Lyon II 11

SO hello everyone. lm Let us get to the questions... I hate it when the people smoke outside the door, because all their toxic fumes come in here.

Happy birthday mother, I am sorry I didn't mention that last email.  I really thought I did though.  Poop sorry.  and happy fathers day father!

Elisabeth... well she has fallen off the face of the earth.  She doesn't answer her phone or her door.  Hopefully her husband didn't beat her up.  That's a very real possibility.  Or she was planning on moving back to Cote D'ivoir, so she could be gone.  It would be more sad if this was thre first time this has hapened, but fairly often it seems really prepared people just dissapear.  Oh well.  If we don't remake contact, she'll get baptised in 10 years or something.  Satan can only win for a little bit

The amis are doing well.  We found a couple more this week, Michelle and Firmin who seem pretty cool.  I won't say they will be baptised next week, but they are cool, and just at the beginnig.  Hocine is away on business, but we did get to see him monday before he left.  He is so cool 5and about 40ish°  Every time I see him I think he is going to be the next stake president.

Yeah I got the debit card.  I need to call some number though to activate it?  Or maybe just go to an ATM, I am not really sure how to go about doing that.

Bordeaux was fun, I'll get to that in the day to day, the plane was an airbus, the company was easyjet, it was a one hour flight, so not bad.  I don't know how many missionaries are in Bordeaux, about three teams I think.  

Yes Transfers are this monday.  I really don't know what is going to happen.  I really only have three transfers left, which is like one week, so they could put me in the worst place in the world and I would be fine with it.  No, i still have lots of time left. I think that I am leaving if I had to guess, because I have this curse where I can only stay with a collegue one transfer, so it's me or Elder Gruber who is leaving.  Of course saying that, I'll probably stay with him another transfer.

Monday:  Taught Michelle, then played ping pong and had a FHE at mario's house

Tuesday:  Zone conference with elder richards.  It was really good.  We had a special leadership thing before which was great.  I'll have to show you my notes on that when I get back, because it was just pure doctrine put so simply.  During the confreence, Elder Richards talked about how the 12 want to start doing misionary work diffrerently.  They say if we stick to the old pattern of knocking on doors, that this potential we have for all these new misionaries will not be fully attained.  Basically it was a call for working more closely with the ward, which is something we have been trying to do before.  but there were some new ideas, some didfferent look on adding to ward councils and sutch.  

Wednesday:  Saw Jonah, that kid just needs to be baptised, he knows it, but he is still holding back;  probably from family opposition... sigh  Then we saw haeven and his family who were great.  By the way this whole week because of zone confrerence, we had an extra two teams of missionaries in our appartement the whole week.  So 8 people.  E Gruber and I split up with them, so I really didn't see my collegue this week ha ha.

Thursday:  Woke up at 3.30 for our flight at 7:00... that was really early, and we were a little rushed, but we got there with out problem.  When we landed, it was pouring rain, so we had breakfast at McD's and studied there.  No they don't really have breakfast in MCd's in France.  the rain cleared up and we explored a little and got lunch.  Then we went to the church (it was me elder Gruber and the other Zone leaders from Geneva, Lausanne and Yverdon, and the Sister trainer leaders from Lausanne (don't ask me what the sister trainer leader is because I don't really know, something new))

((((It is so gross, the second one finishes smoking, another takes his place, so I am just getting constantly hit with toxins and stuff... sigh))))

The conferencd was cool, though there were strikes on the trains, so Elder Richards had to leave before we even got there, and Pres Roney had to leave half way through.  We talked about teaching with simplicity and stuff.

Coming home was what killed us.  We got to the airport two hours early for our flight, because people were paranoid we were going to miss it... only to find out that it had been delayed... five hours.  To make a long story short, we hung out in the airport from 7 to 1:30 in the morning when they started boarding the plane.  When  we got on the plane they said we still had to wait for people to fuel the plane because airports close in Europe at midnight, so they had to call people back.  We landed in Lyon around 3 to find out that there are no trams going into the city (the airport is a 40min train ride from Lyon).  We took an incredibly expencive taxi to our place, and that got rid of all my money.  We got to bed at 4:30

Friday:  Woke up at 6!30  to set a good example for the other elders (because they sleep in if we sleep in)  then we saw the other elders off.  Then we went to the office elders apartment to sleep.  Then we went to bourg to see a very nice member family from England.  It was really weird to see kids speaking english.  We had burgers and fries.  Very american.

Sat:  Litterally all our plans, back up plans, and remade plans fell through.  We contacted all day

Sun:  Church was good.  Saw a catholic guy who gave us a cross as a present, and then went to a member families place with Fabien and some others and had a good FHE dinner thing.

Ok, well I love you all very much.  yes I am still tired from not sleeping all night, and also I slept poorly pretty much the rest of the week because of people snoring, or ... just different things.  I don't think i'll ever recover until I get home, but I am good enough to work so I work.  We contacted 1020 people this week.  We we contacted the second most in the mission. Another team got 1078... we'll get them next week ha ha.

Love you very much.  Drop box is really confusing... i thin I need to use the same comp I did last week, and i am not tere, so I don't know if there will be pictures this wek sorry, but I do really love you.  Bordeaux was cool.  Bordeaux looks like a prettier older smaller  Lyon, except everything is flat.  There are no mountains there.  Stay safe, stay humble.  Do what you know is right.  I'll talk to you next week!

Lyon II 10

Ok, hello everyone, how are you?  I am good.  it was beautiful and warm this week. 

Last P'day... well I'll give you that in the day to day

The amis are doing well. We fixed a baptismal date with Hocine for the 6th July , for the most part of this week literally most all of our amis were gone on business trips and other things.

I am slimming down still.  Elder Gruber is really good at helping me.  He is really into getting yolked as he says (ie getting buff) so we are working on that.

Once you are a ZL, you are generally ZL for a long time, but not until death.  for example Elder Uluave went from being ZL to training (no longer ZL)  he was zl for a full year though.  So no generally missionaries are made zone leader later in their mission, so they do finish often as zl, but not necessarily.  I personally.  I love being ZL, but my favorite thing was training.  I really want to go to some small town out west and train a new missionary.  Bergerac would be my preference, just because it is the smallest ville in the mission;  I think.  Elder Gruber served in Bergerac, Breve, and Gap which are three of the smallest villes in the mission.  Then Vallence, which isn't huge, then Geneva and Lyon, so he is working up.

Monday:  we played Frisbee with the elephants, and looked at the zoo, fun stuff Then we had FHE with some members and recent converts.

Tuesday:  Had a raté-vous with an ami, then saw Carolina then Hocine where we fixed the baptism date, he is really the next stake president, he just needs to be married;

Wednesday:  Saw Michael Jackson, wow it's been a while.  He was in Germany for two weeks on business.  he has a job searching and selling car parts, and other transportation... we think it is mostly legal, but he is no longer flat broke, he has hope as well, it is good to see him being blessed.  After we had lots of raté-vous, and then contacted a drunk Portuguese man

Thursday: had a raté-vous so we contacted, then did more contacting

Friday:  Planning contacting raté-vous, more contacting raté-vous ,more contacting

Saturday:  had a lesson with a less active, set up her television for her, then contacted basically the rest of the day.

Sunday:  Stake conference , really super powerful.  then we went to go see Julie who got baptized just after I left Lyon a year ago, and she ratéd us, so that was a bummer.  Then we made some calls.

So the week didn't end with too much of a bang, well a kid of about 5 years did throw a bunch of toy cars at us, and a big foot tall transformer... from the sixth story window.  he didn't hit anyone thankfully.   

I love you all very much.  This week is one of those weeks where we'll be traveling a lot.. OK I'll tell you?. Tomorrow is zone conference with Elder Richards, and then on Thursday we get to go to Bordeaux for a leadership training with Elder Richards.  It should be really fun.  We get to take the plane as well.  I'll tell you all about it next week.

The gospel is true, stay true to the faith, do personal and family prayers.  Remember the joy in life is found helping others.  If you find yourself unhappy, go and do something nice for someone else, and I promise you'll feel better than you have in a very long time.  All my love.  Elder Crossman!

Lyon II 9

ok, questions:  Do I want to go to paris after?  Yes!

Next, amis, they are doing well.  Elisabeth is working well towards her baptism date.  Fabien is still great.  Things are going well with them.  We found a couple new amis this week.  Cora who is a total Hippy, but she  is really open to everything.  She came to church, and she is reading the book. she just might have the problem where "everything is true"  then there is Hocine who is from algeria I think.  He comes from a muslim background, but he is a convert christian.  He is super golden, and will be baptised soon, so that is cool, he is really one of the most real people I've met, and it was him to contacted us in the road, really a cool miracle.

Yes I got the package, I think the salso is the favorite thing, or the jerky, I also really liked the shirt and the pants and the taco spices... so all of it was the best =)

Yes I just looked at my debit card, and it goes bad at the end of this month, so that would be nice to get the new one.

Monday:  We saw the ruins and a cool cathedral, I'll try and send pics... maybe next week, I don't have much time today... sorry then we had dinner at the Cara family.  It was good, pork in this olive red sauce with potatoes.  good evening, even because they invited a less active, so yeah, it was a good evening.

Tuesday:  Made some cookies for members, saw a less active, carolina, talked to a bunch of people, and went to Ambérieu and ported.

Wednesday:  saw Cora for the first time.  She is a docter... well in tibeten medicin, meaning acupunctuer, putting roots and stuff on the side of the road in a pot and rubbing it on your skin to see if it does anything kind of doctor.  ha ha, I'm only teasing, but she really is... interesting.  Then we taught Jonah, our little boy ami who should just be baptised, but he is being stubborn, so we are being pation for the moment.  Then we had a meeting with a member, and after a meeting with the stake president and the stake youth council.  It was fun, the stake president is really cool.  Here is a video about him:  http://www.mormonchannel.org/Im-a-mormon?v=911161859001

Thursday:  Had district meeting given by Elder Gandolf, it was really good.  Did some street boarding, and then went to bourg en bresse.  The office elders normally worked in that city, but since they are no longer in our ward, we went to go explore it.  It is actually a decent sized ville.  I would say about the same size as aviginon.  You could easily put an equipe dedicated there.  We'll see if that happens.

Friday:  Weekly planning had a raté-vous then another raté-vous and then a miracle family home evening with our recent convert, haevan, and his family and another member family, and the less active sister joined in, and they invited a friend!  we got to answer lots of her questions, she had some really good ones.  We are hoping to fix something for the future.  ti was really neat, we hadn't planned on the sister or the friend being there.

Saturday:  I went on exchange with Elder Yang.  We taught a bunch of CHinese people... it was fun.  Elder yang taught me all of chinese grammar in two minutes.  It is incredibly easy, no conjugation, only a past and a present tense, it is just the tonation that makes it difficult.. and the writing.

Sunday:  Good sunday, we had six people we are teaching at church!  Some we rarely see, but they just showed up, and there was a bunch of less actives... normally there is about 75-80 people, but last sunday we were, almost 100, realy a blessing!

Today it is beautiful.  it has rained just about every day since I have been with Elder Gruber.  We are going to take advantage of the weather and throw a frisbee with the elephants in that park. 

I love you so much.  The gospel is soo true.  I am glad you all got home safely and that things are going well.  stay close to Him and you will never go astray.  Ok, got to go, love y ou so much bye!

Lyon II 8

Good day everyone, boy am I tired, let's get to the questions:

Starting with one of my questions, is firefly back on television?  That is the all time best series ever!

Next, the amis are doing well.  We fixed a baptism date with Elisabeth for the 16th of June, She is a super miracle, just one of these people who the Lord had already prepared, and just needed us to push her into the water haha.  But really She is super ready.  I'll tell you about the travel places that I will go to as I go there, not Corsica, but There are a few places that I'll go where I have never been before.

No I have not received the package.

I think it is interesting you mentioned that how your success book is like the gospel with a different vocabulary, President Roney mentioned to us during a leadership council that one of the best ways to make money is to write a book about gospel truths and disguise it as business principles. ha ah.  

Hey thank you for the line of authority and my call letter I got those and I appreciate them.  

Ok here is the day to day

Tuesday/  After emails, we had a cool miracle.  We felt we needed to pass a less active couple, Sanchez couple, They usually are working nights, so I thought they wouldn't be there, but we went, and they were there and we were able to teach them because it just happened to be the husband's birthday and they took the night off.  They were touched by the spirit, and it was a really magical moment.

Wednesday:  Had zone leader council which again was amazing, lots about goal setting in and things like that etc  President Roney taught the whole gospel in about two hours, and it was nothing new, but just jammed packed with the spirit.  Then we did likes of contacting

Thursday:  planned for our zone training (that is the thing the zone leaders present)  then we taught Elisabeth and then had this meeting about the young adults in the stake

Friday:  zone training.  God really helped us out with this one, because I wasn't feeling very prepared, then I went on exchange with the clermont ferrand elders.  We taught Fabien, who brought a friend to institute, and now we are teaching him.  Then some pass backs.

Sat:  Helped with the mother's day activity at the ward in the morning (it's mother's day in France) then taught Carolina another less active who has so much potential and is ready to repent.  Then we ... did contacting

Sunday:  church, lots of people there today then we had our Sunday lunch as an apartment, did our weekly planning because we  hadn't done it yet, and went to a member's house for another church meeting, but we had quiche afterwards, so it was well worth it.  Today we are going to visit the roman ruins and cathedral that I visited when i was in Lyon the last time. I'll make sure to take pictures.

So I am sorry the email is kinda short, but I am out of time;  I love you so much, and thank you for all you do.  I am glad to hear you enjoyed your time in Hawaii.  Elder Gruber says that you have been there forever ha ha.  It sounds fun, but I am having lots of fun over here as well. 

 Soyez sage and do good.  Watch some mormon messages, they are super good, like this one 

Mormon Messages For Youth

do what is right let the consequences follow.  Love you lots and we'll talk to you next week.  Btw, Travis is going home a transfer earlier than me. I am not sure why that is happening, but he said he'll be home at the beginning of October.  Maybe he wants to do something for school.  IDk, and as well. I don't want to go to school winter spring summer fall... that is a lot of school.  I'll make sure I study well so that I only have to take my classes one time.  I know that I will be a much more diligent worker when I get home.  

I love your faces, have a good night:day ; morning.  Bye!

Lyon II 7

Ok, hello family friends, "amis potentielles" *clignement* how are you doing?  I am fine, *Brian is in the kitchen and all is well

Ok, questions:  

The weight is coming off.  Elder Gruber is really really buff, he gets up a six to do an hour of workouts... I have not done that yet, but I am thinking about it.  I am thinning out for a french suit.  I found a store called Misty Griff that sells stuff real cheap, it is apparently the khols of France, or so that was how it was described to me.  Anyway I am excited to check it out.

I have not done running yet, I will this week, I have been doing pull ups and weights and stuff.  Elder Gruber is just an inch or two shorter than me.  The new branches are going to happen, this week we were super chargés, but we'll get back working with that.  For Pday last week?  well, I'll give you the weekly rundown tout à l'heure.

thank you for the pictures, they stayed small for some reason, but it was still fun.

Well, this transfer will be really intense with lots of stuff to do, some cool surprises, that I am only going to reveal to you as they happen.  it looks like I'll get to do a little traveling again this transfer.

Lundi:  I was at the gare all day pretty much.  Elder Frandsen left at 9h00 du matin, du coup, I was at the gare from 8h40 to 3h00 in the afternoon.  Then we got a little brake where I could eat and ... what did I do?  I got a new bag, the other one was old and smelly and falling apart.  I like the new bag, you'll see it soon enough, yes it is a shoulder strap bag.  Then I was at the gare again from 5h30 until 7h00 and we took one of the trainers with us (elder Uluave from the MTC).  Normally he should have come in Wednesday to pick up his blue, but for some reason, they scheduled him for a train on Monday, so he hung with us for the week.

Mardi:  studies, emails, lunch, saw Fabien, then Carolina, a less active from Venezuela or somewhere, Elder Uluave got us a rdv, because he taught her when he was here a year ago.  then we talked to another woman who he taught, who has become a new ami again.  Then we ate with Mario a member who had invited a less active, what a great guy!

Mercredi:  Saw Sr. Gabriel and taught her nice who is a cool social worker from Toronto Canada, we gave her a Book of Mormon, hopefully that will lead to something , some cool miracle. then we did some planning because we were assigned to take care of a group of new missionaries to keep them occupied and showing them missionary life etc.  Then we saw Jonah, an ami, and then we spent the rest of the night taking care of the trainers coming in to receive their blues the next morning, We picked them up at the gare and dropped off their luggage at the hotel, and got them dinner at the finest restaurant in town.. McDonald's!  It was a lot of fun.  Then there were some missionaries who didn't have a hotel room, so we stayed with them and worked it out... then yeah, other complications will luggage, we ended up getting home around 11h40... 6h30 came early that next morning ha ha.

Jeudi:  Spent the day with the new missionaries, we set up a mock mtc thing in the institute building, where we had five or six different members posing as investiators, and they taught them.  They they did some mother daughter, father son contacting, and we ended it with a street boarding choir... there were 28 new missionaries the mutiation, alors, 56 missionaries total in Lyon... in addition to the 16 that were already assigned to Lyon, and we got a few members to join us, it was quite the sight.  So many of the Elders and Sisters were 18 and 19...  Or so they said, I don't know, but it looks like they are sending some children on a mission these days.  They are soooo young.  It is interesting

Vendredi:  Weekly planning, taught a less active, then took the blues again after the meeting with president and ran around Lyon with them.  There were only a few this time, because most had already left on their trains.

*

Samedi:  Saw Elisabeth again and this girl Michelle, then Kate a less active, helped a member lift a 30000 pound wardrobe up four flights of stairs and thin saw Marie France and Haeven who are doing well.  good busy day.

Dimanche:  Fun day at church, had a meeting ofter, eat lunch, Then we did some contacting and stuff

Good week, lots of success, Elder Gruber is a great collegue, we get along well.  He and elder gandolf talk a lot about baseball.  He is really motivated as well.

Well;I  thing that is about all the time I have. I love you all.  Have a great week, and we'll see you again soon. . . Hopefully on Monday next time.

Oh yeah, this Monday  We did our shopping, and lunch, and then we went to that big park with animals in it, saw exotic plants, ostriges and gazells, and then played football... american football.  It was a blast, because again we had a bunch of people with us because today is blues conference for the 2nd transfer elders.    We lost track of time a bit, and so we just had to start working.  They also stayed in out apartment that night. 

*Brian is in the kitchen is a common phrase French people use to learn English, like See spot run and things like that.

Lyon II 6

So I do not have lots of time, so here we go,

Yes there are still Chinese elders.  Elder Gandolf's comp is elder Yang, he grew up in Las Vegas, but he has Chinese parents, and speaks fluently, though he doesn't know how to read it. He is a good guy, I don't really know him well.  Elder Uluave told us he needs a little bit of a push to get out of the apartment, but yeah, he also said he is a good guy and a great teacher.

For lunch we have a variety of things.  We made tacos the last time, oh real quick before I forget, here are some requests for the pack; actually it is just add taco seasoning into the mix, that stuff makes everything better.

The amis are doing well.  We have lots of potential here, but not many actual amis for the moment.

Yah Braiden and I got along, we didn't really do much together though. I am not sure why, we just would talk every now and again, and watch this one tv show I got him into.

Yeah, I miss the cows and working at the farm... not enough to become a farmer.

So the thing I was going to tell you about travis, is that he has a friend, well it is a common friend, but I don't know the actual guy super well.  Anyway, this friend's family has a house in provo that apparently they are willing to rent to us.  I don't have much more information than that, but I told him I was interested if it is actually happening.  I know what you are thinking mother, but don't worry so much, Travis has really changed a lot on his mission.  That is the greatest thing about the gospel is that none of us has to stay the same person that we are today, we are always changing, and hopefully always improving.  From what Travis has sent me, he is really converted to the gospel and has calmed down a lot.  Not saying that he wasn't converted before, or anything, but he really has improved.  So have I by the way.  I am much more self motivated now.  I am really eager to learn and get good grades to do that older person stuff like having a job and getting married and all that. SO yeah, nothing is in stone, but that is what I am thinking about as far as housing for BYU.  I think I have already told you about my goals of being ... I don't like the word independent, but at least taking care of myself (ie paying for my own things, and all that) by two years after the mission.  I'd like to try and do that sooner if possible.  anyway these are just goals to work towards.

So yeah, Elder Gruber is a good man, I think we are going to have a good transfer together.  I didn't know him in high school at all, but I already really like him. I bought a new bag.  A 20 euro thing ad fnac which is like best buy of France, it is really not bad for an cheapl thing.  Lots better than some other bags I was looking at for 120 euros.

Well that is my time.  This week will be a little particular because we are taking care of the new missionaries a couple days.  I'll tell you about it next week.

It was really great to see you!  That hour just flew by, I feel like we really didn't talk about much, but when I get back we'll have lots of good conversations I am sure.  Sorry if I seemed a little inpatient or anything.  I didn't mean to come off that way if I did.  I love you more than anything, be good and do good.  Get the Cherninko family baptized, as well as Dave and Darla and Carol and Carl, so many potential amis for the missionaries there!  though they probably live in a whole different mission than we do.  Sharing the gospel gives us so much joy, it is crazy, and it can't be legal, but it is.

Have a wonderful week, and happy mothers day  love you!

Lyon II 5

Hello everyone.  So I am doing this in a reply because I do not like the new google email thing.  It is when you go to compose a new email, it pops up in the corner like a chat box on facebook (parents, jj can explain to you what that is ha ha).  Anyway, it is really ... I don't know, Elder Frandsen says 'junky' and that seems to be a good word for it.  so let us get to the questions shall we?

Yes Travis wrote me a letter last week.  He also sent me a cool russian orthodox church prayer card.  I wrote him back to discover that I had no stamps, so I'll get some today and send that out to him.  We sometimes write emails to each other, but they are short because almost all my time goes into this one.

Yes I got the cards you sent.  Merci beaucoup, c'est gentil de votre part!

The health is doing great.  I am at 100% again, E frandsen is at 90% he still coughs a little, and is kinda tired, but the pneumonia is all gone.

The amis are going well.  Fabien was baptized yesterday, it was a beautiful service.  I'll try to send pictures.  You know, there were two baptisms here the week before, then Fabien yesterday, and next week there should be two more baptisms... actually three. Not all of them are our amis of course, but they are all the Lyon equipes.  The members are getting really excited about all these baptisms.  During weekly planning E F and I talked a lot about getting new amis and the growth of the church here. We decided in the next few transfers, we are going to try to get a new branch in Bourg en Bresse, and another in Ambérieu en Bougey.  Pretty big goals, and We realize it probably won't happen until both of us are gone, but it is going to happen. 

Now I have to use the stupid compose thing... you can make it your own window, which gets it out of the bottom right corner... that is better, but I still feel like I am writing on the notepad program that comes on computers for free... it just is... junky.

Anyway, there are going to be new branches here. In Bourg there was a branch, but it got dissolved a few years ago.  We (all the elders here) are going to try and bring it back.  As well as starting a new one in Ambérieu.  Yeah, we are setting some pretty high expectations, but with god anything is possible right?

Yes the Corsica elders fly to Lyon, but they do that more than a couple times a year.  eight time a year to be exact.  And that doesn't include for when the assistants go there to do exchanges.  So lowest would be 16 round trip flights a year.

We get transferred on Mondays.  We will be getting called this friday, so by the time I talk to you, I should know what will be happening for our equipe the next transfer.  That is crazy the transfer is already on its last week.  I feel as though the last three transfers have just shot by... and I only have four of them left!  This isn't good.  I have got branches to start, I cant go home!  ... beh Qui saura sera right? exactly.

The interviews are generally pretty similar.  You can ask the president questions for advice etc.  he wants to know how you are doing and what he can do to help you.  How your college is doing.  As a zone leader he asks questions about the zone, but mostly it is about the person being interviewed.  They are usually pretty short.  I have not had any grave problems on my mission, so yeah..  They are longer than president Murdock's par contre.  With him it was "hi how are you elder crossman?" "good", "how is your colleague?" "good", Is there anything I can do for you or any questions?" "not really" "ok you are a great missionary, would you close this interview with a prayer please?"  

If I were going to a member's place... out of the choices you gave me, I would say mexican, but that is because it doesn't exist here.  Chinese would trump pizza.  I have had enough pizza on mission that i don't need members giving me any.  At least for us in France, we don't get a lot of time/money to eat fresh things like chicken breast, or salad.  So yeah, there is my input. But mangez-vous, or in english, eating with the members are great no matter what they serve.

So this week was kinda same ol same ol with the amis, no new ones this week, but we ae going to b able to work at 100% this week, so we'll find some... lots!  The highlight was the baptism for sure.  I made a tiramissou for it.  It was flippin good if I do say so myself.  I'll make it for you when I get back.. if we can find speculose cookies and mascarpa cream.  I have never heard of that in the US, of course I never shopped a ton in the US.

Well I love you lots.  Travis seems to be doing really well.  We don't really talk about numbers or anything, but he does not seem to have had loads of success, but I can tell he is and has changed a lot.  He has a really strong testimony and such

I am doing well. I am happy.  Last package you say?  Last? ok, well I have enough toothpaste. I stocked up on Swiss toothpaste, it is a lot like American, so i don't have to use the french garbage...er toothpaste.  I would like my line of authority, call letter, and an oil vile like I asked for the last time or time before that.  Then beef jerky... and beef jerky, salsa would be nice again as well.  I think I have had enough chewing um for my mission (I think I'll need to run to the dentist when I get back as well, no pain, but my crown thing has chipped a bit, so I am trying to take good care of it so it doesn't become a cavity.)  I will not go to a french dentist.  ant then what else could I use?... did I say beef jerky?  I could use some more pens as well. Those pilot liquid ones are good, but they run out fast, and everyone thinks that the crossmanpost pens are super cool, so I have given most of them away.  I ran out of journals, but I already bought a new one... I think I told you that.  

Well I love you lots, I can't say that enough.  We are going to play softball at the mission president's house.  That should be really fun.  I'll take pictures and tell you all about it during our chat.  Do you realize that the next time we see each other after Sunday will be in person?!?!?!?!  I miss you guys a lot.  I am excited for what the future holds, to see you again, to start my ... chemin in the world, but I honestly could be a missionary for the rest of my life..; or another couple years, this is really the good life.  To not worry about anything other than how you can help others.  You just feel good all the time.. false, you actually feel really bad a lot too, but having the spirit with you this consistently strong is something that i know I am going to miss, so it is my goal to keep it with me for as long as I can, my whole life if that is possible... though i don't think it is honestly.. not the same kind of spirit anyway.  I just have to profit the most of my mission time, and then profit the most of the rest of my time.  All summing this up, God is great, put him first, and life is great, even if by the "world's standards" you don't have a great life, it can be fulfilling and wonderful.  

Pop quiz, what is the greatest phrase ever stated in all the history of the world?

think about it.  Love you bye buy by bi