Dear family!
Elder Brimley left for RIGA this morning, and Elder Freeman is coming down from RIGA right now to be my companion here in Vilnius! Whew I’m so excited. Elder Freeman was one of the first missionaries I met at Zone conference my first transfer and he’s been a hero ever since. Now we’re companions! I’m a wucky guy.
It was tough to see Elder Brimley go and he was sad to leave Vilnius, especially because of the great members in the branch and their involvement in the work. For
some reason memories and thoughts from Riga had been on my mind last week and now I know why! Sorry if the tricky subject tricked you. Well sort of…
Elder Freeman went to Springville high school, has spent his whole mission in Latvia, including the last 6 months as an assistant. He knew were Eugene was before I met him which only told me one thing—he’s a long distance runner. He ran track and cross country at SUU and so he’s a hard worker, with a quick sense of humor.
He’s basically everyone’s favorite and I’m really looking forward to serving with him. And we’re brothers-- he was also trained by Elder Glauser—which is the case with the majority of Russian elders in this mission it seems. There actually is a shortage of Russian speakers and so one missionary who’s been in Lithuania for less than 6 months got transferred to Narva, Estonia (a 95% Russian city) to be a Russian elder! Ha, can you imagine that, wondering if you will be staying in your city in the morning, and than being on a bus to a different country, about to learn a different language three hours later? Yeah it’s crazy—but I was happy for him, Russian is the way to go. His companion will be Elder Hillman, who I served with in Riga and he’ll do great.
Wow I realized this whole e-mail has been about transfers which probably are not as exciting to you as I might think—we’ve been making phone calls to make sure people get off okay all night and morning so that’s maybe why it’s on my mind… I’ve also just realized that transfers here are somewhat of a logistical nightmare because you’ve got four different languages and a limited number of elders and sisters who speak each language. I’ve met about 2/3 of the 100 missionaries in the mission which is more than a Lithuanian Elder who will never see the other 2/3 plus. Interesting hunh? I love this mission because it’s the best for me and where I’m supposed to be. But what makes it good is preaching the gospel so I should probably tell you more about that—
Richard came again to church last week, with a tie just looking so fly. I’ve never taught an investigator that just understands like he does and he really commits when he does something. For that reason he’s had doubts about whether he’ll be able to stay solid after baptism and basically change his life for good. I think he’s really felt and received a witness but is maybe scared to act. If only he understood that receiving the gospel would bring more joy than anything else! But I’ve got faith that things will work in the Lord’s way in his time. I just am trying to build up the patience to wait for that! Patience is the hardest attribute for me to develop, it just doesn’t come quick enough!
Igor is falling off the deep end as pressure from his family and “friends” planted some serious doubts and caused him to revert to some old ways. He made incredible progress in record time, but now it’s falling fast. Ah it’s a heartbreaker. But getting discouraged does no good so you just gotta keep on keeping on! And everything will work out.
We’ve got a few other new people with some great potential so we’ve just got to get them to come to church this week so they can see what we’re all about! It’s a
blessing to serve, especially with Elder Freeman. He’s just good. I’ll send some
pictures and you’ll see.
I love your happy attitudes and support! Life can always get better because our problems and trials have already been overcome. I know that’s true, and I love you!
Love, Elder Barnes #12
Friday, June 5, 2009
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