Closing Remarks

 (Elder Putnam)

Dear Friends and family,

This past week has been outstanding. It was my last full week of missionary work and I no longer have a regular day. On Tuesday I will have district counsel, interviews with president and dinner at his house. On Wednesday, I will fly out in the morning and be released in the evening from missionary service. Something sister Ceimere said really kinda shocked me. She said that when you are released, you feel the support of the blessing of your calling kinda disperse. It kind of concerned me and I'm not really looking forward to it. If you have any advice regarding that please let me know. I'd love to hear it.

On Monday, we visited Sigulda and took a cultural day in order to do so. We checked out the castles and the gardens. It was very pretty.

On Tuesday we had district counsel and a lot of lessons. Elder Williams choked on a tomato and was trying to get it up for the entire duration of the devotional. Sister Smart also came back and visited with her family so we got to talk with her.

On Wednesday we struggled with our lessons, but the highlight was definitely visiting Gatis and Gunita. Marta is also high key a legend. (Although she wasn’t happy at church on Sunday.) We had a really good conversation about how we can be tools in God's hands. It was super cool to hear how Gatis was able to put together a meeting between the archbishop of the Rīga Lutheran church and Elder Renland when he came. Pretty cool. Gunita shared about how she used her musical talents and learned English from her mission to translate the hymnbook into Latvian. They made us delicious pesto and not so delicious tomato and avocado salad. But the gift of tongues works in mysterious ways.

On Thursday we had online MLC and a bunch of lessons. We also went to dinner with the Halls at a dark ages themed restaurant. It was delicious. We got to celebrate our missions together and encourage the missionaries that still aren’t going home. Gatis also joined a call lesson and that made it so much better. Like he just knew exactly what to talk about to help this duds feel the spirit, especially cause he was kinda bashy. I love Gatis.

On Friday was Edžus' baptism. For a good portion of the day we were preparing for that. We has a goodbye lesson with Arta and then Edžus' baptism was a spiritual high. Roger, one of our friends whose just starting to learn with missionaries was fascinated with the baptism and then talked with Lauris Sapožnikovs for like 30 minutes after it. So many people showed up to support Edžus and the Spirit was very sweet.

On Saturday we took a bus out to Nākotne (translation: the future) which is a small town in the countryside. We helped the Sapožnikovi clean up their land after the big storm we has recently. Marija kept coming up and throwing water balloons at the missionaries, predominately me. She also helped us with some of the smaller branches. On the way back after she helped us she was walking behind me and I put my hand out to give her a high five. Instead of hitting my hand she took it and started walking with it. That melted my heart. She's like 5-6 years old and reminds me of my little cousin. Super sweet experience. We got back in Rīga for my last basketball night in Latvia. Elder Beebe and I were battling it out. Honestly he has turned into a really good defender especially against me. Gotta respect him. We go at it pretty competitively and make some good plays on each other. We'll have to recruit him down from Utah state for the intramural team. He's just gotta marry someone at BYU to qualify.

Sunday topped all other days, even though we did have a baptism. Edžus received the gift of the Holy Ghost in sacrament meeting which set a wonderful start to the meeting. He also bore a short testimony and did some incredible member work welcoming in a first time church comer. A+ for him. The gospel of Jesus Christ is true. Elder Beebe, Bastow, and I all gave our farewell talks. It was a great experience, since a few members from Liepāja were travelling back from the temple and I was able to say goodbye to them in person. After second hour, I had the opportunity to sit with a member and open the scriptures. I felt like President Mahslakti-Tolstosheev in my interviews with him. This member expressed some concerns and we read together about the stripling warriors. For privacy reasons I won't get into what we talked about but it was a very uplifting experience for both of us. Afterwards Elder Beebe, Elder Bastow, and I visited the Frīdbergi for dinner. They are just such a celestial family. I don't know how they do it, but Harolds is gonna be a deacon next year and I'm super excited for him. On Sunday I also had a really good sacrament experience.

Today, P-day, we played basketball and Baltic ball. My joints ache. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

As for spiritual things, my favorite talk that I listened to this past week was Elder Renland's The Powerful and Virtuous Cycle of the Doctrine of Jesus Christ. I especially like how he mentions at the end that we will fall off the Kayak. It doesn't feel good to spiritually fall off the Kayak, but by constantly moving forward, taking the steps of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and applying His atonement, we work up to it. Getting back on the spiritual kayak requires effort, not just subconscious passive movement. And we will fall off the kayak more than once. Its comforting and motivating to know that.

Here are a few pictures from this past week.

I will be giving somewhat of a farewell talk on this Wednesday evening. If you're interested in watching, send me a message and I'll get you the zoom link. It'll be like 5:45 Mountain Daylight time. (I’m not gonna be able to speak in sacrament meeting so it’ll be more like a welcome home party and testimony.)

Edzus is Getting Baptized!

 (Elder Putnam)

Dear friends and family,

This week was crazy busy and it felt like we were always moving. I'll get right into it.

On Monday, we went and visited the Duessalt family in Jurmala. They invited a work associate as well as another member who babysits their kids. We shared a short spiritual message having to do with Simon says and showing a good example.

Tuesday we were able to meet with a lot of our friends. We had the opportunity to invite Gvido Senkāns to one of the lessons. He shared a very powerful testimony with one of our friends about God's love for us. Afterwards our friend started talking very fervently about how he was feeling. We explained that it was the Holy Ghost. It was probably one of the better lessons that we have had.

Wednesday was pretty cool since while we were weekly planning we got news that Edžus is gonna be baptized. Unfortunately when we called him he didn’t have reception so we didn’t end up telling him until Friday but it got us pretty hyped. We were also able to visit a couple. They recently got married. She is a member of the church, but he is still getting used to the church. We expected to be at their house for only one hour, but our discussion lasted a bit longer and we were late for branch missionary correlation 😝. Then we started exchanges.

Exchanges were awesome. Elder Beebe and I reunited with Elder Bastow for one last hoorahh. We set a goal to talk to over a thousand people on the day, and in order to reach that goal we skipped language study and pushed dinner to after nine, but we did end up reaching the goal. Proved the doubters wrong. Outside of that we had some good discussions that reminded me of conversations we had in the MTC and midway through the mission. It seemed to put a nail in the coffin which made the rest of the week a bit tougher.

On Friday we got back together with Elder Woods, had some lessons and that just about sums up that day. (We did end up telling Edžus that he got permission to get baptized. He was also pretty excited.)

Saturday was wild. There was a youth activity that ended and so I got to see some good friends from Liepāja. We also made a broadcast on the Latvian Come Unto Christ page about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a really good time. Afterwards was of course basketball. It was Johnson's last time. Unfortunately he is going Canada to start school. But in his honor, we will take care of his brother John. In addition to that we had another lesson with a super elect person. It's been kind of cool to see how our efforts are being blessed in ways that we don't really contribute to. It shows just how involved The Lord is in missionary work. Its not at all anything that we do that brings about conversion or success, its almost like God putting on a little show for us and we just get to have our testimonies strengthened.

Sunday was the culmination of another great week. We saw probably 100 people at church. Given that some 3 families are at the temple right now, that was an incredible miracle. We again met with that same dude Kristiāns from last week. We talked further about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He finds it all very fascinating and he's taking initiative to read the Book of Mormon and seek an answer. Lastly, on Sunday the Kitchen's invited us over for dinner. Its always uplifting to be around them.

Personal studies didn't really hit as hard this week, but I was moved by Leviticus 17:11 which I ran across doing a natural man deep dive. It reminded me that Christ put down His perfect mortality, in order to raise our imperfect mortality to immortality and perfection. Kinda powerful, right?

My favorite talks from this past week were Elder Rasband's The Things of My Soul and Elder Holland's the Greatest Possession

Similarly to what I just mentioned in paragraphs above, this really is God's work and not our own. I've heard other people say it a ton but this week was a little bit of a testament to me personally. We've been blessed to see people find the church completely outside of our own efforts.

This next week will be intense. It will be my final week. I look forward to reporting on it. On Friday Edžus will get baptized and up until then we will essentially live at the church since we will have so many lessons that are planned. In addition to that, I will give my final talk in Latvia as a missionary on Sunday. There's a lot of things going on in my mind right now so I hope to be able to focus up and lift some heavy circles (metaphorically speaking). Have a wonderful week!

Picture:

Johnson's last basketball night

some pictures from Sigulda (look at those traps though lol)

I think I'm getting the hang of thisc

 (Elder Putnam)

Dear Friends and Family,

What an awesome week it has been. This might have been my favorite week of my mission. We just were moving the entire time and it was awesome. I love those fast paced days.

On Monday Rīga flooded during the day and then by the time that work hours started it had all cleared up and so we went street contacting. Nothing crazy there. We barely got in before 9 but that always makes it exciting.

On Tuesday we had 4 lessons as well as district counsel and the mission devotional. Needless to say, we didn’t go finding all that much, but those lessons all went very well. That night though we took in the Liepāja elders for exchanges.

On Wednesday exchanges with Elder Smith started. We woke up with a surprise message from an old street contacted friend that he wanted to meet. I was completely blindsided by this since he hadn’t messaged us since May and hadn’t read my last 2 messages. But we met with him and then again on Sunday. He's low key elect, he just needs to listen a little bit more to the Spirit.

On Thursday we reunited with our companions and planned for next week. at the end of the day I picked up Elder Ornstead and we found on our way home. He's super high energy and spiritual which I found out pretty quick. We had like 3 minutes before 9 when we got home so we went back out finding and talked to like 15 more people. Unfortunately we didn’t find anyone in that time, but it set a good tone for the next day.

Friday was likely the peak of the week for me. We went finding for like 5.5 hours and found like 5 people. Some of them were super quick conversations where we just continued the conversation over text, but others were a lot more drawn out and we talked about meeting again next week. Thats how it was with one person named Aleks. We ran into him when he was on the way to a wedding and was dressed up so the first thought we had was: Oh he's gonna fit in great a church. We talked about families and the restoration and discussed meeting again. Still waiting on a specific day, but he seems super interested. I also figured out how to do Facebook work.

On Saturday we switched back again, taught some lessons, ran basketball club, and prepared for the sacrament on Sunday. I was exhausted that night.

 

On Sunday we had a lot of people visiting the branch, mostly from Liepāja, but the branch building was full and fast and testimony was on fireee. I wish more of our friends had come, but as Alma, "I do sin in my wish for I ought to suffice with that which I have been given" (or something like that). Sunday night we had our regular calls and then I clocked out early. The other thing that was notable from Sunday was that we closed our fast with tacos. Those things slappeddd.

Talk of the week: Imma list a triad. As I listen to them in order and uninterrupted, I gotta put down Elder Holland's Fear Not; Believe Only, Elder Kearon's He is Risen with Healing in His Wings, and Elder Aidukaitis' Lift Up Your Heart and Rejoice which come right after another in the April 2022 General Conference.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what my mission has offered me. One skill and gift I’ve been given has been the ability to bear my testimony. Not only have I gained a testimony of many of the truths of the gospel but I feel comfortable and even confident sharing them. I used to be scared to share my testimony in sacrament meeting, but as a missionary I no-longer have that worry or hesitation. The gospel is true. It is restored. And It blesses everyone on both sides of the veil. I share that with you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Have a good one.

Just a little pic from exchanges this week

3 Time in a row has got to be a record

 (Elder Putnam)

Dear family and friends,

What a vibe of a week it has been. Thank you to all those who shared their stories from their missions or their friends' missions about inspiration while finding. The training went splendidly.

Monday was very chill in the end of ends. We went to Bible study and learned about hope. We also met with a new friend Antons set up a return appointment. Then we found on our way home and ate pelmeņi for dinner.

Tuesday was the classic district counsel, grab lunch in center, mission devotional, and then go on with lessons or finding if we don’t have teaching appointments. So nothing crazy there. But exchanges did start that night and Elder Roberts and I just chatted it up after 9. It was a good chat.

Wednesday I hit a crazy workout in the morning. For whatever reason I woke up mad. And then we used that motivation to go finding in Jelgava for several hours. Although we didn’t see a ton of success, I felt like we had accomplished a lot and we did well for ourselves.

Thursday we switched back from exchanges, planned our week for our friends, and drove down to Liepāja for zone conference. We planned actually pretty efficiently and I set a goal for myself that to develop more charity and humility I was gonna serve my companions a bit more. That led to 3 humbling graphics on the whiteboard at home. I'll include a picture of them at the bottom.

Once we got to Liepāja we all hiked over to the church where we were able to meet Markuss, Vilārs, President Birkenfelds, and Max. It was super cool to see them and talk with them. Then we went home after eating kebabs for dinner.

Friday morning, due to the fact that Elder Trollenberg and I's training was still not completed, we skipped on Baltic ball and worked on it. We trained on using a map to more effectively find people to teach. The Zone Conference was uplifting, educating and spiritual. Afterwards, as is tradition, we ate dinner with President M.T. which was homemade gyros (literally so delicious).

On Saturday morning I finally got to play Baltic ball on the beach. We lost one of the chairs so we used two trashcans that were already set up. I played well for my last zone conference Baltic ball. I did kinda clock Elder Kane though. He's recovered. Later that day we had a missionary-member finding blitz where we walked all around Liepaja. I got to meet and talk with Raitis which was awesome. Later I went finding with Jāzeps and he was telling me all about the cool stuff that was happening in his life recently. Pretty cool. After the zone blitz it was tough to say goodbye to Liepāja for the last time as a missionary. On the ride back I had a beautiful wonderful conversation with Elder Bastow which honestly changed my perspective on a few things.

Sunday culminated of course with the sacrament. It was hard to concentrate though since our friend who was sitting next to me kept making jokes to me. But I just Kobe Bryant'ed that Chris Rock. Sunday was Cozy's birthday so I got to call her. That was the second highlight of the day (sorry, Cozy, Jesus takes first place)

Thats pretty much all I have for the week. I'll attach some pictures.

Conference Talk of the week: The Doctrine of Belonging by Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Spiritual experience of the week: Taking Elder Philips' advice and writing down who Christ is to me. I discovered that to me, Jesus Christ fills the role as the fulfiller of the laws of Justice and Mercy. That to me is very personal. I know God loves you and I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. Have a wonderful week!

Week 2, holding up strong

 (Elder Putnam)

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I present to you my 1st two week email streak since the MTC.

This week's main event was MLC, when I got to see Elder Nolan again. The Estonian ZL's stayed with us and brought chocolate and juice down.

On Tuesday we had district counsel which is essentially a district counsel with other districts on a zoom call. We did it with Tallin and Vilnius since they have most similar style of work to us. Afterwards we visited the Šostaki in their garden. We walked by the river on the way and there were a ton of people sunbathing there. We all just had to look down. The šostaki taught us what it meant when in the doctrine and covenants it says "be thou humble and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand..." When we got to the garden we ate some weird berries, Sister šostaka taught us how to properly wash our hands (I got it wrong the first time). We also ate waffles with jam with them. It was great. I'll include some pictures.

Tuesday was also Elder Woods' year mark so he made a video for that. As according to year mark tradition he was in the shower bath with something eatable/drinkable, this time a kebab.

On Wednesday we had a finding activity for MLC. Nothing crazy there. But we did film an awesome video for the Latvian Come Unto Christ Facebook page.

Thursday we had MLC and we decided to get rid of our mission focus in order to more fully focus on our missionary purpose. We also decided that all communications between missionaries within the Baltic mission need to be checked by our companions. That includes transfer notes but excludes notes from departing missionaries for some reason. So that doesn’t apply to me. lol

Friday and Saturday didn't really have much going on.

On Sunday however I had the opportunity to speak in Sacrament meeting. I felt inspired to speak on the sacrament itself and its importance in enduring to the end. I didn't prepare much to share, but I was able to speak as guided by the Spirit which was a really good experience.

On that note, I am preparing a training for  the missionaries at zone conference about receiving revelation, especially in regard to finding. If you have an experience from your own mission about following the guidance of the Spirit while finding on the street please share it. I'd love to tie it into the training.

Conference talk of the week: Christlike Poise from Mark A. Bragg

pictures:

1. a Georgian drink that tastes like cough syrup

2. and 3. pictures from the Šostaki's garden

Last transfer, lets see if I can start a streak

 (Elder Putnam)

Friends and Family...

This is my last transfer and so I have a goal to send an email home every Monday. We will have to see how it goes, but at least we are gonna start on a good note. These words that I've just typed out will probably make my mom weep with joy.

This past week has been awesome. Like honestly its just been super fun and I'm super energized for next week.

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we didn't have anything big happen. I packed up all my stuff really tight and compactly, which I'm super proud of. Since I'm getting transferred over with Elder Beebe to be with Elder Woods in Brīvības I was able to see that I'm gonna have no problems bringing stuff back home. I'm gonna have space and weight in my suitcases.

On Wednesday we had our actual transfer. Not a ton took place outside of that except for some finding and whatnot.

Thursday was really fun. We went and served at a Ukrainian help center where we made hygiene kits to send to people affected by the war. We formed an assembly line and worked so efficiently. There is something beautiful about efficiency. When something just works without problems its so amazing. At the end we compiled 197 hygiene kits before we ran out of supplies. We went and told the instructor and she was very surprised that we had finished it all in an hour and 30 minutes. The project was expected to take 2 days. no sweat for the Rīga first district.

On Friday we were able to meet with Ralfs and finish teaching him about the plan of salvation. He is so chill so its hard to see if he's ever feeling the spirit. But he's keeping commitments and wants to be baptized, so... I don't know I guess we'll dip him at some point.

On Saturday we had a baptism for Lehijs. Thats a member's son. He was so excited for his baptism that he made his own poster and bore his testimony at the end. I'll send a pic of the poster. At the baptism I got to talk to Gatis Senkāns for like 30 minutes. He's so wise and charismatic and vibey too. he spat in my eye on accident. lol. I also had the chance to teach Arta, who got baptized a couple years ago about endurance to the end. She said it was really moving and really touched her. That was pretty cool. Saturday night we were in charge of basketball night and we had a good turnout. It inspired me to take some pictures and try even harder to get people to come next week. So I texted some old basketball contacts and invited them. I'll report next week on how it went.

Sunday was likely the high point of the week with the Sacrament. I feel like I had been preparing all week and just in general had been a better person and a better missionary this past week. Disregarding eating healthier, drinking more water, and working out harder and more often, I was also doing better spiritually. I've been listening to general conference sessions before 10 and after 9 so I'll include a suggested talk to listen to at the end.

We were finally able to meet with Persijs which was a win. Edžus is still preparing for baptism and has been taught all the lessons. He's just waiting on permission to get baptized now.

Monday (today) we went to get our hair cuts in the morning by Sister Hall. The Hall's are a senior couple and they absolutely adore us. They made nachos for us and then we gave them a spiritual thought to help Elder Hall overcome some concerns regarding the recent assassination attempt of Donald Trump. I never thought that I would teach that kind of a lesson, but there we were, using the story of Enos coupled with a few verses from the Doctrine and Covenants, to address a concern about politics. God is good.

This coming Tuesday we are gonna visit the šostaki family which will be fun. We are gonna go walk with them in their garden. Elder Beebe and I are trying to meet with all the members in Rīga before we go home. So far, they are the first ones but they will not be the last.

Anyways, I think that’s enough for this week. I hope that I will write an email next week too.

Talk for this week: God Knows and Loves You - Elder Allan T. Philips

Lehijs baptismal poster. What a legend

I got my debit card!!

 (Elder Putnam)

What an absolute win of a week. I'm writing this now as my companions are shopping for me. I twisted my ankle and cant walk like usual so I'm minorly upset about that but all things come for good to those who love God and keep His commandments.

Thats the lesson that I learned this past week. A few weeks ago I lost my wallet. In it I had my TRP card, my personal credit card, some pictures, and my temple recommends. Kinda a big L on my part, but The Lord does amazing things. First off, I was able to share my testimony in the power of prayer with one of my friends we were teaching. That was the most immediate.

Then this week I was talking with Sister Makslahti-Tolstosheev and helped me see from a more positive perspective. She said that somewhere out there in Latvia, because of the cash that had been left in the wallet, for their first birthday, they got a chocolate cake with a big candle. I laughed it off the loss and decided to be more positive about it. For the past few weeks, since I had no money nor means of procuring any money, I have been leaching off of my companions. That has taught me to budget a little more heavily what is important and what is not important. So I learned that skill.

Well, now with this skill learned, the Lord decided I was ready to go back into the field with my own personal MSF card. On Saturday, Sister Makslahti Tolstosheev received a package with someone’s MSF card. Mine!! I was so happy I jumped up and down and almost hugged my mission presidents wife. I restrained myself.

There was a lot more that happened this past week including MLC, a finding activity with Elder McDougal (he's so fun), basketball club with a 60 year old sniper (I swear this man was hitting jumpers off of one foot from everywhere!), an interview with President wherein he did not give me marriage advice (still waiting on that), a hug from Brother Dombrovskis, and a fat chat with the Sapožnikovi, but ill have to leave it at that.

I'll include some pictures, including of my swollen foot (Henry I know you like it when I do that), and some Pday touring of Rīga.

1. Getting the best medical treatment there is from Elder Hall and Elder Malovich

2. a cool looking church lol

Elder Renlund Dapped me up!

 (Elder Putnam)

OK, we had several things happen this past week the crowning jewel of which was Elder Renlund's visit to Rīga and the Baltics in general.

At the beginning of the week we were told to avoid all sorts of activities at the church, but we had a ton of lessons planned so we did them all outdoors. Our most progressing friend Edžus came and we talked about the yoke of Christ with him. He really liked the message. Then he came to Elder Renlund's devotional and had to leave 3 minutes in to his talk. that was such an L. But he came to church and hit it off with the members which is so great.

We invited the ends of Latvia to come to Elder Renlund's devotional and there were a ton of people that came. It was awesome.

Before the actual devotional though, we had our own discussion with him as a body of missionaries. He encouraged us to stay focused on the sacrament which was the thing that stuck out to me the most. When greeting us he shook all of our hands and asked us our name and where we are from. Of course I had to be interesting and said I was from Saudi Arabia. When he heard that he turned the handshake to a bro grip, said "good to have you here" and thus I dapped up an Apostle.

Then in the general session, I went with our investigator to shake hands with him again and Elder Renlund, cause of course you want all of your friends to have the chance to shake an apostle's hand. When I went up this time Elder Renlund told me "thank you". I was like, "for what?" and he was like "you have a countenance." I was like what??? I’ve never been told that before and to hear it from an apostle was just out of this world.

As for later events of the week, I went to get my new visa. We also had transfers. To my great surprise, I got transferred again. This time to my old companions Elder Beebe and Elder Leonard. It'll be a fun companionship and I hope they can teach me how to do Facebook work more effectively.

In summary, We had a week that felt like two. It will be very difficult to forget it.

For a spiritual thought, I will leave behind my most favorite thoughts from this past week. First: Satan doesn’t have any power unless we give him power. This goes along well with one of my favorite scriptures: D&C 93:39 " And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience..." Similarly to how our faith and testimonies can be strengthened through obedience, through disobedience, Satan chips at and wears down our testimonies, our light and our truth.

On Saturday night, ponder and consider what you will think about during the sacrament. I think this one is so good. It brings to mind the temple. Often when we have questions or when we are seeking revelation or peace, we go to the temple. And we plan what we are seeking to find in the temple. The same can go for the sacrament. I tried that this week and realized that I have a lot more to improve upon. I can definitely get better at making my sacrament meetings more meaningful, which he encouraged us to do as we prepare to return home. For me, that’s in 2 transfers.

I guess I'll have to see you all then!

Fresh Outta the Asylum & Jelgava is apostate + a transfer to Riga

 (Elder Putnam)

So about a week and a half ago I got transferred to Rīga. I was very disappointed that I was leaving Liepāja especially after everything I had invested there. But I kinda have held to the talk from this past General Conference about trusting in the Lord. I'm in a trio with Elder Woods and Elder Roberts.

Since coming to Rīga our schedule has changed a lot. There is a lot to adjust to, but I think I'm doing well. The meal plan and the bed and study space are different and will require some adaptation, but with change and adversity comes growth. Lets just say I'm versatile.

On Tuesday we had a random friend show up to the church at the same time as a different friend. And since the random friend really only kinda knew me, I grabbed Elder Leonard and we taught the dude about the Plan of Salvation. He's gonna be there next Tuesday too 😎.

On Wednesday we visited an older member, the mother of the patriarch of the Baltics. Velta Senkane. She fed us canned tomatoes, bread, and a banana. It was awesome and then she didn’t let us share a spiritual thought since she was already old and wise and didn’t need it. come on Velta!

We also went on finding splits with some Russian speaking missionaries. On Tuesday we talked to this one dude who looked like he was on the way from the airport. We talked with him about the plan of salvation, realized that’s not what he needed, and then transitioned to something he mentioned about peace. He said he was interested and asked for a card. He explained that he was not in fact coming from the airport, but rather from the mental hospital, where he had been staying for some time. He needed time to get on his feet and promised to call us. I wont lie, we took it pretty well and are still waiting in faith for him to call. Hence "Straight Outta the Asylum in this emails title.

We had a fun weekend. On Saturday we took a train out to Jelgava and did a service project for the Hare Krishna's. We got super dirty, but they fed us super well. After we had washed ourselves off in the sink, we changed into proselyting clothes and went out on the town. We had hardly any good conversations. Everyone seemed to both recognize us, and have a bad attitude towards us. It kinda left a bad taste in my mouth for what is Jelgava.

On Sunday we helped out at the youth event. I taught some kids to pray more fervently. And then we taught the Elders Quorum lesson. It was kinda cool cause while we hadn’t planned the lesson, Elder Woods and I had prepared thoughts and thought-provoking questions. It was cool to see how the Lord guided the lesson to make it clear, powerful, instructive and timely. The grand cap of Sunday was a call that I received from Elder Bastow around 8:30. He informed me that a rule was changed in the Europe North Area of the missionary field. Missionaries who work with members towards baptism are allowed to travel to the temple with that new member, if they are ready and worthy to go through the temple. That would mean that Elder Bastow and I would be able to go with Raitis to the temple in Helsinki if he chooses to go through the temple before Elder Bastow and I go home. Pretty cool opportunity if it realizes.

Anyways that’s the most part of this past week.

He is Risen! Viņš ir Augšāmcēlies!

 (Elder Putnam)

Easter is one of my favorite Holidays now.

I was reminded this season of a Russian orthodox Easter tradition. On the morning of Easter, the first time you great everyone, you say "He is risen." to which the person being addressed says, "Truly He is Risen." Latvians don't seem to like it that much but its something that I want to take home. So next Easter, greet everyone on Easter morning by saying "He is Risen."

Elder Putnam

So I hit 18 months

 (Elder Putnam)

These past few weeks have been more busy. We are meeting with someone named Kaspars. He reads the Bible once a year but doesn't believe in Jesus Christ. Crazy how that works. Anyways. He has some really weird takes on life and everything. Like he won't read verses out of another person's scriptures. And he won't read or sing out loud. But he came to church for the second time in a row. We'll have to see how it all pans out.

Transfer news comes out this week. I bet I'm gone. Off to Rīga we go!

 - Elders Putniņš

Christmas, New Years, and Zone Conference

 (Elder Putnam)

So I’m going to attempt to summarize 2 big weeks in one Email in 15 minutes.

Christmas was awesome. Inviting people to church was so fun, but so unfruitful. Despite that, there were still like 50 people who came to church. All time high.

We spent Christmas eve night with the Ščerbeņini family and the Bergesons. It was awesome!

We stayed inside on Christmas which made it go by a little boringly, but still got to talk to family all day. (We were counselled to stay inside by our Mission President).

The following week, people were a lot less open to talking with missionaries. No real surprise. But Markuss was baptized!!! Elder Beebe got to drive down and participate in the ordinance. It was really cool to see. We ended by driving up to Rīga to celebrate the New Year with other missionaries. Then we stayed up there for Zone Conference and visa work. Zone Conference was hype and we were all edified.

The amazing thing was that we came back to Liepāja and still were so effective. We had 3 new friends in 3 days. Doesn't sound like much, but its darn cold out here and that doubled our area book. Looking forward to a lesson every day with a friend next week (mind blown). We are also meeting with a Baptist preacher. The Baptist preacher who's church building is down the street from ours is either gonna bash the crap out of us or is gonna turn into the most amazing strength Liepāja has ever seen. Wow.

Anyways thats a decent summary of what has happened recently. Remember that you are all children of God. He loves you and He's got your back.

First couple days of training

 (Elder Putnam)

This week was a little all over the place.

We started with exchanges up in Rīgā. Elder Woods and I popped off. We went finding til our toes froze and then we shared the absolute worst bratwurst I’ve ever had. Not a play on words. The lady pulls it out of the bag in front of us and then grills in a panini press. I can’t believe I paid 2.50 for that.

Elder Leonard and I returned to Liepāja and then, not 18 hours later I was back on a bus with Elder Ivester to get trained on how to train a new missionary. While there, we also went finding a ton. I swear, Rīga is the promised land of finding. I mean wow. Also using the LightTheWorld method is crackeddd

We got our new missionaries. Elder Roberts and I hit it off from the start which is one of the reasons why I was not thrown off too much when we were assigned to be companions. We have hardly anything in common but that doesn’t seem to be an obstacle. We’re doing a challenge to bring us together as a companionship. We are gonna finish the Book of Mormon in 9 weeks reading together. I know that some of you are doing it in only 25 days, but I'm simply weaker.

First Sunday went by so well. Although there was hardly anyone at church, Gundega and Markuss showed up, Gundega with her husband and one of her sons. I spoke and so did Brother Ščerbeniņš. Elder Roberts introduced himself. Gundega and company felt the spirit. Afterward, we had a lesson with Jacky and Jāzeps joined. He is so great. Can't wait for him to serve a mission.

Pday went by so efficiently too. Like we got so much done. Were gonna make ham-beefburgurs this week and its gonna be so good. The sisters will get to Liepāja on Thursday which will be huge and Cammie opens her call tomorrow so pray she goes Baltic Mission Latvian or Russian speaking.

Anyways that’s all. I’m gonna sign off for now here’s some pictures.

And no I haven’t haized my greenie...

yet

Throw one up to the Elder Khilabok

 (Elder Putnam)

Elder Khilabok would be so proud of us. We did such great work the past few days.

On thanksgiving night, we spent time with the district. I butchered the turkey and it turned out so dry. Elder Leonard came in clutch with the Hawaiian BBQ sauce though. We made orange rolls (a Putnam thanksgiving classic) and delivered them to some branch members. We were able to give some blessings as well and Ernests even accompanied us with his friend. Thanksgiving closed off nicely.

On Friday we had two member lessons and talked about the Second Coming with the Blūmi. President Blūms thinks that his kids are gonna serve missions in the millennium (his oldest is 12) so definitely get ready, cause according to a random member in Latvia, it’s coming soon. But we saw a rainbow about a week ago, though so its chill. Elder Bednar though?

Saturday I got sick. But then I recovered and went to church on Sunday.

Sunday we had a pretty cool experience. About a month ago we ran into a girl on the street who didn't believe in God. We told her to try pray every night for a week and then for a week not to pray. Treat it like an experiment and look for miracles in her life. Well, we ran into a different girl who didn’t believe in God and as we were talking to her the first girl came up with a small group of friends and basically just bore her testimony and thanked us. So much so that the second girl wanted to take up the same experiment. We also recognized the other friends in that group, dapped em up, and invited them to church. Such a vibe.

God is good. He directs our paths. And He keeps His promises.

Looking at a good pday today, hopefully some Catan. We'll see how it all plays out.

til next time

 - Elders Putniņš

Late Zone Conference and Rip to Elder Khilabok

 (Elder Putnam)

Due to some complications in the mission we had Zone conference very late in the transfer. We spent like 3 days in our area this week because of that and visa work. Nonetheless, it was a very good week.

We have a potential 4 new friends, if we can stay in contact with them all.

One is a referral who has already finished 1st and 2nd Nephi (we haven’t even had a lesson with him). He's spent some time in the states where he learned about the church and has some friends who are members.

Next is someone who a member brought to church. The member has been teaching this friend themselves for a little bit. Its minorly frustrating, but she is very excited about coming to church. She will bring her family to game night on Tuesday too. It’ll be exciting.

A random dude just showed up to church yesterday, and while talking to him, we found out that Elder Beebe had invited him to church when he was available. So he came. That hardly happens. W

Then there’s Artis. He said he's down to meet again when he has time. We also have several contacts for people who have mild interest.

Overall though on the week, we had a great go. Zone conference was fun and uplifting. It was Elder Khilabok's last one. Es raudāšu. He is super cool and a great example to all the other missionaries. I fed him some cake (wedding style) and in response Matias did the same to me. Only he got in trouble from his mom. Directly after lunch (with cake still on my face) President asked me to be a zone leader. I thought he was gonna chastise me and tell me that I need to set a better example, but he didn’t. He just informed me about a little smudge I had on my forehead. What a guy.

In the finding activity I was with Elder Brady which was fun, but we didn’t find anyone unfortunately. Maja (president's 9 year old daughter) made me a bracelet out of rainbow loom.

I hurt my ankle but its better now. Thats the main news.

This next week Elder Leonard will finally get to Latvia so I’ll get to start training with him. Super excited. might prank him a bit.

building was looking spooky when we got back from Rīga.

Exchanges with Elder Khilabok

 (Elder Putnam)

This past week we had a lot going on.

For the record: I got transferred down to Liepaja about 4 weeks ago. I'm in a trio with Elder Beebe who was in the MTC with me, and Elder Ivester, who is being trained by Elder Beebe. We are waiting on Elder Leonard to get visa stuff, but he'll be here in 2 weeks to be my greenie. We've been running Liepāja for the past bit. The members like us, we have friends who we are teaching, and there’s a new family in the branch. Very good things.

Monday we met with Jacky. She’s married to a member and is preparing for baptism. We don’t have her teaching records just because of complications in the mission right now, but those will come through in a few weeks. She’s pretty shy, but she is accepting everything that we teach her.

On Tuesday we had a surprise lesson with a Latvian from Daugavpils. He's crazy. Like really interesting person. He goes off on so many tangents. Lai Dievs viņu svētī. yfm? Such an odd lesson. It didn’t help that it was through zoom.

On Wednesday we had exchanges with Elder Argyle. Hes a vibe. we made pelmeņi feast, which is my favorite thing to do for dinner. super easy, super straight forward. very unifying. We also played Catan with them elders. Elder Ivester won.

On Thursday we had English club and it was good because people actually showed up! We did some service for Vincents, whose a super old, super spiritual dude. He gave us chocolate. But this week I decided to give up chocolate for health reasons (Elder Khilabok said I looked fat). That night, the aforementioned elder with his companion, Elder Maxwell arrived for exchanges. I was with Elder Khilabok and Elder Ivester. We kinda went crazy on finding the next day. It was so good. we almost got a member involved too. We found and invited 3 people to church. 2 of them came and are down to meet up again. We also met with a different friend who knew Elder Vehar. Sooo... we know what that means.

Exchanges ended well on Saturday morning. but then we moved into a different apartment. we spent the entire day moving and cleaning both apartments.

Because of our diligence this past week we were blessed with a wonderful Sunday. Sacrament meeting went by well and then Sunday School was slightly better. We are moving into this next week with solid momentum.

Small Spiritual/Language thought for this week:

Alma 27 talks about the people of Ammon who, fleeing from the attacking Lamanites, sought shelter with the Nephites. The Nephites gladly accept them giving them a land. In verse 27 we learn about their relations a little bit.

"27 And they were among the people of Nephi, and also numbered among the people who were of the church of God. And they were also distinguished for their zeal towards God, and also towards men; for they were perfectly honest and upright in all things; and they were firm in the faith of Christ, even unto the end."

I had read this verse and other verses before but I had never before considered: What is zeal? So I did a little study on it. In the gospel library, it is linked to diligence and earnestness. But if we dive a little deeper, the Latvian translation is "dedzība." dedzīgs, is like fervent, or firey. "They were distinguished for their [fieriness] towards God and, and also towards men. I love that translation. firey. Let us all strive to be more firey towards God and towards men. If there is anything I want to be right now it’s a dedzīgs misionārs.

Zone Conference in Liepāja

 (Elder Putnam)

Čauviņi!

This week was full of ups and downs. Pday we played pickleball at the church which was such a vibe. Sister Johnson and I clowned Elder Judd and Elder Davis. But then on Tuesday we found out that Elder Davis would be emergency transferred out to Narva. Thats a fat rip. I'll miss him.

On Wednesday we drove down to Liepāja and the full 3 hour drive I talked with this one youth about all kinds of things. It was legendary. All in Latvian too. I read him a few verses from Alma 32 and he kinda really liked it. He then asked if he could "palasīt" the Book of Mormon while I took a nap. I recommended that he read 2 Nephi 2. and he did. And 2 Nephi 3, and part of 4. He downloaded the Book of Mormon app and said he'd be down to talk more about it. Thats a win in the books. He's seventeen which is kinda exactly what our branch needs.

Zone Conference itself was mid, except for the finding activities and stuff around it.  We had a degree of success in each contacting opportunity. Placed a Book of Mormon with Elder Brady, we got Brother Blūms to go with me and Elder Eastland, and we gave a Book of Mormon to a member's daughter. Overall it was a great experience.

But the crowning moment was going to House of Food. It’s a highkey boujie restaurant. Elder Davis and I shared the meat selection. Its grandeur was beyond description. We started with the lamb. It was good, but I later learned that if I added the oil/herb sauce it was 3x better. Then we moved onto the pork chops. Elder Davis was raving about the bbq sauce, which to be fair was exquisite (skaudra). Next we ate the steak. that was the softest most tender steak I have ever eaten, no disrespect dad, you still have the Best Spice and Sauce Combo title on locks. it was again enhanced by the oil and herb sauce. There was still another meat on the platter but all I know about it was that it made me want to shout Hosannahs right there in the aesthetically pleasing basement-restaurant.

On the last day I got pastries with Elder Khilibok then we hopped on the bus back to Rīga. Had a long insightful talk with Sister Barker about missions and stuff (she’s going home soon). When we got back we had a very good lesson with Rovens. We taught the basics: God is our loving Heavenly Father and it seemed to hit for him. It felt like a very focused lesson. Like we were asking good questions and He was thinking about it well. We pretty much just read the scriptures and talked about what they meant. Such a good outline for a lesson. Who woulda thought.

Anyways, thanks for the prayers. Elder Argyle and I appreciate them.

Pictures:

1. my grocery grab: 23. bucks (divided by protein count)

2. we visited a castle today.

3. split pastries with Elder Judd

4. the trip back from Liepāja

5. graffiti and very blue sky in Liepāja

The Elder Argyle Era: Round 2

 (Elder Putnam)

Labrīt Ģimene un Draugi,

about 8 weeks ago, Elder Argyle got transferred into my area. So we’ve been companions for the past bit and will be until the new Latvian missionaries come in after a month. We have been finding a ton and teaching a lot of new member lessons.

Won't lie, member-missionary relations have not been better as far as I understand. Absolutely vibing. There are a few reasons for that that I can think of:

1. We are visiting families.

We have visited the Bites twice now (those kids are the absolute cutest. I get high 5's from them whenever I see them). This most recent time I beat Brother Bite in a pull competition. 💪💪. Those weights and pull up bar are coming in real handy in that sense. We also visited Gvido Senkāns this past week. They fed us Latvian watermelon, curry with potatoes, and a chocolate ice cream bar. The Senkāni are just so cool.

2. We are chatting a ton with members after Second Hour and just overall spending time with them. I had a Star Wars lightsaber fight with Harolds cause he helped us clean up the stage. Love that kid. We even vibe with the Russian branch. Like we got invited to Sister Samigullina's birthday. Good times.

3. Sacrament Meeting. We play many different hymns in Sacrament meeting. I even learned some Fast Sunday Hymns.

We also have been asked to speak a few times which is good to know that they trust us in that sense as well. Rīga is rolling.

As for Language, I'm doing good. I finished the Book of Mormon like 2 months ago and the doctrine and Covenants 2 days ago. I'm planning on getting the Pearl of Great Price finished before the new missionaries come. I still can't translate in sacrament meeting which is žēl, but in all other areas Im kinda vibing. I got a Latvian Bible to go with my triple combination.

Personal Studies: I picked up Jesus the Christ by James e. Talmage. My dear brothers and sisters, every single paragraph is a Spiritual Thought that can be shared at district counsel. So good. I'm reading about miracles at the moment. Heck ya.

this past week we went to help out at a Spikeball tournament in Marupe. It was a great time. We helped set up and then they gave us snacks and we got to play around on a different net when there wasn't other stuff to do. The music could have been less heathen, and there could have been less vaping, but outside of that it was a great service opportunity.

But Marupe, being 40 minutes from Rīga is the ideal situation for new area. Cause we would still be supporting the Rīga branch, but we would be finding in a completely new area. Its mostly houses which means more families... and we already have a member there who can go finding with us. It would be ideal to get his family dipped first, but when can at least help him show up to Church on time. I wanna serve in Marupe so baddddd. Pray that this happens. Please In reality though, its all what God wants.

I do have one request for anyone who has made it this far. I was recently inspired by a testimony that was shared by a missionary. He said that his mother recently again started praying that he would have people to teach the gospel. And immediately they found a friend on the street. I ask that if you can mention it in your prayers, that you do pray that Elder Argyle and I will have people to teach. Because our area book is so dry. We have 5 new members, but also have no friends at all. So, I fervently ask, that you would include this minor detail in your prayers.

There is no greater work than the Work of Salvation going on today. I hope you have a wonderful week. I'll try to write a short email next week.

Pictures:

1. On our way to service in the beauty of Marupe's nature

2. Idk it was outside the Nation Library of Latvia

3. Spiritually and physically preparing for Bible study.

4. Hiding in the Bites Apartment building cause there was a ton of Rain.

5. Ernests came and visited then promptly stole my tie.

6. Some food for like really cheap.

7. Remember that Jesus loves you

Līgo: The Summer Solstice Celebration

 (Elder Putnam)

So the 23rd of June is the day with the earliest sunrise and latest sunset. To Latvians thats really important. Pretty much everyone goes out into the countryside to celebrate. Its a good time and everyone drinks a ton of beer. Unfortunately since everyone is out in the countryside, nobody is in Rīga and theres not as much missionary work to do.

We still got to celebrate with the stake at the Imanta church building. All the members and missionaries from Liepāja and Daugavpils also came. It was a good time.

Thats most of whats in my mind right now except for pday today. We again went to the Imanta church building and played volleyball, Baltic Ball, and games. Elder Khilabok grilled up some very delicious meat as well. I was impressed. I got a slight sunburn but it was a great time. All the Rīga missionaries except for the Assistants showed up. It was a great pday. Elder Davis said that I jump like a drunk frog.

The last thing on my mind is that we get a new mission President this week. President Anti is what we call him because we cant pronounce his last name. He will lay down the law. Itll be especially interesting because he already knows a lot of the missionaries and especially the members. Lots of things will change, both with missionaries and members.

Anyways, loving my time here. Its a great experience and the work is moving forward.

My next chapter: Riga 2

 (Elder Putnam)

Ok so here’s the takes from Rīga so far. They’ve got a lot of things under control. like split second hours and stuff like that. Brālis Bite is an absolute legend. We went over to his house on Thursday and it was a blast. We acted out Nephi obtaining the brass plates with the kids. It was awesome. He also led the second hour discussion last Sunday which was pretty great.

Rimi ran out of pelmeņi which caused me to improvise a little this week on food. The fridge is a little smaller too so I’ve had to dk a little dance there too.

Elder Argyle is an absolute G. He left behind a bunch of stuff for me to eat. Mostly chocolate and cookies and stuff. but some decent spices which i very much appreciate.

Definately missing Elder Bastow rn. Definitely also missing, like teaching people. that was kinda nice.

Anyways that’s pretty much it for today.