Winter is here.  

(Finland – Week 52)

  

05 Jan 2016

Welcome winter! Glad you finally came, and that you are now letting everyone know with great enthusiasm. What is the most awkward part of winter, you may ask. Is it when your feet go numb and you feel you are walking on stilts? When you contemplate putting your pen in your mouth because your hands have frozen into shovels? When you are leaving someone's home and take five minutes in a very cramped entryway to put on both of your scarves, gloves, mittens, hat, coat, boots, reflector (legally required), and boots (which look exactly like your companion's because you bought them together)? The answer is none of the above. The most awkward thing is when the moisture on your nose hairs freeze, and you walk around with a hundred tiny icicles in each nostril. To top it off these icicles eventually melt... Honestly though I do love the winter, everything is so beautiful when covered in snow. Also, my family sent me great leggings for Christmas, so besides my nose I'm quite warm!

This past week I noticed an awesome similarity between one of my favorite scriptures, Helaman 5:12, and 3 Nephi 18. In 3 Nephi 18 Christ institutes the Sacrament among the Nephites, just as He did with His apostles in the Last Supper. When talking about the why of the Sacrament, Christ says, "And this shall ye always do to those who repent and are baptized in my name; and ye shall do it in remembrance of my blood, which I have shed for you, that ye may witness unto the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you. And I give unto you a commandment that ye shall do these things. And if ye shall always do these things blessed are ye, for ye are built upon my rock." (3 Nephi 18:11-12) When we partake of the Sacrament each week to remember Christ, to repent of our sins, and to start a fresh week we stay firm on the rock of Christ. Helaman 5:12 says, "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." By staying on the rock of Christ, we will always be safe and protected. And we stay on that rock by worthily partaking of the Sacrament! The Sacrament is so important, I had no idea before my mission. It's become one of my favorite parts of my week. I love the time that I get to focus on my Savior and becoming more like Him.

I wish you all a warm and happy week! Watch those nose hairs.

Love Sisar Mendenhall

Attached are some pictures of the beauty of Finland. I live in a postcard. All the time. Wow I love it here.