On the Way to Tartu

Elder & Sister Davis were invited to Tallinn, Estonia to teach a Missionary Prep. lesson and to attend the Celestial Marriage Activity being planned by the Estonian Saints.   But E/S Davis were very curious about Tartu, a college town in the middle of Estonia we had never visited before. Tartu is on the way to Tallinn...if we go out of our way to get there. Tallinn is a pretty straight shot up the coast of Latvia but Tartu is straight up the middle of Latvia. So with just a little zig-zag inland, we got to see some new country.

And here is our story, titled......On the Way

On the way out of Riga:

We saw a house that said "I have been around a long time. I am old.  I am tired. And  I am worn out.

I need a hug." 

On the way to Estonia:

We saw farms that looked reminded us of Iowa.....

 Rivers that reminded us of  Idaho...

On the way to the tiny town of Placis:

We came across historic buildings but had no idea what they were....

On the way through the northern Latvian countryside:

We saw old stone buildings.....

On the way to dinner:

We saw the famous "Kissing Students" fountain...

On our way to Tallinn the next day...

We saw the ruins of  a medieval castle....complete with moat.

And a thoroughly delightful sight, though  rather unusual, even in Estonia....

 You can not help but smile when you come across an old windmill.

On the way to dinner...

the Bonner's took us to a newly discovered Chinese place in Tallinn, close to their apartment. This is a horrible picture of Sister Davis, but in the spirit of charity, its a good one of the Bonner's so she will include it in the blog.

On our way into the church in Tallinn...

we discovered some wonderful, sweet ladies who wanted to meet some wonderful men at a marriage activity.
It is sad for us to report that only three men showed up to speed-date 12 women.  We feel for these sweet sisters who want the companionship of a marriage partner and none of the single men from Latvia made the trip to Estonia....shame on them.

On the way back to Riga...

we realized we had had a great time.  We talked about our weekend get-away and how we can do the Lords work in so many different ways.  We learned about the Estonian culture in Tartu, we visited with the Bonner's and hopefully brightened their day, we taught a missionary class to a YSA hoping to inspire her to go on a mission and we got to socialize with the Estonian saints.  A very fulfilling weekend.