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

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