Time Is Flying By

This picture perfectly depicts how I feel
while being a missionary in Finland :)

Well well well! It was a great week full of miracles. The month of July is difficult in Finland because EVERYONE is on vacation or working 3 jobs. So, consequentially we lost a lot of our investigators and were starting from scratch. No need to worry though, we got straight to full finding mode and God truly blessed us by putting us in the path of those who were prepared! Wow, I love finding people and seeing God´s hand in the work.

I am super excited for a full week this week, my last week of missionary work! I still have yet to fully comprehend it... Oh, Happy birthday mom!!!!! did i get that right, is that this week??

I am so short on what to say, the time is just flying by. This week we have zone training meeting, lessons, helping out with a baptism and I am singing in church on Sunday. I am going to miss it here. I try not to get too sad about it but I cant think about leaving for too long before I either get much too anticipant to see everyone or I almost burst into tears about saying goodbye to a place and experience that is a full part of my heart. mixed emotions... But I will enjoy my last week here and work hard to the end! Keep up the good work, love you all!! :) 

It's P-Day again?!?!

Hello Family! 

It is P-day AGAIN??? Seriously, the time is crazy. Even with all the many weeks that have flown by, I still feel like I will forever be in this "almost going home" state haha.

To start out, I will give you my few song choices, let me know which one Derek thinks will be best (they are all classic ones so just choose one and go for it:)): How Great Thou Art, Lead Kindly Light, I know that My Redeemer Lives, Abide with Me Tis Ev`n Tide, I am a Child of God. Among others, those are all very dear to me in Finnish!

Anyway, this week was really good, Sister Nelson is helping me push hard to the end! We talked to great people, stayed focused, and had a fun 4th of July with an American member and his non-member family. I had root beer and stuffing for the first time in over 18 months :) God Bless America!

As missionaries in this ward we also started up a weekly sports night intended to get more people to the church together and have an activity that members can invite their friends to. It was really fun, a successful first week! :)

The weather is good, rainy with a high of 70 degrees or so. I will probably die in Utah because 70 degrees feels rather hot to me haha. I had a great time this week talking to Sister Nelson about how much I love my mission and we often talk about how amazing it is to be in Finland! I will sure miss this place, a big part of my heart is here. But I feel good with still enjoying every last moment of being a missionary here and i am excited for the great plans and future i have ahead of me! Life is full of adventure:)

I have come to know that everything God does for us is for us to have joy. Sure we have to go through trials and challenges, but we don’t have trials just to challenge us. We are given this life truly to become our best self’s and to recognize the great potential we can achieve through Christ. And to be happy. Only a few more of these emails! Have a great week, I love you all!! :)

God Loves Us and Wants Us Back With Him

Perhe!

Well, it was a fun week, all of it pretty much spent inside in the training program meetings and on the holiday but SO MUCH was learned. Once again I feel that a big part of me training was for the purpose of being at Interim with President Watson and the other missionaries so I could really gather and learn what I need to do these last weeks. And Sister Nelson is on fire, her greenie spirit gives me so much strength and she has such an amazing desire to improve! Wow, I am amazed by the grace God gives me in every aspect of my life.

We were able to go to the temple this week, eat WAY too much food (totally worth it) and share in many wonderful testimony-strengthening discussions.

I love the beauty of this gospel and how simple it is. We focused a lot on charity and amongst talking about the Atonement, the gospel, the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith story, patience, planning, temple, and many more discussions, the source was all the same: Our Heavenly Father loves us and He wants us back. That is the purpose for everything. The purpose for learning, the purpose for serving. He loves us so perfectly and has made a plan so complete so that every person has the best possible opportunity to live with Him again. I am so grateful for this knowledge. What else is more important to know?

Juhannuspäivä went well, we deep clean our apartment and it has made the biggest difference for the Spirit in our home! I never knew that applied so much to missionaries haha, our apartments are usually a mess but it was actually quite fun to clean things out. Besides that we are looking forward to some packed weeks of great lessons and hard work! As far as songs to sing for the homecoming, can i think about that and give you a sure answer next week? I have a couple in mind of my favorites in Finnish but i want to make it the best :) I don’t know what other missionaries are coming to my homecoming, I only have 3 companions that are home now and one of them lives in Germany haha. But because it would be hard to coordinate, were we thinking of having the whole family or the trio (me, megan and rach) sing? I am excited for how it will turn out!

I am so grateful to be here and see the miracles we are able to see every day! I hope i answered all the questions i needed to... I love you all!!! :)

Juhannuspäivä- The day of summer celebration!

Hello family!! 

You all are super trunky!! Haha I guess i can only expect that.... I cant believe it is almost Juhannuspäivä, the day of summer celebration! The summer solstice is on the 21st but the party happens always on the weekend, so we will be inside mostly in this upcoming Friday and Saturday. Also we are going to the mission home all this week for the training program for trainers and new missionaries. I am so excited! This week was one of my main anticipations of training :) I know I am going to gain so much wisdom from President Watson and it is going to put me on such a good tract for the last few weeks.

Juhannuspäivä bon fire

This week was great, sister Nelson and I are really starting to open up to each other and feel united. She is amazing and I have been blessed to learn so much from her. We taught great and interesting people this week, always super fun! One funny experience sticks out that I will try to explain clearly (though it may be more of a had-to-be-there type experience): So earlier in the week we decided to contact this old man we had talked to on the street previously (we will call him Joe), so we searched for him on our phone, called him, and set up a lesson for Friday. We were studying and thinking of ways we can relate the message to him and to the experiences he shared with us. Well, we made sure to re confirm the appointment, find a member to come, and even remind him right before. It was all planned! We then get to the church right on time and realize we left our keys so we are waiting for the member to come to unlock the door. Meanwhile, a young Finnish man comes up and starts talking to us (I assume he is a member just from the questions he is asking) and then I ask for his name. He says his name is Joe. And that he is waiting for 2 girls at the church building. And that is when I realize that we have been calling a random Joe in our phone and that this Joe was the one who is expecting a lesson. Haha once I smoothed out the awkwardness, sister nelson and I go to the bathroom and cannot stop laughing and thinking of what to do! It was so funny, and the lesson went really well mostly because I had no idea what to say to this person who thinks I know him, so I was listening very intently to the Spirit. God provides!

The weather should be getting better here, it has still been quite rainy but I think it is suppose to warm up so I wont need a coat or tights anymore. Who knows, Finland does what Finland does! :) the Finns sure aren’t too surprised. Well, that is all for now, keep doing great things and having faith! Love you all! :) 

Teaching people from Syria!

Hello Family!

my cute companion:)

Haluan kirjoittaa suomeksi, koska tätä tietokonetta ei toimi niin hyvin englanniksi... mutta olen kärsivällinen, ja kirjoitan kuitenkin englanniksi teille :)

Well, it has been a great week! It was quite cold but now it is warming up again to be summer. And with summer goes all the people in Finland to their summer homes which means 2 things: no one is on the streets, and we teach a lot of foreigners. What a blast! :)

We taught an amazing man from Syria this week, it was so easy to tell how the Lord had prepared him and how willing he was to learn and grow. I love the Book or Mormon and one of my favorite experiences are the times when we are able to give someone a Book of Mormon in their own language. It helps them feel closer to home when everything here is so foreign to them. And a new light comes into their lives when they read it.

Empty Streets of Summer :)

This man was so sincerely grateful, I cant wait to see more progress with him! It is great that everyone is almost safely enjoying the summer :) Well gosh, i don’t know what else to say but I love you all!! Thanks for the updates!! Church is true! Have a great week!! :)