Coincidences and Connections

Hello people!

Another great week in the frozen country of Finland. Ok, so it hasn’t been THAT cold but it just snowed for the first time in Helsinki yesterday!! We could get a white Christmas! The Finns were being doubtful because it is supposed to stay fairly warm (in comparison) for awhile. But I want it to snow! Oh, the second package hasn’t arrived, i just found out that there is a mail strike that has been going on so who knows how long that will last.

I have been taking vitamin D pills for the last 2 months, the sun starts going down around 3pm now.... And due to our large amount of studies, we don’t get out the door until 1pm. So... 2-3 hours of sunlight if there are no clouds :) and it continues to get darker. Blows my mind. 

Happy Thanksgiving! I am trying to think of any way I can celebrate that... Besides thinking of all the many things I am grateful for. There are so many! It is a great time to reflect. 

There was ANOTHER random Finnish connection this week and I thought I would compile a list of the so-far coincidences and Finnish connections I have experienced:

1. Being in the same zone as a senior missionary, Elder Richardson, a distant cousin of ours.

2. Having my first area with Jonathan Moe’s companion as my BML

3. Being companions with the granddaughter of the senior couple who allowed Nate to Skype at their house in Korea

4. Coming to Helsinki and meeting someone who served with my friend Hunter Annen

5. Moving to Helsinki the week before Debi and Bishop Frandsen took a cruise to Helsinki

6. Meeting another senior sister missionary who went to high school with grandpa john

7. By chance being one of the 2 sisters training when my friend Katariina came into the field, thus was able to talk to her!

8. Having Ammon´s brother´s wife´s sister move into my ward here (that just happened on Sunday)

I don’t know what it is but the LDS world is SUPER small, even here in the random country of Finland haha.

Everything is going well here, I am still enjoying being a trainer and loving the missionary life! I am so grateful for my amazing family and knowing that I don’t have to worry about any of you! :) I love you all! I hope you have a great week and a Happy Thanksgiving! Kiitos!!!:)

Picked up my first Greenie :)

Hey Family,

Wow, it was a great and crazy week!! After days worth of packing, we finally got everything done and moved out of the apartment. I went to the mission home to spend a day there and pick up my greenie!! Though terrified to be a trainer I told myself that I couldn’t freak out until it actually happened.

It feels so weird to be old enough in the mission to be a trainer! I was able to see my friend from BYU but I am not her trainer. My new companions name is Sister Jones and, much like all my companions, is super wonderful! She is so willing to work and it has been a blast being able to help her out and give her challenges to help her contribute.

So, week one of being a trainer has gone really well! It has allowed me to push myself because everything I do now is to be a good example to my companion and make sure she feels support from me as she makes this new change. Though I often feel like I was home a month ago, having sister Jones come in and talk about the MTC made me realize how far away that feels! Time is SO strange. I have come to a point of truly loving my mission and this past week of being a trainer has helped me to see that.

I love doing this work and talking to people, even learning this language! There are experiences and groups of people you become a part of that just wouldn’t happen any other way.

As far as the weather, it has been surprisingly pretty mild here. It gets dark probably at 16:00 and light at 8ish maybe. I am not too sure; you can probably look it up haha :)

Looking forward to another great week, i am particularly excited for tomorrow because it is zone training and Sister Harris just transferred down to our zone! So I am going to get to see her!!! So that is exciting :) I also just got the package today! KIITOS!! it was wonderful, I love everything that was in it :) I have the best family! I am glad to hear you are all doing well, have a great week! :) 

Eating Snails for my Birthday

Perhe!

It was a crazy week for sure! First, my birthday was fun, it was splits (or exchange) day so the Sister Training leaders stayed over and they gave me chocolate and I was back in a trio again for a day! haha but it was really great to be able to see the other sisters (one was Sister Mendenhall, my previous companion, and another was a sister from my group in the MTC) and learn from them. We almost set the apartment on fire buuut we didn’t and I ate snails :) And then the birthday came and went! Just like every other day on the mission...I cant believe I am 20 years old!

Well, the next day was change call day and... wait for it.... I will be staying here! BUT I am going to be a TRAINER!! I am getting my own little greenie!! I sort of predicted it because I know how our mission president works but it still was a shock. Everything this missionary knows about missionary work will come from me! I am nervous and excited at the same time. I don’t know if you remember, but one of my friends from BYU who was in my Finnish class got called to Finland and she is one of the 2 greenies I could be training. So it is going to be fun to see if I end up training her! :) And even though I am staying in the same area, I am moving apartments so it has been a ton of work trying to organize and clean everything. All is well, it will be done soon :)

 

I haven’t seen the sun in 4 days and I am not sure it will come up this time! The month of November (Marraskuu) is literally translated as death month... This new transfer will be exciting.. :) I am interested to see who my new companion will be and if she is as awesome as all my other companions have been! I am sad that Sister Thayne is leaving, she has been such a great support and someone I can always laugh with and rely on. But we will still be in the same district so I will see her once a week. Change is hard but sooo good!

I’ve learned so much this transfer about taking responsibility for the work and truly relying on Heavenly Father for strength because I cannot do it alone. And he doesn’t expect me to. As a trainer I am going to need His help more than anything as I try to be a good example and be in charge of the area we serve in. I am willing and ready to do all that He asks me to do! Miracles can and do happen :)

I will figure out who I am training on Wednesday and then we have an exciting new week ahead of us. I guess you will hear about it next week! I love you all, have a great week!! OH, and it was fathers day in Finland yesterday so happy fathers day dad (because i am pretty sure I forgot about it earlier...), I love you! :) Thanks for being a great father :) Till next week! :)

Fall in Finland

Perhe!! Happy Halloween and Happy November!! :)

It is great to hear that everyone is healthy and well. Thanks for all the birthday wishes! I still feel like I am 16, look like I am 12, and yet I am turning 20... Wow... I don’t like to linger on the concept of time too often because it gets really weird on the mission haha. Like the fact that Halloween last year was well, a whole year ago! I remember shooting zombies like it was yesterday.

It was a great week this week! Nothing too much of report but I felt really good. We get change calls this week to find out where what is going to happen for next transfer which means next week I might be emailing on MONDAY. I can´t believe the 10 week transfer is almost done! I came to realize what being a missionary really means and I have learned so much by moving to a new area, being a senior companion, and having to deal with very little "success" as far as it is defined by some people... But I realized a lot this week of the fact that being a missionary simply means being a light to the world you are in. We talk to so many people and smile to everyone, giving a lending hand where needs be and trying to care for every stranger we meet. It is such a unique opportunity to simply spread light wherever I go. In my normal life I probably would be too preoccupied with my own things to think about being that light but as a missionary it is our job description!

Sister Thayne and I were talking last night about the greatest experiences on our missions. As we started talking about it I thought of all the people I have met, taught, talked to and been in contact with and surrounding those people were all of my favorite memories! I have had so many! This week was also good because I realized that I can still have an organized life and be fairly normal while being a missionary. Haha, you would think that wouldn’t be too hard to learn but I recognized the benefits of feeling put together and having all aspects of my life in one piece. Sister Thayne helped me to learn this! She is great :) An example of how we did this is during lunch on Sunday we painted our toe nails! Haha I haven’t felt like a girl in MONTHS, despite the fact that I am always wearing a skirt... And along with other goals I have, that made me feel much more ready to take on challenges :)

We had a fun Halloween this week as well, we sang at another baptism and at last minute we took a friend to the YSA Halloween party where we ate good ol´ American pumpkin pie :) a little cultural insight into Halloween in Finland, it really is called "all saints day" and though it is becoming more Americanized with the costumes, people still don’t trick or treat and it is not quite as big as it is in America. A tradition is going to the graveyard of an ancestor and placing candles around. Apparently it looks super cool, you could probably look up pictures.

That was the week. I am super grateful to be here and I am excited to figure out what will happen for next transfer! OH one more thing, I found out that one of my investigators in Vaasa is getting baptized this Saturday! I  was so happy to find out :) have a great week!! love you!!