Week 24

June 22, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday-
Today we went shopping. I feel like I am losing my sense of style because of a few things, first of all, I ask myself, "can I wear this as a missionary and be professional?" Also, the style in Europe is a little different and not quite my taste, I guess it is for the better so I won't spend too much money on clothes.

Tuesday-
Today we had zone conference in Vilnius. It was so good to see everyone. They talked a lot about studies and contacting. This summer they are really putting a focus on getting outside and talking to everyone. We are concentrating on filling our area books with names so that during the winter, when not as many people are out, we can still be effective with all of the people we contacted during the summer. They had an example about throwing a pie in people's faces when we talk to people on the street. Rather than just going right in and testifying about everything you know to be true, to instead only give them a slice of pie, just listen and get to know them. Sister Seaman and I even had to teach a part in zone conference about getting members excited to do missionary work. We were so nervous. Right before our part some Elders taught about referrals and pretty much taught our part and did the role play we were going to do, so then we were really nervous. It went pretty well. I had to be the missionary in the old play and I was so nervous for that. Sister Harding talked to us about listening and how it is such an excellent skill to have and use. People really do love talking about themselves and it really does help them open up. President Harding spoke about the Sabbath Day and how to make it more meaningful. We also heard the testimonies of the departing missionaries, next week we lose three Elders and one Sister, it will be really sad to see them go.

Wednesday-
Today we finished up our service for Jura. She is so sweet, when we were leaving she told us we could come back any time, and that the Elders had her number if we wanted to call. I think she will miss having us over and having a little company. Today we were walking around talking to people, we were saying goodbye to this one lady we were talking to, when all of a sudden, this man comes up with his cigarette waving it around and talking to us and showing us this little book. I remembered him, he came to church one time and we met him before he left in a hurry right after Sacrament meeting, but I could not remember his name. He said his name and I remembered Sister Bestenlenher never met him, so she was a little scared since she thought he was drunk or something. He just wanted to talk and show us this little book that was in Russian, we didn't really understand what the book was. He asked us where we were going and I just said, "not far." Then we said goodbye and kept walking, then he came up to us again and was talking to us and asking where we were going. There was a gas station right there nearby, so I said we were going there, so then we said goodbye again and we went in since he was watching us. When we came back out, there he was across the street waving us over. We figured out his little book was a New Testament and he invited us to come to this other church. We just said, "we can't because we are missionaries." I think he wanted to walk us to wherever we were going, but we finally were able to say goodbye for the last time. I think that he is lonely.

Thursday-
Today we had zone training. I really like the part when they spoke about morning prayers and how sometimes it can be hard to stay awake. There was a suggestion from someone to keep it short and just ask for the things you will need between this prayer and your next prayer (breakfast). I really liked that idea, just concentrating on what you need little by little, and not for the whole day. We are saying prayers all throughout the day, so I thought it was a good tip. After zone training we had to hurry to a lesson with a member. We wanted to get a referral from this member named Birute because we know that she likes to talk about the church with everyone she knows. She was super sweet and has like five people that she knows that she thinks might be interested. She also fed us some very interesting food. She gave us this soup that wasn't too bad, she also gave us Silke, which is raw herring that is marinated in carrots and onions. Apparently this dish is eaten a lot around Christmas, I hope I never see it again. I even tried it. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten. I thought maybe if I cut it up and moved it around my plate she would think I ate more than one bite. When she left the room both Sister Seaman and I put it all into our napkins and put it in our bags. Later, our bags stunk so bad of fish, all of the juices were leaking all over into our bags. She also fed us omelets, which were pretty good, and bread with jam along with apple cheese. It was very interesting. We went home and we aired out our bags, hopefully we aren't still smelling like fish.

Friday-
Today was my last exchange with Sister Bestenlenher for the transfer. Who knows what will happen. I am a little nervous because I would love to stay here in Kaunas West with Sister Seaman, we just get along so great.

Saturday-
Nothing much happened today, but we did get to go way far out to our Branch Mission Leader's house for our Missionary Coordination Meeting. It was fun, he had pizza and other food.

Sunday-
Today was Elder Hanson's last Sunday, it is so sad. But I was able to get a lot of pictures with the members.

Love,
Sister Brown

 On the empty bus.

 New Hymn book.

 Zone Conference.

 The Swiss's, who will be going home in July.

 10:30 at night.

6:30 in the morning.

Week 23

June 15, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

I didn't write about everyday this week because it feels like I never have enough time. I will do my best to remember everything that happened this week. On Tuesday we had district meeting where Sister Penrose spoke about prayer, then Sister Bestenlenher spoke about humility. It was a really good district meeting. On Thursday when we were stopping by some previous investigators houses we stopped by one of our member's neighbors. Monika (member) is really old and had fallen and broken her hip and was in the hospital. Her neighbor let us in and talked about how she was doing and told us that she fell again and broke her hip again. Her neighbor asked if the branch could help put Monika to bed every night. It will be a great service opportunity for the members. On Friday we had interviews with President Harding, they were super good and motivating. He talked a lot about studies and how they were going. I think that studies really are one of the most important parts of the day. Sunday I had to translate the first part before the talks, then I handed it over to Sister Seaman. I also had to give the talk to the Young Women about their priesthood responsibilities, it was a pretty stressful day, but I made it. Sunday evening we went to stop by at some previous investigators, a woman named Rasina let us in. She loves the Book of Mormon and has read it several times, she also believes our church is true and everything makes sense to her, she even understands priesthood authority, which is super hard for people to understand often times. It was wonderful, I think she could easily be ready for baptism as soon as she decides to come to church. It was a good week!

Love,

Sister Brown

 

Week 22

June 8, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday-

Tonight we had a lesson with Margarita and Vytas. I was really quite nervous because I had to lead the lesson and I did not feel ready. I am always pretty nervous for lessons anyway, because you want to follow the Spirit and teach to their needs, but plus, I had to lead. It went really well, though. They had kept our commitment to read the Book of Mormon intro. Margarita is the daughter of an investigator in Siauliai Branuslava. Branuslava is not progressing, she doesn't meet with the missionaries anymore, yet she still goes to church most Sundays. I hope that if we can get her daughter progressing maybe she will want to meet again. We spoke about baptism and Vytas felt like he wanted to learn more and make sure he can follow the commandments. Margarita was baptized at 20 and thinks she does not need to be baptized again. The lesson went really well and they said, after some convincing, they would come to church on Sunday.

Tuesday-

Today in district meeting Sister Seaman spoke about having an eternal perspective. She used a map as an object lesson, she had a smaller map and she asked up to find a specific street on that map. We couldn't find it, but when she gave us a bigger map of the same city it had more detail and we were able to find the street. The small map is like our perspective, we can not see all of the little details in it. The big map is like Heavenly Father's perspective. She committed us to look for the little details in life so that we can more fully see the full picture. After district meeting I went on exchanges with Sister Penrose. This evening we had a lesson with Diamonta, Diamonta is one of their investigators who had a baptismal date but she decided to not go through with it because she has a lot of questions still, and they aren't just regular questions, they get into some pretty deep stuff, answers that I don't know, let alone to say them in Lithuanian. But it went really well, I was able to help answer some of her difficult questions. She is very Catholic, and I think compares a lot of things to the Catholic religion.

Wednesday-

Today we had service and language thought. After service we had a lesson with the woman we are doing the service for Jura. It was a very hard lesson, she thinks that she is all powerful. We even tried to use an object lesson for priesthood authority where Sister Seaman wrote out a bus ticket and gave it to her as if it were her ticket and said that if Kontrole (the people who check our tickets) came on the bus, would they accept it, and Sister Seaman got a response that she has never heard before, she said she would look into their eyes and hypnotize them so they would accept it. Anyway, it was just a very interesting lesson.

Thursday-

Today I went on exchanges with Sister Bestenlenher. We had another lesson with Diamonta, which I was really nervous for again because I wasn't sure if either of us would understand her questions very well. Luckily, Edvinas was there as well. I am almost positive they will get married if she gets baptized. They are so perfect for each other, they are both vegetarians and Edvinas has a big crush on her. He was able to help answer some of her difficult questions.

Friday-

Today we had a lesson with Jurga. We talked about service and teaching and learning in the church. We also talked about how we can't meet with her much longer because she has to choose to act and make changes, and we are out of things to teach her. We then had a lesson with a recent convert, Ade. It was a really good lesson about prophets, Agne was there helping and we had some really good discussions.

Saturday-

Today we got to learn how to make zeppelena, it was really fun and a super long process. I am excited I learned how, though, so can make them when I get home. It is really a lot of work, so I guess Lithuanians do not make them very often.

Sunday-

Today we had church, Sister Bestenlenher had to translate for Sacrament meeting for the first time today, I bet she was so nervous. Translating is really hard. That evening we went to a less active/recent convert's house where we were planning on teaching about keeping the Sabbath Day holy, but then it was chaotic and she was not there at the beginning so we sang children's songs from the songbook. I think they enjoyed them, afterward we bore our testimonies and said a prayer. The lessons at their house are always super crazy, their whole family is less active except for the grandpa, it is hard to feel the Spirit there. I felt like singing songs with them helped. 

Su Meile,

Sesuo Braun

 Sister Bestenlenher and I.

 Sister Bruce and I.

 Making zeppelena.

 Emilijia's big dog.

Emilija. 

 Zeppelena.

 Valdas with the hat Sister Seaman made for him!

 New Hymn book!

Rearranged furniture.

Week 21

June 1, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday-
Today we went and ate at this really cool restaurant called Viva Kaunas. It was really good. We have always wanted to eat there. It is this restaurant that looks over the whole city, it is beautiful, but it was also super hot outside so we were sitting outside and we were all sweating to death. It felt like summer was finally coming. After that we met this really neat lady who seemed super interested, her name is Laima. We talked with her outside her door for probably 45 minutes. She asked if women were equal to men in our church because Lithuanians have this attitude that women are not equal to men. It is really sad to see women who have bruises and black eyes sometimes.

Tuesday-
Today we had district meeting where we all shared an analogy or object lesson. There was a really neat one that Elder Fraiser shared, but could be difficult to use with an investigator. You ask them to put their arms up like an airplane, then you try to push them down and they have to keep their arms up. This is them right after baptism, strong and clean. Then you have them put their arms down and you rub their back going downward and that represents sins, then you have them put their arms back up and then you try to push them down again and this time it is a lot easier because the sin weakened them. I thought it was neat because I didn't know you could do that, then they can't resist as well. We watched more General Conference. I really enjoyed the talk about the tree in Lehi's dream and how it isn't enough just to partake, but we need to stay by the tree. I also enjoyed the talk about perspective and how we can't make important decisions from an earthly perspective but we need an eternal perspective. After that we were supposed to have two lessons at the church, but neither one showed up so we ended up being at the church all day because it is a far travel and we had to be there for a devotional that was being broadcast that evening given by Russell M. Nelson. Since we were there all day we decided we needed to go out and talk to people. We went out and we talked to this one woman, we asked her name and as she was saying her name her dentures fell out, she just kind of laughed and put them back in. It was so funny, but we were able to give her a Book of Mormon and our number. That evening we had the devotional, which was broadcast live from Moscow. It was super good and I learned so much. Sister Nelson spoke about just the first four minutes when you are with someone, how it is the most important time with someone. In the first four minutes you should just show that someone how you love them and be interested in them. She said you can heal any relationship with the first four minutes of a conversation. Be a peacemaker for the first four minutes, put away the contention. Then Elder Nelson spoke about 10 things that he has learned and knows to be true, I thought his outlook on the aging process was cute. He said the aging process is a gift from God and how special it is to think that Heavenly Father is slowly preparing you to return, He wants you home. He and Sister Nelson both spoke a lot about the gathering and scattering of Israel. It was really neat, Sister Nelson spoke about the last time she was in Moscow and she was prompted to ask everyone their lineage in that meeting, she went through each one and when she called theirs they stood. They had in that meeting eleven of the twelve tribes present. We are in the part of the world, the Eastern Europe area, where the tribes are scattered and the missionaries here are part of a fulfillment of that prophecy of the gathering. It made it so much more important to me than ever before. It is motivating me to work harder. He even blessed the Eastern Europe area with an apostolic blessing, it was really a neat devotional.

Wednesday-
Today we go to go over and continue to help Jura in her stairwell. She has a very good eye. She keeps  finding spots that need fixed. The service might go on for the rest of my mission. I think she wants it to look professional. I can't blame her, really. Today during branch council we got a lot of tips about Arnoldas that will help us meet with him and teach what he needs.

Thursday-
Today Sister Bestenlenher and I went a little crazy and decided to make a whole thing of brownies and put ice cream on top and try to eat them all. It was a bad idea, we were nice and we weren't even halfway done. Afterward we had to eat a carrot to help us feel better.

Friday-
Again, we didn't make good decisions and we tried to finish the brownies and eat muffins and a smoothie. We ended up throwing the rest of the brownies away. We felt good about that decision. Sister Seaman and I decided to go find some past investigators, we got let in twice. First was at this woman named Dala's house. Her husband wasn't home, his name is Igoris, she really wants us to come back. It was even her idea to give us her phone number. Then we got let in to a couples house, their names are Vytas and Margarita, they investigated a long time ago and are even still in contact with their first missionaries. We are definitely going to go back and visit them again. Margarita's mother is Braunuslava in Siauliai, she was one of Sister Hoskin and I's investigators.

Saturday-
Today we had a Relief Society activity where we were planting flowers around the church. It was really fun and they look beautiful. After the activity we had a baptism, it is the Elder's investigator, Sigitas. It was so good, he had been investigating for such a long time, so it was wonderful he was able to get baptized. It gives me hope for some of the long time investigators that we have, maybe someday they will be baptized.

Sunday-
Not much happened today. We had church and then afterward we had planning we had to do since we didn't have time earlier in the week. We did find out that they now have a green hymn book in Lithuanian, so I might have to order one of those, I am super excited.

Love,
Sister Brown

Week 20

May 25, 2015

*Week what?...I don't know anymore!!!*

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday-
Today we had fun in Akropolis (the mall) where I would bring Sister Seaman cute outfits and she would try them on just for fun. It was really fun and I came up with some really cute outfits. Then we got to go to this church called Resurrection Church. It is like the tallest building in Kaunas and you are able to go to the top. It was beautiful, you could see all of Kaunas. It was also really windy so we had to hold our skirts down, it was a lot of fun though. After that we were able to walk around and talk to people. There was this old woman we talked to and she was super sweet, she just kept talking and talking. She felt Sister Seaman's hands and how cold they were when Sister Seaman shook her hand, then while we were standing there she just held on to her hand and was rubbing it because they were so cold. She was sweet, she offered to buy us some food, we finally had to tell her after we had talked for probably 45 minutes that we had to go. When we went to leave we gave her a hug and for some reason, like a Lithuanian, I kissed this sweet old woman on the cheek. I guess I am turning into a Lithuanian after all.

Tuesday-
Today we had district meeting where Sister Seaman spoke about listening. It was really good, we were committed to instead of speaking when we normally would, to listen. It is really good and I am excited to practice my listening skills. After, we watched some more General Conference, we watched some really great talks. After district meeting the Elders made ice cream shakes for us, it was really nice of them. We were able to stop by this old woman who had been a past investigator, she was super sweet and invited us in. Her house was super nice and clean and organized. She had all of these clothes hanging up on her deck. She gave Sister Seaman this very interesting dress, she was super sweet. We spoke to her for awhile and she didn't seem too interested in learning about the Gospel, I can see that we might have an in if we keep visiting her and serving her. After that we got to walk in the rain to get home, it was so much fun, I love walking in the rain.

Wednesday-
Today we had a language though with Agne from the branch who speaks perfect English. She helped us by having us teach, then she would give us some pointers and help us in the language. After, we go to go serve at Jura's. We finally got to paint, it was so much fun. Afterward, Jura read our future's, it was very interesting. Apparently, I am supposed to marry someone who is fairly rich and I don't have an easy time communicating with others. If I have a feeling that something bad will happen, it will usually happen, so I guess I need to listen to my feelings. I get my energy from others around me.

Thursday-
Today we went on exchanges, I was with Sister Bestenlenher when we were walking, then on one corner we saw a little girl who was maybe 6 or 8 and she started talking to us, we couldn't understand really well, but what we did understand was that her and her family were hungry. She wanted us to come with her to her house, we thought about it and decided it would be okay. We went in and it was just a little shack, her grandmother and two other women were there, they were asking us for money. We told them we didn't have any, then we left. We felt terrible afterward. We decided we would buy some bread and potatoes and drop them at their gate, when we were coming back from the store we saw that someone was buying the little girl food for her family, we were so happy. I hope that it helped them out. It was a difficult situation and we were not quite sure what to do, but I think that is what Jesus would have done.

Friday-
Today we helped the Elders in a lesson with a long time investigator named Dedona. She was so sweet. We talked about baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Saturday-
Today we were able to have a lesson with Ade, although he was an hour and a half late we were excited to finally have a lesson. It went really well, we were able to talk about some questions he had about our first lesson. Our first lesson was a month ago, so it was good to review and make sure he understands it all.

Sunday-
Today we had a wonderful meeting called District Conference in Vilnius. It was wonderful, we were able to see all of the missionaries and all of our members in other cities. It was so good to see everybody, it was fun, it was like Christmas.

*Since I memorized The Living Christ I try to recite it in my head during the Sacrament to help keep my thoughts focused. If you don't want to memorize it you could even just read it during the Sacrament.

Love,
Sister Brown

Week 19

Pioneer children sang as they walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked...

May 18, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday-
Today I got to go to Kauno Pilis, which means "the castle of Kauna's." It was really fun. We took a ton of pictures, especially with the dandelions, there are a ton of dandelions here. I think they are quite beautiful. We also went in to this old cathedral. We then went looking for this less active who lives really far out, we weren't sure how to get there since it was over this huge interstate. So we walked in the grass along side the interstate. The whole time I was worried about getting fleas or ticks. We did eventually find him.

Tuesday-
Today we had district meeting where Sister Penrose spoke about gratitude. It was really good, she showed us a super cute Mormon Message called, "Moment's that Matter Most." It was really good and makes us stop and notice everything we are grateful for in life. I said I was grateful that I got to stay in Kaunas West with Sister Seaman for another transfer. I also said I was grateful for dandelions. After district meeting we watched General Conference, I really liked Rosemary M. Wixom's talk and the story about the girl who had questions and doubts even though she had grown up in the church. I like how she said to focus on what you know because what you focus on increases. If you focus on what you don't understand, your misunderstanding will increase and your testimony will decrease. Afterward, we had a lesson with Jurga. It was a really good lesson, she was able to really open up about things in the past and her feelings about those things during that time, everyone shed tears. As I sat there in that lesson and I saw all the pain she was in from her past mistakes all I could think about was how much Heavenly Father loves her and how much he wants to take that pain away. She shed a lot of tears over it with us, I can't imagine how much she thinks about it and how much more pain it causes her. I feel like she finally trusts us enough to share all of that. We really didn't plan the lesson to go that way at all, but I think Jurga needed that to realize how much she needs baptism and the Atonement. After our lesson with her we were very sobered, we were heading home when we saw an old lady with two crutches and a bag, we offered to help her. She was super sweet, we walked with her to where she was going. In the evening we went by a less actives house, but they were not home, so we were waiting for the bus when a blind girl that Sister Seaman knows from one of our members came with her grandmother guiding her, she was heading to music class. We got to serve again, her grandmother was staying there and the blind girl was meeting her mother at the stop, so we helped her on the bus and then got to chat with her all the way to her stop, then we helped her get off of the bus. It was a good thing we were there because the bus was very crowded when we got to her stop, I don't know how she would have found her way through all of those people. I was so grateful for all of the service opportunities we had.

Wednesday-
Today we got to go serve Jura and help prepare her stairwell for painting. Today we got to sand all of the plaster we put on last time. We also plastered a few more spots while others sealed the sanded plaster. It was really good, I always really enjoy going over there to serve each week. We went out walking tonight where we met three amazingly prepared people, we go their numbers and hopefully we can start meeting with them soon.

Thursday-
Today, at some point while we were out walking, a bird pooped o my bag. I didn't notice till after the fact. It was pretty close, and I was lucky that the bird missed my head. While waiting at a bus stop we saw a giant spider on his web and we saw him move so fast when a bug landed in his web, we saw the spider wrap it all up and everything, it was pretty disgusting. Sister Seaman also kicked a pigeon. So today was really a day full of nature.

Friday-
Today it was so cold, we were outside walking around, but there were not many people outside to talk to. We ended up going inside and making phone calls and cleaning up our area book. It felt way more effective, especially since we were able to set up a meeting with one of the old investigators on the list. We are super excited. Everyone seems to be having a really hard time making time to meet with us.

Saturday-
Today we had a Young Women's activity where I had to prepare a spiritual though. We were going to make lasagna with them, but no Young Women showed up, so we ended up just making it with Kamila, who is the counselor, then planning which Sunday's we would be teaching. I have to teach tomorrow, I am super nervous. After, we had a lesson with the man that we had called yesterday, but he ended up not showing up.

Sunday-
Today I had to prepare for my lesson for the Young Women, but no Young Women ended up showing up, which was unfortunate because I was really excited about my lesson. We had a return missionary and his family in Sacrament Meeting today, they are from Utah. He had to bear his testimony after not speaking Lithuanian for 5 years, that is a really long time. He did really good though. In Relief Society things got a little heated over a disagreement. One of our members has some real testimony issues and we had an investigator in there with us, I hope she is not scared off. We made cute little shoes out of paper and shoe attacked the other sister's door, it was so cute.

I just started the Book of Mormon for the second time on my mission. I am on the part about Nephi and his family arriving in the Promised Land. As I read I am marking everything that has to do with faith. I really notice how much faith Nephi had, even when everyone else, even his father, were doubting and fearing.

Love,
Sister Brown

Shoe attack!!

Week 18

May 11, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday-
Today we deep cleaned our apartment, we have apartment inspections this week. We cleaned so good, it looks great.

Tuesday-
Today we watched a few talks from General Conference. I really liked M. Russell Ballard's talk in the Priesthood session to missionaries, or soon-to-be missionaries, or return missionaries. "RM does not mean retired Mormon." I thought it was so funny and so true. Right then I made a plan for when I get home, that I make sure I am balanced and healthy by doing something for myself that is for my spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional health. I wrote down ideas of things I could do each day. So now I will have less time to waste when I get home because I will make sure I fulfill each need, each day. Today I also went on exchanges with Sister Bestenlenher. We went to the hospital to visit one of their previous investigators. We were in there looking of her room and we had taken off our tags so that we wouldn't get in trouble, then Sister Bestenlenher thought we should put them on before we went into her room so she would know who we are. So Sister Bestenlenher had hers out in her hand when a nurse asks us what we are doing there, then she grabs Sister Bestenlenher's tag and looks at it and then tells us to leave. So we leave and after searching for another way in we decide to call the woman we are supposed to be visiting. She ended up coming down and talking with us outside. She was super sweet and showed us pictures from when she was younger.

Wednesday-
We had a lesson with the Elders today, it was my first time teaching in front of the Elders and I was so nervous. Today we had our cleaning inspections and we passed. Thanks, Mom, for teaching me how to clean well. Like true Lithuanians we served them cookies and tea.

Thursday-
Today Sister Seaman, who was in Riga training as Sister Training Leader, returned.

Friday-
Today we went to Vilnius for zone training where I had to teach a 5 minute section about extending commitments. I was so super nervous. It was a really good zone training, they asked several people to each and it was really good to hear from other missionaries.

Saturday-
Today Sister Bestenlenher and I were together again, and this time for her cleaning inspections. We made the senior couple breakfast, which I think they really appreciated.

Sunday-
Today was Mother's Day in America, so of course I got to Skype my family. This morning Sister Seaman made German pancakes, which were delicious, and I made tortilla chips for my first time, they turned out pretty good. We ate them with chili before we Skyped our families, it was super delicious. It was super good to see our families.

Sorry it is short this week, not too much happened.

Love,
Sister Brown

Week 17

May 4, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday-
Today we tried to go to a museum that we thought was open, but we should have known better. Nothing is open in Kaunas on Monday. There are a ton of museums, but none of them are open. So instead we walked around cute old town. We found a frozen yogurt shop and tried it, we also went into a few souvenir shops, it was a good day. We also ate for dinner this delicious tomato soup that Sister Seaman made with quesadillas. For the second time on my mission, the keys to our apartment got left in the door when we left. We didn't notice we didn't have keys until we got home that night at 9:00, so we called the Elders and asked if they could bring our spare key. We waited on the stairs and were planning when one of our upstairs neighbors came up the stairs. I guess she had grabbed our keys and had left a note in the top of our door. She was really nice to have kept our keys for us. We felt bad because the Elders were almost to our apartment when we called to let them know that we had our keys.

Tuesday-
Today in district meeting I taught about courage. It was really quite perfect because yesterday in one of my emails I got a quote from someone that was said by Elder Bednar in General Conference, "correct knowledge of and faith in the Lord empowers us to hush our fears because Jesus Christ is the only source of enduring peace." I also read in the Liahona about courage and there was a quote that I really enjoyed in that article, "courage, not compromise, brings the smile of God's approval." I really like that because everyone, especially me as a missionary, is looking to be approved as a representative of Jesus Christ. After I taught about courage we were able to watch a few General Conference talks. I loved the talk by Wilford W. Anderson about dancing and maybe sometimes not hearing the music. I also liked Dale G. Renlund's talk and that story he told where the quote was said, "the Chuch is like a big hospital, everyone is sick in their own way, they come to church to be healed." We have to remember how everyone is imperfect in their own way, we have to accept each other and become better. We need to learn from each other.

Wednesday-
Today was so cold! We had to put our coats back on for today. We were supposed to have two lessons tonight, but they fell through so we practiced some Lithuanian words with Emilija, it was fun. We then had Branch Council, which got a little heated. Afterward we were leaving and the door handle on the gate had rusted off. On the way home, we were riding a marsrute home, which is another type of transport that is faster than the buses and you pay a little more money. So we were riding it with the Elders when these two boys got on, the one sat behind us while his friend payed. I could smell him the moment he sat down, he was drunk. So then he starts speaking to us in English, we are not supposed to talk to men anyway, but especially not drunk men. The Elders were so nice, they said that instead of getting off on their stop they would ride with us to our stop, and Elder Hanson gave up his seat so that we could move away from the drunk man. I am so grateful for the Elders and that they stayed on with us.

Thursday-
Today I was on exchanges with Sister Bestenlenher, we walked around and spoke with people, it was fun. You really get to know someone pretty well when you just are walking with them.

Friday-
Today we had a sewing activity which we made banana bread for. It was a really good turn out. We did three quilts and sewed these little ball things. We had one previous investigator come and like three less actives come to the activity. It was really fun. This evening we had a lesson with Ade, the recent convert at the senior couple's house (the Bruce's), it was really good. Ade is super good. We were talking about the law of chastity and we asked him how he keeps his thoughts clean and he said he gathers with other people and never is not talking to someone, even on the walk over he was talking on the phone.

Saturday-
Today we had service, I learned how to plaster walls, it was fun. I am learning all kinds of new skills here on my mission. We then had a lesson with the woman we are serving with the Elders, that was very interesting. Her name is Jura, which means sea. She likes to talk a lot, so she would go on and on. She even told Elder Hanson his future. We didn't really get to have a full lesson with her, but it was very interesting.

Sunday-
Today was Mothers's Day in Lithuania. Ade brought a friend to church today. She is a Nigerian girl, her name is Folu. She was really nice and Sister Seaman was able to sit by her and translate for her. She was super interested in meeting with us after all three hours of church. We are hoping to meet with her this week, she even said she would go to district conference that is coming up. While we were out walking around tonight we spoke with this one woman who was very interesting, I started talking to her and she kept repeating the number 24, which I guess is the number of years she has been baptized. Then she started talking about money, she kept repeating the hand action for money and saying over and over, "money, money, money, money." She was saying that is all everybody wants is money when they should just love each other and then she hugged each of us and then she started singing, "hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah," over and over with her hands up in the air looking up, then she asked us to join in. So here we are on the street singing hallelujah with this crazy woman. Then after that she asked us where we were from and we said America, and then she started talking about Abraham Lincoln, then Clinton. Then she went back to singing hallelujah, this time we didn't sing with her, and after we said it was pretty and she said, "no it wasn't, because you didn't help." Then she asked if we sing that son, we said we sing. At some point in the conversation she had linked arms with me and we stayed like that for awhile. She was sweet, but a little crazy. We finally had to end it because she just kept going on and on. So that was a very interesting experience tonight.

I have not been sick at all. We weren't able to visit Liuda this week because she couldn't, but we are going to try and go tomorrow. I don't know how far I walked, but my feet do get pretty tired by the end of the days when we walk a lot. I get to Skype here at 6:00 PM our time, which is 9:00 AM your time, we get to Skype for 40 minutes. I think it would be best to just add Jarom to the Skype thing when we do it. I am excited to see you on Sunday!

Love,
Sister Brown

Week 16

April 27, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday-
Today Sister Seaman was not feeling well. So we stayed inside in the evening so she could rest and feel better. We think that it is the changing weather that is making her not feel good. We have been in a transition since March. It still seems freezing cold here and we can not wait for it to warm up.

Tuesday-
Today we had district meeting where Sister Bestenlenher spoke about hope and Sister Seaman spoke about having faith to find. It was really good, for hope they spoke about living in the now and hoping for things now, not in the future or in the past. We then got to watch some more of General Conference, I really enjoyed L. Tom Perry's talk about how media portrays the minority as the majority, and sometimes it makes people feel like they are the minority rather than the majority. I liked how he talked about all of the religions agreeing on the family issues in the world, we all believe that marriage between a man and a woman is important. Today I got to go on an exchange with Sister Penrose, she is great. We went around stopping by some less active's homes. One woman named Liuda, who has been a member for like 20 years, let us in and talked with us for quite some time. She said we could come back and visit her next Tuesday. We are really excited, this is the first less active that is willing to let us in and talk.

Wednesday-
Today Sister Penrose and I ended up riding the bus for quite some time. I was talking to a girl who spoke English on the us, she thought it was all very interesting why I was in Lithuania. She also thought it was strange because it is not tradition she said. I then asked her if she believes everything the Catholic church teaches, she said not everything and she doesn't really go very often. I thought in my head, some Lithuanians are so caught up in tradition they forget to look for truth. She was really sweet, though. Tonight we had a lesson with one of our investigators who has been having trouble smoking for a long time now, and it is the only thing that is holding him back from being baptized. His name is Arnoldas. We had a lesson about this 15 step program to help him quit, I am really excited to see him try it out and quit.

Thursday-
Today Sister Bestenlenher and I were on exchanges and we had a lesson with Jurga. It was a really difficult lesson because we couldn't understand her very well, or know how to respond. It was rough, but we were able to make it through. We had English in evening where we were supposed to teach about prayer, but we ended up just talking about food the whole time, they loved it.

Friday-
Today we did a lot of walking. I walked for probably about 7 hours today, it was intense. We did see some funny and some interesting things while we were walking around. There was one old lady we saw while we were walking who was riding her electric scooter/wheelchair in the street with the traffic, talking on her cell phone, she was probably going like 5 mph. Then we were riding the bus to go and meet the other sisters when it stops at this stop and before the doors even opened I could hear this woman outside yelling at these boys. Then the boys and the crazy, maybe drunk, woman get on the bus. She continues to yell and the boys are egging her on. Then she raises her hand and I see that her hand is all bloody. The bus driver didn't even leave the stop when she opens the door and is telling the woman to get off of the bus. The woman stayed on until the next stop, then she got off, leaving a little blood behind. It was very interesting.

Saturday-
Today we went back over to serve the woman we served last week. This time we continued to sand and then we washed the walls, it was fun. It was so nice outside today, it was probably the warmest day I have had in Lithuania. We then just walked around and talked to people, it was really fun. There were a ton of people out and a ton of things going on around town. we walked by two different little street carnivals with rides and things, we then walked around old tow, which is beautiful. Old town is just adorable, it is like what you see in the pictures of Lithuania, the cute part. We walked down it, there were so many people, all of the restaurants had tables out and tons of people were eating outside, and there was music and people singing. It was fun.

Sunday-
Today I had to speak in church. They even made me sit on the stand. It was a very interesting Sacrament meeting. First, Elder Fraiser, who is fresh from the MTC, spoke and nobody could understand him but I thought it was neat that he didn't even write it all out or anything. Then it was me. Then two recent converts spoke. First, Ade, who speaks English so Elder Hanson had to go up and translate while he spoke. It was really hard to translate for him because, first of all, he is from Nigeria so he has an accent, it can be hard to understand him. Second, he got so into it he was going really fast and saying a lot of difficult words to translate. When Elder Hanson would pause before translating, probably thinking about how to say it in Lithuanian, Ade would think he didn't understand his English and start repeating it. The next recent convert didn't have a lot of time to speak, but he got his testimony in. Afterward, everyone just kept coming up to me and complimenting me on how I spoke and telling Sister Seaman and I they couldn't understand Elder Fraiser and we need to teach him how to speak and lead music, since he leads for Sacrament meeting.

The weather is so perfect here right now, finally! I don't have to wear a coat or tights anymore! When I first got here the sun would come up at about 8:30 AM and set at about 5 PM. I think Estonia is more like Alaska. Now the sun comes up at about 6 AM and sets at about 8:30 PM. It will only set later and later and rise earlier and earlier as we get into summer. The healthy eating is still going okay, I definitely still eat more vegetables than I did and smaller portions, but we make a cheat meal once a week. Last night we made chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes, but we had salad with it. We got to watch the women's session, I also loved the analogy.

Love,
Sister Brown