Missing Lake Powell but Loving the Miracles in Finland!

What is up family!

Lake Powell sounds like a blast, I love that place. I am stoked to go again next year! And I am glad Nate is well adjusted, gives me hope for being a normal human being when I get back haha but no promises... I am getting way awesome missionary tan lines though so I got that going for me!

Anyway it was a great week! We had zone conference on Wednesday so we were out of our area for a couple days. Those long train rides are always fun and it was great to gain more wisdom from our mission president. It rained a lot this week, which is actually great for missionary work because everyone is at home! And it makes things more exciting. We have umbrellas but my feet just end up being soaked. One day we were walking and I stopped to write something down in my planner and Sister Harris just starts laughing at me. I didn’t know why at first but then I looked down and I was standing in a big puddle! Haha I didn’t even notice because my feet were already so wet! I am going to buy more waterproof summer shoes today.

We are seeing so many miracles in our area, I cant believe how much God blesses us every day! We talk to the coolest people and 2 of our investigators came to church this week. Our Finn girl investigator was mistaken for another missionary, it was pretty funny :) it is quite the thrill to teach in Finnish and continue to speak to people. Sometimes I get frustrated with learning the language but that really is only when I feel too unmotivated to study. As long as I do what I need to do then I know I will learn what I need to learn! I am more grateful everyday for being able to serve in this beautiful country and for being able to rely so wholly upon my Savior. He is so patient with me!

Time is so warped here, sometimes I feel like it flies by and other times last week feels like forever ago!  I am glad everyone is doing well, one month until the wedding! I am sure you are freaking out Rach :)

Kuitenkin, I love you all and hope you have a great week!!!

Do your best and forget the rest!

I don't have to share my email with Nate!! :)

I get my own email chain now!!! What??

So in case ya´ll don’t know, I am still here in Finland haha... trying not to be disappointed at the fact that I didnt get any pictures from Nate coming home... But I am sure you are all having a blast in Powell and I assume Nate returned home safely! No hard feelings... :) so another week went by!

Missionary work is definitely a lot better when you have good people to teach (which is somewhat of a rarity here!) but we are still teaching this cute Finnish girl and it is so awesome! Me and Sister Harris taught the Plan of Salvation for the first time in Finnish this week, wow talk about the gift of tongues. It is simply a miracle to be able to understand her questions and give her an answer. I really do love speaking this language as frustrating as it is sometimes! The biggest problem is when we run into Swedes and no one knows what is going on (though I am actually starting to understand some Swedish due to the fact that it is super close to English).

Everyone keeps talking about how cold of a summer it is but me and my comp are loving it! The few days it gets over 75 degrees were are just dying haha, usually it doesn’t get much higher than 70ish. A total blessing, it makes me super grateful that I am not in Africa or something because goodness I do not work well in the heat!

Today is another 6 hour train ride day to zone conference so that should be fun, we are going to buy plenty of food for the journey! Anyway, all is well in the beautiful country of Finland. Jealous that you all are in my second favorite place right now!!! But I will be there next year :)

Well, I love you all!

Pidä hauskaa!

Perhe!

I literally can't top Nate coming back so who knows what to say. I am safe and well haha. I got the package with my grammar book in it so thank you! Cant wait to dive into it!! And thanks for the letter Dad, even in Finland I am still little bear! :) also thanks for the watch and jewelry keeper. I don’t really have much jewelry... but... I am sure I can put it to use hahaha. Kiitos!

Anyway, I love change call week because every time they are miracle weeks! It shows that God can work miracles regardless of the fact that there is a lot of change and adjusting to new situations.

First off, OH MY GOSH being with just one companion is like the best thing that has ever happened to me! Ok, that’s exaggerating but I had NO idea how different and difficult it was being in a trio until this week. I actually have room for my clothes and on my desk and there is walking space in our room. And everything is so much more efficient. We worked the trio pretty well last transfer but I am grateful to be passed that for awhile (hopefully forever) haha.

Also, we are actually teaching Finns! We are teaching one girl who is about 24 and then 2 friends who are 18. It is weird teaching people my age but they are so nice. It obviously is a challenge due to the little amount of time me and Sisar Harris have been in the field but it forces us to rely on the Lord for everything. I definitely experienced the gift of tongues this week! I think often when people think of the gift of tongues they think of being able to say a bunch of advanced stuff in a language they don’t know. I would say that is not really how it works... For me, it was the fact that when it came time to teach the lesson, I wasn’t nervous about speaking in a different language! In a normal situation it would be terrifying and I would forget everything that I had practiced but through God I was really able to speak clearly and understand pretty well. Such a blessing. It is still a lot of pressure but I know that as I do my part, God will make up for the rest. Um... it was a good week!

I don't know what else to say haha, I am loving still being in Vaasa and I am still learning everyday. I am excited to hear about Nate, the awkward return missionary. Take a lot of good video and pictures for me! :)

Talk to you next week, love yall!!!

Hey Family!

Well, I assume the most exciting thing is Nate coming home in a week so I can’t really top that... I am just still here doing missionary work I guess... Probably will be forgotten about eventually... haha just kidding! It blows my mind still that Nate is coming home so soon!

Things are doing so well here. First off, it was transfer calls this week and... I am finally in a companionship!!! Woot woot! After 6 months in a trio, I had my first morning with just one companion today. I am also staying in Vaasa again and Sister Harris is still my companion! So we just kicked Sister Mendenhall, our senior companion, out. Haha JK

Eating Nutella on the train :) #happyplace

After this transfer I would of spent 6 months with Sister Harris as a companion #bridesmaidstatus. I am so excited to be staying in Vaasa for longer. I love this place! I am equally grateful to have Sister Harris as a companion again. She honestly is amazing. All of my weaknesses are her strengths, there is not a single bad thing that can be said about her. I feel so blessed!! We are going to have lots of fun, taking on Finland with only 4 months of experience haha! Besides that, it has been a good week.

I am super excited for one of our investigators from Nigeria. He is so cool. I might of mentioned him before. But he came to church again this week and is improving so much in the gospel! It is a great transition to experience.

Something funny happened this week to me- we were helping a member family wash their rugs and at one point we had to walk to re-park our car so we wouldn’t get a ticket. Well, while we were walking a bird totally pooped on my head! My companions could not stop laughing, especially because I just kinda had to leave it there until we finished washing the rugs and could go home haha. Hopefully it wasn’t too noticeable.

Anyway, it was a great week and we are finally getting in with the Finns! We have been talking to so many Finnish women. It is awesome. We had a lot of miracles happen yesterday so I will tell one of them! We had just finished checking up on some potentials and it was 10 minutes before 8 (the time when you can no longer knock on peoples doors) and we had the random thought to go see this girl who was busy during our last appointment. Well, with 3 minutes to spare, she opened the door and totally let us in to teach her more about the book of Mormon! She had read some of it and it turns out that we had her wrong number, which explains why she wouldn’t answer our calls. She is super awesome and was so interested to find out what she needs to do in this life. God always shows us miracles and leads us to the people we need to find!

The church is true! All is well in beautiful Vaasa. I think that is all I have to say... Hope yall have a great week! Love you tons!!!