Christmas Comes to Town

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas is a big deal in Lithuania.  They are seeing lots of fun decorations and fireworks!

Welcome To Klaipeda

Large companions make the teeter totter difficult

Neat Monument and the Port in Klaipeda

Homes in Klaipeda

A Church in Klaipeda and an elevator that will stop between floors! How cool.

New Apartment - Klaipeda

Very serious face - clearly he is not about to put up with any dirty socks on this floor!

Thanksgiving in Klaipeda

This would be the "before" and "after" of the big meal. The Elders spent Thanksgiving in the home of the Branch President and his family.

Halloween in the Mission Field

Seems the Elders are not as excited about being Ninja Turtles as Justin was a a kid. Elder Putnam is showing some moves!

Arvydas Joins the Church

Congratulations to Arvydas, welcome to the family.

Sending Home a Great Group of Missionaries

This is a group of missionaries Justin has served with. This is the last

Zone Conference for most of them as they are heading home.

Sister Thorne was in Justin's MTC group and she is also finishing up her mission.

WOW - TAKE A LOOK AT THE NEW APARTMENT!

These are pictures of a castle near where Justin is serving. The castle is called Trakai. What a beautiful place!

Justin Transferred back to Vilnius - July 2009

Some of the people we are working with:

Nijole on the far left, next to her is her daughter then me and then Lolita who is a member.

The new senior couple - out at Valdas and Virginijias house picking rasberries with us.

Homemade Kabobs, Elder Cox is happy to cook them.

A city called Klaipeda where we went on exchanges.

Me at a members country lot where we did some service.

Me with Valdas and Virginijia which are members you will meet when you come.

Elder Solomons birthday party where we made hot wings!

Downtown Kaunas during Kaunas Days where they set booths and sell stuff in an open market

Parade of Priests

This is reported to be a parade of Catholic priests in Lithuania. Justin says about 1,000 people were following them chanting and praying. Looks like the missionaries need a parade of their own - Salt Water Taffy anyone?

Anxiously Awaiting Lunch

These poor deprived missionaries await anxiously their lunch.

.....and the Kitchen

Nothing like having the comforts of home........or better.

This is a Missionary bathroom!?

I am a little disappointed that Justin is forced to be so coddled. There should be a garden hose hanging in the shower and a bucket to flush the toilet.

Nuclear Neighbor

This is a shot of a nuclear power plant visible from the apartment window. Justin says if he has 3 eyes when he gets home - it may be the effect of the radiation.

Castle Meets Missionaries

Once you get inside the castle - seems like the servants haven't been doing their job to keep things all tidy. Is that a TV I see there?

Justin's Castle

This is the apartment building where Justin and Elder Solomon (seen here) live. Quite like a castle.

Justin & Elder Richarson

This fine young missionary with Elder Martin is Elder Richardson - who happens to be the son of a fellow I work with at the Church Office Building. Elder Richardson is a Zone Leader from Estonia - here they meet up at a Zone Leader Meeting in Latvia.

Elder Martin & Elder Anderson

Elder Solomon - Awake

This is Elder Solomon

Elder Solomon - Studies Lehi's Dream

This is Justin's companion, Elder Solomon, deeply pondering the scriptures.

The Effects of a Year in Lithuania

This is Justin's group from the MTC after one year in Lithuania. Clearly it has had a dramatic affect on them - can they last another year?

English Class in Lithuania

This is the English class that Justin and his companion teach. They have had great success in finding teaching opportunties from the class.

Elder Martin - Called as Zone Leader

With only one month to acclimate to his role as a District Leader, Justin has been called to serve as a Zone Leader. From his letter, he doesn’t sound nearly as overwhelmed as he did when asked to be a District Leader.

He is staying in Kaunas with Elder Solomon (the other Zone Leader for Lithuania). They will be travelling to Latvia on a regular basis for Zone Leader meetings and training.

Justin will hit his “Hump Day” this next week, so what a way to celebrate his first year!

He is having great success (as measured in Baltic terms) - they even have a baptism scheduled for March 31. He plays the piano at every event he attends, and is now teaching piano to a local sister so they have a pianist when he leaves.

Our family is blessed to be able to support such a dedicated missionary.

Elder Martin - Called as District Leader

Justin has been transferred back to the city of Kaunas. He has also been called as a District Leader. He is admittedly a little "freaked out" about the whole event. He was sweating becoming a senior companion or maybe even training a new elder - but he was knocked off his socks a little by the assignment as District Leader. He will hit "Hump Day" in March and so he is really hitting his stride - we are thrilled to see his progress.

The Baltic Mission is an interesting mission that only has one zone per country! So with only 3 zones in the whole mission (covering 3 countries), the elders and sisters need to be pretty self-directed and it is a compliment to Justin to be asked to serve.

He is excited to be back in Kaunas and hopes to pick up with the investigators already found and also add new contacts to their teaching pool.

We had a chance to talk with Elder Martin on Christmas. He sounds great and seems to be enjoying the area he is in. Turns our Winter in Lithuania is not quite as extreme as we thought. Since it is on the ocean it takes on a more maritime climate and seems to stay a little warmer than some of the more Northern countries. His english sounds a little clipped as he has developed a little accent. It was great to hear his voice and to sense the enthusiasm he has for the work.

He hasn't really told us what the pictures are - but we assume his apartment building - and a photo of the missionaries
volunteering at a food pantry or something.

Justin has been transferred to the capital city of Vilnius. His new companion is the District Leader and he is glad to be in a traditional two-missionary companionship for a change (the three-leg got old apparently).

He is doing well and is excited about their prospects in the new city.

Above is a cemetery lit for the "Day of the Dead.

The words under the bridge say "I love you" which he sends on to all those who support him.

Welcome to Vilnius - the Capital City

Here are samples of

his

"amazing

picture taking skills".

These are described as a "pretty pictures of Kaunas". And they are!

This is a photo of the church in Kaunas on a foggy day.

October 2008 - 6 month update

Justin is back in Lithuania - as evidenced by his photo showing him back in his old area - he even has his same companion.


He is also seen with the Wong family he taugh in Ireland.

The 6 month tie-burning has occured - hope it was an old tie.

He is clearly eating more than canned cabbage - though I think the idea is to use the flour on the cinnamon rolls, not on your face......but whatever works.

The latest word from Elder Martin indicates he is being sent to Ireland for a few weeks until his permanent visa arrives. He is excited to see another country, but worries about his investigators while he is gone.

He seems to be doing well with the language and is having many opportunities to teach.

We will document his departure and return to Lithuania.

Justin has now successfully arrived in Lithuania! He is in the city of Kaunas, and is serving with Elder Kolby from South Weber.

It just so happens (really - a complete coincidence) that on Wednesday the 14th of May, me (his dad) was travelling to New York on business. I had a departure of 10:05 at gate D10. It turns out that Justin had a departure of 9:50 at gate D6. So as I came down the hallway toward my gate, lo and behold, there he was with all his compadres. So we did get to visit for just a minute before he and I both had to board planes and head out.

He tells of his mission starting in earnest as he boarded the plane for Atlanta - here it is in his own words (edited with a little spelling, grammar and punctuation):

"So we got on the plane and I sat next to an amazing lady. And like you all know I am a little shy so the Lord gave me a little push. Two seconds after I sat down she said "Oh you look so nice what is your name badge for." I was like oh that is the perfect IN to talk about the gospel. so YES I did. I asked her what she knew about the church and all she had heard about it
was the name, so I had about 5 hours next to her to give her the whole story, history and message of the gospel. She listened very intently and of course, because I am an Eagle Scout, I was prepared with an extra Book of Mormon from the MTC Bookstore. We talked about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and she promised me she would pray and read. And I was really suprised because she actually said she had been looking for something more for a couple weeks and Yea this was IT! So I gave her the Book of Mormon and she read 13 chapters on the plane. So then she would stop and we would talk and she really wanted to learn more about the gospel so I gave her a pass-a-long card and she also promised me that she would look up the missionaries ASAP when she went back to her home in Oregon. So yes I started my wonderful real missionary work right out of the gate, which was awesome because it really got me excited to teach people about the gospel."

I don't know much about the pictures I have posted here, they came in his first e-mail at 2:00 AM our time Wednesday morning - he didn't send much detail, but they have been taken since he arrived, so they are likely: (in order from the top): The city he is in - the mission president and wife - his apartment (sure nicer than the ones I had) - his companion and then, I really don't know who that may be with the missionaries.

Thanks for everyones letters and support while he was in the MTC, he has indicated that his local address for letters is:

Elder Justin Martin

A/D 286
44004 Kaunas
Lithuania

He can also be reached by e-mail at: Justindm@myldsmail.net

Thanks again for your support and interest, he sounds great and seems to be loving what he is doing!

So here is the big update. He is writing regularly on Thursdays and sounds really good. Out latest understanding is that he will be leaving the MTC around May 14th.

He says the language is coming slowly but he is feeling pretty good about it. His teacher (shown below) is a hard driver, but is helping them improve.

Justin asked us to thank everyone for their great support!

Zone Leaders







Food Storage in good supply

Laundry Day & the group with the teacher who is the Lithuanian language Natzi...........she looks nice

Here's the group going to the temple on P-day

This was taken on Justin's First Night - These are the Elders in his group

Arrival at the MTC

Justin entered the MTC on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008. The family traveled to Provo Wednesday morning. We ate lunch together at the Olive Garden, and had Justin at the MTC by 12:30 PM.

After the standard pictures on the grounds, we endured the orientation session and said our teaful goodbye. Justin did not look back as he exited the "Missionary" door, and was not turned to a pillar of salt.

New Address:

Elder Justin D. Martin
MTC Mailbox #116
BALTIC 0514
2005 North 900 East
Provo, Utah 84604-1793

Setting Apart

Today he is going to be set apart and he leaves for the MTC Tommorrow at 12:30.

Justin Martin (Serving in the Baltic Mission)

Elder Justin Martin has been called to serve in the Baltic Mission and will be speaking lithuanian. He will enter the MTC on March 12th 2008. We will post the letters and pictures as we receive them so we can keep you updated on his activities.