Peter's Epistle, 4.26.2010

It feels like spring here and things sure are blossoming! We had a really exciting week, capped off by Estonian District Conference and Karl's baptism and confirmation. We taught Karl a few times with Bro Varsha, the branch mission leader, and the one who baptized him. They live near one another so they come to lessons/church together and it's been really good for both of them. Bro Varsha was baptized about 8 months ago and just received the Melchizedek Priesthood so he's still learning but he's hilarious and diligent with his calling. Karl calls him his "collegue," and he calls us his "God Brothers." I love Karl and it's so cool to see him as a member of the church. He bought "church clothes" with some of the money he earned in Finland. You could tell he was a little nervous all week but after the service he was so happy and at peace.

So yeah, miraculously the service went pretty well. There was a good turnout of members, investigators, we had three there including Leo and Ilya who are still preparing for baptism in a few weeks. Plus the District Conference was the same day, so the Dances and another new Senior couple from Riga came up. Elder Briggs (we served together in Vilnius) is now the Branch President in Narva and he came over with Elder Patterson (who finishes his mission this week, and has been serving this last transfer in Narva). It was way cool for Karl because Elder Patterson is the one who first started teaching him at the beginning of the year. That's a pretty sweet way to spend the last week on your mission! Elder Patterson and I were able to serve together a few hours on Saturday evening and it was really enjoyable being together. He's someone that I've looked up to from Day 1 in the MTC and it's crazy to see him go home. But he has a really positive attitude about it, has served very faithfully, and will be able to help and support his family at home (his mother has cancer and is currently in the hospital.) He really is one of my heroes, and has had a big impact on me by dedicating his life to serve others and living the Gospel. I hope you'll meet him someday, and we made some plans to meet up this summer. He's an Idahoan but is also an Oregon fan and so I think he'll like Eugene. It's tough to see good friends leave the mission, but it's more "see ya later" because we'll definitely cross paths again. I've only known him for 2 years, but it feels like forever.

We also had some interesting/funny experiences this week. You may have heard but they had the NATO conferences here in Tallinn last week, and they held everything in the "Swiss Hotel" where we have the teaching center. So from Wednesday to Saturday, whenever we had a lesson, we would go outside, meet them around the corner, go through a security check-point tent, and then walk around the backside of the building. It wasn't too big of a hassle but it made "pulling people" (meet them on the streets and invite them right away to come up to the teaching center) pretty impossible. We also couldn't teach one investigators because he didn't bring any I.D. Haha. But it's all cleared up now, and no we did not get to see/meet Hillary Clinton. Bummer!

Later Wednesday evening we had a lesson with a man named Stefano. He's Italian, super nice, and has been living in Estonia for 6 years. He's a normal guy, in that he has a family, teaches anthropology at the university, but he's very smiley, friendly, and interested in what we're doing. We met him on the corner and he showed up with a camcorder and was just videoing us on the streets. So that was somewhat awkward... They let him through security, and as we're going up the elevator he pulls his videocamera out again and is filming us and asking questions. And then throughout the whole lesson he just keeps filming. Part of me wanted to ask him to kindly put it away, but you could tell that it was really important for him to document all of this and he was sincerely interested. It turned out to be a powerful lesson, and he later said that he "wishes he could have the same answers that we did" so we talked about the Book of Mormon and how it answers the questions to the soul, and he said he would read. He also asked if he could follow us around all one day to see what we do. I told him that we'd probably have to get permission from the people we teach to see if they will let a super happy Italian man tag along and video-tape them, but he said he wouldn't bring his camera but just watch. I've never thought about doing an exchange with an investigator before, but it's not an idea that I think President Dance will like. You never know though!

And then Friday evening was the ultimate "gong show." Gong show is a word that Elder Hatch would always use when we had a lot of things going on and it just gets crazy, as if there are Chinese gong drums being played. It sounds weird, but once you start using it you realize there are some situations that can't be summed up in a better way. Well Friday night was officially a gong show, mostly because we found out the day before that President Dance wanted to visit a less active that evening, and we already had a lesson scheduled with Robert and all of his friends. So we quickly got something worked out with a long term (10 year) member of the church who's super nice, been to the temple, believes everything, just struggles to come to church. But I was on an exchange with Elder Baird (friend from BYU, 55th ward alumni!) so Elder Koegler went with President to translate. So it wasn't too bad, we just had a few things going on at once, and our Chinese friends wanted to make us dinner and so they showed us how to make Chinese dumplings! They were pretty tasty, and it was just fun being with them. They are good people, and their questions are really heartfelt. "Why can't we all return to live with God, what happens if we join the church here and then go back to china?" Way prepared, super nice. Sometimes I wish that all of the people in the Baltics were Chinese. But maybe I'll just have to go on another mission there someday! I can't wait until China opens, I think the church will grow like crazy there. It's going to be a gong show.

A final cool experience was Friday morning when we met with a lady who's in charge of the family history program here in Tallinn. She just showed us the basics and how he can help members and investigators who are interested in doing their family history. Just for fun, I looked up my pedigree chart to see how far back it went. I only looked at one line from Grandpa Sager's paternal side, but we were amazed when I kept on clicking and it just kept on going. We weren't keeping track but i must have gone back 12 or 15 generations, and all of the temple work had been completed (dating back to people born in 1604!) It made me better appreciate the work that Grandma and Grandpa Sager are doing in Tennesee, and how much work there still is to do. But I love how it's all focused on the family, because that is where the greatest joys in life are found. So thanks Grandma and Grandpa, keep it up! And I'm glad to hear that Grandma Barnes continues to do well, she's definitely in my thoughts and prayers.

Welp this was kind of a long one so I hope you all got through it and it was enjoyable. It's so fun to be a on a mission and the wide variety of things you learn and experience. But overall, the highlight is definitely seeing the way the Lord blesses the lives of those who live his Gospel. It's THE truth!

Love, Elder Barnes #12

P.S. District Conference on Sunday was held on the 20 year anniversary of Estonia being opened up to missionary work. That means when it happened, I was just a wittle guy. And tomorrow we find out about transfer calls. This is my last one. Holy Moley. I am thinking/hoping I'll stay in Tallin. Either way, it's going to be the best!