November 22, 2016

Transfer Calls! I still get butterflies every time and this time I had no idea what to expect! Well.... I am staying in Marjaniemi with Sister Holbrook to finish her training! AND we will be getting a third companion tomorrow, Sisar Pugmire! She's from the same MTC group as Sisar Holbrook and she was serving in Espoo last transfer so I have already met her several times and she's so awesome. So that means I will be finishing training for two amazing sisters and I am so excited, I never thought I would be in a trio! 

This past weekend was our Stake Conference and so we got to see all of the missionaries in the Helsinki zone and a lot of members that I had never met before. I even got to see my new companion right after transfer calls which never happens so it was really exciting. I am excited to be staying in such a great ward with a lot of people that I care about for these upcoming holidays. I have faith that this next transfer will be another great one! 

November 15, 2016

A typical beautiful Finnish day!

Terve! I know it's November but it already feels like Christmas! Finns LOVE Christmas and it's pretty dark this time of year so they are already putting up Christmas lights or Fall lights. It's much needed because by 4 o'clock it's already pitch black outside! It takes several minutes to head out the door now because of all of the layers but we've been able to stay warm so it's worth it. 

We had a Zone Training conference this past week and we talked a lot about the importance of members in missionary work. Also, we were talking about the Church's Christmas  initiative that will be coming out on December 1st. We are so excited to be able to talk to people about the ''true meaning of Christmas''. I think this will be the most Christ centered Christmas of my life and I'm really looking forward to it.

We also had our Primary Program this past Sunday! It was just about the cutest thing I have ever seen! As the little kids sang and bore their simple testimonies of the Savior the spirit was so strong. It made me think of all of the times in the scriptures that Christ tells us to become like little children. 

Our favorite Finnish drink!

November 8, 2016

Winter! These were taken last week, there is A LOT more snow now.

Guess who's getting their first ''white Christmas''??? It started snowing last Tuesday night and HAS NOT STOPPED. Winter is upon us and I now look like an Eskimo when we are out contacting. But it's been great! We had exchanges with our lovely STL's from Espoo last Thursday. My goal that I had wanted to work on with them was talking to people on public transportation. I am so bad at it! Everyone in Finland is so quiet so if you get on a metro or a bus you could literally hear a pin drop, so I sometimes have a hard time talking to people in those situations. But, with their help we did some metro contacting and while it's still a bit awkward I am getting better at it! 

Also, on Saturday our investigator Osagie got baptized! It was such a cool experience and there were so many people from the ward that were involved and helped. Our Bishop in the ward is the one who baptized him. As it turns out our Bishop was missionary companions with my mission President back in the day! When Osagie was baptized he wanted to bear his testimony to us and he just talked about how he had followed God before but how the Book of Mormon was the word of God and how though it, his faith has grown. It was so cool to hear him bear testimony of the Book of Mormon and say that he knew it was true. 

When we called him later that day to ask him how he was doing he said, ''I felt good before but now I feel greater.'' It just made me so happy to know that this gospel truly does make people happier. He received the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday and is now officially a member of the church! I know that this church is true and being a part of it has made me happier than anything else. And it's not just happiness, it's lasting joy because I know that these are the things that will bless me throughout my whole life as well as in the next. 

November 1, 2016

We were in a trio for a bit!

I named my pumpkin Bruce. 

What a great week! We had our interim, which means that we stayed at the mission home from Monday night to Friday afternoon and received training for all of the new missionaries. We had great discussions about faith and something that was said that I loved was, '' You can study faith all of your life and not even scratch the surface.'' It was great hearing so many experiences from so many different people while we were there as well. On Wednesday night we got to go to the Helsinki Temple! It was a great experience to be in the house of the Lord and to be there with so many amazing missionaries. We talked a lot about the importance of having charity in all that we do. One of the comments made was a challenge to ''Be a positive force.'' It's something I have made my personal goal since then by doing things such as always finding something good to say about the day. Little things like not complaining about the weather and if the suns not out and it's grey and cold and wet, saying something like, 'What a beautiful typical Finnish day!'' It takes a little effort and some humor but it's always better to be positive! 

Our interim group!

Our investigator is being baptized this Saturday! We are so incredibly excited and I hope to send some pictures of it next week. It has been one of the greatest blessings in my mission to see people truly changing their lives and growing closer to their savior Jesus Christ. I feel so blessed to be a missionary and to be able to tell people things that make them happier and answer the questions that they've had for so long. I love that Heavenly Father has prepared the way for us and a plan of happiness. That step of baptism is essential to the plan and I know that Saturday will be just an amazing day. 

October 24, 2016

It takes at least 5 minutes to get out the door every day because...winter!

It's supposed to snow on Wednesday!

Suomi!

This is our little friend who followed us around.

And our district!

Notice the awkward distance between the sisters and elders.

This past week went by so fast it's weird! We are headed of to go to interim later today and we are looking forward to the experience, especially being able to go to the temple this week.

We got to celebrate Sisar Holbrook's 20th Birthday yesterday! We celebrated with red velvet cake and an amazing dinner appointment with a great American couple that live here. After that we went right back to work! We were tracting and there was this random cat that kept following us. It even ruined one of our contacts because someone answered the door and the cat ran into their house....it was way awkward. I am not sure what else to write but, the church is true and I love serving as a missionary here in Finland.

October 18, 2016

Studying Finnish!!

Half way there! I hit my 9 month mark last Thursday and it was the weirdest thing ever. Time is going way too fast! This past week we had Zone conference in Haaga with all of Helsinki Zone. We got to hear from the Watsons and from a couple of the new senior couples that just came here. 

Last Saturday the Elders in our ward had a baptism! We were able to go to it and 3 of our investigators came as well! It was truly a great week, especially seeing the baptism and seeing how happy their investigator was afterwards. One of our investigators that came to the service is being baptized on November 5th and now every time we meet with him he starts off by saying, '' What am I learning today?'' He is so excited for his own baptism and has such great faith. (He is the one that told us he wanted to be baptized after General Conference) 

Fun fact about Finland is they don't name their babies until like 2 months after they are already born. Usually they get their names when they are baptized into the Lutheran church, or in our church when they receive their baby blessing. They refuse to tell anyone the baby's name until then, even their parents! I think my mother would kill me! 

Next week is interim, which means we will be spending a couple days at the mission home to receive training for all of the new missionaries. They have had to do it in two separate groups because there is so many new missionaries. It's been another great week and I love it here in Finland. Even though there were two days this past week where it was so overcast that we couldn't see the sun and I'm pretty sure I'll start seeing the sun less and less, it has been such a joy to serve the Lord. 

October 11, 2016

Sistar Roberts' work area!

Apartment Kitchen

Helsinki train station

Did I say mention last week that winter is coming? Well it's already here! I had to unpack my winter clothes this past week and get used to the days getting darker and darker. After having the summer here with even the nights filled with sunshine it is so weird to have my nights be dark again. But all is good! We have had some amazing experiences and we have been blessed to be finding more and more people to share the gospel with! 

I have such a testimony now of not complaining and just getting to work. If we are outside, even if it's cold and dark out and we are doing what we are supposed to be doing, we will be blessed with people to teach. It has been a humbling experience to really see why I was called to Finland. I makes me feel that my loving Heavenly Father really does have high expectations of me and I don't want to let him down! My Finnish is still coming little by little everyday but I know that the Lord qualifies whom He calls and if I try my best He can give me the words that I need to tell to people. I think I finally get the ''Helsinki slang''! Basically they don't say half of the word and they speak way fast but with the Lord's help and a lot of educated guessing it's all been going pretty well! Also realizing it is totally fine to ask things like, ''Sorry can you repeat that?'' and ''Can you say that either slower or a different way.?'' It has really helped to be straightforward and when the people see that you're trying your best to speak their language they are so loving and willing to help. And it totally breaks the ice to have a couple language fails =)

One night Sister Holbrook and I were walking back home and this woman caught up to us and said ''Hi sisters!'' Turns out she was a less active member that lives in our area that we didn't know about. She said she could see us from a mile away, even in the dark and knew we were the sister missionaries. We talked with her a bit and got her information and hope to be meeting with her soon. I just thought it was really cool that first of all she came up to us and that people really do recognize us and notice us so easily. I told Sister Holbrook that it must be because the light of Christ still shines even if it's dark outside! That'll be good for the winter months =)