Well....still here :) Sis. Lamar went down to Pärnu to be in a trio with Sis. Christopher and trainee Sis. Robinson and Sis. Nef came up to Tallinn. She is from Fresno (actually Clovis), California, has been here since August, the oldest of 4 kids, and a redhead :) I'm gonna miss that little goober, Sis. Lamar, ha ha.
Last week, Pres. Boswell wanted us to attend some "town hall" for U.S. citizens in Tallinn, put on by the U.S. Embassy. It was interesting and kinda fun really. The Ambassador spoke for a bit and then it was open for any sort of questions. After the meeting was like a social and I talked to perhaps the number 2 guy at the Embassy for a bit. He said he was learning Estonian, so Elder McGavin and I were talking to him about it. He's only been learning for a year, but our missionaries are better with a year into the language ;) Yet another testimony builder to me. Well, then again, he's sort of in an English bubble more than we are. I gotta say, the best part was overhearing two southerners talking about BBQ afterward. The lady was from South Carolina, but she actually prefers North Carolinan barbeque, but of course she's not allowed to say that at home, HAHAHAHAHA. Oh yes, I <3 America~ I relayed that story to Sis. Uibel and we had a good laugh about it on the trolley home. We're thinking of "BBQ tour 2012". ;) Sis. Uibel was transferred to Vilnius, Lithuania, and Sis. Dawson came in her place, whom I also love very much. She was here the first 2 weeks I moved to Tallinn, over 6 months ago now. Sis. Dawson hurt her foot a bit ago, so she is not allowed to stand on it for a long time, so last night, I went out with Sis. Hanks and Sis. Shnedere (ok, now I really need to ask her how to spell it!). Sis. Hanks and I sang the 12 Days of Christmas while waiting for a bus to go home. :) That reminded me of the 12 Days of Kwanzaa. I've been trying to quote some, and although I'm a tad rusty now, I can still get some laughs out of 'em!
I'm off to go start a game of Risk 2210 now! I say "start" because there's no where we're going to finish it in 3 or so hours. Sorry it's pretty short this week. But rest assured, life's been all fun and good recently! Things are going pretty well in the branch too, so if we work with them, we can expect some miracles. Thanks for all the lovin'~
Love,
Courtney
Monday, November 7, 2011
Monday, October 31, 2011
October 31, 2011
Happy Halloween!
I got the package last week, THANK YOU!! I've already gotten a couple of compliments on the cool scarves ;) Plus they're nice and warm. Tonight, we'll be joining the branch president's family for dinner and FHE, so that should be fantastic. Maybe we'll take some Halloween napkins that an old lady gave to us, ha ha! I saw them in her apartment and I asked where she got them, but then she gave them to me, he he, oops!
It's kind of hard to believe that this is Elder McGavin's last week. He spoke in church yesterday and invited a lot of people to come, and come they did! He had about 7-8 investigators at church! AND, the attendance at sacrament meeting was numbered at 98!!! Nearly every seat was filled! I think the turnout excited everyone there. In addition, more good news is that we FINALLY HAVE A BRANCH MISSION LEADER NOW!!!!! YAY!!!! He's actually an American who's moved here with his wife for school and they'll be here for 2 years. They're both groovy people! We try to teach his wife Estonian almost every week too. The members have their temple week happening now, and one of the members in our area should be going for his endowment, I believe!! He's really excited and we challenged him to give away a Liahona soon. Hopefully his time at the temple will get him even more excited to share that :)
As far as investigators go, meh, it's not really going anywhere at the moment, so we're working on finding some new folks to teach. Been contacting some former investigators too. We have yet to hear about anything for transfers yet, so we'll probably find out tonight. Well, it'd have to be that way so that arrangements can be made for whoever is training to go down to Riga on Wednesday. Sis. Lamar really wants to train, and I think she should too :) I'd love to still be with her next transfer so then it'll be like 3 generations of sister missionaries! It's amazing what some time, patience, love, understanding and honesty will do for a relationship. Last night, Sis. Lamar and I both agreed that had we split up as companions after our 2nd transfer, we still would dislike each other, he he. Now we're great friends! And that's what makes the work more fun, (and bearable too!)
Yesterday I also got DearElder letter from Bishop Andrews. He told me of some missionary efforts going on in our own ward, plus something about a Phoenix area mormon.org media blitz. That sounds nifty. What does that entail, exactly? Everybody's just making profiles? Mass Facebook, Twitter posts?
Thanks for your testimony, Mom. I've thought a lot about my dear parents recently, and how fortunate and blessed I am to have you. Thank you for everything.
Lots of love,
Courtney
P.S. do I have any holds preventing me from registering yet? Sometimes they want you to meet with an advisor before, and then they'll release the hold
I got the package last week, THANK YOU!! I've already gotten a couple of compliments on the cool scarves ;) Plus they're nice and warm. Tonight, we'll be joining the branch president's family for dinner and FHE, so that should be fantastic. Maybe we'll take some Halloween napkins that an old lady gave to us, ha ha! I saw them in her apartment and I asked where she got them, but then she gave them to me, he he, oops!
It's kind of hard to believe that this is Elder McGavin's last week. He spoke in church yesterday and invited a lot of people to come, and come they did! He had about 7-8 investigators at church! AND, the attendance at sacrament meeting was numbered at 98!!! Nearly every seat was filled! I think the turnout excited everyone there. In addition, more good news is that we FINALLY HAVE A BRANCH MISSION LEADER NOW!!!!! YAY!!!! He's actually an American who's moved here with his wife for school and they'll be here for 2 years. They're both groovy people! We try to teach his wife Estonian almost every week too. The members have their temple week happening now, and one of the members in our area should be going for his endowment, I believe!! He's really excited and we challenged him to give away a Liahona soon. Hopefully his time at the temple will get him even more excited to share that :)
As far as investigators go, meh, it's not really going anywhere at the moment, so we're working on finding some new folks to teach. Been contacting some former investigators too. We have yet to hear about anything for transfers yet, so we'll probably find out tonight. Well, it'd have to be that way so that arrangements can be made for whoever is training to go down to Riga on Wednesday. Sis. Lamar really wants to train, and I think she should too :) I'd love to still be with her next transfer so then it'll be like 3 generations of sister missionaries! It's amazing what some time, patience, love, understanding and honesty will do for a relationship. Last night, Sis. Lamar and I both agreed that had we split up as companions after our 2nd transfer, we still would dislike each other, he he. Now we're great friends! And that's what makes the work more fun, (and bearable too!)
Yesterday I also got DearElder letter from Bishop Andrews. He told me of some missionary efforts going on in our own ward, plus something about a Phoenix area mormon.org media blitz. That sounds nifty. What does that entail, exactly? Everybody's just making profiles? Mass Facebook, Twitter posts?
Thanks for your testimony, Mom. I've thought a lot about my dear parents recently, and how fortunate and blessed I am to have you. Thank you for everything.
Lots of love,
Courtney
P.S. do I have any holds preventing me from registering yet? Sometimes they want you to meet with an advisor before, and then they'll release the hold
Monday, October 24, 2011
October 24, 2011
The trees are so colorful now and there are leaves all over the ground. I love Fall~
We've been going through a huge pile of former investigator sheets and some Elders dumped on us, so that'll keep us busy for a long time. Last night, we found out that 2 of them we had listed had been dead for a few years. Well, that takes care of that! Now future missionaries don't have to worry about whether or not to contact them! One of our recent investigators met with missionaries one time 3 years ago, but then dropped out of contact. Heino, creates dentures and is very believing, and he has some interesting ideas and views about religion. Some of his ideas are spot on with us, but I foresee some struggles with the Word of Wisdom. I wouldn't say he's addicted to these substances, but he doesn't see why God only revealed this 200 years ago to Joseph Smith when civilizations have been using tobacco and alcohol even for medicinal purposes for thousands of years, etc. Well, we'll see how that turns out at our next appointment this week~ His poor wife has some sort of leg problems so she can't get around well, but she sat in quietly as we chatted. She's not really sure what she believes, but she seemed sweet and listened quietly.
We dropped some cookies off to people last week, and we even stopped by to see Keili whom we taught over the summer. We talked for a good while and she seems to be doing ok, just really really busy with work. She did mention how she's recently thought that she should come to church and surprise us sometime ;) I think she was glad that we came, so maybe sometime we can teach her again before I go.
Sis. Lamar and I are supposed to be working with one of the Family History experts in the branch to put on a Family History night that we can advertise in the paper. The only downside is that we don't really know how to coordinate this, plus our specialist has been out of town for a few weeks, so we haven't made any progress. We were thinking of doing it at the end of November, so hopefully we can still churn this out. Ideas, anyone?
Mom, you're obviously not a hindrance to cramping my e-mail time. It's usually me responding to Stacey or Shauna, and then plus my companion's lack of patience, ha ha! ;P OH AND GOOD NEWS FOR DAD!! I finally found out where that piano factory is that you told me to look for! I have yet to see it with my own eyes, but I know which area it's in, and the address, Kungla 41. Funny thing is that I found this out while visiting with a member. I mentioned that you were a piano tuner and she said we worked for that factory as a secretary! Fancy that! ;D I haven't gotten the package yet, but I assume that I'll be able to pick it up after District Meeting tomorrow. Or maybe even today, if I bug Elder McGavin for the mail key. He's going home next week! So is Elder Lane (from our stake!) That's weird. People here are starting to freak out that I'm not far behind too. I can't believe it's already been 6 months in Tallinn. I don't think I want to leave now :P This transfer is actually 7 weeks long, so the new transfer starts in the middle of next week. Sis. Lamar is starting to worry about having to train or move. The wait to find out is killing her, ha ha! I love Pärnu, but I would like to see Tallinn's Old Town at Christmas time. Plus, I'm just finally starting to get to know some of the members better here. Pluuuuuus, I'm feeling too lazy to pack up my stuff just yet ;) Well, that's it for now!! Thanks for all of the love and prayers. And thanks in advance for the package too!
Much love,
Courtney
We've been going through a huge pile of former investigator sheets and some Elders dumped on us, so that'll keep us busy for a long time. Last night, we found out that 2 of them we had listed had been dead for a few years. Well, that takes care of that! Now future missionaries don't have to worry about whether or not to contact them! One of our recent investigators met with missionaries one time 3 years ago, but then dropped out of contact. Heino, creates dentures and is very believing, and he has some interesting ideas and views about religion. Some of his ideas are spot on with us, but I foresee some struggles with the Word of Wisdom. I wouldn't say he's addicted to these substances, but he doesn't see why God only revealed this 200 years ago to Joseph Smith when civilizations have been using tobacco and alcohol even for medicinal purposes for thousands of years, etc. Well, we'll see how that turns out at our next appointment this week~ His poor wife has some sort of leg problems so she can't get around well, but she sat in quietly as we chatted. She's not really sure what she believes, but she seemed sweet and listened quietly.
We dropped some cookies off to people last week, and we even stopped by to see Keili whom we taught over the summer. We talked for a good while and she seems to be doing ok, just really really busy with work. She did mention how she's recently thought that she should come to church and surprise us sometime ;) I think she was glad that we came, so maybe sometime we can teach her again before I go.
Sis. Lamar and I are supposed to be working with one of the Family History experts in the branch to put on a Family History night that we can advertise in the paper. The only downside is that we don't really know how to coordinate this, plus our specialist has been out of town for a few weeks, so we haven't made any progress. We were thinking of doing it at the end of November, so hopefully we can still churn this out. Ideas, anyone?
Mom, you're obviously not a hindrance to cramping my e-mail time. It's usually me responding to Stacey or Shauna, and then plus my companion's lack of patience, ha ha! ;P OH AND GOOD NEWS FOR DAD!! I finally found out where that piano factory is that you told me to look for! I have yet to see it with my own eyes, but I know which area it's in, and the address, Kungla 41. Funny thing is that I found this out while visiting with a member. I mentioned that you were a piano tuner and she said we worked for that factory as a secretary! Fancy that! ;D I haven't gotten the package yet, but I assume that I'll be able to pick it up after District Meeting tomorrow. Or maybe even today, if I bug Elder McGavin for the mail key. He's going home next week! So is Elder Lane (from our stake!) That's weird. People here are starting to freak out that I'm not far behind too. I can't believe it's already been 6 months in Tallinn. I don't think I want to leave now :P This transfer is actually 7 weeks long, so the new transfer starts in the middle of next week. Sis. Lamar is starting to worry about having to train or move. The wait to find out is killing her, ha ha! I love Pärnu, but I would like to see Tallinn's Old Town at Christmas time. Plus, I'm just finally starting to get to know some of the members better here. Pluuuuuus, I'm feeling too lazy to pack up my stuff just yet ;) Well, that's it for now!! Thanks for all of the love and prayers. And thanks in advance for the package too!
Much love,
Courtney
Monday, October 17, 2011
October 17, 2011
Hiya fam!
Sorry there's not going to be very much to talk about this week, because really, it's all quite a blur. Sort of a roller coaster of events and emotions, but things are looking on the upside now. We lost a promising new investigator, but thankfully the love of our members has filled that hole in our hearts, and then some. Zone conference was also really grand and we watched some more General Conference, although we've still not watched 2-3 sessions. We're taking the slow route, I guess, ha ha. I guess it gives more time for contemplation, reflection, etc.
Back on Friday, we went to a member's little summer house outside of Tallinn and we spent the entire day gathering apples (mostly off the ground, ha ha) and making fresh apple juice! It looked a little sketchy with all the floaties and whatnot, but it tasted soooooo gooooooood~ We took a bottle of fresh juice home and then she boiled the rest and brought some more too us the day after. Now we have a nice collection of apples, apple juice, jam, and pickles from 2 members in our refrigerator. I guess we're gotta make a lot of apple crisp this week!
We had a good lesson last night with Anne and taught her about the Sabbath. Thank goodness we had a member there too, that was a big help. I hope we can get our hands on the triples in Estonian before I'm gone. I don't know how, but we're talking about it as a district. I'm tempted about the idea of pigeon rolling. Our porch on our apartment is infested with them, although we're trying some funny ways to keep them away. Well, that's all I got! Love you lots, and I'm looking forward to that package! ;)
Love,
Courtney
Sorry there's not going to be very much to talk about this week, because really, it's all quite a blur. Sort of a roller coaster of events and emotions, but things are looking on the upside now. We lost a promising new investigator, but thankfully the love of our members has filled that hole in our hearts, and then some. Zone conference was also really grand and we watched some more General Conference, although we've still not watched 2-3 sessions. We're taking the slow route, I guess, ha ha. I guess it gives more time for contemplation, reflection, etc.
Back on Friday, we went to a member's little summer house outside of Tallinn and we spent the entire day gathering apples (mostly off the ground, ha ha) and making fresh apple juice! It looked a little sketchy with all the floaties and whatnot, but it tasted soooooo gooooooood~ We took a bottle of fresh juice home and then she boiled the rest and brought some more too us the day after. Now we have a nice collection of apples, apple juice, jam, and pickles from 2 members in our refrigerator. I guess we're gotta make a lot of apple crisp this week!
We had a good lesson last night with Anne and taught her about the Sabbath. Thank goodness we had a member there too, that was a big help. I hope we can get our hands on the triples in Estonian before I'm gone. I don't know how, but we're talking about it as a district. I'm tempted about the idea of pigeon rolling. Our porch on our apartment is infested with them, although we're trying some funny ways to keep them away. Well, that's all I got! Love you lots, and I'm looking forward to that package! ;)
Love,
Courtney
Monday, October 10, 2011
October 10, 2011
It's nice to hear everyone's busy, yet happy! I just got that little package from the ward YW today, but have yet to open it. It says there's candy inside. *fist pump* YES. Today's P-day has been a little different, but nice and chill. The Pärnu district came up to Tallinn a day early for Zone Conference tomorrow. Sis. Nef needed to buy a coat so, that was the main reason. We swapped companions and I shopped with Sis. Nef, but she found her coat so quickly so we had a lot of down time while the other missionaries played sports. Today's weather is not quite as lovely as in AZ! It's overcast, misty, and windy and last I checked it was 8 celcius (about 45-46F) Already a tad nippy! I like the cold air on my cheeks, though :) The trees are really pretty with their fall colors now.
Last week, we got together as a district (there's 8 of us) to watch General Conference DVDS that the mission sent to us. The DVDs were mis-formatted, or something, so it didn't work there, but instead, we crashed at the Perrys' place to watch conference on their laptop. That was a brilliant idea, because after we started to watch it, they snuck out to go get us some food to eat, and even more interesting was that they bought some chicken from a stand near a mall, and we had just listened to Elder Cornish's talk where he mentioned fried chicken! Yay~ We missionaries were all a little taken aback, yet really thankful because we didn't expect them to spoil us that much. Sis. Perry said Elder Perry nearly cried when he got to the cash register and saw the total, ha ha ha! This week, we will be watching conference on the big screen at the Nõmme Elders' place ;)
Yesterday, a dear sweet old sister pulled Sis. Lamar and I into the church's kitchen to give us some handknit socks/booties. There's super cute and colorful! She said it's starting to get cold, so she thought of us. We thanked her greatly, but she just said that she was simply fulfilling the Lord's will :) Also this past week, I tried a cake recipe that a member gave us. Turned out better than I thought, although the berries we used were sour, so we don't dare share it with others :P We thought we'd make it for the baptism which occurred on Saturday, but Sis. Lamar insisted we just take some snicker doodles instead. That's usually what we bake since they're easy and yield a lot.
There were some other things I intended to include in today's e-mail.... but alas, I've seemed to have left my planner at home xP We didn't really teach any of our regular investigators this week, but every day, we've been adding new potentials to the list. Not much has been progressing on the side of Less-Active work recently, but we're still trying! Hopefully we'll get some inspiration on how to help that more at tomorrow's zone conference. Oh yeah, and big news for Estonia! After years and years, the D&C is finally available in Estonian!!!! The members are all so excited :D It probably could have been finished earlier, but they were also working on a new translation of the Book of Mormon too. The triple combination's haven't made it here yet, but it's on the internet now to read and order. I want to get my hands on a copy, a.s.a.p.
Well, that's all from me! I hope you're all happy and healthy! Thanks for the lovin'~
Love,
Courtney
P.S. Haven't sent the letter off yet because I need something from my mission president. Tomorrow is zone conference, so hopefully I'll get something tomorrow. Where do I send my letter to? E-mail to you and then you send it? Oh, and I need my Student ID #, not my username.
Last week, we got together as a district (there's 8 of us) to watch General Conference DVDS that the mission sent to us. The DVDs were mis-formatted, or something, so it didn't work there, but instead, we crashed at the Perrys' place to watch conference on their laptop. That was a brilliant idea, because after we started to watch it, they snuck out to go get us some food to eat, and even more interesting was that they bought some chicken from a stand near a mall, and we had just listened to Elder Cornish's talk where he mentioned fried chicken! Yay~ We missionaries were all a little taken aback, yet really thankful because we didn't expect them to spoil us that much. Sis. Perry said Elder Perry nearly cried when he got to the cash register and saw the total, ha ha ha! This week, we will be watching conference on the big screen at the Nõmme Elders' place ;)
Yesterday, a dear sweet old sister pulled Sis. Lamar and I into the church's kitchen to give us some handknit socks/booties. There's super cute and colorful! She said it's starting to get cold, so she thought of us. We thanked her greatly, but she just said that she was simply fulfilling the Lord's will :) Also this past week, I tried a cake recipe that a member gave us. Turned out better than I thought, although the berries we used were sour, so we don't dare share it with others :P We thought we'd make it for the baptism which occurred on Saturday, but Sis. Lamar insisted we just take some snicker doodles instead. That's usually what we bake since they're easy and yield a lot.
There were some other things I intended to include in today's e-mail.... but alas, I've seemed to have left my planner at home xP We didn't really teach any of our regular investigators this week, but every day, we've been adding new potentials to the list. Not much has been progressing on the side of Less-Active work recently, but we're still trying! Hopefully we'll get some inspiration on how to help that more at tomorrow's zone conference. Oh yeah, and big news for Estonia! After years and years, the D&C is finally available in Estonian!!!! The members are all so excited :D It probably could have been finished earlier, but they were also working on a new translation of the Book of Mormon too. The triple combination's haven't made it here yet, but it's on the internet now to read and order. I want to get my hands on a copy, a.s.a.p.
Well, that's all from me! I hope you're all happy and healthy! Thanks for the lovin'~
Love,
Courtney
P.S. Haven't sent the letter off yet because I need something from my mission president. Tomorrow is zone conference, so hopefully I'll get something tomorrow. Where do I send my letter to? E-mail to you and then you send it? Oh, and I need my Student ID #, not my username.
Monday, October 3, 2011
October 3, 2011
Conference was spectacular! President Monson seems to get a little goofier as time goes on, ha ha! And so many temple announcements too! That rumor I heard of a temple in Paris came true ;) France and Italy better bank in on the tourism that will be coming when the temples there have their Open Houses! Our Conference schedule went a little something like this: Saturday, RS broadcast 5-7pm, Sat. Morn. Session 7-9pm (live). Sunday, Priesthood 12-2pm, Sat. Aft. Session 3-5, and then Sunday's morning session 7-9pm(live). This time, we were blessed to have audio devices so we could listen in English (I listened half-English, half-Estonian. Kind of depended on who was translating, :). We will still, however, watch conference in the next 2-3 district meetings. I was really impressed how much emphasis was put on the youth using technology to further the work of the Lord. There was also a lot of emphasis on using scriptures too. I basically summed up Elder Scott's talk to be "Scriptures are our friends!" :D In between sessions on Sunday, we missionaries put together our own pot luck for the members. Thank goodness we made so much food, because they ate ALL OF IT. They were all so very thankful and so we felt good that we could share and serve them.
I'm not really sure what else to report on since General Conference outshines everything else we did this week, he he. We had some interesting teaching opportunities this week that have Sis. Lamar and I really trying to improve our teaching to people's needs and understanding. We knocked into a young mom 2 weeks ago, and met with her last week. She invited her brother to come sit in on the lesson too, but I hope we'll have another chance to teach the both of them. I guess everything's sort of just tootin' along now. Plus now I'm pressured to finish this e-mail by my companion because I took too much time doing other work on the compy. Oops, lol. So, I apologize you have to suffer this week with a lame e-mail. Hopefully some other noteworthy and miraculous things will happen this week as we apply what we've learned from conference! Thanks for all the prayers and support!
Hugs and kisses,
Courtney
I'm not really sure what else to report on since General Conference outshines everything else we did this week, he he. We had some interesting teaching opportunities this week that have Sis. Lamar and I really trying to improve our teaching to people's needs and understanding. We knocked into a young mom 2 weeks ago, and met with her last week. She invited her brother to come sit in on the lesson too, but I hope we'll have another chance to teach the both of them. I guess everything's sort of just tootin' along now. Plus now I'm pressured to finish this e-mail by my companion because I took too much time doing other work on the compy. Oops, lol. So, I apologize you have to suffer this week with a lame e-mail. Hopefully some other noteworthy and miraculous things will happen this week as we apply what we've learned from conference! Thanks for all the prayers and support!
Hugs and kisses,
Courtney
Monday, September 26, 2011
September 26, 2011
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?
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 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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