Clean walls=not cool

Hey fam,
I can't believe it is Monday again. No seriously, I am kind of freaked out. Elder Grahm and I had a good week this week. Our family we are teaching came to church again. It was way good. We were looking for a member to teach them with. They were concerned about giving up Catholic traditions which is totally understandable. We were thinking about who we could use and them we got a call from Bro. Olsen who suggested a man named Edwardas. We thought that sounded good so we called him up and he was happy to come over. During the lesson he talk his conversion story which was quite incredible. At one point in his life he had given up all hope and sat on the train tracks and just waited for a train to come. The train came and switched onto a different set of tracks. He took that as a sign from God and started looking for truth. After some time he found the church and then moved to England where he found the missionaries and was baptized. He then came home and baptized his entire family. He is not happy with a wife and kids here in Vilnius. His entire family had very thick traditions but they found a hope and light in the Church of Jesus Christ that they wanted to join with. He turned out to be the perfect member. He invited our family and us to go to their house for dinner this week. We are excited for that.
Another miracle that we had the pleasure of seeing was with our investigator Antonas. We met with him this week and he had some concerns. He didn't know what was going to happen to him after baptism. He thought he might have to give up everything to the Lord and not have any money for food. He also thought he would have to go and talk to people on the streets like we do. We were trying to explain to him that he would still live a normal life but it just didn't click because it was coming from us American missionaries. I was thinking about how we needed a member to be there and into the teaching center walked Igor, a member from the Russian branch here. We asked if he could help us out. He was able to testify of the blessings his own baptism had brought him and how he still lived a normal life. He just followed the commandments of the Lord also. It was perfect. After the lesson we asked Igor why he came into the teaching center. He said he really didn't know. He thought that maybe some missionaries would be there and he could say hi but he had no reason to be there. We told him he had a big reason to be there.
God lives and He answers prayers. He looks after his flock. Make sure you are in his flock and that He is your shepherd. The adversary will not support his followers in the last day but slowly leads them down to the gulf of misery and endless woe. Christ will support his children always if they hearken to his voice and follow his commandments. Look for miracles in your daily life. They are tender mercies that let you know that you are where you need to be. Christ lives and his church is on the earth. It doesn't make sense that it wouldn't be. God doesn't look at who we were but who we are and who we can become. This is just some advice i feel like i should write. Learn from the past, don't live in it. I love you all and am grateful for your examples. Thank you for everything.


Elder Cooke

Getting down to business

Hey Fam,
Well it has been quite a productive week. An investigator who my companion Elder Grahm contacted has a baptismal date! We had met with him a couple times and he is just a humble prepared individual. We were teaching him about the restoration and i felt prompted to invite him to be baptized and he accepted. He will have a tough time coming to church because of his work but his date for now is the 13th of March. We are way excited. Also, the family who we are teaching came to church again yesterday. It was awesome. We are trying to find families in the branch who can help us teach them.

Last week we had Brother Olsen come and teach them with us. Brother Olsen served a mission here a long time ago and now he lives here with his family. The will be here for about 2 years. He is awesome. Right now he is the Elders quorum president. It is weird to hear his little kids speak English with PERFECT accents. It is crazy.
We had as a district 8 investigators to church! Everybody here is working really hard. I cant believe how fast this city moves. Everybody is always in a hurry. I cant tell you how many buses i have had to run for in the last week.

I am attaching some pictures of what we did for preparation day today. We went to Trakai. Remember when we went last year? Well the lake was frozen over so we had a good time playing in the snow. We had some recent converts come as well as some investigators. Antonas came as well. He is our guy with a baptismal date. He is awesome.



Well that's all I got this week you all keep up your moving/house building/accounting classes/schooling/cheer leading/softball/tax season/keeping kyle happy (thats angela) I love you all so much and your all in my prayers.

Elder Cooke

Home Sweet Home

Well, you wont guess where i am.



Vilnius has been nicknamed "Gothom" by the missionaries.
The picture at night is my view out of my new apartment.
Its so awesome.


I have been transfered to Vilnius to be the District leader and to pick up in Elder Grahm's (my new companion) training. He came into the field last transfer and he is just awesome. He is from Georgia! It has been really really odd coming back to the city where I myself was trained. I haven't been here since. It is quite the experience. ESPECIALY since i have been in Siauliai for the last 7 or 8 months where the church is still so young. I just came from the smallest district/branch in Lithuania to the Largest. It was so crazy to actually have 3 HOURS of church! I am going to be so grateful for priesthood meeting for the rest of my life. It was very difficult to say goodbye to the members. Funny story, every transfer that has come up Valentinas and his family fasted and prayed that i wouldn't leave and EVERY time i stayed. This last week we told them transfers were on Wednesday and they said they were going to do it again. However transfers ended up being on Tuesday and they didn't get a chance to do it this time and I got transfered. They were mad about that. It was hard to say goodbye to the branch president and his family as well. He said he knew i was different than most missionaries and the first time i came to their house for dinner I left one of the "Thank you" notes mom gave me. He said he has seen a lot of missionaries come in and out and he has never had that before. so, THANK YOU MOM. The relationship I have with President Gabalas is one I will have my whole life. As well as so many other of the members here. It is a tender mercy that Skaiste is going to be moving here with her soon-to-be husband. Although she is sorely needed in Siauliai. However...
...I am now in Vilnius and I am excited to be here. My companion and I are getting along very well. We are very similar except for the fact that he is 6'9. Yea it's crazy. He is one of two missionaries that have come out after my group. They came out last transfer and he is doing amazing for how long he has been out. He has a ton of drive and has already been a great example for me. My district consists of: Elder Cox (was with him in klaipeda) and Elder Sakavich (he was changed to a Russian speaker and got sent to Latvia, He is going home after this transfer) and then our Sister missionaries are Sister Richards (Also going home after this transfer) and then for the first time i am serving with Sister Hall! We are all way excited for this transfer and are going to get some great things accomplished.
Thank you all for your prayers and support. Don't worry yourselves with my health. I am alive and will be for quite some time. Sister Dance got me a place i can go get checked out but i don't really want to take the time to go do it. I might and i might not. Just keep prayin. They work.
I love you all so much. Thank you for everything. I am in Vilnius now.
Well thanks again.

su meile,
Elder Cooke

Hello America

Well, its Febuary or Vasaris which means "SUMMER" in Lithuanian.
They like to just ignore the cold i guess.


Now i am not sure what month they say "comes in like a lion" but i vote that it gets changed to February because this month just rocked my world. Last week right after i wrote all of you and told you "all is well" i got food poisoning and had a fun rest of the week. I had some bad lithuanian meat as far as i can figure. In any case it was quite an expieriance. However, i dont know if its over because like i have said in previous emails i have been really tired lately and have been getting frequent headaches. Also in the mornings if i work out a lot then i get sick to my stomach. All this started about the same time around 4 months ago. If you remember 4 months ago i weighed 160 pounds and i was just getting bigger. Now i just realized that i have lost 20 pounds over the last few transfers.
Thats not good. I talked to sister Dance about all of this and she is looking into it with the area doctor. So right now I think the best GUESS can be summed up by our dear friend Lloyd Christmas , "I got worms!" haha lets hope not.
So, other than that all is well!
We get transfer calls tommorrow. I have no idea what is going to happen. I have a feeling i could be leaving but who knows. I am preparing myself for both outcomes.


Well. Cool story for the week. This one is a little bit more on the history side of Lithuania. As you all know Lithuania was under the occupation of communist Russia for a long time. In 1989 (year i was born) the people of the Baltic held hands and made a human chain stretching from the capital of Vilnius through the capital city of Latvia to the capital of Estonia. This formed Baltijos kelias or "the baltic way" in opposition of the occupation. After much political working with leaders, Lithuania was granted her independance. The country then had the fight of bringing thier country and people out of communism. THe first thing they did was take down the nummerous propaganda statues of communist leaders and send them to be destroyed. One rich Lithuanian actually bought most of the statues and had them placed in a park where it was turned into a memorial. This park Is called "Gruto Parkas" and is in southern Lithuania. Elder Anderson and I had a rare opportunity to go down to this park last week and see these statues. It was a solomn serious spirit there- similar to the one i felt at the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in Germany. It really gave a new meaning to Elder ANderson and I about what we are actually doing here. We are bringing light to these people. It was quite an expieriance.
Well fam. I have got to get going. I guess we will see where this week takes me. Don't stop the prayers. They are so neccessary and appreciated.
I love you all so much.
Remember who you are.



Vyresnysis Kukas= Elder Cooke

God's Tender Mercies

Hi everyone,

This is me and Sister Skaistea a member of our awesome branch, in front of our church.

It was nice to hear about the wrestling team. It really feels like wrestling season around here. It has just been bitter cold here. I dont remember it being this cold last year. Can you believe i have been in Lithuania for over a year now. I can't! I dont want to think about how much time that means I have left.

So, I am going to start with a fun story. Last week we had zone conference. We didnt do it like normal however. Elder Anderson and I were to go by ourselves to Jelgava, Latvija. There we would meet with President dance and the Elders in Jelgava as well as some Russian speakers from Riga. We live fairly close to the Latvija border so we got on the bus and headed out. About 20 minutes on the bus i realized i had forgoten my passport (are you surprised) I was really hoping that there wasnt going to be a passport check at the border because they would kick me right off the bus. I had heard from president Dance that they almost never check at this entry point into Latvija so that gave me some reassurance. We came up to the border and i saw a Latvijan police car and a man waving us down. We were getting checked. The bus stopped and I told Elder Anderson I didn't have my passport. We were both kinda freaked out becasue we knew what was going to happen. I said an ernest prayer and so did Elder Anderson. A large bald man on the bus and said "Passes!" He checked everybodys and then he came to me. I told him I didn't have mine. He asked us in Russian if we spoke Russian...we dont...We asked HIM in english if he spoke english...he didnt. He asked US in german if we spoke german...we REALLY dont. We finnaly asked him in Lithuanian if he spoke lithuanian...He had no idea what we said. In the end we had NO way of communicating. He pointed back the way we came and asked said "Klaipeda?!" we said, "No Siauliai" He pointed back and said , "RIGA?!" we said, "No Jelgava." He had absolutly NO idea what to do with us. He finally just pointed to Elder Anderson's passport and said "USA?!" we said yes and then he said, "PASS GOOD." and then he gave me a thumbs up. It was awesome. Scary, but awesome. So we got to zone conference had a great conference and then went to catch the only bus that ever goes back to Siauliai. Here is funny story number 2. President Dance was in a hurry so he just droped us off at the bus station and asked if we could figure out how to get back. We told him, "Of course" and went on our merry way. If you remember, WE dont speak Latvian or Russian and that is all people speak in Latvija. One of the Latvijan Elders who was with president Dance in the car just shouted as the door closed, "Ohn Sauli means -to siauliai!" and that is all we had to go with. We asked a kid in english if he knew where we could get tickets. He had no idea what we said so I just said, "buy tickets. HERE?" and i pointed to building. He nodded and we went in. Now was round two. I stood in front of all the people in the bus station and said,"WHO HERE SPEAKS ENGLISH?" one girl said she did and I had her translate for me and the ticket booth. They told when the bus would get in. We went outside to wait and then we realized we had no clue where it would be coming in. So then we found another kid who could speak some english and asked him. He didnt know but then i told him about myself and I asked him where he was going and he said Riga so i told him that there were missionaries there who wanted to meet with him. He said that sounded like fun and he gave me his name and number and i later gave that to the missionaries in Riga. But then i found a sighn that said "Sauli" on it and i remembered what that Elder said. I fugured that must be our spot. Sure enough a bus came in there and we got on and made it home. (Nobody checked us at the Lithuanian border) We were late for english class so we ran to the church and all our students were waiting for us outside. They were happy to see us. All in all it was an interesting but fun day. It is so interesting to me because i never thought i could be a missionary for well over a year and still have a day where my companion and i couldn't communicate with hardly ANYbody. This mission is just so awesome. That really made me appreciate living in Lithuania alot more.
So in other words everything is going just fine here.

Me and Elder Anderson are getting along well.
We are going into our 13th week as companions. Its just been a blast lately.

I am teaching Elder Anderson to juggle 4 balls. He is actually picking it up really well.

We have a family here that we feel very good about. They would change this branch so much. It is a dad who is in Elder Anderson's english class and a mother who is in my class. And then thier daughter and their son. They are all so good. The mom prayed in my english class last week. I was so excited. The mom and dad have both said that if they recieve an answer then they will be baptised. Pray for them. Arnoldas and Inga is thier names. They're awesome. My advise for everybody this week is to just be happy and do what God tells you to do. It really doesn't get more simple than that. I love you all so much.

Vyresnysis Kukas
(Kukas means "cakes" in Latvian i found out)

Labukas

Hey Family,

Well, Its been a long week.
Thats the last time I ever have a baptisim on SUNDAY after church because then you have to wait all week long until the next Sunday for them to be confirmed a member of the church and get the holy ghost. Saturday night I had the prompting that Aurimas was going to need help getting to church the next day. We were visiting with Valentinas and his family and I told them to go to his house and get him for church. It turns out that his parents werent going to let him go to church that day as punishment for not getting his chores done. Valentinas and Irina convinced her that it was important that he goes and Aurimas showed up just in time to receive the gift of the holy ghost. I dont know what his family needs to hear so that they will be more supportive but there is just a lot of oppostition these days. Not just from Aurimas's family but Valentinas and his family are facing some major deamons right now. We do what we can but we are trying very earnestly to keep a missionary relationship with them. Its been difficult for this branch when missionaries are too good of friends with everybody and then they leave and the branch falls apart. I am petrified at the thought of me personaly causing damage to this branch when i will inevitably have to leave. But there is such a large piece of me that wants to do everything in my power to make peoples lives easier. It is an intrinsic battle that is difficult to win. If I dont help and something goes wrong, i feel the temptation to blame myself. If I help and something goes wrong I feel as though i could have done something different.
The lesson I have been learning is that we cant fix the world. We can only improve ourselves. We cant look at others and see how they should change. If we have the desire to please the Father then that is all He requires of us. We just need to please the Father. We can only do our best. It's hard for me to accept that all the time as you all know. Most likely you have all seen me be too hard on myself or on others. That isn't healthy. All we can do is our best and then look at ourselves and others with Christ- like love. In Lithuanian there is no word for charity. They say charity as "true love" or "Christ's love." We need charity. We are too good at judging. We practice it too much in our spare time. Let virtue garnish your thoughts at ALL times and in ALL places. Judging people is a selfish indulgence. Just always think to yourself. "How can I please the Father? Are these thoughts pleasing to the Father?" I promise you it will be easier for each one of you if you stop trying to put BLAME on people. Don't blame others or yourself for the evils of the world. We always seem to need an explanation for bad situations. Well if you really want one I will give you one. Satan.
Now move on and focus on CHRIST.
I say these things because i have had to fight a lot of my own personal deamons lately. It hasn't been the easiest recently. I dont say that very often but I am grateful for all of it because I can now testify stronger of the love of Christ and His tender mercys. I can testify of the power of prayer and the holy priesthood and of prompting and of angels. Its all true. Pray always. Kneel down and pray as if it all depends on God and then stand up and live as though it all depends on you. I love each one of you. You're all awesome. I would ask for your prayers for my companion and I. Thank you for all you do.




Elder Cooke

Aurimas got baptised! It was awesome.

President Gabalas performed the ordinance and our district president was even able to be there as well. Aurimas's road to baptisim has been so difficult and it came right down to the wire. We had a meeting with his mom to make sure everything was alright becasue Aurimas showed up to church with a hurt hand. We needed to get his mom to sign his baptisimal form and at the last minute she thought about not letting him be baptised. I said an earnest prayer and hoped her heart would be softened. It was, and she said she didn't understand why he was doing it but if thats what he wants then he can be baptised. I was very excited to hear that. This is a change he has been wanting to make for a long time. He used to run with a bad crowd and used to do alot of dumb things. He hasn't smoked or drank for 2 months now. He has a solid testimony. He has been talking alot about serving a mission and that has him and everybody else here excited. He still has 3 years until he turns 19 but that will give him some good time to prepare.



Other than that me and Elder Anderson are doing fine. It has been very quiet since we kind of run out of things to talk about after being together for so long.

This week at church we had 6 investigators come! 3 of them were a part of a family that comes to english class. We have been working earnestly with them for a couple months now and they finnaly invited us over for dinner. They are the sweetest little family ever. Pray for them. The mom and dad's name are Inga and Arnoldas. They would change this branch in SO many ways.
In other news you are all awesome. Sounds to me as though you all have everything under control. I am sorry i have been bad about birthdays and stuff but I just dont think about all that very often. So if i have missed a birthday or two...HAPPY BIRTHDAY/WEDDING/anything else you want to be HAPPY!
Thanks you for all your love and support. I gotta go, love you!

Elder Cooke