Old Hansa and Institute

Olde Hansa was the home of a rich merchant. His house was built for the enjoyment of the happy moments in the life of a Hanseatic merchant.

  It is now a medieval themed restaurant that is enjoyed by tourists and locals with out-of-town friends.

Come on In!

The staff are all dressed in period costumes.

 The interior looks authentic...you eat by candlelight...

 and the food is really weird. But since you can't really see what you are eating, it actually tasted pretty good.

 And after a rather pricey meal, Sister Davis needed to find the WC.

Can you tell this is the sign for the restroom?

It was a unisex bathroom and the toilet and sink were so unusual, Sister Davis had to go get her camera. This pot was full of water and had to be tipped down to rinse the jelly like soap off your hands. It isn't easy to tip the water spout while rubbing both hands in the water to be rinsed. In fact, it was rather comical.

Though the toilet looks like an "out-house model", it actually flushed.

The mens urinal was just opposite the toilets.

 

Well, Sister Davis is glad she wasn't born during medieval times!

 A photo of the Estonian presidential palace...see the two guards at the entry?


Peter the Great's palace, Kadriorg,  was built in Tallin in the 18th century.

That evening, Elder & Sister Davis were priviledged to attend Estonia's Institute class.

The teacher was well prepared, got a lot of interaction from her students and showed the movie Finding Faith in Christ.

Elder & Sister Yaskus were in Tallin for a visa visit and came to watch institute also.

Tallin Estonian Institute class.  

Angelika (new convert), Elder Takasaki and Elder Mathews (Russian speaking Elders).

Elder Takasaki just got transferred to Lithuania. The Russian speaking Elders can be transferred to all three countries.

And Sister Davis would like to show you how modern some of Tallin is....

this is the Radisson Blu hotel and is a short walk from Old Town.

Tallin is a modern European city with a vibrant downtown area.

 it is an Old Town AND a New Town.



To Narva and Back

In the photo above, Sister Davis is rubbing shoulders with a dapper chimney sweep that was located outside our hotel in Tallinn. See how polite he is to carry Sister Davis's purse? Chimney sweeps used to be very important people...there were once a LOT of chimneys to clean in Tallinn and in the souvenir shops, you see little chimney sweep dolls for sale.

During our visit to Tallinn, it got very chilly. Time for hats, boots, coats, scarves and gloves.

Winter is the time of year that Sister Davis loses stuff.  There is so much extra clothing to keep track of,  that gloves fall from her pockets, hats get misplaced,  scarves get left behind. Elder Davis walks a step behind her just so he can tell her what she has dropped. So far this winter, Sister Davis hasn't lost anything but it is bound to happen . 

 The day after FHE, the Bonner's and the Davis's thought it would be a nice day trip to go to Narva, Estonia. The Bonner's have been several times as they do apartment checks in that city. Narva is right on the Estonian/Russian border and we heard that the actual border between the two countries is still being negotiated.

On the way to Narva....

A quick stop for pictures of the 13th-century Rakvere Castle:

It was a gorgeous, sunny day....a rarity in the Baltic. We all needed that sunshine. Missionaries often get depressed during the dark winter months and are told to take extra vitamin D to counter the affects of so little sunshine. Since September most of our days here have been foggy, overcast or rainy. It makes you appreciate how much sunshine we get back home.

As you might imagine, many battles have been fought in Narva. The Soviet air force pretty much levelled the town towards the end of World War II. About 96% of the town is Russian speaking.

Russian side....



The castle below is also on the Russian side of the Narva river.....

 The Narva castle with the Tall Herman tower  is on the Estonian side of the river.

The border crossing: On the Estonian side, cars are inspected and documents carefully checked. As cars drive (or some people walk) to the Russian side, the same thing happens...cars are inspected and documents checked. There are always lines to wait in when crossing into Russia or Belarus.  People are warned it can take 24 hours waiting to cross by car into Russia.  You are given a number and then told when to report to the border checkpoint so you don't have to wait in the actual line.  One person we know, waited 6 hours in line, gave up, turned around and went home, hoping to try another day.

These pictures show Russian and Estonian sides of the river...

...just a small river between the two countries.

This building was one of the few to survive the bombing of Narva.

Narva has a population of about 65,000 people but that number has been declining for lack of jobs.  It is still the third largest city in Estonia.

And on our way back to Tallinn, the gorgeous sunny day, made way for a gorgeous sunset.

The sun was setting around 4:00 PM. We wouldn't get back to Tallin until after dark!

Back at our hotel we had to decide where to eat....how about that Taco Express place right next to our hotel?!

The food was pretty good....

Elder & Sister Bonner are fun people to spend the day with!

We love ESTONIA!

FHE- Estonian Style!

Having spent a week in Lithuania, Elder & Sister Davis headed up north...

to the modern country of Estonia, on the gulf of Finland, home to Elder & Sister Bonner.

We were excited to participate in our first Estonian Family Home  Evening and we were not disappointed.  The Bonners have done a wonderful job of getting YSA's to their home on Monday nights.  We enjoyed pizza and Elder Bonner taught a lesson on becoming a successful person.

If things are always this busy, the Bonners will need a larger apartment! They had two nonmembers and two less actives come that night along with a brand new member of the church for a total of 17 people.

There was a lot of interaction and discussion...you could tell the kids felt comfortable in the Bonner's home.

"Family home evening is for everyone. It is for families with parents and children, for families with just one parent, and for parents who have no children at home. It is for home evening groups of single adults and for those who live alone or with roommates. . . . Regular participation in family home evening will develop increased personal worth, family unity, love for our fellow men, and trust in our Father in heaven."                                                                 President Spencer W. Kimball

It was crowded but cosy and we loved to see how everyone got involved with the lesson.

Sister Davis had volunteered Elder Davis to be in charge of the activity after the lesson. He was up to the challenge....after all, he hadn't played charades in a long time and with this big a crowd it was a good time to try.  And besides Elder Davis is good at charades, it's one of his favorite games.
Everyone had to act out the title of a book or movie...and Elder Davis went first.



It looks like he's acting out "rain", or "snow".....?

You nearly have it....

Angelika guessed and now its her turn to act out the name of a movie....

We were happy to see that everyone actually participated and had fun  acting out the words and guessing the titles.

Another successful....

"We cannot afford to neglect this heaven-inspired program. It can bring spiritual growth to each member of the family, helping him or her to withstand the temptations which are everywhere. The lessons learned in the home are those that last the longest.” 

 President Thomas Monson

Serving Others CAN be Fun!

 Super Saturday really turned out...well, SUPER! 

Nov. 10, 2012,  young church members from all over Latvia assembled in the Riga chapel for a spiritual message and a day of service. 

 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.                    Matthew 5:16


The service was for the children's hospital that, last year, we donated blankets to. The nurses had told us they needed something to brighten the plain white walls that could bring joy to the lives of the sick patients as they lay in bed.  Sister Davis had a great idea....and it involved paint!

After a spiritual talk, the youth gathered around tables covered with plastic.  A stretched canvas was given to each couple of kids so they could work together on making a background painting for the three dimensional stickers that Noemi and Sister Davis had found. Instructions were given and creativity was allowed free rein.  The following picture gallery will show all the love the youth put into their works of art....

Getting Started:

Working Hard!

Juvgenis and Artjoms worked together to create a dinosaur landscape.

 

Julia's wonderful princess painting.

Anna and Sintija worked together on a butterfly girl portrait....

 

Elina and Diana working on a bird painting...

Kitchen Duty!  

Zane and Zaiga worked tirelessly making lunch for all the hungry artists.

 Spaghetti for 38 people isn't an easy thing to do.

             



Lunch Time!

Marta, Rubia and Sister Davis help serve the spaghetti.



Most of the paintings were drying during lunch....others still needed to be finished. Eva is being her usual happy self....

Ingus,  Juris,  and Elvis are happy with their dinosaur painting....

Iveta from Daugavpils (she was baptized just a month ago) shows her wild animal painting....

The Riga 2nd Branch Young Women were in charge of a few games for fun.

The artists posed for a couple of group photos before they left.

Even Noemi and Sister Davis made a painting...see the tree on the back row, left side?  We are proud of our joint effort.  These paintings hopefully, will bring smiles to entire families that have to spend time in the children's hospital. 

 Eva, after playing with the left-over paint, waves goodbye!

Postscript:   You know you had a successful activity when the next day at church, one young man stands to bear his testimony and tells everyone how serving others doesn't always mean doing things that you don't like to do. He  found joy in serving others by creating a work of art.