Letter - July 25, 2010

Miracles

Hello Family!

Sister Alldredge and I have officially walked on water. The attached pictures are of our recent adventure outside the mall. We spent 10 min. inside giant hamster balls, just to let off a little steam. The following is the account in her words:

" I have never understood Newton's, 'for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction' law as well as when I got in that ball. It was literally impossible to move anywhere! You'd try and run in it and you would just end up looking like a hamster, cuz your ball wouldn't actually move anywhere. Anyways, Sister Paul and I both got in these balls and tried to "duke it out" but we only ended up by each other for like 30 seconds and then we drifted out of range."

As our ten minutes ticked away, we realized how fortunate this time-limit really is, for preventing serious oxygen deprivation. Our lungs are bigger than most 10-year old boys'. Oh what a great time.

Now on to a few real miracles: we've been blessed lately with people who are interested to meet regularly. On inventory, none of them were found through our own rigorous finding efforts. I know that the Lord has heard our prayers of faith and has blessed us according to our obedience. One woman brought herself to Church having already heard the discussions from the missionaries, and telling them that she no longer wanted to investigate. She had been meeting with us for quite awhile, without much foreseeable progress. Our lesson with her last Monday was for me, a very special one. We were trying to answer a question that she had on the Word of Wisdom, and she brought up her dependence on coffee herself, and then proceeded to ask us how she could quit. She committed herself! She is a very hard person to read, but the commitment shows that she is ready to make some big steps.

We spent a good portion of our week assembling a display for an open house that was held last Friday. We lamented over the hours that we couldn't be out finding, but again the Lord blessed us for doing our best. A member, Kazimerius, came up and told us that there will be a girl here tonight that will ask to be baptized, and I had a hard time believing his words, since he's in his 80's and fairly senile. (My previous memory of him was the prior week, when he was posting the Lithuanian flag in honor of a holiday. He ardently forbade me to stabilize his tipping ladder, because he would rather go to God.) A few minutes later, his friend and granddaughter walked in, and asked how she could be baptized. She is 11, and had seen something about our faith on television, and decided that since it was time for her to be baptized, she would choose this faith. She was excited and touched by the message of temples. Seeing youth like herself makes Joseph Smith's life much more believable.

The time has run short again. Thanks for all your prayers.

Sesuo Paul

Harris Family Reunion

Hayley's extended family got together this past week for a family reunion in Durango, CO. Fun was had by all, but we sure missed Hayley's smiling face. :) Love ya Sister Paul, we'll look forward to having you at the next reunion.

Grandchildren (minus Hayley and Bryce)

Letter - July 12, 2010

The Wilderness of Lithuania

I was told I was being sent to the Arctic, but I think I must have jumped on the wrong flight. Lithuania hosts a mean, hot summer. It's short, but it's definitely a summer season. I am standing next to a weed growing by the side of the road. I think everything here has little-man syndrome. It grows quickly. The mosquito bites come in waves. I went half a week itch free, only to score another handful all in one afternoon. We were on sidewalks all day, so I'm still amazed that mosquitoes found my ankles.

Contacting on the main thoroughfare the other day, we found ourselves walking in the view of a camera crew filming a beer commercial. Don't be too surprised to see us walking right through a short on European Beer. In case you won't be able to recognize me, I'm the one with a small run in my tights. Just before leaving the house I said to my companions, "Good thing no one's going to be taking pictures of us, because I have that stupid run." About a half-hour later, we began contacting a woman and her husband who were apparently very involved with the theatre community of Lithuania. Her husband, an ardent photographer, began taking candids of us while walking and talking to his wife.( Luckily, this 5 minute photo shoot was from the front, so there's less of a chance he'll catch an awesome shot of my run.) She was headed to a memorial service, and was really excited to show us the front of the theatre. We walked in only to realize the viewing was smack dab in the front of the theatre. The corpse was beautifully lit with bright blue and silver lighting. We were suddenly very creeped out, and decided to thank her and leave. I can't wait to have a few more months of language under my belt. We'll avoid most of our awkward situations.I'm including a picture of this hill, that's actually a garage. It has such excellent ambiance. I think I want to build something right into a hillside someday, just to say I've done it.

Must be off,
Sesuo Paul

Letter - July 5, 2010

Lordai! Lorday! Down Lordai!

We, Sister Jansen, Sister Aldredge, and I are very happy and very busy here in Kaunas, Lithuania. We are seeing immediate results from our mission fast, in people's receptiveness, and in personal progress. We are working hard to make more effective the planning/preparing phase of missionary work with the work itself. We're putting in lots of dedicated hours, and the Lord has truly helped people open their hearts and doors to us. This week, I really want to help my sisters teach better by letting them work through some new principles to teach. The Lord has helped us to become bountiful finders, but the real test now, is whether we found those who have true interest and can adequately teach and invite them to make progress. It's crazy being the oldest out here. I know that we are finding, and now the work is ours to teach in order to baptize. We're going to need to build our courage and our confidence, and I'm sure the Lord will qualify us. It's relieving, when we allow the spirit to testify to us that our best is enough, and then we can do as is written: "Those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength." Truly, we've been given wings .

Things have been a little topsy turvy. I feel like we've had a lot thrown on us all at once, and yet it's all turning out to be a fun adventure. The experience that typifies this last few weeks, would be the one that my companion, Sister Aldredge wrote home about me. "We went to this member's house... and they have this dog named Lordas (Lorde when you address him... anyways) I kid you not, they opened the door, the three of us walked in, and it was literally the scene from Without a Clue where Sherlock gets taken out by that dog, ya know? I just see one of my companions get taken out by this huge beast of a dog, who pins her and starts licking her face :). I was laughing SO hard! Then we sat down and he jumped up and sat in her lap like he was a little mini poodle or something! Oh man, it was so great! I don't think I've ever had such a hard time keeping in the laughter (because this isn't unacceptable behavior for dogs here... their dogs are like a child)." In a word, we're laughing all the time, while I'm getting my face mercilessly licked.

The weather has been a little unpredictable. The rain was half-frozen for a day last week, it was so cold. I couldn't believe that the end of June could be so wet! We're a pretty small district here in Kaunas. We've got one pair of Elders and ourselves to proselyte through the whole city. We've got a wonderful support system from the members. The branch is much smaller here in Kaunas. The primary is much smaller, but we're hoping to find and teach more families with young children. I wish I could describe the life we've got here. We wear skirts, we talk to all sorts of people in the town centers. We're surrounded by centuries of Catholic tradition. The people here are very believing, almost to the point of mysticism. It's a refreshing change from the choking materialism of the "modern" world. Though Lithuanians now mostly live in flats, their blood is in the Kaimes, or country. The still very much cling to the village mind-set, being very hard-working, self-sufficient, with plenty of village-gossip to keep things interesting.

Ata,

Sister Paul