Hey, It's Me!!! from Peter

Dear Family,

As you probably noticed, this will be my new e-mail from now on. I think all of the e-mails sent to the old address will be forwarded but if you send them to pbarnes@myldsmail.net then they will get here faster, probably. Myldsmail and Gmail basically just combined which is pretty snazzy, i think there will be a lot less glitches in the system which will be nice. Pbarnes@mydsmail.net is a classy new name, but it's obviously not one that I came up with. It's lacking a lot of personality if you now what I'm saying. But I'm still happy!

Life is just good. Overall, this week has been very similar to last week, just a little bit more white! It's continued to snow pretty much everyday and the past few days have been back in the negative teens. Everyone keeps saying this is the most brutal and snowy winter they've had in about 40 years. I'm not sure if that's true cause I'm only twenty, but it's definitely a lot colder than last year. But the cold brings some fun obstacles including the 2-4 feet of snow piled up on the sidewalks. And all of rivers are frozen solid. I was in Parnu a few days ago on exchanges and the elders live right on the beach so we walked out and on across the Baltic Sea! I really felt like Peter. Hehe, but not so much because it just looked like a wasteland of snow, well, thick ice with snow on top for as far as I could see. But we stopped walking out after a bit, just because that would be a lame way to end a mission. But there were fisherman who were way further out there, so it was safe...

Okay back to the exciting news! Our investigators are continuing to make steps, but not extremely big ones. We've been trying to work more with members in our teaching and having the members call and invite them to church, and that's made a little difference but we still didn't have any at church yesterday. Antonio has a lot of potential, he's the 40 year old man from Equador who's lived here the last 20 years. The Estonian branch president REALLY likes him, and is convinced he'll get baptized. I think part of that is just because he's South American and "the promises in the Book of Mormon are about him" (a direct quote from President Jögi--prounced Yegee,) but he's really got a good shot. He has a testimony of the Book of Mormon, and pretty much everything we teach, it's just a matter of putting his trust in God that everything will work out with keeping all of the commandments. Then there's Tanel who was baptized, but has yet to receive the Holy Ghost. That's a tough situation, and we're not sure what else to do. He's said he would get it a few times, but just didn't show up to church because of family pressure or anxiety. We've had good lessons with him though when he's committed to receive so it's just a matter of him deciding on his own to do it. It's kinda like the idea of Borrowed Light vs. Added Light that one of the local general authorities taught at a zone conference. He said that what you hear and learn at church or general conference is borrowed light and will get you by but won't be long-lasting until you really learn and apply it through personal study and living. It's so true!

I'm trying to think what else is new-- oh yeah we had a miny miracle last week when we needed 4 eggs on Sunday evening to make brownies. We didn't have any though, so we went and asked one of our neighbors, Sylvie. She's a sweet, ancient little lady who speaks Estonian, Russian, Finnish and a little Lithuanian! I said all of the words I knew in Lithuanian and I'm pretty sure that's about all she could say too (How are you, I speak a little lithuanian, good, good-bye). But she did have exactly 4 eggs! She explained that just that morning she had thought about eating two of them but had a feeling not too. The Lord works in mysterious ways! Haha, I'm not sure if it was revelation or not, but it was pretty funny. We went back the following evening and gave her some brownies and returned her egg carton (she didn't want the eggs because all we had were store bought, and she got hers from the farm...). She also had us open a cork jar she couldn't muster open and check her electricity gauge which was high up, and then we sat down and taught her for a little while. She's pretty convinced in the Lutheran church and has had some pretty out-there experiences with angels and things, but it was still a fun way to share the gospel with a neighbor.

Other than that we've been trying our best to get people to stop and talk on the streets and on the transport and we've set up some new lessons with some cool people this coming week which I'm excited for. We also contacted a less active member who apparently spent some time in the states and said her favorite state is Oregon! So we're probably going to give her the beanie you sent me for Christmas. That was an inspired gift!

I love you and I'm so happy to be on a mission! I'm enjoying the snow as much as I can because I know that next year i won't be able to do! Well I guess it does kinda snow in Provo too. Dang. Well, at least I'll already have warm church clothes!

Much Love,

Elder Barnes #12

The first pictures is from the exchange in Parnu, the guy on the left is going on a mission to Hungary in 2 months and they guy on the right, Dima, is an investigator who got introduced by his friend who's also an investigator. They are both 20, Russian, want to serve missions and want to be baptized in March! I thought Parnu was all Estonian but I saw a lot of russians there. I asked a lot of people what percentage of the city population was Russian and some said 5% while others said 30-40%. I didn't count but I'd say right about 12%.

Happy Love Day! from Peter

Dearest Family,

Some of you asked if we did anything special to celebrate Valentines Day. Nope. Well, I guess my companions and I all wore red ties yesterday-- which is about the most creative you can get without getting into too much trouble on a mission. I really love my companions though. We don't give each other the nightly hug like i have done with all of my other companions (don't ask why, i guess it's just a tradition of our fathers) but we get along really well, enjoy serving with one another, and tell each other we love each other often. Having companions that you get along with makes all the difference. I can imagine that eternity would be a lot less fun if your companion was someone that drove you crazy. That's why Mom, Dad, Chisos and Bethany are just so lucky!

Because we all came out together, it's been fun to compare experiences we've had throughout the mission and life in general. Elder Patterson's conversion blows me away, because it happened in Afghanistan even though he grew up as a member in Idaho. He had a really good friend there who has a strong active member and asked him why he wasn't coming and invited him to read the Book of Mormon. He did, and then finished the doctrine and covenants and new testament within 2 weeks, changed his life around, and made the decision to serve a mission. It inspires me everytime he talks about it, it's very powerful in lessons when he testifies about not really believing in God until he read the Book of Mormon. Elder Plothow grew up in an active family and always attended church and had a testimony, but liked sitting in the back of the classroom leaning on his chair and making funny comments (at least that was the case at BYU!) But he's a very smart kid who understands the doctrine, teaches well and has grown and matured a lot but yet is still fun-loving and easy to be around. So we all have our different little backgrounds but they gel together and we had some powerful lessons together.

About a third of our lessons last week were in Estonian/ English, a third were pure Russian, and third in English. It works out that way because a lot more of the Estonian people speak English than Russians do, and then we're teaching a few people from out of the country as well. No one came to church yesterday which was a bummer, but I still think a lot of them have very good potential. One man I told you about last week is named Tanel and he was supposed to receive the Holy Ghost yesterday, but didn't come. That was surprising because we had a few good lessons with him with members and he was really looking forward to being confirmed. His family is very opposed to him joining the church, so I'm assuming that's the reason he didn't come. He's about 30 years old and is a great guy, just cares a lot about what his family thinks-- which is good, except for when it comes in the way of doing something more important. I think he'll come around though.

Some other investigators include a man named Sergei, who's in his mid 40s and is still down after splitting up with his wife and losing his 16 year old to illness 2 years back. He's a classic Russian “tough guy“, but he's really a softie on the inside and he thinks deeply and understands what we teach. We had a lesson last saturday with the branch president, and a recent convert, who are both his age and very dedicated to the church. It was a LONG lesson that started off with the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, etc) and ended up covering Aaronic and Melchizidek priesthood, callings, temple work, patriarchal blessings, word of wisdom and everything in between. Those are all great things, just not necessarily what we were hoping to teach, but I think Sergei enjoyed it. It's sometimes difficult to tell what Russian investigators are thinking because they express themselves in a different way. On the other hand, we're teaching a 30 year old guy from Mauritius (a small island near madagascar... I'd never heard of it!) and he lived in London for 15years and will tell you exactly what he's thinking. He grew up going to a catholic school and „fell away from the path and lost his faith“ a while back. He loved Alma 32 and said it was the best discussion on faith he'd ever read, although he's yet
to be „convinced“ mostly because the story of the golden plates and angel Moroni is „outlandish“ in his opinion. As you can tell, it's really fun to teach him and he's a sincere guy which makes teaching much more effective.

Last week we also had a great zone conference about focusing on our purpose by being exactly obedient and teaching for understanding. President Dance loves our missionary purpose, and it's really helped me better appreciate how cool it is to spend all day teaching people the gospel. He also compared Alma's teaching in Alma 5-10 and how he taught completely different people, in very different ways, but he taught the same doctrines, focusing a little more on certain things in certain places (basically he threw it down on repentance when they were wicked and invited them to be baptized when they were righteous.) It really helped me feel good. Sometimes I get flustered when you teach people and the spirit is there and they accept commitments but just choose not to act in the end. But I know i'm not the only one who's felt that way, and it's very likely that these people will have other chances down the road. One lesson i learn over and over is that when you do your best, sooner or later, everything just seems to fall into place!

We also did exchanges down in Riga last week after zone conferences with the Assistants and that was fun and faith building. We were able to teach Roman, the investigator i taught earlier and he's doing well and growing and looking forward to be baptized in two weeks. Also last sunday, Andris received the priesthood and Rollands passed the sacrament for the first time. Woo-hoo! I guess Andris (13) was talking to the Elders Quorum president after church and came up to Elder McLaren and said „he said that when I'm 19 i can go on a mission too!“ Haha that is what i'm talking about. Wow i'll be 27 at that point and probably have 3 kids. Weird. That would mean only 9 more to go!

We're actually going to a family's tonight who are in the Estonian branch, and they have 12 children, so it is possible! We did a FHE with a family last week with a 15 year old son and just talked about serving a mission and how it's blessed us. Looking back it's crazy how we're pretty much in the 4th quarter. We played basketball this morning for an hour and half with the other missionaries in Tallinn (inside no worries) and it was really fun. But we rented a gym a little ways from our apartment and since then we've been in sweat pants and jackets and it feels way way not normal. We kind of just blend in, and it feels funny that people are not staring. I'm looking forward to changing back into „church clothes“ so that everything will be back to how it's supposed to be.

Whew this is a long e-mail with nothing too new, i hope it didn't bore you! Elyse asked for some funny stories and it's lame but i really can't think of any. I'll be on the look-out next week though, for sure. I love serving here, and the ways i've seen the Lord's hand daily. Thanks for your prayers and love. I love you!

Love, Elder Barnes #12

Last Preparation Day in PC from Sister Brett

Another great week in Park City! Our last week as a matter of fact :( It has truly been incredible though!

Sister Barona and I have seen God's hand left and right this week and we have laughed SO much while doing so.

To name just a few miracles:
*3 referrals in the center one day! AH jeah. That means we were able to invite 3 people to receive missionaries into their homes to teach them and they all said YES! (one's from Alabama, one from Oklahoma, and another from Australia). Sister Barona and I started out the week praying so hard that the Lord would prepare people to hear the gospel and to lead them into the Family Tree Center our last week here. We had faith He would, and we saw small ways in which He did, but these 3 were all so ready, and we were able to share our testimonies and invite the Spirit to touch their hearts. Now they and the missionaries who will visit their homes are in our every prayer! It is incredible how much a visitor's center or "finding mission" unites a missionary to the work all over the world. I find myself envisioning my friends and family members who have served or are serving in the places our guests come from. This also gives me a lot of peace. for example, a lady from Florida referred and wanted to hear more about God's plan for families---as much as I WISHED I could meet with her again and teach her, I pictured Sister Zitting (who is serving in Florida) going to her home and teaching her and my heart was immediately at peace. Whether they are from Europe, South America, Canada, New York or Park City itself, I know Heavenly Father has His best forces out all over the world, and remembering my friends serving in all those places helps me know He is truly looking out for His children in all corners of the vineyard! I can't wait for all those missionaries to meet with the incredible people I have met this transfer and share with them the best news ever!!!

*Also, an great tool we are blessed with is the call center. Sister Barona is only supposed to be able to get incoming Spanish calls, but lately she's been receiving a lot of calls from the southern states. Haha, she has the most difficult time with southern accents--she said to me the other day about a man who called in, "Sister, I didn't know if he was talking or if he was rapping." She also thinks a rapper's accent and a southern belle's accent sound the same...haha, we're working on that one :) Anyhow, each and every call she has received from the south she passes to me in a panick so I can get their information and invite them, and all but one of those callers have accepted missionaries to come into their homes and share with them a message about Jesus Christ and His restored gospel. We aren't sure why these calls have come through her Spanish line to us, but it has been a source of great joy, opportunity, and definitely a lot of laughs!

*Yesterday I got a Valentines package and a beautiful letter from the best two Mom's around--Mama Brett and Mama Barnes. Man, not many sisters are lucky enough to claim the letter/package-love and prayer-strength that comes from TWO faithful mothers in Zion. I am so blessed, thank you both.

Today Sister Taylor took us on an extra-special-last-Prep-Day-in-Park-City. First we went bowling...I still can't even get close to Grandma Butters skill, but I did get 3 spares! I also met a young man from Moldova, which is right by Romania! When I was in Romania, we actually went there for a mission/surrounding branch conference. I talked to him for a bit, and it amazes me the circumstances he has overcome to be here. There are a lot of young kids (about my age) working up here in Park City for 3 month periods from other countries, and it's been neat to meet them all. Belin, who works in the deli next door, is from Uraguay. From the first time we met her we knew she was special, and our goal was to get missionaries to her...then, she beat us to it and ASKED for a Book of Mormon in Spanish! oh, and one for her grandmother too. Ha, OF COURSE we said yes, and she was SO excited to hear that we have Spanish Elders up here in park City who are visiting her now! YEAH!!!

We also went snow-intertubing at a special place for it here in Park City. Oh man, that was a BLAST. Sister Barona couldn't wipe the smile off her face and she kept saying "I can't believe this is really happening! I didn't even know people did this!" If I can get it to work I'll send pictures or video.

We surely love the work and we are going to miss it in Park City! We have transfer conference this coming Monday again, so we'll see what happens--maybe we'll get to stay together and serve on the Square! I don't know when my next preparation day is, but until then, I am praying for ya'll!

I love being a missionary.

Love,

-Sister Brett #3

TERE! from Peter Barnes

Tallin is beautiful! It's a a very cool city, in my opinion it battles with Vilnius
for the prettiest in the Baltics, but feels more like a "big city" and is not as
green as Vilnius. It almost feels like Portland with a lot of winding roads downtown, a few tall buildings, and right on the coast. But it's a LOT colder here than in Oregon. It hasn't actually been too cold this week, average from -5 to -10 C, but the wind is a little more biting than in Riga. I haven't been able to see Helsinki across the bay yet but I'll keep looking!

Yesterday at church went very well. The building and branches here are more developed/american than any others I've been in. We attended the Russian branch in the morning, and i was shocked to see actual deacons passing the sacrament and a priest age recent convert blessing. That was a first! There's a few really strong families with young kids, which makes church a little more nuts. But fun too. We had two investigators in the Russian branch, one named Jevgeni (Russian for Eugene!) and he's been around for a while, and LOVES the Liahonas. He gets them every month so he can study them. He's a good, clean guy, in his 50s, and he told me more about the Joseph Smith story than I've ever heard from an investigator/member, like how Oliver Cowdery translated and had more education tha\n Joseph Smith... Then a new investigator named Jan came (that's not an American J, it's more like Yawn but that just looks odd so I'll write Jan) and he's 25, came to English and enjoyed church. He's a way sharp guy, and he's yet to be baptized and looking for truth. That's what iIm talking about.

I'm pretty sure the Estonian branch is the biggest in the Baltics. There are a few families that have been around for 15-17 years, and an active attendance of 80 (including missionaries). I guess there are more members in Riga, but they are split up into two branches because of the buildings on both sides of the River. They also had youth passing the sacrament, and a full branch presidency. It was sweet! Fast and Testimony meetings are always a favorite, the members here do a very good job about mostly just testifying of doctrine. Every once in a while you'll get your long crazy not so spiritually uplifting stories, but there weren't any yesterday, which was good. Well there might have been but they were in Estonian so I didn't understand. Estonian sounds like a lot of mumbling chickens, but in a more pretty and organized way. It's very similar to Finnish, so my hats off to Cami. And then back on quick because it's cold! Just kidding, that was a bad joke but we actually do have to go. Our time is short today because we're running to a lesson soon scheduled with Antiano (an investigator from Equador who's been around for a while )and our branch president, President Egi. He came up after sacrament meeting and they scheduled a time to meet (in Estionan) and they told me and I couldn't argue! So I'll try to give some more details next week, but I love it here, my companions are sweet and we have a blast! I'll send some pics soon, and if you have any more questions, fire away! I hope i answered most of them. I love you! I'm so happy to be here, and there is nothing better.

Love Elder Barnes #12

Love you ALL!!! from Jenae Brett

Hello All!
I have all of 12 minutes to try and crank out an email...So, let me begin by simply stating that being a missionary is the greatest gig ever. I am getting to the point in my mission where I am starting to understand why missionaries oftentimes dread going home (no offense of course), and also why they so often come home extremely awkward...

This week I noticed that I have built-in companion radar—(making sure Sister Barona is within sight and sound)--Which proves to be a difficult task in a multi-level genealogy center. I also have found myself automatically stepping back from anyone male. After I got asked for my number a few weeks ago for the 2nd time (uh, awkward? Yes.), I’ve been careful to make sure I am sending off the right vibe that I am a missionary of the Lord…not just a nice genealogy consultant that would maybe go out on a date next Friday night. AKA: boys have cooties again. Haha, I also find myself trying to cut out slang and casual words—especially after one of the newer Mongolian sisters picked up, “dang, that is just so chill” and “sweet, eh?” from me last transfer…

Anyhow, my point is that I really love being a missionary, and I don’t even want to imagine this coming to an end. My favorite part of course, are the people we work with and share the gospel with everyday. This past week I worked with a young man named William for HOURS trying to find information about his family. He lives in Florida, but he was born, and his family is from the Netherlands. We were fairly (okay, extremely) unsuccessful in locating ancestors, but the entire time we searched I just prayed and prayed Heavenly Father would help me bridge to a gospel discussion smoothly and with the Spirit. As I did so the Spirit led me to ask about his religion He is a Messianic Jew by heritage and believes in Christ (ah, jeah), but he was obviously looking for something that fit him a little bit better. When we started talking about the basic teachings of Christ’s restored Gospel his face lit up and the Spirit testified to both our hearts that Heavenly Father truly has a plan for each and every one of us. William was so excited to hear that there are missionaries in Orlando who can come and teach him more, and I wish I could be a fly on the wall as those missionaries begin to teach William—he is so prepared!
Sister Barona and I are loving Park City, and can’t believe how quickly time is going. Last week we made a Peruvian dinner at Sister Taylor’s house—YUMMMMMMMM. It was the two of us, Elder and Sister Estes and Elder and Sister Taylor. As we sat at dinner we began talking about what we loved about one another, and I realized these 5 people have become just like family. I cannot wait for you all to meet them, what incredible people.

I love you all and I was so bummed to hear everyone is taking turns with whatever sickness you are passing around! Get better fast—especially Britt and Kobe!
Love,

-Sister Nay Brett#3

P.S. Mom and Dad, you each sent me an address for Bonnie and Jeff, but they are different. Do they live in Ogden or pleasantview? Thank you!
P.P.S. HAPPY 6 MONTHS ANDREA AND GARRET BODINE!

“The Big Happy Foursome”

When President Dance called Elder Mattee to ask him to come back to serve in Riga (this will be his third time serving here) he said that we would all be together for a week in a “big happy foursome.” As always, President Dance was right on! That's a lot of bodies, but it's worked out well because of driving the van and in our apartment because we have two sets of bunk beds and enough space to spread around. But it’s definitely been busy, exciting and very fun.

Elder Mattee played football at Air force for two years before the mission, and he’s just solid. And he can eat a lot. We worked together on Wednesday, and I was impressed with his Russian—he’d been serving in Daugavpils, which is the 95% Russian city on the east side of Latvia. We taught a few good lessons, one with Igor to our investigator Roman (more on him in a bit), a new guy we met on the streets, and a part member family. Meanwhile in the evening Elders McLaren and Hatch knocked into a family with 7 kids, who have a Latvian mother and Lithuanian father who recently passed away. All of the kids are within the ages of 8-18, speak Latvian and Lithuanian fluently and were apparently really attentive and interested! It’s just a miracle—especially because that is the only Latvian/Lithuanian speaking missionary companionship working together, in the whole world. As far as I know.

We had a few exchanges this week in Riga, I went with Elder Hansen and then Elder Palmer, both are very cool, solid missionaries who went to Lone Peak and knew Caden and Fred, two of my good buddies from freshman year at the Y. Elder Hansen and I served together a year ago in Riga and he is continuing to grow and LOVES talking to people. It was really fun to be back together with him in the same apartment we served in. It blows my mind how time flies so quickly, and last year felt like yesterday.

The most exciting moments happened this week-end with some great lessons and a family (husband and wife) that got baptized here in the Latvian Riga branch. The mission goal for this year is 12 families joining the church, so we’re right on track! Dad asked and the mission average number of people baptized a month (for the last 3 months) has been 12. In order to get the year goal of 150 people to be baptized and confirmed, we’ll need to have 3 baptisms every weekend. I know I’m kind of wacky about those numbers, but I love it when it works out like that.

On Saturday we had a lesson with Roman who’s been coming to church the last few weeks and reading a little bit in the book of Mormon. The thing with him is that he’ll read exactly what we ask him to, and nothing more. I guess it seems logical that we should just assign him the whole book, but we’ve asked him to read daily and he does but not very much, and then we invited him to read 1 Nephi 1-6 in 2 days and he did and really like it but didn’t keep going. He’s a very kind man whose okay with being alone but enjoys coming to church and lessons. We felt prompted to invite Sister Valiolova on a lesson, she’s the single woman who cleans the church and whom Elder Glauser and I taught a lot—a very sweet person whose name “Lubov” means love, which suits her perfectly. She really understand Roman well and asked him great questions like “what do you want from life?” To which he replied, "I don’t know." That’s just a question I never would’ve thought of! The spirit was really strong and he committed to read daily and seriously prepare for baptism. He had a date for February 6th but we all felt that he wasn’t ready, and when we read Moroni 6:1, he said, “I think this is talking to me.” We reset his date for the end of February and I think he can do what it takes to prepare. I’ll be calling down to Riga to get the updates and I’ll try and keep you filled in!

Yesterday both Roman and his mother came to church for the Russian branch, and Rollands came with Andris, his 13 year old Brother who we’ve been teaching for a while and he’s a good, smart kid (we found out that he does math competition things and often helps Rollands with his math homework). Rollands is doing great and is mingling really well with the branch, and Andris came for the third time yesterday and has read over 200 pages in the book of Mormon. For a 13 year old kid all on his own, that’s incredible! The only reason he wasn’t baptized with Rollands is because he hadn’t been to church enough times because of the one way hour commute and cost of bus tickets to and from Riga—I think it’s over 5$ a person which adds up quickly when there’s 8 mouths to feed, money is tight and both parents are already working two jobs more or less around the clock. If we had a church by their home, there is no doubt that all 6 of the children would come. But we taught Andris after church yesterday and we were trying to figure out what day he could be baptized. The only problem is Saturdays work best for their family because of work/school schedules, and there are zone conferences this Saturday (in Riga) and next Saturday (in Lithuania) so my companions will be busy/not here. So I just asked Andris, when would you like to be baptized, and he said “this Saturday” with a huge smile on his face. There’s no way you can say no to that, and he’s really ready, so we had his interview within 15 minutes and it’s going to happen! Rollands will be able to baptize too, which is way way cool. Ah man I just love it when new converts bring others into the gospel. Dad asked, and it’s a rule in the mission to have members perform the baptismal ordinances and it’s been really good for the branches. I think it helps retain new converts, plus gives the members the chance to fulfill their responsibilities. There will be a lot of things I’ll miss about Riga, but the people we’ve been able to teach and watch accept the gospel will definitely be the ones I’ll miss most. I’m so glad that heaven will just be one big reunion. I’m excited for that.

At zone leader’s council today, I’ll head up to Tallinn with Elders Patterson and Plothow. I’m not even sure that they know yet (the mission transfer is on Wednesday so we didn’t call them just not to bring up more questions, “transfer talk” than already happens) but I think they might figure it out when I hop on the bus with my luggage. I’m looking forward to serving there; especially for the new adventures and miracles I know will come. Till next week!

Love, Elder Barnes #12

Dad Called It - Mon Jan 25, from Peter

Welp Dad's right. He always is! For the last few transfers he's been telling me that the next stop is Estonia, and this morning President Dance asked me to serve in Tallinn next transfer! I was trying hard not to be biased on where I “wanted to go” because you just go where you are supposed to go and it's not like we get to choose. But having said that I'm VERY excited. Even better, I'll be serving in another 3-some and my companions are solid. I'll be serving with Elder Patterson (Russian speaking, from my MTC group who served in the Army including a year in Afghanistan) and Elder Sam Plothow (Estonian speaking--from my BYU 55th ward). I seriously have had the coolest companions, and threesomes just make it all the more fun. Wow I just realized that they will be my 11th and 12th companions. Hmm... my goal was to have 12 companions total. Well either way, it's going to be sweet. And now I'll be an even closer rock's throw to Sister Cami Richey!

Elder Hatch and I were in Tallinn last Friday on an exchange and it's a really neat city. It has a much more modern feel than the others, with a few more tall sky-scraper-ish buildings. It has about 40% Russian, 60% Estonian but there are
Russians wherever you go, and some areas that have a higher concentration. It has a more complicated system of transportation than Riga--at least from what I could tell. In Tallinn missionaries use both Tramways, trolleybuses and autobuses whereas in Riga center you really only need the buses. Well I guess we've had a car for the last little bit but I really enjoy taking the buses because you never have to worry about where you are going, just as long as you get on the right bus! I mention all of this because I was with a missionary last week who's in his 2nd transfer and wasn't quite sure where we were going. I obviously had no clue, but we were able to ask around and ended up where we needed to be. We were looking for a few less active members/former investigators and it was evening and freezing! I think it was about -20 C which is what it's been in Riga the past few days but the air is numbing and the wind in Tallinn is pretty fierce. (A member came back from a trip to Siberia and said it was -37- -40 there, but felt colder here because of the humidity ). Well anyway we found the dom and rang the outside doorbell to see if "Aleksei" still lived there. His friend answered and said he had moved but let us come up to get his
phone number. At his doorstep, we started to talk his friend Denis, a cool 24 year old kid. He said he was not too interested but saw that we were "nice guys" and let us sit down so that we could “get warm”. Immediately as we sat down he started to ask a bunch of great questions about how we can know who god is, where he lives, and how to communicate with him. It naturally flowed right into a first lesson and he wanted to learn more and meet the next day! Hopefully now we'll be able to teach him next week. It was nice warm little miracle.

Both Igor and Rollands received the Aaronic priesthood yesterday at church. In both branches, all of the priesthood brethren get together and make one “big” quorum for the third hour. I remember when I first came to the Russian branch at the end of last summer there were the 6 missionaries plus about 5-6 active members. Yesterday there were over a dozen members plus Roman, the investigator. It's great to see the branch grow and especially have more Priesthood holders. I love the Priesthood and it's definitely one of my favorite parts about the church. It's tough to play favorites, but the church wouldn't be anything special without the Priesthood. Roman is progressing well and will have his baptismal interview this week-end. He's a naturally shy guy, but he feels great at church and sees how his life is already changing. He told me on Saturday that he asked his mom to pray before they eat dinner together. She didn't want to, but still, that's a way big step for him! He's living the word of wisdom and starting to read daily, and really felt the spirit at a baptismal service last Saturday They are a ton of great investigators, recent converts right now in Riga. This transfer alone, there will be 7 baptisms from all four branches, both Russian and Latvian branches on both sides of the River.

We had a district lunch earlier today at the Jacques home, they are the best senior couple who live here in center. (I told you about them earlier, they are the ones who were expecting to go to Hawaii on their missions and got called here. Polar opposites.) We had spaghetti and watched the Book of Mormon video, Volume 1; the Journey. That thing is way too cheesy, we all laughed really hard especially when the angel comes and stops Laman from beating Nephi. We even watched it on instant reply. President Dance spoke on 2nd Nephi 2:15 last Sunday in sacrament meeting. He said that he used to like it because it was shortest book of Mormon verse he memorized for seminary. But then he pointed out how it's Nephi looking back at his father and the kind of man he was. In a nut shell-- he sacrificed all his worldly possessions to obey the Lord and leave his home. Even throughout the challenging journey he continually showed gratitude. He mentioned that what Lehi took with him are only the three things that we really need: faith in God, our family, and basic food and shelter. I'm really glad he put food on that list, because I love food. I'm also grateful for a family that I love and miss but know I will be with forever. And I know that we have a loving heavenly father we watches out for us and is aware of our daily needs.

I love you! I pray and think about you every freezing day! I might have to e-mail next Tuesday, so don't panic if no e-mail comes next Monday. I'm staying alive. And Life is so good.

Love, Elder Barnes #12

Peter with the foursome