Awwww, camping~ Fun fun! Our usual investigators were out of town, so not a lot of news about them. Sis. Lamar came back from her little trip to Parnu on Wednesday. Of course she fell in love with it, so she was a little bummed to come back to Tallinn, especially our area
which just has hundreds of huge apartment buildings.
Estonia just had Temple week last week, so our numbers at church were a just a little fewer, so I actually played the piano in church! Of course I've played in Relief Society, but I haven't had to play for sacrament meeting since my days in Parnu. I tried the organ a little earlier in the week as we were waiting for an appointment when I was with the Russian sisters. Speaking of Russian, I've had to use it so much lately! Sis. Lamar and I knocked one part of a 9-story apartment building and either people weren't home, they ignored us, or they were
Russian! We only talked to 2 Estonians that whole time! We had to do a lot of finding this last week, so that's always very tiring physically, mentally, and spiritually! We're trying to go through some former investigators as of late, and we had a lesson with one old lady last night, and we scheduled another for tonight. English class back on Saturday went really well! We had 3 new students, they're Russian, but they are friends of members, so at least member missionary work is happening! We gotta figure how to get that happen a little more in our branch.
Oh goodness, I'm the next one to come home? Wow, that's interesting! I guess I really am. The nice thing about this summer has been that as soon as the weather gets really hot, it seems to rain a day or two later, so that's kept it nice and reasonable. Some days it switches from sunny to rainy, so it's hard to keep track, especially since we don't normally carry an umbrella along with us, ha ha.
I think my time is almost up here, so gotta go! Sorry this is really lame, but I'm hoping and praying for better things this week! I think it'll happen ;) Thanks so much for the prayers and love. It means a lot to me ;)
Love,
Courtney
Monday, July 25, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
July 18th, 2011
Hello, everyone!
Unfortunately, this was more of a finding week since some of our lessons fell through and Keili is going on vacation. That's really tiring and makes the days seem a lot longer, but we're trying to stay positive. Soooooo, because it was a finding week, there isn't a lot of interesting news :P I was with Sis. Uibel for exchanges, and it's was pretty much a party being together with her. We helped peel and slice veggies for a wedding for some of the Russian members that was on Saturday. Unfortunately, we didn't even get to go to the wedding because we were helping Anton+Stela as they were moving to their new apartment. Really, it's just an upstairs of an old house, but it's been renovated on the inside. They live right next to some railroad tracks though, so I hope that's not too annoying. That means that now they don't live in our area anymore, but oh well :P All we did to help was just wash a few windows and then assemble the little grill they bought, and then prepare the food for lunch. That was fun, and it made me miss barbecues, ha ha!
We now have a good idea of what is happening for transfers in 2 weeks! I think Sis. Christopher is going to be training after being out in the field for 3 weeks, which probably means I'll be with Sis. Lamar for another 2 transfers (3 months). Therefore, we will probably still be in Tallinn too. I still like it here, but I hope I can make it to again to Tartu sometime! There is some leadership conference in Riga tomorrow, so Sis. Lamar is going down to Parnu to while Sis. Christopher goes to the conference. That means I'll be with the Russians again until Wednesday! Yay~ I love them!
We actually had a different investigator come to church! Anne only stayed for Sacrament meeting, but she enjoyed it, I think. Now we gotta get her teenage kids to come too! She even has a good member friend now too! We need to set up another appointment with her family this week :)
For Preparation Days, we usually go play sports for 2 hours and then e-mail and eat somewhere after that. Today we played soccer again, and I tripped over ball, so I had a nice fall and got the wind knocked out of me, but no pain, no gain, right? :P The main library is closed though, so we have to go to another library, or go to an internet cafe (like right now. This one is tailored to gaming too, but we stray away from that, ha ha) That's so weird to think all those young men are getting back from their missions now! I just realized that we will only have warm weather for another for another 2 months... I don't know if I'm happy or sad about that... ha ha!
Have fun on the camping trip! We've walked through some foresty-parks so it makes me really want to bust out a sleeping bag and roast some marshmallows! Even though we're in a big city, there are some parts where you can escape into nature and relax, so that's nice.
Elder McGavin told me my letter came, but he has yet to give it to me. Sorry there's not much more to tell! Thanks for all the love and prayers! I love you all so much.
Love,
Courtney
Unfortunately, this was more of a finding week since some of our lessons fell through and Keili is going on vacation. That's really tiring and makes the days seem a lot longer, but we're trying to stay positive. Soooooo, because it was a finding week, there isn't a lot of interesting news :P I was with Sis. Uibel for exchanges, and it's was pretty much a party being together with her. We helped peel and slice veggies for a wedding for some of the Russian members that was on Saturday. Unfortunately, we didn't even get to go to the wedding because we were helping Anton+Stela as they were moving to their new apartment. Really, it's just an upstairs of an old house, but it's been renovated on the inside. They live right next to some railroad tracks though, so I hope that's not too annoying. That means that now they don't live in our area anymore, but oh well :P All we did to help was just wash a few windows and then assemble the little grill they bought, and then prepare the food for lunch. That was fun, and it made me miss barbecues, ha ha!
We now have a good idea of what is happening for transfers in 2 weeks! I think Sis. Christopher is going to be training after being out in the field for 3 weeks, which probably means I'll be with Sis. Lamar for another 2 transfers (3 months). Therefore, we will probably still be in Tallinn too. I still like it here, but I hope I can make it to again to Tartu sometime! There is some leadership conference in Riga tomorrow, so Sis. Lamar is going down to Parnu to while Sis. Christopher goes to the conference. That means I'll be with the Russians again until Wednesday! Yay~ I love them!
We actually had a different investigator come to church! Anne only stayed for Sacrament meeting, but she enjoyed it, I think. Now we gotta get her teenage kids to come too! She even has a good member friend now too! We need to set up another appointment with her family this week :)
For Preparation Days, we usually go play sports for 2 hours and then e-mail and eat somewhere after that. Today we played soccer again, and I tripped over ball, so I had a nice fall and got the wind knocked out of me, but no pain, no gain, right? :P The main library is closed though, so we have to go to another library, or go to an internet cafe (like right now. This one is tailored to gaming too, but we stray away from that, ha ha) That's so weird to think all those young men are getting back from their missions now! I just realized that we will only have warm weather for another for another 2 months... I don't know if I'm happy or sad about that... ha ha!
Have fun on the camping trip! We've walked through some foresty-parks so it makes me really want to bust out a sleeping bag and roast some marshmallows! Even though we're in a big city, there are some parts where you can escape into nature and relax, so that's nice.
Elder McGavin told me my letter came, but he has yet to give it to me. Sorry there's not much more to tell! Thanks for all the love and prayers! I love you all so much.
Love,
Courtney
Monday, July 11, 2011
July 11, 2011
Hello family!! (and friends too~)
Dad showed me the insane pictures of the dust storm. CRAZY. That's so scary!! Things have been rather pleasant this last week, although we didn't have a lot of lessons this week like we'd planned. The problem is that tons of people are taking their month vacations now, so they'll be out of the country, or gone to the countryside, and we can't get ahold of them until mid-August. x( Keili was really busy covering another person's stuff at work this week, but we're accompanying her at the Perrys' house for FHE tonight. We also have an appointment for Wednesday. She doesn't really feel comfortable with us inviting members to come teach with us, but we hope that we can help her get some friends tonight, so that she'll let us bring them along.
We had a lesson with a family last Wednesday, and a member couple was going to come teach (they live in the same building), but that family wasn't home and wasn't answering their phone, so we went back to the members' apartment and looked at their wedding pics (they were married on Jan. 1st this year :) and drank some Sea Buckthorn juice. Anton had to look that one up on the computer for us, ha ha. It was interesting, but tasty with some honey. The Kilks are such a cute couple~ Anton was only baptized in February and Stela is sooooooo gorgeous~ I'll have to take a pic the next time we meet with them :) That same evening, we went contacting in a nearby park and there we met a lady who had lived in the U.S. for 10 years working mostly in Kentucky with horses, RANDOM! She was really cool, and when she said some English words, there was a heavy Southern accent, hehehe. It was so funny when she said "Gimme a kiss!" to her adorable little 3 year old, who was actually adopted from the U.S. I knew her child couldn't have been from Estonia because she was a cute little black girl :) The little girl now speaks Estonian, but she still understands English and will say some random English words like "bicycles!" We taught them a lesson on a bench, and I hope we can meet with them again soon! I know she wants to move to Canada to go back to work with horses, so our chances may be slim, but we'll see.
Mark's family sent me some great letters and pictures! Everyone thinks my nephews are so handsome and cute! I just hope my own future children will be as cute, hehehe ;) I don't really know what else to write about since not much happened this week. We had to do a lot of finding because we couldn't get any appointments with people. I hope this week will turn out a little better. I know we have exchanges with the Russian sisters this Thursday, and I think it's gonna be Sis. Uibel and I together, meaning that our trainees are going to be on their own for a little. I can't wait to hear how that goes, ha ha ha! Sis. Lamar is not good with directions at all so I'm afraid they'll get lost a lot, :P
Thanks for all the prayers and love! You're the greatest!
Courtney
Dad showed me the insane pictures of the dust storm. CRAZY. That's so scary!! Things have been rather pleasant this last week, although we didn't have a lot of lessons this week like we'd planned. The problem is that tons of people are taking their month vacations now, so they'll be out of the country, or gone to the countryside, and we can't get ahold of them until mid-August. x( Keili was really busy covering another person's stuff at work this week, but we're accompanying her at the Perrys' house for FHE tonight. We also have an appointment for Wednesday. She doesn't really feel comfortable with us inviting members to come teach with us, but we hope that we can help her get some friends tonight, so that she'll let us bring them along.
We had a lesson with a family last Wednesday, and a member couple was going to come teach (they live in the same building), but that family wasn't home and wasn't answering their phone, so we went back to the members' apartment and looked at their wedding pics (they were married on Jan. 1st this year :) and drank some Sea Buckthorn juice. Anton had to look that one up on the computer for us, ha ha. It was interesting, but tasty with some honey. The Kilks are such a cute couple~ Anton was only baptized in February and Stela is sooooooo gorgeous~ I'll have to take a pic the next time we meet with them :) That same evening, we went contacting in a nearby park and there we met a lady who had lived in the U.S. for 10 years working mostly in Kentucky with horses, RANDOM! She was really cool, and when she said some English words, there was a heavy Southern accent, hehehe. It was so funny when she said "Gimme a kiss!" to her adorable little 3 year old, who was actually adopted from the U.S. I knew her child couldn't have been from Estonia because she was a cute little black girl :) The little girl now speaks Estonian, but she still understands English and will say some random English words like "bicycles!" We taught them a lesson on a bench, and I hope we can meet with them again soon! I know she wants to move to Canada to go back to work with horses, so our chances may be slim, but we'll see.
Mark's family sent me some great letters and pictures! Everyone thinks my nephews are so handsome and cute! I just hope my own future children will be as cute, hehehe ;) I don't really know what else to write about since not much happened this week. We had to do a lot of finding because we couldn't get any appointments with people. I hope this week will turn out a little better. I know we have exchanges with the Russian sisters this Thursday, and I think it's gonna be Sis. Uibel and I together, meaning that our trainees are going to be on their own for a little. I can't wait to hear how that goes, ha ha ha! Sis. Lamar is not good with directions at all so I'm afraid they'll get lost a lot, :P
Thanks for all the prayers and love! You're the greatest!
Courtney
Monday, July 4, 2011
Happy 4th of July, 2011
GOD BLESS AMERICA, MY HOME SWEET HOOOOOOME~
Wooooooweeee, I'm plum-tuckered out! Well, we ditched the BBQ idea because Elder McGavin came up with the idea of renting bikes for today, so we took a really long ride along the coast. Thank goodness it was overcast, but my skin is still slightly pinkish. It's been getting rather warm and muggy around here this last week. It makes for nice and sweaty public transportation rides because there's no a/c and not much air coming through the windows either xP For example, on Friday night, all of the Estonian missionaries from Tallinn and Pärnu went to attend the Youth Song and Dance Festival. Estonian's are very proud of their song festivals. They had hundreds of kids and teenagers singing and dancing, and it was neat to see that. I guess the MAIN song festival is in 2 years. Ok, back to the idea of public transportation. Riding to and back from the festival was just like a sauna, if not worse. On the trolley ride home, a group of young kids was smooshed up in the front with us and one of the kiddos said that nobody dares getting on the trolly because it's like a graveyard in here. Ohohohohohohoho, children can be a riot sometimes~ Sis. LeDuc and I had a good laugh at that!
I received a letter from Sis. Sally Sue Nelson back home. It was really sweet (and Mom, she mentioned you were a really great RS president!!) We had a zone conference with the Boswells on Saturday. I like them a lot already! President Boswell is quite funny. Odd thing is that while he was teaching us, he used a scripture that I
happened to read in personal study that same morning! And it's in a not-so-common spot too, so that made it even more amazing. 1 Thessalonians 1:5. Strange, right? I've been reading the New Testament on-and-off and I just happened to come across that and even shared that with my companion in our study time together that morning. We had short interviews with President and Sister Boswell on Sunday morning before church (which now starts at 11, yay~), just so they could quickly meet us. We'll have longer interviews at some later time in the month, I believe.
We taught Keili twice this last week, and she's great. I think she's just afraid of committing to a date simply because she's afraid of messing up, she thinks she's weak. I think she's just shy ;) We went back to an apartment that Sis. Lamar knocked on over a month ago when she was on exchanges with the Russians, and we set a return appointment with the man's wife and taught them later that week! They're really nice and we'll be teaching them again on Wednesday. Maybe we found ourselves a family to teach, because they have a 9 year old son too.
Anne of Green Gables?!?!? Ha ha ha ha ha! I don't think I've watched much past the 3rd video. I remember there was one random day that I decided to watch it with Stacey. We laughed a lot. We didn't realize Anne was that ridiculous when we watched it as children ;P Nice choice, Mom.
Time is just flying by~ It's really strange to think that the only remaining member of my first ever district, Elder Barney, is leaving in a month now. Gah, that means I have 5?!?!? Weeeeeeird. Our recent business has been making time seem like such a blur.
Well, that's pretty much all I've got for today! I love you all so much!
Love,
Courtney
Wooooooweeee, I'm plum-tuckered out! Well, we ditched the BBQ idea because Elder McGavin came up with the idea of renting bikes for today, so we took a really long ride along the coast. Thank goodness it was overcast, but my skin is still slightly pinkish. It's been getting rather warm and muggy around here this last week. It makes for nice and sweaty public transportation rides because there's no a/c and not much air coming through the windows either xP For example, on Friday night, all of the Estonian missionaries from Tallinn and Pärnu went to attend the Youth Song and Dance Festival. Estonian's are very proud of their song festivals. They had hundreds of kids and teenagers singing and dancing, and it was neat to see that. I guess the MAIN song festival is in 2 years. Ok, back to the idea of public transportation. Riding to and back from the festival was just like a sauna, if not worse. On the trolley ride home, a group of young kids was smooshed up in the front with us and one of the kiddos said that nobody dares getting on the trolly because it's like a graveyard in here. Ohohohohohohoho, children can be a riot sometimes~ Sis. LeDuc and I had a good laugh at that!
I received a letter from Sis. Sally Sue Nelson back home. It was really sweet (and Mom, she mentioned you were a really great RS president!!) We had a zone conference with the Boswells on Saturday. I like them a lot already! President Boswell is quite funny. Odd thing is that while he was teaching us, he used a scripture that I
happened to read in personal study that same morning! And it's in a not-so-common spot too, so that made it even more amazing. 1 Thessalonians 1:5. Strange, right? I've been reading the New Testament on-and-off and I just happened to come across that and even shared that with my companion in our study time together that morning. We had short interviews with President and Sister Boswell on Sunday morning before church (which now starts at 11, yay~), just so they could quickly meet us. We'll have longer interviews at some later time in the month, I believe.
We taught Keili twice this last week, and she's great. I think she's just afraid of committing to a date simply because she's afraid of messing up, she thinks she's weak. I think she's just shy ;) We went back to an apartment that Sis. Lamar knocked on over a month ago when she was on exchanges with the Russians, and we set a return appointment with the man's wife and taught them later that week! They're really nice and we'll be teaching them again on Wednesday. Maybe we found ourselves a family to teach, because they have a 9 year old son too.
Anne of Green Gables?!?!? Ha ha ha ha ha! I don't think I've watched much past the 3rd video. I remember there was one random day that I decided to watch it with Stacey. We laughed a lot. We didn't realize Anne was that ridiculous when we watched it as children ;P Nice choice, Mom.
Time is just flying by~ It's really strange to think that the only remaining member of my first ever district, Elder Barney, is leaving in a month now. Gah, that means I have 5?!?!? Weeeeeeird. Our recent business has been making time seem like such a blur.
Well, that's pretty much all I've got for today! I love you all so much!
Love,
Courtney
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)