Merry Christmas

Hey Family!! 

Wow, so great to see you all last Friday! I am still laughing because our family is so awesome. Seriously. Ya´ll are the best. Sounds like Christmas went well for everyone, I still want to see that video of Nate and meegs dancing! I need proof of their amazing dance skills. Me and sister jones are trying not to get the post Christmas blues haha the Christmas season was the best. We worked so hard last week and are still trying to keep the steam! We talked to SO many people and handed out so many copies of the book of Mormon and people were a lot happier and more receptive than normal. I am going to convince myself that that is just the way it is going to be from now on!

Winter finally hit here in Helsinki, though the snow is a little scarce it is starting to get really cold. I am still sure it is colder in Utah though, but we will get there. Time to start bundling up like a Finn!

Well, it is crazy that I have been a missionary for a YEAR. I have learned and grown so much and still feel like such a baby! But it is good because my desire to improve keeps me going forward. I am not sure what else to update on at this point but I want you to know that I am extremely grateful for all of you, for your examples, personalities, support and ridiculous good-looks. Oh, happy birthday this week Samie! And happy New Year to everyone!! Don’t party too hard without me! I love you and have a great week! :)

 

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Our trio with the Finnish sister who is waiting
for her visa so she can serve in St. George, Utah

It is ok, no need to remember about me during the Christmas season! Haha well, items of business first I guess. So.... I will Skype at 6pm (that is 9am in Utah) on Christmas day :) And I will have 40 MINUTES so pre-plan questions if you want to know anything specific because I probably won’t know what to say haha. But I am excited to talk and see you all!! Woot woot!!

It was an AMAZING week! We had our 3 day meeting with the mission president and I learned sooo much. I cannot believe how much of a miracle it was, and at a perfect point on my mission. I am convinced that a big reason I was called to train this transfer was so that I could go to that training meeting. We had great conversations, watched the Christmas devotional AND we went to the temple. That was my first time attending the temple in 9 months!!! Wow, time flies.

Matching Onsies

Speaking of time, less than 7 months left! And yesterday was the shortest day of the year, which means it only gets better from here on out. We have been praying for snow but it has been fairly warm here and even the skies are clear. Really weird. But still, the Christmas season here in this beautiful country of Finland has been so wonderful and such a huge blessing.

It is such a unique opportunity to be a missionary during this time and I love spreading the Christmas cheer by spreading the gospel. We are trying to stay focused on the work, particularly this week, and we saw so many miracles yesterday because of it! It is exhausting to truly stay focused but the Lord blesses us and I have seen His hand in my life as I am enabled to do things that seemingly would be impossible. I heard the Christmas concert went well and the Utes won against BYU! Obviously. Still proud of my Utes :) well, that is all for now... Hope to see y’all soon!! Love you!!! :) 

Hyvää Huomenta Perhe!

Hyvää Huomenta Perhe! 

Items of business first! I finally got the package with the skirts and sweaters in it, thanks mom! :) and the Rostrom’s sent me their Christmas card so thank them for that. I will be Skyping in on Christmas day sometime between the hours of 17.00-19.00 (8am-10am Utah time) I am so excited to see you all!! :) I love hearing about when you run into Koreans Nate, and skiing, and bringing home the bacon, and dances, and of course the world-famous Willow Creek 7th ward choir Christmas program- featuring all the best from the Brown and Wunderli families, to name a few. Wow, that is going to be great :) 

Well, it was a great week! Keeping busy in the Christmas season, spreading Christmas cheer everywhere we go. It is finally getting cold enough for some snow (you would think that of all places you would be able to get a white Christmas in Finland but Helsinki is right next to the ocean and thus much more mild than the rest of the country). I still have hopes for a white Christmas though! It happened last year so it can happen again. We had a big zone conference this week where Elder Dyches (member of the presidency of the area 70) came and spoke to us. It was amazing and I learned so much. It was also great to be with a lot of missionaries I hadn’t seen in a while. The best reunion was that of my MTC companions! Nearly one year after we first became companions, Sister Harris, Sister Jordan and I were finally reunited! Super fun. 

I am still loving being with Sister Jones, she even trimmed my hair this week (first time in 9 months haha) and the work is going well. We were supposed to have a baptism this week but our investigator from the Congo, after having some personal problems, decided she didn’t need the church anymore.. :( we were heartbroken! I still am... She was so close but things just didn’t work out. I have faith she will find it again in the future, it was sad to talk to her and see her back to her saddened state, the way she was when we first met her. But, we are keeping our heads up and doing the best we can to find people! 

I think one of the biggest things I have learned on my mission is how important the simple things are. I have such a deeper testimony about the types of answers that are given in primary: read, pray, come to church. The significance of those answers is huge! When I need a spirit-lifter (besides eating Fazer chocolate..:)) I know that I can turn to the scriptures and just feel happy by simply opening them up! When I need strength, prayer is my first, and completely reliable, source. And when I want to be better and feel like turning a new page, I know that I can feel renewed as I talk to the members and take the sacrament on Sunday. Not too many profound things and yet they mean so much. So, it is the simple things in life that keep us going :) 

I think that is all I’ve got for this week! I sent a Christmas package which should get to you a few days before Christmas (hopefully). OH and I thought you would like this fun fact mom: I regularly play the accompaniment on the piano for our District meetings. Ya, I play the piano haha. But those piano lessons have officially paid off! So you can feel accomplished about that :) Well, I love you all! sooo much!! have a great week!!  

Hyvää Itsenäisyyspäivää!

Perhe! 

Hyvää Itsenäisyyspäivää! On December 6 the Finns celebrated declaring independence from Russia in 1917. Independence day used to be a somewhat solemn occasion and people would put two candles in the window at night because in earlier times, this invited friendly troups into the home for food and shelter. Some still do that today but in the last 15-20 years the day has become more festive with public flag displays and other patriotic items. The Finns are very proud of their culture and their freedom. As they should be, they have a lot of sisu! Gotta love the Finns :) 

The posti strike is over BUT though I have received a few letters since then, I have yet to receive the second package... I will call the office and see if they have it locked up somewhere. I got a small package from the young women’s so thank them for that! I also am sending a family package this week which will include stuff for everyone on this email chain :) and Riley is having another baby???? Oh my gosh the twins are SO BIG. That makes me feel like I have been out for a long time. I guess it has almost been a year.... And my official, unchangeable, release date is July 21st. And then I will have all rights to holding Riley’s baby :) so far and yet so close! And Dad, I am proud of you for buying yourself a sweet car. Is Mr. McMannis still in use? Doesn’t matter, your new car is awesome haha. My companion says you should drive it on the salt flats.

It was a good week! Nothing much to complain about. Our investigator from the Congo is still doing great, she is so funny! We taught her the word of wisdom and the next day we went over and in her broken Finnish she said "sister, I cant follow you, I am drinking tea right now". We were so sad! All we wanted to do was help her but then she showed us her cup and it was just water... She started cracking up! Haha probably more of a had-to-be-there story but it was pretty hilarious. It is still great being with Sister Jones. I think I have concluded that we are VERY different people (like, we were quite opposites as far as who we were before our missions) but it is really cool to see that because we have the same purpose here, we totally get along! I feel lucky to be her trainer. It was super wet and windy and dark this week. But occasionally we get to see the sun and wow, do we cherish those moments! The Finns do too, you can just tell that the dark effects everyone pretty negatively. 

The work still goes on and I love the Christmas season! It is so cool to be in the Christmas country during this time of year! And there is always something special about sharing a message about Christ when everyone is a little bit more focused on His significance. Everything we are is because of Him. I am so grateful for my Savior! Well, I love being a missionary and I love you all as well :) NEXT WEEK, due to the greenie training program, i will be emailing on MONDAY. So keep that in mind :) you all are great!! thanks for the emails and the love and the motivation! I couldn’t do it without you. I love y’all!!!! :)

Countdown to Christmas

Perhe!

Happy December!! Countdown to Christmas starts now! Ok, lets be honest, I started listening to Christmas music a month ago and we decorated the apartment last week, but now it is official!

Glad to hear everyone had a good Thanksgiving, mine was pretty eventful as well! We wanted a good Thanksgiving meal but turkeys are hard to find here... So we ate chicken and mashed potatoes with some veggies and glögi :) not too bad.

We also witnessed a miracle this week for which we are so grateful. Background: The bishop in our ward has been helplessly trying to find an apartment for members in our ward. After weeks they couldn’t find anything! Well, there is a women from the Congo who we taught last week and she has been looking for the right church for a long time. She barely has anything besides a completely empty apartment. She only speaks French and broken Finnish so there is a language barrier but we get by. Anyway, we wanted her to come to church so we arranged for the bishops wife to pick her up and take her home. Because members here are amazing, the bishops wife was more than willing even though it was a bit inconvenient. Well, upon learning of this lady´s poor condition, the bishop invited her over for dinner at their house and discovered that she has an apartment. So, he just put the 2 problems together and the member who needed an apartment is now living with our investigator and helping her get money for food! It has been a miracle for the bishop, the members, and our investigator. And an even bigger miracle, that act of service opened our investigators heart so much that she was so willing to learn and is now getting baptized in 3 weeks!! :) We have been so busy helping her to be prepared for that day and she is so happy every time we come over. She is so grateful and recognizes that she just gained a very large family! And it is fun because we teach her in Finnish, French (yes, we are learning French gospel vocab haha) and some English (the member is teaching her English). A few nights ago we went over to her house and she said "good morning! is that right time?" haha, she is great! We love her. So, the Lord provides and under His guidance, everything works out.

I am still learning so much about myself every day and about turning outward. I truly love all the people here! It started getting a little rough this week with the darkness. It is REALLY dark.... But it is not too cold yet and I am trying not to think about it :) it is a bit harder on Sister Jones though because she is so new! That would be so difficult. Being her trainer is still going well, we are learning together and staying positive in the darkness :) The postal strike is going to end tonight, and I am going to send y’all a Christmas package! So be stoked! Also, with Skype: I forgot my Skype account name so can you set one up for me or something? I still don’t know details so stay tuned :) well, i think that is all I got! The blog looks great and thanks for the update on money. Love you all!! :)