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

Bad missionary!

One of the castles that we went and saw. It has been rebuilt so people can go tour it, but it looks just like the castle looks that stood there before. They haven't rebuilt the whole thing though. it has been there since the 1400's

One of the castles that she saw that was buried and has since been rediscovered and unburied. There is now a museum in it and you can climb up into the top of the big guard tower. She thinks the castle has been around since the 1300's. A plague came through and killed about 98 percent of the occupents and then it was just forgotten about.

View from the tower

Sarah calls this the Willy Wonka park.

Sister N, Sister P, Sister S, and Sarah at a random park with some keys.

Sister N and Sarah. She really is enjoying her as a companion!

Sarah and Sister N (comp 2)

Sarah wearing the armor. She said the helmet is really heavy.

July 22, 2013

Čau!

This will have to be shorter. I only have 10 minutes left. :) But this week there will be ton of pictures!°

We went to Sigulda. It is this place about an hour away from Riga. It has ruins of old castles and is a pretty big tourist place, but we loved it! I took so many pictures. It was so great to learn more about the history of latvia. They have such an interesting history. :) So, i hope you like all the pictures. :)

It has been super rainy here this last week. It cooled off and rained almost every day! i love it though! When it rains here is rains!! It is beautiful! It makes for interesting and very wet contacting, but it also means we tend to go knocking more. That is always interesting, but so far I haven't had any crazy experiences yet, except we get yelled at by russian ladies a lot. that is always weird because I know they aren't happy with us, but we have no idea what they are saying so it doesn't do any good. :) Oh well, I don't mind knocking. It just isn't the most effect work.

Here is what I wrote President Boswell about some lessons that we had this week. :)

"One of our potentials in Alise. I met her on the bus, but really she contacted me on the bus. She saw Jesus Christ on my name tag on wanted to tell me all about Christ and her relationship with him. We've had one lesson with her and she talked the whole time, telling us all about her relationship with Jesus Christ. I was amazed by some of the things she said and her great faith, but now she needs some direction to go with that. She didn't want to listen in that lesson and contradicted anything we said, but we have a lesson that we just barely set up with her tonight. She doesn't want to meet at the church or her house and our last lesson was outside, but we knew we couldn't do that again with her because we need a controlled enviroment where she can more easily feel the spirit. So, the Balstaedts (one of the senior couples in our mission) have so graciously allowed us the use of their home tonight and they will be helping us with that lesson. We really just want her to feel the spirit as we watch the restoration video, and then we want her to know that she can use that revelation she already has in her life and find out the truth about what we are teaching her. She believes the Holy Ghost guides her life, but in a very extreme way. She believes that if the Holy Ghost doesn't tell her very clearly to do it and she does something than that is a sin. So, she thinks that if she goes to church and the Holy Ghost didn't tell her directly to do that it is a sin. We hope to help her understand the Holy Ghost's role more fully and help her begin to feel that about the truthfulness of our message. 
We also this week met with a former investigator Girts. It was an interesting lesson. He has changed completely from his description before. He was kind of excited to meet with us because he likes that missionaries like to help people find joy in their lives, but he doesn't believe in Christ as our savior. He says he more believes in Alla, but he respects Christ, but puts him on the same level as Budha and other religious figures. We watched the restoration film and he liked that, and said it is possible that it could have happened, but he is happy with his lifestyle where it is at and doesn't want to change. He also wouldn't make another appointment. He says he respects what we do and thinks that we are great people and maybe he could meet occasionally to talk about what we do, but he doesn't want to meet weekly or monthly really because he isn't interested in changing. We are trying to get him for now coming to Family night and church. We'll see what happens with him.
That is what we have for potential new investigators right now, but we aren't giving up. We have a lot of finding time."

I'm looking foward to our meeting with Alise tonight. It will be interesting!
Also, update about an investigator from Center, Inese. I talk about her a lot because I set such a strong connection to her I want her to accept the gospel so bad. I'm emailing her everyweek in Latvian, which is fun and very interesting! She is so good to help me learn the language! But the update, she finally told the sisters she would read the Book of Mormon!! This is a big step because she loves the Book of Mormon, but she won't ever commit to do anything. She tells us she won't be able to do what we are asking her! I was so excited to hear that she said she would read!!! :D She is so great!! i love Inese!

Well, that is all I have time for. The work moves along. I know this church is true. The work can be hard sometimes and sometimes I get frustrated, mostly with investigators and members, but I love what I'm doing. I know it is the Lord's work and I am happy to be apart of it! ;D I'll try to leave more time to write more next week. Also, to those who have written me letters recently, I've replied, I jsut need to send them. :) They will be send soon.

Much love,

Sister Cloward

Sarah's 1st apartment building. Her companion is by her luggage as they wait for a taxi.

Sarah and her 2nd companion, Sister N

July 15, 2013

Čau mani draugi! (hey my friends)

I hope everyone has enjoyed the last week in their lives and they are enjoying summer. I am definitely enjoying myself in the work and while it can be hard I wouldn't have it be any other way. I love being a missionary and I am so grateful for the opportunity to be here and to be entrusted with the Lord's work. :) This is truly His work and he will help us in every way he can. :)
So, crazy news! Remember how I said last week that it was transfer calls, but I wouldn't be changing because I am training. Well, guess again! They mixed some of us sisters up and left the Latvian Elders completely the same!! It was crazy, but cool at the same time. :) So, Sister W and Sister G in Liapaja stayed the same, but the other three companion ships got shuffled. :) Super crazy, but awesome! I am now in Imanta, which is still Riga, but is the other side of the River. :) It is cool and I like the opportunity. I'm serving with Sister N, and she is awesome. She is in the 10th transfer and has two left after this one. She goes home in November. She is from California. She went to school at Southern Virginia University and graduated in history two week before entering the MTC. We get along really well, and I can already tell we are going to have fun this transfer. It will be hard work as they work is challenging right now. We might start out with a lot of contacting to try and find new investigators who are ready, but all will be okay. We have a vision in mind of what we think this area can be after this transfer, and it will take a lot of work to get there, but we are excited to work hard together and make it happen.

Inese, an investigator from Riga, was very sad to see me go, but she told me that the work will continue in Imanta as well. She told me to look forward to the changes and to go and teach those in Imanta as well. She is so cute and wishes us luck on the work we are doing all the time. She told me she would pray for me and the work over here in Imanta. What a sweet lady! I'm going to write her every Monday in Latvian just to see how she is doing and just to support as the friend that I really feel like we are. We are going to be helping each other learn English and Latvian. It will be fun. :)

Today we are going to Sigulda. I'm excited for that. I don't know much about it yet, except that there are castles and it is a cute little town. I guess I'll have more to tell you about it next week along with pictures.

Really quickly before I go. I just want to let you all know that I am so glad to be a missionary and I am grateful for all of your support as I've been over here. I love Latvia, the people, and the language. You are lucky I love all of you too or I would probably never come home. :) But I also hope you know that I know this church is true and that this is Christ's church again on the Earth. The Book of Mormon is a true book and we can get closed to God through that book than through any other book on the planet. I invite everyone reading this to read that book. Truly read and gain/strengthen your testimony of that book. It truly can change your life and bring so much joy and peace into it. Jesus Christ lives. He is our savior, brother, and redeemer. Come unto him. Pray to our Heavenly Father in His name! It is so important! Strive to become like Him. It is the best way to find joy in this life. This is my message to people over here and it is my message to you. Continue to support us missionaries, because we love it and we need it.

Much love and gratitude,

Māsa Klauvarda

aka Sāra

July 8, 2013

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone enjoyed the fourth of July. It wasn't really celebrated here except we had zone training and we sung a patriotic hymn which was fun. :)ﾂ

As far as the work in Latvia. It is slowing down. We only have two investigators who are in Latvia right now and that is hard, but oh well. What do you do? We contacted a lot more this last week and I'm quite tan because of it. We also have had some rough days of being yelled at and rejected but we keep pressing forward knowing we are doing the Lord's work and he is directing it. I'm willing to be persecuted for something that I know is true. And yeah, I've been persecuted since being here. Mostly just yelled at in Russian which doesn't mean much because I have no idea what they are saying. :) We just say "Visu labu" and keep pressing forward. (visu labu means all the best) it is a very polite farewell and it always throws them of guard.

This week is transfer calls and the odds of me being transferred are slim since I am in training, but you never know. I could be transferred next week. i guess we will see.ﾂ

So, this week in Latvia was the song and dance festival! It is a huge celebration that they have had for forever that they have every four years. I regret that i didn't really get any pictures. We also didn't get to see much of it since we live outside of the main Riga center where all of the festivities were happening. We did get to see a little bit after church yesterday. We were trying to catch a bus but it was crazy! They changed all the bus routes because the parade went down the main street. (the parade was just different dance groups walking and singing down the biggest street in Latvia) We had to walk for about 20 minutes until we were able to get a bus. It wasn't bad walking, and we got to see a lot of dance groups dressed in the traditional clothing. I really want some of these dance groups to come to Idaho for the International Dance Festival. They are talented and there costumes are so fun!! I love it! We'll see what I can do after the mission.ﾂ

Also this week, on Friday, we got stuck in an awesome rain storm! I have never seen it rain so hard in my life! It only rained for about 20 minutes, but there was about a foot of water on the street in some places! It was crazy and so cool. We had to walk in it for a little bit and then we caught a bus! I also love thunder here! it is so loud and sounds different because there aren't mountains for it to echo off of. It sounds different and honestly I like it better! It is so cool!!

On Saturday, another fun/interesting story. We were contacting. We stopped and talked to this really argumentative man for about 30 minutes. He didn't want to listen and kept talking about how awful America was. We just testified that bad things happen everywhere, but there is a God who loves us and that looks out for us. We left that situation. He didn't want to meet so we didn't give him our number and didn't get his. We didn't think anything would happen there. Well, 15 minutes later we here this guy behind us running and he yells, "Apgadiet!" which means wait. We stopped and it was this man. It was interesting. He wanted to know if there was a way we could learn more. He didn't want to set up an appointment, but we told about when we have church, that we could meet with him and talk abotu these things, and gave him our pamphlet and number. We haven't heard anything yet, but who knows what will happen there.

Also, this past week I have gotten to help two recent converts with family history! I love doing it. All we can do with them for now though is insert the information they already know. There isn't anything online available for them yet, but I loved just doing family history again. I miss it and I definitely will do it the rest of my life.

Here is a quick update from my letter to President Boswell about Inese. I love her a lot. :D "Inese is doing well. She took a Book of Mormon in that lesson with your wife. I'm glad Sister Boswell was able to helped. Inese really liked her testimony. Sadly, she wouldn't commit to read at all this week. She says she is really just too busy and that she can't, but she said she does want to read every time that we meet together. I am glad that she likes to read and enjoys the Book of Mormon, I just wish she could find the desire to read outside of our lessons with her. Our second lesson with her also went really well. We talked about Sabbath day attendance and what it means to keep the sabbath day holy. She liked the discussion, and agreed with what we said about it. We had Gunita  (a member) with us on the lesson and she was great. We invited Inese to come to church this weekend and she said she would really love to and would try to come if she wasn't n the country. Gunita also told her about some upcoming relief society activities they had and swapped numbers with Inese so she could tell her more about the activities. We're hoping to have Gunita on a lesson with us this week as well. Sadly though, the next day after that lesson we texted Inese (we've been sending her english spiritual thoughts in text messages to help her with her English) and she told us that she would be in the country. I prayed that she will be able to come, but as of yet she hasn't. I'm not giving up on her and while she isn't progressing she has a lot of potential and i think she'll start progressing soon."

So, that is all for today. I love you all and miss you greatly. The church is true and the Book of Mormon is true. Cherish, read and truly study that book! I love you a ton! Know that I pray from you!

Love,

Mﾄ《a Klauvarda

July 1, 2013

Sveiki Mani Draugi!

Hello world! I'm so glad I get to write you this week and also, I can still send pictures! I was really worried that they would do a way with that, but all is okay. I am allowed to send and recieve pictures through email still. This week has been slower, but still crazy. We teach a lot which is good, because sometime contacting is a waste of time. It takes a long time just to find one person interested in listening to us. It is hard, but important because without finding there is no work, but as was said in the Worldwide Leadership Training, there are better ways to find than tracking and door knocking. I hope everyone has watched the trainging from last weekend. We got to watch it yesterday and I loved it! there was some really good things said! some amazing things said! I agree with everything that was said. Every member a missionary is so important right now. Member referrals are always so much more affective for missionaries than who we find on our own. They are usually more prepared to hear the gospel. Be an example of a good member and look for ways to helps those around you who don't have the gospel in their lives. Pray for them and just be there friends. You'll be guided in how you can help the Lord in his work.

So, thanks to everyone who has been sending me letters! I love them so much. Especially, Nate and Rachael. I loved the picture that Izzy drew me! that was so fun to receiver and I hung it up on the wall next to my desk. I miss that girl a lot! She is a cute one!

So for this week. Things are going well with investigators. I'm going to just paste here what I wrote to my Mission President about my investigators. It is easier than writing it all out again. "With Inese, things are coming along. We had a very powerful lesson last week with her. We were only able to meet with her once last week. Marta helped with that lesson. We had planned to talk about prophets and authority, but as we got into the lesson and I was asking her if she had a chance to read, she had said no. I had a very strong impression to read with her in the lesson that day. So, we read 3 Nephi 17 with her. She really loved it. It brought up several good points about Christ and what he has done for us. We talked about his love. I was blessed with a small miracle in this lesson. I read in 2 Nephi that morning and had read an awesome scripture that I had never noticed before and as we were teaching her that evening it came to mind again. It was 2 Nephi 26:33, that all things that the Lord gives us are for our good. I testified so strongly that I knew that was true. At this point I'm not even sure of everything that I said, but I know the spirit was strong. The Lord was directing that lesson and I know she felt the spirit and she was touched by what was shared in that lesson. I have never been in a lesson that was more directed by the spirit. But really and truly, the spirit is the teacher and I am not. If I do all I can to prepare myself, he will take over and do the teaching." I loved this lesson and I love this woman. I feel such a strong connection to her and I hope she receives the gospel.

Also in my email, a miracle we had this week about our investigator Oskars. He is awesome and is also helping me with my latvian! I love when Latvians do that! "So, a miracle for this last week. We have an investigator Oskars who has been coming to the YSA activities the last few weeks. He came to Agita's baptism as well and really loved it. He was touched by the things that were said. And afterwards, we took the same little van home together as he lives in Purvciems near us. As we were standing there waiting to take this van, he noticed an alcohol bottle in the garbage can. He commented that it was the most popular brand in Riga. But then he said that he doesn't drink alcohol because he knows that it is bad for him and that he gets "fuzzy" when he drinks it. So, he doesn't ever drink it. Then out of the blue he says, "I also know that coffee is bad and I've been trying to drink less, but I think I'm going to stop drinking coffee from now on." We were so amazed! It came out of nowhere and we were so suprised, but also so happy for him. When he was taught the word of wisdom he absolutely refused to live it, and we haven't had the chance to talk about it since. So, the Lord has been softening his heart and he has decided to quit on his own." That was a great experience and a testimony to me that the Lord is fully involved in thiswork. More than I am involved in this work. As you read in that quote, we had a baptism this week in Riga. It wasn't our investigator, but I know that girl pretty well. Her name is Agita and I love her a ton. She was baptized last Thursday and confirmed yesterday! She was just glowing and so excited to finally have found the true church. She has been a member of lots of different churches in her time, but she has finally found the right one and her testimony in strong.

Also, for investigators this week, I will tell you about Andris. Here is what I wrote about him, "We had a great spiritual thought with him about prayer. We had a goal in mind with him to have him pray by the end of the lesson. And he did it! He was so nervous but he really wanted to try. His prayer was simple but it was from his heart and the spirit was so strong. I was so proud of him for doing something I don't think he has every really done before in life." That was a great lesson and a big step for him. Sadly we won't be able to meet with him for a few weeks as he is going on a trip to the country with his family, and also sadly when he gets back we'll be doing a pass off lesson with him becuase he lives in the Elder's area on the other side of the river. :(

One thing I've learned a little bit more about this week is the love Latvians have for nature. Flower stands are everywhere here and it is a very common thing to give people flowers on special occasion. I want to get some picture of the flower stands because they have beautiful and unique flowers here. Maybe go give someone flowers this week and brighten their day. :)

Well, I think that is it for today. I'll do my best to tell more about Riga next week. Just know it is beautiful here. Take some time and study their history. It will help you appreciate the freedoms that we are lucky to have. They have had a rough past and have been so abused and their history is so looked over. They were hit so hard by World War II and most people have no idea. I love the rich history and culture of this area and learning about it is a blast. Enjoy your fourth of July everyone. I know I probably won't be celebrating it, but I'll definitely be thinking all about how grateful I am for the freedoms we have in America.

I love you all

Sister Cloward

Latvian pics

Awesome castle looking tower building in Old Town (an older tourist part of Riga) where we spent last p-day.

Cobblestone streets and little alleyways. I love Old Town!

The freedom monument in Riga.

One of the grave sites (at least that is what I think they are.)

Hot and humid faces!

House of the Black Cats. Not sure what the building really is (probably apartments) but it is famous in a lot of pictures of Riga.

Awesome monument that we ran to this morning that is in the woods by our house.

Traditional Latvian food that I got to eat at a place called Lido. I loved it!

Old building that they are renovating in Old Town. I love the cobblestone streets!

June 24, 2013

Sveiki!

Hi everyone! This letter again might be shorter. I wanted to send more pcitures because we found out that after this week they might not allow us to send or receive pictures in our email. :( So, in case that is prohibited I wanted to get a lot of pictures out. :)

This last week has been pretty slow. Nothing big has been happening, but we are still working hard. :) We have a baptism in Riga this week. Her name is Agita. She isn't our investigator, but I love her a ton. She is so stoked to be getting baptized and we will be going to that baptismal service! I'm excited for that. We are working on getting several of our investigators there. I hope it works that we can get them there. It won't be easy, but it wil be worth it. That I know for sure.

So, as for fun things that I've done in this past week. This morning we went on a run out to the woods next to our house to see a monument. I sent a picture of it. It has a plaque in the middle under this tall white statue, and then surrounding it is just a bunch of rocks! It is a monument to remember all the jews that died in that forest. They would ship tons of jews up to Latvia from all over Germany and different concentration camps and then they would shoot them in this forest. There are little burial sights everywhere (or at least that is what they think they are. They are raised areas of dirt with a rock on top. This happened for three years in this forest. It is so sad and you would never know this monument is there. I'm so glad we went and saw it. It was so cool! We walked around all these rocks that represent all the people who died and it is crazy! They did a good job with this monument. I don't think people realize (at least i didn't) how much Latvia and the rest of the Baltic states really were affected by World War 2 and also how many people died just during the different occupation times as Russia and Germany fought over who got to be in charge of the area. We went to the occupation last week on preparation day and learned all about the people that controlled this area and what happened to the people here in Latvia. They were treated awful and tons of people died. It really helps me gain an apprectiation for them and makes me understand why they can be slow to trust people. They don't like to trust strangers.

So, I also went to Old Riga last week which I love! It is so cute and very European. It also is definately a tourist place. But I love it none the less. We went in quite of few of the many churches that are in Old Riga and I loved see the designs and the different painting, but there is one thing I learned for sure. Although our churches are not always very elegant (especially here in Riga where church is on a rented floor of an apartment building) there is a special spirit that our building has that these buildings lack. They may be beautiful and the spirit is there a little bit, it is definately not as much as the spirit that is felt our houses of worship.

Also this past week, on Saturday, we went contacting with the Russian sisters on a small exchange. We had to get permission, but it was a ton of fun. Here is what I wrote President Boswell (mission president) about it. "I enjoyed the conacting with Sister K and Sister C. It was a lot of fun and it was great to be able to speak with everyone. We ran into a few people that I would start a conversation with them in Latvian and they wouldn't know what I was saying so whoever I was with could pick it up, so everyone person we stopped got talked to. Sister P and I weren't able to get any numbers or investigators out of it, but while I was with Sister C she was able to get a number for a Russian man. It was a really great learning experience, and I feel like it was beneficial to our work. Thank you for letting us have this opportunity." The Russian sisters (as in russian speaking sister missionaries) share our area with us so we see them a lot and i love them. :) But anyways, they both said to me and to my companion, you are so fearless! You talk to everyone and don't let anyone walk past without getting contacted. That surprised me so much. I hadn't realized I was doing that I just wanted to talk to the people. This especially surprised me because I have always been so shy and now I'm out talking to people and sharing the gospel with no fear. :) Who knew!

I love you all so much! Got to go!!

Love you!

Sister Cloward

D&C 6:36 Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.

June 18, 2013

Čau! Sveiki!

I hope everyone is doing well! I am! The work is hard and this week was hard, but it is so very rewarding as well! Sorry, there won't be any pictures this week. I forgot my card reader so I won't be able to upload any pictures. :( I'll send a ton next week!

This week was hard because we got canceled on a lot. We had some great plans to commit some investigators to baptism and we really felt that we would be able to do it, but every person we had planned to commit canceled on us and now we can't get a hold of them. We're working hard, and hopefully we will be able to get a hold of them.

Also, we received bad news right before we left the apartment to come email. I told you a little bit about an investigator who was our only progressing investigator. He had MS and we were trying to get permission to get him baptized. He loved the gospel and loved his book of mormon. Well, he had a surgery last week and was healing really well. The surgery was either his apendix or gall bladder we're not sure. Well, this morning we got a call from his cousin, Dzintars, who is a member, (who's family he lives with) and he said that he passed away this morning. I cried pretty hard and still now feel so sad. We really felt like in the next coming weeks we were going to get permission for him to be baptized. His cousin is pretty shook up and I feel awful that this happened, but at the same time. We can now go forward with Dzintars and do the work for him in the temple! I'm so excited for this at least. In a year, Dzintars can go to the temple and do all the work for his cousin! It will be wonderful! I never did get to meet Eriks but I've heard so much good about him. He knew this church was true and knew that the Book of Mormon is true. He will be a missionary in heaven for sure, and I also think he will do what he can to prepare his aunt to hear the gospel and accept it. We will hopefully meet with her in a few months and talk about what happened and share our testimony about where Eriks is right now.

We also have been meeting with this awesome lady that I love! She is from our English class. Oh... i haven't told you about English. We do service every week by teaching an English class. It is great. Most of the people in the class have been coming for a while and really can speak pretty well, but it is still good that they come. Anyways, Inese came to the English class. She had never come before and wanted to do private English lessons. We are okay with doing that but we tell them that we will be sharing a spiritual thought at the end. Well, so far she loves hearing about the church. This is what I wrote to the mission president about her this week, "With Inese, I love her a ton and our lessons have turned from English to more church now. We found out she is russian orthodox and prays a lot. She has a strong belief in prayers and that her prayers can be answered. She doesn't pray to Christ though. She prays to a picture of Mary and to Saint Nicholas. We hope that she will pray in a lesson with us soon. We've been having two meetings a week with her and they are going really well. She loves to help me with my latvian and I'm not allowed to speak in English at all. If I say anything in English she says, "Latvian please" and I have to say it in Latvian the best I can before she will respond. Our last lesson with her we talked about the church the whole time. We taught some of the first lesson. It was really good. Sister p and I pretty much talked in Latvian the whole time and she would ask all of her questions in English and then also she asked what latvian words were in english, like prayer and to pray. I have high hopes for her and we are also hoping to bring her to a baptismal service soon. I think it will be a really good opportunity for her to see. She talked about a Catholic baby baptism that she saw and how interesting she thought it was. I hope that she will also like our baptismal service and feel the spirit there and have a desire to be baptized." Also, she is super sweet and trusts us so much already. She told us that she wants a child so bad. She is about 35 and hasn't been able to have kids. She says that everytime she goes to church she prays for a miracle that she will be able to have a baby. She got emotional about that. It was so sweet that she shared that with us. We testified that prayers are answered and that through Christ we can feel peace about all we go through. Sister P and I are going to talk about the Plan of Salvation with her next time and explain that a little bit and what we believe about the plan of salvation. She is awesome and I love Inese!

We also have a new investigator named Ainars. He is about 50 and is really great so far. Sister P contacted him on the street and those first few days we were here with Sister W. They gave him a book of mormon and got his number and this week we were finally able to get a lesson set up with him. We taught half of the first lessons and he really liked it. He thought it was great, but was a little confused on why we would need prophets if we have the Holy Ghost to give us guidance. It was a really good question and we gave him some possible answers, but also gave him a chapter to read in the Book of Mormon that should help to answer those questions. We set up another meeting with him and hopefully we will be able to keep it going with him. He seems really interested, but meeting with him will also be harder because he doesn't live in Riga, he lives in the laukos (the country) and so we can only meet with him when he is in Riga, and I don't know how often that is.

So, yesterday was zone conference and it was wonderful! There were so many amazing things said, and I can't tell them all to you, but I will do my best to share a little bit. I only have a little bit of time left but I want to talk a little bit about the baptism number goal for this year. 153. It comes from the story of Peter and the apostles when they go fishing again after Christ dies, and he comes and tells them to cast their net on the right side and they do and have to many fishes. 153 is how many fish they caught and so, that is where they number was originally read from and everyone has prayed and felt it was right. I also received my own confirmation about it yesterday. President Boswell was talking to us about where he thinks that number came from. He asked us all to think about first where we thought it came from and I thought maybe from God, and that this is the number he knows are here in Latvia, but President Boswell didn't agree. He said that we as a mission picked that number in heaven. We knew we would be serving here and together we got together and picked that number and said we know at the time we are there there will be 153 new people ready to hear this message. I felt so good. I believe that that did happen and that I knew I would come to the Baltic mission and that I picked that number for people that we could find that would be ready to hear the gospel. I know it is our number for this year and that if we exercise great faith and go about doing all that I can do, that I can play my part in getting this number. It won't be easy, and honestly, it will probably be the hardest year in the mission, but that is because satan also knows we can do it and he will do anything to stop us from acheiving that goal!

Also, related to that topic. As I've gone to church and met different members in the past few weeks, I can't help but feel like I know these people. I feel that they are so familiar and that I should know them so well, even though I don't even know some of their names. I know that I knew these people before this life. They were some of my best friends there. They knew I would come and serve among them, and we were so close to each other. It makes me excited to get close to them here and I know that they will be my friends forever and ever after this. I love these people and I love this place. Riga is beautiful and there is a great work here to do! I'm so grateful that the Lord trusts me to be a part of it.

I love you all and I hope that you know that I know this church is true. I know it with all my heart. I have seen so much joy by being a part of this church. I also know that Book of Mormon is the word of God and if we read it we will receive so much guideness, love, and happiness in our lives. Please read it every day and if you have never read it before, read it, because it is from god for us and a way that we will be happy in this life forever! Also, I know that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and wants us to pray to him. Please pray to him and you will feel an outpouring of his love. I love you all as well. Thank you for your support and prayers!

Much love and gratitude,

Māsa Klauvarda aka Sarah