March 3, 2014

Čau!!

Šī nedēļa bija brīnišķīga nedēļa!!!! (This week was a wonderful week!)

We had a week full of miracles. It was so wonderful to see the Lord's blessings in our lives. We have a baptismal date and 7 new investigators in one week!! Another miraculous part, is all those investigators are still investigators (sometimes they get scared or don't really feel committed and stop talking to us or show up for anything, but that isn't happening this time!). It is wonderful. I'll write about a few of them below.

But first, my mom and a few others wanted to know more about my responsibilities as Sister Training Leader. The biggest thing I do is help with training and care of the sisters. I make sure that they are physically, emotionally, and spiritually healthy. I don't fix their problems, but I support and train to help them overcome them. We go on exchange with them to help them with training, make sure all is well with them, and to help them learn. An exchanges is when I go with one sister from a different companionship for 24 hours and Sister Scott goes with the other companion. We had an exchange this week with the sister from Jelgava. I was with Sister Green. She came out with my last trainee Sister Mitton. She is from Preston, Idaho. I love her a lot and it was fun to work with her. Here are my thoughts to President Boswell:

"I'll admit I was a little scared to bring them both to our area (it used to be one companionship in each area, but we were counseled by the mission president to have them both in our area), because it was new, but Sister Scott and I felt that we needed to do that, and now we are so grateful that we followed the Lord's and your counsel. We had a week full of miracles! As you can see by our numbers (which we 7 new investigators and 9 member present lessons, the norm is 1-2 new investigators and 3 member present lessons), we were able to work hard and really help this area grow. There is still a lot to do, but we are looking forward to this next week of bringing the sisters from Imanta (sisters Stout and Mitton) both into the area."

As for my exchange with Sister Green. It went really well. I really enjoyed getting to know her. I love her so much. She is so solid and helpful. She is also very willing to work hard. We worked on asking questions, especially in teaching moments on the street, and it was a lot of fun." She taught me a lot and I enjoyed seeing a different view on missionary work and learning from her as well.

We work with 3 companionships of sisters (all the Latvian speaking sisters). There are 8 total Latvian speaking sisters, 2 being me and Sister Scott. :) The companionships are Sister Scott and I in Liepaja. There is Sister Mitton, my last trainee, and Sister Stout, from my MTC group, in Imanta (my last area). Also, Sister Woodland (also from my MTC group) and Sister Green (who I just did the exchange with) in Jelgava. And Sister Ormsby (from my MTC group) and Sister Branchflower (my 1st trainee) in Center (my very first area). They are all so wonderful and now I know them all very well! :)

I'll explain a little more about missionary organization right now. We are divided first in zones and then districts. My zone pretty much always will stay the same. It will only change when we get new missionaries or when missionaries go home. My zone is all the Latvian speakers. We have 22 in our zone right now. My district (there are 4 districts in our zone) is 7 missionaries. Sister Scott and I, our district leader Elder Webb (from my MTC group) and his Russian speaking companion, Elder Cook, and a threesome of Elder Christensen, Elder Fallett, and Elder Wilson. It is fun to work with them all. They all are great leaders and hard workers!

So we got 7 new investigators this week! Several being referrals! Practicing really is paying off!! (we practice asking for referrals daily) It is wonderful to be able to see that when we are obedient, the Lord blesses us.

So first Investigator: Viktoria -She is super cute. She came to church again (her second time), and really seems to be liking it. She is a cute girl who is really interested in the gospel. The mom is fully supporting her and her decisions, but isn't showing interest herself yet, but said that she would meet with us and Viktorija, so that she knows what Viktorija is learning. We have plans to go over at some point this week and I will sing for the family. I am really looking forward to it. Viktorija has a baptismal date for May 24th (her birthday) and I am so excited to help her prepare!

We also have Juris and Lauris with big potential. Juris is a walk in who wanted a church tour and Lauris is his friend who he brought to his lesson. Juris is very religious lutheran, but wants to learn more and expound his knowledge. He sees our church as a very good thing. Lauris is not as religious. He said that he is looking for truth and thought that he could find some here with Juris. He suffers from depression, so it will be harder working with him, but we have Juris's help and support.

There are several other investigators, but for times sake I can't write about them, but I will write the highlights from them next week.

Also, since coming to Liepaja, I am very involved in things here! I love it! I bore my testimony yesterday in church! It was my first time (sadly, I should have done it sooner), and I loved it! It was fun to share my beliefs in Latvian! I really liked it! I hope you all are sharing your testimonies. If you didn't share you testimony yesterday, I challenge you to share it the next chance you get! :D It is only a blessing to you to share the beliefs that you have. 

Also, I have been singing a lot since coming to Liepaja. I'm surprised by how much, but I love singing! I sang for English class last week, and then I'm going to be singing in a quartet in church this Sunday. We are singing "Come thou fount" in Latvian! I am so excited! It is a beautiful song and just one more way I can share my testimony!

I love you all and just want to end with my testimony! I know that God loves us! I want to share my testimony, that Jesus Christ is our savior! I know that he is truly "The Good Shepherd" as it says in the scriptures about him. Look up John 10 in the bible and Psalms 23. They are my testimony and perfectly express my relationship with Jesus Christ. I love you all!

Have a great week.

Love,

Māsa Klauvarda