Week 20

(don't forget to enjoy the pictures at the end of Mari's letter)

July 4, 2011 from Mari
Hello hello from sunny Liepaja! We have actually had a lot of rainstorms this past week but that is fine with me because it keeps the world cool. Modest is hottest has taken on a new meaning and humidity doesn't help. I sure am grateful for air conditioning...next summer!

Monday's preparation day was just what I needed. We went to the beach at Karosta where there are all the old forts. I would have contently sat all day on a pile of rocks looking for sea glass, but we had to go past the beach to the forts so that Elder Clark could see them. It was a lot more mellow of an adventure since we didn't have half the ward this time; just Madara, Rita, and Sintija. Those girls brought Sister Ferrin a piece of cake for her year mark and we all sang to her while inside of one of the forts that had been pushed into the sea. We were able to do another family home evening with the Tolmacovi. We made a Plan of Salvation puzzle for Selina the six-year-old to do. She really liked it and I think that her parents have gotten the hint that they should come back to church. Afterwards we were able to go knocking back at the "dome" (or apartment complex) that we had gone to with Madara a few weeks back. We felt pretty dumb trying to get in. It was unlocked though we thought it was locked and we didn't have the code. A man who lived there in English said, "You just have to turn the handle, it is open." DOH! We felt silly, but we did get in. That lady that we had visited wasn't there, but we talked to a great old man whose dentures were almost falling out of his mouth when he spoke. He kept on telling us that his wife was angry that he was talking to us. It was true, when they shut the door she started yelling at him for talking to "those Mormon girls." Oh how life is funny sometimes.

On Tuesday we went to Mara's house to hunt her down. She was one of our baptismal dates, but we haven't spoken to her for a while now. We didn't find her, but I did speak to this old lady who was looking for a new church because she just couldn't go to the Catholic Church anymore. She was nice and I hope that we see her again. We had a lesson with Oskars which went well. The little girls Sarra and Ieva were there so before Oskar's lesson they made me play hide and go seek with them. They thought I was pretty clever since they couldn’t find me. Sarra tried to stick her hat on Elder Clark's head, it was quite humorous watching this all happen and meeting with Liga was great. We were a little worried about it, but she reads the Book of Mormon every night and has a testimony of Joseph Smith!

On Wednesday I made some of Aunt Joyce's indian fry bread. Boy is it good! It is in between a scone and a tortilla and may be our new "scone" dough recipe, we really enjoyed them. I called all of the former investigators from one of the area books (except those that had been met with in the past 3 months) and we also met some great people contacting in the evening. By the tram was Professor Trelawny from Harry Potter. Minus the hair, a lot smaller, and with the same big glasses and was very soft spoken. She was so great! She was telling us how we should get bikes and do the Tour de France of the Baltics and talk to the people following that and that we should get a small bus to go pick up people from the country and bring them to church. She recommended that we have dances and parties and just share our knowledge with others. My favorite thing that she said was, "God is like the sun. If he shines, he shines on everyone." We talked to a beautiful lady in her 30s who had two children. She called them her gifts from God and she definitely knows what life is about. She sells strawberries at the market and lives across from the church. We are hoping to see her again...we almost got an appointment set up with her. We had sports night tonight with the elders, Rihards, and the hoolies. Rita was there since we had just had a meeting with her but she didn't really play since she doesn't like floor ball (aka floor hockey). I am considerably better at playing hockey now and I am not going to wear a skirt next time!

On Thursday Rihards helped us with Latvian and we had our weekly planning session. Sister Ferrin made some epic canvas book covers for her scriptures and we had a meeting with Santa. We had Rihards along and actually had our lesson about the temples this time. Oh goodness, I love Santa! When we talked about eternal marriage she was just like, "Oh my goodness! Thank heavens my husband is gone. I would never do that with him. He couldn't ever be a member anyway, no way." We had a great lesson with the Beldavi boys and mom about putting on the whole armor of God. Raivo was his hyper little monkey self bouncing around and Lauris is just the cutest little kid.

Friday we met the Boswells. Words cannot express how much I LOVE THE BOSWELLS! President Boswell has so much energy and is so much fun and Sister Boswell is very composed and refined. President Boswell talked about how they got their calling and priesthood keys. He talked about how keys are passed and that he shares the keys to find, nurture, and fellowship with the Branch Presidents so that we need to work with them a lot. He, as President, has been instructed to spend 50% of his time with missionaries and the other 50% with the Branches and the members. He is just so fun, I love him! It seems like the Boswell's theme of missionary work will be based off "What ere thou art act well they part"......As missionaries we should match the grandeur of the message that we teach. Sister Boswell's dad saved that rock that is in the MTC from Scotland that says that. You can look it up about D.O. McKay

Some quotes from President Boswell from others...
Elder Clayton "This is the best run mission that I've ever seen in the church."
Elder D.H. Oaks "It's been my experience that the Lord sends His very best missionaries to the Baltic Mission."

Yeah, the Boswells have rubbed shoulders with lots of prophets and apostles. Sister Boswell has some major connections with them. Her dad was a mission president in Scotland so Elder Lynch LOVES them. On Monday we were also able to visit the ring man. I had him make me a ring out of a spoon and I gave it to Sister Stout today, she loved it. She is currently in a three-some with the sisters in Center. Those lucky masas!

My interview with him (President Boswell) was awesome. It is nice having a priesthood leader who you really feel like they care for you and just get down and dirty to help you be better.
We went to More than Muffins afterwards and got paninis and blueberry muffins and then we all attempted to sleep on the hot bus ride home. God loves us so he sent a storm! It was a huge thunderstorm.

Saturday was busy as always. We visited Ena, taught English, and cleaned the church. Only the Russian Dentist came to our English class today so we went over words and phrases she needs in the dentist office, I was her practice patient, and that was that. We got caught in the rain going to a meeting. It was so fun! I just laughed the whole way. We had a meeting with Liga and it went really well. It was basically a crash course on ALL the commandments that she needs to follow to be baptized. Marika helped which was great. We talked with Marika about missionary work afterwards.

Sunday was a great meeting. I was sitting by Ieva who is learning to read so she loves to sing. She would always belt out, "DON'T FORGET TO PRAY!" I had to try really hard to keep my laughing on the inside because it was so stinking cute! Santa taught the lesson in Relief Society! Our Santa who hates praying in public! I felt like a proud mom watching her, she did a great job. After we broke our fast I had a three hour call-a-thon. I have officially called all the phone numbers in the "Former Investigators- Phone numbers only - Lots of Janes" area book and started going through round two. I was able to practice the piano and singing a little bit at the church before our lesson with Rita. I'll have you know that I am improving. :) Yay for practicing! Poor Rita is not a happy one right now. Her brother is paralyzed for life now and she is mad at the world. We watched Finding Faith in Christ with her.

Happy Fourth of July! Enjoy the air conditioning and fireworks! We are planning on having hamburgers today to celebrate!

ML