(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)
