Vaasassa 

(Finland – Week 18)

12 May 2015

Hej!

Vaasa is beautiful! Our first night we went out for a walk between two lakes, past old buildings, and through the city center. It's a lot smaller than Helsinki of course, but I really love the area. I drive now! We just washed our car today and that involved me gracefully dumping two buckets of water on my feet simultaneously (but I learned a valuable answer! No, I cannot carry two buckets of water and a vacuum. No vacuums were harmed in the cleaning of our car). It's light from when we wake up to when we go to sleep, and it's getting warmer! Yesterday I walked around outside in a cardigan. The branch here is wonderful, we have already had lots of members on lessons, and lots of help. The apartment has a sauna! We aren't allowed to use it but it makes a great storage unit (which cannot be randomly emptied like our last one was).

Sunday was the best!! Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers and happy I-get-to-skype-my-family day to me! I hope they all loved it as much as I did. It was fun to have us all together, in Utah, Korea, and Finland. The Lord truly loves all of people in every land of the earth.

I'm super excited to be here in this new city! I miss Helsinki, but I know the Lord has great plans in store for my new area. I love this passage in the book of Acts, "Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee...for I have much people‍ in this city." (Acts 18:9-10) We are determined to find those people, and wow are my new companions ready to find! I thought I was going to have to do a lot more but they are so on top of things. They are ready to talk to everyone, to try anything in Finnish, and to wholeheartedly love the Finns. I feel like I'm just being spoiled to have them both here.

It's been a wonderful week, I wish you all the best with this next week!

One of these pictures I took out my window at 10pm.

Love Sisar Mendehall

Wouldn't It Be Great If There Were Three Of Me? 

(Finland – Week 18) 

Hej! 

So change calls came and like that wonderful title implies, I will be finishing the training of not one, but two sisters up in Vaasa! It's about a 4 hour train ride north and where a lot of the Swedish-Finns live. I already learned one word in Swedish! Hej! (Pronounced "hei" if you're Finnish and "hey" if you're amerikkalainen, thankfully that word wasn't too hard to get). Of course that was immediately followed by a terrible Finnish blunder, courtesy of moi/minä/me, and lots of praying that the three of us will be ok! I am really excited and feel quite calm about all of this, I know the Lord will provide where I lack. And no worries, I'm not actually planning on making these sisters my minions.  

This past week we had Vappu! May day! It's a huge Finnish holiday and since one of my companions is Finnish, we celebrated the suomalinen way! That meant a pastry that looks like a brain, delicious donuts, and balloons! We twisted balloon animals (we had really impressive worms and snakes) and swords, and had several brightly-colored balloons to welcome spring! Spring really is here, I saw a leaf this morning! It's weird to remember that trees usually have leaves.

I've been reading a lot about leaders, specifically Captain Moroni. He is a fantastic example of courage and strength, it even says in the Book of Mormon, "Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni , behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men." (Alma 48:17) In times of war as well as in times of peace he tried to always find peaceful solutions, and he was always preparing. He always looked to the Lord for inspiration, and came up with ingenius new ideas. Captain Moroni is one of my Book of Mormon heroes, and I very much want to be more like him. It's wonderful to apply the Book of Mormon to ourselves, only then it is really able to change our lives. 

Have a great week! I'll write from the north soon enough. 

Love Sisar Mendenhall

Eternal Families, Eternally Awesome

(Finland - Week 17) 

28 April 2015

Hyvää päivää!

Wow we had an awesome week! We are currently teaching a part-member family, the mother has been inactive for 30 years! Every time we go there the Spirit is so strong, we leave thinking "this right here, is why I want to be a missionary." This past lesson we were talking about eternal families and how we can prepare to have them. This past conference we were all reminded of the importance of families. They truly are central to God's plan of happiness. During our lesson, the wife started asking about what they could do to partake of eternal life as a family, "which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God." (D&C 14:7, shout-out to seminary scripture mastery games) We talked about the ordinances we must do before we can be sealed as families for time and all eternity, the wife then turned to the husband and said, "I want to be sealed as a family and live together for eternity. You need to be baptized." WOW! We testified of baptism so many times, but the Spirit was never as strong as it was just then. You could feel the love that that family has, and their earnest desire to live as a family after this life. It was a wonderful night, and I was just reminded of how grateful I am for my family. 

This week we also had an exciting phenomenon called blank day! Blank day is when you have absolutely no appointments of any kind. No meetings. Nothing at all that you need to be at. Thankfully these do not happen often. We had the awesome problem of running out of Mormonin kirjat because we gave so many away! We talked to so many people we contacted the same lady twice! (We recognized her, don't worry it wasn't that awkward.) We talked to a lady through her mail slot, the way she moved the flap really looked like a mouth, if someone dubbed over that it would be a conversation with a door. And we tracted into an elderly lady about to go sauna (that's definitely a verb), well I don't actually know where she was going, but her attire (the lack thereof) suggested the sauna. I really didn't know what to do in that situation, so I testified! That's what I've been told to do when I don't know what to say. Blank day = hundreds of new friends, talking doors, and much much more!!! 

It's been a good week for me, I hope it's been just as great for all of you! 

Much love and prayers,

Sisar Mendenhall

PS, look at this classy, good-looking pizza:) Actually it was really cheap and slightly burned, but still, it's got a great name.

Belgians and Brothers  

(Finland – Week 16)  

21 April 2015

Many adventures this week! We went to the temple on Wednesday because we have a companion that is new in the mission. It was amazing! It is so great to feel God's love in His house. We also had zone conference this past weekend with the Tampere zone (I'm in the Helsinki zone, there are four zones in our mission) and we had to be at Tampere by 7 in the morning. That meant we had to be on our charter bus in Helsinki at 4:30 in the morning, but the buses and trains don't run that early so that meant we had to walk, and that meant we had to stay at the Sister's apartment in downtown Helsinki. All in all we got up at the lovely hour of 2:30, got ready, and walked to the central train station amongst the revelers that had yet to go to sleep. It was totally worth it! Elder Nielson (he spoke in general conference about the prodigal son and his sister Susan) spoke to us and he served a mission in Finland! He knew exactly what we are all trying to do, and exactly what we needed to hear. It was obviously way super great because after only four hours of sleep we all stayed awake through a four hour meeting. 

I met a Belgian yesterday!! I was so excited I literally jumped. She knew Mons (my city) and good chocolate and lots of other life-and-death details of Belgium. We spoke in Finnish, I can't remember too much French, it made my day.

I was reading in Alma the other day and I just love the advice he gives to his sons. This first one is to Alma's son Corianton who had just been a huge punk and committed terrible sins, Alma 39:10, "And I command you to take it upon you to counsel with your elder brothers in your undertakings; for behold, thou art in thy youth, and ye stand in need to be nourished by your brothers. And give heed to their counsel." I just love the counsel to talk with his brothers. Imagine the humility it would take for him to go to his brothers and say, I really need help, and the comfort from knowing that no matter what he said, his brothers would still love him. I love my siblings a lot, and I just imagined us having a little pow-wow. Of course they would be disappointed, but they would care so much more about getting me back to where I needed to be than anything else. Christ is our older brother, and just as Corianton was to counsel with his brothers, we are to follow the counsel of Christ. "And now, my son, I have told you this that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness." (Alma 38:9) I just love how much the Book of Mormon talks about Christ. It truly is another testament of Him, and He truly wants us to come home. 

Much love from Finland! 

Sisar Mendenhall 

Soldiers and Cards  

(Finland – Week 15)  

14 April 2015

No hei! 

Wow this week has been awesome! A few days ago one of my companions sat down by a man on the bus who promptly pulled out his phone and began talking to a friend in a language she didn't recognize. She heard "something something Missionary..." and then the man switched to Finnish. She pulled out a pass-along card with a picture of Christ on it and the man said, "Oh! They believe in Jesus!" He then switched to English and kept talking to his friend about this missionary on the bus next to him. My companion gave him the card and we laughed about the weirdest card-giving ever. Yesterday this man called us and asked for a church tour and to learn about our beliefs! We were more than happy to oblige and we had an awesome lesson yesterday. Miracles are everywhere! I'm so grateful my companion braved the awkward and gave that man a card. 

Also this week is interim training for the newest missionaries. That means both of my companions are gone right now (one is a trainer and the other her trainee). Two other sisters are in the exact same situation as me and so all three of us are here in Haaga and it's been so fun! One of these sisters was my MTC companion, and the other was in my first district here in Finland! We've been learning lots from each other and the weather has been lovely (well, lovely for about two hours but vitamin D is vitamin D). 

I read 2 Timothy the other day and man it's a powerhouse! If you ever need a pick me up forget youtube videos of fuzzy animals and get out your Bible. First of all is 2 Tim 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." God doesn't want us to live in fear and stress, he wants us to be happy! To feel love and power. Not power to take over the world, but power to do and be good. I love this second one, 2 Tim 2:3 "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." Imagine yourself as a literal soldier of Christ, the army of Christ would make those 300 Spartans run for the hills. No one will ever or could ever overpower Christ. By joining His forces and following His orders we will never fail, the path will never be too hard. 

I found the great and spacious building! I think it's about to fall soon. 

Much love!

Sisar Mendenhall

Hyvää Pääsiäistä!

(Finland – Week 14)

07 April 2015

WOW Easter and General Conference! It's been a good week.

So this week I gained at least 50 smooth points (which is scored similar to golfing, one day I might be at the level of crunchy peanut butter). A majority of those came from when we went to visit a member family. We had never been to their house nor even met them. The journey there was an adventure comparable to that of Cuzco and Pacha, although we couldn't even draw our path afterwards as it was so confusing. We finally arrived, and a very friendly man said hi to us on the street, people rarely say hi to us so we were so happy! We rushed by, realized we were early, took a little siesta in the hissi (elevator) and went upstairs. Come to find out the really friendly man was the father of this family. Oops. And if we had gotten off the bus one stop sooner we would have had a very easy journey. Oops. Well repentance is the thing, I don't have to be perfect yet.

At least we eat healthy-ish! (Note the attached picture)

These are a few of my favorite things (April 2015 general conference edition):

1. “I can teach you to dance, but you have to hear the music.” I love this analogy, how it makes to gospel so personal, how it is up to us to truly make the dance (living the gospel) something meaningful. I thought back on my social dance class at BYU (which happened to be my lowest grade of the semester) and wondered if I could really learn a dance much more important than waltzing. 

2. To answer that, and to assure everyone that we can in fact learn this dance, I have another quote I heard in conference from Nelson Mandela, “I’m no saint—that is, unless you think a saint is a sinner who keeps on trying.” My dance teacher was pretty merciful but the mercy of our Savior is much, much greater. His love for us is infinite and eternal. As long as we keep trying, we are Saints. Our church is full of try-ers as it is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Isn't the Savior's love wonderful? He loves a bunch of people just because they try to figure out the dance. 

3. I'm pretty sure I say this every week, but that's also something that struck me in conference, the need to "constantly marvel". We need to constantly marvel at Christ's love, His sacrifice, His enabling power. Easter marks literally the biggest event that has taken/will ever take place on this earth, and we need to always be in awe of this act, the Atonement of our Savior.

I hope you all had a happy Easter! (Hyvää pääsiäistä) Have a great week!

Love Sisar Mendenhall

Toveruuden voima‏

(Finland – week 13)

31 March 2015

And we're back! Into winter that is. But you know what they say, April snowstorms bring May flowers!

Companionship power moment: I was talking to a lady on the bus the other day who was not Finnish, she spoke rather loudly, Finns are very quiet. We were having a good conversation about families, I even showed her a picture of my family, and then she asked me a question that I did not understand at all. I was a little panicked because our conversation had been going so well. I glanced to the side of her and saw my Finnish companion staring me down from across the aisle, she mouth "joo" (yes) and I exuberantly replied "Kyllä!" (also means yes). The lady was happy and we continued to talk for several minutes. I'm so glad that my companion had my back, and that the lady I was talking to was loud enough for my companion to hear. Double blessing! 

This week I've been studying the enabling power of the Atonement. Lots of times we focus on the power of Christ's Atonement to receive forgiveness for our sins, and we forget that the Atonement also allows us to become stronger, and to grow. One of my Dad's favorite quotes is that the Atonement makes "Bad men good, and good men better" I used to think this just meant everybody sins, even good people need to repent. That is true, but this also means that the Lord can strengthen us to stretch farther than we thought possible. There's a wonderful example of this in the Book of Mormon in 1 Nephi 7, when Nephi's brothers tie him up. He prays not to have the bonds removed, but to be strengthened so he can break the bonds himself. "But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound." (1Ne 7:17) Nephi showed God his willingness to do his part, he humbly and realistically said, 'I promise to work, please just help me with this one part.' Then according to Nephi's faith, the Lord gave him the strength, "And it came to pass that when I had said these words, behold, the bands were loosed from off my hands and feet," (1Ne 7:18). We can do exactly the same thing, by giving our all we show we aren't taking the Lord's work for granted, and we are enabled to grow. I'd like to end with one of my favorite quotes, "Sometimes God calms the storm, and sometimes He just calms the sailor" (I'm not sure where that's from...) I love this. We don't have to be in a perfect situation to grow. We don't have to wait until tomorrow. With the strengthening and enabling power of the Atonement, we can start right now to become better, stronger, more dedicated disciples of Christ.

A lot of this is from a talk by Elder Bednar called, "The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality" I highly recommend it! (https://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/04/the-atonement-and-the-journey-of-mortality?lang=eng&query=strengthening+and+enabling+power) 

In other news, WE FOUND TWO PUZZLES IN OUR APARTMENT AND I AM BEYOND EXCITED! I get ready so fast in the mornings now!

Much love, sois fort (throwback to youth conference in Belgium:) ),

Sisar Mendenhall