Photos from the Hill of Crosses, Šiauliai
Email From James - September 5, 2011
We had a way fun preparation day last week. We rode bikes to the hill of crosses again. It was a lot of fun and we got some more funny pics. The weather was way good. Ah I miss riding bikes so much. :D We also got so see a bit of some jazz music on saturday. We decided to gets some kababs and eat outside and watch a jazz group that was playing. Elder Lindell used to play in a jazz group so he was flipping out about it so we watched them for a while. It was pretty fun. They had some huge festival this whole weekend so there was a lot of craziness going on all week and weekend. That was a lot of fun dealing with all the drunks. Ugh I hate alkohol so much. Thankfully it's all over and school has started so there won't be so much choas outside, hopefully. An investigator of ours just had her baby, she has been taught by the missionaries for a long time. So we went by with some of the members and went to go see her. She really wanted us to come by. She loves the missionaries. It was so fun to go over and see her little baby boy. It made my day cause this past week has been kinda hard, but seeing that little baby made it a little better. He was way cute and we got some pics. :D It made me think back to the day when parker was born and how exciting of a day that was and way back to when anna was born. I laughed caused I rememberd how loud she was screaming and when mom wanted me to sit by her on the med-bed and I was terrified of that bed thing. :D
That's way cool you are going to have a missionary focused sunday in two weeks. You'll have to let me know how that goes. I know one message I am going to tell all the young preisthood when I get home and that is to study preach my gospel early and learn the scriptures because it's kicking me in the but and I have been out for a while. I can barely find scrips and what to teach from Preach My Gospel. It's hard to remember scrips and then think about the lesson to teach in another crazy language. Haha. Don't expect me to be a scripture wiz when I get home. :D
That's way fun mom suprised you with your date night in downtown. I can't wait to spend a day in downtown. It sounded like you had a lot of fun and that there have been a lot of changes made around there. If you can't find a journal that's fine. I can just buy one here. Also a little heads up incase you didnt' send a package off yet, transfers are next week. They changed the date of transfers and it's going to be next week so just incase you haven't sent it off, just wait til I find out what transfers are. If you did already, it's fine. I should get it before transfers.
That's way funny about the van and the magical garage doors. Hahaha those are going to be so amazing to see after the mission. I can't imagine how they used to be. It's rare to see a garage door in lithuania. Hahaha since the toilets flush differently, we were talking about how to flush toilets in america. Elder Lindell and I couldn't even remember. Elder Kezele told us laughingly and it was weird for us to imagine the little metal thing on the side of the toilet instead of a button on the top. Anyways haha, The new van sounds like it is working pretty well and you are all liking it. It will be fun to see it after the mission.
Ah Parker!! I'm so glad you told me what he does and says about me. :D That made my day. I miss him a ton and tell everyone all about him. Tell him I can't wait to see his rollerblades after the mission. :) I carry a picture of all you everywhere I go and I have had some good opportunities to tell people about you all.
There isn't much to report about this past week. We have been trying to find people to teach. It was a pretty hard week for me personally but today is a new day and it's the last week of the transfer. We have a lot of lessons this week so we will be kept busy. God gives us trials and we have to endure to the end and rely on him. It's hard to change but it's all for our good, as I said. I thank you so much for keeping me in your prayers and always being there for me. Sometimes it feels like there isn't anyone out there who cares about us, or sometimes me, in a country where not many people like us. I got a harsh reality of that this past week but it's not worth going into details. But it's just the advesrsary just trying to bring down a glorious work, which will never happen. I'm so happy to be serving here and love it every minute. It's the Best Two Hard Years. :D There is a story that has stuck out to me this past week. It was in an older ensign I read that was in the apt. It talked about some forest fire fighters who had been called to put out a fire. They landed in the spot where they were supposed to be. They knew that their chief was going to radio them where to go to put out the fire. The landed and tried to radio their cheif but got no reply. They waited for about a half hour for another chance to hear from the cheif but no communication came. They ended up just waiting, taking their lunch. A few hours later a firefighter came running up, covered in ash and dirt from the fire and yelled at the guys why they hadn't helped out. They told him that they were waiting for a call from the cheif of where to go but hadn't gotten the call. The other fireman took the remote and walked 20 yards and was able to get a signal. He came back and told them they were in a dead spot and had to just move. They were dead weight. Sometimes in our lives we have dead spots. We wait around for God to tell us something to do. We feel we have to be lead on what to do next, what to study next, shown how to grow. God, at times, wants us to make a move forward on our own. We have to take that step of faith into the darkness when there is no light. It becomes an act of faith and trust in God that He will help us when times get hard. That's kinda how my last week has been. It's kinda transferring to this week and I'm hoping it won't last too long. Press forward in faith! :)
I love you all so much and I can't wait to hear from you next week. :D Emails from you are the greatest part of the week. It gives me an extra boost for the upcoming week. :D
Love,
James
That's way cool you are going to have a missionary focused sunday in two weeks. You'll have to let me know how that goes. I know one message I am going to tell all the young preisthood when I get home and that is to study preach my gospel early and learn the scriptures because it's kicking me in the but and I have been out for a while. I can barely find scrips and what to teach from Preach My Gospel. It's hard to remember scrips and then think about the lesson to teach in another crazy language. Haha. Don't expect me to be a scripture wiz when I get home. :D
That's way fun mom suprised you with your date night in downtown. I can't wait to spend a day in downtown. It sounded like you had a lot of fun and that there have been a lot of changes made around there. If you can't find a journal that's fine. I can just buy one here. Also a little heads up incase you didnt' send a package off yet, transfers are next week. They changed the date of transfers and it's going to be next week so just incase you haven't sent it off, just wait til I find out what transfers are. If you did already, it's fine. I should get it before transfers.
That's way funny about the van and the magical garage doors. Hahaha those are going to be so amazing to see after the mission. I can't imagine how they used to be. It's rare to see a garage door in lithuania. Hahaha since the toilets flush differently, we were talking about how to flush toilets in america. Elder Lindell and I couldn't even remember. Elder Kezele told us laughingly and it was weird for us to imagine the little metal thing on the side of the toilet instead of a button on the top. Anyways haha, The new van sounds like it is working pretty well and you are all liking it. It will be fun to see it after the mission.
Ah Parker!! I'm so glad you told me what he does and says about me. :D That made my day. I miss him a ton and tell everyone all about him. Tell him I can't wait to see his rollerblades after the mission. :) I carry a picture of all you everywhere I go and I have had some good opportunities to tell people about you all.
There isn't much to report about this past week. We have been trying to find people to teach. It was a pretty hard week for me personally but today is a new day and it's the last week of the transfer. We have a lot of lessons this week so we will be kept busy. God gives us trials and we have to endure to the end and rely on him. It's hard to change but it's all for our good, as I said. I thank you so much for keeping me in your prayers and always being there for me. Sometimes it feels like there isn't anyone out there who cares about us, or sometimes me, in a country where not many people like us. I got a harsh reality of that this past week but it's not worth going into details. But it's just the advesrsary just trying to bring down a glorious work, which will never happen. I'm so happy to be serving here and love it every minute. It's the Best Two Hard Years. :D There is a story that has stuck out to me this past week. It was in an older ensign I read that was in the apt. It talked about some forest fire fighters who had been called to put out a fire. They landed in the spot where they were supposed to be. They knew that their chief was going to radio them where to go to put out the fire. The landed and tried to radio their cheif but got no reply. They waited for about a half hour for another chance to hear from the cheif but no communication came. They ended up just waiting, taking their lunch. A few hours later a firefighter came running up, covered in ash and dirt from the fire and yelled at the guys why they hadn't helped out. They told him that they were waiting for a call from the cheif of where to go but hadn't gotten the call. The other fireman took the remote and walked 20 yards and was able to get a signal. He came back and told them they were in a dead spot and had to just move. They were dead weight. Sometimes in our lives we have dead spots. We wait around for God to tell us something to do. We feel we have to be lead on what to do next, what to study next, shown how to grow. God, at times, wants us to make a move forward on our own. We have to take that step of faith into the darkness when there is no light. It becomes an act of faith and trust in God that He will help us when times get hard. That's kinda how my last week has been. It's kinda transferring to this week and I'm hoping it won't last too long. Press forward in faith! :)
I love you all so much and I can't wait to hear from you next week. :D Emails from you are the greatest part of the week. It gives me an extra boost for the upcoming week. :D
Love,
James
Email From James - August 29, 2011
Sveikas Tete,
I would have to say this week was one of the greatest weeks in my whole entire mission. These past two weeks have been the most changing opportunities for me. Ah, it was just so great and there aren't even words to describe it. I will try my best to explain. :D
First off, I'm so glad that you were able to find a car. It looks great and I started laughing because it is the complete standard Mormon Van that everyone has. Haha but I love it and can't wait to be picked up in that car when I get back. That truly does sound like a blessing how you ended up finding that car. I love how the spirit works in small ways. I know that that was truly Heaven sent.
I think I get that same love of thunder and rain from you. I love rain storms so much and they are amazing here. I love it whenver it begins to rain and when it rains here in Lietuva, it REALLY rains. It's so beauitful and it's so great on those days when I forget to take my umbrella. ;D I hope when day I will be able to take you here. This country is so beautiful and I love everything about it so much. My love for this country, the language, and the people grows more and more everyday. I am so beyond blessed to be serving here. I caught myself wrighting a huge epiloge, ( can I use epiloge? eh who knows) but a long thing I wrote about how much I love lithuania and the people in my journal the other night. There are so many nights when I can't even sleep because I'm so excited to hurry and have the next day come so I can go out and talk in lithuanian and help someone. :D I know I am going to cry when I have to leave my home here.
So let my explain this past week. The week before I had my spew about working hard and becoming what the Lord wants me to become. Well I thought I had done that but that happened even more so this past week. I set a bunch of goals that would really stretch myself. I realized in study of Preach My Gospel and in the scriptures, we must, there's a word in english but I can't remember it, but it's like discuss or talk with God and make sure it is in line with His will. I looked back and asked myself, " Have I ever done that before in my mission?" I realized I hadn't really done that before and made the descision to do it. I did and had more impressions come into my head of how I could take those ideas even farther to help me become a better speaker and teacher in lithuanian and a better disciple of Christ. I now have such a strong testimony that God helps us when we rely on him and recognize our weaknesses. Wow, did blessings come. I started studying only in my lithaunian scriptures and Preach My Gospel and I don't find myself looking up words in the dictionary and I catch myself writing notes with words I don't even remember studying. I am flying through my Book of Mormon reading in lithuanian, which before was taking a while to get started. I am having REAL spiritual strengthening and building personal studies and am really seeing what it means to come unto Christ. I am seeing and feeling what it truly means to have a "mighty change of heart". I feel the spirit so strongly so much more than I ever have before. Thoughts and ideas come into my head so much stronger and faster when we are teaching.
An example of this was in my english class. I teach the second english class by myself. I love my class so much and we always have a lot of fun. I felt a strong spiritual impression to speak about Joseph Smith inline with how I received my testimony of the Gospel. Spiritual thoughts didn't seem like they really had much of an effect on my class, probably because they are mostly all teenage girls. So I began talking about how I received my testimony. They really listened and I got them to interact more in the lesson. Sure, they participate a ton during the language part but in the spiritual thought, not so much. But this time they did. I found myself having a harder time speaking english than lithuanian. hahaha. So in this spiritual thought I always give in lithuanian since they understand better than english even though they prefer me to teach it in english :D, the were all involved and were watching really closely at what I said. I told about Joseph Smith and taught about the First Vision. As I stated Joseph smith's own words about his vision, I could feel the spirit so strongly, there was no denying and I know that each one of them in that lesson felt it too. I could see it in their eyes. My language has improved so much in just a week. That is truly a miracle and a witness of the spiritual power of the gift of tongues.
That lesson in english class was such a powerful witness to me that God knew who I was, who knew I was and am willing to do whatever it takes to build His kingdom. I have a new vision of what it means to be a missionary and ultimately, a desciple of Christ. I am so blessed to be serving in Lithuania. I didn't even know where it was two years ago. I thank God so much every night that I was chosen to serve his children in the small country that not many people know about even exists. It brings the thought to my head of the scripture, " many are called, but few are chosen". I see more and more every day of why I chosen to serve here.
There was a lady in the elder's english class who asked if she could take a Book of Mormon. The elders tried to ask if we could meet with her after but she said we could talk at english if she had any questions. That same day, this last saturday, we went out harvesting. We prayed before leaving of where we should go and we felt we should go there. Our second door, we found that same lady. She let us in and we had a wonderful lesson. She said she had found out where those english classes were at. She doesn't like churches at all. She doesn't like priests and can't stand all the crosses. So she got over her fear and came to our church for english. She came in and noticed there were no crosses. There were no priests. In her own words, " there was really nice boys, not boys becoming priests, but sincere nice boys trying to talk about God with people. Priests never do that with anyone". She realized that this place was good. That we had sincere good desires, especially as she saw now how we go out and talk to people. :D She said she would read the Book of Mormon and then we could meet more.
Miracles happen everday. I know God is always ready and willing to reach out and bless. " His work and his glory is to bring to pass the imortality and eternal life of man". To me, that sounds like happiness. God wants us to be happy. Why would he not want to bless us with all he has. He promised if we are faithful and love him by keeping his commandments, " behold I say unto you, ye shall have eternal life". Which is the " greatest of all the gifts of God". Mom, Dad, Thank you so much for providing this great opportunity for me to serve a mission. I can't even imagine what my life would be like without it. I love looking at my name tag every morning and saying that I'm a missionary. It's such a great joy every day to put that name tag on and literally " bear the name of Chirst". I can't imagine what life used to be like without wearing the tag. It will feel like a hundred pounds to have to take it off at the end of my mission. Ugh, I don't even want to think about that day. :D If ever there is a person that doesn't want to serve a mission, they don't realize what they are missing. These literally are the Best Two Years!
Have a great week and I can't wait to hear from you next week. I love you all so so much.
Būkite taip kaip Nefis sake savo tevui ," ir buvo taip kad aš nefis sake savo tevui, as darysiu tai, ką Dievas įsake."
Su meilė visada ir per amzių amzius,
Vyresnysis Džemsas Senfordas
I would have to say this week was one of the greatest weeks in my whole entire mission. These past two weeks have been the most changing opportunities for me. Ah, it was just so great and there aren't even words to describe it. I will try my best to explain. :D
First off, I'm so glad that you were able to find a car. It looks great and I started laughing because it is the complete standard Mormon Van that everyone has. Haha but I love it and can't wait to be picked up in that car when I get back. That truly does sound like a blessing how you ended up finding that car. I love how the spirit works in small ways. I know that that was truly Heaven sent.
I think I get that same love of thunder and rain from you. I love rain storms so much and they are amazing here. I love it whenver it begins to rain and when it rains here in Lietuva, it REALLY rains. It's so beauitful and it's so great on those days when I forget to take my umbrella. ;D I hope when day I will be able to take you here. This country is so beautiful and I love everything about it so much. My love for this country, the language, and the people grows more and more everyday. I am so beyond blessed to be serving here. I caught myself wrighting a huge epiloge, ( can I use epiloge? eh who knows) but a long thing I wrote about how much I love lithuania and the people in my journal the other night. There are so many nights when I can't even sleep because I'm so excited to hurry and have the next day come so I can go out and talk in lithuanian and help someone. :D I know I am going to cry when I have to leave my home here.
So let my explain this past week. The week before I had my spew about working hard and becoming what the Lord wants me to become. Well I thought I had done that but that happened even more so this past week. I set a bunch of goals that would really stretch myself. I realized in study of Preach My Gospel and in the scriptures, we must, there's a word in english but I can't remember it, but it's like discuss or talk with God and make sure it is in line with His will. I looked back and asked myself, " Have I ever done that before in my mission?" I realized I hadn't really done that before and made the descision to do it. I did and had more impressions come into my head of how I could take those ideas even farther to help me become a better speaker and teacher in lithuanian and a better disciple of Christ. I now have such a strong testimony that God helps us when we rely on him and recognize our weaknesses. Wow, did blessings come. I started studying only in my lithaunian scriptures and Preach My Gospel and I don't find myself looking up words in the dictionary and I catch myself writing notes with words I don't even remember studying. I am flying through my Book of Mormon reading in lithuanian, which before was taking a while to get started. I am having REAL spiritual strengthening and building personal studies and am really seeing what it means to come unto Christ. I am seeing and feeling what it truly means to have a "mighty change of heart". I feel the spirit so strongly so much more than I ever have before. Thoughts and ideas come into my head so much stronger and faster when we are teaching.
An example of this was in my english class. I teach the second english class by myself. I love my class so much and we always have a lot of fun. I felt a strong spiritual impression to speak about Joseph Smith inline with how I received my testimony of the Gospel. Spiritual thoughts didn't seem like they really had much of an effect on my class, probably because they are mostly all teenage girls. So I began talking about how I received my testimony. They really listened and I got them to interact more in the lesson. Sure, they participate a ton during the language part but in the spiritual thought, not so much. But this time they did. I found myself having a harder time speaking english than lithuanian. hahaha. So in this spiritual thought I always give in lithuanian since they understand better than english even though they prefer me to teach it in english :D, the were all involved and were watching really closely at what I said. I told about Joseph Smith and taught about the First Vision. As I stated Joseph smith's own words about his vision, I could feel the spirit so strongly, there was no denying and I know that each one of them in that lesson felt it too. I could see it in their eyes. My language has improved so much in just a week. That is truly a miracle and a witness of the spiritual power of the gift of tongues.
That lesson in english class was such a powerful witness to me that God knew who I was, who knew I was and am willing to do whatever it takes to build His kingdom. I have a new vision of what it means to be a missionary and ultimately, a desciple of Christ. I am so blessed to be serving in Lithuania. I didn't even know where it was two years ago. I thank God so much every night that I was chosen to serve his children in the small country that not many people know about even exists. It brings the thought to my head of the scripture, " many are called, but few are chosen". I see more and more every day of why I chosen to serve here.
There was a lady in the elder's english class who asked if she could take a Book of Mormon. The elders tried to ask if we could meet with her after but she said we could talk at english if she had any questions. That same day, this last saturday, we went out harvesting. We prayed before leaving of where we should go and we felt we should go there. Our second door, we found that same lady. She let us in and we had a wonderful lesson. She said she had found out where those english classes were at. She doesn't like churches at all. She doesn't like priests and can't stand all the crosses. So she got over her fear and came to our church for english. She came in and noticed there were no crosses. There were no priests. In her own words, " there was really nice boys, not boys becoming priests, but sincere nice boys trying to talk about God with people. Priests never do that with anyone". She realized that this place was good. That we had sincere good desires, especially as she saw now how we go out and talk to people. :D She said she would read the Book of Mormon and then we could meet more.
Miracles happen everday. I know God is always ready and willing to reach out and bless. " His work and his glory is to bring to pass the imortality and eternal life of man". To me, that sounds like happiness. God wants us to be happy. Why would he not want to bless us with all he has. He promised if we are faithful and love him by keeping his commandments, " behold I say unto you, ye shall have eternal life". Which is the " greatest of all the gifts of God". Mom, Dad, Thank you so much for providing this great opportunity for me to serve a mission. I can't even imagine what my life would be like without it. I love looking at my name tag every morning and saying that I'm a missionary. It's such a great joy every day to put that name tag on and literally " bear the name of Chirst". I can't imagine what life used to be like without wearing the tag. It will feel like a hundred pounds to have to take it off at the end of my mission. Ugh, I don't even want to think about that day. :D If ever there is a person that doesn't want to serve a mission, they don't realize what they are missing. These literally are the Best Two Years!
Have a great week and I can't wait to hear from you next week. I love you all so so much.
Būkite taip kaip Nefis sake savo tevui ," ir buvo taip kad aš nefis sake savo tevui, as darysiu tai, ką Dievas įsake."
Su meilė visada ir per amzių amzius,
Vyresnysis Džemsas Senfordas
Email from James - August 22, 2011
Before I forget, you asked about which small scripture I was talking about. There are some kind that I really like that a lot of missionaries have. They look just like the small hymnbooks, like the one I took with me on my mission and they are the same size as them. The pages have the gold on the side and the leather cover is black. The Bible and the Triple aren't conectted which I like. If you could get those kind that would be really nice to have. The big quad is big to cary around to zone conferences and district meetings. Plus those are easier to read while traveling. :D Just let me know what you think. Transfers aren't until the 20th sometime of September so there's still plenty of time. The MTC had a mix up or something so they are getting all the missions aligned so this transfer is an extra week long.
I can't wait to have those fun nights where the family all get together again. I can't wait to see them all again. I miss good ol american BBQ's. Especially big grills and some nice steak with A1 sauce. Man, i'm making my mouth water. But for now, I really like Šalti Baršai and Cepeliniai with a nice cold can of Gira. Yum :D Hahah grandpa and his swap meets. I think he would go crazy here with the Turgus' here. You can find anything at a really cheap price. They are a lot of fun to go to because you never know what you are going to find.
I hope the buying of a van works out and that you can find a way to sell the Mazda. It always makes me smile whenever I see a mazda like yours drive by. I can say that I am so tired of seeing European cars. They all look the same. It literally is like looking down the road and seeing: Audi Audi Audi Audi Audi BMW Bmw Audi Audi Honda, Audi Audi , crapy Ford small car you would never see in America, Audi Audi Audi. Haha :D We go crazy if we see some big car like a truck or something cause you never see big suped up trucks or really trucks at all.
We had a pretty hard week this past week in finding. We have been really working with the all of the members. That literally means everyone. Active, less active, inactive, whatever. We are meeting with everyone. We set a goal at zone conference to meet all the members of each missionary's area by Oct. I'm excited. We meet with about ten members who haven't been to church in a while, including the old Branch President who hasn't come to church in a long time. That was a pretty intense lesson, well it was more just nerve racking before we got there, but once we came in and started talking it was really good. It was a bit of a strange leson. Not sure what to say about it, but I can tell you more after the mission. Him and his wife were really nice to us and said that their door is always open to us. We only found one new investigator this past week and that was yesterday. She had met with missionaries a long time ago and had an older translation of the book of mormon. She was really nice and we talked about Bapism, cause the good missionaries who found her invited her to baptism in the first lesson, and she says she does't want to change but she said it would be interesting to find out what we say is true.
One member here, who is one of my greatest friends here, came back from his work trip in Norway. He left my first transfer here so I already knew him pretty well. He was baptized when he was younger and is now wondering if the church is true or not. He has been struggling with his testimony for a while and wants to get an answer. He is such a cool guy and I love him a ton. He loves meeting with us and just talking and having us help him find his answer and his testimony. He is a very deep thinker and I think he just thinks to much. I know how he feels cause it was hard to get my testimony back and to keep it strong. I bore my testimony and told him about how you told me one day. It was that day when I was having a hard time finding my testimony and I was talking to you about it. You told me simply, " I think you have a testimony". I thought about that for a long time after and it made me just stop and look at where i'm at. Why am I going to church? Why do I read the Book of Mormon? Why did I go on a mission? Why do I want to keep changing every day?
I had to have that reminder this past week to stop and look at myself and see how I could change. I could feel my spirit and my testimony was weeking this past week. It was a pretty hard week to keep going and my studies were loosing their meaning. One of my weaknesses is putting down my pride and realizing I knew God's help at all times and simply put his turst in him. It is something I am constantly working on. It took up til Sunday night to really talk to God. I had to really stop and look at myself and say, " God, what do I need to do for you to become what I need to be". Then he answers when we lower our pride and show Him, that we truly need his Help. The thought came to my head that one of my comps said a while back that is now a quote in my Preach My Gospel. It is, " Never be comfortable where you are at, always be improving". I knew I hadn't been studying the best I could that past week and that I can be better than how I was. One quote that is from me that I had come to my head last winter, which is also in my Preach My Gospel, is " God gives us trials to help us become our full potential, it's how we use those trials that determine what we will become". I am so grateful that God has such great patience with me. It's hard to change, but it is possible. I am so excited for this week and i'm really going to try to make this week a great one and work as hard as I can. It is so true what you said. We are constantly becoming desciples of Christ as we change ourselves and then help others change. It's such a great blessing and a great responsibility.
As always, thank you so much for all you do for me. I don't think I day goes by when I don't think how blessed I am to have the family that I have. You are my greatest joy and I love you all so much. We are tuly blessed for all that we have. We have so many great blessings and I see them more and more as I serve here among peole who have nothing. These people have been through some of the hardest things that none of us could ever imagine going through. This culture is the true russian culture, every man for himself. It breaks my heart to ask someone how they are doing and constantly hear, " terrible". They look at what's bad in life, but not about the good. It's a great joy to be able to smile and tell people that they can find happiness. We get a lot of no's or that we don't know what we are talking about. But I can look them in the eye and say that I know. I'm not perfect but I know God loves me and he loves you. It's a great blessing to have the knowledge that we have. Don't overlook the small blessings that we have. :D
Makes this week a great week.
Love always,
James
I can't wait to have those fun nights where the family all get together again. I can't wait to see them all again. I miss good ol american BBQ's. Especially big grills and some nice steak with A1 sauce. Man, i'm making my mouth water. But for now, I really like Šalti Baršai and Cepeliniai with a nice cold can of Gira. Yum :D Hahah grandpa and his swap meets. I think he would go crazy here with the Turgus' here. You can find anything at a really cheap price. They are a lot of fun to go to because you never know what you are going to find.
I hope the buying of a van works out and that you can find a way to sell the Mazda. It always makes me smile whenever I see a mazda like yours drive by. I can say that I am so tired of seeing European cars. They all look the same. It literally is like looking down the road and seeing: Audi Audi Audi Audi Audi BMW Bmw Audi Audi Honda, Audi Audi , crapy Ford small car you would never see in America, Audi Audi Audi. Haha :D We go crazy if we see some big car like a truck or something cause you never see big suped up trucks or really trucks at all.
We had a pretty hard week this past week in finding. We have been really working with the all of the members. That literally means everyone. Active, less active, inactive, whatever. We are meeting with everyone. We set a goal at zone conference to meet all the members of each missionary's area by Oct. I'm excited. We meet with about ten members who haven't been to church in a while, including the old Branch President who hasn't come to church in a long time. That was a pretty intense lesson, well it was more just nerve racking before we got there, but once we came in and started talking it was really good. It was a bit of a strange leson. Not sure what to say about it, but I can tell you more after the mission. Him and his wife were really nice to us and said that their door is always open to us. We only found one new investigator this past week and that was yesterday. She had met with missionaries a long time ago and had an older translation of the book of mormon. She was really nice and we talked about Bapism, cause the good missionaries who found her invited her to baptism in the first lesson, and she says she does't want to change but she said it would be interesting to find out what we say is true.
One member here, who is one of my greatest friends here, came back from his work trip in Norway. He left my first transfer here so I already knew him pretty well. He was baptized when he was younger and is now wondering if the church is true or not. He has been struggling with his testimony for a while and wants to get an answer. He is such a cool guy and I love him a ton. He loves meeting with us and just talking and having us help him find his answer and his testimony. He is a very deep thinker and I think he just thinks to much. I know how he feels cause it was hard to get my testimony back and to keep it strong. I bore my testimony and told him about how you told me one day. It was that day when I was having a hard time finding my testimony and I was talking to you about it. You told me simply, " I think you have a testimony". I thought about that for a long time after and it made me just stop and look at where i'm at. Why am I going to church? Why do I read the Book of Mormon? Why did I go on a mission? Why do I want to keep changing every day?
I had to have that reminder this past week to stop and look at myself and see how I could change. I could feel my spirit and my testimony was weeking this past week. It was a pretty hard week to keep going and my studies were loosing their meaning. One of my weaknesses is putting down my pride and realizing I knew God's help at all times and simply put his turst in him. It is something I am constantly working on. It took up til Sunday night to really talk to God. I had to really stop and look at myself and say, " God, what do I need to do for you to become what I need to be". Then he answers when we lower our pride and show Him, that we truly need his Help. The thought came to my head that one of my comps said a while back that is now a quote in my Preach My Gospel. It is, " Never be comfortable where you are at, always be improving". I knew I hadn't been studying the best I could that past week and that I can be better than how I was. One quote that is from me that I had come to my head last winter, which is also in my Preach My Gospel, is " God gives us trials to help us become our full potential, it's how we use those trials that determine what we will become". I am so grateful that God has such great patience with me. It's hard to change, but it is possible. I am so excited for this week and i'm really going to try to make this week a great one and work as hard as I can. It is so true what you said. We are constantly becoming desciples of Christ as we change ourselves and then help others change. It's such a great blessing and a great responsibility.
As always, thank you so much for all you do for me. I don't think I day goes by when I don't think how blessed I am to have the family that I have. You are my greatest joy and I love you all so much. We are tuly blessed for all that we have. We have so many great blessings and I see them more and more as I serve here among peole who have nothing. These people have been through some of the hardest things that none of us could ever imagine going through. This culture is the true russian culture, every man for himself. It breaks my heart to ask someone how they are doing and constantly hear, " terrible". They look at what's bad in life, but not about the good. It's a great joy to be able to smile and tell people that they can find happiness. We get a lot of no's or that we don't know what we are talking about. But I can look them in the eye and say that I know. I'm not perfect but I know God loves me and he loves you. It's a great blessing to have the knowledge that we have. Don't overlook the small blessings that we have. :D
Makes this week a great week.
Love always,
James
Email from James - August 16, 2011
We had zone konference yesterday so that is why I didn't email yesterday. Don't worry, I am still alive and well. :D It was a lot of fun. We got to go down to Kaunas and see everyone again. I love zone konferences so so much and they are such a spiritual strengthener and really boost you up and make you want to be better. It was so awesome to see Elder Erickson again. We acted like we hadn't seen eachother in years. He ran up to me and gave me a huge hug and said how much he misses me and all my funny moments and my acting. Haha. It's really crazy though. Around the whole world for all missions, the First Presidency wants every companionship to have a small DVD player so we can watch the PMG DVDs more often so we can learn a lot more from them. So we all got small little DVD players so that will be fun to use. I was a little tired yesterday because yesterday was a holiday here so they only bus that left from Šiauliai was at 6 and we had to get up at 4 to get ready to go. So that was a blast. I slep a little on the bus ride but not to much. It was so foggy that morning then it cleared up a bit and it was so pretty with the sun shinning through the fog onto the beautiful midevil land of Lietuva. Ah I love it here so much. I'm so blessed to be a Baltic Missionary and in Lietuva speaking this ancient language.
I'm so happy i'm still in Šiauliai too. The branch president is way close to us here and he is way funny. We had to go down to Vilnius to get Elder Kezele's visa stuff done and we went out to eat with the branch president because he lives in Vilnius and every saturday he travels up to Šiauliai for sundays. He's so great.
We found a great lady this week who came to church and became really good friends with some of the members which was a real miracle. I really hope that she can find out that the church is true. She is in her late 20s and has a daughter but she isn't married. Her parent are pretty against the church but she doesn't care. She would be such a great help to this branch so much.
I had a fun day at church. I had to teach Preisthood Quorum and I taught about the Book of Mormon and it's importance for us in our day. It was a really good lesson and a lot of fun to teach in LIthaunian.
We don't have a lot of time to email today so it's a little short but just know that I had a great week last week. We have been working really hard and I can feel the Lord is blessing us for our obedience and for our hard work in helping his children come back to him. I love this gospel with my whole soul and I thank God everyday that I am blessed to be on a mission. I wouldn't have been able to have this change into the person I need to be if I hadn't gone on a mission. Thank you so much for all the help you give to me and all the love and support. I can't wait to hear from you next week.
su meile visada,
James
I'm so happy i'm still in Šiauliai too. The branch president is way close to us here and he is way funny. We had to go down to Vilnius to get Elder Kezele's visa stuff done and we went out to eat with the branch president because he lives in Vilnius and every saturday he travels up to Šiauliai for sundays. He's so great.
We found a great lady this week who came to church and became really good friends with some of the members which was a real miracle. I really hope that she can find out that the church is true. She is in her late 20s and has a daughter but she isn't married. Her parent are pretty against the church but she doesn't care. She would be such a great help to this branch so much.
I had a fun day at church. I had to teach Preisthood Quorum and I taught about the Book of Mormon and it's importance for us in our day. It was a really good lesson and a lot of fun to teach in LIthaunian.
We don't have a lot of time to email today so it's a little short but just know that I had a great week last week. We have been working really hard and I can feel the Lord is blessing us for our obedience and for our hard work in helping his children come back to him. I love this gospel with my whole soul and I thank God everyday that I am blessed to be on a mission. I wouldn't have been able to have this change into the person I need to be if I hadn't gone on a mission. Thank you so much for all the help you give to me and all the love and support. I can't wait to hear from you next week.
su meile visada,
James
Email from James - August 8, 2011
Oh Kęstutis. We aren't really sure what to do with him any more. I love meeting with him and we have literally taught him everything. He has been meeting with the missionaries for about 8 years. He had this problem before but he brought it up again that he really wants a missionary to baptize him. The rule still stands that members need to do the baptizing here so we explained that to him, which we have done so many times in the past. He says he just has a great feeling that he needs to be baptized by a missionary, which he takes to believe is from God. We explained how God wants him to be baptized and how revelation through leaders works, that the mission president receives revevelation from God on how the work needs to be run here. He said he understands and has nothing against the rule but that is just how he feels. It was a good lesson but he isn't progressing. He said he would pray about it. He didn't come to church again so we aren't sure what more we can do because he really isn't progressing. I think he just really wants to be baptized by a missionary but still doesn't realize that baptism is more than just being baptize by a misionary. I could go on and on because we have taught him all that but you get the point. haha. Just a little side note: Thank you so much for fasting for Kęstutis. That meant a lot and I know you are helping so much. But, i'm not sure why but the Lord has said that families aren't supposed to have special fasts at home for our investigators. So if I mention an investigator, your kinda not supposed to fast for them. You can pray for them ofcourse but your not really supposed to fast for our investigators. As a mission president would say and as i'm saying to you, if you have questions see the Handbook. Obey with exactness!!! Wo!! :D
So transfers came and i'm still in Šiauliai. Elder Erickson left to go to Klaipeda, which we were both pretty sad about. Elder Lindell is still here and now Elder Kezele is with us. He was with Elder Erickson in the MTC so he is pretty new too. He has already been really fun to be with. The work still goes on here but it's been pretty hard to find people to teach. All of our really solid investigators have dropped us and we don't really have a baptismal date anymore. It's kinda downing but you just keep going I gues. It's all in the Lord's time and he knows what is best.
Nothing really happened this week. Other than transfers, it was a pretty dull week. haha sorry this email is kinda boring. Haha yesterday for lunch, I made pankakes and I found some chocolate chips to put in them. Great idea right? Well since it was fast sunday and we were at the church for a bit longer working on cleaning up all of the problems with the finances we have to do, I wasn't really using my head. So without thinking, I made the batter for the pankakes perfectly and then dumped the whole bag of chocolate chips into the mix. Hahah I started laughing a I mixed them in because it then clicked in my head how much I had just put in to the mix. Well they were quite chocolately, but they still tasted good. :D Hahah oh sometimes I wish I could just film parts of my mission when I'm not thinking straight.
I was wondering if you could do a little favor. Whenever mom decides to send a package with my journals that I need, haha, do you think maybe you could send a small Book of Mormon and D&C, like the pocket size. and if you see one maybe the bible too. That would be so handy and some missionaries have them and I love them so much because all I have is my quad and they are kinda a pain to carry around sometimes. Just a small favor I thought I would ask while I remembered. :D
I'm excited to see pics from this fun camping trip your going on with Parker. That will be a lot of fun. I can't believe he is already starting school. How the time goes by. I'm glad to hear that Anna is coping with her insulin shot thing. To me, it sounds pretty gruesome having a thing in your stomach. She's tough though and I know she can handle anything. Like I always say but it's always straight from my heart, thank you so much for all that you do for me and helping me as I'm here. I love you all so much and you are all great examples to me. I ate one of the beloved boxes of Velvetta shells and cheese the Lambournes gave to me. It was a night I needed it, this week hasn't been so great for me, but that happenes, and it made me very happy inside so you will have to thank them for that. :D Those are like gold to me and I only eat them on very special occasions :) Have a great week and I can't wait to hear from you next week.
su daug meilų,
James
So transfers came and i'm still in Šiauliai. Elder Erickson left to go to Klaipeda, which we were both pretty sad about. Elder Lindell is still here and now Elder Kezele is with us. He was with Elder Erickson in the MTC so he is pretty new too. He has already been really fun to be with. The work still goes on here but it's been pretty hard to find people to teach. All of our really solid investigators have dropped us and we don't really have a baptismal date anymore. It's kinda downing but you just keep going I gues. It's all in the Lord's time and he knows what is best.
Nothing really happened this week. Other than transfers, it was a pretty dull week. haha sorry this email is kinda boring. Haha yesterday for lunch, I made pankakes and I found some chocolate chips to put in them. Great idea right? Well since it was fast sunday and we were at the church for a bit longer working on cleaning up all of the problems with the finances we have to do, I wasn't really using my head. So without thinking, I made the batter for the pankakes perfectly and then dumped the whole bag of chocolate chips into the mix. Hahah I started laughing a I mixed them in because it then clicked in my head how much I had just put in to the mix. Well they were quite chocolately, but they still tasted good. :D Hahah oh sometimes I wish I could just film parts of my mission when I'm not thinking straight.
I was wondering if you could do a little favor. Whenever mom decides to send a package with my journals that I need, haha, do you think maybe you could send a small Book of Mormon and D&C, like the pocket size. and if you see one maybe the bible too. That would be so handy and some missionaries have them and I love them so much because all I have is my quad and they are kinda a pain to carry around sometimes. Just a small favor I thought I would ask while I remembered. :D
I'm excited to see pics from this fun camping trip your going on with Parker. That will be a lot of fun. I can't believe he is already starting school. How the time goes by. I'm glad to hear that Anna is coping with her insulin shot thing. To me, it sounds pretty gruesome having a thing in your stomach. She's tough though and I know she can handle anything. Like I always say but it's always straight from my heart, thank you so much for all that you do for me and helping me as I'm here. I love you all so much and you are all great examples to me. I ate one of the beloved boxes of Velvetta shells and cheese the Lambournes gave to me. It was a night I needed it, this week hasn't been so great for me, but that happenes, and it made me very happy inside so you will have to thank them for that. :D Those are like gold to me and I only eat them on very special occasions :) Have a great week and I can't wait to hear from you next week.
su daug meilų,
James
Email from James - August 1, 2011
Svieki kaip visada ;D
I am beginning this email with a funny joke:
So there was a Bishop and his two counselors on an island and it seemed as if there was no way to get off. They found a lamp and a genie came out of it and said he would give them one wish each. It seemed almost too good to be true. They could easily get off the island this way. So, the second counselor said, " Hmmm, well I think I wish that I was with my son up at his scout camp". Poof, he was gone. The first counselor said, " I'm not quite sure, I think I wish I was with my family right now at home." Poof, he was gone. It was now the Bishop's turn. He sat there and thought for a while and said, " Boy, i'm not sure. This is quite a tough one. I wish my counselors were here right now."
Haha well I hope that made you smile. :D It's cheesey I know but it was funny to us while harvesting for a while.
Ya tell me about it, I can't believe it is already August. I don't know if you know, the transfer just ended as of yesterday and I am currently in my 11th transfer and there are only 16 tranfsfers in the field. Time is REALLY going by and it makes me sad and yet more and more determined to fight as hard as I can til the end and continually look at myself and see how I can improve. I have a lot of personal goals for the transfers and I am excited to see what this next transfer will bring. Transfer calls will be this week so I will let you know what happens. We are only getting two new missionaries this week and they are two sisters.
That's fun to hear about you and your fun bike ride. I think rode bikes are way cool. Ha really random but during church, there was a big bike race going on outside so all of a sudden a police car went flying by saying to keep the roads clear and then all of these bikers came zooming by the church. It was cool. Ha, ah man my bike got stollen. Tai negerai. :/ Well hopefully we can find anotherone for college cause that's probably what I will be riding for a vehicle for a while. haha.
That's crazy to hear that they are already talking about next year's youth conference. Eh I don't want to hear I will be home by then. I will still be here haha. :D Those ideas for an EFY thing or the raft activity sound really cool. I agree with both too. Hearing all of the missionaires fun trips to EFY when they were younger makes me wish I would have gone to some. Eh maybe I will be an EFY counselor or something. That would be fun. That's really crazy to hear that you may or may not be the bishop next summer. That would be weird to come back and see you sitting in the audience at my homecoming. I hope you can still be the bishop when you get home. That would be a real cool experience. Get set out by my dad and then return back with my dad as the bishop. I guess we will just have to see what the Lord has in store.
Tell Brother McDermott hi for me. He's way cool. Whenever people say hi for me just tell them I say hi back as a temporary recording hi until I can get home and say hello back to them. Haha that was super random though. I can't wait to be back and be able to thank people in person and tell everyone about my mission and all the great experiences I am having.
OOO I'm very glad to hear that Bro. Bean still wants me to be on the team next year for Ragnar. I really want to run that next year. I am also very excited to hear that you want to do it too. That would be so much fun to have you on the team. :D That's way cool to hear also that Dallas is on the Bingham Cross Country team. I can't believe he is in highschool too.
My tooth is doing fine. It hasn't been bothering me. I figure I can make it tell I go home to get it checked.
So quite a full week this past week. I shall rehearse for you:
The funniest thing happened to me that has never happened to me in my whole life. So we were harvesting for a long time and we were coming out of a dome stairwell and I had to check something in my planner. So I open it up and begin looking. I felt something hit my shoulder and figured it was a rain drop from a tree cause it has just poured a few minutes before. So I glance over expecting it just to be wet, well it wasn't water. I had been hit by a bird poop. Haha oh man I couldn't believe it. It landed right on my shoulder. I went over to be big puddle and tried to wipe it off carefully but it smeared it pretty good. It was a joke and we couldn't stop laughing. I wiped it off a lot with the water from the puddle but it didn't turn out too good. It looked pretty funny but thankfully it came out when I put it through the wash.
As for Kęstutis' baptism. We had a lesson with him and gave him a blessing because he was pretty nervous about his baptism. It was a real good blessing and he said it made him feel better. We picked out a baptismal jump suit and we got all ready. His baptism was on sunday morning before church cause that was the only time he could. We planned on having breakfast at the church after with him and with president chomskis. He didn't want anyone to come cause he says he wants it more private. I will explain that all when i'm home. He is way funny. :D So saturday night he said he was fine and ready and happy. Well we get up early sunday morning and I began making crepes for breakfast. Just the batter. There was a ton. Well we get a txt and he said, sorry I can't come today. That was it. We tried calling him and sending him txts but he didn't reply. It was a little bit of a bummer cause we really thought we were finally going to get him baptized but he didn't come again. So the baptism didn't happen but we are going to keep working with him. He's such a great guy and we would do anything for him.
Yesterday, Irina, one of the members here was really sick. She couldn't even sit up. I think it was a reaction from a sergery she had and she didn't look so great. So after church we went over to give her the sacrament and then to give her the blessing. I gave the blessing after the annointing. That was a really powerful experience for me. It was a little nerve racking at first cause it is in lithuanian but I just realized I had to just really on the spirit and I would be given what to say. It was amazing. I didn't have any worries right as we put our hands on her head. The spirit was so strong and I could feel the Lord working through us. The words came without thinking to my head and I know it was exactly what she needed to hear. That really helped me so much. I felt such a new fire and energy for the work after that blessing. That was my first time giving someone a blessing in Lithuanian.
I'm excited to see what's going to happen this transfer. Who I will be with, how I can improve, what the Lord has in store, who I can find, and how I can better serve the Lord. I am so blessed to serve here. I love the people here so much with all my heart and I can't believe how many blessing I have received from Heavenly Father. He knows me and he knows how I can help people here. As it says in Corinthians, " The Lord takes the weak things and makes them strong".
I love you all so much and I am so grateful for all the help you provide to me. I can never pay you back for all you do for me. Have a great week.
su daug meilų visada ir per amžius,
James
I am beginning this email with a funny joke:
So there was a Bishop and his two counselors on an island and it seemed as if there was no way to get off. They found a lamp and a genie came out of it and said he would give them one wish each. It seemed almost too good to be true. They could easily get off the island this way. So, the second counselor said, " Hmmm, well I think I wish that I was with my son up at his scout camp". Poof, he was gone. The first counselor said, " I'm not quite sure, I think I wish I was with my family right now at home." Poof, he was gone. It was now the Bishop's turn. He sat there and thought for a while and said, " Boy, i'm not sure. This is quite a tough one. I wish my counselors were here right now."
Haha well I hope that made you smile. :D It's cheesey I know but it was funny to us while harvesting for a while.
Ya tell me about it, I can't believe it is already August. I don't know if you know, the transfer just ended as of yesterday and I am currently in my 11th transfer and there are only 16 tranfsfers in the field. Time is REALLY going by and it makes me sad and yet more and more determined to fight as hard as I can til the end and continually look at myself and see how I can improve. I have a lot of personal goals for the transfers and I am excited to see what this next transfer will bring. Transfer calls will be this week so I will let you know what happens. We are only getting two new missionaries this week and they are two sisters.
That's fun to hear about you and your fun bike ride. I think rode bikes are way cool. Ha really random but during church, there was a big bike race going on outside so all of a sudden a police car went flying by saying to keep the roads clear and then all of these bikers came zooming by the church. It was cool. Ha, ah man my bike got stollen. Tai negerai. :/ Well hopefully we can find anotherone for college cause that's probably what I will be riding for a vehicle for a while. haha.
That's crazy to hear that they are already talking about next year's youth conference. Eh I don't want to hear I will be home by then. I will still be here haha. :D Those ideas for an EFY thing or the raft activity sound really cool. I agree with both too. Hearing all of the missionaires fun trips to EFY when they were younger makes me wish I would have gone to some. Eh maybe I will be an EFY counselor or something. That would be fun. That's really crazy to hear that you may or may not be the bishop next summer. That would be weird to come back and see you sitting in the audience at my homecoming. I hope you can still be the bishop when you get home. That would be a real cool experience. Get set out by my dad and then return back with my dad as the bishop. I guess we will just have to see what the Lord has in store.
Tell Brother McDermott hi for me. He's way cool. Whenever people say hi for me just tell them I say hi back as a temporary recording hi until I can get home and say hello back to them. Haha that was super random though. I can't wait to be back and be able to thank people in person and tell everyone about my mission and all the great experiences I am having.
OOO I'm very glad to hear that Bro. Bean still wants me to be on the team next year for Ragnar. I really want to run that next year. I am also very excited to hear that you want to do it too. That would be so much fun to have you on the team. :D That's way cool to hear also that Dallas is on the Bingham Cross Country team. I can't believe he is in highschool too.
My tooth is doing fine. It hasn't been bothering me. I figure I can make it tell I go home to get it checked.
So quite a full week this past week. I shall rehearse for you:
The funniest thing happened to me that has never happened to me in my whole life. So we were harvesting for a long time and we were coming out of a dome stairwell and I had to check something in my planner. So I open it up and begin looking. I felt something hit my shoulder and figured it was a rain drop from a tree cause it has just poured a few minutes before. So I glance over expecting it just to be wet, well it wasn't water. I had been hit by a bird poop. Haha oh man I couldn't believe it. It landed right on my shoulder. I went over to be big puddle and tried to wipe it off carefully but it smeared it pretty good. It was a joke and we couldn't stop laughing. I wiped it off a lot with the water from the puddle but it didn't turn out too good. It looked pretty funny but thankfully it came out when I put it through the wash.
As for Kęstutis' baptism. We had a lesson with him and gave him a blessing because he was pretty nervous about his baptism. It was a real good blessing and he said it made him feel better. We picked out a baptismal jump suit and we got all ready. His baptism was on sunday morning before church cause that was the only time he could. We planned on having breakfast at the church after with him and with president chomskis. He didn't want anyone to come cause he says he wants it more private. I will explain that all when i'm home. He is way funny. :D So saturday night he said he was fine and ready and happy. Well we get up early sunday morning and I began making crepes for breakfast. Just the batter. There was a ton. Well we get a txt and he said, sorry I can't come today. That was it. We tried calling him and sending him txts but he didn't reply. It was a little bit of a bummer cause we really thought we were finally going to get him baptized but he didn't come again. So the baptism didn't happen but we are going to keep working with him. He's such a great guy and we would do anything for him.
Yesterday, Irina, one of the members here was really sick. She couldn't even sit up. I think it was a reaction from a sergery she had and she didn't look so great. So after church we went over to give her the sacrament and then to give her the blessing. I gave the blessing after the annointing. That was a really powerful experience for me. It was a little nerve racking at first cause it is in lithuanian but I just realized I had to just really on the spirit and I would be given what to say. It was amazing. I didn't have any worries right as we put our hands on her head. The spirit was so strong and I could feel the Lord working through us. The words came without thinking to my head and I know it was exactly what she needed to hear. That really helped me so much. I felt such a new fire and energy for the work after that blessing. That was my first time giving someone a blessing in Lithuanian.
I'm excited to see what's going to happen this transfer. Who I will be with, how I can improve, what the Lord has in store, who I can find, and how I can better serve the Lord. I am so blessed to serve here. I love the people here so much with all my heart and I can't believe how many blessing I have received from Heavenly Father. He knows me and he knows how I can help people here. As it says in Corinthians, " The Lord takes the weak things and makes them strong".
I love you all so much and I am so grateful for all the help you provide to me. I can never pay you back for all you do for me. Have a great week.
su daug meilų visada ir per amžius,
James
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