The YM presidency planned a wonderful missionary fireside before the three American families left the branch and Latvia.  It was a great meeting.  It started off a little interesting with a drunk man walking by the house yelling outside the gate and then coming slightly in the yard.  Tanner was patient but firmly escorted him off the property and asked him to leave.  He continued yelling in Russian so we didn't understand him, but he finally went away.  We quickly sang an opening song and prayer hoping that would keep us safe and the man away from our meeting.  ;)  It was an easy lesson for the youth (without us lecturing) in why we have the word of wisdom and why it's important to obey that commandment!

Sister Bruner started us off talking about how she knew she wanted to serve a mission and how she prepared.  She also discussed some of the highs and lows of a mission.  She was followed by Sister Boswell, Elder Edwards, Sister Loo, Elder Wright, Elder Palmer, and Elder Aston.

Here's the power team!  They're awesome!  They all shared how the knew they needed to serve a mission and how it was being away from home and the blessings they've experienced serving.  Despite sharing some of the "lows" of a mission, on the way home when I asked my kids what they thought and if they were excited to serve a mission, they all said, "Yes!"  They didn't seem to be fazed by anything they heard, but were even more excited about their future as a possible missionary!  The only concern I heard from Savannah was about learning the language if one was required of them; a natural fear that Bri and I tried to calm on the way home. The T family was unable to join us, so we had two American families and the Sencans family along with Bogdans.Cherylyn made up a nice table of desserts...which the kids devoured.  ;)

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!

The girls and I helped again this year with the missionary Thanksgiving dinner.  It was great that with homeschooling, the Rhea and Savannah could actually come with me to set up.  The Barnes left in August so Elder and Sister Barkley were in charge of the dinner.  He asked us if we could help with the decorations.  We contributed some of our fake fall foliage for stage decor and then we "made" leaves.  The girls and I had fun walking around the yard and neighborhood looking for leaves that we could write words on.  Each leaf had something we could be grateful for written on it using the special markers Savannah got for her birthday.  The missionaries seemed to like them.  :)  We sprinkled little plastic pumpkins on the tables too.

 Elder and Sister Barkley on the left with the mission president, President Pokhilko and his wife (from Ukraine).

 The lovely sisters we came to love.
 And the awesome Elders!
We love our missionaries that are far from home!  We appreciate their service to the Lord and to us in Latvia!

RHEA'S WORDS:  

Elder K was the best missionary ever. He always came over to eat. He always came up with jokes and riddles. He always thought about our needs and the needs of others. We will always remember him. He was very spiritual in every way.

He was the BEST EVER.

Very fun and funny!!

He told riddles and jokes every Sunday.

Same with this picture. he left us pondering on 3 little but hard riddles.

                                                                 We're very grateful that we got to know Elder K!
The Elders are always happy and funny.  We had to say goodbye to Elder Carr and Elder Romsberger too.  Elder Carr was really good at playing the piano too and I loved their lessons.

                     They were all very enthusiastic and excited to see us.

On Wednesday nights, the missionaries hosted a sports night, so we tried to go before it started getting cold.  We had so much fun playing soccer with them!

Then we had to say goodbye to Elder and Sister Barnes.  We had a whole year with them.  They planned a lot of Super Saturdays, girls camp for Savannah, and a campout for Thomas and my dad.  They were awesome and we are going to miss them!

The Barnes' last message was "Stay in the Boat."  It was a great lesson and we will always remember them!

Guest blogger Briant here.  One of the best things about being in the foreign service is having my kids close to full-time Elders and Sisters.  Growing up in Oregon, my family was very close to the missionaries, and had them over and interacted with them frequently.  In a very real sense, these elders were like big brothers to me and my siblings – practical and palpable exemplars of the kinds of quality young adults we could become, and their example of love, service, and righteousness infused a lot of our childhood.  Mick had similar experiences growing up in Southern California.  When we lived in Alpine, there was one set of elders assigned to the three stakes (appx 30 congregations) in Alpine, and I think we physically saw the elders three times in seven years – there simply was no opportunity in Utah to have that intimate and sententious relationship with the elders that both Mick and I had growing up, and I knew that was a lost opportunity for my kids. 

Fast forward to Angola and now Latvia, and we have had our missionaries around us in spades.  In Angola, I was the ward mission leader, and every week I had at least four elders and a couple of branch members over for dinner to talk about the missionaries' efforts and what we as a branch could do to support their efforts to teach about what our church believes and to support them personally.  I think since joining the foreign service we have cooked for close to 50 missionaries and local members, and my kids have had close and meaningful relationships with these good elders and sisters. 

As we have got to know these elders and sisters, they have all loved and supported my little family and its unique needs with love and genuine feeling, and they have given back to us as much or more as we have given them.  I know they love the little piece of America and family and home that we represent for them – a chance to occasionally "come home" for a meal and some family time – but I truly believe we get more out of it than they do, and I am grateful beyond words for the love and support, and above all the example, that they give to me and my family. 

While all of the elders and sisters are special to us, a few of them have really stood out as particularly impactful in the lives of our family.  One of these elders – Elder Krommenhoek – was one of the mission president's APs and made a close association with the kids, particularly with Thomas.

Every time they see Elder Krommenhoek, the kids play games with him, tell him riddles, and otherwise connect with him because Elder Krommenhoek is genuinely interested in their lives and loves them and they can feel it.  For Christmas, Elder Krommenhoek gave Thomas a miniature Christus statue, and Thomas made a paper quilling flower for Elder Krommenhoek.  Every time we had Elder Krommenhoek and his companions over for Sunday dinner they gave us meaningful, thoughtful lessons, and our admiration for Elder Krommenhoek grew. 

As happens with all of our missionaries, the time has come for Elder Krommenhoek to leave us.  The Baltic mission takes in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Belarus, and Elder Krommenhoek is an Estonian-speaking missionary and has headed back to Estonia for the last couple of months of his mission before going home.  On his last Sunday with us, we enjoyed his friendship and his warmth one last time, and the kids listened with fixed attention to his words on Jesus and the Christian life that he taught them one last time.  He also left a CTR necktie for Thomas.  Maybe he can save it for his own mission?  ;)We wish Elder Krommenhoek luck and hope to see him again someday.  But his influence – and that of the other missionaries that surround us – permeates our home and our lives.  As a father trying to teach my kids to grow up and meet their spiritual potential, what more could I ask for?  I am grateful that Thomas and Savvy and Rhea are growing up with Elder Krommenhoek's example – and that of Elder Yost, and Elder Mitchell, and Elder Siquafenge, Elder Cook, Elder Alfredo, Sister Burton, Sister Taylor, and dozens of others – firmly before them.  They have a pattern and an ideal for what they can become, and I see them filling that mold slowly but surely.  If that were all we got out of joining the foreign service, that would be enough and more.