Ch-ch-ch-changes! Another turn in...

Not Turku! I'm headed to Kuopio to serve with Sisar Bunting! Kuopio is north of Jyväskylä by about an hour by train, so it's about 5-6 hours from Turku. It is much smaller than Turku, and supposedly the people there have the most difficult dialect/accent in all of Finland. So that will be fun. But I have only heard good things about Kuopio, and I am very excited to serve there! The missionaries call it the City of Dreams, and if that's not promising, I don't now what is.

This weekend has been a blur of packing and goodbyes. I found out only yesterday that instead of leaving Turku on Tuesday, I am leaving already tonight (Monday) at 7 pm. I will spend the night in Helsinki then take a morning train to Kuopio and get there tomorrow afternoon. I had a chance to say goodbye to some of my favorite people here, and the ward members were so kind to wish me luck and safe travels. It was nice to feel like I've made a difference for some of them, and I guess it was really satisfying to have that kind of reassurance. Of course I'm sad to leave Turku. It is my first city and my second home. I have met so many lovely people here, and the ward has been my family for the last 8 months of my life. I feel like I really became a missionary here, so it will be sad to go. But then, it's time to try something new!

The last week had been the biggest blur of my life. I was so anxious about change calls that the week passed and it feels like I was unconscious for most of it! And honestly, I did not do my most focused work this week.

Be that as it may, the things that did happen were really good things, including meetings with investigators, members and less active members. This week V was actually able to come to Institute. What we didn't know, however, is that this year the are studying the Doctrine and Covenants and Church history, so because of his limited understanding (we've only taught him 3 times), V was a little confused. Not to mention it was in Finnish so he was getting it all through one of the girls who agreed to translate. but they talked about patience as well, and showed this awesome Mormon Message by Elder Uchtdorf, and he really liked that.

We started trying something called "Investimembers" with some of the members we met with this week. This is something that the Stake President wanted to implement, and what it means is that missionaries will start teaching members and member families like investigators. We will teach them the basic discussions from the Preach My Gospel manual (the Restoration of the Church, the Plan of Salvation, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and so on), they can ask questions just like investigators, and we will give them commitments to help them learn and grow and come closer the Christ. the idea is that the members can learn exactly what we are doing when we teach nonmembers, and so that they can feel the missionary Spirit. Nothing brings the Spirit into the home quite like the joyful message of the Restoration.

We've only done this with two members so far, and once was with M, a less-active woman we've been working with for a while. Usually when we go there, there is a pattern of getting sucked into a long social conversation, sharing a quick spiritual thought, and bouncing as fast as we can because we've already gone over an hour. It's a lot of fun, but definitely not very effective missionary work, and the spiritual thoughts are doing nothing to change her. Well, we were really nervous to try this Investimember thing with her because we weren't sure she would take to it, but we really felt it was the right thing to do. And it was actually the most spiritual lesson we've had with her in a LONG time. For the sake of her being interested enough to do it, we had her create an investigator persona and told her she could be as tough of an investigator as she wanted to be, so that it would be fun for her, as well as productive. And, she actually took right to it. We were ale to teach about prayer and the Atonement, and we really felt that all the questions she was asking as her persona were questions that M herself really had. There was definitely a special Spirit in the room, and even if she doesn't really recognize it for what it is, we have faith that this Investimember program could possibly be a turning point for her. It's an inspired idea from inspired leaders.

Time has run short once again, and we still have things to do and a baptism to attend (the Huhtala's youngest son - what a tender mercy that I get to see that before I go!) before I ship out tonight. Wishing you all a wonderful week. Remember the power of the Restoration, and when you have some time, go back and read the testimony of Joseph Smith of how the true Gospel of Christ was restored again to the earth (if you don't know where to find it, it's available online here). This is it, folks. This is the true church, and Jesus Christ is our leader. How amazing is that?

I love you all. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. Have a great week and stay shiny!

Rakkaudella,
Sisar Hillebrant

Sisar Ross enjoying the first ice of the season

Add Roller blades + Nordic walking poles = Finns

We found Hogwarts! 

She's got the whole world in her hand. 

Miracles are Everywhere

Rakkaat ystävät!

Happy fall! It is starting to get cold and dark in Finland, but hopefully my attitude won't go downhill with it :)

Our week was a really good week. Numerically, it wasn't super impressive, but I felt like pretty much everything we did was right in line with what we should be doing. The thing we still struggle with the most is talking with everyone, and that is a perpetual struggle I think for most missionaries, that we are working on overcoming.

But I guess the greatest news is that we finally, FINALLY have new investigators! We now have 3 very friendly, and very open, Chinese investigators (I promise we're not trying to profile - they're just really easy and open to talk to!), all of whom have very strong potential. There is an older man here studying for his doctorate, a middle aged woman who is married to a Finn, and a young man in his early 20s (we think) here as a student as well.

In particular, we have had some really miraculous experiences with the young student, (we'll call him V). We met him when another potential investigator asked if he could bring his friend, who was interested to learn more about God, to our meeting. That friend was V, and the very first referral I've ever gotten from someone who isn't a member if the Church. V turned out to be way more interested than we could ever hope, and in the last week and a half we have met with him twice, and he has come to church twice. Last Sunday he turned up to church on his own without any help -- we didn't even know he was coming. On Wednesday, he had planned to come to Institute and had shown up at the church, which was locked because, unbeknownst to us, Institute was not happening because there was a week long autumn break from school. We were able to find a member (by the promptings of the Holy Ghost) in literally the last minute so that we could have a short lesson with V before he had to go home.

On Friday we had our first official lesson with V, where we addressed some personal concerns he had posed to us on Wednesday. The member who came with us had had no briefing on what we were talking about with him, but with the Spirit guiding all three of us, V's concerns were sated, and he prayed for the first time! Then yesterday, V texted us in the morning saying that he wasn't going to make it to church due to poor planning. Sisar Ross and I have been practicing being more bold and we felt very strongly that we needed to help in understand how important church attendance is. So instead of just telling him that it was fine and that we would see him later, we prayerfully promised him that if he was able to come to at least the first hour to take the Sacrament, that the Lord would bless him with the time and strength to do all the other things he needed to do. Well, he texted back saying that he had missed the bus, so we scrambled to find him a ride, and after calling around to a few people, the bishop agreed to pick him up. When we got to church, there was V already seated in the chapel waiting for Sacrament meeting to start. The meeting was great, and the Spirit was strong, and V got to take the Sacrament. He was off like a shot after the meeting ended, but he came! And it was really a miracle. He is so excited to learn more and we are so excited to teach him more. We'll see him again when he comes to Institute on Wednesday :)

Well, that was a really long story, but I am just so excited about V. His desire to strengthen his relationship with God is strong. And did I mention that he only just decided to become a Christian early this year? He is SO COOL.

Honestly, that was pretty much the highlight of the week. There has been a lot of awesome stuff happening in our area, and I'm just excited to see what's going to keep happening.

I'm so grateful for the chance to be serving in Finland. I know the Lord has placed us all where we are "for the greater good," and we can be the biggest difference when we just trust in Him and do what He asks, which I will keep trying to do :)

Have a wonderful week, my friends, and stay shiny!

Rakkaudella,
Sisar Hillebrant

The Lord's Spirit

Rakkaat ystävät!

What an amazing week it's been!

We had splits with the Sister Training Leaders on Tuesday and I was with Sisar Crandall. We had a really great day learning to just slow down and take time where time is needed, which included camping out in the lobby of a kerrostalo (apartment building) and making phone calls for 45 minutes while we waited for the rain to stop. We also worked on avoiding the phrase "church representative" when we tell people why we're here in Finland, because that's not really why. We're here to share with people the things that are most important in our lives, such as the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and the message that families are eternal, and that's what we focused on sharing with people when they asked why we're here.

On Friday we were in Tampere all day. We had a Zone Meeting in the morning, and then there was a language test for the whole zone. Then I had a language class for my MTC group (we have three kieli koulus, every 2-3 months or so, to gauge our progress with the language and go over things for which we might need help or clarification -- this was our group's last one), and that went until late afternoon. We didn't come back to Turku until about 8pm.

While in Tampere, though, Sisar Ross and I had interviews with President Watson. It was just such a sweet conversation where I could just be open and honest about things that were troubling me, which may not have been that serious, but it was really calming to just talk about them. There was a bit of a release of tension I didn't know I had been holding (missionary work isn't a cake walk -- it's hard, but it sure is worth it!). President Watson is such a wonderful man. He is so kind and full of the love of Christ, and he definitely lets the Spirit lead. It was just a really great interview.

Saturday was probably the most Spirit-guided day I've ever experienced as a missionary. We had a meeting with a potential, a young man from Africa, who has some very interesting views on the concept of Christianity -- for example, he really does't like the idea of organized religion, and he talked about how we put up heaven as a reward for ourselves for doing good, and he wants to take heaven out of the equation so that as he tries to live like Christ did; not for any ulterior motive. Which I guess is kind of the case, but if you take out heaven, you kind of take out God, and then what's the point? I have never felt so guided by the Spirit as to what to say as I did in that lesson. There is no way that the things I said could have come form me alone. A 20-year old girl doesn't come up with the things that came out of my mouth.  It was amazing, and such a faith building experience that yes, the Lord will fill our mouths if we just open them and trust.

Later we had a lesson with a recent convert and we were talking about family history work, which transitioned naturally into the temple. I shared with him about how our family did my grandmother's temple work last year, and once again, I've never felt the Spirit testify so strongly to me about eternal families as it did then. It really brought tears to my eyes, and as you know, that doesn't usually happen for me. The Lord is really in our lives, and if I didn't know that before this week, I certainly do now.

How have you seen the Spirit guiding you this week? I'm interested to hear you responses :)

I hope you all have a wonderful week as you look for the hand of the Lord in your life. It's there, and it's guiding you!  Stay shiny!

Rakkaudella,
Sisar Hillebrant

Biking with Sisar Crandall

Happy General Conference Week!

Rakkaat ystävät!

I hope you all had a chance to enjoy General Conference! If you didn't, you can watch it, listen to it, and download it here.

Here's a brief rundown of how the week went:

Wednesday was Sisar Ross's birthday! She has hit the grand age of 21! We celebrated with brownies, an ice cream cake at District Meeting (courtesy of Elder Golling), and dinner with the Huhtala family, where they also provided cake. So perhaps it was not the healthiest day of my mission, but you've gotta do what you gotta do. We also celebrated by finding a new investigator, which is the first new investigator we've had in weeks. He is another foreign man, which seems to be our forte at the moment, but right now we're working with what we've got and what we've been given, and working our way up from there. 

We got another new investigator on Thursday (yet again a foreign man), when he offered us homemade bread that he had made for us because we'd been kind to him at the bus stop when we met. After like half an hour of texting and calling back and forth and struggling through a bit of a language barrier, we were finally able to meet up with him the center where he gave us the bread.  We taught a brief lesson and set up an appointment with him for the next week. It was a very interesting experience, but the bread tasted good and he became an investigator, so we're not complaining. 

The weekend was wonderful, as you can imagine, with General Conference! There is such a wonderful buzz in the air on General Conference weekend; it's almost tangible. You can feel the combined excitement of millions of Latter-Day Saints around the globe joining their spirits and their prayers to hear the words of the Lord delivered through His servants, the modern-day prophets. When I was a kid, I never thought I would love General Conference. Oh how the times have changed. I really enjoyed all the sessions we were able to attend, and I learned so much. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my study journal, so I will compile a list of highlights over the week and share with you next week some of the things that struck me. But I love Conference so much, and I know that Heavenly Father has called a living prophet on the earth today, and that he truly speak to us the words of the Lord. I know it with all my heart and soul, because the Lord has answered my prayers. If you don't know for yourself yet, find out! Ask Heavenly Father and study the words of the prophets and come to know for yourselves.  

As you ponder the things you learned this weekend, try picking out one or two things that you can implement this week. Heavenly Father speaks to us all through the Holy Spirit, and He will prompt you to know the things you can work on that will bless you life in ways you can't even imagine yet. He loves you so much!

I hope you all have a wonderful week filled with lots of little tender mercies!

Stay shiny!

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hillebrant

Getting ready for priesthood session. (Just kidding!)

Fall colors seen from our window. 

Working on My Flexibility

Rakkaat ystävät,

I think it is pretty accurate to say that this week was a stretching week. When we promised the Lord that we were going to work on courage, He took us very seriously.

So here's how Courage Week went down. 

We had almost straight 0s in our numbers at the end of the week. We only have two investigators at the moment, the daughters of a woman in our ward, neither of whom are currently "progressing", and we were unable to meet with that family at all last week. So no "member present" lessons. We didn't get any referrals or new investigators. We taught a less-active woman, and two recent converts. But here's the thing. After it was all said and done, Sisar Ross and I managed to teach 17 lessons this week. So despite the fact that our numerical results were not so great, we still felt like we had done everything we could and everything the Lord expected of us. We went out of our way, really breaking down the walls of our comfort zone, to talk to more people than we normally would, especially young adults, which have been our area of biggest discomfort. And the Lord certainly threw that at us. Since we had promised we would do what He asked and because we had a focus of talking with young people, it seemed like that's all He gave us. And it was scary. But with His help, and a lot of prayers, we did it. And because we did it, we met some really cool people and some possibly very prepared potentials. 

We spent most of our time this week (since it obviously wasn't spent in appointments) trying to contact potential investigators from almost 10 years ago, and former investigators, and just contacting on the bus or street to find people to teach. It certainly was not the most fun thing to do, and definitely something I do not want to last for much longer. But we do what we must, and the fruits are so close I can feel it. 

One interesting thing this week happened at a bus stop, the gathering place of the most interesting collection of people. We were waiting for a bus out to an area to do contacting, when two intoxicated men came into the shelter at the stop. They started talking at us and we ended up splitting into two conversations, Sisar Ross talking with one man and me with the other. They both had asked about our name tags and asked questions about God and their relationship with Jesus. The man I was talking to asked if he could be forgiven, and I said yes, of course, Christ can forgive anyone. He said thank you, thank you, and then he hugged me! It was possibly the most awkward experience of my life, and it lasted way longer than would normally be comfortable (made even less pleasant by the scent of Finnish beer, which for some reason is incredibly potent). When he let go, I gave him a pamphlet about the Restoration, which he proceeded to stick down his pants. He asked about church services, and I gave him a card with our church address and phone number. He became very interested in the fact I'd given him the phone number and leaned in to touch my cheek and I was very very nervous that he was going to kiss me. Thankfully his intoxicated mind couldn't stay focused on anything for too long, and he suddenly had to go. Luckily for Sisar Ross, the man she was talking to was a lot less gone. He was actually a narcotic who had been buzzed earlier in the day, but was a bit more sane at the moment. He said he really wanted to quit but just couldn't. That is so sad. Unfortunately, he had to go before we thought to tell him about the Church's addiction recovery program. It is so interesting to to me how concerned drunk people seem to be about religious things. It's like they know that they are pushing themselves away from Heavenly Father and their spirit is protesting against the natural man. I wish there was more we could have done for them.

Well, It was a rough one, but a good one. We had such a good week of learning and loving and growing, and I know that's what Heavenly Father wanted for us. I'm at peace with that. As the people of Alma, I can cheerfully bear my afflictions and hard times with patience because I know that the Lord is on my side and will not leave me alone. (see Mosiah 24:12-16, here).

Well my lovely friends, I hope you all have a great week. Heavenly Father hears you prayers, and He will answer then in the way that will be the greatest blessing to you, even if it's not what you are expecting and wanting. 

Menkää eteenpäin, tule mitä tule (Go ahead, come what will).

Stay shiny!

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hillebrant

Finland in the fall. Time for cold weather attire.