AUGUST 2011

Elder Warner, Elder Manning, Elder Falk

Hey Everyone!

Well another week has come and past and I'm now sitting in Kaunas; above a coffee shop emailing. It's been a good past couple of days here back in the old stopping grounds.

So we'll start off with Monday. We recieved transfer calls and we called them out. We then had family home evening with the youth in center. It was fun to be with them and we played Uno afterwards. Good times!

Tuesday we had our last District Meeting all together and it was a really fun meeting. We visited a couple of members that day and also met with our investigator for the last time before I left.

Wednesday was about the same with out district meeting. Elder Whicker was with us for most of the day as Elder Kezele was picked up by the Siauliai Elders as they were already in Vilnius that day for visa work. It was a fun day, but really weird as it was my last day in that place after being there for 6 months. We tried to visit Dedukas, but he is in the hospital right now... We went and visited him and the nurses were a little curious as to why we were there and asked us to leave. Audrys (his son) is a doctor there and called us later apologizing and said he talked with the nurses about the situation, and they were sorry... Oh well at least I was able to see him again. He's doing a little rough right now though. The Elders did visit him on Friday though and he asked where I was. I love that man! Anyway ha we finished off the night with Erik (Brasilian soccer player) and then got McDonald's and came in a little early so I could finish packing. It's crazy how much stuff you accumulate while out here. A lot of hand me down stuff and little things you buy, and I guess it doesn't help when you have to pack a big coat in there... Anyway, pretty crazy haha.

Thursday came and I got on a bus to go to Kaunas. Pretty nuts driving out of the city a lot of memories flooded my mind. It was good being in Vilnius. I learned a lot there. So we got into Kaunas and that afternoon we were able to go and visit Mykolas!!! It was great haha He remembered me which I was grateful for... We had the classic meat and potatoes meal and he told us more about the Russian side of the war as he was a Sergeant in it. Pretty cool stories. Also asked him how he met his wife. Also a very great humorous story as he said "I saw her, Kissed her, and that was it haha" STUD! That was great. Later that night we did service at the Church and I saw a lot of the members there as well. After the service this kid was following us onto the bus and being way vulgar and loud. He said I've tried to get that book, but you have never talked to me. So I quickly handed the book to him. He went quiet and asked if I was serious. haha We sent up a meeting for the next day. He didn't show up, but he at least has the book now... Good experience I guess.

Friday was pretty normal as was Saturday. We just walked around trying to find people to teach. It was pretty warm out, and we were able to find one guy, but that was early in the morning on Friday. It was a slower weekend...

Sunday was really fun seeing all of the members again. Not much has changed at all... A couple have left which is sad, but for the most part it is the same. That night after we got home and broke our fast; Erik (soccer player) called and asked how I was doing. He said he will call me each week to see how I am and to keep in touch ha. I thought that was really cool and nice of him to do. So it will be fun to keep in touch with him!

Well that is about it for the week! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

with lots of love,
Elder Jeffrey John Manning

JULY 2011

Hey Guys!

It's been a pretty good week. Lots of travel it seems... We traveled up to Riga (Latvia) Tuesday morning and then had ZL council till about 5pm then got on a bus and came back home. First, on the bus up there we had some people on the bus with turbins on their head and at every place where they checked for passports, which was 3 times, they would take them off and question them... Pretty messed up. They always are way nice, usually, to us when we pull out our USA passports. I guess it's good being from America :). Then on the way back this drunk guy was hasseling this poor girl on the bus, but then the attendant came and kicked him off. It was good. I felt way bad for the girl as we aren't allowed to get involved. The guy definitely needed to be kicked off. Then after getting home from the trip we were walking to a bus stop to hop on a bus to get home, and this huge fight broke out right in front of the train and bus stations. So we just walked around it... Pretty intense haha! Way eventful day. Don't worry mom we weren't in harms way!

The rest of the week went normal from there until Friday... Elder Okoren (an assistant) came down and we had an exchange.. Then we had the BAPTISM!!! It was awesome! It all went through really well. Everything pulled through. It was very special to see it! She's awesome and very prepared to follow Jesus Christ! Afterwards she was saying how nice she felt and that all of the past things were gone. It was really a great experience. She is a great example!

Saturday we had Rumsiskes. It's where all of the branches from Lithuania get together and celebrate the church in Lithuania.
It was super fun and great to see all the members there! They gave us lithuanian hats and ties haha. They were way cool and they actually let us keep the ties. They're sweet. I'll send pictures for sure! All of the mission presidency came down. Really fun with everyone there!

Church went really well and it was great to see Rita receive the Holy Ghost. She also said afterward, that she had never felt a feeling like that. Pres. Boswell (our new Pres.) was at church and we had interviews with him. He's really a likeable guy. Really easy to get a long with. It was fun being with them and seeing them there. Church went well and it was definitely highlighted by Rita's confirmation. We came back home and ate then went and planned a segment of teaching we have to teach at the leadership meeting this week in Riga.

JUNE 2011

Hey Family!

Well I hope everything this week went splendid for you all... Mine was pretty good and seemed to go fast, especially with preparation day on Tuesday last week. It was kind of full with some stuff, but it wasn't really the most packed week.

I wanted to add some thoughts from the mission conference that I don't think I added... President Clayton said that the work we are doing here is only the beginning and that we won't be able to believe the effect the gospel will have on this part of the world in the near future. It is a little bit hard to see that now, but I know that miracles are happening now... Also I really loved how he said we need to leave every single person we talk to here with the sweetest taste of the gospel we can, and that they would never forget their time in talking with us. And also that in the future many of whom rejected us will except the message because of our actions after the rejection. I thought that was really nice to hear! More about the week...

So after preparation day on Tuesday we went contacting and I contacted a younger kid smoking by the movie theatre. Surprisingly he was will to talk and to hear what we had to say for about 15 mins. He was a really cool kid and it was a good mini-lesson. I thought it was pretty sad; he was 16 years old and said he was trying to stop smoking and drinking as it had become an addiction for him earlier on in his life. Felt really bad for him.

The next day we had District Meeting and I went on exchanges with Elder Kezele afterwards. It was good to get to know him better and he loves college football so I had to hurry and get filled in on the last season haha oops. He'll be an Aggie in the future as well. It was a good time with him and we got a long really well. The next day we switched back companions and then Elder Whicker and I went to the immigration place to re-register our living permits here.

Later that night we met with a member who is 50 yrs old and ripped as ripped ha. He opens the door with his shirt off haha. He's way awesome and were pretty sure he was in a mafia before he joined the church. He went on to tell us stories of his youth and some of the fights he'd been in and how he runs about 2 miles everyday with weights around his ankle ha. He's a beast... Anyway, that was really fun!

Hmmm lets see what else... Oh in church yesterday "Dedukas" was on one haha. The little old man was showing off his German with us and then he stood up and showed up how the soldiers in Japan would fight against Russia. I about died of laughter hahaha. I love that old little old man!!!

Well that's about it for the week. This Saturday will be our final Zone Conference and interviews with the Dances. It will be pretty sad I bet, but I think/hope I'll see him again at a zone council before he leaves.

Well that is the week. I love you guys! I'm so grateful for everything that you do for me while I'm out here! And also for everything you did before! YOU GUYS ARE AN AWESOME FAMILY! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Laikykis,

Elder Jeffrey John Manning

MAY 2011

We had the opportunity to TALK to Jeff yesterday for Mothers Day!! It was SO FUN :) He is doing really well. The next time we talk to him will be at the airport!! YAY, so excited! Here are some pictures that he sent today in his email.

Elder Manning and Elder Williams with Erik, he is a professional soccer player from Brazil (he is a member) and his girlfriend.

A random car that just blew up

The Sister missionaries had a baptism on Saturday! How exciting!

Hey everyone!!!

This week was normal week. It started off with a 'pass off lesson' where the Russian Elders passed a Lithuanian kid over to us to teach. That was fun and it was nice to just be given an investigator. Then on Tuesday it was a pretty packed day full of events. We had President Dance come down and do a combined activity with the Russian and Lithuanian Districts here. It was fun and it was great hearing from him and learning.
After that, we had an exchange down here with Elder Graham (now assistant). He seemed a little sad he had his language switched to full time Russian and said it's been hard for him up there lately. So he was really happy to be back here in Lithuania. It's one thing to work with both Lith. and Russian languages but to not be able to speak Lithuanian in Latvia would be hard. Glad it's not me haha
Anyway, so that night we went knocking... A quick recap of events leading up to this... Elder Lindell and I back in March took a little area of the map of Vilnius and gave it to the Branch President to help promote member missionary work. We then asked him to pray about where we should go to find the prepared people. 2 months later he gives it back to us and said that he and his wife prayed separately, but came up with the same street name. It was a little hidden street, we were having troubles finding it and to know for sure where to go. I knew the general direction and we just figured we'd ask people along the way how to get there. We cut through a little ghetto area and I saw some domes that I wanted to knock if we couldn't find it. We were really struggling to find it. As we started walking to this school, we ran into a lady and asked her. She led us to it and was really kind and nice. Next thing I knew, she had taken us to the dome I wanted to knock earlier and told us that it was the street. We went to the door as an old man was just about to open the door, and we contacted him but he wasn't interested, but, he let us in to knock the others. 5 doors from the top this way cool guy with a great family opened up and we were able to teach him. He said we could come back but he'd be really busy until this week. So we have something set up with him mid week. He's excited to meet and we're very happy as well! It was just a really really cool and amazing experience.
This week we will be going on 2 exchanges, one of them will be here in Vilnius with Elder Whicker caompanionship and the other with Elder Sherman's in Kaunas. I'm excited to get to go back to kaun-town :)! (there's just something special about that first area.)
We also have a lady that is preparing to be baptized on June 4th. We are really happy and excited. She is really wanting to, so I hope we can help her be baptized that day!
That is about it for this week... Oh yeah and Dedukas, the little, older guy we baptized here in Vilnius, passed the sacrament for the first time this Sunday!!!! It was AWESOME. It is so wonderful to see the changes in people's lives that accept the Gospel!!!
Well, I love you guys! Catch up with ya next week!!! LOVE YOU GUYS!

Su Meile,
Vyresnysis Meningukas

APRIL 2011

Hey guys!

Well transfers came and went. I'm still here in Vilnius as a Zone Leader with a new ZL companion, a Russian Speaker, Elder Williams, who transferred down from Latvia. We will continue to teach both Lithuanian and Russian contacts. He's a way cool guy (he will help with my Russian, and I'll help with his Lithuanian). He happens to be from the ALOHA STATE OF HAWAII. He lives by BYU Hawaii. Great guy and we are really getting a long! We got three new Elders in the Zone (including Williams) Elder's Suthered, and Faulk. Two more Russian speakers. (The growth of Russian membership is amazing in this city) We continue teaching our English classes on Saturday's which continues to be very productive.

So the first night with Elder Williams we go contacting and I contact this guy in Lithuanian and he smiles saying he doesn't speak. He had a heavy Spanish accent so I then started asking him in my best HS Spanish why he was here, where he is from and so on...only to find out he is from Spain and from the city of Valencia. Hahaha I thought it was sweet how he even said it with a little 'lisp' at the end. I then told him my Dad served there and that he loved it. It was great how that triggered a conversation of the gospel. At the end though he said he was catholic and he wouldn't be changing. Pretty cool experience though I thought. We have a professional soccer player in our branch now from Brazil. It's just way cool as all the members love him already and think its awesome he's a professional player. I guess he played in Uruguay for a while and then got a good deal here. So it's sweet as he's still a new convert of 7 or 8 months so we will get to meet with him once a week. He's a way cool guy. He plays for the soccer team "Zalgiris" here in Vilnius.

Zone Conference in Kaunas was good and especially nice to feel a little bit more regenerated! I had to conduct the conference which was a little bit uncomfortable... haha I did fine until I had to introduce Elder Nueschwander who is an Emeritus General Authority. He came over from Russia to visit with us and to talk a little bit about his calling in the Eastern Europe area. At lunch I was able to talk to his wife a little bit. They said that they knew Uncle Joe (Christensen) pretty well, so that was fun talking with them.


We went church hopping (Catholic Cathedrals) just to see inside them... Pretty awkward in one of them as they have 3 dead bodies lying in a glass bullet proof case. Haha it's really awkward when we walk in to look at the insides of churches because it feels like we're going in behind enemy lines, plus everyone knows who we are anyways if we're in our suits ha. There were a lot of beautiful ones.

We have been meeting with ‘Father’ Joseph (the catholic priest). He has had so many questions that our doctrine answers. He seemed so confused as he didn't really know what we were talking about when we'd bring up some of our doctrines of the church. He's really really intrigued though to keep learning and meeting. We gave him a Portuguese BoM this week with a testimony written in it from "Erik" (converted soccer player from Brazil). We also invited him to be baptized when he finds out this Church was true. He was a little hesitant, but said”if it is God's will” he would. It was a really powerful feeling in that lesson. He's a really really great guy with a really good desire to do what is right!

General Conference WAS AMAZING. I really enjoyed it and the feeling while watching the prophet speak. I really enjoyed Elder Grow's talk and also Elder Cooke's as well. Elder Scott's talk was a little bit of a shocker and it got two missionaries from the Zone who are about to go home "Excited" to go get married haha. It was a really good conference:)!


I'm so happy to be an Uncle! With my new nephew and also new niece (Johnny & Courtney's) baby! Haha Ju I was super confused with what it is in the email you sent because you didn't say. haha... I'm glad it was on the picture though :)! I'm just extremely happy about that! I'm really really really really excited about that news! I continue to pray for grandma Mary. Go see her as much as you can. I really want to see her, but I'm half-way around the world...

With the ZL assignment we’ve traveled to Kaunas (I kind of miss Kaunas ha) so I could do a baptismal interview for a little 11 yrs. old Lithuanian girl. It was great I really felt the spirit strong and it was so fun seeing how she was about to change her life forever.

One Saturday we did service all morning cleaning up around the church and in the woods near by. It’s RIDICULOUS how many beer cans/bottles! haha we probably would have made like $50 recycling! haha It was fun though and then we taught English for a 2hrs afterwards. I'm very grateful for P-day and the relaxing it allows haha

Elder Williams and I are getting a long great and we have a lot of the same stuff in common. It's fun being his companion. He's pretty big as well he's 6'3 195lbs. We like to eat, :) and the Hawaiian boy loves his rice ha and chicken (but me too). He's asked me numerous times to come over to Hawaii after the mission. Pretty sweet ha.

This Easter went well and it definitely was a fun one. Although it was as nuts as last Easter (the KKK outfits) I was still amazed at how many people go to church on the Easter Holiday (Catholic church and others that is). They all have a little branch that they take to church with them. A little interesting and I'm not really sure why, but that's what they do. I know part of it is for the "palm" day. Anyway I guess I probably should just ask someone who knows haha. Easter was good. Elder Williams and I went to 6 hours of church (Lithuanina and Russian Branches) and I was able to conduct another baptismal interview. Those are always so special and so spiritual for me, they are really fun. Also this week, 2 people here in Vilnius accepted baptism and were baptized. One Lithuanian and the other Russian. It was great and an awesome way to celebrate the Easter weekend. People are a little warmer and friendlier here around the Easter holiday so that is nice! It is a really big holiday here.

We had a Lithuanian speaking investigator passed over to us from the Russian Missionaries. He's a way nice old man (Geronamo) who is really lonely. He welcomed us with some nice milk and honey. That was nasty... He was trying to be the best host he could be, but by the end of the lesson I was about ready to throw up... I'm pretty sure the milk was spoiled and the honey was a little different ha. To put a "cherry on top" he fed us these vienna sausage things that were a little questionable where he even got them ha. He's sincere and awesome, but i'm thinking i will not be able to eat his food anymore as I was in bed for 2 hours after with a sick stomach hahaha.

We went to Riga for exchanges and then we had ZL council on Wednesday morning. I don't really understand why, but the buses here are about 30 degrees hotter inside then outside. The bus we road up on still had the heater going. Pretty nasty haha. Anyway. The monthly Riga experiences are always great. It went really well and it was pretty productive. Afterwards we went to a store in Riga and Elder Williams bought a new suit for home haha. Then we rode back with the medical couple from the European East Area. They were really nice and it was fun to talk for a little bit.

The Zone is on fire! But it may soon stop as everyone in the zone is falling back on nothing after their baptisms. Things are going well here and I'm thankful for the missionaries here in the zone that surround me. They are all really good examples and it's always fun seeing one of them!

That sweet little old (maybe a little crazy) man showed up to church. Hahaha we went to Russian branch with him and then he decided to stay for The Lithuanian Branch as well. He's way random with his comments ha, for example he took the sacrament again in the Lithuanian Branch and while grabbing it he said "I guess I can do another round" way inappropriate, but just crazy stuff like that is what this guy is always saying. So it's kind of entertaining, but at same time a little out of control ha. He randomly just disappeared after Sunday school and that was the last of Geranamo (sweet name too :) ).

We’ve set 3 baptismal dates for next month with some great people. Two are Russian and the other one Lithuanian. Things are going pretty well right now. . The Zone is doing really good as we now have 15 total baptismal dates set as goals for people to work towards. The dates range from this month to June so it will be exciting to see how many we can help make those dates and perform that everlasting covenant of baptism! It is amazing the feeling that comes when we have the opportunity to share the gospel and see how the atonement of Jesus Christ touches all of our lives

I guess I'll talk with you all on Mother’s Day Sunday! Crazy how time just seemed to fly by since our last phone call! I love you all and I am thankful for the support and LOVE!!! You guys are awesome. Thanks for being such a wonderful family! I'm really excited for everything that is going on with all of your life's! Especially the family addition :)!

Love,
Elder Jeffrey John Manning

PS Nice picture of mom getting scanned in the airport hahahaha you would sneak yogurt on to the plane hahahahaha :)

MARCH 2011

Hey Guys!

The Month in review, Dedukas got baptized. It was Great!

The first of the month we went up to Riga for the leadership training. Following the meetings, I got put with a Russian (Elder Mock) for the rest of the night. It was pretty entertaining as we had a lesson supposedly it went well and the guy was just feeling some sorrow from the wars he's been in and the lives he has had to take. Pretty crazy, but he loved reading about the savior taking upon him our pains and sorrows. So it was cool to see how it went. The next day went well with Zone Leader Council. We then went to TGI Fridays(Finally an American burger)!!!! Got on a bus and returned back home.

I enjoy teaching Dedukas. It was pretty funny one Saturday night while out harvesting, Elder Lindell and I ran into a pretty looking female while knocking doors. haha.. he totally just froze, and then proceeded to stumble over his words haha. Next we knocked into a guy that wanted us to come in, but his wife didn't want us to. He found out we were Mormon’s and then he didn’t want us to either. Then he asked if I was Lithuanian when I said, “no I’m from America”, he yelled back to his wife saying: "It's okay they can come in they're American" haha we told him we weren't going to just talk about America with him but about Christ in America. We then moved on. Haha, it’s just way funny how it all changed when he found out where we were from. Next we harvested into a mute. She could hear, but couldn’t talk. So she would write down her response to me on a piece of paper and then show me. She wanted to talk with us, when she saw the Book of Mormon she then wrote down that she will not talk to Mormon’s and then slammed the door. It was definitely an eventful night harvesting, and gave us some good laughs for awhile. Probably one of the craziest things or experiences thus far on my mission (okay maybe not the craziest, but its up there). We met with a Catholic Priest and taught him. It was nuts haha. He lives right behind a big cathedral (named: All Saints Church) and his flat that he lives in is just ridiculous as I've never seen so many Bibles in my life. He also had a little room with a kneeling prayer alter and a big star burst of Jesus on the cross in the background. He was a very nice man and he was originally from Brazil. He decided to become a priest and went to Rome to study for 5 years.... He speaks Portuguese, Spanish, Latin, Hebrew, English, Russian, & Lithuanian. He's very smart obviously. The lesson went well and He actually wants to meet again and talk more about our doctrines. He said that the words "confusion" and "authority" really were words he hadn't thought about before. He was taking notes the whole time and said he liked what we had taught. I guess we'll see where the next meeting goes when he returns from his trip. Oh and he was just all dressed up in his priest attire as well. It was crazy cool, but we'll just see what comes next. As we went knocking for the last hour of the night,we went inside a dome and this old Russian lady just followed us down the stairs screaming in Russian and way broken Lithuanian at us haha. She spoke terrible Lithuanian which caused me to start laughing, I guess that probably didn't help. She finally went inside. It's just funny how people react sometimes.

I'm definitely staying busy with exchanges and traveling to Riga (Latvia) for ZL Council and AP Exchanges so that is a plus! But at times I feel a little run down. The sun starting to poke its rays down at us seems to help a lot though :)! . I have enjoyed going on weekly exchanges with my zone. It is always really fun catching up with Elder Whicker, my MTC comp. and getting to know the other Elders better. They are all great missionaries and way cool guys. It really is a blessing to be working with such great guys.

We met with a member this past week who is super ripped and really active in working out (obviously haha) and just takes really good care of himself. So we go into the lesson with him and when we walk in he has a razor and asks if either of us can cut hair. Elder Lindell says "he can" and pointed to me. So I cut his hair for the next 10 mins or so. It was pretty fun haha. Next he asks us to read this email for him as it was in all English and he didn't understand it at all. Well we started reading it, and He won a green card to America! It was so ridiculously random as he had totally forgotten that he put in his papers for the "lottery" of green cards. I hope he doesn't leave. But we'll see.

Next event that was a few Sat. ago when Elder Lindell and I were about to switch back from exchanges with the Russian Elders. I get a call from the Elders Lindell and Frank saying that the Russian Elders apartment is flooding and pouring water from a little faucet thing. It totally flooded their apartment and we had to hurry and bring towels out there to try and help. It was okay in the end and now their apartment is going to be getting a big home improvement done on it to fix a lot of things. Plus the apartments down stairs i guess were pretty nasty from it as well. A lot of damage from one little pipe, pretty crazy. That same night as we were getting on the bus, this kid says "Oh it’s the Mormon's" so I look over at him a little confused. The next thing I know while we’re piling into the bus the kid is looking at me and when I look up he gives me the big "BIRD" hahaha. So of course I gave it right back to him... (just kidding) I started laughing as it's been awhile since I've been flipped off. He seemed a little confused and it was better than anything I could’ve popped off to him.

Our last Sunday of the month was great. A little different when two young women got up and sang a church remix to the "Hallelujah" song from Shrek haha. Different, but had a good message about Christ.

With General Conference the first week in April we went to Riga again for exchanges with the assistants and ZL council. We did our normal tracting that night. Russian and Latvian are just way different from Lithuanian for the most part and sometimes confusing. We were knocking a dome right before we headed home for the night and this lady comes down that we had knocked into and wanted us out of the building. At that same time the guy we just barely knocked, opened and he started yelling at the lady to stop yelling at us so we could talk to him. Then he found out who we were and he started yelling at me in Russian while the lady was yelling at Elder Okoren in Latvian, it was a huge GONG-SHOW and we ended up getting kicked out by this middle age Latvian lady who was in a pretty bad mood... again, I was laughing down the stairs because I was so confused, (Latvian and Russian at the same time) and I don't think that really helped the matter at all either, as she followed us out, but it was definitely pretty funny. The Zone Leader Council went really well and it was fun seeing all of the other Elders from the 3 different countries.

The last Saturday of the month in our Zone in Vilnius was way awesome as there were 2 baptisms in the Russian branch! It was great and really huge :)! We've had 3 baptisms in our zone this month which has been a huge blessing! We had an investigator come and he liked it. But the bummer thing is he will most likely be moving to Canada. Oh well, another seed planted. A member brought his friend to church and his friend really liked it. So we set up a meeting to start teaching him. I’m really pumped about that.

Day light savings time kind of took a big hit on us haha, really tired the next day. Things are going well. Every day is an adventure and it's been nice lately staying pretty busy. We get transfer calls the night before and call them out to the Zone the following day. Really crazy. It's always interesting to see what happens.

I love the regular pictures from home that you guys send! They're awesome and really brighten the day!

I love you guys and I am, like always, grateful for the support and prayers

Love, Elder Jeffrey John Manning

PS I read this thought "God gave us the best he had." I just really like it:)

The first Baptism

Well First thing first! Dedukas got baptized this Saturday :)! It went well and everything ran smoothly. It was a great spiritual experience and it was great that we were able to get him baptized! (the missionaries aren't allowed to baptize the converts, just the members of the branch) The confirmation on Sunday was great as well, and the spirit was awesome. The cute little old man was just so happy and he couldn't help from being a little broken up! It was a very very special experience. He asked me when we would be visiting him next. He wants us to keep coming over regularly which is great, although we wont be able to everyday like he would like. He also asked me if i was going to leave the city soon and then quickly said "I hope not. We just barely met, you coming to my home helped me decide to join the church" hahaha He's a cute old guy. But probably the best thing he said was that he would never forget me and also that we would always be friends :)! What a great little man!!!!