Week #89 - Avignon

Moooooooooooooooooooooom!

So, here's a real bummer for you, but I pulled out my camera today and I didn't have an SD card in it.....so that's back at the apartment, and all the awesome photos from this week won't get sent till next week. there's lots of really funny ones, and even one to send dad for his birthday, but.......I'll just have to send all that next week!

The baptism went real well, like I said, all the photos are back home....

We should be getting iPads TODAY!!!  I'm actually in Aix writing this in the church waiting for zone training to start where we should get our ipads.  Sweet.

(He and Sam will actually be speaking on the same day )And also that's nice to know that I can keep my talk short, because I learned that I can't speak gospel in english anymore....so I'll take it real easy and probs talk something simple like faith.  And yeah, how does that work?  How do I know what I'm supposed to talk about?

So I can't remember if I'd already told you n all, but we saw our man Frederic on monday had a cool rdv with him, and then we also got to see Sr Protano, who surprised us with dinner, so that was awesome.

We finally got to see Etienne again, he's doin' alright.  We read 3 nephi 11 with him, he gets it n stuff, and I think he likes it, it's just that his wife is really not interested at all, and is pretty set on her church.  So their son is still gettin' baptized.  But.  Welp. We're workin' with that a lot.  Or at least trying.

We also got to see Eric this week, and taught him the word of wisdom.  He gets it for the most part, but I think he's still kinda in the mindset that he could drink a little, that too much is the only problem.  He understands the problem with smoking, and he wants to quit, but we're probably gonna be following up a bunch on all that and helping him out.  His real needs right now are to feel the Spirit between rdvs.  Cuz it's clear he feels in when we're there, but he doesn't do much about it between.  So follow up hard core time.  The fact that we'll be having iPads could be really handy.

We saw Jean-Person as well.  It was kinda a funky rdv.  He had a client in the store for the first part, so we just kinda awkwardly waited for her to leave, and when she left, it turned out that she had met the missionaries a while ago in Besançon, and totes recognized us, so that was neat.  We talked with JP afterwards for a good while, and found out a little bit that he actually doesn't have a testimony, like at all.  Well, he really likes the church and recognizes that there is a lot more spirituality at our church than at others, but he has a hard time understanding the fact that he needs to be baptized again if he's already been baptized.  We're planning on teaching hard in the priesthood restored paint and helping him gain that testimony.

For my birthday, two members had us over for cake, so that ruled.

We also got to see Lou again and chatted with her for a good while.  we're having a hard time fixing a day that we can work on her geneology, because of mobility issues and she has a baby and no car and all that, but iPads may or may not solve that problem.  So we'll see with that, too.

We visited a family out in l'Isle sur la Sorgue, and it is their son who came to church last sunday for the first time since I've been here.  He went less active just before I got here, but he loves the missionaries, and his parents want us to work with him a lot.  We also saw another family with a less active son, so that was neat, as well.  Something that's been real neat here in Avignon is working with families that have just one member less active. It's always really interesting how that happened.  How the one went astray.  It's been a really neat learning experience.

This week was pretty fun, sorry if this email sounds real choppy, I'm kinda hustlin' to get it out before zone training.

I promise that I will send pictures next week :)

P.S. the email is late cuz we had a big branch picnic yesterday and had no time for anything pday.  so.

I LOVE YOU ALOT AND A LOT

Happy birthday to me

Love,

Elder Max Liechty

Week #88 - Avignon

Moooooooooom!!!

So, How's Avignon is a good question, because I was only here for, like, half the week!  this was the week of exchanges, but it was real fun.

Also, you didn't tell me if you liked or didn't like the way I emailed last time, so......I'm just totes gonna do it again :)

Yeah, so, Bob emailed me a little bit ago and I told him to tell his parents to talk to you about it, too, cuz that would be TIGHT to room with him.  Because also we still share the record player, so we both need to profit from it in some way :)  But yeah.  If it's possible in the same place, that would be the rockinest.

Nothin' real new and exciting happening here, 'cept the fact that there's a baptism this saturday!  It's not my équipe or nothin', but it's this real cool american guy named Nate. He actually moved from Switzerland to the US when he was younger, was in the army, was in a bunch of crazy stuff in his life, and then got in an accident and found himself in a hospital in france, where he met the missionaries the first time in Nimes, just next to us.  Then another accident, and found himself at the hospital just 5 minutes on bus from our appartement!  Real neat.  He's a bro, too.  covered in tats, really funny, loves Jesus and the church and is getting baptized this saturday!  So that's new.

Other than that, I was in Vitrolles and Aix-en-Provence for a few days this past week.  In Vitrolles I got to meet one of their coolest recent converts, an Iranian who moved here about a year ago, and he and his brother both got baptized.  Really cool story, really cool guys, really cool rdv.  Loves Jesus Christ :)

Aix-en-Provence was really fun, too.  It was actually a holiday that day, so there weren't many busses.  So after having a rdv with a real cool guy with a red beard, we headed towards the bus stop to catch a bus out to this place a little ways away to find an ancient ami of about 3 years.  So we headed to the bus, but cuz we were talkin' with people, we just missed it, so instead we decided to walk out there and pass this lady.  We found ourselves at the top of this sweet mountain, like the middle of a rain forest/national park, with a few houses here and there, but it turned out this lady doesn't live there anymore......so we decided to knock our way down the mountain, and every house we knocked on we got a good conversation in with the people, and a couple turned into lessons, too.  So that was a miracle.  One real cool young family that spoke english with us, and then this reeaaaaalll old lady that needed help with gardening, so they're gonna go help her out soon.  That's what the picture is of, it's Elder Nye in front of some bamboo or something on whatever mountain we were on.  Took a video, too, but the only reason you don't see fun videos of me is cuz it takes waaaaaaaaay long to send them on emails, so I just wait till I send the card.  Sawry.

Other than that, here in Avignon we got to see Jean-Person. We talked about the Book of Mormon with him, cuz it was clear he didn't totally understand everything that was in it.  so we talked kind of about the whole story, when stuff happens, why there are 4 Nephis and why they aren't the same guy.  He really liked it though, and then when he came to church on sunday, they had a real good rdv with him.  I couldn't be there, cuz I got to play piano to help the primary kids for the primary program for mother's day the 31st.  but he seemed to really like it, so that was sweet.

We also got to see Lou, an ami we hadn't really seen for a long time.  She's the one for whom we killed a mouse.  Yeah.  so we saw her, did the Ma Famille booklet, and she loved it, so that was sweet.  She wants to do some stuff on Familysearch.org, so we'll do that with her sometime soon.

i didn't get to see Etienne this week, but elder Kimbergt did, on exchange, and he seems to be doing alright.  'Cept that they're baptizing their son into a false church this sunday! ;) but yeah.  We should be seeing them this week again, because I haven't seen him in FOREVER.

We saw Eric a couple times, but weren't able to visit with him because he was always just about to leave.  but he told us when we should pass by and he'll be there, so that should be happening this week.  So.

And that's about the week.  This coming week is MY BIRTHDAY and then also right after that we get iPads!! whooooooooooo. Neat.

Have another good week, tell Sam to not even study for finals, they ain't even a big deal, and give Nana and Poppa a big ol' hug for me when they get there.

LOVE YOU ALL

Elder Max Liechty

Week # 87 - Avignon

Heyoooooooo!

Hey, since I just saw you yesterday, do I have to write a big long letter?  Heh heh yeah probs.  

Sounds like Have a Soup Pie was real fun, and yeah, I'd go.  I'd probably drive the van out there, but, like, eh, I don't have one anymore so...

So let me tell you a few things about this week:

We spent a looooooooooot of time organizing all the less actives in our branch and mapping them out and dividing them up between the two équipes.  We have it all nice and organized and finally we gonna be able to do more less active work in this branch, cuz there're about 3 times as many less actives as active members!  This branch has to be at least............3 times this big!  What is this?  A branch for ants?  But anyway, there are a lot of less actives, and most of this week was spent mapping them out, passing the ones closest by, and finding a lot of addresses no longer good, but finding a few good addresses, too!  And some not too far from our appartement!

But yeah, this week was kinda funky cuz we didn't have many rdvs fixed, we were just kinda goin' and trying to find all week.  We were supposed to see Etienne and Ange on friday, but Ange couldn't, and then that turned out to be alright, because there was this huge problem with the trains that day cuz an "accident de personne," you can guess what that means.  So we were in Aix en Provence for the zone training that morning, and weren't able to get back to Avignon till 19h which means 7 o'clock in french, not 9 o'clock :)  But anyway, so we weren't able to make it to Etiennes, but we should be seeing him finally this wednesday.  It's been FOREVER.  He's moved appartements into another kinda sketchy area, but that just makes this whole thing more fun :)

Other than missing those rdvs, we got to see our man Jean-Person (turns out that's how you spell it, not Jean-Personne....super embarassing) a couple times.  Once about halfway through the week we stopped by to chat, and some members came into his store, so that was cool to see them all there, too.  We only had enough time though to give him a scripture to read that should help him with his desire to get a call from God, 2 nephi 31.  Then we saw him another time in the week, just to follow up on his reading, he hadn't yet, but he said he would.  We chatted a little with him again.  Then on sunday he came to church!  It's always real refreshing to see him there, cuz he always looks real classy and has a big ol' smile on his face. He really likes church.  We talked about the word of wisdom in the amis class, and he had some good questions about why certain things are forbidden if it's only bad if you're addicted?  And we told him that frankly it's better to just not take the risk and stay completely away from harmful substances instead of walking the line and drinkin' / smokin' every once in a while.  He seemed to understand, so we'll follow up on that this week!

Met some cool people on the streets, as per use (you-j....), but no one is a new ami yet. Elder Kimbergt and I have been working a lot better together lately, too, so that's been nice.  the other elders are all doin' real good, too.

However I totes forgot to take a picture of all four of us, and now I have a huge zit on my forehead, so we'll just have to wait till later to do that, huh?  Heh heh.  but you saw all four of us on Skype at the same time, right?  so that counts, right?

And here's a picture of a big old wall in a city called Orange, and then this NASTY bug that interrupted our weekly planning session, then we killed it, and this is what was inside of it.  I thought you might like it. ( I didn't, and I didn't include the picture either:)

So, you have to tell me if you like this style of email better than the day by day one, cuz for me this is WAY easier, and all the lame details are written in my journal.  But if you want to know what I did day to day, you let me know, and I can do that.  i can do that for you, cuz i love you.  But just so you know this is way easier, and I feel like i avoided a lot of the really boring details.  Just let me know. (Um, I like this style A LOT better:)

I love you tons, mom, and it was awesome to see all of you yesterday!  Happy momma's day again!

Love,

Elder Max LIECHTY

Week #86 - Avignon

Maaawwwwm!

Moooooooooom (in a groaning kinda tone), the picture is supposed to be of Elder Olivier pretending to be Joseph Smith in the paintings!  I can't believe you didn't get that!  Maybe that's just missionary humor...(Picture from last week...I THOUGHT that was it, but I had to ask:)

So we got plans for mother's day!  But I do need your help.  What time do you have church these days?  Cuz we have a member that can host us, but I need to know when you are home so i know when to Skype you.  So.....

(Birthday question) Maybe just some treats?  But not too many, cuz I'm fat, and I need to be skinny to fit into a french suit before I get home!  But really, I can't think of much.  Maybe just some fun pictures and letters n stuff?  That would rule.  I already have ALMOST enough shark shirts, but the rest could probs wait :)

I don't have a pic of all four of us yet, but we'll get one and I'll send you it!

I'm sorry, this computer place has been real ghetto lately and I'm running out of time already, so I'll try to get this all in.

I'll start with mardi.  We saw our friend Victoria, who works at the pope's palace and speaks english.  We practiced english with her and shared the My Famille booklet with her.  She realy liked it and wants to get hoppin' on her geneology, so that's neat.  Then after that we headed out to orange to see the famile Farina.  We had a real good FHE with them;  We just shared something out of the liahona about being an example for others, nuthin' special, but they all participated, and it really ruled.  Sweet.

Then we've got ourselves mercredi.  Cool things from that day:  We saw Jean-Person (turns out I've been spelling his name wrong for, like, 5 months...), and talked about baptism with him.  He really wants to be baptized, and said he will be, but he's waiting for his calling.  So...we're gonna try to help him understand that God called all of us to be baptized n stuff and how to recieve answers from prayers, and he'll be baptized. Don't know when, but he will.  But it was a real bummer, cuz he didn't come to church this sunday :( we'll see what's up

Then jeudi we had to help the other Elders teach an ami in a ville about an hour away, so that was fun.  She's real cool, but we also helped her move a couple days ater and she's no longer in our area :(  but she did meet the missionaries from Aix (the new area she's in), so that's neat.  Then when we came back we tried to pass a couple less actives with no success.  I actually had forgotten the map (oops), but we kinda remembered where one person lived.  Well, we knew what door/floor she lived on, but we weren't sure which building.  So we knocked on all the doors on that floor in all te buildings around, found some cool people, but not the less active.  Still pretty fun though.  Then when we were coming back, we decided to pass by Eric's house.  We had passed earlier, but he wasn't home, so we passed again. On the way, we ran into this guy who had met the elders in Aix and had given them his number to give to us cuz he's here in Avignon for school break.  looks like we got to him before the Aix elders could get to us!  Neat.  Cool guy.  Then Eric was home!  So we got to teach him, too.

Then vendredi was hilarious. It was a holiday here in france, the only one during the year where there are NO BUSSES.  So we had no busses.  Luckily we did our weekly planning that day, but we still had time to work, so we walked.  And walked.  We walked real far, visited a member who was in the hospital not too long ago, she's doin' fine, then we had our english class, and that went well.  After, when we were walkin' home, one of the english class students drove by and offered us a ride home, so that was neat, cuz we were able to make it home on time!  wooooo!

Then samedi was kinda a weird day.  We had it completely open, 'cept the morning when we helped the ami in that outer ville move (went well, met her tahitian ex-husband who is a less active, too, so that was neat), so we planned to go and try to see all the less actives we could.  We passed just about each one of them, not a single one was home, and we learned that many had moved and don't live there anymore, so that was....great?  It was fun anyway.  The funnest part was when these crazy kids tried to hit us with their car!  Whooooo!  We were in a pretty so-so area, not that bad, though, like, I'd been there before and never had any problems and there's plenty of old people walking around, but for some reason that day all the teenage Algerians were after us.  But we handled it well.  The face I made at them was kinda like this:    :I   And that sure got 'em.  Then we tried to pass some more less actives and didn't find them either :)  but, like, it was still a pretty good day

Dimanche was also neat.  We had lots of people at church, so that was nice ('cept our man J-P).  but the coolest was after church.  We had a fun branch council, and then we hit the streets to find some people to teach.  We met some cool people on the streets, including an ancient ami's boyfriend who's pretty cool.  And then when we were coming back in the evening, we were waitin' for the bus and started talking with this lady sitting there.  She recognized us because she takes the same bus as us every sunday morning, and I recognized her, too.  She thought it was silly how we ran every morning to catch the correspondance for the church. Ha.  But we ended up teaching her a restoration lesson on the bus, so that was neat;  She's real nice, and we had given away our only LdM that day, so we promised her one the next sunday.  YEah.

And that was the week.  Kinda weird cuz we didn't see our amis that much.  Etienne kinda disappeared for a second, but he's back and we should be seeing him tomorrow!  he was out of town working for a little and they're moving, too, so we're gonna help them with that.  anyway.

Weather's nice.

So yeah.  Let me know ASAP about the church hours, but i should be able to Skype you whenver you are available!

I love you a lot, all

Love

Elder Max liechty

DAD!

I've already started to try to serve him in little ways, and each time I do, I've seen it's really helpful.  Sometimes I'm just too caught up in myself to really help the guy out, or i really want to do what I've planned.  I think the problem is that I started out trying the "fix" the guy, cuz when President called me at the beginning of last transfer he went on for about 5 minutes telling me about all Elder K's little issues, so i was dead set on fixing him.  But I was way off, and I actually just needed to show him lots of love and be real nice and let him know that someone cares, because he's got a pretty difficult family life and all that.  So it's been cool to try to change my attitude around and just love the man.

the mission rules, dad.  I'm real happy that I'm here and that I've met all the people that I have.  just tryin' to meet more, if you catch my drift.

I love you a lot dad!  I'll see you THIS SUNDAY!!!!

Week #85 - Staying in Avignon!

You'll never believe it, but.....

I'M STAYING!!  With Elder Kimbergt, too!  wowie!  Numero 4 in Avignon.  I only have one more chance to go anywhere else, so we'll see how that goes!

We had beaucoup de fun at the JA activity this last mondee, I'll let you know about that, and also pictures!

Didn't get transferred!

The new prez comes in probs this next transfer, normally they show up in June I think, so we'll see.  How do I feel?  I feel like President Roney is betraying me ;)  Kiddin'.  But it's kinda silly, cuz I always think "couldn't he just wait maybe one more transfer?" and then I realize all the kiddos finishing right after me would then be thinking the same thing, and it's just a huge loop, so, I'll just accept it.

I'm excited to hear Zach's speech!  Was it as good as mine?  Mine was pretty dang good, so i doubt it

So, let me go ahead and tell you about this week, it was pretty nuts.

So lundi started off doin' emails n stuff, and then Josué, a JA, picked us up at the gare and swooped us away to this old Abbey not too far away, with a huge ol' parc next to eat, where we had a picnic n played frisbee, and also there were a bunch of "mountains" (big hills) around that we "hiked" (walked), but it was actually my pday dream to walk on those mountains n stuff.  So we had a real good time, all the Farinas were there, and their non-member cousin was there, too, as well as some other JAs and Halima, the other equipes super dope ami.  So we had a good time with all of them, then we came back and got some ice cream at an ice cream place.  Delicioso.  It was pretty great.

Then the next day we went all the way to a members home that took an hour and a half bus, ate some delicious tahitian food, played some scripture games with them (the kids schooled us, I don't know how they know their scriptures that well), then we came back, and then it was english class, because we couldn't do it on friday, and Halima was the only one who could do it any other day, and the best was mardi, so we did it then.

Then mercredi we hit up this famille's home, the Oscars, from Haiti, where they made us a delicious Haitian meal, which is actually the same thing I ate their home on Christmas eve, which was DELICIOUS, so that was awesome.  After them, we had to straightway catch a train to the Farinas.  Then we had a real cool experience with them.  Elder Kimbergt wanted to call Sr Farina to come pick us up at the gare, and so he did.  And then it turned out they were havin' some problems n worries n stuff, and so she actually wasn't able to come for an hour to pick us up.  We got in the car, found out that something was wrong, and then when we got to the house, we gave everyone blessings, and it was an awesome experience.  Some of the kids were sick, one was having real bad health problems, and their mom just needed lots of comfort.  So we did that, and it rocked.  Really cool, also, was that the nonmember cousin was there, and he, too, asked for a blessing, so that was neat.  Awesome Spirit at their home that evening.  Righteous.

then jeudi we had a rdv with the Lauthiers out in l'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.  So we went out to their place, talked about the temple and eternal marriage, because their oldest daughter has been thinking about an eternal marriage, even though she is not active.  So we talked a lot about that and the blessings thereof, and then also the kids were sick, so we also gave them blessings.  It was funny, cuz our oil was all out from the day before, so she gave us some, then we consecrated it, then we gave the blessings.  I think I gave more blessings in these last two days than I had given my entire mission.  Ha.  Then after that, we went to visit Andre to tell him that Sam got his call to Poland (cuz he's Polish), and he was pretty stoked.  We also invited him to the Tahitian activity this saturday, I'll tell you about that in a sec.  This day we also met a chinese fellow who walked past us at the bus stop, stopped and looked at us and asked "BYU?" and I was like "Aww yeah" and he said "me too!"  then his wife explained that he had recieved his doctorate in computer science at BYU.  But it was funny, cuz right after they said that, they walked away, and I have no idea if they're members or not, so that will forever remain a mystery.  But these days basically everyone in Avignon is either Chinese or American or Arab, except for my companion, so contacting is always really lively.

Then these next three days are all kinda the same.  Vendredi we got on a train to go to Aix to get on a bus to go to Lyon to go to the misson conference.  We got there, ate pizza, said hi to all my old mission pals and companions that are still rollin', and that was awesome.  Also met more chinese and american people on the way :)

then the next day we got to the mission conference, it ruled.  The explained that we will be getting iPads really soon, and it was actually a really uplifting conference and RULED.  They kinda compared us to the army of helaman, saying that our "parents" or preccedors threw down all their electronics to come on mission, and we're picking them up for the Lord's cause, so that was neat.  They talked about a lot of really cool stuff, and also the entire mission was there, plus two 70s, Elder Kearon and Elder Nielson (who talked in last conference about his sister Susan.)  And then we took a CAR back to Avignon to the Tahitian activity (cuz that's the only way they saw it working, and it worked), and after all sorts of getting soaked in the rain, stuck in traffic, not having a GPS and then finding one, we made it to the activity, and it ruled.  16 investigators attended!  Members' friends, our amis, wowie!  It was a huge success.

then sunday we had church, great as always.  Jean-Personne asked about how to become a member of the church, and we was like "baptism" and so i think he's really starting to get it.  He really has a desire to be baptized and become a member, but he still has som stumbling blocks.  But it's clear that he's really being prepared right now, so we're gonna start moving forward with that again.  Then after church, we drove the car back to Lyon to drop off Elder Olivier (goin' home), and come on back on train.  Long day of voyaging.

but also Elder Mattinson is here!  He's Elder Bleak's new companion, so my old companion is now in the apartment again!  So that's very fun.  This transfer should rule, if I'm not mistaken.

I'll be sure to keep all those people in my prayers, and also all of you!

I LOOOOOOVE YOU

Love

elder Max Liechty

Week #84 - Avignon

Mooooooooooooooooommmmmm!!!!

Get me that printin' / copyin' job!  That would be wonderful, otherwise I'd probably pee my pants and also wouldn't know what to do about money and also paying for university, but maybe I'll just go back to Papa Murphy's.

Tell brother Terry that I'll do it, alright?  Just get off my BACK!  Kiddin'.  Tell him thanks for being our neighbor n all that :)

I can't think of any recipes in specific, desserts taste better back home, any way!  We've found a delicious recipe where you make normal cookies, but you use this awesome cereal instead of chocolate chips, and they rule, so we're already blowing members away with that :)

I learned somethin' neat in personal study this morning, too :  about restoration.  In Alma 41 (I think), when he's talking to Corianton and about how wickedness never was happiness, he talks a lot about what restoration means.  About how it means the restoring of something old to itself, just new.  So, like, it's exactly the same as it was when it was old, but it's here.  Now.  Like when you're bad and you die, you are restored in badness.  When you're good and die, you are restored in goodness.  When an old motorcycle was black and then got all rusty, they restor to be black again and to function the way it did when it was brand new!  Like when Jesus Christ forms a church and then restors it 1800 years later the exact same as it was when he made it then!  Cool.

I'm real sorry, but this email might be kinda rushed, cuz we have a real cool pday planned with all the JAs and this less active boy, and we gotta be headin' out pretty soon, but I'll try to make this email worth your while!

Let's start with monday.  We went to visit this famille named la famille Lauthier.  The mother is less active as is the father, they have a few children that are baptized, and the others are not.  They love the missionaries and they're really cool.  They wanted their kids to be baptized a while ago, then they had some problems with the branch or something, then she came back out of nowhere and requested us to visit them again, so that was neat.  We got to know them, they made us some cookies, their daughter who lives in Belgium was there, too, and she works at a chocolat making place, and she haad PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATS.  Mmmmmmmmmmm.  So yeah, we visited that famille, they live real far away, so by the time the bus got us home, it was the end of the day.  As far as pday, it was kinda lame, not much to do cuz we had to take the bus far n stuff, but yeah.  This pday should make up for it.  We also saw a giant duck in the city where we were, so, see pictures.

Then the next day we went to see Sr. Protano because she had some cake for the other elder's birthday.  She's still recovering from her hospital visit, but hopefully she'll be able to make it to church again soon!  After that we headed out to Orange to see if we could find some less actives.  On sister we found home, she was really nice, but her husband wasn't home, so we couldn't visit.  She's from Romania, and she takes care of children all day long, so she doesn't really have any open time to meet n stuff, so we're gonna try to get an active famille from Orange to visit her from time to time.  Then the other addresse was no good, so we knocked on all the doors in the neighborhood, nuthin' much.  But it was beautiful weather, nice n warm, and we met some cool old guys on the street.

Then mercredi Elder Olivier was having more bowel problems and Sister Povar told him to not leave, so Elder Bleak and I shared our days.  We went to go see an ami named Jessica, who has a member husband from Tahiti (less active, though), and they were cool.  When we got in, they had Water for Elephants playing, so I thought of a joke and slayed Elder Bleak with it later ("did you know that Reese What's-her-bucket got stabbed?" "Witherspoon?" "No, with her knife."), but also the rdv was really good.  After that we went back into town to meet up with one of the JAs cuz he had a request for us to help him with someone he was home teaching, so we talked about him and made some plans to help him out.

Jeudi we had district meeting in the morning, very lively.  Talked a lot about how to better prepare for lessons, which is way important, so that was a nice reminder.  Then when we came back, we were supposed to have a rdv with Etienne, but he couldn't, so we went to our next rdv at Bernard's home, with his non member wife Marylène, and that was fun.  They gave us food, we sang hymns and played guitar with them.  They also have a turtle named Totosh who is adorable, see pictures.

Then vendredi we saw Eric (the first ami we got to see this week...!), and we had a real good rdv about putting our trust in the Lord.  He accepts real well all we teach him, but whenever we talk baptism, he's like "well shoot, I haven't really thought about it yet" and he hasn't read the BoM between visits yet, so, he's not really getting the best nourishment between visits.  He likes it when we're there, but he kinda forgets how much he likes it between rdvs.  But he promised to really think about it, so, next time we see him!  Then we went to english class, it was fun, as usual, lots more members there this time, so that was especially fun.

Then samedi we went to the church in the morning to clean it because this soeur whose husband is out of town needed help.  We made it squeaky clean, then ate a delicious kebab for lunch.  Then we were supposed to have samedi sportif, but nooooo body came for some reason......really kinda a bummer.  Felt like one of those kids that invites all his friends to a birthday party, and no one shows.  Or, like, in that new Mormon Message with David A. Bednar and "loads" when he says "Nobody came..."  That gives you an idea of how much of a bummer it was.  But we got over it, went back and changed, and then this member took us out to another member's home for an FHE/delicious sausage dinner.  Yummm.  There son is also in the same mission as Adam Packer!

So then comes dimanche.  Church was really cool, there were three American families/people there.  This guy from Utah, this couple from Texas, and this famille from California, one of the daughters lives in Bordeaux.  so yeah, church was fun.  It was realllllly awesome to see Jean-Personne at church, and also I noticed him looking through the church photo book thing, and he paused for a real long time on the baptism photos, sooooooo.  We'll be talking about that with him.  Then we went to pass André, nothin'.  He wasn't home!  That was a huge surprise, cuz he's always home.  So, while waiting for the next bus, I made a bunch of calls and fixed some rdvs, and then also that night I called Sister Lauthier to fix with her, too, and then she told me, like, her whole life story and a bunch of cool stuff that is happening with her less active daughter in Belgium, so that was neat.  Also fixed a rdv with her, so yeah, cool.

and now today we got big plans for a fun pday with the other Elders and the young adults, so I'll probs have pics for next week :) Also, I'm running out of space on my SD card, and I think you still have the one I sent home not too long ago......so.........is it in the package you said you sent?

Anyway, love ya loooots, have a great week

Love,

ELDER MAX LIECHTY

Week #83 - Avignon

Mom!

That's so COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL.

We're actually visiting with/tryin' to teach this bro from Poland right now.  Like, we teach him each time, but we haven't done the formal missionary lessons.  I know he has family in Poland, so I'll squeeze some referrals out of him for Sambo.  And also my first transfer or maybe second, can't remember, Elder Beyer and I went to catholic mass with this real cool Polish guy, can't remember his name, but I'll try to see if I wrote in my journal. I don't think I ever remember his name, cuz it was Polish, and I don't speak Polish.  Man.  That's gonna be a cool mission.  I'm super jelous cuz he's gonna probs be able to visit some old WWII concentration camps for Pday, and that's something totes interesting.  So looks like we'll have to take a big ol' trip back to Germany/France/Poland some day!

Yeah, West is the man who has written me the most consistently my whole mission!  Rock on, Wesley.  But yeah, I told him to do that, so, yeah.  Go ahead and when you register n stuff, let me know.

I like the idea of a combined homecoming/farewell.  It would be cute!  And also it would be lots easier for the evanstonians n stuff.  And I don't even wanna talk a long time, so that'll be nice.  I'll speak first, and Sam can fill the rest of the time.  You remember what happened at my farewell!  15 minutes of extra time!  Ha;  yeah.

Avignon pdays are fun, but we live soooo far away from ville that it takes forever to do groceries and emails n all that, so in the end of the day we rarely have much time to do stuff unless we sprint to everything.  And we see all that stuff, like, every day :)  But I have seen most of that stuff you mentioned, but I haven't gone inside, and I haven't ridden the carousel :(  But the JAs have a real big sweet pday planned for us next monday, so that should be fun.  Because there is actually a lot of really cool places where we could go hiking, they're all just far a way, cuz our sector is huuuuge, and no, there are not really any other missionaries close enough to do stuff with us, 'cept the other elders in our apartment, and everything we do is always with them.  It's fun, and sometimes pdays get nice n filled with fun activities, but sometimes there just isn't any time!  Mais bon.

I'll go stay with Zach n Katie in San Fran, if that doesn't bother you.  Or them.

THE WEEK.

It was a pretty good one.  Lundi after pday (which was a difficult one cuz it was a holiday and almost no busses and nothin' open), we saw Halima with the other elders at the church and taught Tithing!  she seemed to accept it pretty well, and she'll probably be baptized soon.  She hesistates a little, and I think she's afraid to pray, probs cuz she knows she'll get an answer and have to make a choice!  Ha.  then she made us some really good spanish "tortilla" they call it, but it's just eggs and potatoes and meat that you fry on a pan and make a cake kinda thing out of.  Super tasty, but not at all a tortilla.

Then mardi we were supposed to have an exchange, but it didn't work out, so we had a little extra time to talk with people.  I can't remember what people we met, but I remember it being pretty fun, and I think we stopped by Jean-Personne's that day if it wasn't another day.  If it WAS that day, we talked about general conference and about his favorite talks, and if it wasn't that day, we talked about the same thing some other day :)  Then that evening we went to the Farina's home, and it was wonderful like usual.  We talked with them, too, about their favorite talks, and I decided that my favorite one is the one from priesthood again, but not Prez Monson's hilarious one, but the one where the guy talks about how he loved money as a kid, and his dad taught him a real good lesson about silver using a mirror, and talked about how our role in life is to learn how to become good parents!  Ask dad or sam or zach about it, it was really good.  Then we saw a miracle and caught the bus on the way home and made it in time :)

Oh yeah!  That same day we met a real cool lady that we talked with and set a rdv for the next day, named Ange.  Then the rdv happened, and it was really good!  She's from Senegal, and her son, Junior, is straight adorable.  We talked about the eternal family and our role as missionaries to help people get their eternal families, and she loved it.  Or seemed to love it ;) then after, when we were walking back to the train station with her, she asked us about our church's difference, and we taught a brief restoration which intrigued her, so that was neat.  Cool miracle lesson/new ami.  Then we got to see Etienne.  It was kinda a rough start to the rdv, cuz we hadn't planned for it, kinda outta nowhere rdv, but we decided to read out of the BoM and then testify about it, and that went well.  We learned he hadn't been reading for a while, and that might be part of the problem for the which he is not comin' to church.  At the end all his friends in his appartment (who were kinda movin' around the whole time) joined us for the prayer, and where throwin' in 'hhhm's and 'amen's n stuff, and it was awesome.

Then jeudi.  We were supposed to have basketball with Nabil, but he didn't show up, and also didn't answer his phone....so we went back, changed, and went back out.  We stopped by to see Dider, he's doin' well, but he kinda had a weird humeur about him, and he was kinda goin' off about how God might exist, but this Jesus stuff is kinda nonesense.  We told him the only way you can know is if you pray!  So, we'll be takin' it easy with him.  I hope it was just an isolated experience.  Then we were supposed to go with a Frere to see a Soeur and give her a blessing, but for some reason it didn't work out, and so the Frere took us to our ami's home, André, the polish guy, and we visited with him.  He was goin' off about WWII and HItler and how God could let that happen to innocent people, but this time I was prepared and whipped out Alma 14, which you should read, cuz it answers that question.  He seemed a little more calmed after that.

Then vendredi we started out the day with some weekly planning, went out to talk to some characters, and then went to english clash. It was just as fun as usual, and then afterwards I was asked to give a talk on sunday about Easter.......So, thanks for sending me all that easter stuff, other wise I woulda had NO idea what do talk about!  Miracle!

Samedi was nuts.  We went to help Sr. Protano and Jean-Jacques move some final tables and chairs n stuff into their new home.  then it was Elder Bleak's birthday, so all us missionaries and Halima went to a chinese buffet (cuz he's a chinese speakin' missionary), and then bowling with Halima, too, I STUNK that round.  Then there was an activity at the church, a geneology activity, and we went to see if anyone we had invited had come, no one....so then we went to talk with the people on the street, and that was about the end of the day.  CRAZY.

Then sunday. Gave my talk, totes nailed it.  Just kiddin', but if went well all the same.  Then we saw Fr. Menthong, and a member, Alexandre, drove us down there, so that was nice of him, and then came to the visit with us!  It was neat, cuz I think it's been a while since Fr Menthong has seen the members.  We invited him to play bball with us, cuz he loves bball, and we're gonna try to start a samedi sportif now that the weather is nice again.  then after that we went to see a referral, not interested anymore.....kinda a bummer, but whatevs.  Then we ate dinner.  And also we had another Elder Kimbergt-Elder Liechty discussion session, cuz something had gotten to him again.  This has definitely been a more interesting part of my mission, but it's been real cool, too, to see how Christlike attributes really need to come into play and how they help, and when I don't apply them, how things kinda go downhill.  so that's neat.

And today.  Pday.  Gonna go see a less active family this afternoon in a really cool city called l'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and teach their non member children, so that's sweet.

I hope you have a really good week n whatnot, and thanks so much for the letters!  Tell Curtis that he can stop waiting for me, cuz I'm never gonna marry him, no matter how much he wants me to.  I love him, but I'm pretty sure it's against the commandments to marry him :)

I LOVE YOU

Love,

Elder Max Liechty

Part of Kent's letter:

DAYD

Yeah, I was thinking when Sam's finished with his mission and Caity is done with her mission to Russia, then we could go on a WWII tour!  That would be sick.  I'll take you all around france and show you all the places were the french people surrendered :)

Man, space, man.  I was thinking about Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy last night, cuz we were talking about dolphins for some reason, and space is pretty cool.  I told everyone in the appartment that dolphins predicted the end of the world, but they didn't believe me.  I guess we'll all just have to see.

I gave a talk in church the other day, and it was fun. About Easter.  I stole the topic from the New Era bout the week before easter, and they loved it.

And also everyone that keeps sitting next to me in this internet cafe are reeeaalllly loud nose breathers, and it's taking me forever to write my emails.

I love you a lot dad, and thanks for everything!

Love, Elder Max Liechty