Letter June 21, 2010

New Home Sweet Home

So, I've spent the last week seeing sister Hall off to America. She wasn't the only one packing her bags, since I've also been transferred to Kaunas. Sister Janson, my MTC companion, and I are both training Sister Aldredge, who is an angel in every respect. There is one other pair of Elders in the city, one Senior Couple, and plenty of ward support helping the work run here.Kaunas is West of Vilnius, is the second largest city in Lithuania. (For a short time, it served as the capital of Lithuania, while Vilnius was annexed into Poland. ) Kaunas, I hear, is the heart of Lithuanian Nationalism. I don't know if I've seen much so far, except that there are very few Russian-speakers, and hardly any immigrants or foreign students or tourists. This place definitely has more of a small-town feel. People are more apt to smile and say hello to strangers.

With a new missionary from the MTC has come a shower of blessings. We have been allowed into many doors. The first building we ever harvested together was chosen by our wonderful Sister Aldredge. As we knocked, a few people even recognized us, and said, "Hey, I know you guys. Our neighbor, Lolite, goes to your church!" It was so wonderful, that the spirit led us to people who already had favorable contact with the church, without our even knowing it. We were able to teach lessons because Lolite's great example.

We can be certain that the Lord takes into account our weaknesses as well as our strengths. The other day, after being lost for a few minutes, we walked around a corner, and spoke to a man just walking from his driveway into the house. He invited us in, and we had a wonderful lesson. We still don't know what will become of this man, but the spirit was definitely there. The Lord knew we would be lost for a minute, and yet his timing is perfect.

The sisters and I share a love of exercise and a healthy amount of spontaneity. While jogging the other morning, we decided to take a short cut home through a gully and across a creek. We soon found ourselves in waist-deep foliage, and then running through a patch of thistles. The short-cut didn't actually lead home, but the experience led me to much reflection on the importance of staying on the Lord's straight and narrow. That night, we were attacked by mosquitoes in the park. I don't think they've taught me anything, but they added nicely to the thistle-scratches.

Our Kaunas apartment is very nice compared to the one in Vilnius. To light our old oven, we would strike a match, and drop it in the bottom like a barbecue. The Kaunas' oven is a nice convection. The only problem was that Sister Jansen had never used the oven until last week. Sunday dinner sat in the cold oven for about an hour, until we went to pull it out. I'm sure grateful for canned food.

I couldn't help but be grateful once again that I'm in this different apartment, especially when the Elders now living in my Vilnius apartment called to ask whether the bathroom had ever locked us out before. They couldn't hack it. They're shopping for a new place to live.

Well, it's not much, but my time is up.

Love,
Sister Paul

Letter - June 7, 2010

Cathedral of St. Stanislaus and St. Vladislav in Vilnius

Church of St. Anne's, next to (the orange) Church of St. Francis and St. Bernardine

Church of St. Anne's

Petro and Povilo Church (St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church)

Churches! Bažnycios!

Here is a little trivia on some of Vilnius' Churches:

Vilnius has tons of historic Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches. It used to have more Synagogues, but many of those were destroyed around the time of the Second World War. We spent some time last Monday visiting around. The first church we visited was the Cathedral of St. Stanislaus and St. Vladislav. Buried underneath the Cathedral are Vytautas the Great, Lithuania's most famous ruler, and wife of Zygimantas Augustas, Queen Elisabeth of Austria (The Hapsburg.) Lithuania's history is very tied to the history of Poland, having shared a monarchy and their love of the Catholic religion for some time. There are statues of the Evangelists at the very front of the building. They're very Greek, and very macho. I like it when righteous men are portrayed as having rippling muscles, hair waving in the wind, with a drawn sword and a facial expression that could cause any evil-doer to shiver.

Secondly, we stopped by the Church of St. Anne's. This church is in a Gothic-style, with twisting and turning spires of brick. Legend has it, that Napoleon so loved this Church that he wanted to take it home to France in the palm of his hand, or so I've been told by at least three Lithuanians. The reality, I learned, was that when the Napoleonic army came through Lithuania, that this church was consigned to the French Cavalry forces. This church has been exactly as it stands for 500 years. That's a long time.

Joined to the Church of St. Anne's is the church of St. Francis and St. Bernardine. This church was built a bit later, the interior being finished in the 17th century. It's interior was gorgeous. It's a pity though, that the organ is always in the back of the church, where the congregation can't see during the services. I often think that is the best view.

We also visited the Churches of St. Nicholas, and also a Russian Orthodox Church by the name of The Assumption Virgin Cathedral. It's very interesting to me to note the style differences between Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox. There are no pews, the art is very different. Everything was focused on the Virgin Mary, fitting with the name.

I would have to say that my favorite church, however, was one recommended to me by an Elder Havens. Petro and Povilo Church is a Baroque chapel with the most expressive sculptured interior I've ever seen. Every inch of this church is packed with original art. It seems that none of the art was cast from a mold. Every face has a different expression. There are tons of flowers, animals, and bible characters hiding in the walls of this church. It's like a huge Bacchanalian garden party. On one side of the door is a fleshy duke, bidding adieu to the patrons. Directly opposite is a standing skeleton wearing similar garb. I didn't take pictures out of respect for the worshippers, but I definitely want to go back sometime.

Letter - May 31, 2010

I'm over my cold. Two weeks ago, I was quite ill. It's always harder to concentrate when one feels under the weather. One tricky thing about the Lithuanian language, is that "noaw" means "yes." I really confused someone last week then I called, and asked, " Is __ home?" The reply came back "Naow" and I promptly said, " Sorry, wrong number!" and hung up. It took a good 10 seconds for me to realize why I had this lingering itch in the back of my brain that I had done something wrong. That was an awkward situation to iron-out.

I run into lots of wonderful new-age people here. I ask them what's most important in life, and they say " To live in the moment. To stay in between the future and the past." I often feel a twinge of humor at this point, because in a very literal way I'm always traveling between the past and the future. You see, our apartment is on Minties Gatve, meaning memory street, and the church is on Ateties Gatve, meaning future street. So, I feel like I'm living wisely.

There's so much miscommunication all the time. Our neighbors aren't very fond of us. We've tried to take them cookies and wish them a good day, but they didn't take them. So, we thought that maybe they felt over-loved. My favorite instance happened last week, when I was standing on the landing as they cracked open their door to leave. She, the grandmother, took one look at me, uttered a despairing "OY Ne!" and shut the door. I think she's been contacted one-too-many times.

On the other hand, some people are really friendly. After the above experience, I had a dream that Sister Hall and I showed up to a neighborhood block party, and everyone left. The next day I had quite the opposite experience, when we came across an older lady in a bright orange sweater and matching beret. We told her we were going to wish someone a Happy Birthday, and she said, " Great! We love to sing and dance!" She proceeded to hug me around the wist, bounce up and down while swaying, and sing a song of unfamiliar tune and make. I was thoroughly confused, and tickled-pink. I felt like I was living in a musical. Then she stopped, while still holding on to me, looked at me again, and said, "How about another!" and then began again to make up her own song, and dance with me some more. We finally parted ways, with some smiles and some well-wishing. Lithuanians, even if they don't know you, or are telling you that they're not going to let you in teach them, are still nice enough to well-wish you happiness, success, luck, and health before they close the door.

The Lithuanian language is just whimsical. They have verb-roots with tons of constructions and variations. There are prefixes that add slight variance to the use of the verb. Their are at least nine ways to say "I Run." I had to laugh when I learned the noun for absence, "nebuvimas." It literally means, a not-being-ness. Their spelling is also completely phonetic, which means that it's really hard for me to spell in English after studying Lithuanian.

Last Saturday, we visited a member who lives in the forest. It was magical to walk among the incredibly tall trees with rain sprinkling all Lithuania, it rains a lofairy-tale land, with really tall trees. We had a lesson with her, and weeded her garden. Then, while my companion was using the outhouse (she decided she didn't like indoor plumbing, so she moved her toilet back outside) she showed me this bar, and she had me hang upside-down by my knees to help my lymph system, and then, we walked around, and she showed us herbs that grow around her that we can just eat. Her life is so simple. I want to live like her in many ways.

I can't report anything outwardly miraculous this week, but I can say that I'm very grateful for the way this week has gone. I've been touched by the words of Dorine and Covenants 6. I know that God knows the thoughts and intents of me and my companion. I've never been so happy with so little outward "success." I think this is all part of the process though, that the Lord will first try our hearts, and then prepare us for the miracles ahead. I have an assurance of the miracles to come stronger than any physical evidence. I know that when we feast upon the word, when we drink of living waters, we are never left wanting.

Have a good week!

Sister Paul