August 30, 2016

Mission tour with some familiar faces!!!

Mission Tour! We had our mission tour last Friday and we had the opportunity to hear from Elder Johnson and Elder Sabin from the Europe Area Seventy Presidency and their amazing wives. I got to see half of the mission as well and everyone from my MTC group but Sisar Margetts. It was amazing seeing them all again and to see how much we've all grown while we've been here. During conference we were reminded about the importance of members in missionary work as well as how to strengthen our wards and our investigators. We talked a lot about faith and how we need to be continually nourishing our faith daily in order to make sure that it continues to grow. I don't know if that was something I was doing very well before my mission but I have such a strong testimony now of daily scripture study and looking for and praying for those missionary moments. I loved mission tour and I know I'll never forget the wonderful spirit that was there and the things that were discussed. Also, I found out that at this moment we only have 80 missionaries in Finland! There aren't a lot of missionaries here right now but that just means that we'll be working that much harder! I know that there are people here in Finland ready to accept the gospel if we can just find them. Also, Sisar Andersson and I went to the zoo and it was pretty awesome. My only disappointment was that there were no penguins... But I've already moved past it. It was a really fun p-day and an awesome week. 

August 23, 2016

Happy 21st Birthday - Batman Style!!!

Last week was definitely eventful! Last Thursday we were in Espoo for exchanges with our amazing Sister Training leaders and we got to see the temple! Our STL's are amazing and it was such an amazing experience. One of the sisters served in Vaasa right before me so we had a lot to talk about and it was like having a little piece of home. The other sister trained Sister Margetts from my MTC group and it was so cool hearing so many of their funny stories together. 

 

I have to say, I have the best family ever. For my birthday yesterday I celebrated a batman themed birthday thanks to my amazing mother. Sister Andersson and I took so many pictures with our epic batman masks! I have to say, European food is almost always better than American food in my opinion BUT American pizza is way better than European Pizza! We ordered pizza yesterday and ate at the church and then we had an amazing lesson with one of our investigators. This past week two of our investigators said that they want to be baptized, the people here are amazing and it's always so cool to see the conversion process and how people change. We have some fun things planned for our p-day so I don't have too much time to write but I love being a missionary and I really did have the best birthday ever as I got to spend it serving the Lord and telling people about the gospel. I feel like the time on my mission so far has gone so fast!

August 16, 2016

This last week Sisar Andersson and I had a bit of an adventure. We were heading to our weekly district meeting and we got on the wrong bus.... we were on the bus for an hour. We saw a lot of Helsinki that day! Luckily we had tried to be at our meeting early so we were only a few minutes late but it was still an interesting experience. It's always a great thing to hear your companion say,'' I have no idea where we are or where we are going, but I'm sure we will get there somehow.'' But it's so true that everything works out and now we know for sure what bus not to get on!

It has been one of my favorite things so far on my mission to hear my investigators pray. Last week we were teaching one of our Vietnamese investigators and she prayed with us for the first time. She prayed in Vietnamese so I didn't understand what she was saying but the spirit was so strong and she told us afterwards that she thanked God that she had friends that were teaching her about Jesus Christ. It was another reminder of why I love being out here.

Also, apparently summer is over. It was so short! It rains all the time now and the sun is actually going down at night so it's getting cold again. Last Sunday a return missionary that had served in Marjaniemi came back for a visit with her family. It was so cool to see her and see how much she loved her mission and all of the people here. She bore her testimony about how much her mission had changed her life for the better and how much she loves the people of Finland. Her mom pulled me aside and gave me a big hug ''from my mom'' and told me that she was sending a picture home to her. Mission Moms are the best and I was so glad that she asked because I had been taught by my mother to take every opportunity that I can to talk to her!

It was a really good week and even though I have my language fails and we have interesting traveling experiences I know that I am here for a reason and that I will learn the language. I have been blessed with so many things on my mission so far and I know that I'll continue to learn and grow. I am excited to see what Heavenly Father has in store for me and I know that He loves me. I love sharing the gospel with all of the people that I can. 

August 9, 2016

Language fails of the week:

The Finnish word for ''liver'' is ''maksa'' and the word for ''cost'' is ''maksaa'' so when we were at a members house and there was this maksa paste I just thought it was a fancy or expensive paste and unfortunately I ate it. I now know the Finnish word for liver and that I do not like eating it. 

Also the other day I tried to complement my companion and she started laughing so I realized something was wrong. I was trying to say,''Minä pidän sinun hamesta.'' or ''I like your skirt'' but I actually said,'' Minä pidän sinun huumesta'' or ''I like your drugs.'' I'm just glad I said it to my companion and not to any members.

We said bye to our mini missionary yesterday. It was such a fun week with her and she really did help out so much. It was cool to see how strong her testimony and desire to serve were and it was cool having two Finnish companions. We were able to have some really nice lessons with our investigators this week and one of them said that they want to be baptized! He's a really cool man from Vietnam and he's here opening up a business in Finland. He's way busy so we don't know how often we will be able to meet with him but it was so cool to talk with him and see how strong his faith is.

August 2, 2016

This week I have been trying to get to know the area and the ward better. We had dinner with one of the families here the other day and they asked me if I had been berry picking in Finland yet. I didn't know what they were talking about so they asked me in English and then I said that no, not yet. They said that berry picking season was almost over and that I had to try it so after dinner we went into the forest which was of course a two minute walk from their home (Finland!) and then we picked wild blueberries. I felt ihan suomalainen ( legit Finnish) after that experience. Suomi! 

We were contacting one day and we ran into this woman and she had some negative things to say about the church and I asked her if she would have time to talk next week and she was like ''I have time to talk now!'' So we went to a park and we talked to her for about 2 hours and got to know each other a lot better. She's from Singapore and she told us all about her family and about what she believed and then we told her about us and about what we believe and we gave her a Book of Mormon and invited her to church the next day. Then she came! It was really a cool experience and it showed me that sometimes listening to what other people have to say is more important than trying to prove a point. It was really cool to hear about her life and then tell her about how the gospel of Jesus Christ could help her through all of the things that she's going through.  

Also, we have a mini missionary! There's a program here that allows the youth to spend a week with the missionaries and so we have our own mini missionary now! She's a 16 year old Finnish girl and she's awesome! So now I have two Finnish companions! My brain hurts because I haven't had to speak this much Finish ever in my life but it is way good practice. It's also a lot of me asking questions over and over but it's been way fun to have another companion with us. We went to Espoo yesterday and she'll be with us until the following Monday. We planned really hard for this week to try and give her the best experience we possibly can. She's so cool for already wanting to serve at 16. When I was 16 I never even thought about serving a mission and now I can't even imagine my life without it. It really has been the best experience of my life in so many different ways. I know this church is true and I love sharing this message of hope and joy to others.