Tallinn Day 1

{Wednesday May 16}

We took a 3 hour train ride to Riga, Latvia and from there we took a 5 1/2 hour bus ride to Tallinn. One of Reed's best friends from the mission took the train with us to Riga because that's where she lives now. It was fun catching up with her about everything. I've met Agnese before because she lived in the U.S. for a year as a foreign exchange student. She sure is an awesome girl!

We finally arrived in Tallinn and met up with one of Reed's old companions Todd and his wife Alisha, who is also here on vacation. Yes we planned this all out together to meet up here.

Tallinn has a really cool old town.

We both love the old doors here. There is a ton of cool doors that I want to make a collage of. They are really cool!

We then went to meet Maria and her family. Maria is another lady Reed baptized. He talks about her all the time and I'm so happy to finally meet her. She is such a sweet, special lady. I can't wait to spend more time with her and get to know her family better. This picture is missing one of Maria's daughters because she has been sick.

This cute girl is Riina, Maria's oldest daughter.

Then we ended our day with.... of course our favorite stat dogs!

Daugavpils

{Monday May 14 & Tuesday 15}

Daugavpils, Latvia is a special place to Reed. Here we didn't really see any special sites, just special people. All of our time was spent with people Reed knew and loved while he served here but we had a blast!

We went and saw these boys that Reed loved playing with and tossing around.

 We went to family home evening with the branch here at Ludmilla's house. She is an awesome, sweet sweet lady.  I only have known her for 3 days and had a hard time saying goodbye. She loves Reed so much and thinks the world of him. As we were leaving she wanted to give me a gift, even though she hardly has much herself she gave me one of her scarves she loves, it meant so much to me. She is definitely somebody I will never forget.

We said goodbye to Tatjana and her grandson Vadeem, who was Reed's first baptism. I loved Tatjana she reminded me of my mom by her spunky attitude. She is always cracking little jokes and making people laugh. We thought she even looked like my mom a little bit.

This guy Artjom is one of the most amazing piano players I've ever seen. Reed sure liked being able to see him and catch up with what is going on with him. He recently got home from a mission in Moscow.

 We couldn't leave Daugavpils without a picture on the train tracks.

 These stat dogs were a part of our daily ritual. You can't get enough of them.

I can tell how awesome of a missionary Reed was by his love for these people as well as the love they have for him. They people have made an impact on my life forever and I will never forget them. It was hard saying goodbye because I just wish I could do more for them, but they know that because of the gospel they have everything. The people of Daugavpils now holds a special place in my heart I feel like I have known them forever.

Day 4 & 5 Daugavpils Latvia

{Saturday May 12} 

Today we caught a bus to Daugavpils, Latvia which was about a 2 1/2 hour bus ride. We saw some beautiful country side on the way.

As soon as we got to Daugavpils we had to go eat at one of Reed's favorite place to get this kabob meat which he absolutely loved. He had something called a Lavass which is kinda like a burrito and I had a pita. It was really good.

I just love the old streets here in the Baltics.

Then we went to check out the church. It is the upstairs of another building still the same place as when Reed served here.

 Then we ended our day with some of Reed's favorite ice cream. Their ice cream cones are soft instead of hard. It is really good too.

 {Sunday May 13}

 We started our day off with some really awesome breakfast that our little hotel made us. It sure was delicious, not your average American breakfast but a Baltic breakfast!

 Then we went to church where Reed got to see everyone he loves and I got to see everyone that loves him. The branch was so excited to see him and were surprised he still speaks really good Russian. Reed translated all of sacrament and Sunday school for me and luckily there was a sister that knew really good English so she translated Relief Society for me. This is just about everyone in the branch including missionaries.

 This is a lady that Reed baptized. She was so excited to see him and we are going to go to her house tomorrow night to visit with her some more.

 After church the branch president and his wife, the Spalvins family invited us over for dinner. They live more in the country instead of apartments. I loved walking down the streets where the houses are and seeing everyone's cute little houses. This is their house with their awesome garden.

 This is where the Spalvins get all the water for their home. Yes that's right they don't have any running water.

 Sister Spalvins cooked an amazing dinner for us. They are such sweet people. It was nice sitting and talking with them for a while. They are just sweet humble people that are thankful for what they have. Here I am complaining about my little kitchen in my apartment and she had no counter space and had no sink to prepare her food. She is an amazing woman. 

My favorite part of this trip is meeting some amazing people and hearing their stories. It sure does make me appreciate my life more and I'm especially thankful for having the gospel in my life. I am who I am because of it and so are these wonderful people.

 This is a little boy of a lady that Reed knew here. His name is Clark, after one of the couple missionaries that served here and we just adopted him!!!

ha ha just kidding but we wished we could have taken him home with us, he is a cutie.

 We ended our day walking home under a beautiful sunset over the river.

Vilnius Day 2 & 3

{Thursday May 10}

 Today we took a train to a place called Trakai with a lady named Lena that Reed knew. It was about a 30 minute train ride. Trakai was a pretty, little town. We went there to see a castle that is famous around here that everyone goes to see.

 

 The castle was really cool and pretty as you can see after that we walked around Trakai a little bit. Its just a cute little town.

When we got back to Vilnius I had to go to the bathroom so Lena took me to show me where it is. We go into the bathroom and it is both men and women's but a room on the right for women and a room on the left for men. There is a paper towel holder that both men and women get to dry their hands but you also have to get your tissue there to wipe with so Lena gets me some or else I would've walked in without anything. Immediately after walking into the room it reeks like pee so bad. Then when I walk into the stall this is what I see.

 At first I was confused thinking this was the men's but there were ladies all around me so this had to be right and now I understand why it smelt like pee so bad because I'm sure some people don't have good aim. I'm just super thankful I didn't need to go number 2. :) These bathrooms were super disgusting and when I went back to take a picture I had to search to find one this clean. Walmart has nothing on these bathrooms!


 Then we went to eat at a place called the Yellow Submarine. It was one of Reed's favorite places to eat. I got a pizzia with cucumbers. It was weird but pretty good.

 Then we met up with a member named Ganati. He was a super super nice guy and bought us some ice cream. He has a really cool conversion story and is just a happy happy man. Talking to people like him make me really thankful for what I have and especially the gospel in my life.

Then we went to see the church here. There were some people there so we were able to walk in and look around.

This picture was taken at almost 10. It stays light late here so we are able to hang out and walk around longer it is really nice.

 {Friday May 11}

We started our day by going to this Gadamino Tower. It was a good hike up to it but it was worth it. Not sure what the purpose of this tower was for but it was cool. On top of the tower is a really good view of the city. It looks really cool from up high.

 We ate lunch at McDonalds today. Super adventurous I know! We were meeting a lady here so we just ate while we were here.

 We went to some markets downtown today to look at a few things that we might want to take home with us. Afterwards we went to a lady's house named Galina.

 These are the apartments that EVERYONE lives in. They are all concrete buildings that the soviets built when the Baltic countries were under their rule. They are super old and super ghetto. Inside these buildings it is scary and stinky but Galina's apartment is remodeled so it was really nice inside.

Galina was a sweet sweet lady. When we got there she had fruit tea and little refreshments waiting for us, it was really cute. We talked to her for quite a while. She has a cool story as well. My favorite part of meeting all these people is listening to Reed translate back and forth. Everyone says his Russian is really good, I just love it. Leaving Galina's house made me teary eyed because she is just such a sweet happy lady who is thankful for what little things she has. She was so happy to see us.

We left her house to see Christina and her little family. Her husband is out of town so we weren't able to see him. It was fun seeing these kids and the funny things they do. The two little girls did a dance for us with their barbies.

We ended our day eating stat dogs with a coke. This is another favorite of  Reed's from the mission. His parents also fell in love with them when they were visiting with him. Their hot dog buns are awesome. It is a bun with a hole in the top so you squirt your toppings inside and then when you put the hot dog in the toppings squirt up so you eat it from the top and its super good and super easy to eat.

It was a super good day. We have been doing a lot of walking so by the end of the day my feet are just beat. But it has been a blast so far seeing a different part of the world and how these people act and dress. We have seen some crazy styles for sure. We are loving every minute of it though and I am just loving seeing Reed here.