busy busy busy!

I can’t believe that I’ve been here for a month already! This Friday I did a group presentation on Lithuanian holidays. Because Lithuania is such an old country, there is a rich history and culture. Because Lithuania was the last European country to convert from paganism to Christianity, many of the holidays are a mixture of pagan rituals and religious symbols. This combination makes for very interesting traditions and superstitions. For example, the Christmas Eve dinner consists of 9-12 sides of food placed on a covering of hay that symbolizes the manger birth. It is a tradition for young people to take a piece of this straw. If it is a long stem, this means that they will find love within the year. If it is a short stem, this means that they will have bad luck during the year.
The superstitions are evident in other holidays as well. In one holiday young girls make wreaths and throw them into the river. If a boy finds it, then they will fall in love. Some superstitions are evident even when I walk downtown. On one corner of the street there is a small statue of a mouse with big ears. We were told that if we whisper a wish into its ear, then it will soon come true! There is also a special stone in the center of the Vilnius square where people are supposed to spin in circles and say a wish. As our tour guide said, “Your wish will most definitely come true!” There are many more interesting places to make wishes downtown. If I come back rich you will know why!
Last week I volunteered at the orphanage with a big group from LCC. We go to Rytas orphanage once a month on Saturdays to provide fun games and crafts for the kids. It was a lot of fun, but overwhelming at the same time because they were so wild and out of control. It was hard for me to interact with the kids because of the language barrier. I enjoyed it though and will be going back later this month.
For a change, I also went to the Salvation Army morning church service for the homeless population. It is a time for them to listen to a Christian service and have shelter from the cold. The sermon was a simple one in English with Lithuanian translation (normally it is in Lithuanian). Afterwards, the homeless can stay for a while and have tea. Just recently Lithuania is starting to provide more social services for the homeless.
I just started going to a Bible study led by a missionary who lives near our dorm. We are studying the book of John. It consists of mostly girls from LCC. I really liked the first meeting and will keep going with my roommates on Friday nights. It seems like it will be a good time of sharing, learning, and worshiping.
Tomorrow, a few friends and I are leading the worship for the evening Sunday service. There are four girls singing and one man playing the guitar. We had a few hours of practice today. That was a lot of fun. I love singing! Bell choir rehearsals are also fun. I found out that we are playing for the LCC president’s inauguration!

Now I'm off to aerobics with some girls in the dorm! For fun on the weekends we also like to play groups games, watch movies, or go downtown. This morning I went to the market to buy fresh groceries for the week. Later in the week a few of us are having dinner at a missionary's house.

I know this was long, but thanks for reading! I’ll try to write more often so it won’t be so long!

Praises: God has provided for ways for me to get to know people (through bell choir, Bible study, group projects, etc.) It was initially hard because of the more reserved culture.

Requests: That I would have patience and understanding! It can be so frustrating when people forget that you don't know their language and they unintentionally exclude you from a conversation. The cool thing is that there are so many languages spoken on campus: Russian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, and I've even gotten to use my Spanish a bit!