Week #37

Hi

Skyping the family was good. I tried to Skype from my account, but it wouldn't let me. It said "We see a problem with your login, you are no longer in the USA" and I said, "No I am not" LOL at Skype and at me and at Latvija. 

The thing I miss the most about Christmas in America is "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" 

The greatest movie of our generation. A green furry man has a change of heart. HINT: Repentance. Even the Grinch can make use of Christ's atonement. Merry Christmas.

Also Christmas Shoes.

Latvija is a MESS. Everyone is sassy and pagan/lutheran and they HATE us. I LOVE IT! :)

Nothing happened at transfers for the Elders. Two sisters are switching from Liepaja to Riga. it will be fun.

Week #36

Es tikai raksīšu Latviešu Valodā šodien, un es ceru ka Google Tulkotajs stradas.

Ta bija davana no Eldera Nelsona, mans apmacītajs. Ta ir Deivida Bekama bilde, kura bija uz ielas pirms dažiem menešiem. Bija parsteigums man, un mans prieks bija pilns.

šonedeļ, es ceļoju uz Liepāju un Jelgavu, lai apciemotu Elderu Kāru un Begliju un arī Elderu Nevilu un Rombergeru. Es gaju kopa ar Elderu Bērzu. Viņš bija mans parinieks MTC. Viņš ir cits Zonas Vadītajs. Viņš is zirgs un man nepatik ar vinu stradāt.

Man isti nepatika Liepāja. Es domaju ka Jelgava is smukāk un skaistāk. Bet man vienalga, jo es kalpoju Rīgā un par to, esmu laimigs.

Es arī domaju ka Jūta Štata is aukstāk neka Latvija. Es jutu līdzi.

Es esmu sajusma par Ziemassvētkiem. Es ceru ka jums visiem būs priecīgus Ziemassvētkus un Laimīga Jauna Gada.

Elders Demīls ir labs parinieks un viņš arī ir labs cilveks. Es ceru ka viņam patic es.

Ar mīlestibu,

Elders Devins Džeims Josts

Here is how google translated it. 😊

I just raksīšu Latvian today, and I hope that Google translator works.

It was a gift from Elder Nelson, my trainers. It is a David Bekama picture, which was on the street a few months ago. It was a surprise to me, and my joy was complete.

this week, I am traveling to Liepaja and Jelgava to visit Elder war and Begliju and also Elder Neville and ROMBERGER. I went along with Elder Birch. He was my companion for MTC. He has a different zone manager. He is a horse, and I do not like them to work with.

I do not really like Liepaja. I think that Jelgava is nicer and more beautiful. But I do not care because I was serving in Riga and on'm happy.

I also think that Utah is colder than in Latvia. I felt along.

I'm excited about Christmas. I hope that you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Elder Demīls is a good companion and he is a good man. I hope that he likes me.

With love,

Elder Devin James Joost

Week #35

I have about 3 minutes to write this. Sorry.

Good week, hopefully next Monday you will hear about a few Baptismal Dates.. :O

Elder Demille is well. All is well.

I got bit by a spider.

I got beat in ping pong by a 60 year old man named Jānis. He won the first 21-19, I won the second 21-19, he won the third 21-17, and he won the forth 21-19. Close, but no cigar (BTW cigars are HUGE here).

Love you all.​​

Week #34

Hi

What a week. Busy one.

I saw  Elder Matthew Parker Seegmiller. Highlight of the mission so far.

I made a 6 kg turkey for the boys. Happy Thanksgiving. I also put 3 sticks of butter in the potatos (Latvijan butter sticks are about twice the size of American) and it was delicious.

Went to Jelgava this week. Elder Satterlee (the new Jelgava District Leader) is doing great. 

Cool Experience: We had to visit a referral that has been really hard to contact (she lives halfway between Riga and Jelgava and can only be reached by train). We went to see if we couldnt get her on the way home. We had to break into the building. Easy, 10 pressure button, code where you have to hit 3 at the same time. I am a pro at these, but we couldnt crack this one. Finally after 20 minutes I got angry and punched the code and it opened. Miricle #1. We got up there and knocked on the door and... No answer. We knocked 3 more times with the same result. We were like "Were never gonna be here again, were so angry" So we knocked her 4 neighbors, the first 3 hated us, but the 4th. He like us. He was Russian and spoke 2 year old level Latvian. We said "Baznīca" which means church, and he stepped to the side and let us in. Long story short, called the Russians and they taught him over the phone and he loved it. He gave us apples. We decided to try one more time on the referrals door, and she answered. Well, her cousin did, but we got her number and we are going back on Saturday. Woo Hoo.

Nice.

Week #33

Will be very short.

This week was fine. 

Got a new boy, he is fresh and ready to be molded by the master sculpter (me) back into a person. (The MTC works all of you personality out of you, a trainers job is to GET IT BACK) 

Elder Demille, from Spokane, WA.

We found A. He doesnt want to meet right now.

We have a new Investigator. He took us to on of his 7 houses in the woods and we talked about the BOM. He was also drunk. He owns a Screw Store ''Scrūves Visiem"  "Screws for All". His name is Ja.

No voice this week (sorry) I have no time lol @ me.

bye.

Week #32

Well, the middle class showed the left and the media who is boss. People dont love Trump here. He reminds them of Putin. 

We got a new investagtor this week, Al He is a Doctor who loves huntin, fishing, soccer, and we got along VERY well. He is about 60 years of age. Cool guy, rich guy.

An has once again dissapeared. We will give him a break for now...

I am now a Zone Leader. Calls came on Saturday and Elder Birch (my MTC Companion) and I will be the Latvija Zone leaders. Elder Andersen will move across the river and become our District Leader. He is so nervous.  I am very excited.

Elders Birch will also be in Riga and we will go on exchanges and it will be awesome.

Love you all!

(Im training again and I want to die)

Week #31

Hi

There is much snow here in Rīga.

Has it snowed in Utah yet? I hope so. I like snow.

Slow week. Only one lesson with a French man who had heard about the Book of Mormon only once. On South Park. After a good long chuckle, I said ''Let us tell you the truth" I was happy.

We helped the Sister with a lesson yesterday. It was with a 91 year old man named Jēkabs (Jacob). He told us about his history and about Latvījas history. He is a Jewish man who faught in WW2 and it was the most awesome experience of all time. His whole family was killed by the Nazi Germany but him and his dad. They were in Russia when their town was invaded. I have almost a full hour of voice recording, but you wouldn't understand a word. In fact, I don't have any recordings this week. SORRY! :(

We had 6 lessons cancel this week.

Have a ''Brilliance'' week.

Week #30

Hi

We taught one lesson this week. It was a harder week. But we survived and everyone wants to meet tomorrow so we will have a busy tuesday and be bored the rest of the week. FUN!

Helena, the 93 year old, really wants to die. Yesterday, while giving her  the Sacrament , we were talking about her birthday and how we would celebrate. She said "Svinesim Gan... Debesis", which means, we will celebrate... in heaven. She is a riot and is so old and frail.

Today is Halloween, so I will insert some very spooky selfies. Enjoy.

I met a man on a bus named Gunnars. He caught my attention due to his Salt Lake City 2002 scarf. He did the commenary for Latvija in the 2002 Olympics. Cool guy, easy way to start a convo.

Easy. 

Week #29

 Staigājošie Miroņi

Hello, I saw Elder Seegmiller today.

He was as cute as ever, in a bit of a rush and didn't seem to happy to see me, but all is good.

This week was 7 days long.

This week we taught an Iranian and a Turkish man. It was cool. It was their second lesson and they had a lot of questions that were not relevent and I wanted to die and I loved it.

Our investigators are vanishing out into thin air and we need to find new ones but it is cold and people hate us and I LOVE IT! These are the most blunt people in the world and I fit in like a still kinda fat unpolished diamond!

200 lbs BTW.

Week #28

Sestdien Parkā, es domāju ka bija ceturtais jūlijs.

I sing that everytime we are in a park on saturday. 

(Saturday, in the park, i think it was the forth of july.)

Only because Elder Seegmiller shared his political thoughts with you, I will share mine: We are done. America is doomed. (Not really, I agree with Elder Seegmiller that we cannot get "Too" crazy, but we need to be careful. I just barely voted, and though I considered writing in Ron Paul (Obvious best choice) I resisted the urge. I will not say who I voted for but it wasn't an orange man or a liar. I pray as well that the Ben Carson sticker is still on the bumper of my car.

The real race that matters, however, is the US House of Representatives District 4 race between Mia Love and Doug Owens. For the sake of everything that is holy, please vote for Doug Owens, we need Mia Love out of office. Doug is a good solid man and will do great things. (Also, vote Superdell haha)

This week was good.

Had some lessons with potentials, nothing came out of that. A lot of contacting and a lot of bailed lessons as well. Thus is life in Riga Latvija as a missionary. Lots of time to fill. People are funny though. They either love us or they hate us.

Marta taught her first lesson in Sunday School and she brought her cousin. SHE IS WONDERFUL.

No one really progressing. We will start at square one and get back to you in a week. 

Almost done training WOW.

Love you all. Pictures next week.

Week #26

Subject: Donald Trump

Hi

Only Isaac updated me on the Debate and I am dissapointed in all of you. Isaac is my only TRUE friend.

Anyway, this week was good.

A is leaving town for a wedding for 2 weeks so we will see what happens then. 

E is well. Word of Wisdom next. (pray for him(and him^^))

We have another investigator named R  (R B= Ralph Becker, former SLC mayor) he is 22. cool guy.

Went with the Sisters to give Masa H one of the original members who happens to be 93, the sacrament. She said a prayer and asked God to let her die. Great fun!

Other than that, just a normal week. 

Went to a museum last week. Watched a lady weave. It was magical.

Many happy for Erin and Hannah. Will be good 'nairies.

Bye.

I asked Devin what a typical day is like for him. He said " Wake up, exercise (i try to exercise.) eat, shower, at 8 we study till 11. Then we either meet with people or find people until 9. EASY.

Week #25

"Man ir miesa, Es neesmu spoks"

Hi

Im glad I left Utah before all of the tornados came. I am deathly afraid of tornados.

Also, Utah is 4-0 and beat USC and I am happy.

I am 3 pounds away from the 100's. EASY.

Anywho, Andris accepted that date. Gave up his cigarettes and got a Priesthood Blessing. EASY. (Not really, but a lot of fun)

He came to church but left halfway through so we will see what this week has in store.

Had a lesson with my main man Einars. (we are BFFS) We were talking about how everyone makes mistakes and we said that no one is perfect. He said "You guys are" and then he went off saying how he loves me and listened to me from day 1 because I have a "Clean Soul". I love him. Plus, his catchphrase is "Oki Doki", so ya, we get along.

The Boy is well, he cleans up after himself. (and me)

Love you all. Finished D&C this morning and it was good.

BTW, The title translated means (I have flesh, I am not a ghost) President Shostaks (Branch Pres) quoting Jesus.

Week #24

Not a ton of time today, okay?

This was a good week.

We accidentaly strolled into Rīgas Bībele Diena (Riga Bible Day) and got attacked by J-Dubs.

Not really, but we were talking to a guy and a J-Dub came up and joined the conversation. The guy was in a hurry so we were exchanging numbers and he (before he gave me his number) looked into the J-Dubs eyes and asked "Do you reccomend that I do this?" The J-Dub answered "NO" he looked at the j-Dub for a few seconds than back to me and gave me his number. It was a LOL moment, for sure.

We're gonna extend a Baptismal Date to A  tonight so PRAY FOR US! Gonna be tight.

Love you all, Rīga is cold!

Week #23

Fogs rolling in off the east river bank.

Hello dearest people who I write to each week.

How are all of you?

On Monday of last week, we ran into a bunch of "utah mormons'' on vacation. They forced 20 dollars in my pocket. Today we will eat like kings.

Also, the news that the team down south botched a 2 point conversion made me very, very happy. The world is still in order and the U of U is still on top, just like it should be.

There was an old lady walking down the street and I looked into her eyes, about to say ''Labdien" and her phone rang. Dancing Queen by ABBA was the ringtone. As Becca would say (and these are not my words, in fact, this phrase makes me cringe) it was a ''Tender Mercy''.

Hard weeks on hard weeks on hard weeks.

The boy is well. He is getting adjusted which means he no longer stares at me until I do something, which he then would copy that thing which I would do. He does still look at his watch every time I do, but we will go on step at a time.

In all reality, he is a great companion. Easy going and he understands my HUMOR. That is all I really need out of a companion.

We have 2 solid investigators.

A- He said in our first lesson ''Es gribu kristities, bet es neesmu gatavs." (I want to be baptized, but I am not ready) We will keep working until he is. Also, I was sick this week and after our lesson he went to the store and bought me medus (honey). Great man.

Also, honey might be my favorite food.

For about 2 weeks, I tried to start every conversation with "Sveiki, vai jūs spelejat Pokemon Go? (Hello, do you play Pokemon Go) with mild success. As we were walking down the street yesterday, a woman around the age of 50, who was stopped on her bike looked us dead in the eyes and said "Vai jūs grībat parunāties par Pokemon Go?'' (Do you want to talk about Pokemon Go" I said "jā" (ya) and she might come to English Class. I have reached Nirvana.

We also talked to a young guy in the park last night. He didnt want to exchange numbers, but we talked about Prophets and the Book of Mormon. He took the book and called back an hour later and said "I don't want to meet at your church, but can we meet in the park again and talk about this book, I read some I am really interested." It was cool. So we will meet in the park this week.

We picked potatoes in the middle of nowhere and I am sore as a horse.

Love you all.

Week #22

I remember when I was just a boy. 

Riga is getting colder and darker CRAZY.

The dark brings out the drunks more and I am awoken by people yelling from the street every night.

This week for 2 days me and my boy will have 2 new companions. Elders from Russia who are being transferred to Ukraine. It will be a hoot. I love going out in zebras. They cannot get away from us, we speak ALL the languages.

We have two really solid investigators, E and A.

E knows maybe 7 words in English and he understands something that we tell him he leans back on the couch and says "what" like he is dropping a mic or something. It is wonderful.

A wants to get baptized but is not ready right now and wants to work at it. We are MORE THAN WILLING to do that.

The library I am at is awful so no pictures this week (double picture next week) sorry.

Also, I have a picture of my family that I show people in lessons and on the street so they don't think I am a robot (which I am) and they always say "Which one is your mom" I convinced someone that Megan was my mom once. Apsveicu, Mom. The Latvians think you are young and hot.

Goodbye.

Week #21

Jon Ruggle's Glorious Locks

Why did no one tell me about Jon's hair?  You all thought this was okay to leave out of emails?  I am sick to my stomach that no one told me. :)

Anywho, my new boy is well.  Elder Andersen is from South Jordan and know Brooklyn, my cousin.

We taught a few lessons, got a new investigator and contacted a bunch.  It has been great.

He hates BYU, I hate BYU.  He likes Indie, I like Indie.  It is a match made in HEAVEN.

We currently have 2 progressing investigators with 2 who will be at the end of the week.

Already been out 5 months.  That is weird!

Anywho, we had a really good conversation with an old man from England in the park.  He was very old and wise.


Love, Elders Josts

Week #20

Well, training is over (officially, I ended a week early) and I am happy. I am no longer a new boy.

I don't know who my new companion is yet. I'll figure that out on Wednesday when I pick up my Trainee.

Trainee...

I do not speak Latvian and I will have a companion who speaks less than I do and they expect me to teach him how to be a missionary?

We will stay in Rīga Center South.

I am sorry for this new boy.

It will be fine, I am excited.

This week with Elders N and M has been LOOONG. 

We got a new Baptismal Candidate named R.

He lives in Ogre, 30 minutes out of Rīga and his wife wants a divorce, it is sad.

He is a really humble guy who just wants to come closer to God. We are excited. It was out 3rd lesson with him. Me and Elder Nelson met him on the street.

I love Latvia. The best Pizza I have ever had is from Pica Darbnica on Gertrudes Iela. The best Pork I have ever had is from Lido on Elizibetes Iela.

The Ice Cream is WAY better here.

Have a great week.

Week nineteen

Many changes this week. I have 2 new companions, and I have finished training 2 weeks early. Elder N is the new Assistant and I am paired up with Elder M and Elder N. I will be staying in my area next transfer and might be training.

M got Baptized on Saturday. She was SOO happy. When she came out of the water, she was panting and covering her face out of joy. It was wonderful. When she bore her testimony the Holy Ghost was very strong. I have been so blessed to have her as an investigator in my training. She was patient and truly wanted to learn, which made things super easy. She sent me this text after I asked her how she felt. (Sometimes she texts in English and sometime in Latvian, this one was English) ''Yes, this day was amazing! I felt so much love! I knew it will nice, but I didn't expect that nice! And I have so much flowers! Wow! Thanks a lot! Arlabunakti! Līdz ritdienai!'' (They give women flowers and men chocolate here after baptisms)

We had Zone Conference. It was a blast.

Other than those 3 things, this week was not too interesting.

We contacted a ton and had 0 lessons.

Me, Elder M and Elder N will be on a 2 week exchange until the newbies get here on the 24th.

We will be going out to Jurmala (that means seaside) tonight for a Family Home Evening with the N's, a family that moved here 2 weeks ago. They are great.

I will keep all of you posted on what happens to me. Who knows, maybe ill be moved to Lithuania and be companions with Elder Seeg. That would be great. We would baptize the Baltics in a day.

Love you all, I didn't kill any birds this week.

Sincerly, Elders Deviņos (DEV-IN-YOAHS) It is 9 in locative case. My name literally translates to Nine Belt. 

Week #18

Subject: Who will love a little Sparrow, whose traveled far and cries for rest?

In the worlds of Paul Simon:

"Who will take pity in his heart? Will no one write her eulogy? 'I will.' said the Earth, 'For all I've created returns unto me. From dust were ye made, and dust ye shall be.''

I have taken pity in my heart and am now writing her eulogy. She was a good bird. She had traveled far, and she is now resting above the clouds in paradise. If only she had realized that the pane of glass was not open air. She did not suffer long. 

Sparrow ????-2016

​

Now that the eulogy is done, I will explain. Me and Elder Nelson were standing in front of the church, talking to people and seeing if they wanted to take a tour. Out of nowhere, something smacks me on the top of my head. I look to the ground, confused, and I see a dying bird. What are the odds that a bird would fall perfectly on my head? Hopefully it means good luck. If not, I am in trouble.

Also, tell my that I am not the best looking skinny man in all of Latvia? You can not do it. It is impossible. Really though, I look sooooooo goood.

By the way, Elder Seegmiller, I lost 4 pounds in 1 day last week. 

That is not a joke by the way. I was extremely ill this week and I shed weight like a race horse. 

Anywho, M will get baptized on Saturday. She is so prepared and will be such a solid member. We are excited and have already planned our pizza/ice cream party.

Yesterday, in a taxi, Phil Collins came on. It was wonderful. I thought "How can this get any better?" just as I thought this, Candle in the Wind by Elton John came on. This place is home now.

One of our new investigators, E, told us yesterday that ever since he has met with us, he hasn't had any Alus (beer) and had had no desire to drink anymore. The Holy Ghost is incredible.

Business lunch was great. Brother S is by me and P is by Elder Nelson.

​

It was at a pub. Perseus hid his beer from the camera.

Great times in good old Riga.

Elder Josts

Week #17

What. A. Week.

I love Riga. The people of Latvia are like Coconuts, really rough and scratchy on the outside, but hollow with some liquid on the inside.

That was a joke.

Ha Ha

I think it is a common misconception of people here that they are cold. They are the warmest people of all time.

Anywho, we have a few new investigators this week, but I will tell you about one.

P: A middle aged man with 2 kids and a wife. Formerly a Baptist Minister, and now is the head of one of the largest IT companies in Europe. He got a Book of Mormon in 2014 after contacting a member on the internet. He has read it on a regular basis since then. He was a referral given to us by a member and we met with him on Friday. He quoted from the Book of Mormon and told us exactly the chapter that Korihor makes his appearance in Alma. He also told us he knows that this is the true church. That never happens here, or anywhere in the world. He went on the "The Churches of Riga" facebook page and wrote about us and about the church. He will be defending the Church on the Largest Baptist Radio network in Europe this week.

He is also taking us, and a member to his favorite place to eat in Riga today. An IT Tycoon, one of the most successful Lawyers in Latvia, and Two Missionaries. I am PUMPED.

M's Baptism is in 2 weeks. We are getting all the details put together. She almost started crying in our last lesson because she "Doesn't feel like she has serves in the church enough". How did we get so lucky?

Our other Baptismal Candidate, Ja, has not been reached in 2 weeks. Completely fallen off the face of the Earth.

One of my favorite members, Janis (50% of the male population share the name), gave a talk in church yesterday. He spoke 15 minutes, and only got through 1/10th of his talk. He read straight from the scriptures and from some of the manuals, and at the end, said "If you don't follow these things, that makes you a Joker" and pulled a Joker card out of his pocket.

Another Janis story: He was helping with a lesson and to introduce himself he said "I am Ja. Hobby: Japanese language." and that was it.

Investigators are falling out of the sky. It is wonderful. Hard work brings blessings.

Love Elder Josts

Week #16

A member of the ward who we were really close too died on Tuesday,
very unexpectedly. It was hard, but somehow you
 just keep working and the lord pulls you through.

On the brighter side of life, I got the packages. Love them. Also,
​the new church opened this weekend. It is the nicest church I have ever seen.
 More like a Temple. We are really blessed 

over here in Latvia.

We are going on a River Cruise later today, which will be fun.

Both Marta and Janis are going strong. Looking forward to the Baptisms now that
 the building is done.

We taught the first ever lesson in the new church this Sunday to a man named Andris
that looks, talks, acts, and sounds, 

just like Chris Seegmiller. It was horrifying. If we have another lesson with him
I will have to get a picture. I am not 

kidding, it was scary how close it was.

Speaking of pictures, this week there will be no pictures. I am at a library (I have a
 Riga National Library card now) 

emailing because there are no computers at the new church yet and these computers s
till run Windows XP. 

One of them is Vista.

​

I love it here in Riga. People are nicer than you would think. I don't know how to
talk, but I get by somehow.

People love soccer and tennis here so I fit in just fine.

There is a ping pong table at the new church. I am ready to slay some Latvians at my
own game. It will be great.

Love you all.

God is real, God wants to help you, Show some faith, Read some books (Book of Mormon,
Bible, D&C, Pearl of

 Great Price, Lord of the Rings), Say some prayers. It is easy, and ohh soo rewarding.

Love Elders Josts

Week #15

Everyone plays Pokemon Go here and I cannot so Pokemon NO.

The Sunday that I forget my camera, Eliza Jackson just rolls in 25 minutes late to Sacrament Meeting. I will have no pictures of this wonderful reunion. Looks like she has to come back (lol).

​

For some reason, the moment that I left for Europe, everyone decided to follow me. I have 3 postcards from Paris, 3 from London, 2 from Madrid, 2 from Switzerland, and 1 from Stockholm. My wall is covered with cute postcards, mostly of building of famous things in that country, and one with some cows and another with a horrendous picture of Her Majesty, the Queen. I love them.

I have lost 36 pounds. I will have to buy new shirts at some point and get all my slacks and suit coats tailored. I will not lie to you, I am the best looking person in Eastern Europe.

This week was odd.

We had many lessons planned and many lessons fall through. It is nice when we have this happen to know that we have 2 investigators (M and J) who are just as excited to meet with us as we are with them.

We had good lessons with them both this last week, and both are progressing really well.

M's baptismal date got pushed back to Aug 13 because she lives in Cesis now (100 km from Riga) but she is awesome.

J is doing good as well. He is a Rugby star and is very humble and easy to teach.

A good experience from yesterday:

We had a lesson with M after church. We taught about Baptism, Enduring to the end, Prayer, Scripture Study, and Sabbath Day Observance. We had to Members with us in the lesson, Da and An. Both are middle aged to older, I don't really know, and are incredibly strong members. While they were talking I had a thought "I should tell my Mom tomorrow when I email how crazy and cool it is that she was able to raise 3 kids in the gospel alone and how much I love her and respect her for it." I don't know why I thought that, but I wrote it in my planner and was going to do it. Turns out, Mother will be giving a talk next Sunday on raising kids in the gospel. The Holy Ghost is a cool guy.

But really, Mom, you are the best. You have some pretty stubborn kids (except for Megan) and you did it. You are the only one who is worthy to give that talk. You are the best example of Christlike love in the world. I love you more than you will ever know. I cannot wait for christmas. (lol)

Anyway, a drunk Russian tried to pour beer on me last night, so I am doing great.

Love you all. 

Elder Josts

Week #14

Ledus Laikmets.

Title means "Ice Age" Seen posters for the movie all over town. No one spoil it for me, okay?

Euro was a good one to miss. Don't care for Portugal or France. Go Italy.

Andy Murray won Wimbledon, which is a shame.

Durant to the Warriors? Come on, that is worse than Lebron to Miami.

I am almost glad I cannot follow sports.

We celebrated the forth the way everyone should, at the Riga Latvia KFC.

J and M are both doing well. M came to church but Janis did not, still both going strong though.

We have a new investigator named O We met on the street and he told us that he had an overwhelming feeling that he needed to meet with us. Found the Restoration very interesting. We will see!

We sang in front of the new church building and got 6 potential investigators, which is great. Every missionary in Riga comes to sing and Elder Nelson and I get ALL of the potentials. Perks of being in the center of the city.

Gave a 10 minute talk in church yesterday about Prayer. Very scary. It went well and I hope I wont have to give another one for a while. It was the second to last week in the current building. (second floor of a business complex) I'm glad I got to speak in this building before Latvia says goodbye to it forever.

I miss fishing. We went up to do service by the Balt Ezers and I saw a bunch of guys pontoon fishing and it made me sad.

That was the week, we taught a lot of lessons to M and J and have some hopeful potentials to hopefully snag this week.

Love you all. I'm having a great time here and learning a lot about the gospel and myself.

(Plus, i'm now skinnier than I was Sophmore year)

Elders Josts

Week #13

T.G.I Friday is the worst in America, why would they want it here? I blame Guy Fieri.

Any who, Happy Fourth of July. I cannot believe that 240 years ago today, Columbus sailed across the ocean on the Pinta, Nina, and the Santa Maria and declared Independence from the tyrant king.

I feel a little weird that I have no clue what is going on in good ol' Merica. Someone inform me of Trump's take over. I need to know. All I hear about on the streets here is England this, England that, what ever. #AMERICA

Seriously, we have it pretty good in America. Latvija is INCREDIBLE, but there is no place like home.

This week was great. We taught many good lessons and got told we are not christian by a Pentecostal Preacher.

Elderi Nelson and Birch (we were on an exchange) went to meet with Ma and Ch, a couple of really nice guys from the States. We talked for a minute, laughed a little, and had some refreshments. Then we talked about the Restoration and bore testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and of Joseph Smith. This man had obviously done his Anti-Mormon literature homework. Long story short, we asked to leave, he told us we were disrespectful, he said a prayer and asked for us to be untangled from out web of lies, none of us said Amen, and we left. SO MUCH FUN! :)

Really though, it was a lot of fun.

M randomly out of the blue broke up with her boyfriend and now we don't foresee any issues on the way to baptism. Elder Nelson about jumped through the roof when he read the text she sent telling us the news. She is wonderful. 

On Saturday, we went to Iecava to help a member load up every belonging of him and his family into a couple of trucks. He is moving to Liepaja (another city in Latvija). A quaint little town of 9,000. We got some fresh berries. It was a blessing, truly. 

We have a new investigator, J, who we met with 3 times last week. He reads and takes notes on the BOM. Hopefully, by the end of this week, he will have a baptism date as well.

Having a good time here. No fireworks allowed here. Have a great fourth. We have 3 lessons today and I am getting a haircut.

Finished the BOM yesterday, pretty good book. I love Ether 12.

The Church is true, and the more old religious ladies, young atheists, and middle aged bald Pentecostal preachers tell me it isn't, the more I know it is.

Love, Elders Josts

Week #12

What a great week, huh?

Been hearing a lot of stuff on the street about England. What is going on?

We had a fun Ligo week. Ligo is a holiday that celebrates the summer solstice. It is bigger than Christmas. We went to Lido (a great food place) twice. Once we paid and the other a nice family from Orem took us. The Brewers. Never thought a family from Orem would buy me a meal in Riga, Latvia.

I wake up at 3 AM on the dot every morning. It makes sense that I would wake up when the sun comes up, right? Well, that is 3 AM...(It is also still light at 10:30 at night)

We did a lot of contacting this week. We go knocking in the little cities that surround Riga. We are assigned to go to Balozi (Ball-oh-ghee). We went on Saturday and met a couple of Pentacostal preachers from the US who we will met with on Wed. We also met Irvings. A nice, almost nude, man who LOVED us.  (The man was only wearing a speedo)

We have a good amount of lessons set up for this week, which will be nice. 

Marta is doing well, we have a lesson with her today. I love it here and I cannot wait until I can understand what everyone is saying.

There was a huge storm last night. We had all of the windows open in our room (because our room was 92 degrees) and we woke up with water coming in and the curtains almost torn of the wall. It was fun.

Read your scriptures everyday if you do not already. It will bless your life. I love my mission and I love serving the lord.

I am now skinnier than I was when I starved myself on DASH.

Elders Josts

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Week #11

Angry birds is HUGE in Latvija.......

Hello all.

I still don't understand anything that is going on here and I feel like I am going to die every minute of every day. I love it.

Someone please send me updates on Euro 2016.

Now with all that said and done, let's get to the fun stuff, shall we?

I went on 2 exchanges this week, one to Jelgava with Elders Birch and Satterlee (thank the heavens I LOVE Elders Satterlee) and the other I stayed in Riga with on of the Presidents Assistants.

Jelgava: A quaint town of about 60,000. I like it there, a lot smaller than Riga. I talked to a Jehovahs Witness for about a half hour. She took a pass along card.

Riga: Talked to a guy about soccer and then to an Atheist about god. It was great. Latvian is coming along at an okay rate, I think.

We have a good amount of investigators right now who are all doing well.

One of them didn't come to church and this was the text we received from him after 

"Sorry I didn't make it today, I got tangled up with booze and women last night"

I couldn't help but laugh. We have a long way to go.

On a different note, we have an investigator named M. She is 28 and is going to get baptized. She is wonderful. 

The new church building (which is GIANT) will be done the end of next month and M will be the first person baptized in that building. It will be a huge blessing to the branch.

The members in the Riga Latvia 1st Branch are the strongest members I have ever met. It is really difficult to be a strong member in Latvia, but they do it and they do it with a smile. 

I love my companion, I love this language (sometimes), I love Latvija ,and I love the lord.

P.S. I forgot my camera... I will send double next week.

Also, There is insane amounts of Angry Bird graffiti all over Riga. I will send pictures next week.

Love, Elders Josts

Week #10

Iron Maiden is coming to Riga.

Dear people in America,

How is Trump treating you?  There is no Trump here in Latvia (lol).

Riga is a fun place.

Elder Ballard came and spoke to us this week, what a guy. He is hilarious. He talked about the Spirit World and it was very cool.

The members here are so nice. They try to talk to me in English and I try to talk to them in Latvian, it is one giant fun mess.

We have a number of good investigators, and they are a lot of fun.

We taught the first lesson to a guy who tried to record our lesson on his phone and get us to say some false stuff. He talked about Hitler, it was fun.

Our real investigators are progressing well. Hopefully (fingers crossed) we get a couple of baptisms set up this week.

We teach English classes. We have had a good turnout, which is rare.

The new building opens up in a month and everyone is excited. The opposition the the church is strong here. It is a fun balance between the love and hate for us. I love it.

I saw some guy from Lithuania this week. We hugged for 15 minutes. He tried to hold my hand. I said "no" I'm on a mission.  (He was able to see his good friend Parker who is serving in Lithuania.  I wasn't sure if they would ever see each other since they are in different regions so I was so excited to hear that all of the missionaries were coming to Riga to hear Elder Ballard speak.)

Riga has some really cool architecture and we live in the middle of the coolest area. You should all come sometime (dont really, I would get in TROUBLE) it is great!

We talk to a lot of people every day and I love them.  My testimony is growing real quick and I love this gospel. It is hard, that is for sure, but it is worth it. 

Love,

Elders Josts

Week #9 Latvia

I don't have an Elders Satterlee quote....I am so sorry.

What a week.

I am in the Riga Center Area. All of downtown Riga and a little bit more.

My Trainer is Elder Nelson from Seattle.  There is a Mormon documentary about his family. Two Brothers Two, or something. I haven't seen any of it.

I cannot understand a word that anyone here speaks, which is fun.

We have taught a good amount of lessons. We taught 5 last week and we have 4 today, which will be fun. That is a lot of lessons, from what I hear.

We have on of the biggest and nicest apartments in the entire mission. No A/C though, but we survive. 

Street contacting is fun. People tend to ignore us. It is fun to be an annoying missionary. 

Church was fun. I bore my testimony. It was great.

It is very pretty here. And dirty. And stinky. And great.

I will attach many picture.  

I love you all.

Still send dearelders. They send them here LOL.

Funny story, during a second lesson last night in a park, "If I Were a Boy" by Beyonce started playing. I thought to myself "How strange is this, I am in Riga, Latvia, teaching about the restoration of the gospel, with some soft Beyonce in the background." I am truly blessed.

Love,

Elders Josts

Week #8 MTC

***Before you read this email, go to your nearest music playing device and turn on "Anthony's Song/Im Moving Out" by Billy Joel and listen to it for the duration of this email***

3 1/2 days and I am out of this place. I am screaming for joy on the inside (because showing any outer joy is a one way ticket to a District Presidents office). I am excited to eat fast food at the airports. I may fill my carry on with Chick Fil A sandwiches. **If anyone has been to O'Hare and knows if there is a Chick Fil A, send me a "yes" really soon. I need to know** We fly out of SLC at 8:50 and have a layover at O'Hare in Chicago. We then take the long trip across the Atlantic to Frankfurt, Germany and from their to Riga. It will be a long flight, but fun. The sisters will stay in the Mission home the first night, and the elders will stay in some bug infested hotel. Yay.

I think a small part of my soul (if I even have one) will miss the MTC. I have loved everyone here. Teachers, Missionaries, The Presidency, and other workers here. Our Zone basically runs this place. They reserved the two front rows at the Devotional for us, only because we always get there early for those rows. They just randomly reserved them. The Baltics, from what I hear, always rule the MTC. The devotional happened to be may favorite apostle (behind Holland), Dale G. Renland. He is the best. We made eye contact.

In my first 8 weeks I had only been off campus for temple walks, but I went off campus 2 in the last week. First on Saturday night to the ER (with another elder) and on Monday because if have a pre existing condition that I do not want to go into the details of at this time. If you are a close friend of mine, you can probably guess (Mark especially). If not, ask my Mom. She would be happy to tell you all about it.

The Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah and Disneyland in Anaheim, California are quite the same. You start out the MTC on Space Mountain if it never stopped and just kept going and going. It is like that for 2 weeks. Weeks 3-6 are like the teacups. You just cannot help but throw up and hate your life. Then suddenly, you are on Splash Mountain and some creepy birds and turtles and bunnies are singing Zippidy-Doo-Dah and you fell uneasy and excited all at once for the last 3 weeks. I assume leaving the MTC will be just like the walk down Main Street after a long trip in the park, just with happiness instead of depression. I may have to take on look back at the Brown Brick castle where I was, for 9 short/long weeks, a king.

I hope you all were listening to Billy Joel while reading this. I hope it really set the mood for you. If you didn't listen while reading, you are not worthy of my words and should not read future emails.

Elders Josts

Week #7 MTC

The Latvians (my other favorites)

Snooki is my princess, Ellen is my queen, put it all together, that is the Hollywood dream.

May 19, 2016 10:58 AM

This email will be slightly different than the past few that have been. I don't have too many sarcastic anti-MTC things to say this week, so buckle up. I am going to go against my better judgement and be serious for a minute.

The lord will give you what you need when you need it, if you put in the work. I see it everyday here. I think I am the most happy I have ever been. I am also the most stressed and nervous I have ever been. Here is an experience from this last week.

The devotionals that we have every Tuesday and Sunday are all great, but this Tuesdays was the best of all time. It was Von G. Keech of the Quorum of the Seventy. He talked about how he always saw his mission as somewhat of a failure. He had 1 baptism the whole time. Turns out, that one convert started the church in the Ivory Coast and there is now 27,000 members there. I cannot recollect all that was said about this, but I do remember how I felt, and it was tight. I know I am in the right place at the right time.

Good, now that that is over, GET ME OUT OF HERE! I am so excited to head to Latvia I am going to day. We should get our flight plans tomorrow. We have 264 hours, 30,840 minutes, and 1,848,400 seconds left in the Provo Utah MTC. It has flown by and crawled along all at the same time.

The food continues to plague me. I have lost 3 pounds in my time here. My companion has gained 26. He is 4 pounds away from 200, which is now his goal. I continue to pound into his skull how offensive it is to us morbidly obese to make a goal to become fat. Oh well, ill get rid of him in 11 days.

Dažreiz, kad tu esi vireties, tu nesi elastigas pakšbikses, tāva istiba, pajoku.

I have an addiction to Dabbing. I dab constantly. It is a problem.

The email title is again, Elders Satterlee. I have no explanation for this one, it just happened.

We skyped a man who lives halfway between Riga and Jelgava named Arvi. It was fun.

Dear Elders are still fun to receive. 

Love, Elders Josts

Post Temple walk selfie

Ode Kirifi and Ode Woodward, The Estonians (AKA my favorites)

Week #6 MTC

Devin and his cute cousin Alli not getting too close! haha  I'm so grateful that she works
at the MTC and is able to get me pictures and relay messages to him.  

It's almost a hug! ;)

A few quick MTC observations for the week.

1) The birds are mice. They forgot that they have wings and they just run around like little rodents. It is disgusting. 

2) My Zone owns the MTC. The Portuguese and Mandarin zones may try to argue this but it is true. We are in control.

3) The Cafeteria is organized by parts of the world. It isn't a set in stone where you have to sit but we end up segregation to our areas. We sit behind the Iron Curtain. 

I cannot think of any more. I am so tired. I don't sleep. I cannot sleep.

This week was 100% better than the last two. No one went home. Everyone is fine. Except for an Estonian Sister who has a concussion from volleyball. She is just walking around all loopy and saying some weird stuff. 

My time as Zone Leader will come to an end here soon (hopefully) and all of my power will be taken from me (thank the heavens) and I am really sad.

I made a list comparing everyone in our zone to a character from the Office.

Pam- Masa Kunzelman

Jim- Elders Birch

Dwight- Me (obviously)

Angela- Sesuo Jeppsen

Kevin- Elder Spencer

Oscar- Sesuo Aidukatis (different gender, but it works)

Merideth- Sesuo Day

Creed- Elders Satterlee

Ryan- Elder Lester

Kelly- Masa Burton

Andy- Vyresnysis Herbst

Toby- Elders Cooley (he is just more quiet, we love him)

Erin- Cectra Swapp

Nellie- Ode Kirifi

There are a few more in the zone but they dont really fit with characters. Now if I say a name in a future email, imagine this character. It is so accurate it makes me sick.

Elders Satterlee again is the title of the email. He said this under his breath while we were trying to go to sleep. What a guy.

The food continues to plague me and I hurt everywhere. 

Dear Elders are still much appreciated.

The language is coming now. I understand the cases and conjugations which is a miracle.

šie baznīca ir patiesa un dievs mūs mil.

18 more days and my sentence is over and I can walk outside of these walls a free man. Oh wait...

Elders Josts

Week #5 MTC

Stay out of my Shed.

And now that its all over, the birds will nest again.

It only snows when the sun comes out, it shines, only when it starts to rain.

I'm sorry, I took your time.

I am the poem that doesn't rhyme.

So turn back the page and i'll waste away,

Ill waste away.

Goodbye- Elton John.

In the United States of America, we spend an average of $22,000.00 dollars a year per inmate in our Prisons. In the MTC, they only spend $400.00 per inmate. Think about that for a second.

I mean, this is a wonderful place of insane spiritual growth and I love it here, but it at times feels like prison.

Good prison, but prison none the less.

On the brighter side of things, the Zone is awful.

It has been a trying week for all of us. An Elder and a Sister very well may have to go home for their own personal reasons (not worthiness, but other reasons). Both happen to be from my district, going to Latvia, speaking Latvian. 

The language is coming, slowly but surely.

Mother and Sisters, the package you sent had some Latvian phrases on it. Absolutely awful grammar. You wrote "Mes jus milu" when you should have wrote "Mes jus milam" quit using google translate, it is wrong. 

The shoes are lovely. I am wearing them now.

***ALERT*** There has been a shortage of dear elders. To fix this, go to dearelder.com and send some to me.

I really do enjoy it here and I am having loads of fun.

District President Yost gave the devotional on Sunday and he put my picture up in front of all 957 missionaries in the MTC. What a guy.

We fit our entire Zone in the elevator and got banned.

These are the highlights of the week. 

The title of this email comes from a Elders Satterlee again. It is from a My Little Pony spoof. He says it in a low, scratchy voice. Quite funny. Also, he randomly quoted Tim and Eric, which made my day.

Love Elders Josts.

Week #4 MTC

"I will destroy you and steal your fiance"

The MTC is a magical land. Similar to Hogwarts in the first 2 years of school. You are locked in and cannot leave, the teachers are like Snape, they push you until you feel awful about yourself (but you later figure out they were helping you all along), you spend all day cramming for your OWLS, and still fail. The worst part is, your parent/guardian didn't sign your permission slip to go to Hogsmede and you have to stay behind while you watch the English elders and sister come and go.

For all of you who have never seen Harry Potter or just do not care, I am saying this place is great but I am itching to leave. 2 more days and we are halfway done.

Our teacher, Masa Eyring, who happened to speak no Latvian left us this week. I have become an emotional piece of human garbage whilst in the MTC, and showed my talent of crying on command by blowing up the dam and letting the rains go down and the floods come up. She meant a lot to us. She was there through everything. We only knew her for 54 hours but she left a lasting impact on us that we will never forget. 

Our new teacher, Masa Larson, speaks only Latvian (yay). She walks in spouting of in crisp, fluent Latvain and we cannot understand her. How after 4 weeks of learning a language are we supposed to understand any word she says? Our other teacher, Bralis Bird, knows what we know, so we understand him. It is crazy. I feel like I know nothing.

Oh, before I forget, the title of this email comes from a song Elders Satterlee from my district sings.

"I will destroy you and steal your fiance,

 booty, booty, booty, booty,

 rocking everywhere."

He sings it all day and it is wonderful.

Dallon H. Oaks came and spoke to us this week, we sat on the third row. (We go 45 minutes early to every devotional because I refuse to sit in the most uncomfortable gym bleachers of all time) He read the entirety of Preach My Gospel to us. It was so boring, but it did answer all of my prayers so it wasn't actually that bad.

The food here is awful.

I got a haircut today.

Someone (Adrian) give me a detailed update of the NBA and NHL playoffs as well as the political race. Someone in my district caucused for Bernie and another caucused for Cruz. I, being the only smart person in our district, caucused for John Kasich. He has probably dropped out by now. I wish I knew...

DearElder.com is a great place to go and write me all about your life. I want to know everthing.

Es zinu ka šie baznīca ir patiesa.

Elders Josts