Jan 28 : Baltic Chŗonīcļe: New comp, Random stuff, and...yeah. The Book of Mormon rocks.

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: 2009/1/28
Subject: Jan : Baltic Chŗonīcļe: New comp, Random stuff, and...yeah. The Book of Mormon rocks.


All: 97973 and 88466 is 76.42 and 69.00 kilometers for two weeks. Woot.

Pictures: Top one: Elder Weideman got a package. I want all of you to know that your crisis could be a lot worse (that package had one notebook in it, and it cost $2,750! Sure, they were Guyanan dollars, but still..."))

Next: We all had a farewell party and a get-together as a group of 18 or so missionaries. Here's the aftermath...

3rd one down: So, when you get married here, you can put a padlock on a bridge and throw the key into the river, symbolizing that they are locked in marriage and they will remain together forever (unfortunately, marriages here usually only last until death...like most other ones done without God's sealing authority). But I like the symbology.

Last one: It's a little wet here, too. This is Vermanis Darz (I really hope that's close enough to the real name...that's about what it sounds like to me anyway). This is what the whole city looks like. These ducks are actually FLOATING in the field there. Crazy, huh?

Answers: I'm in the same apartment, yes. Elder McLeren is from Blackfoot Idaho. He loves music (like I do), and he's been out for about 2 transfers (12 weeks). Just like Elder Weideman when I got him as a companion. He's even E. Brown's trainee, just like E.W. I now have reports to do as D.L. (I'm too lazy to write out district leader every time, sorry.) I also call the missionaries in my district each night to make sure they are safe and see if I can help them with anything. And I have to conduct district meetings each week. That's a little stressful. And I actually hear when things happen. That's certainly nice.

Erna Rotberga is all right. I haven't been able to get a hold of her, but the Relief Society has planned to have one person visit her every day this week. We'll probably see how she's doing sometime this week, too. But last I heard, she's fine. For names with "j"s on the end, you just don't pronounce the j. Just up to it, and throw an "s" sound at the end. It's so that when you decline the name, you still hear "Helvi" or "Aleksej". OK, wait. "E" becomes an "ay" and "A" becomes an "ai" like in "eyes" (ai is the eye sound in Latvian. I forget how to phonetically do that in English).
Also, there are more than 6 or 7 names here. But you almost never hear them. Over 95% of people, it seems, have one of those 7 names.

Uh...not too much this week. We weren't able to meet with J. (he may live in Cēsis, a city not too far from Rīga), for work. But, all is well. We have a ton of new people, and things are swimming along quite well. I still love the Book of Mormon! Mosiah 23-4 is very informative. I invite you to read it.

I really don't know what else to say. My comp and I have been talking about what we can do to work well together, and it's been good. We had no electricity Monday (and there was no reason...our fuse just blew and it wasn't our usual fuse...it was the big one hidden somewhere odd in the building) so we spent the whole day calling people and seeing when they can meet. As a result, we have a few lunch appointments with people today, and some next week (preparation day meetings, because they don't yet feel comfortable with us in their homes or them in our building). So, we'll go to a lunch appointment with them. Why not? I love you all! Stay strong, and I love you all!
--
Elder Argyle
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