Suomissa  

Finland - Week 1

Wow a lot has happened! Christmas, New Years, and I'M IN FINLAND!! I'm literally in a library in Finland and it's the coolest thing ever (literally and figuratively). I guess I'm not that cold, I've got two pairs of thermals, two pairs of socks, a massive coat, a scarf, gloves, and an ear warmer. So I'm actually quite warm!

First off Christmas was awesome!! Elder Nelson came and spoke at the MTC, I sang in the choir (btw, angel choir went really well, I didn't fall or anything), we had talent show (featuring an Elder from my district and his yo-yo, definitely the best act), we woke up at 5am to do presents with all of the Finns, ate a sack dinner in the hall (which is a lot of fun), sang more (lots of singing), watched Ephraim's Rescue, and called home! That was really fun but I think my mom thought I was a different child of hers for a second. So, a very busy day that was wonderfully focused on Christ. He's truly the reason for the season. 

FINLAND!! I don't know where to start, it's wonderful! Our trip over was great, both of my bags weighed exactly 50.0lbs so the trip started with a miracle. I came at the perfect time to clean up all of the Christmas chocolate:) I've already told people that I am a car, that my family has sold a lot, and several other things that I wasn't trying to say. Finns are genius, our towel rack is heated.

My second night here I taught my first lesson! (That's when I said lots of interesting things about my family, thank goodness I have my companion to translate my Finnish into Finnish!) And it was a lot of fun. I didn't understand much past the food being delicious, but that's ok. We taught that same lady again yesterday and I already understood so much more. It's amazing how much the Lord will bless us, He really wants to help us.

I'm in Haaga which is an area of Helsinki so thankfully I'm in the warm part of the country. It's a wonderful area! We already had a miracle Sunday! Two of our investigators, two less-active members, and another non-member who just wanted to come were all at church on Sunday! Sometimes church seems like a small thing, we think that as long as we worship God in our hearts it's fine. Really though coming to church is important because we get to worship together and strengthen each other. The power of unity is awesome, particularly with hymns, I love hymns! Last night we visited an old lady and all she wanted us to do was sing with her, it was really great and definitely brought the Spirit.

In case anyone wants to hear Finnish, "The Testaments" movie is in Finnish! So if you have the DVD you can just go to the language section and change it, and if you don't I'm pretty sure you can request a free copy. Try mormon.org and lds.org. The movie is awesome, so if you watch it in Finnish watch it in English after.

Oh man I just love Finland! The bread, yogurt, people. I'm so glad I get to come here as a representative of Christ, it's truly unique and I just love it!

The picture of the snowy forest that you might recognize from Narnia, that's the view out my apartment window.

Thanks everybody for your love and support!

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Mendenhall