Sveiki Visiems,

First, Happy Late Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Transfers- Absolutely nothing changed in all of Lithuania. So, I am still in Klaipeda with Elder Sanford. Should be fun. It probably means that something crazy will happen next transfer, but only time will tell.

We don't really eat fish or shrimp partially because we aren't allowed to eat anything from the Baltic Sea, so the closeness to the coast doesn't really provide seafood we can eat. Also many missionaries aren't huge fans of seafood, so don't eat it much.

I can't believe that it is a new year. Crazy how time just flies by. There's not a lot to say today, since we were inside early two days, to keep us safe from the drunken festivities, but here goes.

We, as a district, met with Tomas, the branch mission leader. He's 18 and was just ordained an elder a month or so ago. We wanted to talk about missionary goals for the branch and how we can reach them, what he can do, what we can do, etc. It was a good meeting. He opened up about some things that were a surprise to us, but hopefully will work out.

We met with a less active, Viktoras, who had a stroke a few years ago and has trouble walking. He's very solid in his testimony and complimentary of the missionaries who first taught him. I still struggle with what to teach to help the less actives, who know the truth and know what they need to do, but don't do it. We are going to try just teaching the basics over and over, instead of hammering the need to come to church. We'll see how that goes.

New Year's Eve we needed to be in by 5.00, so we had a long time in our apartment. Luckily, that morning the other elders' apartment had some problem, so they needed to be out for the night, so they stayed at our place. It made the night much more enjoyable and seem like a more usual New Year's Eve. We bought some sparkling cider drink, sort of like Martinelli's, and played cards. It was super fun. People were shooting off fireworks all night and it was quite loud, caused a little trouble for the other elders to sleep, but I had no problem.

We had a lesson New Year's Day with a Catholic man. He was very kind, but not willing to change. I thought it might be that way, since when we asked what he believed in, he responded with 'tradition'. Not the most encouraging response, but at least he was willing to listen.

Last night we had a few interesting responses from people while we were harvesting:

One lady was a communist.

A Catholic man, who wasn't sure if he believed in God.

A Russian Orthodox woman, who didn't believe in God.

A young girl, who believed in 'Happy New Year's'.

Well, as always, thanks for your prayers and I pray for you. Hope you all had a fantastic New Year's and set some resolutions to help you grow and come closer to Christ, and also just some resolutions for fun. I'm excited to spend this next year in Lithuania, it'll be a blast. Good luck to all of you as you return to school. Try and enjoy it while you can, it won't always be there and you might wish it was. Live with no regrets, or as God commanded Lot and his wife "Look not behind thee'', and we all know what happened to her, so unless you want to be a pillar of salt, live life to the fullest, and seize the day!

Love you all,

Vyresnysis Kanoris Hiltonas