a rambling update!

Hello, everyone!  I have realized it’s been a while since I posted an update on what I’ve been doing for the past week so I will attempt to do that right now.  Forgive me if I ramble!

Last Thursday night we hosted a Canada Party here at the Asunduse church in Tallinn. The purpose of the party was to begin connecting our readers to the church members and just have a good time getting to know each other.  Several of our readers showed up and we had about 30 people there in total, taking part in Canadian trivia games, skits, and playing “Who Am I?”.  Here is a picture of me with two of my readers that came to the party.  Their names are Alex and Artjom (both Russian) and they are also church members!

On Friday morning I got up early to catch a 7:00am bus to a town east of Tallinn called Rakvere.  One of my dearest friends in Estonia lives outside of Rakvere, so I went out there to spend some good one-on-one time with her and her family.  Aili met me in Rakvere and we took another bus out to Muuga where we then walked a couple of kilometers to her family’s farm.  It was so amazing to finally be at her home and get to spend the whole day with her and her siblings.  They are all incredibly sweet and God has already changed so much in their lives, I just pray that He will continue to bless them as time goes on.  They have been through so, so much and are extremely special and close to my heart.  It was an amazing day and I found myself smiling as I rode home to Tallinn that night because of all the beauty God has surrounded my life with.

The next morning, Bethany, Andrea and I got on a bus to Tartu, a town south of Tallinn, to attend the Hansa Days festival.  This year was particularly special because there were people from countries all over Europe that set up booths and carts with their handmade goods and food and souvenirs.  I bought a lot of jewellery, it was all so beautiful! We were accompanied by some of the people from the Tartu church on this day, and we made a sweet new friend named Katrina!  I also was able to see two of my old readers from last summer which was so awesome and unexpected!  It really feels like barely any time has passed since I was in Tartu last summer.  It’s such a special place.  Here’s a picture of Katrina and I, isn’t she cute?

Yesterday’s church service in Tallinn was special because it was Ron and Judy and Kevin and Ryan’s last Sunday in Estonia.  Ron and Judy are a missionary couple who have lived in Estonia for fifteen years doing all kinds of amazing things for God’s body.  Kevin and Ryan are two young guys from Texas who came here to help out with the churches in Tallinn and Tartu as well as out at the Aasumets’ farm in Rakvere.  They have accomplished some pretty amazing things since they have been here and their presence with definitely be missed all over Estonia.  

As for my reading sessions, they are going very well!  I now have about 9 readers.  A lot of them want to read every day so I am definitely kept busy!  Today I only have one break at 2:00; I have a full day with 7 sessions.  I have three young girls named Stasya, Marta, and Jana, I have an older woman named Iren, two guys about my age named Alex and Artjom, a middle age woman named Larissa, a young woman named Katrin, and I am also reading every day with Nikolai, the minister at this church.  Please pray for me as I work to open up my heart with these people and pray for their hearts as we form friendships and maybe even connect about God’s word and His love.

Your support means the world to me and I can’t thank you all enough for this opportunity! I always feel so encouraged whenever I get a little message from home saying I am being thought of and prayed for.  Love you all so much!

Dayna

Reading Begins!

It's been a while since anyone has written on here to update you all! So much has been going on with camp ending, traveling different places, and starting up our reading sessions, that I think it has slipped our minds. Just to update a little bit of what happened since camp, last I wrote was during camp and our experience there, and I can tell you that the rest of that week was amazing! We all made so many great friends and made tons of memories that are going to last a very long time!
Saturday, the day after camp, we went with Peter and Chelsey's YoungFriends team down to the city of Tartu, which is about a two and a half hour drive south of Tallinn, to visit friends and the church, as well as tour around the beautiful city! Compared to Tallinn, Tartu is a much smaller, quieter city, and reminds me more of a stereotypical European city than Tallinn does. Dayna and I stayed in Tartu Saturday night and Sunday night (the youth team left Saturday evening), and after only being there for such a short time, I could see why she loves the city so much. Her LST project last year was in Tartu, so she has a special place in her heart for there, and I was noticing myself to start feeling a special attachment to it too - and after only being there for two days! There's just something about it that's hard to explain, but it somehow feels more comfortable and more like home. Maybe that's just because of the friends that we got to spend time with while being there, but I think it has something to do with the city too. Saturday we spent the day walking around the city with the teens and some friends from the church, and saw all the beautiful sights and antique buildings. It's amazing how such a simple thing as walking and looking at things with friends can be so special, and you can make so many memories by touring a new place together with them. There are many other things I could say about our stay in Tartu, but im going to limit myself because this post is about our reading sessions :)
Last week was our free week before starting LST, so we spent that time with friends in Tallinn, getting to know them better and hanging out with them, as well as spending time with the YoungFriends team. It was good for us I think, so that we could have some time to recuperate and catch up from camp before starting LST, and have some real time to spend with friends and be free to help out with the YoungFriends team on their project if they needed us. At the end of our free week, on Friday, the YoungFriends team and Dayna and I got on a bus headed for the city of Rackvere for the wedding of Everett and Kaidi. Dayna and I were invited to the wedding because Dayna is good friends with Everett who went on LST with her last year, and the youth team came to tour the famous 1300's castle there, which is actually where the wedding was being held also. We spent the afternoon going around the castle and seeing all the cool medieval things, then Dayna and I went to the wedding. It was a very unique wedding, I have never been to one like that before, but it was very cool to see how they did it! Almost right after, we had to walk back to the bus station to catch our bus so we could make the 6:30 showing of Harry Potter on opening night! Peter bought tickets sometime the week before, so we were all prepared and very excited to finally see the end of this amazing series. And it did not disappoint! Everyone was very pleased and impressed with the movie. Anyways the next day, Saturday, Andrea's YoungFriends team from Tartu came to stay at the church because their flight was leaving early the next morning, so we spent some of the day with them touring Old Town, and also tried to do some more catching up in our journals and preparing for the information meeting the next day.
Sunday marked our first day of our LST project. It was the first time the 3 of us were all together, without other teams around us, or other people making our planning difficult - the first time we were actually on our own, because everyone else had left and gone home. It felt a little bit weird, but so great at the same time, because of all the anticipation that was surrounded around this team of us 3 girls, and it was finally beginning. Until then we didn't really feel like a team to me, because there were so many others around, and Andrea wasn't with us, but now we're in Tallinn, just us 3 Canadians, ready to start LST together!
The information meeting on Sunday went really well! I had 7 readers, Dayna had 6 I think, and because Andrea has been here many times and has lots of friends, she had a few more, maybe around 10. The meeting was straightforward and seemed to go really fast, and my nerves that had been building up all day went away pretty quickly after the meeting started.
Monday morning, our first day of reading, I was a little bit of a nervous wreck on the inside. I concealed it well, but I was very anxious about meeting all the readers and weather or not it would go well or I would do a good job, blah blah blah. Which is understandable, I think! Today is Wednesday, and we've had two full days of reading now, and i'm starting to feel a lot better about the sessions. I'm learning so much about my readers, and becoming more confident in myself, and it's amazing how conversations of faith can just pop up out of nowhere, and I can learn what kind of people these readers are, and what kinds of beliefs they have etc. It's such a great way to meet people and connect with them, and share my faith also. I'm feeling more bold and confident than I think I ever have! Once we've been reading for a little bit more, i'll introduce my readers to you and tell you about them :) Andrea and Dayna seem to be doing very well too from what we've talked about, but maybe i'll leave it up to them to tell you about their experiences with LST so far! I think that's all for now...sorry if my thoughts are a little jumbled and all over the place, I just thought some people might want to know more about what we've being doing here in this beautiful land of Estonia! Love love <3
Bethany

Camp Balchyoca

Bethany here, coming to you from camp Balchyoca! It's been a pretty crazy three days here - we got here Sunday evening and it's been go go go ever since. I'm glad that there is a place to get an internet connection so that I can update you all on what's happening here.
 This place is beautiful and reminds me of summer in BC, because there are trees everywhere and green grass and mosquitos. The only thing that brings me back to where I really am is the fact that everyone around me is speaking Russian or Estonian. The first day was a little bit difficult because I am a counselor in my cabin all by myself, and all of my girls are Russian and would mostly only speak to each other because they knew I couldn't speak any Russian. It is a little bit discouraging when you can't communicate very well with the people you are supposed to be leading. But I soon found out that a couple of the older girls actually speak very good English, and we go to talking pretty easily. Everyone here is so nice, and I am very surprised that everyone knows such good English, when at home we don't know our second language nearly as well. Also, hearing everyone speaking in other languages makes me want to learn them, and so I have...a little. I know how to count from 1-10 in Estonian, and 1-10ish in Russian...(I get caught up on 6 and 7), as well as some other random words, except I forget them pretty quickly after learning them. It's just sometimes frustrating not understanding or knowing what's going on so I want to be able to speak in their first language like they can speak in mine. I'm making it a mission to learn the Estonian language sometime in my life, hopefully within the next couple years. I think I can, do you?! :D

Anyways, the camp is very similar to the one I go to on Vancouver Island, Spruston, and I've thought about Spruston many times this week, knowing that it is happening at the same time and this is the first year I can't be there. But at the same time, I know this is where God wants me to be, and i'm having a great time! We sing all the same songs as in Canada, do crafts, play games, and go swimming - except here it's the Baltic Sea! I am getting more and more physically tired as the week goes on, which I think is the same with everyone, but at the same time finding more energy as I become more comfortable with the people and make new friends and all that.

Anyways, i'm late for evening worship time so I should go, but just thought i'd check in with a little post :) I hope everyone at home is doing well - comment if you wish :)

And so it begins!

Hi Everyone!

As most of you know, Bethany and I left for Estonia on June 30th.  We travelled with the Calgary Church of Christ Young Friends team led by Peter Roberts.  The flight took us through London, England and Helsinki, Finland before we finally touched ground in Tallinn, Estonia.  For me personally (Dayna), I couldn't contain my excitement once I got a glimpse of Tallinn's Old Town from the window of the plane.  Once we got to the baggage claim, however, my suitcase was the only one not to show up!  Thankfully I have now received it and I am able to wear something other than what I travelled with.

Many old friends and some new friends greeted us and the Young Friends team at the airport.  That was super encouraging and great to see them all there being so supportive of us.  Bethany and I were taken to the Asunduse Church where we will be staying for the next 6 weeks.  It feels good to finally settle in!

Yesterday, we went out with the Young Friends team to explore Tallinn's beautiful and historic Old Town.  It felt amazing to be back and watch so many of the teens that I have grown up with experience what I experienced last year.  We managed to sneak in a trip to the Kompressor, a favourite Estonian pancake restaurant, and also climbed many, MANY stairs to the top of the tallest church in Tallinn.  After all the exploring, the team took the tramm to the church where a meeting for the upcoming camp was being held.  Everyone was able to bond, be encouraged, and form some new friendships.  I can't wait for what Camp Balchyoca is about to bring us this week!

It is now time for church here in Tallinn, but I thought I'd just give you all this little update.  Thank you so much for your support, great things are about to happen here.

Sending our love from Tallinn,

Dayna and Beth on the plane from Calgary to London

Chocolate and Ice Cream Estonian pancake

Touring Tallinn - Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in the back

Old Town Tallinn

Dayna and Bethany