There is Sunshine in our Hearts...

You can make the pathway bright,

Fill your soul with heaven's light

If there's sunshine in your heart....
                             LDS hymnal #228

As Sister Davis is writing this post our weather widget says it is 63 F! There is definitely sunshine out today. After the Perry's left for Estonia (they were coming back again in three days) Sister Davis treated Elder Davis to the 2 Lat tour of the Academy of  Science viewing tower. There is something so liberating about being high above the rooftops and viewing the landscape around you...it makes your spirit soar!

Turning Darkness into day,

as the shadows fly away,

If there's sunshine in your heart today!

In the distance you see the Riga Radio and TV Tower, the tallest structure in the Baltic. It was built between 1979 and 1986 by USSR. Its highest point reaches 1,209 ft and was built on an island in the Daugava River.

If there's sunshine in your heart,

You can send a shining ray

That will turn the night to day;

And you cares will all depart...

If there's sunshine in your heart today!

 

And below is a view of the Central Market buildings that used to be dirigible hangers. All the little roofs in front of those rounded buildings house little shops and stalls. It's about  3 city blocks wide. The pyramid shaped building across the river is the Latvian National Library.

 And while we were on the 17th floor viewing tower, we met a man from Norway with his Filipino wife and of course Elder Davis struck up a conversation. They visit Riga every year and love it. They said they have a lot of immigrants from the Baltic States and it is causing some concern in the Scandinavian countries. They worry the Latvians are taking all the jobs.

 But this man, who happens to be a university professor and makes 35,000 Euros a year ($48,000), met a man playing guitar in one of the restaurants here in Riga.  When he started a conversation with this guitar player he was surprised to hear he also taught at the Latvian University and made about 4,000 lat a year  (about $8,000) and that is why he was playing guitar at night. The Norwegian guy said, after hearing that he won't complain about the Latvians working in his country again.  It is sad, the people here are paid such low wages; it's hard to raise a family on such little pay.

Riga is so beautiful,

And a view of old town...it's just past the Central Market area...

We are grateful for our testimony of Jesus Christ,

We are grateful to be missionaries and

We are grateful to have sunshine in our hearts today!

Thank You for Being our Friends

This post is dedicated to some of our special friends.  On April 2, 2012, Sister Davis received a call from one of her friends currently living in Riga... Sister Boswell. She was at the mission office and there was a package sent to both of us from California. Two of our close friends had mailed us a package and we knew they were as excited for us to receive the package as we were receiving it.

You see Sister Boswell was once the Young Women's President in our old Stake in Fresno.  And she called as her counselors three women that are so very different from each other in personality, characteristics and demeanor that you would be amazed that we would get along at all. But the amazing thing is that we all became BEST FRIENDS, and continue so today.

And Sister Davis thinks they just got tired of being left out...and so a package was sent from California to Latvia.  Elder & Sister Davis had the Perrys at our house and that means it was time for a missionary dinner out. After a bout with rush hour traffic on the Valdemara bridge...we met at  Lidos in the Spice shopping center.  Elder & Sister Wood were on a visa visit and they joined all us Riga missionaries for dinner. Thank you for being our friends

And then Sisters Davis and Boswell opened the package...amidst many photo flashes and laughter.   Elder Davis somehow, accidently erased the pictures  he took, so thankfully, Sister Boswell sent the photos President took!

 



The two little bottles are maple syrup and rootbeer flavorings. The enchilada & guacamole mix will go nicely with those $5 cans of refried beans Elder Davis bought. :)

And now for all those new friends we are making in the Baltic....

This is a picture taken from the viewing tower on the Academy of Science Building in Riga.  You can see the whole city from here, 17 stories high.

We Have Work Enough to Do...

Its Easter Week here in the Baltic, and.....

We have work enough to do,

Ere the sun goes down...

 The light is changing rather rapidly in Latvia.
The sun sets about 20:00 (8PM) now, and like the hymn says we are working "ere the sun does down." That means Elder & Sister Davis have been doing a lot of work! This post will show a slice of the work we have been doing for the past week.
Sunday was fast Sunday...so Saturday was definitely not a day of rest. Elder & Sister Davis were preparing for our fifth break-the-fast by shopping and preparing the food. We were making ham, "funeral potatoes" and green beans in celebration of  Easter. We try and prepare everything the day before so we only have to heat it up on Sunday.  Since we have afternoon church, we leave right after sacrament meeting, hurry home and start heating food. With one oven, it takes about 2 1/2 hours to heat three big pans of food, one after another. The ham was heating in the crock pot. We set up tables in the morning....

...and once the YSA's started coming, we didn't have time for photos! We ended up feeding 29 hungry people with three pans of potatoes, two loaves of french bread, 5 bags of green beans and 5 tiny hams.                  For ourselves and mission too,       Ere the sun goes down....
Monday of course is FHE, but before we could worry about that,  E/S Davis needed to walk to the mission home and work on some budgeting paperwork that Elder Davis needed. It was a little wet and cold outside so Sister Davis wore her boots and bundled up. Outside our apartment we noticed the beginning of a sink hole in the cobblestone street.

After an hour worth of work at the mission office...it was time to head home. But wait! What are those big white things falling from the sky?  Oh NO! It is SNOWING!!! The wind is blowing a gale, the snow is swirling in all directions...Sister Davis had a  hard time keeping her eyes open with snow flying into them. And she just had to laugh...its April 2nd and we thought spring had sprung but mother nature has a mind of her own!

.

And two hours later the sun came out and we went grocery shopping for FHE.  Luckily, we instituted "potluck" last month for every first Monday.  E/S Davis bought potato chips and made dip....and waited to see what else would arrive. We ended up with oranges, pears, grapes, carrot sticks, cookies, cookies, and more cookies. Since we  only had 14 come to FHE (can you believe Sister Davis said "ONLY 14!) , there was plenty to eat.

Tuesday we started a new  business in our apartment...the Baltic Mission Bed & Breakfast. First we had Elder & Sister Perry coming from Estonia to stay for two days. They are nearing the end of their mission and had to bring a young elder down for a visa renewal. We took them to some historical sites that we have already seen.

And we finally found the Old Jewish Cemetery that Elder Davis had been looking for two months ago. It is a 2 mile walk from our home through the Jewish ghetto.  Part of the reason we couldn't find it is that now it's a park....

The  Nazis blew up some of the graves  to erase evidence of all the bodies they buried here and the Soviets later used the head stones in construction work. There are a few bigger pieces of granite and monument foundations scattered around but it doesn't look like a cemetery anymore.  And if you read the last words of the memorial marker, you will see that good old America has stepped-in to preserve this heritage site, here in Riga Latvia. We are an amazing country!   

Bikernieki Forest

Bikernieki Forest.....located minutes from downtown Riga should be a great place for a peaceful stroll through a grove of old pine trees. Unfortunately, Bikernieki (beaker-nee-eck-ee) Forest is the  biggest mass murder site in all of Latvia during the Holocaust of World War II.  And now the forest is a grim reminder of those sad days.  Elder & Sister Davis drove there one day with  Sister Boswell, and Elder & Sister Perry to see the memorial and walk around the grave sites.

This canopy entrance is the first thing you see from the main road and the second thing are two granite markers to the left of it.  It is interesting to note that this memorial was funded by the German Government...

No one knows the exact number of people murdered here because, as the war was ending and the Germans were retreating, they wanted to hide the evidence of what they had done in this forest. So they dug up the graves, burned the bodies and used a machine to chop up the bones. There are estimated to have been 30,000- 40,000 killed here but they only found 20,000 bodies when the area was dug through after the war. 

There were some witnesses to what happened here. People actually lived nearby and knew about the killings.  Why the Nazi's wouldn't think that people would talk it, shows how out of touch with reality they were.

After walking a quarter of a mile up the marked path, we saw the first area of mass grave sites. The architect of the memorial is Sergey Rizh, a Russian who spent 15 years working on the design.  This memorial wasn't completed until Nov. 30, 2001.

There are 4,000 granite stones marking an area 13x13 feet.  It reminds you of a cemetery... only the headstones are jagged. 

The first victims were several thousand Jewish men arrested in the first weeks of July, 1941 who were kept in the Central Prison and later brought to Biķernieki Forest to be shot. 

 In 1943, Riga Ghetto prisoners who were not transferred to the “Kaizerwald” (Salaspils) concentration camp were killed here, followed in the autumn of 1944 by prisoners no longer able to work.

There are stones in the ground scattered all over the memorail that are engraved with the names of the home towns of the victims known buried here.

At every holocaust site we have visited, we notice tall, jagged stones everywhere and we finally researched why those are so common in Jewish cemeteries. This tradition began long ago, when the dead were not placed in caskets, but rather the body was wrapped in a burial shroud, placed in the ground, and covered with dirt. The large stones placed on top the grave, prevented wild animals from digging up the remains. Now, the custom of leaving a small stone on a grave has become common place at Jewish grave sites.   It is their way of saying, "I remember you."   They are called "visitation stones".

You walk softly on paths strewn with fallen leaves and speak to each other in hushed tones, it just seems fitting.

The sadness we feel is tangible...and E/S Davis have had other people say, "We have no interest in seeing sites like those." But every time we visit a holocaust site we are determined to share it with others....how can we keep mankind from repeating these horrific events if we don't remind people what has happened in the past?

Grave site after grave site.... we didn't get to see them all.

There are no guides or docents to tell you anything about this memorial. In fact the whole place has a neglected feel to it. But we will never forget this place or the people who lay beneath it. 

Liepaja, the Lovely

Elder & Sister Davis got to visit the third largest city in Latvia... Liepaja (lee-a-pie-ya) the lovely. It is a 2 1/2 hour drive, through beautiful farm land, from Riga and is located on the Baltic Coast, with a beautiful white sandy beach. We had two goals for our trip over there...attend Institute and Seminary and make sure Sister Zommerovska was packed for her mission.

Heading down the highway...                    





Sister Zommerovska was called to serve in the Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission! She was so very excited and we are happy for her. She has been patiently waiting for her visa to America to come through and once it did, she was supposed to leave immediately...but she wasn't quite ready. Elder & Sister Davis took her to the American Embassy and then to her home in Liepaja.
Missions are very important to the YSA's here. Their testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ grow ever so strong by going on missions and when they come home they become the leaders of the church. Missions prepare these kids for that responsibility. As Sister Zommerovska told us about her city, you could feel the love she has for her home town. 

We dropped off Sister Zommerovska in Karosta (a suburb of Liepaja) so she could pack while we went to get some snacks for the class we were observing.  Karosta is a military harbor built by the Soviets during the 1890's.

This is the Liepaja Chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We had such a pleasant surprise while attending the combined Institute/Seminary class. Christina was one of the best teachers Sister Davis has ever seen...inside and outside the church! This young mother, a member for less than 10 years, was an enthusiastic dynamo of a teacher.

She started the class with an impromptu skit. And then asked her students to talk about what happened and why.  She taught with love & humbleness, searching the students minds to see if they really "got" the principle she was teaching.

Twice she stopped in the middle of the lesson and had the students (8 total) write what they had learned in their spiritual journals that they bring to every class! They all take turns reading scriptures, answering questions...she spoke softly and looked into every ones eyes as she spoke. And she did this all by sitting at the table with them and not standing up in front of them.

A good teacher engages her students in a variety of ways....


We were so glad we witnessed this class. It is always exciting to watch a class where real learning is going on!  In the class photo: the man in front is Christina's husband and Branch President.  Sister Zommerovska was coming home with us to Riga for her setting apart as a missionary and to catch her flight to America.  We drove home late because we had some shopping to do the next day to make sure our missionary had everything she would need in the MTC. And the next afternoon we headed to the Mission President's home for Sister Zommerovska to be set apart as a missionary. Christina came to watch with her daughter Sara. Christina has been like a mother and spiritual mentor to our new missionary....

President Boswell gave a sweet blessing and we all went back to our apartment, where we found room for Christina and Sara to sleep.  We knew Sister Zommerovska was not going to get much sleep....it's an exciting time for missionaries when they leave for a foreign land.
And the next morning we are up early to say goodbye as President & Sister Boswell take our new missionary to Riga's Airport. Good Luck Sister Zommerovska!

Jelgava

The cute city of Jelgava (yel-gava) lies on both sides of the beautiful Lielupe river. During WWI and WWII 90% of the town was destroyed but some historical buildings were rebuilt. Jelgava Palace, situated on the bank of Lielupe river, is one of the most visited sights there. It was first built in 1737 but was burned down in WWI and later restored to it's former glory. The palace was destroyed again in WWII (what a shame!) and after the war, was rebuilt again. It now houses the Latvian Agricultural University. It is beautiful....who wouldn't want to go to school there?
And this beautiful city of Jelgava is home to a small branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The members are small in number but mighty in spirit.

Elder & Sister Davis were down there to give talks in church. When you only have 12-15 people come to church there isn't much variety in speakers on any given Sunday. So members from other branches journey to Jelgava to speak.
Sister Davis spoke on the Giant Sequoia trees. She could just leave it at that and keep you all wondering why she spoke about redwood trees and what it had to to with the gospel of Jesus Christ...but she won't.
Sister Davis learned about the Giant Sequoia's one year while at Girls Camp, held right next to Yosemite National Park in California. There is a grove of giant sequoias there called "Mariposa Grove" and Elder & Sister Davis have been there many times. The Giant Sequoias are the worlds largest trees. They grow as big as a 31 story building and are up to 50 feet around.











You would expect these giant trees to have deep roots to keep them upright but they don't. They have very shallow root systems that are from 4-6 feet deep. Heavy winds and rains could easily knock these big trees down but they have a secret weapon. Their roots spread out 125 feet or more and intermingle with other Sequoia roots. These trees literally "hold hands" under the soil. Their unity is what keeps them upright through the storms of life. By staying close together they grow and progress for hundreds of years.

Now do you see the gospel application in the talk? As the trees need each other to grow and progress, so do members of the Church of Jesus Christ. We need each other. We strengthen each other. We help each other and nurture one another and we all grow together.
There are other things we can learn from the giant Sequoia's but Sister Davis may need to use those in another talk, so those will have to wait until another post.

Memories are made of this...

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.