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
