BAPTISM!!!

TERE!! (written Jan. 28, but posted Jan. 31 on her one year anniversary)

WOW I LOVE Tallinn! It’s getting colder here in Estonia!! I took this picture when it was -17 °C. (1.4 °F). I love serving here in Tallinn, and I’m learning more and more Russian every day with my Russian-speaking companions!

I love Sister Mischenko!

The work:

Well, OBVIOUSLY this week was a great one because one of our investigators got BAPTIZED!!! She started investigating the Church almost 4 weeks ago when Sister Tullis was here in Tallinn. She is an Estonian, so Sister Goodell and Sister Mischenko cheered Sister Tullis on as she taught the investigator in Estonian (because they don’t speak Estonian). I moved here to beautiful Tallinn on Wednesday and Sister Tullis moved to Pärnu. So I was here as we helped the investigator finish preparing to be baptized and to receive the Holy Ghost. It was such a precious four days helping her. She is SO amazing!! We are already great friends!! When I asked her how she felt after she received the gift of the Holy Ghost, she said, "Peaceful. I’m not thinking badly anymore or thinking about the bad things I have done in my past. I am just thinking about the path forward." Amazing. She was smiling from ear to ear. We went to breakfast the morning of her baptism. 

Pancakes!

She was baptized on the 26th floor of a hotel here, and the view was BEAUTIFUL!! 

“...how beautiful are [these waters] to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever.” Mosiah 18:30

We are teaching so many people right now! We found a lot of people this week from our service at the food bank. There was one girl who walked in with a yellow beanie. Elder Bunker was the greeter at the door, and he talked to her for a second, then came over to me and said, "Get her number and invite her to meet with you!! If you don’t get her number, I will." Haha we got her number :) We will be meeting this week, and she is so excited!! We also met with a cool Ukrainian man this week, and with a woman who hangs up our coats at the library! Both of them are very fun and quirky, and we are excited to continue meeting with them!

This week, we as a companionship and district in Tallinn, set some MAJOR goals to teach repentance and baptize converts. As a companionship, we made some goals and plans, then prayed and asked God to accept our efforts and make them enough. On that very same day, we ended up setting up 8 lessons with new potential investigators. Miracle. As a district, we are holding a continual fast. Meaning, one companionship at a time will always be fasting. For example, Elder Bunker and Elder Black fasted for 24 hours until Saturday at 3:45. Then we knelt and prayed at 3:45 to start our 24 hour fast. When we finished our fast on Sunday, Elder Mateer and Elder McQuivey started their 24 hour fast...so on and so forth. IT IS SO POWERFUL to be fasting as a district. I am positive that God will magnify our humble efforts. As we continue to pray for humility and show God how much we want to help people come unto Christ, I know He will magnify those humble efforts.

MIRACLE seeing Elder and Sister Foley on the street...

I served with them in Ukraine back in July, and they were here in Tallinn for the weekend visiting!

Funny:

We boiled hot water, and threw it out the window! Sure enough, it froze immediately to ICE. SUPER COOL. SUPER COLD! (Mom comment: Don't worry, they checked below.)

Culture:

Estonians know how to tie scarves....like holy cow. I have been trying for so long to figure out the way they look so stylish. Sister Nelson and I in Tartu tried to learn how to tie our scarves the way they do....it turned out all right hahaha. 

Making meat patties at our investigator's home!

Beautiful!

Spiritual thought:

I started the Book of Mormon over again this week with a focus on how obedience+sacrifice=faith. I loved what I read in 1 Nephi 1:1 this week. “I Nephi . . . having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.” 

The prophet Nephi in the Book of Mormon went through a LOT of trials. But he still praised God through it all. And he was obedient and sacrificed through it all. His faith is amazing.

I am grateful for the Book of Mormon and the joy it has brought into my life and the lives of so many others. I am grateful to share God’s love with those on the streets every day here in Estonia!

Ma armastan Jeesust Kristust nii väga, ja ma tean, et Ta armastab teid ka. Ma olen nii tänulik Tema eest!

Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace.

Õde Smith-Driggs

Psalm 46:10  - “Be still, and know that I am God.”

FIND peace.

TERE!!!

Well, I’m moving to Tallinn! That was a surprise. I have only been here in Tartu for one transfer (6 weeks)! I was in Pärnu for 6 transfers (8 months)! Hahah so I have now experienced being in one place for a long time and one place for a short time. I have truly come to already love the people of Tartu. I love the city as well - it is not too big and not too small! I am grateful to have served here with Sister Nelson, Elder Widmann, and Elder Chappell, and I hope to return soon! :) 

In Tallinn, I will be serving with two Sisters (#triolife). AND GUESS WHAT?? They speak only Russian! Not Estonian! We call this a "zebra companionship." One of my companions is a native Ukrainian (Cectpa Misanka), and the other is Sister Goodell, my dear friend from the MTC! I can’t wait to learn more Russian while being companions with them :)

Goodbye Tartu...hello Tallinn!! 

ALSO - happy birthday to my DAD this week!!! Enjoy celebrating with Mom’s cake and board games with the fam :) I love you! 

The work:

We had some awesome lessons this week! 3 of those lessons were with young girls:

1. We met with one of them and ended up talking about "coincidences." Sister Nelson and I testified about God’s hand in all things. At the beginning of the lesson, our friend said she had never had any random things happen to her that could be considered "God’s hand in her life." Well, after we talked about it for a while and Sister Nelson shared a personal experience, some experiences from this girl's life started coming to her mind of times when random "coincidences" happened. She was willing to pray and ask God if those "coincidences" are really from Him. We taught her how to pray, and she said the closing prayer so bravely and beautifully!

 

2. I met eyes with a younger woman on the bus with a cute red coat, and she kept looking at me. So I slyly made my way over there without being too awkward about it (lol). I complimented her coat, and long story short....she gave us her number and we met the next day! :) We taught about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ (message me for more information if you don’t know what that is), and she was very receptive to it all! A little awkward because we invited her to be baptized at the end, and she said yes...but then we realized that she thought we were inviting her to be baptized in the church she was already attending (because she hadn’t yet been baptized)...hahaha. So we re-explained some things, and she said she would think and pray more about baptism in this, the Lord’s true church on earth. 

3. We met with a younger woman who said she is not interested in joining any church right now...but she did ask us very sincerely, "Do you truly feel peace all the time?" Sister Nelson testified that she does feel peace all the time because she always has someone to turn to - God. I testified that I feel peace all the time because I have gained perspective of why certain things happen in my life. This young woman was very touched. She was willing to pray and ask if God is really there. 

One of my favorite moments of this week was when we got lost. Well, it starts with (you guessed it) a BUS conversation! I felt prompted to talk to a mom sitting at the back of the bus. I nonchalantly made my way back there and started talking with her. While she was very kind, she said she wasn’t interested in meeting up with us. But we still talked about life and happiness and other things for the 15 minute bus ride. We both got off at the final bus stop. Õde Nelson and I started looking at our map to find our investigator’s house (it was our first time traveling there, and we were in the middle of nowhere). The mom asked if she could help us! We told her where we were going, and she said, "I’m trying to go there too! And I’m lost too! Let’s just travel together to find this place!" Haha so we started trekking through the forest with this awesome mom and her 4 year old daughter. We talked about her life and our life and just became friends! We were lost, but having a good time :) We walked and talked for about 30 minutes, trying to find our respective destinations. Good news! We found our destinations together! And at the end, we asked again if she would ever want to meet up and talk more with us. Guess what? She said YES! God knew that it would take getting lost together in the forest for 30 minutes for her to give us her number and set up to meet with us :) Thank you, Heavenly Father!

Funnies:

"Jälle" in Estonian means "again." And "jäle" - with one “l” - means "abominable." Soooo if you say "jälle" with only one “l”, you are saying "abominable." Guess what I said this week? You guessed it..."Hello, abominable!" instead of, "Hello, again!" HAHAHAH

Culture:

We sang, "Danny Boy" with a less active this week.

Estonians eat the ENTIRE APPLE. Core and everything :) I’ve only done that once while I’ve been here, and it’s really not as bad as it sounds haha.

I learned how to crochet!

Spiritual thought:

I read Mormon 5:2 this week and learned an important lesson. "[The people] repented not of their iniquities, but did struggle for their lives without calling upon that Being who created them." How often do we "struggle for our lives" before calling upon God for help? How often do we say, "Oh yeah, I got this. I don’t need anyone’s help," when in reality, we DO need help from heaven?

Well, I learned this week that peace comes from asking God for it.  Take a second and read that again.  Peace comes from asking God for it.  I found peace this week because I realized that because I have done everything I can to follow the Spirit’s direction these past 6 weeks (and always), I can feel peace. I can feel peace, even though things or people around me may seem unchanged. Because I have trusted the Lord in all things and have tried to choose joy no matter what, I can feel peace at the end of the day knowing there is nothing else for me to give.

I testify that God magnifies our efforts. When we humble ourselves enough to ask for help, we will feel peace enough to forgive and move on with joy and trust in our hearts. I can testify of that because I have experienced that! And I am grateful to my God for it!

Remember to ask for help always.

Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace.

Õde Smith-Driggs

Luke 1:37 - “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

P.S. Anyone who would like to, please send me your favorite general conference talk and why!

P.P.S. MISSIONARIES AND THOSE PREPARING TO SERVE MISSIONS, LISTEN UP: I read a talk this week by Elder Tad R. Callister that has deepened my perspective of what a "consecrated missionary" thinks and acts like. The talk is entitled, "Becoming a Consecrated Missionary" (October 7, 2008). If anyone wants me to send it to you if you can’t find it online yourself, please email me and I will send it to you. It is SO GOOD.

LOVE YOU ALL!

CHOOSE Joy!

TERE! 

First sunshine of 2019! Blue sky and everything!

The work:

One of our female members was a missionary with us for 24 hours! She came with us to a lesson with a member Monday night, slept over (we got permission for all of this of course), came with us to district meeting Tuesday morning, a lesson with our investigator who is the cutest old lady ever (with the friendly cat and chocolate she can’t eat because she has no teeth.), and family night with the branch. We love her!!

Huge highlight this week was meeting with a less active family (mom, dad, and their 16-year-old daughter who is not baptized yet). Sister Nelson had the genius idea to read 3 Nephi 18:1-11 from the Book of Mormon and talk about the sacrament and invite them to church! After the mom and daughter read it out loud, the daughter was speechless, the mom started crying and saying she needed to read the Book of Mormon more, and the dad bore an amazing testimony that if we read the Book of Mormon and live by its precepts, life is better and easier. It was amazing! I then agreed with him and asked, "So when was the last time you read the Book of Mormon?" (Hahaha I’m such a blunt Estonian now...when I write it out that sounds super mean. I promise it wasn’t mean hahah.) Let's just say, they are all going to be reading the Book of Mormon more :) We are meeting next week to read the Book of Mormon together!

The other huge highlight happened last night with our 15-year-old investigator! We met in the church and had hot cocoa and cookies as we talked :) Õde Nelson's little sister and my little sister both wrote her letters and told her about how the knowledge of being a daughter of God has helped them in their lives. SHE LOVED THOSE LETTERS!! "Nii armas!" She said the letters came at a time when she really needed encouragement to know she CAN achieve her goals (she wants to be an entrepreneur)! She said she believes in angels. I shared an experience when an angel helped me (I believe in praying to God to ask angels to help us). We discussed prayer, and I read to her a section from my sister’s letter about praying to God for help. After I read that and testified about what my sister said being true, our investigator said that she is at the point in her life that she is ready to try praying. She is ready to ask God for help. She is going to pray every night this week, then we will meet on Saturday to make bracelets and talk about prayer! 

Exchange with my bestie Sister Durfee! It was the greatest day in my glorious town of Pärnu...so good to see so many people I love so much! We were fed 3 lunches (hahah), sang "I Am a Child of God" to my favorite grandma in the branch, and did so many other things :) Õde Durfee and I also realized that in the history of our friendship, we have spoken more Estonian to each other than English!

Funnies: 

So you know earlier when I mentioned the cutest old lady who feeds us chocolates she can’t eat? Well, we were at her house this week, and she gave us chocolate again. I saw a few extra nuts next to one of them. I picked them up to eat them, and then I realized they were the nuts left over from chocolate she had already sucked off of them! Hahah don’t worry, I didn’t eat them :)

We teach everyone here in the Baltic States.

Culture:

I can’t think of anything for this week, I’m sorry!

Spiritual thought:

I learned a LOT about choosing joy this week. Wow, last week I learned a lot about trusting in God. This week, my package of learning experiences from God was focused on my learning how to choose joy...I guess that means this week will be focused on finding peace! (My motto: "Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace.")

I know some people don’t agree with the fact that we must "choose" joy. While I believe everyone can "feel" joy without "choosing" it, I do know there are moments and periods of time when joy is a choice. I had many, many, many of those moments this week. 

Who can help us choose joy? Jesus Christ. God. We can pray to God and ask Him to place charity in our hearts..to place JOY in our hearts! We can pray to Him and open up our hearts and just tell Him everything we are feeling, everything we are striving to do, and everything we want to do for Him. 

He is listening. He loves you. 

I read this passage this week, and felt to share it with all of you. Pay attention to what brings the speaker JOY:

“I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.” (Alma 29:9) 

I consider this scripture one of my four life mottos (1st life motto: I am God’s beautiful daughter, He loves me and I love him. 2nd motto: Proverbs 3:5-6. 3rd motto: Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace. 4th motto: ALMA 29:9 - THE SCRIPTURE ABOVE).

I love this scripture so much because I connect with it so much. I know exactly what the Lord has commanded me to do at this point of my mission and life. I glory in that, am so grateful for His direction, and I strive to fulfill His personal commandments and direction to me every day. And I do all of that to help be an instrument in the hands of God to bring myself and other people to repentance...ultimately TO JOY!!

As hard as this week was, I’m grateful God is teaching me how to choose joy.

Choose joy in the path God has given you. I promise that BECAUSE He loves you, He will bless you and help you if you strive to choose joy in the path He has given you in this life :)

Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace. 

Õde Smith-Driggs

Romans 5:3-6 - And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

TRUST in the Lord.

(delayed post from Jan. 7, 2019 - so sorry)

TERE!! 

It was a great week here in Tartu! Thank you for all your prayers! We are, "Happy, happy, happy," as our mission president says! :) 

First off...Abraham, my brother, and Annie just got ENGAGED!!! Congrats you two!! :) 

The work:

Well, you all remember the young girl and her boyfriend who we met with last week? Well....we met with them again this week, and it was super rough. That was the first time I have ever cried in a lesson. They had searched the internet about the Book of Mormon and found all sorts of things that made them have lots of questions. They asked us question after question, and we answered some questions and encouraged them to ask God their questions, but they were not accepting any of our answers. I cried while testifying about the Book of Mormon and our Savior, Jesus Christ. I explained through tears how important this gospel is. They shoved the Book of Mormons back to us. At the end, they were very confused as to why I was crying. I was so distraught that I couldn’t really explain myself before they left. I was kicking myself that I hadn’t been able to explain that I wasn’t crying because I was mad. God saw how sad I was, and guess what happened three minutes after they walked out the doors? They came back because the outside building door was locked, and we needed to unlock it. Miracle!! I said a prayer of thanks in my head that I would get a chance to explain myself a bit. As we unlocked the door, I explained through tears that I wasn’t crying because I thought they were bad people. I was crying and so distraught because I knew that there was so much more joy and peace they could feel, but I was so sad they weren’t listening and ready to accept that. I said we all are striving to follow Christ, and they agreed. The good thing is that the girl wanted to be on our daily text list (we send out a scripture every day). I hope and believe that one day, they will remember meeting and will remember how much this gospel and the Book of Mormon means to me and us, and hopefully they will desire to meet and talk with missionaries again. Until then, I gave it my all, and God sees that and magnifies those efforts. 

Õde Lighten was here with the other two trainees this week to work out their Estonia living permit. It was super fun to go with them to the police station and be their translator haha.

Funny:

One night, we updated records for about 3 hours, and Õde Nelson ended up on the FLOOR because she was so tired hahah. 

Also, Õde Nelson found a candy bar under her desk that expired in 2014...yummy! 

Culture:

The older people here look really intimidating on the outside because they don’t smile. BUT even though they look cold on the outside, they have the warmest hearts! Countless times, I have started talking with older babushkas with frowns on their faces...those frowns quickly turn into smiles as I compliment their hat and ask them about their grandchildren! I love these babushkas :)

I saw little glimpses of the sun (or something close to it) TWICE this week...glorious times. 

Spiritual thought:

I am learning a lot about trusting God right now. There were many moments this week when I got discouraged or sad, and I would pray and ask for help. In those moments especially, God sent something or someone my way to help me out. One time, His hand came through a call from Sister Goodell (a sister missionary in Tallinn and my dear MTC friend). Another time His hand came simply through a feeling of reassurance and peace. 

This week, our mission president invited us all to read the 33 General Conference talks from October 2018 in 33 days. Every day, I write down the question, "What can I do better to come closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?" Then, I read a talk. I write down 2 impressions I feel Heavenly Father needs me to know and learn from that talk. At the end of the 33 days, I will have 66 thoughts and impressions straight from Heavenly Father to me. I will then review prayerfully those 66 thoughts over the course of a couple days, then make plans and create 5 goals of things I want to change and do. When April 2019 General Conference rolls around, I will be ready to receive more revelation and learn more because I will have made myself available to the Lord. I am trying to say, "OK, God! I am your investigator! Teach me with love, please!" :) I am grateful our mission president has invited us to do this, because already I am learning so much! This morning, I read Elder Bednar’s, "Gather Together in One All Things in Christ." (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2018/10/gather-together-in-one-all-things-in-christ?lang=eng) I had tried to read this talk before, and it didn’t make sense to me. But when I read it this morning, it all clicked! The gospel of Jesus Christ consists of faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. From his talk, I learned that faith=trusting in God. Repentance=relying upon God. Baptism=following God. Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end=pressing forward with Christ with the help of the Holy Spirit every day of my life. 

I am grateful to be learning more and more that when I trust in God, He leads me to ultimate happiness and complete joy. I love God! I love being a missionary! I love all of you!

Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace.

Õde Smith-Driggs

2 Nephi 33:10 - And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ.  And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good.

P.S. Shout out to Elder Matt Spataro who told me about the talk, "Joy and Spiritual Survival" by President Nelson (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/joy-and-spiritual-survival?lang=eng). I studied it this week and learned so much about joy. Read it!! :)