I LIVE HERE!!

This weekend I think it finally hit me... I live here! I live in EUROPE! What the actual heck?! How many people can say that they've lived in Europe!? This weekend was most definitely a turning point for me. On saturday we had plans to catch a bus to Kaunas - a neighboring city - but we didn't get an uber in time and we missed the bus so we just decided to chill and explore more of our town. It turned out to be such a fun day! We found this little "country" called Uzupis. Its a small republic inside of vilnius that counts itself as its own country. It was a cute little neighborhood full of weird art, statues, and paintings - it was also full of random old pianos everywhere! Uzupis has its own constitution, president, flag and even an army of 12 people. haha. Give it a google. Such a fun morning. (lots of pics!)

Such a cute gift shop. We got to put a pin on the map where we are from... I was the first one from UTAH!! #represent They even had a stamp for our passports, two countries down so far!!

Playing the piano on the ice, baby!!

This bridge was full of these red ropes. 

Felt like a human carwash :)

The country flag is this blue hand. Super unique country, that's for sure. 

We wandered back over to old town vilnius and explored more of the city. We warmed up in one of the many art museums around town and of course had a photo shoot. One super cool thing we did was walked through the main cathedral in the middle of town square. We somewhat snuck into the basement... I think we were supposed to pay for a tour but we got to walk around and see all the caskets where the royal church people were laying. The head stones dated back to the 1400s and their swords and crowns were laying on top of their caskets. Super, super cool. Another cool thing we did was hike the hill of the three crosses. It was so pretty in the snow and it was actually a pretty quick hike with an awesome view of the city. 

This was a wall full of ripped apart babies and barbie dolls! yikes

I have no clue why this is considered art but ok. 

A pretty snowy hike through the woods!!

Our stomping grounds !

These are the three crosses that look out over the city. After a cold hike we ran into some random cars filled with sunflowers so of course, another photo shoot. Its kind of nice having people with nice cameras because then my blog isn't full of low-quality selfies. So thank you roomies for the pictures :))

Ahh so many laynees... not even sorry though. How could we not take a bunch of pictures with these sunny sunflowers?! Something to brighten up the day right?

Such a fun day and all of us are becoming so familiar with this town of ours. We've memorized all the names of the bus stops and we know where all our favorite places and restaurants are. We were out on the town literally all day Saturday! about 9:30 to 5:30... wasn't too bad but it was very necessary to take little breaks in shops and cathedrals to warm up. Loving Vilnius and all the cool things we've found around here. I'm still shook that I live here! Its getting better and better each and every day. Im still a desert girl, but the snow is doable. Im just glad I don't have to drive in it, phew! Today we got to go to church again and our branch is so tiny! Pretty sure the deacons quorum back home is bigger than the branch here. We sit in a pretty small sacrament meeting room and the priest blessing the sacrament doesn't even use a microphone. But the people are so so sweet. There are so many missionaries in the branch - they make up most of the branch it seems like - and so its fun to talk with them after church. A lot of them are from Utah... small world, especially in the church. 

We look like sister missionaries haha. We love sister Gough... she makes us food and sends us these cute pictures. Today in relief society she taught us about the prophets and them receiving revelation from God to direct this church. We read the story of President Hinckley picking the location for the Vancouver temple. Such an inspiring story and a good reminder that the prophets know what is right and when is the right time for something to happen. The prophets are heavenly fathers mouth pieces for this church. How cool is it to know that our prophet is speaking the words of our heavenly father?! Id like to think I know the basics of the gospel, but I appreciate reminders like this one to know that if I follow what the prophet says, I'm following what my father in heaven wants me to do. This church is truly the greatest and Im so grateful for it every day of my life. 

Much love from Vilnius!