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