Wut's up, mom
1. About Gabrielle....he he....kind of a sad story, but, uh, she texted us one day (again around midnight) saying that the state she is in can't allow her to make big decisions like rejoining the church, so she doesn't want contact. So. The thing is, she has bipolar dissorder, but she had been taking meds, which seemed to be working, but, uh, not totally it seems. I was dead after we learned that, so dead. We talked with the senior couple, and we might still pass by some day, to see if she is back on top, because she goes from super high to super low pretty drastically, so we have to time it right. We'll see.
We got to teach Sara again, unfortunately she was in Perpignan this sunday, so we couldn't get her to church.
We were supposed to go fishing with Pepe and Meme today with Elder Phelps and his companion, but there was "too much wind" to go fishing today, so, that was a bummer. But we're planning on going to their house soon, because they have lots of Elder Costa's pants and a pair of my own. So.
And we're going to go see the Fijian famille tonight, so, hopes up for that!
2. My own conversion would probably how much I realized that Heavenly Father and Jesus love us, and how much I feel that love. I always knew they loved us, but I never realized how much until I got here. It's amazing. And I've found that the more I try to show my love for them, I feel their love.
There's a quote from the Life of Pi which was in a general conference talk that I had to give a talk about that I really like:
"I couldn't get Him out of my head. Still can't. I spent three solid days thinking about Him. The more He bothered me, the less I could forget Him. And the more I learned about Him, the less I wanted to leave Him."
3. We tried to set up this party for the fourth, because we're going to be playing volley ball with a bunch of amis and members this week, but because there are only two americans in our branch (the other two are canadian and argentinian), so they weren't to huge on the idea. I'll try to fix something, though.
4. (What's one bad habit that you've had to change?) Being lazy and letting other people make decisions for me :) because I learned that when you let/make other people make all the decisions, they get mad at you :) And you definitely feel a lot more helpful when you lift half the burden, and are not half the burden. That was profound.
5. That wasn't a question :) but I do have a request: if there is room, could you toss in some more face wash? If not, it's not a big deal, I still have plenty, just to be safe, you know.
6. I haven't heard about that, but it's nice to know that the members in France aren't the only crazy ones :) (Kate Kelly thing) But really that's kind of wacky.
France's big day is coming up, July 14, and if I'm still in Narbonne (prez gave us permission to go out with members to see the fireworks), I might get to go to the City on Fire in Carcassonne, where they light up the whole castle and make it look like it's just blowing up. Also, Elton John is coming to Carcassonne.
This week was NEAT
Lundi we went out to do some porte à porte, but when we got out there, we realized we had missed the last bus and had to start walking home...but on the way home this guy in a big old semi honked at us and yelled "Hello from the Barçelona stake!" and then later on down the rode we ran into Isabelle again, who we had not seen for a long time, and she was happy to see us, so that was cool.
Mardi was the sad day, where we recieved the text, and I was sad. So, before taking it up with the Lord, I did some push ups out of raw fury and got huge, and then prayed to understand why this keeps happening. Why I keep almost seeing miracles. And I realized that it's because when this bummers come my way, I all too often kind of slow down and lose faith. But these are supposed to be trials of my faith, and I'm supposed to show that I'll keep working and trying hard even if the stinkies keep coming my way. That was a cool realization day.
Mercredi was MIRACLE DAY. we planned the night before to go out to a city called Fleury d'Aude and search for opportunites to do some service. We planned to leave at 11 and come back in the afternoon to have a lesson and then do some work in Narbonne. The next day we woke up, and it was nasty, gray, and rainy outside. Crud. We had prayed for good weather, but, uh, where was it. But then Elder Costa turned to me and said "We told the Lord we were leaving at 11, so let's keep the faith." And then as soon as we left the aparment at 11 until the end of the day, it was beautiful bleu skies and nice warm weather. First miracle. Then we went out, passed a member famille, found them all home, and SPARKd them up. Second miracle. Then we started knocking doors, and even though no one wanted service, everyone was SO NICE to us. Third miracle. Then we went back to Narbonne for the lesson, but then they texted us telling us that they couldn't do it that day. Antimiracle. But we decided we were having such a good time in Fleury that we'd go back. When we went back, the first, and last, door we knocked on, that Elder Costa said "this house could use some service, let's knock it," was this incredibly nice old lady that we taught some gospel principles to her, and that was sweet. She told us she wanted us to come back again and eat dinner with her and some of her children and their familles. Fourth miracle! So that day was amazing, and the whole bike ride home I just thanked the Lord, such good times.
Jeudi we had district meeting in the morning, and then the evening we hit it up. We went out knocking, only to realize that there was a soccer game going (it's the World Cup right now, for you americans), and no one really wanted to listen. As well, I felt strongly that we should search for service there, too. So we started riding somewhere else, and I felt like we should pass this fella. We passed, he was there, and he said we could send him an email if we had any conferences in Narbonne or something. Almost miracle. Then I realized we were close to our old ami David's home, so we passed by, but he wasn't there. So then we made some calls to try to fix some stuff for the rest of the week, and we got in touch with David! We found out he had moved, but he said he would be so down with seeing us later, so we fixed something for the next day. Good times. That was like a promptings chain that started with little things that we followed that led to the big thing. The Lord likes to test us to see if we'll follow, and when He knows we'll follow, He gives us what matters. That was cool.
Vendredi was a packed day, where we got to see David, Sara, and had Game Night in Béziers. The RDVs were both good, got Sara in the presence with Emmanuel, and that was really good. David said he was very happy to be able to see us again, and that he was going through some confusing and difficult times right now, and he likes talking with us becomes we have the answers (I wouldn't say we always have the answer, but that's cool to know). Game night was a success, we had a less active there, José, who came to church on sunday too! As well as a cool young famille that is moving in to Béziers pretty soon (from Seattle), had a good time with them, too. Then that evening, these two random people walked in, that the Béziers elders had contacted, asking "are we too late," which they were because we were all getting ready to leave, but we said there are still some treats that we can eat together, so we did, talked, and got their numbers and their interest. that was a very neat day.
Samedi was a very successful Samedi Sportif, where at the end Carlitos said "normalement, demain je vais à l'eglise" meaning that he might come to church tomorrow. We were all STOKED. That was the best thing he could've said. (he came!)
Dimanche was a good time, too, mostly because Carlitos came to church, as did José, and one of the amis of the senior couple. Very good day as far as church attendance goes. And afterwards we had a fire side about familly history, so it's funny you bring that up. There are members who are absolute experts, and others who know less than me (and I don't know much). But it's something that catches a lot of old people's attention, and even some young people.
I appreciate your challenge (look for miracles every day), and as you can see I tried to do that last week, and saw a lot, but I need to keep it up everyday. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm excited!
And I really like the quote there (a quote from Sherri Dew). That's cool. Because it's true, but lots of people don't realize it. Coolio.
I love you, but I don't miss you!
(i miss you, too)
love,
Elder Liechty
Max trying on a very french suit:)
And some very french clothes:)
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