Monday, August 30, 2010

The Thirty-Third Letter

August 30, 2010
Dear Family,

Well, another week has gone by and the transfer will be over on Thursday too. This has for sure been the fastest transfer yet! It will be really interesting to see what happens with transfers. I will go into that more after I explain about my week. So, haha I can't really remember a ton from this week... uhhh... the weeks just meld together for me. It's officially Fall for us here though! It has been in the 60 all week. It was way hot one day and then it got cold the next and it's been that way ever since. The leaves should start changing colors pretty soon, so I'll be sure to send some cool pictures! So that's been way nice for it not to be hot anymore and it's been a lot easier to work. It will be freezing before I know it though. I'm just glad that I really only have to go through one full winter. So, starting with Tuesday, I think that was a pretty normal day and we just worked hard. Wednesday I was on exchanges with Elder Gearhart who is one of the Zone Leaders and he is way cool. He is an older missionary so it was cool to learn some things from him and learn how to be a better missionary. So, Wednesday was really good and then Thursday we just did the normal stuff, but we found a few good lessons and it was a really good day in that sense. One guys name is Igor and he is a very intelligent guy with a sincere desire to learn. So we will see what happens with him. I don't know what will happen cause it's still too early know, but I will keep you updated. That is if I stay here this next transfer. Oh! I found out last week that Romanas, the Dad from Klaipeda got baptized last week! So that is way good. I guess as missionaries we really have to realize that sometimes we only play a part in someone’s conversion to Christ. So I'm very happy that he continued after I left Klaipeda and now he will be able to go to the temple with his family in a year and they can all be sealed. It's really such a great thing! So Friday we had a normal day and Saturday too. Nothing really exciting... But Sunday we got to watch the Kiev Temple dedication and that was great! The Baltic States weren't supposed to be able to watch it cause we aren't part of that temple district, but I think that President Dance pulled some strings and we were able too. It was great to see President Monson and to hear him speak and it really was a great dedication. President Monson was popping off a lot during his talk and said some really funny things. But it was a really unique chance that we all had to watch it and it's so cool that it is the first temple to be built in the former Soviet Union. That's pretty cool... Anyways, it was pretty cool to be a part of that. They just broad casted it to the chapel here in Vilnius and we actually got to watch it in English which was nice. So this morning I got a haircut and we got our food for this week and now I'm emailing! So, like I said, this week is transfers and I'm not really sure what is going to happen. I was pretty sure that I was going to stay in Vilnius cause I've been moved around so much, but I'm not so sure now. Elder Lindell found out last night that he will be training, which blew his mind, and they are going to be taking two elders out of Vilnius already cause the sister are coming back into Vilnius. So this transfer there have been 6 Lithuanian elders but this next transfer there will just be 4 and 2 sisters. So 2 elders will leave and now there needs to be room for elder Lindell to train, so 3 elders will actually need to leave. Sorry, this is confusing... So I'm thinking that I will probably leave again. Anything could happen, but yeah... we'll see what actually ends up happening. I just don't want to leave again. I'll let you know next week I guess. Come what may and love it! Anyways, that is my week and an update on how things are with me. I did appreciate your comments though and your thought on the parable of the sower. I actually read that really recently and I thought it was a great comparison. To be honest, I'm not sure what group Lithuania falls into and I'm not sure why they never stick around very long. I just think that to live the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is a huge change in life style and a lot of them just can't handle it. Satan really tries hard on these people and so many of them just don't have the strength to follow it through. Most of the time we teach them a first lesson and then we can't get a hold of them again. There just isn't any commitment... I don't know... I will have to think about it more. There are always those that the Lord has prepared and the fit right into group IV! There just aren't a lot of them. It's just our job to find them. So I think that a lot of the people fit into the first, second, or third groups. I just wish that I could do more to help them. It does help a lot to try and understand were the people are though, so thank you for your thoughts. There just isn't a whole lot that we can do. We can meet with them as much as they will allow and try and keep daily contact so that they remember what they have felt, but when they aren't with us and feeling the spirit, it is so hard for them I think. They are living in the world. Hmm... That gives me a few ideas... Maybe we can just help them to better feel the spirit when they aren't with us. I will have to brain storm. Thanks for everything guys and for the constant love you show me! I'll write again next week! Love ya!

Love, Elder Leishman

229 days down, 501 days to go!