Pray about how to use your gift of charity

Tere!! 

Over 15 months together in the Baltic Mission

The work:

First of all, I am so grateful to have seen "Emily" go to the temple last Friday. I wish you could all see the joy in her face as she described to us the feelings she had while entering the Lords house on earth! 

This week, we met with three adorable older women want to be baptized on May 18! They are a threesome ("kolmakesi") that stay together always. Their whole lives they have been best friends. It’s adorable! Randomly as we have met with them, they stand up and say, "We want to sing a song to you about Jesus Christ." Or one time they said, "Can we sing our food song to you?" Hahaha they are hilarious. We sang, "I am a child of God" for them in return, and they sweetly smiled as our voices, testifying of our identity as children of God, penetrated their tender hearts. :) They are members of a different church and did not understand at first why they had to be baptized again. But after we explained how important it is to be baptized with the authority of God, and that even people in the Bible got baptized again after realizing they were not baptized with God’s authority, they all agreed to be baptized again. They are excited! Õde Lighten bore beautiful testimony about President Russell M. Nelson being the true prophet of God on the earth. I love these three babushkas!! 

Leadership conference: I forgot my passport for the bus ride to Latvia, so I had to take a later bus. But I knew it was God's plan. Sure enough, God placed an amazing mom next to me on the bus ride, and we became good friends. Even though she was not interested in hearing more about the gospel of Jesus Christ, she agreed it was a sign from God that I took the later bus and met her. The things we talked about really made her think. I'm grateful God placed her in my path!

Funnies:

The threesome came to our English night, even though none of them really speak english (not YET...stay tuned). We played "telephone," and the phrase was "I’m the captain now." When it went through them, it came out on the other side as "mamamamama." Hahahah. I didn’t realize that is what English sounds like to some people!

Also I accidentally called chocolate mousse HAIR mousse this week....so I said hair mousse was delicious! Silly Estonian. :)

Culture:

"I give up" in English is "I give down" in Estonian. And "Write it down" in English is "Write it up" in Estonian!

Spiritual thought:

I read this morning Moroni 7:48 in the Book of Mormon: 

"....pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with [charity], which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ..."

I never had noticed that phrase before. God has already given His true followers the gift of charity. I believe anyone reading this now is a follower of Christ because you are taking the time to read the words of a representative of Jesus Christ.

The prophet Mormon pleads with us to be FILLED with charity that has already been given to us. What does that mean? I believe it means we pray and ask God how to ACT with our charity.

I remember months ago I was praying to Heavenly Father. I was "praying unto the Father with all the energy of my heart" to be filled with charity. God said to me, "I have already given you the gift of charity. You need to ask me how to use it."

Wow, what a wake up call from my Heavenly Father! As I then prayed to know how to use my gift of charity, revelation followed.

If you are a true follower of Jesus Christ, God has already given you the gift of charity. You need to be praying to know how to USE that gift to help your fellow brothers and sisters "be like him, see him as he is, and have hope."

For further study, please study the talk, "Pure love:the true sign of every true disciple of Jesus Christ." (Link: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=pure+love%3athe+true+sign+of+every+true+disciple+of+jesus+christ&view=detail&mid=3BCDB142DD00C4BD82C23BCDB142DD00C4BD82C2&FORM=VIRE).)

Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace.

Õde Smith-Driggs

Alma 48: 13, 17

13 Yea, and [Moroni] was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of his blood. 

17 Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.

Dying eggs with onion peels . . . Happy Easter!

TERE!!

This week was the first week wearing no tights. HAPPY SPRING! :) (Also happy birthday Sister Tullis!!!! Igatsen sind!)

The work:

The work was pretty slow until Sunday when 4 NEW PEOPLE showed up at church! One of them is a man from China who saw my Easter posts on Facebook about the Savior and our special Easter church service. He decided to come to the service! We will be meeting with him again on Wednesday. He really enjoyed the service. 

There were three other 60-year-old women who showed up to church. Elder Nilsson was trying to talk with them on the bus ride to church, but he speaks Russian, not Estonian. So he called us and had us invite them to church. He had talked with them in the park a few days prior, and gotten the number of one of the ladies to give to us sisters. We had already been in contact with her. It was a miracle that God placed them all on the same bus on Sunday morning on the way to church so these three women could come with Elder Nilsson and Elder Klintworth to church! They enjoyed the service too. Turns out, they are good friends with one of the members here! So they all sat together and giggled and enjoyed feeling the Spirit of God as we sang songs about Christ's resurrection. :) We met with them during church, and explained the Book of Mormon. They are all excited to read and pray about the Book of Mormon to ask God if it is true!

"Emily" is doing well, and is going to the temple for the first time next week! 

Our Easter consisted of making cookies and dying eggs with onion peels (see culture section below). The two members we made them with are AMAZING. We delivered the eggs and cookies to a few less active members and sang to them. They cried as they felt the Spirit through song. 

Zone conference:)

Sister Mischenko!

Funny:

Glasses Tuesday!

Culture:

So in Estonia, the stores sell packaged onion peels for dying eggs. You first take an egg, cover it with onion peels, wrap it up in paper towels, tie it shut, then boil it. The eggs come out speckled and brown! And then, Estonians do something called "koksima," or "egg tapping." I hit my hard boiled egg against someone else’s, and if her egg cracks, then she loses. If my egg cracks, I lose. We played it with a wonderful older lady, and she beat us all :) Koksima! Happy Easter!

Estonians wearing national clothing randomly came and danced around us in the park!

Today, my companions and I accompanied one of our dear members to Lauluväljak, the place where more than 200,000 Estonians gather every 5 years to sing and celebrate their country's freedom. When we stood there, I felt God's love for Estonians so strongly. I know that God knows each Estonian individually because they are each a child of Him.

One of the dear families here put together an Easter obstacle course for the missionaries.  I love these people!

Happy Easter cake!

Spiritual thought:

How can a person know if what we are teaching is true? One prophet in the Book of Mormon teaches about how he came to know for himself. 

Alma 5:45-46

“And this is not all.  Do ye suppose that I know of these things myself? Behold, I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true.  And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety? Behold, I say unto you they are made known into me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which is manifest in me.”

I can add my testimony to that. I would not be here if I did not know that God is real, He loves us, and He has provided a way for us to communicate with him personally and frequently. I am grateful for personal revelation. I am grateful for God!

Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace.

Õde Smith-Driggs

Mosiah 2:41:

And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

BAPTISM!!!

TERE!!!

On our way to the baptism! Baked goods in hand!

The work:

AMAZING news this week. One of our dear friends got baptized! She is 17 years old. I talked about her in my last email. I called her, "Emily":) From the time we first met with her to when she entered the waters of baptism was 8 days. Miracle. She was so prepared to hear about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I have never seen anyone so ready and willing to accept EVERYTHING so so quickly. Thank you for all your prayers on her behalf! On Friday, we simply stood on the street with her for about 15 minutes as she cried. She was crying out of gratitude for us and for all the support she has felt. She simply was overcome with emotion at how much joy and peace she was feeling with us. We are God's physical representations of His love to Emily right now. What an honor. 

It was an incredible baptismal service. I wish I could send you all pictures of Emily so you could see how happy she is! Just know that she was beaming :) Emily wanted Elder Nilsson, the Russian-speaking missionary who first talked with Emily on the bus, to baptize her. He memorized the baptismal prayer in Estonian (MALODIETZ!!), so he could baptize her in her mother tongue. Emily's mom also came to the service, and we ended up reading the Book of Mormon with her (Emily had already showed it to her). Her mom said she felt the Holy Ghost as she was with us all. She cried as we sister missionaries sang, "I Am a Child of God" at the baptismal service. 

The baptism was on the 26th floor of a 

beautiful hotel in Tallinn. What a view:)

Our whole week was centered on helping "Emily" and "Anne" get baptized on Saturday. Unfortunately, Anne's parents did not allow her to be baptized. But we love her, and God loves her and her parents anyway, and we are excited to continue growing our relationship with her :)

Our dear Elder and Sister Allred had to leave this week because their living permit has not yet come. We miss you and love you both! Hope to see you again really soon.

Exchanges with Sister Dean. I LOVE YOU, SISTER DEAN!

This picture was taken one year ago as I entered Estonia! Crazy to think about how much the Lord has taught me in just over a year here.

Culture:

Students and retired persons ride FREE on busses. And we do not pay for a ticket every time we get on the bus. Rather, we buy a card at the beginning of the month with a month of rides on it (unlimited rides). Then when we get on a bus, we scan the card and all is well! 

You know how in English, the colors of the rainbow are "red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple"? Well, in Estonian, it is "red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, dark blue, purple." And in Portuguese, it is in an entirely different order! 

Also to say "wink" in Estonian, you say, "Ma teen silma," which literally means, "I do/make an eye." ;)

Funnies:

Our microwave broke this week, but Elder and Sister Allred were kind enough to give us theirs. This image just cracks me up. Elder Bunker and Elder Schmidt carried the microwave on the bus to our house haha. Thank you elders!!

Exchange with Sister Dean! You know it’s going to be a fun night when she brings out her American popcorn and left over chocolate :)

On p-day, we were meeting with the elders to go shopping and have fun together. Well, they decided to pick out outfits for us to try on at the store while Sister Lighten was shopping for new missionary pants. 

This is what we came out with :)

Spiritual thought:

I read Mosiah 4:9 in the Book of Mormon today, and simply felt so grateful for God. 

“Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.”

I always think of my dear friend Melissa when I read that scripture because she shared it with me a long time ago, and it helped me re-focus on the bigger picture. Melissa is a great example of living in such a way that others can tell she knows God. And she knows that God knows her too. 

So many of us want to be happy. Well, as Elder Holland teaches, "Your best chance for being happy is to do the things that happy people do. Live the way happy people live. Walk the path that happy people walk." (https://www.lds.org/youth/article/print?lang=eng&url=/youth/article/the-quest-for-happiness.) I can testify that that path is called the "covenant path." That path is centered on Jesus Christ. He is our Savior and friend. I love Him. 

Believe in God. Believe that He is!

Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace.

Õde Smith-Driggs

Alma 22:23 - “And the king stood forth, and began to minister unto them. And he did minister unto them, insomuch that his whole household were converted unto the Lord.”

(When we minister as the Savior does, people become “converted unto the Lord.”)

The Lord began to bless them...

TERE!!

I hope you all enjoyed Conference weekend as much as we did here in Estonia! And the weather here is warming up! I didn’t even wear a scarf for most of the days this week...and I got my first sunburn of the year! It’s weird to say, but that felt so good! I love the sun!

My dear sisters!

The work:

God literally placed two wonderful young women in our lives this week. One of them I already mentioned last week, and the other we met with for the first time only 4 days ago. They are BOTH getting baptized on Saturday! 

So, the first woman we will call "Anne." We met with Anne last Sunday, and she said then she wanted to be baptized! But she is 17 years old, and said she wanted to wait until her 18th birthday to be baptized to start her "adult life" with a clean slate and fresh start. We respected her decision, but asked her to pray about it and ask God when He wanted her to be baptized. We met with her on Wednesday and taught her about God’s plan for us (answering the questions of, "Where did we come from?", "Why are we here?", and "Where are we going?"). We asked her if she had prayed about when she should be baptized. Anne paused for a second and said, "I was thinking sometime in April. April 12." Our jaws dropped. That was next Friday!! The member who was with us (also Anne's best friend) said, "No, I have work on that day!" We asked if April 13 would be OK. She thought back to a moment in the lesson where she had accidentally read the number "13" in one of the Book of Mormon verses we read in Alma 40, and took it as a sign from God that April 13 is the day God wants her to be baptized. :) AMAZING lesson. Anne has so much faith. She came to watch General Conference (a meeting where all the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints come together and hear prophets and apostles teach us about how to better live the way Christ lives). She loved it! She is excited to be baptized on Saturday!

The second woman we will call "Emily." She just fell into our lap from God. Elder Nielsen talked to her on a bus last Sunday, and we met with her on Friday. We talked to a mom outside Emily's apartment complex. The mom wasn’t interested, so we walked away, heading to our appointment with Emily. As we were walking, we were trying to find the number for her apartment, but on the way, we saw a BEAMING young girl watching us, standing at one of the doorways. I smiled at her, and we kept walking because we were going to be late. But her happiness was so bright that even though we were going to be late to Emily's, I said, "Hang on sisters, we HAVE to talk with that girl." We walked back, and I said, "Hello! We are not from here, we are missionaries here from The Church of Jesus Christ..." she cut me off and said, "I know!" The Spirit then told me, "That’s Emily." I said, "Wait, are you Emily?" "Yes, I am!" "Oh! We were going to a different apartment number, but you must have accidentally said the wrong number!" She said, "Well, I’m glad I came down to the doorway, otherwise you would all be lost." (Side note: yeah, that never happens...people normally don’t wait for you outside their apartment complex doorway. The Spirit must have told her to go downstairs). She had bought us a HUGE box of chocolates. We began by teaching her to pay attention to how she feels as we teach her. "You will feel a certain peace and joy as we talk. Even though it will be a lot of information and discussion, hold on to that feeling of peace. Focus on that." She did. And by the end of the appointment, she wanted to be baptized so she could feel that peace (called "the Holy Ghost") every day of her life by receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost! She also said she wanted to be baptized on April 13 (8 days from our first meeting). She came to watch General Conference and cried from feeling the Spirit so strongly. She said she felt goosebumps and so much peace. I am grateful to be seeing her grow in knowledge of the truth while feeling the Holy Ghost (inner peace and confirmation). 

I had a special moment with Emily two minutes before General Conference started. The camera showed the apostles, and I explained to her who the apostles are. Then, the camera showed President Nelson. A huge smile came on my face and a certain reverence came to my voice as I said, "And that is President Russell M. Nelson. I know he is a prophet of God. The words he speaks come straight from God." I felt so much gratitude in that moment for a living prophet and for God’s love. I know Emily felt it too. 

WATCHING GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!

Funnies: 

• I told an older woman in Russian, "I like your hat." She said, "Mine? WOW!" And then proceeded to throw her arms around me and my companions. Later in the conversation, I didn’t know the word for "singing" in Russian, so I asked her what she was referring to, and she burst into song on the street to show me what "singing" was. I love that woman :)

• I have had the same breakfast every day for a year now (scoff if you wish,but I’m telling you...it’s sooooo tasty, and it gets me out of bed in the morning haha). All my companions know about my special breakfast. I was holding an exchange with Sister Nelson in Tartu this week. They related the story afterward to me: "We knew Sister Smith-Driggs had her special breakfast, and it requires a tortilla. We forgot to buy a tortilla at the grocery store, so we asked the elders to bring us a tortilla from their fridge the night before Sister Smith-Driggs came to town. The elders showed up to church with a single tortilla in their hand. No wrapping on it. Just a tortilla. So I (Sister Murdock) put parchment paper over it a bit, then got on the bus home. Everyone was staring at me. I wondered why. Then I realized it was probably because I was holding a single tortilla in my hands on the city bus. HAHAHA." I am grateful to my dear sisters who did so much so that I could have my special breakfast in the morning. and let me tell you....that tortilla was so good :)

Sister Murdock and Sister Nelson

• Also in Tartu, we had to call the police super late at night because we thought there was a carbon monoxide leak in the elders’ apartment. We stayed up very late waiting for the police to call. Finally, we heard everything was ok and they were alive. It is a super long, funny story I will tell you all in person sometime soon (oh p.s. ....I come home in about 3 months. Crazy!!)

Culture:

Tartu has a teeter-totter swing! 

I have seen many types of swings here in Estonia.

And here is Elder Chappell skipping rocks in Tartu 

as we walked dogs.

Spiritual thought:

My mom sent me these verses in the Book of Mormon this week. Our companionship truly experienced this feeling this week. In this story, missionaries have been persecuted and cast out in many cities. (It’s a longer read, but worth it, I promise.)

Alma 40:10-13

10 And it came to pass as he began to expound these things unto them they were angry with him, and began to mock him; and they would not hear the words which he spake.

11 Therefore, when he saw that they would not hear his words, he departed out of their synagogue, and came over to a village which was called Ani-Anti, and there he found Muloki preaching the word unto them; and also Ammon and his brethren. And they contended with many about the word.

12 And it came to pass that they saw that the people would harden their hearts, therefore they departed and came over into the land of Middoni. And they did preach the word unto many, and few believed on the words which they taught.

13 Nevertheless, Aaron and a certain number of his brethren were taken and cast into prison, and the remainder of them fled out of the land of Middoni unto the regions round about.

Super sad, right? No one was accepting these missionaries! They were working hard and doing nothing wrong, but just were not seeing success. Then, in verses 16 and 17, things begin to change. 

16 And they went forth whithersoever they were led by the Spirit of the Lord, preaching the word of God in every synagogue of the Amalekites, or in every assembly of the Lamanites where they could be admitted.

17 And it came to pass that the Lord began to bless them, insomuch that they brought many to the knowledge of the truth; yea, they did convince many of their sins, and of the traditions of their fathers, which were not correct.

We do not know why, but the Lord began to bless them with success. I believe they were listening to the Spirit the whole time. They were always diligent. Not perfect, but they tried. Suddenly, the Lord began to bless them. Our companionship has felt this way. We have been imperfectly trying our best this whole transfer, and we have not seen much success. We have not had many progressing investigators...actually none at all. But then suddenly this week, “the Lord began to bless us.” This is NOT to say the Lord has not been blessing us before. He always blesses us. But this week He placed two very prepared young women in our path that are ready to change their lives for the better. We don’t know why. We didn’t change our approach per se, but the Lord simply blessed us.

Some of you may be feeling like you are doing everything right, but the Lord is simply not blessing you. Have patience. Have hope. The Lord is there with you. He WILL bless you because He loves you.

Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace.

Õde Smith-Driggs

Moroni 7:13 “But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.”