Week #63 - Muret

zone training

driving the train

Pilgrims

Mom!

Yeah, the tummy was that bad...let's not talk about it... :)

The mustache was one of the other elders halloween candy that he gave us.  It was grape flavored, and a reeeeaaally weird texture, not actually sure I was supposed to eat it...

I didn't get the box yet, I'm still waiting!

Frère Déjean is doing great :)  We cleaned his house again, and he's very grateful for that.  But I think he needs more interaction with members during the week, but, eh, it's France :)

And there was Sylvie's baptism not too long ago, and Mary-Jane's, both doing very well.  They've both given talks already and have callings, and are very active.  So no worries there!

As for this week, it was really fun.  Lots of stuff got done.  Check it ooooouuuuutt.

So pday was fun, afterwards we went on a passing route, passing old amis that we found in the area book, with a goal to pass them and then knock ten doors around each ami.  We were only able to pass one, because she ended up living real far away, but we passed by, she said come on back, and then the first door we knocked by her house also said come on back.  Not the door, but the lady behind the door.  So that was a really successful evening.  Nice.

The next day was succesful and miraculous.  We went out to Seysses to pass a less active sister who we had been trying to see for a very long time.  We had run into her at the grocery store forever ago, and tried to fix so many rdvs.  So we just laid it down and decided to pass her instead of calling her.  After taking forever to find her home, we found it, and she wasn't home.  So we called one more time, nothin'.  Then the elders in Toulouse called, and we talked about some plans over the phone for a little, and we were just standing there in her driveway while this was happening.  Then she pulled in.  Had we not gotten that call, we probably woulda missed her, and woulda been a real bummer.  But instead of being a real bummer, it was a real miracle!  Then because she lives so far away, there were no busses returning, so we walked home :)  Not the first time I've walked home from that ville, so not a huge deal

Then I went on exchange in Toulouse with Elder Andersen.  It was a good time.  WE got to teach some of his amis that are absolutely golden.  The wife met the church a very long time ago when she was a young woman, and is ready to be baptized.  The husband is really spiritually sensitive, too.  So that was sweet.  They'll probably be baptized pretty soon.  After that we had planned to pass this guy, and, well, it ended up being really late, and we were trapped in his ville really late, and he wasn't even there.  So it was kind of a bummer.  But the train back home had the conducter's cabin open on the back, so we pretended to drive, and it was fun :) don't worry, there wasn't anyone watching us thinking we were some kind of goof-off nonesense church :)

The next day was back in Muret, another exchange with Elder Mattinson.  But first, we had zone training.  Get this.  The church came out with this new initiative for the christmas season.  Get this.  It's called "He is the Gift."  and you need to go to heisthegift.org, I think it opens to the public this weekend.  It's awesome.  It's just as good, and then better than the Because of Him.  Yeah.  And there's all this stuff you can do, too, to be good missionaries at home!  Yay!  So anyway, we cleaned Fr. Déjean's home that day, it's almost kind of clean now!  Then that evening we knocked on some doors.  The first neighborhood we got to was just a bunch of really , really old people that got mad at us, so we moved on, and found a new neighborhood where everyone was eating at that time, but they were cool hip young families, and they said to come back!  Cool.

The next day some things went down, and elder Haskin had a bloody nose, and so the nurse said not to go out until it finished, and it lasted for, like, a million hours.  But I got to go out that morning a little bit with Elder Mattinson and teach this girl from Alabama.  It was in english, and it was hard, because I don't remember english anymore.  Then we got home, had a lesson fall through, and then started our weekly planning, and, well, elder haskin'ts nose starting bleeding again :)  He's fine now, though :)

Samedi was real cool.  We got to see Sr. Labernede, and that was sweet.  She loves the missionaries, and also wants her nonmember daughter to be baptized.  And en plus, the daughter WANTs to be baptized, too.  It's just that, well, they have a hard time coming to church, and also her exhusband is against the daughter being baptized. Well.  We'll say lots of prayers for that.  Then we had a thanksgiving activity that night in Toulouse, and it went really really well.  We were all dressed up like pilgrims and indians, but I don't have the photos. I'll try to get them from someone else.  Anyway, the evening was really really good, lots of people showed up, and we were dang hilarious.  We did a skit.  yeah.

Then sunday was classic.  Church.  Got lots done.  A member even invited us over for thanksgiving!  yay!  Not american or anything, there probably won't even be turkey, but still!  We'll teach those frenchies what it means to be grateful.

So anyway.  This was a good week, and we've got some good times lined up for next week.  Also, next week is the primary program!  yay!

So yeah.  Look up He is the Gift.

Love you.

LOVE

Elder Max Liechty

Week #62 - Muret

You didn't write me.

I'm gonna give you some time to think about what you've done, and I'll write you back soon.

:)

I LOVE YOU.

But seriously.  I'll let you write me first so in case you have any questions :)

So, you took too long, and I'm gonna write you first :) (He thinks I didn't write because I accidentally sent it to Kent. Luckily he was still online and got my email that Kent quickly forwarded to him)

I'ma just jump straight into the week.

Lundi we went out on the town knocking doors n whatnot.  We decided to walk down this road to another city and knock every door on the way, talked to some really neat people, and even found a lady who said come on back.  Also it was really dark and really cold, so we're gettin' all up in our winter clothes these days.  I, uh, purchased a new, uh, fancy french coat, too, uh, sorry I didn't warn you.  But it was at a place that is the equivilant of Ross or TJ Maxx, so, like, it's good quality for the price!  Yeah.  Nice.

The next day was rough.  We were trapped inside our apartment, because, uh, tummy problems ;) so that was a long day.  Luckily we were able to get the other elders to come on down and help us out with some important rdvs we had that day, and were still able to get some work done in Muret.  Other than that, we rearranged the apartment, and now it's super clean and really spacey, and I'd probably live somewhere like this even if I wasn't a missionary.  Cool.

The next day we were able to leave again :)  We went out to pass some old amis, becuase they had asked for a cookie recipe, so, we went ahead and gave it to them.  They were really happy to see us again, and said the next activity we have, they want to come.  So that was really neat.  Then also that day the electricity in our apartment blew out.  And we didn't know where anything was, so we were without electricity.  Cold, dark, and sad.  But we got some lamps from the other elders, and so that's the photo of us writing in our journals that night.  Yeah.  AND.  On the way home that night, we talked to this fella on the train, and he was really really cool.  His name is Paul.  He works on restoring old watches and other antiques.  And it was really funny, because the only reason he sat next to us was so he could put his feet up on the chair across from him, and he actually stole this other lady's chair to do that.  Ha.  But, we got his number and learned he also lives right across the street from us!  So we're gonna probably work really hard with him this next little bit.

Then jeudi started out with cold showers and darkness again.  The rest of the day was fun though!  We went with the whole district to do some street boarding for a little bit in the afternoon just before we hopped on a train to Lyon for bleu's conference!  And that was the entire day.  Really long train.

The next day was the conference, and it was great.  I feel like training is a chance to start over your mission again, because you get to remember what prez says when you first come in, and this time you actually listen and think about how to apply it, instead of just being tired and not wanting to take notes :)  So this has been a real good time.  That evening we got to get out and talk to strangers in Lyon, and that was really fun.  Got the number of this fella who was interested in prophets and gave it to my good friend Elder Olsen serving in Lyon right now.  Yeah.

Then we woke up really really early in the morning, got on a train, and came on home.  When we got home, we saw one of our neighbors and asked if they knew anything about the breaker and where it was, and they showed us, and it was as simple as that.  We clicked the button and it was fixed.  Electricity, warm water, yeah.  We felt pretty dumb afterward, because the breaker was right above the fuse box.  It just didn't look anything like a breaker, okay?!  The rest of that day was weekly planning, and then we went to Toulouse to have a missionary meeting.  yeah. 

Then church!  It was pretty quick, nothing too special, but there were some cool less actives there that day, and also we hit it hard talking to members afterwards and fixing with them.  Some times it's really scary to talk to them and try to get to their homes, but we just did it because we realized we never go to their homes, so it was about time.  And it was that simple.  We talked to them, and they were like "yeah, of course! We haven't had the missionaries over forever!" Which is funny, because I've been here forever, so it's probably my fault :)

How's Caity doing?

I'm writing Poppa a letter today, but I'm not positive it will get to their place in time!  So I'll probably also write them an email.

How's wedding preparation going?

Love you!

Elder Max Liechty

Yes, I come across lots of africans :)  Southern france is really close to Africa, and also used to own a lot of africa, and has very similar climates to northern africa.  So yes.  France is very african friendly, if that's a politically correct way to say it.

Is sam gonna marry her?

I'll go ahead and take them invitations as soon as possible.  I like getting letters :)

So far they haven't done much for christmas.  The grocery store has lots of wrapping paper n stuff, and I remember in Bordeaux one time there was a big old Salvation Army type band playing some christmas jams.

Did you keep everything from the van?  Did you throw away my altoids?  Did you throw away my banana peel?  We still have the couch though, right?  RIGHT?

LOVE YOU AGAIN

Dad!

Mom didn't write me today, so I'm writing you first.  Changin' things up!  I gave her a warning, though, that she isn't my mom any more if she misses another week.  But I was kidding, because she will always be my mom :)

I love that we can pray to know what to pray for.  It's hilarious, but also really good.  Because Heavenly Father knows exactly what he wants to give us, and if He hints to us that we should ask Him for it, He's already ready to give it to you!  So neat. I've been really focusing on praying specifically this week, by name and for specific things, and my prayers have been a lot cooler, so that was neat.

There's no snow here, so ski season is still long off.  However, there is a little city down at the bottom of our area that gets a lot of snow apparantly, so I'm gonna go check that out one of these days.  Probably not ski, but maybe go touch the snow.

You should pick the music for the reception.  You're good at music.  And also you could maybe engineer some kind of something that would be really cool for the reception.  Like a mechanical dragon.

I love you dad, a lot!

Love Elder Max Liechty

Week # 61 - Staying in Muret for another 4 weeks

Now, for the letter.

Mooooommmm!

I thought about not sending a full letter, because tout simplement, I'm mad.  You sold the van.  I'm not actually that mad, did you take the couch out at least?  And all my CDs, I hope.

But this letter might be a little short, because I forgot my planner at home, because this is a new transfer.  But, anyway.

I'M STAYING IN MURET.  and yeah, this is the longest I've stayed somewhere.  And, if I stay one more transfer, I will have broken the Muret record for longest stay.  So we'll see.  Crossing my fingers!

Daylight savings time is one of the best parts of the mission, because you get another hour of sleep :)  Yeah, they do it in France.

Elder Kearon is the one who gave the talk about being in the desert in flip-flops and being stung by a scorpion that one time a while ago.  Classic.

When we were in Lyon picking up the bleus, there was a huge religious manifestation, but the Mormons weren't invited, it seems.  But that's really cool that Elder Eyring gets to go to the Vatican.  Neat.  We'll have to see if anything gets posted about that.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!OKAY SKETCHY PART OF THE EMAIL MAYBE DON'T POST

Some members have been talking about a video that the church put up about the temple garment and temple clothes.  I looked on lds.org and didn't find anything, they said that at the end it was labelled ldsliving, so they were pretty sure it was legit, but, have you heard anything about it?

!!!!!!!!!!OKAY THAT PART IS OVER

So, like I said, I forgot my planner, so we'll have to see what I remember from this week.

Lundi, we went to see Fr.  Déjean, which is pronounced day-john, but with a soft j.  anyway, we visited him, had a good time.  We also went to Toys-R-Us for part of our pday with the other elders, and that was fun.

The next day we.....I'm pretty sure that was the day we went out to this city called St. Gaudens.  It was a very ugly day, the first cold day of the season, gray and rainy and dumb.  But we didn't let the weather get us down, and we searched for amis anyway.  We were able to teach these two really cool people on the street, and that was great.  Afterwards, they told us where the best sandwich place was because we hadn't had dinner yet, and then the best part: the sandwiches were really, really good.  It was a really cool day, because we had the whole district texting miracles to each other everytime they came, and there were a load of really neat ones seen.

The next day was stacked.  We saw Sylvie, very good times, still active, yes.  Then we went to Jean Marc and Séverine's, with Fr.  Ducrocq.  We got to read a little bit out of the children's LdM with their daughter before they got us playing games.  We played that one game with the pile of sticks on the table and you have to pick up the ones without moving the others.  Anyway, that brought back the good times.  After that we headed out to Auterive to visit and famille and teach the restoration.  It was very cool, and it was obvious they felt the Spirit.  That was a really fun day, and I almost forgot I was in a small ville because we had so much going on!

Now, this next day I don't remember so well.  I do remember there was ward council in the evening...Oh yeah!  We went on exchange.  I was in Muret with Elder Andersen, and it was really neat.  We went to Fr. Déjeans and cleaned his home, because it's not the tidiest home you've ever seen.  I used a vacuum cleaner and vacuumed the walls and all the spiders and stuff.  It was very accomplishing and now his home feels a little lighter.  We're not done, however.  We also were supposed to have a rdv with a less active, but that fell through because of us!  We were on our way, and we talked to this fella, and we ended up talking for a while, and were late to the rdv.  We got to her home as she was leaving for another rdv, but she and her husband gave us a ride back into town becaue it was raining.  On the way, they fixed with us to eat lunch with them on tuesday, or, tomorrow.  So that's sweet.

Vendredi I think was fun, if I remember correctly.  Wait.  Vendredi was the exchange......

So....................oh yeah, jeudi was district meeting.  We had a real nice district meeting, after which I had to go to the prefecture to check out my legality, which is still not ready.  Jeudi was kind of a slow day apart from district meeting, but, it was still a good time, as the days always are.

Samedi......ah yeah.  That was Stake Conference in the evening.  that's all I really remember from that day.  It was a really good stake conference, and because Narbonne/Béziers is in the Toulouse stake, I got to see all my favorite members again :)  Also, the metros were all down, so we were walking all over Toulouse that night, and that was fun.  Luckily, thanks to that, we met two really cool guys.  One was a friend of a member who came up to us and chatted, and the other guy lived close to the church and saw the missionaries and mormons all the time.  We had a nice little chat with both of 'em.  Yeah.  Stake conference was so good.

And then dimanche was the rest of stake conference.  It was such a good time.  Very awesome spirit.  And then that evening we got to go to a members home for dinner.  This frère had apparently the best pizza in the world, and it was true.  It was delicious. They also had a guitar :)  They also have an incredibly musical famille.  And also this was the first time in a little bit that I had been in a real active member's home, and the Spirit was so thick we had to dust it off our seats before we sat down.  It was just a good feeling.  That's why we need to get investigators into members' homes.  Because you can tell a big ol' difference.

Anyway, so yeah.  Staying in Muret, so is Elder Haskin!  This transfer is a weird one, only four weeks, but go on ahead and send all that.  I'm excited. I really like Muret.

I LOVE YOU

love,
Elder Max Liechty

Dayd,

It would have been SO fun if you had come with me on band trips!  You would've seen whole new geeky side of me come out that doesn't come out too often.

I really liked the Ma and Pa I had.  They had gifts for us at one point, so that was sick.  also, they talked with us and were cool.  they didn't go and chat with the other adults and be lame, they stuck around with us, and that was really nice.

I stayed!  and with Elder Haskin!

Yeah, so the Dr. Pepper video and burgers was mostly just for fun, no real reason.  The same story for when Elder Phelps and I ate the baguettes.  Elder Haskin and I have one, too that I made just barely, but there's more talking in it.  You'll see!

This week was a real good time, and stake conference was amazing. I don't think I've ever had a more fun and good stake conference.  Because I actually listened and prepared for this one like I would any other conference.  Also, stake conference in France is way cooler than in Utah, because people be comin' from four hours away to see this, and it's like a big reunion with a bunch of people you haven't seen for a long time.  A real gathering of the Saints.  Very neat.

That's kind of bizarre that the weather is still so nice in Utah.....it's starting to get reallllly ugly here, but, like, not a huge deal. Probably keep working :)

Love you, daddy,

Love Elder Max Liechty

Week #60 - Muret

3. I'd say my french is pas mal.  Check that out.  That means "not bad" in french, so, that just goes to show ya.  The french people always say I speak good french, but I think they're just trying to be nice.  Either way, after the first second or two, they all know you're american.  There's no hiding it.

4.  Just a little notice!  this transfer is over this week, and then next transfer is only 4 weeks long so that people aren't travelling over Christmans.  So, I don't know if you already knew that, but that's the news.

I did not feel that bad when marching band was over.  Eh.  Like, I liked it, but, it's kind of one of those things for me that you do and enjoy and then at some point you kind of just have enough of it.  Sam's probably just a super geek.  But it's true that I do get probably too excited when I find other missionaries who did marching band so we have something to talk about together...If that answers your question.  Let's just say I didn't cry like cry baby over there :) luv u sam

They kind of do halloween in france, but it's really pretty new.  But it's such a catholic country that lots of people do the all saints day mass, which is not as fun as halloween, and is also the next day.  I don't think they dress up in costumes for that.

While I think about what you can pray for, let me tell you about this week:

lundi was very good times.  After emails, we went to visit Fr. Déjean with the bishop.  It was really fun, and we watched a really ancient church video, you might've seen it, called Man's Search For Happiness.  Classic.  He enjoyed it, we talked with him, and he really respects the bishop. He even had him do both the opening and closing prayers.  Ha.  Yeah.

The next day was super fast, because we had our studies in the morning, got ready to go to Bordeaux, and then went to Bordeaux, for zone conference that is.  The train was really fun, and long, and also Bordeaux is still a really cool city.  Funny story from that day:  when all the missionaries got on the bus to go to their apartments that night, this guy was staring and smiling at us.  All the elders were on, and then the sisters ran to catch it, too, and got on after us.  They walked through all of us, and when they got towards the said man, he said "be careful, they're gonna convert you!" and then saw that all the girls had plaques, too, and that was hilarious. He laughed, too, so it was not awkward.

And then the next day was zone conference.  Inspiring like nothing else.  Elder Kearon from the 70 was there, and it was amazing.  It was all about things that can keep us motivated and help us rise to a new level of commitment in our missionary work.  One of those things was always thinking about our families, past, present, and future.  The name we wear, the people we're representing, and the people we're working for.  He had us imagine what we wanted our children to be like in several years (I imagined them exactly like us, because you created perfect children), and decide what new level of commitment we needed in order to earn these children.  That was cool.

The next day we were able to see Sylvie, and that was great.  Talked about endurance to the end, and she was down wit' it.  Nice.  Then after that we headed home, prepared a list of people we were gonna pass from the area book, because we decided we weren't doing enough follow up, and started it.  Didn't get very far, but, eh, we started.  After that was ward council, that was really fun.  They've been doing it over the phone for the past while, and I've been absolutely sick of it because it's so hard to follow on a conference call, and in person was so much better.  Then it was all six elders sleeping in the muret apartment.  That was great.  By the way, when we were in Bordeaux, we had, like, 20+ elders in our apartment, and that was great.

The next day there was a party that evening for the other ward.  It was actually not a party, but a talent show, but that doesn't really matter.  anyway, we invited a bunch of people, and the last guy we were expecting was the only one able to come.  And he stayed after we had to leave, and made some friends.  That was pretty cool.  Then get this, he came to church on sunday.  Yeah.

samedi was a real good time, because we went out to Foix to do some service at a member's home.  My back still hurts, but it was really, really fun.  Also Foix is still the coolest city out there.  By the way, I was on exchange with Elder Mattinson, that's why he's in the picture, not Elder Haskin.  But that evening, also, we had salmon, which was delicious, and Elder Mattinson's parents had sent Old Bay seasoning, so that was even better.  And we also made 5L of kool aid.

Dimanche was good, as always.  Because it was fast sunday, we got time in the morning to go out and work!  Yay!  After talking to people out on their sunday walks, we went to the train station, where we ran into a less active member we had never met before.  He's from Nigeria, and he's pretty dang cool.  So that was a neat last minute exchange miracle. Church was great, our friend Jerome was there, out of nowhere.  He seemed to like it, so we'll see if coming to church changed anything for him.  And that's about the week.

As far as praying, I suppose you could pray that we find some new amis?  We didn't get to do any teaching this week except for Sylvie and street teaching, and we really need to find some new people here in Muret.

Also, I'm in a WARD mom, it's a WARD.  France isn't thaaaat behind the times.  I may have said branch before because Narbonne really got to my brain, man.  But no, I haven't born my testimony except for arriving and leaving.

Anyway.  I love you a lot.  Here's a picture of Elder Haskin finishing our Star Wars puzzle and his content face afterwards.

Is there anything I can pray for YOU for?  Huh?

I LOVE YOU

love,

Elder Max Liechty

And a cute story from Kent's email:

I had a really neat experience I forgot to tell momma.

It was at the Bordeaux conference.  They asked me to be in a little group of people to sing the EFY Medley of As Sisters in Zion and Army of Helaman.  So we sang a little at the beginning, and then the rest of the missionaries would come in, and it was really cool.  And to be honest, I could care less that I got to sing, because, I'm a real average singer, nothin' special here.  But the fact that I got to be on that end of the singing, to hear what Prez Roney and Elder Kearon got to hear, to imagine what it had to have sounded like at our Nice conference in summer with Elder Andersen, just blew my mind.  There was another presence in that room, and I totes felt something stronger that I remember ever feeling before.  That was really cool.