Christmas in FINLAND

(Finland – Week 51)

28 Dec 2015

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow! Christmas in Finland was amazing!

Christmas eve we were blessed to go to a family Christmas! Presents, the big feast, all that stuff is on Christmas eve here. We ate so much delicious food, and felt like part of the family. On Christmas days we talked with OUR FAMILIES!!! Wow, I have a really awesome family. It was wonderful to see them again! We then went to a graveyard, here they cover all the graves in candles for Christmas, I tried to capture it but the pictures don't do it justice. Just imagine a sea of candles next to this awesome old church. It was so beautiful. I'm so happy for all of the members that took us in this week! Between that and seeing my family this Christmas was truly wonderful.

We decided to really focus on Christ this Christmas season, so we made a Christ wall! It's a little fuzzy in this attached picture, it's a lot cooler in real life. (The largest pictures are about 8x11 to give you a size reference.)  It's on the wall right by our desks and every day we just sit and marvel a little bit. There are so many pictures that depict so many different aspects of Christ, and all that HE does for us. On Christmas morning I made a list of reasons why Christ is my King, things like He grants me peace (He is the Prince of Peace, He rules peace), He heals the sick, raised the dead, and still worries when I have a rough day. He is truly my light, and a light to all the nations. Writing that list that morning felt wonderful, I felt so much of the Christmas joy. 1 Corinthians 3:11 reads, "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." I know that this is true, Christ is THE way. I'm so grateful for my Savior, for this Christmas season when, regardless of background, the world becomes more joyful because of Him.

This Christmas was amazing, it's the most Christ-centered Christmas I've had. I missed doing fun traditions with my family, but I really felt that my Savior was near, and that made it wonderful.

Hyvää uutta vuotta!! Happy new year!!

Love Sisar Mendenhall

HYVÄÄ HYVÄÄ HYVÄÄ JOULUA  

(Finland – Week 50)

   

                22 Dec 2015

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! Wow Christmas has come so fast! I love the Christmas spirit, how everyone is more inclined to generosity and joy. The other day we saw our bus, and started booking it. We still had a street to cross and then probably 20 meters when the bus hit the stop, we knew we weren't going to make it. Then the bus stopped! We were so happy, we thought someone must need to get off at that stop, but then no one did. We ran on, and the bus driver just smiled and said, "I saw you running." We were so grateful for this helpful man, stopping his bus for us.

We've been showing everyone the new Christmas video, A Savior is Born. I hope you all have watched it! I've been reading one of my favorite chapters every day of Christ from the Book of Mormon, leading up to Christmas. It's been great to really focus my Christmas on Christ. Christmas time as a missionary is really different, and to make it special we've really been focusing on what Christ has done and does for us, and why He's our King. I came across this verse which talks about what happened in the Book of Mormon when Christ came, 3Nephi 1:13, "Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets." I love this verse! The first thing we are told to do, be happy and rejoice! The Savior is here! What a wonderful message. I also love how Christ came to the world, knowing all that He was to do. He knew the prophecies about Himself, He gave them to the prophets. Knowing all that He was to do, Christ still came for us. The love He has for each of us amazes me everyday.

HYVÄÄ JOULUA Love me and my companion in downtown Helsinki, check out our coordinating hats and scarves:)

VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Love Sisar Mendenhall

LITERALLY, new light in the Heavens!

(Finland – Week 49)

15 Dec 2015

Some days, people just really don't want to talk to you. Despite your best efforts, the coolest and fanciest grammar principles you know, AND the new Christmas video, some days people just don't listen. Those days can be hard, but our Heavenly Father knows that. Yesterday was one of those days. But then, last night, I saw, the NORTHERN LIGHTS. While standing and gazing at the glorious green, a shooting star streaked across the sky. Wow. (I have no pictures for proof, you all will just have to believe my words.) Seeing the Northern lights has been on my bucket list for ages! One time my family ran around a city more north than almost all of Finland looking for these lights, and we never saw them. But yesterday, after a long day of rejection, I saw them in southern Finland! And I saw a shooting star!! Wow, Heavenly Father is truly mindful of all of His children. He really does want to make sure we each have a good day.

This past week we had a mission tour! Meaning someone not in Finland came and spoke to all of the missionaries in Finland over a couple of days. At the mission tour our Mission President's wife spoke about the shepherd, meaning Jesus Christ, and how He is always with His sheep. She had us look at a picture of Christ cuddling a lamb on His breast, and of another of Christ holding the lamb draped across His shoulders. Then she asked us our thoughts. Someone was probably thinking something profound, but what came to my head was, "I wonder if the sheep was dirty, animals are never clean especially if they've been wandering around where they shouldn't have been. Jesus is just cuddling it right to Him, does it not get His clothes gross? How does it smell? How long did He carry the sheep? I wonder if it kicked Him." I don't know why I was thinking so literally, but I started pondering the condition of the lamb. I was touched to think that, even if covered in mud, Christ wouldn't have cared about that. If the lamb was kicking him or chewing on His hair, Christ would have still carried the lamb. We will never be pushed away, labeled too dirty, or rejected by Him. His light is everlasting, His patience, His love. This is one of my favorite verses of Christ in this season because the nights are so long, and the daylight so short, "He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death." (Mosiah 16:9) I know that Christ really is there to carry us, no matter our condition. He is always there to shine for us, to bring us home. I'm blessed to know what it means that a Savior is Born, and I invite all of you to share what that means to a fellow lamb, to point them to the shepherd.

We also heard from Elder Dyches from the Europe Area presidency! (If you don't know who that is, go here https://www.lds.org/church/leader/timothy-j-dyches?lang=eng :)). He's awesome. He talked to us a lot about how much we can be in control. There's a lot in life we really have no control over. A lot of things happen that are hard to explain, hard to handle, and completely unavoidable. But we have so much control, in how it affects us. Why is that? Because we can always turn to Christ to find the energy we don't have, the strength we need, and the motivation to keep going. We can choose to be happy by choosing to follow Christ. I just love learning how to be happy! It's the best and it works!

It was a really great week, and I wish you all the best week as well!

Much love and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Rakkaudellani,

Sisar Mendenhall

An afternoon in Finland:

Receiving Strength from the Vine  

(Finland – Week 48) 

8 Dec 2015

We had a really cool experience recently. And by that, I mean a really terrifying experience that could have gone terribly but in Heavenly Father's mercy it turned out awesome! We were on the bus, I was talking to one person and my companion to another, like we do several times every day. The bus driver pulled over for a stop, then parked the bus, stood up, and in a sharp voice asked if we were talking about religious things. This has never happened to me before. Finns are generally very reserved, and buses very quiet. We've had attention called to us before on the bus in a negative sense, but this was even more so because the bus driver had completely stopped to call us out. The lady my companion was talking to, was awesome. She simply said, "Yes, but I'm not bothered by it." The bus driver nodded, looked at us, went back to his seat, and carried on. The girl I was talking to also said that she was fine in our conversation. Both were very friendly, loving people. I was so grateful that day that we had sat by them. Really though, most people we talk to are friendly. I'm grateful to serve among such a wonderful people.

Just today I studied the vine of Christ in John 15. I love how Christ's disciples are extensions of the vine, we are literally His appendages on the earth. The same love we feel, the same Priesthood power we have, is felt by and had by Christ and our Heavenly Father. It's amazing that they trust us with this, they want us to have this love. By serving others we continue sending nourishment from the vine to fruit, others that need our help. And by so serving we become friends of Christ, "Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." (John 15:15) We truly are serving the Lord when we serve others, we are doing what He wants to do. Imagine how Christ must want to help us every day, to hug us, to love us. We get to be there for others to give them the help they need from Christ. We all then receive more ourselves as His thank you to us for serving. This study really made me desire to serve others with everything I have, so that more of Christ's love (because all love comes from Him, see Moroni 7:13) can travel through me to others and can be felt.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!! 

We've officially decorated our apartment with real Finnish decorations. We feel so cool. Because Finnish=cool.

Have a wonderful week!

Love Sisar Mendenhall

Go watch "A Savior is Born"!

(Finland – Week 47)

01 Dec 2015

Just last night I was on exchanges (with a former companion!! Wow that was fun). And we got to do some spontaneous service. We saw a woman dragging a box down the street so we went to help. Turns out she is from Uzbekistan, slight language barrier. Her box had broken and was awkward to carry so she had been dragging it for a while and one side was totally shredded. I'm pretty sure she told us we didn't need to carry the box, but she didn't stop us when we picked it up so we figured it was ok. We followed her to a nearby shopping center where she told us to wait. She came back with string and started tying something out of it around this box (which had a microwave in it). We were so confused with how she was weaving and lacing something fancy and complicated, but when she was done it was a perfect carrier! She was very grateful for our help, and we were so happy to do so. She spoke some Finnish so we were able to share a message, and she was excited to learn more. I love the opportunities service opens.

THANKSGIVING!! I have so many things to be grateful for, my wonderful family, the Finnish people, and of course, My Savior Jesus Christ. I hope you all have seen the new video, "A Savior is Born" and the website christmas.mormon.org that goes with it (it's in Finnish too! joulu.mormon.org :) ). This Christmas season let's all remember the Savior, and the healing power He brings. I am so grateful that literally all can be right through Him, all can be healed, and we all can find great joy. Doctrine and Covenants talks about being thankful in 62:7 "I, the Lord, am willing, if any among you desire to ride upon horses, or upon mules, or in chariots, he shall receive this blessing, if he receive it from the hand of the Lord, with a thankful heart in all things." I first read this and thought, wow, chariots and mules, that's interesting. But it is pretty amazing to remember that all that we ask from the Lord can be ours when we ask in faith, and are grateful when we receive it. I am so grateful for this time of year, when so many focus on the Savior. Let's all use this time to be grateful for Him.

I wish you all the best this week!!

Love Sisar Mendenhall