Transfers and Talks

(Finland – Week 10)

10 March 2015

Rakat Veljet ja Sisaret,

Transfer time! Crazy to think that I've already been here 10 weeks, and that I've only been here 10 weeks. The time has gone by fabulously and although my last companion has gone home, her legacy lives on, I took almost all of her clothes. I'm still in Haaga (pronounced with soft a's, like in avacado) and we have had a surge in interest, we almost don't have time to meet with everyone that wants to see us! My new companion is adjusting well, but we do have some lapses in communication, the other day I wasn't very clear so she mixed up who was the investigator and who was the member. That lesson started rocky but it ended well.

So this week a boy in the ward was baptized and guess who they asked to give a talk? My last companion! But of course she was going home so they asked me to do it instead. Thank goodness it was for an eight year old, then my simple Finnish sounded intentional. It went really well, the baptism was great (baptisms are always prime times to feel the Spirit) and ward members are trusting me a lot more with Finnish, it's really great to feel their trust, it gives me hope in improving more and more! I love celebrating small successes, they truly illustrate how the Lord's goodness is all around us, taking time to recognize it is the trick. My mom shared with me a few really cool scriptures on this principle this week, the first is in Psalms 145:9 "The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works." Simple, to the point, the Lord is over everything. I've been thinking a lot lately about how we can panic, agonize, and stress over something, and the Lord will take care of it. Or we can calmly and happily be patient, and the Lord will still take care of it. The latter is obviously much more enjoyable. Let us all try to "cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed." (D&C 123:17) True trust in the Lord is very difficult, but when we find it it is invaluable. 

Plot twist! My companion and I will be getting a third companion! She comes in tomorrow, is brand-new, and a Finn! So we will have her in her first transfer, me in my second transfer, and my other companion in her third transfer! Hopefully that means it will be as easy as 1-2-3.

Also, look at this crazy weather!!! It's beach season! In scarves, coats, and boots of course. 

I hope you all are doing well! Much love from Suomi!

Sisar Mendenhall