2010!!! from Peter

Hey! It was so fun talking to you on Christmas day and it was the perfect way to end a happy day. I didn't mention it on the phone but earlier on Christmas morning we were running around the city delivering goodies to investigators/less active members and singing carols and it was a little bit of a stress-fest. We didn't have it planned out real well where to go, some people weren't expecting us and were a little too surprised, I was anxious for the rest of the day (especially the phone call) and so forth. I just felt a little bit like Scrooge so I tried to relax and forget about the problems and think more about the people we were serving. I bet you can tell what happened-- but I'll say it anyway. Everything got better. I was happier, I felt the spirit stronger and the people we visited were really grateful. We even met a few cool new people along the way! One thing that seems to be a theme in missionary work is what you put in is what you get out. That's probably why the Lord asked us to give our whole heart, might, mind and strength.

This week has been filled with fun ranging from teaching a great family to the appearance of Igor the perfect investigator to nighttime nerf gun wars in our apartment (the Dances [mostly Sister Dance] gave us the nerf guns for Christmas-- so we figured it was OK/expected.) The family we taught are the relatives of Rollans, the 18 year old who game to church last week for both branches. We'd been teaching him for 2 weeks but always in center because he lives about 30 KM outside of Riga. Last Saturday, we arranged to go out to his place and met the rest of the clan: 4 younger brothers and one younger sister! That's unusually large for a Latvian family. We also met his mom who's really interested but works 2 jobs as a nurse so she's super busy-- his Dad was at work and apparently isn't as interested but a real nice guy. Rollans brothers are Erins (15), Andris (13), Norberts (9) and Arturs (3) and then Lasma(7). They are all WAY good—quiet, listen and understand. Lasma is especially cute because she's missing some front teeth and smiles really big and gives perfect one word answers. Plus her name kind of rhymes with the Russian word for cool—Klasna-- which I mentioned because I was accidentally calling her Klasma the whole time until my companions corrected me after the lesson—whoops. But we taught them the restoration and gave them a Book of Mormon and asked if they would read and Lasma quickly shouted out “Yes!” Elder McLaren did 95% of the teaching because the kids don't speak Russian but I threw in my simple Latvian testimony and
Elder Hatch nodded and smiled. You'd think he could teach in Lithuanian and be understandable to a Latvian but I think it's kind of like Russian/Ukrainian or French/Spanish. Similar, but not really. We've been practicing teaching in Russian during morning study though and they are picking it up well. I love Russian and I'm really glad I've had the chance to learn it. I'm hoping to keep it up after the mission-- I'm not quite sure how but maybe classes or books or maybe just watching Bourne movies. I'm just really glad I passed the “Radio” test though. That would've been embarrassing...

The other miracle of the week is Igor! Very often it feels like Heavenly Father just leads prepared people right to you, but with Igor it's more that way than I've ever seen. We showed up for Latvian sacrament meeting Sunday morning and he was there setting up the chairs. One of the Latvian elders came up to me and told me he only spoke Russian and my first though was, oh jeah. Turns out he'd been contacted by Elders Freeman/Eddington last summer, came to a baptismal service and church a few times, but lost contact because of working week-ends and a not-so supportive girlfriend. But ever since then, he's continued to read the Book of Mormon and has “thought about the church every day.” He said he feels better there than anywhere else. Welp sometime last week, he broke up with his girlfriend, quit smoking and decided he wanted to put God first in his life. We've taught him everyday since Sunday, he attended a baptismal service on Tuesday and got teary eyed during the ordinance. He came to the ward activity last night (the New Years Party activity-- where Santa Claus [the skinny young branch mission leader] came and gave the kids gifts who could recite a poem/do something interesting—the Russian orthodox Christmas is this week, and that's why I think they waited, haha, but anyway) Igor had spent a few hours reading Ether 4 earlier in the day, and said he read some parts over and over because they had answers to questions he'd had for a long time. He especially liked verses 18-19 where it talks about the need for faith, repentance, baptism. He accepted a baptismal date for Jan. 16th on Sunday and then yesterday I told him he could pick who he wanted to do the ordinance and so he approached Sasha (Santa Claus) and asked him if he would be able to. Not long ago he texted and asked what time we could meet up today. The best thing is that he's a way
normal, cool guy, and all the members love him, he's just got a huge desire to come to God. Now that's what I'm talking about! Like mom said on the phone call, we're just being extremely blessed with people to teach who are ready and humble. I'm so happy, and grateful for that. No matter how many accept or reject it, I know this church is true and Christ is the way. But playing a part in watching people accept truth is also very cool and makes it more than worth it.

I love you, and look forward to hearing again from you soon! Speaking of which, starting tomorrow (or next year as Bishop Steve would say) Preparation Days will be on Mondays. So mark your calenders, because if you forget to write till next Wednesday my e-mail will already be outdated and short. Just kidding. But seriously happy new year and Bunny Bunny Rabbit!

I love you, I love you, I love you!

Love, Elder Barnes #12

P.S. Happy Birthday to Mommy!