Привет!
I am so grateful to be here in Lithuania. I trust in God's plan. I love Him so much. I hope everyone in America enjoys Independence Day celebrations this week!
The work:
All the missionaries in Lithuania were here for our music concert put on by members and missionaries in the entire country of Lithuania. What a special privilege I have to know these missionaries in Lithuania. All performers got roses after the concert, so we took a picture of the roses in our mouths:)
A young man whom Sister Hawks and I met on the street on our exchange CAME to the music concert!! So cool. He wants to meet and learn more about The Church of Jesus Christ.
I also had the opportunity to perform a song called, "I Heard Him Come" at the concert. (Video on my FB page.) I performed that song at the beginning of my mission in the MTC, one year into my mission for a zone conference, and now at the end of my mission for a Lithuanian music concert. Sister Goodell has been present all three times :) That song means a lot to me. The words are so real. It talks about being with Jesus and having experiences with Him. My mother sang that song on her music album we would listen to growing up, so I think of her often when I sing the song. The music concert organizers translated the song lyrics into Lithuanian and put it on the back of the program so that everyone could follow along with the words. After I performed it, I felt tingles of the Spirit all throughout my body, especially in my fingertips. I felt spiritually exhausted. That was an indication to me that, thankfully, the Spirit worked through me and the song to testify and confirm truth to listeners that Jesus is the Christ. I am grateful to be a tool in the Lord's hand, however imperfect I am.
Do you remember the man from last week who fed us breakfast after we talked to him on the street for 10 minutes? We met with him, his wife, and his friend this week. We focused on the similarities in what we believe, and there are a lot of similarities! They were excited about the Book of Mormon. When we put it in their hands, they leafed through the pages with a glint in their eye. They said they would try reading and praying about it. A cool moment in the lesson was when I testified about the gospel of Jesus Christ being a gospel of CHANGE. I love that living according to the gospel invites change into our daily life. For example, this week I realized that my Estonian was slipping a bit because I spend so much time focusing on Russian now. As I prayed about it one night, God told me that I had to repent (a.k.a. change something) so I could remember the language He has been teaching me for 17+ months. So, the next morning I began listening to general conference talks in Estonian again. In other words, I repented. I changed. So when I testified about the gospel of change in our lesson and our friend's wife asked, "HOW is it a gospel of change?," I could testify about the change I had made that morning to practice Estonian more.
On exchanges with Sister Hawks, we met with this very sweet girl that wants to start reading the Book of Mormon. She was fascinated by the idea of receiving answers to prayers.
This girl is amazing. We met her on the street two weeks ago. She was hesitant to give us her number, but then as Sister Goodell explained that meeting with us would be like jumping into cold water - if you take baby steps into it, waiting until you are fully ready, you will most likely not make it all the way in! But if you just do a cannonball into the water, knowing you will never be 100% ready for it, it is scary and unknown at first, but then you get used to it. She loved the analogy and decided to give us her number and take the leap of faith into cold water. We have met with her a couple of times now. She loves the Book of Mormon even though it is kind of hard to understand when first reading it, understandably.
All the Russian-speaking missionaries in Lithuania.
I love the senior couple missionaries here! We had dinner with them on Sunday night and had some of the most uplifting conversations.
MTC Reunion - We love Sister Christensen:)
Sister Goodell and I had a very special moment in the chapel this week. We were all alone, and we simply expressed to each other how much we love God. We expressed out gratitude for Him. There are no other words for this mission than, “Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift.” (2 Cor. 9:15) We are unbelievably grateful for our missions for Him.
I love these members! Я люблю вас!
Culture:
A typical Baltic ‘dome’ (apartment building) and staircase. I knocked a few doors this week...3rd time knocking doors in my whole mission!
Stoplights are different here than in America. It goes red, then YELLOW, then green instead of just red to green.
Clouds
On P day, our district went to the TV tower. The top of the tower is a rotating restaurant. I love these people!
Squished in the elevator!
Funnies:
IRIS, our dear friend from Estonia, came down to Lithuania to say goodbye to us!! What a friend! I love her and am grateful for her!
Sister Hawks and I are both "trainees" here and don’t know the area. So when our companions were in Riga for a day, we fended for ourselves in Vilnius. GOOD NEWS! We didn't get lost until 7 p.m.!! Miracle. And on the bus we took at 7 p.m. that happened to be the wrong one, I talked to a lady who gave me her number to meet up AND Sister Hawks saw a returning member (new term for less active) on the same bus. So clearly it was God's plan to get us lost. :)
I was talking in Russian to a woman on the bus, and she said, "Are you from Estonia?" BIGGEST COMPLIMENT EVER! I guess my Russian has an Estonian accent!! Hahahaha.
Our district group chat had the funniest conversation this week....Sister Goodell sent a voice recording of her talking about the subject we were discussing, and I was laughing in the background. Another missionary mentioned my laughing in the background (I have like 17 different laughs...). Then for the next 5 minutes, everyone ended up sending voice recordings of the FUNNIEST LAUGHS. If you listen straight through, you can’t help but laugh too.
It was so hot that Sister Soelberg put her head in the freezer to cool down.
Spiritual thought:
Sister Dean, my friend in Estonia, taught me a while ago about the three ways to know truth. (She had been taught this principle by the Spirit one morning.)
What are three truths I know?
I know my family loves me.
I know the world is round.
I know the sun will rise in the morning.
How do I know my parents love me?
I feel it in my heart.
How do I know the world is round?
A teacher told me, and I trusted them.
How do I know the sun will rise in the morning?
From personal experience.
The same patterns apply to learning gospel truths:
You may know God is there because you have felt His love in your heart.
You may know what happens after this life because a teacher told you, and you trusted them.
You may know that God answers your prayers because of personal experiences when God answered your small and earnest prayers.
Speaking as a representative of Jesus Christ, I know that God lives. This is His church. He loves us individually. He cares about what we care about. I am grateful to have learned these truths from the feelings in my heart, teachings I have heard and applied, and personal experiences I have gained, especially as a missionary. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace.
Cестра Смит-Лригс
Alma 37:10
10 And who knoweth but what they will be the means of bringing many thousands of them, yea, and also many thousands of our stiffnecked brethren, the Nephites, who are now hardening their hearts in sin and iniquities, to the knowledge of their Redeemer?
