Hello loved ones!
Yay for new babies in the family!!! Good thing he came a little early too, so that probably put Lachelle at ease. Shauna sent me pictures :D Oh, about Kara, Noel thankfully notified me of that about a month back or so. I just got Kara's wedding announcement last week because it was sent to Pärnu. That is so funny! Her new husband was actually in Symphony with me and Noel, Jake, etc. :) And she was so excited to learn French to go to Montreal too! Ha ha ha!
Grilled pizzas sound so delicious right now.... Often we missionaries go to eat before coming to the library, but not today, so now I'm STARVING. I rocked it during the last half of Gatorball today, so I got lots of high-fives from the Elders, ;) I actually scored maybe 4 goals today! w00t. Sisters are kind of like wildcards, I guess. Some weeks we do really well, others, not so much, hehehe.
We finally got the schedule for Conference this weekend, so it looks like we'll live at the church on Saturday and Sunday :) The final session will be shown the following weekend after Sacrament meeting. I've been reading the September Liahona lately too, so that's getting me all sorts of excited as well! Among other news, tea consumption has been exponential throughout the month of September, and it doesn't show signs of letting up... (tried to make that sound like some forecast, lol) Everybody we visit now offers us some. It's that time of year again~ Speaking of forecast, I'm sure it's been cloudy and rainy nearly every day for the last 2 weeks. One particular day last week was very... misty? The drops were so small, it just felt like the clouds were constantly spitting in your face. x( I took down my coats so Sis. Lamar could try them on and see what she wants to look for. How did I survive with those last winter??? I don't knooooooooow. Heavenly Father sure does watch over his missionaries :) Anywho, last Friday we joined the youth for a game of Ultimate Frisbee. It took them a while to get the hang of it, but I think they enjoyed themselves :)
Last week had some great little miracles, and some upsets too, and even this all happens daily. But you learn to shrug it off and you sorta forget it all in the morning after a good 8 hours of sleep :) That's what I look forward to nowadays, ha ha! Thanks for all the love! You're the greatest!
Love,
Courtney
P.S. For ASU, I don't remember my ID # any more. You got that? I'll try to get working on that letter this week. Maybe I'll write the rough draft, then type it next week?
Monday, September 26, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
September 19, 2011
Tere, mu kallikesed!! (Hi my little dears!)
This week's e-mail may be relatively short because I actually sent you a voice recording! w00t w00t! I always forget I have that feature to use, but I was reminded of it yesterday because a few Elders use it quite frequently. So, that takes care of having to write down a lot of details for some of the little miracles we had this week :) I don't know if that's the smarter or lazier way to go, ha ha ha.
Well, Sis. Lamar and I are still here in Tallinn! (And so are the Russian sisters too! :) We're in for the long haul. It's interesting how my mission has been almost equally split between maybe 2 companions. Variety is hard to come by when you only have 4 Estonian-speaking sisters, but meh, we're becoming better friends as the time passes. I told Sis. Lamar that I apologize in advance if I kill her by the end of this transfer, though, ha ha! :P We've has some minor little quarrels lately, but it's mostly me just being stupid. Yeah, that's probably why.
Back on Saturday, we cancelled English class so we could participate in the branch's service project day. This day was actually district-wide, so each branch was doing little service projects all around Estonia. Sis. Lamar and I were grouped with the cute lil' ol' Relief Society President and we were dropped off at our service location in the Nõmme area of Tallinn. All we did was just clean a couple windows for this 83-year-old lady named Silvi, but she was oh so grateful for us being there. There were so many tears shed and so many thanks and praises to the Lord during our visit. The project really could've taken 1 hour, but we were there for 4 0.0 That was mostly due to Silvi and Luule (RS pres.) talking away and looking at pictures. Silvi had a really awesome trip journal of when she and her husband traveled all around south-eastern Europe and hiked several mountains in or near Hungary. There were pictures that went with every entry! It was super cool, and it inspired me to try that some time in the future :) Silvi was so over-joyed to have us there, she even clapped her hands with excitement when Luule suggested that we sisters pay her another visit in the future, lol. I don't think I've ever received that sort of reaction before. If we do go to visit her this week, we'll take the Nõmme Elders with us so we can pass her off to them.
Other than that, we've had some good lessons with members this week, active and less-active. We taught a few investigators, and even invited 2 of them to be baptized, but they say they're too old to change (they're not that old). Boy, the excuses you hear on a mission are probably the most lame, EVAR. Anyway, really, I think this just means that Sis. Lamar and I have some finding to do, because nothing's really coming out of the investigators we have... That's kind of disappointing considering we thought we had some good young potential with a few of them. Well, that's just another joy of missionary work! You learn how to cope with disappointment on a whole new level.
This past week was sooooooooooo rainy, windy, and stormy!!! Yesterday was finally lovely again, but it's back to dark and rainy today. And oh my goodness, the sun goes down before 8PM now!! That's so strange ;P We'll have to go buy our reflectors soon so we can hang them from our bags or coats, yay~ Oh yeah, and I finally busted out my coats from my suitcase, just so Sis. Lamar could try them on for size. I should get those dry cleaned before I have to use them again...
Wow, I'm glad I didn't miss out on your dinner party, ha ha! I'm so excited for General Conference in a few weeks. We had District Conference yesterday, but it was just broadcasted to the other branches so that wasn't as fun, but the talks and testimonies were so great. Thanks for all the love and support!
Love,
Courtney
This week's e-mail may be relatively short because I actually sent you a voice recording! w00t w00t! I always forget I have that feature to use, but I was reminded of it yesterday because a few Elders use it quite frequently. So, that takes care of having to write down a lot of details for some of the little miracles we had this week :) I don't know if that's the smarter or lazier way to go, ha ha ha.
Well, Sis. Lamar and I are still here in Tallinn! (And so are the Russian sisters too! :) We're in for the long haul. It's interesting how my mission has been almost equally split between maybe 2 companions. Variety is hard to come by when you only have 4 Estonian-speaking sisters, but meh, we're becoming better friends as the time passes. I told Sis. Lamar that I apologize in advance if I kill her by the end of this transfer, though, ha ha! :P We've has some minor little quarrels lately, but it's mostly me just being stupid. Yeah, that's probably why.
Back on Saturday, we cancelled English class so we could participate in the branch's service project day. This day was actually district-wide, so each branch was doing little service projects all around Estonia. Sis. Lamar and I were grouped with the cute lil' ol' Relief Society President and we were dropped off at our service location in the Nõmme area of Tallinn. All we did was just clean a couple windows for this 83-year-old lady named Silvi, but she was oh so grateful for us being there. There were so many tears shed and so many thanks and praises to the Lord during our visit. The project really could've taken 1 hour, but we were there for 4 0.0 That was mostly due to Silvi and Luule (RS pres.) talking away and looking at pictures. Silvi had a really awesome trip journal of when she and her husband traveled all around south-eastern Europe and hiked several mountains in or near Hungary. There were pictures that went with every entry! It was super cool, and it inspired me to try that some time in the future :) Silvi was so over-joyed to have us there, she even clapped her hands with excitement when Luule suggested that we sisters pay her another visit in the future, lol. I don't think I've ever received that sort of reaction before. If we do go to visit her this week, we'll take the Nõmme Elders with us so we can pass her off to them.
Other than that, we've had some good lessons with members this week, active and less-active. We taught a few investigators, and even invited 2 of them to be baptized, but they say they're too old to change (they're not that old). Boy, the excuses you hear on a mission are probably the most lame, EVAR. Anyway, really, I think this just means that Sis. Lamar and I have some finding to do, because nothing's really coming out of the investigators we have... That's kind of disappointing considering we thought we had some good young potential with a few of them. Well, that's just another joy of missionary work! You learn how to cope with disappointment on a whole new level.
This past week was sooooooooooo rainy, windy, and stormy!!! Yesterday was finally lovely again, but it's back to dark and rainy today. And oh my goodness, the sun goes down before 8PM now!! That's so strange ;P We'll have to go buy our reflectors soon so we can hang them from our bags or coats, yay~ Oh yeah, and I finally busted out my coats from my suitcase, just so Sis. Lamar could try them on for size. I should get those dry cleaned before I have to use them again...
Wow, I'm glad I didn't miss out on your dinner party, ha ha! I'm so excited for General Conference in a few weeks. We had District Conference yesterday, but it was just broadcasted to the other branches so that wasn't as fun, but the talks and testimonies were so great. Thanks for all the love and support!
Love,
Courtney
Monday, September 12, 2011
September 12, 2011
Hey,hey!
Wow, the ward back home is still growing?!? How many more LDS folks can we fit into that area??
Uh, yes, please let me know what I need to do about going back to ASU. I thought they said something about me sending them a letter or whatever at least 2 months before I'm back, I don't know if that means before the semester, or about the time I get back to the U.S. The change in my release date was dictated more by the MTC as far as scheduling incoming and departing missionaries I guess. This next transfer will be 7 weeks long, and then the one after that will be the normal 6 weeks. We have transfers this week, so we still don't know where we're going to be yet. The sisters in Pärnu right now think that the newish Sis. Nef could come up to Tallinn to be with Sis. Lamar, and so I'd go back down to Pärnu. I love that apartment, and the members, but I think I may want to stay here, at least one more transfer. Meh, we'll see what happens! Sis. Lamar is sort of freaking out now with the thought that she'd been in charge if she's left here with a new sister, ha ha ha! She only knows where some of the busses go and she's been here almost as long as me! Thank goodness I'm pretty good at directions. :P
This week, I had the special opportunity to ride in an old Lada (a.k.a. Zhiguli, or something like that), twice! This particular model was 25 or so years old, so it's a relic from the Soviet era. A member gave us a ride home after dinner at the Perrys' on Friday night, and we also hitched a ride after church. Then she gave us a gigantic bag of apples, which we're still trying to figure out what to do with. We made a little applesauce, ate a few, and even gave a dozen or so to the Russian sisters and we still have a lot left over. It's still nice that people consider that the missionaries could use some food though. :)
Back on Saturday, we still taught English class, even though the Russians cancelled their's for a branch activity they were doing that same day. Before class started, there was a young Russian man who came in and I thought he wanted to know about English class. Thankfully, we had a member there who could speak Russian, because we actually found out that he wanted to know about our church services. I called up one of the missionaries and had them talk about that. And he really did come to church yesterday! This could be like one of those random, but miraculous stories that we get sometimes in the mission where somebody waltzes into the church on their own!
Tonight, we have a lesson with a less-active member, so I hope that goes well. We've never talked to him before, so we'll just get to know him and learn of his experiences. Pres. Boswell has asked us to leave a blessing on each home we visit, but we don't always meet the people we teach in their homes. Sometimes they won't let us, hehe. At least our lesson tonight will be though!
Do I feel like I've grown a lot on my mission? That's a question that I think almost everyone asks, ha ha! Boy, I sure hope so! You'd kinda hope that with all this time and money spent that you'd get what you'd pay for and more, right?! ;) Sometimes I feel like a totally different person, and at other times, I still feel like just plain ol' me. But overall, yes, I feel like I've grown and been stretched and have found out what I'm good at and what I'm not so good at. It's a very humbling experience, and I'm learning how to better work with others and of course, rely more on our Heavenly Father and the Savior. A mission is almost like a huge testing ground for life where you can try out new things and see how well they do or do not work out, ha ha. Or like the Church's "finishing school". Sis. Lamar and I had a long pillow talk about this last week. She decided that she wanted to be really honest and she admitted some of her frustrations that she had with me, but she's over it now and she's really thankful that she could learn from me. I feel likewise about her too. Having a companion 24/7 helps to reveal some personal issues, problems, or quirks that you have that you never realized you had before! But, being honest, open, and humble about it really helps find solutions to work it out. Marriage prep, anyone? Ha ha ha ha! :P I feel like I've learned about a lot of good skills for life while on a mission. I certainly have a lot more to learn though! Perhaps ya'll would be better judges of how much I've really changed (or not)! I also feel more sure about who I am and who I want to be, and become, etc.
Thanks for all of the love! I love you all so dearly~
Love,
Courtney
P. S. I forgot to mention that we have a Estonia-wide service day on Saturday with all the members and then District conference on Sunday! w00t w00t. General Conference will be here before you know it ;)
Wow, the ward back home is still growing?!? How many more LDS folks can we fit into that area??
Uh, yes, please let me know what I need to do about going back to ASU. I thought they said something about me sending them a letter or whatever at least 2 months before I'm back, I don't know if that means before the semester, or about the time I get back to the U.S. The change in my release date was dictated more by the MTC as far as scheduling incoming and departing missionaries I guess. This next transfer will be 7 weeks long, and then the one after that will be the normal 6 weeks. We have transfers this week, so we still don't know where we're going to be yet. The sisters in Pärnu right now think that the newish Sis. Nef could come up to Tallinn to be with Sis. Lamar, and so I'd go back down to Pärnu. I love that apartment, and the members, but I think I may want to stay here, at least one more transfer. Meh, we'll see what happens! Sis. Lamar is sort of freaking out now with the thought that she'd been in charge if she's left here with a new sister, ha ha ha! She only knows where some of the busses go and she's been here almost as long as me! Thank goodness I'm pretty good at directions. :P
This week, I had the special opportunity to ride in an old Lada (a.k.a. Zhiguli, or something like that), twice! This particular model was 25 or so years old, so it's a relic from the Soviet era. A member gave us a ride home after dinner at the Perrys' on Friday night, and we also hitched a ride after church. Then she gave us a gigantic bag of apples, which we're still trying to figure out what to do with. We made a little applesauce, ate a few, and even gave a dozen or so to the Russian sisters and we still have a lot left over. It's still nice that people consider that the missionaries could use some food though. :)
Back on Saturday, we still taught English class, even though the Russians cancelled their's for a branch activity they were doing that same day. Before class started, there was a young Russian man who came in and I thought he wanted to know about English class. Thankfully, we had a member there who could speak Russian, because we actually found out that he wanted to know about our church services. I called up one of the missionaries and had them talk about that. And he really did come to church yesterday! This could be like one of those random, but miraculous stories that we get sometimes in the mission where somebody waltzes into the church on their own!
Tonight, we have a lesson with a less-active member, so I hope that goes well. We've never talked to him before, so we'll just get to know him and learn of his experiences. Pres. Boswell has asked us to leave a blessing on each home we visit, but we don't always meet the people we teach in their homes. Sometimes they won't let us, hehe. At least our lesson tonight will be though!
Do I feel like I've grown a lot on my mission? That's a question that I think almost everyone asks, ha ha! Boy, I sure hope so! You'd kinda hope that with all this time and money spent that you'd get what you'd pay for and more, right?! ;) Sometimes I feel like a totally different person, and at other times, I still feel like just plain ol' me. But overall, yes, I feel like I've grown and been stretched and have found out what I'm good at and what I'm not so good at. It's a very humbling experience, and I'm learning how to better work with others and of course, rely more on our Heavenly Father and the Savior. A mission is almost like a huge testing ground for life where you can try out new things and see how well they do or do not work out, ha ha. Or like the Church's "finishing school". Sis. Lamar and I had a long pillow talk about this last week. She decided that she wanted to be really honest and she admitted some of her frustrations that she had with me, but she's over it now and she's really thankful that she could learn from me. I feel likewise about her too. Having a companion 24/7 helps to reveal some personal issues, problems, or quirks that you have that you never realized you had before! But, being honest, open, and humble about it really helps find solutions to work it out. Marriage prep, anyone? Ha ha ha ha! :P I feel like I've learned about a lot of good skills for life while on a mission. I certainly have a lot more to learn though! Perhaps ya'll would be better judges of how much I've really changed (or not)! I also feel more sure about who I am and who I want to be, and become, etc.
Thanks for all of the love! I love you all so dearly~
Love,
Courtney
P. S. I forgot to mention that we have a Estonia-wide service day on Saturday with all the members and then District conference on Sunday! w00t w00t. General Conference will be here before you know it ;)
Monday, September 5, 2011
September 5, 2011
Howdy howdy, Fam and Friends!
Yesterday and today have been absolutely gorgeous, weather wise~ No Labor Day here, but the 1st of September is a national holiday because that's when all the kiddos go back to school. Sis. S (native Latvian, but also Russian mini-missionary) had to go to Latvia to get her health tests and things done so she could complete her missionary application. So, Sis. Uibel came to chill with us for 2 days. Always a pleasure! It would have been more fun if we taught more lessons though, because we were stood up by almost all of the lessons we had at the church xP I don't know if having lessons scheduled at the church building is like more of an excuse for folks, NOT to show up... because usually we don't know their addresses if we just contacted them on the street and got a phone number.
As for working with less-actives, we've made contact with a lot of them, but haven't really been able to teach many of them yet. Many people have no valid phone number on file, just an address, but they're usually not home, so I guess we have to keep stalking some of them. Who knows, maybe they don't even live there anymore. We missionaries are mostly just collecting information so we can clean up the ward list because there is a lot of wrong information on it. Some less-actives might even seem impossible to find if they moved or don't have a working phone number (people change numbers here a lot, it seems), so we've sorta joked about having members do some internet stalking or something to try and locate these people. That sounds like something I'd enjoy doing, but alas, as a missionary, I have very limited internet access :P That could potentially be a very good resource though.
Anne came to church yesterday and so did a less-active member or two that are in our area! Slowly, we're seeing some improvement. We're really trying to work on our teaching skills and we realized that we have a lot we can work on. I really don't know what else to say, and now it's time to jet. Sorry!
Happy Birthday to all the birthday kids and thanks for all of the prayers and support!!
Lots of love,
Courtney
P.S. The mission president just issued an e-mail for the missionaries leaving the same time as me. My release date is actually Dec. 16th, just so you're aware.
Yesterday and today have been absolutely gorgeous, weather wise~ No Labor Day here, but the 1st of September is a national holiday because that's when all the kiddos go back to school. Sis. S (native Latvian, but also Russian mini-missionary) had to go to Latvia to get her health tests and things done so she could complete her missionary application. So, Sis. Uibel came to chill with us for 2 days. Always a pleasure! It would have been more fun if we taught more lessons though, because we were stood up by almost all of the lessons we had at the church xP I don't know if having lessons scheduled at the church building is like more of an excuse for folks, NOT to show up... because usually we don't know their addresses if we just contacted them on the street and got a phone number.
As for working with less-actives, we've made contact with a lot of them, but haven't really been able to teach many of them yet. Many people have no valid phone number on file, just an address, but they're usually not home, so I guess we have to keep stalking some of them. Who knows, maybe they don't even live there anymore. We missionaries are mostly just collecting information so we can clean up the ward list because there is a lot of wrong information on it. Some less-actives might even seem impossible to find if they moved or don't have a working phone number (people change numbers here a lot, it seems), so we've sorta joked about having members do some internet stalking or something to try and locate these people. That sounds like something I'd enjoy doing, but alas, as a missionary, I have very limited internet access :P That could potentially be a very good resource though.
Anne came to church yesterday and so did a less-active member or two that are in our area! Slowly, we're seeing some improvement. We're really trying to work on our teaching skills and we realized that we have a lot we can work on. I really don't know what else to say, and now it's time to jet. Sorry!
Happy Birthday to all the birthday kids and thanks for all of the prayers and support!!
Lots of love,
Courtney
P.S. The mission president just issued an e-mail for the missionaries leaving the same time as me. My release date is actually Dec. 16th, just so you're aware.
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