Rakkaat ystävät,
Naturally, I've been thinking a lot about what has happened over the course of my mission, and it amazes me how much can happen in a year and a half. It's funny, I never really imagined my mission ending. When you're in the middle of it all, the thought of ever not being in Finland just doesn't feel real. I still haven't quite grasped the fact that in less that 72 hours I will no longer be wearing a tag or a skirt (every day, that is) or the call of a full-time missionary.
There are really no words that could do justice to what I have experienced. No carefully crafted sentence could explain the way I feel. All I know to say is that I have been changed. I feel like a better person. I want things now that I didn't want before. I've become a stronger and more dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ.
The Prophet Joseph Smith spoke of the glorious news of the gospel, and then offered these words that sum it all up perfectly:
"Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth; glad tidings for the dead; a voice of gladness for the living and the dead; glad tidings of great joy...
"Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory!"
I testify for the last time as an emissary of Jesus Christ that this is His true church, the only true Church that has ever been on the earth. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself leads His Church through men that we sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators - the same organization of leadership that the Savior established anciently. This is the Kingdom of God on the earth. I know that it is through the Priesthood authority of God and through the ordinances made possible by this sacred authority that we can return to live with our Heavenly Father. He loves us. He sent His Only Begotten Son to save us. Jesus Christ is my personal Savior, and he is yours. He is my friend, and I know that whenever I call on Him, be it in hardship or happiness, He will run to me. He will weep with me and He will rejoice with me, and He will always, always love me. This is our message to the world - that Jesus is the Christ, and we are called to serve Him at all times and in all things and in all places. Shall we not go on in so great a cause?
Stay shiny, and I'll see you on the other side.
Rakkaudella,
Sisar Hillebrant
Not FINNISHed Yet
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
I'm too old to think of clever titles
Sent June 30th 2015
We did service with P and she
taught us how to wash mats. The Finns have places around town where you can go
to clean them. There's a setup with big wash basins, and you use heavy-duty
scrub brushes and lots of soap, then roll them through this big ringer-outer
thing and hang them to dry. It was super fun and the next best thing to
swimming as a missionary.
Rakkaat ystävät,
Great week. First of all, it
has been GORGEOUS. Second of all, our week was filled with fun and
miracles.
On the fun spectrum, we went
to Särkeenniemi (on P-day), which is a free admittance theme park. We got ice
cream, tried mustamakkara ("black sausage" made our of rye and cow
blood, or so I've heard), and went up the Näsineula (Näsi needle, a giant
tower).
Panorama shot taken from the Näsineula |
Mustamakkara - yum? |
Don't tell the President - this is as much fun as swimming! |
We went to Mission Leadership
Conference. I love being in the mission home, and I'm going to miss being
around so many missionaries. Things like this are too fun. We also did an
endowment session at the temple. The best part was that our full MTC group
(well almost full - Elder Parker wasn't there) was in the meeting, so we
finally got photos together in front of the temple that didn't happen 16 months
ago because our flights were delayed.
Cruising with the Sisaret to Leadership Conference |
On our way to the Temple |
At the Temple with my MTC Disrict (almost - we miss you Vahnin Parker!) |
On the miracle side (I don't
have time for more than one, sorry), we had a lesson with P and rescheduled her
baptismal date - she messed up last week, but she knows it and is still moving
forward. The biggest miracle was that she got a full time job which will start
next week. Quick story about this. When I was still new in Tampere, we were
really struggling to know what to do with P. We were talking with Elder J, an
Area Seventy who happens to be a member in our ward, and he said that we really
needed to pray and fast in faith for P. So we did. We fasted and prayed that a
miracle of some kind would happen and that she would be able to stay strong
against this temptation. Well, we've been seeing miracles. The thought of
getting a job had never even crossed P's mind until recently, and she got in
within about 3 weeks. What an answer to prayer! Now she'll be out of the house
and away from her drunk husband and she will have a reason to stay sober so
that she can keep her job. We're so proud of her and she is just itching to get
baptized on July 25th.
We also met a really cool guy
at the door last night. I wish I could adequately describe what happened, but
suffice it to say that we talked to him at the door for about 40 minutes, and
never have I experienced such an intense, Spirit-filled contact. Ever. It was
incredible. We're bringing him a Book of Mormon on Friday.
I'm so grateful for the Spirit
in this work. Last night when we were teaching that man at his door, there were
many points where all I wanted to do was whip out something sharp and bash, but
I found myself testifying more powerfully than I've ever testified before and
as we did so, we watched this man's countenance completely change as he
went from snarky to actually interested. I felt, more than ever before, the
Spirit speak through me and touch this man's heart. I know that the Lord is in
this work and I know He knows who is ready, even if they may not know
themselves. He loves all His children and He will show that love to them
through us as we follow the Spirit.
Be awesome and stay shiny!
Rakkaudella,
Sisar Hillebrant
Shoes I made for my "daughter" Sisar Lafferty |
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Juhannus - Midsommer
Sent June 23rd 2015
Rakkaat ystävät,
We
celebrated Juhannus (or rather, the Finns celebrated Juhannus) over the weekend
- eli, midsummer. We also enjoyed a day of exchanges with Sisters
Mendenhall, Wunderli, and Harris in Vaasa and contacted a TON of people. They
are awesome missionaries.
This was taken at 1:30 AM |
One
particular visit of note was a DA with an older woman in the ward. Her
grandson and two of his friends were visiting from the States as part of a tour
of Europe and joined us for dinner (the member originally set up for the five of us to be at the table and for her to sit at the couch - her grandson made her
sit at the table. Good thing too, because it felt uncomfortably too much like a
date - not that I know what that feels like haha). It was quite a fun
evening, and the best part was that while we were talking with the member,
she saw Sisar Johnston's legs and exclaimed "Good heavens you have
beautiful legs! You could surely use short skirts if you wanted to!" It is
a good thing none of the guys understood Finnish.
I'm
amazed at how the Lord's work still moves forward, even when you have weeks when not much happens. I hear incredible stories every day of miracles
happening around Finland and around the world and I just think how greatly the
Gospel of Jesus Christ can change lives. I've been changed by it, and I see it
touch hearts every day. This week I was particularly touched by
these words in the Doctrine and Covenants 128:
19 Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A
voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of
the earth; ... a voice of gladness for the living and the dead; glad tidings of
great joy.
This
gospel is the voice of gladness to all people! Shall we not go on is so great a
cause?
Have
a lovely week and stay shiny!
Rakkuaudella,
Sisar
Hillebrant
Companionship study in Vaasa |
Sisaret Mendenhall, Wunderlii and Harris - the right way to end exchanges |
Missions are hard work - time to catch up on sleep. |
Miracles in all shapes and sizes
Sent June 16th, 2015
Rakkaat ysävät,
This one has been a week of
miracles. Let me elaborate:
Our investigator P has a
baptismal date! We sat down with her this week and laid out the plan and set
all of our appointments leading up to her baptism with her right there so that
she wrote them into her calendar. At church on Sunday, she was telling all of
her friends (she has a lot of friends in the Relief Society) about her date and
showing them her planner with all of our appointments written in. She is so
excited for it and so ready. This is it, and I can feel it.
We met an AWESOME young woman
on Tuesday. Events panned out perfectly for us to meet her - we were running
late and trying to catch a bus, and the one we normally take passed before we
were at the stop, so we hopped on the next best one. Sisar Johnston
happened to sit right next to her and start up a conversation, which I then
joined when we happened to get off at the same stop as her. She just found God
and religion a MONTH ago, and her faith was already so strong and she was so
excited - so excited that she even yelled "Hallelujah!" on the street
haha. We talked about all sorts of things with her and gave her a Book of
Mormon and a pamphlet and we got her phone number. She was so cute and
completely blown away by the fact that there is a prophet on the Earth today and said she was
going to go inside so she could start reading the Book of Mormon. When we
explained how this is the only true church of Jesus Christ she said, "I
get that people want to try to find their own faith, but if this is the true
church then everyone should go there!" That pretty much sums it up. She
was so cool.
On exchanges in Jyväskylä |
Sisar Pace |
While waiting for a bus in
Jyväskylä, I realized that with both mine and Sisar Pace's cash combined, I was
0,10€ short of the fare. We said a prayer together asking Heavenly Father to
help us either find a 10 cent coin or provide another way for me to get on the
bus so we could find an ATM. A coin did not magically appear (rats) but when
the bus came I told the driver my situation and he said, "Today you get a
sale!" Heavenly Father answered my prayer by giving me a nice bus
driver.
These are
only the beginning. There are miracles in the air, not just the
spring humidity.
Stay shiny!
Ralkkaudella,
Sisar Hillebrant
Sisar McAllister |
Sisar Allen |
Trials and Testimony
Sent June 9th, 2015
Rakkaat ystävät,
This week we've had a lot of
things fall through and a lot of things not go as expected. BUT there was a lot
of good stuff that happened this week too, even if we really had to dig to find
it haha.
A couple highlights
include, but are not limited to:
We spent 24 hours on exchanges
in Kuopio between Wednesday and Thursday evenings, and that was a lot of
fun. Sisar Johnston always says that when you go on splits as the Sister Training Leader that all your fear goes away, and that's why the STLs always
seems so fearless. Boy was she right! On Wednesday evening, Sisar Andersson and
I walked up and down the same strip of sidewalk and within an hour had stopped
and taught about 10 people, gave out two copies of the Book of Mormon, and got
a couple phone numbers. I've never had that kind of success before, nor have I
stopped nearly so may people. It was incredible.
Being with Sisar Lafferty was
funny because, obviously, after 4 months together we had patterns, and honestly, I
had to fight back the same fear that I always seemed to have when we were
serving together. But despite that, we still did some great street contacting,
and then spent an hour trying to find somewhere to go to the bathroom. Haha, I
told you there were patterns. It was a great exchange day, and I hope those
wonderful Sisaret learned as much as I did.
Back with my former companion, Sisar Lafferty. |
Sisar Andersson - she is so Finnish it hurts ( in a good way) |
On Friday, despite Sisar
Johnston begin sick, we got to out to one appointment in the evening with a
wonderful recent convert in the ward. She is awesome and has such a strong
testimony. We actually spent most of the appointment helping her fix some
problems with her e+mail account. I was so proud that I am still decently
proficient in the technology department, and that I figured it out in Finnish.
It still blows me away that I can understand this foreign gibberish.
We had an excellent Stake
Conference, broadcast to all of northern Europe from Scotland. If the Scottish
accents weren't enough to make the whole meeting perfect, Elder Holland was
presiding. It was an incredible meeting. One man, a stake president I think,
spoke about how we are all on the Lord's rescue team and referenced the Miracle
of the Little Ships from the shores of Dunkirk during WWII. He spoke of how we
are all like those little ships - no matter how small or poorly-equipped we may
seem, we are all invaluable parts of the Lord's rescue efforts against the
powers of the adversary. Even if we rescue only one or two souls, we've made a
huge contribution and our joy may be great. It completely blew me away.
Then Elder Holland spoke for
about 45 minutes and pretty much just bore down in testimony of the Book of
Mormon for the whole time. It was amazing. They don't call him the bulldog of
the Church for nothing. He spoke of the authenticity of the Book, the power of
God that went into its writing and translating, and the truthfulness of its
contents. Most importantly, he testified as a special witness that the Book of
Mormon truly is the word of God and that this is the true Church of Jesus
Christ. There is no doubt in my mind that Elder Holland is an actual called and
ordained apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I know for myself that the Book of Mormon is the word of
God. This, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is the true and
complete church of God on the earth today. Joseph Smith was a prophet. Thomas
S. Monson is a prophet now. Jesus Christ is my Lord and my Savior, and I love
Him.
Keep calm, press on, and stay shiny!
Rakkaudella,
Sisar Hillebrant
On exchanges in Kuopio |
A drunk man gave us flowers and Sisar Johnston photo bombed. |
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Sickness and the Spirit
Sent Tuesday, June 2nd, 2015:
Rakkaat ystävät,
Rakkaat ystävät,
It's been one of those weeks
where our investigators can't meet with us or we can't get a hold of them, and
both of us have been sick. We've also been back in the contacting boat and
we've been talking with a lot of people and inviting them to learn or take a
Book of Mormon or in some other way come unto Christ. The only trick is agency,
and if I didn't know it was an essential part of God's plan, I would really
want to take it away right now haha.
This is what tracting looks like. |
Despite all the illness and
investigators not loving us, a lot of good and fun things have also happened.
One particular contact to make
mention of was a man studying to be a Lutheran pappi, and his wife. Man, it was
a great conversation. They both had all sorts of great questions, and we just
testified over and over about how they really can know truth for themselves
through the Book of Mormon, and more importantly through prayer. I truly felt
the Spirit guiding me through the conversation - there is no way I could have
come up with answers to some of the questions they asked, let alone answers
that really satisfied/confounded them. In the end, though, they said no to the
Book of Mormon, and we parted ways. Too bad - how cool would it have been to
teach and baptize a Lutheran priest? Afterward we were so energized. That was
laying down the law and preaching the gospel!
On Thursday we were in Mission
Leadership Conference at the mission home, which basically consisted of all the
STLs, Zone Leaders, Assistants, and President sitting around a long table
discussing policies and doctrine and administration, and it was super fun. Can
I just say that I love the Watsons? They are wonderful people, so down to
earth, super funny, and I love being around and talking with them. Plus Sisar
Watson is a wicked good cook.
Doctrinal discussion at the mission home. |
During MLC, we also had the
chance to attend the temple to do an endowment session, and I had the chance to
receive the endowment for Jeanette Elizabeth Bently, who is my mom's
grandmother on her dad's side. It was a great temple session and I came out
refreshed and edified and ready to tackle anything.
Helsinki Temple |
Sisaret Owen, Rochett, Hillebrant and Johnston Sisar and President Watson. |
Because I've been sick, I
asked the Elders for a priesthood blessing and I'm so glad I did. I have no
doubt it's part of the reason I'm faring so well now. I really appreciate how
willing the Elders always are to serve us, and the blessing was a sweet reminder
of how much the Lord loves me and is aware of me.
The Lord is aware of you and
loves you! You can always feel His love if you turn to Him.
Have a great week and stay
shiny!
Rakkuadella,
Sisar Hillebrant
Believe it or not, but I took this in the middle of the city. |
What we see when we wait for the bus. |
Service in the land of my birth
Sent Tuesday, May 26th, 2015:
Rakkaat ystävät,
What a week! It actually feels
like two - who knew that traveling back to the past could break up your rhythm
so much?
Welcome back. |
To kick it all off, we spent
24 hours of exchanges with Sisaret Bruce and Moffat in Turku! That is a blessed
place indeed. I got off the train and just took a deep breath, and to my
delight, it smells exactly the way I remember it smelling. It was super bizarre
to be back, but I loved ever second of it. Throughout the splits, I had the
chance to visit some of my favorite places and people. It was also a really
wonderful experience to work with Sisaret Bruce and Moffat int their area. They
are really wonderful Sisters and are trying so hard to do the work as well as
they can.
Working with Sisar Bruce |
and Sisar Moffatt |
While in Turku, it no longer
felt like it was "my city." When we came back into Tampere, the
feeling of belonging and responsibility came back, and I realized that is was
because Tampere is "my city" now. It testified to me that I am where
the Lord needs me to be when He needs me to be here. Turku may not be my city
anymore, but it's in the best hands it can be at the moment.
Tulips by the Aura |
I loved coming out every day to see this. |
Some cool experiences for the
week:
1) We were out contacting one
night and we felt we needed to go talk to a man who was in the park with his
little boy. We talked to him for a while. He was Atheist and didn't feel that
he really needed anything religious in his life, but he was super nice and
patiently let us say our piece. We testified of the Book of Mormon and prayer,
and how through these things he can come to know that God is real. He took the
Book of Mormon we offered to him, and that was that, but I felt like we were
really able to make an impression, and if anything he came away with a sense
that maybe it was possible that God exists. Who knows.
2) We finally got in contact
with an investigator after a few weeks, who had been pretty drunk last time we
saw her. She was super coherent on the phone, and came to church on Sunday for
the first time in months!
3) We had a lesson with H, in
which we set a baptismal date and she prayed! The Spirit was so strong as she
said that prayer, and I hope she felt it because it was the comforting
assurance that she is looking for. She has a lot of things to work through in
order to get baptized, but I know she can do it through the Atonement. Anything
is possible.
4) I translated for the first
time in church. It was in Relief Society for two little Filipino ladies. It
wasn't awful, but it felt like my brain was running a marathon. I actually had
a lot fun doing it.
5) We stopped this lady on the
street, and told her about the Book of Mormon, and asked if we could come talk
about it, and she basically set up her own appointment for Friday. It all
happened in about 4 minutes.
I don't need a jacket! What is this sorcery? |
Now two funny things:
1) We knocked on a door and a
scary, super white and shirtless man with a ton of tattoos and a gross beard
opened the door. We didn't get much farther than "We're from the Church of
Jesus Christ of..." before he said very loudly "Saatte olla!"
(basically means "go away" - I can't think of an English equivalent)
and slammed the door. It was shocking, but I'v never been so happy to have the
door shut on us.
2) Sisar Johnston met a nice
Chinese man on the bus who just got to Finland, doesn't really have friends
here, and doesn't speak English very well and no Finnish. She gave him our
number and invited him to YSA. A little later in the day he asked if she wanted
to go out for a drink. So we told him to come to YSA. And that was it.
It really was quite a week.
And throughout it all I've been thinking a lot about sanctification - how do we
turn ourselves over completely to the Lord? I'm still working this out, and
have been studying a lot about it in the Book of Mormon and In Preach My
Gospel, specifically under the chapter about Christ-like attributes. I've
thought a lot about service and I found this scripture in 1 Peter 2:21 -
"For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also
suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps."
When we lose ourselves in the service of others, we become
like Christ, for that is what He did. This is our calling, to represent Him and
love those He loves and serve as He would serve. There is no greater calling
than the one to develop yourself through the building of others.
Serve with your hear and stay shiny!
Rakkuadella,
Sisar Hillebrant
Morning jog along the Aura |
Stropping by the chapel. |
Dinner by the river |
Leaving Turku. |
Our view as we leave. |
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