So, not like anyone is counting, but I'll be training in ten days! I'm so excited...Sister Clark and Sister Kurr are the new sisters coming in...thank heavens! We are very low staffed Latvian speaking wise- 2 sisters and 12 elders who speak Latvian- that is all! The bets all around the mission are Sister Wilson training in Riga and me staying in Liepaja. The former Sister Ferrin is predicting that I will be with Sister Clark, so we will see who is right in two weeks!
It has been quite the crazy week. At one point or another we have had six baptismal dates this week! What an outpouring of blessings. Kristina (24) and Janis- a cute family with 2 month of twin girls and a two year old girl who is almost as cute as my niece. Kristina loves church but Janis didn't come this Sunday. We also need to get them married. I'm considering getting a marriage licence so I can wed them (just kidding). Janis (27ish) #2- who found us on the Internet. *Sigh*. He has not showed up to meetings and he won't answer our calls. We don't know what happened but it is too bad because the First Presidency (somehow) found out about him and wanted to do a Liahona article on him since he found the church on the Internet. We are praying that he will come back. The trolls are back (Ieva [13] and Olga [15]) both with baptismal dates for Olga's birthday. I think Ieva might drop out but Olga, if she is sincere this time, will hopefully be able to kick her Word of Wisdom problems and follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into the waters of baptism. And then we have Valda (51). Her and Santa Dike are friends now and Valda is getting more and more prepared to be baptized by the day!
MONDAY was a backwards preparation day. We started with tanning and ended with internet. I took Sister W. to my favorite store...a mistake. It's called "Otra Elpa" (Second Breath) and is a second hand store that works purely on donations and uses all the money to go to charities and other warm fuzzy activities. We now have a very Latvian tea set, including a tea pot and spoons, some socks cards, a table runner, a doily, and a Latvian travel guide. If anyone wants to come for a tea party, they are welcome. The cashier I'm quite sure thought Sister Wilson was crazy for spending so much money. Good luck getting it home! I was content with the 50 cent (not the musician) CD I found by a famous Latvian band "Prata Vetra" (Brain storm). We took Santa Dike out to eat with us at a hotel/restaurant called Colombus. It was pretty snazzy looking and the food was fine (a little expensive and not many options). I got some delicious pasta with some salmon...yummy.
TUESDAY morning we went on a gorgeous run to the beach- full moon, no wind, it was perfect. Madara (former mini-missionary who will be serving in Temple Square) joined us for a hoot and a half of a district meeting. The title? "Hunting People." The lesson was complete with a deer hunting analogy (if only I hunted and knew about needing to get a tag and all those sorts of things). We met with the trolls and introduced them to their coach, Zina. She is supposed to be their go-to person when they want to break the Word of Wisdom. I lost beyblades to Eriks when we had FHE with the Frolavi. Eriks did an incredible job during the lesson telling us about prayer. "It is when you talk to God and if you want to ask a question to Him you can and He will answer you so you can know more about Him."
WEDNESDAY morning I was up far too early. We woke up to catch a 5:40am bus to Riga. So that we could ride with the elders to help Elder Alder find a palto (a sort of coat). It wasn't worth it. We then had the most incredible amazing Latvian Zone training (aka only 15 missionaries- only 2 being girls). We are a funny zone. Jokes were being thrown out left and right but it was still a super good meeting about how to be Master Preach My Gospel Teacher. I came with a few questions and left with many answers and ideas on how to better teach. The ride home was much better. Why? (Well, number 1, it wasn't 6 am) Elder Holdaway came down! aka I got to talk it up with my favorite pus-masa (half sister- Elder Holdaway loves shopping, clothes, talking girl stuff [don't worry, he likes girls too]) all the ride home.
THURSDAY we had a pretty funny lesson with investigator Valda.
The dialogue went as follows:
Sister Lindstrom: What color do you think of when I say the word "pure"?
Valda: Red! [odd looks from sisters] PAUSE It's my favorite color!
Sister Lindstrom: {internally: crap!} Ohh...well, when I hear the word pure, I think of the color white.
The lesson was saved, the law of chastity was taught, and there was much laughing among the sisters.
Ruta Grodska, our new RS president helped us out with a lesson with an English student, Nadezda. She is around 60 or so and speaks Russian better so we thought her and Ruta would be besties. They were. We didn't really even teach the lesson. Ruta started going and we just sat back and smiled. Occasionally Ruta would throw out a word or two in Latvian so we knew what was going on. Words I understood: Angel Moroni, Hill Cummoruh, three degrees of glory, Book of Mormon, etc. Nadezda wants to see a baptism first before she gets baptized, but I think she is golden. She LOVES The Book of Mormon and wants to understand it better. We also met with our cute family Janis and Kristina. Their twins have so much hair! Eliza the two year old is the politest thing I have ever met. We taught them about the Restoration and had a great lesson, with Kristina ending in prayer on her knees! We also met with the trolls and went through the baptismal interview questions with them. Their answers were really good and I hope they get baptized this year.
FRIDAY we had even more fun with Valda.
Sister Wilson: If you have 10 lats, how much tithing do you need to pay?
Valda: Umm...14 lats!
Sister Wilson: How did she get 14?! What? Why did you say 14?
Sister Lindstrom: But Valda, you only have 10 lats, you don't have 14 to even give!
I am happy to say that Valda can now pay her tithing. Correctly.
We made yummy polenta pizza (polenta = the Italian name for cornmeal mush that you eat as a side dish) thanks to Kirstin Lee's package as well as cinnamon rolls for a church activity tomorrow. Presidents helped us to teach Kristina (Janis wasn't home). She is so great. She asked 1. What do you wear to church and 2. How do you donate?
Ieva (the six year old BP's daughter) cut her hair today. It is pretty great. You can give her fuzzy wuzzys on the top of her head now. He hair is normally half way down her back. She will be having some epic fun growing it back. Currently mom is trying to cover it up with lots of bows and flowers, lol. Gotta love kids!
It started snowing! And it is sticking! It makes it look so much brighter outside so I kind of like it. I'd rather be out in snow than rain at least.
SATURDAY morning we went on an exciting trek with Kristina and Janis to show them the church. Mother Nature graced us with 4 inches of snow or so, which is lots of fun to push a twin stroller in. Bless their hearts for being determined. We showed them the church and then the Restoration film which they really really really enjoyed. We had a great big English class and the spiritual thought went well. Sister Senkane came and taught us about raising chillin's. I learned a lot. Parenting styles (which also apply to investigators she told us): authoritative, liberal, and democratic. During the Communist time children being raised were always under authority and they never had any choices. Sister Senkane said that when she had the option to choose what shoes she wanted she didn't know. "Mom knows what kind of shoes I like better than I do. Mom knows what dresses I like to wear and what color." Latvia has now swung to the opposite side- liberal. You see six year olds on public transportation unaccompanied, there is no discipline in schools, etc. It is best to be democratic, where their aren't punishments, but consequences that you have already talked about. When children/investigators/members need to do something, give them options, not choices. e.g. "Do you want to wear the green dress or the red dress?" not "What do you want to wear?" or "Which lesson would you like to teach, here is the list with the dates" not "Will you teach the lesson next Sunday?" She's a genius! She also stressed the importance of one on one time with children (where they get to pick what you do together for 30 minutes) and to have a good relationship with your spouse. Dad, I think I want to garden for my 30 minutes. :)
SUNDAY Kristina came to church with all three girls! The Branch LOVES them. I made popeye pucks for lunch and it made me think of dad a lot (P.S. I don't like the oregano in them). We also met with Santa. She never fails to be hilarious. "Riksi, cut it out! I need to read! Do you know what that means, 'to read'? It means to say letters together." Her prayer was hilarious. We were all laughing. Before we asked if she'd pray and said that her husband would be cuter. "Yeah, you could have one of the stripling warriors. Or I like Ammon," said Sis. W. "Who's Ammon?" "He's the one who cut off the arms." "He cut off his own arms?" "No, he cut off lots of other people's arms." "Oh...with a chain saw? Vrrm! Vrrm!" Thank you Santa. Her prayer included praying for said Ammon, the masochist to marry, as well as asking God why Riksi was so dumb. I may have been squealing during the prayer...Riksi kept on walking back and forth on top of me. Oh my, what a fine day.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
Week 47
To start out the New Year right we went tanning, yes tanning (don't worry...only 7 minutes for health). I don't think I've seen Sister Wilson happier, neither did the super nice lady who owns the salon. It was extremely nice to get some UV rays. We are planning on going again. The highlight of Monday was definitely eating with Santa's son, Kristaps, at Pastnieka Maja. He is a hoot and a half (as is his mother). Elder Alder (former hooligan) did a great job keeping the conversation going and then turning it spiritual. Kristaps is planning on taking home one of his mother's many copies of The Book of Mormon. He has seen how much it has changed his mother and wants to know what it is all about. In other news I found a purple and white hoolie scarf for only a lat.
Tuesday we started a mission-wide fast. We are pushing to have 120 baptisms this year. We had many many meetings with the elders. The highlight was definitely waiting for our last meeting. Little Ieva (Branch President's daughter) did my hair and let me look at her Barbie magazine. We all know how much I love Barbie!!
Wednesday to break our fast we made delicious waffles. I haven't had waffles since the Provo Temple. We took Sintija Frolava to help us with a lesson, but he didn't want to meet. It was really windy so we decided to go to the beach to try sleeping in the wind. Sister Wilson got the brilliant idea of opening up her coat. She was promptly lying in the sand. We all got belly aches from laughing. I went to the doctor's office (it was only 1 lat this time [verses the private practice 25 lats]) and got an antibiotic for my cough. It seems to be working. :)
On Thursday I lost Sister Wilson in the morning. It was quite the event. The elders helped me look for her, bless their hearts. We taught Valda [we meet with her six times a week, forgive me that I don't mention it every time] about tithing and she didn't get how much 10% is. Oh boy. We even had a visual, and only ten pieces! Zelma made our day by feeding us yummy pork and potatoes. Raivo and Lauris Beldavs stole my heart as always with their cute prayers and singing, "I am a Child of God." We met with Guna and taught her Lehi's Dream and are starting daily contact in hopes that she will get more interested.
On Friday after teaching Rita (an investigator) some English we had a really good lesson with prayer. She thinks prayer is communication with God and now knows how to pray correctly! We had root beer floats and talked about the changes that we are making to teaching English...one hour, twice a week, with breaks for finding people. While doing so Janis came to the church. He read all about us on the internet and wants to be baptized! He is more golden than the sun, it is insane! We taught Valda with flashlights today...she doesn't have lights. :)
Saturday was a warm day. What am I saying?! Pretty much every day has been warm. I don't mind at all- no snow! We missionaries all had fun playing with Kaspars' (ward mission leader) son after our meeting, teaching English, and having a very spirit filled lesson with Janis about the Restoration. I seriously don't know where this man (maybe around 27??) came from. He already watched the Restoration film online, he came to church in a white shirt and a tie. "How did you know?" "I read about it on the internet and it seemed like the right thing to do."
Sunday was just full of miracles. Miracle 1. Feeding the 5,000. We were going to break the fast with the elders and Rihards but Rihards had a family emergency come up. Sandijs, Sintija, Eriks, Madara, and the Scherbinini (4) joined in the feast and somehow we fed everyone with one small chicken. While cooking up this feast miracle number 2 happened. Miracle 2. The trolls are back! Ieva and Olga texted, asking if we could meet. Madara helped out and we talked to these former teenaged investigators. They have really missed the spirit that they felt at church and want to come back. Olga accepted to prepare for baptism on her birthday, February 25, and Ieva is still thinking about it. I definitely didn't think I would see those two back and humble on their knees praying to God and thanking Him for the Spirit they have felt at church. Miracle 3. Skaidra opened up...she wasn't wanting to (she was falling asleep...it was 7pm) but Sis. W. really needed to use the bathroom. Wish granted. Miracle 4. We contacted a member referral who wants to meet with us and change her life! How great is that. Miracle 5. Ruta Grodska, the new RS president, is so great. I was so proud of her, she is going to do an excellent job.
All is well in Liepaja. Soon Sister Wilson and I will be training. I'm excited, she's terrified. We have no idea which one of us will be heading up to Riga to train, but whoever is down here will have 3 (or possibly more) baptisms in January. The Lord loves and blesses us when we are obedient.
Love,
Sis. L.
Tuesday we started a mission-wide fast. We are pushing to have 120 baptisms this year. We had many many meetings with the elders. The highlight was definitely waiting for our last meeting. Little Ieva (Branch President's daughter) did my hair and let me look at her Barbie magazine. We all know how much I love Barbie!!
Wednesday to break our fast we made delicious waffles. I haven't had waffles since the Provo Temple. We took Sintija Frolava to help us with a lesson, but he didn't want to meet. It was really windy so we decided to go to the beach to try sleeping in the wind. Sister Wilson got the brilliant idea of opening up her coat. She was promptly lying in the sand. We all got belly aches from laughing. I went to the doctor's office (it was only 1 lat this time [verses the private practice 25 lats]) and got an antibiotic for my cough. It seems to be working. :)
On Thursday I lost Sister Wilson in the morning. It was quite the event. The elders helped me look for her, bless their hearts. We taught Valda [we meet with her six times a week, forgive me that I don't mention it every time] about tithing and she didn't get how much 10% is. Oh boy. We even had a visual, and only ten pieces! Zelma made our day by feeding us yummy pork and potatoes. Raivo and Lauris Beldavs stole my heart as always with their cute prayers and singing, "I am a Child of God." We met with Guna and taught her Lehi's Dream and are starting daily contact in hopes that she will get more interested.
On Friday after teaching Rita (an investigator) some English we had a really good lesson with prayer. She thinks prayer is communication with God and now knows how to pray correctly! We had root beer floats and talked about the changes that we are making to teaching English...one hour, twice a week, with breaks for finding people. While doing so Janis came to the church. He read all about us on the internet and wants to be baptized! He is more golden than the sun, it is insane! We taught Valda with flashlights today...she doesn't have lights. :)
Saturday was a warm day. What am I saying?! Pretty much every day has been warm. I don't mind at all- no snow! We missionaries all had fun playing with Kaspars' (ward mission leader) son after our meeting, teaching English, and having a very spirit filled lesson with Janis about the Restoration. I seriously don't know where this man (maybe around 27??) came from. He already watched the Restoration film online, he came to church in a white shirt and a tie. "How did you know?" "I read about it on the internet and it seemed like the right thing to do."
Sunday was just full of miracles. Miracle 1. Feeding the 5,000. We were going to break the fast with the elders and Rihards but Rihards had a family emergency come up. Sandijs, Sintija, Eriks, Madara, and the Scherbinini (4) joined in the feast and somehow we fed everyone with one small chicken. While cooking up this feast miracle number 2 happened. Miracle 2. The trolls are back! Ieva and Olga texted, asking if we could meet. Madara helped out and we talked to these former teenaged investigators. They have really missed the spirit that they felt at church and want to come back. Olga accepted to prepare for baptism on her birthday, February 25, and Ieva is still thinking about it. I definitely didn't think I would see those two back and humble on their knees praying to God and thanking Him for the Spirit they have felt at church. Miracle 3. Skaidra opened up...she wasn't wanting to (she was falling asleep...it was 7pm) but Sis. W. really needed to use the bathroom. Wish granted. Miracle 4. We contacted a member referral who wants to meet with us and change her life! How great is that. Miracle 5. Ruta Grodska, the new RS president, is so great. I was so proud of her, she is going to do an excellent job.
All is well in Liepaja. Soon Sister Wilson and I will be training. I'm excited, she's terrified. We have no idea which one of us will be heading up to Riga to train, but whoever is down here will have 3 (or possibly more) baptisms in January. The Lord loves and blesses us when we are obedient.
Love,
Sis. L.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Week 46
Hello hello! It is currently raining and feels like it is March. I'm not complaining. :)
Monday
During Preparation day I played Nerts with Sintija. We then went to her house (the Frolavi's) and had FHE with her and Eriks. Eriks insisted that we play Wayblades...fighting tops! I totally did not win. We met an awesome Russian man (there were many this week), Vassils. He had met with missionaries before and was just so kind. "Has anyone else talked to you in my building? No? That is a shame. People need to. God is important." Sister Wilson made some egg nog...uh....it turned out chunky. Great flavor, bad texture. I prefer the stuff from the store.
Tuesday
District Meeting was pretty funny. We practiced working with members so we had Presidents come in. The elders were teaching us sisters (we being investigators) and Presidents was supposed to be the member. That wasn't clear to him. Elder Alder asked him about life and what he believes Presidents said, "I believe that there are other planets and like, maybe aliens." I chimed in, "Presidents, you are supposed to be the member!" "Oh! Oopsies! Wrong setting!" For service in a team effort Sister Wilson and I cut Sintija's hair in the church bathroom and did a swell job. The highlight of harvesting was this angry anti-Christ lady we knocked into.
Wednesday
We taught Rita, our investigator about prophets very much in depth. I took a nap during our lunch time. When I woke up I thought it was morning and that we needed to go teach Valda. "Why is it so dark outside?" I asked Sister Wilson. "It is 6 o'clock and we need to go teach the Beldavis.'" We had a great time teaching them, regardless of my momentary time warp. Everyone was home and we had a great lesson from Helaman 5 about names and choosing the right. We want people to remember good things when they hear our name so we need to always do good. When we went knocking this super nice Russian lady gave us clementines. Sister Wilson understands Russian and knew that she said, "Wait here, I want to give you a gift." Sadly her ancestors were pareiz-ticigs (Russian Ortho) and so she can't change religions. I was super duper thirsty so I went and got some water at the store (there are no drinking fountains in Europe). I was guzzling it down outside of the supermarket when I heard, "Sister, don't drink the snoggy outside!" "No, it's water! I promise!" We proceeded to have a conversation with another nice Russian whose friend went in and bought us alcohol. "They don't drink because of their faith." He told his friend. I liked this Russian.
Thursday
We taught inactive Alesja and hopefully we will get her to come around to church as soon as she finishes driving school. She is a sweetheart and remembers a lot! We went to Santa Dike's house...it is so different from when I first went there in May. It is clean, there is lighting, and pictures of Jesus...the gospel changes lives...quite literally! Santa is seriously one of my best friends here. She is so funny and we just always joke and talk.
Friday
We headed up to Riga so that Sister Wilson could go to Zone Leaders Council (aka Council of the Gods). I got to hang out with Sister Sandberg, a tall skinny brown haired Russian who is a health nut and reminds me of my best friend. We worked hard and had fun being with eachother. We met an awesome lady, Ludmila on the bus and chatted with her. Sister Sandberg is so good at contacting everyone. She talked to this woman who I thought was stealing tinsel off a tree. She ended up being a really neat lady, quite the saint and we were to meet with her in a bakery a half hour later, but she never showed up. :[ We left a bunch of our contact cards on the Christmas tree. Sister S. and I ran into an unpleasant Russian. He was a communist and didn't want to do anything good with us. We skeedadled out of that situation fast.
Saturday
The bus ride to and from Riga keeps getting longer. Sigh. The highlight of Christmas Eve was definitely teaching Santa's son, Kristaps. He is 21 and likes to live life. We taught himt he basics of what the church believed. He thought is was all very interesting and said he has a lot to think about. He is so smart and made all the connections. We are going to lunch with him and the elders on Monday so he can see that we are "normal" and aren't munks or anything crazy like that. To celebrate the New Year we made corndogs, root beer, and french fries. We didn't stay up to ring in the New Year, nor did we hear everyone else (how I do not know...we were tired).
As usual we taught Valda, our progressing investigator, practically every day this week. She is planning on being baptized on the 21st of January. She went to institute and really enjoyed it.
Sunday
Happy New Year! Church was only 1 hour long and the Blums from Riga were there with cute little baby Sebastian. We were able to teach Sintija about making decisions and receiving revelation about those decisions, as well as Ausma about being more Christ-like. She is so funny. She is sick and hopes that she gets admitted into the hospital. Getting old doesn't look fun. We also did some weekly planning but didn't finish (oopsie).
I know that God's church is on the earth today. He loves all of His children and He still speaks to us today. We are so loved by our Father in Heaven.
Sister L
Monday
During Preparation day I played Nerts with Sintija. We then went to her house (the Frolavi's) and had FHE with her and Eriks. Eriks insisted that we play Wayblades...fighting tops! I totally did not win. We met an awesome Russian man (there were many this week), Vassils. He had met with missionaries before and was just so kind. "Has anyone else talked to you in my building? No? That is a shame. People need to. God is important." Sister Wilson made some egg nog...uh....it turned out chunky. Great flavor, bad texture. I prefer the stuff from the store.
Tuesday
District Meeting was pretty funny. We practiced working with members so we had Presidents come in. The elders were teaching us sisters (we being investigators) and Presidents was supposed to be the member. That wasn't clear to him. Elder Alder asked him about life and what he believes Presidents said, "I believe that there are other planets and like, maybe aliens." I chimed in, "Presidents, you are supposed to be the member!" "Oh! Oopsies! Wrong setting!" For service in a team effort Sister Wilson and I cut Sintija's hair in the church bathroom and did a swell job. The highlight of harvesting was this angry anti-Christ lady we knocked into.
Wednesday
We taught Rita, our investigator about prophets very much in depth. I took a nap during our lunch time. When I woke up I thought it was morning and that we needed to go teach Valda. "Why is it so dark outside?" I asked Sister Wilson. "It is 6 o'clock and we need to go teach the Beldavis.'" We had a great time teaching them, regardless of my momentary time warp. Everyone was home and we had a great lesson from Helaman 5 about names and choosing the right. We want people to remember good things when they hear our name so we need to always do good. When we went knocking this super nice Russian lady gave us clementines. Sister Wilson understands Russian and knew that she said, "Wait here, I want to give you a gift." Sadly her ancestors were pareiz-ticigs (Russian Ortho) and so she can't change religions. I was super duper thirsty so I went and got some water at the store (there are no drinking fountains in Europe). I was guzzling it down outside of the supermarket when I heard, "Sister, don't drink the snoggy outside!" "No, it's water! I promise!" We proceeded to have a conversation with another nice Russian whose friend went in and bought us alcohol. "They don't drink because of their faith." He told his friend. I liked this Russian.
Thursday
We taught inactive Alesja and hopefully we will get her to come around to church as soon as she finishes driving school. She is a sweetheart and remembers a lot! We went to Santa Dike's house...it is so different from when I first went there in May. It is clean, there is lighting, and pictures of Jesus...the gospel changes lives...quite literally! Santa is seriously one of my best friends here. She is so funny and we just always joke and talk.
Friday
We headed up to Riga so that Sister Wilson could go to Zone Leaders Council (aka Council of the Gods). I got to hang out with Sister Sandberg, a tall skinny brown haired Russian who is a health nut and reminds me of my best friend. We worked hard and had fun being with eachother. We met an awesome lady, Ludmila on the bus and chatted with her. Sister Sandberg is so good at contacting everyone. She talked to this woman who I thought was stealing tinsel off a tree. She ended up being a really neat lady, quite the saint and we were to meet with her in a bakery a half hour later, but she never showed up. :[ We left a bunch of our contact cards on the Christmas tree. Sister S. and I ran into an unpleasant Russian. He was a communist and didn't want to do anything good with us. We skeedadled out of that situation fast.
Saturday
The bus ride to and from Riga keeps getting longer. Sigh. The highlight of Christmas Eve was definitely teaching Santa's son, Kristaps. He is 21 and likes to live life. We taught himt he basics of what the church believed. He thought is was all very interesting and said he has a lot to think about. He is so smart and made all the connections. We are going to lunch with him and the elders on Monday so he can see that we are "normal" and aren't munks or anything crazy like that. To celebrate the New Year we made corndogs, root beer, and french fries. We didn't stay up to ring in the New Year, nor did we hear everyone else (how I do not know...we were tired).
As usual we taught Valda, our progressing investigator, practically every day this week. She is planning on being baptized on the 21st of January. She went to institute and really enjoyed it.
Sunday
Happy New Year! Church was only 1 hour long and the Blums from Riga were there with cute little baby Sebastian. We were able to teach Sintija about making decisions and receiving revelation about those decisions, as well as Ausma about being more Christ-like. She is so funny. She is sick and hopes that she gets admitted into the hospital. Getting old doesn't look fun. We also did some weekly planning but didn't finish (oopsie).
I know that God's church is on the earth today. He loves all of His children and He still speaks to us today. We are so loved by our Father in Heaven.
Sister L
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Week 45
MONDAY We thought the Dome (kind of like the city hall) would have a good cafe. We were wrong. It was retched. My favorite was when Sintija said in English, "This tastes like rubber." Oh goodness! We quickly left and went and sat in a love bird booth at Chili Pica and got dessert. I got some yummy melted chocolate and ice cream.
TUESDAY We met with my favorite Santa Dike. She had to pray twice because she forgot a word in her pray. It was pretty great. She is still my favorite. Her prayers have changed so much. God is definitely one of her best friends, it is awesome. We headed up on a bus to Riga so that I could go to the doctors. Dr. Caune was a super nice lady and she told me I had a terrible cough (thank you, like I didn't know that). She listened to my lungs and said that they sounded clean and then sent me off with some prescriptions for plant juice (that doesn't help you stop coughing), some cough drops, and an asthma inhaler. Fun stuff! She sent me off to get some blood tests to make sure that I didn't need an antibiotic. That was fun. Screaming children, needles, foreign language. Good stuff. I also got walked in on whilst going to the bathroom. It was a long day. We also got lost. (Not my fault! I was not leading). Luckily the assistants came and picked us up because I was TIRED from walking all over. They took us to the empty sisters' apartment. There wasn't even toilet paper in it! It was pretty funny. The night before Sister Wilson said, "What if there is no toilet paper." "That is ridiculous," I replied. "What kind of person would do that." I guess she should have listened to the spirit and brought toilet paper, lol.
WEDNESDAY was Zone Conference. Our district wore ugly Christmas sweaters! It was epic. Sorry we didn't get a picture...sigh. The elders had Charlie Brown-esque sweaters and Sister Wilson's was bright blue with snowmen. The senior couples made us a nice Christmas lunch, there was a slideshow, and we had a gift exchange (I got cookies), Elder Alder told me stories on the ride home to snowy Liepaja!
THURSDAY We had choir practice for the Christmas Eve Program. Aivars Fishmeisters (eternal investigator) came hobbling in [he has had hip surgery], "Elders! I just heard twenty minutes ago that you were in a fight. Are you alright? Are you hurt? You should get another day off." It was really cute that he was so worried about it. The elders are fine; the newspaper decided to write an article about it so they have been the talk of the town.
FRIDAY night we got to help out Santa Claus deliver gifts to the Frolavi home. Eriks was so excited and so confused about it. I like doorbell ditching people. Sister Wilson slipped on the ice as we were running away, oops!
SATURDAY we went out caroling in the rain. We were all pretty wet by the end, but we had a lot of fun. People thought we were crazy (we are). We then went to the Christmas Concert and sang songs like Go tell it on the Mountain and Silent Night in Latvian. It was a nice short program and at the end Ausma gave me chibas (aka knit slippers). They are so great! They look like fairy shoes and are pretty much my favorite. Since I was fairly awake on Saturday night we had Christmas early and opened all of our presents. Thank you everyone!
SUNDAY we had an hour meeting full of testimonies of Jesus Christ. We sang Silent Night as the closing hymn and the spirit was very strong. We went to some less active's homes and saw a bunch of wild swans on the lake. They were beautiful. I like watching the wind on the water.
Practically every day we have met with Valda, a 51-year-old working towards baptism. She loves Jesus and likes to wear clothes that sparkle. Her mom, Zigrida is 80, has no chompers and loves to have us sing since she can't see well. She claps her hands and giggles like a little girl whenever we finish a song. I'm pretty sure that Valda has a crush on Oskars. Valda has a boyfriend that we are trying to help her get rid of. He is a drunk that already has a wife. Lots of fun stuff.
Merry Christmas and I love you all. God loves us so He sent His Son! Christ, Jesus, the annointed one!
Love,
Sister L
Note from Thor & Lisa: We had a nice 'video chat' with Mari on Christmas morning. She looked great, and we all enjoyed visiting with her.
TUESDAY We met with my favorite Santa Dike. She had to pray twice because she forgot a word in her pray. It was pretty great. She is still my favorite. Her prayers have changed so much. God is definitely one of her best friends, it is awesome. We headed up on a bus to Riga so that I could go to the doctors. Dr. Caune was a super nice lady and she told me I had a terrible cough (thank you, like I didn't know that). She listened to my lungs and said that they sounded clean and then sent me off with some prescriptions for plant juice (that doesn't help you stop coughing), some cough drops, and an asthma inhaler. Fun stuff! She sent me off to get some blood tests to make sure that I didn't need an antibiotic. That was fun. Screaming children, needles, foreign language. Good stuff. I also got walked in on whilst going to the bathroom. It was a long day. We also got lost. (Not my fault! I was not leading). Luckily the assistants came and picked us up because I was TIRED from walking all over. They took us to the empty sisters' apartment. There wasn't even toilet paper in it! It was pretty funny. The night before Sister Wilson said, "What if there is no toilet paper." "That is ridiculous," I replied. "What kind of person would do that." I guess she should have listened to the spirit and brought toilet paper, lol.
WEDNESDAY was Zone Conference. Our district wore ugly Christmas sweaters! It was epic. Sorry we didn't get a picture...sigh. The elders had Charlie Brown-esque sweaters and Sister Wilson's was bright blue with snowmen. The senior couples made us a nice Christmas lunch, there was a slideshow, and we had a gift exchange (I got cookies), Elder Alder told me stories on the ride home to snowy Liepaja!
THURSDAY We had choir practice for the Christmas Eve Program. Aivars Fishmeisters (eternal investigator) came hobbling in [he has had hip surgery], "Elders! I just heard twenty minutes ago that you were in a fight. Are you alright? Are you hurt? You should get another day off." It was really cute that he was so worried about it. The elders are fine; the newspaper decided to write an article about it so they have been the talk of the town.
FRIDAY night we got to help out Santa Claus deliver gifts to the Frolavi home. Eriks was so excited and so confused about it. I like doorbell ditching people. Sister Wilson slipped on the ice as we were running away, oops!
SATURDAY we went out caroling in the rain. We were all pretty wet by the end, but we had a lot of fun. People thought we were crazy (we are). We then went to the Christmas Concert and sang songs like Go tell it on the Mountain and Silent Night in Latvian. It was a nice short program and at the end Ausma gave me chibas (aka knit slippers). They are so great! They look like fairy shoes and are pretty much my favorite. Since I was fairly awake on Saturday night we had Christmas early and opened all of our presents. Thank you everyone!
SUNDAY we had an hour meeting full of testimonies of Jesus Christ. We sang Silent Night as the closing hymn and the spirit was very strong. We went to some less active's homes and saw a bunch of wild swans on the lake. They were beautiful. I like watching the wind on the water.
Practically every day we have met with Valda, a 51-year-old working towards baptism. She loves Jesus and likes to wear clothes that sparkle. Her mom, Zigrida is 80, has no chompers and loves to have us sing since she can't see well. She claps her hands and giggles like a little girl whenever we finish a song. I'm pretty sure that Valda has a crush on Oskars. Valda has a boyfriend that we are trying to help her get rid of. He is a drunk that already has a wife. Lots of fun stuff.
Merry Christmas and I love you all. God loves us so He sent His Son! Christ, Jesus, the annointed one!
Love,
Sister L
Note from Thor & Lisa: We had a nice 'video chat' with Mari on Christmas morning. She looked great, and we all enjoyed visiting with her.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Week 44
Merry Christmas everyone!
I can't believe that a year has already flown by. With this past week being my year mark I have been thinking a lot about what I was doing last year. What an adventure the past year has been, filled with many ups and downs. Thank you all for your continued love, support, and prayers.
On Monday we went by the Ringman Maris' to pick up some rings. Sister Wilson made the mistake of asking about skiing. A half hour later we left. We are now well versed on skiing in Latvia and in other places in the world, lol. It was actually a lot of fun. Maris loves skiing and is such a fun man. We ate a late lunch with the elders at Olive and had a fun lesson with a lady named Sveta. Missionaries used to live by her and she was just all sorts of fun. "I haven't formed an opinion about your church yet." I had a fun little miracle of listening to the spirit on Monday. Normally I carry around a "personal" copy of the Book of Mormon. It is one of the smaller older versions that I use so that I don't soil a bunch of new ones. I had the impression Monday to take a new Book of Mormon, so I did. I was on tram, on the way home from harvesting debating whether I wanted to talk to this lady or not. I decided to and made a straight b-line for her. She was just the perfect little contact. "You are a missionary? That is so great! I love the Bible. Do you believe in the Bible? I bet you have a special book too? That book contains the fulness of Jesus Christ's gospel and you can study it with the Bible? I bet you teach English too, and I bet it is for free." Sadly she didn't want to meet, but she did take a copy of the Book of Mormon and our phone number.
On Tuesday we had District Meeting in Latvian with Oskars! It was fun having him there. He really enjoyed being with us and helping out. We taught Santa Dike about Family History with Ludmila. Ludmila was the cutest thing in the lesson. She really likes family history and was so excited that Santa would be able to work on her family history. In Ludmila's prayer she prayed that Santa would be able to get a temple recommend and do her family history and it was just super cute. We taught Guna out of Alma 32 and she thinks she has the desire to grow the seed!
Wednesday's highlight was going to Inga's. Inga is a long time investigator who apparently hasn't had a firm grip about what the Book of Mormon is. She didn't understand fully about what the BOM is, where it came from, who wrote it, etc. We cleared that all up and it made a LOT more sense to her. We also helped Inga clean. We were all ready with gloves to get down and dirty but we ended up just helping her fold clothes. She owns a LOT of clothes. A lot a lot.
Thursday was transfers! Elder Palmer is leaving us, but everyone else is staying the same in Liepaja. Elder Burr and Elder Lynch are serving together in Jelgava, in a tri-panionship with a Russian speaking elder from Sweden! I so wish I could be there, but alas, I still haven't found those people I am to teach in Liepaja. We had a branch activity and made Christmas cards.
Friday was a busy day. We taught Rita, a newly engaged 51-year old English and a spiritual thought. We also got to meet with Valda. She is a woman that the elders contacted that has a strong desire to change her life. It was really neat to meet with her and teach her how to pray. She came to church on Sunday and we extended a baptismal date to her then. She is already reading from the Book of Mormon and is just a really sincere and humble woman. We had a fun little bonding time with Alesja during her meeting. We started by talking about families and then she showed us all of her family pictures. We also got to meet with the Beldavi on Friday night. Dace (the mom) was there, so it was nice to talk to her. That woman is a saint, raising four sons on her own!
Saturday's service was helping Rihard's stack wood. It was pretty easy this time since we just had to stay in the house and stack it. We then had choir practice for our Christmas Eve concert, English class, and a lesson with a hopefully soon-to-be-new-member Nadezda. She is the cutest lady and she loves the Book of Mormon. She brought her copy to class and we read some of it together. By we I mean she, and she did it with arm movements and such emotion and would stop and say, "I love this part!" and other things that missionaries love to hear. Sadly, she is going out of town for the holidays. I am excited for January. Liga was mellow this week, she's been sick. She made us cabbage soup (tasted like coleslaw in soup form...yuck!) and I had a cough attack. It was pretty bad, my eyes started watering and yeah. I survived though.
On Sunday Valda came to church! Hurray! Madara is back from her mini-mission and she gave a talk and it was a good sacrament meeting about callings and service.
I can't believe that it is almost Christmas! I look forward to spending the next holiday season with you. Hot chocolate, "It's A Wonderful Life", and all my favorite people.
Sending you Christmas kisses!
Sister L
I can't believe that a year has already flown by. With this past week being my year mark I have been thinking a lot about what I was doing last year. What an adventure the past year has been, filled with many ups and downs. Thank you all for your continued love, support, and prayers.
On Monday we went by the Ringman Maris' to pick up some rings. Sister Wilson made the mistake of asking about skiing. A half hour later we left. We are now well versed on skiing in Latvia and in other places in the world, lol. It was actually a lot of fun. Maris loves skiing and is such a fun man. We ate a late lunch with the elders at Olive and had a fun lesson with a lady named Sveta. Missionaries used to live by her and she was just all sorts of fun. "I haven't formed an opinion about your church yet." I had a fun little miracle of listening to the spirit on Monday. Normally I carry around a "personal" copy of the Book of Mormon. It is one of the smaller older versions that I use so that I don't soil a bunch of new ones. I had the impression Monday to take a new Book of Mormon, so I did. I was on tram, on the way home from harvesting debating whether I wanted to talk to this lady or not. I decided to and made a straight b-line for her. She was just the perfect little contact. "You are a missionary? That is so great! I love the Bible. Do you believe in the Bible? I bet you have a special book too? That book contains the fulness of Jesus Christ's gospel and you can study it with the Bible? I bet you teach English too, and I bet it is for free." Sadly she didn't want to meet, but she did take a copy of the Book of Mormon and our phone number.
On Tuesday we had District Meeting in Latvian with Oskars! It was fun having him there. He really enjoyed being with us and helping out. We taught Santa Dike about Family History with Ludmila. Ludmila was the cutest thing in the lesson. She really likes family history and was so excited that Santa would be able to work on her family history. In Ludmila's prayer she prayed that Santa would be able to get a temple recommend and do her family history and it was just super cute. We taught Guna out of Alma 32 and she thinks she has the desire to grow the seed!
Wednesday's highlight was going to Inga's. Inga is a long time investigator who apparently hasn't had a firm grip about what the Book of Mormon is. She didn't understand fully about what the BOM is, where it came from, who wrote it, etc. We cleared that all up and it made a LOT more sense to her. We also helped Inga clean. We were all ready with gloves to get down and dirty but we ended up just helping her fold clothes. She owns a LOT of clothes. A lot a lot.
Thursday was transfers! Elder Palmer is leaving us, but everyone else is staying the same in Liepaja. Elder Burr and Elder Lynch are serving together in Jelgava, in a tri-panionship with a Russian speaking elder from Sweden! I so wish I could be there, but alas, I still haven't found those people I am to teach in Liepaja. We had a branch activity and made Christmas cards.
Friday was a busy day. We taught Rita, a newly engaged 51-year old English and a spiritual thought. We also got to meet with Valda. She is a woman that the elders contacted that has a strong desire to change her life. It was really neat to meet with her and teach her how to pray. She came to church on Sunday and we extended a baptismal date to her then. She is already reading from the Book of Mormon and is just a really sincere and humble woman. We had a fun little bonding time with Alesja during her meeting. We started by talking about families and then she showed us all of her family pictures. We also got to meet with the Beldavi on Friday night. Dace (the mom) was there, so it was nice to talk to her. That woman is a saint, raising four sons on her own!
Saturday's service was helping Rihard's stack wood. It was pretty easy this time since we just had to stay in the house and stack it. We then had choir practice for our Christmas Eve concert, English class, and a lesson with a hopefully soon-to-be-new-member Nadezda. She is the cutest lady and she loves the Book of Mormon. She brought her copy to class and we read some of it together. By we I mean she, and she did it with arm movements and such emotion and would stop and say, "I love this part!" and other things that missionaries love to hear. Sadly, she is going out of town for the holidays. I am excited for January. Liga was mellow this week, she's been sick. She made us cabbage soup (tasted like coleslaw in soup form...yuck!) and I had a cough attack. It was pretty bad, my eyes started watering and yeah. I survived though.
On Sunday Valda came to church! Hurray! Madara is back from her mini-mission and she gave a talk and it was a good sacrament meeting about callings and service.
I can't believe that it is almost Christmas! I look forward to spending the next holiday season with you. Hot chocolate, "It's A Wonderful Life", and all my favorite people.
Sending you Christmas kisses!
Sister L
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Week 43
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...at least decoration wise. :) There are angels "floating" in the river, the bridge is covered with gingerbread cookies, there is a tram that is covered in Christmas lights, the Catholic church has them as well, a giant Christmas tree is in center, and the University has giant white lights and snowflakes on campus. I am perfectly fine with the fact that there is no snow on the ground. No snow = above freezing and with wind chill it isn't too bad. I realized last night that this is the 4th Christmas away from home for me. I am ready to be back home, doing the nativity and driving dad nuts, eating cold cereal Christmas morning after waking up way too early, and of course, slurpees at 7-11 with my favorite people on Christmas Eve. There's always next year though!
Did I mention that I feel like I live in "It's a Wonderful Life"? Currently there is a bank crisis here in Latvija. One Latvian bank went bankrupt and all the time there are huge lines at banks- people trying to get out their money and such.
Last Monday was quite adventurous. We went with recent convert Liga to try out these massaging beds. It was actually really nice. That is the best my legs have felt in years! (Now don't I sound old.) The people there do a great job at brainwashing you into thinking that you need a 30 centime massage every day (aka 60 cents US for about a half hour massage and 30 minutes or so of brainwashing to like their products). The shorter days haven't been bothering me as much as I thought...we've been very busy this week though with various activities. Mostly we just live in a time warp of perpetual gray, the occasional rain, wind, and blue sky. I'm just glad that it isn't super cold. Our windows are quite drafty. Our house temperature ranges from 61 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit. We bought some tape and are going to tape up the windows today and see if it makes it less draft. So anywho, we ate at my favorite Pastnieka Maja. I got fish and rice. It was weird, we ate upstairs, which isn't very cute. There are VERY large pink flowers on the walls and yes...I just like downstairs and outside better. Speaking of outside, there is a boardwalk that leads across some grass to Pastnieka Maja. Elder Alder was sliding on it because it was hail/rain/snowing and he biffed it and fell really hard. He was soaking wet and embarrassed and we all had belly aches from laughing. We made a bunch of playdough ornaments for ward members that we still need to paint.
Tuesday we had quite the weather- more of the rain/snow/hail with wind. I now know why I went to physical therapy for so long...so I could walk backwards and sideways really fast so you don't get pelted in the face by hail going at least 30 mph. I knew there had to be a reason they always made me practice traveling all sorts of directions of that treadmill! Mostly the weather just made me laugh, although I was very wet very quickly. We had lunch with Ruta Jekste, the former RS president who randomly went off to Germany. She is back and is doing well. She really didn't like her job there...they were very restrictive on her freedom. Needless to say she talked our ears off and is glad to be back in the Branch and helping out. She fed us rice with beef and carrots "chinese food!". We dropped off cookies to some members, overall it went well. We were able to see one member, Alesja, who hasn't been to church for 10 years and set up an appointment to talk with her.
On Wednesday we took cookies to inactive Lydia and Dzintra. They were NOT happy to see us. I left the cookies outside their doors anyway. :) Ausma was happy to see us and We had a good lesson with Alesja. She is 20 and got baptized when she was about ten. She is really nice and sweet-tempered and wants to come to church once she finishes learning how to drive. Driving here is a big deal- it is really expensive and the law is soon changing that you have to be 21 to drive here. You lose your license if you ever hit anyone and they have a disciple points and fine system like we do in Utah. We visited a possible investigator, Inga. She is the Branch President Wife's friend. She is a nice lady who needs to make some life changes but will one day be a member. We had a good evening harvesting. Lots of people gave us their phone numbers and said we could come back.
Thursday’s highlights included eating lunch at Zelma's house. She fed us frikadellas with potatoes and sour cream. We eat everything with sour cream here- soup, potatoes, pancakes, meat, salad, pretty much anything and everything. They are proud of their potatoes here. Lots of varieties and a lot more flavorful than Idaho potatoes. We held a Relief Society party in the evening...we made Christmas cards as well as flowers from cloth to wear. Overall it went really well and we are planning on having another activity to make even more cards.
Friday, oh Friday. It was snowing on Friday (it is all gone now). But you see, there is this cute old man who is out every morning and stands by the gate to the old Catholic church and begs for money. He was out today in the awful weather and the priest told him to leave and he was walking across the cobblestone with his cane looking defeated and it was just really sad. I cried for him. We are so blessed to have so much. So so much. There would be many many families living in houses the size we have in Utah. We made a yummy creamy vegetable soup (with far too much onion...oh boy!), and we did a lot of calling of persons on Friday. Presidents sang for us....it was some crazy Russian- 80s techno super weird song about forgiveness. I think he should keep to his opera. It was pretty great though...I just imagined him in a gangster outfit with some electric guitar players with long hair behind him. I gently nudged that he shouldn't sing it for the Christmas party. We had tea and cookies with Liga in the evening and talked to her about tithing. She is excited to pay it and it was just a good lesson overall.
On Saturday we only had 6 or so people at English...all of our Lauma (lingerie factory) students are working 6 days a week to finish a huge order. We had a good lesson with Santa from Enos 1. I really like Enos one, it was a really touching chapter for me. I especially liked the last two verses. We had a choir practice...mostly missionaries and a few members. So far I don't have any solos, so that is good. We are learning some traditional Latvian Christmas songs, as well as other songs like "Go Tell It On A Mountain" in Latvian. We love feeling like a Baptist church! We went harvesting and a young dad set up an appointment with us for next Wednesday...wahoo! Sister Wilson was in need of some chocolate Saturday night and after buying 5 lats worth she set off the alarm. A big security man then came and grabbed her. I had to quickly grab all her chocolate and other articles and go chasing after them. They disappeared! Luckily Sister Wilson is loud so I could hear her. She was in a boxed off security room and apparently her pocket dictionary set off the alarm. Always an adventure!
On Sunday I was able to give a talk about family. It went really well and several members thanked me after, so I guess it was good! I talked a lot about how my family is a great example to me, especially my parents. They have taught me about the importance of family history, how to work, how to serve, the importance of the temple, daily scripture study, home and visiting teaching, family prayer, and so on. I helped Sister Wilson in Primary. The kids were pretty rowdy so we did some pretty silly games while singing. In the end they just ended up making a fort out of blankets and chairs...wild children! We then did normal missionary work- trying to find people and there wasn't anything too exciting there.
Merry Christmas!
Love, Sister L
Did I mention that I feel like I live in "It's a Wonderful Life"? Currently there is a bank crisis here in Latvija. One Latvian bank went bankrupt and all the time there are huge lines at banks- people trying to get out their money and such.
Last Monday was quite adventurous. We went with recent convert Liga to try out these massaging beds. It was actually really nice. That is the best my legs have felt in years! (Now don't I sound old.) The people there do a great job at brainwashing you into thinking that you need a 30 centime massage every day (aka 60 cents US for about a half hour massage and 30 minutes or so of brainwashing to like their products). The shorter days haven't been bothering me as much as I thought...we've been very busy this week though with various activities. Mostly we just live in a time warp of perpetual gray, the occasional rain, wind, and blue sky. I'm just glad that it isn't super cold. Our windows are quite drafty. Our house temperature ranges from 61 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit. We bought some tape and are going to tape up the windows today and see if it makes it less draft. So anywho, we ate at my favorite Pastnieka Maja. I got fish and rice. It was weird, we ate upstairs, which isn't very cute. There are VERY large pink flowers on the walls and yes...I just like downstairs and outside better. Speaking of outside, there is a boardwalk that leads across some grass to Pastnieka Maja. Elder Alder was sliding on it because it was hail/rain/snowing and he biffed it and fell really hard. He was soaking wet and embarrassed and we all had belly aches from laughing. We made a bunch of playdough ornaments for ward members that we still need to paint.
Tuesday we had quite the weather- more of the rain/snow/hail with wind. I now know why I went to physical therapy for so long...so I could walk backwards and sideways really fast so you don't get pelted in the face by hail going at least 30 mph. I knew there had to be a reason they always made me practice traveling all sorts of directions of that treadmill! Mostly the weather just made me laugh, although I was very wet very quickly. We had lunch with Ruta Jekste, the former RS president who randomly went off to Germany. She is back and is doing well. She really didn't like her job there...they were very restrictive on her freedom. Needless to say she talked our ears off and is glad to be back in the Branch and helping out. She fed us rice with beef and carrots "chinese food!". We dropped off cookies to some members, overall it went well. We were able to see one member, Alesja, who hasn't been to church for 10 years and set up an appointment to talk with her.
On Wednesday we took cookies to inactive Lydia and Dzintra. They were NOT happy to see us. I left the cookies outside their doors anyway. :) Ausma was happy to see us and We had a good lesson with Alesja. She is 20 and got baptized when she was about ten. She is really nice and sweet-tempered and wants to come to church once she finishes learning how to drive. Driving here is a big deal- it is really expensive and the law is soon changing that you have to be 21 to drive here. You lose your license if you ever hit anyone and they have a disciple points and fine system like we do in Utah. We visited a possible investigator, Inga. She is the Branch President Wife's friend. She is a nice lady who needs to make some life changes but will one day be a member. We had a good evening harvesting. Lots of people gave us their phone numbers and said we could come back.
Thursday’s highlights included eating lunch at Zelma's house. She fed us frikadellas with potatoes and sour cream. We eat everything with sour cream here- soup, potatoes, pancakes, meat, salad, pretty much anything and everything. They are proud of their potatoes here. Lots of varieties and a lot more flavorful than Idaho potatoes. We held a Relief Society party in the evening...we made Christmas cards as well as flowers from cloth to wear. Overall it went really well and we are planning on having another activity to make even more cards.
Friday, oh Friday. It was snowing on Friday (it is all gone now). But you see, there is this cute old man who is out every morning and stands by the gate to the old Catholic church and begs for money. He was out today in the awful weather and the priest told him to leave and he was walking across the cobblestone with his cane looking defeated and it was just really sad. I cried for him. We are so blessed to have so much. So so much. There would be many many families living in houses the size we have in Utah. We made a yummy creamy vegetable soup (with far too much onion...oh boy!), and we did a lot of calling of persons on Friday. Presidents sang for us....it was some crazy Russian- 80s techno super weird song about forgiveness. I think he should keep to his opera. It was pretty great though...I just imagined him in a gangster outfit with some electric guitar players with long hair behind him. I gently nudged that he shouldn't sing it for the Christmas party. We had tea and cookies with Liga in the evening and talked to her about tithing. She is excited to pay it and it was just a good lesson overall.
On Saturday we only had 6 or so people at English...all of our Lauma (lingerie factory) students are working 6 days a week to finish a huge order. We had a good lesson with Santa from Enos 1. I really like Enos one, it was a really touching chapter for me. I especially liked the last two verses. We had a choir practice...mostly missionaries and a few members. So far I don't have any solos, so that is good. We are learning some traditional Latvian Christmas songs, as well as other songs like "Go Tell It On A Mountain" in Latvian. We love feeling like a Baptist church! We went harvesting and a young dad set up an appointment with us for next Wednesday...wahoo! Sister Wilson was in need of some chocolate Saturday night and after buying 5 lats worth she set off the alarm. A big security man then came and grabbed her. I had to quickly grab all her chocolate and other articles and go chasing after them. They disappeared! Luckily Sister Wilson is loud so I could hear her. She was in a boxed off security room and apparently her pocket dictionary set off the alarm. Always an adventure!
On Sunday I was able to give a talk about family. It went really well and several members thanked me after, so I guess it was good! I talked a lot about how my family is a great example to me, especially my parents. They have taught me about the importance of family history, how to work, how to serve, the importance of the temple, daily scripture study, home and visiting teaching, family prayer, and so on. I helped Sister Wilson in Primary. The kids were pretty rowdy so we did some pretty silly games while singing. In the end they just ended up making a fort out of blankets and chairs...wild children! We then did normal missionary work- trying to find people and there wasn't anything too exciting there.
Merry Christmas!
Love, Sister L
Monday, December 5, 2011
Week 42
Monday
Thanksgiving take two was definitely a lot less stressful and almost as good. We didn't finish Thanksgiving leftovers until Thursday. Our district had a nice time talking and writing letters. In the evening we went and had FHE with the Frolavi family since they are having some family trials. They are doing well. Afterwards we dropped Jana Gromenko (inactive) and gave her cookies. She let us in for a spiritual thought and for a return appointment!
Tuesday
In District Meeting I was glad for the opportunity to practice teaching about dispensations. As of late I've been going over the first three lessons in PMG and learning a lot and improving my teaching. We went with Lidija L. to do her visiting teaching. We went to visit an awesome inactive member, Mara. She and Lidija butted heads at first, but by the end everyone was sipping tea and enjoying Mara showing us all of the crafts that she has made. Luckily the whispers of inspiration told me to 1. bring Mara's address and 2. prepare a spiritual thought. We taught Santa Dike (recent convert) in the evening about Gifts of the Spirit and you know what, she didn't crack one single joke about it. I was kind of disappointed. Regardless, it was a great lesson.
Wednesday
Everyone decided to cancel on us. It ended up working out though because Lidija called during studies and asked if we could take her daughter to the dentist since she had to work. The dentist was behind schedule and so it all worked out. It was interesting to be inside a school here. It was PURE CHAOS. I have never seen so many little people punching each other and being so loud. It would be pure madness to be a teacher here. I am grateful that we have a more civilized educational approach. We went by Liga's (recent convert...the one who practically took the Book of Mormon out of my hands) even though she had cancelled on us earlier and she let us in! We had cookies and she was so glad to see us that she made us peppermint tea and bread and butter. I have a confession, I kind of like tea now. Sugar is the key. Anywho, Liga invited us to go get 30 centime (60 US cents) massages with her on Monday [in retrospect it was a very nice massage by a machine].
Thursday
We went and had probably our best lesson with inactive Vineta. Her husband was home and he took little Marex (who still doesn't talk) for a little bit and you could actually feel the Spirit really strongly, it was great! We had a lesson with Oskars in his home. Wow. We are just spoiled little people. Oskars lives in a one room home with a wood stove, 2 old broken beds, 2 chairs that he places his clothes on, no fridge, no cupboards, just a small table by a sink and enough dishes to serve himself. We are so blessed to have so much and yet we always want more. There are others who have nothing and are happy. I think we have a big lesson to learn from them. The gospel has made Oskars happy. He was just beaming when he showed us pictures of his family (all now deceased). We went to the town tree lighting ceremony. It was really fun. Different classes from the schools dressed up and sort of had a parade. They sang some traditional folk songs about how it is getting dark and how they have the stars for light but want the sun and so on. It was all really pretty and there were so many cute families. Since the whole cookie thing has been going so well, we decided to try it with an investigator we haven't been able to meet with, Zenta [older, has the grandson with the crazy random disease]. She, along with all our other investigators will be busy pretty much all December.
Friday
Yay for early morning trips to Riga. The handsome ortho was able to fix my new retainers right away. We went around Imanta a little bit- it was weird to be in my old stomping grounds. We then picked up mail and I ended up carrying a very heavy package around all day in the rain and wind. We found a great cafe, Sweetday Cafe, and had some creamy vegetable soup with some good but overpriced chocolate cake with ice cream and fruit. It was pretty epically eclectic. It reminded me of a cafe that Kimmie, Kirstin, and I would have. They were also playing awesome old school (aka Nat King Cole) Christmas music which is my favorite. I love the old stuff!
Satuday
The church got attacked again. More graffiti and three broken windows. Last week they tried to steal the sign. We don't know who it is, but we have a sneaking suspicion that it could be some previous investigators. We had a neat little moment in English class...we were going over how the BOM answers questions to the soul and spent some time showing everyone how to look up the scriptures and they all seemed a lot more comfortable and everyone took a BOM at the end! That NEVER happens! It was super awesome. We went off with Lidija again to help with her visiting teaching. On the way I dropped the phone in a puddle. Never fear, the phone is fine! It wasn't like when Sister Sutterfield ran it through the laundry by any means. The inactive woman we visited, Inese was really great and her whole family (husband and 2 kids) are members. We had a good lesson with her, Lidija talked a LOT this time and Inese actually came to church on Sunday, what a miracle! Do your visiting and home teaching everybody! We had our lesson with Jana. Rubija a member who has been in France picking kiwis (no, she doesn't speak French) helped us with the lesson and I think Sister Gromenko really liked it.
Sunday
The Boswells came to church today which was fun! I translated Sister Boswell's testimony...it is hard waiting for people to finish their thoughts and then translate. I do much better translating as they talk. I was in Primary for singing time with Sister Wilson and then Sister Boswell went to Relief Society with me so I could do my duties there. We then had lentil soup and biscuits to break our fast. We love having the Boswell's over!
Thanksgiving take two was definitely a lot less stressful and almost as good. We didn't finish Thanksgiving leftovers until Thursday. Our district had a nice time talking and writing letters. In the evening we went and had FHE with the Frolavi family since they are having some family trials. They are doing well. Afterwards we dropped Jana Gromenko (inactive) and gave her cookies. She let us in for a spiritual thought and for a return appointment!
Tuesday
In District Meeting I was glad for the opportunity to practice teaching about dispensations. As of late I've been going over the first three lessons in PMG and learning a lot and improving my teaching. We went with Lidija L. to do her visiting teaching. We went to visit an awesome inactive member, Mara. She and Lidija butted heads at first, but by the end everyone was sipping tea and enjoying Mara showing us all of the crafts that she has made. Luckily the whispers of inspiration told me to 1. bring Mara's address and 2. prepare a spiritual thought. We taught Santa Dike (recent convert) in the evening about Gifts of the Spirit and you know what, she didn't crack one single joke about it. I was kind of disappointed. Regardless, it was a great lesson.
Wednesday
Everyone decided to cancel on us. It ended up working out though because Lidija called during studies and asked if we could take her daughter to the dentist since she had to work. The dentist was behind schedule and so it all worked out. It was interesting to be inside a school here. It was PURE CHAOS. I have never seen so many little people punching each other and being so loud. It would be pure madness to be a teacher here. I am grateful that we have a more civilized educational approach. We went by Liga's (recent convert...the one who practically took the Book of Mormon out of my hands) even though she had cancelled on us earlier and she let us in! We had cookies and she was so glad to see us that she made us peppermint tea and bread and butter. I have a confession, I kind of like tea now. Sugar is the key. Anywho, Liga invited us to go get 30 centime (60 US cents) massages with her on Monday [in retrospect it was a very nice massage by a machine].
Thursday
We went and had probably our best lesson with inactive Vineta. Her husband was home and he took little Marex (who still doesn't talk) for a little bit and you could actually feel the Spirit really strongly, it was great! We had a lesson with Oskars in his home. Wow. We are just spoiled little people. Oskars lives in a one room home with a wood stove, 2 old broken beds, 2 chairs that he places his clothes on, no fridge, no cupboards, just a small table by a sink and enough dishes to serve himself. We are so blessed to have so much and yet we always want more. There are others who have nothing and are happy. I think we have a big lesson to learn from them. The gospel has made Oskars happy. He was just beaming when he showed us pictures of his family (all now deceased). We went to the town tree lighting ceremony. It was really fun. Different classes from the schools dressed up and sort of had a parade. They sang some traditional folk songs about how it is getting dark and how they have the stars for light but want the sun and so on. It was all really pretty and there were so many cute families. Since the whole cookie thing has been going so well, we decided to try it with an investigator we haven't been able to meet with, Zenta [older, has the grandson with the crazy random disease]. She, along with all our other investigators will be busy pretty much all December.
Friday
Yay for early morning trips to Riga. The handsome ortho was able to fix my new retainers right away. We went around Imanta a little bit- it was weird to be in my old stomping grounds. We then picked up mail and I ended up carrying a very heavy package around all day in the rain and wind. We found a great cafe, Sweetday Cafe, and had some creamy vegetable soup with some good but overpriced chocolate cake with ice cream and fruit. It was pretty epically eclectic. It reminded me of a cafe that Kimmie, Kirstin, and I would have. They were also playing awesome old school (aka Nat King Cole) Christmas music which is my favorite. I love the old stuff!
Satuday
The church got attacked again. More graffiti and three broken windows. Last week they tried to steal the sign. We don't know who it is, but we have a sneaking suspicion that it could be some previous investigators. We had a neat little moment in English class...we were going over how the BOM answers questions to the soul and spent some time showing everyone how to look up the scriptures and they all seemed a lot more comfortable and everyone took a BOM at the end! That NEVER happens! It was super awesome. We went off with Lidija again to help with her visiting teaching. On the way I dropped the phone in a puddle. Never fear, the phone is fine! It wasn't like when Sister Sutterfield ran it through the laundry by any means. The inactive woman we visited, Inese was really great and her whole family (husband and 2 kids) are members. We had a good lesson with her, Lidija talked a LOT this time and Inese actually came to church on Sunday, what a miracle! Do your visiting and home teaching everybody! We had our lesson with Jana. Rubija a member who has been in France picking kiwis (no, she doesn't speak French) helped us with the lesson and I think Sister Gromenko really liked it.
Sunday
The Boswells came to church today which was fun! I translated Sister Boswell's testimony...it is hard waiting for people to finish their thoughts and then translate. I do much better translating as they talk. I was in Primary for singing time with Sister Wilson and then Sister Boswell went to Relief Society with me so I could do my duties there. We then had lentil soup and biscuits to break our fast. We love having the Boswell's over!
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