Week 11

It has been a good week.

Monday we played sports with our super district. It was a lot of fun since we have a lot of good soccer players. Elder Seitz and Taylors both played in high school. Elder Frolick isn't too shabby for not really playing and Elder Adams just makes me laugh. I'm going to be really sad when he isn't in my district anymore. He is really good at handling people and situations and just making you laugh and smile and feel appreciated. Afterwards I cooked pancakes for everyone while Sister Sutterfield played hostess. Next time I will have to make more pancakes. 2 1/2 batches was not enough! We got some sad news as missionaries on Monday. Fry Days at the Jake's are pretty much cancelled. We can't have multiple districts there and it has to be over by 4pm, so pretty much won't be happening. We are all really sad about this.

Something really neat happened Tuesday with District Meeting. I was with Elder Seitz doing a teaching practice and Elder Adams assigned us to practice talking to someone who only believed in a higher power. I've never met anyone who has said that, so it was good to practice. That night we went out contacting. I talked to two girls who only believed in a higher power and I was able to use some of the things we used in the practice and I ended up getting both of their numbers and we taught one of them a lesson! Funny how the Lord works! After District Meeting we all went over and filled partikas. I was able to talk to and get to know Elder Taylor which was nice. Sister Sutterfield doesn't fancy him all too well so he probably feels like the black sheep at times in our District. I really think he is swell though.

Wednesday was quite the eventful day. We went to less-active Ineta Lidace's house and her daughter Eliza Bella had us play salon with her. My finger nails were a lovely pink. I mentally gave myself a gold star. That was the longest that my finger nails have ever been painted. She also brushed my hair and sprayed water aka perfume on my fingers and toes. Her mom thought it was pretty funny. We went back to the partika place to visit Iveta, the member who runs the Help Latvia partika (aka food bags) for some referrals. Her daughter is in a hospital in England and she doesn't speak English so we were helping with that. I forgot how much I love British accents. She gave us uncooked cold hot dogs. I was so proud of Masa Sutterfield for eating half of one. She is pretty girly with that sort of stuff if you know what I mean. We also met with Andris and Martins. Andris is being Andris, still not coming to church, but Martins accepted a baptismal date! He is planning on getting baptized June 18. He quit his job at Maxima so he will be going home to the woods for a few weeks and then coming back to Riga.

Thursday was another fun day. Our ward mission leader Gatis invited us over to his home to do service. The elders helped move dirt to make a garden and we sisters raked the grass to get out the dead grass so new grass could grow. We did this for a couple hours and we able to talk to Gunita about their recent marriage, her mission at Temple Square, etc. Afterwards we went in and had lunch. Their kitchen has this giant long window that gives you a view of the pond in their backyard (soon to be cleaned for swimming) and the forest. It was so nice to be out in the "country" air. It reminded me a lot of the farm or Cache Valley. We all piled into the back of their car like clowns and they took us to a bus stop. This was pretty hilarious. Elder Taylor was freaking out that his shoulder was touching Sister Sutterfield so he started stuffing copies of the Book of Mormon between the two of them. Eventually Elder Adams just sort of sat on his lap so Elder Taylors wouldn't have to touch Sister Sutterfield's body anywhere.

Less-active Janina was so happy on Friday. It was so fun to visit with her because she was so happy. They had just had a family miracle and she knows that the Lord answers prayers. We ordered some Herbal Life smoothie mix from her to try out. She has been eating it for the past six months and has lost 9 kilos, so she is pretty sold on it. My favorite part of Friday was when we ran into the Russian elders at the church. Sister Sutterfield meant to say, "I like your tie" but it came out as "I love you Elder Frolick." I may or may not be making fun of her for that still. Latvian class was crazy yet again. It just keeps on getting more crazy. Maybe it is just because I understand more. I made some of dad's infamous apple crisp. Even Inga approved of it, which is big. Inga doesn't like fatty American sweets, so hats of to you dad!

Saturday was the giant "talka" (service/spring cleaning) for Latvia. We got to wear street clothes for the second time this week (weird!) and help clean up the woods around the church. There were many cigarette butts, small baggies, beer cans, and a few needles. The small baggies we are quite positive come from the drug dealer that is in a building across from the tram stop by the church. We are pretty sure the drug users just cross the street and go into the woods after buying the goods and use them there. Latvians have always liked their nature.

Sunday was a calm day at church. We didn't have any investigators (again) at church BUT we did have the Lidace family and Janina come, so it is great to see that our less-actives are starting to come back. Martins didn't show up to church like he said he would but we did get him to come to a meeting in the evening. He is such a sharp kid, especially since he wasn't raised in a religious background,

My time has dwindled down,
Love you all, the church is true!

Sister L