"take more if it tastes good"

Good morning everyone!

It has been an awesome week here. Much has happened since last time I wrote, it has been very fun, decently successful, and very cold. Sorry I forgot to tell everyone that I wasnt going to be emailing on tuesday. Our pday got switched to wednesday this week because we were with president aura yesterday in vaasa, for district meeting and interviews...He also brought like 9 boxes of pizza...still wasnt enough in my opinion. Missionaries can eat unlimited amounts I think...sometimes the ward members just keep saying "take more if it tastes good" and so you have to take more. Most the time it taste good though. Me and elder fielding only have 2 weeks left together. Most likely we get split up when the transfer ends...It has been a quick one.

Personal study:

this week I have continued to read about ammon and the sons of mosiah. I am amazed by how much faith they had. Our mission scripture this transfer has been ether 12:18 And neither at any time hath any wrought miracles until after their faith; wherefore they first believed in the Son of God. I love this scripture so much. If you look back at any great prophet or missionary in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon, you can see that a great amount of faith was required. In most of our gospel discussions that we give, focus on this verse. It is so important that we trust in God and christ and that we have faith to act. I really like that it says that no miracles have come until after their faith. It is so easy to sit back and say "I trust in god and know that he will make it happen..." and then just sit there and wait for it to happen. This is a good try...but not good enough if you want progress. Trust in God and know that he will make it happen...but then go help him make it happen. Last night in a lesson with a member( the one we helped moved like 4 weeks ago) (i thought i was having ptsd for a second when i walked into her house) I testified in the little finnish that I know and said that it is so important that we "autamme jumala jotta hän voi auttaa meitä" we help God so that he can help us. Basically we need to be part of the help ourselves.

This week:

Tuesday through thursday we were in Helsinki area with all the other trainees at a thing called return and report. lots of fun. Lots of meetings. basically a three day zone conference. But it was really great and spiritually uplifting. and i got to see elder reed and elder viitanen again(my mtc comps). So it was super fun. On the train ride back, we played phase ten the whole time. super fun. The trains in Finland are awesome. They are electric and super high speed. I almost saw some person on their phone walk into one going super fast my first week here. you gotta be careful. We also got to go to the Helsinki temple! That was a fun experience. 

We have had a lot of success this week finding people to teach. But the problem that we have is that we cant get any return dates..so they arent investigators. After our mission wide fast, the numbers basically doubled. We have 30 something investigators mission wide now. Pretty good. I think I wrote about perti last week. He was the first investigator that elder fielding and I have had. He was found during splits with district leaders. We visited him and he really liked it so he said we could come back in the night and teach again, and also his girlfriend (of 10 days). We were pretty pumped about it. When we go there she was a hard core basher. It was in finnish, so elder fielding did a good job defending our honor. After our lesson, elder fielding said that when you meet a basher, it only strengthens your testimony that what you believe in is true. We are going to sneak back though and visit him when she isnt there though. Cant let him get away to fast.

We also got let into some other homes and taught some awesome lessons. I really like teaching lessons because I can hold my own if it is a gospel discussion in finnish. 

We are trying to be more involved with the members and to try get some referrals from them. We want them to be excited about missionary work. It is so important that members are involved. I love our small little ward a ton...there is this one youth who we take out to eat at a restaurant every saturday. last saturday we went to Hesburger (like mcdonalds) and this saturday we are going to sam burger. I love missionary work! It is great.

It was super super cold this week. I think monday and tuesday it was like  -20 

...Sometimes you can breathe in your nose and then it like freezes your nose hairs. tuesday morning we walked out side and started coughing because your throat froze when you breathed in. 

 

I had another bike wreck this week.I might just put a weekly section for it. This has been my worst one so far. high speed destruction. I am grateful for these experiences because you can laugh about them after. Me and elder fielding were wanting to race our bikes on sunday or monday...so I was like "no..i am going to crash" but than we started anyway. It isnt very smart to ride super fast in ice and snow. We were going really fast, and we were side by side. I was riding my bike funny on purpose just to like stupid like I was sticking my butt in the air and leaning way forward. And then my chain flew off! I was still peddling, super fast though..but no resistance! I flew forward onto the bar between the seat and the handle bars and shouted out in pain. and then the seat stabbed my backside bone really bad. I flew off to the right side and basically threw my bike to the left into elder fielding. His chain shattered into 3 or 4 pieces. I land on the road and do a couple rolls. and then end the crash sitting up with my legs in like a half split position. At first I thought I hurt my butt really bad...but nah...just some good bruises. The early morning sit ups are hard though still. Me and my comp were trying to recover when two old people walked past and asked if we broke our bike. we said yea....and then they kept walking. I dont like crashing my bike...but I like the memories..so I will be happy if I keep crashing.

Our new convert has been having a hard time with his health. he said he moved from our area to go get some help. But we were in his city (ilmajoki) and we decided to just knock his door for fun..to see if he was messing with us..and his tv was on and the lights. no answer though. We get on the bus and there he is in the front row going to seinäjoki. He sees us and puts his hand on the side of his face trying to hide. We went and sat right next to him and he didnt move or anything. It was really awkward for a couple minutes but than I said hello...and we gave him some chocolate. He didnt want to talk to us though. kept trying to hide. We have been praying for him alot and put his name in at the temple. We talked to president alot about him...and he said that more important than him coming to church is that he is healthy. We love him and want the best for him!

I love being a missionary! There are so many things to be unhappy about in missionary work...but you can still choose to be happy! Choose to be happy...it does no good to be angry! Easiest way to be happy is to just be happy...I dont really know other than just choose it.

church is true...I know it! I love you all. Remember to serve each other more this week! (thats another way to be happy)