Our time here in Latvia wouldn't have been the same without our missionaries. It's been wonderful to have Sisters along with Elders, which we didn't have in Angola. Sister Veil, on the left, has been special to the girls. She started working on the Personal Progress program again just so Savannah wouldn't be alone (she's the only YW). Savannah felt supported and excited to start and finish the program in just a year or so before the program ends (the first presidency has announced that programs like Personal Progress, Duty to God, Faith in God for Primary, Scouts and Boy Scouts are all going to end and a new program in the Church will start Jan 2020). So Sister Veil was awesome to check in on the girls and make them feel special. She gave me a bunch of hearts to "heart attack" Rhea's door for her birthday--that was so sweet and Rhea loved it!
Sister Lewis, on the right, was awesome too! She's a foreign service kid too, so it was great to see how she's turned out and how she's appreciated her upbringing abroad. It helped Briant and me to feel ok about raising our kids in this crazy life abroad! Sister Lewis was super friendly and smiley, and helpful with translating or anything that we needed.
We were lucky enough to know Sister Sedivy too! We loved her energy and excitement and interest that she took in our family. She was always aware of the kids and wanted to make sure they were happy at church. She picked up Latvian really well (She speaks Czech since one of her parents is from the Czech Republic and both her parents served their missions there). Sadly she left to go home early so we missed her during the last several months we were in Latvia!
Sisters Boswell and Taylor were more wonderful sisters! We loved their visual object lessons during their spiritual thoughts (All of the missionaries would come with fun visuals and object lessons when they came for dinner). I loved Sister Boswell's energy and friendly spirit that made it easy to talk to her.
And our 2nd favorite set of Senior Missionaries, the Bloomfields! They were serving in Vladivostok (he was the branch president) where they had been harassed by the government to the point where they had to leave Russia with a two way ticket (they had to make sure they would be able to leave--a 2-way ticket seemed like they would be returning). The church just reassigned the Bloomfields to Riga to finish out the last year of their mission.
We were the lucky recipients of their service. The wonderful Barnes went home in August so it was nice to have another couple here in April before they left. The Bloomfields came in and served as YSA leaders, Sister Bloomfield was the YW president over Savannah, and Elder Bloomfield served in the District leadership. They helped us have some of the activities and leadership that we miss when we're abroad. We're so grateful for them!
Elders Aston and Palmer were awesome too! We loved having them for dinner to visit and hear their messages. They were so fun with the kids.
Here was one of their object lessons with forks and plastic cups.
We love our missionaries! We're so grateful for each of their unique personalities and testimonies that have contributed to our happiness and well being in Latvia. They have been so influential in the lives of our children--really like older brothers and sisters that are such great examples for them!
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