So, first of all, I absolutely love the sisters who are staying with us. It's been crazy figuring out our schedules and all that, but it's also been a huge blessing to have them here. Sister Cook is from Salem, Oregon and we have had fun reminiscing about Curt Bateman or whoever that kid was that McCall was in love with. Haha she's one of the funnest people I've ever met. She can quote any movie or tv show and she always has something hilarious to say in any situation. I love it.
Sister Haas is also really fun. It's fun to have them around because they keep things light and it's kind of impossible to get too upset about anything. Plus they're still in training so we've been their "trainers" and teaching on the street with them is a hoot. Just yesterday a guy asked us if we have a program where he can find a new wife and Sister Haas nods her head emphatically and says, "Of course!" I died.
We had a last-minute exchange in Riga, which I loved just because Sister Haas and Sister Cook are in awe over every new thing they see. I went with Sister McD and Sister Cook for the day, and it was one of the funnest exchanges I've been on. In Sister Cook's mission, they're not allowed to talk to men or teach them. Poor girl, because we happened to teach Roman, an investigator with a baptismal date, and in the middle of the lesson he gets up and takes his shirt off because he was so sweaty. I didn't really blame him because it's like 1,000 degrees here but it was still a little awkward keeping eye contact. Sister Cook stared straight ahead at the wall the whole time, and I couldn't really stop laughing. You know how sometimes you can make your laughter silent? Well, it wasn't one of those times. I sounded like a wheezing donkey for a little while there.
Highlight of the week, though, was gardening again at Valentina's neighbor's dacha. Her garden is so cute! That's what one of the attached pictures is of. We got to go there twice. It was funny because once the elders had to leave, we decided to stay and finish weeding her strawberry patch. Valentina and her neighbor, Angelina, were talking about the church. Angelina isn't a member, so she was baffled as to why we weren't dating the elders. She kept repeating, "It's a nightmare! You're young and you should have a burning love in your life!" I laughed pretty hard about that and shed a tear in agreement.
Honestly, though, there is nothing better than doing service here. I love that they always feed us sandwiches with tomatoes and sour cream on them, along with tea from their garden. They gave us a huge bag of onions, cilantro, and tea leaves. I've said it once and I'll say it again: I love these people.
Something that I've been studying is obedience and its relation to vision. Everyone always talks about "blind" obedience, and I've put some thought into figuring out what exactly it is that makes obedience blind. Here's what I've got: obedience is blind when you are doing something just because it's something that you've always done without recognizing or noticing the fruits of it, or doing something because you fear judgment of other people or because it's what everyone around you is doing. Then, and only then, can you call obedience blind. Otherwise, obedience is the only thing that can really give us vision; that gives us the ability to see things as they really are. That's the definition of truth: things as they really are, were, and will be. Obedience and truth are connected by default, and you can't have one in abundance without the other. I told you about the talk by Elder Richard G. Scott on the subject. It's called "Fruits of Obedience", and it blew my mind how many there are and how they don't seem to have much to do with obedience. If you strive to be obedient to the commandments and the promises (covenants) you've made to God and, in some cases, to your spouse, then here are the fruits of your efforts: integrity (a cement in relationships and the foundation of spiritual communication), peace, a quiet inner support, being prompted to know what to do in any situation, understanding more the things that puzzle you, a future without limit, inspiration and power beyond your imagination, discipline (backbone of a noble character), an ability to facilitate the proper use of time and agency, order and consistency to your life, having your priorities straight, a capacity to work and receive joy from productive work, an ability to make up your mind and have resolve, not reanalyzing your decisions with every new circumstance, charity towards others, ability to forgive those around you and yourself, a love of service, giving, and reaching out, with your first thought being for others, being demanding of yourself in a way that allows you to seek for personal improvement, being trustworthy, having inspiration to know what to do and the power or capacity to do it, being endowed with power to do, to serve, and to give, having confidence in yourself to make wise decisions, to be humble with the assurance that whatever you are asked to do in life can be done, to be spiritual and capable of being used as an instrument in the Lord's hands, having a noble character, you will discover latent talents and unknown capacities, raise the vision of others and be a saving influence in their lives, more easily become who you want to be, and, most important of all, you will find in your being a love for your Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. It will become stronger and stronger until all you truly want to do is determine what they would have you do and, with their help, accomplish it.
If you write each of those blessings down and study them individually, a greater light and clarity of vision will come into your life. Heavenly Father does not ask us to shut our mouths, nod, and obey Him in whatever He says. His is an invitation to live with eyes wide open, being conscious of the consequences of our actions and, by extension, being aware of the blessings that we receive from being obedient. Something else to recognize is that obedience doesn't mean not having any questions. I am convinced that if anybody truly studies the doctrine and teachings of this church, it is impossible not to have questions. I have several that I'm pretty sure I can't find an answer to in this life, but the simple fact is that in this church, the truth of what we know will always trump the mysteries of the things that we do not know. That's because of the quality of truth that we have. If the Book of Mormon is true, then it doesn't matter where dinosaurs fit into the whole picture (you might think I'm being facetious but that's seriously one of my questions). It doesn't matter what kind of mistakes past church leaders made or how tedious the surface level conversation with your relief society president is. The fundamental truths that we hold dear are enough to weather any doubt, question, or misconception that we might have.
I love you. Thank you for being so supportive and thanks for your prayers. I can feel them all the way over here in Latvia.
Love,
Sister Gooch
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