Rakas ystäviä,
Yesterday marks 5 months a missionary, and today marks two
months until I turn 20. Crazy, crazy stuff!
You will not believe what I did this morning. I went for a
jog (it was actually a walk, let's be real). But no, like I actually tried to
jog a little bit, and believe it or not I enjoyed it. Mostly because we picked
flowers along the way, and because we went on a trail along the river and
because Finland in the spring is literally the most beautiful thing I've ever
seen. Sisar Howell and I are going to try and lose two pounds a week between
now and the end of the change, so we needed to up the ante a little bit from
our we-don't-actually-try-that-hard workout DVDs. Well, I don't try that hard
because if I'm in the apartment all I want to do is sleep. That aside, we are
going to try to go out whenever it isn't raining and it isn't a Sunday, so it
should be good.
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| Not from my jogging route, but another view of what Finland in the Spring looks like. Gorgeous! |
We also got a real taste of Finnish spring today when we got
caught in a torrential 5-minute downpour between the bus stop and the church.
My shoes and skirt are still damp as I type this, but thankfully I thought to
bring a rain jacket so my top half is all dry. We've been informed that
apparently there is all sorts of crazy lightning-and-thunder rainstorms during
the spring and summer since it's so humid, so it'll keep us on our toes.
This week has been mostly chill with a couple spikes of
excitement. We did a ton of contacting and prayerful tracting this week because
we had had such a hard time getting our investigators to meet with us. We also
have a very specific goal of finding Chinese women to teach. Yes, it sounds
strange. But there are a ton of Chinese people in Finland, and Sisar Howell
taught them very often in Vassa, and they are super nice and receptive to the
message, so she has been dying to teach another one. We also have a super
awesome Chinese guy in our ward who got baptized last year, and we want to find
him a wife! Haha, but really, he is the nicest guy and he deserves an eternal
marriage in the temple, especially for when he goes back to China where the
church is not yet super solidly established. So that's our goal, and we did a
lot of searching this week.
On Saturday, we were trying to contact a a guy who had been
investigating the church a while back, and we went into his building, but
couldn't remember the apartment number. So Sisar Howell picked a name that
sounded right and we knocked on that door. We were super confused when a lady
opened the door, recognized us, and said something like "Oh, sisters, you
must be friends here to visit my husband." We were confused because there
wasn't any mention of a wife (or possibly it said that she wasn't supportive? I
don't remember) and she was so familiar with us, but when she called her
husband, we realized it was actually one of the Elders' investigators! He is a
super nice guy, but we're pretty sure he's crazy. But man, he is so hysterical.
We got sucked into their house for a good hour and a half, in which time, they
insisted on giving us juice, showing us a video of a super awesome pianist (his
name is Stephen Beus, look him up) who was a missionary in Finland 10 years
ago, they wanted to bring us to some kind of lecture by a Messianic Jew, and he
just talked and talked about all sorts of stuff, and the two of them bickered
SO MUCH. It was just so strange that we had just accidentally contacted into
this guy, and we're pretty sure it wasn't an accident. We don't know why we
needed to visit them, but God knew they needed a visit from the
missionaries.
We had a super fun experience of having three investigators
in church on Sunday. Well, two of them were prospective investigators, and the
other was J the college guy, who has been coming fairly regularly. This Sunday,
he fasted, and we fasted with him, to help him notice his answers to his
prayers. We don't know for sure what the result was, but at least he is so
willing to try new things! We met up with one of our prospectives early so we
could give him a church tour, and had to stop halfway through so we could run
to the bus stop to pick up the other potential. They both enjoyed Sacrament
meeting, but J and the second potential, now an investigator, had to leave
right after that. They were pretty calm and normal in the meeting. But the
other potential, the one we gave the church tour to, came in and out of
the chapel twice during the meeting, and then he SPOKE in the middle of one of
the talks! I mean flat out started commenting on what the guy was saying. The
speaker was a member of the stake presidency, I think, and he handled it so
well. But I knew it made most people a little uncomfortable, and it was
definitely distracting. Note to self to remind our visitors in the future to be
quiet and reverent.
It's been a crazy week, but I'll end on a more spiritual
note. We started teaching an 18 year old girl who is the non-
member daughter of
a less active guy in another town, and she is just such a superstar! She has
already read bits of the Book of Mormon, and is just one of the sweetest people
I have ever met. The other sisters taught her a couple times then we took over
because she is in our ward boundaries. She is just so willing to learn, and she
already has a little growing testimony. Everything we teach her she just kind
of accepts. Last time we met with her, we set a baptismal date, and she is
going to be ready! The Spirit is so strong every time we have taught her, and
she just glows with the light of Christ!
Well, folks, that's all you're getting this week. I hope you
are all doing well and wish you a lovely week. Don't forget to give thanks to
the Lord for all your blessings, including the crazy little coincidences in
your day. He has a hand in your life. He loves you, and all you need to do is
love Him back and do what He asks, and everything will fall into place. Stay
shiny!
Rakkaudella,
Sisar Hillebrant
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