May 28: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Transfers, Voting, Robbery

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Thu, May 28, 2009 at 6:49 AM
Subject: May 28: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Transfers, Voting, Robbery

All: 115,259 steps (89.90).

So, I'm not sure I'll be able to write for too long, so I'll be quick. I'm burning DVDs of the concerts we had for missionaries. They were amazing! The concerts. Well...and also the missionaries.

Thanks to the grandparents for the great letters!!!!

No pictures this week, as this computer (now in the other city) has no card readers. Sorry. Next week.

I'll start with the question on everyone's mind: transfers. I'm gone from Center. So is Palmer. And Hermann. Hermann is headed to Liepāja, and S. Kīlinga (no idea how to spell this in English) is taking her place and will be with Wilson in Center. Palmer is headed to Imanta. In his place will be Weideman with Long. Long's the new district leader here. And in my place will be McLaren with Thompson. Wierd, huh? I'll be in Jelgava as the district leader and as the group leader (since there aren't enough priesthood holders in Jelgava to form a branch, it's called a "group," and has none of the authority that is found in a branch. So, I'll be the leader of this group. Similar to being a bishop in a lot of ways). That's even more weird.

Everybody thinks that I'm from Latvia, because Ārgails is a very Latvian name. And you have several derivations from that. So, perhaps our family roots do indeed creep into Latvia. (a note from Jordan's mom: I mentioned to him that the old wall he talked about in his last letter --and sent a picture of--looked as though it had the Argyle pattern on it. So I said maybe our roots are in Latvia) (I also asked him which sun was his in the picture he sent of the wall of suns, and he replied...) My sun is the little one on the top, with my JA signature (the one where I cram all the letters of my name into two letters). It's just a bunch of colors, and is rather small. It's actually probably hard to see.

Some funny stories--there's a big election going on right now. And one of the candidate's names is Ārgalis. I thought it was Ārgailis or Ārgails, which is my name, so I was stoked. Then I found out that's not what it said. But, while knocking, an old lady was like, "What do you need?" Me: "We talk to people about God, and would like to share a message about Jesus Christ with you." Her: "But...what do you need?" Me: "We need to talk about God with you. Can we come in?" Her: "I don't understand. What is the question?" Then she saw my nametag. "Ah, I see your take. I'll vote anyway. Thanks for visiting." Oh, man...that's not why we were there. We aren't candidates. "Ne, ne! We are missionaries." "Ohhhhhhh....no thanks." It was pretty funny.

Then, we also almost got robbed. We turn this corner and there's a gypsy guy standing there. I've met some amazing gypsies, so I didn't think anything of it. Well, he asks to get his picture with us. I was going to just blow that off (because he's obviously going to try to rob us with a question like that), but he wouldn't let us past if we didn't. So, my comp grabs the camera, and takes the picture. The guy wraps his arm around me and with his other hand feels into my front pocket, where the phone is. I move my phone to another pocket, the picture is taken. Then, my comp's turn for a picture, and he feels my comp's pocket while I photograph them. Then, he tries to sell us his camera for Ls10. No. We go to leave. He sees me move the phone back to my front pocket (that was a big mistake!). He then runs to catch up to me and won't let me pass again. And his hand dips into my pocket and nabs my phone. I catch his hand. Unhappiness, frustration, argument, and such ensues. I get my phone back. We leave.

That's not the end, though. A few days later, we see the dude again! He starts to call after us in Russian. We leave, and he starts to follow us. I was about to yell at him, "Ejiet projām zagli!" (go away, thief!), but then my comp said something in Russian and off he went. Turns out he was apologizing for trying to rob us. Whatever. People's mindsets are so weird...

Otherwise...the music concert was amazing! It was held at the church building in Center, and it was basically a Russian Missionaries' concert, with a number from Long. There were so many people! And Lolita (who is kinda a crazy church member that everyone is afraid of) played a song for me on the piano and sang before it started. Who knew she was a singer? It was a cool song, too...Anyway, I loved the concert, and recorded most of it. There was also a Russian member who's retired and plays trumpet in the park. He came and played a piece with Eddington, and he brought flowers for the performers. That was really fun to see.

Lastly, we had district conference. That's for all members in Latvia, both Latvian and Russian. And when they would be talking in Russian, I would be waiting for the Latvian translation in the earpiece. And I realized that Latvian sounded very natural to me. It was a cool experience. And District Conference was AMAZING! Ainārs spoke (the one I baptized in Rīga) and he did a very good job. And the other talks were wonderful. President Seinkāns spoke, and I liked it a lot. I would tell you about what they spoke, but...my brains aren't so good as that, and I don't remember so far. I don't assiciate where I learned it with what I learned. So...sorry.

Es jūs gauži mīlu! (Love you all!)
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^