The bee is dead. We live!

TERE!! How are all of you, my dear friends? I hope all is well. I hope you found a couple things to do on the list of missionary opportunities I sent last week, and that you have had a fun time spreading the love of the Savior Jesus Christ as His missionaries (with or without name tags on!).

Photo from Humans of Pärnu 

BBQ with the elders right before saying "tšau" 

to Sister Tullis who moved up to Tallinn!

The work:

• We had zone conference this week, which just means all the missionaries in Estonia got together (13 of us) to learn and grow from listening to speakers! It was awesome! 

Sister Beardall and Sister Godwin 

(two on the left of the photo) go home this week. 

We will miss them!!

• The rest of the week was hilarious....Sister Beardall and I were companions on Friday because Sister Durfee and Sister Godwin went to Riga for another missionary conference, but Sister Beardall was sick so we stayed in all day! Then Sister Durfee came back that night and was sick as well, so we stayed in for two more days until she felt better. So in total, I was inside our apartment for 3 days straight!! Hahahah I learned two major things from that experience:

• I can still make a difference even while being inside for 3 days! I called SO MANY PEOPLE and had many wonderful, long conversations with members and other people we work with just to see how they were doing and to be their friend. I also read SO many General Conference talks from our church leaders. I finished my goal of reading all the April 2018 General Conference talks before the October 2018 General Conference! I cried while reading the last talk when our dear prophet, President Nelson, announced 7 new temples being built...I am so grateful and so excited!! I read the scriptures and Church magazines, cleaned the house, served my wonderful sick companions, got some rest, and did so much more! So yes, I learned I could still be productive and spread the love of the Savior even while being inside :)

• I learned that I am SO GRATEFUL that we get to go OUTSIDE and spread the gospel!! What a blessing it is to share what we know is true and beautiful with the Estonian people on the street and in rooms and on busses and on the phone :)

• Small miracle this week - I lost a tack on the floor and looked everywhere but couldn’t find it. I left the room and then came back inside and bent down to put my face on the floor to get a ground view perspective to find the tack. No luck. I was going to give up, but I felt a distinct impression to move a few steps forward, bend down the same way, and put my face on the floor looking the opposite direction. I did so, and guess what? I found the tack :) I am grateful for the little things every day that the Holy Spirit still helps us with, like finding tacks on the floor! :)

• I am so grateful to work with this pioneer branch in Pärnu, Estonia. I just had to give it a shoutout because there is one thing especially that I love that they do...they meet together after church and say people who weren’t there. Then they all take someone to call, and they call them and say they missed them at church! It makes everyone feel missed and loved when they couldn’t make it to church. I love this branch and the small ways they try to reach out to each other in love and support!

Funnies:

• Well, since I was in the house for 3 days straight, I naturally wanted some fresh air...lol. I opened the window, and a bee flew in. Õde Durfee and I screamed for about ten minutes trying to capture it and let it back outside...it finally came to me having to smash it...oh my goodness it was terrifyingly funny hahaha. But not to fear...the bee is dead. We live!!

• "Amps on õhus" - Õde Smith-Driggs (for all those who speak Estonian....try to guess what I was trying to say now that fall is in the air...;) )

• We also made rice in a wok this week because I burned our saucepan hahahaha. (Notice the peeled pumpkin in the background...Õde Durfee herself didn’t even know what she was doing with that hahahahahaha.) 

Culture:

Most Estonians don’t have middle names! 

Estonian meal:)

Spiritual thought:

I read in Alma 31 this week from the Book of Mormon and noticed a cool pattern I wanted to share with you all.

Alma and some of his fellow missionaries had just gone to the land of the Zoramites and witnessed the way they worshipped God. They would get on a tall tower one by one and recite a prayer of thanks to God for being a chosen people that was not "bound down" by a belief in Christ..for they believed there was no Christ. After reciting those prayers once a week, they would go home and never mention God again (Alma 31:12:23)

ALMA IS SO SAD TO SEE THIS!!

He cried to the Lord, "O, how long, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that thy servants shall dwell here below in the flesh, to behold such gross wickedness among the children of men?" (Alma 31:26) He then prays for strength to bear the pain of seeing the people worship in this way.

I have felt like Alma when praying sometimes. I have cried thinking about these people because I want SO BADLY to help them and I want SO BADLY for them to accept Christ. I have prayed for patience, and God has blessed me with much patience. For that I am grateful.

After Alma prays for strength and patience, he prays for his COMPANIONS to have that strength and patience too! How often do we pray for those around us to bear their burdens with patience and strength? This is definitely something I need to do even more.

Then, Alma prays for success. We can pray for God to help us in all things! Work, school, dating life, missionary life, mom and dad life...EVERYTHING! We can pray for success.

Then, Alma blesses all of his fellow missionaries with the Holy Ghost (strength, comfort, and counsel) before they went out to teach the people. THEN the Lord provided them with that strength and patience. (Alma 31:38 - “And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith.”) What a pattern to follow!! 

Pray for strength and patience, pray for your companions and those around you to have that same strength and patience, pray for success and trust the Lord to give you success, pray for the Holy Ghost to guide you and comfort you and give you strength, and then go out and start working! THEN, the Lord will provide the strength and patience you need, and your sorrows will be swallowed up in the JOY of Christ.

How grateful I am to know that my sorrow really can be swallowed up in the JOY of Christ.

Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace!

Õde Smith-Driggs

"If you are free [from] serious sin yourself, don’t suffer needlessly the consequences of another's sins.... [Y]ou can feel compassion....Yet you should not take upon yourself a feeling of responsibility.... When you have done what is reasonable to help one you love, lay the burden at the feet of the Savior.... As you so act, not only will you find peace but will demonstrate your faith in the power of the Savior to lift the burden of sin from a loved one through his [or her] repentance and obedience." - Elder Richard G. Scott

What every person should know!!

TERE!!!! Kuidas teil läheb?? Loodan, et kõik läheb hästi teie eludes :) I LOVE YOU ALL!

The work:

• What an amazing week!! First of all, we got a new rule from our wonderful mission president to speak only in ESTONIAN from 9 am to 9 pm. It has been SO MUCH FUN!! Õde Tullis, Õde Durfee, and I have loved learning how to express ourselves in only Estonian for 12 hours a day. Ongi nii lõbus!! It’s weird to speak English now hahahaha. I’m grateful for my mission president and for his telling us to take on this challenge because it has made for a stretching, SUPER fun experience! :)

• Õde Tullis moves up to Tallinn to train a new missionary coming in, and I will miss her dearly. But Õde Durfee and I will be staying here in Pärnu to continue the Lord’s work! How I love these dear companions of mine! 

• We got THREE wonderful new investigators this week!! The first woman we had seen around a lot, and Õde Tullis had given her a pamphlet. But we finally set up an appointment with her! When we went over to her house, she pulled out a Book of Mormon (not knowing that that was the book we are sharing with everyone here and the book we love and believe to be God’s word), and she asked us, "What do you all think of this book? Have you seen it before?" Our jaws dropped, and we said of course we knew what that was!! She continued and said someone had moved away and left it there so she found it. It was SO amazing to be able to explain to her what the Book of Mormon was and to hear that already she had started to read it a bit and loved it. When we went back the next day, she told us she wants to read it and pray every day! Her 8-year-old cute granddaughter was there when we taught her the first time, and it was amazing to teach them both how to pray and to hear them pray together for the first time. Õde Tullis gave the girl a picture of Christ, and the girl put it right above her bed immediately :) The next day, we stopped by their house and gave the little girl a children’s Book of Mormon (a simpler version with pictures), and she embraced it and said she would read it! We heard the next day that she brought it to SCHOOL with her because she loves it so much!! How cute it that?? I am so grateful to work with these two prepared, elect people here in Pärnu!

• We also met with an AMAZING 14-year-old girl. I met her on the bus last week, and she told me she believes in Christ. We found out when we met up that she has 4 younger sisters, and she and her whole family go to church every Sunday, and they all believe in Christ!! That is a HUGE DEAL here in Estonia!! Estonia is the least religious country IN THE WORLD, yet her whole FAMILY is religious!! We are so excited about teaching her...and she was SO excited to hear that there is more information about Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon! Her face lit up when we gave it to her! She read and prayed about it later and told us she feels like it is all true. She is so excited to share it with her family! They weren’t able to come to church this Sunday because they had visitors, but they should all come next week! HUGE DEAL! I am so grateful!

• Our district went biking last week, and we went to a Thai/Indian restaurant this week...we are all such good friends! I am grateful to find good friends while doing the work of the Lord. Elder Rau and Elder Widmann move up to Tallinn tomorrow with Õde Tullis. Täitsa lõpp! :)

Culture:

• On your birthday, if you want, people can put you up on a chair and then lift you into the air the number of years old you are turning! :)

• My favorite word I learned this week is "kaasa elama." It means "to cheer on," but the literally definition is "to live along with." I love that!! 

Funnies: 

The fridge broke so it was in the middle of the kitchen for a while (for various reasons) before the landlord could fix it :)

When you're cleaning windows but don't want to fall out!

Spiritual thought:

The Spirit taught me something this week that I can’t wait to share with all of you! This phrase came into my head this week, and I want to share it because I feel very strongly that is it something every person should know!: Be OK with not doing everything. Do your best to love and serve with the knowledge you have, and expect God to take care of the rest. He will!

It is so simple!! And it is what I live by just put into words! :) Yet the question is...How do we "do our best?"

Well, in 3 Nephi 12:13 in the Book of Mormon (and Matthew 5:13 in the Bible), it says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men." I looked up what Christ meant by "salt," and it means "example." 

Similarly, in 3 Nephi 12:16 in the Book of Mormon (and Matthew 5:16 in the Bible), it says, “Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven." "Light," in this case also means "example." So, Christ is asking us to be an example for Him! 

So, how can we be examples? 

I read a list this week of the "100+ ways to do missionary work," and I realized that THAT is how we can all be examples to those around us! I am going to list out many of those ways here, and I encourage you all to consider picking 2 things on this list you could try this week!

• Have an uplifting scripture, thought, or quote in your social media bio
• Use the temple or Christ as your phone background
• Put something on your work desk that shows your beliefs
• Invite friends or less actives to devotionals or firesides
• Provide your home as a place missionaries can bring and teach an investigator
• Know how to use the Gospel Library app (GET the Gospel Library app if you don’t already have it!!)
• Include lds.org in your email signature
• Create a Facebook page for your branch or ward
• Follow apostles on social media and share their messages
• Read the Book of Mormon in public
• Find a name to take to the temple
• Bring friends to dinner and invite the missionaries
• Meet your neighbors
• Pray for courage
• SMILE! Show people how HAPPY you are!
• Share mission stories
• Pray for specific people daily
• Visit someone who just gave birth, lost a loved one, moved to a new home, or needs support
• Encourage members to contact previous missionaries who served in their area
• Choose 1 scripture to ponder/memorize each week
• Offer rides to less actives and friends to and from church
• Read Elder Oaks’ talk, "Sharing the Restored Gospel," (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/sharing-the-restored-gospel?lang=eng)
• Fast and pray for missionary opportunities
• Email a missionary or write them a hand-written letter (we love that :) )
• Stop by a friend’s house on the way home from school to visit about life for 5-10 minutes.

Ühesõnaga, THERE ARE SO MANY WAYS TO DO MISSIONARY WORK! 

Missionary work is simply inviting others to come unto Christ, including yourself :)

So if you would like to, please pick 2 things on this list to try this week! And email me if you have time next week and let me know how it went!

I love you all!  Always remember...God’s blessings are conditional, but His LOVE isn’t :)

Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace.

Õde Smith-Driggs

3 Nephi 12:10-12: “And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  And blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake; For ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.

"Peace I leave with you..."

TERE!!! Oh how I love you all :) I hope everyone has had great weeks!! You know, there is a phrase many missionaries say about missions: "The days feel like weeks, and the weeks feel like days." Well, I have realized WHY. It’s because in a day, you feel a week’s worth of emotions and you learn a week’s worth of lessons! I am so grateful to be serving a mission right now so that I can learn and experience all that I am learning and experiencing! 

The work:

• I’ve been praying for an increase of faith that God will place prepared people in our path...the day I began praying for that and studying about that this week, I got on a bus and had a wonderful conversation with a young woman that gave me her number and wants to meet again! The next two days I had similar conversations with two more young women that want to meet up! The amazing thing is...the woman we baptized back in June has recently been called as the Young Women’s president, but there are no baptized young women in our branch yet. There has never been a Young Women’s class or program set up here because we haven’t had the young women for it.  But we are teaching many young women right now, and those three young women from the busses who gave me their numbers this week have amazing potential to be baptized young women in the branch! So I know that God is simply opening a door, helping us set up a Young Women’s program in the Pärnu Branch, so that when He continues to  send young, bright women our way to teach and baptize, we will have a Young Women’s program set up, ready to welcome those young women with open arms. I am so grateful to take a part in this pioneering stage in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ in Pärnu, Estonia. 

• We met with an amazing young woman for the first time and shared with her the video, "Because of Him." It was so powerful. And when we asked her how she felt, she said it was "powerful," but a "different powerful." I invite you all to watch it, even if you have seen it before! Please pay attention to how it makes you feel, because I can promise you it will make you feel something powerful: https://www.lds.org/youth/video/because-of-him?lang=eng.

• We were going to go home, but Õde Durfee felt like we should go visit a less active member. On our way over, Õde Tullis suggested we grab a pastry on our way, because why not! As we were sitting outside, eating our pastry, a young woman who attends our activities walked up and talked with us for a while! She was on her way home from school. Then, as we started walking away, an investigator that accepted a baptismal date that we have not been able to get in contact with for a month rode up on his bike!! He was so friendly and told us to call him back in a few weeks to set up another appointment! And THEN, on the bus ride home (a different bus time than we would have been on originally), we ran into our other investigator that had a baptismal date, but that we haven’t been able to get in contact with for a month! MIRACLES!! And all that because we decided to go a different way and eat a pastry :) As Õde Durfee wisely stated later, "Always follow your stomach...it will always be right." ;) 

• We were in our sports clothes and needed to visit some less actives, so we spontaneously decided to RUN to the less actives to visit them with notes! It was so fun!! And speaking of running....our district ran an almost 10K this morning! Followed by a pancake party on the steps of our home hahahahahah. People passing by were so entertained...LOL. 

Funnies:

"My love language is mashed potatoes."- Õde Durfee

Culture:

We pay to use public bathrooms here!

Spiritual thought:

I read Exodus 14 this week about Moses parting the Red Sea. I realized something very interesting! In the story, the Israelites are trying to escape the Egyptians. They come to the Red Sea and start to freak out because they thought they were doomed. And Moses says, “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.”

Moses is amazing. I’m sure he was scared too! He reassured the people that God would fight for them and helped them even before he knew HOW the Lord would do so. That is amazing faith in the Lord right there. 

THEN “Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.”

AMAZING MIRACLE!! The Lord parts the Red Sea and the Israelites are able to walk through to the other side. But my insight came at this point. When I normally thought of this story, I imagined the Israelites slowly walking through the Red Sea, marveling at the walls of water on both sides and rejoicing that the Lord had  helped them. While I’m sure they marveled, pay attention to the next verse here: 

“And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

The Israelites were STILL being pursued by the Egyptians! The ground was just as dry for the Egyptians as for the Israelites because the Egyptians were following right after them! The walk across the Red Sea was surely not a peaceful one! I am sure many of the Israelites were thinking, "Great, God, thank you for parting the Red Sea for us, but LOOK - THEY ARE STILL FOLLOWING US!! How does this help the situation??" This process (the Israelites walking, probably running for their lives, across the Red Sea and the Egyptians continuing to follow them) continued all night. There were thousands of people to cross the sea, so this was a long night. And the Israelites must have been having great faith in the Lord to CONTINUE WALKING, even though the Egyptians were still following them. 

24 And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,

25 And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians.

26 ¶ And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.

27 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

Notice that phrase, "in the morning," in verse 24. The lord waited and tried the Israelites’ patience and faith all night...It wasn’t until the morning that He showed Moses how he would still deliver his people - by causing the waters to come back down onto the Egyptians once the Israelites were passed through. 

Friends, you could be feeling like you are at any stage of that process. You could be at the edge of the Red Sea, wondering how to cross it. You could have just witnessed a miracle but not knowing how it will actually help you. You may be freaking out feeling you are being defeated by something you will never be able to conquer. Or you may be on the other side of sea, watching the thing you thought would destroy you...get destroyed itself. 

Wherever you are in this process, I promise the Lord can provide you peace. Even though the Israelites were nervous, I am sure the Lord was with them the whole time. He had a plan the whole time. 

Continue to trust Him. Continue to love Him. I promise He will always provide a way for you to feel overwhelming happiness.

Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace!

Õde Smith-Driggs

John 14:27: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Fires in Fairy Gardens

TERE!!!

How was everyone’s week? I hope it was great! Our week was great! Next week we are running a 10K for kicks and giggles, so wish us luck! :)

The work:

• In the beginning of May, I talked with a woman on the bus and ended up giving her a Book of Mormon. She was so excited about it she even HUGGED me and said it made her whole day better! Well, I called her again this week and asked her if she had read any of the Book of Mormon. SHE HAS READ 1/4 OF IT!!! She even said she understands it and feels like she is on a higher plane of thought when she reads it. SO AMAZING! She had to cancel our meeting unfortunately, but we are not giving up on her! So stay tuned! She is amazing!

• Anyone remember the 19-year-old girl who walked around with us for over an hour last week visiting people? Well, we met with her again this week to give her a Book of Mormon! Good news! She is willing to pray and read the Book of Mormon and pray about everything we have taught her to find out for herself if it is true! 

• My first day here in Pärnu at the beginning of April, I talked with a 20-year-old woman on a bus. She gave me her number, and we have tried to get in contact many times, and finally this week, she wanted to meet! Good news!!! She ALSO is willing to pray and read the Book of Mormon!! She likes journalism and photography too, so we hit it off as friends :) She moved to Tallinn this week (suur kahju see on), but she still comes to Pärnu on the weekends, so we are hoping to still be able to meet with her!

• We helped clean an older woman’s garden this week!! She is about 4 feet tall and lives in what we call a "fairy garden house." When I was little, my friends and I would make "fairy houses" for our fairies to live in! Would anyone else do that? Anyways, they would just be miniature houses...well, this woman’s house looked like that! Trinkets everywhere and a big garden full of trees...Õde Durfee, Vanem Widmann, and I had the job of feeding wood into the fire to get rid of all her extra branches of wood...super fun hahahah.

Culture:

• Many people have saunas here...many older Estonians go to their sauna once a week in place of a daily shower. In their saunas, they hit themselves with birch tree branches to soften and cleanse their skin!

• Today is the first day of school for everyone here!!! But Saturday was the "Opening Ceremony" day. All the 1st graders give their teachers flowers..how cute is that?? It was awesome walking around town seeing everyone in their dresses and cute clothes...and there were Estonian flags flying everywhere to celebrate school starting!

  Still apple season in Estonia!

            

  Food with friends:)

Funnies:

• One of the members talked about mushrooms during one of our meetings (because apparently some Estonians pick fresh mushrooms from the forest!)...Õde Tullis asked, "Which mushrooms are good to eat?" He said, "Well, some will kill you faster and some will kill you slower!" Hahah then the next day, ...I kid you not..., he brought us a book full of pictures of mushrooms, showing which mushrooms are poisonous and which ones aren’t hahahaha. But the best part of it all...the book was in Russian! So even if we went out to pick mushrooms, we would probably still pick poisonous ones because we can’t read Russian words about mushrooms :)

• Õde Tullis saw a dog in a yard and said, "Tere tere, koer (dog). Let’s dance!" *proceeds to dance* *looks to her left only to see the other neighbor walking right past her as she does silly dance moves* *face palm*

Spiritual thought:

I was reading in Mosiah 2 in the Book of Mormon the other day... In that chapter, King Benjamin (one of the prophets in the Book of Mormon) has all his people gather to hear him speak. All the people gather together with their families and pitch their tents (aka their homes) toward the temple where he was speaking from. 

This is exactly like modern day General Conference, the weekend twice a year where members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gather to hear the prophets speak! It is amazing! I would always gather with my family and sometimes go to the conference live (because it was near my house), or we would watch it on TV. Well, this semi-annual conference is going to happen in about one month! 

I thought it was really interesting what King Benjamin said when he talked to the people. He said, "All ye that have assembled yourselves together, you that can hear my words which I shall speak unto you this day...,open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view."

So even though all the people had demonstrated their faith to come and watch, King Benjamin still pleaded that they really LISTEN.

General Conference is a month away, and I think King Benjamin’s words apply to all of us preparing to watch it. It is one thing to come, "pitch our tents" with the door facing the TV screen, and just watch the prophets talk...it is another thing to "open your ears, hearts, and minds" to what they are saying. If we do this, we will really hear, understand, and experience "the mysteries of God unfolded to our view."

One way we can be prepared to really listen to the prophets is if we review the previous Conference talks from April 2018. (https://www.lds.org/general-conference?lang=eng) I have set a goal to finish reading all of them by the time General Conference rolls around again, and I am on track to complete that goal! I invite all who wish to join me in trying to read and study all the talks from last conference to do so! It has already helped me so much, and I know it can help you too :) 

I am grateful for the Book of Mormon and for the upcoming General Conference October 2018. I am grateful God has given us prophets to look to and listen to. They can teach us how to grow our relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ if we really LISTEN to them.

Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace.

Õde Smith-Driggs

"The first great commandment of all eternity is to love God with all our heart, might, mind, and strength - that’s the first great commandment. But the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves US with all HIS heart, might, mind, and strength. That love is the foundation stone of eternity, and it should be the foundation stone of our daily life." - Elder Holland (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04/tomorrow-the-lord-will-do-wonders-among-you?lang=eng)