First Week Abroad!

Svieki!

Let's see where to start.

Well I left the MTC, finally. Flew on many airplanes, hung out in airports, talked to some people- one lady from Bakersfield CA, who was going to look some more into the Church from a friend when she got home.

Well last Tuesday we arrived in Riga Latvia. Spent the day there, we went contacting on the street, paired with missionaries in Riga, speaking English, since I don't know Latvian or Russian. Was good, had a lesson with a kid that had been contacted eariler about the restoration and set a baptismal date and then found out that he doesn't smoke or drink which is incredible, especially here. It was pretty sweet. We spent the night in the mission home and then in the morning packed up, talked with Pres and Sis Dance about some stuff and then got our assignments.

I am in Vilnius serving with Elder Cooke, from Teton Valley, ID. Elder Hengst is also in Vilnius and Sis Aldredge and Elder Sanford are in Kaunas. Elder Cooke and Elder Gearhart, Elder Hengst's Companion, are the zone leaders, pretty crazy, both of them have been out a year and a half.
Elder Cooke and I are serving in an area that had previously only been occupied by Sisters, so we are starting from scratch, zero progressing investigators, zero potential investigators, everything- since all the people the Sisters were going to teach are sisters, who we need another priesthood holder to teach, which is difficult to find.

Wed we got on a bus and rode up to Vilnius, about 4 hrs from Riga. Then I met Elder Cooke, we went to our apartment, which has a doorknob and lock in the middle of the door, just like a hobbit door, and then we got some food, ate a bit and went out harvesting, door knocking.

When you door knock here, it's usually in these 'domes' they're called, but tall buildings with three doors on a floor, cement, from when Russia occuppied the country, but that's pretty much how everyone lives. Most people didn't answer or quickly told us they weren't interested, we got an 'eik sau!', which is a rather rude way of telling people to get away, direct translation is 'go to yourself'. We also harvested a rather drunk man, who answered and then said he would be right back, he came out with a cigarrette, so we went to the bench just outside the door and talked to him. He asked where we were from said America, then Idaho. He then bothered us to find out the capital of IDaho because he didn't believe that it was Boise. He also offered to get us some heroin and weed from a Russian who walked by. Then we tried for 5 -10 min to say we had to go before he let us leave, but not before we said goodbye like men- we clasped hands bumped chests and then hugged, like mafia style.

The rest of the week we contacted, taught 3 lessons on the street on Thursday and Friday. Was great. Also on Thursday taught a less-active Skydmantas, also taught a piano lesson to him, was pretty exciting. One of our lessons was with a half lithuanian from Las Vegas, was really good, we talked for probably about an hour- he was really interested, and especially into the idea of the pride circle and how true it seemed, it really clicked with him. He also offered to give us the book he is writing about Lithuania, for free when we got back.

Saturday was zone conference, good to see a bunch of missionaries and have a little break from contacting all day. We talked about the importance of thinking 'success thoughts', which was a little edging towards the kind of stuff that I usually would make fun of, but when applied to misionary work, was actually useful. First we as missionaries need to think successfully, and use that to encourage us to talk to people, even if they are going to rather delibrately flip you off, yeah that happened as well, but also that the use of positive reinforcement with investigators, we need to focus on the positive, that is much more effective than just telling people- if you don't get baptized, you'll burn in hell, i mean who wants to get told that? and it often brings out a kinda 'i'll show you' attitude, desire to just prove you wrong. Good to always remember.

Sunday was crazy. Elder Hengst and I spoke, in Lithuanian, which was crazy. Church was rough, it mostly just flew over my head and I sat in a confused state for three hours. But I did understand little bits and pieces which was great. Then our bathroom door got locked somehow from the inside and then while closed the sink turned on, crazy, but the landlord came over and unlocked it- with a razor and screwdriver.

This morning we played frisbee, which was sweet. Oh, a couple days ago we were talking to some kids who just wanted to argue/philosophize with us, a lot like some debators, not truly open to new ideas, just desiring to prove you wrong, whatever you say. But then a girl came up to us and gave us each a little clear marble, then left. We finally got away from the kids, since it wasn't spiritual and then she runs after us and gives us some ice cream she had bought. We asked why she gave us the marbles and she said 'for your mood, because not enough people are smiling'. Bizzaro, but interesting.

Thanks for the news, it's always great to hear from people, if you use dearelder.com then I'll get it within about six weeks, but it's free, and letters usually take about a week to get here, just send everything to the mission office and it'll get to me. I pray for you and appreciate your prayers. If you have any questions let me know.

Love,

Vyresnysis Conor Hilton