Weekly Putnam

 (Elder Putnam)

Ya so this is gonna be a mess, but here we go.

Monday, Pday

Aight so Monday was intense. Because we were invited to so many Christmas parties, we had a ton of stuff to buy (none of which did we actually buy). But we had to wait in our schedule for a whole bunch of things that relied on each other to happen. I’m not explaining this very well. Anyways, we called up a less active member (we’ve visited him once after church several weeks ago, but he hasn’t answered the door or our phone calls recently) and he answered. We had prayed prior to our call that he would have a soft heart and listen to us. Well, after checking in with him to see how he’s doing (he’s finally fully healthy so that’s pretty solid) we invited him to Lasmas branch Christmas party. Another shoutout to Lasma she’s incredible. So, he essentially said he’d be down to come. Then we asked if we could visit him later this week. he said yes. Were bringing President Ceimers to that and it’s gonna be legendary.

Then I went to get a haircut. It was really short, but on our way to Kurzeme (the mall), we saw Brother Prancans (another returning member) and invited him to the Christmas party. He said to start texting him since he will actually be able to respond to those (he often misses our calls). anyways many miracles today. Gotta love the Pday miracles.

Tuesday, art night

Tuesday we always have art night. it was just generally a busy day. we also have district counsel on Tuesdays. this time we did a combined district counsel with a district in Estonia. I learned a lot from Elder Judd. He’s so wise and seasoned. He actually taught me a ton about tram contacting and just being quick with responses and tying it into the gospel.

We had 3 regulars at art night tonight and they seem to be enjoying it a ton and likely they will come to other activities. lots of fun.

Also Elizabete is a lot more elect than I realized.

Wednesday, I got nothing

Thursday, forgot my TRP

So really funny story. the office elders usually buy our tickets for us to come up to rīga. So we messaged them and Elder Maxwell, bless his heart bought 4 tickets. then it turns out he got some for the wrong day, so we bought 2 more, which were earlier than we expected. So we got into Rīga early. Then we stayed with the Avotu Elders (Elders Nybo and Bastow) and I found out that I forgot my passport in Liepāja.

Friday, Basketball night

Ok so we woke up in the morning. Elder Bastow showed me a killer ab workout. It’s absolutely insane, I don’t know how he manages it. Anyways, since I forgot my passport in Liepāja, we went to the church to comp study and grab packages. Unfortunately, I knew what I got for Christmas (at least in part) before it actually rolled around, since we had to consolidate space in my suitcase. While I didn’t get my TRP appointment, I did have another solid conversation about the restoration of the gospel on the bus with a dude. He didn’t want to learn more. But one of the things that’s in Preach My Gospel is that if you can feel the Spirit, then other people around you can as well. Not sure if I remembered that correctly, but in the conversation I definitely felt the Spirit. I guess I’m still trying to figure out teaching skills.

We got back in time for the Youth activity which was piparkūkas (gingerbread) making. Our cookies ended up turning out wretched, but we frosted them anyways. still not sure what we did wrong. I gave Jazeps some counsel on being an example to the world in his school. It was a good experience.

Then we had basketball night. That was so fun. We had 5 on 5 running full court cause gvido is a legend. This was our third week doing this and we have a great time. Gvido was a dude who showed up the second week. He brought with him literally 5 other people. He’s carrying basketball night. They all seem pretty chill and we love them.

good day

Saturday, Christmas Eve

Legendary time at the Ščerbeniņi. We played lots of fun games and ate good food. I found something called grey pees and they are so good and have so much protein.

Sunday, Christmas day

We had a wonderful Christmas Sacrament meeting. The missionaries sang What Child is This in Latvian which was dope. We did a nativity reading and in between every few verses we sang Christmas songs. it was great. afterward we went to Lasmas house where we spent a very long amount of time.

Today was mad busy and we made a charcuterie board (shoutout to sister Downey)

Here’s some pictures

1 and 2: Charcuterie boards go hard

3. Christmas tree in the apartment

4. I got a haircut

5. Lidl drip

6 Christmas at lasmas

7-9 Ščerbeniņi household Christmas party (peep the tricep extension)

čebureki ir money

 (Elder Putnam)

čebureki ir money. That’s all I have to say.

Tuesday: Ok so we started the day by going to the store to pick up some emergency potatoes for the thanksgiving dinner that night. Then we went to the church and immediately started with a service project for Māsa Birkenfelda. That took about 2 hours longer than planned, so rip district council. Anyways, in the middle of it, one of the returned missionaries that showed up brought us donuts from the donut man. The donut man is iconic. His shop is the only reason that I know that donut is virtulis. Gotta love that man. Anyways, even better than his donuts are his čebureks. It’s a Russian thing and it’s got like a pastry type croissant and the juiciest ground meat ever. love it.

We also got Kebabs from Pakistanas Kebabs. It was cheap and pretty solid actually, but kebabs do not match the classic salami, cucumber, ham, cheese, and pesto packed sandwiches I have every single day for lunch. Also, I think there’s a curse on the apples here. My first week I tried this one type of apple. It was so good, and they were large and it filled me with the spirit. My second week I loaded up on them and they were rotten... like all of them. So I switched to another apple the next week: money. again, bought a ton and then they were rotten. I’m on a new load of apples this week, so next week will be a downturn.

But yeah, I'm starting to eat healthier and I feel better, but I’m still gaining weight. still tryna figure that one out.

We finished the day with the Thanksgiving dinner. We had a bunch of friends come and bring different things. Then we had some families from the ward come as well. It was a great turnout. One of which is Kristian’s. We met Kristian’s at the end of my first week, or the beginning of my second week. We gave him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and he said he would come to church that Sunday. We were so hyped... after Elder Argyle told me what he said. Anyways, we he didn't end up coming to church or really responding to us a ton. We found out he was kind of going through something at the time.

But, he showed up to game night last Saturday, and we invited him to the thanksgiving party and he was there. He talked with President Blūms which was very nice, because I could hardly understand him. He speaks so fast its crazy. But we talked about lots of things, and he asked how he could become a missionary. That threw us off a bit. But he is very interested in the gospel lots of "tieši tā"'s in our conversations. I’m very jealous because I simply do not understand what people are saying. And all Elder Argyle says is that he’s so elect. its kind of annoying, but we are very excited for him to come to game night this coming Saturday. Lasma is awesome and she coordinated a signup sheet for a member family to come to game nights weekly. She’s also feeding us thanksgiving dinner on Thursday and is planning a ward Christmas party. Lots happened on Tuesday.

Wednesday: I had the best leg pump I’ve had since I got to the field today. made me happy. So we held district counsel today since we missed it yesterday. We gloried in the Lord and all the success we've had recently. We also had a Mission devotional. My boy from home got his mission call. Shoutout to Henry. Persian Speaking finna go hard. We went to deliver gingerbread cookies to members. We went to one house and there were clearly people inside, and they were clearly trying to get their dogs to stop barking, but nobody answered. Then we went to another house and we couldn’t guess the code to the building so we went home. It’s starting to get pretty cold and there’s no way my 10 dollar amazon gloves are gonna work a week from now. But I got a beanie and a few new scarves so I should be set there.

Thursday: We spent most of the day cooking, then had weekly planning. But, we went to Lasma's and ate. Thanksgiving dinner was so good. We brought orange rolls and funeral potatoes. The sisters brought several desserts. And Lasma took care of everything else. Then we watched Home Alone cause now it’s Christmas season. We had it in Latvian though so it was a form of language study. Elder Argyle seemed skeptical. Also now I have a handshake with Jonas too. We ended up leaving Lasmas house in some weird fashion. The sisters and Lasma kept laughing, and we made several jokes that the apple juice might have a certain percentage marked on the bottle, but no. Our district is pretty solid. Also I found out that I'm playing in the Primary Program this Sunday not the following, so I have a lot to practice. I guess yall will find out how that went at the end of the Email.

Friday: I don’t remember anything from Friday. We did a service project with the relief society.

Saturday: we had a bunch of members at game night, but Kristian’s dipped

Sunday: primary program. I played two songs in it. We also realized that I really need to learn another sacrament hymn. We had a lesson with Markus. that went surprisingly well. He likes to joke around with us though.

today: we did a walking self guided tour of liepāja and it ended with it snowing. and we saw mareks. I’ve been in solid contact with him for a while now but this was the first time we saw him in person in a bit.

This week’s spiritual thought: gratitude

We are blessed with so many great things. like really. and we begin to recognize those blessings more when we serve God. Be grateful for your blessings. express that gratitude to Heavenly Father through prayer.

Aight. love yall. You’re great. Go do good things

1. fit check with one of my new scarves. I need to get a new phone case

2. it was very cold so peep the Rocky inspired workout fit

Weekly

 (Elder Putnam)

Sveiks yalll!! ok so I wrote up like half of this last week and didn’t have time to finish it. but I’m getting more structured with me after 9 activities so that’s solid.

Ok so for FB finding we go around and message a ton of people as soon as they accept our friend requests. So, I messaged this dude named Jānis and just said I liked one of the things he reposted (I added some deep thoughts to the mix as well) and he responded with a ton of messages. He opened up like so much talking about his mental health struggles, alcoholism and how much he hated living in the UK. He has some interesting spiritual takes that kinda line up with the gospel, especially the plan of salvation, but some that don’t at all. We have some interesting messages back and forth about twice a day but the message chains are like 12+ messages long. It’s crazy. He likes to swear and I’m honestly certain he’s on something every time he messages me, but I don’t have anything that points to that. It’s a very fun situation.

Tuesday: we made soap. Art night is on Tuesday nights at 6. So this week we made soap. We melted it then added some coloring and scent to it. it actually turned out pretty well. we each ended up with five pieces and I gave out two to some random teenagers on the bus. they thought it was kinda weird but also mad funny for us and the māsas.

Thursday: we had an awesome English night and it snowed. We invited tons of people and a lot of random people showed up too. Of course, Vlad was there. We also had Saša and his notgirlfriend, and one other person who’s chillin in Latvia and hiding from Russia :). All of them were Russian.

Friday we went to Lasmas house with the sisters for dinner. It was Latvias birthday so everything was themed red. It was so good. We had this raspberry juice that slapped, like a rice and chicken curry almost - but Latvian, and Honey Cake. All Latvian foods that were so good. We heard about her life in and out of the church and she gave us some solid pointers on how to help find people, and also help bring members back to activity. I didn't realize how big a branch Liepāja was. Like 20 years ago they probably had 15-20 youth and now we have like 5. Its wack. So that’s something we’re gonna work on.

Saturday: So Saturday is Game Night. We decided to go all out and invite everyone on our friends list and have snacks, herbal teas, ping pong, and even spikeball, to add to the board games. We played all of them in the Relief society and Primary rooms combined. It was wonderful. We got Nekyta (who also helped us clean the church), Kristian’s (the most elect person we found Big Book of Mormon finding in literally my first week) and his son Kristian’s (who is awesome). Lasma came to that as well and Kail and Sai showed up too (they’ve been friends with the sisters for a long time).

Sunday: Gosh I love the youth. Ok so the Birkenfeldi are a big family. Their oldest is 13, and their youngest is like 2. So during the middle of sacrament meeting the youngest will come running up to the piano and try to accompany alongside me. He is a fun little dude. We had a bunch of people

Other thoughts: The youth we have are so solid. I’m making handshakes with each of them and their lowkey dope love Emīls. He’s a new member and he helps pass the sacrament every week. He always comes up to me when I’m playing prelude and says hi. I’m so happy to see him every time. Then we got Jazeps. Jazeps is the backbone of the youth. He was, for a time, the only youth in the ward and he’s so strong. He also has a calling to put the hymn numbers up before church. Love the dude, so spiritual and reverent. Then there’s Lukas. That’s lasmas son. I’m not quite sure how to describe him. He dresses like a "roadman" whatever that means, except for when he’s at church where he’s so good. And were also about to get Sebastian’s Tomass in Deacons Quorum too. I’m so excited. There are some other youth were gonna work with to bring back from inactivity. Ya so that’s the young men. I don’t really interact with the young women as much.

that’s all for a week ago

see yall

Pelmiņi rules

 

(Elder Putnam)

Ok so I’ve decided in the middle of the week to start journaling for like 10 minutes at the end of the day so here’s what we got:

Thursday: On Thursdays we do Weekly planning. It takes up a big chunk of time even though we don’t have anyone on date and we have very few lessons. So, I still haven’t done language study today. We went whiteboard finding this morning which was pretty solid. We invited some people to English Nights and Game Nights and stuff but tonight we only had one person at English Night: Vlad. I love Vlad. He’s this old Russian dude who has the most obscure English vocabulary ever. Luckily though, He has pretty solid grammar. We corrected his pronunciation a ton and helped him learn to say the sounds that "th" makes, namely those in the words "those" and "Thursday". There’s no sound for that in Russian or Latvian so its difficult for people here to pronounce them. anyways, He has an interesting testimony. He seems to know the Book of Mormon is true, but he doesn't really understand what it is. For Example, he knows how to pray, and he prays with much faith, but he doesn't really understand how the church works. Like, he thought it was a requirement for members of the Church to have at least 5 kids... otherwise you'd get in trouble. Like what? Anyways, we invited him to church. He has a lot of interest in the church, but from what I’m told, he talks too much to get through an entire lesson with him. We had some big dub finds throughout the day. I found a dude who plays volleyball which is awesome cause were trying to find a day to play volleyball with people. anyways, I’m speaking in sacrament on Sunday so that will be rough. this time its 10 minutes and I cant ramble in Latvian. :// fat rip.

Monday: ya so that didn’t work. on Friday we did some contacting and whatnot. I don’t really remember a ton ://. Saturday we had game night and a lesson with a new member. I promised him a tie if he read the entire book of Mormon. hopefully he does. Sunday I low key volunteered myself to play in the primary program in 3 weeks. which is gonna be rough. I also spoke and got complimented on how much better my Latvian is than the first week.

Today we went shopping and I got a Super Bowl hoodie for a workout hoodie. I also found some ties at a thrift store and those were money. I overbought on food. so that’s nice and fun. Ahhh I forgot to look for dumbbells. If anyone wants to ship me some dumbbells for Christmas that would be much appreciated. I drink Pepsi now so that’s fun. I made a Pepsi combination with lime, coconut, and cream and I mixed it up with a chopstick. ļoti garši. I am so good at contacting in English. its crazy. Latvian is rough tho. I’m understanding better tho. ya so that’s what I got for the week. oh, I started a Dienas laimīgs brīdis (happy moment of the day) thing and I’m having a fun time with that. I’ll be better at journaling this week.

Elder Putnam

pictures:

1. anders house vibes

2. had to happen once

3. ties from the thrift store go hard

Dia De Los Muertos

 (Elder Putnam)

Aight, so I’m a little less lazy this week but my email is still not gonna be very well thought out. Last Pday we ended with an FHE lesson with the Birkenfeldi. Fun fact: if you go to the Come Follow Me manual, Brālis Birkenfelds and his son are on the front cover. Which is kinda awesome. I thought that was just sorta an eastern Europe vibe, cause that’s what they’ll do with some of the missionary pamphlets, but I guess not.

Anyways, after the lesson, we invited one of Brālis Birkenfelds' neighbors to a branch hosted Dia De Los Muertos party. He ended up bringing some of his kids and grandkids and now we have an appointment with him in a few weeks.

We had exchanges which were super fun. Elder Argyle and I went up to Rīga and my companion for the day was Elder Bastow. That was very hype. We taught English Club then made pasta as the two temporary companionships. Then the next morning we did some street contacting. I will say that contacting in Rīga is a lot more fun than in Liepāja. I got kebab for the first time in Rīga which was pretty darn solid. It was not quite as shwarma-ie as I imagined.

We finished raiding the old Liepāja Russian Elders apartments and I found a machete that we brought back to our apartment.

Dia De Los Muertos ended up being a very fun and successful activity. We invited a ton of people to it and it was a blast. We also saw some people across the street from the church at a park and invited them in. It was two at first, but they left twice, each time bringing back another friend. Gotta love Emīls and the gang.

I got my packages from Rīga today which was awesome. I made bread with the standmixer, breadpans, and oven mits. It turned out pretty darn solid. were gonna give it to one of our neighbors that says he loves missionaries. love the dude.

Were meeting lots of new people. Not holding a ton of lessons unfortunately, but it is what it is.

I got some walking shoes which is pretty money.

That’s like all I got for the week. I love the mission but I cant really sit down and put it in words or remember it all so ya.

Read from the Book of Mormon daily, it provides strength, encouragement, and guidance.

here’s some pictures:

1. Great breakfast before exchanges (ended up getting out the door 15 min late tho)

2. "And it came to pass... that we did go about to destroy the church of God" smth like that.

Awake and Arise

 (Elder Putnam)

No idea why I called it that ^^. divine inspiration, I guess. go on a mission its awesome.

we did pumpkin carving

That is what I got time for

the language is coming together a lot nicer. shoutout to humility, gratitude, and the gift of tongues

love you guys

last audio will be me saying the first vision in Latvian...at least a portion

Im alive - heres some pictures

 (Elder Putnam)

my mom said i have to write an email.

rip district 11G. ill remember you

Elder Putnam has arrived!

 (Elder Putnam)

Dear Brother and Sister Putnam,

We are thrilled to let you know that Elder Putnam and his entire group of seven missionaries arrived early with all of their luggage at 1:00 pm. Elder Putnam is well and looks good, and he has met his trainer, Elder Argyle, and has been interviewed by President and Sister Huff. Elder Putnam and Elder Argyle are assigned to work in Liepaja, Latvia, a beautiful place! The Baltic Mission is filled with faithful, hard-working missionaries and Elder Putnam will fit right in. Thank you for sharing him with us. We’ll take very good care of him.

Our love and best wishes,

President and Sister Huff

Mana Dziesma

(Elder Putnam)

ITs been a bit since I last wrote an email. So I'll do a quick summary

Elder Bastow got a concussion and then he got a neck massage and stim therapy. The doctor let me try it on my arm too. It was pretty cool. Elder Beebe's mom has sent us sourdough bread which was delicious. We got to try some garlic cheddar and orange cranberry loaves as well.

I've been taught all the grammar principles I need to know (for the most part) now it’s just about using them correctly and on the fly with fluency of speech.

If you’ve ever watched Liken, the dude who plays Alma in Alma and King Noah's Court was there and I got a picture.

I’m singing in Conference, so look for me in the Saturday Afternoon session (sorry to people in Saudi for whom it will be the middle of the night)

When we aren't able to squeeze in a workout time during the day, Elder Bastow and I do pushup challenges. He's a lot better at them than I am, but I'm also on a cut, so the weight drop should help. I decided to cut for the first week and a half of my last 2 weeks (I'm just gonna eat like crazy those last few days) since I haven't ever, and they offer chicken and rice daily with goodddd milk.

Scripture of the Week:1 Nephi 16:7-8,

7. And it came to pass that I, Nephi, took one of the daughters of Ishmael to wife...

8. And thus my father had fulfilled all the commandments of the Lord which had been given unto him. And I, Nephi, had been blessed exceedingly.

Ok so there is some speculation on this one, but several chapters earlier, Lehi promises that Nephi, Sam, Laman, and Lemuel will be blessed for returning to Jerusalem, but Nephi will be exceedingly blessed for not complaining. So I think this scripture is just Nephi bragging about his wife, saying he got the best one or something like that. idk. On that note, I've been doing all I can to complain as little as possible about the hard things about my mission. One day I will say, "And I, Caleb, have been blessed exceedingly." You Feel Me???

Conference Talk of the Week: The Greatest Possession | Elder Holland

"-to love God wholeheartedly, without reservation or compromise, that is, with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. This love of God is the first great commandment in the universe. But the first great truth in the universe is that God loves us exactly that way.-- wholeheartedly, without reservation or compromise, with all His heart, might, mind, and strength. "

Isn't it so powerful to know that we are Heavenly Father's children and He loves each of us in a way so pure that we can't comprehend. He loves us as we are, even when we make mistakes. Because He loves us this way, He wants everyone, no matter where they are, to come to Him and become clean again. Repentance is a gift from Him completely step away from sin. It makes us better people as we learn from the mistake we've made, but are forgiven from God (if we utilize the Atonement).

Latvian Word of the Week: Luk; translation: behold (in imperative form)

Used in a sentence: Lūk Elder, svētais kebaba tirgus ir tur.

Behold, Elder, the Holy Kebaba store is there.

Pictures:

1. I'm posted up with Alma

2. Elder Bastow's prescribed neck massage

3. Bralis Hiltons is always flexing

4. I got to watch the BYU game (from T4)

Most recent weeks:

My pronunciation has gotten significantly better and I'm pausing after commas, which is apparently very helpful as far as understanding goes. That’s a result of reading from the BoM daily in Latvian; Mormona Gramata. We have a new teacher named Brother Bastian and he's straight out of the mission field so his accent is the best. We were practicing contacting and I talked with him about Kristaps Porzingis for a bit and gave him a card for sports night. Less goooo.

We listened to some Latvian songs, favorite of which is Mana Dziesma, which translates to My Song. Definitely give it a listen. Mes Esam Latvija is also pretty good.

We are meeting with representatives from Azerbaijan, UAE, Mongolia, and a few others and they're gonna watch us as we learn our languages. It'll all be in Estonian, so we won't understand it, but We'll then answer questions about languages and whatnot.

There is an Elder in our branch that speaks pretty fluent Arabic so I've been asking him about all sorts of Arabic questions. He lived in the UAE for the past 4 years and that’s how he picked it up since he's from California.

Elder Schmidt is one of the funniest guys I know. He's from Germany and he got here 3 weeks ago. He's learning Polish and the rest of his district got here last week. We got back from getting haircuts and asked who has the worst cut. He looked at me and straight up said: You look funny haha. I did look funny and I will also attach a picture. My mom says I look handsome, but I think that’s just her obligation to say that.

One more Scripture of the Week: Moses 7:28-33, 37

Quick summary: Enoch, an ancient prophet of the Old Testament is taken up into a vision where he talks with God. God shows him the people on the Earth in our day. Enoch is surprised to see Heavenly Father weeping. Enoch asks God, how can you cry, you are powerful and merciful and kind forever, peace is the habitation of your throne. heavenly Father says "Behold, these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands... and also I [have given unto them] a commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but they are without affection, and they hate their own blood...Wherefore, should not the heavens weep, seeing these shall suffer?"

This scripture tells us a lot about the character of Heavenly Father, especially about his love for us. We are created by Him, and He loves us. He loves you and your siblings, and your friends, and those that don't like you, and those that you don't like. He sorrows in our unkindness towards other people because when we hurt or offend our neighbor, we offend Heavenly Father. But "when [we] are in the service of [our] fellow beings, we are [also] in the service of our God. This week, try to be kind to everyone, especially those who aren't particularly kind to you.

More Pictures:

1. Jess the Celebrity (That’s how she introduced herself, so I decided to call her that)

2. Fairlifeeee. It brings me joy

3. :)

4. Elder Bastow got a shot so he picked out two lollipops, and 4 stickers to go along with a coloring book he found.

Thats all I have for the past 3 weeks.

We'll see if I can email next week

Elder Putnam

My comp ate a Carolina Reaper

 (Elder Putnam)

Whats good??

Ok So we got some Elders on our floor who brought a Carolina Reaper to the MTC. Elder Bastow decides he'll eat it. What a silly guy.

Imma start making these a lot shorter since I got a lot more stuff to do on pdays now. I met a dude from Saudi who’s going Persian speaking. He was in Riyadh tho so we only went to one youth conference together.

The sisters are dope. I feel like I should specify that I don’t actually and never had disliked them, I’m just a funny guy. I met a dude from my first EFY which was dope. Shoutout to Elder Brooks. We got a devotional where Elder Uchtdorf spoke to us and it was powerful. Hope of Israel is a good hype up song but How Firm a Foundation is better. We tried playing it during my peak set on chest day but the dude monitoring the gyms shot it down. what a fool. The Starši (Slovak Elders) have been so good to us and we’ve played soccer with them several times. We found out that Elder Beebe is the goat of soccer. Mans scored 4 goals on the Starši last time we played.

I’m very likely to be a zone leader since elder Beebe and I are the only eligible for the position. Which means Ill have 2 less hours on P-day to help the early arrivals. We spent an entire class the other day just talking about stuff that happens in Latvia, mission lore, food places, pday activities. It was a good day, not productive, but good. I feel like I can say anything I want to in Latvian now, it just takes me 5 minutes to put it all together. Also my vocab is trash. I have good grammar essentially. I played in Sacrament meeting on Sunday and basically had the congregation rapping the first verse cause I was playing so fast.

I’m not really sure what else to say so I might add in some additional notes later. HMU Id love to hear what yall have to say.

Latvian word of the week: bruņurupucis (broo-nyoo-roo-poo-tsis), meaning: turtle,

used in a sentence: man ir bruņurupuča kaklasaite, I have a turtle tie.

Scripture of the week: Alma 17:2-5

"...for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God."

This is taken from my favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon. I have studied the scriptures significantly more since being on my mission. There is so much truth contained in the Book of Mormon and the Bible. The Bible explains so much the character of Christ and establishes Him as the best example for us to follow. The Book of Mormon does the same. I know that the Book of Mormon and the Bible are the word of God. I have obtained a knowledge of it for myself.

 

General Conference Talk of the Week: The Greatest Possession | Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

"To love God with all our heart, might, mind, and strength is the First Great Commandment. But the first great truth of the universe is that God loves us in that exact way."

Lots of people misunderstand our relationship with God. He is our Heavenly Father. He created us and he wants us to return to Him. How can He not love us. He has provided a wonderful opportunity for us to become clean from sin, not just once, through baptism, but over and over again through worthily partaking of the sacrament. Dieter F. Uchtdorf once said, "God loves us just as much when we struggle as when we have success." Just because you have wandered off the covenant path a little, or even a lot, doesn’t mean you cant come back. At the same time, it doesn’t mean coming back is easy. But relying entirely on Christ is not easy. I can only promise that it makes it easier.

Pictures:

1. Mane bruņurupuča kaklasaite

2. Me with Elder Brooks, friend from first efy like 5 years ago

3. Brother Trout visiting us before bedtime

4. The companionship in front of the Paul mural on our floor.

Ok So if You Were in a Room, Roughly the Size of your School Cafeteria, and The Room was Filled like a Maze With Those Walls like in Lasertag, How Long Could You Survive Assuming There's a 400 lb Silverback Gorilla that's trying to kill you?

 (Elder Putnam)

I hate the Estonian Sisters

Let me give just a little backstory. Aight so one of the district goals is to eat meals together in the cafeteria. We’ve been pretty good about that but the conversations are pretty dry between the sisters and the elders. So I ask this gem of a question ^^. Sister House, may she be humbled, says she would whoop this whiny Gorillas booty. What a fool. Sister Reynolds says she could last 5 minutes... BY PRETENDING TO BE THE GORILLAs CHILD. She has until the end of Pday to figure out what a baby gorilla sounds like. Sister Wood (she’s from Australia) just sits there politely but obviously confused about the question. but she acts like I’m wack. Which is somewhat fair, but this is a good question. I discussed it for hours with my cousin like a year ago. Anyways give me your answer and how you intend to survive as long as possible against the gorilla. Anyways, sister House mocks me by asking my Latvian teacher this question. Like I shared that question in confidence what the actual heck.

Sister Chase is the only sister missionary in our district I’m on good terms with. I was asking the people at our table (for whatever reason I was like, you know what I just wanna make sure) if they had a secret twin and sister Reynolds was like oh my gosh I do. I felt incredible. I was like boom called it. That’s modern revelation. So she introduces us to her twin who’s serving somewhere in South America for his mission. I was so happy until she was like, yeah that’s not actually my twin. She led us all on for such a long time. I was at such an emotional high that plummeted so frickin hard. Now I have trust issues.

Sister Wood is Australian.

Ok so my companionship is so frickin great thoughhh. Elder Beebe is mad smart and corrects our grammar and stuff. I’m pretty quick and accurate at translating written sentences from English to Latvian and also recognizing Latvian words we know from like 1 Nephi and stuff where were reading from They’re both so funny in such different ways. They keep me entertained and sane. Were also pretty diligent about being reverent and obedient. So much so that now we have a teaching assignment from President Peterson, our Branch President. We’re getting along so great so far though. We’ve done basketball and weightlifting so far for exercise and that’s been pretty great.

It’s been a week since I last sent an email so I’ll give a quick rundown. also you may notice that I don’t use apostrophes. {Editor: apostrophes added through publishing program automatically) that’s cause I can soften letters using the apostrophe on a Latvian keyboard. Like this: lugšana, meaning prayer. ok anyways, Latvian is harddd. We’ve taught one lesson in Latvian to Olivia (basically our teacher after she put on a disguise) and it was a trainwreck. I literally just read a sentence from Preach my Gospel in Latvian and that was my whole spiel. It was a long sentence too though with a ton of grammar principals I didn’t understand. So I was not feeling great about that, but then Sunday rolled around changing my take on everything. At the MTC literally everything is elevated except the food. I felt the Spirit so strong on Sunday it was pretty great. Ever since then, Latvian has gotten easier. I’ve started my day with prayer and scripture study which helps a ton. Hopefully I don’t fall out of that habit. I saw Chloe (Sister Cloud)! I also saw that she didn’t mention seeing me in her weekly email. I’m a little pressed about that. I just feel the spirit so strong here it’s amazing. I’m trying to cultivate every good attribute before I can go into the field so that I can at least rely on God while I still suck at the language. I didn’t do much daily journaling so I don’t really know what else to say.

I’ll see yell next week I guess.

Scripture of the week: Ether 12:6,

"I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." You will go through trials. Everyone will. In fact most everyone is going through one in the very moment that you speak with them. We are promised a witness of Christ and His love for us after we complete our trial of faith. However, we must continue to be faithful to Him to be able to recognize this witness.

General Conference Talk of the Week: He Heals the Heavy Laden | Dallin H. Oaks

"The Atonement of Jesus Christ and the healing it offers do much more than provide an opportunity for repentance. The Atonement also gives us the strength to endure pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind because our Savior also took upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people." Everyone has challenges. During His ministry, Christ healed physical, mental, and spiritual ailments. He requested all those who were afflicted come to Him.

P-day

 (Elder Putnam)

Aright mama, I know your stressing out right now, so imma just explain how being able to communicate with people works. I'm allowed to open any message from anyone throughout the week (I don't have Instagram downloaded) on Facebook or email. I'm not allowed to react to them though until pday... if they are immediate family or unless its like an emergency or something i guess. I'm not allowed to FB Messenger anyone outside of my immediate family. All communication with friends needs to be through email on p days. So if you want to get in touch with me email is the way to go. I can message a person's Instagram through fb but that just doesn't make much sense cause I'm not likely allowed to text them anyways. I'll write the rest of my email later today. Imma ft mama right now

Elder Putnam

Ivo the Satanic Worshipper and Bralis Hiltons likes kids MTC week 1

 (Elder Putnam)

Hey guys,

 

Today marks my third day in the MTC and my first P-day. So far I'm loving it! There's a lot going on so I'll break down each day one at a time.

Monday:

I met my companions. I have two since we are the only Latvian speaking Elders in the MTC at the moment. Apparently there’s also a trio of Lithuania Sisters, an Estonian Elder, and a Russian Elder that will be in my mission, but they are in person for the first two weeks for whatever reason. Elders Bastovs (Elder Bastow) just finished up his first year at Southern Virginia University where he was on the track and field team which is dope and he's from Baltimore. He's made some lifting references which has me pretty hyped up. Big fan of him. Elders Bibijs (Elder Beebe) is from Salt Lake City and has a wide variety of instruments and languages under his belt. Our very first meeting, he gave the prayer entirely in Latvian which was a little scary to me and Elders Bastovs.

There are a ton of people starting online MTC this week (540+) and in our first meeting they told us that this was the largest Online International MTC Meeting they've had this year. I thought that sounded like an ESPN Next Gen Stat. In our second class of the day Bralis Hiltons shared a talk by Elder Holland from 2012 called "The First Great Commandment." It was about how when Christ was crucified, all the apostles went back to their old jobs, Peter going fishing. When Jesus beckons them back to shore, he asks Peter 3 times, "lovest thou me?" To which Peter responds "Lord... thou knowest that I love thee." Elder Holland extrapolates that Jesus likely said something along the lines of "Then why are you here?... Isn't it obvious that if I want fish, I can get fish? What I need, Peter, are disciples-- and I need them forever." Ok that was a lot. I gleaned two things from this:

1. This calling as a missionary isn't just for the next two years. It's for the rest of my life.

2. I tell people that I love basketball, I love music, I love my friends and family. But I honestly can't recall a time when I said the words "I love The Lord." I believe in Him, and I have a testimony of Him and His gospel but I've never said I love Him. That was humbling. However, in my prayers on Monday night (after a feeble attempt to pray in Latvian) I asked to gain a love for Heavenly Father and for His work. I felt the spirit before getting into bed and I know that although it will take time, over the course of my mission, I will develop a love for Heavenly Father.

Tuesday:

A lot happened on Tuesday. I woke up earlier than usual to work out at the Rec Center (I got permission first) and then I came back and had scrambled eggs which were delicious. In our morning Lesson, Bralis Hiltons invited us to share a scripture with someone and I felt prompted to share some with a few people. I've been left on read by one person, one person accepted my challenge, one person said they'd check out the scripture I shared, but I haven't heard back from them (You know who you are, and don't even try to say you're busy I've seen you posting your dunks). Anyways, I'm not that mad. I’m expecting to see a lot more rejection on my mission. I did realize that sleep is gonna be a big problem for me when I drifted off at the end of Language study, but I'm taking steps to make sure I'm awake without the use of caffeine. Before I fell asleep, we were working on cases for Latvian (cases are the equivalent to conjugation for nouns) and Bralis Hiltons used the example "I like children" before switching to a different example. We all laughed and imma give him a hard time about it going forward.

In class on Tuesday we found out that we'll be doing TRC or practicing giving lessons to actors. The first person we'll be teaching will be acting as Ivo, who we "met" outside of the University and know nothing about. Bralis Hiltons said Ivo could be an inactive member, a devout Christian of another faith, an atheist, or he could be a Satan worshipper. I like the last one cause it promotes a bit more of a challenge for me and my companions. Besides I think Ivo the Satanic Ritualist has a nice ring to it.

It was Alyssa's birthday so we had steak and cake and watched the Chosen which was fun.

Wednesday: P-Day

Let’s see, I went to the gym again which was good. I got lots of people asking about my missionary tag so that was fun. not a ton else has happened today, but Companion study is going pretty well. were all very enthusiastic about our coming meeting with Ivo so that’s hype. they seem to be a bit more well read and knowledgeable about the gospel than me but I’ll get there. During P-day we went and ran errands and stuff to grab last minute stuff. It’s got me more excited for getting into the field, but I’m also nervous about the first few months where I won’t understand much.

I’ve been listening to conference talks during workouts which I enjoy. please let me know if there are any that yall would suggest.

as far as communication goes these are my rules while I’m in at home mtc:

I’m allowed to read and react to messages people send me on Instagram and fb messenger but I cant type out a response unless it’s an emergency. but I can respond to people on P-day it’s just preferred to email back and forth. the only exception to this is if I use one of these social media platforms to share the gospel.

Anyways, that’s all I got today. See yall in a week!!

Elders Putnams

S16 E6: Mission Accomplished!

 (Elder Cummings)

Yup. This is the last one.

This week was amazing.

The night before Alicia went on the high adventure with the young women to go to the temple, paintball, and rafting etc, we went over to their place and had a lesson with the whole family. It basically became a testimony meeting for Alicia as this 17 year old girl bore her testimony of her conversion, the power of the Spirit and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost. She said "I just felt warm and whole. It felt right".

Cristine, her mom, was stunned. The Spirit was so thick you could cut it with a butter knife. We look at her and ask if she wants that for her self. Through tears she told us that she needs to make some changes in her life before she could have it. We hadn't even taught her that. The Spirit simply bore witness to her the changes she needs to make to bring her life in closer harmony with God. She nows has a goal to be baptized August 27th.

Then on Saturday we drove down to BR with the ward to go to the temple. A month ago Elder Cannon baptized Brother Hossam Dalati. On Saturday, Brother Dalati baptized Elder Cannon in behalf of deceased ancestors. Then I got to baptize Elder O and Elder O got to baptize me. Super super cool. I love walking out of the temple back into the craziness of the world because I feel on top of the world. I just feel like I've I've uplifted and am one step better

I love this work. I love being a missionary. I have come to a greater understanding of Jesus Christ as my Savior. I have felt His love and His grace in my life as I have tried to be His instrument in His hands to help others to come unto Him. I have never been happier. I am grateful for everything I've experienced as a full time missionary. "And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain."(1 Cor 15:14) But "I know that my redeemer liveth" and that "he doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation"(Job 19:25, 2 Nephi 26:24). "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost"(Matthew 28:19).

See yall soon!!

Elder Cummings