Week 63- Writing Panevezys history with Savelis

April 11, 2022

Hello Everyone!

Short Version :A little over a week ago Savelis got baptized making him the first member in all of Panevezys. He was so excited to be baptized he just about jumped into the water before my companion could say the baptismal prayer. It was funny too, he showed up in a large white catholic robe with military combat pants and overcoat underneath. We love Savelis and he makes church and English club a hoot. We also have another friend who wants to be baptized so we'll double the size of our Panevezys branch.

other fun things:

- We had a super stressful Saturday. All of the members in Lithuania came to Panevezys and we had a huge event that involved some meetings with the city council, presentations about our church to the citizens of panevezys that are interested in coming, and all the missionaries from Lithuania combined forces with the members, split off into little groups, and spread all across the city to invite people the the event. we handed out a ton of invitations but only 2 people showed up. The turnout was disappointing but they were lots of other good things that happened as a result of the event.

- Savelis was cracking everybody up at English club. He wasn't necessarily trying to be funny but some of his ideas are interesting making it hard not to smile. He was trying to explain to us how money isn't real and it's all just a construction or an illusion. Or just the ways he tells his stories. He's fun to be around and he likes being around us.

- Another funny thing, Savelis asked Elder Bohm, the East Europe Area Leader, if he has ever smoked weed. Looks like we have some work to do and some things to reexplain. Elder Bohm laughed and took it well. Good times.

- I had a pretty lengthy, unique conversation online with an atheist this week. We talked for a while and eventually he started talking about the morality of robins hahaha. I have to admit, all of it being in Lithuanian had me really confused.

- We talked to some classic Babuskas (grandmas but russian) and they're literally the sweetest souls. Almost every Babuska will talk with us and it probably helps that they can't run away from us. Whenever they find out we're from america, 100% of the time they ask "are your parents Lithuanian?" and when we say no, they're blown away. Then they're like "wow you beautiful boys speak beautifully." Having someone tell us that is so nice. It balances out all the other people who get frustrated because they're impatient with our slow/incorrect speaking.

- This one lady Živilė has me so confused. We responded to one of our facebook ads and so we've been texting her. She keeps asking how we got her information or why we're talking to her and we're like "you literally filled out your information and gave it to us" Twas no accident. She called us brainwashed and said she's going to avoid us. Sometimes we get random texts such as "I'm walking in city center, are you here?" and when I tell her yes she respond with "okay I'm leaving" or funny things like that. I'm so confused because she keeps texting us.

- it was Lithuania's independence day. Tons of fireworks and there was a huge event in the city center. They also light up the Panevėžys government building on Holidays with the flag (and Ukraine's flag right now)

I'm trying to make it through the Topical Guide under the Jesus section which is massive, but first just trying to finish the four gospels before easter. Matthew has a ton of cool historical and jewish things in it. It's safe to say Matthew's gospel was written to the Jews because it has so much assumed cultural background while you read through it. That means for a non-Jewish person such as myself there are lots of little nuggets of information to dig out. I won't go too crazy, if I told you all of it it wouldn't be as fun as if you find it for yourself. One really cool thing though was the symbolism of the Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. Gold is a symbol of Kingship on Earth, Frankincense a symbol of deity (Leviticus 2:1) and myrrh is an embalming oil for dead people which symbolizes death and mourning. These themes run throughout Matthew with the references to Son of God/Son of Man going back and forth along with the myrrh fitting in nicely with Jesus' four passion predictions. The more I read the scriptures comparing bible to book of mormon, especially with focus on Christ's life in Jerusalem and visit to the America's I'm learning lots of new things.

Viso Gero,

Vyresnysis Smitas