Elder Argyle's Mission Blog

Jan 10, Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Partial Quantification of the Unquantifiable

2010-01-11T08:09:00.001+02:00

Well, it has been a while since I wrote, huh? I wanted to give you my mission totals. I know that you're excited for it. I know I am. So, here we go.

Year two (please recall that these are guestimates):

45,360 min (756 hours...that's about two hours a day) spent reading the holy scriptures.
22680 min (378 hours...that's about an hour a day): scripture reading in Latvian.
2460 min (36 hours...1.5 hours a week for half the year): writing in my journal
22.5 pages (front and back) written in my journal.
19,440 min (324 hours...that's about 360 min weekly): planning
17,010 min (283.5 hours...that's about 45 minutes daily): in prayer.
6,000 people contacted on street.
17,500 people contacted elsewhere.
572 lessons with people (investigators, members)
5,483,901 steps (4,277.443 KM / 2673.402 mi) distance walked
About 171 other meetings (district meetings, zone conference, and the like).

Recap--year one:

27,100 min (451 hours 40 minutes) spent reading the holy scriptures.
8,969 min (149 hours 29 minutes) spent doing that in Latvian.
4415 min ( 73 hours 35 minutes) spent writing in my journal
238 pages (front and back) pages written in my journal
8,435 min (140 hours 35 minutes) spent planning.
9,876 min (164 hours 36 minutes) spent in prayer. This one is a total guesstimate.
4,500 people contacted on the street.
3,500 additional people contacted elsewhere (like homes and such)
475 lessons with people (investigators, members)
4,086,572 steps (3,187.526 KM / 1,992.204 mi, for you in America): total distance.
160 other meetings (that's district meetings, zone conference, and the like), probably grossly underestimating the number of meetings from the MTC (we had 5+ a week...x9 weeks).

So, the two year totals (estimates, all. Except lessons taught):

72,460 min (1,207 hours 40 minutes) reading holy scriptures.
31,649 min (527 hours 29 minutes) reading scripture in Latvian (in addition).
6,875 min (114 hours 35 minutes) writing in my journal.
260.5 pages (front and back) of journal written.
27,875 min (464 hours 35 min) planning.
26886 min (448 hours 6 min) in prayer (this is probably an underestimate).
10,500 people contacted in the street or on buses
21,000 contacted elsewhere (in apartment complexes, homes, &t)
1047 lessons taught (to investigators and members)
9,570,473 steps (7,464.969 KM / 4,638.508 mi): total distance walked.
331 other meetings (district meetings, zone conferences, planning meetings, church, coordination meetings, &t).

And although these numbers may, in some respects be impressive and show what I accomplished, a mission is unquantifiable. You cannot determan the worth of your mission from something as trivial as this. I have already talked a little about what I received/gained on my mission. I like to remember this thought when thinking about what I gave/influenced: we can never know in this life how much good we have done, who we have touched, or what we have left in others. For example, there was a fellow baptized in Estonia during my mission who, about a year before he established contact again with the church, some missionaries talked with him and pointed out the church to him. They simply invited him to come if he felt like coming to church.
A year later or so, he woke up, feeling like he should go to church. Low and behold, he remembered where the church was, and came. He loved it.
I have spoken with many members about why they were baptized. What happened with them. A VERY large percentage took a very long time (often more than six months) before they finally decided to accept that covenant and move on. So, there is no way to measure that. I know that the friendships I forged with many of them will last a very long time. And the influence they have had on me is...remarkable. Powerful. Life-altering. I love these folks.

I think I will write at least one more time. Collage life kinda sneaks up on ya and takes LOADS of your time. Rough. But, it's been good. Anyway, until next time.

--
Jordan
@..@
(-----)
( >__< )
^^ ~~ ^^

Dec: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: The End of an Era...filled with Adventure

2009-12-23T03:48:00.002+02:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Jordan Argyle <jordana309@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Dec 22, 2009 at 18:47
Subject: 22 Dec: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: The End of an Era...filled with Adventure

All: About 200,000 steps is about 256.41 KM. It was a long week...

So, here we are. The mission is over. It was a very interesting last week, and the trip back was rather...eventful as well. So, I'll start with the week, and move to the trip home. If you are a missionary reading this, you may want to print this out and read it tonight or something, because it will be long.
Last week: so, I had to play a rather unfun game to get permission to do our "informative tent" in Jelgavas main square. I needed proof that we had authority from our registered organization to be there. So, I called the man in charge, and he couldn't get everything together for a while, so the man from the city called me several times to get info, and I had to check in and get updates from our guy. That was fun. We did get it all together in the end, though.

Then, remember how we had that news crew at our place last week or something? So, Last-last-last(?) Thursday we had the police called on us because our English students were being abnormally loud and left the door below open (which really makes some of the people who live in that stairwell where our meeting place is really upset). When the police came, we were already gone and home, so nothing was done. Then, the next Monday, the news came and asked me a bunch of questions and stuff. Really annoying. Because after a few days, it showed up on LNT (Latvijas National TV) and was very...incorrect and demeaning, which caused some problems for missionaries. Particularly in Rīga. So, the best part: sometime last week (Monday, I think), we hear a knock at the door. Elder Reid gets it. Three very large men come in and flash cop badges. They then demand our documentation and ask us a lot of questions. Eventually, then have us take them to the meeting place the next stairwell over. Once they saw that everything was normal, then left us be and told us to be quieter.

A few days later, because of minor damage to walls we painted the main room of the church place there (same as the above mentioned place). That was fun. And it was really cold. It dropped below -20C.

I also cried a little bit (meaning a lot). Sunday, after church, the members gathered everyone up after church and gave me a bunch of presents to see me off, and told me how much they loved and appreciated me. It was really touching! And again on Tuesday, when we had our last English class of the transfer and my last class ever (in the new building!), I received very meaningful gifts again. And a lot of email addresses! It was marvelous!

Then, we had our trip home. We all gathered at the mission home bright and early (or whenever we got there), had an exit interview with president, and looked around Rīga for a while. We then ate dinner together, and talked. There were twelve of us (from the back row, left): Elder Fitzgerald (Lithuania), Me (Latvia), across the tree is Sisters Nelson (Russian), Beuhner (Russian), Free (Lithuania), Elder Pehrson (Russian), left side again--Elders Nielson (Lithuania), Guber (Office), across the tree--Brown (Latvia), Sister Romney (Russian), bottom row--Elders Newman (Lithuania), Davis (Lithuania), Sister Gubler (Office), Sister and President Dance, and Elder Hill (Estonia). All together, we were 12 travelers. We ate, talked, and watched Miracle together. It was very bonding. We assumed that we'd have this evening and the next day together, so we thought that we bonded as much as we would. Boy, were we wrong.

We all headed to the airport the next morning. I rode with the Gublers in a taxi. Sister Gubler almost immediately started talking about the restoration with our driver. We wound up teaching a full first lesson to the driver, and his eyes said that we was genuinely interested. It was way cool! We then got on the plane, and headed out. We knew that we'd be crunched for time at Frankfurt, because we had to get to another terminal with all our baggage, and check in (and go through security) again in an hour. Well, by the time we got our bags we had only 40 minutes left. We sent two ahead while the rest of us battled with 12x3+3=39 bags. We pushed baggage carts up and down escalators; we held up skytrains so we could all pile in; we sprinted with 60+KG carts. All to no avail. We arrived at check in as our plane was taking off. And, because of extreme weather, all other flights out were canceled.

After several hours of consulting (and consoling), we added our names to the stand-by list, and headed to a hotel. We ate dinner together at a near-by restaurant in good spirits. Then, Elder Gubler called travel again. After a little while, we gathered to hear the news. We would all be getting home Sunday (two days from the time we were told) with the exception of Elder Hill, the Gublers, and Sister Free. The latter three would be taking the stand-by option. Elder Hill's father had arranged something for him, so that's how he got back. The other eight of us decided that we would be going to Frankfurt and to the near-by temple. We decided that while playing cards in one of our rooms until almost midnight. And Sister Beuhner's dad owns a phone company, so he was helping us get in contact with our families.

We got up, and went to the airport to get tickets. We took several electric passenger trains out to Friedrichsdorf, where there is a temple. I'm very impressed with trains in Germany. They run very smoothly, and they are very well organized. I'm also very impressed with the temple there. Take a look: http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/frankfurt/gallery/. It was amazing to be able to go through the temple again! I felt energized after!

We then headed into Frankfurt itself to eat and look at the Christmas Tirgus/Turgus/Rinik/Market. That was amazing, and I must say that we spent a lot of time bonding, and I think that we (some of us, anyway) are pretty close now. But, if I could upload pictures I would. We had frankfurters in Frankfurt (they grilled them on a free-hanging grill over a fire. They were good!), and we got souvenirs and such.

The next morning, we were ready to go. We flew to Dublin, where we again had to run to get to our international on time (again late flight). During the rush, I left my watch in security and worked up a good sweat. We all made the plane though. The first thing that impressed me most was the fact that most of the people on the plane were smiling, happy, and truly liked their lives. That is not something you see too much in Latvia. They also were very willing to just chat with you. I really enjoyed that. So much, in fact, that I wound up talking quite a bit with the people in my row.

We then arrived in Chicago. I had a different flight than the others, and again we had to check our baggage back in and go through security. So, I went with the group until the train that goes between terminals. As we were all piling in, the door shut. And so it turned out that I was the only of our group left behind. I waved them all goodbye, and got on the next one I could. Check in went smoothly (I was pretty experienced by this point), and I made my plane without a problem.

Again, however, in Salt Lake City I had another one hour rush to the flight. My mother was worried enough that I wouldn't make it that she called the airport and had them send a little cart to pick me up (the kind you always see employees driving around the airport). The actual plane was lost somewhere on the runway (they couldn't find the thing), so I made it with time to spare.

There was a small group of amazing people to greet me at the airport. I then spent the whole night chatting with my little sister, and the rest of the next day shopping and whatnot. I don't want to go too detailed into any of that, but if you'd like any extra details, just ask.

I will write a few more entries. I need to give you my yearly totals, and then the mission-ly totals for some categories. And I wanted to write my general impressions and thoughts concerning my mission. So there are more coming. So, please ask me any questions that you have, because otherwise you won't be getting any more info really about my mission itself.

I still know that this church is true, and I'll be working on continuing to help people understand how to learn through the Holy Ghost what is true, and how to use restored priesthood authority of God to change their lives. I would encourage you all, regardless of how well you think you know how to do that, to pray to God for His guidance on how to do that better. I will be doing just that during this next week.
--

Jordan
@..@
(-----)
( >__< )
^^ ~~ ^^

Baltic missionaries heading home

2009-12-21T15:53:00.001+02:00

This is Elder Argyle's mom writing. I don't know if he will add any more to this blog or not "), but I thought I'd write about the final chapter of his mission. This picture is of all the missionaries in the Baltic mission who were scheduled to travel home on December 19. The mission president and his wife are also in the picture "), along with a senior couple who were going home. ANYWAY, they had quite the adventure. They made it to Frankfurt, Germany, and then missed their connecting flight to Chicago. We got a call from the Salt Lake mission travel office telling us about the missed flight and letting us know that the missionaries were in a hotel and they (Salt Lake) were working on alternate plans.

The missionaries spent a day and a half in Frankfurt. They found the temple there and were able to attend a session. They were put on a flight to Dublin Ireland on Sunday morning, and from there flew to Chicago. Elder Argyle then traveled on by himself. His flight from Chicago to Salt Lake was delayed, and his connecting flight from Salt Lake to Idaho Falls was on time. So we were sitting at our computer all evening, trying to somehow push the Chicago flight to go faster so he would make the connecting flight home "). We knew it would be too close for comfort. After a nail-biting couple of hours, an airport person finally confirmed that he WAS on the flight to Idaho Falls, so we ran to the airport and put up our signs and balloons and cheered when he got off the plane. ")

He just came in and saw what I was doing--he said he WILL be adding the last week of his mission to the blog, so I'll stop here--I just wanted to tell you that he's home safe and sound. He'll spend Christmas here and then head to college in January.

The merriest of Christmases to you all!

Dec 9: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Activities, My Letter

2009-12-10T00:30:00.001+02:00

From: Jordan Argyle

Date: Wed, Dec 9, 2009 at 5:22 AM
Subject: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Activities, My Letter

Fam: Thank you for all your support and love. We will be engaging in some really intense board/card games when I get back, so get ready!
Me

All: A grossly inaccurate reading of 63,838 steps (49.79KM).

Pictures: Top: We had a pretty rad break the fast. Here's who people are, from bottom left: Sister Carson's arm is visible, and then Elder Carson's face. Then comes Elder Taylor, and Verner's face is barely visible behind him. Elder Thompson, me, and Brother Pravains sitting there in the middle. Then Pāvels and his fiance'e Natalija (they get married this Saturday!!!!!!!), and Sister Z. with her son A. (standing). Sitting is Sil., Lai. (with the kid, named Diago), and Mai. (Diago's mother). These three women are investigators who are amazing!!! Lai. reads out loud, and then she discusses what she reads with her mother (Sil.). They are amazing to me. They also have, in two weeks, read almost half the Book of Mormon. They love that source of truth, and are learning at an amazing rate!! The two men in the right corner are An. and Ain., also investigators. It was a really good week!
Middle: I love the graffiti in domes. This was one of my favorite this last week.
Last: So, we got on the roof of another dome, this time in Satiksmes. The light on the top floor was flickering ominously--it was perfect. And the view was pretty good.

Q+A: The mother who came to church and loved it was a mother of a woman we taught. After I left Jelgava for Rīga the elders taught them, and they invited their mother. She's way cool, but didn't come this week. Sigh.
The first meeting in the new building will be (ironically enough, since I fly out on the 18th) 20 December. Lol. Oh well. We'll have a little party in it on the 15th, so that I can still see it full of the people who I love. Thanks to all who sent ideas for the open house!--that will be done in January sometime, so I'll leave your ideas here.

Now, we are planning to get stuff all going here for Christmas. We have asked for permission from the city and a huge shopping center here to put a booth out in a park and in the center for several days for a few hours. We'll be inviting everybody to a Christmas party here on the 22nd and informing everyone that we have English classes and telling them about our new building. I think it will be really fun. I spent a lot of time last week getting that all organized and setting up all that stuff. But, it'll ROCK! And we're still doing missionary work. A lot of our investigators have kinda pooped out, so we're playing that finding game again (like this whole transfer, but that's fine--I love talking to people now).

Otherwise, I don't know what to tell you. Nothing overly extraordinary happened. I was asked to write a departing letter for the Mission President, giving a general overview of my missionary experiences and how they've impacted me, so I guess I'll just include that for y'all.
"I have started and scrapped this letter to you a few times. It is very hard to cram perhaps the most full two years into a letter of any length. So, I'll just hit those things that I am most impressed with from these years.

First, my understanding of the gospel has grown remarkably. Before my mission, the teachings from the scriptures were, in my mind, separate doctrinal points that didn't really connect very often or do more than provide a rough outline by which to live my life. The truths of the gospel were not really written in my heart (Proverbs 7: 1-3). After much study and application and teaching, however, these truths have been written very deeply in my being. Through their application I have seen myself change dramatically, yet gradually. I truly love the scriptures, for they are a great source of truth and a powerful way to invite personal revelation through the Holy Ghost. I love the honest, heartfelt prayer of faith, for it edifies and enlarges. And I love teaching people the restored truths and facts of God available through the restoration of His gospel through a living prophet. The doctrines of the gospel have become an integral part of me--they have become my way of life.

And that, probably, has been the biggest impact from my mission--the dramatic change of self. I have matured much, and grown in every aspect (including, unfortunately, the belly region a little). But I see everything differently: my siblings around me--especially the ones here in Latvia--and decisions I and my siblings around me make. I see all things from a higher vantage point. My view is widened, and I understand far more of life from that truer perspective. I believe that I understand things much more fundamentally. Like obedience. I used to think we were obedient to obtain blessings. Now I understand that obedience comes out of love for the Lord, and out of love He will bless us. But we don't do a list of things to obtain a list of blessings; we do all we can to be in harmony with Him. Doing that, we will feel His spirit, which expands, teaches, strengthens and lifts us.

I have also enjoyed growing in many practical ways--social skills, cooking, cleaning, and that jazz. My thinking on life has been expanded from constant contact with so many other amazing individuals--and here I specifically mean other missionaries, but it applies to everybody I work with. These experiences and lessons have been an enjoyed benefit that I hadn't really thought much about when preparing to serve. I did, however, expect to better understand charity.

Which leads me to my final point. My mission has been very emotional. I have earnestly sought the gift of charity, and because of a genuine love for those I have taught, I have felt the greatest gandarījumi and the deepest sorrows (gandarījums-an emotional state, like satisfaction, that comes from achieving a desire through much work). And the more I work with and love the people, the more I rejoice when they do, and sorrow when they do (Mosiah 18: 8-10). Other people have become as important to me as I am to myself (Matthew 22: 37-39), and most often my studies were for others. Interesting how we grow and learn the most while studying for others...

Well, reading this over again, it sounds a lot weaker than I wanted and a little unorganized. Basically, I have learned to apply the scriptures and listen for the Holy Ghost. And as I have been doing those two things, my Heavenly Father has poured blessings on me that I always have heard in stories from church history, but somehow never really envisioned obtaining for myself. Most especially when talking about prayer. Never again will I ever doubt that God answers prayers.

I am gauži thankful to have served, to have been able to experience all that I have (gauži-very, very, extremely, incredibly very). I know in Whom my trust lies. I feel very privileged to be able to honestly, with all my soul, echo the words of Nephi:

Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth upon the things which I have seen and heard. Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me His great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities. I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me. When I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in Whom I have trusted. My God hath been my support; He hath led me through mine afflictions in Latvia; and He hath preserved me as I have talked to people in this land.

He hath filled me with His love, even unto the consuming of my flesh. He hath confounded mine enemies, heard my cry by day, and He hath given me knowledge. In the evening have I waxed bold in mighty prayer before Him; yea, my voice have I sent up on high. Mine eyes have beheld great things, yea, even too great for most to believe.

O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in His condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much mercy, why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions? And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy? Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul. Do not anger again because of blinded people. Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions. Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise Thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in Thee, my God, and the Rock of my salvation. O Lord, wilt Thou redeem my soul? Wilt Thou deliver me out of the hands of mine enemies? Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin? May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because I strive will all my will to follow Thee! O Lord, wilt Thou not shut the gates of Thy righteousness before me, that I may walk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road!

O Lord, wilt Thou encircle me around in the robe of Thy righteousness! Wilt Thou make my path straight before me! O Lord, I have trusted in Thee, and I will trust in Thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm. Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto Thee; yea, I will cry unto Thee, my God, the Rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto Thee, my Rock and mine everlasting God. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen (2 Nephi 4: 16-35)."
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

Dec 2: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: New BUILDING(!!), Investigators, Good stuff...

2009-12-02T16:27:00.002+02:00

From: Jordan Argyle

Date: Wed, Dec 2, 2009

Subject: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: New BUILDING(!!), Investigators, Good stuff...

All: Maybe my pedometer has just lost its sensitivity. Anyway, it shows 55,612 (43.37), but I know we walked more than that (we did a lot of walking this week).

Pictures: First one: So last Preparation day we went bowling. And it was cosmic/disco/whatever-you-wanna-call-it bowling. It was way fun!! The member that we had invited didn't come, but we decided to play anyway. Tell ya what--when you have a white shirt on at that place, you glow!
Second: We found another abandoned building, and climbed up on the roof (through that hole you see there). That was fun. And the bus came a little late, so we still made it home on time! That's my companion.

Third: One of the many, not-as-good-as-I-hoped shots of the city from the top of said building.
Last: See that double-decker bus? I've been waiting my whole stay in this city to ride that thing. It finally happened this Sunday, by pure luck. I got to ride a double-decker bus for the first time!! It was kinda cheaply made, so really loud, but way cool!

Q+A: This last week, the work has gone fairly well. We made contact with several people with whom we haven't been able to meet for a while, and had some really good lessons with them. We also talked with a mother who came to church and LOVED it. She said she'd for sure be back next Sunday.
The Z. family are still taking lessons. I don't know if the father is ready to do anything yet, so we may not go as often. Then again, maybe not, because they are having some really hard times right now, so they could use the support. And I love them soooooo much!

Contacting people: one interesting experience was I talked to another guy who studies theology at the university. It's so ridiculous talking to those kinds of people, because they always look at religion abstractly, not seriously (from my experience, anyway), and they still refuse to accept that God can speak to us personally through the Holy Ghost. And when the Holy Ghost tells us something, we can trust 100% that it is truth from God. But they just don't recognize that. I don't get it.

Funnest Experience (this week): Signing the contract for the new church building. That was rad. Also, when knocking, almost every night we got in a door and taught a lesson.

Hardest Experience (this week): I don't know. It may have been telling my landladies that we're leaving at the end of this month. That wasn't fun. Or Thanksgiving, because that's the really big family day in my family, and we didn't even really have a celebration for it. And nobody who is not my parents really said anything, or wrote, or anything. Turns out that after about a year, it's a fact that almost everybody pretty much forgets about you, and just when you're getting into the swing of things all of your support from home (with the usual exception of parents) just drops out from under you. It's very disconcerting. It's a good thing that a few members wished me a happy Thanksgiving, and that I went bowling, otherwise it would have been a very difficult day.

The new building is the same one I talked about before. It's on Debeles iela 42 (but Googlemaps can't find it. It's the red brick building on the corner of Dobeles iela and Pulkveža Brieža, in case you wanted to check it out.)

On that note, I would like to ask you all for suggestions. We are trying to use this new church building both to invite more people to us (to understand us better and to understand what the restored gospel and restored priesthood means for them and their families), and to invite those who have been baptized, but are not currently active, to come back. We will be having what's called an open house, so that people can come and see the church and ask questions and stuff. I just want more people to understand what the Atonement of Jesus Christ means, and that living His gospel (or way of life) enables them to enjoy those blessings available through His Atonement. If you have any ideas, the open house will actually take place next month, so you have plenty of time to send me ideas (this week). Send them to argailins@gmail.com. Thanks!!

Otherwise, I'm stoked to have a new building. All is going forward here. I love you! Keep seeking truth through prayer, study, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer!
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

Nov 26: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T16:18:00.002+02:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Thu, Nov 26, 2009 at 3:11 AM
Subject: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Happy Thanksgiving!

All: I now know that my step counter is off. I took 60 steps, and it only counted 47. So...anyway, it shows 75,870 (59.17 KM), but I'm sure we did more that 100,000, because we did a TON of walking this week. But, whatever.

Random thing: I had my last Christmas of my mission. Every 25th I have a little Christmas celebration. And the last one was yesterday. One of the most amazing missionaries in the world gave me a call and sang a modified version of Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, missionary style: "...then how the missionaries loved him, and they shouted out with glee 'Amen!'..." It was awesome. Really made my day. And then we taught a bunch of lessons that evening. Score.

Q+A: It really is dark at 4 p.m.. We sometimes use flashlights after that. Usually we just use ambient lighting (street lights and such) or walk in the dark, but when it's muddy then we often will use our flashlights. And we are currently on a winter proselyting schedule: we are out working until 8:30 p.m., and we slide our language study around (half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening). It's been really good.

Elder Reid: He's a Utahn who is very into sports. He would definitely kick my trash in ping pong, basketball, football (both American and regular), and anything else (since I'm not too sporty a person). He's a good cook. I'm not sure exactly what else to say--after being with 16 companions, it's kinda hard to really pick out things about people. They are my companion. We teach well together, and we have been having really good lessons recently. We understand how we teach, and we have much the same focus when we teach, so it's easy to just jump in during lessons when the people speak both languages. It's been good.
I understand differing amounts of Russian. If I can contribute in the lesson, then I usually understand more (thanks to the spirit) and I can participate better. If I can't help much (say, they don't understand Latvian), then I usually don't understand overly much, but I do know some phrases.
There are a few more Latvians than Russians in Jelgava, but the balance is about 55-45.

We visited our 50 some-odd people, but not much came of it, sadly. People are really resistant to change or to anything they are not used to. And with people as flaky as week-old pastries, it means it's hard to really meet with people. But, we did have two lessons from all those go-backs, so not too bad.

We have found several families, but none of them really look too promising right now. They meet with us because they like us, not because they want to learn the gospel, but becasue they are nice and like us. But, we'll keep working with them. Actually, the Z. family is moving along quite well. We had a very serious lesson with them, and the father agreed to work on specific commandments and Christlike attributes, and all the other family members also agreed to get crackin' on Christlike attributes. The father is not a member (yet). But they are probably the most promising for a family baptism right now. We'll see how things go. I think he will still take more time, though.

Church on Sunday was amazing! We contacted all the members, and had a pretty good showing. And all of the Z. family (except the oldest son, who lives elsewhere) came!! The talks were amazing, and everything seemed quite pointed at helping the branch. I think that was one of my best Sundays. And President Dance really gave a good talk, about the three parables in Luke 15. I will share that as my spiritual thought, so here goes:

In that chapter, you will find three parables. The first is Luke 15: 4-7, and it talks of 100 sheep and one lost. Then the shephėrd leaves the 99, and goes after the one. And when that sheep is found and brought back, the heavens rejoice over the one, and kinda ignore the 99. Then Luke 15: 8-10 talks about a woman with 10 coins. She loses one, hunts for it, and then the angels rejoice over the one, and again ignore the 9. Then President Dance asked a question: Which are you? Are you the 1 lost sheep, or one of the 99? Then: are you one of the 9 coins, or the 1 lost one? He then said: if you still don't understand which you are, then Christ gave another parable. Luke 15: 11-32 This is the tale of the Prodigal Son. There are two sons. One who does not leave his father, and the other who squanders his inheritance on wasteful things. That son then returns, and the father throws a huge party for him. The son who didn't leave then gets upset, and asks why he hasn't had a party. Again, there is rejoicing over the one, and not much attention paid to the other. Why is this?

President Dance then explained: I personally don't believe that the ninety and nine even exist. I don't think that the nine exist. I don't even think the one "good" son exists. Because we are all sinners. We are all lost. And if you think that you are one of the 99, or the 9, or even the one, then you are mistaken. There is only us and Christ. We are all fallen from the grace of God, and we are all sought after. Christ Himself seeks us, as in the story of the sheep. Servants of Christ seek us, as in the story of the coins, and we seek ourselves, as in the story of the Prodigal Son. It was really good, because there were several in attendance who have a hard time coming to church because they think that they are sinners and that the people at church are perfect, and so they will be looked down on and will feel uncomfortable. So, I think that pointing out that we really are all wanderers, and must always repent (change and improve and become closer to God) each day, really helped those people. "Because sinning is a part of our daily lives, then repentance must also be a part of our daily lives." Way good.

God lives. He does seek us, and will give us after our needs, but only if we seek and prepare to accept that help and those gifts. I know that Christ's arms of mercy are extended to us at all times, and He pleads that we access His mercy: 3 Nephi 9: 13. I love you all. Have a great week! Happy Thanksgiving!
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
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Nov 19: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Tele2, Jelgava Again, Neatkarības Diena, God's Glory

2009-11-19T04:34:00.000+02:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Thurs. Nov 19, 2009 at 7:18 AM
Subject: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Tele2, Jelgava Again, Neatkarības Diena, God's Glory

All: Well, 90,776 steps (70.80KM). Woo.

Sorry for the delay in this letter. Usually I write on Wednesdays, but because yesterday (18 November) was both Elder Brown's birthday ") and Latvia's Independence Day, there were no internet places open here. So, it's a day late. Now on to other things. This week I found out much, both funny and serious. Funny first:

Remember how I told you that tele2 faked the meteorite? Well, they also ran a campaign this last month about heroes. They had ads everywhere that just said, "Pārāk Dārgi būt varonim?" ("Too expensive to be a hero?"). Then they only had a web address--varoni.lv. I asked, and apparently that site only had a little game you played, where they call you often to tell you where to go next, and then they call you again. So, you do this for half an hour, and it turns out that the big secret they wanted to tell you is that they are tele2. Now they just released a plan that allows you to call any phone anywhere in Latvia for free--land, their line, another cell company--doesn't matter. I thought that it was remarkably genius marketing! They also have been pouring a lot of money into light shows and other attractions to keep people's minds off the economic crisis that everybody sees and hears about on the news daily. I really admire them for that, and it sure was a good way to advertise!
Another random thing: It's basically completely dark here by 4:00 p.m.. Funny, huh?

Pictures:
Top: These are the bonfires on the main street right across from the current church space.
Middle: This is one of my favorite shots of the fireworks. This is from the window of the church space looking out from the kitchen.
Last: Here are some of my favorite people in the world. The photographer didn't really warn us that he was going to take a shot, so we weren't overly ready, but it worked out anyway.

Q+A:
I'm settled in, yes. In the old apartment. Plans for the new one fell through for right now. The missionaries in Jelgava are Elders Thompson and Taylor (a new missionary--this is his second transfer), then Elder Reid and I. I have a crazy euphoria being back here! But, honestly speaking, I'd be cool with just about anywhere. About the people we are teaching, see the paragraph below. There are a ton in areas left to tract--I think that in my last time here, I used about 20% at the most of my area. There's still a lot more to do!
No, I am not a ZL any more. And Elder Brown is not an assistant. He's now the DL in Imanta. Elder Reid is a way awesome Russian-speaking missionary. I will tell you a little about him next time (if you remind me). We are tearing everything apart, because there is not a single person with whom we speak that cannot be spoken to. Latvian, Russian, English--every person speaks one of those three well. I love it!

Then, I am going through all the contacts of people that I have talked to and am really working with the members here to strengthen the branch and get a new building here before I go. Things all look good, and hopefully I can prepare one family for baptism before I leave. If you could all pray for that with me, I would really appreciate it (I've been searching for a family my whole mission who are ready to accept the gospel). We have a lot of good people to go back to, and I know that there are a lot of other good people with whom we haven't talked, so I am still hopeful. For them to be baptized before I leave, though, we need to find them this week. Please pray hard!

Yesterday was Latvijas Neatkarības Diena (Latvia's Independence Day), so there were no internet places open in Jelgava. There was a firework show, a million people all over the place, and big bonfires in the street. It was a pretty interesting day. We had hoped to be able to teach some people during the day, but a lot of people had gone to Rīga, so it didn't work out. We did talk to a lot of people, though.

And we had DISTRICT CONFERENCE last Sunday! I love district conf. We were treated to some of the most amazing talks, I got a lot of e-mail addresses of members that I love, and Paša from Jelgava received the Melchizedek priesthood!! That was way exciting!! I love seeing the members here, and many of them were very excited that I was in Jelgava again. I'm looking forward to this Sunday--we've made a big deal of a big deal. The mission president will be here, and so we just let all the members know and will remind them, and hopefully we'll have a full chapel. And tomorrow through Saturday we have a little over 50 people to drop by (people who have given us their addresses), as well as another 50 with just phone numbers, so we're thinking that we may be a little busy (if you lack perspective, that is a ridiculously huge number of people for a short period of time here). I'm thrilled again!

And I would like to share something that was discussed at that conference and at zone conference (we also had that, by the way). It was from Elder Senkāns, who is a Seventy here (the general priesthood authority "in charge" of Latvia and the other Baltic states). He thinks very logically, and he understands that all good things come from God. Therefore, all things he learns he turns to the gospel and tries to understand it in the light of eternal truth. He shared an article about how scientists have shown that to become a master at something (like sports or an instrument or a subject) it requires at least 10,000 hours. He then shared how the brain operates--all those neurons and such connect with others, and each neuron or synopsis or whatever it's called can connect with some thousands of others. As we learn and practice something, it literally becomes a part of our physical makeup, making verses like Alma 37: 6-7 or 1 Nephi 16: 29 even more powerful. The article also stated that we become what we think and do--so it is. Anyway, he took that further to state that if we only attend church once a week, then in a year we have 52 hours of that 10,000. If we live to be 80, then we're barely half-way there if we don't miss a single Sunday. If we're there for three hours a week, then that's 156 a year, times 80--still not there. And the article also stated that if it is not sustained, then the links are weakened, and it falls apart. So we need consistency also. It was quite a remarkable talk. It isn't even close to the power that he brought to it, and I don't have my notes, but I will probably flesh this thought out a little more later.

Another thing: he shared his favorite scripture. It defines the glory of God: D&C 93: 36. Very simple: it is light and truth. What are these? Truth was explained very clearly by God Himself: D&C 93: 24. It is simply the way things are. We need oxygen to live. We need to eat. The sun shines for us. Fire is hot. These are truths--just simply the way things are. There are also truths like God has a plan for us. He has a physical, perfected body of flesh and bone. We will all have the opportunity to be resurrected in glorified, perfected bodies. These, too, are truths. God wants us to know truth. This brings us to light: D&C 88: 7-13. Light, very simply, is the sustaining force by which God maintains order and influence in the world. There is both visible and invisible forms of light. The visible is fairly easy for us to understand at a simple level--it is what we see by, and it is what brings life to plants (among a host of other uses). Light is also the thing that allows us to understand truth (v. 11), and it gives God power and influence across all space (v 13). There is undoubtedly even more to light, but we have this for now. Elder Senkans helped us see how we can obtain this in our own lives.

Luke 11: 34 speaks of our light. Where we get it. This is both literal and figurative. Matthew 6: 22 is very similar, but helps us understand this a little better. If we are focused (on what, you may ask), then we can be filled with light, or, in other words, understanding, power and life. From the Doctrine and Covenants we read even more clearly: D&C 88: 67. Focused on what? On God and His glory--truth and understanding.

That is the purpose of Christ's church today. To help the children of God the Father obtain light and truth in their own lives, so that they are able to understand His purposes, and understand the way things are. Truth is not subjective--regardless of whether people believe it or not, it is still true. So Christ's church, or, more appropriately, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is not concerned about proving things wrong, or forcing others to accept what we teach. We do not teach philosophy, or religion, or good morals. We teach truth. You could say that the Church of Jesus Christ today is as it has always been--a school of learning for the children of One who has all light and truth. For those children who are willing to learn. D&C 88: 118 is truly the beginning of all activities in the church. And, as we learn truth, we will act on it. This is what brings salvation and exaltation--acting on true principles as stated by the Lord. When we follow His gospel--starting with faith (trust) in Him and His counsel; using that faith to repent (change our lives) so that we live as directed; then applying our repentance into a promise with God through baptism with water from one holding true authority to act in God's name; receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands from one with that same power; and then continuing our whole lives long to learn and apply the truth we learn--then we obtain exaltation. I know that this is the true plan of our loving Father in Heaven.

I love you all! I invite you to keep reading and praying with the intent to learn truth.
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
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( >/°¥< )
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Nov 12: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Transfers and Such

2009-11-12T16:05:00.002+02:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Thu, Nov 12, 2009 at 4:54 AM
Subject: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Transfers and Such

All: 125,420 steps (97.82KM).

Pictures: Top: This wafer made me laugh a lot! On the wrapper is written: "HYPER wafer for big people." Hee hee. I'm not really that fat, either, just a little photo magic.
Middle: Here's my district from Riga Center: Front row is E. Long and McLaren, and the back is me, Sisters Gomez and Rībere (I have no idea how to do that in English still), and Elder Clark.
Last: These are stairs at a place we knocked. See how worn they are? I thought that was crazy worn!

Q+A: One of the people who was writing the homework for the spiritual parts of the English class now has a baptismal date! That is way exciting to me! Another one is willing to meet and talk, but is very skeptical right now. He thinks that God is partially to blame for all the bad that happens, because He could stop it, but doesn't. What he doesn't realize is that God does all that we allow Him to, and he unendingly mudinās (encourages...kinda) to do good and not do those bad things. Take a look at Moroni 7: 5-13, 16-19, and you'll see what I mean. That's not even including all the work the Holy Ghost does to keep us from hurting others (John 14: 26). Anyway, search the scriptures, and you will see that God invites all to do good unendingly.

Otherwise: On 9 November,1989, the Berlin Wall fell. It was the 20th anniversary of that event only a few days ago. That may not seem that interesting to a lot of you, but for one who has seen the dreadful influence of the Soviet regime, and who always is left is amazement by the miracle of its fall, I was strongly touched when I realized that. If you want, research the Berlin Wall, and the Soviet Union a little, and you may understand a little better. I have had many a conversation with people who have told me of the influence of the Soviet Union in their lives. I am amazed that countries even survived. God truly is a God of miracles, and he supported those who followed and trusted Him, even under the suffocating influence of that evil regime.

A funny story: A meteorite landed in Latvia last week. Latvians were euphoric, because a meteorite had landed in Lietuva and Estonia, but never in Latvia. But after a day or so, it turned out that the meteorite here was all a marketing scam from a company called Tele 2 (a huge phone company). So, since that meteorite story went all over the world, that company now finds a lot of publicity globally. I thought it was ridiculous...and ridiculously funny.

Last week was pretty slow, and this week started off a lot faster! We had great lessons with people with whom we have been trying to meet for a long time!

Now, probably what you are all wanting to know: transfers. I'm headed back to Jelgaviņa!! I'm excited, and at the same time sad to be leaving here. But, all will be well. My new companion is Elder Reed, who is a Russian speaker. So, I finally get my dream of being in a mixed companionship (Latvian/Russian speaking). And, I am able to say that I have averaged one new companion every transfer (that's 16 companions in as many transfers, and if you want you can include the MTC, when I had a different companion).

That's probably all. I love you all! Have a great week, and never cease praying and reading to invite personal revelation from the Lord. He gives such to all who seek it with a pure intent.
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
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( >/°¥< )
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Nov 4: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: English, Feelin' Weird, Tā Daļas Rīgas, Graveyards, Beautiful Stuff

2009-11-04T15:52:00.000+02:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 7:13 AM
Subject: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: English, Feelin' Weird, Tā Daļas Rīgas, Graveyards, Beautiful Stuff

All: 76,166=59.40. I find the pedometer šķibs very often (slanted, crooked, or something like that), and so I don't think I'm getting accurate counts anymore. Oh well :)

Anyway, lots happened this week. First of all, there are several students in our English class who are new from the last time I was here, and during the spiritual portion of the class, there were several who took notes on the suggested reading to learn more, and I do believe that they read them. The sisters have taught two of them, and I had a lesson scheduled with another one, but he wasn't able to make it yesterday because of work. But, usually things don't go so well in English class as that. I'm way stoked!

Otherwise, I'm starting to feel way weird. I have a really strong desire to stay here, and at the same time I have those same feelings for home. It's a very odd sensation to long to be where you are while you are simultaneously longing to be elsewhere. I have a dread and excitement to leave, at the same time. I don't want to start living a "normal" life again, and I can't wait to get started. It basically is a very odd sensation, we'll say that.

On that note, I heard the following song a while back. I found a link for it. In the video it shows some places in Rīga--I've been to all of them, I think. Most of them are in Ķengarags and Maskavas Foršstate (all near the river just out of old town). So you can see what this area looks like. It's a gorgeous song...here's the link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9ZmVahk4EY

Anyway, speaking of that area: We were down there on Halloween knocking, and we wound up walking through a graveyard to get there! It was perfect. Suddenly, Elder Long says, "Hey, we're walking through a dark graveyard...on Halloween!" I added that the moon was almost full. Anyway, it was perfect. I also carved my first ever Jack-o-lantern that night (never actually carved one from a pumpkin...and how many people can say that they've done that here in Rīga?:)). So, that's what those first two pictures are. The pumpkin would have been better, but I didn't actually want to spend much time on it, so I didn't. I made it in only a few minutes. And I accidentally burned the seeds, so they weren't so good to eat. But, whatever. It was fun.

Also, we found some basement doors open, so decided to go snooping. This one was perhaps the most amazing basement I have ever been in. It went completely under the house, and looked like people used to live in it. I chose my favorite shot to put in here. Hope you like it. Don't worry, we only spent a few minutes down there, then we got right back to work. Humerically enough, we came across a group of trick-or-treaters, who made so much noise that we had to leave. Basically, Halloween means nothing here for most people.

And I was able to go to Liepāja this week. Remember those pictures of the church I put up a while back? Those are basically nothing in comparison to the actual building. I will admit, that I cried when I first went in, it was so gorgeous. You basically just have to go yourself and feel it to understand. And on the way back, since we had to leave really early, we were treated to a gorgeous sunrise. The pictures, once again, don't even come close to the actual. Here's one I tried to get, though.

Oh, and add another odd thing to my food list: Persimmon. It tasted fairly good.

I finished the Book of Mormon this week. I read from 4th Nephi to the end, and some things stood out quite a bit for me. Here are some of those things:

Ether 4: 7-14)
All things that lead to do good and to believe in God are from from God, but anything that pulls us away from a faith in Christ comes from the devil. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ prepares us to enter heaven.

Ether 4: 15-19)
The Book of Mormon is a witness that God is fulfilling the covenant which he made to the house of Israel in the Old Testament, and that He remembers all of His children all over the Earth. This added witness strengthens our faith and belief.

(Mormon 9: 1-15).

The words of Moroni, son of Mormon who compiled the Book of Mormon, unto those who believe not in Christ (verses 1-6):

His words to those who believe, but deny the revelations of God (verses 7-15):
• • •

(Mormon 9:18-25).

I will just say here that I have seen the miracles of God. I have received revelations through the Holy Ghost, helping me to know what to do to teach people the Gospel of Christ. I know that God is a God of miracles.

(Mormon 9: 26-30).
I love this. He knows that he's talking to us. He knows that he's writing to us. All they put in the Book of Mormon was done for us, by revelation. Observe what else he said:

35 Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing. (Mormon 8: 35)

And this may have been my favorite part. Look at how strongly these ancient prophets testified of their mission and their role, and to the truth of the work they helped to do:
Moroni 7: 35-38)

And finally, in the last chapter of the whole book:

27 And I exhort you to remember these things; for the time speedily cometh that ye shall know that I lie not, for ye shall see me at the bar of God; and the Lord God will say unto you: Did I not declare my ^awords unto you, which were written by this man, like as one ^bcrying from the dead, yea, even as one speaking out of the ^cdust?

28 I declare these things unto the fulfilling of the prophecies. And behold, they shall proceed forth out of the mouth of the everlasting God; and his word shall ^ahiss forth from generation to generation.

29 And God shall show unto you, that that which I have written is ^atrue.

30 And again I would exhort you that ye would ^acome unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good ^bgift, and ^ctouch not the evil gift, nor the ^dunclean thing. (Moroni 10: 27-30)

I know that the Book of Mormon is of divine origin, and that God truly has brought it forth in our day to witness to all the world that He is God, and that He truly does speak and lead His church in our day. This He does through His anointed servants. In the New Testament, Paul testified of the need of apostles (Ephesians 4: 11-15)? Are we in a unity of faith? Are we perfected? Then prophets and apostles are still needed.

Did not Christ Himself teach that all power in Heaven and in Earth belongs to Him (Matthew 28: 18-20)? He didn't say the power is given to books, or to man, but that it all rests with Him Himself. And he called His disciples to extend that throughout the world as He had authorized them to do so. It is the same today.

There are many references to priesthood. In the book of Acts, they call for the apostles to perform baptisms and to give the Holy Ghost. In other places in the scriptures they speak of priesthood offices (Hebrews 5: 6-10), and the need of the sealing power and revelation (Matthew 16: 17-19). The rock of Christ's church, as stated in the passage listed last before this, is revelation through the Holy Ghost. And because Peter listened and heeded that Spirit, and was called by the Lord, he was given the keys to, or authority to use the power of, the Kingdom of Heaven. That same power has been restored today.

I know that God has restored His church, and the Book of Mormon is the key to knowing that as well. It is something you can truly test. Pray about that book, and I again promise you that God will answer your prayers, if you pray in faith, with a desire to act.

I love you all.

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

Oct 28: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Exchanges, Baptisms, Haunted Woods, The End

2009-10-28T16:01:00.001+02:00

From: Jordan Argyle

Date: Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 5:10 AM
Subject: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Exchanges, Baptisms, Haunted Woods, The End

All: So, I'm quite short on time (due to a lot of stuff to do today), so I'll be quick here. 80,201 steps and 62.55 KM.

First, baptisms. I have attached a picture or two. It was beautiful.
The top one is the whole group. You've got: Sister Rebere (I have no idea how to spell it in English--Reeber, maybe), Brālis Lepešs, Zaiga Kalniņa, Davis Kalniņš, and the rest of Zaiga's kids. In the back: Helvijs Vīgners, Zane Pliha, Simone Miljone, hiding in the very back is Jurgens Plihs, the Brālis Ulasavičs and Sister Gomez. The ones getting baptized were Zaiga, Davis, and Jurgens. It happened. Both of these adults have been waiting years for things to work out so they could be baptized. It turns out that both of these baptisms are a HUGE miracle, and the result of many, many prayers and a lot of effort. I was touched deeply to see the hand of God so obviously this week.
The next picture is Zane, her father, Jurgens, and Sister Keeling. I loved this Saturday not only because there were a bunch of baptisms, but because Zane was thrilled out of her mind with euphoria all day. It was the greatest thing in the world to see. She's been waiting years for her father to accept the gospel and begin to live it. And Jurgens is way excited to be able to make his daughter so happy. It's amazing to see. Zane spent a lot of time hugging her dad these past few days :) I helped Zaiga fill out the form for baptism, and there's a little box by the "parents" section that says "Church member." She was filling out her son's form, and so when she wrote her name in there, and looked at the box, she got a huge smile on her face, and in a voice filled with an emotion I cannot even describe she said, "Ja," while tenderly checking the box. It was way cool to see her excitement, too! I love what the Atonement does for people!!!!
The last picture is my companion. He loves the talk, "Good, Better, Best" by Dallin H. Oaks (of the 12 apostles). We found this carved in a wall, and nabbed us a picture. Cool, eh?

Another cool thing about the baptism is that missionaries didn't do anything, really. Elder Long played the piano and gave a talk, but otherwise all was done by members. Way cool! Ah, and I was asked about where baptisms take place. There is a font in our church building in Imanta and in Liepāja, where we have baptisms. So, this last one was in Imanta, because it is too cold to do it in rivers and the like...
I also went on exchanges with people. As a zone leader, I go on exchanges with all district leaders in my zone, and with the assistants to the president. This means that I have 5 exchanges--five days when I spend the whole day with somebody not my companion and work like crazy in their area--or have them come back to mine and work like mad. I love exchanges, because working with other missionaries really raises my sights and encourages me to do even more! This week I went with Elder Barnes (assistant) who's just amazing. We talked to four people, and brought two of them back to the church and taught them. That's not normal odds--it's usually 1 in every hundred or so who's willing to talk. So, that was cool. I also went with Elder Reed, who is the Russian speaker in Jelgava. He's way cool, and it was fun to see my English class there again. Ah...the memories.

Also, this week my companion and I were headed out to Jugla to knock a few clusters of buildings that were near-by the shopping center Alfa. We took the wrong bus, bringing us to Mežciems, but after walking a block we found a 21 autobuss, and took it back to the area we wanted to be. Turns out, after we entered, we found that area to be an industrial park. Sigh. We walked through it to find houses, but no dice. We then hit Alfa to use the bathroom, and left, walking around it to get to the next little cluster. Well, we get to the road, and we see a trail that goes into the woods. Dark, creepy woods. Elder Long says, "I know exactly where this leads." And so, I pull out the flashlight that I keep on my belt, and out we go. I was thinking the whole time about how good those woods looked--as a place to be killed or robbed. But nothing happened (as also I thought), and we emerged from the woods into our next compound--a hospital compound. Woo. So, we left that, and wandered until we found Brivības iela (the main street that would have our buses back into center). Turns out that we walked from Jugla all the way to Teika (a good distance). Since we had already done that, we just decided to walk home. So we almost did. Anyway--a depressingly long, unproductive night. But, it was a fun adventure that added a lot to my steps this week :-S.

Other than that, it was a normal week. I have now been handed two "friend books." In Latvian, "atmiņu grāmatas" or books of memory. That's where friends write before they leave somewhere. I have given mine to many people. And now, people are starting to hand me theirs. This time, it's because I'm going home, not because they are. It's way weird. But, tā ir dzīve. Ko lai darīt? I'll have some more stuff next week. Love you all! Keep reading!!!!
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

Oct 21: Baltic Chronical: Interesting Things, Snow, Sigulda, and Baptisms

2009-10-21T19:50:00.003+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 8:55 AM
Subject: Baltic Chronical: Interesting Things, Snow, Sigulda, and Baptisms

All: 82,353 steps and 64.23KM. I'm surprised I haven't had to change the batteries in that pedometer yet.

Note: whenever I hit the ' key, this computer mixes it with the next letter I hit. So 's becomes š, and so on. If you see that, imagine an ' before the funny letter.

So, we moseyed to Sigulda today. It was rather pretty (but not as colorful as I hoped). It was fun. Here's some pictures...

Top: A view from the tower past the rest of the castle towards the river. It's a way pretty place!

Next: Hereš my wonderful district! You will note that I am missing, as is Elder Clark (he was behind me). But these are the other four missionaries here!

Last: Hereš an interesting meditation shot of me in one of the windows of Turidas Pils. I thought it turned out fairly cool.

Quickly through the week (as I haven't much time):

It snowed this Saturday. A lot. And it was beautiful. But the other missionaries were a little unhappy about it (turns out talking to people in the snow is not a very effective way to find people). But, my comp and I had weekly planning that day, so all was well. By the time we finished, the blizzard had abated, and we could start work again.

Also, Jurs. (our investigator--the father of a young single adult lady here) is getting baptized this Saturday. Heš been taught before. A lot. And for several years. Finally, something clicked and he just started doing things--he dropped tea, coffee, alcohol, and now smoking. And heš working hard to learn all that he needs to know before his baptism. Itš a miracle come true. I love that--God is a God of miracles. Helvijs's mother some months back had a similar story--taught for a long time, nothing, something, nothing. Finally, it all just works out. And now with Zane's dad. It's really cool, and inspires me to expect more miracles.

On that note, time for a miracle. This is a testament to the importance of faith in my finding efforts. And since my faith had been strengthened with all these miracles, I was trying to use that faith to call down the powers of heaven. We were out knocking, as has been known to happen. We hadn't really seen much success recently, so I was focusing my prayers on increasing my faith to find people prepared to hear the message of the gospel. I kept telling the Lord that I know there are people who would accept our message, and that I just need His help knowing where they are, and what to say to help them realize who we are. Well, we were walking into a stairwell, and there was a man on the lower floor, smoking. I normally would have passed him by, but I knew that if I wanted to talk to the prepared for whom I was searching, I also had to talk to all who were put in my path. So, I talked to him. And he invited us in. We taught him a wonderful lesson about Joseph Smith, and prophets. The best parts were these: I didn't have to think about what I was saying at all. I listened intently to what he said, and then just opened my mouth and words came out. And they seemed to be words that he needed to hear. And then he told us this: He'd been meeting with another church for over a year, but hadn't felt the truth in their teachings. He doesn't want to just learn--he, and I quote, "want[s] to go past a passive learning and start actively interacting in religion." Perfect. Thatš the only way to know about the truth anyway--act in accordance with what you learn. So, I just told him that we'll be asking him to do things as we teach him, and he just accepted it and said he would. I know that God answers the prayer of faith--meaning both praying and acting to do all you can to fulfill that prayer. And this is not the first time--just the first time in a while that I've been able to do that heart-felt...edly.

Oh, about baptisms. Jurs. will be baptized this Saturday with a lady named Z., who has been investigating the church for many years, but has not been baptized for one reason or another. She will be joined by her son, D.. That means that we'll be having a triple baptism this week!!! I love those sooo much!!!

And interesting things: Sometimes, in missionary work, unexpected things happen. For example: Last week, I was on exchanges with Elder Clark. At 11-something p.m., we get a phone call. From Elder Brown. As an assistant to the mission president, he was just in Estonia with his comp for zone conference. And they left their keys there. So, they needed a place to stay. So they called us. Normal. Ish.

Also, not long before I moved into my current apartment, a pipe burst and shed a waterfall of dirty water all over the kitchen.

And every so often, we just get calls about people who need to be taught. Like yesterday. The Russian sister missionaries called and said, "A guy named Aivars is at the church, and wants to learn more about the gospel. He speaks English and Latvian. Are you near the church?" Another companionship beat us to the church, so we didn't wind up teaching him, but it was way cool anyway.

Thatš all the time I have. Sorry. I love you all! Keep your faith strong!!!
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

Oct 14: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Conference, Cool Knocking, Cold, Lame Crazy Days, Projector Battles...

2009-10-14T22:16:00.002+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle

Date: Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 4:01 AM
Subject: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Conference, Cool Knocking, Cold, Lame Crazy Days, Projector Battles...

All: So, this week was rather...eventful. First: 90,993 steps = 70.97 KM.

We'll start with the Q+A...erm...after the pictures.
Pics:
The first one is me and my comp eating a spoonful of Krievu Sinepes--Russian mustard. That's basically 40% mustard, 60% horseraddish. It's fairly intense. It actually didn't taste that hot--the thing that got me was the texture. Condiments by themselves usually are not the best in texture. Especially grainy, thick mustard. Anyway...
Next picture is just a sample of how beautiful things are here now. Random trees, like half of them, have changed colors, and there are some really gorgeous ones here and there. I love it!
Last is me and Elder Johnson as we helped Sister Šulca with her wood (we stacked it inside). The Carsons were also there, and they helped much. Māsa Šulca is now in England, for work, and may never return. Deep, deep, heavy sigh. Andris (who was just baptized) moved to Scotland (or Sweden, I can never seperate those in my head. Add two languages in my brains, and Skotijas, Svece, and a few others just get way jumbled up...) to look for work. But, she let us use these two sweaters so that our white clothes wouldn't get too gooked up. I thought they looked awesome. So, there it is.

Now, Q+A:
Things are going very well for us. We have several new investigators, and a few that I taught last time I was here, so things should be going well.
As a zone leader I have my own area, where I am most of the time. I also, however, work with all district leaders in their areas once a transfer. I do help plan the zone conferences (we plan those with a zone-leaders' counsel with all ZLs from all over the mission plus the assistants to the president plus the president and his wife), and the ZLs have a segment in zone conference to teach. We also are responsible for the food (lunch), and that. So, we have our part down right now, and I think all will be well.
As DL (district leader), I worked with the elders in my area (here, that usually means in your city or half of city for Rīga). Sometimes they are harder to work with than other times, but it's always a challenge to inspire and uplift all the time. Now, I work mostly with the district leaders, and they inspire their missionaries in their areas. So..there ya go.
Most of the people I know are still here. Erna Rotberga is not--she got a horrible infection in her leg, which they then amputated, and now she lives in a care facility in Skrunda. Brālis Dumpis lives in Liepāja, last I heard, and there are a lot of new people. Most of the members though are still here (which is really exciting!).
Oh, and Aivārs Bite just sent in his mission papers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He's been fighting to be able to go (as he's 27, and usually at that age the church recommends that people get married or move on with other aspects of life rather than serve a mission), but local leadership thought that he could go, so we're waiting for what the missionary department in Salt Lake says. I way hope they accept him!
I do not live in the same place. Actually, in all of Latvia, there are only a few places that, by the end of this month, will be the same. What I mean by that is this: All four apartments in Liepāja that I knew when I was there are closed--they are all different. And even the church is in a new place. Jelgava--all apartments have changed, and now the church will move to a new location as well, so again--0% as it was. Imanta--all the apartments except Āgenskalns (where I lived for the first half of my transfer in Imanta) have changed, and they are going to close that one soon, too. Also here in Center, only the apartment that Elder Brown lived in for a year is still there. Every other one has changed. The mission office is in a new location as well. So all that remains the same is the church telpa in center, the church building in Imanta, and the mission home. And maybe the apartment that Elder Brown lived in in Rīga. But that may be changing, too. It's way weird to be so "old" here. (so many months on my mission). And what's funnier is that I'm with Elder Long, who arrived in the field almost a year before I did. He left part way through, and then returned. So, he even remembers when the mission home was in a different place. We make a funny pair, with all our ancient memories of this place. But the work of the Lord continues forward, and will continue so to do.
The only other area I've been in so far is in Rīga center. I got to work with Elder Clark, who arrived this transfer. He's way cool. And he was talking about how excited he is to be a missionary and talk to people about God. I don't know if I've felt that kind of excitement or wonder for a while, and his attitude changed the whole day--we taught many amazing people, and talked with many more really good souls. Attitude really does make all the difference.

I was writing my mom a little note earlier today. She told me a dear friend of mine is thinking about a mission. My response was the following: And tell her (my friend) that if she has the opportunity to serve a mission, take it. There is absolutely nothing in the world that comes even close to comparing with a mission. I am so thankful that I chose to go, and I will do everything that I can to encourage others to do it. You learn so much about the gospel, about others, about yourself, and about life in general. I must say that I had fought, struggled, and raged to try to learn some of the things that just come as part of doing the work out here. And those things have just come to me, in the tender mercies of the Lord. And now I actually understand the gospel. Before I left, I didn't really understand what it was all about. Even a year ago, I didn't quite understand it. And the people that I have met here do for me what stories of the pioneers did for President Gordon B. Hinkley--inspire me. I am amazed by the faith and courage of these saints in Latvia, and they have completely changed my life. I don't think that I would trade anything in the world for this experience. So I would say...Serve a mission!

All right, on to the the rest of everything. It's way cold. Winter is definitely here. We walked in a frigid gale to the Stockmann center for crazy days today. And I was totally disappointed. It was by far the worst crazy days that I have ever seen. The "sales prices" were not that low, and the featured items were still pretty expensive. They had nothing interesting in the technology section, and everywhere else was pretty lame. The only thing that saved it was a section that sold books (not usually a part of Stockmann). I found a book called "The Secret," by Rhonda Byrne translated into Latvian. Elder Bodily read that book, and loved it, and I've always wanted to read it, but it's never been less than 10 lats (20 US$). But it was selling for 6 lats, which is almost how much it costs in America anyway! That was cool. And I found a cookbook for traditional Latvian foods (finally) for a lat (it's a little sampler book). So, I wound up not hating crazy days TOO much.

General Conference was way good. We watched a session a day as missionaries in English. I super loved the fifth session (the last one). Once again, Elder Holland gave an excellent talk. I encourage you to watch it, or read it, but it's how he spoke that really did it. He spoke of the Book of Mormon, and how he knows it is true. He testifies, in his office as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, of its truth. And there was one by Brent H. Neilson that basically invited the spirit to overpower me. Please watch or read this one. He talks of how he served in Somija (Finland. Sorry, only Latvian comes when I think of that country's name now). Part of Finland was under the Soviet Union, and they prayed while he served his mission there that that part would be open for missionary work some day. Many years later, his son was called to serve a mission in Russia, and guess where he went. Yup--that city about which the Finish missionaries had prayed. That is where I am serving--a former Soviet land. How many prayers have been offered for this land? What prayers of faithful saints am I now answering, bringing the gospel to a land that was miraculously freed from an oppressive, anti-religious regime? I will admit that I rarely cry tears when feeling the spirit strongly, but I did lose a little water during that talk. The talk after Elder Neilson's was also amazing. That whole session was incredible! And the very first African member of the quorum of the seventy spoke during that session, speaking of how the spirit of the Lord is moving powerfully upon his people in Africa. I can just imagine God's spirit powerfully flowing over this people in Latvia as well. Amazing!

All of the the conference was really good, but those are the ones that stuck out the most.
I actually never did see the first session in English. On Saturday, the branch watched it. I got to fight with the projector and the speakers to make sure they worked right, and it was quite a battle. The old projector shut off randomly, lost signal because it wanted to, refused to find the signal, and other problems. So, after a quick prayer for help, I dove in with my battle axe--so to speak. And it worked! We had a great many investigators come to conference, and I learned a lot listening in Latvian to the first session. I didn't stay for the second (we had things to do, and we'd already seen that one), so the next one I saw was the fourth session (the Sunday morning) with the branch again. It was way good. I love conference. A lot.

We also had that Zone Leaders' counsel last Wednesday, and it was amazing as well! Basically, it was zone conference, but in planning stages for leaders. Way cool!

Oh, and about knocking--we knocked into the Bahaī center. This is what I understand about the Bahai--that it is a religion that takes every major religious leader--Mohamed, Krishna, Moses, Christ, and a few others, and calls them all prophets of God. Then, they had a prophet about the same time Joseph Smith was called by God to be His living witness and to be His authorized prophet on the earth. The Bahaī prophet ties all the others together, eliminates the need for saving ordinances like baptism, and jumps over any need to have authority from God to act in His name. They also seem to claim that all of their prophets bring salvation to people. There seems to be no need in their minds for Christ or His atonement. But they believe many very good things, and are spot on in a lot of other stuff. It was very interesting to talk to them. They were probably the nicest people I have met in the past long while--and they are family focused, which I greatly admire.

Then, with Elder Clark, we ran into a guy who was a criminal during Soviet times, and so was in prison. Another man refused to join the army, and so was imprisoned with him. The second man taught the first about Christ, and Christianity. But, of course, you were not allowed to worship Christ during Soviet times. Religion was considered an enemy of the state, and shut down whenever possible (Russia actually gutted a lot of churches and used them to store junk and waste during their rule). Anyway, this man we knocked into became an underground Christian. He would look for secret, secluded places to read the Bible and pray. He was very happy to see us. He was on the phone when he opened the door, and said, in Russian, "No, I'll call you back, there are some very important people here that I must talk to. No, I'll call you back. Be quiet, I'll call back when I leave!!!" Or something like that. He then told us that his wife is Jewish, and showed me all his Hebrew books of scripture (way cool, by the way)--his Torah, the five books of Moses, and so forth. We then taught him how the Book of Mormon was designed by the authors way back in 400 AD when it was compiled "to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations." So, it may help his wife understand the need for Christ. And it will teach all others the need for Jesus Christ. If you already know He is needed, then it will teach you how to better apply His atonement in your life. It is amazing.

This is probably long enough. It was a good week, we'll say that. I love you all. Keep reading! You should actually be done with the Book of Mormon by now, right? Have you prayed about it, with the attitude to act on the answer God gives you? I promise you that God will answer you, "by the power of the Holy Ghost." Have a great week!
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

Oct 7: Baltic Canonical: New area, and Conference!

2009-10-07T18:04:00.002+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Wed, Oct 7, 2009 at 4:01 AM
Subject: Oct 7: Baltic Canonical: New area, and Conference!

All: Hey. So, here we go. 67,939 steps (52.99 km).

Q+A: My responsibilities as ZL have not been made fully clear to me yet. I'll get the paper that explains it tonight at ZL counsel. I will be going on exchanges with all the District leaders this transfer (each transfer) just after zone conference. I also am responsible for all that happens in the zone--so if stuff's amiss, I'm the first one that gets talked to. President Dance is very big on leaders working as missionaries, so that is our primary focus. We occasionally have some monkey business (a companionship needs a bed and we need to bring it to their new place, problems with transport and such, etc.), but we mostly focus on teaching and the like. Actually, my companion and I are co-ZLs.
We are responsible for four districts--all Latvian speaking (plus two Russian missionaries in those zones). Those districts are:

Rīga Center (where I am)--two elderships and a sistership.
Rīga Imanta (across the river)--two elderships and a sistership.
Jelgava (where I was)--two elderships.
Liepāja (where I was long ago)--one eldership and a sistership.

Liepāja is a good distance from Rīga--it takes about three hours by bus. Jelgava is rather close to Rīga--it takes only 45 minutes to an hour to drive there (about 45 KM away). Sigulda is that city where there was that red castle and all the changing leaves. It's very pretty, at about 45 KM from Rīga. I'll send pictures if we actually go. Elder Long (my new companion) is way rad. He's very funny, and a very good missionary. He had to go home from his mission a while ago, and now is back, so he knows all the missionaries I do (he actually started his mission quite a while before I got out here--he was Zone Leader while I was in Liepāja!!), and I think we'll work quite well together. We are both fairly confident with Latvian, and we both know the doctrine decently well, so we can just hack out good teaching skills and make the magic happen!

Pictures: The top one is a shot out my new window in Rīga. It was beautiful a few days ago--it had just rained, and when you add in the sun--wow! So, here you go.
Middle: There was a youth conference here just yesterday, and since I was at the church I nabbed a shot. This will be in church news (or in the local pages of the Liahona, the church magazine, for Latvia). I love all these youth so much!!!
Third: Random culture thing: They love their cobble-stone roads here. Here is a look straight down from my pad.

I will be watching general conference this week, starting today with the missionaries in English, then again with members (for a few sessions, if we have investigators) in Latvian. I would invite all of you to watch or read conference. Here it is in English. If you need another language, then go here. These men are called of God, and given His holy priesthood. They are living apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are prophets, seers, and revelators. They know what will happen in the future, and they teach us how to live so that we can be sure to have a safer, happier future for us and our children. God literally speaks through them today. They say what God would have them to say. I'm excited out of my mind to be able to watch it. I'm looking forward to a fountain of revelation from the Spirit, and the Lord teaches me what my investigators and I need to know though His servants.

Quickly: We've had a lot to do recently, so haven't really gotten much teaching done. But that will change. I called a lot of people that I worked with before, and a lot of them were like, "No, I don't have time. I won't have time to meet with you." I told them basically the paragraph above, and every one of them was interested. So, hopefully we'll be teaching them this weekend, and watching them be taught by the Holy Ghost! I've been way excited to see those who I knew before and love. I spent a lot of time Sunday between classes talking with people and just finding out how they are. The branch is so much the same, and so different. There are a good number of new people. It's so wonderful!

I honestly don't know what else to say. I'll have a lot to say by the means of a spiritual thought next week (since I'll be hearing conference), so until then!
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

Oct 2: Well, my letter

2009-10-02T16:20:00.002+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 2:55 AM
Subject: Well, my letter

Once again, I have a new apartment. Itš way nice, except for the leaky pipe in the roof that occasionally causes water to go all over our kitchen.

Fam: I love you, but cannot really write to you in two minutes! Have a great week!!!

All: I haven't very long again. And I don't know how writing next week will work out, because I have zone leaders training that day, and it takes all day, so I doubt you'ŗe going to really get many details from that...

Quickly, this last week was filled with miracles! I was absolutely amazed by what happened in Jelgava this last week!!! And several things and realizations happened. Here they are:

It got really cold, really fast. Two weeks ago, we were walking home at 20:something (8 p.m.-ish) in shirtsleeves with no problems. Then, basically overnight, it got to long sleeve and the next day was suit jacket weather. And now it's definitely coat weather. Interesting how fast that all changed...

And I feel really weird. Packing, I did what I call a "full pack." That's where you unpack everything, look it all over, and then repack it. I wound up tossing a lot of stuff. It's amazing to me how many things that used to be important to me aren't really anymore. When I talked about changing so much, thatš one of the things that has really changed. I also am a lot more capable of talking with people, and much more outgoing. I also value things that are of worth more than I used to (like family, church, and the like). I'm skinnier, and life's goals have been refined. And other stuff, but not the point of today's letter.

So, now I'm back home. In Riga. Well, my other home. I spent some time talking with members yesterday, and I'm euphoric to be able to work with these amazing people again!! And I basically can't wait for next week--that's general conference!! For all of you out there, you'll get to watch that this week, but we won't get it until late in the night and early in the morning, so we just wait until next week and watch the recorded version at a regular time.

Q+A: Cops here have crazy hours, and the government just sliced their pay again...so itš not the best of situations.

I'm no fan of time at all. It just never stops running. Itš already October, and itš already time for me to stop writing. Have a good week, j'all!

I love you all! Hopefully one of these days, I'll be able to write something more! Next week is Zone Conference, and after that, I'm planning on going to Sigulda again (now that it's way prettier than last year when I went). I'm at the library--that's why there's no pictures. Have a great week!

Oct 1: Baltic Chronicle: Transfers

2009-10-01T22:58:00.002+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Thu, Oct 1, 2009 at 8:04 AM
Subject: Oct 1: Baltic Chronicle: Transfers

All: 122,722 steps (95.72KM) this week.

First: OCTOBER!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! When did that happen?!

Second: Here's the news. I got transferred. I had to leave my beautiful Jelgava. It's not my favorite thing in the world—I have been spending a lot of time planning for the new church, getting visiting teaching together, and there has been a lot of progress with our investigators. I'd like to tell you about that:

I.: This is that cop who lives in Satiksmes. We have been praying very hard (because it's been a while since we have been able to teach her) that she'll be open and receptive to the Spirit. We prayed that we could talk to her about baptism, and we had planned to discuss the plan of salvation to lead into it. She told us that she read from the Book of Mormon, even though it's physically hard for her. She works at a computer for 12 hours or so a day, and the eyestrain makes it hard for her to read anything after work. But she read. And she told us she has some questions. She asked, "What is a prophet, and what is this gospel that they keep talking about?" The Holy Ghost whispered to me that this is the answer to our prayer. We then taught her about prophets, the priesthood authority that prophets hold, and that they are called of God. They are taught the gospel, and given the authority to invoke the powers of heaven itself to officiate in the ordinances of the Gospel. The Gospel, or way of life, of Jesus Christ starts with faith. That leads to repentance, or changing self. And the first fruits of repentance is baptism—a covenant with the Lord God, formed though an ordinance officiated by one who is authorized by God Himself to follow Him. And done in this way, God promises the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, and a rebirth in Him. Which led to an invitation for her to enter this covenant by restored priesthood authority, being baptized on 31. October. It was the most amazing lesson for a long time, and I felt like I was flying.

V.: The body-builder cop. He was not enshrouded by evil this time when we visited. And, even though he hasn't the means to even provide for the essentials of life, he felt the spirit and received peace and comfort. We taught the plan of salvation. I mentioned that there was a large council in heaven, and that all the noble and great were there. He said, "I doubt I was there." After a little discussion that I will not relate here with so public an audience, I will say that he now is seriously considering whether or not he was there. (He was. We all were.) It was our best lesson with him, and the most spiritually charged.

We also had many new people, including several families and new people in English class. It was, overall, the most satisfying week of Elder Johnson and my service together.

Church has also been amazing. We have made great headway with various members, and with visiting teaching and unity activities and such, the overall attitude is vastly improved. Also, some members who have had a very rotten attitude recently have improved their views, both on life and on their relationship with God. We also had several amazing lessons, many miracles throughout the week.

I now return to my first statement. I was transferred from Jelgava. I'm returning back to Rīga center. So, on the one hand, I'm returning home. Almost all of my most dearly beloved friends are here in Rīga. On the other hand, I'm leaving home to go there—I have grown to love my Jelgaviņa. But, we'll see how things go. Oh, and I'm now the zone leader companionship. Me and E. Long are Latvia's zone leaders. That's weird.

I would even say more, but I haven't much time. I'll give you a week's update next...er...p-day. I'm sitting at E. Carson's place using his laptop. He's the group leader now in Jelgava. And he does an amazing job of it.

I'll write more later. Hopefully tomorrow. Bye!

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

Sept 23: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Last Week's Tales, New Tales, Exciting Tales of All Kinds, Randomness, And Trials

2009-09-27T05:25:00.002+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 6:32 AM
Subject: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Last Week's Tales, New Tales, Exciting Tales of All Kinds, Randomness, and Trials

All: Whew! So, we're 108,641 steps (84.73KM) farther than last week.

We'll start with the catch-up from last week: We were walking out to an area called "Satiksmes." We, naturally, were talking to everybody that we met on the way. And one guy, a "čigān" (gypsy-man) invited us to their "place." He walked about a block with us to a little camp, wherein were a bunch of čigāni. They had built themselves a bathhouse (sauna) (pirts in Latvian), and the guy there invited us into the sauna for a little bit, and it was a lot nicer than any sauna that I've been in before. Diemžēl, we can't go back and use it again. But he said that we're all welcome, any time, to come and share in the word of God, for they are all religious there. We haven't yet taken him up on that, but we will, no worries. It was just so random...
Then, I think that same night, we knocked into an old lady who invited us in. She was in tears as she told us that her dēliņš (little son--son in diminutive) was dead. He was found dead some time ago. She's still really sad about it. Her name was Anasta.. There was also a lady named Mar. there, who was interested in a Book of Mormon in Russian. So, while I taught the more 'with-it' Mar., my comp talked with Anasta.. She wound up loving him so much that she pulled out a bunch of silver spoons and gave him three, then realized that he had a friend with him, and gave me one. She also gave him a spring-scale for up to 10KG that she made with her dear son. So, probably one of the last keep-sakes of her deceased son she gave to my comp. It was, overall, one of the most interesting lessons I have ever taught: one lady who's a little tipsy, but still thinkin' alright sitting on the bed, another lady bursting into random tears and giving us all kinds of keepsakes, telling my comp how much he looked like her son. Way interesting.
Then, the day that the Čakstes party was going on, we went out to find people to teach. Now, I want to use this story to testify to the power of prayer, and especially the prayer of faith. We were knocking, and hadn't had any success or even nice people for a few floors (not unusual), but I was starting to feel a little hopeless. So, I, in prayer, told my Heavenly Father that I knew there was somebody in this stairwell waiting for us, because we had felt prompted to knock in that building. So, we kept going. I told the Lord that I needed help focusing, so that when we found that person, I'd be ready to teach. And, as soon as I finished my prayer, Ines. opened the door. She cheerfully invited us in. She pacienāja us with cookies and tea and was spiritually minded, and ready to accept that there may be a prophet today. She told us that she'd pray about it. She's way nice, and looks as though she will prove to be a great strength to the church here. She's tough to meet with, though, since she's a cop (like Viesturs), but we'll work something out.

So...that's from last week. Q+A from this week: We're moving because I'm the assistant group leader, and our current apartment is actually quite scary in the dark (since there are no lights in the back and there are often drunks), so we'll be moving to the basically-safer area wherein the new church is located. I'm not too happy to tell the nice landlady of ours that we'll have to leave, but we'll try to work out a compromise so that she still doesn't get hosed.

Pics:
4713: From the bridge going into Aizupes (just a little farther than Ozolnieki). It was a gorgeous day, and the river was calm and the scene unbelievably quaint.
4740: The same view, but that night as we walked back to the bus stop (we decided to walk to the stop across the river, hoping that another bus would come by there. We wound up having to take a taxi, but had a very good conversation with a nice lady who is interested in English and probably in the Gospel--I couldn't tell...)
4761: This is a funny ad hanging up at bus stops. We couldn't help ourselves...
4767: We found this behind a bunch of domes (mājas), and again, we couldn't help ourselves.
Then, we found a very interesting person this week. Mār., by name. He's 100% sure that the Book of Mormon is authentic, citing about eight other cases where metal plates have been found containing ancient writings. He talked also of Hebrew carvings that were found in South America, and it's obvious from some other half-dozen factors that they were a holy, God-fearing people. He, when we showed him the Book of Mormon, and he opened it to check its spiritual value, he was surprised. He said, "It doesn't matter to which page I open, when I put my hand over it, it burns my hand! I don't want to blaspheme, but I believe this book is more powerful than the Bible!" He then told us how large its spiritual aura was, and how large our auras were. It was quite interesting, because he also said that there is a feeling about our churches (meaning the people in the church) and church buildings that he has not felt anywhere else before. And that he verily believes that we have the most powerful force out of anything he has ever encountered. He's a seeker of spiritual knowledge and a hunter of spiritual artifacts, by the way, so he knows far more about more churches than I ever thought anybody would know.
P.S. he LOVED the Doctrine and Covenants, too.

Other than that...we've started up visiting teaching here in Jelgava. There are two programs of immense importance in the church--we call them Home Teaching and Visiting Teaching. Home teaching is done by the priesthood, and visiting teaching is done by the women. It's basically the same thing: two people from the congregation visit another family or two in the congregation and find out how they're doing, teach a spiritual lesson, and are available to help if the family ever needs anything. This is the way that the Lord has provided for the saints to care for one another and strengthen one another. We haven't enough priesthood to start home teaching, but we just started visiting teaching. So, since it is just beginning, my companion and I went with Māsa Šulca visiting teaching--yes, we were visiting teachers. Cool, huh? Overall, it went pretty well.

Another exciting tale: there is a tirdziņš (little store) just across from our apartment, and while looking at it quickly before we went in, I found something I've been searching for my whole mission: a Latvian-to-Latvian dictionary (like the ones in English that explain English words in English)!! I quickly bought it! And, I found a thesaurus, which is another thing that I've been hunting for for a long time.

I can also add Tīrkultūra to my list of interesting things I've put in my mouth. That translates to "pure culture," whatever that is. It's a milk based product that has fruit in it. It tasted a little bit like kefirs (rotted milk), but not as strong, and I actually liked it.

Now, on to my spiritual thought:
I am frequently asked a question similar to the following: "How can God exist if there is so much bad in the world?" The question is asked as though God, if He really existed and loved us, would never allow anything bad to ever happen to us. So, since bad happens, many narrowly think that means there is no God, which supposition is quite far from reality. I tell people asking/stating this that God does exist, and that He loves them as He loves me, and that He desires to help. They almost always make some gesture or sound that shows that they cannot believe such things about God. I hope that with the following explanation, it will be clearer.

First, Christ knows exactly how we feel. He has "borne our griefs and carried our sorrows" (Isaiah 53: 3-5). He has literally felt all of those things--including physical, emotional, and spiritual pains and discomforts (Alma 7: 11). Why? So that He will know, physically, truly, how we feel. It allows Christ to be even more merciful--because He's not just sympathetic, but empathetic (Alma 7: 12). By "descend[ing] below all things" (D&C 88: 6), Christ gained power over all those things (Alma 7: 13) and understands all those things (D&C 88: 6). Thus, because of the atonement of Christ--His suffering for all our sins, weaknesses, temptations, and His overcoming death, as well--we all have the ability to repent, change, and improve (Mosiah 3: 19; Helaman 14: 15-17) if we will follow His will and repent (Helaman 14: 18; Helaman 5: 11; D&C 19: 16-19).

Now, from a God who would allow One of His children--Christ--to suffer so much for us, so that through Him we can overcome our weaknesses, we can expect nothing that is going to be for our ill. Everything God does, and all that happens to us, helps us learn and grow (2 Nephi 2: 2). But, people are not perfect (Romans 3: 23), and often cause others to suffer. And often, bad things just happen--we live in a world that is imperfect. We all have a lot of problems and unpleasant occurrences (in Latvian called nepatikšanas), but we don't need to worry--God is there to support us (Psalms 34: 19, 17; Exodus 3: 7-8). Remember, we have no reason to fear, for Christ has overcome the world (John 16: 33) . Knowing this, we can trust God, and He will deliver and support us(Alma 36: 3; 2 Nephi 4: 18-20).

These things (nepatikšanas) happen so we can learn, perfect ourselves, and grow. God uses such times to refine us. Gold and silver are heated in a furnace to very high temperatures when they are refined. This heat allows the impurities (dross) to be separated out, and then removed, leaving behind the pure metal. We are likened to precious metals, and God is the refiner (Malachi 3: 2-3). Sin and imperfection is the dross (Zechariah 13: 9). God can and will deliver us from that furnace, if we have faith in Him (Daniel 3: 17, 23-28, Mormon 8: 23-24). Thus, God uses moments when we can grow to improve us and refine us (Ezekiel 22: 17-22).

These problems we have come from our choices, what life gives us, and what people do against us. If we keep our faith--or trust--that God will help us, and if we do all we can, then God can bless us and delivers us (Alma 4: 12-14). During hardships, we can pray for help to endure them. Note in the following prayer that the prophet Alma doesn't pray that he'll have no trials, but for strength to endure trials WHEN they come (Alma 31: 33, 35, 37-38). We will have afflictions (D&C 24: 8), but our loving Father is with us; if we do not forget Him and remain constant in our actions, He helps us palpably (Jacob 3: 1-2).

How many of us have prayed like Joseph Smith did in prison (D&C 121: 1-6)? That is, prayed that God would change everything for us or for others. The Lord's response is very instructive (D&C 121: 7-15). "Afflictions shall be but a short moment." And the persecutors will receive justice (D&C 121: 24-25).

Two stories to illustrate how this works. First, from the Bible:
Acts 12: 1-11; Acts 16: 22-26. Granted, these are two stories, but they are very similar. Note their feeling. Note the displays of faith from the church and from the Apostles themselves (remember faith in=confidence and trust in). God delivers them. They still have some unpleasant things that happen to them (like getting beaten with many stripes or guarded by 16 men), but because of their faith and steadiness, God delivers them.

The second is a little more illustrative, so there is a lot more detail in it. These people strongly believed in God. They had already fled from a wicked king who would have had them all killed. But still, bad things happened to these people.
Mosiah 24: 9-24. I want to point out that God did not free them immediately--but He did visit them in their afflictions, and strengthened them. And because they never lost their trust and continued strong, God delivered them.

I end with the following from God to the prophet Joseph Smith, while he was in prison: D&C 122: 5-7. Wow! Those are horrible, horrible things. But they will be consecrated for his good (2 Nephi 2: 2). Then follows this powerful statement: D&C 122: 8. Again, wow! And God comforts His son: D&C 122: 9.

I know that we will have afflictions and trials, and that we all have weaknesses. I also know, that God knows this. If we allow Him to use these opportunities to help us grow, then we will become more godlike with each affliction. That is why Paul gloried in affliction (2 Corinthians 12: 8-10). I know that God will strengthen us and support us. And I know that He does. Faith really does call forth miracles. I have seen that in just the last week or so plentifully, and I know it to be true. And I have felt His patience and love while I struggle with weaknesses, addictions, and problems. He does help us overcome.

Keep reading, working your faith, and growing. God lives. If you don't know that for sure yet, you can find out!

Ar mīlestību (With love),
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

Sept 16: Baltic Chŗonīcļe:

2009-09-16T17:08:00.002+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle

Date: Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 5:42 AM
Subject: Baltic Chŗonīcļe:

Faith's way neat, isn't it? I've been exercising a lot more faith recently in finding people to teach. Usually, I kinda hope that we'll find somebody in a dome (māja...building complex--er apartments. Whatever. The things in the pictures), and I'm not really confident that there are people there. But recently, I've been praying while we're in a place, and telling God that I feel there is somebody here--and a plea to guide me to them. The past two times in a row when I've done that, almost as soon as I told the Lord I had that confidence, and ended my prayer, a door opened and the person let us in. It's been amazing to see that just having that confidence in the unseen can lead to such occurrences. I love it!

All: 94,122 (73.41KM).

First: Pictures:
Top--Knocking on the edge of Satiskmes mikrorajons. See the rainbow?
Next--Knocking on the other edge of Satiskmes mikrorajons, facing the direction of where the first picture was taken. You can see the evening light bathing Satiksmes mikrorajona most dense spot. These are the domes (Russian: Доме. It's māja in Latvian. It means home), and there are usually some 72-120 apartments (dzivoklis is one in Latvian) in each one. How interesting is it that this urban scene, which before would not have been too wonderful to me, now is remarkably beautiful to me? Anyway, here are a few views of gorgeous Latvia.
Third--It was the 150th birthday of Jānis Čakste (the first president of Latvia). So, the current president came down, and there was a big hubbub by the statue of Jānis. Here's a scene from it--we only took a few pictures, then left to go knocking before the real show started, so...whatev. But we taught an amazing lesson...More on that, later.

Answers:
* The tiny apartment in the church will be for only one companionship. It's a small bedroom (with two beds (couches)) and a wardrobe; it'll have not much room to roam. The apartment is actually a wing of the church--it's maybe 60 m^2 or less, I would guess, with most of that being a corridor and kitchen. We will be the caretakers of it. We do have a great apartment now, because the lady has been so good to us. I'm a little nervous to find out what will happen when I have to tell her that we're moving out. This one will be a little more expensive than the one I'm in now, but it's part of the church building, which is a lot better quality for our money. We would be moving in in 3.5 weeks (if all works out).

* Yes. Mission president. He does a lot. He visits the branches of the three different countries of the mission (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia), and speaks in each when he's there (there's seven of those in Latvia alone). Since there isn't a stake here, he also does everything that a stake president would do. Plus he coordinates all activities between missionaries and the members through the district presidency. And then he still has all kinds of other things to worry about--oh, and he is responsible to lead all the missionaries in the Baltics to find and baptize and retain worthy investigators. Add all of that together, and he's a pretty busy guy.
* We returned to the lady with the open heart. Her name was "Well," as in a well of water. We gave her a Russian Book of Mormon. She had a guy in her dzivoklis who was Latvian, but they both agreed to read it. They were not comfortable with us going back very soon to talk about it, or calling her, so I'll make note of her in our area book and missionaries in half a year or so will visit her.
* The guy in Aizupes sang to us in Russian, Italian, Latvian, and English. It was quite a song.
* Zone Conference was way good in that it answered a lot of my questions. I have been especially wondering how I can make my prayers better. More uplifting, a more real connection to God. A prayer that truly comes from my heart. And Sister Dance talked about that, specifically. And many other things.

Random note: my comp, Elder Johnson, contacted Igors Kaljejs (guessing on how to spell his name), who is a musician in Latvia. Quite a famous one, too. I've heard his stuff on the radio. And maybe we'll have a lesson with him sometime. That'd be rad--baptize a nationally famous musician.

Andy was baptized also. That's the fourth picture there. The one who performed the baptism is Verners, who was baptized not very long ago. Andy is amazing! He has spoken with us before, but never really was overly interested. We gave him a Book of Mormon a few weeks ago, and in five days he read 1st and 2nd Nephi, and part of Jacob. He understood almost all of it, because he listened to the Spirit, and allowed Him to teach him. We tried to teach the plan of salvation, from the pre-earth life to this life and the fall, but he taught us (because it's all in 1st and 2nd Nephi). It was really cool. Anyway, he's so much fun to see. The only bummer? He's moving to a far-off country for work this week. But we conferred the Aaronic priesthood (the priesthood of Aaron (Hebrews 7: 5, 11-12, 14, 24 (also talks about Christ, who was raised to a higher priesthood), JS-H 1: 68-71). The priesthood is something very hard to understand from just the Bible. Study it--it's there (Nehemiah 13: 29, Exodus 40: 15, ). But most of the details about it were removed by people before it was canonized. If you wish to know about the priesthood, feel free to see what has been revealed about it today:

Our Most Distinguishing Feature, Alma 13: 6-8, 10, 14, 18, D&C 84: 6, 14, 16-19, 21, 25-26, 29-30, 33, 35, 39-40, 42, 107, D&C 107: 1-20. Remember--the priesthood is what makes a church the Church of Jesus Christ. Literally Jesus Christ's church. This is an important point--one reads the Book of Mormon to feel the influence of the authority granted to Joseph Smith to translate it. It's proof that Joseph Smith received the authority and this priesthood, which is so vital to the use of God's power on the earth.

In fact, there's a great verse in the Doctrine and Covenants (D&C, the recordings of the revelations given to Joseph Smith. Therefore, in English, they are in the original language with no translation at all--straight from the mouth of Jehovah Himself). Read these verses: D&C 84: 18-22. Now, A., one of our investigators, has not admitted to feeling the Holy Ghost in the whole three or four months we've been meeting with him. But when he saw the priesthood used as we confirmed Andy (confirmed him a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and gave him the gift of the Holy Ghost), and when we ordained him to the Aaronic priesthood, A. felt it. And he admitted that it was unlike anything he's ever felt before. It was amazing, because I've been trying everything I could imagine to get him to feel the Spirit, but he's been fighting it. It was still another answer to prayers. And, I believe that Andy was the first person upon whom I have conferred the priesthood. It was amazing--I felt the Spirit speaking through me. I didn't think of what to say--the Holy Ghost basically just spoke through me. I don't know if I've felt that guided before in a blessing.

Two random funny stories. Erm...well, I have no time. Next week, I have two funny stories. Remind me: gypsies' bathhouse; old lady with the dead son and silver spoons.

I love you all! Keep reading! And praying. And I would strongly recommend, if you don't understand something, then call the missionaries in your area or attend one of our meetings and ask a member. Use the following web site to do this: http://www.mormon.org/, and click on the "ask a question" link in the top-right corner, or click "worship with us" to search a church location by you.
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

Sept 9: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Russian Blessings, Rīga, New Building

2009-09-09T06:38:00.000+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle

Date: Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 4:52 AM
Subject: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Russian Blessings, Rīga, New Building

Visi: So, I'm lookin' at 99,338 steps (that's 77.48KM).

Pics: I can't get any of my new pictures right now, so here's (top) an older one of me in a hallway that I thought I matched fairly well....
Next--Here, we have the new church building (probably) for Jelgava. We have spent a good amount of time looking at this and negotiating this last week, and so here is what it looks like.

Answering questions:
* Something funny that happened today: we were walking along and waiting at a crosswalk. This old Russian lady comes up and starts saying something in Russian really fast and kinda muttering. I ask her, "Do you speak Latvian?" She replies, in Latvian, "It doesn't matter what language it's in--I'm blessing you." She then continues to rattle off something in Russian, and it sounds rather angry. All I understood was "in the name of Jesus Christ," said a few times. After a minute of that, she crosses herself (I think...maybe not. I forget), and says simply, "There. You are blessed." And she turns around and walks away. Odd? Yeah, a little. Then I realized that she has no authority to do that, and I was very grateful that the priesthood authority to do things like that has been restored to the earth again through a living prophet.
* Three interesting factoids about my new companion: Elder Johnson is from Burley, Idaho. He is amazingly talented with the language--he speaks now (on his second transfer) as well as I did when I was out some 4-6 months (that's 3-4 transfers). And he is "devilishly handsome," by his own words. He has six sisters (most of them younger, and his older one is on a mission in Norway).
* The weather here has been way interesting. I'm not exactly sure how to tell you...bipolar would be fairly accurate. But overall, it's been warm and windy.
* As for one of the most interesting people I talked with, see my little miracle below.
* The talks this Sunday were prepared and given by our mission president and his wife. They gave very excellent talks, as usual. President Dance talked about how prophets help us know what is coming in the future so that we can prepare. He did this in preparation for General Conference (the time when the prophet and all the apostles and some other authorities talk to members and all the world on what the Spirit prompts them to--the things God would have us know at this time). I'm way excited for that! It's coming up the first weekend in October.
* Ways I've changed? Well, I am very much more firmly rooted in the gospel. I know very much more powerfully that this is the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, and that the power of God works through it. I have absolutely no doubts at all. I have also learned how to understand the spirit a little better, and I think about things differently. I think of things with the eternal perspective in mind, rather than only narrowly looking at this life and the applications of something therein. Most of the other ways I don't even realize. I just read in my journal from long ago, and I'm amazed by how different I used to think--what used to be important, and what I stressed. I can't really give many specifics in that regard--better ask somebody who knew me. But I have also learned to cook many things, I am much more independent, I am even more motivated to go for my goals, I understand how to rent places, pay bills, and all that rot, and I really have a much better appreciation for my family. I really underappreciated them when I was living with them back home.

The Miracle-iņš:
The work is starting to pick up. We were out knocking on doors, and the whole time I was praying for a person who would have an open heart, and who would listen. We have had quite a dry spell of people with open hearts, so it was a stretch of faith. But I know that they're there. We actually left that building we were in (per my companion's suggestion), and went to another one. We just looked around, and both decided--that one. So, we went in, and on the second-to-the-top floor, a Russian lady cautiously opened her door. I told her who we were, and I just started to teach about prophets and whatever else I know how to say in Russian, and then (after about a minute), I ran out of words. So, I showed her the Book of Mormon. She said she understands Latvian, so I started to teach her about the Book. After a few minutes, she told us that she would want one to read, so she could test it herself. The Spirit was pretty strong during the conversation, and I know that she was touched. My prayer had been answered.
Then...ah. We had a drunk guy in Aizupes sing us a song in four languages. Much longer story there, but that will probably suffice for now.

We've been hunting for a new building to hold our church meetings in here in Jelgava, and we think we found it. The missionaries will actually be living in the church building (in an appartment that is attached), and it all seems pretty good. The Carsons (a senior missionary couple) and we Elders will be planning the interior sometime next week. Speaking of new buildings, the church in Leipaja was finished a long time ago. The bottom picture is the poster hanging in the church that has some examples of how gorgeous that building really is. It is far more beautiful than the church building or the stake center in my hometown!

And, I've been in Rīga twice this last week--once for zone conference (it was a way good Z.C.), and again for exchanges. I was able to teach my second-level English class again, and I really enjoyed seeing all those familiar faces. And some new ones, too. After the spiritual thought (about prophets and the Book of Mormon), a girl came up and asked if she could have one (a Book of Mormon). She's read a lot of interesting things on the internet about it, and she really wants to read it. She told me, "I've been wondering for a long time where I could get my hands on one of those books." I told her, "Well, here it is. Read it prayerfully." She was very excited to read it, and she had the light of a person who honestly wants to believe in and follow God in her eye. I think there's a difference between those who believe in God, and those who believe in the Bible or a church. Those who honestly believe in God will also believe the Bible and a church that is authorized by God, and they will do what they can to draw closer to God. Those who believe in the Bible or a church will do all they can to stick only to those things. They seem to not have faith in God Himself, but in things God has given them, and they miss the point; they look beyond the mark. All things are given for our enlightenment, and to help us draw nearer to God, not to be contained in themselves (2 Timothy 3: 16, "My Words … Never Cease," from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles). That is why I stress so much the Book of Mormon. Those who will read it with the intent to understand if it's from God or not, believe in God. Those who do not believe very much in other things, for one who truly understands God will know that He will ever give to His children when they will receive (2 Nephi 28: 30). I know that it is true, that God will answer our prayers (Moroni 10: 3-5, James 1: 5, Matthew 7: 7, Luke 11: 9, 3 Nephi 27: 29, D&C 4: 7, James 4: 3, 1 Nephi 15: 11, 1 John 3: 22, Moroni 7: 26). It's clearly taught in the scriptures. This is only a very small sampling of the promise that if we pray in faith, nothing wavering, for that which is right, we will receive.

I love you all! Have a great week, and keep reading (you should be almost done by now! Who's been praying while they've been reading?)!
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

A better picture

2009-09-08T19:35:00.001+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 5:00 AM

This is a better-quality photo of the missionaries. You could do this one instead of the other. Thanks!

Sept 2: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Mixin' it up! AMAZING Conference, Investigators, and the Kivadapapple

2009-09-02T16:15:00.001+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle

Date: Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 4:59 AM
Subject:Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Mixin' it up! AMAZING Conference, Investigators, and the Kivadapapple

All: 89,857 (70.08 KM).

So, I find that when I write a lot of emails, the longer I go, the less good they get. So, I wanted to start to everyone. This week was amazing. I'm struggling to know if I should go chronologically, or by order of impact......Impact. Here we go.

This Saturday, a prophet, seer, and revelator (karoče--in short, from Russian--an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ) was here. L. Tom Perry, by name. He was accompanied by President Rasband, who is the senior president of the 70 (just like in Christ's time, we now have quorums of 70. See Luke 10: 1, 17), and President Paul, who is the president of the East Europe area. That means that we had a lot of priesthood keys in Rīga this weekend. Add to that the mission president and several branch presidents, as well as Latvia's district president, and you had keys to preside over this part of the world in every single way (about keys: that's the authority to preside over the use of the priesthood. We know that apostles were given this power anciently--Matthew 16: 18-19--and we know that those powers have been restored today. For more info on the integral need for priesthood keys and how to know where they are, read this talk by Elder Holland, called Our Most Distinguishing Feature). The missionary meeting was amazing.

First, they had missionaries from every single country in this mission (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia). That means I saw all my MTC chums from a very long time ago. And I realized something: every single missionary who I have met here has very powerfully influenced me for good. Every one. I recall writing about Sister Wilson a few weeks ago. She indeed had a strong impact on me, for we spent a lot of time serving together. But I felt Saturday that every single missionary here has influenced me as well. In fact, I would say that they have all had almost as powerful an influence on me at one time or another. Starting from the MTC, I began to take the good from those amazing people around me, and that continued with each person with whom I served. The end result is that I am about 5% like I was before I entered the MTC. I have almost completely changed my thoughts, my actions. I still am the same person; I have just been improved to a degree I never thought possible before now. And it is in large measure because of the caliber of missionaries with me. Another very large part is due to the work that I am doing here. You cannot truly serve from your heart to teach people truths of eternity and not be impacted.

The actual talks that these priesthood leaders gave were inspired, and very powerful. I left my notes back home, so I'm just going off of memory (and my memory is a lot worse for who said what when than it used to be). President Paul explained how the Book of Mormon is a filter for missionary work. If somebody won't even consider the Book of Mormon as scripture, or be willing to honestly search it to know, then they are not open enough to the Spirit of God to be taught the gospel. He strongly suggested that we must use the Book of Mormon early and often to understand the readiness of people we teach.
President Rasband explained very nicely about finding people. He said a lot of missionaries have an elevator view of missionary work--they find somebody, teach them, and keep moving up as much as possible, then go back down and find another person. But he suggested an escalator view--we find somebody who is searching for truth, teach them, and while we are teaching them and they are progressing towards God, we still are adding more new people. That way, we always have people to teach. It was cool. Elder Perry talked about how missionary work hasn't really changed. He went through what he had as a missionary--the 13 Articles of Faith. He showed how those teach the same things that we now teach from Preach My Gospel, the missionary handbook. He also talked a lot about the importance of companions, and the power that is only found in a companionship. He spoke not only of missionary companionships, but also marriages, and organizational heads (like presidencies or bishoprics), and how it's critical that we have unity and companionship in those groups, because we are much more together as one than combined, but separate. He's a really good speaker, and was very fun to listen to. He also has really good humor.

Then we took a mission photo. That'll be the first picture. That is every missionary in the Baltics. What an amazing group! The last picture is one that I had taken of us all in the chapel in Rīga center. It's quite a view! But, some people aren't in the pic. Sorry...I've got a cheap, old camera. And some people still hadn't gotten there yet, so...moving on.

Then, we rushed to Jelgava, ate with the other elders here, and then drove back up with four people--three investigators and a member. We were joined later by a few more members in Rīga. We went to the World Trade Center, (yes, there's one of those here too) to the conference room, and we arrived about two minutes ahead of the general authorities there. So, we greeted them and invited them in at the doors.

When I walked in, I had a very, very sacred experience. I will share it in part with you. I ask that you do not taint it in any way. That hall seats about 450-500. Every seat was full before the meeting started. And there were still people for whom there was no seat. That means that there was from 450 to 550 people there. There were almost 200 from Estonia and Lithuania. That means that they traveled more than 12 hours to get here. I could feel their faith when I entered. And seeing the hundreds of Latvians who I have grown to love with all my heart in my short time here, I was again overpowered by emotions of love and joy. I have never been so carried away by emotions before in my life. Especially when I saw many members who used to not come to church, and told me that they won't be coming back, or those who had problems keeping them from enjoying full activity in the church. There were many such at this meeting. That caused my aforementioned emotions and spirit to soar still higher. I have had powerful spiritual or emotional experiences like that before, but never to this magnitude. I didn't even know what to do, and the Spirit was burning inside of me like only twice before in my life that I can remember. If ever I had doubts about the truthfulness of this work--they were all obliterated, and were counted as an ice cube in the hypocenter of a thermonuclear blast. Karoče, they evaporated. I have never felt that much collective faith before, either. I would venture to say that the experience cannot be paralleled with anything I have lived through in my short life up to this point.

Furthermore, while these inspired men and their wives spoke, to my mind came concerns, questions, and problems that I know are brooding in the hearts of the members. I have spent a lot of time working with the members. I know those things, at least to a shallow degree. And I felt that what they were saying was led by the Spirit, for they answered every question or concern, and discussed every problem that I knew about. I knew without even the slightest doubt that those men are called of God, that this is truly Jesus Christ's church. It is called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There's a reason that the Lord called His church that in these days. It truly is His church, first of all. It was stressed more than once that He is the head, and He leads the church, not the apostles or other leaders. They are the instruments through which God works. Then, the members, if they truly understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ, are saints (see Mosiah 3: 19 and cross-references from that verse). And these are, as the scriptures call them, the latter days, or the last days (Acts 2: 17 (I know people here who have dreamed dreams, and who have seen visions. This is truth, my friends), 2 Timothy 3: 1-5 (I have also seen all of this personally, first hand. cf. Joseph Smith History 1: 18-19. This is when God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph in answer to his prayer), and you can find many more through the Topical Guide under TG Last Days). Thus, it is His church, His saints, in the last days before His coming again unto the earth.

I will now move on to other things. Suffice it to say that Saturday was a good day.

So was Sunday. We taught about temples, and even though only one of the members I was planning to teach it to was there, she left saying that the class not only helped her understand, but totally explained why the temple was important! And some of our investigators are just FLYING forward. I have never seen people so willing to change their lives to accord with God's counsel. I was pleased.

We also lost Elder Gray to America. This means that Elder Brown and I are the oldest Latvians left in the mission. And our days are numbered. That's a little nerve-wracking. We got an amazing elder here in Jelgava to replace Gray--Elder Johnson. He came out with Elder Wendelboe, so this is his second transfer. But he speaks Latvian better than some in the group before him. He understands how to tear words apart to get their meaning, and he's ready to go! He also teaches quite well. He's now my companion. So, Elder Thompson, I loved our time together, short though it was! I'm really excited to serve with him! So, E. Thompson is with E. Wendelboe, and I'm with E. Johnson.

As an announcement: I am no longer group leader here in Jelgava. Elder Carson, a senior couple missionary here with his wife also in charge of the education stuff here, is the new group leader. I am his counselor! I'm way stoked to not have all that mess to worry about!!! I can just get out and work! It's great!

I feel very strongly that I should mention this. I don't really like to talk about things like this. But, as the Spirit directs, so shall I do. With powerful spiritual experiences comes the strength to face larger challenges. We had two meetings this week that left a great impression on me. One was with a pair of very sad, pitiful people who were so addicted to narcotics, alcohol, and crime that they could not break free. When we asked one not to drink or use drugs until the next morning (that would be some 16 hours) he told me that if he didn't use those things, he would die. He was very serious. And very convinced. He told us he wants more than anything to break free of those things. But when his dad handed him a bottle of beer shortly after his apgalvojums (affirmation), he could not stop himself from drinking from it. I knew for a fact that they were under the captive power of Satan, and they couldn't free themselves. They need the infinite power of deliverance through Christ (see Alma 7: 13), but they need to begin to repent to receive it (see Helaman 5: 10-12).
The other one was with an investigator. Remember the weight lifter? After a month, we finally were able to teach him again. When he opened his door to let us in, I...uh...nobijos. I was afraid. He was literally surrounded by a dark force that was dragging him down and destroying him. I could feel the corrosive power. And so does he. By the time we finished talking, the terrifying energy had left him, and he was visibly different. He had allowed the spirit to work on him. But I not only know that God's power surpasses anything else, but I know that man is not, by himself, strong enough to stand against the power of the enemy of all righteousness (Alma 34: 23). If you'd like, you may go read about Saturday again. That leaves a much better feeling.

In other news, I added another interesting fruit to my list. In Latvian, it's called a Pitaija. No idea what it is in English. We decided it was a pineapple crossed with a kiwi, and then the inner skin was like an avocado--really soft and slimy. So, we called it the Kivadapapple! You'll see what I mean when you look at the picture. It basically tasted like a kiwi, but less strong, so it really didn't have any flavor at all. I mashed it up, and added some sugar to make a jam-like thing. Then I had a peanut-butter and kivadapapple-jelly sandwich! It was really good.

We're also looking for a new, bigger building for church meetings in Jelgava. Wish us luck!

Investigators:
G.: Not quite serious, but he's going. I'm sure he's learning, but he's not really applying. Probably going to have to let him go soon. Sigh.
An.: Amazing! He changed his diet, and everything else. Elder Thompson now teaches him. He came to the conference, and he felt something as well. He also had really good thoughts and some things became clear to him during church on Sunday.
I and E.: Also came to the conference. They had a very good experience as well, and they are moving along quite well. E. is a little bored of spiritual things sometimes, but otherwise all is well. There may be some difficulties with I.'s boyfriend--let's pray for them, eh?
Ag.: Acting, but very slowly. I'm not sure how to help him progress. He's doing things, but I feel he's not really progressing. Odd, huh?
V.: He's the weight lifter. He feels he cannot overcome the negative influence of his workplace. We tried to help him see that he can. It's been a battle. Pray very hard for him, please.
Kids: So, we had several random meetings with kids who just walked up to us. It was really good! Hopefully, they'll be able to meet with us again later this week! There's more of a story here, but I've been here way too long typing what I feel I had to type.

I love you all! Have an amazing week, and keep reading! God will answer your inquiry about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon!
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

Aug 26: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: The Most Interesting Baptism Ever, Amazing Investigators, Elder Perry, Hard Lessons

2009-08-26T02:43:00.000+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle

Date: Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 6:57 AM
Subject: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: The Most Interesting Baptism Ever, Amazing Investigators, Elder Perry, Hard Lessons

All: I'm not sure exactly what happened this week, but I have a 62,843 (49.01KM) logged for the week. Whatever...

Q+A: The goat tasted a lot like beef, just a little different--like beef and pork combined, and a little better. Rabbit tasted much like pork or chicken, but was more tender. And duck was way good!! Basically the best bird meat I've ever chomped on in my life!

Pictures:Top: This is one of the sand sculptures that I talked about a while back. They're way cool. We spent 10 minutes looking at them way fast last week, so here's one of my favorites.
Next: Here is where Anita was baptized. This is the Svētupe (translates to "the Holy River." Pretty appropriate, huh?). It's always been one of my dreams to see a baptism in the ocean and in a river. Now, I've performed one (Jana, in the sea in Liepāja), and seen two in rivers (these last two weeks).
Last: here is the actual baptism (well, after it, since you don't take pictures during things like that ")). It was a good day.

So, about the baptism. It was the most interesting baptism I have ever attended. Anita is 70 years old. Sometimes things don't quite register correctly in her head. So, we got the investigators together and all else, and we head over in a taxi to pick Anita up. She opens her door and says, "No, no no. I'm not going today. I have to categoristically decline!" She then explains to us some things that aren't even close to true that she had "realized." We explained that's not the way it is, but she couldn't accept it right then. So, off we go. We cancel everything, and send everyone home. But then Māsa Šulca comes into Jelgava, and decides to go with the other Elders (who were waiting for her at the church) to see Anita and give her the flowers we bought and just talk. I explained to them what happened, and Māsa Šulca was able to explain everything in a way that Anita understood. She then wanted to be baptized again. And she couldn't wait--it had to be today! So, right before Brālis Pravains left the church, we get a call telling us to go there, and they'll meet us soon. Off we go. It's a little wait (because Anita doesn't move very well and they got lost on the way to the river), but as soon as she arrived, she went straight to the water.

So, we're standing on the bank of this river, she's in the water, and we start the baptism without prayer, song, or any intro at all. That was something I've never seen before. But, the actual baptism took a long time, too, because she couldn't bend to go under the water, so Elder Grey jumped in to help, and it wound up taking a few tries before it was all done. But when it was, Anita was beaming like everyone does after their baptism, and she said simply, "There. I'm baptized!" It was beautiful. And then the Latvians just changed right there on the banks from their wet clothes to their dry (Brālis Pravains, who did the baptism, and Anita who was baptized). Ah, Europe.

As far as investigators go, here we are:
G. is still with us. We told him that he needs to get more involved, and we clearly explained why we're meeting with him. He's the DJ.
A. is from English class. He's also not really with it. So, we gave him about the same lesson as G., to help him understand why he needs to act. I think I'll include that as my spiritual thought at the end...
I. and E. (mom and son) are still going well. Nothing really new since last letter. We need to start giving them more commitments, so they can really start to progress...
An. This guy is amazing. He's been in contact with us for a long time. He's never really been overly interested until now, and we gave him a Book of Mormon, and within a week he read through Second Nephi (that's over 100 pages). He's been paying close attention to the Holy Ghost, who has been teaching him a lot. Basically, he picked up everything that we planned to teach him. We taught him the Word of Wisdom yesterday(that's a law of health that God revealed to Joseph Smith the prophet that states that alcohol, smoking, coffee, and some kinds of tea are not healthy for our bodies). Anyway, he immediately accepted it, and said he'd need to gift to others about a kilo of tea and coffee he's got at home. He immediately said he's stop drinking, and started thinking of how he can keep that commitment. He's very spiritually sensitive. It's amazing to see him each time. So full of light--I love it!!
Gu.'s phone is off, and we can't find him. I think he probably got robbed in Rīga. But, I don't know for sure.
L.'s husband is doing a lot better, and we should be able to go out to them in a little while. It's just way hard to meet with them.
And a few others, but these are the ones that make me the happiest right now!

Elder L. Tom Perry, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, will be here this Saturday! He'll be with President Rasband (the first president of the 70s) and President Paul (who is in the presidency of Eastern Europe somehow. I'm not exactly sure how...). I'm really excited for that.

Anyway, here's that lesson that we taught those two investigators:
Basically, we point out that they aren't using their time with us very well. We then read 2 Nephi 2: 27 and we ask, "What does the word 'captivity' mean? What does 'freedom' mean? When we sin, we literally put ourselves in the power of the devil. And he will indeed have power over us. We, being born in a fallen world, and because we're imperfect, are fallen. We are "carnal" people. We then read Mosiah 3: 19, and discuss how we overcome that natural man (through the Atonement of Christ the Lord). Because Helaman 5: 10-12. We need to repent in order for the power of the atonement to work in our lives. That changes us from that natural man. Note that when we do this, the devil will have NO POWER over us, to drag us down, and Christ's stronger power pulls us away from the devil. We must follow Christ.

We then jump over to Mosiah 16: 5, and point out that if we don't change, the devil will have ALL power over us. That's the opposite. What does Satan's power lead to? Captivity. What is that? Having others decide what we do, and not being able to make choices for ourselves. So, Alma 34: 32-35 this life really is the time to do all this. After this life, we will not have time to do this stuff. I then try to make sure they understood that we are teaching them so that they can do what is needed to access the power of the Savior and be freed from captivity. We also pointed out that it's very important that they use this time wisely. For when we do, then we will be given more opportunity in the future (meaning both in this life and after).

That's the fast, basic version. We both times would draw out the plan of salvation as well, and show them that we prepared for this life a VERY LONG TIME before this life, and that we have this time now to prepare for the VERY LONG TIME after that. And then tell them that they need to start acting now! It worked out pretty well both times.

I hate time so much. We've been here way too long (we've also been sharing pictures, so...anyway). I gotta go. I love you all! Have an amazing week, and keep reading!!

--Elder Argyle

Aug 20: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Food, Helping, and Being Sick

2009-08-20T16:20:00.002+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 6:30 AM
Subject: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Food, Helping, and Being Sick

All: I think the title pretty much says it all. But, I'll (for your sakes")), go a little more in depth on each of those things.

Ah, yeah, 115,587 steps this week (90.15KM). Cool. Moving on.

I'll explain the pictures while I go along telling the story of the week anyway, so here we go:

So, we wound up helping a lot of people this week. There was a baptism here in Jelgava. Two long-time investigators had finally prepared themselves for the sacred ordinance. It was quite beautiful. The only thing is that they live a little ways away from Jelgava, so we had to drive out there, and buses don't come all that often. So, we had to go by the means of member's cars, and only two members in Jelgava have a car. And one of them had a lot of house-work to do, and couldn't fix his tire and all the rest, too. And Verners (the son who was baptized) went to youth conference in Saint Petersburg (how do you even say this in English? I hope I spelled it right...in Latvian it's Sanktpēterburga. That's so much easier to remember), and so he had a lot of catch-up work on his farm. So...we went out to help him! And I got to...uh...pļauj...with a sirpi. Sigh. I got to whack a bunch of weeds with that sickle-looking thing. In Latvian, that's es pļauju ar sirpi. But whatever. I've always wanted to use one of those things, so it was kinda like the fulfilling of a dream for me. That's the first picture.

Then life kept going. We went over to Paša's house to help him with yard work and fix his tire. He's an amazing young man, who is so full of the light of the gospel and with love for those around him. His heart is so good! It was a pleasure working with him! Anyway, I just loved how this picture of Elder Gray turned out, so I sent it along (second picture).

Then, there was the baptism (third picture). Verners and his mother were baptised. His mother has been involved with the church for over 7 years now. She's never been able to make that important first step to become a member of the church. Baptism is the first of many ordinances that are necessary for us, and so we cannot really go anywhere until we start the path, right? She was thrilled to walk through the gates onto the path that leads to eternal life (read 2 Nephi 31 to more fully understand this analogy and the importance of baptism)!! Another exciting thing is that they raise ducks, rabbits, and goats for foodstuffs, and they made us dinner. So, I get to add duck, rabbit, and goat rump to my list of not-super-common foods I've tried (right up there with guinea pig, fried ants, and the like). It was quite an adventure!

Then, the last picture is Paša again, and his FIANCEE!! Yes, they are engaged! They will be married on the 12th of December! I love both of them to death, and they are such a good pair for each other! Every time I see them, I just can't stop smiling!

But, it turns out that some of the meat wasn't cooked all the way (and I ate a lot of it), so I got fairly sick. From Monday afternoon until this morming (Thursday), I've been effectively taken out. We didn't stay home, but I wasn't too much help to my comp. Surprisingly, we still taught a lot of people, and the work continued on! I'm just worried that we don't have people ready to teach to replace those who will leave our teaching pool this or next week, if they don't start really getting serious. And, we will have another baptism this Saturday. An older lady who has completely read through the triple (that's the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price--which has excerpts from Joseph Smith's history (how the Book of Mormon came about, his vision of the Father and the Son, etc.) twice. And so, she knows that they're true. She's quite great! But she can't really make it to church very often because of health, so we'll be working with her on that.

That's the broad overview. It was exchanges. Nothing in Jelgava changes this transfer. And almost nothing changed anywhere else. Elder Gray will be with us until the end of August (long story), and when September starts, he'll be heading home. They still haven't told us who they will send after he leaves...sigh.
Now, for the Q+A portion:
V. and his mum are both Latvian. About the rest of our investigators:
G.: He's doing all right. He meets and will do what we ask. But we feel that his heart's not in it. He does it because he likes us. I don't know exactly what to think or do. I keep trying, but if nothing changes, we'll have to drop him for now.
Gu.: He's recently been a hit and miss. But I think that he'll do the things we've challenged him to do to increase his faith in Christ, and will start (or, hopefully continue) moving closer to Him.
A.: She's the one who gets baptized this week. Cool, huh?
L.: Her husband has been having a really busy month with doctor visits and all, so she hasn't been able to meet with us recently.
I. and E.: attended church! I. said she LOVED it, and will definitely be back. It was really neat, because she and E. participated a lot, and I think at least I.'s heart was in it. K. (the other son) is younger, and would rather watch TV than listen to a pair of people talk--TV is more interesting. So, that's where he went.

It appears most of our pool of people we're teaching has taken all they can right now of the truth, and for now won't or can't accept more, so we really need to find some more people this week! But they are still great--just busy or things happen, and they don't seem to be progressing. I'm way excited that I could teach them, though, because a good number of them were progressing, and a miraculous number still is! We'll keep working, though.

My idea to focus the members on the temple is just what I'm doing, because I feel that will help them. They are all newer members, and they need to go to the temple to continue on their path, so I want them to understand temples. Plus, that really shows the truthfulness of the gospel, and since Satan is trying REALLY hard to destroy this sweet little branch, and has already succeeded in temporarily separating a few, I thought that would strengthen the members in the true and living gospel. And no, they don't really understand it. I think we may do that this month in Sunday school, and talk about it during sacrament meetings.

Yes, I'm still with my comp--Thompson. He's basically a powerhouse, and just goes out to do the work. It's really inspiring!

Anyway, I've been in this internet place WAY too long, and I'm starting to dyslexisize the letters (the spell check is in Russian, so it's not really any help), so...Have a great week!
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

Aug 12: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: More Miracles, Funny Stories, Sister Wilson

2009-08-12T16:07:00.002+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Wed, Aug 12, 2009

Subject: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: More Miracles, Funny Stories, Sister Wilson

All: A meager 94,086 steps (73.38KM) was a direct result of the most amazing week of my mission to date.

I'll start with that. For the first time ever, my companionship broke 20 lessons. That has never happened in one of my companionships. In fact, we have rarely broken 15. But we had 20 OTHER LESSONS, meaning that they were to investigators, and a few of those had a member present. I don't think that I've ever had such a busy week. We would plan 7-9 lessons a day, and then have to plan that a few of those fell through so that we could even eat lunch! It's been amazing...I'm not sure I can even tell you. We now have six people who have dates--one of those isn't specific yet--she's still thinking of when she wants to be baptized. The rest are decently solid. I'll tell you about the miraculous things that've happened with them:

G.: This is the way cool DJ. He has already: quit smoking and drinking. He is striving to: live the law of chastity, live all the 10 commandments, and is working his way through the Book of Mormon. I've not seen very many so willing to do what we ask! It's absolutely astounding! Hopefully he'll be baptized near the end of this month.
Gu.: This is a young kid, who will soon enter 9th grade. He has had a history of hard times, emotionally. He's very interested in what we have been telling him, agreed to completely stop drinking, and is working towards kicking smoking. His mother is very interested also (vectante, so it could be mother or grandmother or great-aunt. I haven't figured it out yet), but doesn't really want us over at her place. Yet. Hopefully he'll be baptized early next month.
I. and E.: This is that family. She sent us a text Monday when we had a lesson with her, wherein she said, kodolā, "Better not come. My husband doesn't want you at our place. E. will keep coming to English class, and we'll keep reading, though." So, I called. He (the husband) answered. I talked to him a bit, and turns out he wanted to meet us. So, we went over and talked with him and the rest of the fam. He just returned from Germany, and was preoccupied with thoughts of how to provide for his family and the like, so it was a rough conversation. But, the end results were these: he trusts us, and doesn't think we're doing weird things to his family; the mother received a VERY strong answer to prayer; and we can still teach them! She said probably the coolest thing ever: "You told me that I had to pray fervently to get an answer. So, that's what I did. And I got an answer." I won't clarify the answer, due to its sacredness to her, but I was amazed! She received an answer that I have always wanted. And her husband and son teased her a little about it, so we had to play peace-keepers and build her up. And the son was explaining what he read, but couldn't remember too much, so we also defended him from skeptical comments from the folks. They could definitely use the strengthening power that comes through the gospel for their family! They are a beautiful family, though. PLEASE use your faith and pray for them. We need all the faith we can get to call down the blessings of our loving Father in Heaven!!! Right now, the mother and son have a baptismal date for 12 September.
A.: She's an older lady who had completely read through the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price twice! She's a little eccentric, but really wants to attend church and keep growing. Only, she is way old and cannot really move too much, so it's been a bit of a problem for her to do that. But she's good. She's the one who's thinking about her date for baptism.
L.: She's an amazing older lady who is very humble. She's reading, and praying, and willing to do anything that is asked. I can see the light coming into her eyes. She hopefully will be getting baptized with the little family.
Most of the rest of our investigators are plugging along well. Our lessons with them now are focused on really getting them to apply the things that are taught, so that they can feel the power that comes from the gospel.

We also have a baptism this weekend. V. and A. have been investigating for a long time, and just now have finally gotten everything in place to be baptized. We'll do it at their place, since they live on a farm. That's been a long time in the waiting.

So, with all these miracles, comes some bad as well. We had several investigators not come to meetings when we were pretty sure they'd be there. We've also seen a lot of badness going on because of the slumping economy. Several branch members are jobless, and have no idea what will happen (as also is with our little family). And just talking with people--we'll have long bouts of really prideful people, who scoff at God and His infinite love for them, and then we'll talk with a guy who immediately says he wants to hear more. It's seems like I am literally in a war, and some people choose to ignore the battle and walk into the lines of merciless fire. And I've seen some very serious wounds. I have also seen casualties. And I have seen people stand up and defend themselves and their loved ones with a heroism to rival any soldier. It's so literal.

And another really sad thing for me. Sister Wilson will be headed out of her mission next week. Sister Wilson has had more influence on me than any other missionary in the Baltic Mission. She thinks much like me, and I am able to really have an honest discussion with her. Her testimony is so powerful, and her love for the people is so palpable. She knows when to work, and she knows when to have fun. She has always provided me with inspiration and a drive to work harder, give more, and be better. And now she is leaving. I think in a good measure the incredible blessings I have seen have been to help me really focus better in the work, and start becoming what she already is. I've heard so many people tell me what an impact she has had on their lives. One man told me during English class that she's one of the five most influential people in his life! I don't usually do tributes, but for this amazing Sister I will make an exception. She is truly a model of what a missionary should be. And I have had the honor and great blessing of working with her.

OK, enough of that. On to some funny stories and assorted things:
It's already creeping into blessed darkness more and more each day. The sun is out six less minutes a day (so they say), and we're already having to turn on lights as soon as we get home in the evening. Well...I say already, but it turns out that it's the 12th of August. What's the deal with that? I swear that July just started....time is a terrifying thing, and one that makes NO sense. I think July just began, meaning time is running WAY too fast! But, I think back on an activity or something that happened, and I think it was months ago. Turns out what I was thinking of was less than three weeks ago. I'm not sure what's going on with me. But time has lost all of its meaning, and become much more of a crazy inconstant that I cannot control. So, I guess the sun has probably been gradually sinking in the sky, but I just haven't noticed it.
Ah. Pictures. Yes. How could I forget?
First: There are SOOOO many weddings in Jelgava. Seriously. This is a 100% daily sight (well...most don't do a horse-drawn carriage, but I mean a floral-decorated mobile all over the place).
Second: So, I'm taking a lot less photos now.....I think it's because I'm too busy to really take any...or because I've already seen just about everything at least once before, so things aren't so interesting as to require a photograph of them...anyway, this is right above our home (actually, it IS our home, just on the roof. Which winds up being above....never mind). These horrid little buggers infest the area behind our house (in the courtyard of our building) and at night apparently line up on the roof. I just thought it was a cool, artsy photo. If only I had a real camera...
And that's it, photo-wise.

Q+A:
Speakers in church were Māsa Zērvena, and then missionaries. Church was amazing! We had a goal to have 6 investigators come to church. My companionship was waiting for about 10 people--and none showed,except for one girl from English class. She's very young (still in high school), but she came with her parents. And then we had four from the other companionship, so we actually EXCEEDED our goal!! And then there were five church members there, and us, so it was kinda a funny, lopsided sacrament meeting. But, they all enjoyed church, and felt the spirit. It's way stressful being a group leader, because I'm trying to focus everyone on the temple, which is kinda hard because most people don't understand its significance. And I'm not exactly sure I know how to explain it...so I've been working hard to figure out how to teach that. And, as group leader, I know about many of the problems in people's lives, and it's very draining to be praying for them and doing all I can to help them out. And that's with a dozen or so members. I don't know what I'd do with a full branch...

I love you all. Basically, my spiritual thought for you is in the form of an invitation. Hopefully you have all been reading the Book of Mormon. Now, I would invite you to really think about what you have been reading. You should be in Third Nephi right now, if I'm not mistaken, and there are amazing things to be read in that chapter. My invitation to you is really to think about what Christ teaches, how He teaches, how He appears, what is taught. And then pray about it. Fervently. With a real intent to know. And it doesn't matter if you've done this already or not. I invite you to do it again. If you truly do this from the very depth of your soul, I can promise you in the name of the Savior of the World, even Jesus Christ, that you will receive an answer that you can recognize. It will come through the power of the Holy Ghost. This is truth. And whatsover is truth is light. And that means it is discernable. In Latvian, the word they use is izprotams, which means fully and completely understandably comparable. It's a great word. You can read that truth yourselves, from Alma 32: 34-36.

I love you all!
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

Aug 5: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Lessons!!!! Teaching!!!! Good things!!!!! It was a good week.

2009-08-05T16:04:00.001+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle

Date: Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 4:34 AM
Subject: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Lessons!!!! Teaching!!!! Good things!!!!! It was a good week.

All: Not a lot of walking, but with a good reason. 89,811 steps and 70.05 KM.

So. We broke 15 lessons for the first time in a long time. That's why we weren't walking very much. We had 28 lessons planned last week. And 16 of them fell through. Normal. But we found an extra four people this week that we were able to teach. I don't know that I've ever seen so many miracles in the work before. When we sat down last Friday for weekly planning (we had too much planned on Thursday to do it then. That's the usual day), we found ourselves planning upper lessons (meaning second or third or more visits) for 12 investigators! That's more than I think I've ever had! And up to this day, there are 5 of them who are seriously considering baptism dates. Never have I even thought of having that many serious investigators at the same time! I want to tell you a little about them:
A.: He's in our English class. He really is thinking about these things. He's praying, and reading, and seriously trying to know if it is true. He's not really ready to give up social drinking, and he really likes to joke around, but he's got a solid gold heart and is amazing! He needs some faithful prayers, though, to help him on his path. And I need your prayers, so that I know what he needs to be taught to really help him the most.
V.: This is the cop that can lift 285KG (627 pounds). He actually lifted 310KG (682 pounds, for you Americans who don't know the world's measuring system-heh heh) dead weight at a competition last year. Anyway, he feels that he cannot overcome the effects of his job. He's a cop, so he sees all kinds of bad things. And he feels that bad influence has come into him and made him worse. But, we set up a program for him to fill up with good: read a little each day (examples were 10 minutes or a chapter or two a day), and pray twice a day. He told us he had started. His work schedule has been unusually hectic recently, so we haven't been able to see him. Brālis Pravains (a member here) actually knows him from school, so that has been pretty good.
D.: A nice older lady. Don't know what exactly will happen with her.
A.: She's the younger lady who used to be Christian. Again, we haven't been able to go back yet, but she keeps coming to mind while I study, so I think that we'll still be teaching her.
A.: She's an older lady who has completely read through the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price (all the additional canonized scripture that has been revealed so far in these, the latter days--see Acts 3: 19-21). She knows that they are true, and she knows that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. She knows that God has restored His church to us. She also cannot move very well, so she can't make it to church too often. But, she'll be getting baptized this month (hopefully--she's picking the date this week).
A.: This is that father who had that amazing experience praying last time. His son was blessed at church. Now, in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we bless children under the age of accountability. Then, when they are baptized at age 8, they receive the Holy Ghost, to lead them further. Anyway, he came to church to see that. He's all supportive of it--change is just really hard for him, so he doesn't want to go through all the needed changes right now. I know he will, though. It will just take some time. We have been having way good lessons with him!
L.: She's an older lady out in Aizupes (it's north of Jelgava, past the little town of Ozolnieki and over the river. The name actually means, "Behind the River"). She's way ready. Her husband is having some serious heath problems, so she asked us not to come last week. We'll see her this week, though. She's ready for a baptismal date, I think.
N.: This kid was one of our unplanned lessons last week. He is the one who told us he likes that we believe in God, not in Church. I am thrilled that we'll be meeting with him tomorrow! I think that he's ready for all kinds of good.
I., E., and K.: OK. This is basically an answer to my prayers. Ever since I've arrived, I have pleaded to be able to teach a family. To my memory, that has never happened. And, technically, I. has no husband, but I am thrilled because both of her sons are old enough to be baptized! She's very interested in what we teach, very open, and is doing what we ask her to do--reading and praying. She really wanted to come to church, but wasn't able to last Sunday because of work. She and her older son (the first one listed after her name) accepted a baptismal date for the 12th of September. It was really exciting, because they accepted readily. And the interesting thing is, according to her son, she was not interested in church at all before we came. He felt a need to attend church and to be baptized, and she told him that she believes inside, and she doesn't need any church. But now, he said, she really wants to come to church and is all faithful all the time. It's amazing to me what the Holy Ghost does to people when they are open to him and are taught true doctrine.
G.: This guy's amazing! He's a professional chef, and right now he's working as a DJ. He also accepted a baptismal date (but he smokes and will need to change some thoughts he has about women to conform to the law of chastity), and he even comes early to lessons! He understands things quickly, and remembers almost anything that is said. I'm very excited to see him progress!
G.: He is the last one I'll mention this time. He is quite young, but has come to every lesson early and has read all we've asked. His vectante (mother or aunt, I can't tell which--the words can be the same) is also quite interested. But we haven't been able to meet with her, because of health. Anyway, he also accepted a date for the 29th of August, and is excited to be baptized. He also smokes and has things to work on, but he may be able to make that date! And he's really excited to come to church. He actually told us, "I'm coming to church. When do you have it?" Wow!!
So, all--*clears throat* sorry. Didn't mean to do that in bold. So all these people have things to work on, but almost all of them are willing and ready to keep moving towards God. I would greatly appreciate your prayers for them, and for us (my comp and I), so that we can know what to teach them to help them out. They all are making big changes in their lives to move closer to God. It's absolutely amazing!
One thing I noticed. That little family we're teaching that accepted a date responds differently than some of our other investigators. Some of our other people see us as friends or as preachers, and so what we talk about is interesting or they like to spend time with us. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but this little family really sees that we are God's servants, and they respond differently. I don't know what we did differently, or even if we did anything differently, but the Spirit at our lessons is something different. And that has filled me with such enthusiasm and hope that everything seems to be brighter and better! I love it!

OK. So that's the most exciting thing. A few other things:
Pics: Top: These are the nachos that we made a while back. They were way good.
Next: This is more of the beautiful scenery on the way to that family's place (remember the bridge and storm shots? This is just a little further). I couldn't help feeling that I was in a tropical rain forest or something at this part of the trail. It was cool.
Last: This girl is Z. She's in our English class. We read the story of Alma the younger from the Book of Mormon, who was the son of the prophet at the time. He wasn't the best guy in the world (you'll read why), and an angel came to stop him and his friends from doing any more damage to people's hearts. This is how Z. drew it. She showed us her artwork a little while ago, and we liked it, so we thought we could engage her more in this lesson and have her draw it, instead of read it. It was more interesting for her, and for everyone. The story is told by Alma the younger to his younger son, and is found in Alma 36: 6-22. We used it to illustrate what repentance means.

Uh...we visited a guy's place today (he invited us a while back), and he told us his life's story (basically) and filled a large bag with apples, and sent us on our way. So, we made a HUGE pot of applesauce. It was pretty good, even though crabapples are not the best applesauce apples. But we've got enough applesauce for the whole week!

We also took G. to Rīga. G. is the son in the family that lives across the bridge with the father who had such an amazing experience (I figure that descibing them will be more memorable for you than me telling you their names). He was attending Youth Conference, with happened in Jelgavkrasti, which is a little bit away from Jelgava (it's actually in the Limbažas Rajons, so it's farther north even than Rīga). So, we took him to Rīga to meet all the other youth from Latvia so they could go to the conference together. He was the only one who went from Jelgava. But, I was thrilled out of my mind to see all the youth (many of the youth), and to see several other people who I have missed talking with for a long time. And during this conference on the 29th with Elder Perry, I'll be able to see all the other church members I've not seen forever! I'm pretty excited about that, actually.

That's probably enough. Turns out that I also have an amazing district. And Ve. and Ag. (his mother), who have been investigators for a really long time, have both decided to get baptized at their farm on the 15th of August, which is right after YSA (Young Single Adult) Conference. And we had a lot of people at church last Sunday. And one of our members (Paša (Pāvels)) will most likely be getting married to Natalija (who is as amazing as Paša) before I leave in December. Basically, everything is on an up, and I'm really excited to go out and keep finding more good people! I need your prayers, though, so that we can have the Spirit.

I love you all!!!! There is nothing truer that what I teach every day! Keys of the priesthood and priesthood power ARE indeed restored to the earth! May you all find this truth for yourselves from God Himself: read the words of the prophets (The Book of Mormon especially), and pray to know from God, with faith and with "real intent" (Moroni 10: 3-5). Just try it and see how you feel!--

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

July 29: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Old Ladies, Christmas, Spiritual Things, Miracles

2009-07-29T16:29:00.002+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle

Date: Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 6:24 AM
Subject: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Old Ladies, Christmas, Spiritual Things, Miracles

All: So, we got 121,670 steps this week (that's 94.90 KM).

Ah. First off. The office here in the mission has moved. The new address, the place to send me letters and packages right before my mission comes to a close, is this:
Cēsu iela 31- 2K2
LV 1012 Rīga
Latvia
As in the previous address, "iela" is 100% optional.

Pictures:
Top: My rad companion and I opening our stockings by the Christmas-in-July tree (basically, we just stuffed everything we could into the socks and called it Christmas)...read on and I'll explain a little more.
Middle: We had a really good branch activity last Sunday. As part of that, we took flowers and made them into a decoration (you see it hanging on the board behind us). The people are (left to right): Elder Gray, Elder Wendelbo, A. (our investigator), Elder Thompson (my companion), behind him is Brālis Pravains, then our creation (everyone was quite impressed with the hot glue gun Māsa Šulca brought to stick the flowers to the paper), Jūris, in front of him is Māsa Broča-Čapa and her little 'un, beside her is Māsa Šulca, and behind her is our investigator D. and her friend E. (also investigating), then on the far right is Brat Sebatovačius (or something like that...that's a way hard name for me) and Māsa Bernšteine. There were also another two investigators (who will be baptized next month!!) who had to leave early.
Last: Also at the branch activity, we decorated pancakes with smiley faces. It was thought that the branch's kids would be there--but Māsas Janavičas son got engaged, and Māsa Zērvena was sick, so most of the kids weren't there. This little one was the only one there. Isn't he cute? And, we enjoyed making faces anyway.

So, we had a ridiculously amazing zone conference. And I am now officially freaking out: the sister missionaries who came to Latvia when I did have all gone home. All the Elders who led me and inspired me when I was a younger missionary will soon go home. And Sister Wilson, who has probably been the most powerful motivation and inspiration to me out of any of the missionaries, gave her last testimony as a missionary at zone conference. I'm not sure what to do--time is so short!!!! I'm not too terribly thrilled. But, I still have several months. That's still enough time to do some good.

A few things especially at that zone conference:
1) Elder L. Tom Perry (yes, one of the apostles) and Elder Rasband (of the presidency of the Seventy) and President Powell (who is in the East Europe presidency) will all be in Latvia next month. This will be the first time an apostle of the Lord has been in Latvia since President Faust dedicated Latvia for missionary work. That's over 15 years ago! There is a special conference for missionaries with them 29 August. And there will be a special fireside or talk or whatever-the-heck you call a pair of hours for members to listen to him. So...that was way exciting to hear! Poor Sister Wilson--she'll be leaving right before it happens. I'll have to take good notes for her.
2) President Dance talked about the covenants that we make in temples. As a little background, the way we grow closer to God here on earth and obtain all He has promised is through covenants with God. The first covenant (or promise, if you will) is made when we are baptized with proper authority (proti, that authority that God gives to prophets and then authorizes them to use). That is an oath to always keep God's commandments (to the best of our abilities). God promises in return that we will have His spirit to be with us. It is keeping these covenants that brings us the fullest measure of the Spirit and the life changing power of the Atonement.
The temple is a place where we make more covenants. In order to make those, we must be spiritually ready. That is why only prepared members of the Church who have shown that they are ready can enter. One of these covenants is, once again, obedience. Another is a covenant to consecrate our time and talents (basically, everything) to the Lord and the forwarding of His causes. www.lds.org is down right now, so I cannot link you to the verses Pres. Dance used. I'll just put them here, and you can look them up if you like.

Basically, he showed that obedience and sacrifice (also a covenant from the temple) are both included in consecration. He further showed us that sacrifice is not a celestial law. In other words, when we live with God, we will not live the law of sacrifice. Consecration is the celestial law. And, as is clearly shown by D&C (Doctrine and Covenants) 78:7, 88:22, and 105:5, we must learn how to live this law if we are to live with God again. We discussed how to do that a little, and I basically had revelation all over the place to help me know how to apply that covenant in my missionary service better. Because all missionaries live the law of sacrifice. That's good. God blesses them for that. But to really be a tool in the hands of God, we must consecrate ourselves.
Sacrifice: to offer something valuable or precious. In other words, to offer something up; to give up something you value, such as time to serve a mission.
Consecration: to dedicate/develop something for a specific, sacred purpose. This is offering something for a specific cause. Such as focusing 100% on teaching people the gospel, and in doing all you can to be a better teacher, finder, and so forth.
Basically, it was a really good lesson to me. Add to that the testimonies of so many amazing missionaries, and it was a fabulous conference.

Then follows several miracles. I'll save those for the end, because I have a mess of funny stories:
Old Ladies:
So, babuškas (old ladies in Russian) are very interesting people. Here are the things I saw them doing this week (odder than normal):
An old lady stopped us to tell us, in Russian, how wonderful we were, and how good it was to slava Boga (give glory to God?) and to preach and what not. For about a minute she told us of the value of what we are doing, and how wonderful we are for doing it, and good luck! Never saw her before that, nor have I seen her since.
Another lady on a bike was headed home after a day at the market. She still had some kabicis (squash) that she hadn't sold yet, so she just gave us one for free. She told us how great it was that young people have come to Latvia, learned Latvian, and so forth.
Another lady just started going off to us in Russian, after we told her that we do not speak Russian. But she kept going. Her talk was not related to gospel things, because I understood almost none of it (I can usually get the general jist if it's about gospel stuff).
Then we saw another lady bent over 90°. Turns out that a lot of older people have very bent backs. I have not seen a full 90 degrees before, though. And she did not straighten entirely the entire time we talked with her. It looked very painful.
Last one: she told me she believes. She then asked, "What church are you from?" I said, "From Jesus Christ's Church." She responded, "Oh, that's something different. I won't listen to you." "Do you believe in Christ?" "Yes." But, she didn't care what Christ would say today--she was fine with what she already knew, and she didn't want to hear any more of Christ's words. That was way odd to me.

Which brings me to another totally random thing. We're walking home, and we pass two young girls leaning on a fence. They say, "Atvainojamies, bet vai gribat kaķēnu?" which is, being interpreted, "Excuse me, but do you want a kitten?" Huh? I go over there, and sure enough, in this under-10-year-old's hand is the tiniest kitten I have ever seen. I pet its head a little with my finger, thank them, and tell them that we won't be able to take care of it. That was just so random.

As some of you probably noticed, the 25th of July was this last Saturday. As fewer of you probably observed, it was Christmas in July that day. My comp and I celebrated that "holiday" with stocking opening by our little tree and Christmas music. I'll have to explain after my mission why I celebrate Christmas twice a year, but it will be a tradition in my family to celebrate Christmas every July (thanks Cassandra!).

I'm way out of time, so a quick hit on miracles this week. Last week was rather hard. I was very worried about the branch, and I didn't work as hard as I should have for other reasons as well. Plus, it seems we just weren't where the ready people were and could meet. So, we ended the week with few lessons, and things all skiwampus. Then we had that rock-awesome zone conference. So, I've been thinking a very lot about one member in particular, who seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth and about whom the Holy Ghost would not stop reminding me. I did all I could to let her know she was loved, appreciated, and that she is needed, but she never answered anything I did. I had been earnestly seeking a way to talk with her. And, on the way to an investigator's house, we found her working. We had a good talk. I found out what had happened to her. And then there's another member who, as far as anybody knew, had run away or even killed himself. I had no way of getting a hold of him. But, he came to church full of smiles and such last Sunday. I was thrilled. God really does answer our prayers--there's another pair of examples right there. That set the pace for this week--we taught an amazing lesson to V., (the policeman who lifts weights), who is really making progress despite feeling that he isn't able to overcome the world around him. Brother Pravains (a member) actually knows him from school, so he was a good choice of member to take with us when we taught. Then yesterday, we just had lesson after lesson, including a lesson with an amazingly ready kid named N., who has never agreed with the doctrines of other churches. He made one of my favorite comments after our lesson that I have heard. It went something like this: I wasn't sure if an organization like yours even existed on the planet--that's why I stopped believing. But it does exist: an organization that believes in God, not in church. I really like that.

Yesterday, we taught 5 lessons--that's more than half of what we did all last week! It was amazing! We taught a younger mother who just loved it, and is very anxious to read the Book of Mormon. I also have started reading it again (I got my book back that I had marked all the references to Christ in and such--I had left it in Rīga when I moved), and I immediately felt the power that comes from reading it. If you aren't reading it every day for a little bit (even only a few minutes a day, like 10), then you're shorting yourself of that Spiritual power and insight. Lauris, who was baptized after Elder Thompson the first and I taught him in Center, is not very learned about God. But he told us that he felt power when he read the Book of Mormon. He became like a "strong man," full of energy. When he didn't read, he didn't have that. You don't need to be a scientist to know that the sun has power.

That's all. Sorry this is so jumbled, but I really have no time left. Loves and such!
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

July 21: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Miracles, Storms, Really Hot Weather...Overall a Great Week!

2009-07-21T17:26:00.002+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 5:40 AM
Subject:Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Miracles, Storms, Really Hot Weather...Overall a Great Week!

All: Actually, we walked a lot less than last week. Maybe because we had one less day this week? (because of Zone Conf.) But 93,352 (72.81KM).

Q+A: Yeah, we still live in the same place. Summer here is WAY hot, humid, and deathly hot. As you may know, once it's above 75° (farenheit, in dry air) it's too hot for me. So, 80°+ here with...uh...mitrums...in the air was...well...way hot. It's also REALLY SUPER RAINY here. It goes from sunnier than a Californian beach to stormier than the Bermuda Triangle in about 20 minutes.

Pics: The bottom one: We changed our water filters this week. The water here definitely would give you your fair share of minerals unfiltered. Note the new filters on top of the old ones (for comparison's sake). The rest are explained in the narrative below.

Funny story: So, Sunday we headed out, and it was way too sunny, hot, and I felt gross. So, I looked up with some malice at the sun and said, "Could you do me a favor and just go away and stay away the rest of today?" About five seconds later, clouds rolled over the sun, making it that bright, barely-cloudy-diffused-sunlight kinda thing. We talked with a few people (miracles there...see below), and by the time we hit the railroad tracks on the way to a lesson, it looked like the top picture--pitch black clouds right behind that. As soon as we got to the family we were teaching, a MASSIVE storm broke out and it dumped! There was even lightning and thunder--lights flashing during the lesson and all. It was really cool. But that wasn't the best part. Here are the miracles. So, back up to my comment to the sun.

I had seriously been looking at the branch (a small church congregation) list I made, trying to figure out how I could help the branch out. There are several members that are less-active to inactive, and they won't let us talk to them or do anything for them. I am also really trying to get the information on the list accurate, so that maybe members could help them out. So, as we left the house, one of those missing members came up to us (he saw us crossing the street), and told us his new phone number and his address. He was one who I had seen a few times, but had no way of getting in touch with. I was able to invite him to the branch activity this weekend, and church, and things. And while my companion talked with him, another guy came up and asked: Are you missionaries? What do you talk about? I told him about the Book of Mormon and he asked, "Can I have one?" So, I got his number, gave him a book, and he said he'd read.

Then, we headed across the bridge (remember, it was fully sunny only 20 minutes before that.) The second picture shows a glance from the bridge towards the oncoming storm. It poured a lot, and we taught this family. This family consists of: Wife (member, teaches Sunday school and does, in my opinion, the best job teaching), Husband (not member, open to the church, though, and really loves his family), Teenager (member, but is a teenager, and therefore sometimes hard to predict or inspire), and Toddler (a normal toddler--all over the place). So, Wife has been trying to get Husband to pray for a long time. He hasn't wanted to. At the end of this lesson, he prayed. I don't know if I can accurately describe the feelings of the Holy Ghost while he prayed. Basically, it was breath-taking. Most definitely the highlight of my time in Jelgava. And he felt it, too. He actually had a hard time speaking, because of the feeling stirring inside of him from the Holy Ghost. Wife looked at him after, and said simply, "Tev sanaca," that is to say, "It worked out for you." He then offered us a ride into town. He's never prayed in lessons with us before.

You'd think that was it for miracles. It's not. Another one: we were on a contacting spree, and again a guy walked up to us and asked us when we could meet. He told us that he had seen us when we came to his place a while back, but his mom wasn't interested and ripped up our info. He asked for it again, and told us that he'd obtained a Book of Mormon in Russian from his friend and had already gained a testimony of its truthfulness! He said simply, "I need to talk with you guys." I liked that!

OK, so, remember Family from above? Well, we took Teenager bowling last week, with Brālis Pravains (our Melchezidek priesthood holder in Jelgava). That was fun. And the bowling alley is right next to the ice rink (it's called Ledus Halle in Latvian). So, we had a snowball fight with the zamboni-ed snow after as well. The third picture shows the climax of the event. Left is E. Wendelbo, and behind him is E. Gray. I forgot how badly I suck at bowling...oh well. It was fun.

Investigators:
I haven't had one of these sections in a while. I guess I'm way overdue. This week was way good for investigators.
Ag.: is really thinking about what we've been teaching him, and really starting to dive into the Book of Mormon. He understands that he needs to really desire to act on the answer God gives him for him to receive an answer.
V.: is the cop that can lift quite a lot (of weights). We finally were able to meet with him again, and had a wonderful lesson. He's really an amazing man! We left him a Book of Mormon, and he's reading it. I hope we can teach him again soon, because I'd love to show him how that book has helped me!
We've also spent a lot of time in a place called "Aizupes" (Behind the River, if you translate the word). That's a lot of houses, so knocking is weird (because we don't normally do houses--we do domes/apartment buildings). But, we had many amazing lessons, and gave away five Books of Mormon while we were there over three days.
Ane.: is a young lady who was Christian once, but thought about it a lot and decided that it wasn't scientific or logical. But, we're teaching her how we can learn though other methods, not just by scientific means (for proof of this and a deeper explanation than I can offer in my limited time, read or watch the talk Testimony, by Elder Dallin H. Oaks, who is a living apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. And look at Alma 32: 21, 26-43, and the record of how another prophet taught people a similar principle, or learning through faith.
Lili.: is an older lady, whose husband just had surgery and who doesn't know exactly what to expect for the rest of the year. Work is very scarce here, and she's not sure she'll have money soon. But, she really wants to draw closer to her Father in Heaven, and we let her know that the way to do that is by studying about Him (from scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon), and praying to Him to know from His Spirt. This is truth that works for everybody.
A Few Others: But I'm out of time. There are others, but I'll talk about them more when we teach them again. Basically, it was a way good week.

Another major highlight:
Ivita, that girl in Rīga Center who's been battling smoking and whatnot, was baptised. Sister Wilson, who is teaching her, writes a newsletter each week that I get, usually while at the internet place. Which is where I am. I'll just quote her record of the baptism:
"Probably the most beautiful baptism that has ever happened on the face of the earth.. She has worked SOO hard and overcome so many things in order to prepare for her baptism, and it was well worth it. She couldn't stop smiling and couldn't stop talking about how free and clean she felt and how cool it was...
"The few days before her baptism (starting actually right after e-mail last Wednesday) were quite the roller coaster ride.. Let's just say Satan attacked that amazing girl from every single angle before she entered the waters of baptism. Friday night she was waayy upset with some stuff concerning her family, and we prayed HARD (Ivita, I and other missionaries) that everything would just work out, but in order for it to all work out, a miracle needed to happen. Well, Saturday morning at 7am I got a call from Ivita and she sounded really happy.. and I was like, 'so.. what happened...?' and she answered.. 'let's just say a miracle happened. God answered our prayers.. He loves us!' It was SO cool.."
"I seriously can't tell you how incredible that experience was.. I have had answered multiple times to prayers, but nothing ever so specific and SO huge.. We were literally on our knees pleading with the Lord.. It set the pace for an incredible day..."

Yeah. I was filled with joy, because I've been studying sometimes for Ivita, and I'll send her verses to read via the sisters and thoughts and encouragement and such. I was way bummed that we couldn't be there...

For my spiritual thought, I'll quote myself a bit: "read or watch the talk Testimony, by Elder Dallin H. Oaks, who is a living apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. And look at Alma 32: 21, 26-43, and the record of how another prophet taught people...[how to learn] through faith." And, I might add, how to know that something is true.
Wow, gotta go! I love you all!! Keep READING AND PRAYING!!!!!!!!!!
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

July 15: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: The District, Things @ Church, Lessons, Finding--My Thoughts and Randomness

2009-07-15T15:12:00.000+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 4:05 AM
Subject: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: The District, Things @ Church, Lessons, Finding--My Thoughts and Randomness

ATTENTION: P-DAY NEXT WEEK WILL BE TUESDAY. UNSURPRISINGLY, IT DOESN'T FALL ON WEDNESDAY.

All: 105,519 (78.40KM--that's 49 miles, so that you staters can relate). Not too much walking this week. But, next week, we'll be walking more. I think. I'll keep you posted.

So, I was asked to introduce my district. Here they are:
E. Thompsen (my former comp was E. Thompson, so there's no way you can get confused "))--My comp now. He loves musicals (as do I) and has spent a healthy amount of time on the internet watching random cartoons and things (as have I), so we randomly will quote something or connect a thought to one of them, and just bust out laughing. Or we'll turn what we are doing into a musical. Or...whatever. We work together very well. He is VERY anxious (you could say ļoti gauži) to talk to everyone. Meaning he'll cross streets, cut through obstacles, and not cross streets while people are walking across them so that he can talk to people. He especially goes out of the way for families. I find myself stretched to keep up! It's a pleasant shift of the work, I must admit.
E. Gray--I was with him once with E. Palmer, long ago. He's way cool! He's very witty, and hilarious, and very down-to-earth. I find that I greatly enjoy working with him. He's a wonderful teacher, as well.
E. Wendelbo--The noob (new guy). He's really willing to go out and work. He's had a rough first week--Pentecostals praying "in tongues" after a lesson with them, a lady with half her head on the floor in a big pool of blood, crazy people, and the like. But he's a good one. I don't think these things will stop him from rocking people here with the Everlasting Gospel of Truth. The best part--each of my district members are fired up and willing to work hard! I'm actually finding that I need to push myself to keep up with my companion!! It's so wonderful to be really into the work!

Pictures: Top-There's a big festival going on here right now. They have sand sculptures in the park, but I didn't cough up the lat (cash) to get in. But there were people all over the roads and in the parks from former soviet-block countries, all celebrating their culture. America doesn't have that kind of culture, so it's really neat to see. Here's some singing stuff with the kids in traditional clothing, which I think looks really cool. And the bottom picture is Jazeps and Anja, who are Māsas Janavičas kids, up in a tree. This is Jazeps treehouse. I love these kids. And...I didn't take too many pics this week. Next week.

So, on to church things. I'm trying to start up a Primary here for the kidlets that are kinda bored during the lesson. I called the pro in Rīga center (Māsa Treiģe-Treide), and she told me everything that I'll have to do, and will send me everything that I will need to get that done. She's way good. We also had a lesson for the Sunday school teachers. We now have four of them: Māsas Zervēna and Suleimanova, and Brāļi Pravains and Skvorcovs. I taught them about loving those you teach. I introduced it as "the most important part of teaching." It was probably the best lesson that I have been in, because the conversation was really good, it didn't come all from me--it was mostly discussion, and they all...uh...nolema...to do something specific. Nolemt...uh...to reach a decision, or to make up ones mind. Yeah, that's a decent translation. That takes so much more time to say in English...

Anyway, there's a lot of things that aren't so good happening in the branch as well. A lot of people are having a very hard time. The global crisis is VERY felt here in Latvia. Especially when people keep buying worthless things with their money (i.e. cigarettes, alcohol, food for the cats and pigeons when they cannot feed themselves...and the like). I think the soviet mindset really messed up a lot of people's abilities to manage their money. But, a lot of members are having it rough, and I'm hoping that the Sunday school teachers, being as amazing as they are, can help the branch out. I must admit, I'm often pained a great deal for the welfare of the people I know, especially those in my branch. It's amazing how, just looking at people's posture and eyes--their countenance--I could see which ones are having problems and hardships. Anyway, pray hard for those here, please. They need it.

Contacting this week was interesting. Just yesterday, there was a little girl (like, younger than 8) who asked what we always ask people, and told us that we'd been to her place once not too long ago. She then met up with us a little later, farther down the road, and I jokingly said to her, "I think that we've met before..." She answered, "I was just over there by that church. Do you not remember?!" It was funny to me. And I found out something else, not so wonderful. Most people have somehow logicked out in their minds ways to make them ineligible for God and talking about Him. Either they're religious already (and we need to spend our time talking to those who don't believe), or they know everything (and therefore can't learn anything new and it is pointless to try to talk to them about religious things), or they aren't interested in God (and we need to spend our time talking to those who believe), or some other excuse. I don't understand why everyone is so afraid of talking about religious things. I understand if you aren't interested. I don't like talking about those things that don't interest me, either. But the rest...just kinda silly to me. I would strongly disrecommend that you turn away somebody before you hear what they want to talk about. If they directly oppose your thoughts, then maybe it's better not talk to them. But if not, then you could probably learn something from a shared conversation.

Anyway, I know that the Gospel is true. And I know that you will know truth when you honestly pray about it. Keep reading! You should be almost done with the book of Alma by now (if you've been reading a chapter or two a day from when I invited you all to do so). If you're not there, then I invite you to step your reading up a notch. 10 minutes a day will get you a chapter or two. And time spent with the scriptures is time well spent!

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

July 9: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Transfers, Miracles, Interesting things. BAPTISMS!!!

2009-07-09T16:00:00.002+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Thu, July 9, 2009

Subject: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Transfers, Miracles, Interesting things. BAPTISMS!!!

All: So, we walked a lot. 125,933 steps, to be exact. That's 98.22KM. That's a long way.

So, I want to start this week off with a little story:

It had been a normal day. Nothing too good, nothing too bad. We entered a 12-story monolith to go knocking. On the way in, a man began to jeer at us from the upper three floors. He "invited" us over to his place, after just telling us how unnecessary we were. So, we took the elevator like normal, planning to just explain to him what we were doing, and since he wasn't interested, we wouldn't bother him. But, we heard him on the 10th or 11th floor say, "...but they WILL be here. Just wait." We decided that we didn't trust him. As soon as we hit floor 12, we hit the button for floor 10 (hearing them start for the stairs). We arrived to find nobody. We cautiously continued out, and, finding the coast clear, began to knock.
We encountered various people. Most of them thought we were somebody else, and didn't want to spend the few minutes to speak to us about something that didn't interest them. Or, they thought it didn't interest them. Too bad they don't know what it actually is we talk about...Anyway, most of the doors were that way. One nice lady invited us back the next day. Another, determining that we were not from around here, asked us where we were from. On hearing we were from America, he ragefully told us to "Go back to your land and leave us alone!!" A few more cheery people who didn't want to talk to us, and then one guy who had told us he isn't interested came back out to tell us how angry he was that we knocked on his door. "I'm Catholic! What are you doing bothering people, trying to force your religion on them?! *Etc.*" We explained that we don't do that; we talk to everyone to know if they are interested in learning what we know and what has helped us immensely, and if they want, then we teach them. If they don't want it, then we leave them be. That's what we do. We don't force anything--we're just sharing what has helped us.
Then, after all of this silliness, we finally knock on Vies.'s door. He didn't answer right away. When we were at the elevator, he opened his door. We hurried back and told him we're missionaries, to talk about God. He said simply, "Come on in." We got to know him a little bit, and then taught him about prophets and the nature of God. He invited us back, and it was an amazing lesson! He's a policeman who lifts weights for fun. He squats 285 kilos (that's 627 POUNDS!!), and is one of the most humble people I have ever met. He has really looked at life, and understands a great deal. He also agreed to a baptismal date for the 1st of August. It was an amazing miracle that really helped me out!

OK, so. We now move on to transfers. I'm the only one still staying in Jelgava. Elders Gray and Trainee are coming (so, they are being "whitewashed," meaning that they have no previous experience at all in the area where they will be serving), and I'm serving with Elder Thompson the younger (he's from Elder Spear's group). So far, I like him a lot. I'll let you know more about him next week.

I took notes this week. I will start with the baptism. It was a gorgeous little family--a husband and wife--and Helvijs's mother! It was really exciting!!! The first picture on here (4018) is Helvijs and his mother. The service was beautiful, the the investigator we had (Andr.) liked it. Helvijs performed the baptisms, so he was able to baptize his mother. How cool is that? And many of the youth and other church members that I love were there also, so after the baptism I was able to talk with them. That was way amazing! I love people here in Riga. So much. I'm really going to miss seeing them, even if right now I only see them every so often...

Then, to celebrate the 4th of July, when we got back from the baptism we had a little BBQ. That's pic 4039. We got a little grill, and we grilled up chicken, hamburger, and potato things (but the heat was all gone by the time the potatoes made it, so...kinda gross). That was fun.

Earlier this week, I woke up in the middle of the night to a thunderstorm. Lightning was going off every few seconds. It was one of the most amazing things ever, because I love, love LOVE thunderstorms, and they happen very rarely where I have lived here.

Sunday. I had just had a great spiritual and emotional "up" the day before (baptism, seeing my dear friends in Rīga, and Independence day), so naturally a big down would follow. I felt really heavy, and...odd in general this Sunday. Since it was Elder Thompson's last Sunday, a few of the branch (group) went up to Rīga to see him off. So, we had almost nobody at church. Well...until about five minutes before church started. Then, WAY more people than I ever thought came pouring in. I want to list those people for you:

Brālis Pravains--He's the only Melchizedek priesthood holder in Jelgava. He takes care of the sacrament for us.

Māsa Šulca--Yup, the same one who invited us over for Līgo. She's way good! And

Brālis Kolikovs--Māsa Šulca's husband. He comes off and on, and so I was quite excited to see him Sunday.

Māsa Janaviča--She is one of the most interesting people in the world, and perhaps thinks too much about other people sometimes. She's charitable to a fault, and loves learning from the spirit. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to come today.

Anja, Jazeps, and Rebeka, Māsa Janaviča's children--Love them!! Anja is only six, but she is WAY smart. She sees something once, and she remembers it forever. She's very friendly, and a super cute kid! Jazeps is seven, super active, and enjoys being with us. He's very creative, and a great artist. Rebeka is super shy, and doesn't talk much, but has been opening up a lot more because of all the activities that we have had. She's going to be amazing when she trusts us and the group (branch) enough to actively participate! Oh, and she threw us a party as a farewell for the ones leaving. That's pic 4085. Here's who's in that really quickly, from left to right:

E. Farnsworth, Jazeps, E. Udy, Anja, E. Spears, Kristina (from our English class--she's become good friends with M. Janaviča), Māsa Janaviča, Rebeka. And between Rebeka's feet is Kokoa, their dog. Back to who came on Sunday:

Māsa Bernšteine--is a Ukrainien. Or, maybe some other country. It turns out that nobody really knows. She doesn't remember her birth language, so she speaks Russian and Latvian with a REALLY heavy accent. She doesn't know her birthday, so she picked a day. We are guessing that she's around 89 years old, but nobody really knows for sure. She's old, that's for sure. She's strong in the faith, and really fun. And funny. I love this lady. She is the only member who is still here that was here more than a year ago when I first served in Jelgava.

Verns.--He's one of our investigators who knows it's all true, and wants to be baptized. But his mother had a dream wherein she saw her dead sister (or daughter) who told her that she and Verns. have to be baptized in Canada. So...he's waiting until then. He's actually really cool. He's also super busy, so I didn't think that he'd be able to come to church.

A.--He's our investigator with a date for baptism. He's in our English class also. He's really fun, spiritual, and enjoys church. We haven't been able to meet with him for over a week now. That's way not good.

D. and friend--D. is an older lady that we knocked into a while back. We went to see her on Saturday, and invited her to church. I actually wasn't expecting her to come. And she brought her friend, to boot. She herself was quite quiet, but her friend was very outspoken, very fun, and very involved in the lesson. I liked having them there.

U. and T.--these two amazing women are from English class. They haven't really heard anything about the Restoration yet. They have powerful testimonies of God and His hand in their lives, though.

This Sunday was a fast Sunday. For those of you who don't know what that means--the first Sunday of each month, all members of this church are to fast if they so desire. This means that they go without eating and they pray to consecrate that time to God. During this time they focus on spiritual things, and open themselves more fully to the Spirit. And, during sacrament meeting (the main meeting at church), everyone who desires is able to stand and state what they know to be true. We call this "bearing our testimony." And since one of the Holy Ghost's purposes is to testify of truth (1 John 5: 6, John 15: 26), He is almost always quite powerfully at these meetings. Another of His roles is to comfort (John 14: 26, D&C 35: 19). So, basking in the great Spirit that was there, I felt greatly comforted. When I left church, I felt amazing! I have a little more to say on that in a moment. First, one more thing that happened this week.

There is going to be a YSA (Young Single Adults) conference, and a youth conference this August. I just found out about each of them, and there are several here in Jelgava who'd want to go. So, on Tuesday night, I spent a good amount of time finding out info about all of these things to make sure that everyone who wanted to would be able to make it. I was on the phone about this thing for well over two hours. It was way stressful, but for some reason, I think I enjoyed it. I called basically everyone in leadership positions in Latvia (only the mission president and the district president themselves exempted). It was like a crazy, wacko puzzle to solve. So, that was rather nuts.

Oh. Right. The rest of transfers: So, E. Spears is going to my city of dreams (Liepaja) to be with E. Hansen, a Russian-speaking Elder whom I greatly like. I have been secretly hoping to be in a "hybrid" companionship--a companionship where one speaks the country's language (like Latvian in Latvia), and the other speaks Russian. Companionships like that are way totally normal. But I've been hoping to be in one, and my top pick was E. Hansen. E. Udy is in Imanta with an E. Reed (don't know him very well), and here's the craziest of all. Daugavpils is a city in Latvia. It is inhabited mostly by Russians. Very few people there speak Latvian primarily. E. Farnsworth is a Latvian-speaking missionary. He was asked by President Dance to start learning Russian this last transfer. He was transferred to Daugavpils. He's not overly thrilled about not being able to use his Latvian much anymore. Poor dude. But, he's thrilled to be the first Latvian in D.pils since a good, long time ago!

Thought really fast: Several people testified of miracles. More than a few of those were what many would say are big miracles (how to do you put miracles into gradients of big or small? They're all miracles...). Anyway, they were the saving of a loved one or self from death. Two of those were a saving from cancer. In each case, that miracle helped them to see God's hand in their lives, and they turned to be more faithful, and to seek to learn more of God. To me, that tender mercy of comfort was a miracle. I want you all to know that God, our Father in heaven, is a "God of miracles" (Alma 37: 40). Take a look at the folling verses. Miracles come through faith on His name. Remember that faith is more than saying "I believe." Faith requires action and a trust. Faith is actually quite a complete package, covering every aspect of life. But, see what our faith (sometimes desperate faith) called from a loving Father: Life. Comfort. Love. A second chance at life. A fuller life. A person to teach the gospel to when it seems there isn't one. Please prayerfully consider the following passages:

Ether 12: 12, 18; Moroni 7: 27, 35; Acts 2: 22 (remember Joseph Smith and miracles wrought to him--the Book of Mormon itself being a great example); Mormom 9: 10-11, 15, 19-20. Read Moroni 7, Mormon 9, and Ether 12 in their entirety. There are powerful teachings about miracles, and the faith that leads to them. I know that these are true principles. I know, because of the Spirit of the Lord God, the these things are true, that God works by miracles today, and that He loves us.

I love you all! Keep reading and praying, and God will grant you even more knowledge (2 Nephi 28: 30), and so it will continue your whole life. Come, and receive what your Father offers in fullness!!!
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

July 1: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Jāņi, Baptisms, MEAT!, Baptist Church

2009-07-01T18:29:00.002+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle

Date: Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 3:58 AM
Subject: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Ligo/Jāņi, Baptisms, MEAT!, Baptist Church

All: Hey. 121,532 steps this week (94.74KM)! That's quite a beefy distance!

Pictures: Top: These are the stuffed peppers that Elder Spears made. They are stuffed with broccoli, cheese, onion, and spices. They were WAY good, and everybody loved them!

Next: Also at our Līgo celebration: This is me being Zacchaeus from the New Testament. It was kinda fun. I was acting out waiting for Christ again, after I had changed. The kids liked it.

Third: This is the group in Iecava celebrating Līgo. From left to right: Spears, Farnsworth, President Lepešs, Elizebeth (their daughter), Ilze Lepeša, in the back there is Māsa Šulca (at whose house we are), then me, and Udy. The girl in front is Rebeka and the little one is Anja, and the lady in the very front is Māsa Janoviča. Rebeka and Anja are her daughters. She also has a son who was there, but he ran out of the picture, so we don't have Jazeps in there at all. It was really fun. These people are AMAZING!!!

Last: Us digging a ditch-type thing at the Baptist church. Left to right: Udy, Farnsworth, Spears, and Briggs (the Baptist preacher).

Q+A from last week:

This week was a lot better. Almost everything was resolved or I felt a great peace about it. It's been really good. President Senkāns with his wife came for church and gave a killer talk, and President Dance came down for our district meeting, so it seems that all knew we needed some extra something. And all the members of my district are now more focused, and have a goal to stay that way. Rad.

I think our landlady is desperate for money, and she knows, because our church has a good reputation here, that we'll hold up to our end of the bargain. She's Jewish, it turns out, and she's way nice. There are people here who are doing OK financially, but they are definitely in the minority. Actually, most people could survive, if they just budgeted and thought about what they did with their money before they acted. And didn't waste so much of their money on alcohol and cigarettes.

Our new apartment is on the first and a half floor (meaning it's a slightly elevated first floor), there is no elevator at all, and it's right by the church. We changed because the apartment we were in was really gross (floors were sick, and the bathroom was less-than-savory), and because we could get better now that the economy here is bad. Basically, we could live wherever we wanted, because practically everybody needs money, and would accept almost anything we offered for their place. I've only met two of our neighbors--people here aren't overly friendly that way. In America, when you move in someplace you spend some time getting to know the neighbors. That doesn't really happen here. But one, when I was coming in, saw I was a missionary and asked, "Do you have an invitation to be here?" I said, "Yes." He asked, "Who?" I said, "In number one." "Oh, well then, good luck!" The other neighbor was a nice older Latvian lady that I helped carry a bunch of stuff up to the fourth floor.

And from this week:
The branch activity was amazing! More details on that later. Ligo/Jani is basically a two-day drunken fest. The entire country almost is shut down on the 24th (excepting some of the huge stores, like Maxima and Rimi and some random places...most transport still runs a little bit, too), and everything closes early on the 23rd. You could say the whole country just closes down, yes. It seems to only be in Latvia. I mean, they celebrate it in other countries, but in the Baltic States, it is by far the biggest deal in Latvia.

Maxima is an interesting store. Basically, they still do things here like they did in the Soviet times--little grocery stores. But they now have a bit of capitalism in a communist application--they have little versons of Maxima and Rimi and Iki and the like, along with a lot of little stand-alone stores. These resemble most gas stations in America. Then they have mid-sized stores for the big-name places (for Maxima it's the XX, the rest keep the name the same), and these are like convenience stores. And then you have the Hyper-veikali (hyper stores), XXX Maximas and the like. These are like superstores in America, and the XXX in Pļavniekos in Rīgā feels just like a Walmart--capitalistic, and only cares about you because you have money. (Jordan's mom says--Jordan has strong feelings about Walmart-type stores ")).They have basically everything that is available, and some things you can't get elsewhere. And because it feels like a warehouse made into a store, things are cheaper there. That's how stores here go.

They do not have anything like Slurpees. And their doughnuts would cause any doughnut-loving soul to cringe at the pathetic imitation. But, there is one place in Rīgā on Aleksandra Čaka iela that sells Virtuļi--doughnuts. And those are basically jelly-filled doughnuts that are better in my opinion than anything I've eaten from Krispy Kream, or however you spell that place that people go all goo-goo for their doughnuts. Something in that last sentence was gramatically wrong, but I can't figure it out. Ladna. Moving on.

So, Jāņi. The Līgo activity went well. We had 11 people, including the branch president from Rīga center. He's so good. Anyway, we ate delectable stuffed peppers, while everyone else had Šošliki. Also, I jumped through the fire (it's supposed to be over, but I decided to jump over it when it was still really high), and the conversation was great. I love the branch here!! We even made it home safely from Māsas Šulcas place. Afterwards, finding people to teach was weird, because there were so many people elsewhere. But, not bad.

So, our meat fast is over. Now, we'll go back to normal eating habits. It's harder to be creative as a vegetarian sometimes...but it was all good. I just realized that I forgot to write last week about what I ate. Oh well...it's not important enough for me to remember, sorry. But it was basically more of the same/similar from the weeks before.

I'm basically stoked out of my wits. The sisters in Center have been teaching several people for a long time. Ivi. is that amazing girl who has had a really hard time quitting smoking. She just decided to go for it, and she's doing very well!! She'll be baptized in a few weeks!!! And everyting else that she has had problems with have just solved themselves--work on Sunday, family situations, and all else. I'm so excited for her!

Evi. also has been taught for a long time. She hasn't been able to be baptized because she's not married to the man she lives with. She's been waiting for her divorce papers to go through with her husband so that she can marry the guy she's with now. They will be going through in six weeks, and the wedding is all set up. The day after her wedding, she'll be getting baptized. That will be Sister Wilson's last week here in the Baltics. Crazy! But I'm way excited for Evi. also.

Helvijs is a member here. His mother has been investigating the church for years, watching her son go on a mission and all else. I just found out that she's going to be baptized this Saturday!!! That is something I've been waiting for my whole mission!!!

And, our investigator, Agris, has a date for baptism! It'll be the 11th of August. He's a rock-solid guy who is amazing, and he really has thought a lot about what he will do. He's a student from our English class, and he speaks quite well.

So, basically the work is just exploding with all the people that I love and have been praying for for a long time. It couldn't have come at a better time, because last week through this Sunday were really, really hard on me. And now I've witnessed again that if you just stay strong through the hard times, it all works out. My hopes are so high right now, and my faith is going to help me teach so many people!!
Quick note: We went to the Baptist church again, this time to dig a ditch. It was really fun, and we got to talk with the preacher for a while. It was a great Saturday morning, and he's a remarkable fellow. That's him in the last picture on the far right.

My spiritual thought is this: God loves us, and He always has His hands extended towards us. All we need to do is come to Him. It may not be easy--it's never been easy for anybody who is religious. Ask anyone who has faith, and they will tell you that their lives aren't perfect, and that they have problems. However, they have the strength of the Lord to aid them. And when we hold out until the end, we see that we have received the best that we could have. Those who don't believe in God because they have not seen His help or influence in their lives are too impatient, and/or they simply look over the grace of God in offering His help and power to them, and attribute it selfishly to themselves. But I know, now again from personal experience, that persistence in the path of God yields blessings. Great blessings and benefits. And it is thusly with all. So, I again invite you all to keep reading in the Book of Mormon, learn about God, and PRAY TO HIM to know from the Spirit. Without that, all that knowledge is meaningless. It does nothing for you. I again promise you that you, like so many others I have spoken with, WILL RECEIVE AN ANSWER to your prayers. I know this is so. I have lived this. So can you. Try it.

I love you all! You are in my prayers!
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

July 1th Pics Again for the Baltic Chŗonīcļe

2009-07-01T18:20:00.002+03:00

July 1: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Jāņi, Baptisms, MEAT!, Baptist Church

2009-07-01T18:17:00.001+03:00

June 23: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Līgo, Apartment, Enemies and Friends, Church Moving Along

2009-06-23T15:50:00.001+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 4:59 AM
Subject: June 23: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Līgo, Apartment, Enemies and Friends, Church Moving Along

All: Lots of walking this week! 112,113 steps and 87.44KM! And that's from last Wednesday to today!

I don't have much time, so I'll skip the Q and A part this week. I want to thank all those who have written to me--Grandparents and Rachel, because I got a heap of mail last Sunday when the CES couple, the Carsons, came to Jelgava with some mail for us. It was wonderful!

Now, here are the pictures I want to include this week. Then, I'll talk about the week and what not. I will soon be leaving for Lecava, a city--well, village--not too far from Jelgava (it's as far as Rīga, but towards Daugavpils, rather than towards Estonia) for our Līgo activity. I'll explain that in a little bit, too.

Top picture-We were on our way to the Zerveni family (the wife and older son are members, the rest aren't yet), and we have to cross the river and the railroad tracks to get to them. Turns out there's a rail bridge. And, as a new addition, they took railroad ties and made stairs with them. I thought that this was really funny, so here I am, standing on the rail-road staircase.
Middle-We had just talked to the other elders about hot-air ballooning. This is the first hot-air balloon I have seen here. The irony was so great I had to photograph it. The building is a university. Last-Another burst of irony. This is in XX Maxima right by our place. The register there is especially for "Vecākiem ar Mazuļiem"--or Parents with little children. If you look, they have many large boxes of cigarettes that they're stacking on that lane. I thought it was ridiculous. One other note--every free space in the store (all lanes and aisles and such) are full of beer, vodka, and alcohol of various kinds. The reason: it's Līgo!

OK, about Līgo. The night of the 23rd of June is the shortest of the year. In other words, it's the longest day. Due to their pagan roots, Latvians have a VERY big celebration that day. It's called Līgo, from the verb Līgoties, which means, literally translated, to Līgo. Yeah. The word only means to celebrate Līgo. No, it means to rock or teeter, but they don't use it for that. To celebrate, they build a huge bonfire, drink ridiculous quantities of beer, and just party it up all night. When the sun comes up the next night, they all cheer, then go to sleep somewhere. Interesting, huh? We were invited to go to Māsas Šulcas place in Lecava to celebrate. So, we're going with any of the branch who also would like to go. The biggest benefit is that there won't be alcohol at our Līgo party.

Name days here are a big deal. As important as birthdays. Jānis is the most common name (about 60% of men have that name). 24 June is Jāņu (meaning in English Jānis' ) name day. So, it's day two of getting drunk and partying, because every human in the entire country knows a Jānis. So, Līgo is also called Jāņi. I think knocking will be very interesting tommorrow night.

Two examples: we went knocking last night. One guy opened his door wide and sang, "Lī-ī-ī-go! Lī-ī-ī-goo!" And wished us a happy Jaņi. Odd. But then, knocking in a different place a little earlier that night, we were coming down the stairs (we usually start on the top and work down) and saw a big pile of vomit on the stair landing. "Great, somebody got a little too drunk," we thought. Well, on the next flight of stairs was a man, passed out, sprawled across the stairs. He was quite drunk. Man, alcohol is so great! Only a fool would pick up drinking after seeing its effects here. Or, basically, seeing what it does at all. If you want that, then you REALLY need to find an actual purpose to your life. I speak as one who has never gotten wasted drunk, so maybe it is fun. But the negatives I have seen FAR outweigh any positives.

We moved into a new apartment recently. The lady has bought us all our furniture, since we had none. That's about 1200 lats of furniture (that's WAY a lot, by the way). We got mostly everything, and all we needed to live there now was a fridge. She surprised me with a call telling me that she had a fridge. So, that was brought in yesterday. Then she added tablecloths, a picture to hang, another little table, benches to go around that table, and a thing with drawers and a big mirror on it. I was shocked, to be honest, that she got us so much! So, now it's most definitely the best place I have ever lived (in the Baltics). Nothing's even broken (I have never been in a place that didn't have something broken)!

A small downer, then we'll move on to another good. Things have been quite challenging with my companion and district. I cannot seem to really lead them in a way that motivates and inspires. I also cannot force them, which leaves me in an awkward bind! I continue to pray, and hope things work out. This week was just really bad. I think it will improve from here. And if not, the transfer ends in a pair of weeks anyway. WHERE ON EARTH IS TIME GOING!!??!?!?!?!?!?

The Good--we're working on getting the branch really going here. So, we have people called as Sunday School teachers, we just called an activities committee last Sunday(!), and we are wanting to start up a Primary. I'll be talking with President Dance about how to do that tonight. I'm way stoked! Basically, we just want everything in place so that when leadership is handed to the branch, they'll just take it and go. Missionaries can step out. That's one major problem thoughout the Baltics right now--missionaries are too much connected with parts of the branch's functions that they should have nothing to do with, and they have less involvement (sometimes none) in places where they need to be (like working with the branch in missionary work). So, we're hoping to avoid that by teaching the members early how to run everything. Good thing the Lord helps us know what to do, or that would be a problem.

I gotta go now! I love you all! Keep reading, praying, and think about prioritizing your life so that it's centered on the Lord first, your family second, and then the means for your family after that! We just spent a lot of time talking with one member about that, and how a misbalance can be catastrophic to family health, and to your own health! But, don't take my word for it--pray about it and ask God what your priorities should be, and then listen to the Spirit. God does answer our prayers. Loves again!
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

June 17: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Father's Day, Liepāja, DMV, Moving, Lessons

2009-06-17T22:58:00.000+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Subject: June 17: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Father's day, Liepāja, DMV, Moving, Lessons
All: Happy Father's Day to all those Father-types out there!

From that, we'll look at the 99,141 steps/77.32KM for a second...OK. Done. Moving on.

Meals: Thurs 11 June: Bistro Stuff (pancakes and stuff)
Fri 12 June: Teriyaki Chicken (minus the chicken, plus lots of peppers).
Sat 13 June: Delectable Veggie Wraps (with beans and whatnot)
Sun 14 June: Potato things (like funeral potatoes, but failed) and Udi soup
Mon 15 June: "Ultra Veggie Pizza"
Tues 16 June: Veggie Madness (picture).
Kinda a boring food week.

Pictures: Top: That's Veggie Madness. It was like a salad with all that we had left over.
Middle: I went to Liepāja again this week on exchanges. We went knocking while I was there, and saw several people that I haven't seen in a really long time, who I really love. It was wonderful! These are the windmills just outside of Liepāja. That's when you know that you're getting close to the city.
Last: This is the Pravaslov church in Jelgava. It looked really pretty that day, so I nabbed a pic. There are also a lot of nuns there, which is interesting because a Lutheran or Catholic (the buildings look the same to me) church is right across the street, with their own nuns. We decided they should have volleyball competitions between the nuns in the laukums (field)right by the churches.

So, here's some stuff about the week. My comp is from Washington. Trivia: He used a mass spectrometer in a project investigating the effects of trace minerals in salmon. We had a family home evening for the branch here. Well, it was a branch home evening (Draudzes Majvakars (DMV)), but whatever. It was really fun! We have one investigator who came. He's from English class. After, he told us that was the most fun he's had without alcohol. I was excited, because he thinks it'll be hard to drop that nasty beverage called beer. There were actually more people at DMV than there were at church, just because people brought most or all of their families. I was really excited by that!

We are moving apartments. The new one is closer to the church, and about twice as big. The lady who is renting it to us was really desperate to rent it out, and bought us 1000 lats of furniture and will finish sewing curtains for our windows today. The place is really pink. Huge, awesome, and pink. It just doesn't have a fridge right now. That will come later. I'll have pictures of it next week.

The Baptist preacher has his wife with him here. We have not seen him any more, but he's way cool. He actually was a cop for a while, then things just started happening that led him to think that he might be able to serve a mission. So, he visited other congregations, and they felt that he should too, and he's been here since! Of course, there's more to the story than that, but I'll call it good there (since this keyboard doesn't type so well, and I can't focus at all).

For a spiritual thought: We taught a theologian yesterday. He was really nice, and had some good questions. We'll be seeing him again. But one thing he said was very interesting to me, and I totally agree: spiritual knowledge, if not enforced with the Spirit, does you no good. Just studying without applying is like watching somebody drive, but never getting in a car yourself. You understand how to turn and shift and whatever, but you never actually go anywhere. I would invite you all do take an extra step in applying what you know. Take a look-see at this talk from our last general conference: The Way of the Disciple, by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. He is in the first presidency of the church, and is an apostle. It's a good talk, and he encurages us to go from where we are right now and move forward! Do it!

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

Oops, a P.S.

2009-06-11T16:00:00.001+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: 2009/6/11
Subject: Oops. a P.S.

So...There are 9 missionaries leaving this transfer (in about 5 weeks). They represent a large part of my mission. It's way weird to see them go. Here they are:
Latvian speaking missionaries:
Sister Hagen (WAAA! From the MTC with me. All my sisters will be gone after this)
Elder Thompson (Yep, my last companion. Weird)
Elder Payne (my comp from Liepāja)
Elder Ence (who was assistant to the president forever)
So, that's four of the 21 Latvians who are leaving. Then, some Russian speaking:
Sister Reed (she was a great source of inspiration to me when I was in Imanta, because every single time she'd get on a bus, she'd sit next to some young lady and just start talking with her. That's so hard for me, and she made it look so natural)
Elder Weston (was in Center with Patterson for a while. He's so funny!)
Elders Barker, Hansen, Brimley (these I didn't know so well. Sorry, guys. They'd been in areas with me and I know their faces, but I don't know them SUPER well)

So, it's way weird to me that they're all going to be gone. On the same note of death things (we call it "death" when missionaries go home), I got fleas. For the first time on my mission. Elder Brown is back in Rīga center (he came out with me, and has only been out of Rīga one transfer, and then he was in Liepāja), and I'm basically just kinda weirded out by all that right now. So that's it for now...

---

June 11: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Baptists, Dancing, Jahova's Witnesses, Death, Vegetables

2009-06-11T15:44:00.002+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 4:16 AM
Subject: June 11: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Baptists, Dancing, Jehovah's Witnesses, Vegetables

All: 105,792 steps = 82.51 KM. Not very much walking this week--a lot more sitting than I thought. But this was one of the most crazy, awesome weeks I have had yet, and here's why:

To start, I want to clarify that I'm not going vegetarian my whole life (1 Timothy 4: 3), but we just wanted to try it for now. It'll be fun! It has been. Our meals were:
Mon 1st: Veggie Stir Fry
Tues 2nd: Curry Rice
Wed 3rd: Veggie Pizza
Thurs 4th: Leftover Curry Rice
Fri 5th: Marak Avacado im Batzal (Onion Avocado Soup) with Focaccia bread.
Sat 6th: Fries and a Veggie Burger at Hesburger.
Sun 7th: Mshat arnabeet (Cheesy fried Cauliflower (and we added broccoli to the mix))
Mon 8th: Ratatouille
Tues 9th: Grilled Cheese and Potatoes
Wed 10th:Veggie Pizza from Lulu's at zone conference

So far, it's been quite adventurous. I'll post each of our meals each week, and send a shot of the best one. When this month is over, we'll be having bacon-wrapped hamburgers and use fillets of chicken breast as the buns. Just kidding--but we will go back to meat.

Pictures+Q+A+The Norm
Top: Us dancing. This is one of the traditional Latvian dances we learned. More on that later.
Middle: Elder Udi (Юди) painting at the baptist church. I have a closer-up one of me, but you can't see where exactly we were painting, so I chose this full one of Udi to show it better.
Last: This was our Ratatouille. The cactus juice was on super sale, so we just had some fun. Looks great, vai nē?

My week was amazing! I'll get there later. Zone conference was also really good. Zone conferences are done by the leadership of the mission--President and Sister Dance with the assistants to the prez do all kinds of stuff, and then we split into zones (Latvian/Russian) and are trained by the zone leaders. We talked more on teaching skills this time, as well as ways to improve our thoughts so that they aren't barrier thoughts but success thoughts, and how that affects our work.
We have no elevator in our building, so we have to walk up all 5 floors. Whatever.
Church is held in a rented apartment that we've converted to a meeting house for now. It's not as permanent as we are in other cities, because we're way young here.
Our kitchen is normal--stove, fridge, sink. Just...a little soviet-style. We don't really use busses in Jelgava--it's not a very big place. We usually walk everywhere we need to go unless we're going to a place in the Jelgava Rajonā (region, I think). It's a requirement for every apartment to have a laundry machine, so we do that at home.

Now, for the excitement! So, here's our week. Not long after p-day we knocked into a lady (the first door to open), who said, "Hey! We're always waiting for you people. Come on in!" We, a little confused, came in. She then said, "Our preacher is just in the other room!" Oh. That usually means that somebody wants to bash scripture to try to prove somehow from one source of scripture that we are wrong. So, we wearily entered the room, and it turns out that the guy is an American baptist who is serving a mission here! He's been here for 12 years now. We joined them on their Bible study (from 1st Moses chapter 4 about Cain and Abel) and after, he told us that they're building a church out there is Ozolniekos. So, we offered to help. Thus, that Saturday, we all bussed out to Ozolnieki (a smaller city not far from Jelgava--I guess you can think of it as a Jelgava suburb) and we painted. My comp (Spears) and Farnsworth painted in one room, and Udi and I painted a section of the ceiling. It was really cool to talk to the preacher while we painted (he was working on lights a little farther over), and we even played foozball with him after. It was really cool!

But Saturday wasn't over yet! We didn't ever put a tie on that day. We went to Hesburger with the other elders, then showered at home, put our dancing clothes on, and went with two church members (Janaviča and Pravains), two investigators, and the Māsa Janaviča's kids (so we were 9 total) to an activity in Imanta. That asked about an hour and a little of travel, but the dance thing was way fun! There were two dances to songs from Hannah Montana, and other pop-style dance. A group of six showed us all the dances, and then we chose one of the three to learn. After 45 minutes, we showed the dances off. It was sooooo much fun, I can't even tell you. And after that, we learned three traditional Latvian dances (which are really, really easy--I'll show you all when I get home. They're fun for a little bit, but get boring after a minute or so). So, that picture is one of the Latvian dances, and the only one whose name I remember -- "Oira." That doesn't mean anything, by the way.

Sunday (I think) we knocked into some VERY active Jehovah's Witnesses. We talked for a bit. I'm very impressed by how well they know their Bibles. The only bummer is that they only rely on the Bible, and without revelation you get some very odd ideas. Like that Christ has already returned (right before WWI) and that the war in heaven described in Revelation took place last century, and because Satan lost and was cast down to earth, we've had so many wars. Some verses they use totally out of context--but they connect all that they use, and it's very logically sound. I have great respect for what they have done. Most especially that the majority of them actually live their religion, and know what they believe. Very few churches can claim that most of their members understand their doctrines and live after them. However, they, like all other churches, do not have apostolic authority from God to receive revelation for the world. Christ's church must have apostles and prophets (Ephesians 2: 20, Ephesians 4: 11-13) "until we all come in the unity of the faith." We are not unified in the faith, nor are we "perfect men." After the apostles died, the authority was lost. That is why the restoration is so important. People changed doctrines and interpreted the scriptures differently after the church fell into apostacy. Teachings were added by man and called doctrine or changed (transubstantiation, baptism, the nature of the Godhead). But most are supported by the Bible. It all depends on how you read it. That's why another testament of Jesus Christ is so important--it helps us to understand.

A picture with one nail holding it can be turned all over, but still be nailed to the wall. But with two nails, it's not turning anywhere. The Book of Mormon is that second nail. It proves itself true. I invite you to read it and pray about it. And knowing that it is true, you can confidently believe that Jesus is the Christ (or add more confidence to that belief you already have), that God has called prophets in these days, and that God's kingdom is on the earth. To those of you who recite the Lord's Prayer, take a look at what you're praying for:
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That kingdom is His church. It's here now. His will is made known through prophets, as it always has been (Luke 11: 49, Ephesians, 2: 20, Ephesians 3: 5, 1 Nephi 13: 39, D&C 98: 32, D&C 52: 9, 36). You could say your prayers have been answered. Now, all that is left is to learn of Him and learn His will, for "If any man will do his will he will know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether [we] speak for [ourselves]" (John 7: 17). That's how you test it. Try it. If it is good, then it is true. And that is real, tangible, testable (Alma 32: 28, 35).

To end, there's a really good talk given by Robert Millet. Give it a read. Or a listen.
What We Believe, by Robert Millet--Text. What We Believe, by Robert Millet--MP3. It's kinda long, so it may be best to take it with you when you work out or are traveling or something.

I love you all! You are in my prayers.
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

June 3: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: New City, Vegitarian, and...uh...Parades?

2009-06-03T19:05:00.001+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Subject: June 3: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: New City, Vegetarian, and...uh...Parades?

All: 97968 (76.41KM). Sunday, I already had 73K, so I think that we'll stomp my old record in not too long. In the "random other things" department, I have another calling in the "branch"--I'm also the piano player. So I'm the Jelgava district leader, the Jelgava group leader (but we have Sunday School teachers and several priesthood holders, so I don't have to do too much), and the Jelgava group piano player. Anybody who knows me will know that I cannot play the piano. So, it's just the top line. Sometimes that pretty badly. But, we'll see how it goes.

Pictures: The top one--The guy on the left is Elder Fulcher. He's from Australlia. He just went home. I love the kid with all my heart. The others are Elder Jensen, Patterson, and Weston. All of them are amazing Russian-speaking Elders. Love 'em.

Next--Random. While waiting for Elder Udi (he was trapped in Estonia for a little while, so we went around the three of us), we happened to see the parade. It was Jelgava Holiday, and the parade went down Lielā iela, which just happens to be where our apartment is. So, this shot was from my window (right after lunch). This is the beginning of the parade.

Third--Jelgava isn't a very big town. This parade lasted for about 30-45 minutes. And I'm fairly sure 90% of Jelgava participated. Here's a thick line of students.

Last--There were a lot of cool performances, but this was one of the coolest. These were trick moterbikers. And one of the tricks was to jump onto the top of that car. It was rad.

PLEA FOR HELP!: Spears and I (my new companion) decided to go vegetarian this month. We made an amazing stir-fry and some great curry dish yesterday (because my comp loves to cook and is quite good at it). But we're desperately in need of meal ideas. If you would be so kind as to send a few, that'd be great! This invite is open for everybody. (just send it to mnjargyle@msn.com and my folks will forward it to me).

Q+A about Jelgava--the transfer last transfer (in Riga Center) was the best I have ever had. My district was amazing beyond all belief. Each member was amazing, and worked hard. And their passion was easy to feel and catch. I love each of them. A lot. And now I'm with another three missionaries. Also awesome. But I don't know them so well, yet. Here they are:
Spears--My comp. He's a super brain. It's really fun to have scientific chats with him. He's a convert, so it's also amazing to see how the gospel makes sense to him, as a cynical realist. He's really cool, and I think we'll have a good time together. And we get along quite well. We both like to argue semantics, so sometimes we have silly little arguments, but after we've both said our parts, we just move right on. Normal.

Farnsworth--He's a little (meaning a lot) quieter than the other three in the district. He's a Latvian speaker (as is Spears) who speaks really well. He was just told by President to focus on Russian when studying language. So, he'll leave a dual language speaker. He's not so excited, because he knows how much effort it's taken him to get to where he is now. He's rad. Both Spears and Farnsworth have been here (Jelgava) for a good, long time, and they know the areas pretty well.

Udi--He's the only Russian speaker in Jelgava (as far as missionaries go). He's a great cook, and reminds me a lot of Adrian (my cousin). He has a lot of good ideas, and I really don't know him very well at all. He did give us a bunch of great ideas for our vegetarian meals.
And that's Jelgava (well, add me in there).

So...yeah. Jelgava was the first place that I served, together with E. Doane. It's different in that only one member from when I was here (of the six) still comes to church. That'd be Māsa Bernšteine (who's actually a Belarussian), and she's gradually getting more senile. It is, though, the same quaint little town it was. People are a lot more friendly, and they generally are more open. And we still walk everywhere. At church now, there are anywhere from 12 to 24 people (and we have 17 church members (and kids too young to be baptized) here), so that's a really good change. They are all AMAZING!! Some have some odd quirks, but that's totally normal. We also teach English here, and our English students are wonderful!

Our apartment is not too bad. Could be better. It's a lot worse than my last one in Center. Ah, well. We're actually looking to move. But one random thing--I slept at the apartment where I lived the first time I was in Jelgava while we were waiting for Udi--and as soon as I entered, it smelled like Jelgava. It was crazy how nostalgic the smell was. Jelgava is about the size of half of Pļavnieki (which is one of the districts of Rīga). Jelgava is pathetically small in comparison to Rīga. Overall, yes, I love Jelgava. It most certainly does have personality and charm. It is not even remotely close to being as pretty as Liepāja. But, it's not too bad.

As far as teaching goes, we've been a little slow recently, so we don't really have a lot of investigators. But, people have been quite a bit more responsive while we've been contacting, so I think that we'll get some new ones quick. And we have a really good guy (A.) from English class who sincerely wants to know truth. So, next time (Thursday), we'll be teaching him how to pray so that he can find out from God what's true. And we gave him a Book of Mormon, so he can start reading about the powerful truths that were lost. If you'd like, you're welcome to read what I gave him. It's about God's plan for His children. I gave him the introduction to the Book of Mormon (so he knows the purpose of the book); 2 Nephi 2, which talks about the God's plan (in details hard to understand elsewhere); from 2 Nephi 31, about Christ's gospel (what we need to do in this life) through chapter 2 Nephi 33, which are just great chapters (and short); and Alma 42, which is more about God's plan. This guy has no job any more, so he has time to read. And he really wants to. So, I gave him chapters where it's really easy to feel God's spirit testifying of the truth of the content. I would recommend to all of you to read it, and then pray to God (in your own words!) to know if what was taught in those chapters is true. If you do it, God has promised that He will answer you. By the Holy Ghost. That's the only reason I'm here on a mission--I prayed and know that it's true from the Holy Ghost. It's possible for anybody who really is willing to act on that knowledge.

I didn't really have any distinct impressions last week--I'm just still testing the waters, and getting used to this land called Jelgava.

I love you all!!!! --
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

May 28: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Transfers, Voting, Robbery

2009-05-28T16:32:00.002+03:00

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
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

May 20: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Saules Muzejs, Old Rīga, Nice People, More Parades

2009-05-20T16:40:00.004+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Subject: May 20: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Saules Muzejs, Old Rīga, Nice People, More Parades

104,026 (81.14). Far.

So, Sister Jēgina (the church member who teaches us Latvian every week) took us on a trip through Rīga Old Town (Vēcrīga). She owns her own travel agency, so she knows a good deal about history and such. A few things that struck me:
3320: this is the oldest thing in Rīga. This wall was built in the 1200s. Yes, that thing is almost 800 years old. That is one of the most amazing things I have ever heard. Nothing like that is in the Americas, really.
3328: Old town is full of old, amazing treasures. This church is over 500 years old, and has the oldest open-air statues in Europe (dating back to the 1400s, if I'm not mistaken). This is the other side of that church.
There was a lot of other stuff, too, but I'll hold off. So that you know, Vēcrīga is amazing! Just don't buy too many suvenieres there--it's the most expensive place in Latvia to buy stuff.
S. Jēgina also took us to the Saules Muzejs (Sun Musium). It just opened this month, and S. Jēgina knows the founder. So, we looked around. You get to draw on the wall. Here's what it looked like when we drew on it. I picked the half of the wall that has my sun on it. If you know me, you'll recognize my sun. If you want to send something, I'll also include their address. The other picture is just a glimpse of what it looks like inside. The best part: after you draw on the wall, you also get to paint your own sun in the basement with paints and stuff! It was fun! I felt like a kid again...it's fun to just step back and live life for a while. Then live it though work again (more fulfilling the later way).

http://www.saulesmuzejs.lv/
Saules muzejs
Kungu iela 1, Rīga
Latvija, LV-1050

Feel free to send them stuff. You can just mail it to this address. If you have any suns.

Q+A: By hockey, I mean ICE hockey. Turns out, though, that "hoki" is also the word for "camo," like the color pattern. By protest I mean two ways--marches through the streets of people with signs, and thousands of people standing out in front of various government buildings to show their feelings in a unified way. None of these more recent protests have gotten violent, as far as I know. With the possible exception of the one last week...I'll get to that later.

Grave cleaning? So, my fam is going to take care of ancestors' graves this memorial day. That's such a Latvian thing. They're so into keeping their graves tidy. For example: 86 year old Helena has a bad leg (it's a recent thing) that's been giving her a lot of grief. She has to leave hours early so she can hobble to church on Sunday. I asked Saturday if we could come visit (maybe give her a blessing), and she said, "No, I'm planning on going to the graveyard today, to take care of our graves. Maybe after Sunday." She went on to tell me it's been too long since she was there last (about a month ago), and so she REALLY needs to get it done. Wow.

Other randomness: There was a gay rights parade last Saturday. In direct opposition, Latvia has established this month as "Family Month." We participated a little in the Ģimenes Svētki (family holiday) at the park. And many people were quite adamently opposed to the gays' blatent displays. This nation, more than less, still is completely repelled by such iniquity.

We also ate lunch together as a district last week. It was sooooo good, and way fun. I love my district. I made an amazing fruit salad (Sister Wilson helped decide how much sugar to put in it...). We had a delicious barbeque (the other elders have a grill on a porch--not many places have porches). The sisters made a noodle salad, and Sister Hermann (who worked at the restaurant Tucanos) made us glazed pineapple. It was basically the most delectable lunch so far of my mission. And that's saying a lot, because we went to this Korean place last week (for 3.60!), and I had some way yummy sushi. We'll be going to a Japanese place this week (same price!!), so I'll keep you posted. And that all-you-can-eat place was really good.

We'll be having another music concert this Friday. I love those.

This week we were told several times how great it is that people as young as we have such great faith and that we're acting on it. One was a very old lady we knocked into a long time ago (several weeks). She wanted us to come back, and she had her neighbor there. I was powerfully affected by her testimony. Here it is, in brief. This is my spiritual thought.

Ilona: My mother taught me a little about God, but not too much. She was a German, and when she died, I only had the Bible in German, which I could not understand. But, I always have gone to church each Sunday. You're so young, you wouldn't know; back in the Soviet times, church was forbidden. They liquidated the churches, and sent the preachers to Siberia. They would have military police outside of the churches that were left open, and record the names of people who attended. So, I would tie a handkerchief around my head each week and go. I worked in the Ministry (that's a government organization--used like the British use that word), and each time I went I would go back wondering, "Are they going to catch me today?" But God protected me, and they never did take me.
Since, I have been a very active missionary. I have given away more than 1,000 Bibles in both Latvian and Russian. I have given away more than 10,000 brochures and pamphlets about God and Christ, and I have talked to all my neighbors about it. Unfortunately, in my old age [she's in her 70s or so] I cannot do too much more, but I do what I can. I know that I have accepted Christ into my heart, and I know that He has protected me and has done miracles in my life."

She went on to tell about some of the miracles. She was protected in a great many instances. The Spirit manifested to me that God's hand was involved, and that His power protected her. My testimony was strengthened about God. Māsa Helena (that 86 year old lady in our branch) has several similar stories of divine protection when her family was slaughtered, when she was robbed, when she was farming, and others. Quite impressive to see. God really does care for His children. That doesn't mean He'll protect us from all bad things, but He will make sure that we can carry on in life.

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

May 13: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: LIEPĀJA!, odd encounters, amazing people, problems

2009-05-13T20:28:00.000+03:00

All: Well...101,156 steps (78.90KM).

(Jordan's mom who does the posting to this blog messed up--the pictures are at the end of the blog this time instead of the beginning--sorry! "))

So, first (really fast), pictures:

Top: Elders Long and Palmer on a horse in Jūrmala.

Next: Random: We went to this Arabian place in Jūrmala to eat, and they told us our food would be ready in half an hour. So, we just left. While we were gone, they put this rezervēts sign out. If you can't figure out what that means, then you are in some serious trouble. So, I put it on me so all would know that, during my mission, I am rezervēts. Haha.

Third: This is Sisters Wilson and Hermann (the only person whose face you haven't seen is my comp's--Elder Thompson. He was there, too. Just...I didn't have any amazing pictures this time with him in them). As you can see, Jūrmala has a pludmala (beach).

Last: Random. This is the most interesting stairwell we were in this week. In it, a little farther down, a guy invited us in and told us about all the corrupt bureaucratic billionaires who are destoying Latvia--buying homes and forcing people out, for absolutely no reason at all. It was an...odd converstation.

Then, this week has had very many memorable things. So, I wanted to hit daily highlights. Are you ready for this?

Wednesday: Jūrmala. We went as a district by train to Jūrmala, a city where Elder Long served once a long time ago. It is now closed to missionary work. But it was way fun. At that restaurant, we ran into two Americans from Bountiful, Utah (we don't think that they are members) who were just there for vacation. It was cool to meet them. At the electrotrain station (how you get back to Rīga), a very odd guy asked a lot of very odd questions (kinda serious, but those "haha, I'm so funny. Look at what I'm asking a minister" kinda questions). Then, on the train, right across from us was a guy who was reading what I was pretty sure was the Bible. So, at one of the stops, I slid over, and started to talk to him. He was way cool, and we had a great, 20 minute, spiritual conversation. It was really cool. And a lot easier than I thought it would be.

Thursday: So, this day was amazing. I went to Liepāja. Yes, my Sapņu Pilsetiņa. I went because my zone leaders (ZL) live there, and every transfer (6 weeks) the ZLs work with each of the district leaders (DL). And since I am a DL...anyway. So, I got on the 7.10 bus, and off we went (that's so early in the morning...). We had one stop for 10 minutes at Saldus. And a lady from the bus came out and asked us where we were from. Turns out she's from a Latvian family who immigrated to Los Angeles, Cali. So, she's an American. Her relatives owned a farm here in Latvia before they died, and she comes every summer to take care of it (she also thinks Cali is too hot in the summer). That was way random.
Then, just outside of Liepāja, there are windmills to power the Metalurgs. I was already pretty excited to be going to Liepaja, but when I saw those windmills my excitement redoubled. Then, entering the Town of Exquisite Beauty, I recognized almost everything. Every step brought greater joy to my heart. We then got home (where the missionaries live), where we ate, and the ZLs planned their week. So, I lost about 3 1/2 hours of time in my city. But oh well. Elder Grey and I walked to their area (at the top of the city--so I got to walk from the middle to the topper part (not Karosa, but right under the river) and do some knocking. It was amazing. I loved it. On the walk, we met an investigator who decided she'll be getting married so that she can be baptized. We talked a little bit. She's amazing...
Then, we hit the church (the old one), dropped off some stuff, and left again real quick to do some contacting. Elder Grey took me by the new church. Now, I didn't think my joy could grow more, but basically the seams of my soul were stretched near to bursting when I saw the mighty edifice. The outer shell is already done (basically a miracle in and of itself--construction usually goes REALLY slowly in Latvia), and the new church is HUGE. I think it's bigger than the one in Idaho Falls (my home town), when you take out the gym. Or maybe it's just as big, including the gym, I don't know. But I felt pretty amazingly joyful.
Then, I got to teach English with Elder Grey. In the room I used to teach in. That was great fun! I saw Rita (the girl who was baptized with Jana, who I baptized), Inese, Aivārs (an eternal investigator who is a huge fan of the missionaries...he was very excited to see me), Skaidrite Bokuma (an older lady who left when I was in Liepāja for England. She's back), and a few others. It was that--teaching and seeing those I love--that filled my heart with joy that was more than I could contain. It was sooo amazing!
After (it still gets better), I got to see the Beldavi, a family that I used to visit all the time. They had unexpected guests, so the conversation was brief, but I loved to see them anyway. After, again to the old church for Latvian class, during which time I again saw and this time interacted with all the missionaries, whom I love (including Sister Knight and Elder Brown, my MTC buddies. Sis. Knight is gone in only THREE WEEKS!!!! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!).
There's a verse in Nephi that reads like this: "He [God] has filled me with his love, unto the consuming of my flesh" (2 Nephi 4: 21). I never really understood what that means. There's other places where peoples' joy or other emotions overcome their physical abilities to maintain it (see Ether 12: 24, Alma 19: 14, and Alma 27: 17-19 for examples). I always wondered how that could be. Well...now I have some idea. I'm pretty sure that my soul was insufficiently large to maintain those emotions. And what caused them to swell the most was the memories of those I taught and loved in Liepāja. There's a song that has this line: "It's strange how things are changed when touched by love---you treasure things you never thought much of." I would undoubtedly like Liepāja if I just visited it for vacation. But my love for it comes from the love of those I taught and learned from there.

Friday: On the train home, the lady I sat next to (after about an hour or so) asked if I spoke English. She then told me, in broken English, "I have to use...the toilet room." When she came back, I struck up a conversation--about where she lived, if she spoke Latvian, or English. Turns out she's a Russian seamstress from Liepāja, and she only knows a little Latvian and a little English. She was really neat. We talked for about two hours about family, languages, dreams, and what not. Of course also the gospel. She taught me some Russian; I taught her some English. It was really fun to see how open people can be (because most people here are not).

Saturday: Today was Uzvaras Diena--The Day of Victory. This is a day when people wear an orange and black striped ribbon to celebrate when the soviets defeated fascism. Translation: that's when Russia came in and took over the Baltics. They call it a victory, and so the Russians celebrate it, to commemorate WWII's end in that part of the world. To Latvians, however, it's a reminder of the genocide of half their nation, the forced "Russification" of the remainder, and the subsequent oppression and destruction of their cultural traditions. Needless to say, it is a very controversial holiday. I wore my Nameja gredzens (Nameja ring--probably one of the only things still truly, uniquely Latvian), and an orange and black striped tie. So, I supported both. It was way tough, because almost nobody would answer their door (because there was a four day holiday, so naturally everyone was in the country). And those that weren't there (in the country) were watching hockey. Hockey is sooooooo huge here! It was a very slow week because of finals in hockey.

Sunday: So, what's on Sunday? Mother's Day! Church! I talked to my folks and little sis (way fun), and so did all my district (well...they talked to their own families, not mine) (...except the sisters...they didn't get calls. Until 23.00 or something that night. Then Sis Hermann's folks called. Sis Wilson still hasn't talked to her family for more than a few minutes, though). Then, I wanted to talk about some of the people at church (because we have some amazing people):
N.: an investigator of mine. He is amazingly smiley, happy, fun, and great. He's not sure why he needs to be baptized again, but loves church and is very open. His heart is pure gold.
Ainars: This is the kid E. Black and I baptized. His brother came to church last Sunday, which is huge because his brother was a 7th day Adventist missionary, and it was through him that faith was brought to the family. They both liked church. Ainārs is still doing well, and is still amazing!
Lauris: Just recently baptized. He was so excited to pay his tithing Sunday! He has a fiery desire to follow God, and sticks by his decision to follow. I love the kid.

The sisters' investigators now. First, I came on a mission for three kinds of people. The sisters are teaching one of each kind. So, here they are: (abbreviations or initials are used for investigators for their privacy):
Iv.: Direly wants to change her life. She really wants to be baptized, but she needs to break free of some things before she can. She is one of the most amazing humans alive! She has a daughter who she deeply loves, and she is just smiling every time I see her. Her life has not been anything close to easy, and she has overcome so much. She is now ready to keep progressing.
Evi.: She is just an amazingly good person who is always happy and wants to be even better. She wants to follow God, and all the reasons just make sense for her. She, too, is soon to be married (to her boyfriend of 16 years!), and then she'll be baptized! She's been involving herself more and more in the church, and she loves every second of it.
E.: This is one of the most amazing people ever. Every time I see her, she is better. I can see in her eyes that she is growing, improving, and understanding more about God every day. She's actually a church member, but she's been inactive for a while. Her life wasn't fulfilling, though, so she decided to accept an invitation to come back to church. She is now earnestly seeking the Lord, and the change for good is palpable. I love to see her for that reason. I also saw that same thing in Jana from Liepāja, and seeing people grow and learn like that is probably the greatest thing in the world.
Now you know them. During a discussion on the importance of family, we heard from the above people more than we heard from the teacher. That's not normal. It was an amazing discussion, and the spirit was there in a mighty abundance. Church is amazing! After, N. waited for me to be done with my meeting with the branch president, then walked with us home. Man, he's so good!

Tuesday: Right. So, I'm running out of time. Just one thing: we saw another protest. Workers have protested; teachers have protested; students have protested. This time, it was mothers who protested. This little country is soon to be in a heap of trouble--they've almost no money, and they have to keep reducing wages and such, but people can't live on less money, so you get a lot more protests. There hasn't been anything violent or anything, but there's a lot of contention. And, ironically enough, the one thing that could save the country is the one thing most people refuse to even talk about--God.

Accepting Christ, living after His guidelines, and developing Christ-like attributes elevates people (and by 'people' I mean also 'people,' as in a people. In Latvian: cilvēks and ļaudis), and will save a people. But people here, all of them together, refuse to change, and learn of these saving truths. It's really mind-boggling to me! And because I love them so much, it's very frustrating to see them stagger around with fatal wounds and refusing any kind of treatment. Before long, this people may just collectively bleed to death. But many are brought to God by their struggles and the circumstances around them, and they receive the healing Christ has promised.

I love you all. I know this church is true. God lives, and He loves you. You, personally. Yes, reader--you. He knows you. Your name, what problems you have. He loves those you love, even more than you do. He wants more than anything for you to come unto Him. Why not see what His embrace feels like? I'll let you know, that it is even more amazing than any other feeling I have ever felt. It dwarfs my emotions from my Liepāja trip. And those feelings from God are real.

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

May 13: Extra Pics

2009-05-13T16:12:00.002+03:00

May 13: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: LIEPĀJA!, odd encounters, amazing people, problems

2009-05-13T16:09:00.002+03:00

Subject: May 13: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: LIEPĀJA!, odd encounters, amazing people, problems

May 6: Baltic Chŗonīcļe:

2009-05-06T07:06:00.000+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Wed, May 6, 2009 at 4:31 AM
Subject: May 6: Baltic Chŗonīcļe:

All: So, I failed to state my distance from last week. Here's last and this together in one:
192,437 steps (150.10 KM).

This week's big news: I'm going to Liepāja tomorrow!!! Since I'm a DL (District Leader) for the district in Rīga Center, I'm going to get some training from my ZL (Zone Leader), and both of my ZLs are in Liepāja right now. So, I'll be with Elder Brown tomorrow in Manā Sapņu Pilsetiņā. I'm rather stoked.
By way of clarification, that kid was not playing the oboe and the piano simultaneously. He was playing one, and then later the other.

Pictures: Top: So...it was a holiday this weekend. As such, there were flags everywhere. I don't know how well you can see this (I couldn't get into a very good position for photographing, and without a tripod, this is the best I could get), but the flags go down the street in a straight line. It's a rather impressive sight.
Next: Speaking of impressive sights--we were on our way home last week, and we ran into this gorgeous sunset! So, I nabbed it. Those tall lights silhouetted there are the lights for Daugavas Stadions, the football stadium here in Rīga. The bridge is the bridge that leads to our house.
Third: So, two weeks ago, everything was dead and twiggy. Now, everything is lush and green. Weird, huh? It hasn't even rained, yet. Once it does, though, green will explode all over the place! This is the park not too far from our place.
Last: Finally, our district photo. It was cinco de mayo yesterday, so we celebrated with nachos, tacos, and such. Helvijs also attended, and it was a lot of fun! He's the one taking to picture. From left to right:
Me, Sis. Wilson, Elders Long, Thompson, Sis. Hermann (a recently new addition to Latvia), and Elder Palmer. Man, we rock.

Q+A:
Helvijs is doing well. He "escaped" from the hospital last week, on Thursday afternoon. He's very chill about his newly discovered condition. Sister Wilson was even able to give him his shot before eating tacos and such.
E. Thompson is from Cokeville, Wyoming, not very far from Idaho's border. He's actually quite famous--his name's on a plaque and everything. He got scholarships for his mad football skills. And he's a wrestler, and a runner, and in the band, and...he's multi-talented.
The Buffet was good. It actually was an all you can eat. And the food was amazing! They didn't have anything random or odd--just WAY good! It was...amazing...delicious...so good. I love it! I want to return!
Knocking was absurd. As already mentioned, it was a holiday. Latvians are weird about their holidays. They all go out to the country. So, we only knocked into Russians. Well, almost exclusively Russians. So it was a slow week.
Most interesting person is probably a random drunk. We were heading out to go talk to people on the street, and a drunk pivots and starts to talk to us. He was...rather wasted. He's also a church member! Oh, good--a member who doesn't follow his faith. Kinda normal for here. But we didn't talk to him too long because he was drunk. He also showed up to our English class, and yelled out stuff during our spiritual thought (although most of what he said was actually decently good). Random.
Oh man...so, M. is a guy from English class. He's...odd. In testimony meeting last week, he stands up and starts preaching about how he's come to find God--he has a device that points to things. It consists of a tube and an antenna. If you put gold in the tube, it will only point to gold. Put in any other metal--it only points to that metal. But he says that he uses it to find spirit energy, and that this tool is capable of telling the difference between good and bad spirits. And so he talks about that for 10 minutes during our testimony meeting. The best part was that after, our investigator, N., was talking to us and said, "That was great...for a physics class. That kind of stuff isn't for church." He get's it. And N. is such an amazing guy! Then, after that, E., the sister's investigator (a referral from a member) stands to bear her testimony. It was unbelievably powerful, sincere, and amazing! I was taken aback! She is soooo amazing!!

Speaking of amazing, the Jehovah's Witnesses are really good at missionary work. We were on a bus, and a guy gets on and sits down, and the old lady who was already sitting on the seat next to him opens her purse and pulls out some pamphets, and tells him something in Russian. She then stood up, and got off at the next stop. It was that simple. Wow! If only everyone shared their beliefs like that--there'd be so many less misunderstandings!

Speaking of--there's an amazing church member. Elīna, who is less active. She and her sister got baptized about the same time. They both then went inactive, and moved on with exploring all the things life offers. Now, Elīna hungers for the more to life she had access to, but didn't utilize (she was 12 years old, though...I didn't utilize it so well then, either). She is now meeting with the sisters, hanging out with Helvijs and other amazing church members. Her sister, however, is not fixing to come back. Her main attainojums (justification(?)), is that the missionary who taught her is off the path. They are friends on Facebook, and this former missionary has pictures up on Facebook of herself getting drunk and partying. And so Elīna's sister told the sister missionaries, "If she does it, why can't I?" Don't forget, people, that the good (or bad) influence you have is far reaching. If you hurt yourself with riotous living, you will also hurt those you have touched or who were close to you. Don't ever think your actions only affect you. That's a teaching of the devil. Stay true to what you know is good, and don't experiment in what is unsavory--it will tear you down.

And one more random thing: The Lutheran church here in Latvia wants to unify with the Catholic church. I think it has something to do with gay marriages. They WILL NOT allow gay marriages here. That's one abomination that Latvia has stayed away from. I just thought it was interesting. Since the whole reason there is a Lutheran church was to get away from the Catholics. Odd, huh?

I love you all. I know that this church is true! Gotta run! Keep reading and praying! And Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers!! Thanks to all of you who've helped me out in my life!
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

Apr 29: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Wha--what..? And other things.

2009-04-29T16:20:00.002+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Wed, Apr 29, 2009 at 4:40 AM
Subject: Apr 29: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Wha--what..? And other things.

All: It's scalding hot. It's creeping above the 20s (celcius, 70's in your degrees")), and the mission president wants elders to keep their suit coats on for a while. It's very, very hard to not die with temperatures creeping above the billions. But, when you actually get talking to people, you forgot all about yourself and focus on them. Only after is it hot for you. Well, and before. But whatever.

So, about the title of this message: It's p-day again. It was just p-day two days ago. WHERE IS TIME GOING?!?!?? It's absolutely ridiculous how fast it's disappearing! I've been working on not blinking, because each time I do, it seems time jumps forward a little bit. AAAA!!! Ok. Enough of that.

Now, for something not so pleasant (the other what?). Or, rather, even less pleasant. We are periodically given less actives from the branch list to go visit. We visited one this last week, and he was interested in having his records removed from the church. He is an ordained elder, and has been to the temple. He has received all the necessary ordinances of exaltation, and had the faith to live God's laws at one point in his life at least. Now, he wants away from it. That was very hard for me. Satan is working with all his might to destroy the membership foundation (especially the priesthood holders) of the restored church of God. This is also not the first person I have had to tell how to remove themselves from the blessings of the church. Because of my love for the people here, I have barely been able to keep in the tears at night, seeing how all these people would rather die with heavy hearts than live in freedom. The downright foolishness leaves me dumbfounded, and the pride in their false concept of reality is baffling. That was really hard for me last week.

However, even though it was a difficult week, my companion and I taught 15 lessons--9 of which were to new people. It takes a lot of work to teach that many lessons in this mission here. We were told that our goal was 15 lessons a week--missionaries balked at the do-ability. But with concerted effort, you really can teach 15 good, solid lessons in a home or at the church.

Pictures: Top - so...pigeons are EVERYWHERE. I hate those foul fowls. But, they are very friendly.
Next - too friendly. Here they are in the restaurant Lido. Very nice place. Why are they here?
Next - So, at the MTC, everybody takes a picture with their district pointing to where they are going. So, here is my district, for the last zone conference we'll have together, taking a similar picture to relive the moment. (WAAA!!!! SISTER KNIGHT GOES HOME THIS TRANSFER. SISTER HAGEN IS NEXT, WITH ELDER THOMPSON! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!?!)

Also something random: our buddy Helvijs is in the hospital. He's got himself diabetes, so they're cleaning him out. We went to visit him, and he's doing fine. His hospital is odd--we passed a large greek statue, a library, an art exhibit, a few drug stores, a cafenīca, and a few other shops (oh, and a tirgus (market) outside the building...a little one) on our way to visit him. He is doing alright. He's just a little emotionally down. Go figure.

Q+A:
What was your most interesting experience this week? Uh...I'm not sure that I can think of any that were MOST interesting. There was a lot of finding...that's always interesting.
Any scary moments? Not really. Just a slightly abusive drunk. Normal.
The most interesting door you knocked? Well, we knocked into this place last...erday, and a lady came out and began talking to us. She was super nice, but spoke mostly Russian. While we were talking to her, her neighbor came out. Now, every so often you have doors with more doors behind them. This had numbers 7 and 8 behind it. We rang 7, and this lady came out. But it turns out that she lives in 8. So, we told 7 what we do, and she said, "Oh. Not interested." She left. We kept talking to this lady, and a guy came out for a smoke. So, I talked to smoker guy while E. Thompson talked to nice lady. The whole thing lasted only six minutes or so, but it was rather fun, having people all over the place. Oh, and a suit of armor just outside the building next to the one we were in. And across the fence was a kid playing piano and oboe in the building there. And he was GOOD. Really good. So, all in all--it was an awesome few minutes.
Any funny companion moments? Well...he says words kinda funny. Like anything with an "ill" in it (hill, mill, pill, skill) he says like "eel." So, that was fun and random. Basically, he's just an amazing dude who busts out in random dancing and singing and such. Awesome, vai ne?
Any random foods you ate? Not that I can remember...we did find an all-you-can-eat buffet here (I had no idea anything of the sort even existed), so I'll let you know after that.
Your most unusual form of getting from one place to another? Well, we left Ķengarags, and then called the branch president to ask him when he could sign Lauris's baptismal record so we can send that to church records. He lives in Ķengarags, as it turns out, so we took the exact same trolly bus back into Ķengarags, and then grabbed another one back out. Made me laugh, because now all transport uses E Talons, so that they can trace your movements. And so they'll see that I went into Rīga, then into Rīga again...odd...because you cannot scan an E Talon twice on the same bus in the same hour, so I couldn't scan it again. It just will leave a funny record for them to trace later.
Any random Latvian trivia? Uh...Labor day is May 1st, because it's The Red Day. Good old soviets. It's actually a little annoying, because that'd be the best day to go pay bills for us, but our landlord will not be working (because it's labor day!). Random.
Your most spiritual moment of the week?? Lots of really good lessons...I don't know. It's really hard for me to give the most spiritual moment of the week. But I had a lot of good studies, many good lessons (again), and my testimony of the truth of restored prophets and priesthood authority was strengthened a lot.
One thing you learned this week? I guess I kinda already answered that one...but I also learned that I have an amazing district, full of powerful teachers. The sisters are absolutely amazing when they teach (as an aside). Ah! We also had a zone conference. I'll tell you a little more about that down below.
One answered prayer? Each time we went out to find new people, I had a prayer in my heart that we would teach. Each time this week (except Monday, and that's because we didn't listen to the spirit when He told us not to knock the top floor), we did.

And so..I am a little finding it hard to think. Ok. Zone conference. So, we were working on teaching skills. It was amazing to me to see how they all fit together: introducing a scripture, reading, and then explaining a scripture works so well with asking good questions. And those work well with answering to people's concerns. And all of that is tied together by a love for the one you teach. That was amzing to me.

We also discussed the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Because His atonement was not only for our sins, but for our weaknesses and hurts, we have access to grace. Grace is a power of enablment that allows us to do more than what would ordinarily be possible for us alone. Next time you are reading through the scriptures, and you see the word "grace," try replacing it with "enabling power," and see what the verse looks like. It's amazing that, as I applied that and prayed for strength to endure, I was able to handle anything that came my way. That, my friends, is how we receive the help of God.

That's all. I love you!!!
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

Apr 22: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Service Day, Baptism and Other Miracles, Call of Duity

2009-04-22T23:24:00.002+03:00

Apr 22: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Service Day, Baptism and Other Miracles, Call of Duity

2009-04-22T22:05:00.002+03:00

Apr 22: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Service Day, Baptism and Other Miracles, Call of Duity

2009-04-22T22:00:00.002+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 4:41 AM
Subject: Apr 22: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Service Day, Baptism and Other Miracles, Call of Duty

All: 89,797 steps=70.03KM.

Two--no, three--random miracles: So, we were at the bus stop waiting for Elder Long to get back from Tallinn, and a girl just stops, looks at me, and extends her hand in a greeting. I was on the phone, so it seemed rather odd. But, I shook her hand, told Sister Wilson (on the other end of the phone) to hold on, and chatted with this girl. She's a church member from Finland, who asked me about the work here, about the church, and also asked if I've ever been to Finland. I told her I hadn't, but would love to. Anyway, it was a quick, three minute conversation, but it made my day. But that was not to be all.

Earlier that day, a man had been standing with us at a bus stop. This was a man I had seen several times before. He scoots over to us, pulls out his documents, and shows us a picture. It's him, all in white, with two elders by a font. He tells us he was baptized quite a while ago. Our conversation was even shorter with him--he was a little odd--but still rather uplifting.

The third one happened here in the internet cafe. A black man by the name of Daniel comes in and tells us that he was baptized in Ukraine three years ago, and he just came into Rīga to go to school. He wants to know where we are found, because he really wants to attend the temple. He told us how faith had helped him, and how he still reads and prays. That was also very uplifting for me, especially because this has been an emotional roller-coaster for me this week. We'll get to that later. I just thought that you would like to know those random but amazing experiences. If you ever see missionaries, tell them hello and make them feel good--their work is not an easy one. And especially the best missionaries truly love those they serve, and they are hurt when they are rejected--not because they were rejected, but because that person turned down the true gospel of Jesus Christ and all the associated blessings. They could use a little pick-me-up from time to time.

Pictures: It was national Service Day last Saturday. We gathered as a branch to do a little cleaning in one of the less nice parts of my area. The top picture is me with a heaping helping of wood--just one of some 30 loads that we hauled to construct what you see in
the next picture. I call this our "Bebru Nams" (beaver house). I especially like the flag (shopping bag--that orange thing) on top. RANDOM CULTURAL NOTE: people here use bags from shopping centers (like Rimi and Maxima) to carry EVERYTHING. In fact, it is not unusual to see half the people on the streets with a bag from some shopping center filled with things not from that shopping center. We ourselves use them with incredible regularity.
The next picture is (left to right): Māsa Dombrovska, Māsa Treģe-Trede, eternal investigator Brālis Dumpis, Brālis Bite, un Brālis Lepešs. I love them all (well...I don't know B. Dumpis that well, but the others I do know and I love them with all my heart). Māsa Dombrovska gave the closing prayer in the baptism that we held right after service (photo below). Her prayer was so amazing. Everything she does comes straight from her soul. Her love for those in the church is palpable, and her prayer was so powerful--the entire thing was for Lauris, from start to end. The spirit was very strong.
The next picture is Lauris Vanags (who was baptized), and Aivārs Bite (who did the baptizing--first time for him). After the baptism, all the youth had a fireside with the Eastern European area president, President Piper. The youth asked if Brālis Vanags would like to join them. He did, and off they ran with him. It was so incredible!
And the last is still another picture I couldn't leave off. This is a view from the 11th floor of a dome we harvested (meaning we knocked on doors there). This is pretty much what the nicer parts of my area look like. This is very typical Latvia (except for the house in the front).

Q and A: I'm...at peace with still being here. No worries. Elder Thompson is amazing, and a powerful teacher. We're both pretty chill, so we get along quite well. I feel really jealous that E. Brown and S. Largey are in Mana Sapņu Pilseta (Liepaja, my favorite city), but I really don't. I'm thrilled for them, and am working hard in my area here in Rīga. I love the people more every day, and I got to attend a baptism!
Lauris is amazing! He didn't even know how to pray when we met him a month ago. Now his prayers are sincere, powerful, and from his heart. He has a strong desire to follow God, and do what is needed. I don't think there's any worries about him right now. He's actually getting ready to go do baptisms at the temple with the youth! I'm really excited about that (listening to conference and teaching about the temple REALLY makes you miss the temple...and I have at least eight months before I get to go inside one again, since we don't have a temple here within our mission boundaries....).

One more randomness--Sister Gomez's (a new sister, with S. Hagen right now) mother apparently reads my blog avidly. She even sent snippets to her daughter in the MTC. Hearing that last week basically made my week. Then it just got better.

On that note, church last Sunday was the best I have ever had. We had so many people there. President Piper was there, as well, and each of the talks were powerful testimonies of the changing power of the restored gospel. I spoke with many of the people, and felt my love for them more strongly than ever. I understood everything that was said, I translated well, and everything just went well. I'm actually not sure why I liked it more than any other. Perhaps I was just more prepared and willing to accept revelation from God during the meetings. But whatever the reasons, it was amazing.

I just watched the priesthood conference session of general conference. That session is for those who hold the priesthood, to remind and teach about our responsibilities as those who hold the holy priesthood. I felt very strongly that I am not living up to my requirements. I am not doing all I can in my responsibilities. And so, I feel strongly impressed, as an ordained representative of the Lord Jesus Christ, authorized to stand in His place here on earth for specific things, to command, as He did, "Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins," (Alma 7: 15).

"Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.
And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen." (2 Nephi 31: 20-21 ).

I know that there is no other way. I speak a word of warning and of invitation. Come unto Christ, and live after His laws, that ye may be free. Any deviation from the path He has set leads to captivity. Examples: here, alcohol and smoking run rampant. I have learned how foul, how debasing these poisons are. I hate both of these habits with all the passion I posses. They have destroyed lives, homes, and families here. They have a destructive power far more fearful than nuclear weapons (which I studied extensively for almost a full year). And they are a choking trap that steals your freedom. People here tell me that they don't want to follow God because then they'd have to follow these rules, choking their freedom. Then, they see their bus, make five or so long, hurried draws on the cigarette in their mouth, and get on the bus. Foolishness. And I will not even get started with alcohol, by far the worst of the two. Our district has an amazing investigator who is ready to be baptized. Except for one thing: smoking. She has spent over a month now trying to kick the habit, and has not been able to yet. She is reducing slowly, and she has gone some days without, but she cannot completely throw it from her. It literally has her captive. At that amazing Sunday last, all three Latvian speakers in sacrament meeting testified of the same thing. They thought they were free. They fought to gain more freedom doing whatever they wanted. But they have felt, and now they know, that they are more free when they follow the counsel of a heavenly Father given in love. Those are not so much things we HAVE to do, as much as they are guidlines to avoid dangers. If only people weren't so blind-minded and foolish, they could see that. But Satan has done wonders with the minds of men, sending them searching everywhere for peace, happiness, and joy. Everywhere, that is, but where they can actually find it. If you'd look, you'll see that all other organizations, programs, and tips not pointing to God do not last. And then people are left to find the next, bigger and better thing.

Again, using the words of Christ:

"O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?" (3 Nephi 9: 13). Christ will heal any wound of the soul we have. He is the only path to true, full, complete peace. Do not be content with any substitute, for all things will fail, except that which comes from Him (D&C 132: 7).

Out of love I plead, almost in tears, -- Please stop harming yourselves, and come to Him. Be ye healed. Come and test my words. I love you all.
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

Apr 16: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Transfers, Email, General Stuff

2009-04-16T15:51:00.003+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 5:04 AM
Subject: 16 Apr: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Transfers, Email, General Stuff

All: So, I got a lot of walking done.115,388 steps (that's 90 KM).

We'll start with transfers. Elderam Braunam (Elder Brown) was the unthinkable--he was transfered out of Rīga Center North. He's been there since he arrived with me last February (that's last year's Feb.). He's now serving in Beautiful Liepāja, with Elders Gray and Durnferd (a Russian). I probably spelled both their names wrong...sorry 'bout that. Sister Largey is also in Beautiful Liepāja (as is Elder McLaren), and she'll be with Sister Knight for her last transfer. They (those two sisters) are training a new sister who arrived yesterday fresh from the MTC. Sister Wilson is still here, with a newbie also (one that she has known since high school). Elder Millett's mission ended, so he went home. I'm still with Elder Thompson, and Elder Long is with Elder Palmer. I'm pretty stoked about my new district. I'm not very stoked about Sister Knight leaving next transfer for home. Elder Thompson, Elder Encs, Elder Payne, and Sister Hagen (who's also training, starpcitu) will be leaving next tranfer (so they've got two left), and then Sister Wilson is gone after 3! It's madness!!!! I'm feeling really weird right now...oh well. I'll soon be the oldest in the mission. YIKES!!

Pictures:

Top one: We kinda celebrated Passover last Wednesday. This was my "passover plate." Since we didn't have everything that's supposed to go on the plate, we just read through parts of the ceremony so that we could get a feel for it. I want to really celebrate a Passover sometime--I really liked this partial celebration.
Middle: This is a stairwell we knocked. I've never seen real artwork all over each wall. I just thought you'd like to see some, so I shot 4 of the walls, then got back to procelyting.
Last: These are hard-boiled eggs that our investigator N. gave us. They are dyed with natural things (using onion peels and leaves under that). Cool, huh?

Investigators:

So...teaching went well. I think we lost A., though. He read some negative stuff on the internet...and it bothered him. We talked, but he couldn't seem to get past it.
All the others went well. L. should be getting baptized this week (we'll teach him again tomorrow), and hopefully Ainārs Lignarskis will be baptizing him!! That'll be way exciting!
N. is still plugging along quite well. He had a concern about being baptized again. He didn't understand why he needed to be baptized again to the same Christ, if he has already been baptized unto Christ before. So, we explained what restored priesthood authority means. Look at it this way: if I was to walk up to you, and tell you that I was going to write you a fine because you were disturbing the peace or something, you would look at me with confusion and tell me to go away. Why? Because I'm no cop. I can't do anything in the place of the cops, because I have no authority to do so. In the same way, we must be baptized with the authority of God, so that it will be valid after death. I present the following revelation given to the prophet Joseph Smith: D&C 132: 7-14. This states very simply that if someone performs an ordinance or organizes something without God's priesthood authority, given to His prophet on the earth, then that organization or ordinance will no longer be valid after death. Another example is given here (Mosiah 21: 32-34). In this one, people had to wait to be baptized until they could have access to that authority. So, we just explained these things to N. I thought it may be valuable also to those who read this blog, which is why I wrote it out.
We also had an amazing lesson with a man named J. He called us last night and said that he'd have some time. So, we met up, and taught him. He's very skeptical of religion. He's a member of another church (an active one), and though he attends regularly, he cannot say he knows the whole Bible is true. He really needs to research something before he says if it's good or not. So, he is naturally very skeptical of the Book of Mormon, another witness of Christ, and of its origins. So, we taught about the Book of Mormon, and then read through part of Alma 7, which powerfully testifies of Christ, His atonement, and the power it holds. It's very clear how the Book of Mormon is a second witness, reading that chapter. I would recommend it to all. But, I prayed very hard during the lesson that he would feel the Spirit, and I will tell you that I felt the Spirit INCREDIBLY strongly throughout the meeting, and I'm pretty sure that he did, too. It was amazing.

Email: If any of you have comments to the blog (for those who know me and my folks, please keep sending your e-mails there for the rest of my mission), I now have another e-mail address, to which you can send your comments, questions, or thoughts. That address is argailins@gmail.com (that's really spelled Ārgailiņš, but since those letters aren't to be had...anyway). You are welcome to send any comments or questions there. I will not likely look at them during my mission, so if you're looking for a response before next year, then send your thoughts through the mail. Otherwise, I'll read all comments and continue using that e-mail for spiritual discussions and such afterwards.
For my spiritual thought, I would like to recommend you to two talks from living apostles. They are from the last general conference:
The Way of the Disciple, by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf (the text version of President Uchtdorf's). As I listened to this one, I felt powerfully impressed to refer you to it. I invite you to read it. It's an amazing talk.
None Were With Him, by Elder Dallin H. Oaks (the text version of Elder Oak's) This is a very powerful testimony of the Atonement.

I want you all to know that I know this is all true. God's church has been restored in its fullness in our days! I invite all to come and learn of it.

Thanks to all for your love and support and prayers. I send my love,
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

Easter Message

2009-04-16T14:07:00.001+03:00

This is from Elder Oaks comments from conference, which will be on my blog later. But I would like you to see this short film, using comments from one of God's living apostles.

I hope that you feel the power of it.

Apr 8: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Sad Week, Conference Rocks!, Provaslav čurčā preaching

2009-04-08T16:19:00.002+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle
Date: Apr 8, 2009 5:20 AM
Subject: Apr 8: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Sad Week, Conference Rocks!, Provaslav čurčā preaching

All: So, remember that mission goal I told you all about to finish the Book of Mormon by mid-March? Well...I just finished it last Monday. It is amazing! I took some stats that I want to share next time. Just one for ya: there are over 200 different titles for the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in that book. And He's mentioned a good deal more than once per verse. I believe the average was 1.6 times a verse (average, of course). If the Book of Mormon is not about Christ, I don't know what is! I'll give you the book break-down next time (hopefully I won't forget...we have transfers, so who knows if I'll still be here...).

Oh, 100,821 steps = 78.64KM..

Pics: Top: We cleaned a very dirty stairwell for service a while back (last week). This is my rock-awsome district!
Next: So, we got a little 3D paper dinosaur puzzle in a box of cereal. Here's my awesome comp after he completed it.
Third: So, how dirty was the stairwell we cleaned? This dirty. Ew. And this is only one of the gross parts of it.
Fourth: In celebrating Sister Wilson's and Elder Payne's birthdays, we went to Fridays. And here's her reaction to the singing of the Friday's crew. This was a fun p-day.
Last: That cathedral.(more below)

We didn't watch general conference with everybody because the broadcasting times were right when prosilyting (preaching...I have no idea how to spell that ridiculously-spelled word in English!) is the best, so we've been watching a two-hour session every day as a district at times when finding people to teach isn't so good.

Speaking of finding, it's only gotten hotter each day. Today it's actually +18° C.! That's way hot!! I've abandoned my coat, and soon my suit coat will follow.

So, this week has been a very sad one for me. Investigators:
A.: wasn't able to meet for a while, and seemed for a while to be avoiding us. He called today though, so I don't think we'll have too many problems.
L.: told us that he could accept some laws, but he's not sure if he'll live them. So, we had to explain that to be baptized, he has to be willing to live all the commandments of God. So...that was unexpected.
Then, I have been praying for charity. If you wonder what that means, read Moroni 7. Anyway, I feel a great love for the people here, and since people here really don't care about God, I have been filled with sorrow for them and their poor choices. And, I've seen alcohol absolutely everywhere, and smoking, which is especially saddifying when I see it around kids. Small ones.
Add to all of that, a very wonderful cousin died very unexpectedly. So...I've had a fairly heavy soul all week.

I have also had some questions about things, and the first two sessions of conference (findable here) had some amazing talks that answered my questions, and filled me with the hope that comes from living prophets and apostles in our days. I strongly encourage you to read the talks if you so choose.

To add to our investigators, we also have a great man named A. He works for churches, cleaning the insides and replacing the crosses on them. We visited him at his work place (a provaslov church+cloisteris (you'll have to find out what that is in English)), and we were able to teach him about the restoration of the gospel in an upper room of the provaslov church. So...I taught about the gospel's restoration in a cathedral-type building. I attached a picture, so you can see what that looked like.

If you research our church's history, you will find references to priesthood. I invite you to read this talk from a while back. It was very, very powerful to me. It is a discussion on the church's "most distinguishing feature": the restored priesthood authority of God. The talk is called Our Most Distinguishing Feature. There are also some talks I would recommend from this last conference. Well, they were all fantastic! Just go check them out! Especially the first and last talks in the first session (Robert D. Hales and President Eyring) and Elders Pino and Scott in the second session brought a lot of peace to my troubled soul this week. It's amazing how much we get from living prophets. Go read a few of those talks (or listen to them...I don't know what's available yet).

I hope you're doing well. Thanks for your prayers and support. I send my love!
--
Elder Argyle
@..@
(-----)
( >/°¥< )
^^‾\/‾^^

April Fools Day: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Investigators, Some good verses, Conference, people here

2009-04-02T01:59:00.001+03:00

From: Jordan Argyle

Date: Wed, Apr 1, 2009 at 4:53 AM
Subject: April Fools Day: Baltic Chŗonīcļe: Investigators, Some good verses, Conference, people here

All: APRIL FOOLS!! So, I know it's lame, but what do you do? There's not much that you can do for April Fools when you are a full-time representative of the Lord Jesus Christ all the time..anyway. Sorry. Moving on for the week:

83,890 steps (65.43KM)

Pictures:
These are old and stale, as I cannot get this silly card reader to read my camera card:
Top: So, this was a delicious cake. But, after only two days it was...slightly less than delectable.
Middle: I'm pretty sure I haven't sent this one. Yet another creepy thing used for advertising here.
Bottom: So...Elder Brown was learning how to knit, and was teaching Elder Thompson (my comp now). E. Thompson was VERY interested in learning how.

Daylight Savings: Terrible...ly wonderful. Kinda. It's great, because the mornings are more like they're supposed to be--not all sunny and bright. But, the nights...It's way weird to be knocking a stairwell when the sun is still out. It totally weirds me out! But, it's nice, because then the creepy places aren't as creepy, since there's still a little light. And it's finally starting to warm up! That's totally unrelated to the change in clocks, but I thought I'd let you know that it's 5° out right now! That's basically a balmy summer's day! I can't wait for the week where the temperature is perfect! Then it just gets too hot. Then another week of perfection, then too cold. Silly weather. Oh well--It feels great!!!!

As far as food storage here--they also have a goodly number of bugs and pests (as you have some 18 or more doors in your stairwell, all with people behind them, and some are less than clean), so I'm not sure if under beds or tables would be the best. But they probably could. If they had beds. They usually sleep on couches here--very few people have a bed. And there's no way to get under that couch, really. But they probably could hide some cans under it--with a little effort. I'll suggest it. Any other ideas? Feel free to send them--this is kinda a serious problem.

Shepherd's pie is my second favorite meal. I don't have a first. That spot's still open, so that when I try something better, then it will have a spot. But, I will say that my mom makes an amazing sausage, rice, and apple casserole smothered in cheese, and that pretty much is tied with Shepherd's pie. That stuff is SOOOOO good, and so simple. But, I've adopted saying things are my second favorite, because I want for there to be a spot available for the first when I find it. I'm always learning and searching, so it's a good thought.

Other Q and A:
Q. Are most of the people there already pretty religious?
A. Absolutely not. Most people think religion is a checklist. They were baptized. They attend church sometimes. Check. No longer need to think about it. The other majority group is atheist, because during the Soviet rule, God was expressly forbidden. They had people posted by the doors of churches, and would take notes on who was going to church. They tended to be the first to vanish when the leaders decided that there were too many people, or that there were spies or something along those lines. I actually very often hear this:
Me: "Are you a believing person?"
Them: "No."
Me: "Could I ask why not?"
Them: "I'm a product of the Soviets. I just don't believe. Viss."
That's a common response and conversation. And people in general just don't care to learn more or anything. They don't particularly care about God. And every night, after a day of finding, I am almost in tears at the extent to which Satan has hold on these wonderful people! The Soviets were most definitely guided by the devil, for it is "by their fruits ye shall know them" (Matt. 7: 20 (16-20)). And the fruits are most definitely evil (Moroni 7: 16-17). Enough of that distasteful theme.
People here, if they actually even listen to what we say (most just see "Religion" and they don't even listen to what we actually say), then they are attracted to the thought that Heavenly Father loves them, and that we can know surely of God. Usually, however, they have their "Religion" check box marked, and don't care to spend their time listening to something that would only check that box again.
The only trends I have been able to see is that people who have an open mind are attracted to a sincere testimony. That is it. It matters almost none what is said. It has always (that I have seen) been in the "how" it was said. I told one lady that "I know this will be very valuable for you and your family" and she said, "Write my number." This came after a discussion on what we teach and such, for about two minutes, and she was just sitting on the fence, because she actually did want to know more, but she didn't know about how much time she had or anything. But, when I sincerely told her that, she gave me her number, and now the Russian sisters have a lesson with her this week. I don't know how it will go. If I hear any more, I'll let you know.

The rest of the questions were about our investigators, so:
A. is sick. He pushed back his baptism because he didn't want to finish getting sick. It happened anyway. So, I'm not sure if he'll be too excited about getting immersed this weekend. I will be calling him today to offer a blessing for health, and we'll let him know the blessings of baptism again, and see what he decides. We met him through English classes--he's one of our students. He's in his 40s, if I'm not mistaken.
L. we got him from the old assistants when Elder Encs went to Imanta. He's wonderful! He's pushing hard to learn and to understand. He's willing to do everything that's needed for baptism. He's willing to live every law about which we tell him. He's amazing!
N. is another from English class. He's a Baptist, but likes church and such. He's very open and sincere in his searching.
And for miracles: We introduced A. to a bunch of people last Sunday, and he had an amazing talk with the branch president, so that was good. Also, L. and Ainars Lignarskis (yes, the one that Elder Black and I taught who was baptized last September) befriended each other. And N. came to the baptism last Saturday, and actually talked to a lot of good people at church. I saw him very carefully watching Māsa Zariņa draw out the plan of salvation. He was even asking her questions. It was very exciting to see all of our investigators mingling and enjoying church. Oh, and church was spiritually very powerful!
We have not been able to go back to I. this week--she left town. And I misheard the phone number, so I thought it ended 999, not 222. "Divnieki" sounds a lot like "Deviņnieki" I guess. But we now have her number, so we'll call her tomorrow to see.
J. is A's friend. He's very sincere about searching, and he is praying about the Book of Mormon and showed his seven-year-old son the Restoration film in Latvian. His son loved it. He's basically rock awesome!

Really fast, I want to say a word against pornography, since everyone around me is looking at it (why would you go to a public place to do something so foul?). It is disgusting, morally degrading, addictive, and fights off the Spirit of the Lord faster than anything else I have heard of. If you get addicted to it, it will slowly degrade your morals and weaken your resistance to other temptations, until Satan has an unhealthy level of control over you. I would like to reference you to a talk given by the prophet of God a few years back. This was given in a meeting of those who hold the priesthood of God. This talk describes very well the dangers and consequences of pornography. If you feel that it is not dangerous to your spiritual well being or to your family's, then please read that talk.

Then. I was reading in the Book of Mormon, and I had some thoughts. I want to copy my thoughts as I had them a few days ago. I was reading the book of 3rd Nephi (that's when Christ comes to the people in person as a resurrected being). Then follows the book of 4th Nephi, when everyone lives after Christ's laws, and angels and Christ Himself serve them often. Also in that small book, we read how the people fell into sin, and how eventually almost all people forsake the gospel and Christ. Then follows the book of Mormon, the same Mormon for whom the book is named. That is when Moroni explains what he has seen, and his son finishes the last two chapters therein. There are many good warnings from the people who sited and abridged the entire Book of Mormon. Here were my thoughts:
"In my finishing the Book of Mormon late (should have been done two weeks ago...), I was reading this week Mormon 7-9. This is the last prophet to write in the Book of Mormon, and he does something I have never seen in any other book of scripture--he speaks directly to the reader--to you, to me. He talks to the reader about the truth of the Book of Mormon. It is remarkably powerful! It comes after his entire people had been destroyed by their enemies, having openly rebelled against their God and denied the Christ. I invite you to read the evidences he gives us. Then, read again Mormon 9: 22-25. I challenge you to search the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Is not the power of God manifested through the pioneers? Through the early prophets? Through modern prophets? Behold, I testify unto you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that the power of the Almighty God has been and is shed forth in plentiful abundance among His saints of His restored church, even from Joseph Smith's first vision of the Father and the Son to now.

'26 And now, behold, who can stand ^aagainst the works of the Lord? ^bWho can deny his sayings? Who will rise up against the almighty power of the Lord? Who will despise the works of the Lord? Who will despise the children of Christ? Behold, all ye who are ^cdespisers of the works of the Lord, for ye shall wonder and perish.

27 O then despise not, and wonder not, but hearken unto the words of the Lord, and ask the Father in the name of Jesus for what things soever ye shall stand in need. ^aDoubt not, but be believing, and begin as in times of old, and ^bcome unto the Lord with all your ^cheart, and ^dwork out your own salvation with fear and trembling before him. (Mormon 9: 26-27)'

Is not God's power even in the translation of the Book of Mormon itself (Mormon 9: 32-34)? I have seen a multitudious host of blessings and miracles in my short 21 years. I know, by God's almighty power, that He is 'a God of miracles' (Mormon 9: 10-19; 2 Nephi 27: 23; 2 Nephi 28: 6). I call on all who profess faith in the mighty God and Jesus Christ to learn of their restored truth, come unto His kingdom, and enjoy the blessings He has restored. To all who believe not, I 'speak by way of invitation,' saying: come, test these things, and learn of your Father in Heaven, your Lord and your God, and of the plan He has laid for your happiness, both now and for eternity, 'that ye also may be partakers of the fruit of the tree of life' (Alma 5: 62). For I know, and millions before me, that 'this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end' (2 Nephi 31: 21)."

And such were my thoughts. We will be having General Conference this weekend. I will not be attending this weekend all sessions, but next week as a district we will be watching it, so I will likely not have anything to comment about that next week. But, I would encourage all of you to get onto lds.org, and watch it. These men who speak are living apostles, who are the only people in the world who hold the "keys of the kingdom," as was given to the ancient apostles during Christ's time (Matthew 16: 17-19). It is worth your time to listen to them, because you are listening to God Himself (D&C 1: 38).

Know that I love you all! You are in my prayers! God bless, especially those of you who have reason to sorrow now, either from a death, or misfortune, or because of your own decisions. Remember the Lord's plea: "...will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?" (you can read it in context, if you like: 3 Nephi 9: 13). He does heal.

Please send my regards to the Jackman family, and let them know my love and prayers are with them. Janin sent me some of the most fun letters to read. I will dearly miss her.

love,
--
Elder Argyle
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