Letter - March 22, 2010

Labbas,

Here I am in Lithuania. The snow was melting today, so I decided to dress for spring. As I was standing at the bus stop near my house, a snowflake landed on this lady's hat, and didn't begin to melt for at least five seconds. I was fooled.

I just had my first chocolate filled croissant (sp?) and later, I ate an entire large pizza: the exotic had sweet hot chili sauce, pineapple, and chicken. (Lithuanian crusts are much thinner.) So, I'm sure you'd all rather know about the work here. It's been great so far. On our first day of meeting President and Sister Dance, we went contacting for an hour and a half. Since we were in Latvia, I just used English, but we ended up with three phone numbers in 45 minutes.

I taught my first lesson in Lithuanian on the 5 hour bus ride, since I had nothing better to do. I think she was teaching me more Lithuanian than I was teaching her about the Book of Mormon. We've been contacting on the streets, harvesting (apartment knocking), and contacting on the streets when we're not teaching. I seem to do alright on buses. I've been able to carry on a few conversations and get a few phone numbers, but there's something about talking to people on the street that is not quite as easy for me. Some people are fairly easy to understand.

Last week, we tried to go by a less-active's home, but we couldn't break-into the lock on the front of the apartment building, so we found an older guy on the bench in the park. We asked him where he's from, and he said, Siberia in broken Lithuanian (or so my companion said). He knew German better than any other language, but mine was pretty shabby after Lithuanian being poured through it for two months. His name was Vladimar. We talked a bunch about great authors and composers, and then later last week we taught him a first lesson. He's kind of crazy, so I'll have to let you know how it goes.

I've talked with people from all sorts of walks of life. We ran into some English-speaking anarchist Yogi-like guys with several several piercings, and we had at least a half-hour conversation on their way to an art museum. We gave them each a BofM with assignments. We'll see how far the Elders get with them.

One of the most fun experiences last week was while knocking in a pretty rough Dome (apt building.) We ran into an older Russian lady, and her son. I couldn't even remember how to say my name, but somehow, we told her we were missionaries. Then she started talking, and telling us something. She became a little emotional. I wanted to talk so badly. I think I experienced one of the gifts of being a missionary, as the spirit just washed over me. I felt so much love for her, even though I didn't know her. I couldn't understand what she was saying, but I found the words for, "I love you. God loves you. I know." (probably incorrect.) We set a time, when we will return with Russian Sisters, gave her a hug, and went on our way. I don't know what will happen from here, but if anything good happens, I will let you know.

I know the Lord is taking care of me. I feel like I've been able to concentrate on the work and not be too frustrated with the language or my weaknesses. I'm still the imperfect person I was when I came on my mission. I've even slipped up on some things, like my spelling. Still, I feel the Lord is helping me to celebrate in the little successes, to enjoy the conversations, to just keep going despite my forgetfulness.

By the way, I ran into an Elder Daniel Sestrand. You may remember his family from Vegas. He's a Russian speaking Elder in Latvia.

I love and miss you all!

Sesuo Paul


Hello Family! I had a few extra minutes, so I thought I'd continue. My email might not work for awhile since I'm changing servers.

Time is so funny while I'm adjusting. I'm always busy, but somehow these last five days have been an eternity.

I really enjoyed Jordan's wedding pictures. I was sad not to be there, but oh well.

I think the biggest advantage of being new here, is I can't tell when people tell me 'no.' It's not socially couth to talk to people on buses, but I got a phone number from this guy because I just kept talking to him anyway.

Yesterday, it was really nice to meet the branch members. Later, we were trying to find the apartment of the lady I taught on the way to Lithuania. She said she lived in building 32. When we got to her complex, the even numbered buildings were 28, 30, 34, and 36. We walked all over the place, but no 32. It was so bizarre. You all would've been impressed to see me working my way across a snow-mud field in my Sunday clothes trying to find this lady. I got four phone numbers yesterday. It was much more natural and easier than some of the other days I've been contacting. Apparently it's a plus to look extra cute. People start talking to me, and inviting me to sit by them. They ask me about the book I'm holding. Someone asked me about my idea of God. :) That was nice. I asked him what he does. He said, "my work has no name." Got to go.

S. Paul