Tuesday was an adventure. We had a pleasant bus ride up to Riga to get my visa renewed. Naturally we got lost. No one said where to go after we got to the big red church! We went into a Narvissen and asked for directions and started heading that way. An older gentleman came running out, hollered us down, and pointed the other way and told us the tram was that-a-way. We were grateful that he pointed us in the right direction so that we weren't late (miracle!). We got to the migration office on time (miracle!) but Valeris (the member who helps out with visa work) wasn't there. Uh oh. I called him and he said that he didn't have it written that I had an appointment on Tuesday. I asked the front desk and I indeed did not. They did have my papers ready (miracle), a free appointment within the hour (miracle), and Valeris was able to leave work to come (hallelujah). So I'm legal now and many miracles happened to make it so! "We believe in ...obeying the law!" Turns out my appointment was for Tuesday but they rescheduled it to be with everyone else on Thursday but forgot to tell me. All was well though, we bought kebabs, Magnum ice cream bars, and made it safely home.
Wednesday was the day for our District Meeting on contacting. I forgot how scary it is to talk to people, especially when you don't understand what they say back. The practice really helped our younger missionaries. We had another large English class. I don't know how I feel about big English classes, it is hard to sense who is interested in the gospel because there are so many of them. They all seemed very intent while we were using pictures to tell them about the Book of Mormon. Janis, a retired fellow, was very excited to take a Book of Mormon and read it. We are planning on meeting with him next week. We got investigator Janis (I) very interested in the Priesthood. With the help of Kaspars (M) we taught Janis and his wife-to-be Kristine about the priesthood and how it would be a blessing in their lives.
Thursday we actually did weekly planning on the correct day, wahoo! The highlight of the day for me was teaching the Beldavi (M) about family history. Elvis poured over my pedigree chart and asked me questions about it. He is excited to get online and start doing some research. Dace also lit up and started telling us stories about her working on family history. Elijah's spirit is alive and kicking here in Liepaja! We also met with Lidija (M) to help her plan her first Primary Activity. I'm sure glad that I have worked with little people before so that I know what kind of things they like to do. It should be a fun party; the theme is "Love your neighbor".
Friday we had a Holy Ghost POW! lesson. We simply read, "The Living Christ" with Rita (I) and the Spirit couldn't even be contained in the room. Ausma B. (M) did an amazing job helping to teach Valda about her baptismal covenants and why they are so important to keep. We had a riveting discussion with Oskars on pride and we all learned a lot. Pride takes on so many faces! We gave Janis and Kristine homework last time and they read it! We were then able to talk with them more about baptism and confirmation and invite them to Valda's baptism.
Saturday we were able to go over how the Book of Mormon answers the questions of the soul. We showed them how to find references and read Enos 1:1-8 and then I shared about God answering my prayer when I couldn't find the hotel in Spain. No habla espanol Quesadilla! I think we gave out about 20 copies! There was a girl from Morocco in the Elders' class. Naturally my French came out as Latvian. *Sigh* She just laughed at me and said I was mixing up my languages. I could understand her perfectly though. :D It was nice hearing French. We scarfed down some leftover quiche and then took our mayonaise cake and trifle-thing to the church and helped set up. About 25 people were there to see Valda enter the waters of baptism. I was able to be the other star of the show with Rihards. Rihards played the piano, conducted, and was a witness. I led the music, participated in a musical number, and spoke about teaching Valda. Lime light! Luckily it was truly Valda who was shining; She definitely has a twinkle to her eye now. The branch is really embracing her. Afterwards Valda was baptized she said she was so happy she could fly. :) We had lots of yummy treats, some of which got in my hair when Ieva (M) gave me a big hug. Kristine (I) really really really really liked the baptism. "So I guess we have to wait until we are married to get baptized, huh." "Yup." "Well, could we do it on the same day, like go get married and then get baptized after?" "Absolutely!"
Sunday was a church of miracles. #1. The trolls showed up. #2. Brother Tolmacovs was at church! (It's been a while) #3. Kaspars was able to confirm Valda (he also baptized her). Santa was naturally the comic relief in Sunday School. She had Valda laughing so hard she was crying. After that Santa said she wasn't aloud to talk because she'd be a distraction, lol. We had a delicious candle-light dinner- rosemary mustard chicken with seasoned potatoes and carrots...mmm! Harvesting was fun. We found a door covered in bubble wrap (yes I popped it) among other things. We were also contacted on our way home by this lady who said she will be calling us! Gotta love miracles!
I've been studying out of PMG ch 5 a lot lately. My testimony has grown that God planned to have the BofM a long time ago.
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