Howdy friends and fam!
I didn't have a chance to check the post office before coming to the library, but we will stop by there after I write this :) I got a letter from Heather and Noel this week. Noel even wrote her's on some mighty T-Rex paper from like, Spencer's 6th or 7th birthday party. Yes, they still kept it around, ha ha ha! It was fun to hear some news about friends like Maureen Davis and Caitlin Porter getting mission
calls :)
As far meeting the young man from the stake who's Latvian-speaking, if there's a Russian-speaking sister who's been switched to Estonian, then maybe they'd come to the mission at the same time and I could meet him when we pick her up from the mission home, but who knows howsoon we'll be able to get another sister here. We think it won't be until April :P
Sis. Aitken is still pretty sensitive to some foods, or at least just dairy (which is so prominent here x). Pretty much all she eats now is chicken, tomatoes, and pears. We went to do some service at Saima's house on Saturday and she cooked us some rice and veggies. There was probably some butter in it because that made
Sis. A's tummy a little upset. Sis. LeDuc is actually from New Jersey, she just goes to school at BYU. She studies marine biology and dreams of living in
Australia :) For being out in the field most, she has the most problems with the language, but I'm sure Heavenly Father needs her here for her sincere love for people, even people she's just met!
Next week, we'll try cooking our own Thanksgiving meal, but it'll be on Tuesday or Wednesday since Elder Hortin is leaving the mission on Thursday. Sis. Aitken's mom sent her some cans and spices and things so we could make a decent meal. Now we just need to figure out where to get a turkey... If you send me recipes, it'll be easier through e-mail. We do most of our own cooking, but people we visit often try
to feed us little pastries, tea, or pancakes (Estonian pancakes are a little more like crepes). One member, Vilma has invited us over for dinner a few times though. Her son (just turned 40 :) is the branch secretary and he's the only active member with a car. . everyone else uses buses or bikes. Every time we come, Vilma fills the the little table with too much food :) I'm sure she'll have us over one last time before Elder Hortin leaves.
At Friday game night, Nelly interrogated me and the other missionaries about who rang her doorbell and left socks for her a week ago. Oh my goodness, it was sooooooo DIFFICULT to keep my mouth shut about it!!! xP "Ütle ausalt, ütle ausalt!" ("say it honestly!") she repeatedly told me! Her cute little squeaky voice and eyes~ Oh it was so hard!! xD We finally got to chat with Aili and her member friend Tiia a little after church. She's come 4 times to church already and we
haven't even taught her a realy lesson yet! We have an appointment with them tomorrow morning. Liidia also came to church, but had to leave immediately after sacrament meeting so we didn't get a chance to talk to her about it. We have Zone Conference up in Tallinn on Thursday, so I'm getting excited for that. Pres. and Sis. Dance and the Tartu Elders came to Pärnu last Thursday to have some training
about goal setting and planning.
I'm still thinking about what I could really use for Christmas. Hopefully I can figure it out soon for ya! Thanks for the prayers family. I know there are people who are being prepared to hear this message, it's just a little more difficult to "hunt them out of the holes of the rocks" ;) Not quite like the "fishing" work in Latin America, Philippines, etc. (think Jeremiah 16:16.) We're still not very experienced at this stuff, but we're learning together.
Love,
Courtney
Monday, November 15, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Email November 8, 2010
Courtney Smith Mon, Nov 8, 2010 at 3:25 AM
It snowed a wee bit last night so that there's some crunchiness to your step on the sidewalks, but it's mostly melted now.
Is there anything you want for Christmas? The other sisters have been picking up things to send home, but I don't know what to get for ya'll. I'll look for a nativity, but I doubt they'll put those out (if they have them at all) until it's actually close to Christmas :)
Things with Liidia might be ok now. We paid her a random visit to drop off some cake and she insisted on serving us some tea and snacks before we left. She told us she's coming to church on Sunday, so we'll visit her again this week to make sure she's set for that commitment. We've been helping Maive with English tutoring for a while now. She's a mother of 9 (yeah, that doesn't really happen in Estonia) and comes to church but is not a member because she's actually not married. We've read 2 Nephi 31 about why baptism is so important and invited her to be baptized and she said yes! However, we didn't set an actual date because the lesson ended awkwardly because she had to get going :/ I'm not sure what her "life partner" thinks about marriage so that's something that we're praying can happen as we try to set a baptism date. The marriage papers have to be in 30 in advance and the church can pretty much pay for the whole thing and do it really cheap, we just need to get them legal. We want to start teaching some of the kids too. Plans to teach Maria fell through last week, so we need to teach her this week.
At game night, we had a doughnut eating contest where the contestant had to eat a doughnut on a string that somebody else was holding in front of their face. Sis. Aitken was holding, I was eating...and I came in dead last, HAHAHA!!! Sis. Aitken was laughing so hard that the doughnut kept moving too much that I couldn't get a solid bite at it :P Oh, the frustration, hahaha! At the party, Sis. Aitken also noticed the RS president's socks were quite hole-y so she felt compelled to donate some socks that her mother just sent her. So how'd we do it secretly? Door bell ditch, of course! We placed the socks in a bag and put it in front of the door, rang, and then ran around to the neighbors apartment. We heard her say something, but she never came to the door. So, attempt numba 2. Failed. As I went to check and try again one last time, the neighbor's lamp came on and they started to come out of the door so I quickly darted around a wall. Boy, was I scared!!! If they actually stepped out 15 ft from the doorway they would have found me guiltily hiding in a corner! They came out yelling "Who's running around out here?!?!?!" Apparently the walls are very thin or something :P They shouted angrily in Estonian and Russian for a minute or two, and then Nelly FINALLY opened her door to see the ruckus. They talked about how the doorbell rang, and she asked who it was, but nobody answered. And then the neighbor noticed the socks and the voice changed as they realized it was a gift. Nelly asked if the neighbor saw a man or woman, and the neighbor said it was a man. Oh goody. I'm glad I look like a man in a dark coat and skirt! :D Maybe door bell ditching is best used in America, hehehe.
On Wednesday, we got a phone call from a young man who has been selling books in America for several summers and actually knocked into Sis. Aitken's family back in September. That girl's got the oddest connections to Estonians! He promised her mom he'd visit us one day, so while he was in Pärnu for the day (he's from Tartu), he gave us a phone call, picked us up in his BMW and took us to the church for a nice chat. He's quite a young businessman, but he was able to give us contacting ideas. He seems open to learning about the church and knew a lot about Mormon culture from selling books in Utah. He just travels around world a lot, so it'd be hard to pin him down for some lessons. I'm hoping for some more little miracles this week!
Love you lots,
Courtney
It snowed a wee bit last night so that there's some crunchiness to your step on the sidewalks, but it's mostly melted now.
Is there anything you want for Christmas? The other sisters have been picking up things to send home, but I don't know what to get for ya'll. I'll look for a nativity, but I doubt they'll put those out (if they have them at all) until it's actually close to Christmas :)
Things with Liidia might be ok now. We paid her a random visit to drop off some cake and she insisted on serving us some tea and snacks before we left. She told us she's coming to church on Sunday, so we'll visit her again this week to make sure she's set for that commitment. We've been helping Maive with English tutoring for a while now. She's a mother of 9 (yeah, that doesn't really happen in Estonia) and comes to church but is not a member because she's actually not married. We've read 2 Nephi 31 about why baptism is so important and invited her to be baptized and she said yes! However, we didn't set an actual date because the lesson ended awkwardly because she had to get going :/ I'm not sure what her "life partner" thinks about marriage so that's something that we're praying can happen as we try to set a baptism date. The marriage papers have to be in 30 in advance and the church can pretty much pay for the whole thing and do it really cheap, we just need to get them legal. We want to start teaching some of the kids too. Plans to teach Maria fell through last week, so we need to teach her this week.
At game night, we had a doughnut eating contest where the contestant had to eat a doughnut on a string that somebody else was holding in front of their face. Sis. Aitken was holding, I was eating...and I came in dead last, HAHAHA!!! Sis. Aitken was laughing so hard that the doughnut kept moving too much that I couldn't get a solid bite at it :P Oh, the frustration, hahaha! At the party, Sis. Aitken also noticed the RS president's socks were quite hole-y so she felt compelled to donate some socks that her mother just sent her. So how'd we do it secretly? Door bell ditch, of course! We placed the socks in a bag and put it in front of the door, rang, and then ran around to the neighbors apartment. We heard her say something, but she never came to the door. So, attempt numba 2. Failed. As I went to check and try again one last time, the neighbor's lamp came on and they started to come out of the door so I quickly darted around a wall. Boy, was I scared!!! If they actually stepped out 15 ft from the doorway they would have found me guiltily hiding in a corner! They came out yelling "Who's running around out here?!?!?!" Apparently the walls are very thin or something :P They shouted angrily in Estonian and Russian for a minute or two, and then Nelly FINALLY opened her door to see the ruckus. They talked about how the doorbell rang, and she asked who it was, but nobody answered. And then the neighbor noticed the socks and the voice changed as they realized it was a gift. Nelly asked if the neighbor saw a man or woman, and the neighbor said it was a man. Oh goody. I'm glad I look like a man in a dark coat and skirt! :D Maybe door bell ditching is best used in America, hehehe.
On Wednesday, we got a phone call from a young man who has been selling books in America for several summers and actually knocked into Sis. Aitken's family back in September. That girl's got the oddest connections to Estonians! He promised her mom he'd visit us one day, so while he was in Pärnu for the day (he's from Tartu), he gave us a phone call, picked us up in his BMW and took us to the church for a nice chat. He's quite a young businessman, but he was able to give us contacting ideas. He seems open to learning about the church and knew a lot about Mormon culture from selling books in Utah. He just travels around world a lot, so it'd be hard to pin him down for some lessons. I'm hoping for some more little miracles this week!
Love you lots,
Courtney
Monday, November 1, 2010
Email November 1, 2010
We think Sis. Aitken just might be lactose intolerant, or just
allergic to food. Pretty much anything else besides chicken, veggies,
and fruits makes her stomach upset now. The poor dear. We don't
really understand why, but it was a factor in our lack of work
accomplished last week since we couldn't be far from a bathroom. :P
Being inside meant that I had to do a lot of entertaining since I can
beatbox, tell really random stories, etc. We've had a lot of good
laughs :) I think we have Sis. Aitken's diet all sorted out this
week, so now we can get some work done 'round these parts!
I was sort of reminiscing about that (Alma 4th Ward) carnival the other
day... good times! I haven't had to use my boots besides that one day
it snowed. I bought another coat last week since it was on sale. I
already checked to see that it fits under my other coat I brought with
me :) I think I should be set with that. Thankfully, our apartment
here stays pretty cozy so I haven't had to bundle up at night.
Yesterday, President and Sis. Dance came to speak in the Pärnu branch.
It was splendid, and the attendance seemed a little higher than
usual. Afterward, he took the time to interview us individually and
talk to us together as a district to give us pointers to help move the
work along. We couldn't make it to game night, but one of the ladies
from the open house went to that and even came to church yesterday
too! I think Maria's golden, because she's already made good friends
with the members and she seemed to understand everything we discussed
in Sunday School about the 13 articles of faith. We're finally going
to get that appointment with Maria this week and we'll probably invite
her to baptism too! We met with Liidia last week and I think she's
trying to distance herself from us :/ I merely asked her if she'd
pray to know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and she went
off on how the Bible is all she knows and names in the BoM are so
foreign, etc. So, I think we'll give her a little space, but we may
go drop some treats to her this week, or have a member call and invite
her to church and see how she reacts. Her testimony of our Savior is
amazing, if only she'd just try applying her faith to ask and actually
read.
President Dance encouraged us to focus on finding since we don't have
a good sized pool of investigators. He gave us some tips to help us
practice Estonian with the Elders and members since we feel a little
inadequate with the language (me,not so much, but I could use
practice) I finished reading all of Mormoni Raamat (Book of Mormon in
Estonian) last week, yay! Time to start reading it again!
Love you bunches! I can't wait to see what surprises you have in
store for me ;) Thanks for the prayers. Here's hoping for some
miracles this week!
Love,
Courtney
allergic to food. Pretty much anything else besides chicken, veggies,
and fruits makes her stomach upset now. The poor dear. We don't
really understand why, but it was a factor in our lack of work
accomplished last week since we couldn't be far from a bathroom. :P
Being inside meant that I had to do a lot of entertaining since I can
beatbox, tell really random stories, etc. We've had a lot of good
laughs :) I think we have Sis. Aitken's diet all sorted out this
week, so now we can get some work done 'round these parts!
I was sort of reminiscing about that (Alma 4th Ward) carnival the other
day... good times! I haven't had to use my boots besides that one day
it snowed. I bought another coat last week since it was on sale. I
already checked to see that it fits under my other coat I brought with
me :) I think I should be set with that. Thankfully, our apartment
here stays pretty cozy so I haven't had to bundle up at night.
Yesterday, President and Sis. Dance came to speak in the Pärnu branch.
It was splendid, and the attendance seemed a little higher than
usual. Afterward, he took the time to interview us individually and
talk to us together as a district to give us pointers to help move the
work along. We couldn't make it to game night, but one of the ladies
from the open house went to that and even came to church yesterday
too! I think Maria's golden, because she's already made good friends
with the members and she seemed to understand everything we discussed
in Sunday School about the 13 articles of faith. We're finally going
to get that appointment with Maria this week and we'll probably invite
her to baptism too! We met with Liidia last week and I think she's
trying to distance herself from us :/ I merely asked her if she'd
pray to know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and she went
off on how the Bible is all she knows and names in the BoM are so
foreign, etc. So, I think we'll give her a little space, but we may
go drop some treats to her this week, or have a member call and invite
her to church and see how she reacts. Her testimony of our Savior is
amazing, if only she'd just try applying her faith to ask and actually
read.
President Dance encouraged us to focus on finding since we don't have
a good sized pool of investigators. He gave us some tips to help us
practice Estonian with the Elders and members since we feel a little
inadequate with the language (me,not so much, but I could use
practice) I finished reading all of Mormoni Raamat (Book of Mormon in
Estonian) last week, yay! Time to start reading it again!
Love you bunches! I can't wait to see what surprises you have in
store for me ;) Thanks for the prayers. Here's hoping for some
miracles this week!
Love,
Courtney
Monday, October 25, 2010
Fall is almost here 10-25-10
That's good to hear that Heather and Todd finally set a date. I was wondering if they would do it during the Christmas break or else wait until she graduates.
Oddly enough (or miraculously :) Sis. Aitken's Estonian friends she met in America (they lived with her fam while she finished school) now live in Pärnu and they cooked us dinner on Wednesday night. It was so fun being around them, plus they speak English. I hope we can meet with them again this week and teach them some stuff now. Kätlin actually told Sis. Aitken that she wanted to be baptized back when she lived with them in America, but the missionaries they had in were
really poor missionaries :/ I guess we're here to fix that!
"It was even down in the 60s..." Wow, Mom, that sounds like the life right now. On Friday, we had our first, legit snowfall. The week before, the weather had teased us a little by snowing for only 10 minutes. Thank goodness the snowing only lasted until noon on Friday, so it melted away by the afternoon after we helped the members
do a little setting-up for the open house on Saturday. We woke up that morning and were just staring out the windows during our study that morning, dreading about having to don our boots. While setting-up for Saturday, the branch president asked us to perform some songs for the concert that was happening after the open house, so Sis. Aitken had the idea of renting a violin so she could play. We went to the concert hall just right around the corner, but the cheapest violin they had for sale was a piece of junk, but the saleswoman suggested we could go around to the music school on the other side and ask if we could rent one. After going back and forth between various floors, talking to various ladies and teachers, we got to borrow an old violin from a really nice violin teacher! It was just the violin she uses as
she teaches because she has a much nicer, concert instrument at home. We asked if we could pay, but she insisted that we didn't. :D I accompanied Sis. Aitken on the piano with a 2 page rendition of "I Stand All Amazed" since it was quick and easy to learn. We took home one of the keyboards from the church to practice at home with. Lo and behold, the demo song was none other than Rick Astley's "Together
Forever". WIN.
At the open house, only 3 non-members showed up, but they have really good potential! Although, we only got phone numbers for 2 of them. One lady said she actually grew up on the plot of land where the church building is so she wanted to see what it was like. 0_0 I don't think anybody actually invited her to come either, but Janeli immediately befriended her and we'll call her about setting an
appointment later this week. The other lady was a co-worker of one of our recent converts and she actually came to church yesterday too!
I did buy some boots, but not some really nice gloves yet. I haven't really needed them yet, thankfully. I asked my companions if there was anything they wanted from America and they just said peanut butter M&Ms, ha ha! I think I might prefer Reese's pieces a little more, but it's all good :) I can't really think of something specific because the chocolate here keeps me pretty content, ha ha! Popcorn (only have indiv. packs here), red vines, mike n'ikes, psh! I dunno! Did I leave any warm sweaters at home? Probably not :P I guess you could send some tights, leggings, socks, etc. Sis. Aitken says I need to let her mom know what I want for Christmas though, ha ha ha! If for whatever reason, the value of goods is over 100 dollars, they'll charge tariffs when I pick it up :P
Gotta run now! The language is coming along just fine for me, and I think now we'll finally have some people to teach this week. Thanks for the love and prayers!
Love,
Courtney
Oddly enough (or miraculously :) Sis. Aitken's Estonian friends she met in America (they lived with her fam while she finished school) now live in Pärnu and they cooked us dinner on Wednesday night. It was so fun being around them, plus they speak English. I hope we can meet with them again this week and teach them some stuff now. Kätlin actually told Sis. Aitken that she wanted to be baptized back when she lived with them in America, but the missionaries they had in were
really poor missionaries :/ I guess we're here to fix that!
"It was even down in the 60s..." Wow, Mom, that sounds like the life right now. On Friday, we had our first, legit snowfall. The week before, the weather had teased us a little by snowing for only 10 minutes. Thank goodness the snowing only lasted until noon on Friday, so it melted away by the afternoon after we helped the members
do a little setting-up for the open house on Saturday. We woke up that morning and were just staring out the windows during our study that morning, dreading about having to don our boots. While setting-up for Saturday, the branch president asked us to perform some songs for the concert that was happening after the open house, so Sis. Aitken had the idea of renting a violin so she could play. We went to the concert hall just right around the corner, but the cheapest violin they had for sale was a piece of junk, but the saleswoman suggested we could go around to the music school on the other side and ask if we could rent one. After going back and forth between various floors, talking to various ladies and teachers, we got to borrow an old violin from a really nice violin teacher! It was just the violin she uses as
she teaches because she has a much nicer, concert instrument at home. We asked if we could pay, but she insisted that we didn't. :D I accompanied Sis. Aitken on the piano with a 2 page rendition of "I Stand All Amazed" since it was quick and easy to learn. We took home one of the keyboards from the church to practice at home with. Lo and behold, the demo song was none other than Rick Astley's "Together
Forever". WIN.
At the open house, only 3 non-members showed up, but they have really good potential! Although, we only got phone numbers for 2 of them. One lady said she actually grew up on the plot of land where the church building is so she wanted to see what it was like. 0_0 I don't think anybody actually invited her to come either, but Janeli immediately befriended her and we'll call her about setting an
appointment later this week. The other lady was a co-worker of one of our recent converts and she actually came to church yesterday too!
I did buy some boots, but not some really nice gloves yet. I haven't really needed them yet, thankfully. I asked my companions if there was anything they wanted from America and they just said peanut butter M&Ms, ha ha! I think I might prefer Reese's pieces a little more, but it's all good :) I can't really think of something specific because the chocolate here keeps me pretty content, ha ha! Popcorn (only have indiv. packs here), red vines, mike n'ikes, psh! I dunno! Did I leave any warm sweaters at home? Probably not :P I guess you could send some tights, leggings, socks, etc. Sis. Aitken says I need to let her mom know what I want for Christmas though, ha ha ha! If for whatever reason, the value of goods is over 100 dollars, they'll charge tariffs when I pick it up :P
Gotta run now! The language is coming along just fine for me, and I think now we'll finally have some people to teach this week. Thanks for the love and prayers!
Love,
Courtney
Monday, October 18, 2010
Email: Figure 8 races 10-18-10
Wowerz, it's been a bit of a crazy week. Lots of changes, but I'm still in Pärnu. Sis. LeFevre did in fact choose to go home, so I got a phone call from President Dance on Monday night saying that Sis. LeDuc and Sis. Aitken were transferring down from Keila to Pärnu the next day and that we are in a trio now. Pärnu sure is lucky. They have all the sister missionaries in all of Estonia ;) And with the time is takes to call a new sister missionary and train in the MTC...well, I'm sure we'll be spending the next 6 months together. It's a pleasure to be back with Sis. Aitken so soon, and Sis. LeDuc is great too. Let's hope we can keep up the greatness! At least we'll all be enduring the winter together, so we should have fun stories to share, ha ha!
Sis. LeFevre and I traveled to Riga again on Tuesday night, then we stayed at the mission home for the night and then dropped Sis. LeFevre off at the Riga airport at about 5:30 for her 7am flight to Brussels. The Jacques droves me back to Pärnu to find Sis. LeDuc and Sis. Aitken all muddy and dirty from exploring near the beach and helping an old lady raking leaves. So they showered up and then it was off to
Steffani's for lunch, paid for by the Jacques :) When we got to the apartment, the whole place was in disarray because of all the stuff the sisters brought with them, plus they were in the midst of DEEP CLEANING. It puts me at ease knowing that our apartment is finally up to suitable living standards. The great thing is that Sis. Aitken and Sis. LeDuc like to clean and cook so that helps the place stay happy and orderly. They bring a great fire, spirit and work ethic, so now that we're finally settled in, we'll get started on those miracles ;)
On Friday, for our service project of the week, all the missionaries met up with Merit and Janeli to go to a dog shelter and walk some of the beasts around. I say beasts because most of them were rather large. I paired up with Janeli and we took big, but peaceful Donovan for a spin around the block. It was kinda fun just walking around and chatting with Janeli. We helped the Young Women make some signs since it was Saima's birthday, which we celebrated at game night. My companions really grew to love Keila, but they're quickly warming up to Pärnu. It's cute to continually hear them say how nice people are on the buses. :)
The open house for the church is actually going to be this Saturday, so maybe tomorrow we'll be helping do some stuff for the Relief Society presentation. I'm not exactly sure about that... Sis. LeDuc had to travel down to Riga with Elder Barney, our district leader for some sort of leadership training until Wednesday night. She nearly missed her bus because we had to taxi back home supa-quick because she forgot her passport xP Turns out our taxi driver actually lives a floor below the Branch President. He was a nice guy :)
The "Hang 10" idea is so cute!! It's funny to hear that it's still prime swimming weather. Saturday was very cold~ It probably didn't help that we walked a bunch outside because we missed some buses or just didn't want to wait for the next one to come :P Today seems like a pleasant autumn day, though. I'm glad the Figure 8 races were a blast!! I had been reminiscing about those good times.
As far as stuff in the package, how about some measuring spoons? I have a feeling Sis. Aitken wants to do a lot of baking. That's one way to get into peoples' hearts! I wonder how they'll take to American style cookies... like if they're too sweet, haha. Yesterday, the Kõivs from the Tallinn branch (he's the branch president) came down to give some excellent talks about living prophets and missionary work. Sis. Kõiv even made this really yummy pumpkin stuff. It was pretty much like pumpkin pie, just more of a cake form rather than a pie. That was a real treat :) I think Sis. LeDuc wants to carve pumpkins next week. I don't really care to make a mess, but she seem really pumped for it. Whoa, I only just realized now that I unintentionally made a pun. 0_0 Anyway...
Yeah, it's still weird thinking that Sis. LeFevre actually went home, but I think she'll be better able to recover. Being with Sis. Aitken and Sis. LeDuc is a blessing though. They're excited to work. Although their Estonian isn't quite as pretty, there's still plenty I can learn from the two of them. :D Things are finally lookin' on the upside!
Much love,
Courtney
Sis. LeFevre and I traveled to Riga again on Tuesday night, then we stayed at the mission home for the night and then dropped Sis. LeFevre off at the Riga airport at about 5:30 for her 7am flight to Brussels. The Jacques droves me back to Pärnu to find Sis. LeDuc and Sis. Aitken all muddy and dirty from exploring near the beach and helping an old lady raking leaves. So they showered up and then it was off to
Steffani's for lunch, paid for by the Jacques :) When we got to the apartment, the whole place was in disarray because of all the stuff the sisters brought with them, plus they were in the midst of DEEP CLEANING. It puts me at ease knowing that our apartment is finally up to suitable living standards. The great thing is that Sis. Aitken and Sis. LeDuc like to clean and cook so that helps the place stay happy and orderly. They bring a great fire, spirit and work ethic, so now that we're finally settled in, we'll get started on those miracles ;)
On Friday, for our service project of the week, all the missionaries met up with Merit and Janeli to go to a dog shelter and walk some of the beasts around. I say beasts because most of them were rather large. I paired up with Janeli and we took big, but peaceful Donovan for a spin around the block. It was kinda fun just walking around and chatting with Janeli. We helped the Young Women make some signs since it was Saima's birthday, which we celebrated at game night. My companions really grew to love Keila, but they're quickly warming up to Pärnu. It's cute to continually hear them say how nice people are on the buses. :)
The open house for the church is actually going to be this Saturday, so maybe tomorrow we'll be helping do some stuff for the Relief Society presentation. I'm not exactly sure about that... Sis. LeDuc had to travel down to Riga with Elder Barney, our district leader for some sort of leadership training until Wednesday night. She nearly missed her bus because we had to taxi back home supa-quick because she forgot her passport xP Turns out our taxi driver actually lives a floor below the Branch President. He was a nice guy :)
The "Hang 10" idea is so cute!! It's funny to hear that it's still prime swimming weather. Saturday was very cold~ It probably didn't help that we walked a bunch outside because we missed some buses or just didn't want to wait for the next one to come :P Today seems like a pleasant autumn day, though. I'm glad the Figure 8 races were a blast!! I had been reminiscing about those good times.
As far as stuff in the package, how about some measuring spoons? I have a feeling Sis. Aitken wants to do a lot of baking. That's one way to get into peoples' hearts! I wonder how they'll take to American style cookies... like if they're too sweet, haha. Yesterday, the Kõivs from the Tallinn branch (he's the branch president) came down to give some excellent talks about living prophets and missionary work. Sis. Kõiv even made this really yummy pumpkin stuff. It was pretty much like pumpkin pie, just more of a cake form rather than a pie. That was a real treat :) I think Sis. LeDuc wants to carve pumpkins next week. I don't really care to make a mess, but she seem really pumped for it. Whoa, I only just realized now that I unintentionally made a pun. 0_0 Anyway...
Yeah, it's still weird thinking that Sis. LeFevre actually went home, but I think she'll be better able to recover. Being with Sis. Aitken and Sis. LeDuc is a blessing though. They're excited to work. Although their Estonian isn't quite as pretty, there's still plenty I can learn from the two of them. :D Things are finally lookin' on the upside!
Much love,
Courtney
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Email: Fall is in full swing! 10-11-10
Holy cow, this coming Saturday marks my 4 month as a missionary (and Stacey's b-day)!! O_O Alrighty, so transfers actually happen this week. It's very much up in the air at this point.
We decided to tromp out to the beach this morning. There is a bunch of brush next to the beach, so we were wandering around, avoiding random cow pies as we tried to find a pathway around the plants that led us to the sea. It was so beautiful since it was about 9:30 this morning. We had a pleasant little jaunt. I only dipped my hand in the water and we took a few pics and then walked back to the bus stop to come to the library.
Last week, we went to visit with some of the old lady members in the branch. They just wanted to invite us over to eat and chat. It was typical Estonian food, but simple and tasty and the company was certainly pleasant. In order to protect their privacy, (and myself from legal complexities) I'll only use their first name if I'm sharing pictures of them. Vilma insisted on showing us ALL her photo albums of previous missionaries and even some of those missionaries' wedding pictures via Facebook, hahaha :P These old ladies are the cutest things ever~ They worry that we're going to get sick because we don't have hats yet!
Next weekend in Pärnu is an open house, so the branch is getting prepared for that. Last year, it miraculously led to the baptism of one of our best members, so we're hoping more miracles come from it. We have 2 investigators now, but we've got to get them to read the Book of Mormon and come to church now so we can get them progressing. Janeli has come out to do a wee bit of contacting with us this last
week. Her peppiness is contagious and we definitely need to figure out how to utilize her more since she helps us with our Estonian and she can relate better to the people, obviously. She's thinking of serving a mini-mission, but's she's not sure how soon she can, just yet. The girl's a missionary machine~!
That's some mighty, crazy weather you've got down there! It's actually been rather pleasant fall weather, just nippy at nightime. Thankfully our apartment is cozy. Usually, weather equates to Christmastime for me, so thoughts of Christmas keep popping into my head even though it's not for another 2 months!
Have fun at the Figure 8 races! I've been reminiscing about the fair lately :) I think I found a pair of boots that I like. They're about 80 smackers (I just hope they still have my size xP) I've seen some nice, leather gloves too, but those are about 20 or so. I may or may not get those today... The country is getting prepped to switch to the Euro come January 1st. Yay~ less bills in our wallets! The only session we haven't seen in English yet is the Relief Society and Sunday Afternoon session. We watched the sunday afternoon session yesterday after sacrament meeting.
Well, I think that's about it for this edition! I'm so grateful for my support team, cheering me on back home. Y'all are the greatest. I think about you all the time because your influences are what have helped me get here.
Love,
Courtney
P.S. Mom, we're missionaries. Of course we have a microwave! ;) Wouldn't a cornbag be pretty heavy to ship though??
We decided to tromp out to the beach this morning. There is a bunch of brush next to the beach, so we were wandering around, avoiding random cow pies as we tried to find a pathway around the plants that led us to the sea. It was so beautiful since it was about 9:30 this morning. We had a pleasant little jaunt. I only dipped my hand in the water and we took a few pics and then walked back to the bus stop to come to the library.
Last week, we went to visit with some of the old lady members in the branch. They just wanted to invite us over to eat and chat. It was typical Estonian food, but simple and tasty and the company was certainly pleasant. In order to protect their privacy, (and myself from legal complexities) I'll only use their first name if I'm sharing pictures of them. Vilma insisted on showing us ALL her photo albums of previous missionaries and even some of those missionaries' wedding pictures via Facebook, hahaha :P These old ladies are the cutest things ever~ They worry that we're going to get sick because we don't have hats yet!
Next weekend in Pärnu is an open house, so the branch is getting prepared for that. Last year, it miraculously led to the baptism of one of our best members, so we're hoping more miracles come from it. We have 2 investigators now, but we've got to get them to read the Book of Mormon and come to church now so we can get them progressing. Janeli has come out to do a wee bit of contacting with us this last
week. Her peppiness is contagious and we definitely need to figure out how to utilize her more since she helps us with our Estonian and she can relate better to the people, obviously. She's thinking of serving a mini-mission, but's she's not sure how soon she can, just yet. The girl's a missionary machine~!
That's some mighty, crazy weather you've got down there! It's actually been rather pleasant fall weather, just nippy at nightime. Thankfully our apartment is cozy. Usually, weather equates to Christmastime for me, so thoughts of Christmas keep popping into my head even though it's not for another 2 months!
Have fun at the Figure 8 races! I've been reminiscing about the fair lately :) I think I found a pair of boots that I like. They're about 80 smackers (I just hope they still have my size xP) I've seen some nice, leather gloves too, but those are about 20 or so. I may or may not get those today... The country is getting prepped to switch to the Euro come January 1st. Yay~ less bills in our wallets! The only session we haven't seen in English yet is the Relief Society and Sunday Afternoon session. We watched the sunday afternoon session yesterday after sacrament meeting.
Well, I think that's about it for this edition! I'm so grateful for my support team, cheering me on back home. Y'all are the greatest. I think about you all the time because your influences are what have helped me get here.
Love,
Courtney
P.S. Mom, we're missionaries. Of course we have a microwave! ;) Wouldn't a cornbag be pretty heavy to ship though??
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Email: September is over! 10-04-10
Hiya fam!
I can't believe September is over now too. I don't know if I've accomplished much in the last month either. Next week is already the end of the transfer, so I'm wondering where I'll end up next week. I still think I'll be in Pärnu though, but who knows! Good luck family, with the house cleanup! You all seem to be keeping yourselves really busy, but happy :D WOW, Dad's truck still lives!!! That's quite a feat!
I happened to see the Sunday morning conference session in English. We'll be watching the rest later this week. Watching conference in Estonian made it kinda rough to focus on all the time, but well, I tried to be attentive and be an example to the members. The max we had for a session was about 10 people. We watched the translated version via internet which was wirelessly transmitted from the computer upstairs to the tv downstairs in the tiny chapel. It was a little rough to get a good signal, but well, we tried. On Saturday night, we were watching a session and there were only like 4 members there and then the 4 of us missionaries. The signal was freezing so they decided to go up to the branch presidency office where the computers are and then watch it there since there were so few of us. All the brethren went upstairs and just when Sis. LeFevre and I were thinking of just going home, but we saw Sis. Lashenko (sp?) sitting on the couch, looking rather sad. We asked her if she was going to go up the stairs to watch but she said something like she was afraid of going up, I think because of her health or she was afraid she'd fall. So, I went up the stairs, asked the Elders to turn up the speakers a bit more and then we listened to conference on the couch in the lobby with her. She pulled out a bunch of photos of missionaries who served in Pärnu and some who came back to visit after their mission. She told us how she keeps in contact with them through Facebook. I told her I'd do the same. I'm really glad we stayed, and I think she was too :D
Most of the appointments we had set up cancelled or didn't show, so we're praying for a better week. We have one tonight, and hopefully we can finally contact a referral that a member gave us a few weeks ago. We've gone over there 3 times and they haven't been home xP That's so amazing to hear about the Kiev Temple open house and dedication. I wish we had the same in Estonia! I heard it was kinda like that when the Helsinki, Finland temple was finished a few years ago. Watching conference has given me some new courage though. Heavenly Father has ordained me to do this work and has promised blessings if I just get out there and work. Gotta get going now!
Love,
Courtney
I can't believe September is over now too. I don't know if I've accomplished much in the last month either. Next week is already the end of the transfer, so I'm wondering where I'll end up next week. I still think I'll be in Pärnu though, but who knows! Good luck family, with the house cleanup! You all seem to be keeping yourselves really busy, but happy :D WOW, Dad's truck still lives!!! That's quite a feat!
I happened to see the Sunday morning conference session in English. We'll be watching the rest later this week. Watching conference in Estonian made it kinda rough to focus on all the time, but well, I tried to be attentive and be an example to the members. The max we had for a session was about 10 people. We watched the translated version via internet which was wirelessly transmitted from the computer upstairs to the tv downstairs in the tiny chapel. It was a little rough to get a good signal, but well, we tried. On Saturday night, we were watching a session and there were only like 4 members there and then the 4 of us missionaries. The signal was freezing so they decided to go up to the branch presidency office where the computers are and then watch it there since there were so few of us. All the brethren went upstairs and just when Sis. LeFevre and I were thinking of just going home, but we saw Sis. Lashenko (sp?) sitting on the couch, looking rather sad. We asked her if she was going to go up the stairs to watch but she said something like she was afraid of going up, I think because of her health or she was afraid she'd fall. So, I went up the stairs, asked the Elders to turn up the speakers a bit more and then we listened to conference on the couch in the lobby with her. She pulled out a bunch of photos of missionaries who served in Pärnu and some who came back to visit after their mission. She told us how she keeps in contact with them through Facebook. I told her I'd do the same. I'm really glad we stayed, and I think she was too :D
Most of the appointments we had set up cancelled or didn't show, so we're praying for a better week. We have one tonight, and hopefully we can finally contact a referral that a member gave us a few weeks ago. We've gone over there 3 times and they haven't been home xP That's so amazing to hear about the Kiev Temple open house and dedication. I wish we had the same in Estonia! I heard it was kinda like that when the Helsinki, Finland temple was finished a few years ago. Watching conference has given me some new courage though. Heavenly Father has ordained me to do this work and has promised blessings if I just get out there and work. Gotta get going now!
Love,
Courtney
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Email 9-29-10
This has been a pretty fun week. I actually had to travel to Tallinn last Tuesday to do visa/living permit whatever stuff last week. Sis. Lepp from the Tallinn branch helped us with paper work which was splendid, but they were remarkably slow that day and we were there for at least 2 hours. Anyway, I got to see a little bit of Tallinn, but we didn't wander far from the bus station. It takes just under 2 hours to travel from Pärnu to Tallinn by bus. That's how most people get around the country, I think. Thankfully, we checked the mailbox before our bus ride up there, so I received a letter from Mark and fam with some drawings and pictures of the kiddos. Precious~♥
District conference on Sunday, in Tallinn was certainly interesting. Our branch rented a small bus to take up the members who signed up the week before. The branch leaders went up a day earlier for the Saturday training. I had the privelege of sitting next to Jana, a very energetic 9yo on the way up to Tallinn. Tickle attacks, funny faces, etc. She couldn't keep her hands off, lol. That was fun :P Hearing conference in 3 languages is sort of a brain overload, ha ha! Back and forth between Estonian, Russian, and English (since President and Sis. Dance spoke). It was fun meeting some of the other members and missionaries though. The Dances brought up mail from the mission home so I got the DearElder from Veronica. She seems to be doing super and I was so excited to hear from her~!!!! We had a few hours after the conference until our bus left for Tartu so we just chatted away. Then it was off to Tartu Sunday evening. We sisters got to stay at a hotel while the Elders had to fit in the other missionary apartments ;) We had training all day on Monday and then Monday night we met Tartu's oldest member, Helmi. Helmi is 90 years old and LOVES the missionaries. I think she was baptized about 7 years ago or so. She insisted on feeding us even though she is a very very poor pensioner. I only ate a piece of bread and some juice to show my thanks. After that, we each took turns playing her in chess. Apparently, she was some chess champion when she was younger, but of course some of that skill has faded with time. Technically, I beat her, but when I went to take her King, she could've sworn that he was one space to the left and not in check. So yeah, after that, then she beat me pretty good :P I'll let her have the victory this time. I think the Elders usually beat her so that should boost her confidence :D Helmi was so so sweet and thankful for missionaries. She certainly thanked Heavenly Father for sending us. She was sad when we had to leave to catch our bus back to center.
Walking around the center of Tartu is really cool. The old town hall plaza is really neat. It's also a lovely time of year to be driving around Estonia since the trees are starting to change colors. Unfortunately, a cold spell came in on Monday and Tuesday and it was quite nippy all throughout the country! Down to like 7 degrees Celsius which is somewhere in the high 30s I reckon. I had to bust out my big coat! And my legs and feet were chilled from the wind. Gotta start layering... Thankfully, today's not as bad.
I'm excited for General Conference this weekend. We'll watch the Relief Society session Saturday evening and then the Saturday morning session after that. Then we watch several sessions on Sunday, and then the last session we'll watch the following week. Maybe that's when we'll finally watch it in English too, I dunno.
Sis. LeFevre is from Draper, Utah. She is studying Journalism at the University of Utah. We receive copies of the Liahona from time to time. I think they just gave us the September issue at our district conference. I believe they try to get copies to each companionship when they can.
Last night on our bus ride home, I actually met some Italian kids who said they were singers in some choir with kids from Denmark, Estonia, etc. Random. I chatted only for a little bit about where we were from and what we were doing here and the guy I talked to was really nice. Even more random is that I think I remember seeing Italian Book of Mormons at our church building... I'll have to check again, but I'm hoping that the Lord will place them again in our path before they leave Pärnu on Saturday.
Ooh boy I'd love a recipe for mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuits, and soup. Yes, we can find some tortillas here. They only come in wimpy 8 packs though :P
Gotta run! Thanks for the love and prayers!
Courtney
District conference on Sunday, in Tallinn was certainly interesting. Our branch rented a small bus to take up the members who signed up the week before. The branch leaders went up a day earlier for the Saturday training. I had the privelege of sitting next to Jana, a very energetic 9yo on the way up to Tallinn. Tickle attacks, funny faces, etc. She couldn't keep her hands off, lol. That was fun :P Hearing conference in 3 languages is sort of a brain overload, ha ha! Back and forth between Estonian, Russian, and English (since President and Sis. Dance spoke). It was fun meeting some of the other members and missionaries though. The Dances brought up mail from the mission home so I got the DearElder from Veronica. She seems to be doing super and I was so excited to hear from her~!!!! We had a few hours after the conference until our bus left for Tartu so we just chatted away. Then it was off to Tartu Sunday evening. We sisters got to stay at a hotel while the Elders had to fit in the other missionary apartments ;) We had training all day on Monday and then Monday night we met Tartu's oldest member, Helmi. Helmi is 90 years old and LOVES the missionaries. I think she was baptized about 7 years ago or so. She insisted on feeding us even though she is a very very poor pensioner. I only ate a piece of bread and some juice to show my thanks. After that, we each took turns playing her in chess. Apparently, she was some chess champion when she was younger, but of course some of that skill has faded with time. Technically, I beat her, but when I went to take her King, she could've sworn that he was one space to the left and not in check. So yeah, after that, then she beat me pretty good :P I'll let her have the victory this time. I think the Elders usually beat her so that should boost her confidence :D Helmi was so so sweet and thankful for missionaries. She certainly thanked Heavenly Father for sending us. She was sad when we had to leave to catch our bus back to center.
Walking around the center of Tartu is really cool. The old town hall plaza is really neat. It's also a lovely time of year to be driving around Estonia since the trees are starting to change colors. Unfortunately, a cold spell came in on Monday and Tuesday and it was quite nippy all throughout the country! Down to like 7 degrees Celsius which is somewhere in the high 30s I reckon. I had to bust out my big coat! And my legs and feet were chilled from the wind. Gotta start layering... Thankfully, today's not as bad.
I'm excited for General Conference this weekend. We'll watch the Relief Society session Saturday evening and then the Saturday morning session after that. Then we watch several sessions on Sunday, and then the last session we'll watch the following week. Maybe that's when we'll finally watch it in English too, I dunno.
Sis. LeFevre is from Draper, Utah. She is studying Journalism at the University of Utah. We receive copies of the Liahona from time to time. I think they just gave us the September issue at our district conference. I believe they try to get copies to each companionship when they can.
Last night on our bus ride home, I actually met some Italian kids who said they were singers in some choir with kids from Denmark, Estonia, etc. Random. I chatted only for a little bit about where we were from and what we were doing here and the guy I talked to was really nice. Even more random is that I think I remember seeing Italian Book of Mormons at our church building... I'll have to check again, but I'm hoping that the Lord will place them again in our path before they leave Pärnu on Saturday.
Ooh boy I'd love a recipe for mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuits, and soup. Yes, we can find some tortillas here. They only come in wimpy 8 packs though :P
Gotta run! Thanks for the love and prayers!
Courtney
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Email 9-20-10
Goodness, it's still that hot there?!?! It's been very windy and rainy here this week, probably 50 degrees or so. Next week, we have Zone conference in Tallinn on Sunday so we're riding a bus with our whole branch up there. Then on Monday and Tuesday, we have training meetings down in Tartu so I get to do some traveling next week! Preparation Day is temporarily bumped until next Wednesday when I'll be back in Pärnu. We ride the bus about 10-12 minutes to get to the downtown area where the library is and where we e-mail. You should probably send me this e-mail a bit earlier so you can get to bed and so I'll have more time to write news home. I think the other missionaries get a bit annoyed that I take like 2 hours to write all my e-mails :P Oh well, it's not like there's much else to do in Pärnu on Preparation day! There are about 30 really active members in the branch, most of which are women, but we have some really great priesthood holders now. There are a lot of inactive members, so that's something I'd like to see change while I'm here. ´
This morning and last week we went shopping at the Baltic equivalent of Wal-mart: Rimi's. It doesn't have nearly all the different departments like Wal-Mart, but there's a bit more than what's available at Selver. I think Rimi is about a kilometer from our apartment. A short, brisk walk away, but it's not so fun to carry the groceries all the way back. However, it's worth it for this awesome cereal that's only at Rimi's. It's a chocolatey granola with raisins, banana chips, lil' chocolate chunks that turn your milk nice and chocolately very quickly. It's yummy stuff, so we decided to buy more this week since we like eating it for breakfast and sometimes as a late night snack. That means that we have to buy a lot more milk though, ha ha ha. The cooking is all right. Mom, I'm thankful I at least watched how you cooked sometimes, because it's come in handy a little bit. I could use some recipes though. Sis. LeFevre has used some recipes that have been passed down to missionaries, but they don't seem to taste, or satisfy quite like they do at home. We only have hour long meal times, so we need some quick recipes, but sometimes, we'll just take both our meal hours if we have English class or appointments that fill up our evenings. I made some awesome quesadillas the other day. Sis. LeFevre made some deep-dish pizza in a casserole pan, but it was sorta, meh. Last night, I cooked spaghetti (of course it wasn't as fancy as your sauce ;) , and I attempted to make some French Toast the other day. I think I'll try making fried potatoes this week. That should be interesting since it's all sort of a guessing game, ha ha! Another odd thing, it's been hard to find measuring cups here. We only have one in our apartment, but we haven't really seen any good ones at the store.
We do have a washing machine, but it takes like 2 plus hours to wash stuff. I think because it's really compact or something... Unfortunately, dryers are not in existence in Estonia so we get to use big drying racks. Only one room in the apartment has carpet, but Mom, I'll bet you'll be proud of how I've been good about cleaning the dishes and sweeping and vacuuming! This week, Sis. LeFevre's legs have been aching a lot. She played soccer for years, so it left her legs pretty messed up. This has really impacted our work this week since we were put under house arrest for Friday and Saturday. I felt sooo useless... but there's no use limping around all over the place. It's a problem she had before the mission, so we still don't know if the resting does a whole lot. I guess the days we rested were all right since it was rainy most of the day. We ventured out to family game night on Friday. It's so fun being with the members because they love us so much. They're like a really close family and I really admire that about them. Since we were cooped up for so long I didn't have much else to do. I don't have boots, a hat, new gloves, or many new scarves yet. They're kinda pricey here :/ But, they are necessary so I'll have to do some shopping. I don't think Sis. LeFevre cares for it much, hehehe.
This week, we've been helping a member with English almost everyday. We've been reading a lot from the Book of Mormon stories since it's easier to understand and has pictures :) Well, technically, Maive is a mother of 9, but she actually can't be a member since her "mees" (man) doesn't want to get married. That's a common problem here in Estonia :( I don't know much about it, so I'll have to ask the Elders.
Elder and Sister Jacques came up from Riga to check our apartments and they treated us to dinner at Steffani's. That's like the only restaurant we've been to in town. Probably because it's more food for your buck (or Kroon, in this case). It's an italian restaurant, and I actually scarfed down an entire small, thick crust pizza by myself. We've gone there every P-day so far. Maybe we'll go again today, ha ha ha!
You're right about how everything starts out with faith. That's why it's the first principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Right now, I'm really trying to build my faith to have courage to find those who are prepared to hear this message. We weren't able to to much at all this last week, so we'll have to make a rebound. Hope you enjoy the pictures and videos! Thanks for all of the love and support.
Love you lots,
Courtney
Airplane food!!
This morning and last week we went shopping at the Baltic equivalent of Wal-mart: Rimi's. It doesn't have nearly all the different departments like Wal-Mart, but there's a bit more than what's available at Selver. I think Rimi is about a kilometer from our apartment. A short, brisk walk away, but it's not so fun to carry the groceries all the way back. However, it's worth it for this awesome cereal that's only at Rimi's. It's a chocolatey granola with raisins, banana chips, lil' chocolate chunks that turn your milk nice and chocolately very quickly. It's yummy stuff, so we decided to buy more this week since we like eating it for breakfast and sometimes as a late night snack. That means that we have to buy a lot more milk though, ha ha ha. The cooking is all right. Mom, I'm thankful I at least watched how you cooked sometimes, because it's come in handy a little bit. I could use some recipes though. Sis. LeFevre has used some recipes that have been passed down to missionaries, but they don't seem to taste, or satisfy quite like they do at home. We only have hour long meal times, so we need some quick recipes, but sometimes, we'll just take both our meal hours if we have English class or appointments that fill up our evenings. I made some awesome quesadillas the other day. Sis. LeFevre made some deep-dish pizza in a casserole pan, but it was sorta, meh. Last night, I cooked spaghetti (of course it wasn't as fancy as your sauce ;) , and I attempted to make some French Toast the other day. I think I'll try making fried potatoes this week. That should be interesting since it's all sort of a guessing game, ha ha! Another odd thing, it's been hard to find measuring cups here. We only have one in our apartment, but we haven't really seen any good ones at the store.
We do have a washing machine, but it takes like 2 plus hours to wash stuff. I think because it's really compact or something... Unfortunately, dryers are not in existence in Estonia so we get to use big drying racks. Only one room in the apartment has carpet, but Mom, I'll bet you'll be proud of how I've been good about cleaning the dishes and sweeping and vacuuming! This week, Sis. LeFevre's legs have been aching a lot. She played soccer for years, so it left her legs pretty messed up. This has really impacted our work this week since we were put under house arrest for Friday and Saturday. I felt sooo useless... but there's no use limping around all over the place. It's a problem she had before the mission, so we still don't know if the resting does a whole lot. I guess the days we rested were all right since it was rainy most of the day. We ventured out to family game night on Friday. It's so fun being with the members because they love us so much. They're like a really close family and I really admire that about them. Since we were cooped up for so long I didn't have much else to do. I don't have boots, a hat, new gloves, or many new scarves yet. They're kinda pricey here :/ But, they are necessary so I'll have to do some shopping. I don't think Sis. LeFevre cares for it much, hehehe.
This week, we've been helping a member with English almost everyday. We've been reading a lot from the Book of Mormon stories since it's easier to understand and has pictures :) Well, technically, Maive is a mother of 9, but she actually can't be a member since her "mees" (man) doesn't want to get married. That's a common problem here in Estonia :( I don't know much about it, so I'll have to ask the Elders.
Elder and Sister Jacques came up from Riga to check our apartments and they treated us to dinner at Steffani's. That's like the only restaurant we've been to in town. Probably because it's more food for your buck (or Kroon, in this case). It's an italian restaurant, and I actually scarfed down an entire small, thick crust pizza by myself. We've gone there every P-day so far. Maybe we'll go again today, ha ha ha!
You're right about how everything starts out with faith. That's why it's the first principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Right now, I'm really trying to build my faith to have courage to find those who are prepared to hear this message. We weren't able to to much at all this last week, so we'll have to make a rebound. Hope you enjoy the pictures and videos! Thanks for all of the love and support.
Love you lots,
Courtney
Airplane food!!
Frankfurt, Germany - Airport for layover to Latvia
We got to stay in the Lenin Hotel, called that because the man himself had stayed there a few times. Here's the lobby of the tiny place.
In Riga, Latvia. This is a large cathedral nearby the church building in town.
Food for the new missionary feast!
The mission home, pre-feast.
My new companion!! Sister LeFerve, who has actually been there 3 months. Learning Estonian with her should be fun ;o)
We got to stay in the Lenin Hotel, called that because the man himself had stayed there a few times. Here's the lobby of the tiny place.
In Riga, Latvia. This is a large cathedral nearby the church building in town.
Food for the new missionary feast!
The mission home, pre-feast.
My new companion!! Sister LeFerve, who has actually been there 3 months. Learning Estonian with her should be fun ;o)
Friday, September 17, 2010
Email 9-13-10
My week went by fairly quickly as well. Thanks for the reminders of cleanliness, ha ha! I've been doing a pretty good job since now I have my own place to take care of. I scrubbed the bathroom this morning while my companion got most of the kitchen done. There's still more to do, but the most important stuff is done :)
I forgot to mention earlier for my friends that DearElder is free for our mission since it's sent by pouch mail through the church. It may take a bit longer for it to reach me from the mission home, but it's a free option if it's not pressing news.
Now I'm like the piano guru in our branch. I already have a lesson set up to teach a member and another man wants me to attend some music festival thing he's putting on in October. Maybe he wants me to perform. WUT?!! They all think I'm like Mozart, or something. It makes me feel loved though :) The humidity from the fog and rain the last few days has killed my hair so I have to wear it back :P I tried straightening it one day and it was destroyed in about 20 minutes outside. I'm trying to look nice though!
Last Thursday we did some service for a member who lives 30 minutes outside of Pärnu. We just hacked away at some old uprooted tree and made a bit fire where we burned all the little bits. I guess we'll go to Saima's every week, so I wonder which day we'll go back and help her out this week. On Saturday I witnessed my first baptism! Eda Rahula was taught by the Elders, but now we get to teach her retention lessons. I think this week we need to do a bit more finding because we need to teach some lessons. I think we have one progressing investigator who committed to baptism when she finds out that this is true, so we just have to make sure we can get her to church this week.
One funny thing Estonians do is occasionally inhale their words. I mostly hear it among old ladies and it's usally some exclamation, or affirmation like "Jah!". It kinda weirds me out every time, ha ha! We cook most of our own meals, and they've usually been pretty basic stuff like spaghetti and tacos. Sis. Aitken is up in Keila with Sis. LeDuc. They are about 2-3 hours away, I think. It took us about 3 hours to get to Pärnu from Riga by bus. There are only 4 sisters in all of Estonia. 16 Estonian speakers and I think about 8 Russians. 2 Elders and 2 Sisters in Pärnu.
Well, I gotta go now. I've been hanging around the computer long enough. I hope to be a little more efficient with my e-mail writing soon :P I love you all and thanks for the prayers!
Armastusega,
Courtney
I forgot to mention earlier for my friends that DearElder is free for our mission since it's sent by pouch mail through the church. It may take a bit longer for it to reach me from the mission home, but it's a free option if it's not pressing news.
Now I'm like the piano guru in our branch. I already have a lesson set up to teach a member and another man wants me to attend some music festival thing he's putting on in October. Maybe he wants me to perform. WUT?!! They all think I'm like Mozart, or something. It makes me feel loved though :) The humidity from the fog and rain the last few days has killed my hair so I have to wear it back :P I tried straightening it one day and it was destroyed in about 20 minutes outside. I'm trying to look nice though!
Last Thursday we did some service for a member who lives 30 minutes outside of Pärnu. We just hacked away at some old uprooted tree and made a bit fire where we burned all the little bits. I guess we'll go to Saima's every week, so I wonder which day we'll go back and help her out this week. On Saturday I witnessed my first baptism! Eda Rahula was taught by the Elders, but now we get to teach her retention lessons. I think this week we need to do a bit more finding because we need to teach some lessons. I think we have one progressing investigator who committed to baptism when she finds out that this is true, so we just have to make sure we can get her to church this week.
One funny thing Estonians do is occasionally inhale their words. I mostly hear it among old ladies and it's usally some exclamation, or affirmation like "Jah!". It kinda weirds me out every time, ha ha! We cook most of our own meals, and they've usually been pretty basic stuff like spaghetti and tacos. Sis. Aitken is up in Keila with Sis. LeDuc. They are about 2-3 hours away, I think. It took us about 3 hours to get to Pärnu from Riga by bus. There are only 4 sisters in all of Estonia. 16 Estonian speakers and I think about 8 Russians. 2 Elders and 2 Sisters in Pärnu.
Well, I gotta go now. I've been hanging around the computer long enough. I hope to be a little more efficient with my e-mail writing soon :P I love you all and thanks for the prayers!
Armastusega,
Courtney
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)