Dear Family,
Wow it sounds like you had a great week! I'm glad that you were able to have Thanksgiving with the family. Everything is changing a lot and things seem like they're pretty much the same at the same time. I do miss being able to spend Holidays with family, it really is the best part of Holidays. We had a really fun Thanksgiving as well, last week we had half of our preparation day on Monday and half of it on Thursday so that we could celebrate Thanksgiving. An American embassy family invited all the Riga missionaries over for a big feast. Happy Birthday MOM!!!! I hope that you had a great birthday! That's really cool that you were able to do so many family things during the weekend, I'm pretty jealous.
This week was a pretty crazy one over in the Baltics. We had so many different things that we had to go do that we barely got any work done. President Boswell sent us to Daugavpils to make a decision on an apartment, so that took a while. We also had to pick up a visa missionary from Russia, and get him where he needed to be. We also had zone leaders' council, and zone conference this week. So there was always some sort of business to be doing, but we also got some good missionary work done as well :). I've really learned a lot about the principle of planning as a missionary. It doesn't matter how much stuff you have going on you can have a really good day if you have meaningful planning. Zone leaders' council and zone conference was especially cool, because Elder Lawrence of the seventy was here. He gave a lot of really cool advice to us as zone leaders and a mission. General authorities are really enjoyable to listen to. Elder Lawrences wife gave the coolest talk I've every heard about the tribes of Israel. You'll have to remind me when I get home to share things that she told us about, because it would be very difficult to explain it over an email. I'm really grateful for this opportunity to be a missionary at this time in my life. I've really learned so many things, and I can really tell that its changed me so much. Thank you so much for all the support that you given me I really appreciate it :). I hope that you all have a great week. I remembered my camera today so I'll make sure to send you some pictures.
-Elder Pack
Monday, November 28, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
November 21, 2011
Wow it sounds like everything is going super well. I'm very glad to hear that. That's crazy that Alycia has her license now. Now I don't have to drive her to her friends' houses any more ;). That actually makes me a little bit sad. I hope that you get a lot of good snow this upcoming winter. I know that last winter was a good one. We'll all have to go on an awesome ski trip when I get back. It's weird being in the Baltics because you can't really feel the Holiday spirit. It makes me kind of sad. But my companions and I try to sing Christmas songs to keep the tradition. I've even learned how to make crepes :) which reminds me of Christmas every single time.
One of the cool things that happened this week was when we went and taught that father and his daughter. He's been doing very well at keeping commitments, he read 11 chapters in the Book of Mormon. It's really nice teaching an investigator that lives with a member, because she's able to explain a lot of things about our church while we're not there, and he has an instant friend in the church. Another cool miracle that happened with him (Sergei) this week as well is when we ran into his parents on the street. We didn't know it was his parents, but we were just going about our business and following our plans. We were standing at a bus stop and we were just like "Hello" (in Russian) and they just stopped and smiled at us way huge. After talking to them for a little while they were like "yeah, our daughter in law is actually a member of your church" and we found out that they were talking about ***** and his less active wife. We were able to get their address and they said that they really want us to come over to talk. It was a really cool miracle. It shows that by just being a member of the church you have a huge impact on the curiosity of family and friends.
I'm always way excited to hear from you every single week. This week is going to be a little extra crazy. Elder Froelich and I are getting sent on a mission to Daugavpils this week to find an apartment for and elder and his companion who with be moving there this week. Elder Lawrence of the Seventy is also coming and we're going to have a few meeting with him. I'll make sure to tell you how everything went, and share with you some of the impressions that I have. Have a great week!
-Elder Pack
One of the cool things that happened this week was when we went and taught that father and his daughter. He's been doing very well at keeping commitments, he read 11 chapters in the Book of Mormon. It's really nice teaching an investigator that lives with a member, because she's able to explain a lot of things about our church while we're not there, and he has an instant friend in the church. Another cool miracle that happened with him (Sergei) this week as well is when we ran into his parents on the street. We didn't know it was his parents, but we were just going about our business and following our plans. We were standing at a bus stop and we were just like "Hello" (in Russian) and they just stopped and smiled at us way huge. After talking to them for a little while they were like "yeah, our daughter in law is actually a member of your church" and we found out that they were talking about ***** and his less active wife. We were able to get their address and they said that they really want us to come over to talk. It was a really cool miracle. It shows that by just being a member of the church you have a huge impact on the curiosity of family and friends.
I'm always way excited to hear from you every single week. This week is going to be a little extra crazy. Elder Froelich and I are getting sent on a mission to Daugavpils this week to find an apartment for and elder and his companion who with be moving there this week. Elder Lawrence of the Seventy is also coming and we're going to have a few meeting with him. I'll make sure to tell you how everything went, and share with you some of the impressions that I have. Have a great week!
-Elder Pack
November 14, 2011
Dear Family,
Hey! I'm glad to hear that things are good. That's awesome that Alycia had her sixteenth birthday this week, my lil' sis is all grown up :*(. I'm really happy though. That's so cool. She'll probably be a lot better of a driver than I ever was. Thanks for sharing that verse with me in Alma it is a very uplifting and inspiring verse. I know that the scriptures were written just for us, and I know that God can comfort and lift us with scripture. We just have to be the ones to take the time and sit down and read them. I know that there are some hard things going on right now, but everything will be ok :). To answer your questions about Elder Froelich; yes, we were in the same district together in the mtc, but ever since we've gotten to the field we haven't really served around each other. He's super awesome! He's from Virginia. It is pretty crazy. I've been really lucky to be with companions that are really cool my whole entire mission. I think it's because I got called to a really awesome mission and there is just no one here that I don't like.
This week was a really good one. Elder Froelich and I have been having a ton of fun working together as zone leaders. This last week we've been in the process of changing the English program here in Latvia so that took quite a bit of our time. But we still had some really good time for missionary work, and some really cool things happened. One of the cool things that happened this last week happened while we were teaching the husband of a less active member. He had read the beggining of the Book of Mormon and he really liked it, he told us that he's way excited to read more, he also brought over his daughter from his former wife, and she ended up being way interested in the message that we're sharing as well. That family is so super awesome. It's really incredible to me how much my love for people can grow as I get to know them, and as I try to help them come unto Christ.
Please remember that I always remember you and pray about you. Thanks so much for all that you do for me, and I hope you have a great week. When ever it gets tempting to get down just remember how many incredible blessing the Lord has given us, and how he wants us to be happy. I know that God loves our family and I know that he'll bless us.
-Elder Pack
Elder Thomas, Elder LaCroix, and Elder Pack
Hey! I'm glad to hear that things are good. That's awesome that Alycia had her sixteenth birthday this week, my lil' sis is all grown up :*(. I'm really happy though. That's so cool. She'll probably be a lot better of a driver than I ever was. Thanks for sharing that verse with me in Alma it is a very uplifting and inspiring verse. I know that the scriptures were written just for us, and I know that God can comfort and lift us with scripture. We just have to be the ones to take the time and sit down and read them. I know that there are some hard things going on right now, but everything will be ok :). To answer your questions about Elder Froelich; yes, we were in the same district together in the mtc, but ever since we've gotten to the field we haven't really served around each other. He's super awesome! He's from Virginia. It is pretty crazy. I've been really lucky to be with companions that are really cool my whole entire mission. I think it's because I got called to a really awesome mission and there is just no one here that I don't like.
This week was a really good one. Elder Froelich and I have been having a ton of fun working together as zone leaders. This last week we've been in the process of changing the English program here in Latvia so that took quite a bit of our time. But we still had some really good time for missionary work, and some really cool things happened. One of the cool things that happened this last week happened while we were teaching the husband of a less active member. He had read the beggining of the Book of Mormon and he really liked it, he told us that he's way excited to read more, he also brought over his daughter from his former wife, and she ended up being way interested in the message that we're sharing as well. That family is so super awesome. It's really incredible to me how much my love for people can grow as I get to know them, and as I try to help them come unto Christ.
Please remember that I always remember you and pray about you. Thanks so much for all that you do for me, and I hope you have a great week. When ever it gets tempting to get down just remember how many incredible blessing the Lord has given us, and how he wants us to be happy. I know that God loves our family and I know that he'll bless us.
-Elder Pack
Elder Thomas, Elder LaCroix, and Elder Pack
November 7, 2011
Dear Family,
It sounds like you had a pretty good week. I'm really sad that there were some sad things that happened, but I'm pretty sure that everything will work out in the end :). I'll make sure to pray for all of you and for everything that's going on... I'm glad that everyone had a successful Halloween. I love Halloween, and I really miss it being out here. That is also way super cool that my ski was found! That was some really good news. Thanks for all of the effort that you all put into finding it.
Well this week was super mega ultra awesome, with a hint of some sadness. As far as the sadness goes, Elder LaCroix is no longer my companion, he has left to Daugavpils... I'll miss him, but it's ok because I'm his zone leader so I'll get to see him when I go there on exchanges. But as far as the happiness goes I'm now with Elder Froelich. I was actually getting kind of scared that I would never get the opportunity to serve with Elder Froelich on my mission. I'm still in Riga as a zone leader, I'm pretty happy about it actually. This area is super super awesome, and this is like the best zone. There are a lot of very great missionaries in Latvia at the given time. The work is still moving forward. That man ****** is doing super great still, he just soaks everything in like a sponge. This week we had a really cool miracle while we were teaching him. He had just finished reading the story of the tree of life, and we asked him, "if you were to place yourself in this story what does it mean for you?" And he went on to tell us that 2 weeks ago he was wondering around in the field of darkness, but then we called out to him like Lehi calling out to Laman and Lemuel. And now he's holding onto the rod because we gave him the Book of Mormon and he's making his way to the tree of life "Baptism". It was so cool! He's doing amazingly well I'm so happy. The Zone is also doing incredibly well. I went and did a baptismal interview over in Imanta this last week and there's going to be a baptism this Saturday I'll make sure to get some pictures and send them to you. Elder Froelich and I have been working really hard to help lift and inspire the zone. And I really feel like things are going in a very upward and outward direction. Another cool thing that happened this week was when the first presidency approved the building of the first stake center of the Baltics. Because baptisms in the last year have gone up, especially on the side of member missionary work. I don't know when it will be done, but I'm super excited for the people here.
Well I'm glad that everything is going well over in little cache valley. I always love hearing from you and I'm excited to hear from you again next week.
-Elder Pack
It sounds like you had a pretty good week. I'm really sad that there were some sad things that happened, but I'm pretty sure that everything will work out in the end :). I'll make sure to pray for all of you and for everything that's going on... I'm glad that everyone had a successful Halloween. I love Halloween, and I really miss it being out here. That is also way super cool that my ski was found! That was some really good news. Thanks for all of the effort that you all put into finding it.
Well this week was super mega ultra awesome, with a hint of some sadness. As far as the sadness goes, Elder LaCroix is no longer my companion, he has left to Daugavpils... I'll miss him, but it's ok because I'm his zone leader so I'll get to see him when I go there on exchanges. But as far as the happiness goes I'm now with Elder Froelich. I was actually getting kind of scared that I would never get the opportunity to serve with Elder Froelich on my mission. I'm still in Riga as a zone leader, I'm pretty happy about it actually. This area is super super awesome, and this is like the best zone. There are a lot of very great missionaries in Latvia at the given time. The work is still moving forward. That man ****** is doing super great still, he just soaks everything in like a sponge. This week we had a really cool miracle while we were teaching him. He had just finished reading the story of the tree of life, and we asked him, "if you were to place yourself in this story what does it mean for you?" And he went on to tell us that 2 weeks ago he was wondering around in the field of darkness, but then we called out to him like Lehi calling out to Laman and Lemuel. And now he's holding onto the rod because we gave him the Book of Mormon and he's making his way to the tree of life "Baptism". It was so cool! He's doing amazingly well I'm so happy. The Zone is also doing incredibly well. I went and did a baptismal interview over in Imanta this last week and there's going to be a baptism this Saturday I'll make sure to get some pictures and send them to you. Elder Froelich and I have been working really hard to help lift and inspire the zone. And I really feel like things are going in a very upward and outward direction. Another cool thing that happened this week was when the first presidency approved the building of the first stake center of the Baltics. Because baptisms in the last year have gone up, especially on the side of member missionary work. I don't know when it will be done, but I'm super excited for the people here.
Well I'm glad that everything is going well over in little cache valley. I always love hearing from you and I'm excited to hear from you again next week.
-Elder Pack
October 31, 2011
Dear Family,
Wow I'm so happy to hear that everyone is doing so well. Thank you so much for the picture, stuff like that really means a lot to me. It's cool to see how much everyone is changing and growing, it's kind of a little depressing also haha. You'll have to let me know how your Halloween was this year. I remember last year you had a good time also. Were the kids able to figure out how to do adventure time? It's crazy to me that a year ago on Halloween I was in Vilnius. Time is going by so fast, it feels like that was just yesterday. In the Baltics they don't really celebrate halloween. Some little kids dress up and walk around, but no one gives out candy. I asked some Russians what would happen if I dressed up like a vampire and I knocked on doors asking for candy, they said that I would probably get arrested haha.
This week in the life of a missionary everything was awesome. Except for Elder Thomas has left the companionship and headed down to Vilnius. It was very unexpected because transfers aren't until this week, and we don't really know why it happened, but it did. The Assistants and President Boswell are always thinking up crazy ideas for transfers haha. On the missionary work side things were very awesome as well. The other day we were out finding and just knocking some doors as it was getting late. When we exited from one of the stairwells there was a way pretty sunset over the Daugava River so we walked a couple hundred feet over there and just looked at it. It's amazing, the most beautiful things in existence are God's creations. So after we got done looking at the sunset we started walking down a little path along the river when we ran into a man named ******. We started talking to him and we went over and sat down on a bench with him and talked about our church. When we were talking to him he told us that he went out in the morning that day and worked out and when he got home he really didn't want to leave his house again that day, but for some reason he really felt like he had to, and that's when we ran into him. We've taught him three times since then and he's read a ton in the Book of Mormon. One of the times we met with him we were like "we're going to teach you about a prophet named Joseph Smith" and he already knew everything about him because he read the pamphlet, he even knew the years when everything happened like finding the plates, and organizing the church it was incredible. He perfectly explained to us why the restoration was necessary and we had never taught him that before even once. He's doing incredibly well and we're very excited for what will happen in the future. It's amazing how the Lord puts you right where you need to be in order to find his children that are seeking for truth.
Thanks again for all that you do. I'm glad that I'm able to share all the cool things that are going on out here with you. It's also very nice to hear from you I hope that you have a great week.
-Elder Pack
Wow I'm so happy to hear that everyone is doing so well. Thank you so much for the picture, stuff like that really means a lot to me. It's cool to see how much everyone is changing and growing, it's kind of a little depressing also haha. You'll have to let me know how your Halloween was this year. I remember last year you had a good time also. Were the kids able to figure out how to do adventure time? It's crazy to me that a year ago on Halloween I was in Vilnius. Time is going by so fast, it feels like that was just yesterday. In the Baltics they don't really celebrate halloween. Some little kids dress up and walk around, but no one gives out candy. I asked some Russians what would happen if I dressed up like a vampire and I knocked on doors asking for candy, they said that I would probably get arrested haha.
This week in the life of a missionary everything was awesome. Except for Elder Thomas has left the companionship and headed down to Vilnius. It was very unexpected because transfers aren't until this week, and we don't really know why it happened, but it did. The Assistants and President Boswell are always thinking up crazy ideas for transfers haha. On the missionary work side things were very awesome as well. The other day we were out finding and just knocking some doors as it was getting late. When we exited from one of the stairwells there was a way pretty sunset over the Daugava River so we walked a couple hundred feet over there and just looked at it. It's amazing, the most beautiful things in existence are God's creations. So after we got done looking at the sunset we started walking down a little path along the river when we ran into a man named ******. We started talking to him and we went over and sat down on a bench with him and talked about our church. When we were talking to him he told us that he went out in the morning that day and worked out and when he got home he really didn't want to leave his house again that day, but for some reason he really felt like he had to, and that's when we ran into him. We've taught him three times since then and he's read a ton in the Book of Mormon. One of the times we met with him we were like "we're going to teach you about a prophet named Joseph Smith" and he already knew everything about him because he read the pamphlet, he even knew the years when everything happened like finding the plates, and organizing the church it was incredible. He perfectly explained to us why the restoration was necessary and we had never taught him that before even once. He's doing incredibly well and we're very excited for what will happen in the future. It's amazing how the Lord puts you right where you need to be in order to find his children that are seeking for truth.
Thanks again for all that you do. I'm glad that I'm able to share all the cool things that are going on out here with you. It's also very nice to hear from you I hope that you have a great week.
-Elder Pack
October 24, 2011
Dear Family,
I'm glad to hear that everything is going so well. That's way cool that Frank and Alycia are getting their patriarchal blessings soon. Patriarchal blessings are actually a huge blessings. It gives us just a little glimpse of what God sees in us. He knows us better than we know ourselves and he knows our potential and he lets us see that a little bit. It actually reminds me, could you send me a copy of my patriarchal blessing when you send me a Christmas package, that would be awesome. Please pass a hello to Mariah also. I'm glad that people haven't just forgotten about me while I've been on the other side of the world haha. Could you also pass my congratulations to Nate and Sierra. That's way cool that they'll be having a baby. A new deck?!? that's going to be way cool, our barbecue possibilities are just going to be to the max now. To answer your question about the threesome, we'll probably only be together for about a week and a half more.
We had a great week this week. Elder Thomas, Elder LaCroix, and I are having a great time serving together! This week the Lord really blessed us in our finding. We were able to find three new investigators and we have some other people that are going to become new investigators really soon. Having two companions makes it so there's never a dull moment. I'll share a few cool things that happened this week. First of all we have an investigator named xxxxxxx who is doing very well. She told us a really funny story this week about when she got an impression to do something. It was a few weeks ago and she was laying in bed when she heard a really quiet small voice say "your pension has come, go check" so she got up and got dressed and went to go check the mail, but when she got there, there was nothing in the mail. She was really confused, so she just went back inside and got in bed and when she was laying there the little voice came back and just said "Sorry". It was so funny to hear, we laughed for quite a while. We also have an investigator who's getting baptized in November who we've been asking him to cut his hair for a long time now, and he finally did! We're also teaching a Texan! It's way cool. Elder Thomas found him about a week ago when he was on exchanges. We just taught him for the first time last night. He's way awesome. He's about 24 years old and he's here serving for a non-denominational missionary program. We had a way good lesson about Joseph Smith and the Restoration. He committed to read the Book of Mormon and we're meeting with him again tomorrow. It's a small world.
Thank you so much for all that you do. I hope that everything this week goes well. I pray about all of you every day and I'm glad to see that God has been answering my prayers. Have a great week.
-Elder Pack
I'm glad to hear that everything is going so well. That's way cool that Frank and Alycia are getting their patriarchal blessings soon. Patriarchal blessings are actually a huge blessings. It gives us just a little glimpse of what God sees in us. He knows us better than we know ourselves and he knows our potential and he lets us see that a little bit. It actually reminds me, could you send me a copy of my patriarchal blessing when you send me a Christmas package, that would be awesome. Please pass a hello to Mariah also. I'm glad that people haven't just forgotten about me while I've been on the other side of the world haha. Could you also pass my congratulations to Nate and Sierra. That's way cool that they'll be having a baby. A new deck?!? that's going to be way cool, our barbecue possibilities are just going to be to the max now. To answer your question about the threesome, we'll probably only be together for about a week and a half more.
We had a great week this week. Elder Thomas, Elder LaCroix, and I are having a great time serving together! This week the Lord really blessed us in our finding. We were able to find three new investigators and we have some other people that are going to become new investigators really soon. Having two companions makes it so there's never a dull moment. I'll share a few cool things that happened this week. First of all we have an investigator named xxxxxxx who is doing very well. She told us a really funny story this week about when she got an impression to do something. It was a few weeks ago and she was laying in bed when she heard a really quiet small voice say "your pension has come, go check" so she got up and got dressed and went to go check the mail, but when she got there, there was nothing in the mail. She was really confused, so she just went back inside and got in bed and when she was laying there the little voice came back and just said "Sorry". It was so funny to hear, we laughed for quite a while. We also have an investigator who's getting baptized in November who we've been asking him to cut his hair for a long time now, and he finally did! We're also teaching a Texan! It's way cool. Elder Thomas found him about a week ago when he was on exchanges. We just taught him for the first time last night. He's way awesome. He's about 24 years old and he's here serving for a non-denominational missionary program. We had a way good lesson about Joseph Smith and the Restoration. He committed to read the Book of Mormon and we're meeting with him again tomorrow. It's a small world.
Thank you so much for all that you do. I hope that everything this week goes well. I pray about all of you every day and I'm glad to see that God has been answering my prayers. Have a great week.
-Elder Pack
October 17, 2011
Dear Family,
Wow I don't even know what to say anymore... Right when I read that Frank is going to Armenia all other thoughts in my head got erased and I don't know what to say any more. That is so cool! I'm really excited for him. I've heard Armenian before... It's nuts. I don't understand at all, and the alphabet looks like a whole bunch of h's turned upside down and backwards and stretched to different lengths. I do like the sound of it though. I've also met a few Armenians, and all the Armenians that I've met have been way nice so that's a good sign. One thing I would suggest for Frank is that he starts learning the alphabet and the sounds that the letters make and some vocabulary, it will make the MTC a lot less stressful. I'm really happy that I knew the alphabet and some grammar before I got to the MTC it was really nice. That's also way cool that Robbie was called as the second councilor in the Deacon's quorum. Everyone is just doing so well it makes me so happy. Except for Dad's shoulder... I hope that gets better soon.
This week was a lot of fun! We worked really hard, and taught some really cool people. We had a huge miracle with a less active member this week. Missionaries haven't met with her for a really long time, but we were able to start meeting with her a few weeks ago. This week we had a good lesson about the Gospel and how it blesses us. She said she felt the spirit way strong, and we were able to set up a lesson with her non-member husband this upcoming week because she wants him to be baptized so they can be sealed together as a family. It was really cool to see that when she felt the spirit it brought back all the great feelings that she's felt in the church before. She knows the Gospel is true and when she felt the spirit all of her desire came back. Missionary work is so awesome! I love it so much. I would never trade these experiences that I'm having for anything.
Thank you so much for all of the support and keeping me in your prayers. It means a lot to me and I know that it really helps a lot. I hope that you all have a great week. Keep me updated about how the mission prep is going, and tell me some cool facts that you find out about Armenia I'm way interested!
-Elder Pack
Wow I don't even know what to say anymore... Right when I read that Frank is going to Armenia all other thoughts in my head got erased and I don't know what to say any more. That is so cool! I'm really excited for him. I've heard Armenian before... It's nuts. I don't understand at all, and the alphabet looks like a whole bunch of h's turned upside down and backwards and stretched to different lengths. I do like the sound of it though. I've also met a few Armenians, and all the Armenians that I've met have been way nice so that's a good sign. One thing I would suggest for Frank is that he starts learning the alphabet and the sounds that the letters make and some vocabulary, it will make the MTC a lot less stressful. I'm really happy that I knew the alphabet and some grammar before I got to the MTC it was really nice. That's also way cool that Robbie was called as the second councilor in the Deacon's quorum. Everyone is just doing so well it makes me so happy. Except for Dad's shoulder... I hope that gets better soon.
This week was a lot of fun! We worked really hard, and taught some really cool people. We had a huge miracle with a less active member this week. Missionaries haven't met with her for a really long time, but we were able to start meeting with her a few weeks ago. This week we had a good lesson about the Gospel and how it blesses us. She said she felt the spirit way strong, and we were able to set up a lesson with her non-member husband this upcoming week because she wants him to be baptized so they can be sealed together as a family. It was really cool to see that when she felt the spirit it brought back all the great feelings that she's felt in the church before. She knows the Gospel is true and when she felt the spirit all of her desire came back. Missionary work is so awesome! I love it so much. I would never trade these experiences that I'm having for anything.
Thank you so much for all of the support and keeping me in your prayers. It means a lot to me and I know that it really helps a lot. I hope that you all have a great week. Keep me updated about how the mission prep is going, and tell me some cool facts that you find out about Armenia I'm way interested!
-Elder Pack
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