BIRTHDAY BIRTHDAY!!‏

  (Finland – Week 33)

25 Aug 2015

This week was fantastic! And as a matter of extreme importance, I am now an incredibly mature 20 year old. No more punk teenager. I'm 100% adult! Hence the incredibly mature and selfless balloons I treated myself to for my birthday (see attached picture). The second picture I have to give credit to my companion, she'll see cool sunlight, tell me where to stand, and then snap away. In this shot we were in downtown Helsinki waiting for a couple of sisters to go on exchanges with.

This past week I had a really unique experience. A sister left the mission field by herself, and she couldn't go to the final meetings and devotional alone, so my companion and I went with her! So at only my halfway point I have been to a departure devotional. At first it felt a little strange, even my companion only has two months left while I still have nine months to go. But it turned out to be wonderful to see such great examples of missionaries, such dedicated servants to the Lord. While there I was thinking about a recent convert here in Espoo, due to a pretty intense language barrier we teach very very simply. Through pantomime and broken french (on both ends) we communicated the question, how do you think it will feel to go home to your Heavenly Father, and literally be wrapped in His arms? I have since pondered this myself, and I thought of the verse in Alma 5:16, "I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?" In the MTC I read this scripture, and all I could imagine was going home, and having my family say something like this to me. While I still hope they do, I've since realized that there is so much in each of our lives, and my true going home will be that final day, when I meet my Heavenly Father in the flesh. At this departure devotional I felt such intense desire to hear my Heavenly Father say those words to me, I can't even imagine how amazing that will feel. Every time that I feel the Holy Ghost I get a glimpse of the joy, and that makes me want to share my testimony of Jesus Christ even more.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Much love, Sisar Mendenhall 

All of those scenes in movies that are super beautiful, were probably filmed in Finland 

(Finland - Week 32) 

18 August 2015

This past week we went to interim! That's a 3 day training meeting for all of the missionaries that have been in the field for 5-6 weeks. Normally the sister training leaders don't go, but since these new missionaries are all sisters we did! I was in charge of the kieli koulu, the language school, that was exciting. I got to tell my story about how every word is useful in bringing others to Christ. For example, I learned "to vomit" and thought that would be totally useless. The very next day we visited an elderly woman and learned that she needed help because her dog had vomited all over the house! Yay for Finnish vocab! We were able to teach and serve this woman as well as her dog (we created some less-abrasive-on-the-canine-stomach meals thereafter). 

I've been thinking about the desire of Alma to be an angel, so that he could proclaim the gospel to everyone, Alma 29:1-2 reads, 

"O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!

Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth."

I love why he wants to share the gospel, so that there might not be any more sorrow on the earth. The world teaches that there is nothing that works for everyone. No law without exception, no person everyone can love, no right way or even wrong way. All that is just really confusing. It's wonderful that the gospel really does work for everyone. We meet so many different people everyday, and always whatever they say to us relates back to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yesterday was had a training meeting with about 40 missionaries and we asked how the Book of Mormon motivates them to keep working. It was amazing. For so many different reasons--inspiring stories, good examples, feeling the Spirit whilst reading--the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Christ has helped all of these missionaries to keep going. The Book of Mormon truly contains the fullness of Christ's gospel, I'm so grateful for it every day. 

I was exceedingly happy this morning about the size of our apartment. It's so small that I can plug the vacuum in one spot, and vacuum the whole place!

I just love Finland. 

Much love, Sisar Mendenhall

Mini Missionary and Huge Testimony

                                      (Finland – Week 31)

10 Aug 2015

Our week with our mini-missionary was awesome! She just loves life so much, and she loved being a missionary for the week. We put her on the train back home and she wanted to wear her name tag all the way back. She taught me a lot about appreciating what I have and how to have joy in everything. She reminded me of this scripture in 2 Nephi 5:27, "And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness." At the mini-missionary closing meeting it was wonderful to see how much each of the mini-missionaries had grown. Just a week of really focusing on the Lord and His work had built each of them so much. The Finnish people are wonderful. They truly stand as lights to their nation. For example, in Finnish culture you do not say hi or talk with people you do not know (trust me, we get lots of weird reactions to our openness with people). Seeing the bravery of these little missionaries as they went against social norms to share the good news of Jesus Christ was awesome. I love Finland, it's good to see that this country will always be in good hands. 

This week we've been studying the example of Abinadi, and how motivated he was to do the work. Abinadi knew that he was going to be killed for his testimony, he had no motivation to keep going other than his personal testimony of Christ. I love his testimony part of which can be found in Mosiah 15:6-9,

6 And after all this, after working many mighty miracles among the children of men, he shall be led, yea, even asIsaiah said, as a sheep before the shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.

7 Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father.

 8 And thus God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men—

9 Having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy; being filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice.

Abinadi is such a wonderful example of relying on the Lord completely. He knew without a doubt what he needed to do, and he needed no other motivation than the knowledge of his Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Have a wonderful week!

Love Sisar Mendenhall

Wow! You are so______!   

(Finland – Week 30)   

04 August, 2015

Well, it finally happened, a Finn has finally told me that I sound ____ . Twice in a week I was called the same thing, finally I looked it up, it meant fluent. Funny how I was being called fluent but did not understand the actual word fluent. I assure you that these were very kind Finns, I am not fluent, but I will work on that so that one day I may be, SUJAVA! (that means fluent, I think, I hope I spelled that right...) 

This week we have a mini missionary!! It's the coolest program ever, for a week teenagers come and live with the missionaries, eat with us, teach with us, and be officially representatives for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! They are so excited, I love it. Our mini missionary is 15, like my wonderful sister Leisel! We have taught together, talked to so many people, and had a lot of fun. I helped teach the 5-hour "mini MTC" and watched them all be told where they were going, they are all really prepared. It's awesome to see the testimonies Heavenly Father gives, we don't need to have years of experience teaching or anything to have bright testimonies that stand as a sign for the nations. 

This week a scripture was brought to my notice in Jeremiah 16:16,"Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks." Someone pointed out that the huge apartment buildings all over here in Finland would have looked like giant mountains in Jeremiah's time, and that each apartment would be like a hole in the rock. This made all of us missionaries feel super epic, hunting out God's children across the land (probably with epic music in the background), and it reminded me how much I love what I am doing. I never thought that I would love the fact that I have sore feet all the time, because every time I feel my feet, I remember that that's because I told 100 people that day that Christ is their Savior. I love my Savior Jesus Christ, and I love how the scriptures apply to us today. They are meant for us, to strengthen and enlighten and inspire. I love studying the scriptures, it is always worth the time. 

I hope you all have a most wonderful week! Much Love!

Sisar Mendenhall