Hello from Brussels

 Friday Morning Nov 26th, 2010

Hey mom i hope you get this.       
I will be calling as soon as you should be awake. 
I dont have a number to get a hold of you so i will try dads
office number because i don't know your cell numbers and we dont have a
home phone anymore it looks like. 

This is what happened: Our plane in Riga couldn't leave on
time because of ice. This made us miss our flight in Brussels. 
We got us new tickets but they are for tomorrow. 

So I won't be getting into Idaho Falls until SATURDAY 9:14pm. 
I am safe and in the Brussles mission office. 
I got sick a couple days ago so i am just completely drained of energy. 

Especially since i got three hours of sleep last night and four the night before. 

We should sleep well tonight however. 

We are just chugging along though. 
Don't worry about anything. 
We will see you on saturday. 
Love you! 

Thanksgiving Day in Riga at the Mission Home

ONE LAST LETTER November 22, 2010

Dear friends and family,

It's the last time I will be writing you from Lithuania. I am sad to leave and excited to see all of you.

They need to make a new word in English that describes how I am feeling. Hopefully you can just know what I am talking about.

I received an email from president Dance asking me to send him an e-mail talking about my mission and the miracles I have seen and the changes i have noticed in myself.

I thought that for this letter i would just send you my letter to him as well:

Our arrival to Riga as Missionaries for 
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints   Jan 21, 2009

Dear President,

    Well I guess it's about that time. In a way it has felt that these two years have gone by in a blink of an eye and in another way it seems like i have never in my life NOT been a missionary. This has turned into an entire way of living. It has left an effect on me of eternal consequence. One of the greatest changes I have seen in myself is a love for truth. I love this gospel more than I ever have. I love the simplicity and power of the light we have received from modern day revelation.

   My testimony has grown in such wonderful ways that I can't describe it any other way than just bearing it. It's all true and I know it. I thought I knew it, but I didn't. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that he has redeemed mankind. We can gain power from that sacrifice through diligent obedience to the laws of God. It is the only way to true happiness. I have seen this so many times out here. I have seen people learn the designs of God and begin to live accordingly and because of that they have been blessed every single time. I have also seen the other side of that process. When people fall away. It has not been a terribly fun experience to see but it has helped me grow in ways that I know will be needful later in life. That is how to accept peoples free agency after doing all that you can do. But we keep faith.

   That is one thing that will remain priceless to me. How to keep going when things get tough. The harder it is to do something the more heart you have to put into it and thereby showing the true makeup of your character and faith. When it has been the hardest for me and i have stuck it out with faith and not complaining (as I was more compelled to do before I was a Baltic missionary) I have seen the most miracles and felt the most successful. This last transfer I have felt the workings of the spirit so strongly. I feel a large part is due to the faith of me and my wonderful family. It has been quite an experience and has been an incredible ending to a dream of a mission.

  I am leaving my area with the wonderful feeling of success. This young man Dainus will get baptized here and  if I had come for two years just for the change I have already seen in him then my mission was not in vain. It is so wonderful that so much more than just that was accomplished. I would not trade these years for anything. They have been full of lessons that I feel have greatly changed me as a person. 

  My commission I have given to myself is to never forget these lessons and to live up to the knowledge that has been revealed to me while I was a set apart servant of God. I could thank you for a good paragraph now but I will save that for our interview in a few days. If anything know that I love this place and I love you and Sister Dance. See you on Thanksgiving.

Elder Cooke

     To all my friends and family. Know also that I love you all and am so grateful for the crucial part you played in this process with your prayers and love and support. You are all so dear to me and I have missed you all. It's now time to leave the work here but the work will continue back home. I would ask you all right now to be patient with me as I try to improve myself each day. I am not perfect but I am trying. See you all soon.

Elder Cooke
Lithuanian: Vyresnysis Kukas - The Coolest One
Russian: старейшина kyk
Latvian: Elders Kuks
Estonian: Vanem Cooke

GO BALTIC!!!!

2008-2010

This will be my last full week in Lithuania

 

Sweet Week

My shoes: 

I went through a couple pairs, 

two weeks ago

Last week was absolutely amazing. Everything was just clicking. Even with all the distractions of registering for classes and whatnot, we were able to get so much done. It all started with district meeting. It was a great spiritual feast for all of us. I spent the entire time trying to get the other missionaries to find their inner conviction as to why they are truly here. Because with all the exchanges and preparation days and meals to cook and things to see and words to memorize and everything it is vary easy to miss the point that we are here to bring others to Christ. Everything else is but an appendage to that. We eat so we can have energy to work. We sleep so we can work. We learn to speak Lithuanian not to speak but to have another tool to touch these peoples hearts and make it easier to feel the spirit which converts people. Everything is centered around the true purpose. This is a principal I want to bring home. I am not going to school just to go to school. I dont go to church to go to church. I don't obey the commandments just for the fun of it. All these things are tools and mediums God has given us to reach our highest purpose, Eternal Life. That is the reason for everything. Without that end then everything leading up to it is in vain. That end, which is not an end, is the reason I get up in the morning. 

Keep that in mind. 

By the church at district conference with Vlanetinas and his family. 
It's the last time i will see them for a while...

Now, after that We set a goal as a district for 7 new investigators. 

It was shooting high because the week before we had gotten only one as an entire district. But I knew that if we recommitted ourselves then miracles would happen. Elder Graham and I were focused and diligent. If you dont know what a new investigator is, see: *Preach My Gospel- pg 1  . . . a person who "is searching for purpose in life.  They are concerned for their families.  They need a sense of belonging that comes from the knowledge that they are children of God, members of His eternal family. They want to feel secure in a world of changing values.  They want "peace in this world and eternal life in the world to come" d&c 59 : 23, but they are "kept from the truth because they know not where to find it" d&c 123 : 12". 

We share our testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Ghost.  Our purpose as missionaries is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them learn & receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end which is the only way we can find eternal happiness.  If they want to learn more We set up a time to meet with them again.

Our district had a slow start in the week but it picked up. We started finding new investigators. Every time a new investigator was found, I called the district. We started to see the miracles of faith. By the end of the week we had found 12 new investigators as a district. Elder Graham and I had not only found 8 as a companionship but we committed one of them to be Baptized and he accepted for Jan 1^st . It was quite an experience. 

I feel so effective as a missionary right now. 

Yesterday I gave my final talk in our branch. I will still be here next week but this was when they had me speak. Its bittersweet as you can imagine. But this week is going to be awesome. It will be my final full week here and i want it to be full. Tonight we are all going to Vilnius for an early zone conference on Tuesday. 
Elder Schwitzer from the 70 will be leading zone conference. It should be quite the experience. 

Inga and her family in Siauliai

 

Dainus is still doing very well. He is still good to go on the 27th but we want to make sure he is good and prepared before that. 

I think he   could very well make it by that date. I am excited for him.

Our sweet pumkin we carved for Halloween. The symbol is an old symbol of Lithuania

A building in Kaunas that makes me feel like I live in Transylvania

The work is going. I am going. 
I guess next week will be the last email you write to me out here. 
I cant believe its already getting down to the nitty gritty. 
Well, third round third mile!

Love you,

Elder Cooke


 

Thank you for the prayers

Well, It was a fun week with an even better ending. I had to go on an exchange with Elder Gearhart in Vilnius so I was able to to go by some old friends there. It was great. Afterwords I went on an exchange to Šiauliai where I was able to go by Inga and her family and Valentinas and his family. The next day I went to district conference with the whole branch. Way fun to see everybody again. My heart was so unbelievably full. I was so happy. Then we got to Kaunas where the conference is held and all my friends from all of Lithuania were there. All the people I have come to love so much. It went well. All the speakers were very good and President with Sister Dance were awesome as always. It was very bittersweet to see/say goodbye to everybody as it was the last time i would be seeing most of them. They are all just such good people. Later that night we taught Dainus. He is so solid. We taught him about tithing and when he learned anything he just accepted it wholeheartedly. The branch is working a lot better with the missionaries now. Our mission leader is softening up a bit. Thank you for the prayers on that one. Other than all that life is about the same. Just trying to get some odds and ends tied up before I leave but I think that missionary work should stay about the same until the end. We dont have much going on this week. I need to get the visa work done for three new missionaries this week at immigration. Hopefuly that all goes well. There always seems to be some problems that come out. This will finish up a procces of about 6 months for each individual missionary to get there allowence to live in Lithuania. After I get taken care of them i will need to re-register myself in preparation to leave the country. Fun stuff right? It is!
I hope all is well for all of you.

I love you all.

Elder Cooke

Staying Strong Til The End

Dear Mom,

My companion and I found a boy this last week contacting- which is turning out to be the one fruitful contact of my mission. He is very serious about getting baptized. His date is for the day after I leave my mission. I just hope we can get the branch to support him. I want that they will support our investigator in the branch here. His name is Dainus.

So how are you and dad and Kyle doing?

The best thing to do is to keep busy and focus on others. I promise that will help. I know it’s easier said than done but it’s the best way. Plus, being busy and serving others isnt hard for you. :)

The less I think about the tragedy the better I can focus on the Lord’s work. Tell Kyle I will be way excited to live with him when I get back.

Also tell dad to keep an eye out for any jobs so I can keep myself busy with until i go to school. Although i am sure you will need my help at home, which I will be happy to do. I just want to stay busy.  I will have to make sure Kyle and I have some fun when i get back.

How is grandma H doing? 

We actually have conference next week as well.  I have to speak in the branch the week after and then the week after that- will be my last Sunday.

I love you.

Tell everyone the same.

Truth will prevail

Dear family,                                               10/25/2010                                                                                                           
   I was very glad to get your letter. I know the news still isn't good but I at least wanted to hear something from my family. This whole week I have been in a strange state of being. In times of extreme grief of pain you feel as though everything is a dream and you are just waiting to wake up from this unreal existence. This was made even easier to believe none of this was real as the only thing I had to go on was a call from my mission president. I have never felt so disconnected from all of you in my life. It was the first time on my mission that i truly felt the enormity of distance between us. I tried to stay focused this week but I felt my mind wander back to the situation and what all of you could be doing at any given time. My heart still aches for all of you. I feel, however, that I have avoided the temptation to let it become an excuse for me to take time off for myself. This is a critical time in my mission and if I haven't learned how to deal with tough times up to this point then I don't really know what I have been doing out here. If I truly know that the work is true then nothing should stop me from moving forward. So forward we go.
   I spent the first 4 days of the week in Riga where we received extra training on teaching. When I finally got back to my area I again was relieved that I could speak in Lithuanian with people again and not Russian or Latvian. We got right to work and in the few days we had we found 6 new people to teach. This Sunday a less-active that we have been working with for the last 2 months finally came to church to take of the sacrament. It was a small victory for sure. Last night we got lost. We had gotten on an unknown bus which took us near the outskirts of town and then the bus driver said, "get off!" We were alone on the bus except for an old lady who quietly got off the bus. My companion and I tried to find our way back to the main road. We thought we knew where we were so a little to hasty we went of into the dark and 15 minutes later found ourselves having walked in a huge circle. I took a minute to asses our situation. I looked around and in the distance I saw a church. That gave me some bearings and I realized where we were. As we were walking to the stop we found the old lady who couldn't see well and who was also lost. She asked if we knew how to get to center. We were in a very bad area late at night so I told her that we would walk with her to the bus stop and get her to center. We made it to a stop and a bus soon showed up and we made it back to center. It seemed as though whether we wanted to be or not, we were going to be led to help that old lady. God puts things in motion to bring about his purposes. We might feel like we are lost at first but if we can take a minute and find our bearings then we can be prepared to help others that are also lost in the dark. God loves us and wants us to be happy. Simple words with a deep eternal meaning. I feel peace for our family as I recalled some words from my Patriarchal blessing that I was confused about until now. Paraphrased, it just simply states how all at home will be well when I return. I know that scars sometimes remain as a memory but the pain fades away and we are strengthened in the process. I love all of you so much. Don't forget who we are and what we have.



with love,
Elder Cooke 

Angela's accident 10/19/2010

President Dance called me last night and told me about Angela's accident. I was shocked and confused about what i could possibly do. He told me that I should write you all. I feel such an immense amount of grief as I am sure all of you do. My thoughts keep returning to Kyle. I cannot begin to comprehend how he must be feeling. I don't feel that any words from me could ease that pain but I just want Kyle to know that I love him. I believe in him and I respect him more than he understands. My prayers return again and again to the plea, that He would know how much we all care about him and loved Angela. Angela was an embodiment of care and kindness. She loved us and we loved her. She was my sister and I will miss her a great deal. I am sorry I cannot come to the funereal even though nobody expects me too. I would do absolutely anything to make this time just a little bit easier for any one of you. Especially Kyle. I know that Kyle is a rock and can tough about anything out but this must seem like just too much. I hope Angela's parents and family is doing alright. I don't know what aright means in this situation but I hope they are at least surviving. This must be so difficult for all of you right now. I wish none of you had to experience this. I hope that everyone in this family remembers the things they have said to others when others have grieved for somebody that they have lost. When we are in the situation it is sometimes harder to remember the blessing and designs of God. But this is the time to see the gospel in action. You have gone to church, served callings and testified of the truthfulness of the Plan of our Father. You have all been strengthened for this day. God saw this day a long way off. Now is when we see the fruits. This is what it is all about. To overcome the hardships of the world and to grow. I know it is a time for grief and I know you have all heard the routine of, "everything will be alright" a hundred times. I don't want to vainly repeat these words of support but it's true. Everything will be alright. It will be. I can't express this thought strongly enough. And if you already understand it then let that one truth ease the pain and bring you peace. Time is never an object to God.  He wants you to know that. If you know that then you know how soon we will all see Angela again. She is just fine. I know that she is ok. That brings me a great measure of peace. Now my one wish is that all of you would be alright. I know it will take time but just know that I love all of you so much. I don't want anybody worrying about me. This is not about me. I will be fine. I am in good hands out here. I can feel God with me and I know he is with you. He loves all of you. You are all so strong and when you are together you are even stronger. Cookes don't quit. Tell Gabe that Sorensens don't quit either. In others you will find peace. Dont distance yourself from those around you. Find solace in the love that you all have for one another. Again, i love you all. I love you Kyle as I am sure you are reading this. Don't lose faith. Don't let yourself be brought down by what I imagine is an immense load. Your one of my biggest heroes. I want to be like you. I wish I could be with you through this but you have everybody else to help you in my place. I know that you would want nothing more than for me to keep going strong out here until the end. Know that I will do that. Turn to Christ. You will learn so much from this and it will benefit you the rest of your life. I know you might not value that very much right now but God does. I know Christ is our savior and redeemer. He is with us when we think all is lost and he will stay with us until we learn that all is not lost if we stay with him. I know that Angela will be seen again. I know she is happy and wants us to be happy. I know that we are all bound together. She has been separated from us for only a short time. We will all be together again. I know it. I love all of you. Know that my prayers are with you. Don't lose faith.


Elder Cooke

Letter from the field October 18, 2010

Well, The last transfer call came and went. I am still in Kaunas, Lithuania. I am not, however serving with Elder Manning. I am serving with Elder Graham again! Elder Manning has gone to Klaipeda and I am training Elder Graham as the new Zone Leader. I will be the district leader in Kaunas for this last transfer. Elder Graham is doing great. It is really fun to see how much he has changed since I was with him in his second transfer about 10 months ago. He has just grown so much. I have had such a good opportunity to see so many missionaries change in so many good ways. I am glad I still have some more time to get some more changing in myself. I have seen a lot of great improvements in myself but I still have so much to change.

   Speaking of change, It seems like everything is going to be different when I get back. People are getting pregnant, getting married, joining the army, getting bowl cuts. It just seems like It going to be a shock- so many changes. The pictures are enough to blow my mind. 

   Conference was awesome!!!!! I can't believe how much I Iearned. I am so grateful that we have the opportunity to listen to such inspired men. LISTEN and then change. President Hinkley stated at the end of a conference session that if people go home and are closer to Christ then the conference was a great success. If not,however, then the speakers have in a large measure failed. (slightly paraphrased) True statement. The point of conference is for the perfecting of the saints and the building of Gods kingdom. Same with all other conferences. I will pray for Dad so that he will know what should be said so the people that listen will know that the are supposed to do something, not just listen. I can be the best speaker of Lithuanian in the world but if nothing changes because of it, then it what is it for? We must desire change. In ourselves and, with respect to free agency, in others. We can can have faith that if we are faithful then that change will happen.

   Here is a cool miracle. Elder Manning and I one day were flipping through the area book. He stopped on name of a man who was taught the year before. He had a strong feeling that we should call him. I called him and invited him to church. He came. We met with him a week later in his home and I committed him to baptism. He accepted and is set to be baptised on November 13. He lives in the other elders area so they will be teaching him now. I hope all that works out. Way nice man and family.

   Today we are having training for 3 days in Riga. We arrived late last night and will be leaving on Wednesday. It should be the last time I come here until the end. I am excited for the training. Lots of new ideas for teaching. I love teaching. Right now we are a little skim on good solid investigators. We are teaching people but they need to keep commitments. That man with the baptismal date is good but we aren't teaching him anymore. I want to find some more people. I know that there is still somebody I need to find. Pray for that if anything. Thank you so much for your prayers. 

   I hope Sadie does well at state. I am glad she was committed to go to the game and not to the wedding. I know that once I wanted to go to Kyle's state wrestling tourney his senior year but I had a B-ball game. I told Dad I didn't want to go the the B-ball game but he told me I had made a commitment and I needed to finish what I committed to do. We got handled in the basketball game and I was not very happy but I learned a good lesson. Finish things you start. Thank you all for all the lessons you have all taught me. I love you all.

 

 

Elder Cooke 

Getting To It!

Hey team,                                                                                               
   

   This week went well. Elder Manning and I got sick and so that was fun to work through. Be it for better or worse we don't take sick days. I just cant bring myself to stay inside for a full day and so far nothing has hit me hard enough to keep me from walking. I have had my companions make me come in early but we have still made it out every day to find and teach somebody. We watched conference in Lithuanian with the branch on Sunday. It is funny how as a missionary out here you have to be ready to do everything. I laughed to myself when it seemed so normal to have to set up all the equipment for conference. I always remember seeing all the media equipment in the church for conferences and things and just being amazed at whoever did all that. Our church just rocks. This is the first day of the transfer. we find out who we are with in the next day or two. I have a lot of interesting feelings. I think an experience I had last night wraps up how I feel right now. I had an image of myself last night sitting on our front porch on the steps. I remember how the air felt and smelt and how i felt before my mission when I was home in November 2008. Even though It felt nice to feel the feelings of home, in the image I saw myself start crying because I realized how far away Lithuania was. This entire world with all its people and way of life as a missionary was so far away. It wasn't a welcoming thought but I am glad i had it. I am glad because in entering my last transfer as a missionary I have thought a lot about how is the best way to end a mission such as this. It's never hard to go outside and work so that's not even an issue. But more of my attitude in the whole process. I have come to the conclusion that we must serve where we stand and see things how they really are. I can't just straight up ignore what is going to happen next month but I shouldn't dwell on it. Talking about definitely doesn't help anybody especially the person I am most likely talking to. But like Dad said before I left, "I know you are where the Lord wants you so why would I be sad? I wouldn't want you anywhere else." That is how I feel. I am where the Lord wants me so I am not sad. It was hard to say goodbye to you all but it wasn't more than I could handle and the same it is with leaving this place that I love. If I will be where the Lord wants me then I should be happy. All I can do right now is work while I have the call until there is nothing left to give. If I can do that then I will be truly happy. Don't worry about me finishing hard, it will all be left on the mat, I promise.
     I am glad you liked the things I sent. I wish I could buy you everything out here. I can't, nor will I ever be able, to express how deeply grateful I am for everything you all have done for me. Especially Mom and Dad who I know could be buying a thousand different things but yet insist on giving me the best life has to offer. Monetarily and in every other way possible. I am also very grateful for Grandma and Grandpa Cooke who live providently so they can help support all their grand kids. I don't feel worthy to any extent of such sacrifices. Elder Holland hit my feelings right on the head in his talk in Conference. Not only do I have monetary support but all the other type of support possible from siblings, cousins, friends and people I don't even know who get on their knees every night and pray for our relatively small but powerful force of missionaries. The support that I cannot even begin to scratch the surface of its depth and value is the constant support of my Father in heaven and my Savior Jesus Christ. I do not feel myself worthy to receive anything more from them. Even when I feel I am not worthy to ask a single thing through prayer. Every time I ask, I have received an answer to my prayer in one way or another. Even when I am driving myself down with bad habits and sin Christ, in his mercy and in the power of his endless atonement, deems me worthy to receive his guidance, council and support. He always does if we come to him in faith and humility. If we are trying as much as we are able in our own capacity to keep the letter and spirit of Gods commandments, then we will feel the cleansing and edifying power of the Holy Spirit and we will have the sustenance to keep going. Always remember that you always have enough to keep going. God promised it. I love you all so much. I miss you dearly but not enough to leave the work just yet. 


Laikykites, Elder Cooke

Dear Everybody,

How is life in Heaven, I mean Idaho

This side of the rock is just wonderful. We committed a man we are teaching to be baptized in November and he accepted. His name is Linas. He didn't make it to church. which is a bummer. I hope he can make it to conference this weekend. I am so excited to watch conference. We get to see it in English and then we always catch some sessions in Lithuanian so it's a fun expieriance. Riga was fun. Elder Gearhart and I went up and learned a bunch of new stuff to implement in our zone of Lithuania. One of them is committing people to be baptised in every lesson including the first. It is very direct and bold and I just love it.  My companion was excited to hear that BYU got thumped. I guess he would be since he will be USU's quarterback in couple years. I hear BYU is just way down this year. Well the work isn't- so that's the real good news. However last month the mission had huge setbacks as far as baptisms go. We had 3 as an entire mission last month. No good. But we are amped to go hit it hard this month. I am feeling really good this week. It is the last week of the transfer which is just crazy. I still have the fire- prbably thanks to the dilligent prayers of the family.
I am so stoked for Craig and Sylvia. Go get that taken care of. I love it when the Cooke family just gets stuff done.
You do your part and I'll do mine.
I love you all.
Keep the faith.


Elder Cooke

Labutis

Hey fam/everybody,

    It was a fun week. We had a lot of interesting things happen, as always.

      I did a ton a squats this weekend so my legs are just hamburger. It was not a good idea. The weather has gotten a little warmer which was good but I feel its the last hurrah before we dive into winter. I can't believe it is already time to put our sweet coats on again. It should be only a few more weeks of just suits.

      Finding went well this week. We found 8 new lessons this week. I was amped about that. Taught some good people. Last week we had a cool expieriance. Elder Manning and I were trying to find a place to harvest and we were going to go to some apartments that we had our eye on but it just didnt feel right. We didn't say anything to each other but we just kept on walking. We walked right past them and found a big red building that just felt good. We went in and like always said a prayer in the staiwell and the third door we knocked on we found a beautiful family. They let us in and we had a wonderful lesson.

 The coolest old man in Lithuania. Mikolas. 

He feeds us every time we go to his house even though he is way old. He calls us his little brothers.

I ran an exchange here with Elder Graham and we found a way cool kid named Marijus. Way nice kid who shows a lot of promise. We had some interesting things happen with the branch this week. Members dieing/loosing testimonies/getting admitted to pschyc wards. It happens. But all is well and the week looks like it should be fun. I have some more exchanges I need to run and I have to go to Vilnius tommorrow so I can leave for Riga bright and early Wednesday morning. Lots of work but its the greatest time of my life. I love it but you should all know that by now. Thank you for everything. I love all of you too.

Elder JBCooke

Laba

Hey everyone. 

 some pictures of Laisves aleja

Thank you for the support and good letters. I appreciate them. Even if i totally fail to answer your questions and my letters seem to get less and less informative. And thank you for putting up with my spelling which has gone from terrible before my mission to almost absurd. Spell check helps though.

 The street where we do most of our contacting here in Kaunas.

We are working with the branch here in Kaunas a lot. I have been meeting with President Dance to discuss what should be done. Kaunas has had a lot of bad missionary work in the past so there are just lists and lists of inactives. It is a tough situation. It has made them a little wary of new converts. It is good because I was able to meet with the district president (stake president equiv.) and talk about how we can start to work better with the branch. We talked about using past experience to make good logical decisions but not letting it hamper my faith. Since I have been here I have seen 3 people get baptised and all three at one point fell away. I know, definitely not fun. Valentinas came back and is on the up and up which I am so grateful for. Due to branch and missionary efforts and people who truly care about that family. Sarunas is going through a tough time right now and i will have to explain all these stories when I get home. The point is I know I did my part and I can't be upset when people use their free agency. And I definately can't let that affect my faith for the future. If I have learned one thing out here I have learned that people have agency. I feel the spirit burning within me so I know that I am doing everything I need to be doing. I hope I can help translate that more to the branch here. I have to speak Sunday after next so it will be a good opportunity. We have to have faith always that people can change. Anybody can change. (see sermon at end of letter)

 A picture of Elder Manning & I at a members house here named Loreta (we call her  Bobaleta) 

The Missionary couple are the Morrels.

    Elder Manning is the right man for the job here as District Leader. He is a great learner and is ready to make any changes neccessary to be a better missionary. I couldn't ask for a better example. This week there isn't too much new to report.  So I will just do what I love to do, testify.

(*my sermon for today)

The gospel changes hearts. I have been so blessed to see the gospel work on people to turn them into different people. We all say,"we need to be true to ourselves" and although that is true in some aspects we can never use that as an excuse to keep ourselves away from being who we REALLY are, creatures of our God and King. WE are the creations of God. And as such we have a responsibility to be true to THAT truth and not all the bad habits and desires we have picked up during our time here on earth. That is not who we really are. It is a lesson I needed to learn myself and i am still trying to learn it. There is no excuse for sin and there is nothing good that comes from it. You dont need to sin to understand sin. C.S. Lewis stated, "Only the tree that stands against the wind knows its full power." We only understand what we are up against if we stand against it. Sinning distances one from God who is the source of all truth and light and therefore we become less educated and have a weaker understanding of everything as it really is. I have seen people come to that light and fall away, including myself and i have found a new understanding for the verse that wickedness never was happiness. When somebody is truly converted then it changes their whole perspective and it makes there previous life and selfish desires seem trivial and worthless. The gosple is good, "it tases good" as Joseph Smith would say. I love it and I love all of you. Look for truth not for excusses. Thank you all so much for everything.

The view out my apartment window

Laikykites

Elder Kukas

Transfers

Hey fam,

   Well, I have left my beautiful Vilnius. I am now in a new city with a new branch.  KAUNAS.
   I am with Elder Manning from Logan, Utah. He is an awesome kid who is way athletic. He actually has already signed with Utah State as a Quarterback.
  I am still a zone leader but i will not be with Elder Gearhart who is also still a zone leader and still in Vilnius with Elder Dellinger from our MTC group. Elder Gearhart and I are in Riga right now for zone leader council but I will be back in Kaunas tommorrow. I love Kaunas already. It is a nice change of sceanery. It has a beautiful old town and the people are way nice. It has gotten a bad rap from missionaries saying it is way ghetto which is partialy true but it is way beautiful as well. It just depends on what your looking for. Elder Gearhart says it's the best city in the baltics and what Elder Gearhart says is law. I'm way excited for the move. We have been finding a lot of people to teach and have been working hard. Everything is going really well. I am happy and healthy. Love you all.

Elder Cooke

Dear Everyone

How are you all?
I can't believe this weather. One day I woke up and it was fall.
This week is transfers. I have been in Vilnius for a while so I might be on my way out but there is still a good chance I will stay. If I go one more transfer then I will have served in Vilnius for a full year total. That is crazy. Things are going well. We almost hit our mission goal of 19 baptisms.
We had 17 which compared to last month (4) it was a very good month. We all saw a TON of miracles. Elder Gearhart and I had one miracle that was a great experience.
     We were walking across a bridge in city centre and I felt like I should talk to the man next to me. He got a big smile on his face and said he would listen to us. As we started to teach him on the park bench our lesson started to go an interesting direction. Instead of talking about the restoration and prophets as usual we started to both talk about and testify of returning to Christ and using his atonement. We both were wondering why we were teaching this type of lesson when absolutely nothing he was saying was instigating it.  After we finished we found out a couple things.
He was walking on the bridge and, having seen us, told God that if we talked to him then he would give God another shot and would listen to us. When he said "another shot" he was meaning returning to the fold of God because we found out that he was an inactive member from Kaunas that was living in Vilnius and had fallen off the map. He had recently been thinking about coming back to the church when he ran into us and we were led to tell him what God had been trying to say for a while. We can all come back to the arms of Christ's atonement whenever we are prepared to change. Nobody has strayed to far. We can all come back.

   Experiences like that help me to know that we are successful missionaries because the spirit is working through us. I think that brings more peace to a missionaries soul than anything else to know that the master is happy with our service. Right now we are working with Kęstutis. He is a good guy. He is separated from his wife who lives in England but he still loves family and believes it is an important unit in life. We are trying to get him to have a greater desire to change. We had a good lesson where we talked about the word of wisdom. We had a member there to testify of the blessings of living according to the Word of Wisdom. He didn't commit to live it 100% but he is showing progress.

   I am feeling good. I am healthy. I am in good company. Elder Gearhart and I have now been companions for about 21 weeks now.  We won't be companions next transfer but we are both ready to work even harder. 

  My goal next transfer is to work so hard I actually pass out. It's possible. I am excited for what is ahead. Stay strong everybody. You only live once (not twice like James Bond) I love you all. Serve where you stand.

 

 

Vryesnysis Kukas

Dear Fam

How are you all doing. I am just livid with jealous rage after seeing that Alaska trip picture. That looked way fun. 

 

We had a busy week this week. Elder Gearhart and I went to Klaipeda on an exchange. We took the train so i just slept to the whole way and read Jesus The Christ. I also had an exchange in Kaunas witch was way interesting. I have never served in Kaunas so it was fun to get to know the city. There will not be sacrament meeting next week because we will have the Kiev temple dedication. I am way excited for that. It is so wonderful to see a temple going up in the former Soviet Union. That is something of great value to the members here. Lithuania had 4 baptisms last week which was just wonderful. The mission is up to 14 this month and we are trying very hard for 19. pray for that if you could. It would be the most in a very very long time. Thank you for all your support. We are working hard and staying focused. I love you all.

 

 

 

Elder Cooke

Tired, But Happy

Well everyone,

   It was another fun week. I had to go to Šiauliai two times this week so we could run a baptisimal interview with a great family there. A family of three is all set to go this weekend. We are way excited. But two trips to Šiauliai just takes it out of you. A train takes about three hours and a bus back takes four hours so in two days I got to read Jesus the Christ for about fourteen hours on the bus. This week we have to go to Klaipėda so I can interview a father of a family who was recently baptised. He is a way great guy. I met him once and he will be great addition to the branch there. It will be more train rides however. Also this week I will get to go on an exchange to Kaunas wich will be fun because I have never served there before and it will be a fresh new city for me. I have been in Vilnius for almost seven transfers now. That about ten months. It's quite a city. I love it.

   We had Zone conference on monday. Thats why i didn't write. It was way fun. It was a little sad seeing how the next one in November will be the last one. President rent his shirt and made a title of liberty. It was sweet bacause he ripped of his shirt and buttons went everywhere but he had another shirt and tie underneath the one he ripped off. It was way cool. He got us all excited. Well. Thats all that is going on in my world. 

   I hear times are tough. Imagine that.

Keep the faith.

   I love you all tonz,

Elder Cooke   

Back in Vilnius

Hey everybody,                                                                    Monday August 9, 2010

   It is nice to be home after being gone to Riga for so long. It has been a little bit cooler which is very nice. We didn't have a very succesful week last week which was a little discouraging. Despite out efforts and due to a lot of meetings Elder Gearhart and I reported 1 lesson for the week. I am not excited about that but I know that we still fufilled our pourpose. The zone here is doing well. We have 6 baptismal dates set for this month which is just unreal. Elder Gearhart and I need to go to Šiauliai to do an interview for a family of 3 getting baptised the weekend after next. I am excited for that. I am grateful to see fruits as a mission even if it is not in my area. I know I am working hard even though things seem a little dry sometimes. It is hard to stay focused but I know it is betted to just get to work. I love it here and an excited for this week. It should be a lot of fun. Thank you for everything you do as my family and friends to support me. I love you all.

Elder Cooke

A week full of wisdom

	Well,    It was a fun day today.  Elder Gearhart and I got all of our district leaders togeather yesterday after church and we all took a bus up to Riga where we will spend the greater part of a week. We are doing new training put out by the church for missionaries headed by Elder Holland and Elder Perry. It is really good stuff. I am excited for the coming days. Everybody is receiving new companions for the week. My 'temporary" companion is one of the AP's Elder Johnson from Rupert. I will be with him for just this week though. Elder Gearhart and I are doing fine. We are getting a lot of work done. I am feeling good and excited. However, my Lithuanian will be totaly useless to me here so i will have to resort to my broken Russian and Latvian. This last transfer I learned a little Polish contact because there are a lot of Polish people in Vilnius. Tell your friend's son, Elder Justice, who served in Poland "Vytam" for me. This mission is the greatest in the world. I just love it. It's a dream come true. I still have a lot I need to improve. I keep thinking a day will come when i wont need to say that but it doesn't seem like it will be anytime soon. I am just grateful for the chance to serve. I love you all and it seems like you are all having a good time. Thank you for all the love for my birthday. Saturday was a celebration "Rumsiskes." It was way fun. All the members go to the country and all the missionaries go and we just have a big party. I had to juggle for it which is unfortunately one of the only times i have used juggling on my mission. Oh well, I know i am doing what i should be doing so no worries. I love you all. Thank you for everything. Elder Kuks   <--Latvian

Hey everyone,

  Sending this one pict of the some hardcore rain we have been having, it has flooded a lot of streets here.

   Well, transfers are here!  I got transfered back out of my area and am now back with Elder Gearhart still in Vilnius. The crazy news is for the first time Lithuania has been made one zone. The four cities are now one "zone" and Elder Gearhart and I are the Zone Leaders. We are going to be making a "Lithuanian Tour" for exchanges this transfer by going to all the cities over the next several weeks. I am in Riga right now for a zone leader council and I will be back next week for 3 days for some new "Preach My Gospel" training. It should be way interesting. I am way excited. There is so much work to do and every day there is less time to do it. Just need to get out there and hit it hard every day. As always when I am in Riga, I don't have much time to write so I will talk to you more next week. I probably wont do much for my birthday if anything. I might go and have some delicious LIthuanian food at a resturant of something but we will be really busy. Probably nothing with the members like last time. Vilnius is a little different than Siauliai unfortunatly. I love it there though. Thank you everybody for everything. You all just gave me tonz of fire. I love you all.

 

 

Elder Cooke

Short of Words But Full of Thoughts

Me with my Russian tag that i use up in Riga. They don't give them out anymore but i got one when they did

Hey Fam,
I have been pondering many things lately. The work has kind of hit a slower pace right now which is tearing me up becasue I feel a stronger desire than ever to teach people the restored gospel of Christ. I have turned for peace to "Jesus the Christ" by James E. Talmage. His insights help explain so many things of Christ's ministry and him as our Brother, Lord, and Redeemer. I have had to turn to Christ as we have combated many opposers on the streets and within my own mind. It is interesting how you pointed out how hard it is let things go because that seems to be my problem these days. Things seem to come out of no where and it seems way to easy to let them affect me sometimes. One of the more humorous examples was when I was contacting with my companion and I rememberd the times I went over on my texting in high school and Mom and Dad took the bill. I feel terrible about that and countless other examples of when I was immature, irresponsible and inconsiderate of others. I am trying however to learn how to just let things go and look forward and upward. God doesn't look at us for who we were but who we are and who we can become. It is a truth that is hard to see all the time. I know that its true though and am trying to further inact it in my life. As for the work, we are working hard and putting a lot of miles on our shoes. Transfers are this week and not much will change because we only have one new missionary coming in and he is Russian speaking. So Lithuania should get through the trasfer easily.

Our jimmy rigged "air conditioning" because of the insain heat we have had. we are wet from humididty all day. IT consists of ice- chipped from our freezer wall in a bag in front of a small fan. it actually works...kinda

  

 

- a sweet old street in old town

 

So, I wanted to just throw in a couple of the stories that happened this week as it will give you a little idea of the funny things that happen here on a daily basis.

  We were asked to go pick up a part the Branch president of  Siauliai had ordered for the church's air conditioning this week so my companion and I went to buisness. As we walked in the manager told us they didn't have anything. I, assuming they were talking about our specific part, was about to ask when they would get it. Before I could talk he repeated, "No! We don't have anything for you!" He then put his hands up in an "X" and told us to leave. I now understood. People put the "X" up to us on the street to tell us to now talk to them. I simply stated to the man, "We are here for our friend _______" He went white as he realized we were here to pick up the ordered part he had on his table with a paid reciept. He apologized, I said we understood and we left. As we went to the bus stop a bus pulled up and a bum got kicked off. He came up to my companion and I and tried to throw his bag at us. He missed for 2 feet away by about 5 feet. He stumbled around looking for a light and then came up to me and started yelling at me. He had his hand in a fist which I was aware of but my encounters with bums has been so frequent that I was less than apathetic to the situation. He wound up and swung at me but instead of hitting me he just gave me a "fig" about half an inch from my face. A fig is made by putting your thumb in between your index and middle finger. It isn't quite like flipping somebody off but it is a watered down equvilent. I just looked at him and said, "Thank you" He stumbled away and then ran across traffic and passed out in the median. It is not uncommon to walk into a grocery store and have people mutter, "mormons" at us under thier breath. I have found solice in the comment, "they know not what they do." I don't see people waking up and saying, "Well today i think i am going to go persecute some diciples of Christ." People have no idea who we are and why we are here. Even if they "know" they don't understand. It's a good lesson of patience and long-suffering that I was and am in need of learning. As our area 70 stated in a zone conference, "We don't have the right to get offended." As representitives of Christ we need to represent him in all of our actions. Of course I wanted to get mad at that guy in the store but what would that have accomplished. Self vidication is no excuse for un-Christ-like behavior. Live your faith and love those around you. Things are a little hard for me right now. I wont try to act stronger than I am. But you have no need to worry. All that means is I have more to learn. 

 

 

Keep the prayers coming. They help a lot. Christ is with you and with me. I love you all so much.

 

Elder Cooke

 

 

 Me in Riga next to a pancake stand, or in Latvian (pan-kukas) which is my name in Lithunian

 

 

 

 -some sweet old cars driving down Gedimino the main street of Vilnius