Monday, July 29

July 29, 2013

Čau, mani draugi,
I hope this email finds everyone happy and well. It won't be super long, but I'm grateful for the opportunity to write. Thanks for the letters I've gotten from everyone. I love getting them and keep the coming. :)
Well, the work here is still slow. We work hard and we are doing our best to focus on our personal, companion, and mission goals in all we do. We learn a lot on a consistent basis. This week we had an exchange that was awesome. I stayed in Imanta with Sister W while Sister N went to Liapaja. I did travel to Liapaja to drop off Sister N and pick up Sister W, but I didn't really get to see much. I had a great day long exchange with Sister W. I learned that I can do more than I think I can do. I was really nervous to be with a missionary who was old as me (transfer wise) and to have to be on our own, but we did fine. :) We taught a lesson to a less active together and it went really well. (he even came to church the next Sunday!) and we talked to people on the bus. I was surprised by how much I can really speak and understand Latvian. I doubt myself sometimes and I really need to stop doing that. :) But the language is coming. I love it! It is beautiful and while it can be a challenge at times I love the challenge! I have learned some great studying habits while I've been out here and I'm so grateful for that.
Here is some information about the few lessons I had this week that I wrote to President Boswell. :) 
"Alise is YSA age. She is 20, and we've been working on getting her to come to Family Night but so far she keeps saying no. The lessons with the Balstaedts was good. She talked for a while right at the beginning before we could get her to stop, and still would interrupt us while teaching to try to teach us something. I don't mind hearing what she has to say, but she says a lot of the same things over and over and she could talk for hours without stopping. We had planned to watch the restoration video and keep the meeting really short, but she went on and on. At one point I stopped her and what she was telling us about Christ. I thanked her for her testimony, and told her as much as we would love to hear all of her testimony we couldn't keep using the Balstaedt's time. I then testified of my own relationship with Christ and how our church teaches that each of us are to have a relationship with Christ and it is personal and that our goal in this life is to help people return to God by coming unto Christ and using His atonement. I testified that we have God who is our father and that Christ is his son and our redeemer. She hadn't really ever separated Christ and God before and that fact that Christ was our brother really through her off and caught her off guard, but she said that she thinks that that could be that Christ is probably her brother. I told her that I would like her to read the Book of Mormon to understand how I have gotten my relationship with Christ and I asked her to start with 3 Nephi 11 and read as much as she could of Christ's ministry on Earth. She said she would. I interested to see where our lessons with her go as she still won't meet with us at the church for lessons and we don't want to keep doing them outside. I also don't feel quite right about doing them at her home. I'm not sure why, but it doesn't feel right. So, I'm not sure where our lesson will be with her this week. We have a meeting set up for Wednesday, but haven't figured out where we will be meeting as she still says that she doesn't want to use the classrooms of our church to meet." (Alise is the person I met with in the picture from Elder Balstaedt)
"We also got one other new investigator this week. She lives in the same building where the other families lived in Bolderaja. (a boony area about 30 minutes by bus from Imanta) Her name is Jana. She has a daughter, and a husband. The husband and their daughters godfather were there for some of the lesson, but they left halfway through. Their latvian wasn't as good and they weren't really participating. We'll try to get the husband involved more next time. But with Jana, she really like the discussion. She has had a lot of questions about what of all these churches could be true and she has been to a lot of them, but doesn't claim any church now. She prayed at the end of the lesson and has a lot of potential. We'll be doing a pass off lesson for the next lesson and passing her off to the Russian sisters in Imanta, because they are all really Russian and it is their first language."
Well, that is all I have time for this week. Sorry that they aren't longer. Send me some questions and I'll tell you more about the work and what you want to know. I can't remember what I have already told you and what you don't know that I assume you know. :) Anyways, much love. Remember the gospel is true. There is a Heavenly Father who loves you and he sent his son Jesus Christ to pay the price for our sins so we could return to live with God again. Always remember that!
Much love,
Sister Cloward

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