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