Shhh! It's a Secret...the Farewell Party

At Break-the Fast in March,  Eva started talking to the YSA's in a strange way before starting her lesson and Sister Davis immediately perked up to try and find out what she was saying. Eva then said something to Marta in Latvian...again in a strange way.  Now, every mother usually knows when their kids are up to something...there is this air of mystery about them. Sister Davis was sensing that with Eva.  So Eva keeps talking to the YSA's in Latvian and Marta starts translating for Elder and Sister Davis.

But the way Marta was telling this story about a girl that Eva went to beauty school with, who wasn't very good at cutting hair, sounded funny.  The girl graduated beauty school and started a dog grooming business....Marta is telling this story but she wasn't pausing when Eva was and the translation just didn't "jive" with what was being said by Eva.
Sister Davis looks at Marta and says,  "Marta are you making this up?"
Marta turns to Sister Davis with a stricken look in her eyes and says, "Yes! But Eva made me do it."

Everyone started laughing but Sister Davis knew something was up because she kept hearing Davisiem mentioned...and Davisiem means "the Davis's" ...that much Sister Davis does know in Latvian and it sounded like Eva was planning a party for Elder and Sister Davis.

This was later confirmed when Eva asked us when our last Family Home Evening was going to be. And then later, wrote a sign in Latvian and put it on the wall...with the words in Latvian: "don't translate this for Elder & Sister Davis". Eva actually told Sister Davis that is what the words said!

We could have had Google translate it for us but we didn't want to spoil the surprise...but you can see from the sign above that the "secret" is scheduled for 22, April. 

So by now, Sister Davis was pretty sure a surprise party was being planned and that was okay with her.  After all, she would really miss these special young people. She has come to love them and so has Elder Davis. We needed a time to tell them how much we were going to miss them and how much we love them. And we couldn't really throw ourselves a going-away party so it was nice they decided to.   Our last FHE in Riga will be April 29th where we will introduce the new CES couple we are training to take our place.

Several weeks later Sister Davis told Eva, "What do you want me to make for dinner on April 22nd?"  Eva said, "You don't need to make anything. I took  vacation from work and I will go shopping with you and we can make food together."

And that is what we did Monday, April 22nd... we went shopping. Eva told Sister Davis, "Today, I am the head and you are the neck".  Huh?  She explained her meaning, "I will tell you what to do. And you can do."

She bought food to make traditional Latvian dishes. Okay, she didn't buy it, Elder and Sister Davis did but she put it in the shopping cart.  We had two huge pork roasts, ham, garlic, sour cabbage, potatoes and other vegetables.  Elder and Sister Davis added ice cream and cones for dessert because Eva said, "I not worry about dessert."

Back at our apartment, Eva went to work. First she needed salt.  Sister Davis got her a salt shaker....
Eva:  "No, no! I need big salt."
Sister Davis:  "Big salt? Eva, I don't know what big salt is."
Eva: "You don't have big salt? How strange.  Don't worry, I will borrow  from your neighbors."

Sister Davis is thinking okay...what is big salt and why would she assume my neighbors would have some?
But they did! Eva was back in just a few minutes with sea salt.  She rubbed it all over the outside of the roast.  Then she took a big knife and cut slits all around the sides and ends of the meat.  In each hole, she pushed a whole clove of garlic, so deep you could barely see it from the outside.
Hmmm, this is getting interesting.

Then she put both roasts on a shallow pan in the oven and turned the temperature up pretty high.  After the first hour, she basted them every 10 minutes until they were cooked through.





Then she started on the potato salad, Latvian style. First cut up about two cups of ham, add a can of peas, one chopped onion, one diced cucumber, some mayonnaise, three hard boiled eggs and three potatoes.  Salt to taste.

Elder Davis peeled a sack of potatoes and boiled them...he forgot to cut them into quarters so they took a little longer to cook.  We decorated the room with balloons and strips of paper, set up tables and chairs and filled water pitchers. 

By then the roast was ready....Elder Davis was informed that in Latvia the men cut the meat not the women.  Which is a pretty good deal since the person cutting the meat usually gets the first taste.   


The doorbell started ringing, which we always find amusing since we leave the door unlocked so the kids can just open the door and come in.  We ended up with about 23 YSA's and four missionaries.  By the time Sister Davis got to the table to get food, there wasn't any potato salad left or potatoes. So she ate roast.  And she can honestly say, it was delicious.  Tender, juicy and flavorful, it was worth the $26.00  Elder Davis had to pay for that meat.  

Everyone raved about the dinner! 

And there was a special excitement in the air...unfortunately Sister Davis was so busy running around the kitchen she didn't get to socialize with the YSA's.

Romans was having a good time.

Eva put a lot of work into this party.  She told me the sign she put on our wall had asked the YSA's to send her a picture of themselves so she could make up a little photo album for us. As is typical of YSA's, no one sent her a picture, so she copied them from their facebook accounts!

Elder Davis loves to talk to each of the YSA's as they arrive. He has a smile on his face now but he doesn't know what is coming next and neither did Sister Davis.

We had to get up in front of everyone and take a test before we would be allowed to leave Latvia.  The first test was "How well we know the young single adults."  Eva would read off some characteristics of a YSA and ask us who it was.  This should have been easy for us...except her descriptions were a little fuzzy.  Here are some examples:  "She likes to ride horses and has red hair."  Elina K. has bright red hair but it wasn't her...it was Kristin B. Okay we got that one wrong.  Next clue:  "She has fluffy cheeks."  There must be a translation problem going on here.  Sister Davis says, "FLUFFY cheeks???"  WHAT are fluffy cheeks?"

We didn't get that person right either and Elza was a little miffed that she was described as having "fluffy cheeks".
 Eva giving the next clue:  "She had two."
Elder Davis: "Two what? Two cookies?....what?"
Sister Davis got it!  "Svetlana! She just had twins."
We ended the game with a score of "A" so we passed the test.

Next came Agneta's test..."How well do you know Latvia?"
"What do the three stars on the Statue of Liberty mean?"  Sister Davis is thinking about the only statue of liberty she knows...on Ellis Island. She is thinking: What stars does she mean?
Agneta said, "No OUR statue of liberty."
Sister Davis:  "You have a statue of liberty?  I thought it was called the Freedom Monument?"
This created a short discussion on whether you can call their statue, the Statue of Liberty or if it is called the Freedom Monument.
Oh well,  it doesn't really matter....next question!
Name three historical events that occurred in Latvia.  Easy one for Elder Davis: "When the Germans crossed the Daugava River in June 1941, despite the Russians blowing up the bridge.  When the Swedes invaded in the 1600's and built castles everywhere. When the Soviet Union gave the Latvian's their freedom in 1990.

After a few more easy questions we passed test #2.    We could go home from our mission with a clear conscience!

And then it was Elder and Sister Davis's turn. Sister Davis read a poem she wrote:

A Missionary's Love

Serving a mission across the world,

is a very hard thing to do,

Saying goodbye and leaving your loved ones,

for over year or two.

But the Savior requires sacrifice,

from his disciples young and old.

And tells us not to be fearful;

Have courage! With Him we can be bold.

So we left everything behind

that we held familiar and dear to our hearts

And came to this very unfamiliar place

to try and make a start...

How do you meet new people

and give them love and nurture

When you can't even speak their language

and don't understand their culture?

But Elder & Sister Davis discovered that

this was easier than we thought.

We gave our love abundantly,

just as the Savior taught.

Who would have thought we would find

another family to love here?

But that is what you have all become,

another family we hold dear.

How hard it is to leave you all,

we are being wrenched apart,

And that is why we decided to leave you,

a small piece of our hearts.

No matter what trails you have before you

or what burdens you're asked to bear,

The Savior said to all those who need him,

“Don't worry, I'll be there.”

So rely on the Savior to help you,

Seek Him with all your heart,

Just as we will rely on Him

to help you when we are apart.

We promise if you will all remain faithful

and endure until the end,

In this world or even the next,

We will meet you all again.

With love from your spiritual mom and dad,

Elder & Sister Davis

And Elder Davis gave chocolate hearts to all the boys and Sister Davis gave brooches with little glass hearts that she had made to each of the girls. Then we showed the video we made of our mission...and all the good times we shared with the YSA's. It was a hit with the kids because they laughed and clapped through the whole thing.

It was indeed a party to remember:

Front row:  Juris (of course), Eva, Olga, Sister & Elder Davis, Elina I., Agneta

2nd row: Elina K., Dainis, Dimitrijs D., Marina, Aivars, Elza, Iveta, Kristina

3rd row: Lauris S., Dimitrijs P., Romans, Rihard, Petris, Zane

We were given the photo album Eva made and a teddy Bear wearing a T-shirt that says, "Somebody in Latvia loves me"!  Aren't  these the greatest YSA's in the entire world?

We think so!