as well :)

We met a lot of really cool people in the streets doing questionnaire, and managed to get an entire 1 phone number!  But we're workin' hard and trying to find people, and it's really fun here in Aix because there are a lot of students that are fun to talk to and are not old and grumpy!

We essentially saw all our recent converts and less actives on saturday, one after the other, and that was packed and fun.  Patricia is doing fine, but she wasn't at church yesterday which kind of worries us, but we're keeping her in our prayers, and if you could too, that would be great.  Rachelle is as perfect as ever.  She had asked us about the law of Moses n stuff and what it means and why it was abolished n all that, and we were able to explain it fairly simply, and she took it in very well.  She's so cool, probs the most golden person I've ever met.  John, he's from Iran, and he's awesome, is also doing well.  We went for a jog with him on saturday morning, and then Elder Anderson convinced me that we need to run the Seattle Rock n Roll marathon together, so, mom, that means you need to help me train, cuz, like, you're the biggest runner in the family.  but anyway, John is doing great, he's a real humble dude, and he told us that one of the members in the ward is his best friend ever, which was really touching coming from him.

Our main less active man, Frere Philibeaux, is doing just fine, as well.  His kids are kinda against the church, but they finally decided that he can go to church every other week, which has been a big step, and he's doing great.  He loves church, he loves the missionaries, he's doing great.

Then we've got our one real ami right now, his name's Pierre, who moved here from the Congo not too long ago, and he's really cool.  We had a sit down lesson where we explained our goal of baptism and helping him recieve a testimony of the BoM, which he seems to have a real desire, and so that should be cool.  He hasn't been able to come to church yet, but that should be happening in the coming week, he should be free.  Keep him in your prayers, too!  Still looking for more amis, too.  We have some potentials, such as this young adult named Catharina from Brazil, who speaks perfect french and english and went to college somewhere in the southern US, because her accent is sometimes really southern, like when she says "soldiers" she would say "sodjers" which was awesome.  She spent two weeks following the missionaries a while ago to do a report on them of some sort, and she really enjoyed it and the church and everything, so we know she recognizes the Spirit that members have, we're just hoping to help her recognize that.

We also had a super fun last zone conference with the Roneys.  (And we got to hug Sr. Roney aaaaaaaahhhhhhh) and that was real fun to see all my old pals from the other zones n stuff, and also of course we learned a lot :)

Man, I can't believe it's come to this point in my mission, and I've learned so much, but I'm preeettttty sure I have more to learn (and by preeettttty sure, I mean sure), and not much time to do it.  But then I remembered that life continues after the mission, too, and that there are opportunities to learn every day!  So yeah.  Anyway.

I'm pretty sure I hit on all the real important things from this last week, cuz I forgot my planner again.......but it was again a fun week in the Sexy City

I love you all sooooooooo much

Love,

Elder Max Liechty

On top of the mountain by the cross n stuff

With some old rusty forging tools

Week #92 - Final transfer in Aix-en-Provence

Mom!

Life in the sexy city is cool.  It's just as sexy as I'd heard, maybe a little too sexy.  So we haven't done anything cool yet for pday, cuz we haven't had one yet, but today we have plans to go with a recent convert who is the coolest guy in the world, and I'd already met him a couple times before on exchanges n stuff, and we're gonna make some stuff out of leather, because if you want the definition of outdoorsman, this is your guy.  He always wears a utility belt, and it's awesome.  He made it, too.  And we have plans to do some fun stuff later on, too, so here's to hoping we can!

Of coooouuuurse we're getting along!  The ward rules, too, it's president Roney's favorite ward, and it's pretty sweeeeeeeeeeet.  We have eaten with some members yeah, and we're going to the bishop's tomorrow to eat, to, so that'll be fun.

We have a couple amis, but not too many right now, because all the progressing amis they had before all got baptized, so... that's neat n all, we just gotta find new ones to do the same things!

Are there only two of us?  If there were more than two of us, the appartement would be tighter than a sardine can!  It's one of the smallest in the mission.  Real cozy, perfect for two bros, but if you put anymore in here, it gets a little tooooo cozy.

Trek sounds sweeeeeeet.  I remember it being really fun.  At first I didn't really like the kids in my group, and I didn't know them either, but our Ma n Pa were realllllly dope, so that helped a lot, and I ended up enjoying it verrry much.

Will he (Sam) still be working at Costco samples when I get back?  Can I get half off my free samples?

Did you tell Kylie's mom a bunch of lies about me to make sure I look like a good missionary?  If so, thanks.  If not, pas grave.  Did you hear about the tear gas in Toulouse?  I was in Muret, so, like, I didn't really get affected, but it was just cuz a bunch of granola hipsters and pro-farm people were pouring manure in the streets (the whole city smelled like poo and Iowa), and then people used it as an excuse to break windows in the metro, so we was walkin' all over Toulouse instead, and it just turned into huge riots, and it was nuts.  Kinda bummed I didn't get much more than the poop smell, but at least I didn't die!

I've been seeing Jurassic World signs all over the place, I think it looks NEAT.  You'll have to tell me how it is.

So if you want a nice summary of the week, it was real busy and I didn't get around to unpacking till yesterday.  But it was really fun, and here's why.

We visited with two really cool recent converts, Patricia and Rachelle, a couple times.  It's really cool, because I haven't been able to do real recent convert stuff since Muret, so this has been neat.  They're some of the coolest people, and I came to realize something the past couple weeks.  President Roney would always say that every baptism was our baptism. And I was all "no, it's definitely not my baptism, cuz I'm pretty sure I've never met this person, and I definitely didn't baptize them."  But then he would explain that miracles and baptisms and convert retentions and reactivations are only thanks to the combined obedience and diligence of the whole mission.  And seeing these people that have been recently baptized, and hearing their stories, you know it was a missionary in particular who taught them and baptized them, they were someone prepared by God to receive his restored Gospel.  And most of them came to the church or missionaries, not the other way around.  so that's neat.  Like Sylvie in Muret, I did nothing, and it was her who came to the church, not the missionaries to her.  So that's been real neat to learn.

We did a lot of contacting in the street these past couple days, because we need new amis!  So we've been reaallllly tired at night, I'm getting a nice sun tan, and we haven't yet found new people to teach.  BUT.  We've met some cool people, and here's to hoping that something happens and they call us or come to church or something.  That would be sweet.

We also got to go on exchange in a ville called Gap, which I've heard of my whole mission as being the smallest and most castaway ville in the mission.  It's GORGEOUS and up in the mountains and their apartment looks like a cabin, and they're doing awesome work up there.  I didn't even get a chance to take any pictures...sorrrrrry.  but it's definitely not as small as Muret, I can tell you that.  People actually live in Gap!

Workin' real hard to make you proud, momma.  I love you all a real lots, and I'll let you know if we burn any rapists or if there're more teargas stuff (a friend on a mission in S America witnessed those horrible events) or poo in the streets (happy he only experiences poo smells:)

I LOVE YOU MOMMMMMM

Love,

Elder Max Liechty

Week #91 - Max finally gets transferred! Aix-en-Provence, aka "la ville le plus sexy de la France" which means "the sexiest town in France"

Mooooom!

So, I got TRANSFERRRRRRRRRRRED.  From Avignon. Wow.  After a real long time, and a real good time, too.  Now I scootched over, like, 30 minutes to Aix-en-Provence to be with my main man Elder Anderson to be zone leaders!  I was with Elder Anderson in Toulouse for three transfers, and he's been my zone leader for the past two, so you could say we know each other :)  I'm really excited to serve with him, because I also heard this is the best ward in the mission n stuff.  Aix is known as "la ville le plus sexy de la France" which means "the sexiest town in France" so that's dope.  That's probably why they sent me here.  Cuz I'm sexy.  But actually, I'm pretty sure it was just a pity promotion, cuz Prez was like "Well this guy has gone two years without zone leader, so, uh" and I think that's how it happened.  But it'll be fun all the same!

I really don't know what to say about this week, except that it was really fun.

We got to see the Lauthiers, a less active famille in one of the most beautiful cities in Avignon area.  We did some service for them, including putting up a bed and fixing a window, which Elder Bleak and I, with our unlimited knowledge, took apart and put back together.  The looks on their faces was priceless when they saw it all put together, that was awesome

But, uh, so, actually........we have to go because it's almost time to go home, but we should be sending emails tomorrow.  Had a busy day with movin' and trains and it's really hot which makes everything even more of a mess.  But I'm here in Aix, safe and sound, I miss my boys back in Avignon, but it's fun here anyway :)

I LOVE YOU ALL I'LL TRY TO GET SOME MORE EMAIL IN TOMORROW MAYBE

Love,

Elder Max Liechty

Week #90 - Maybe his last week in Avignon?

Birthday celebrations:)

Birthday cake made by the Farinas:)

Playing piano for the kids program at church - fancy affair:)

Killing cockroaches:(

More birthday partying:)

Mom! 

So here I am, writing emails on my iPad again.

And I did bring my card, so I should be able to send pics from last week, and also the silly ones we took on the iPad

So I probs don't need the ad card, I saved all my old photos on my hard drive and took them off the ad card, so there's enough space for the next seven weeks. Wuuuuuuuuut? But I would appreciate the letter. Thx

So right now the only thing we do with iPads is studies and sharing videos or talks with people in lessons. We can't use Facebook or anything like that yet, and to me it would be kinda intimidating to use Facebook, I don't know why, I'm just glad we aren't doing that yet.

Yeah so France has a bunch of extra catholic holidays, like Monday was the Pentecost. So we had the picnic. We ate, went on little hikes, and played games. You know mikado? The game where you have to pick up the sticks without moving the others? Well we played that, and I think I told you already about giant mikado that we bought a little bit ago, but this was COLOSSAL mikado. Imagine the sticks about half the size of your body. Sweet.

No new mission prez yet. As far as I know, they might be keeping him a secret. But we do have one final zone conference together with prez Roney next transfer. So that's nice.

This was a pretty funky week, don't know why, but here's a little how if went.

We saw Lou, which was really cool, and tried to do a little genealogy with her on our iPads, but it was difficult cuz the wifi was pretty stinky in the area, so we decided to fix with our genealogy specialist to help her out at the church, so that's neat.

We weren't able to see etienne this week, which was a real bummer. Funny story, though, cuz we had a rdv fixed with him, and it was right next to his church, but we could here singing n stuff still going on, so we tried calling, and when we called, we could here the singing on the phone, so that was pretty silly.

We helped sr protano out with throwing out some big ol' pieces of wood, and then she gave us this cake which is Orin's my favorite cake of all time, real simple, yoghurt cake. I'll have to get the recipe, unless you already have it, cuz you're mom, and moms tend to have stuff like that.

We also got to meet with Alexandre, a young adult In Our branch, really cool, and he's preparing to go on a mission, so that's really neat. We visited with him, ate cereal and pineapple, and talked about mission stuff. He's really stoked.

The Farinas was fun as usual. Luis was asleep the whole time, though, which was a bummer, but we had just seen him the day before at the picnic. But they had a non member nephew over who is super dope, so that was fun. They made us two cakes (see pic).

On Saturday we also did an activity with the young adults, playing frisbee in the pope's garden. We actually hadn't planned to go that hard, so we wear just in church clothes, but we ended up going pretty hard, so that was fun.

And that kinda sums up the week. I think the coolest part was when we were out contacting, and we were working together and both pulling the weight. Cuz the last few transfers with blues and elder Kimbergt have been pretty tiring as far as having to really push to get us to work together. But elder Kimbergt was killin it the other day, and that was awesome.  Now I got one last week for sure with him, and we gonna try da make it happen.

I love you lots mom, thanks for everything, the quotes the letters the prayers the loves,

I looooooove you!

Elder Max Liechty