Elder & Sister Davis are making memories....Memories that can never be duplicated. The things we are learning, the friends we are making, the miracles and tender mercies we are experiencing are amazing things that will be highlights of our lives.
And one memory that we will never forget are the Family Home Evenings we have in our apartment EVERY Monday night....
We average about 12-15 people for FHE on any given Monday. We aren't too crowded and yet large enough to have a good mix of ideas. In the picture above, we have Jurgita (at left) smiling at the camera with the Sister Missionaries on her right, Sister Wilson and Sister Kerr. Jurgita's picture is on our wall but we had never seen her at FHE since we arrived in Riga, so we were excited she came.
March 18, 2012, we had 16 people show up for FHE. And everyone seemed in a jovial frame of mind. Twelve people aren't too hard to feed. One pot of soup or two packages of tortillas for quesadillas feeds them all. But when we get 15+, portions become very important and we worry whether we will have enough to go around... This FHE, Elder & Sister Davis set out a baked potato bar... potatoes, chili, sour cream, cheese, geen onions, tomatoes, most of the usual American potato-bar items (sorry Latvia, we didn't put out any pickles!).
Lauris and Yuris gave a thumbs up for the dinner... Who would have ever thought when Elder & Sister Davis first met that this would be our life 36 years later?
Aivars gave the lesson on unrighteous judgement and several people added comments. And then the games came out. Elder Davis has started a new activity that is popular with 3 YSA's. Sister Davis can't figure out what spell he has cast on these seemingly "normal" young people.
Elder Davis goes back into the office and gets on the computer... the young people follow...and pretty soon they are all singing at the top of their lungs! It's a Karaoke fest- not Latvian songs, not hymns, not rock or pop songs.... but oldies! "Memories are made of this" ... "I'm crazy for loving you"...."My cup runneth over with love"....
Do you see what Sister Davis means? How does he get seemingly "normal Latvian kids" to sing those old American songs? And why do they seem to LOVE it? Memories are made of this....
Last Monday, we broke the record for FHE attendance (at least in the 4 months we have been here!). Our little apartment held 23 YSA's 2 Elders and 2 senior missionaries for a total of 27! We are still marveling how that pot of stew fed everyone.
Sister Davis made cinnamon rolls for dessert. Amazingly, the double batch made 27 rolls, exactly the number of people who came! Maksims surprised us all by bringing ice cream bars, 25 in all. And since the Elders left early, we had just enough ice cream bars for everyone also.
We had 7 nonmembers in attendance and there was such a crush of people, Elder & Sister Davis didn't even get introduced to everyone! Daniel came from Finland, Emilia who served a mission in Latvia two years ago, was over visiting from California, two girls who were visiting from Germany came, Zaiga brought a friend, our sweet Eva brought her roommate....it was a zoo. But Elder & Sister Davis love the zoo!
Awwww, memories are made of this.
One of the reasons for the large crowd, our FHE became a farewell party for Sister Zommerovska. In a previous post we blogged that she got her mission call to Salt Lake City Temple Square. She was so very excited and finally her visa came through and she had to come to Riga from Liepaja to pick it up. Liepaja is on the coast about 2 1/2 hours away. Sister Zommeroska came by bus and one of the YSA's met her and showed her the way to our apartment. She was spending the night in our guest bedroom and we would take her to the American Embassy the next day.
Elder Koltko and Elina, notice the coat tree, behind Elina.
And three tables of games going on in the front room, Sister Davis doing dishes in the kitchen and Elder Davis and two YSA's singing their hearts out in the office. Not always on key, mind you but having a great time.
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