Mämmi and Epic Salad‏ 

(Finland – Week 7)

17 Feb 2015

Hyvää ystävän päivää!! Happy Friend's Day! Finnish Valentine's. We had a lot of fun talking to people about God's love as they walked by with roses and chocolates. A woman at church gave us a chocolate cake! I love ystävän päivää!

This week I had exchanges for the first time. It was really fun, the Sister Training Leaders came and stayed at our place, and then one went with me for the day and one went with my companion. We tried really hard to schedule double appointments for that day, but as things go we ended up with only two. So with the STLs we did lots and lots of contacting. It was a lot of fun, we talked to so many different people, and heard so many stories. I don't catch a lot of the stories yet, so my contacting is a little sporadic, but that's pretty good. When someone totally shuts us down I'm still smiling! For all I know they could have promised me a chocolate cake (ok that's a lie, I would recognize "chocolate cake", I have my priorities). We gave one man a card that he said he would pass on to his roommate, and then we got a call, he actually had passed it on to his roommate and his roommate wanted to come to church! My companion is 2 weeks from going home and she says that has happened only twice. 

We just got back from buying "epic fruit salad" ingredients (as deemed by my companion) so I was thinking, when we go to the store we often look for the best. The best product, best for our money, best gift, etc. When Christ came to earth, He wasn't looking for the best, He was looking for the imperfect, the downtrodden, the ones that needed the most help. And help them He did.  There is a wonderful scripture in Romans 8:39, "Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." I love this!! No matter what we do, we cannot be separated from the love of God, nor can we go so far from it that we can't find it again. We have had a really rough week as far as people listening to us, but knowing this gives us the strength to talk to people even after rejection. God's love can be found everywhere, people just don't know how to see it yet. Helping them see it is the most rewarding thing on earth, and then we all come together as the most epic-not-to-be-eaten salad.

I can see the ground! It's getting so warm! 

This picture is me trying mämmi for the first time... I like it now but not so much the first few spoonfuls.

Hyvää päivän jatkoa!

Sisar Mendenhall