Letters from the Baltic

  Hello Everyone! I'm still in Riga chugging away in the office. We had to be in the office full-time for a couple days. There wasn't much to do as far as office work goes so we spent most of it contacting over facebook. Other notable events that happened:  - our new friend Rudolfs came to game night after finding a pass along card from last year that was left on the ground at the library.  - Someone dared Elder Yeyna to drink a shot of apple cider vinegar. He decided to instead chug out of the bottle. About 250ml into chugging, his throat swelled shut and he couldn't breathe. After 20-30 seconds he was able to breathe again but immediately threw up all of his dinner and was sick the next 2 days.  - we had to go with President Huff to test out the pastries he would buy for Elder Quentin L Cook to eat at his apartment. - I didn't say already, Elder Cook visited our mission. It was super cool because everybody from Lithuania and Estonia visited. They rented busses to d...

Hello Everyone! I'm super stoked!!! I'm going to Kaunas which means I'm leaving the office and heading back to Lithuania. A weird thing about being in the office is that I've been able to see the transfer board which shows where all the missionaries are going on future transfers. So I've actually known for a month or two that I've been going back but haven't been able to to tell anyone about it. It's going to be so nice to use Lithuanian again. I feel like I'm ready. I hope it's not too rusty but I'm sure it will bounce back really quickly.  The last couple of days, Elder Sieverts has been in Riga. He's going home tomorrow so Rest in Peace. Elder Yeyna too, and a few others missionary friends. Being with Elder Sieverts has been a blast. This last Sunday I bore my testimony in Russian. It was one of those things that I did not want to do. I forced myself up there and I couldn't tell you if I messed up because I was nervous. This whole ...

  Hello Everyone! Short Version: The office is doing swell. I'm doing swell. Life is pretty swell. Nothing is crazy or super out of the ordinary but I'm really enjoying it.  Long Version: Well not too long ago, my companion and I were both sick. We stayed in the apartment quarantining because they thought it might be COVID and we weren't able to get tested. I took a lot of naps and ibuprofen. I got sick first and then just as I was getting better Elder Adams started getting the exact same thing. In between resting and eating I read a lot of Jesus the Christ and did a lot of scripture studying. I actually went through my college notes from a New Testament class and marked things in my scriptures. I learned things I already had heard but now I have them marked in my scriptures.  A couple weeks back, the Siauliai elders in Lithuania were on National Television. The video was the 4 elders doing service and they interviewed them and were asking why they're doing free...

  Hello Everyone! Short Version: I sat in the office for a really long time. Also Mission Conference happened, woohoo! Long Version: So I'm developing this nice love-hate relationship with the office. I love to be busy and the office sometimes keeps me really busy. However, it also can be SO SLOW. Sometimes I want to rip my head off because my companion is the office financial secretary. Our main financial Senior Elder was in the US for a "special assignment" (a fishing trip) so for the last 2 weeks my companion has had to be in the office full time and I spent a lot of time practicing my typing speed, or spinning in my chair, doing stuff on Facebook or reading in Lithuania. Note: My current average typing speed is about 50 WPM so I'm hoping by the end I can be a pro and not need to look at my fingers and not cheat on the keyboard using the wrong fingers for certain keys. Also, someone please go back in time and remind me how I was able to get through quarantine. A pe...

  Hello Everyone, Short Version: The unexpected happened and I'm actually writing this from Riga, Latvia. I got transfered into the office to be the mission secretary. It's half office work and since there's a senior couple that helps us in the office we also proselyte for the other half. I don't mind being in the office because we stay really busy, but I'm sad to not be in Lithuania since, well I'm learning Lithuanian.  Long Version: Before coming to the mission office, I was in Siauliai. We had 4 elders in that apartment so it was very fun. Every night we'd get home and play card games. We had lots of service that. We also met these highschoolers that we played basketball a couple times. Siauliai was so fun. It's been one of the best weeks on my entire mission. One of the biggest reasons was because all of us got a long really well. I've decided that more important than an area is your companion. You can have a really crummy area but it can still b...

  Hello Everyone, Well the time has come for me to leave Panevėžys which means a few things: 1. Church will be more than just me and my companion on beanbags 2. We'll have members and other missionaries in our city 3. Savelis and Algis (the 2 members here) will have to fend for themselves Our landlord sold our apartment to someone else. That mixed with some other situations with missionaries in Lithuania make it so we're leaving much earlier than we planned.  It's sad but I'm actually pretty excited to go. Church is not the same when it's just a zoom call with your companion in beanbags. As much as I loved the beanbags, it just didn't feel like Church. Elder Morrissey and I will stay as companions for 2 weeks and then more switching will occur but we're not 100% sure what will happen.  We've been doing lots of service which I love. I'm really tired of using Facebook even though it's useful. I can't wait to stop using it and throw my phone off...