Email from James - July 11, 2011

Really random start to this letter but I really hate shaving everyday. During the winter I could pull of shaving one day then not having to shave the next but now I have to shave every morning otherwise I look like a pirate. Haha I used to think it was so cool to shave and now it's a burden haha. :D

I truly am so blessed in serving in Šiauliai. We always find lots of people to get numbers from and then to meet with which is such a great blessing. The major struggle I have is still learning this language. There are so many words and my stupid head won't remember the words I need to remember. It so different from english and any other language so it will be a struggle forever. Ugh, it's quite frustrating. I have major up and down moments with the language but what can you do. Just keep working I suppose. :D

Hahaha oh girls camps. I laughed so hard when you told me about how they were screaming about some tick in the car. I could picture it all with you laughing in the front teasing them about it and they are still screaming. :D Eh, send some of the girls here, I could find so many things that are a lot worse then a little tick. Hahaha I love this mission, being back home is going to feel so weird by how clean everything is and just by how people act, ect. It will be great. That's cool about how you gave the lesson about the precious stones. I heard a lesson something like that when I was in seminary forever ago. It was similar. I bet it was a way good lesson and then a forever testimony meeting after. Those fireside testimonies are always way good. It's just something about the forest that brings out the true spiritual side of someone. "Nature brings people closer to God" which is what all Lithuanians believe. :D 

Ah the infamous King's Peak hike. I'm way jealous. If they do it again next year or some cool hike, I totaly want to go :D. That has been one of the funnest camps I did in scouts. You'll have to send some pics and let me know how it went with all the guys. Ha I loved the picture with parke and the pack. He looks way tough with it on. It will be fun when he's older and us three can go on fishing trips and hiking trips together. 

That Interivew with President Dance is way cool. Elder Leishman had it on his MP3 player and I really liked it. We kinda laughed about how it talks about how many members there are and we looked at eatchother and say which way over half of the number of members are less active or are in another country or don't want to talk to us. I hope the day will come when a stake center will be here in the Baltics and especially in Lithuania. I will pass out when that day happens. But the youth here are so prepared. They notice how it's way strange how you have to confess your sins to a preist or the only way to bendrauti, ugh I don't know how you would say that in english, I am trying to think the best way to say that in english but it doesn't have the same feeling, like to communicate I guess . So ya the only way to communicate with God through a preist or just in the church is weird to them and they notice it. So I have no doubt when I am way older and they are older and have their own kids, the work will increase so much more. We found some way cool kids while out harvesting on saturday and they were awesome. We taught a way cool first lesson and gave them two book of mormons and we are going to meet with them this week. They were way interested why americans were all the way out in Lithuania and could speak Lithuanian. They also asked why we don't have girlfriends here in Lithuanian when they are the best looking in the world. Haha. :D They said after the mission I should come back and hang with them and they would find me a girlfriend. Haha I think they just liked me cause I we talked about music for a while and we liked the same kind. I love the youth here so much. I would totally move back here for a year and just hang out with them.  They are cool with whoever and they don't have stupid american clicks like we have. 

I actually did have a chance to meet president boswell at zone conference. He is so so cool and really funny. He makes a lot of jokes and just has a great attitude. I like him a lot already. Sister Boswell talked first and told us a little bit about how they got their call. They are from Frezno Cali. I laughed cause it was like in the movie Mosters vs. Aliens when they make fun of Frezno and no one has heard of it. She is way nice and she is going to be such a great mission "mom".  Then President Boswell spoke and he talked about Preisthood Keys and how we need to work side by side with the branches here otherwise the work won't go forth. It was way interesting. He talked so highly about us. He said how he heard so much about how great this mission is and how great of missionaires we are. Apparently they are really good friends with Elder Oaks and they say him in the MTC and they talked with him for a while. At the time he was holding in his hands all of our testimonies we had sent him. Elder Oaks was way impressed that President dance would do that. Elder Oaks told him how he had been in on a lot of the mission call meetings and he said how the missionaries that get sent to the Baltic Mission, are some of the greatest missionaires that are called to serve. President Boswell was so nice to us and talked so highly about us and how he hopes he can meet up to how we are. After we had a chance to have quick interviews both with Sister Boswell and President Boswell so I could to meet them both for a bit. They were separate interviews. But ya, they are going to be great to have here with us and to serve with them. I am so excited.

Nothing else really much to report this week. I loved the pictures so much. I loved the one of you two together. I am so blessed to have parents who are still together and love eatchother so much which helps the family grow so much more closer together. We got a busy week ahead of us, Rumšiškas is this saturday and I will take lots of pics. I am way excited. It's crazy how that was last year and it doesn't feel like it was that far away and now my last one is here. I'm way excited to see all the members again. :D

I love you so much and thank you so much for all the love and support.
                        James