Arp 30: Read All About It

For All:

Distance: Without last Wednesday (my pedometer randomly reset and I lost the day's count), I have 70.12KM (83,931) and a new record of steps today (almost 17000)!

I was asked questions. Answers. Investigator update: D. is doing great with coffee right now! The big problem will be to get him married. His g/f is cool with getting married, but it has to be in a church. And here in Latvia, the LDS church is not recognized by the state, so they cannot be married right now. Unless he is baptized into the Lutheran church, then they can. But then his then wife (she told him) would not allow him to change faiths. So...things are tough...V. couldn't meet this week (any of them, for various reasons...), and S. (probably, that's the Russian spelling of his name...I don't really know what the proper spelling is for that) and L. headed out to the country, so we couldn't really meet with them. But, we still had 6 meetings on Tuesday alone, and things are going well there. But, this week is crazy, and we had another insane Friday. More on that later.

Interesting Latvian fact: it is Latvijas Neatkartības Proklamēšanas Gadadiena (Latvia's Independence Day[, misspelled (in Latvian)])...one of a few. This one is the most recent liberation from Russia in the 90s. And to celebrate, our Latvian language teacher, Māsa Karkļiņa, invited us over for dinner at her place. The language is going very, very well, and my health is about the same as it's been my whole mission: mostly good (recently, with spring and all, my nose has decided to run more than I do...).

OK, so life. Yeah. Craziness. All was well and normal for one day after I wrote. Then, a Friday came...the Boehms (the president of the branch here and his wife) had to emergency fly to Germany for medical care (they're all right now...it was stones of some organ, but were small enough to pass on their own), so we had our meeting [our district meeting, as all the missionaries in divisions called districts meet together each week to discuss the work, practice teaching skills, and set plans, goals, etc. with each other for the next week] at the church. After, we got a call from the mission president. Due to some unfortunate events in Rīga, Elder Vance had to leave, and was replaced with Elder McIlrath (Makilrats, in Latvian, to aid in pronunciation). So...that's our newest change in the district.

Church without the Boehms was very interesting. And a little crazy. I taught my first lesson in church (in Latvian, and everyone understood me!!), to a class of about 9, and only one of them was a member (well, and four missionaries). But, good on it. One of the investigators (our best Russian one, but since all the Elders--the one [left] that speak Russian and the ones that speak Latvian--are together, we teach the Russians too) was getting baptized this Saturday. Her name is O. She's not anymore because of her living arrangement--she's living with an ex-husband. *Sigh* But, she accepted all the doctrine readily and loves it! We also have a girl in 11th grade (also a Russian, but she speaks enough Latvian that we can talk with her and she speaks a lot of English) is doing amazing! Her name in J.! And, we met with a lot of good people. I won't mention names until they start to go somewhere, but things are going amazing[ly well, need to use adverbs] in that area!

Today is Culture Day. Once every three months we get to pick a spot in Latvia to go visit, and we spend the whole day. It was very good (more in a moment). But, my camera, on Saturday, was dropped on the beach, and now has sand stuck in the lens. It's...toast. So, I'm into the market of finding a new one. Unfortunately, the prices are numerically the same as in America, but the currency is worth over twice as much. [Meaning an $80 camera in the states costs 80 ls here.] I'm not exactly sure what I can do. I'm going to see if I can get mine fixed, but we'll see. I was very unhappy, because we were on the beach around sunset time. And...we have gorgeous sunsets every night (not to make anybody jealous). Also, we've been having weather in the 20s (that's in the mid to upper 60s for you Americans) with a cheerful breeze all week until today (that's been in the 50s with rain).

Now, today! I traveled to Venspils! After a two-and-a-half hour bus ride, we got there. It was windy and a little chilly. Apparently, there was a traveling giant cow show from 2000 until '05 or so, and six of those cows stayed in Venspils. We checked those out first, then visited a pils (castle) by the river. It was really cool! I got to wear some chain mail (20KG), with a helmet and sword. Anyway, I loved the castle! I also was in stocks for the first time (not the financial kind). After the castle-museum we hit a store, then went to the beach to eat. This giant blue cow was on the pier, so we moseyed up to the thing, then realized we were to travel back home in about half an hour, and the bus station was about 45 minutes away. Thus followed the super power-walk/mad dash to make it to the bus just before it left! Whew! I didn't have a camera (I haven't yet found a good one to buy), so Agnese (a member from Center Riga who'll be leaving on her mission next month (that's May), and who will return when I have one month left in the field) took a ton of pictures for me. I'll have those after zone conference, which is this Friday.

Anyway, I love you all. Thank you for your prayers! Because I just got back from Venspils, I don't have my notes with me from studying about Christ this week, so I don't remember what was learned this week (I did learn some things, though). More on that next letter!

Have a great week! --
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

Apr 23: Baltic Weekly

For All:

Good things come to those who patiently wait. This week has been amazing. I want to share the best things first, then go to the normal questions and other things.

We've been plugging along, faithful, finding nobody to teach other than D.. D., first off, is amazing. He's a body builder, and is allowing the gospel to change him. He tells us every time we meet that he feels amazing!! He feels peace. We taught him the Word of Wisdom (WoW, from now on). The WoW includes not drinking alcohol or coffee at all, and no smoking. Well, he does all three. But, when he went on a trip to the country this weekend, he was determined not to smoke. He picked that up when he was serving in Iraq from the American troops, if I recall correctly. But, he told us that his desire to smoke is now 100% gone. Period. He doesn't drink alcohol a lot, so he told us that would be easy. It's coffee that's giving him a hard time. But, he told us he would do it. He has a light in his eyes and you can tell very obviously that he is changing for the better. And he loves it! [To clarify, he was changing many things in his life, and getting closer to God in so doing. A fellow was somewhat upset at this paragraph, because he felt I was saying that turning from alcohol, smoking, and coffee completely make you a better person. In general, cutting harmful things from your life is a good thing, but my specific phrase "changing for the better" referred to many aspects of his life, not just his addictions to these substances.]

I love teaching D., but I would like to teach more than one person. Well, we ran into a rather quiet man named V. (yes, I know we've had bad luck with people named V. moving or vanishing in the past...) who was rather remarkable. I wasn't able to do a full contact because he was with his mother's sister, who would not stop talking. But, I told him that we talk about baptism in Christ's name for a remission of sins. Then, I said, "Could I write your phone number, because it's a little loud on the street to talk about these things." He said, "Of course!" He gave it to me, then said, "V.. My name is V.. Write that. V.." On Sunday, he came around 9 a.m., I'm guessing, and we weren't there (as church starts at 11). But, he called us, asking where our church was. We came, and he was waiting. We taught about the Restoration, and he returned for church at 11. He told us he really, really wants to be baptized, so...we'll do what we can to make sure it happens.

We also found an amazing family. We talked to the father while he was smoking outside last week sometime. We met with them this Monday. They are a beautiful family, and are anxious to learn. The wife speaks mostly Russian, and understands a little Latvian, but it was good. The Spirit was very powerful during our meeting! I loved it! Their names (so you can pray for them if you'd like) is S. and L.. They have two little boys. One is four years old, the other about two days. We also have some 4 other people to see next week: a couple, a kid who talked with us in Rīga, but was lost between cities (the missionaries lost his number), and a few others from my companion. It's amazing!!!

Then, K. still is skirting baptism. He seems to think he can wait for eternity. But, he can't! Anyway, we're going to have him pray about when he needs to be baptized, and see what happens. We've also been doing a lot of member meetings, most of them inactive. But, the faith of most of our members is palpable. So, all in all, it's been good.

OK, *deep breath, big grin* now, about the questions *focuses* here goes:
Most of you have probably not been starving. Neither have I. But I received a care package (that appeared unopened, by the way, mom) full of amazing American food. Now, I have one thing to say about American food: maybe it's unhealthy sometimes, but you do not get tastier!! We felt as though we had been starving and had suddenly received a bounteous feast! Particularly the crackers and the candies. Wow.. that's all I have to say. Wow. A comment on Raman Noodles: There aren't any here. But, they have something kinda close...but I don't really have pots. So, I have to use that amazing coffee-pot water boiler thing to make myself hot water, and then I let it all soak in my bowl. It works...usually...

Pedometer! Here's my distance for this week (from last Tuesday until yesterday: this Tuesday): 89.93KM, with 112,320 steps (excluding morning jogs). So, there ya go. I will include this information each week. Stay tuned.
Life was incredibly crazy last week. One of the Russian elders was called into the office to be an office elder. That left his companion alone. So, we are now a tripanionship in our tiny little apartment. As it turns out, the other Russian is Elder Bodily, from Idaho Falls, and his mother used to be in my ward (N.). Small world, eh? We get along quite well, and we've been having an interesting time splitting the fridge (barely big enough for one) to stretch for three. Fortunately, they have something we like to call forever milk. It lasts about half a year outside of the fridge in these special 6-layer boxes. The milk tastes pretty much like box, but it lasts forever and is definitely better than the tastier milk that lasts about 2 days.

As far as weather goes, we went from random bitter cold and totally unpredictable weather to gorgeous, sunny, breezy days that hover around a fantastic 55-65 degrees (yes, F. I don't know C well enough to guess about what it is...). That, in fact, is my perfect temperature. If only the sun wasn't shining quite so brightly...that gives me incredible headaches...anyway, it's been gorgeous weather the past few days.

In church, we watched "the Restoration," which talks about...well...the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ on the earth through Joseph Smith. I realized that the members of the church in early times met in houses, and we, here, meet in rented apartments or rented offices. So, it's sort of the same. I just found that parallel very interesting.

Then, from my studies about Christ, I was impressed with the following things:
I quote from Jesus the Christ, by Talmage: "To deny the actuality of miracles on the ground that, because we cannot comprehend the means, the reported results are fictitious, is to arrogate to the human mind the attribute of omniscience, by implying that what man cannot comprehend cannot be, and that therefore he is able to comprehend all that is." I think this is rather pointed. There is not a single soul alive that will say mankind knows everything there is to know. Furthermore, it was pointed out that God lives in the natural laws of the universe. He simply fully understands how they operate, so that he can use them fully. When we throw a ball, it might appear as though the law of gravity had been overcome. But, we know that gravity continues to operate, and that it is only overcome temporarily by the acting of a higher power. God, in the same manner, simply applies a greater power when necessary. All the laws are still operational.

I was also impressed with Christ's comment: "They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." (Luke 5:31) What would happen to a doctor that avoided the sick, and chose to stay among the healthy whenever he could? In the same way, we, who know the truths of God, need to get out there and mingle with the spiritually "not-whole". Their malady is no less real. And the healing that we can lead them to is equally real.

I think that's all I have. I love it here, and I'm truly beginning to feel like a missionary! I think one of the biggest reasons is because I understand, and I'm starting to be able to speak freely. And, things are happening!

Thanks for all your prayers and support!!
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

Apr 16: Baltic Report: 16 April 2008

For All:
I have been asked for some translations, so, here they are:
sveiks, and sveiki are the exact same word. They mean "Hey! What's up!" They're basic, familiar greetings. Sveiki is just for more than one person. Sveiks is for one man, Sveika is one woman, and Sveikas is for a bunch of women (no men at all). Any other plurality of people is Sveiki. [This word literally means "health", and so is an adjective, which is why it declines to match the people you are addressing. However, you can always use it as an adverb (sveiki), which is also the same as the plural (with even one male present) of the adjective. Look at all the grammar I've learned :p]

Man žēl: this means, literally, "To me is pity." It's how you say "I'm sorry" in the sense that "I'm sorry your mom is sick" or "sorry your cat died" type thing.

Uzredzēšanos is a farewell. I'm not exactly sure what it means (you can look up "uzredzēties" in a Latvian/English dictionary if you'd like). (Jordan's mom says, yah, like we all have a Latvian/English dictionary lying around :)). heh heh [Redzēties means to see each other. This is the gerund form of the verb (meaning the noun describing the action in process, like the sport running. Running is the gerund form of the verb to run. Basically, the actual full phrase is "uz redzēsanos", as two words, not one (the confusion came in the fact that "uz" is one of Latvian's 16 prefixes), and literally translates to "until we see each other (again). So, it's English equivalent would be "see ya later".]

I hear that the weather is fairly odd back home. Here, Monday was really cold. Yesterday (Tuesday) was very...not cold. It was about 22 C and sunny, then a breeze came in and it poured rain. It was actually a thunderstorm!!!! I was so excited! Anyway, then it just cooled off. A lot. It was about 5 C when the day ended. Whatever...But, I kind of like that craziness in weather. There's nothing more boring that a day with nothing but sun! (I'm not a fan of sun right now...rumor has it that will change on my mission, as people are...interesting...without the sunlight. SAD big time!) [As it turns out, my favorite time weather-wise during my mission was during the winter, because I only had 6 cloud-covered hours of sun to put up with for the day. The sun and I never made friends, and I'm still unhappy to see the silly thing. But, I did learn to ignore the sun, so I didn't spend a lot of time or energy hating it or being angry at the sun or anything.]

Ah. Error in last publication. I said "White Sea." It's actually the "Baltic Sea." As it turns out, the word for white is "balta," and so I think I translated without even thinking about it...Also, I recently got a box of goodies from home. In it was a pedometer. I believe I will be sharing my Kilometerage with you all weekly. Just...as a means of adding some fun to my reports and keeping things random (as I like to be in more casual settings[, and as is often very needed in more formal settings.]).

Q+A: My week was all right. Best and hardest things: D. is the best. He's one of our investigators. He is applying the things that he's learned, and is seeing the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5). He is letting everyone know that he feels different. He has not been praying a lot, but we finally broke through all his barriers to praying, and he has begun to pray. Nothing can happen without sincere prayer to God. So, he is my greatest joy as of now! Our other investigators (as that was also a question I was asked) are: K. (who has been investigating for some months now), is afraid of just getting baptized. He knows he needs to be, but he thinks he can wait. And, every time we mention baptism he freaks a little and so, he doesn't like to talk about it. We also had an indifferent fellow that we dropped, as he won't keep any commitments. We also have an elderly lady I've never met, as her health has not permitted us to visit her in the last little while. And this leads me to the hardest thing this week: Jakage. When we are stood up at a meeting for whatever reason (they forgot about it, they lied about where they lived, they can't make it because of traffic or whatever) we call that "a Jake." (Don't take it personally, my cousin Jake!) Therefore, being Jaked is when nobody shows up. And, we had 18 meetings set up last week, and we only met with 7 of them. So, that's been less than fun. But, we have used the extra time to contact like mad, and we are getting a lot of interested people! Lots of sowing, but we are reaping some, too.

It is not overly green here (yet. Spring just started!) and there are trees everywhere. Latvians are very much about nature, so they have thrown trees and little gardens everywhere you can imagine.

Now, my notes from the week. I failed to mention my excitement when I rode a passenger train for the first time! That was last Monday, on the way to zone conference. I also happened to find "Howl's Moving Castle" (an animated film from studio Ghibli) IN LATVIAN! And, there is an abundance of cheap pastries here. You can buy the tastiest little things for some 9 to 26 sani (cents). Delectable, they are! Also, they have all the notes of a scale on the street. They have little metal notes in the stones all over here, and they have plaques for each of the notes (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, etc., but in Latvian!). So far, I have discovered 4 of the 7 and one that only has the treble clef. I'll let you know when I find the rest (and, I'll have pictures). The weather is gorgeous in the morning! We have the BALTIC SEA on one side, and a river on the other. Thus, we get a lot of mornings that look like this (see attached pics). Here, also, is our kitchen. But, that little tea pot thingie there...are those things available in America? They will boil about 1.2 litres in 5 minutes. I love them. Another amazing European thing that I never knew about, but now cannot fathom living without.

Then, conference. (The General Conference of the LDS Church). The Solemn Assembly was amazing. And (remember, I'm in Latvia) I could not understand all that was said, as it was being translated into Latvian. But, even with that, I still felt the Spirit a remarkably large amount! [Solemn Assembly is the official term for the time when the church sustains (shows approval and pledges to support or shows the opposite and pledges nothing) the new president of the church. While I was in the MTC, the president of the church (often called by LDS members "the prophet") passed away, and his successor was sustained.] I then thought that when we read the Scriptures, or when we study about Christ, we (even though we know the language) only understand a little. We need to be able to listen to the Holy Ghost. And we'll come to know more and more as time goes on. I just had that thought. Priesthood session of conference was rather odd: Since it was recorded in Rīga live, sometimes things didn't quite work out. They, for instance, recorded the first 5 minutes of the priesthood session going through a digital patch that made it sound like it was in a huge, echo-y cathedral. Then, they fixed that, but got the audio levels wrong, as the English was just as loud as the Latvian. They soon fixed that too, however. But, one more funny thing: our elders' quorum president speaks only Russian. He, therefore, had the audio Russian files for the conference in the back of the chapel and was listening to it while we watched and listened over the main sound system. So, we had his audio slightly ahead of ours one session. The English would start on his, then go to Russian, then our English would start, then go to Latvian. It was an interesting mix of languages. But, I still loved it! Especially when President Monson spoke (and Henry B. Eyring). I felt the spirit powerfully!! And that's with understanding only about 45% (due to the plurality of languages and the miniscule vocabulary I have in Latvian). But, it was good.

Anyway, I think that's all for now. I love you all, and keep you in my prayers every day! Stay strong!! Dievs mūs mīl, un Viņš grib svetīt mūs! Visi mūms ir jādarā ir sekot Viņam un darīt visu ko mēs varam. Vienkarši, vai nē? (sorry, he didn't provide any translation, so I guess your guess is as good as ours :) [I don't know why missionaries do that: say stuff in a foreign language with no translation. It reads: "God loves us, and He wants to bless us! All we have to do is follow Him and do all that we can. Simple, isn't it?" But with a good deal of grammar errors. I actually had to read it two or three times before I got the idea of what I probably wanted to say back then...I was still in the "translate word-for-word" phase.]

--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

Apr 9: Baltic Report, 9 Apr 2008

For All...

I was asked a few things: How's Liepāja? How's your comp? What's Jelgava looking like right now? What's my weight loss secret? Un tā talāk. Answers:
First, the most trivial. Weight loss. Basically, all you need to do is walk around all day very briskly, touting some 5-15 kilograms around in a bag on your shoulder. Then, you eat a bowl of cereal in the morning, stuff yourself with a bunch of Selga cookies (more laud for those tasty little guys in a moment), then don't eat again until about 14:00 for lunch. Some days. Then, occasionally eat something for dinner. And at night, have yourself a bowl of soup, or a few bites of something yummy. That's what I did.

Elder Doane is finishing his mission in Jelgava. The area will stay open: this is eastern Europe. It sometimes takes a while for things to get rolling. "Russian Missionaries" refers to the elders here that are Russian speaking. Many of them are not from America. Both the ones here in Liepāja are, but I've met an Australian, one from Russia, one from Bulgaria (I think, or Ukraine...I don't remember) and several other places. We do splits a lot. We do them at least once a week. We call it a Blitz, because there's a Latvian and a Russian elder together, and there's absolutely no excuse for not being able to talk to someone. I have yet to play that game (as the Russians were sick this week), but we do shuffle investigators between us, so that people can teach those who can best learn from them. Es manai matei piekritu (I agree with my mother) about Estonia. I'd be living on yogurt and ice cream, and I likely would be gaining a little bit of weight. I've been looking for Estonian cheese, but haven't found any. Oh well...the coveted flavor of Jogurt is Baked Apple. I see now why it is so coveted. It tastes like an apple pie with vanilla ice cream on it, mixed with an extra bit of yummy and then turned into a drink. It's...good, we'll say. Lest I go raving about those for a while. [It's good, but some people will pay up to 20 bucks (US) for a liter of the stuff. It's not that good, nor is it so ridiculously amazing as to throw myself at it, but it is quite tasty. I would gladly drink the whole carton almost any time...I would strongly recommend it to anyone who is able to get their hands on it.]

But Selga cookies!! Oh, man. These things are about 2 inches square, and you buy a package of 19 for 38 sani (cents). They are the most delectable things I have ever chomped. They are cheap, and come in several flavors. Very unfortunately, the Carmel ones are not that tasty (I was very sad about that), but the vanilla and coconut ones are ļoti garšīgs [very tasty/delicious]! I was actually introduced to them at Z.'s house in Jelgava. Anyway, I love those suckers!

Cars are just about the same here. Although, you don't see as many American brand cars, and most people have smaller cars (not those ridiculously monstrously huge SUVs and trucks that everyone seems to think they need in some other countries).
Now. Liepāja. Ready? Our stove is a downgrade. We now only have two heating pads, and no oven. Our fridge also--less than half the size with an ice box (who thought of those ridiculous things, anyway? They can't even keep anything close to frozen!). But, the city is gorgeous and the church is much bigger. It was very, very exciting to see all the members (almost 50!!!), even though I have never been in a meeting that required two translators (Elder Boehm--a married American LDS missionary--is the branch president here, and he and his wife only speak a little Latvian. So, they do most things in English while asking us Latvian elders many questions about Latvian in general). The elders quorum president only speaks Russian, and most of the rest of the ward speaks Latvian and can speak Russian. So, it was VERY interesting, to say the least. But, we had the week full of meetings, and right now we have 6 investigators. At once! It's a huge leap from Jelgava for me (where we'd have 3 at the most at one time, and they'd disappear fairly quickly). Morning exercise is much better than it used to be as well--now, we jog to the beach, and dash around looking at the White Sea [Baltic sea..."balts" is the Latvian word for "white", so it's Baltijas jura, and while that actually translates to "The Baltic Sea", I was thinking the color...rookie mistake]. It's gorgeous! The missionaries here are amazing! Oh! One quick note. Elder Doane was/will be a professional snowboarder and skateboarder, and Elder Vance was only one slot away from making the US Olympic speed skating team last year! Anyway, the number of Russians in the city (people who speak primarily Russian) is about the same ratio as in Jelgava, but Liepāja is almost three times as big. I still have the entire city in my area, however, because we are the only Latvian elders for the city. Neither of the sisters are sisters from the MTC with me. All three other Latvians from the MTC are in the exact same place as they were last transfer (same companions, even). And so far, I love this city!

OK, a few things I wanted to talk about. One of our investigators was V.. He prayed to understand the scriptures, and God opened his mind so that he felt what he read. He wound up reading until 2 in the morning! But, unfortunately, he just got a job in Germany. So, we've been coordinating with the mission there to help him get baptized. I'll keep you posted. And no, this isn't the same V. from Jelgava.
I finally found out what A.M. and P.M. mean, also. I was reading my Latvian dictionary, and right there in the back were abbreviations. They're Latin (no surprise there): Ante and post meridien. So, for all who've wanted to know, there you go.

During church and in meeting with investigators and members alike, the Spirit has been with me in ways I have not felt before. I've finally started talking in meetings a good amount, and telling personal stories and actually teaching big chunks of the lesson, which probably is the reason for it! [Elder Vance made some serious efforts to work me into lessons and work with me, and it was fantastically empowering!]

The street contacting is definitely harder here, though. That's because Liepāja has been open for a very long time, and most people in the city have talked with us before. But, just like selling in California (Jordan sold pest control last summer in California to earn money for his mission): plow through, and you will find people's interest (at least some of the time).

We had a baby blessing in church also, this last Sunday. That was beautiful.

Finally (I'm sorry, I wanted to give more details on some things, but I have typed too long today and I must soon run), we had zone conference last Monday. That means anything sent to me is likely to not make it to me until 6 weeks from today. But, please don't let that discourage you from sending...Anyway, one of our central themes at Zone conference was "It's what we do." We meet people in their homes because "It's what we do." We talk about Christ and His atonement when we contact because "It's what we do." It...was unplanned, but incredibly powerful! So, all is well with me!! I love THIS WORK!!!!!!!!!

Also, I have dedicated this month to studying about Christ and His Atonement. If any of you can find the talk "The Meaning of the Atonement" or "The Search for a Personal Meaning of the Atonement" or something like that (it's a talk by Cleon Skousen, or something close to that), please shoot it my way! And, you will likely hear lots about the Savior and what I have learning. So...anyway. Thank you all for your prayers, and know that you are in mine! I love you all!
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

Apr 2: Quick addition

Grandpa and Grandma Argyle, your newsletters are reaching me. When I found my box, they were taking two weeks apiece. Rachel, thank you for your letter. Everyone else, I am now down to getting all mail at Zone conferences (held every six weeks). There will be one in one or two weeks, and then again six weeks after that. So, anything sent from now on will be delayed until zone conferences. Do not, however, let this discourage you from writing...I would not object to large quantities of mail every six weeks...And Kiersty, thank you for the note as well. For everybody's info, dearelder.com still will get to me. They will print it, and send it through pouch. It will take the same amount of time.

Oh, yes, one more thing. I was on exchanges (meaning I was with another Elder) Friday in Riga as well. I found me a scale. And I've lost a little bit more than 10KG (that's almost 23 pounds) in the 5 weeks I've been here. Just a quick FYI for y'all!

(Once again, his regular mailing address for letters in envelopes and any packages is:

Elder Jordan Argyle

Baltic Mission

Melnsila 3-1

LV 1046 Riga

LATVIA

Please NEVER NEVER insure anything you send to him as per his mission president's instructions. Thanks!)
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
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Apr 2: The Baltic Report: Transfers, Tallin, Opposition, and Yogurt

Well, in this week's edition of The Baltic Report, I have several very eventful tales. First off, we are having (I should rephrase that: Rīga and Jelgava are having) freakishly hot days, creeping up into 10-20 degrees Centigrade! (which is 50-60 in US degrees). It was actually a little above 20 Sunday in Jelgava (my final day there). It was nuts! My last little bit in Jelgava saw A. disappear, V. is still missing-in-action, E. still fights what we say a little bit and told us he doesn't want to get married, and R. just got a new job, and it happens to be during Sundays, so he won't be able to come every Sunday. That leaves us one member that comes to church...and I think he mostly comes because he likes Elder Doane...so I'm a little worried about how Jelgava will go (our other members have failing health, just moved for the summer for work, or can't make it due to work or something else...). We tract simply by walking around the streets and talking to anybody who's in our path. We don't really plan out where to go unless we're "harvesting" (knocking doors), when we pray and go wherever the Spirit tells us. And, quickly, we meet with R. about 3 times a week.

Before I get to the big news stories, the questions:
The breads are usually soft, though they do have a few of the harder kinds. In church, yes, we missionaries do everything in Jelgava. We have three members that hold the Aaronic priesthood (which is the authority needed for them baptize, bless and pass the sacrament, and that's about it in church meetings). R. is close to receiving the Melchezidek priesthood (giving him authority to give the gift of the Holy Ghost, bless the sick, and do everything else that God needs him to do). I just read that my cousin's visa for his mission to Brazil didn't come in time, so he cannot go to the MTC there. (He will be going to the MTC in Provo until the visa arrives). Stay tuned for my visa tale...

And, as I have alluded to several times, I did get transferred out of Jelgava. But, because I suggested in my last report that I may be going to the office, I wasn't sent there :P Instead, I am in Liepāja--the windy city. [Liepāja refers to itself as the Windy City, and there's a song dedicated to the city calling it the City Where the Wind is Born.] This is a coast-side college town [it has a college, but isn't a college town. It would be better described as a party town, because it holds all kinds of summer activities.] (Jelgava is a college town also) and there are three companionships for this city: 1 set of Latvian speakers, 1 set Russian speakers, and 1 set of sisters. I'm fairly excited. But, I only got here today. I was supposed to arrive Monday. Here's where all the excitement from this week comes in.

Monday Morning, Jelgava Autoosta* (Bus station, you could say): Elder Doane and Elder Argyle awaited the bus that traveled to Liepāja. In the process of waiting for three hours, a lady stopped by and conversed with them for about two hours. And during the course of that, another lady came up to them. "She saw us from across the street, and speedily walked towards us to confirm we were LDS. She spat out the word 'Mormoni?' to which I nodded a confirmation," Elder Argyle told the current reader. She then proceeded to attack their religion with a great variety of illogical slander. She then supported all her claims with "I read it on the Internet!" Well, after, the Elders calmly explained that they are God-fearing people who have nothing to do with wickedness of any kind if we can help it. It was...interesting. The former lady commented that the later, raging lady looked pretty foolish, because she was raging over something and the missionaries calmly listened and did not retaliate.

But wait, it gets better. The nice lady left, and we got a phone call. It was suggested that I not go to Liepāja after all, because I'm just headed up to Tallin (in Estonia) to get my Visa tomorrow. So, I went to Rīga, where I waited for about half an hour. During that time, a Born-Again found me, and without any anger, rage, or negative emotion that I could detect, simply told me how he had found God. He then encouraged me to search for God myself, and during some quiet time, ask God to look deep into my heart and tell me what He sees there. That was a lot better than the other station. From there, I was given to Elder Brown (yes, my old MTC Comp) and his comp, Elder McIlrath (Makelrats in Latvian). Makelrats is the same "age" as Elder Doane (meaning he also only has this one transfer (6 weeks) left on his mission). I tracted with them through Rīga for a while, then was passed off to Elders Pain and Grey, who were just forced from their apartment (they had been very ill-treated by the landlord, and after they insisted he fix their stove and water heater and the heating for their apartment, he apparently got tired of them and told them they need to be gone by the 1st of April. That was tomorrow, at the time of this tale). So, I helped them clean.

We blew a fuse, leaving one half of the apartment in the dark. We did get everything packed away though, and I made it "home" (being Elders Brown and McIlrath's place) around 22:15 (usually, missionaries are to be in their apartments by 21:00. Then in bed by 22:30. So, this was very, very unusual). When I woke up the next day, we rushed to the Rīga Autoosta*, where we caught the 8:00 a.m. to Estonia. We arrived a little before noon (long drive...). We then pulled 350 Krons apiece (that's the Estonian currency, which is fairly useless. 300 Krons is equal to a little less than 15 Lats, or 30 US dollars) to buy a ticket home. We then went for our Visas, which cost the mission a great deal of money (I was shocked when I heard the amount, and no, I will not relay that on). Then, we hit a pancake restaurant. Yes, it only makes those delectable pancakes I described in the last letter. And they're huge! Totally worth the 2,50 LVL (or 50 Krons) they cost! Then, Estonia is world (or at least, Baltic) renowned for their dairy products. The Estonian ice cream I bought in Jelgava each week was my only past experience, and I will tell you that it is the most delicious ice cream I've ever eaten. And that includes local dairies I've eaten at! So, we had to buy some yogurt (missionaries are willing to pay upwards of 10 LVL for a particular flavor of Alma jogurt, they are that coveted). I got that particular flavor as a surprise for my new companion in Liepāja. We then left (at 14:30) and arrived home at 19:30 (or so). I sat through one meeting, then retired to bed. Elder McIlrath really wanted some of that yogurt I had...unfortunately, we ran out of time before I could give him any.

This morning was a quick sprint out to the Autoosta (because of our taxi's arrival time, we didn't have a lot of time to get ready or eat Alma Jogurt. HA! I just realized what I've been doing...the "j" in Latvian is a "y" in English. So, yogurt is spelled jogurt. And I've been spelling it with a "j" this whole letter! I love it!). I grabbed a bus to Liepāja, which left at 8:25. I arrived around noon (again). But, two exciting things from the bus ride. Ok, three. One: I talked to the lady sitting next to me (across the aisle). She had asked if I had change for her 5 (because tickets are 4.50 and the driver had no change), and I didn't know that word. So, I was able to learn the word explained in Latvian!! 2) I bought some Estonian Dark Chocolate with raspberry chunks in it (so, so, so beyond good) and 3) I saw a fairly large wind farm operating just outside of Liepāja (said to be the place where the wind is born). That was exciting to me as well.

OK. Next week will be about the work. It's just everything kinda faded from my efforts in Jelgava, so there wasn't anything exciting to report there, and I have been here in Liepāja for a whopping 3.5 hours, and I haven't met anybody but my companion and the Russian elders here, so nothing new to report here. But, next week will be all about the work. I love you all, and I know that this is where I need to be! The Spirit fills me each day, especially as I testify and teach! God is, and will do anything his children let him do for them!
*Autoosta - The central hub of travel. Autobusi (big buses), Mikriņi (singular is Mikriņš. Their full name is Mikroautobuss. They're small buses. Basically, they are big 16-seater vans), trains (I don't know the Latvian word for those things yet [vilciens]) and taxis (see last parenthetical note [taksometris]) leave from this station.
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Elder Argyle
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