Week 59

Mari 2 April 2012

Happy April! We definitely got an April Fools. Snow. Wind. Brr. Spring will come though.
We had a fairly mellow week. Sister Clark was sick, so not much happened.
The Highlights...

MONDAY
We met with Janis the older from English. He said he wanted to be baptized on Easter but that his wife isn't happy about that so he is thinking maybe Ligo (summer solstice). We called him later in the week to set up another appointment. To keep him and his wife from fighting he is no longer an investigator. He said maybe in the fall she would be simmered down though. He is such a hoot, I am sad I won't get to teach him more. He was telling us about taking jail tours with the Frank Constantino. He is a talker because he is a politician, but you can confound the wise when you ask spiritual questions. We met with Ruta and she fed us griki (buckwheat = yuck) with pork and white sauce. I survived. It wasn't THAT bad, but I wouldn't make it for myself. Ever. We also almost died on the tramvajs. There was a Russian brawl. I think the older one may have been trying to protect us since the younger one was staying stuff in Russian to us, but ne panyamaya. Beer was not thrown on us, no punches or kicks got us, but the stinking tram conductor wouldn't open the door and let us out! We got ice cream after that to calm our nerves.

TUESDAY
Surprise! The branch loves me! We were invited to a farewell party but it was also for my birthday! The branch is so great. There was cake, ice cream, brownies, and loved ones. Madara is leaving on her mission to Temple Square Thursday morning! We also got mail. Thanks mom! That card is funny; I definitely didn't get it last year. I apologize to everyone who has written and hasn't received a reply...it means that I didn't receive your mail. The former Masa Amelia Largey was in the country and we were able to help her track down some old friends.

WEDNESDAY
My boots broke. Boo. Luckily it was just the zipper and it only cost 4$ to fix it! We had District Meeting and our opening song was horrid. We could not compose ourselves even to pray. Oh boy. We had a great lesson with the Beldavi on fasting. They are so stinking cute!

THURSDAY
We needed to travel up to Riga so I could renew my visa. Again. The bus ride up was enjoyable because surprise surprise Amelia and the elders were also going to Riga so we all got to reminisce about old missionaries. Filling out my visa papers was fun. I don't know how old anyone is. My momma is 21, okay. Luckily Sister Millet said it wasn't too important. One elder she said had 10 siblings, but Valerijs, the man who helps us, said, "Today you are an only child." Sister Wilson and Sister Kerr came and we had lunch together at Dada's. Those two are ridiculously happy and ridiculous together. We did planning on the bus ride home and were able to do some knocking on some doors.

FRIDAY
SC was still sick so I made chicken noodle soup that ended up more like dumpling and dumpling soup. Lots of dumplings. Lots of soup. We visited good old Ausma. She can see a ton better now and told us how dirty her house is now that she can see (but that she is also lazy). She also showed us amazing photos from when she was young. We met a very kind gypsy. Russian family, born in Latvia, loves the country, speaks incredible English. He told us not to own a house because then you are a slave to it and have to take care of it. He also tried to be pen pals with us, but luckily the rain started. We taught Kristina about fasting and it went well and the spirit was very strong.

SATURDAY
We helped a member translate her CV. I haven't made one of those in a while. It was kind of hard. We also went shopping with the Rutas for break the fast. We are going to die from the market meat. It is not sanitary! We had a really fun time before meeting with Kristina. I couldn't stop burping. You'd of thunk that I drunk air or something, it was a good five minutes. I fear to think of what Sister Clark thinks of me. We ended up reading a conference talk with her since Janis didn't come in for the lesson and it was one we wanted him to be there for!

SUNDAY
Leading music is hard when it is the church cds. They do not keep the same tempo. The branch really struggled with that. We had borsch together for break the fast. Harvesting we knocked into a man who couldn't stop laughing but said we could come back. Sounds fun!

EASTER IN LATVIA
Calm, or Quiet Week starts with Palm, or Pussy Willow Sunday (the Sunday before Easter). You get to whack people with pussy willows to bring them good health if you are the first one awake.
There is then Green Thursday which is when Christ supposedly performed the sacrament, so they have a sacrament meeting then.
Big Friday is Christ's death day. They don't have sacrament on that day.
Silent Saturday is when they glorify Christ being in the tomb. Church services are "quieter" on these days.
Sunday is the Big Day, a joyful day where they celebrate the Resurrection of Christ.
On Easter you can eat peas to be rich and prosperous.
If you don't want big legs you are to get up before the sun and climb up a rock with bare legs.
You have to swing a lot and then you won't be sleepy all year.
Also, Thor, tradition says that you need to prune the apple trees on the First Easter so that there will be a lot of apples.
If it rains on Easter then the cows will give lots of milk.
You should drink at least 10 liters of birch sap. It will help get you in shape, clear out all that winter gunk.
They also have some Russian traditions- pasha and also kulichs (sort of like the British Easter Bread hot cross buns) that have fruit and frosting.

I hope you all enjoyed conference! We will be watching it in Latvian on the 14th and 15th.

Christ lives! It is our happy message to the world!