"Elder, I think we just sold a Book of Mormon..." - Elder Koegler

Привет моей семье и друзям,

So it's good to be back here in Riga, I think I would like to serve in the bigger cities as much as I can, simply more people to talk to. We had our first snow on Saturday, and it pretty much rains every other day, and keeps getting colder we're at about 5* C now. Also, it's starting to get really dark pretty early now, the sun is usually down by 6 and doesn't come up until around 8 in the morning, and the day is only going to get shorter haha.
So we ran contacted this guy on the street this week, and we talked to him about the Book of Mormon and he seemed interested, so we gave a copy to him. He wouldn't let us get away without him giving us something, so he took us to this way nice Latvian Kitchen here and bought us a meal (we tried to pay and everything, but he insisted). We taught him about the restoration during lunch, and found out a little bit more about him. Turns out he owns the largest insurance company in the Baltics, and is just filthy rich. He didn't really want to meet again, but was very nice. Afterwards, me and Elder Koegler were talking about how it was very easy to see that something was missing from his life, and that money really can't buy happiness. The rest of the week has been filled with a lot of area book work (that thing was SO messy) and a lot of meeting with less actives, so we've been pretty busy. Dzintars is our closest investigator to baptism, and he is so ready for it. He's been coming to church every week for the past 3 months, and reads the Book of Mormon everyday. He was supposed to get baptized on the 30th, but his wife still doesn't approve. So we're going to try and do a fast with him this week, that her heart can be more open to the Gospel. Please keep us in your prayers!
This past week I've been reading in 1st and 2nd Nephi, and looking for reasons why Nephi was "highly favored of the Lord". I've been able to find out quite a bit more about what I need to do to become more effective in following the Spirit. I've also started to read through the New Testament, cause I feel like I need to become a little bit more familiar with it. The Russian is still coming along famously, I have definitely been blessed in learning the language. I can understand everything in church now, so it's become that much better. I am so grateful that I haven't had so much trouble with it, and can definitely accredit (sp?) it to the Lord. Well, times up this week, thanks for your prayers and support.

Love,
Elder Atkinson

10-25-10