The Church is true! Go Ducks! Happy Halloween!

Dear Family,

Overall Halloween is not really celebrated too much here, but we had a trick or treat miracle on Saturday evening! It had been a pretty long day of not much going on, and right as we opened the door to go into another building, a group of 5 or 6 young trick-or treaters without their parents, came from out of no-where and ran right by. We debated whether it was worth it to knock at the same time, and just figured it wasn’t the best of ideas. So we turned around and headed towards some different buildings a hundred or so yards away. While walking, we came across a man with a hoodie. We greeted him, he took off his hoodie and it turns out that he was a nice, prepared guy who said he had few minutes. So we sat down on a nearby bench and taught him for the next 20 minutes. It was zero degrees out, so not too warm, but it felt very comfortable and he definitely felt the spirit. He came to church the next morning (he got there 20 minutes early!) and really enjoyed it. We’ve yet to teach him this week, but it’ll work out tomorrow I think. His name is Ilvars, he’s about 30, and has gone to other churches, just didn’t really like them. So he’s pretty prepared.

Yesterday morning we returned from exchanges in Vilnius and it was another highlight of the week. I love Vilnius! It has a lot of trees, the buildings and homes are more spread out, and it just feels like Eugene, kind of. We drove down Sunday evening after church, and arrived after a quick/dark 3 ½ hours. Like mom mentioned to me, it’s getting dark here really early (between 4 and 5). We also had a full moon yesterday, which I kind of forgot you were seeing too! Sometimes I forget that life is going on ever where else, especially when it’s moving very quickly where you are. That was another part of the fun of going to Vilnius; the city was the same more or less, a few new buildings here and there, but it was a lot colder than when I left, and now there are more members! I was with two Russian speakers who live in the area I served in, so we taught Karl (the man to whom we taught piano), and Artiom, who are both doing really well. Artiom had been dating one of the new converts, Ina, but she left for England a month ago and he said it’s been lonely without her, haha. My last lesson with him she came to teach with us, and I joked that they would become
“really good friends” and he said no way, but it just turned out to be destiny. But I’m telling you all of this because he baptized one of her good friends last Sunday, who’s been investigating for the last few months, and now her brother has been starting coming to church. Artiom’s friend, Jefim, that got baptized 2 months ago is doing really well, and is dating a long time member from the Lithuanian branch, and they are very lovey dovey. So basically, there’s a lot of baptizing and righteous dating going in Vilnius, which is what it’s all about.

Transfers are coming up next week, so we’ve started to do some planning. I’ve been serving with Elder Brown for three transfers, so we’re both pretty sure that we’ll have new companions next week, which is weird. Senior Missionaries are lucky in that they get to keep the same companion the whole time! I’ll for sure miss Elder Brown and his cooking, driving, and leadership skills. But transfers are always fun because you get to look at where you are, and figure out how to get where you want to be. My guess is I’ll still be in Riga, but you never know, anything can happen! Welp gotta fly, I love you and you’re in my prayers!

Love, Elder Barnes #12