Mari 23 April 2012
So, not like you were wondering, but I am training Sister
Gallacher in Liepaja (this is transfer number 9/11 in Liepaja). Madison
Gallacher is 20 (turning 21 in May) from Sacramento, California. She is
the most beautiful brunette on the planet and she is also just so meek and kind
and good. I decided training is like
children. I thought that I'd be better at it this time (experience) but
no, trainees, like children are all very different!
SG is a sponge. I'm a little nervous about
that. SC came knowing what she was doing and very stubborn.
SG asks tons of questions and will do things how you do them. I'm trying
to teach her that she doesn't have to eat things like I eat them or do things
the way I do them. SG is just oozing love for the people. Her
language is fine (not as amazing as SC, but it is still very very good).
SG has no problem contacting people. She was on a bus and talked to a
girl for 5 stops and gave her a Book of Mormon as one of her first
contacts. She doesn't know what is going on as much, but she'll catch on
soon enough. It is fun to see how the Lord refines you with your
different companions. SG will be the one to get rid of my sassy (I don't
mean to) replies when people don't hear/don't pay attention and ask me
something a billion times, lol. SG is a great missionary though.
She will take a bit more time to train than SC, but she has her own set of
skills and talents.
Monday we ate at Ginger with the elders and Margarita. SC had sushi for the first time! The highlights were 1. singing Mika 2. Elder Alder putting entirely too much wasabe 3. Elder Alder and Margarita pinching their noses with chopsticks.
Tuesday was a wild District meeting. 1. We had moustaches (thanks Amber) 2. we had funfetti cake (thanks Sister Alder) 3. we found out that everyone is leaving Liepaja! Except for me!!! (Elder Baxter and Sister Clark are going to Riga) New food invention: soft shell tortillas with cheese, ham, and guacamole heated up. Yum! So Tuesday was consumed with Santa's master plan to have us teach her friend Viktorija who has met with us once or twice before (and she also came to English for a time). We went up to show the new masa Karosta. Viktorija showed us the Russian Orthodox church. They basically have saints. I didn't know that. Viktorija told us stories of some of the paintings of people who became saints. Some of them you can pray to to ask for certain things. She then showed us around the woods (which included Santa and Viktorija doing some "natural watering") as well as the lake. There were two swans on the lake which Santa endlessly tried to get to come over to us. "Get over here swans!" It was cold with the wind so we went to Viktorija's house to have tea and cookies (we brought cookies- part of Santa's plan). We also ate a chocolate Easter Rabbit. Santa went at the ears with a knife that you would have thought was an ax. It was quite the scene. We taught the Plan of Salvation and Viktorija hadn't ever thought of a lot of the questions we asked so it got her thinking. At the end Santa shared a very special experience with Viktorija. At institute they were told that in Heaven long long ago we promised others that we would find them and help them. Santa prayed to find out who this person was and God told her that it was Viktorija. It definitely made the "wasted" missionary time worth it. We got back to center in time to teach the Beldavi about tithing. We did a practice at the end. Raivo got to "be God" and give blessings for paying tithing. It was neat to see that even little Raivo knew how much candy tithing his older brother should be paying him back.
Wednesday we went over to see if Valda would answer before SC left. Valda was home, answered the door, let us take pictures and talk to her. She might let us come by next week! I also got new knit slippers (cheebas). SC finished packing and we left to go to Riga. We stayed with Sister Wilson and Sister Kurr. They fed us shishkebabs, russell salad, and strawberry log...yummy. We didn't get much sleep because Sister Wilson was packing and she also had lots of stories to tell us.
Thursday morning I made everybody waffles. I never sleep well in Riga so I was up early anyway. The lady who drove our taxi was super nice and SW gave her our information. She was just a young fun lady who got us there super quickly. I had fun at the mission home because I was the only girl! Surprise. The meeting was a lot shorter than the last one. There were tons of missionaries at the bus station when we got there. Kristine's sister Zane was also there. She is moving to Liepaja and now has a baptismal date for May 25! She is a shorter, older, brown-haired service-oriented (and more non-denominal Christian beliefed) Kristine. Elder Holdaway is back in Liepaja (He was my district leader for the first 3 transfers in Liepaja). He is accompanied by his trainee, Elder Bergason from Orem, Utah. We saw Valda on our way to our apartment. Weird! We talked for a bit and later in the evening we had a great lesson about revelation with Skaidra which was just what she needed. She is thinking of going to Austria for work, but doesn't know what she should do. SG loves her and Skaidra came to the service day on Saturday as well as church on Sunday!
Friday we met with Zane and Kristine. They are like normal sisters, they don't always have the same views. Their lessons will definitely be interesting. Zane had a baptismal date for early April, but isn't ready to follow the Word of Wisdom. We are hoping the Kristine will get married so she can get baptized with her sister. She said that she is at the gate just hanging on and waiting to get in on the path. Sometimes Satan tempts her to take her fingers off but she said she isn't letting go!
On Saturday was the big talka diena (service day). We had an okay turnout of people who helped to clean the church and around it. Presidents like goofing off with the house. We washed some of the windows and when I opened one of the doors water came pouring down on me. It was pretty hilarious because I wasn't expecting it. Elder Alder and his parents were in Liepaja for Vesma's baptism (the elders' investigator). They came during the talka and then to the baptism. I was no longer in jeans and a pony tail at the baptism and Brother Alder said, "Wow, you look different." "I know. I can look good if I want." Like father, like son, lol. No tact. Anywho, the baptism went well and everyone was terribly sad to see Elder Alder go. They told him to get married and come back soon with a wife and children.
Sunday was a good day. Sintija invited her friend Arta to church again and we are going to meet with her this week! We met with inactive Jana who committed to keep the Sabbath Day holy starting in June. The Scerbinini helped us with her lesson (she is Russian). The bus ride with the girls was fun. I also got to say goodbye to Margarita. She brought her friend Nastja, who she has been trying to get to join the church forever. Nastja committed to coming to church on Sunday and even asked what time it was and everything. Hopefully she comes! It was a special meeting and then the elders came and gave Rita a blessing. We dropped by our awesome contact of last week (the family) but they didn't answer. They also haven't been answering their phones.
I can't believe April is almost over. Time flies. June will fly too. We have a Mission Conference, Ligo, and the 20-year Jubilee of the church in Latvia. And hopefully a few baptisms!
Monday we ate at Ginger with the elders and Margarita. SC had sushi for the first time! The highlights were 1. singing Mika 2. Elder Alder putting entirely too much wasabe 3. Elder Alder and Margarita pinching their noses with chopsticks.
Tuesday was a wild District meeting. 1. We had moustaches (thanks Amber) 2. we had funfetti cake (thanks Sister Alder) 3. we found out that everyone is leaving Liepaja! Except for me!!! (Elder Baxter and Sister Clark are going to Riga) New food invention: soft shell tortillas with cheese, ham, and guacamole heated up. Yum! So Tuesday was consumed with Santa's master plan to have us teach her friend Viktorija who has met with us once or twice before (and she also came to English for a time). We went up to show the new masa Karosta. Viktorija showed us the Russian Orthodox church. They basically have saints. I didn't know that. Viktorija told us stories of some of the paintings of people who became saints. Some of them you can pray to to ask for certain things. She then showed us around the woods (which included Santa and Viktorija doing some "natural watering") as well as the lake. There were two swans on the lake which Santa endlessly tried to get to come over to us. "Get over here swans!" It was cold with the wind so we went to Viktorija's house to have tea and cookies (we brought cookies- part of Santa's plan). We also ate a chocolate Easter Rabbit. Santa went at the ears with a knife that you would have thought was an ax. It was quite the scene. We taught the Plan of Salvation and Viktorija hadn't ever thought of a lot of the questions we asked so it got her thinking. At the end Santa shared a very special experience with Viktorija. At institute they were told that in Heaven long long ago we promised others that we would find them and help them. Santa prayed to find out who this person was and God told her that it was Viktorija. It definitely made the "wasted" missionary time worth it. We got back to center in time to teach the Beldavi about tithing. We did a practice at the end. Raivo got to "be God" and give blessings for paying tithing. It was neat to see that even little Raivo knew how much candy tithing his older brother should be paying him back.
Wednesday we went over to see if Valda would answer before SC left. Valda was home, answered the door, let us take pictures and talk to her. She might let us come by next week! I also got new knit slippers (cheebas). SC finished packing and we left to go to Riga. We stayed with Sister Wilson and Sister Kurr. They fed us shishkebabs, russell salad, and strawberry log...yummy. We didn't get much sleep because Sister Wilson was packing and she also had lots of stories to tell us.
Thursday morning I made everybody waffles. I never sleep well in Riga so I was up early anyway. The lady who drove our taxi was super nice and SW gave her our information. She was just a young fun lady who got us there super quickly. I had fun at the mission home because I was the only girl! Surprise. The meeting was a lot shorter than the last one. There were tons of missionaries at the bus station when we got there. Kristine's sister Zane was also there. She is moving to Liepaja and now has a baptismal date for May 25! She is a shorter, older, brown-haired service-oriented (and more non-denominal Christian beliefed) Kristine. Elder Holdaway is back in Liepaja (He was my district leader for the first 3 transfers in Liepaja). He is accompanied by his trainee, Elder Bergason from Orem, Utah. We saw Valda on our way to our apartment. Weird! We talked for a bit and later in the evening we had a great lesson about revelation with Skaidra which was just what she needed. She is thinking of going to Austria for work, but doesn't know what she should do. SG loves her and Skaidra came to the service day on Saturday as well as church on Sunday!
Friday we met with Zane and Kristine. They are like normal sisters, they don't always have the same views. Their lessons will definitely be interesting. Zane had a baptismal date for early April, but isn't ready to follow the Word of Wisdom. We are hoping the Kristine will get married so she can get baptized with her sister. She said that she is at the gate just hanging on and waiting to get in on the path. Sometimes Satan tempts her to take her fingers off but she said she isn't letting go!
On Saturday was the big talka diena (service day). We had an okay turnout of people who helped to clean the church and around it. Presidents like goofing off with the house. We washed some of the windows and when I opened one of the doors water came pouring down on me. It was pretty hilarious because I wasn't expecting it. Elder Alder and his parents were in Liepaja for Vesma's baptism (the elders' investigator). They came during the talka and then to the baptism. I was no longer in jeans and a pony tail at the baptism and Brother Alder said, "Wow, you look different." "I know. I can look good if I want." Like father, like son, lol. No tact. Anywho, the baptism went well and everyone was terribly sad to see Elder Alder go. They told him to get married and come back soon with a wife and children.
Sunday was a good day. Sintija invited her friend Arta to church again and we are going to meet with her this week! We met with inactive Jana who committed to keep the Sabbath Day holy starting in June. The Scerbinini helped us with her lesson (she is Russian). The bus ride with the girls was fun. I also got to say goodbye to Margarita. She brought her friend Nastja, who she has been trying to get to join the church forever. Nastja committed to coming to church on Sunday and even asked what time it was and everything. Hopefully she comes! It was a special meeting and then the elders came and gave Rita a blessing. We dropped by our awesome contact of last week (the family) but they didn't answer. They also haven't been answering their phones.
I can't believe April is almost over. Time flies. June will fly too. We have a Mission Conference, Ligo, and the 20-year Jubilee of the church in Latvia. And hopefully a few baptisms!
The church is true. I love our Savior. Through him we can become perfect.
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