Extra! Extra! Read all about it....

 You might think we are blogging about the highly charged United States presidential race that is going on in America. Obama versus Romney.  Elder Davis has his favorite candidate and has not only watched the debates but keeps up with what is going on in the campaign. But that is not the BIG news on our mission (though Elder Davis still might think so).

The BIG news is the record breaking Family Home Evening we had on Sept. 17, 2012 (and now you know how far behind Sister Davis is on her blogging!).  What seemed a normal Monday evening with the usual characters coming for fun and spirituality....

...turned into an apartment stuffed with people of various sizes,  shapes and ages.  We couldn't believe how the large pot of fried rice just kept having more rice in it, no matter how many servings we gave out.  We had 7 people who weren't members of our church and two Elders and two Sister Missionaries.

This picture was taken before everyone showed up and you can see there isn't much wiggle room.

Zaiga brought her neighbor Petris and Sisters Kerr and Gallacher were there to make sure he felt welcome.

We had to clear out one of the folding tables to give Aivars space for his lesson.

Sister Davis had to get Lauris's newest letter printed up to read to the YSA's and Juris just had to take her picture.  That boy LOVES to have a camera in his hand. 

Lauris looks pretty happy doing service with his American companion (on his left). In his last letter he informed us he was  a "hot missionary". Which we took to mean "it is still warm in the Ukraine" and hasn't gotten cold there yet...gotta love that missionary and his limited English.

Elder Davis was happy with the evening.

What a feeling of satisfaction when we saw so many young Latter-day Saints having a good time while learning more about the life of Jesus Christ.

Here are a few pictures from some other Family Home Evenings. We are averaging 20 people on Monday nights for the last two months.  Eva is planning a wedding with Dainis on Dec. 8th.

Extra! Extra!  Holy Socks are a Nuisance!

Sister Davis is shocked at some of the holes she sees in the socks of these young people. Some of them are as big as the potholes in the streets. So when she saw a medium sized hole on Elder Davidson's sock, she decided to use it for a teaching moment. With his permission, she showed the other Elders how to "darn" a sock. Darning is a lost art, but Sister Davis learned it when she first joined the church at a Relief Society meeting. Darning is essentially "reweaving" the threads that have broken and it is a useful skill when you are on a missioin.

Elder Davidson was thrilled that his sock was "fixed" but there were a lot of camera flashes going off while Sister Davis was sewing.

Extra! Extra!  Stockman's has Corn Tortillas!

  Yes, CORN tortillas! The label says "Old El Paso" but the package says they are made in Spain for General Mills of Sweden.  They do not taste like the fresh tortillas we get in the states but we made tacos out of them anyway. 

And that is a tube of President toothpaste which is very appropriate in this election year.

The reason Juris likes taking photos is because he went to a summer photography camp in Russia.

He is such a sweet young man, he brought Sister Davis a Babushka magnet for her oven (her refrigerator has a wooden door so magnets don't stick).

Extra! Extra! YSA's Make Institute a Priority! 

 Institute class has been getting excellent attendance lately...10 in the Latvian class and 6 in the Russian class.

And ping pong is still being played after each session....

Juris must have gotten a point....

Extra!  Extra!   Internet lecture with Viktor Kremenchuk.

Read all about it!

Viktor came all the way from Moscow to give a media presentation to the YSA's about how the church is using the internet to proclaim the gospel, promote genealogy, search the scriptures, find manuals....anything you really need, you can find on LDS.org.

We were happy to have a good turn-out.

Super Saturday is coming up in November....

which means a visit to Noemi's house for a planning meeting. 

 Adams was put to bed for his nap....

...while mischievous Jazeps asks Sister Davis's questions....like "what's that?".  He is such a curious boy and he speaks Latvian and some Hungarian, a little English and is attending a Russian preschool where he is picking up Russian.  Now, that just puts American kids to shame!

He always calls Sister Davis, "Elders Davis". His mom corrected him and told him to say, "Masa Davis".   He now calls her, "Elders Masa Davis". 

Elder & Sister Naegle came for a "visa visit" again to get their Russian visa's renewed. We love to have them visit us. 

Extra!  Extra!  Climate change hits Latvia!

The whole month of September, there was seldom a day without rain. It could be sunny when we get up but within a short time it will be raining. A few times it rained all day long, but most days the rain was off and on. That is why this group of tourists in the park all have umbrellas.

 You dare not leave your apartment without an umbrella. 

And that is why Sister Davis needed a better umbrella than the little folding model she had.  So after a trip to the central tirgus (market) she found a heavy duty (17 ribs) umbrella for 5 lat. When the YSA's saw that monster umbrella she got a little teasing about it...so in the photo below she is pretending to be Mary Poppins.

 

 But a little rain didn't stop Elder & Sister Davis from taking a walk on a misty Saturday afternoon . And it didn't stop them from taking some pictures. Just because it rains a lot here, doesn't mean it isn't a beautiful day.

And just because it rains, doesn't mean it is cold here. The temperature is in the low 60's.

These little sparrows are everywhere and beg for food whenever you sit on a bench.

You can see that fall is here by the changing color of the ivy on the wall of the "powder tower".

And no matter the weather, the flower sellers are always busy.

And even the pedal taxis were available rain or shine throughout September. We saw this guy leading the way....

With a whole lot of fellow taxies following behind, headed who-knows-where.

Except for sleeping beauty here...

Tourists are in Old Town whether it's raining or not.

And the buildings in Old Town are so popular, you can find replicas in most souvenir shops. Sister Davis reallys likes these miniature ceramic buildings but worries about shipping them home.

The Old Town Gate is part of the original wall around Old Town and has survived rain and shine for hundreds of years.

And then Elder & Sister Davis went to Cili Pica, Latvia's largest pizza chain, for lunch.

As we were looking out the window, we see Cinderella drive up in her coach, get out and put a sign up on a pole.  Since we don't read Latvian, we didn't have a clue what she was promoting but it made our meal more entertaining!

Extra! Extra! "How to Tame a Dragon" gets rave reviews!

How do we know this?  The Latvian YSA's decided to have a movie night at the church. They projected the picture onto a white wall, pushed the couches into a semi-circle and everyone brought "potluck".  Elder & Sister Davis are pleased to have taught the YSA's what potluck means. And though seldom do the kids actually cook anything in a pot, they know that potluck means they need to bring something to the party. Which is how we ended up with a bottle of coke, some potatoe chips and some crackers on the table. 

 Sister Davis provided the blue kool-aid thanks to a package sent from home.

Elder Davis popped three batches of popcorn to add to the goodies and we all had an enjoyable evening watching a fun movie. 

(Missions are tough, but we manage)

This news report has been brought to you by our sponsers: Old El Paso,  Presidential Toothpaste, Cili Pica and the Elect Mitt for President Committee :)

A Bishop's Castle

 



 

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,  one finds men in leadership with the title of "Bishop".   Bishops are worthy LDS men, called and set apart by priesthood leaders to take care of a "congregation" of people.  His love and devotion to the gospel of Jesus Christ help keep the church running smoothly.  He oversees tithing funds, classes, programs, welfare needs, activities, and interviews his "flock" to make sure their temporal and spiritual needs are being met.  He spends countless hours of devotion to that work and undoubtedly receives blessings from heaven for his selfless service but receives no money for it.  In other words,  Bishops have day jobs.  They do all this church work in their "spare time", after working a full day and spending time with their family. A Bishops work is a labor of love. 

So it was rather interesting to get a tour, while on Saaremaa Island, of a  "Bishop's Castle".  This castle, located in the town of  Kuressaare, is one of the best-preserved medieval castles in the Baltic and was once the home of several Bishops.

 

 

The castle is built of local dolomite and  you get a feeling of awe when you first get a glimpse of the outside.  We crossed the "draw" bridge, over the moat that surrounds three sides of the castle. 

 

 

The back of the Castle faces the Baltic Sea.

You can almost imagine a royal coach rattling over the cobblestones as it approaches this impressive place. But we have to wonder...what did the Bishop travel in?


Most Bishops we know, travel in well used minivans...or the occasional SUV.  Since they usually volunteer to take boys to Scout camp,  young women to Girls Camp and youth to temple trips, they need a car with plenty of seats.

And this tower must be where the ward clerk spends his solitary days trying to decipher the ward membership records.  The ward clerk has a low profile calling in our church.  He spends a lot of time keeping up with who moved into the  ward, who moved out of the ward, who needs ordinations,  and other clerical duties....he deals with lists, lots of lists. With Internet,  a computer and printer, this tower would make an excellent spot for the ward clerk.

 

 

 



 Visitors Welcome...

 Now lets find out... where the Bishop hangs out:

In 1228, the first Roman Catholic Bishop, under the stewardship of Albert of Riga, was sent to oversee Saaremaa island.  He was called the Bishop of  Ösel-Weik  but he was also given the title of  "prince".  As Bishop he was the spiritual advisor for the people and as Prince, he had governmental duties.   Hmmm, we have seen many LDS Bishops who were "princes" to their congregations.  

 
In 1542 another Catholic guy was appointed bishop, Johann von Münchhausen from Germany. And since Bishops always have their agency, Bishop Münchhausen gave up his Catholicism and became a protestant, which probably caused quite a stir in the area.   

Rudolfs, Maksims, Marta, Sister Davis, Qi, Sister Bonner, Tina

 

When Tsar Ivan IV of Russia started advancing his troops at the beginning of the Livonian War (1559), Bishop Münchhausen was smart enough to sell the castle and surrounding area to the King of Denmark, Frederick II, and left the island. Frederick II sent his brother Prince Magnus to Kuressaare where he was elected Bishop of Ösel-Weik, even though he was a Lutheran. Quite a story, isn't it?

 

It was the Danes who built the moat around the castle.

 

We were told this is a convent-type castle with a square building around an inner courtyard.

Just for fun....Marta and Qi

Tina and Rudolfs

The castle has a labyrinth-like interior with hallways and small doorways leading you to all three levels.  It was fun to explore the many rooms each with a variety of exhibits.  We did not have enough time to see everything.

Rudolfs demonstrating what Bishops do to those members who come late to church.

Hanging on the walls of the beautifully restored basement, are paintings by Estonian artists.

To continue with the history of the castle....
 

In 1645, the Swedes took control after the Danish lost the Torstenson War.  Queen Christina of Sweden gave the land and castle to a guy named Magnus but he was no bishop. He became the Count of Arensburg.

The poor city of Kuressaare was burnt to the ground by Russian troops in 1710 during the Great Northern War and afterwards suffered heavily from the plague. Abandoned by the Swedish it was incorporated into the Russian Empire in 1721.

During the 19th century Kuressaare became a popular seaside resort on the Baltic coast.  During World War I, German naval forces occupied Saaremaa island. During World War II, the Battle of Tehumardi took place here.

In October 1990, Kuressaare was the first town in Estonia to regain its self-governing status. Yeah!

And now, the Bishop's castle, is owned by the Regional Museum of Saaremaa and housed inside the well-restored interior are exhibits about the history of the castle and island.  We are grateful for the way this castle has been preserved, it was beautiful, inside and out.

This is the arched Refectory room, one of the main areas on the bottom floor.

This wooden carving showing the Coronation of Mary, located on the wall, was made between 1491-1515 for St. Mary's Chapel in Estonia. In 1910 it was brought to the castle for safe keeping.

Beautiful and old stained glass windows.

This is the Bishops chapel...

On the walls of another large room,  hang the coats-of-arms carved out of dolomite, once belonging to the Saaremaa noblemen and dating from the early 1800's.  They looked very fragile.

 



 

A model of the entire castle compound:

Genealogical records....

The castle is three stories high and has two towers, the defense tower and the taller watch tower.

  

One wing was a history museum of  "life in Estonia".

We thought this was a fire extinguisher until we read the label....it's an Electrolux vacuum cleaner:

 

An early pumper fire engine.

 

Marta showing off a model ship. 

 The Bishop probably made this in his spare time.

And then we got to the part of the museum that covers the occupation of Saaremaa.

These are dictators of the former Soviet Union and Germany.

 

Various military helmets...

 (Sister Davis wasn't interested enough in them to read the labels but obviously Elder Davis was interested enough to take the photo.)

 

Now this was an interesting gun. It is very BIG...Marta and Sister Davis saw it first and waited nearby to see Elder Davis's reaction when he saw it.

And finally, something that attracts the attention of Sister Davis... native Estonian costumes.

Inside the next wing of the castle was the Natural History museum. While Sister Davis doesn't usually like to see stuffed animals (preferring live ones) she couldn't help but take a picture of this cute hedgehog.  We see a lot of hedgehog souvenir items in the Baltic so they must be common around the countryside but we have never seen a live one in our many travels.

And here is another example of how the Baltic people love their mushrooms. They are constantly getting trained on what mushrooms are edible and which ones aren't.

 

And this must have been the Bishop that kept waiting for every one in his ward  to sign up for tithing settlement. Sorry Bishop, that will never happen.

The stables are built into the embankment of the moat.

 

And just across the bridge from the castle is a darling place but we didn't know if it was a private residence or a guest house.

The bright yellow, Kuursaal Guesthouse is located across the moat from the castle...a nice place for the Bishops friends to stay.

 

And, while we are pretty sure, no LDS Bishop has ever lived in "Bishops Castle",  you can usually find one in any LDS Chapel around the world....just look for this sign and ask if the Bishop is there.

 

Visitors are ALWAYS welcome!